You can’t predict ball!
With the baseball season upon us, it’s prediction time! Last week we asked readers to give their predictions on the season, and over 200 of you responded with your selections. Here are the results, plus the selections of our current and former writers.
You can also review all of our predictions from last year.
Reader vote
Royals wins:
More than 90: 2.0%
85-89: 8.8%
80-84: 22.5%
75-79: 38.7%
70-74: 23.0%
Less than 70: 4.9%
Royals position player WAR leader: Bobby Witt Jr. 92.2%; Vinnie Pasquantino 2.4%; Maikel Garcia 1.9%
Royals pitcher WAR leader: Cole Ragans 62.1%; Michael Wacha 13.1%; Seth Lugo 10.7%; Brady Singer 8.7%; Daniel Lynch IV 2.4%
No surprise that the general consensus is Bobby Baseball and Cole Ragans will be the best players on the team. Despite some big spending this off-season, the number of fans that think the Royals will win 80+ games only went up from 25 percent last year to 33 percent this year.
Reader vote
AL East: Orioles 69.1%; Yankees 15.2%; Rays 8.4%; Blue Jays 5.8%; Red Sox 1.6%
AL Central: Twins 57.1%; Royals 18.8%; Guardians 13.6%; Tigers 10.5%
AL West: Astros 46.1%; Rangers 39.3%; Mariners 12%; Athletics 1.6%; Angels 1%
AL Wild Cards: Yankees 48.5%; Rangers 47.6%; Astros 44.2%; Rays 43.2%; Mariners 35.4%; Blue Jays 24.3%; Orioles 20.9%; Royals 9.2%; Red Sox 8.3%; twins 6.3%; Guardians 5.3%
Only 10.8 percent of fans think the Royals can win 85+ games, but 18.8 percent think they can win the division, which could tell you something about the quality of the Central.
Reader vote
NL East: Braves 90.5%; Phillies 6.5%; Mets 2%; Marlins 1%
NL Central: Cubs 33.2%; Brewers 25.1%; Reds 18.6%; Cardinals 18.6%; Pirates 4.5%
NL West: Dodgers 94%; Giants 3.5%; Diamondbacks 1%; Rockies 1%; Padres 0.5%
NL Wildcards: Phillies 72.3%; Diamondbacks 57.8%; Giants 45.1%; Padres 36.9%; Reds 15%; Brewers 14.6%; Mets 11.2%; Marlins 9.7%; Cardinals 8.7%; Braves 5.8%
The Braves and Dodgers are prohibitive favorites, but we could see a good race in the Central, and some jockeying for the wild cards.
Reader vote
AL MVP: Bobby Witt Jr., KCR 20.8%; Juan Soto, NYY 18.8%; Julio Rodriguez, SEA 12.7%; Adley Rutschman, BAL 12.2%; Aaron Judge, NYY 6.6%; Vladimir Guerrero Jr., TOR 5.6%; Corey Seager, TEX 4.6%; Gunnar Henderson, BAL 4.1%; Yordan Alvarez, HOU 4.1%
NL MVP: Ronald Acuna, Jr. ATL 40%; Shohei Ohtani, LAD 21%; Mookie Betts, LAD 13.2%; Corbin Carroll, ARI 5.4%; Freddie Freeman, LAD 3.9%
AL Cy Young: Corbin Burnes, BAL 31.4%; Cole Ragans, KCR 23.5%; Gerrit Cole, NYY 8.8%; Luis Castillo, SEA 6.4%; Pablo Lopez, MIN 4.9%; Framber Valdez, HOU 4.9%; Shane Bieber, CLE 4.4%
NL Cy Young: Spencer Strider, ATL 34%; Tyler Glasnow, LAD 10.3%; Yoshinobu Yamamoto, LAD 9.9%; Max Fried, ATL 9.4% Zac Gallen, ARI 6.9%; Zach Wheeler, PHI 5.9%; Aaron Nola, PHI 5.9%; Logan Webb, SFG 4.9%; Jesus Luzardo, MIA 3.9%; Dylan Cease, SDP 3.9%
AL Rookie of the Year: Jackson Holliday, BAL 42.1%; Wyatt Langford, TEX 18.8%; Evan Carter, TEX 13.7%; Junior Caminero, TBR 8.1%; Colt Keith, DET 4.1%; Parker Meadows, DET 3%; Ricky Tiedemann, TOR 3%
NL Rookie of the Year: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, LAD 29.9%; Paul Skenes, PIT 13.2%; Jackson Chourio, MIL 12.2%; Jung-Ho Lee, SFG 11.2%; Shota Imanaga, CHC 8.6%; Masyn Winn, STL 7.6%; Jordan Lawlar, ARI 5.1%; DL Hall, MIL 4.6%; Pete Crow-Armstrong, CHC 4.1%
Feels weird to have an actual MVP and Cy Young possibility on the Royals! Okay, who wins the 2024 World Series?
Reader vote
American League pennant: Orioles 47.6%; Astros 17%; Rangers 10.7%; Yankees 7.3%; Royals 6.8%; Mariners 4.9%; Blue Jays 3.4%; Rays 2.4%
National League pennant: Dodgers 49%; Braves 36.4%; Phillies 6.8%; Diamondbacks 2.4%
World champion: Dodgers 35.4%; Braves 27.7%; Orioles 17%; Royals 6.8%; Phillies 3.9%
Any other predictions you’d like to put out there before the season begins?