With only one day until the first pitch in the Philadelphia Phillies' 2020 season, the Philly Sports Network Phillies' team wanted to see how right- or wrong- we could be with the division winners, MLB awards, and the playoffs. Make sure to check out the Phillies' page to see the rest of the staff's picks heading into this season.
NL East standings:
BravesPhilliesNationalsMetsMarlins
The top three in the standings are tough. The Braves, in my opinion, should be the overwhelming favorite to win the division. With this said, the controversy comes when talking about the Nationals and Phillies. The reigning World Series champions deserve plenty of credit in my eyes. Their championship run was not a fluke, but the didn’t start off too hot either.
After 60 games last season, they went 27-33, which shows that they just got hot and never looked back. In a shortened season, there is no room for this to happen. For a team like the Phillies, who have thrived early in the season the past couple of years, they need to make things happen fast. Bryce Harper and Aaron Nola both have considerably better numbers while playing in the heat as well, which they’ll be walking into to start the season.
We can’t forget about the Mets, who improved this offseason as well and will stay close to the 2-3-4 spot in the division, but it’s tough to trust them without seeing more consistency out of that team, who lost one of their better pitchers to a division rival anyhow.
Awards:
AL MVP: Mike Trout
It’s hard to ever doubt Mike Trout. The South Jersey native may have broken the hearts of many Phillies’ fans have by signing his mega-contract to stay with the Angels, but that doesn’t take away from the fact he is one of the greatest to ever do it. He and his wife are expecting their first child in August, so assuming he does not miss much, if any, playing time I'll count on the best player in the world continues to be the best player in the world until proven otherwise.
NL MVP: Bryce Harper
The NL MVP was a bit harder to pick here. The names Ronald Acuna and Mookie Betts definitely may be stronger preseason candidates to win this award, but I have to roll with Bryce Harper. For his career, Harper has hit .276 in the months of July, August, September, and October. Last season, he hit 17 home runs in the two closing months of the Phillies’ season, which was his personal best. I think Bryce will have something to prove coming into this shortened season, and he will prove it.
AL Cy Young: Gerrit Cole
This is a painful one to admit for me. As a personal fan of Mike Cleavinger and Justin Verlander, my heart tells me to pick one of them. However, Gerrit Cole is a beast when on the mound. Now that he is pitching in front of one of the strongest lineups in baseball (that doesn’t cheat), and in one of the deepest rotations, he can just relax. He’ll feel more comfortable to make mistakes, but those will come minimally anyways.
NL Cy Young: Walker Buehler
Now, this is a pick I can get behind. In my opinion, Buehler has been slept on for a couple of seasons now, and I think this is the year he gets more recognition. Last season, he boosted his strikeout rate and tightened up already remarkable control, while showing he could handle a full-season workload suggest to me that he could make his way into the top names of the MLB.
AL Rookie of the Year: Luis Robert
I had to do some research for this one, and Robert’s name stood out above the rest for one reason: consistent playing time. He’s had a strong summer camp, and he’ll be planning on playing 60 games for the White Sox. He hit over 900 feet of home runs in a single game on back-to-back shots and is ready to display his fielding ability as the everyday center fielder for Chicago.
NL Rookie of the Year: Carter Kieboom
Again, what sticks out for Kieboom is that he expects to play a lot, and that he already has a decent amount of experience. Nationals’ manager Dave Martinez mentioned that Kieboom should be the everyday starter at the hot corner, even though Asdrubel Cabrera has started in a couple of the exhibition games. Given his experience and likelihood to play a lot in this 60 game season, Kieboom has my vote for ROY.
Continued on the page below.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Playoffs:
American League:
East: Yankees
Central: White Sox
West: Athletics
Wildcard: Rays, Astros
The AL East is pretty clear this season, as the Red Sox are likely not going to be the team they have been in recent years. As for the Central, a young White Sox team is primed for a breakout in a division that's as up for grabs as any in baseball. With Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert and Jose Abreu providing power at the plate, and new additions Dallas Keuchel and Yasmani Grandal, this White Sox squad boasts the highest talent ceiling in the division.
The West is where things get more interesting, as the Athletics could edge out the Astros in the division, as their balance could stabilize them in a very unbalanced season. The two wildcard teams are just going to be a matter of the best, non-winners, which is what the league will have with the Rays and Astros. All of the teams are going to be contenders, which is what will make the AL fun to watch this season.
National League:
East: Braves
Central: Reds
West: Dodgers
Wildcard: Phillies, Diamondbacks
To start off easy, the Dodgers don’t really need much of an explanation. They have won the NL West seven straight seasons, and now have Mookie Betts, so we can chalk that up as eight straight. However, the other two divisions are where it gets interesting. The NL East was explained above, however, the Braves seem to just be the most overpowered going into the season. The Phillies can easily edge out the very competitive Nationals and Mets, simply because their young core thrives in shortened settings as proven the past couple of seasons.
It’s not often that a World Series team does not make the playoffs the following year, but this season could be full of a ton of weird things. The Diamondbacks could edge out the Nats as they are an excellent defensive team anchored by shortstop Nick Ahmed, a star in Ketel Marte, and a potentially top rotation with Madison Bumgarner, Robbie Ray, Zac Gallen, Luke Weaver, and Merrill Kelly.
As for the central, the Reds signed big bats Mike Moustakas and Nicholas Castellanos over the offseason and has plenty of incumbent talent in Eugenio Suarez, Joey Votto, Derek Dietrich, Nick Senzel and Aristides Aquino, each of whom is capable of rattling off a home run at any moment.
Rest of the Playoffs:
AL and World Series Champ: New York Yankees
NL Champion: Atlanta Braves
Boo me now, Phillies fans.
This may be the harsh reality of this season. Kevin Pulsifer of ESPN said it best:
"Atlanta approached 100 wins last year and arguably improved this offseason, adding solid vets (Marcell Ozuna, Travis d'Arnaud, Cole Hamels) to one of the best young talent cores in baseball. The Braves also end the year with 10 of 20 games against Miami and Baltimore. With sneaky depth to take advantage of the new DH, they're a top-five talent right now and are the team best equipped to take on the Dodgers in October."
The Braves are going to be a good team, and make it to the World Series. However, they will come short of winning it.
The Yankees have the ability to win the World Series this season, plain and simple. In this 60 game season, depth will be easily the biggest factor. Every game is going to matter, and the Yankees have the manpower to rest their starters every now and then and still win games. It really wouldn't surprise me to see the Rays in this position either, as they fall into the same category. The Dodgers may have more depth but will run into the young and dominating Braves team, who will likely be riding a very hot streak going into the playoffs. The Yankees are clearly the better team in comparison to the Braves, which would give them the edge in the World Series. Yankees take the COVID-chip in six games over Atlanta.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
