Official 2013 MLB Predictions

Official 2013 MLB Predictions

We are at the end of March, which can mean only one thing: there’s a new season of baseball around the corner. America’s pastime is about to begin with a new chapter in its history, so it’s time for me to whip out all my Yankee good luck charms in the hopes that 2013 will be the year of 28. People say that the two most exciting words in all of sports are “Game Seven”, but there are another two words that have to be ranked right behind: “Opening Day”. There’s no thrill quite like the beginning of a new baseball season, with spring in the air, hot dogs to be eaten, and a beautiful game to be played. If you don’t know already, I am a diehard Yankee fan, which means that I am absolutely spoiled and biased, but as I write down my thoughts for you throughout the year, I’ll try to make sure my opinions are as objective and true as possible...that’s right, “try”. I am planning on making a huge Yankees piece before the season starts on Monday, as well as a post about the rise and fall of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry throughout my lifetime, but this column is not for those stories. In this piece, I am going to make all of my predictions, from standings to statistics, and of course, the World Series Champion. So far I have correctly predicted one World Series exactly from before the season: in 2009, I picked the Yankees to beat the Phillies in six games, which they did. That did bring up an awkward situation when the Bombers were up 3-1 and I didn’t know whether or not I wanted them to win or lose Game 5. I have never correctly predicted another World Series because I have fallen into the trap of picking the Yankees every single year. However, that isn’t too much of a homer pick, because they are always a top team season after season. This season has a different feel to it, so you may be surprised of who I’m picking to win the World Series this year...to prove that point, I’ll tell you that I still don’t know who my winner will be as I’m writing this column right now. We’ll get there by the end of the piece, I promise. So here’s how I’m making this happen: I’m going to start with regular season standings, then go through a bunch of player statistics, give out some awards, and finish up with the playoffs. I’m ready to go. I hope you are too. Enjoy.

American League

West                                                                          Central                                                                  East

OAK:   93-69                                                          DET:  94-68                                                      TB:    93-69

LAA:   90-72                                                           CLE:  85-77                                                         NYY: 91-71

SEA:   86-76                                                           KC:     81-81                                                        BAL:  87-75

TEX:   84-78                                                              CWS:  79-83                                                      TOR:  83-79

HOU:  54-108                                                         MIN:  61-101                                                      BOS:  78-84

 National League

West                                                                          Central                                                                   East

SF:    93-69                                                            CIN:   94-68                                                        WAS:   97-65

ARI:  88-74                                                             STL:   86-76                                                         ATL:    90-72

LAD: 85-77                                                            PIT:   82-80                                                         PHI:     83-79

SD:    75-87                                                             MIL:  77-85                                                         NYM:   76-86

COL: 68-94                                                            CHC:  66-96                                                        MIA:    61-101

There are my complete standings for all 30 teams. I have five of the six division champions repeating, which I am not a fan of, but I just feel like there are a select few teams that are just a notch better than everyone else. The National League in particular is particularly chalky, with mainly the top teams staying there. The two divisions to watch are the American League West and East. Even with the addition of Josh Hamilton, I still am not a big believer in the Angels, although I still think that they are talented enough to actually make the playoffs this year. I think Oakland will play well enough with their young pitchers and stay on top of the West. The balance of power will shift a little bit in the middle of the division; I think that Seattle is vastly underrated and Texas is slightly overrated. While the Mariners might not have enough talent in the tank to overtake the Rangers in the standings, I put them there anyway to drive home the point. The AL East, meanwhile, is a clusterf**k from top to bottom. I could make an argument for any team finishing first and any team finishing last. I feel that my predictions for this division are fair, understandable, and probable. The Rays will come out on top because of their consistency and their great young pitching. The question for them is their offense, but I think that Tampa will be able to score enough runs lead by a monster year from Evan Longoria. I think the Yankees will finish second, but that will depend on how quickly their stars return from injury. If Tex and Granderson are back by the end of May, then I think the Empire will be able to go on a tear for the last four months. The Orioles and Blue Jays are both wild cards here (as in their unpredictability, not getting a spot in the playoffs). The O’s had a magical season last year, and I don’t think too much of it was a fluke. The 29-9 record in one run games will not be repeated, but there’s enough talent and will there to be in playoff contention. The Blue Jays, on paper, are loaded. But I think the injury bug will bite them, and the players they acquired will not play up to expectations. They have a lot of talent, but they’re one of those “I’ll believe it when I see it” teams. Finally there’s the Red Sox, and that is not out of spite. They are a notoriously injured team, with less talent than years past. Maybe if they were in the Central, the Sox might be as high as number two, but it’ll be tough for them to compete in a gauntlet of a division. In other news, I expect the Pirates to FINALLY finish with a winning record for the first time since 1992. The Diamondbacks will be the surprise team in the National League, not only to finish in second in the West over the Dodgers, but to secure a wild card slot as well. The Dodgers are becoming the Yankees of the West, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. They have a bunch of overpaid players, and only a couple of whom are healthy and in their primes (Kemp, Kershaw, Greinke). So to recap, here are my playoff teams: TB, DET, OAK, NYY vs LAA in the American League, and WAS, CIN, SF, ATL vs ARI in the National League.

