Full 2020 MLB Predictions

Today is the day! Since October 30th when Daniel Hudson launched his glove off the mound to celebrate the Nationals winning the World Series, we have been without baseball (excluding a cup of tea of meaningless spring training games)! Today that finally changes! We get to see the defending champs take on Gerrit Cole and the Bronx Bombers, then Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers welcome Johnny Cueto and the Giants from the Bay Area. I haven't been able to bottle my excitement, so last week I threw together my award picks, stat leaders, and then went through every single game being played this season to compile my team predictions. For sake of not totally embarrassing myself and leaving me vulnerable to get "freezing cold-taked," I have left off the exact numbers for my stat predictions. If you'd like to hear my probably wildly incorrect stat predictions, as well as deeper analysis into this whole article, be sure to venture over to Spotify and check out episode four of my podcast, "The Redshirt Podcast." Be sure to tune into to the handful of other episodes as well, I promise they won't disappoint. All the support is deeply appreciated, but now let's cut the chit-chat and get into my 2020 MLB predictions!

NL MVP

Walker Buehler

Mookie Betts

Ronald Acuña Jr

Juan Soto

Christian Yelich

Starting off with the hottest of hot takes, I have a pitcher winning the NL MVP! While this pick already may be a lost cause because it seems the Dodgers plan to ease Buehler in and maybe not let him fully loose, I will stick with it! I think Buehler is on his way to being one of the best pitchers in all of baseball and with such an odd season at hand, why can't a dominant pitcher take home the MVP? Again, this pick is very bold and may already be a lost cause, but I'm sticking with the young Dodger dominating the league and taking home the MVP.

AL MVP

Mike Trout

Aaron Judge

Josh Donaldson

Joey Gallo

Anthony Rendon

Mike Trout is the obvious pick, with the only "concern" being how much/if he misses time when his child is born. Instead of writing about the greatness of Trout that everyone knows, let's look at the other guys mentioned. Similar to many, I think Aaron Judge is in for an absolute monster year, his issues haven't really been about his play, more so it has been about staying healthy. For those who haven't read my article a few months back about sleepers for MVP and Cy Young (go check it out right now, this article will still be here), I love Josh Donaldson. He is one of the hardest hitters in baseball and is a guy who goes through stretches where he is absolutely unstoppable at the plate. Add very good defense to his arsenal, Donaldson is capable of an MVP season.

NL Cy Young

Walker Buehler

Max Scherzer

Jacob DeGrom

Sonny Gray

Jack Flaherty

There is little need to elaborate too much on this pick, I made my love for Walker Buehler very clear. I expect Max Scherzer and Jacob DeGrom to continue their dominance, as well as Sonny Gray and Jack Flaherty to build upon breakout seasons, but none of them will catch Walker Buehler.

AL Cy Young

Shane Bieber

Gerrit Cole

Charlie Morton*

Justin Verlander

Tyler Glasnow*

Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Indians isn't the favorite to take home the award, but I don't think he is a super bold pick by any means. With Trevor Bauer being shipped off at the 2019 deadline and Corey Kluber battling injuries, Bieber went to the mound and absolutely balled out. He quietly finished fourth in AL Cy Young Voting in his second MLB season, giving me lots of reason for him to win the award in 2020. Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton, and Justin Verlander are all still gonna be goons, and I think Tyler Glasnow is a breakout star (I mentioned him in the aforementioned article featuring about Josh Donaldson), but the voters won't be able to resist the Bieber fever! *for the podcast listeners, I did switch the placement of Morton and Glasnow

NL ROY

Dylan Carlson

Gavin Lux

Mackenzie Gore

This award is incredibly hard to predict, even in a regular season, because we don't know how much playing time these rookies will get. Here I'm taking the Cardinals switch-hitting outfielder Dylan Carlson, who I'm not sure will make an instant impact, but once he gets an opportunity, he'll be a big part of the Cardinals lineup. Gavin Lux, despite being optioned down to begin the season, is likely the favorite and should be productive once he makes his way back to Chavez Revine. If I knew Mackenzie Gore would get consistent innings, he would be my pick for NL Rookie of the Year. However, I don't think he'll begin in the majors, and when he does arrive, I think Jayce Tingler will use him as a swing starter and long reliever.

