2018 MLB Season Predictions

Today the best secular holiday coincides with the start of the three most important days of the year.  Yes, Opening Day is Holy Thursday.  This has me torn, especially since I will be busy and will miss the Astros first game.  At least there’s 161 others.  So without further ado, here are my predictions for the 2018 season:

American League

East

New York Yankees (though Stanton misses time and Judge has a slump)

Boston Red Sox (Wild Card; not enough pitching to match the strong offense)

Toronto Blue Jays (no Bautista, injuries hurt)

Baltimore Orioles (I’m not sure they know what they’re doing)

Tampa Bay Rays (rebuilding…again)

Central

Cleveland Indians (could break their own record for pitchers’ strikeouts)

Minnesota Twins (Wild Card; young team on the rise)

Kansas City Royals (losing Perez rough for the start)

Chicago White Sox (good young talent but not complete)

Detroit Tigers (a swift fall and rebuilding in the works)

West

Houston Astros (on paper even better than last year)

Los Angeles Angels (will challenge for a bit)

Seattle Mariners (King Felix continues to disintegrate before our eyes)

Texas Rangers (most have them last, but I never underestimate these losers)

Oakland Athletics (stuck in a rut)

National League

East

Washington Nationals (possibly the easiest division to pick)

Philadelphia Phillies (maturing quickly but still pretty far back)

New York Mets (all that money and nothing to show for it)

Atlanta Braves (still rebuilding)

Miami Marlins (are they trying to copy the early 2010s Astros?)

Central

Milwaukee Brewers (upset alert!  Upset alert!)

Chicago Cubs (Wild Card; sure very talented but for some reason not the same after 2016)

St. Louis Cardinals (still missing some parts)

Cincinnati Reds (Votto needs a chance on a real team)

Pittsburgh Pirates (clearly not trying)

West

Los Angeles Dodgers (not quite as good as last year)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Wild Card; a solid team in a challenging division)

Colorado Rockies (do they have the pitching?)

San Francisco Giants (rebuilding with veterans?  Astros will tell you that doesn’t work)

San Diego Padres (better than expected)

Playoffs:

AL Wild Card: Twins over Red Sox

NL Wild Card: Diamondback over Cubs

ALDS:  Astros over Twins

              Indians over Yankees

NLDS:  Nationals over Diamondbacks (I’ve been bitten too many times, but still a little hope)

              Dodgers over Brewers

ALCS:  Astros over Indians

NLCS:  Dodgers over Nationals (like I said, I can’t put too much faith in the Nationals)

World Series:  Astros over Dodgers (repeat!  Let the jinx begin)

AL MVP:  Carlos Correa

AL Cy Young:  Carlos Carrasco

AL ROY:  Willie Calhoun

NL MVP:  Paul Goldschmidt

NL Cy Young:  Noah Syndergaard

NL ROY:  Ronald Acuna