113 predictions for the 2022 season

Predictions are super, super hard to get correct. That’s why they’re predictions. If I got every single prediction right, I’d ruin the whole season for you. The whole thing would already be spoiled! That wouldn’t be fun at all. The inherent wrongness of every prognosticator is the reason it’s so fun to read predictions in the first place. Throwing it back in our faces in six months about how wrong we were is the point.

So while I cannot guarantee you that I will have the most accurate predictions, I can give you this: I will have the most predictions. Here are 113 predictions for the 2022 season. (And yes, I know seven games happened on Thursday, but I don't think anything that happened will change any of these.)

1. Someone in your life is going to turn on the television and say, “Wait … Max Scherzer is with the Mets now? Really?”

2. Those on social media grousing about the automatic runner on second base in extra innings -- of which you should know, I am a fan -- will be louder (because they’re at home) than the people actually at the ballparks (players, managers, fans) who will enjoy, you know, knowing they’re likely to see the end of the game they just dedicated five hours of their lives to attending. (This is my major argument for the automatic runner: People like to know when the thing they’re watching is going to end. The automatic runner makes it more likely it’s sooner rather than later, and thus, they’re more likely to stay for that ending. And please do not pretend there is a universe in which ties are somehow a reasonable and acceptable solution.)

3. By June, it will feel like the new ESPN “Sunday Night Baseball” crew has been there for 30 years.

Now ... onto the American League East.

4. Giancarlo Stanton is finally going to have that fully healthy year and just go nuts. It is worth noting that I make this prediction every year.

5. Yankees fans will be deliriously happy about their team and throw-the-furniture-through-the-window furious about their team at least six times this season, often in successive games, and perhaps successive innings.

6. The Yanks will end up falling short of the World Series, again, which is all that really matters.

7. The Red Sox’s stacked lineup won’t offset their pitching worries, particularly in their rotation.

8. Boston will end up without question the best fourth-place team in baseball.

9. That will not make Red Sox fans feel any better.

10. Being able to watch the Blue Jays in Toronto for 81 games this year -- at least! -- will remind everyone of just how lovably delirious that fanbase is.

11. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will have a year that isn’t quite as good as last year’s. He will still finish second place in the AL MVP race. Again.

12. The Blue Jays will end up hosting postseason games at Rogers Centre. But they won’t win the AL East.

13. That’s right, it’ll be the Rays. We’ve underrated the Rays again.

14. The case for Tampa Bay is actually simpler than it usually is. The club will get all that Rays magic from its pitching staff -- the guy on the mound when it clinches the division will be some guy we aren’t even talking about right now -- but this time, the Rays will have the bonus of a full season from future superstar Wander Franco.

15. Who is only 21 years old and may just establish himself as one of the 10 best players in baseball.

16. Franco is also the guy you’re going to see on the cover of MLB The Show next year.

17. So the AL East ends up: 1. Rays (No. 3 seed in AL); 2. Blue Jays (No. 4 seed); 3. Yankees (No. 6 seed); 4. Red Sox; 5. Orioles.

18. Oh, yes, I forgot to make an Orioles prediction. How about this: They will lose about as many games as last year (110), but they will be actively better.

19. White Sox manager Tony La Russa, who will turn 78 in October, is going to win another division championship, the 14th of his career.

20. Luis Robert is going to be healthy all year and establish himself as a top-tier star.

21. Lance Lynn will recover from his latest knee injury and be brilliant again, and still no one will notice.

22. Carlos Correa will have an excellent year for the Twins, but it won’t be MVP-level, and he won’t even be the best player on his own team.

23. That’ll be Byron Buxton, who finally plays 140 games and ends up in the top 10 in AL MVP voting.

24. The Twins still fall just short in the postseason chase, and Correa -- frustrated to fall just short but also not feeling a market for a 10-year contract after all -- opts into his deal next year.

25. The Cleveland Guardians, thanks to their talented rotation, get off to a better start than anyone anticipated.

26. Injuries hit, as they always do, and the Guardians won't have the lineup depth to overcome that.

27. José Ramírez will still be there, though, so that's something to be happy about.

28. Bobby Witt Jr. is an instant star and a runaway AL Rookie of the Year Award winner.

29. In the same way that it’s fun to remark that Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols were teammates for one year, it will be fun to note in 20 years that Bobby Witt Jr. and Zack Greinke were teammates.

