The 2018 baseball season is scheduled to kick off tomorrow, the earliest date in history (not counting special series outside of North America) with a full slate of games featuring all 30 teams. For the eighth consecutive year, I’ve looked into the crystal ball to make my picks for the upcoming season.
East: Yankees
Central: Indians
West: Astros
Wild Cards: Red Sox, Angels
AL Champion: Yankees
Cy Young: Chris Sale
MVP: Giancarlo Stanton
The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season, which will be announced next week. It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate. Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.
Most Valuable Player: Jose Altuve, Aaron Judge, Jose Ramirez
Francisco Lindor was was my pre-season selection to win the award this year, but he was left out of the top three in part to his teammate Jose Ramirez. Judge should be a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year, leaving Jose Altuve to take home the award, adding to his hardware.
Cy Young Award: Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, Luis Severino
Ironically, in his first year away from the White Sox, Chris Sale will finally win his first Cy Young award.
Manager of the Year: Terry Francona, A.J. Hinch, Paul Molitor
Once again, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season. I’m guessing the surprising Twins will give Paul Molitor some love, but A.J. Hinch should take home the award.
Rookie of the Year: Andrew Benintendi, Aaron Judge, Trey Mancini
Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season. Judge just might be a unanimous selection.
With Game 1 of the 2017 NLCS between the Cubs and Dodgers in the books, it’s time to take an updated look at the pitching leaders from the 9 LCS games I’ve attended prior to last night since 2003, featuring the White Sox, Cubs, Angels, Marlins, Dodgers, and Mets.
Wins
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Jacob deGrom | 1 |
| Paul Byrd | 1 |
| Brad Penny | 1 |
| Chad Fox | 1 |
| Mark Buehrle | 1 |
| Bartolo Colon | 1 |
| Ugueth Urbina | 1 |
| Kyle Hendricks | 1 |
| Aroldis Chapman | 1 |
Losses
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Jason Hammel | 1 |
| Mark Prior | 1 |
| Jose Contreras | 1 |
| Trevor Cahill | 1 |
| Kerry Wood | 1 |
| Kelvim Escobar | 1 |
| Mark Guthrie | 1 |
| Joe Blanton | 1 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 1 |
ERA (> 4 IP)
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Jarrod Washburn | 0.00 |
| Mark Buehrle | 1.00 |
| Jon Lester | 1.50 |
| Kyle Hendricks | 1.59 |
| Steven Matz | 1.93 |
Strikeouts
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Kyle Hendricks | 10 |
| Josh Beckett | 8 |
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The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season. It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate. Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.
Most Valuable Player: Lorenzo Cain, Josh Donaldson, Mike Trout
Mike Trout, who won last year’s award, was my pre-season selection to win again this year. While I think Josh Donaldson will get plenty of support, I’m going to stick with Trout to win.
Cy Young Award: Sonny Gray, Dallas Keuchel, David Price
Well, the one year I didn’t pick David Price as my pre-season pick, he makes his way into the top 3. That said, I’m thinking Dallas Keuchel, of the upstart Astros, will take home the award.
Manager of the Year: Jeff Banister, A.J. Hinch, Paul Molitor
Once again, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season. The three nominees all lead surprising teams into contention for most of the year. My guess is A.J. Hinch wins the award for leading the Astros to the post-season for the first time since 2005.
Rookie of the Year: Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Miguel Sano
Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season. This one should be a no-brainer, with Carlos Correa taking home the award.
Major League Baseball is asking its fans to vote for the four most impactful players who best represent the history of each franchise. The winners will be announced in July at the All Star Game in Cincinnati. Today, I will give my Franchise Four picks for the National League West.
The Diamondbacks have only been around since 1998, so there isn’t a ton of history to choose from. 6 of the 8 nominees played on their 2001 World Championship team. My selections would be Randy Johnson, Luis Gonzalez, Matt Williams, and Steve Finley.
The Rockies franchise dates all the way back to 1993, so they are in a similar boat as the Diamondbacks, but without the championship to boost their roster. Not surprisingly, no pitchers made their list of 8 nominees. I would go with Todd Helton, Larry Walker, Dante Bichette, and Troy Tulowitzki.
The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season. It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate. Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.
Most Valuable Player: Michael Brantley, Mike Trout, Victor Martinez
Mike Trout was my pre-season selection to win this award, and I think, for once, I might have gotten one right. With Miguel Cabrera out of the picture, thanks to an injury-plagued campaign, Trout should bring home the award that many thought he deserved the past 2 seasons.
