Today I will join thousands of other bloggers, websites, pundits, etc. in making my so-called “expert” predictions for the baseball season that begins tomorrow. If you have been here at BCB for the last 20 years or so, you’ll find this prediction format familiar — and yes, you’ll find most of this introductory text familiar too (copy/paste being a useful tool). For those of you new to this site, read on.
I started this format more than 30 years ago, when I was passing out my annual predictions to
any of my friends who were willing to read them either with or without scoffing, because I found this method both more interesting and challenging to do than traditional predictions. Even more so, if you’re here I don’t need to insult your intelligence by telling you who the ballclubs’ best hitters, pitchers, etc. are. You already know. Instead, you’ll find a pithy word or phrase describing the hitting, pitching, defense and intangibles of the 30 contenders for October glory.
I’m also not going to “predict” award winners. How hard would it be for me to sit here clacking away on a keyboard and be master of the obvious by telling you that Shohei Ohtani is a top choice to win another MVP award or that Paul Skenes could (and probably will!) win the NL Cy Young? Just before the 2025 season started, would you have predicted that Nick Kurtz would be the AL Rookie of the Year? Last spring, did you predict Drake Baldwin would be NL Rookie of the Year? Nope. In fact, this 2025 preseason awards prediction article said Jackson Jobe and Roki Sasaki would win those awards. Whoops, no.
And in any case, anyone using the search function here, or Google, can come back here in October and tell me how wrong I was.
Here are the predictions I made for the 2025 season. I got only one of the six division winners (Dodgers) correct, and only six of the 12 postseason teams. And that Yankees/Braves World Series? Another year, perhaps.
In last year’s prediction article, nine percent of people who voted in the poll (and sorry it’s no longer visible in the new format) said the Cubs would win a wild card series as a wild card team, but lose a division series. Congratulations, you were the correct ones. (Another 27 percent said the Cubs would win a wild card series as NL Central champions, then lose a division series. Close, but not quite.)
Without further ado, my picks for 2026! I’ll have more specifically on the Cubs 2025 season coming up tomorrow, and our annual preseason BCB staff roundtable will also post tomorrow.
NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST
Hitting: Old
Pitching: Returning
Defense: Uh, next question?
Intangibles: Definitely in win-now mode
2) NEW YORK METS (Wild card)
Hitting: New
Pitching: New
Defense: New
Intangibles: They’re gonna find out if “new” works
Hitting: Healthy
Pitching: Injured
Defense: Acceptable
Intangibles: Those pitching injuries are going to have them miss the postseason again
Hitting: Better than you think
Pitching: Better than you think
Defense: Better than you think
Intangibles: Could be a sneaky contender
Hitting: Okay
Pitching: You have got to be kidding me
Defense: Okay
Intangibles: Potential 100-loss team
NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL
1) CHICAGO CUBS
Hitting: Paid for
Pitching: Solid
Defense: Outstanding
Intangibles: Definitely in win-now mode
2) CINCINNATI REDS (Wild card)
Hitting: Returning
Pitching: Fast
Defense: Very good
Intangibles: Hoping to build on last year’s wild card
Hitting: Decent
Pitching: New
Defense: Acceptable
Intangibles: ♬♪♫ “Zing! Boom! Tarrarel!” ♬♪♫ (Also, what’s a “tarrarel”?)
Hitting: Improved
Pitching: Paul Skenes and what army?
Defense: Good
Intangibles: Won’t finish last!
Hitting: Traded
Pitching: Uh, next question?
Defense: Okay
Intangibles: Could be the worst Cardinals team since the 1970s
NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST
Hitting: Expensive
Pitching: Expensive
Defense: Expensive
Intangibles: This Onion headline sums things up.
2) SAN DIEGO PADRES (Wild card)
Hitting: Solid
Pitching: Cease-less
Defense: Uh… next question?
Intangibles: There’s just something not quite right here
Hitting: The 2019 All-Stars
Pitching: Returning
Defense: Okay
Intangibles: Have already had some key injuries
Hitting: Lots of singles hitters
Pitching: Okay
Defense: Weird
Intangibles: Can they finish right at .500 again?
Hitting: Better…
Pitching: … than …
Defense: … last year
Intangibles: They can’t lose 119 again… or can they?
AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
Hitting: Expensive
Pitching: Expensive
Defense: Uh, maybe you should ignore this part
Intangibles: How will the “thisclose to a title” last year affect them?
2) NEW YORK YANKEES (Wild card)
Hitting: Judge and then what?
Pitching: Very good
Defense: Acceptable
Intangibles: They claim they’re losing money
3) BOSTON RED SOX (Wild card)
Hitting: Young and improving
Pitching: New
Defense: New
Intangibles: Can they finish ahead of the Yankees?
Hitting: New
Pitching: New
Defense: Okay
Intangibles: This is going to be a really tough division
Hitting: Anonymous
Pitching: Anonymous
Defense: Anonymous
Intangibles: This is going to be a really tough division
AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL
Hitting: Returning
Pitching: Anonymous
Defense: Okay
Intangibles: Always seem to do better than you expect
2) DETROIT TIGERS (Wild card)
Hitting: Strong
Pitching: Skubal pitching for his next contract
Defense: Good
Intangibles: The return of Justin Verlander
Hitting: Young and upcoming
Pitching: Uh, next question?
Defense: Very good
Intangibles: Nothing I can think of
Hitting: New
Pitching: Hopeful
Defense: Decent
Intangibles: Could be sneaky good
Hitting: Who…
Pitching: … are …
Defense: … these guys?
Intangibles: A rebuild that really IS a rebuild
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST
Hitting: Powerful
Pitching: Very good
Defense: Solid
Intangibles: They keep falling just short
2) TEXAS RANGERS (Wild card)
Hitting: Returning
Pitching: Fingers crossed
Defense: Good enough
Intangibles: Always seem to find a reason to not make the postseason
Hitting: New
Pitching: Same as it ever was
Defense: Okay
Intangibles: Almost a decade later, everyone’s still booing them
4) ATHLETICS
Hitting: Some really good no-name guys
Pitching: Okay
Defense: Decent
Intangibles: Could be sneaky good
Hitting: What…
Pitching: … is this team…
Defense: … doing?
Intangibles: Have not had a winning season since 2015
Postseason predictions
First round byes: Cubs, Dodgers (NL), Mariners, Blue Jays (AL)
Wild-card series: Phillies over Padres and Mets over Reds (NL), Guardians over Tigers and Yankees over Rangers (AL)
Division series: Cubs over Mets and Dodgers over Phillies (NL), Blue Jays over Yankees and Mariners over Guardians (AL)
Championship series: Cubs over Dodgers (NL) and Blue Jays over Mariners (AL)
World Series: The Cubs win another World Series in a year ending in 6 by defeating the Blue Jays in six games.