30. Greinke will still be the Royals’ only really good starting pitcher, which also feels like a throwback.

31. The Tigers won’t be as good as they were down the stretch last year, which will feel like a disappointment.

32. With Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene (eventually) in the lineup, showing what they’re going to be doing in Detroit for the next half-decade, the disappointment won’t last long.

33. Besides: Tigers fans are going to love Javier Báez.

34. So the AL Central ends up: 1. White Sox (No. 1 seed in AL); 2. Twins; 3. Guardians; 4. Tigers; 5. Royals.

35. It’s going to feel like Mike Trout has lost a step this year, that he’s fallen off ever so slightly, and you’ll hear broadcasters say it with hesitance in their voice, like they don’t want to upset anyone.

36. You’ll still look up at Trout's numbers at the end of the year and realize he’s leading baseball in Wins Above Replacement. Again.

37. We will get to watch Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout play 140 games together.

38. Ohtani, he'll be great again, too.

39. And yet, the Angels still won't reach the postseason. (They'll end their streak of seasons below .500, though.)

40. The Astros will miss Correa, and Jeremy Peña, for all the optimism, won’t replicate that production.

41. They’ll still win their division.

42. It’ll still feel weird at the end of the season, but it will be true: The Astros will have the best rotation, top to bottom, in the AL.

43. Even though none of those pitchers will have had anything to do with the sign-stealing scandal of a few years ago, opposing fans will still boo them.

44. So if the Angels aren’t getting to the postseason, and there’s still one spot in the AL left, who’s getting it? Well, it probably won’t be the Rangers or the A’s.

45. Not that the Rangers won’t be fun. Corey Seager could be a legitimate monster there, and they’re much more watchable than they’ve been in a while.

46. There’s still a long way to go in Texas, though. But steps forward are steps forward.

47. The A’s, on the other hand, have taken an obvious step backward. And it’ll be a rough year, with recognizable players on the way out.

48. But the A’s turnaround will not take as long as other teams' have. Because it never does in Oakland.

49. This leaves one team. And one AL postseason spot.

50. Yep: You finally got picked, Seattle. You did it! The longest postseason drought in North American professional sports is at last over.

51. It’ll be the young guys who spur the Mariners on, unlike last year. Jarred Kelenic will look like he’s been here forever, but Julio Rodríguez will be the one who makes our eyes pop.

52. The Mariners will be hanging around the AL Wild Card chase in July, and then they’ll make a big trade. I’m not sure for who, yet. Maybe they’ll pull a Braves and bring in Jorge Soler. Heck, wouldn’t Joey Votto look great in a Seattle uniform?

53. However they do it: They’ll do it. The wait will be over.

54. So the AL West ends up: 1. Astros (No. 2 seed in AL); 2. Mariners (No. 5 seed); 3. Angels; 4. Rangers; 5. A’s.

55. Your AL MVP will be Ohtani.

56. Your AL Rookie of the Year will be Witt.

57. Your AL Cy Young winner will be Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.

58. Your AL Wild Card Round results: Rays over Yankees, Blue Jays over Mariners.

59. Your ALDS results: White Sox over Blue Jays (the Sox first postseason series win since the 2005 World Series), Rays over Astros.

60. Your ALCS result: White Sox over Rays.

OK! National League! Let’s start with the West, just to go backward. And let’s start with the D-backs ...

61. Ketel Marte will quietly be great again.

62. Madison Bumgarner will be good enough that someone will trade for him at the Deadline. Heck, maybe that’s who the Mariners get.

63. That’ll be the most significant thing to happen with the D-backs this year.

64. The Rockies will be better than you think they will be, because jeez, what’s the point of signing a slugger like Kris Bryant if not to get better from year to year?

65. The Rockies will still lack the depth to reach the postseason.

66. The Giants will be so much better in the early going, just like last year, and we’ll all be scratching our heads and wondering once again how they’re doing it.

67. This time, though: Having a bunch of guys in their 30s -- and the injuries that come with them -- will catch up to the Giants. They’ll still figure something out next year to surprise us.

68. The first three months of the season will seem a little sadder without Fernando Tatis Jr.

69. The Padres will still be afloat when Tatis returns, though, thanks to a rotation that will be boosted by the comeback of Mike Clevinger and bounce-back years from Yu Darvish and Blake Snell. Plus, Luke Voit will turn out to be the perfect addition.

70. Still, though: No one’s catching the Dodgers. No one’s coming close.

71. Prediction for Dodgers MVP: Mookie Betts! It’s almost like we’ve forgotten how transcendent Betts is. He’ll remind everyone this year.

