2019 MLB Preview

The 2019 MLB season is finally here! Many teams made big offseason moves and predicting this 2019 season has been nearly impossible until we knew where all the big name free agents would sign. But not to fret. Matt and Jake have allowed me to predict the MLB season for a second year and I couldn’t be more excited about it. Let’s get started.

We’ll kick things off predicting the AL East division. 2018 proved to be a dominant year for the Red Sox who would go on to win not only the division but the World Series as well. This year, the Red Sox are poised to be a threat to repeat as they have the second best odds to win it all in 2019. They return arguably the best outfield in baseball and the entire starting rotation they took into October. They did lose key pieces to their bullpen however, which is the biggest question mark to their success this year. Their biggest threat to a World Series repeat? The team that alongside the Houston Astros have the best odds to win, and who happen to be in their own division: The New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers won over 100 games last season and made multiple additions to their starting and relieving pitching rotations like James Paxton and Adam Ottavino. They also resigned J.A. Happ and Zack Britton and bring back a team that broke the season record for home runs last year. The biggest downside for New York seems to be missing their star shortstop Didi Gregorius for half the season due to Tommy John surgery in the offseason, but the signing of Troy Tulowitzki may remedy that loss. The Rays surprised many people in 2018, making a legitimate run at the second wild card spot, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they made a similar run this season. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell returns, as well as a healthy Kevin Kiermaier, and they hope to give the high flying Red Sox and Yankees a run for their money. The Blue Jays don’t seem to have much to be excited about aside from the looming come up of big name prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The pitching rotation relies heavily on Marcus Stroman and they didn’t make many notable moves in the offseason, so expect the Jays to be lacking. Finally, the Orioles are in a rebuild and saw their biggest stars in Zack Britton and Manny Machado leave in 2018. They didn’t sign a single free agent to a major league deal this offseason and will instead allow their younger players to mature in the big leagues. Losing less than 100 games would be a huge win for the rebuilding Orioles.

2019 AL East Predictions:

Yankees: 103-59

Red Sox: 91-71

Rays: 86-76

Blue Jays: 92-70

Orioles: 55-107

Next I’ll dive into the AL Central, which should pan out similarly to last season. I do believe, however, that the Twins will give the Indians a little more of a scare this go around. The Twins added power to their lineup with the additions of Nelson Cruz and Jonathan Schoop and now have a healthy Michael Pineda back from Tommy John surgery. Their main weakness a year ago was their depth in pitching, which they seem to have addressed. The Indians still have one of the best starting rotations in baseball and even with a banged up Francisco Lindor, I still see them taking home a fourth straight division title. The White Sox posted their first 100-loss season since 1970 a year ago and still have work to do before they’re back in contention for a playoff spot. They traded for Ivan Nova and Yonder Alonso to boost their pitching staff and offense, which both ranked 26th and 24th respectively in 2018. The White Sox will largely look to their farm system to mature quickly and reach the Bigs by the end of the season, and hopefully see enough improvement to compete for the division in coming years. The Tigers and Royals round out the division, both fully accepting of a rebuild. Miguel Cabrera returns from injury and the pitching rotation will make a step in the right direction, but the offense is still in question. Detroit’s only above average hitter in 2018 was Nicholas Castellanos, leading a team that scored the 5th fewest runs in the MLB. The Royals have a huge hole in their pitching staff, but are seeing rising stars in Whit Merrifield and Adalberto Mondesi that they hope to build around. Their star catcher Salvador Perez being out for the season certainly won’t help them, and with a lacking starting rotation, the Royals will be fighting to avoid another 100-loss season.

2019 AL Central Predictions:

Indians: 90-72

Twins: 86-76

White Sox: 72-90

Tigers: 69-93

Royals: 61-101

We’ll round off the American League with the West division. The Astros look to secure a 3rd straight division title, and are likely to do so with the amazing talent they possess on offense and in the field. Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, and George Springer all return to a daunting lineup. The only real threat to a title run will be missing Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers Jr. from the rotation. Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole will need to have big seasons to overcompensate for that. The best player in baseball, Mike Trout, signed the largest contract in sports history and will try to bring the Angels back above .500 for the first time in 3 seasons. The Angels signed Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill to bolster the pitching rotation, and they have young stars poised to enter the majors this year, so look for a better finish in 2019 from Anaheim. The A’s were one of the surprises of 2018, posting 97 wins and earning a wild card spot before falling to the Yankees. They return a large portion of their lineup which finished 3rd in home runs last year, but will look to some younger starting pitchers to bring them back to a playoff spot. The Mariners are another team that will rely heavily on prospects to enter the majors in 2019 to give them a shot at the playoffs. They traded James Paxton, Edwin Diaz, and Jean Segura mostly for prospects and will hope to see names like Justus Sheffield enter the Bigs and give their roster a boost. The Rangers don’t have much star power to show for, with a middle-tier offense and below average pitching staff. The Rangers signed some veteran arms who are returning from Tommy John surgery and will largely rely on Rougned Odor, Nomar Mazara, and Elvis Andrus to lead the offense. It will be a tall task avoiding back to back 90-loss seasons in for the Rangers.

