Opening Day Preview

March 31, 2017

On April 2nd, six major league baseball teams will face off. Opening Day will feature three games. The defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs will face off against division foe St. Louis Cardinals. The Tampa Bay Rays will host their American League East rival the New York Yankees. The San Francisco Giants will also host their division rival the Arizona Diamondbacks after an off-season full of trades and free agent signings, the anticipation for the game’s return is skyrocketing.

This year’s favorites according to Las Vegas odds, are the Chicago Cubs, who are coming off the first World Series in 108 years.

Here are our projections for division winners as well as our World Series prediction.

American League East – The American League East will be a very competitive division this season. However, the Boston Red Sox will win the east with their stacked pitching. Last year’s American League CY Young winner Rick Porcello paired with David Price and Chris Sale make the Red Sox pitching staff one of the tops in the league. The Yankees can be an upset team to watch with Gary Sanchez who can hit with the best of them.

American League Central – The American League Central will be in contention to the end of September. Our prediction is the Cleveland Indians will capture the American League Central yet again. The signing of Edwin Encarnación will add power to a stacked team. Corey Kluber will be unstoppable and is a contender to win the Cy Young award.

American League West – The American League West will be a battle for the crown between the Seattle Mariners and Texas Ranger. However, we believe the Rangers will prevail through their balanced team. Yu Darvish leads maybe the most balanced team in the entire league. Emerging superstar Nomar Mazara, has drawn comparisons to Yankee superstar Jacoby Ellsbury and will likely be in contention for 20-20 club (20 home runs and 20 stolen bases).

American League Cy Young Award – Chris Sale Boston Red Sox

American League MVP – Mike Trout Los Angeles Angels

American League Rookie of the year – Andrew Benintendi Boston Red Sox

National League East – The Washington Nationals will easily eat up the NL East. With Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Gio Gonzalez at the helm of that pitching staff. The league will find it very hard to score runs or even hit the ball against these top tier pitchers. Not only that, but the Nationals have a stacked lineup with slugger Bryce Harper and Park Vista alum Trea Turner being the main cogs in that lineup for the Nationals.

National League Central – We predict the Chicago Cubs will easily run away with the division. The defending champions are hands down the most superstar packed team in the league. Kris Bryant, the NL MVP of last season, Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber, Javier Baez and many more are just some of the names in that deadly lineup. The Cubs will give their opponents headaches every game and poise a threat to pull off back to back World Series championships for the windy city.

National League West – For the NL West, we predict the Dodgers will just pull off the division title in the final games of the season against their rival San Francisco Giants. Clayton Kershaw, after the injury plagued season he faced last year, he is ready to come back and show the MLB why he is the best pitcher in baseball. Corey Seager, who had a breakout season for the Dodgers, is looking to become one of the youngest MVP’s that baseball has seen, as he was snubbed for the award last year to 3B Kris Bryant.

NL MVP – Corey Seager Los Angeles Dodgers

NL CY Young – Clayton Kershaw Los Angeles Dodgers

NL Rookie of The Year – Dansby Swanson Atlanta Braves

World Series Prediction – The American League winner will be the Boston Red Sox led by their ace Chris Sale. The National League winner will be the Chicago Cubs who will be led by their superstar Kris Bryant. Sale will close out the World Series in game 7, out-dueling Jake Arrieta. Expect clutch performances by the Cubs Anthony Rizzo and the Red Sox Mookie Betts who will take home the World Series MVP.

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