At the All Star Break I posted an article that addressed predictions on how the Dodgers would finish the season.  It was July 12th and the Dodgers were in first place, 47-40, one half game ahead of the Giants.  Let’s take a look at how we did with the predictions:

1) Matt Kemp currently has 12 home runs.  Can he hit 30 this season?  That’ll require him to hit one every four games.  He certainly has been on hot streaks before, but will the lay-off keep him from being the player that he was before.  Matt Kemp – 30 homers, over or under?

Kemp finished with 23 home runs after playing the final month of the season with a frayed labrum and rotator cuff injury caused by a collision with the center field wall in Denver.

Results: “Under” is the correct answer

Correct: Ebbetsfld, Lindav, Ron Cervenka, Evan Bladh, Cranbrook Mike

Incorrect: MFGRREP, KSparkuhl

2) Kenley Jansen has 15 saves.  Will he finish with 35?  That’s 20 more saves over the final 75 games, which would be saving 27% of the remaining games on the schedule.  Jansen – 35 saves, over or under?

Jansen faced heart problems and was sidelined for over two weeks in September.  When he returned, the closer’s role had been turned over to a very capable Brandon League.  Jansen had 25 saves but didn’t have a chance for a save for the final month of the season.  He was on pace to be right around the 35  number when he was sent to the disabled list.

Results: “Under” is the correct answer

Correct: Ron Cervenka, MFGRREP,

Incorrect: Ebbetsfld, Lindav, Evan Bladh, KSparkuhl, Cranbrook Mike

3) James Loney has hit 2 home runs this year.  Can he hit five for the season?  Loney – 5 homers, over or under?

Loney, a Boston Red Sock since August 25th, finished the year with four home runs.  Two of which were hit in Boston.  The career that never came to fruition in a Dodger uniform.  He should have been a pitcher.  He sure hit like one.

Results: “Under” is the correct answer

Correct: Lindav,Ron Cervenka, MFGRREP, Cranbrook Mike

Incorrect:Ebbetsfld, Evan Bladh,KSparkuhl

4) Juan Uribe, will he be issued his unconditional release before the trade deadline?  Juan Uribe – gone before July 31st or after?

For reasons that remain unexplained, Uribe finished the season on the roster and only played in 66 games, finishing with 162 at bats and a .191 average.

Results: Juan Uribe was not gone before the trade deadline.

Correct: Evan Bladh, KSparkuhl

Incorrect: Ebbetsfld, Lindav,Ron Cervenka, MFGRREP, Cranbrook Mike

5) Dee Gordon currently has 30 stolen bases and is on the mend from surgery for his dislocated thumb for about 5 1/2 to 6 weeks., meaning he’ll likely return around August 20th.  Can he steal 15 more on the season in the remaining 40 games that he will be a part of?  Dee Gordon – 45 stolen bases, over or under?

Gordon never returned to the lneup and I believe will probably never be a Dodger regular again.   He finished with 32 stolen bases on the season.

Results: “Under” is to correct answer

Correct: Ron Cervenka, Cranbrook Mike

Incorrect: Ebbetsfld, Lindav, MFGRREP, Evan Bladh, KSparkuhl

6) Chris Capuano currently has a 9-4 record on the season.  Will he win 17 games?  It is estimated that if he continues on and remains healthy, he will have 15 more starts on the year.  He’ll need to be the winning pitcher in 8 of those 15 starts.  Capuano – 17 wins, over or under?

Capuano slumped miserably in the second half and ended the season with a mediocre 12-12 record.  From the all star break on he was 3-8.

Results: Under is the correct answer

Correct: Ron Cervenka, Evan Bladh

Incorrect: Ebbetsfld, Lindav, MFGRREP, KSparkuhl, Cranbrook Mike

7) Andre Ethier started strongly, but his recent slump and current injury has set him behind the league leaders in Runs batted in.  He led the majors in RBIs a month ago.  He has remained at 55 for about two weeks now.  Will Ethier rebound and start driving in runs again.  Andre Ethier – 100 RBI for the year, over or under?

Andre Ethier had some big September moments, but came up short of 100 RBi.  He finished the season with 89 runs batted in.

Results: “Under” is the correct answer.

Correct: Lindav, Ron Cervenka

Incorrect: Ebbetsfld, MFGRREP, KSparkuhl, Evan Bladh, Cranbrook Mike

8) We have all been pleased with AJ Ellis’ production this year, both with the bat and behind the plate.  His on-base percentage currently sits at .404.  Will his OBP remain over .400 by season’s end?  A.J. Ellis – OBP .400 or higher, over or under?

Many consider AJ Ellis as the team MVP.  He certainly was an inspirational story this year.  An 0-31 slump in mid-September cut into his OBP heavily.  He finished well short of a .400 OBP at .373.  Still respectable.

Results: Under is correct

Correct:Ebbetsfld, Ron Cervenka, Evan Bladh, KSparkuhl

Incorrect:Lindav, MFGRREP,Cranbrook Mike

9) Clayton Kershaw was a different pitcher in the second half of last season.  He steamrolled his way to a 21 win season and a Cy Young Award.  Currently with a 6-5 record and 2.91 ERA, he’d need to run the table and go undefeated the remainder of his starts to duplicate last year’s production, something that is highly unlikely.  He leads the league in innings pitched and is scheduled to start 15 or 16 more games.  How many complete games shutouts will Clayton finish with?  He has one so far.  Will Clayton Kershaw have four shutouts to finish the year?  Over or under?