2019 AL West Predictions:

Astros: 96-66

Athletics: 85-77

Angels: 84-78

Mariners: 74-88

Rangers: 71-91

The NL East will be a battle all year long with trade shake ups and young talent maturing. Three, if not four of the five teams in the division have a reasonable shot at winning the East. First you have the Nationals, who will be missing Bryce Harper this year, but bolstered their already potent starting rotation by adding names like Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez. They also return a left side of the defense that is among the best in baseball with Anthony Rendon at 3rd, Trea Turner at short, and Juan Soto in left field. The Braves will look to defend their NL East crown by looking to young star Ronald Acuña to have a repeat of his stellar rookie season, as well as Freddie Freeman and Josh Donaldson. They also have a pitching rotation that runs 8 deep, but will need to have a better showing from a bullpen which finished 17th in MLB a year ago. The Phillies acquired catcher JT Realmuto and star outfielder Bryce Harper during the offseason and will look to make some noise in the East as well. The Phillies also added shortstop Jean Segura and have a very solid first baseman in Rhys Hoskins. If this roster can stay healthy, look for the Phillies to not only snap their streak of 6 straight losing seasons, but potentially win the division. The Mets return their deadly starting rotation of Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, and Steven Matz. The Mets struggled largely with their infield and their bullpen last year, but added Edwin Diaz, Robinson Cano, Jed Lowrie, and JD Davis to help with that. Finally we have the only team with really no shot to make the playoffs, the Marlins. Starlin Castro is really the only bright spot on this team which finished last in runs scored, 25th in ERA, and last in bullpen ERA.

2019 NL East Predictions:

Phillies: 91-71

Braves: 88-74

Nationals: 87-75

Mets: 83-79

Marlins: 59-103

The NL Central features another division where 3 teams have a real shot at taking the crown. The Cubs still have a top 3 infield and an overall lineup talented enough to carry them to a fifth straight playoff appearance. They were relatively quiet in the offseason, but some of their rivals made moves to surge past their potent lineup. The Brewers return the best outfield in the NL headed by reigning MVP Christian Yelich. Former Royals champions Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas return as well with their deadly bats and fielding ability. The Brew Crew also return much of their relief pitching, which posted a fifth-best bullpen ERA in 2018. The Cardinals have a very talented infield, which they boosted by adding Paul Goldschmidt. They also signed Andrew Miller to be their closer, which will be a nice compliment to setup man Jordan Hicks. These additions as well as young arms ready for the Bigs will put the Cardinals in great position to get back to the playoffs for the first time in 3 years. The Reds look to improve this year as they added Yasiel Puig, Scott Schebler, Matt Kemp, and Jesse Winkler to the roster. The Reds mainly falter in their pitching staff, which has ranked 25th or worse the last four seasons. They added failed Yankee Sonny Gray as well as Tanner Roark and Alex Wood, so hopefully the less pressure on young pitchers will result in more success. Finally we have the Pirates, who will be fighting to avoid a last place finish in the division. The outfield finished top 10 in the majors and they have a catching unit which finished second best, but that couldn’t make up for poor infield play. While this team is no Miami Marlins, and compete in a weaker division, the rest of the NL Central appears too strong for the Pirates to make much noise.

2019 NL Central Predictions:

Brewers: 89-73

Cubs: 87-75

Cardinals: 86-76

Reds: 77-85

Pirates: 74-88

Finally we have the NL West, where the Dodgers look poised to win for a seventh straight season. Losses like Manny Machado and Yasiel Puig are notable, but the team still has young stars like Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger who lead a still potent offense. The largest weakness comes from their bullpen, which completely fell apart in last years playoffs, mainly the World Series. They did sign Joe Kelly who will look to improve that, and look to land right where they were last October. The Rockies will likely compete again as they have a top 3 starting rotation complimented by star infielders Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story. The team lacked in their outfield performance, but still has a strong enough lineup to land them in the postseason once again. The Padres have made great leaps in their rebuild, signing Manny Machado to help out their already talented outfield as well as other power threats in the lineup like Eric Hosmer. Pitching is definitely still a lagging point for San Diego, but they will lean heavily on their first-ranked farm system to remedy that. The Giants still have stars in Buster Posey and Brandon Belt, but haven’t produced a productive outfielder in recent years, which has been a detriment to an offense that finished second to last in the majors last year. They hope to see big seasons out of Jeff Samardzija and Drew Pomeranz to make the rotation\ viable. The Diamondbacks return most of a pitching staff that finished 4th in ERA in 2018, but lost a huge piece in Patrick Corbin. Another big blow to the team was losing Paul Goldschmidt in free agency, which will hurt an already ailing offense. The pitching staff could keep the D-Backs competitive for some time, but over the course of the season I think we’ll see the offense ultimately fail this team.

2019 NL West Predictions:

Dodgers: 95-67

Rockies: 92-70

Padres: 76-86

Giants: 72-90

Diamondbacks: 68-94

Playoff Picture:

American League Division Winners will include the Yankees, Astros, and Indians with the two Wild Card teams being the Red Sox and Rays. National League Division Winners will include the Phillies, Brewers, and Dodgers with the two Wild Card teams being the Rockies and Braves. The Yankees will meet the Brewers in the World Series and ultimately win their 28th World Series title. Enjoy the 2019 MLB Season y’all!