I promise not all of my articles will have some sort of prediction to it, however, the best part of the beginning of the season is the unknown and making the best guesses based upon what we know now. It’s also a little fun to look back at the end of the season and note just how wrong we are.
So in good fun, here is my predictions for the Opening Day Roster + Lineup and the Playoff Roster + Lineup. Please note, this is with zero trades or injuries being figured into the equation.
Opening Day Starting Line-Up
LF Starling Marte
C Russell Martin
CF Andrew McCutchen
3B Pedro Alvarez
2B Neil Walker
1B Andrew Lambo/Gaby Sanchez
RF Jose Tabata/Travis Snider
SS Jordy Mercer
Bench
Sanchez/Lambo
Snider/Tabata
Josh Harrison
Brent Morel
Chris Dickerson
Opening Day Starting Rotation
LHP Francisco Liriano
RHP Gerrit Cole
LHP Wandy Rodriguez
RHP Charlie Morton
LHP Jeff Locke
Bullpen
Closer – Jason Grilli
Mark Melancon
Justin Wilson
Bryan Morris
Stolmy Pimental
Tony Watson
Jeanmar Gomez
Playoff Roster
Playoff Starting Line-Up
LF Starling Marte
RF Gregory Polanco
CF Andrew McCutchen
3B Pedro Alvarez
C Russell Martin
2B Neil Walker
1B Andrew Lambo/Gaby Sanchez
SS Jordy Mercer
Playoff Starting Rotation
LHP Francisco Liriano
RHP Gerrit Cole
LHP Wandy Rodriguez
RHP Charlie Morton
RHP Jameson Taillon
There you go. We’ll check back here in about six months or so to see how close I am. If there were any upgrade to make in these lineups, it would be at 1st base if Lambo and Sanchez is ineffective. In theory, RF will be taken over by Polanco and I kept Wandy in the starting rotation and replacing Locke, however it wouldn’t shock me to see that reversed to make room for Taillon.