Cy Young Award: Chris Sale, Felix Hernandez, Corey Kluber
My initial guess of David Price obviously did not make the cut. While Chris Sale is the sentimental choice around these parts, smart money says that Felix Hernandez will take home the prize.
Manager of the Year: Buck Showalter, Mike Scioscia, Ned Yost
Once again, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season. Normally, I would go with Ned Yost, who led the Royals to the post-season for the first time since 1985, but if there is one thing the national media agrees on, it is how bad Ned Yost is as a manager. My guess is that the award will go to Buck Showalter, who lead the Orioles to their first division title since 1997.
Rookie of the Year: Jose Abreu, Dellin Betances, Matt Shoemaker
Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season. This one should be a no-brainer. I would expect Jose Abreu to bring the award back to the south side for the first time since Ozzie Guillen in 1985.
Back in March, just as the baseball season was about to get underway, I made my annual predictions on who was going to win what. Now that the regular season has come to an end, it is time to take a look back and see what, if anything, I got right.
East: Rays
Well, not a great selection here, as the Rays finished 4th in the East. Instead, the Orioles won the division for the first time since 1997.
Central: Tigers
It came down to the last day of the season, but the Tigers were able to hold off the upstart Royals and win the division for the fourth consecutive season.
West: Angels
Well, what do you know? Year after year, I pick the Angels to win the division and year after year, they disappoint. This year looked to be no different, but they caught fire just as the A’s started to fade, leading to their first divisional title since 2009.
Wild Cards: Red Sox, Rangers
Oof. The Rangers, thank to injury after injury, finished the year with the worst record in the American League. The Red Sox, fresh off a World Series title, were not too far behind. Instead, the small market A’s and Royals took the wild card spots.
AL Champion: Tigers
Cy Young: David Price
MVP: Mike Trout
Only 1 of these still seem like viable choices. The Tigers managed to get swept in the ALDS by the Orioles and David Price has little to no chance of bringing home another Cy Young Award. Mike Trout, meanwhile, is certainly still in the MVP conversation.
The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season. It is a good bet that none of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate. Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.
Most Valuable Player: Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Chris Davis
Mike Trout was my pre-season selection to win this award, but I also picked the Angels to win the American League. They dropped out of contention early, and I think the same can be said for Trout’s candidacy. My guess is Miguel Cabrera, who was having an even better year than his triple crown winning season a year ago before nagging injuries dragged him down towards the end of the year, takes home his second straight MVP.
Cy Young Award: Yu Darvish, Hisashi Iwakuma, Max Scherzer
My initial guess of David Price obviously did not make the cut. While books have been written about how wins are not a reliable way to track pitching effectiveness, my guess is that if you add in a 20 win season with a trip to the post-season, Max Scherzer will take home the prize.
Manager of the Year: John Farrell, Terry Francona, Bob Melvin
I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season. I imagine that Terry Francona, beloved former manager of the Red Sox, will take home the award for turning around a putrid Indians team and keeping them in contention for the majority of the year.
Rookie of the Year: Chris Archer, Jose Iglesias, Wil Myers
Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season. It is somewhat ironic, given the current value placed on young talent, that all 3 finalists for the award were traded to their current teams, one during this past season. My guess is that Wil Myers will win the award.
Continuing the tradition started two years ago and continued last year, here are my picks for the baseball season that is just getting underway.
East: Rays
Central: Tigers
West: Angels
Wild Cards: Blue Jays, A’s
AL Champion: Angels
Cy Young: David Price
MVP: Mike Trout
East: Braves
Central: Brewers
West: Dodgers
Wild Cards: Giants, Cardinals
NL Champion: Braves
Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw
MVP: Matt Kemp
6 months ago, I looked into my crystal ball and tried to predict the outcomes of the upcoming baseball season. Now that the season has (mercifully) come to an end, and my predicted divison winners finished an average of just over 13 games back, let’s take a look back at how wrong I was.
American League
East: Red Sox
National League
East: Braves
Wow. Neither team won their division, though both had commanding Wild Card leads heading into September. Both ultimately blew those leads, missing out on the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. The Red Sox actually were one of, in not the best team in baseball for 4 months this summer, but they were horrible in the other two, April and September. The Braves can at least point to injuries to their starting rotation as the cause for their collapse.
Central: White Sox
Central: Brewers