72. Also: Julio Urías finishes in the top five of NL Cy Young voting. He's an ace.

73. So the NL West ends up: 1. Dodgers (No. 1 seed in NL); 2. Padres (No. 5 seed); 3. Giants; 4. Rockies; 5. D-backs.

74. Christian Yelich will be a little better this year, but he won’t return to his MVP form. This will still make him far and away the best offensive player on this Brewers' roster.

75. The Brewers will still win the NL Central, thanks to that pitching staff. Honest question: If you were to put together a “best pitching staff using only players in the NL Central,” how many of them would be Brewers? Half? Two-thirds? They’re freaking stacked.

76. The only downside to this roster construction is fewer Bernie Brewer slides than one would ideally like.

77. Albert Pujols will get an all-time-great sendoff season from Cardinals fans.

78. Pujols is going to get those 21 homers he needs to reach 700. This might not necessarily be great for the Cardinals, but it sure seems likely that he’ll play more often than is widely expected at this point. St. Louis will be in contention, but -- especially considering how excited fans are to see Pujols -- there will be overwhelming pressure on new manager Oliver Marmol to get him as many at-bats as possible. Twenty-one sure feels possible to me.

79. The Cardinals will win a lot of games they might not otherwise because they get to play so many teams in their division.

80. Cubs fans are going to love Seiya Suzuki.

81. And this turnaround isn’t going to take nearly as long as the last one.

82. Reds fans will feel better about all the moves they made this offseason in four years than they do now.

83. That doesn’t make the way they feel now any better.

84. Oneil Cruz (once he arrives) and Ke’Bryan Hayes are going to the most fun traveling road show in Pittsburgh since Andy Warhol’s Pop trips.

85. But the Bucs are going to give up a lot of runs.

86. So the NL Central ends up: 1. Brewers (No. 2 seed in NL); 2. Cardinals (No. 6 seed); 3. Cubs; 4. Reds; 5. Pirates.

87. Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom (when he gets back on the field) will be the best versions of themselves.

88. That, right there, is why the Mets are winning the NL East.

89. Ronald Acuña Jr. will be back a couple weeks later than everyone would like, but he will absolutely rake when he returns. Do not let the Braves’ run to a World Series title without him in 2021 make you forget just what he’s capable of.

90. Braves fans will miss Freddie Freeman, and surely will forever. But they’re going to love Matt Olson.

91. The Phillies … ah, the Phillies. The defense will be as bad as advertised, but there will be so many homers that you won’t notice at first.

92. It’s when people start to break down late, and some of those homers turn into outs, that you’ll notice. And then the Phillies will fall short. Again.

93. Bryce Harper will nevertheless still be a monster.

94. The Marlins will be a little better than they were last year, but otherwise, the same thing: Terrific rotation, not enough bats, frustrating to fans, exhausting for opposing teams to go against. Better than you think. But not good enough.

95. Juan Soto will spend the final three months putting up otherworldly numbers that will not be enough to get the Nationals into contention.

96. The Nats will get something from Stephen Strasburg this season, though.

97. And Nelson Cruz will put himself on the precipice of 500 homers (he's at 449 now).

98. So the NL East ends up: 1. Mets (No. 3 seed in NL); 2. Braves (No. 4 seed); 3. Phillies; 4. Marlins; 5. Nationals.

99. Your NL MVP will be Betts.

100. Your NL Rookie of the Year will be Oneil Cruz.

101. Your NL Cy Young will be Scherzer.

102. Your NL Wild Card Round results: Mets over Cardinals, Padres over Braves.

103. Your NLDS results: Dodgers over Padres, Mets over Brewers.

104. Your NLCS result: Dodgers over Mets.

105. This brings us to a World Series between the Dodgers and White Sox.

106. This will be the second time these two teams have met in the World Series: The first was in 1959, when the Dodgers won, 4-2.

107. Game 1 at Dodger Stadium features Lynn outdueling Walker Buehler.

108. Game 2, also at Dodger Stadium, has a wild White Sox comeback in which Eloy Jiménez hits a grand slam in the 11th inning to give the White Sox a 2-0 lead.

109. Heading back to Chicago, White Sox fans are losing their minds.

110. Then, the Dodgers wake up and win Games 3, 4 and 5 in Chicago.

111. Then, in Game 6, the Dodgers win the World Series title at Chavez Ravine for the first time since 1963.

112. Betts wins that MVP, too.

113. When the World Series ends, you all congratulate me on getting every single one of these predictions correct. You are welcome.