AL ROY

Jesus Luzardo

Luis Robert

Jo Adell

While this award is still tough to predict, my top two seem very likely to get consistent playing times. Jesus Luzardo is absolutely filthy, I fell in love with the guy in last year's AL Wild Card when he came out of the bullpen, so I can't wait to see what he can do as a starter over a somewhat longer time. Luis Robert as an absolute tank that will be one of the most fun guys to watch for years to come, expect him to be a big contributor for the White Sox. Jo Adell is off the charts talented, but a mix of limited playing time and experiencing an MLB learning curve leaves him in third.

ERA leaders

Walker Buehler

Max Scherzer

Charlie Morton

Shane Bieber

Sonny Gray

WHIP leaders

DeGrom

Bieber

Cole

Verlander

Scherzer

Saves Leaders

Josh Hader

Roberto Osuna

Kirby Yates

AVG

Mookie Betts

Mike Trout

Ronald Acuña Jr

Christian Yelich

David Fletcher/Jeff NcNeil

OBP leaders

Mike Trout

Mookie Betts

Aaron Judge

Josh Donaldson

Juan Soto

OPS leaders

Nelson Cruz

Mike Trout

Ronald Acuña Jr

Christian Yelich

Josh Donaldson

HR leaders

Nelson Cruz

Josh Donaldson/Joey Gallo

Aaron Judge/Ronald Acuña Jr/Juan Soto

Christian Yelich/Cody Bellinger/Anthony Rendon/Pete Alonso

2B leaders

Mookie Betts

Josh Donaldson

Francisco Lindor

Rafael Devers

Mike Trout

3B leaders

Adalberto Mondesi

Fernando Tatis Jr

Yoan Moncada

SB leaders

Ronald Acuña Jr

Trea Turner

Mallex Smith

AL East

Yankees 42-16

Rays (WC) 36-24

Blue Jays 26-34

Red Sox 24-36

Orioles 18-42

AL Central

Twins 38-22

Indians 34-26

White Sox 32-28

Royals 25-35

Tigers 20-40

AL West

Astros 39-21

Angels (WC) 35-25

A’s 33-27

Rangers 27-33

Mariners 19-41

NL East

Mets 37-23

Braves (WC) 36-24

Nationals (WC) 34-26

Phillies 29-31

Marlins 19-41

NL Central

Reds 38-22

Cardinals 33-27

Cubs 32-28

Brewers 31-29

Pirates 17-43

NL West

Dodgers 43-17

Padres 33-27

Diamondbacks 33-27

Rockies 20-40

Giants 19-41

Some of my predictions here are pretty chalk and some are bold, let me explain my thought process. First and foremost, I have no idea what exactly team records are gonna look like through this never before seen 60 game season, but I think because of each game mattering more, we'll see the bottom-feeders get kicked around even more.

In the AL East, the Yankees are my pick for the division (and top record in the AL). The Yankees are totally loaded, but don't sleep on the Rays making the Yankees sweat quite a bit. While I don't have them catching up to the Yankees, the Rays will claim the top Wild Card spot. I like the Blue Jays and their future, but I can't see their record being much higher than my projected 26 wins because of how loaded the AL and NL East is. I am not at all a fan of the Red Sox this year. While their lineup remains solid with Bogaerts and Devers leading the way, their pitching is so extraordinarily bad that they will struggle mightily with each team they play, namely the Yankees, Braves, and Nationals. The Orioles are a bad team that won't have their best player (Trey Mancini) for the season. Not much more needs to be said about the O's, they are a bad team with a stacked schedule.

