A Look Ahead to the 2018 Baseball Season

Major League Baseball opens up the 2018 season on Thursday March 29th, and for the first time in 50 years, every team is scheduled to open on the same day. That is, every team was scheduled, but the Washington Nationals at Cincinnati Reds game had already been postponed Wednesday due to weather. The last time every team opened the season the same day was April 10, 1968 when the season was delayed due to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4th.

Although games have occurred in March in the past (including some played in other countries) this March 29th start is the earliest ever in the U.S. itself. Part of the reason is that four more off days have been added to the schedule for all teams per the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Players Association and the club owners, and the other reason is that Major League Baseball would prefer not to extend the World Series into November, something that has happened the last three years. The potential Game 7 of the World Series will be October 31st.

Here’s where we left off last year, with the Houston Astros beating the Los Angeles Dodgers for Houston’s first ever World Series title:

The Astros are quite capable of repeating as champions. They’ve got a solid lineup, including American League MVP Jose Altuve, and added former Pittsburgh Pirate ace Gerrit Cole to an already good starting rotation, plus they shored up the bullpen. They should easily win the American League West, a division where the other four teams are struggling to escape mediocrity. After that, of course, it gets more difficult in the postseason.

The New York Yankees have had home run duos of Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris; now they have Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Judge hit 52 home runs and drove in 114 in his rookie season in 2017,but he was outdone by Stanton, who hit 59 homers with 132 RBIs for the Miami Marlins on his way to being the National League Most Valuable Player. The Marlins are going through one of their purges/salary dumps/rebuilds and traded Stanton to the Yankees in the off season. Add Brett Gardner, Didi Gregorius, Gary Sanchez, and a healthy Aaron Hicks to the lineup, throw in a solid starting rotation and a deep bullpen and the Yankees should win the American League East. The Boston Red Sox added some power to their lineup by signing J.D. Martinez as a free agent. Martinez hit 45 homers and drove in 104 runs in just 119 total games with Detroit and Arizona. The Red Sox, last year’s AL East champ, will have a more realistic shot at a Wild Card this season.

The Cleveland Indians were 102-60 in the 2017 regular season, and had a 2-0 lead over the Yankees in their best of five Divisional Series, but proceeded to lose three straight for a second straight post season shocking exit. They lost the 2016 World Series to the Chicago Cubs after building a 3-1 lead. The Indians still have excellent pitching, led by Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber (18-4, 2.25 ERA, 265 strikeouts) and that Andrew Miller–Cody Allen setup/closer combo in the bullpen. The Indians should repeat as AL Central Champs, but the window of opportunity won’t stay open forever, so there should be a sense of urgency in Cleveland to win that first World Series since 1948. The Minnesota Twins are the closest competitors to the Indians in the Central. The Twins surprised everyone by improving from 59-103 in 2016 to 85-77 and a Wild Card in 2017. Minnesota didn’t stand still in the off season, adding starters Jake Odorizzi and Lance Lynn, and relievers Addison Reed and Fernando Rodney. The Twins are good enough to return to the post season as a Wild Card.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were 104-58 in 2017 and won the National League pennant for the first time since 1988. They won’t win that many this season, but with most of that team back for 2018, they should be able to repeat as National League West champs. Still, the NL West is a very competitive division and its possible both NL Wild Cards could come out to the West as they did last year with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies reaching the post season. The Rockies can hit the tar out of the ball (both Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado hit 37 home runs and drove in 100+ RBIs) but the issue in Coors Field is pitching. While the Rockies didn’t add starting pitching, they did add help in the bullpen in former Cubs’ closer Wade Davis and Indians’ setup man Bryan Shaw. The Diamondbacks lost J.D. Martinez, but still have Paul Goldschmidt (36 homers, 129 RBIs) and Jake Lamb (30, 105) and a good starting rotation and will contend for a Wild Card. Finally, the San Francisco Giants added veterans Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutcheon to try and improve on last year’s horrid 64-98 record, but they’ll have to contend with pitcher Madison Bumgarner on the shelf for six to eight weeks. He was injured last year and only made 17 starts and look at how that turned out.

In the NL East, the Washington Nationals are again the favorite to win the division, as they have done four of the last six years. They’ve also not won a single playoff series in those four years, and with Bryce Harper set to become a free agent after the season, it’s time to win now in Washington. The Philadelphia Phillies are on the rise, signing ex Indians’ first baseman Carlos Santana and ex Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta, plus they have some good young players coming out of the farm system. They won’t have enough to overtake the Nationals, but have an outside shot at a Wild Card.

The Chicago Cubs did not re sign Arrieta, but did pick up starter Yu Darvish from the Dodgers. Though they won the NL Central after a slow start, the Cubs were not the dominant team in 2017 that they were in 2016. Despite that, they return a very potent lineup and solid starting rotation; ex Dodgers’ reliever Brandon Morrow was signed as the new closer. If Morrow doesn’t work out, then look for the Cubs to go after another closer like they did with Aroldis Chapman in 2016. The Cubs should repeat as East Champs and are very capable of returning to the World Series. The Milwaukee Brewers missed the post season by one game and added a lot of offense with the signing of Lorenzo Cain from Kansas City and Christian Yelich from Miami. Zach Davies and Chase Anderson are solid starters, but the rest of the rotation will need to step up, especially with right hander Jimmy Nelson out for at least half the season. If it does, the Brewers could give the Cubs a good run and make the post season as a Wild Card.