Cardinals, Pirates and Red Sox: 3 preseason predictions we wish we made

Closing in on a quarter of the way through the 2023 season, there have been as many surprises as disappointments across MLB. Yes, a quarter sample size over a 162-game regular season is not a lot, but it is still telling.

Before every season begins, there are predictions made, and even some bold ones for the upcoming season. Of course, you’re either going to hit on some of them and look good, or fail miserably and set yourself up for some failure. That’s the fun of making predictions.

As the league closes in on the season’s quarter-point, here are three bold predictions we wished we made before the first pitch was thrown on March 28.

MLB prediction do-over: St. Louis Cardinals under 89 wins

Talk about hitting rock bottom. The St. Louis Cardinals have gone from a potential playoff team to being buried in the National League Central Division standings in less than a quarter of the season.

In fact not only do they have the least amount of wins in the National League, but only the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics have fewer wins. That’s not the company you want to be joining early in the season. They just avoided a sweep by the Detroit Tigers by recording a seven-run sixth inning in Sunday’s 12-6 win for win No. 11 on the season in 35 games.

Pitching has not been good, the offense has struggled at times, and the loss of Yadier Molina is evident. Behind the plate after 19 consecutive years is being felt with the pitching staff. Offensively, they are hitting just .259 as a team and their pitching has a team ERA of 4.59. Not a good combination and two stats you’re not used to seeing with the Cardinals.

There is still plenty of time for St. Louis to turn things around, but reaching 89 wins is almost out of the question without a crazy winning streak or two mixed in. Is it possible? Yes, but unlikely. The first step should be finding a way past the Cincinnati Reds in the division. Baby steps.

MLB prediction do-over: Boston Red Sox over 77.5 wins

With the offseason the Red Sox had with losing Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and Nathan Eovaldi in free agency, expectations were low coming into the season. Adam Duvall and Corey Kluber along with Masataka Yoshida were not names that were going to get the fanbase excited.

Under 77.5 wins seemed like a good bet with a roster that was considered the worst on paper in a loaded AL East, but Alex Cora has got the best out of the team and they are rewarding him and GM Chaim Bloom with their start to 2023. A recent eight-game winning streak can change the narrative of a season but in the Red Sox case, it was no fluke.

After dropping the first game of a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians on April 28, they won the final two games, then swept the Blue Jays at home in four games and took two out of three against the Philadelphia Phillies. They did it all during the streak, pitching, hitting, and defense.

After a bad start to the season, Yoshida has settled into the middle of the lineup and is currently on a 16-game hitting streak, while Chris Sale has seemed to turn things around recently with back-to-back good outings. They have reverted back to the Red Sox of old, wearing out pitching staffs, making teams pay for their mistakes and being aggressive, and making things happen on the bases. I’m not saying they’re going to win the World Series, but they do look like a team that will be battling for a postseason berth all summer and passing their projected win total.

All preseason predictions are bound to be a toss-up, but these three teams have been on different paths to begin the season and are on pace to make some betters happy with their bets, or they are going to crush some betters. Regardless, these are three preseason predictions I wish I made for the Pirates, Cardinals, and Red Sox.