Revisiting preseason over/under Dodgers’ predictions

Now that you’ve gotten over the overwhelming disappointment of the Dodgers’ season ... what’s that? You haven’t? Same. Nevertheless, let’s look back at an articled I penned prior to the season — over/unders.

Liz gave me a list of Dodger over/unders to choose from, and I went with five, two of which were in the same heading. If you thought my bold predictions were bad, well, this isn’t as bad (but still not great).

1. Walker Buehler wins: Over 12.5

Hey, a win (no pun intended). Buehler ended the season with 14 wins. And while pitcher wins is an archaic, it was nice to see Buehler be the unquestioned ace of the Dodgers’ staff. He should hold that distinction for many years to come (barring a Gerrit Cole signing this offseason).

2. Justin Turner batting average: Over .290

Turner came into the 2019 season with a .305 batting average as a Dodger. This one seemed like a really easy call. Despite battling injuries this season, Turner still had a good campaign. He had a career-best .219 isolated slugging mark, but he hit less than .300 for the first time since 2016. He hit exactly .290, so this one is a loser for me.

3. A.J. Pollock home runs/stolen bases: Over 15.5/Under 24.5

This one seemed like the easiest one of the lot. Let’s start with the stolen bases. There was no way Pollock was getting anywhere near 24.5 stolen bases — and he didn’t. He ended the season with five stolen bases.

The lock here was home runs. After hitting 21 last season and establishing a career-high in ISO (.228), he was just a 400 plate appearance season away from besting 15.5 homers. Well, Pollock checked in with 342 plate appearances and 15 home runs. Another loss for yours truly.

4. Joc Pederson home runs: Under 24.5

I’ll admit, the thinking behind this was I thought there was a chance Pederson wouldn’t be on the roster the entire season. Of course, I was “burned” a couple years ago when I prediction Joc would hit 33 home runs (he ended up with 11). Then I thought he might not hit for the kind of power to top 24.5 home runs. Boy was I wrong. Pederson launched a career-high 36 homers and, well, I totally blew this one.

———

Looking forward to this exercise next year. Here’s hoping for a better success rate — just like the Dodgers.