Bold prediction time at Baseball Fan Perspective. I don't know if any of these will happen, but I see a way for each prediction to come to fruition under the right circumstances.
Agree, Albert. I think that is one of the many reasons we love sports. For 162 games of baseball, just about anything can happen, except, of course, the Rockies winning the 2026 World Series :). Thanks for the comments.
thanks. btw, do you follow the hoops? I don’t, particularly, but I asked an ignorant question about inbounding yesterday which no one answered.
Briefly: why have a defender harassing the inbounder AT ALL? They never prevent the guy from finding someone to pass to. Why not free up that defender to do something else useful?
Hey, Albert. I do follow hoops and have been in a March Madness pool for 22 years. I will say this, most of the time, I agree with you about harassing the inbounder. But, if you watched any of that ugly game between Kansas and St. John's on Sunday, you can see what bothering the inbounder did to both teams, especially Kansas. It can cause havoc if the other team isn't prepared.
I was watching the final minute of that game, but I can’t say I noticed that.
Since you’ve been so kind as to respond despite my ignorance: what’s to stop the inbounder from just backing up 5 feet or so, while the defender can’t follow him?
I'm with you on the Pirates, though I've got them as a wild card team (I think the Brewers' magic continues and somehow they win the division yet again).
As I wrote, probably most off sports prediction I have ever made was saying Milwaukee would finish in last place in 2025. Instead, they win 97 and finish with MLB's top record😂
So, yes, hard to pick against them a year later. Interesting division.
The last time a National League team even appeared in a World Series three straight years was St Louis 1942-44. They went 2-1, losing in 1943. Despite preseason appearances, history bears out your taking the field against the Dodgers in ‘26.
Thanks, Mark. That was the idea, haha. What do you think, overall? Where do you agree and disagree on the possibility of them happening? Definitely curious your thoughts.
I like the Pirates chances this season maybe not quite as much as you! And not just because I am a Met fan, I also picked Juan Soto for NL MVP this season. Betting against Ohtani comes at your own risk!
Haha, yes it does. And, no, I can't say I like my Pirates pick. But, see a small path for them if everything else goes wrong for the other four NL Central squads, lol.
Okay, fair. And yes, you would think the Ohtani against the field would be more agreeable when it comes to MVP, but because of how great he is with a bat and the arm, it's hard to see voters not picking him, even if he has a somewhat down year either pitching or hitting. I feel that if he has a down year on the mound and at the plate (because he hasn't done both for a full season since 2023), then someone like Soto could jump in and take this award. As long as voters don't make up their minds that Ohtani automatically wins the MVP by May or June. I feel like voters do that with him because he does things no one else does. We shall see. Thanks for the response.
Yes, that would be my sense as well with "as long as voters don't make up their minds...by May or June". It will be interesting to see if a hot start by Ohtani cements those biases early. Then, at the end of the year, it was very good year, but not necessarily an MVP year. And, I do think the postseason results will shape the voting even though it shouldn't since it's a regular season MVP award. But...recency bias.
Well, postseason results should never matter because they tell us that the votes are tallied before October baseball begins. I've always disliked that because I don't want to know regular-season award winners two months after the season ends. I've lost interest by then. They should announce it while the topic is hot.
We know the postseason awards before the regular-season winners are announced. Makes no sense, but also comes across as kind of shady. Saying that, yes, voters are fickle, and players like Ohtani would get votes even if he only played two great months before an injury. It's the way it goes.
Kyle Tucker was, indeed, not all that great last year for my Cubbies. PCA smoked him.
But really: predictions are impossible, unless you just go with conventional wisdom. Teams get hot, teams get cold, and no one knows why.
Agree, Albert. I think that is one of the many reasons we love sports. For 162 games of baseball, just about anything can happen, except, of course, the Rockies winning the 2026 World Series :). Thanks for the comments.
thanks. btw, do you follow the hoops? I don’t, particularly, but I asked an ignorant question about inbounding yesterday which no one answered.
Briefly: why have a defender harassing the inbounder AT ALL? They never prevent the guy from finding someone to pass to. Why not free up that defender to do something else useful?
Hey, Albert. I do follow hoops and have been in a March Madness pool for 22 years. I will say this, most of the time, I agree with you about harassing the inbounder. But, if you watched any of that ugly game between Kansas and St. John's on Sunday, you can see what bothering the inbounder did to both teams, especially Kansas. It can cause havoc if the other team isn't prepared.
I was watching the final minute of that game, but I can’t say I noticed that.
Since you’ve been so kind as to respond despite my ignorance: what’s to stop the inbounder from just backing up 5 feet or so, while the defender can’t follow him?
I'm with you on the Pirates, though I've got them as a wild card team (I think the Brewers' magic continues and somehow they win the division yet again).
As I wrote, probably most off sports prediction I have ever made was saying Milwaukee would finish in last place in 2025. Instead, they win 97 and finish with MLB's top record😂
So, yes, hard to pick against them a year later. Interesting division.
The last time a National League team even appeared in a World Series three straight years was St Louis 1942-44. They went 2-1, losing in 1943. Despite preseason appearances, history bears out your taking the field against the Dodgers in ‘26.
That's a great fact to keep in mind about consecutive World Series appearances. Thanks for that reminder.
It's good to be bold Justin!
Thanks, Mark. That was the idea, haha. What do you think, overall? Where do you agree and disagree on the possibility of them happening? Definitely curious your thoughts.
I like the Pirates chances this season maybe not quite as much as you! And not just because I am a Met fan, I also picked Juan Soto for NL MVP this season. Betting against Ohtani comes at your own risk!
Haha, yes it does. And, no, I can't say I like my Pirates pick. But, see a small path for them if everything else goes wrong for the other four NL Central squads, lol.
I agree with you on Skenes and Dodgers. The Ohtani prediction...hmm, that's a bold one!
Okay, fair. And yes, you would think the Ohtani against the field would be more agreeable when it comes to MVP, but because of how great he is with a bat and the arm, it's hard to see voters not picking him, even if he has a somewhat down year either pitching or hitting. I feel that if he has a down year on the mound and at the plate (because he hasn't done both for a full season since 2023), then someone like Soto could jump in and take this award. As long as voters don't make up their minds that Ohtani automatically wins the MVP by May or June. I feel like voters do that with him because he does things no one else does. We shall see. Thanks for the response.
Yes, that would be my sense as well with "as long as voters don't make up their minds...by May or June". It will be interesting to see if a hot start by Ohtani cements those biases early. Then, at the end of the year, it was very good year, but not necessarily an MVP year. And, I do think the postseason results will shape the voting even though it shouldn't since it's a regular season MVP award. But...recency bias.
Well, postseason results should never matter because they tell us that the votes are tallied before October baseball begins. I've always disliked that because I don't want to know regular-season award winners two months after the season ends. I've lost interest by then. They should announce it while the topic is hot.
We know the postseason awards before the regular-season winners are announced. Makes no sense, but also comes across as kind of shady. Saying that, yes, voters are fickle, and players like Ohtani would get votes even if he only played two great months before an injury. It's the way it goes.