Spring training is ending soon, so it is time to get a little bold when it comes to fantasy baseball! There are, of course, different levels of bold. For example, while I believe the Marlins could have a top-five rotation for fantasy purposes, I do not think anyone on that staff will be Jacob deGrom, either. There's a big difference in degree of boldness there!
Anyway, let us continue on, and after starting with the American League yesterday, we now head to the National League! To be clear, most, if not all, of these bold predictions are not going to happen. Still, perhaps I am on the right track with some of them -- and that may be just as important as we tackle our final drafts before the start of the regular season.
Arizona Diamondbacks: Sorry, Ketel Marte fans, but no member of the Diamondbacks will hit more than 20 home runs. Expect more like 15 homers with eight steals from Marte. Catcher-eligible Daulton Varsho leads the team with 15 stolen bases. Caleb Smith finds the strike zone and ends up as the team's top starting pitcher, thanks to 170 whiffs. Pavin Smith takes over first base duties from Christian Walker.
Atlanta Braves: We'll see seven different Atlanta hitters reach 20 home runs -- basically everyone starting except rookie center fielder Cristian Pache. Dansby Swanson also steals 16 bases and scores 100 runs. Austin Riley smacks 30 homers, but hits .222. Charlie Morton wins 18 of his 27 starts. Mike Soroka returns in April and makes 27 starts. Left-hander A.J. Minter leads the team with 22 saves.
Chicago Cubs: Kris Bryant and Javier Baez split their 62 total home runs evenly, but neither one helps fantasy managers in either batting average or stolen bases. There will be five members of the Cubs who blast 30 home runs, with Ian Happ, Anthony Rizzo and Joc Pederson among them. Not one of them hits as high as .260. Kyle Hendricks finishes with a sub-3.50 ERA for the sixth consecutive season. Zach Davies does it for the second consecutive season. Jason Adam emerges to save 17 games, four more than Craig Kimbrel.
Cincinnati Reds: Nick Senzel goes 20/20. Dee Strange-Gordon ends up with 300 PA (mostly at second base) and steals 21 bases, albeit with a .290 OBP. Nick Castellanos reaches 30 home runs for the first time! Joey Votto reaches 20 for the final time. Sonny Gray, out for the first two weeks only, has just as good a fantasy season as Luis Castillo. Amir Garrett, Lucas Sims and Sean Doolittle each get to double-digits in saves. Tejay Antone makes 12 starts.
Colorado Rockies: Trevor Story remains with the Rockies all season, but the weight of the team's incompetence wears on him. He hits only .265 with 24 home runs and 14 steals. Still, that easily allows him to lead his teammates on the ESPN Player Rater. C.J. Cron hits .265 with 28 homers. Brendan Rodgers hits .250 with no power. German Marquez overcomes the mess to win 14 games, but nobody saves 14 games here.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Beware the World Series hangover! Mookie Betts and Corey Seager remain great for the NL West runner-ups but Cody Bellinger struggles with shoulder woes. He hits .250 with 25 home runs, bettering Max Muncy in each category. Gavin Lux heads back to the minors. Victor Gonzalez and Blake Treinen both save 12 games. No Dodger eclipses 27 starts except Trevor Bauer, who loses both 14 games and his Twitter account.
Miami Marlins: I love this rotation! Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez both make 31 starts, with ERAs in the neighborhood of 3.50. Elieser Hernandez and Trevor Rogers both perform nearly as well, though in fewer outings. Sixto Sanchez is the ace, though the team caps his innings at 120. The offense is not as good. Adam Duvall hits 30 homers. Nobody else reaches 20. Lewin Diaz becomes the everyday first baseman and cleanup hitter by July.
Milwaukee Brewers: Keston Hiura leads the team with 32 home runs, two more than Christian Yelich. Kolten Wong leads the team with 20 steals. Avisail Garcia ends up with more PA than Lorenzo Cain, unfortunately. Zach Green becomes the regular third baseman by June. On the mound, Freddy Peralta emerges as the No. 3 starter and fans 150 in 125 innings. Josh Hader gets all the saves.
New York Mets: Dominic Smith plays regularly in left field and, for the second consecutive season, finishes higher on the Player Rater than Pete Alonso. (A full 50 points more of batting average matters.) Jeff McNeil wins the batting title, albeit with only 11 home runs. J.D. Davis hits 10 home runs. James McCann hits nine. Noah Syndergaard makes eight starts. Jacob deGrom and Marcus Stroman each throw 188 innings. Stroman wins five more games.
Philadelphia Phillies: Bullpen lefty Jose Alvarado steps up to lead the team with 19 saves. Rotation lefty Matt Moore is another revelation, providing 160 innings and a 3.80 ERA, second-best among the starters to Aaron Nola. Spencer Howard makes only four starts due to injury. Precocious third baseman Alec Bohm stays at the hot corner and hits .310 with 98 RBI. Roman Quinn nets a career-best 355 PA, stealing 29 bases. Opener Archie Bradley starts in the wild-card game!
Pittsburgh Pirates: Rookie Ke'Bryan Hayes hits .305 with 22 home runs and steals the Gold Glove award. Surprising first baseman Colin Moran smacks 31 home runs. On the mound, no starters win double-digit games, but David Bednar saves 15 to lead the team. Richard Rodriguez is the sixth-inning option for the Yankees by mid-June.
San Diego Padres: Four Padres go 20/20, with Wil Myers and Tommy Pham joining Fernando Tatis Jr. and Trent Grisham in an aggressive lineup. Victor Caratini homers more than catching buddy Austin Nola. Yu Darvish issues a mere 30 walks in his 31 starts, wins 21 games and the NL Cy Young award. He also wins Game 1 of the World Series, outdueling Jose Berrios. (Fear not, Twins fans. Berrios gets him back in Game 5!) Prospect MacKenzie Gore makes more starts than injured Dinelson Lamet, but unfortunately neither makes 15 of them.
San Francisco Giants: Mike Yastrzemski and Tommy La Stella are the lone Giants to surpass 20 home runs. Donovan Solano just misses winning the NL batting title, with a .322 mark. Kevin Gausman is legit, posting a 3.45 ERA with 176 strikeouts. Matt Wisler saves 24 games and the Phillies give him a three-year deal worth a billion dollars in November.
St. Louis Cardinals: Outfielder Dylan Carlson hits .282 with 32 home runs and 16 steals, winning NL Rookie of the Year honors. Nolan Arenado proves that he can hit anywhere, hitting .299 with 33 home runs. Yadier Molina cedes starting catcher duties to Andrew Knizner, the latter hitting .280 with 13 home runs and becoming fantasy relevant. Adam Wainwright paces the staff with 16 wins and a 3.24 ERA, edging out Jack Flaherty in both departments. Prospect Matthew Liberatore makes 16 starts, one of them coming in Game 3 of the playoffs.
Washington Nationals: Two Nationals hit 40 home runs. One is obvious, pending MVP Juan Soto. The other is Kyle Schwarber. Trea Turner has an awesome fantasy season, but swipes only 28 bases. Carter Kieboom hits .280 and sticks at third base. Patrick Corbin throws 25 more innings than any other Washington starter -- and they are very good ones.