The AL Central has a clear frontrunner to me. Sure I was gushing over Shane Bieber and Luis Robert earlier, but the Twins are so very good. The Bomba Squad was nearly impossible to neutralize last season, then Minnesota added Josh "The Bringer of Rain" Donaldson to the lineup and Bomba Squad 2.0 will be even better. The Indians are still a very good team, Francisco Lindor is the best SS in baseball, JRam is still very good, and I've already expressed my love for Shane Bieber. That being said, I think they just miss the playoffs. The White Sox are considered a dark horse team by many, but I think they aren't quite there. Moncada is a stud, Robert will burst onto the scene, Yasmani is a top tier catcher, Abreu is as consistent as they come, Giolito finally broke out, yada yada yada. There is a lot to like about this team, but I still like the Indians and Twins for now. The Royals and Tigers aren't very good, but I think the Royals can have a somewhat respectable record due to their lineup which includes Whit Merrifield, Jorge Soler, Hunter Dozier, and Adalberto Mondesi. The Tigers lineup is putrid, but maybe we get to see some

Casey Size, Matt Manning, and Tarik Skubal on the mound in Mo-Town.

The AL West is where one of my bolder, if not my boldest, pick lies. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring myself to pick against the Asterisks to win the division. There is some legitimate concern on the pitching end with the loss of Gerrit Cole and bullpen turnover, but the Asterisks lineup is too good to miss out on first. In second place and grabbing the second Wild Card spot is... the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim! Yes, the pitching isn't great, but the Halo lineup is too good to ignore. Trout, Ohtani, and Rendon are the headliners, but guys like David Fletcher and Tommy La Stella are great contributors as well. The pitching isn't good by any means, but I think they can exceed their low expectations. Andrew Heaney is unspectacular, but consistently pretty solid, Dylan Bundy is a possible breakout candidate, Griffin Canning WILL break out in his second season, and then Matt Andriese/Felix Peña are serviceable. Oh, did I forget about a certain two-way phenom? Oh yeah, Shohei Ohtani is back on the mound! Even if he doesn't dominate, Ohtani is a big addition to the rotation. The bullpen is subpar, but Hansel Robles is coming off a great 2019, Ty Buttrey is pretty good, Ryan Buchter is an underrated lefty, and Keynan Middleton has been useful when healthy. In conclusion, Angels to the playoffs! I still think the A's are a good team, but I expect regression from guys such as Marcus Semien and Ramon Lauerano. The rotation is intriguing with the return of Frankie Montas and full seasons from Sean Manaea/Jesus Luzardo, but I like the Angels star power a little more. The Rangers are not a bad team, the rotation was good last year and gets deeper with Corey Kluber, but some regression from Lynn and Minor is expected. Joey Gallo leads an unspectacular lineup, but the Rangers overall are solid. While the Mariners have a bright future with Jared Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez, they are going to be bad in 2020.

The NL East is very wide open, so I went unconventional and surprising with my standings. Leading the NL East is the New York Mets, who are much better than people give them credit for. Jeff McNeil is a stud, Wilson Ramos is above average on offense, Pete Alonso packs the power, and I looooove Michael Conforto. The Mets won't have Thor or Zack Wheeler, but DeGrom is DeGrom and I think the Stro show will go viral in New York. Following the Metropolitans, I have the Atlanta Braves. Ronald Acuña is legit, Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman are criminally underrated, and Mike Soroka is coming off a fantastic rookie year. Losing Josh Donaldson via free agency and having Nick Markakis opt out hurts, but the Braves are still very good and will be the top Wild Card team in the NL. Third, I have the Washington Nationals. The Nats lose Anthony Rendon, but Juan Soto is ready to take over the league. The bullpen will hold Washington back, but the trio of Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin will dominate. The Phillies are a good team that would benefit from being in a less loaded division, but for now they are the fourth place Phillies. Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto are both terrific, but there's no guarantees behind those two on offense. Speaking of lack of guarantees, the Phillies rotation is very questionable after Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler. Throw in a bad bullpen, the Phillies won't be ahead of the already mentioned NL East teams. The Marlins aren't that bad of a team, they're just facing incredible teams. Picking up Jon Villar for nothing after a good 2019 was a smart move and hopefully we can see some the Marlins top prospects get to play this year. Sorry Marlins, but the cellar is yours.