Kershaw ended the year with two shutouts.  He could have had more, but Mattingly wouldn’t let him finish a couple of opportunities. 

Results: “Under” is correct

Correct: Everybody

Incorrect: None

10) Ronald Belisario has been a lights out set up man.  His ERA currently sits at 1.53 over 29.1 innings pitched.  Will Belisario finish with an ERA over or under 2.00?

The Venezuelan sinkerballer ended the year with a 2.54 ERA.

Reuslts: “Over” is correct.

Correct:Lindav, Ron Cervenka, Cranbrrok Mike

Incorrect: Ebbetsfld, MFGRREP, Evan Bladh, KSparkuhl

11) Ted Lilly is said to have started throwing again.  He was 5-1 with a 3.14 ERA before going down with injury.  Will Lilly return this season and be effective?  Lilly returns – yes or no?

Ted Lilly never made it back and his career may be over.

Results: The answer was “no.”

Correct: MFGRREP, Ron Cervenka, KSParkuhl, Cranbrook Mike

Incorrect: Ebbetsfld, Lindav, Evan Bladh

12) Zach Lee and Garrett Gould have been mentioned in numerous trade rumors.  Do Lee and/or Gould remain in the Dodger organization beyond July 31 or are they traded for some much needed offensive punch?  Zach Lee, Garrett Gould – Dodgers after July 31, 2012, yes or no?

Neither Gould or Lee were dealt away this season.  The same can’t be said for Rubby De La Rosa, Jerry Sands, Josh Lindblom, Ethan Martin , Nathan Eovaldi, Scott McGough, Allen Webster, and Ivan De Jesus Jr.

Results: Answer is “no” for both.

Correct: Evan Bladh, KSparkuhl

Incorrect: Ebbetsfld, MFGRREP, Ron Cervenka,

No answer: Lindav, Cranbrook Mike

13) The Dodgers as a team have been shut out 8 times this season.  The 1968 Dodgers were shutout 23 teams that season, so they are nowhere near setting that dubious franchise mark, but will they be shutout 5 more times this season?  13 shutouts pitched against the Dodgers for the season, over or under?

The Dodgers were shut out 15 times this year.

Results: “Over” is correct.

Correct: Nobody

Incorrect: Everyone was wrong

14) Rubby De La Rosa is reported to have begun throwing again.  His Tommy John surgery was completed 11 months ago.  He had electric stuff and was viewed as a potential starting pitcher in the top rungs of the rotation for years to come.  Will he be effective again?  Will De La Rosa be back in the starting rotation before the season is over, yes or no?

De La Rosa never started again as a Dodger and was traded to Boston on August 25th (as a player to be named later).

Results: “No” is correct.

Correct: Ebbetsfld, Lindav, Ron Cervenka, KSparkuhl, Cranbrook Mike

Incorrect: MFGRREP, Evan Bladh,

15) Chad Billingsley has disappointed so far this year with a 4-9 record and 4.30 ERA.  Will Billingsley rebound and finish the year with an ERA under 4.00?  Billingsley – ERA under 4.00, over or under?

Bills rebounded and was on his way to a stellar finish before a season ending elbow injury sidelined him and will possibly require Tommy John surgery.  He finished the year with a 10-9 record and 3.55 ERA.

Results: “Under” is correct.

Correct: Ebbetsfld, Evan Bladh

Incorrect: Lindav, MFGRREP, Ron Cervenka, KSparkuhl, Cranbrook Mike

16) The longest winning streak the Dodgers have had this season is a 6 game string between May 17-22.  Will the Dodgers put together a winning streak longer than six games, over or under?

They came close, but another 6 game winning streak was broken on the day they were eliminated on October 2nd. 

Results: The answer is neither over or under.  The longest streak turned out to be six, so the answer is “no.”

Correct: Cranbrook Mike

Incorrect: Everyone else

17) Finally, now that we are just past the midpoint of the season with the Dodgers at 47-40 and ahead in the division by 1/2 a game.  There are 75 games left to play.  Where do you think they’ll finish? To win 85 games, the Dodgers will have to finish one game over .500 the rest of the way.  What do you say?  85 wins, over or under?

The Dodgers barely eclipsed the 85 win plateau with 86 wins.  Two short of a playoff appearance. 

Results: The Dodgers finished with “over” 84 wins.

Correct: Everybody

Incorrect: None

18a) Will the Dodgers win the NL West, yes or no? If yes, will they win the division by more than 2 games, over or under?

18b) If no, will they finish over or under 2 games behind?

The Dodgers finished in second place, a full 8 games behind the San Francisco Giants.

Results: 18a is “no” and 18b is “over” 2 games behind.

Correct: Ron Cervenka,

Incorrect: Ebbetsfld, Lindav, MFGRREP, Evan Bladh,KSparkuhl

No answer: Cranbrook Mike

 

Final Tally:

Ron Cervenka 13-5

Cranbrrok Mike 10-6-2

Evan Bladh 8-10

Lindav 7-10-1

KSparkuhl 7-11

Ebbetsfld 6-12

MFGREP 5-13

Congratulations to Ron “Nostradamus” Cervenka for his predictions.  I didn’t like reading his answers back in July, because they were mostly “doom and gloom” prognostications, but he kept things real with his honesty and was almost perfect,.  Get this, he predicted an 85 win season and no playoff appearance.  You can’t get much closer than that.