A 60-game season sprint means anything can happen. Here are my 2020 MLB season predictions.
The 2020 MLB season is almost here! It all kicks off with a doubleheader on ESPN starting with Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees taking on Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals before Mookie Betts makes his regular-season Dodgers debut at home against the San Francisco Giants.
The Friday slate of Opening Day games features heavyweight matchups including Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets hosting Ronald Acuna Jr. and the Atlanta Braves, Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers head to Wrigley Field to open up their season against the Chicago Cubs, and star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. kicks off his second season against Madison Bumgarner and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Petco Park.
But before we get there, we predict all of the division winners, the full postseason picture, and guess who will take home the coronavirus awards (Manager of the Year, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and MVPs).
Let’s start with how all six divisions will shake out…
American League East
At the beginning of the off-season, the New York Yankees were already going to be one of the favorites in the American League, but then they turned into the clear-cut favorites after signing Gerrit Cole.
Cole is going to be leading a rotation that’s very strong even without Luis Severino (Tommy John surgery) and Domingo German. James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, and Jordan Montgomery will round out the rotation before handing it off to a bullpen that brings back a lot of firepower that includes the likes of Adam Ottavino, Zack Britton, and Aroldis Chapman.
The lineup will yet again hit a lot of home runs, as Gleyber Torres, Giancarlo Stanton, and Aaron Judge are just some of the bombers in their deep lineup.
The Yankees are the best team set up to deal with a short 2020 MLB season and the uncertainty with the coronavirus due to their depth in all areas of the team, so they should win the AL East pretty easily.
The Rays are always the team that doesn’t have many big names in their lineup but they always seem to be in the postseason come the month of October.
Austin Meadows has recently tested positive for the virus so that will be a set back for Tampa at least at the beginning of the season, but they still have plenty of firepower in the lineup to stay afloat.
Erik Neander brought in more power this offseason including Hunter Renfroe, Jose Martinez, and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo. The rotation led by Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow will keep the Rays in the playoff picture the entire season and the bullpen is pretty much the same minus Emilio Pagan, who was traded to San Diego for Manuel Margot.
Don’t expect the Rays to not be playing meaningful baseball at the end of September.
The Red Sox are going to take a step back this year, as they traded their best player, Mookie Betts, to the Los Angeles Dodgers. But it doesn’t just end there.
They will be without their top two starting pitchers from last season–Chris Sale had Tommy John surgery and David Price was traded to the Dodgers–which leaves the rotation very depleted.
Nathan Eovaldi is their Opening Day starter after Eduardo Rodriguez just started getting on the field after testing positive for COVID-19.
The rest of the rotation is less than desirable, as Martin Perez, Ryan Weber, Brian Johnson, and an opener will pitch in games 2, 3, 4, and 5 following Boston’s Opening Day game against the Baltimore Orioles.
Their lineup is still their strong suit with plenty of home run hitters including Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and Alex Verdugo.
It could be a long year for the Sox if the rotation can’t keep them in games.
Toronto will not be playing their games at Rogers Centre after their government denied their request to play 2020 MLB season games there during the pandemic.
But wherever they end up playing, their young stars will carry the offense this year. Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, and now first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be at the top of a very underrated lineup. Ross Atkins was able to bring in Hyun-Jin Ryu in free agency to be their ace followed by a few established starters including Chase Anderson and Tanner Roark.
This year is a perfect situation for Toronto to find find out what they have in their youngsters and keep developing Vlad Jr. at a new position.
The Orioles have continued to stockpile their farm system, bringing in Adley Rutschmann and Heston Kjerstad the last two drafts, but it will be another year of rebuilding for a young Baltimore club that will be without their best player, Trey Mancini, due to cancer.
A big question for Baltimore is to see if Chris Davis can finally cut down on the strikeouts after a couple of horrendous seasons.
John Means will be their ace and start on July 24 at Fenway Park vs the Boston Red Sox.