Before the season, each team’s beat writer for MLB.com gave one bold prediction for their respective team. Mark Bowman had this to say about the Braves, and while the three players he named might not be accurate, there’s a chance it happens.
Braves: 3 for 40
Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson and Austin Riley will become just the fourth trio of teammates to each hit 40 homers in the same season. They would be the first trio to pull off this feat since Larry Walker, Andrés Galarraga, and Vinny Castilla each hit 40 home runs for the 1997 Rockies. Hank Aaron, Davey Johnson and Darrell Evans became the first AL/NL trio to do this while playing for the 1973 Braves. — Mark Bowman
As we enter the All-Star break, Matt Olson (28 homers) and Ronald Acuna Jr. (21 homers) are on pace to eclipse the 40 home run threshold. Right behind them is Ozzie Albies with 20 home runs. It’s very possible all three of them reach the 40 home run mark. There’s also a chance another Braves, like Marcell Ozuna or Austin Riley, goes bonkers in the second half and ends up with 40 homers. This is the most powerful lineup in baseball, and Mark Bowman did a good job of recognizing that before the season started.
But while Bowman looks like he might be correct, Anthony DiComo–beat writer for the New York Mets–is looking delusional. His bold prediction before the start of the season was that the Mets would return to the World Series for the first time since 2015.
Mets: The Mets will return to the World Series
They are battle-tested now and hungry to advance beyond the disappointment of last year, when a 101-win season evaporated over a poor 10-day stretch in September and October. It may be easy to see how things could again go wrong for the Mets, whose offseason spending spree left them reliant on the arms of 40-year-old Justin Verlander and 38-year-old Max Scherzer. No matter. Those two are driven to add to their legacies, while New York’s position-player core remains very much in its prime. Count on the Mets to do better than last year and make it back to the Fall Classic for the first time since 2015. — Anthony DiComo
I don’t think anyone envisioned the Mets being as bad as they are; with that being said, regression with this group was always a distinct possibility. They won 101 games last season, but there were a lot of signs that their offense was a fluke, and the Mets did nothing to address that during the offseason. The injuries to Jose Quintana and Edwin Diaz certainly haven’t helped, but this is about the most poorly built roster possible for $360 million. Everyone in the front office should be on the hot seat.
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Photographer: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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