Statistics

American League

Jeter: .309, 11 HR, 47 RBI, 16 SB                                    
Cano: .311, 34 HR, 105 RBI                                               

CC Sabathia: 19-8, 3.41 ERA     

M. Rivera: 43 S, 1.87 ERA                                           
A Jones: .284, 31 HR, 89 RBI, 17 SB

Pedroia: .298, 18 HR, 73 RBI, 22 SB

Longoria: .309, 37 HR, 116 RBI

Price: 18-6, 3.01 ERA

Reyes: .282, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 39 SB
Bautista: .274, 40 HR, 102 RBI

RA Dickey: 14-11, 3.68 ERA
Mig Cabrera: .323, 38 HR, 121 RBI

Fielder: .297, 35 HR, 113 RBI

A Jackson: .291, 17 HR, 62 RBI, 24 SB

Verlander: 21-7, 2.71 ERA                                                   

M. Scherzer: 16-9, 3.55 ERA

Butler: .309, 26 HR, 97 RBI

Shields: 16-11, 3.56 ERA
Mauer: .318, 12 HR, 77 RBI

Swisher: .265, 25 HR, 80 RBI

Sale: 15-10, 3.31 ERA                                                           
Trout: .312, 27 HR, 78 RBI, 44 SB

Pujols: .302, 33 HR, 109 RBI

Hamilton: .286, 34 HR, 111 RBI
Weaver: 18-8, 2.69 ERA

Cespedes: .294, 29 HR, 93 RBI, 18 SB

B Anderson: 17-10, 2.83 ERA

Hernandez: 17-7, 2.43 ERA

Pena: .222, 26 HR, 74 RBI

Beltre: .289, 29 HR, 94 RBI

Darvish: 15-8, 3.72 ERA

National League

Wright: .308, 24 HR, 101 RBI, 21 SB
Hamels: 16-9, 3.11 ERA
Lee: 17-8, 3.01 ERA

Stanton: .281, 39 HR, 102 RBI

Harper: .282, 31 HR, 84 RBI, 22 SB                             

Strasburg: 20-7, 2.72 ERA                                               

J. Zimmerman: 14-8, 2.93 ERA

G. Gonzalez: 16-8, 3.20 ERA

Heyward: .279, 29 HR, 91 RBI, 17 SB

BJ Upton: .264, 23 HR, 68 RBI, 34 SB

J Upton: .304, 27 HR, 95 RBI, 24 SB

Freeman: .281, 32 HR, 107 RBI

Castro: .287, 17 HR, 77 RBI, 31 SB

Votto: .323, 34 HR, 115 RBI                                             
J. Bruce: .268, 36 HR, 101 RBI

