It will be an abbreviated Major League Baseball season in 2020 as there will be only 60 games starting tonight with 2 games scheduled, the Yankees @ the Nationals at 6 PM CT on ESPN, and the SF Giants @ the Dodgers in the nightcap at 9 PM CT on ESPN. Gerrit Cole (20-5, 2.50 ERA, 48 walks, 326 K’s, 2019) will be on the hill for the Bomahs tonight. Cole signed a 9 year, $324 million contract with the Yankees in the offseason paying him $36M a year. It’s good to be Gerrit Cole. He’ll square off with the great Max Scherzer and the defending World Series champions. Scherzer was 11-7 with a 2.92 ERA with 33 walks and 243 K’s last season. The Giants will square off with the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine in the late game. The Giants will send Johnny Cueto (1-2, 5.06, injured most of the season) to face the great Clayton Kershaw (16-5, 3.03, 41 walks, 189 K’s). The Atlanta Braves open their season tomorrow afternoon on ESPN at 3 PM CT @the New York Mets. Mike Soroka, a fledgling superstar, who was 13-4 last season with a 2.69 ERA with 41 walks and 142 K’s, will square off with last year’s NL Cy Young Award winner, Jacob deGrom, who posted an 11-8 record with a 2.43 ERA with 44 walks and 255 K’s.

The League will be divided up into 3, 10 team divisions with regional teams playing each other. Teams will play 10 games against their divisional opponents, the Braves will play the Mets, Phillies, Nationals and Marlins 10 times and the other 20 games will be against interleague opponents. The regular season will end Sept. 27th with the Wild Card games commencing Sept. 29th and the World Series set to begin Oct. 20th with Game 7, October 28th.

Here are my predictions for the 2020 season.

NL Wild Card

Nationals over Phillies, 4-2

AL Wild Card

Oakland A’s over Yankees, 3-2

NLDS

Dodgers over Nats in 4

Braves over Cardinals in 4

ALDS

Tampa Bay Rays over A’s in 4

Minnesota Twins over Astros in 5

NLCS

Dodgers over Braves in 7

ALCS

Rays over Twins in 6

World Series

The Dodgers were the Vegas favorite to win it all last year and Manager Dave Roberts made some awful pitching decisions in the NLDS late in the game against the Nationals that cost his team a chance to get back to the Fall Classic for the 3rd season in a row. But I’ll go back to the well with the Dodgers once again. There is so much talent with the great center fielder and returning NL MVP Cody Bellinger (47 homers, 115 Ribeyes, .315 average) , 3rd baseman Justin Turner, stud shortstop Corey Seager and now the great Mookie Betts in right field. Betts came over to LA from the Red Sox and signed a massive deal yesterday (12 year, $365M, $30+ M a year) They’re a loaded team. Kershaw and the great young hurler Walker Buehler from Vanderbilt, who was 14-4 with a 3.26 ERA, 41 walks and 215 K’s, will lead a solid staff. Buehler cranks it in there at 97-99 and can hit a hundge, and many times is unhittable. David Price, who also came over to the Dodgers in the Betts trade, decided to opt out this season due to Coronavirus concerns as he has 2 young children at home. Can’t blame David and a few of the other players for doing that. Will miss him and so will the Dodgers, but this team is built to win. Closer Kenley Jansen will be a critical player for the Bums. He went 5-3 last season with a 3.71 ERA and 33 saves. He showed a few chinks in his armor though, so he’ll need to be lockdown this season. The rest of their rotation will feature left handers Alex Wood and Julio Urias along with veteran right hander Ross Stripling, so it’s a solid group. Would have helped to have Price, but still think the Dodgers can win it all.

This Rays team is the real deal as well. They’ve got the 27th ranked team payroll in MLB out of 30 teams and they still find a way. Their principal owner, Stu Sternberg, is an out of the box thinking genius, and the Rays find a way despite the low salaries. They’re loaded with pitching. Right hander Tyler Glasnow came over to the Rays last season from Pittsburgh in a trade and went 6-1 with a 1.78 ERA with 14 walks and 76 K’s. He along with southpaw Blake Snell pose a formidable frontline rotation for Tampa. Austin Meadows is another budding superstar in right field for the Rays. He hit .291 with 33 homers and 89 Ribbies last season.

I’ll take the Dodgers, but barely. I’m real bullish on the Rays also.

Dodgers in 7 over the Rays

Dodgers World Series Champions for the first time since 1988.

NL MVP

Cody Bellinger, Dodgers

NL Cy Young

Walker Buehler, Dodgers

AL MVP

Mike Trout, LA Angels

AL Cy Young

Glasnow, Rays

World Series MVP

Bellinger

***Note***

MLB and the Players Association are negotiating on a 16 team playoff format with 8 teams from each League qualifying for the postseason. That would make 3 divisions winners and 5 Wild Card teams in each league. That’s a lot of teams. It’s a last minute proposal so it may not pass, but it could, so that’s on the table as of right now. They have to come to an agreement by first pitch tonight at 6 PM CT. Something to keep an eye on.

2020 MLB Hype Song