3. White Sox @ Astros
The defending World Series champions open up against the Chicago White Sox at home. The Astros are returning their entire World Series roster aside from Justin Verlander, which will not hinder them the least. The addition of Jose Abreu will be a fun storyline to watch as they hope the 36-year-old first baseman can regain his MVP form from 2020.
The White Sox lost a couple of pieces from last year, but brought in the likes of Andrew Benintendi and Mike Clevinger to again battle for the AL Central with the Twins and Guardians. Clevinger and the Sox are hoping his off-the-field situation doesn’t keep him off the field for the 2023 season as he has an opportunity to make a formidable one-two punch with Lucas Giolito at the top of the rotation.
2. Guardians @ Mariners
Having won the AL Central in 2022, the Guardians come into 2023 with a very similar roster as 2022 while bringing in 30-year-old first baseman Josh Bell. The Guardians will look to ride their stacked rotation to another division championship. The addition of Bell and the extension of Jose Ramirez will pair with Josh Naylor and free agent signing Mike Zunino to add some offense to back up the dominant rotation.
In 2022, the Mariners ended their 20-year playoff drought, which was the longest active drought across all four major sports. Seattle was able to win a series in the playoffs before falling to the eventual World Series champion Astros. Rookie Julio Rodriguez burst on the scene last year hitting .284 with 28 home runs and grabbing 25 stolen bases. They will be an interesting team to watch again this year with youngsters like Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh hoping to bring them to the playoffs once again.