MLB Opening Day 2026: The Purple Row community offers their season predictions

DENVER, CO - APRIL 5: Fans gather outside the stadium ahead of the 2024 Opening Day game between the Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays at Coors Field on April 5, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Rachel O'Driscoll/Colorado Rockies/Getty Images) | Getty Images It’s Opening Day! Baseball is back!

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It’s Opening Day! Baseball is back!

Earlier today, we shared our Purple Row staff predictions, and for the third-straight year, we asked the community to offer their same predictions! We received 18 responses, down from 35 in 2025, and here’s what you all think will happen this year:

Let’s start with a win total

The community was a bit all over the place regarding their record predictions, which just goes to show how volatile and unpredictable this team is right now. 63-99 received the most votes (3); the most pessimistic answer

is 55-107 while the most optimistic is 82-80.

National League winners

As to be expected, the community was a bit more split with their predictions.

However, 17 out of 18 voters predict the Los Angeles Dodgers will once again be Kings of the NL West. The San Diego Padres received the other vote.

In the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs (10) just edged out the Milwaukee Brewers (8) to retake the crown.

In the NL East, though, the overwhelming majority of the community think the New York Mets will take the crown. The Philadelphia Phillies got six votes, and the Atlanta Braves got one.

As far as Wild Cards go, if the community has their way, the Phillies (9), Brewers (8) and Padres (7) will all make the postseason.

American League winners

Switching leagues, there were fairly clear winners in all three divisions.

In the AL West, 15 out of 18 respondents voted for the Seattle Mariners. The Texas Rangers received two votes, while the Not-Oakland Athletics received one.

In the Central, the Detroit Tigers were the overwhelming favorites, receiving 11 votes. The Kansas City Royals received six, and the Minnesota Twins received one.

The AL East was the most divisive division. The community was evenly split between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees, who each received eight votes. The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles received the two remaining votes.

As far as Wild Cards go, if the community had their way, the three teams to make the postseason would be the Red Sox (12), Yankees (9) and Cleveland Guardians (8).

Champions

The pennant races were quite interesting again. On the NL side, the Dodgers are the clear favorites, earning 10 of 18 votes. The Mets earned four, while the Brewers, Phillies, Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks each earned one.

On the AL side, the Mariners edged out as favorites, earning six votes. The Blue Jays and Yankees each earned four, the Tigers earned two, and the Red Sox and Athletics earned one each.

As far as the World Series goes, the Dodgers are the clear favorites, earning seven votes. However, the Mariners were right behind them, earning five votes. The Blue Jays earned two, while the remaining four votes were split between the Red Sox, Tigers, Mets, and Padres.

Hardware

Pivoting to individual awards, there was once again a clear favorite for NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani (LAD). The Japanese two-way superstar earned 12 of 18 votes. Fernando Tatís Jr. (SD) earned two votes, while the remaining were split between Juan Soto (NYM), Ketel Marte (AZ), and Ronald Acuña Jr. (ATL).

On the AL side, Aaron Judge (NYY) was the clear favorite, earning eight votes. Cal Raleigh (SEA), Julio Rodríguez (SEA) and Vlad Guerrero Jr. (TOR) each earned two votes, while Bobby Witt Jr. (KC) earned the final one.

For the NL Cy Young, Paul Skenes (PIT) was the clear favorite to repeat — earning 10 of the 18 votes. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD) earned three, while Shohei Ohtani (LAD), Nolan McLean (NYM), Matthew Boyd (CHC), Mason Miller (SD), and Justin Verlander (DET) also received votes. This also means that we might see a Verlander trade in the middle of the season (likely to the Dodgers, if I had to guess, because Dodgers).

The AL side is always more difficult to predict, but Tarik Skubal (DET) was the clear favorite as well, receiving 50% of the vote. Garrett Crochet (BOS) received three votes, while Max Fried (NYY), Cam Schlittler (NYY) and Drew Rasmussen (TB) each received one.

For the Rookies of the Year, things are a little all over the map (as to be expected.

On the NL side, TJ Rumfield (COL), Charlie Condon (COL) and Konnor Griffin (PIT) each received three votes. Also receiving multiple votes were Carson Benge (NYM), JJ Wetherholt (STL), and Justin Crawford (PHI). Andrew Painter (PHI) and Nolan McLean (NYM) also received a single vote apiece.

On the AL side, Kevin McGonigle (DET) received four votes. However, the following players also received one vote each:

Travis Bazzana (CLE)
Carter Jensen (KC)
Chase DeLauter (CLE)
Colt Emerson (SEA)
Tatsuya Imai (HOU)
Munetaka Murakami (CWS)
Trey Yesavage (TOR)

Bold predictions

Now is the fun part of the predictions! The staff made some fun predictions, what does the community think?

Here are some predictions for the Rockies:

Mickey Moniak will be an All-Star Team designee in 2026
Kyle Karros hits a walk-off home run to complete a cycle.
The Rockies will finish within 5 games of the Giants
A Rockies pitcher wins 15 games.
The Rockies finish 7th in MLB attendance in 2026.
Charlie Condon will be called up in June….and be a Rookie of the Year finalist
The Rockies will give up half the runs in the first inning than they did last year.
Dollander becomes main closer for Rockies.
Condon is up by May 1 and hits .290 with 35 HRs the rest of the way
Rockies will not be last in the division and will sweep one series against the Dodgers
Condon wins NL Rookie of Year
Ezequiel Tovar will put it all together. He’ll hit 30+ HR, finish with 6+ bWAR, win a Gold Glove, get some down ballot MVP votes, and be named 1st or 2nd team All-MLB SS at the end of the season.