How Many Games Do the Angels Win in 2019?

[Angelsjunky]

Sort of like the Runs Scored Thread of old, put your nuts (or lady nuts) on the chopping block: How many games do the Angels win?

I'm going to include a poll which makes your vote public. Feel free to offer a specific number here, and why.

I'm going with 93. Yeah, its optimistic, but why the fuch not? The rotation is better than advertised - Skaggs emerges as a very good starter, Heaney is solid, Harvey and/or Cahill earn their paychecks, and while Barria takes his lumps and someone else misses some starts, one of Canning or Suarez emerges as legit. The bullpen is not just good but borderline great.

The offense is strong behind an MVP year for Trout (.314/.458/.647, 43 HR, 11.1 WAR). Simmons also has his best year, and Ohtani stabilizes as an elite bat. Upton is Upton, Calhoun returns to solid form. Fletcher, Ward, and Rengifo all play roles, and Matt Thaiss emerges as the everyday 1B by the second half (kudos to @Second Base for that idea). Lucroy is the "team MVP" - the guy that holds the pitching staff together and hits pretty well, too.

Wait, 93 might be modest given that rosy-hued view, but I have to draw the line somewhere.

[arch stanton]

I’m sticking with 91 fueled by one big mid-season hot streak and competent play the rest of the time 

[Second Base]

I'm going to go with 86. They'll fall a couple of games short of the Rays for the WC2.  But again, 2019 is really just setting them up to win 90+ in 2020 and beyond.

[Angel Oracle]

What Scotty said, except I'm predicting 87 wins and right down to the wire for the 2nd WC spot.

[IEAngelsfan]

I'm going with 90 wins because I'm a glass half full kind of guy.

[floplag]

ive been saying 85, 86 for a while now, no reason to change.  

[Second Base]

I'm just trying to base it off of a luck neutral scenario. If you're unlucky, as the Angels have been for 3+ years now, your pitching staff is going to get injured.  If the Angels are lucky, they're all healthy and pitching up to their ability. 

- I think the starting pitching will be healthier but not necessarily any better because no Ohtani and Richards means a loss of quality innings.

- The bullpen will be better.  Lots of power arms. 

- The offense will be more consistent.  Last year, the offense absolutely sucked for periods of time and then would go on a tear.  There are hills and valleys with all teams, but most aren't as bipolar as the Angels.  They were feast or famine.  I expect Upton will hit with RISP, but the 1B situation will be just as bad if not worse then last year., at least until Thaiss arrives.  It isn't as if he'll magically fix the situation as much as he simply won't be as bad as Pujols or Bour.  Second base will be about the same with good defense, but questionable offense.  Shortstop will improve slightly, because Simmons is great.  Third base will improve minimally.  Cozart will likely still suck, and our other options are still pretty young, just like last year.  We'll be better off in RF next year mostly because Calhoun has to be better or else he'll be replaced.  DH will be better with a full year of Ohtani.  So overall, a slightly better, more consistent offense. 

So we went from being an 80 win team to an 86 win team. 

[Taylor]

I voted for "Wildcard?" but mostly because I don't want to get my hopes too high. I could see them winning as few as 78 games and as many as 90 games, depending on how things shake out.

[Homebrewer]

86 here too

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

88-90 except..... No WILD CARD for YOU!

 

I could see anywhere from 81-90 WINS~ Depending on health and pitching.

[floplag]

22 minutes ago, SlappyUtilityMIF said:

88-90 except..... No WILD CARD for YOU!

 

I could see anywhere from 81-90 WINS~ Depending on health and pitching.

This is possible actually that they could win that many and still miss is if either TB or MN has things break in a positive way for them. 

[kevinb]

80-85 wins just miss the playoffs. 

[Homebrewer]

I might need to revise + 2-3 wins because of not factoring in no Lasagna ...maybe the WC couid be in reach after all.

[GrittyVeterans]

@Stradling is just hoping for 81

[Slegnaac]

89 or Bust!

[Hubs]

Lucroy, Cozart, Upton, Bour & Calhoun all had down 2018 but much better 2017's. Hopefully they all get back to 2017 form.

One of Adell, Fletcher, Ward or Thaiss will break out offensively, and I believe Canning breaks into the rotation a la Jered Weaver.

Pitching will be better,  due to health and Lucroy's influence. The A's were projected to win 74 games and won 97 with a much better than expected but oft-injured staff and a breakout from Chapman offensively.

This is within the realm of possibility.

[UndertheHalo]

I don’t see the point of being pessimistic in February.  The team has good players and brought in some interesting ones.  They need a bunch of thing to go right but whatever the Angels are due some luck.  91 wins. 

Edited February 26, 2019 by UndertheHalo

[AngelsLakersFan]

Wow, a binomial distribution! 

[Turd Ferguson]

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see this as being a very good team. 

[angelsnationtalk]

85 wins and no chance at wildcard despite Arte claiming he’s kept us competitive. At the end of the season from 2015-2018 I would have had the same frown on my face if we won 85 or 60. 

My end result is if I see us in the playoffs or not. God I hope we nab a wildcard spot this season and would be even more pissed if we don’t.

poor Mike Trout...

[tdawg87]

88.56653345566$#

[Docwaukee]

90 wins.  

[Keener]

91.  Like i said somewhere else, its time for some things to break the right way. 

[Second Base]

And people think I'm a homer. 

You will be hard pressed to convince folks that Lucroy, Harvey,  Cahill and Bour equal 10 more wins next year with Pujols being a year older and not having Richards or Ohtani in the rotation. 

This is over simplifying the situation and conveniently leaving out the positives, but it's just ironic that I'm so frequently accused of being a homer and here I read guys predicting 90+ wins. 

[Docwaukee]

24 minutes ago, Second Base said:

And people think I'm a homer. 

You will be hard pressed to convince folks that Lucroy, Harvey,  Cahill and Bour equal 10 more wins next year with Pujols being a year older and not having Richards or Ohtani in the rotation. 

This is over simplifying the situation and conveniently leaving out the positives, but it's just ironic that I'm so frequently accused of being a homer and here I read guys predicting 90+ wins. 

own it.  there's nothing wrong with being a homer.  It's a hell of a lot better than being incurably negative.