As we enter the first full month of the Major League Baseball season, the pace of play is moving along splendidly, and the games are now more exciting. The pitch clock is certainly doing its job speeding up the action, as game times are way down and, thanks to the elimination of the defensive shift, offense is up. This is exactly what the league was hoping would happen. Since we have our division winners already logged, it’s time to dig deeper and pick our playoff winners and individual awards for the 2023 MLB predictions this season.
Recent Series Division Winners:
- AL East: Toronto Blue Jays
- AL Central: Cleveland Guardians
- AL West: Seattle Mariners
- NL East: Atlanta Braves
- NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals
- NL West: San Diego Padres
- AL Wildcard: NY Yankees, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays
- NL Wildcard: NY Mets, LA Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies
ALCS:
I have the Cleveland Guardians facing off against the Seattle Mariners. This would be a championship series unlike any other with the Mariners trying desperately to get to a World Series. Cleveland has the pitching staff and the managerial experience combined with a young lineup that is powerful. The Mariners have a deep pitching staff and excellent bullpen to lead them through October and one of the best young players in the game in CF Julio Rodriguez.
NLCS:
Give me the Braves and the Padres in the NLCS. You cannot argue that any other team has done more than San Diego to make themselves contenders. They signed Xander Bogaerts, traded for Juan Soto, locked up Manny Machado, and extended other key players. The Braves are loaded with young talent and a few potential Cy Young candidates in their rotation.
World Series:
The Padres are going to make a lot of Dodgers fans angry when they win the 2023 World Series over the Guardians in five games. The Padres lineup will be too much to handle for any pitching staff come October. The middle of their lineup is simply too stacked as they’ve arranged the best showcase of power that we have seen in a very long time.
Awards:
AL MVP: Shohei Ohtani Los Angeles Angels – There is no denying that he’s the best player in the league and contributes more to the Angels than any other player can to their respective team. Ohtani will be in talks for both the Cy Young and the MVP award.
NL MVP: Fernando Tatis Jr. San Diego Padres – He got a lot of flak last season for injuring himself and then getting suspended by the league and now he will be on a mission to right all those wrongs. Tatis Jr. will have eyeballs on him all season long as the Padres will play in a lot of high-leverage situations.
AL Cy Young: Dylan Cease Chicago White Sox – I picked him last year and he put up fantastic numbers for the White Sox while finishing 2nd for the Cy Young. This year should feature more of the same with the Sox adding some offense behind him this year boost his chance of winning.
NL Cy Young: Spencer Strider Atlanta Braves – He finished 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting a year ago and will finish first in the Cy Young race this season. He had a 2.67 ERA last year with 202 strikeouts and will now be the face of the Braves talented rotation.
AL ROY: Masataka Yoshida Boston Red Sox – The Sox made a huge investment in the Japanese star this offseason and I see him going the distance this year in the ROY race after he showed the whole league what an RBI machine, he was in the World Baseball Classic.
NL ROY – Corbin Carroll Arizona Diamondbacks – He was once the game’s best prospect and now he’s a highly paid staple in the Diamondbacks lineup. So, what changed so quickly? Nothing really, the Dbacks just know he’s such a talent that they locked him up before he’s had a full MLB season.