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Looking back at some 2015 Mariners predictions

The Mariners were bad. Most of us were not expecting it.

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

Way back on April 5th, I posted a ~silly survey asking all of you fine people to make 10 different predictions about the 2015 Seattle Mariners. More than 2,700 people responded! Those results were compiled here.  Now that the season is over, it's time to take a quick look back to see how people did.

Question 1: Which of the following players will get called up to the big-league club first? 
Q1
(A) Chris Taylor (B) Dominic Leone (C) Roenis Elias (D) Joe Beimel Total
# of votes 662 771 915 373 2721
% of votes 24.3% 28.3% 33.6% 13.7% 100.0%

Answer 1: (B) Dominic Leone.

It did not take long for Lloyd to make his first call to the minors. Tommy Wilhelmsen hyperextended his elbow and Dominic Leone joined the club on April 13th, just eight days into the 2015 season. (It should be noted that all of these gentleman joined the big league club by May 4th, because why not?)

Question 2: How many opposite-field home runs will Kyle Seager hit in 2015?
Q2
(A) None (B) 1-2 (C) 3-4 (D) 5 or more Total
# of votes 37 496 1346 713 2592
% of votes 1.4% 19.1% 51.9% 27.5% 100.0%

Answer 2: (B) One opposite-field home run.

Kyle hit just one dinger to the left side of dead center in 2015. Only three of his 96 career home runs have been to the opposite field.

Question 3: How many strikeouts will King Felix record in 2015?
Q3
(A) Less than 175 (B) 176-200 (C) 201-225 (D) 226 or more Total
# of votes 48 455 1606 470 2579
% of votes 1.9% 17.6% 62.3% 18.2% 100.0%

Answer 3: (B) 191 strikeouts.
For the first time since 2008, Felix failed to eclipse the 200 strikeout mark. Despite his 18 wins, our King looked very mortal this year. Please rest/heal up this off-season, Felix. The Mariners need you.

Question 4: How many home runs will Nelson Cruz hit AT SAFECO FIELD in 2015?
Q4
(A) 7 or fewer (B) 8-11 (C) 12-15 (D) 16 or more Total
# of votes 63 828 1281 385 2557
% of votes 2.5% 32.4% 50.1% 15.1% 100.0%

Answer 4: (D) 17 home runs at Safeco Field.

Before the season began, quite a few people expressed worry that Safeco might conquer/sap some of Cruz's power. Thankfully, this did not turn out to be the case in 2016. Cruz did hit a little bit better on the road this season (164 wRC+ vs. 152 wRC+), but dude still raked in Seattle.

Question 5: Which of these players will have the best first half (in terms of fWAR)?
Q5
(A) Logan Morrison (B) Dustin Ackley (C) Seth Smith (D) Nelson Cruz Total
# of votes 348 940 446 802 2536
% of votes 13.7% 37.1% 17.6% 31.6% 100.0%

Answer 5: (D) Nelson Cruz with 2.4 fWAR.

Cruz. It was Cruz. By a lot. He was very good in both the first half of the season and in the second half of the season. Thank goodness he wasn't a bust during his first year with the M's. 2015 would've been terribly rough if that had been the case. (Side note: I can't believe I picked Logan Morrison! His September last year really had me believing. Although I suppose it could've been worse. I could've been one of the ~1000 people to have picked Dustin Ackley. So much optimism at the beginning of the season. So much naivete.)

Question 6: How many wins will Taijuan Walker record in 2015?
Q6
(A) 6 or fewer (B) 7-9 (C) 10-12 (D) 13 or more Total
# of votes 31 314 1395 799 2539
% of votes 1.2% 12.4% 54.9% 31.5% 100.0%

Answer 6: (C) 11 wins.

On May 24th, after starting nine games for the Seattle Mariners, Tai was rockin' an ERA north of 7.00 and had a record of 1-5. Things looked bleak for the Mariners 22-year-old righty. Thankfully, Walker was able to turn his season around in a big way and figure out how to pitch ~consistently to Major League hitters. (The Mariners went 15-5 in Walker's final 20 starts of the season.)

Question 7: How many walks (BB and IBB, but not HBP) will Mike Zunino record in 2015?
Q7
(A) 15 or fewer (B) 16-22 (C) 23-28 (D) 29 or more Total
# of votes 287 997 762 383 2429
% of votes 11.8% 41.0% 31.4% 15.8% 100.0%

Answer 7: (B) 21 walks.

After a miserable walk rate last season (3.6%!), Mike's ability to draw walks increased by 50% in 2015 (up to 5.4%). Unfortunately, everything else about his approach this season was terrible. He accrued almost 100 fewer PA in '15 than he did last year and found himself in Tacoma by the end of August. Poor Mikey.

Question 8: Who will start the most games at shortstop for the Mariners IN THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER?
Q8
(A) Brad Miller (B) Chris Taylor (C) Willie Bloomquist :( (D) Ketel Marte Total
# of votes 1846 532 15 27 2420
% of votes 76.3% 22.0% 0.6% 1.1% 100.0%

Answer 8: (D) Ketel Marte started 26 of 27 games at shortstop in the month of September.

It should be noted that I only included Marte because I wanted all of the questions to have four answers to choose from. And it's a good thing that I did! True to form, the Mariners came into the season with two seemingly viable candidates for shortstop, only to see one of them fall away and another ascend to take his place. Hopefully Ketel stops this awful cycle in 2016 and shows that he can be an above average player for an entire MLB season.

Question 9: How many games will your Seattle Mariners win in 2015?
Q9
(A) 77 or fewer (B) 78-84 (C) 85-90 (D) 91 or more Total
# of votes 9 91 1077 1252 2429
% of votes 0.4% 3.7% 44.3% 51.5% 100.0%

Answer 9: (A) 76 wins

This is so sad. How did this happen? Why, Mariners? Why? Almost three thousand people answered at least one question on this quiz. Of those, only NINE clicked the "77 or fewer" button for this question. What a shitty season.

Question 10: Which of these images do you think will most accurately represent Brad Miller's haircut at the trade deadline?

Q10
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 :'( Total
# of votes 413 420 515 753 2101
% of votes 19.7% 20.0% 24.5% 35.8% 100.0%

Answer 10: (D) The shortest hair.

Brad's hair was a little bit disappointing for most of the season. (Just like his defense in the field!) Thankfully, his long/luxurious locks were on display all year whenever they showed an official photograph of him. Kudos to Brad for waiting to get a haircut until after the M 's had taken all of their promo photos.

- - -

Question Andrew Matt David Anders LL community Answers!
1 B B C B C B
2 C B C B C B
3 D C D B C B
4 C B C A C D
5 A A B D B D
6 D B C C C C
7 C B D C B B
8 A A A B A D
9 C C D D D A
10 A D B B D D
1 out of 10 4 out of 10 1 out of 10 5 out of 10 3 out of 10

What a mess I made of this survey. I would be very sad about getting only one of these questions right, but that's also the number that David answered correctly and I suppose he's pretty good company. Meanwhile, the community did marginally better than you would expect if you'd had a small child pick answers randomly. Matt and Anders, by comparison, are all-stars. Good job, fellas.