1896 Preseason Predictions
After winning four of the past five pennants, the mighty Phillies went out and added some exceptional talent. They replaced retiring first baseman
Henry Larkin with MLB HOF'er
Nap Lajoie. Lajoie's primary position is second base, but he makes a better first baseman than
Cupid Childs (.259, 59 RBI, 109 R, 101 BB) the team's established second sacker. Lajoie also projects as a much better hitter than Larkin - particularly when compared to Larkin's past seven seasons during the team's run of dominance. The Phillies also added another potential ace in
Ned Garvin to a rotation that already sports seven PoY Awards. The team also upgraded the bullpen with rookies
Jerry Nops (6-6-7 ratings) and
Chick Fraser (7-6-5 ratings). This leaves no doubt that the Phillies are the clear pennant favorites again this season.
The Cardinals and Dodgers tied for second place last season. The Cardinals are expected to improve this year as their pitching staff underperformed last year. Honestly, the team has not gotten the level of consistent dominance that they expected from rotation leaders
Cy Young and
Amos Rusie up to this point. We are all left to wonder whether or not they ever will. In L.A.,
Sadie McMahon (14-8, 3.14 ERA) leads an above-average pitching rotation that could be the difference between which of these two teams challenges the Phillies this season.
The Cubs are still expected to improve. They have a lot of offensive potential. They also hope to improve their defense by moving
Bill Lange (.278, 17 HR, 95 RBI, 47 SB) from second base, where he committed 35 errors last season, to his preferred position of centerfield. That will cost the team some offense as outfielder
George Van Haltren (.289, 14 HR, 51 RBI, 18 SB) moves to the bench in favor of
Harry Truby (.190 in 58 AB) who they expect to improve offensively from last season while significantly cutting down on their infield errors.
The Braves are a team that is quietly putting things together. They already have a solid pitching staff led by
Kid Nichols (11-14, 2.98 ERA), and they added hard-throwing rookie
Ted Lewis (7-5-5 ratings). Their bullpen is below average but not without some potential stars. Last season's offense was ranked last. They were the only team to fail to score 4 runs per game. Left fielder
Joe Kelley (.286, 23 HR, 82 RBI, 20 SB) and rookie third baseman
Jimmy Collins (.279, 14 HR, 92 RBI) led the way, and the team added talented second baseman
Bill Keister (8-8-6-5-6 ratings) to the mix this season.
Another interesting question going into the season is whether or not the Pirates can put together a winning season. Their offense underperformed last season, but their pitching staff likely overperformed. A rebound from first baseman
Jake Beckley (.260, 11 HR, 61 RBI) would go a long way toward providing a realization of expectations in the Steel City.
Predicted Standings
I've grown tired of the OOTP predictions, and my comments in these posts never seem to go along with what OOTP predicts so I will attempt to do my own.
| Rank | Team | Rotation | Bullpen | Offense | Bench | Speed | Defense | Totals | Grade |
| 1 | Philadelphia Phillies | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 9.1 | A- |
| 2 | St. Louis Cardinals | 10 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8.6 | B+ |
| 3 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7.6 | B |
| 4 | Chicago Cubs | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7.4 | B |
| 5 | Atlanta Braves | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 6.6 | B- |
| 6 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 5 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6.3 | B- |
| 7 | Cincinnati Reds | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 5.9 | C+ |
| 8 | San Francisco Giants | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 5.0 | C |
MLB results for 1896
Champs: Baltimore Orioles (defunct), (90-39, .698)
Batting Title: Jesse Burkett, CLV, .410
OPS+: Ed Delahanty, PHI, 190
AB/HR: Bill Joyce, WHS/NYG, 36.5
RBI: Ed Delahanty, PHI, 126
Runs: Jesse Burkett, CLV, 160
SB: Joe Kelley, BLN, 87
ERA+: Billy Rhines, CIN, 189
Win%: Bill Hoffer, BLN, .781
WHIP: Billy Rhines, CIN, 1.231
K/9: Buttons Briggs, CHC, 3.897
MLHR Milestone Watch
400 Home Runs
Sam Thompson, CIN, Age 36, 381 HR
1500 Runs
Roger Connor, SFG, Age 39, 1498 runs
600 Stolen Bases
Billy Hamilton, PHI, Age 31, 574 SB
200 Wins
John Ewing, SFG, Age 33, 195 wins
Charlie Ferguson, PHI, Age 33, 194 wins
Bill Vinton, PHI, Age 31, 182 wins
3000 Strikeouts
John Clarkson, PHI, Age 35, 2976 K's
Lady Baldwin, CIN, Age 36, 2859 K's
400 Saves
Will Sawyer, PIT, Age 32, 375 Sv
(No previous player has reached this number!)
700 Games pitched
Will Sawyer, PIT, Age 32, 651 Games