Hello there! It’s us again, the writers here at BP Boston. We understand that it’s been a long, cold, boring winter, but hey, important baseball will be played tomorrow — and will continue to be played for seven whole months! That’s pretty great.
So, because we have an innate desire to be right, especially about baseball, we’ve put together our predictions on how the season will go. Some will be right on the money, while others will look wildly outlandish by the time November rolls back around. But that’s okay! That’s what makes this fun, and when it’s all said and done, we’ll all have those moments where we won’t get something, just like Mookie Betts:
Double hit over Mookie Betts’ head while he is being interviewed by ESPN — “I ain’t getting this one, boys” — ESPN booth cracks up. pic.twitter.com/SXLhuaUfP9
— Cork Gaines (@CorkGaines) March 27, 2018
It’ll never get old. So before we all do, here’s BP Boston’s predictions.
American League
| AL East | AL Central | AL West | AL Wild Card | |
| Cowett | Red Sox | Indians | Astros | Yankees & Twins |
| Devereaux | Red Sox | Indians | Astros | Yankees & Angels |
| Ellis | Yankees | Indians | Astros | Red Sox & Twins |
| Kory | Red Sox | Indians | Astros | Yankees & Angels |
| Poarch | Red Sox | Indians | Astros | Yankees & Angels |
National League
| NL East | NL Central | NL West | NL Wild Card | |
| Cowett | Nationals | Cubs | Dodgers | DBacks & Cardinals |
| Devereaux | Nationals | Cubs | Dodgers | Cardinals & Brewers |
| Ellis | Nationals | Cubs | Dodgers | Cardinals & Phillies |
| Kory | Nationals | Cubs | Dodgers | DBacks & Cardinals |
| Poarch | Nationals | Cubs | Dodgers | Brewers & DBacks |
Postseason
| AL Pennant | NL Pennant | World Series Champs | |
| Cowett | Astros | Dodgers | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Devereaux | Red Sox | Nationals | Washington Nationals |
| Ellis | Indians | Dodgers | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Kory | Astros | Dodgers | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Poarch | Astros | Dodgers | Houston Astros |
Major Awards
| AL MVP | AL Cy Young | AL ROY | NL MVP | NL Cy Young | NL ROY | |
| Cowett | Mike Trout | Chris Sale | Shohei Ohtani | Paul Goldschmidt | Max Scherzer | Ronald Acuña |
| Devereaux | Mike Trout | Chris Sale | Franklin Perez | Bryce Harper | Max Scherzer | Ronald Acuña |
| Ellis | Mike Trout | Justin Verlander | Eloy Jimenez | Anthony Rendon | Max Scherzer | Ronald Acuña |
| Kory | Mike Trout | Chris Sale | Michael Kopech | Nolan Arenado | Clayton Kershaw | Scott Kingery |
| Poarch | Mike Trout | Chris Sale | Shohei Ohtani | Paul Goldschmidt | Clayton Kershaw | Ronald Acuña |
Photo by Steve Mitchell — USA TODAY Sports
I’m as passionate a Red Sox fan as they come (dating to 1972, when they managed to finish a half-game out of first place), but picking them over the Yankees in the AL East is delusional homerism, plain and simple.
Maybe, maybe not. It seems likely to me that the chances of Stanton and Judge repeating their boffo years are almost nil. Severino was great, but he wasn’t the year before, . . . so 2018? Bird is down, Gleiber showed nothing (he’s young!), the Sanchise can pass balls with the best of them, and the manager is in an on-the-job training program (it’s not the same with Cora). There are intimations of fallibility in the NYY–they are neither significantly better nor worse than the Sox, so it’s probably going to be as close as most people and pundits see it. You don’t have to practice blind boosterism to get the Sox into this contest.
Of course, after Opening Day, we could say the season is pretty much over. Severino and Stanton are great, and the Sox bullpen can blow anything up. I’m SO ready for Kelly’s free agency. See you in 2019!