After a phenomenal offseason, I have the Reds atop the NL Central. Nick Castellanos and Mike Moustakas join a lineup with Eugenio Suarez and Joey Votto that is sure to send balls flying. The Reds bullpen isn't incredible, but a rotation with Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo, and Trevor Bauer sure is! The St. Louis Cardinals aren't a sexy team, but they are solid, nonetheless. Paul Goldschmidt should improve in his second season with the club, Kolten Wong is consistent, and I love Dylan Carlson, but the offense doesn't excite me a lot. What does excite me is another year of Jack Flaherty and getting to see if Miles Mikolas, Adam Wainright, and Dakota Hudson can improve on solid numbers last season. With a pretty strong bullpen, the Red Birds are in the thick of the playoff discussion, but miss out for me. The Chicago Cubs have a pretty good team, it's just they haven't been actively making their team better. The infield is spectacular with Kris Bryant (expect a bounce back year), Javier Baez, and Anthony Rizzo. They also have Kyle Schwarber who they can DH this year and let him just hit nukes. The skepticism with the Cubs come from the pitching for me. Kyle Hendricks is good and I love his pitching style, but I have issues putting faith into the inconsistent Yu Darvish and the aging Jon Lester. The Cubs don't have a lights out bullpen to go to, they really have an awful bullpen. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cubs made the playoffs, but I don't project them to. After skating into the playoffs the past few seasons, I don't really like the Brewers this year. They were a fringe playoff team and just lost two of their best players in Yasmani Grandal and Mike Moustakas. Yelich is Yelich and I think Keston Hiura is a solid bat, but there are a considerable amount of holes on offense. On the pitching side, I like Brandon Woodruff and think Josh Blindblom has some breakout potential, but the rotation looks really mediocre to me. Josh Hader is an elite reliever and Corey Knebel is good when healthy, but past those two it's a lot of mediocrity. Yelich is good, Brewers maybe not. The Pirates are very bad. Josh Bell and Bryan Reynolds are good and fun to watch, but the rest of the offense is quite subpar. Chris Archer is a shell of what we thought he could be and all of the pitching is awful. Nothing for the Buccos in 2020.

Barring a major miracle, the Los Angeles Dodgers will win the NL West again in 2020. The lineup has two MVPs in Cody Bellinger and (the now very wealthy) Mookie Betts, but also has depth top to bottom. You know you have a stacked team when a guy like Gavin Lux doesn't make the cut at the start of the season. The rotation will be gross as usual with my MVP and Cy Young pick Walker Buehler going insane. The bullpen isn't spectacular, but it's good enough to get the job done. I have a tie in second between the Arizona Diamondbacks and my San Diego Padres, so I'll touch on the latter first, but remember both have the same record. The Padres lineup has exciting guys like Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis, plus Tommy Pham who is consistently underrated as a hitter. Then, there's a jumble of guys that are hard to predict. I think Trent Grisham and Francisco Mejia will have breakout years of sorts, but I am not high on Will Myers or Jurickson Profar at all. The rotation is not that bad, albeit probably unconventional. Chris Paddack is on his way to ace status, Dinelson Lamet has electric stuff, and Garrett Richards is good when he's healthy. Beyond those three, Tingler will likely start Joey Luchessi and Zach Davies, but give the ball to the bullpen early. With Emilio Pagan, Craig Stammen, Drew Pomeranz, and Kirby Yates, the Padres bullpen should be one of the best in baseball. No postseason in San Diego in 2020, but soon! The Diamondbacks had a surprising 2019 season and should compete in 2020. Ketel Marte isn't an MVP candidate, but with Eduardo Escobar, David Peralta, and Starling Marte, the D-Backs have a good lineup. They added MadBum this offseason and I think he'll be fine, but won't put up ace numbers. Robbie Ray has potential and I love Zac Gallen, so Arizona's rotation should be solid. The bullpen is just fine, nothing special, but not bad. The last two NL teams will be brief. The Rockies have Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, and Trevor Story, but their pitching is little-league caliber. MLB teams can't win too many games with awful pitching. The Giants always seem to find ways to exceed expectations, but this team is so talent depleted I can't see them doing anything this year

