It's April 4, we're three games (plus) into the MLB regular season, and I did not do any post about the upcoming season. Eh, better late than never, right? Anyway, I'll still make some predictions for the MLB season. Similarly to how I do my NFL predictions, I'll talk about each division instead of each team. Afterwards, I'll talk about the Mariners and make some predictions. Here we go!
* = Wild Card
NL East
1. Atlanta Braves
2. Washington Nationals*
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. Miami Marlins
5. New York Mets
The NL East has got some good teams and it was hard to decide what order to put them. I think the Braves have some of the best players in Albies, Acuna, and Freeman, plus a pretty good pitching staff. The Nationals are only a year removed from winning it all and still boast some great players, most notably Juan Soto. The Phillies are about an average team for me. The Marlins are slowly getting better from the rebuild. The Mets... well... are the Mets. They have Pete Alonso, but I don't think they have many other notable players.
NL Central
1. Milwaukee Brewers
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Chicago Cubs
4. Cincinnati Reds
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
This might be the division I pay the least attention to. I had a tough time blindly trying go figure out the order. I just have a gut feeling the Brewers are about to have a magical season. The Cardinals just got Nolan Arenado, so they should be improved. The Cubs still have some decent players, but aren't on the upswing. The Reds aren't awful, but there's just always too much competition in the NL Central for them. The Pirates, I know, are rebuilding and have gotten rid of a lot of great players in recent years, most notably Andrew McCutcheon and Garritt Cole.
NL West
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. San Diego Padres*
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Colorado Rockies
The NL West remains a very tough division. The Dodgers are the most stacked team in all of baseball, and now boast a pitching staff that can compete with anyone's. The Padres are young and up and coming and will give the Dodgers fits. The Giants will not be an easy out for most teams as they have a few good, young players plus notable vets like Crawford, Belt, and Posey. The D-Backs will be decent, but not great. The Rockies only real good player is Nolan Arenado, who may want out of town, despite signing a contract extension.
AL East
1. New York Yankees
2. Toronto Blue Jays*
3. Boston Red Sox
4. Tampa Bay Rays
5. Baltimore Orioles
The Yankees remain a top team and are the favorites to win the division. The Blue Jays signed George Springer and have a lot of really good young players like Guerrero and Biggio. The Red Sox are usually at least somewhat competitive. The Rays and Orioles won't be awful, but won't be that good, either.
AL Central
1. Chicago White Sox
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Cleveland Indians
4. Kansas City Royals
5. Detroit Tigers
The White Sox are an up and coming team and I think they take a big jump this season. The Twinkies remain a solid team, but not solid enough to make the playoffs. The Indians still have some good pieces, but have also lost a few, most notably Trevor Bauer. The Royals remain below average, and the Tigers are still rebuilding.
AL West
1. Houston Astros
2. Oakland Athletics*
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Los Angeles Angels
5. Texas Rangers
I hate to say it, but the Astros are probably winning the division again. They lost Springer, but still have a lot of good players. Let's just hope fans boo and ridicule them. The A's are always pesky and competitive. As for my Mariners, I think they surprise people and remain competitive. But they fall short of the playoffs for the 20th straight season. The Angels aren't awful, but the Rangers kind of are.
I haven't said yet, but I believe they're going back to the playoff format they had in 2019 (not using the 2020 expanded playoffs), which would be a one-game playoff for the wild card spot. Anyway, I'll sim the playoffs below real quick.
NL Wild Card: Padres over Nationals
AL Wild Card: Blue Jays over Athletics
NL Divisional Round
Dodgers over Padres in 5 games
Braves over Brewers in 4 games
AL Divisional Round
Yankees over Blue Jays in 4 games
White Sox over Astros in 5 games
NL Championship Series
Dodgers over Braves in 6 games
AL Championship Series
Yankees over White Sox in 5 games
World Series
Dodgers over Yankees in 7 games
The Dodgers repeat as champions, and they beat the Yankees at their own game of spending a lot to assemble a super team.
Now, onto the Mariners. I think they'll win somewhere between 75-85 games, with some ups and downs along the way. They could maybe even break the .500 mark for the first time since 2018.
I'm just going to predict who I think will lead the team in each category. Some may surprise you.
Batting average: Ty France
Home Runs: Kyle Lewis
RBI's: Kyle Seager
Stolen Bases: Dylan Moore
Hits: Ty France
Wins: Marco Gonzales
ERA: Marco Gonzales
Saves: Rafael Montero
K's: Yusei Kikuchi
I'm going to tune into Mariners games all summer long to check on the progress of some players. I'm looking forward to the debuts of some of the youngsters, such as Kelenic and Gilbert, hopefully. I really do think this team could remain competitive and perhaps in the race going into middle to late September. Could make for an interesting summer. Let's hope it is!
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