The 2023 predictions thread

Mar 29, 2023 - 6:00 PM

On the eve of Opening Day, it’s time for us to measure our powers of prognostication! Last week we asked fans to chime in on their predictions for the season. We had over 400 responses, with predictions on how the Royals will fare this year, who will make the playoffs, who will win major awards, and who will win the whole thing!

Here are the results, plus the picks by our current and former writers. You can see how wrong we were last year. Let’s start with Royals predictions!

Reader vote

Royals wins:

More than 90: 2.0%

85-89: 2.9%

80-84: 20.1%

75-79: 31.0%

70-74: 33.3%

Less than 70: 10.6%

Royals position player WAR leader: Bobby Witt Jr. 45.3%; Vinnie Pasquantino 30.2%; Salvador Perez 10.4%; MJ Melendez 3.6%

Royals pitcher WAR leader: Brady Singer 74.5%; Zack Greinke 9.9%; Brad Keller 3.8%; Scott Barlow 3.6%

Last year over 60 percent of readers predicted the Royals to win at least 80 games. That’s down to less than 25 percent this year. The consensus seems to be that Witt and Singer will be the bright stars on this team.

Reader vote

AL East: Yankees 55.9%; Blue Jays 27.3%; Rays 10.3%; Orioles 4.0%; Red Sox 2.6%

AL Central: Guardians 52.4%; Twins 21.4%; White Sox 20.5%; Royals 5.4%; Tigers 0.2%

AL West: Astros 76.4%; Mariners 12.0%; Angels 8.8%; Rangers 2.1%; Athletics 0.7%

AL Wild Cards: Mariners 42.3%; Rays 40.8%; Blue Jays 39%; Yankees 34.9%; Angels 22.3%; Orioles 19.6%; Twins 17.6%; Astros 17.6%; Guardians 16.4%; Red Sox 14.9%; White Sox 13.3%; Rangers 11%; Royals 7.9%

Fans are predicting all three division winners to repeat! What about the National League?

Reader vote

NL East: Braves 47.9%; Mets 34.3%; Phillies 16.8%; Nationals 0.7%; Marlins 0.0%

NL Central: Cardinals 78.3%; Brewers 16.1%; Cubs 3.7%; Reds 1.4%; Pirates 0.5%

NL West: Dodgers 54.8%; Padres 42.6%; Giants 1.8%; Diamondbacks 0.5%; Rockies 0.0%

NL Wild Cards: Phillies 50.2%; Mets 47.5%; Padres 44.6%; Braves 41.4%; Dodgers 41.2%; Giants 22.7%; Brewers 19.6%; Cardinals 10.8%; Cubs 5.9%

Again, fans are predicting a repeat of division winners and even Wild Card teams! How about award season?

Reader vote

AL MVP: Shohei Ohtani, LAA 55.1%; Vladimir Guerrero Jr., TOR 8.5%; Aaron Judge, NYY 7.5%; Julio Rodriguez, SEA 4.6%; Bobby Witt Jr., KCR 4.1%; Yordan Alvarez, HOU 3.4%

NL MVP: Juan Soto, SDP 19.3%; Trea Turner, PHI 19.3%; Ronald Acuña, Jr., ATL 12.6%; Manny Machado, SDP 8.9%; Nolan Areando, STL 7.6%; Fernando Tatis Jr., SDP 5.3%; Freddie Freeman, LAD 5.0%; Mookie Betts, LAD 5.0%; Austin Riley, ATL 3.7%; Paul Goldschmidt, STL 3.2%

AL Cy Young: Shohei Ohtani, LAA 28.9%; Jacob deGrom, TEX 11.2%; Brady Singer, KCR 10.5%; Dylan Cease, CHW 7.3%; Framber Valdez, HOU 6.6%; Shane McClanahan, TBR 6.4%; Alek Manoah, TOR 6.4%; Luis Castillo, SEA 4.3%; Tyler Glasnow, TBR 3.0%

NL Cy Young: Max Scherzer, NYM 18.0%; Sandy Alcantara, MIA 13.2%; Corbin Burnes, MIL 13.0%; Justin Verlander, NYM 11.6%; Max Fried, ATL 8.4%; Julio Urias, LAD 8.4%; Spencer Strider, ATL 7.7%; Aaron Nola, PHI 6.4%; Blake Snell, SDP 5.9%; Brandon Woodruff, MIL 3.4%

AL Rookie of the Year: Gunnar Henderson, BAL 27.0%; Masataka Yoshida, BOS 17.5%; Anthony Volpe, NYY 14.1%; Bo Naylor, CLE 8.8%; Royce Lewis, MIN 8.5%; Grayson Rodriguez, BAL 6.7%; Josh Jung, TEX 5.5%; Triston Casas, BOS 4.1%

NL Rookie of the Year: Jordan Walker, STL 27.9%; Corbin Carroll, ARI 22.6%; Kodai Senga, NYM 10.8%; Francisco Alvarez, NYM 8.8%; Miguel Vargas, LAD 7.8%; Andrew Painter, PHI 6.7%; Ezequiel Tovar, COL 4.8%; Brett Baty, NYM 3.7%

All right, who’s going to win the whole shebang?

Reader vote

American League pennant: Astros 32.7%; Yankees 26.4%; Blue Jays 11.9%; Mariners 8.3%; Royals 4.7%

National League pennant: Padres 28.6%; Dodgers 24.3%; Braves 15.4%; Mets 15.4%; Cardinals 7.0%; Phillies 5.4%

World Series champion: Padres 18.4%; Astros 14.5%; Dodgers 14.1%; Yankees 9.5%; Braves 8.2%; Mets 7.5%; Blue Jays 4.8%; Cardinals 4.3%; Phillies 3.4%; Mariners 3.0%

Any other predictions for this season?