Cueto: 18-9, 3.08 ERA

Braun: .318, 38 HR, 119 RBI, 30 SB

McCutchen: .313, 29 HR, 102 RBI, 24 SB
A Craig: .312, 28 HR, 106 RBI
Wainwright: 15-10, 3.35 ERA

M Montero: .291, 22 HR, 86 RBI

P Goldschmidt: .285, 25 HR, 91 RBI, 15 SB

Tulowitzki: .284, 21 HR, 74 RBI, 7 SB

C Gonzalez: .293, 26 HR, 94 RBI, 23 SB
Kemp: .297, 33 HR, 92 RBI, 22 SB

A Gonzalez: .295, 27 HR, 102 RBI

H Ramirez: .278, 22 HR, 65 RBI, 10 SB

Kershaw: 19-6, 2.64 ERA

Greinke: 15-9, 3.18 ERA

Headley: .285, 25 HR, 83 RBI, 14 SB

Posey: .331, 26 HR, 107 RBI

Sandoval: .297, 21 HR, 77 RBI

Pence: .279, 24 HR, 83 RBI

Cain: 17-8, 2.73 ERA

Vogelsong: 15-10, 3.29 ERA

Bumgarner: 15-9, 3.46 ERA

Those are all my stats predictions for the 2013 MLB season. Those enough numbers for you? I feel like I hit on everyone important. We’ll see how close I am! Time to go through all my awards and bold predictions.

Awards

MVP

AL: E. Longoria, 3B, TB

NL: J. Votto, 1B, CIN

CY Young

AL: F. Hernandez, SP, SEA

NL: S. Strasburg, SP, WAS

Coach of the Year

AL: Joe Madden, TB

NL: Kirk Gibson, ARI

Home Run Derby Champion

Bautista, TOR

All Star Game MVP

McCutchen, PIT

Team Stock Up

SEA, CLE, TB, ARI

Team Stock Down

TEX, CWS, TOR, LAD, MIL

Breakout Players

Anderson, A. Cobb, A. Craig, F. Freeman, M. Harvey, N. Walker, A. Simmons

Bold Predictions

1. TB wins the AL East, Longoria wins MVP
2. No NYY player hits 30 HR
3. The longest winning streak by any team will be 17 games
4. OAK wins AL West over LAA, SEA leapfrogs TEX in standings
5. PIT ends season with a winning record
6. WAS will have the best record in the MLB, Strasburg wins CY Young
7. The fastest pitch by Aroldis Chapman will be over 104.5 MPH
8. LAD misses the playoffs, ARI takes Wild Card
9. Max Scherzer leads the MLB in Ks
10. Jose Bautista leads the MLB in HR
11. The ATL OF will combine for 75+ HR and 75+ SB
12. There will be at least 1 notable name suspended for PEDs
13. A coach will be ejected over 3.5 times
14. TB will get no-hit this season (my bet: against James Shields and KC)
15. There will be 4 no-hitters/perfect games
16. A team will overcome an 8 game deficit down the stretch to make the playoffs
17. LAA will lead the MLB in runs scored
18. Mariano Rivera’s last inning will be 1-2-3
19. Under 3 coaches will be fired during the season
20. A position player will be the winning pitcher in a game

Playoffs

WC Play-in WC Play-in

LAA 3 ARI 4

NYY 5 ATL 3

ALDS NLDS

NYY     1            OAK  1                                                                                                        SF     2                    ARI  1 

DET     3           TB      3   CIN   3                   WAS  3

ALCS NLCS

TB        4 CIN   1

DET     2                                                                                                                                    WAS 4

World Series

WAS  2

TB     4

My 2013 MLB World Series Champions: Tampa Bay Rays. I think that this is just the year of the Rays. They are the best team in the brutal AL East, and they have the ingredients to win in October: great pitching, timely hitting, and a very smart, savvy manager. Evan Longoria and David Price will take over in October and give this team its first ever World Series title. This is historic for me because, like I said, this is the first time I’ve ever picked against the Yankees. Maybe it’ll be a reverse jinx. Anyway, I can’t wait for another great year of baseball. Good luck to everyone, and let’s go Yankees.