As is tradition, we are pretty bad at this. That don’t mean we won’t keep trying until one of us gets it all correct! As we creep closer to opening day we get to display our optimism (some of us anyway) and predict how this upcoming season will unfold. As is customary, we split this into four sections: Playoff Teams, Playoff Predictions, MLB Awards, Phillies Predictions. Make sure to add your predictions to the comments so you can go back and check your “sure to be correct” predictions. Lets get to it:
Playoff Teams
We here at TheGoodPhight have NO bias at all, NONE. With that, its perfectly reasonable that we all chose the Phillies to threepeat as NL East Champions. In the most ludicrous pick for a division winner, our esteemed leader Ethan chose the upstart Pirates to claim the NL Central. Cooler heads feel it will be a race between the Cubs and Brewers. Like the Phillies, we all chose the Dodgers to easily take the NL West. Besides the Mets and Padres, a few of us chose the Diamondbacks as the surprise NL Wildcard team, with a smattering of Giants and Braves picks as well.
The only thing we all could consistently agree upon in the American League is that the Mariners are sure to run away with the AL West. Most of us have the Blue Jays and Yankees battling it out in the East, while we are all split between the Tigers and Guardians for the Central. TGP also believes that the AL Wildcard teams will mostly be representative of the AL East with Red Sox and Orioles getting a ton of guesses as well.
Playoff Outcomes
Phillies, Dodgers, Cubs and Mets get the only predictions of the NLCS. For the AL the Blue Jays, Yankees, Mariners, Tigers, and Guardians all getting nods. The tally for the World Series winners goes as follows:
Phillies: 5
Dodgers: 3
Mariners: 1
We can all respect Allie’s bravery for choosing the Mariners. Hard not to see things finally breakthrough for the Phillies with a very good rotation, an improved bullpen (that was already good), and an offense that with certain folks continuing their late 2025 season successes (Stott, Bohm, Marsh) and a key addition breaking out (Garcia) that a World Series isn’t THAT crazy.
End of Season Awards
Paul Skenes versus Cristopher Sanchez for Cy Young, who do you got? Or could it be the recently re-signed Jesus Luzardo (as our neighborhood horse predicted)? Logan Webb? This race should have a lot of competition. AL Cy Young had just three candidates from our group: Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet, and Hunter Brown.
MVP Race has the usual suspects for both leagues: Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto (god I hope not), Bobby Witt Jr., Aaron Judge…and Julio Rodriguez.
This year could be really special for the Rookie of the Year races with a TON of potential new stars like Kevin McGonigle, Nolan McLean, Konnor Griffin, JJ Wetherhold, Justin Crawford, Trey Yesavage, Kazuma Okamoto, Munetaka Murakami, Tatsuya Imai, and Carter Jensen (there are a ton more we could speculate).
We mostly speculate that returning aces Zack Wheeler and Gerritt Cole will dominate the Comeback Player category. Both would be great stories for sure.
Phillies Predictions
This is where things get fun. I always like to see which prospects we think will break out. I myself usually like to go a little off the beaten path, but this year we have such a wide range of folks guessed with five different pitchers and three different hitters. Most of us believe Justin Crawford will stay on the roster all season, Andrew Painter will have between 15-30 starts (another potential RoY candidate if things come together), and the ailing Aidan Miller likely won’t see much time in the majors this season.
Added this year is the fun question “Who will be the most commonly used player in the cleanup spot?” which most of us felt like it could be Alec Bohm. Which if he stays in that spot he is likely doing VERY well. Ethan surprisingly thinks it will be a midseason acquisition…wonder who he could have meant.
Lastly, TGP feels Zack Wheeler will come back healthy and stay healthy for the 2026 season. A feat that would be amazing and inspiring for the clubhouse and fans alike.
