Hey folks, Ben Pernick here and it's time for a retrospective of my 10 Bold Predictions from prior to the 2017 season. I'll tell you now, in hindsight, they look pretty bad! But the positive takeaway is I still somehow ended up with the PitcherList Writer's League championship (woohoo!), so one can be wrong a lot and still end up okay. With that said, hold your nose, because here we go!
1. Byung-Ho Park makes a triumphant return, smacking 30+ longballs with a .240 AVG
Hoo boy, we're off to a great start. It's hilarious to see how bad this one looks now. My reasoning seemed sound, as his Barrel % and FB/LD exit velocity from 2016 were actually nearly identical to the rates put up by Matt Olson this year. And he was so on fire in the Spring. I still think it was unfair that he wasn't given a chance given he damn-well earned it in ST before being bumped by a no-name swingman. But in the minors, he was a mess, hitting just .253 with 14 Home Runs and dealing with injuries and never earning a MLB call-up. I still believe in the ability but he needs his confidence back.
WRONG - 0 FOR 1
At least you tried…..