Playoffs

Angels over Rays

The Rays are the better team for sure, but I think the Angels get a phenomenal performance on the mound from Shohei Ohtani that propels them to victory. An early Anthony Rendon HR and a David Fletcher RBI double is all the Angels need to narrowly edge out the Rays. Maybe this is just me wishing into existence a Mike Trout postseason win, but baseball neeeeeeeds to see more Mike Trout in the playoffs.

Braves over Nationals

The Braves are the better team here, but the Nationals are one of the best built teams for a winner-take-all matchup. However, it is Mike Soroka who dominates on the mound with seven scoreless innings, while the Braves are able to tag three runs on Scherzer. On go the Braves!

Yankees over Angels (4)

Twins over Astros (4)

The Yankees should handle the Angels easy, but I had to lob the Angels one win for Mike Trout's sake. As for the Twins vs Braves, this should be a fun series. I think the Twins can steal a game with J.V. on the mound and shift the series in their favor. Viva La Bomba Squad!

Braves over Dodgers (5)

Mets over Reds (5)

I am a proud Dodger hater and maybe I made this pick because of my ill-will towards those who wear and support the royal blue worn up about two hours north from me, but I got the Braves! The last two postseasons the Braves weren't quite ready, but I think Atlanta can knock off the World Series favorites on the back of Roñald Acuña and Mike Soroka, as well as Clayton Kershaw's annual postseason flop. In the other NLDS matchup, I have the Mets winning a hotly contested series over the Reds. The Reds have a dynamic trio of starting pitchers and lots of power on the offense, but the Mets have Jacob DeGrom. I can't see DeGrom losing either of his starts in the series, so if the Mets can put up one game of offensive explosion, the Mets will move on to the NLCS.

Yankees over Twins (4)

I really like the Twins and I am glad they were able to go this far, but we all know what happens when the underdog Twins have to face the big bad Yankees in the postseason. Cole. Tanaka, and baseball's best offense shut down the Minnesota offense for the most part, while Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge hit laser after laser. The Yankees win the pennant!

Braves over Mets (6)

An all New York World Series would be super fun, but I have the Mets falling just short. I think New York will win the first two starts with DeGrom on the mound, but the Braves end the series before DeGrom takes the mound again in Game 7. After getting dismantled in the NLDS Game 5 last year, the Braves are rolling in crucial situations in the playoffs with a Wild Card win, an NLDS Game 5 win, and a massive Game 6 NLCS win. Sorry Mets, but the division rival Atlanta Braves have won the pennant!

Yankees over Braves (6)

Last year it was Juan Soto and the underdog Nationals squaring off against the heavily favored Houston Astros. Somewhat similarly, the Braves will ride in with their young star Ronald Acuña to face the well-oiled machine that is the New York Yankees. This series should bring everything baseball fans could hope for! Young stars, veterans on their final run, offensives that will provide fireworks, a slew of absolutely filthy pitchers, SIGN ME UP! Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman will be quite the thorns in the Yankees side, but Ronald Acuña running out of steam will hurt the Braves. Past Gerrit Cole, the Yankees rotation will struggle, but the lockdown bullpen and an unstoppable run from Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees will hoist number 28 after an intense six game series. Giancarlo Stanton will take home the World Series MVP with a whopping 6 Home Runs in the Fall Classic. Congrats on your new red chevy truck Giancarlo and congrats to the New York Yankees on winning the 2020 World Series!

This one was a long and deep one! Do you agree or disagree with my picks? Can the Angels make the postseason? Will the Dodgers be bounced in the NLDS again? Let me know in the comments down below!