By: Justin Girshon
*NOTE: I DON’T NECESSARILY BELIEVE THESE BUT THEY ARE CERTAINLY POSSIBLE*
Two teams not named the Dodgers and Yankees make the World Series
Although the Yankees and Dodgers are the preseason favorites in terms of betting and across MLB fans, there’s a legitimate chance neither of these teams make the World Series in 2020. So far the Yankees are continuing their injuries from 2019. So far into the limited Spring Training baseball has had, James Paxton, Luis Severino, Giancarlo Stanton, and Aaron Judge have all suffered injuries. Although the Yankees were put in a similar position last year and still succeeded, I can’t see much of an improvement from last year to this year. As for the Dodgers, they have either notoriously chocked in the Playoffs or have been beaten by “cheaters” in the World Series. Even though they added Mookie Betts in the offseason, other National League teams will be very good. The National League still has another dominate force in the Braves as well as contenders such as the Cardinals and Nationals on top sleepers like the Mets, Brewers, Diamondbacks and potentially the Reds. Although both teams are very talented and surely are capable of making and winning the World Series, there is a solid chance neither one of these teams makes the Fall Classic.
The MLB season plays at most 140 games
Due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19, the MLB season has been postponed for at least 2 weeks. Even though the season has only been suspended two weeks at the moment, there is belief that the suspension will last a lot longer. Jeff Passan of ESPN said, “Owners, players, executives, nearly everyone — is that the earliest we’re likely to see games again is May.” Passan is one of the most reliable MLB reporters so there could be a lot of truth to this. Although the MLB season is usually 162 games, I can only see 140 games being played at a maximum due to Rob Manfred valuing the health of players which could ultimately result in MLB waiting longer than necessary to start the season.
The Houston Astros lead the league in team home runs
The Houston Astros will certainly not know what pitch coming in 2020, but they still have a loaded offense. Last season, the Twins set an MLB record hitting 307 home runs with the Yankees right behind them hitting 306. The Astros were third in the league in team home runs with 288. Even without full seasons from Jose Altuve, George Springer, Carlos Correa, or Yordan Alvarez. Even though the Astros will be getting beaned by pitchers at a record amount this year, they will still be making noise (not with the trashcans!) with the bats. Between Alex Bregman, George Springer, Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Michael Brantley, and Carlos Correa; the Astros will hit about 210 home runs (assuming the season is about 140 games) while Yuli Gurriel, Josh Reddick, Kyle Tucker, Aledymis Diaz, Martin Maldonado, Dustin Garneau, and other Astros players should combine for about 80 home runs. Just because they’re the most hated team in sports, don’t sleep on the 2020 Houston Astros.
#MLB
I am a freshman studying magazine, news and digital journalism at the Syracuse University Newhouse School of Public Communications
