Cubs projected to win NL League Central |
CHICAGO -- Baseball is almost here.
Spring Training will be here before you know it as Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA wins projections were released Thursday to kick off the upcoming 2018 season. Last season, the projections had the Cubs winning 91 games, and the North Siders won 92 in total in the regular season. These predictions can be very close to what happens in the regular season as in 2016; they picked all of the five National League playoff teams correctly. In 2018, the projections have the Cubs winning 89 games which is tops in the National League Central division. The Cardinals were picked second with 84 wins and Brewers third with 83 wins. It looks like with all the new additions by both teams; the Cubs will reign supreme on top of the division once again. Of course, with so many free agents currently dangling in the wind, these projections could change drastically with a few different big-time signings (Darvish, Arrieta, etc.) by any of the teams. Other interesting projections for the Cubs include 814 team runs scored while allowing 725 runs and a team batting average of .255 with an on-base percentage of .332. USA Today also released their season projections and had the North Siders winning the National League division with a 92-70 record.
