Long Balls A-Plenty or…

Dizzy with Hope: Amazin (s’) Power Projections for 2010

Now that the ridiculous talk of winning the World Series in 2010 has started, why not speculate about one stat that can be a fairly important contributing factor that helps a team get to that greatest of sports’ stages, the home run.

Given my sterling track record for home run predictions (Sure, bring on the wisecracks and insults!), I cannot prevent giddiness from getting the better of me as I think about how many long balls will be hit by the Mets this season, as well as which sultans of swat will own particular numbers of these gopher balls. At least we can all be reasonably sure that the 2010 Mets will exceed 2009’s dismal total of 95 HRs.

Oh, before your read any further my predictions must be prefaced with the following caveat: everybody’s going to have a great year! The Mets will hit about 184 HRs this year.

Alright, here goes (not in any particular batting order):

1. Jose Reyes - 17 HRs, 81 RBIs, and .298 BA
2. Luis Castillo and Alex Cora – 2 HRs, 61 RBI, and .286 BA
3. Carlos Beltran – 24 HRs, 91 RBIs, and .293 BA
4. Jason Bay – 31 HRs, 115 RBIs, and .267 BA
5. David Wright – 26 HRs, 109 RBIs, and .308 BA
6. Jeff Francoeur – 29 HRs, 89 RBIs, and .254 BA
7. Daniel Murphy – 19 HRs, 83 RBIs, and .272 BA
8. Catchers-Go-Round – 20 HRs, 67 RBIs, and .229 BA

Cora, Mathews Jr., Pagan, Jacobs, and Sundry – 16 HRs, 55 RBIs, and .240 BA