My 2021 MLB Predictions

After almost having no baseball last year, we got a pretty exciting 60 game regular season with an expanded playoff. Even though it was cool to see, I think most Baseball fans will be happy to be back with a regular season. Here are my NL and AL Awards and Standings Predictions.

NL MVP: Juan Soto WAS 

Dark Horse: Jacob deGrom NYM

The young star will continue to improve even though he is already a top 5 player in baseball. Soto is a spectacular hitter and is not bad at anything. I also believe that if he leads the Nats to another playoff berth, the award will be a near-lock for Soto. 

I like deGrom as a Dark Horse candidate for his and the Met’s potential to be great this year. deGrom is already the best pitcher in the MLB. I see no reason why he could not add another Cy Young and NL MVP to his resume. 

NL Cy Young: Jacob deGrom NYM

Dark Horse: Walker Buehler LAD

As stated before, deGrom is the best pitcher in the MLB, and I see no reason why he will not come back and win it after his chance to 3-Peat was broken by Trevor Bauer last year. 

I expect Walker to be their best pitcher this year on an already stacked lineup for the Dodgers. He had a great year last year in a 60 game season, and I think he will keep that momentum and give deGrom a run for his money. 

NL ROY: Ke’Bryan Hayes PIT

Dark Horse: Ian Anderson ATL

Pittsburgh Pirates fans do not have much to be excited about this year outside of rookie sensation Ke’Bryan Hayes. Hayes is a future star, and barring injury, he should run away with the NL rookie of the year.

Even though Hayes will win the award by a wide margin, I think his best competition is Braves Pitcher Ian Anderson. Anderson has a lot of support already in the Braves lineup and has a lot less pressure to perform right away, unlike Hayes, who Pirates fans are hoping is their savior. 

AL MVP: Mike Trout LAA

Dark Horse: Tim Anderson CHW

The greatest baseball player of our generation is going to come away with another MVP in 2021. After saying that, he had a down year in 2020 even though that down year was still him finishing top 5 in MVP voting. As do most people, I believe that Trout will continue to be the Best Player in the league for at least another few years. 

After the Chicago White Sox burst onto the scene last year with a stacked, they disappointed a little bit in the playoffs after losing in 3 to the As in the first round. Outside of that, almost the whole team in the southside came to play, including Star Shortstop Tim Anderson, who nearly won his second batting title in a row and is going to compete for it again this year with maybe an MVP to stay in the southside for the second year in a row. 

AL Cy Young: Lucas Giolito CHW

Dark Horse: Hyun-Jin-Ryu TOR

One of the Chicago Whitesox that was already an all-star caliber player was ace pitcher Lucas Giolito. He should once again be one of the top pitchers in the AL and cap it off with his first-ever Cy Young. 

Hyun-Jin-Ryu is pretty much all the Blue Jays got for pitching, making him so much more of a favorite. He was a big reason Toronto made it to the playoffs last year and will be helping them get back in with him, maybe taking the Cy Young along with it. 

AL ROY: Randy Arozarena TB

Dark Horse: Andrew Vaughn CHW

Arozarena already showed what he could do in the playoffs last year, and him finally getting to play an entire season of baseball should be very fun to watch. Arozarena has all the tools to be great this year, and we might even see him become an all-star. 

Even though it is only Spring Training, White Sox’s young First Baseman has been showing out. With the injury to Eloy Jiménez, Vaughn will only get more playing time for the White Sox as he looks to steal the award from the favorite heavy Arozarena.

 

Standings Predictions 

NL East 

1. Atlanta Braves
2. New York Mets
3.  Washington Nationals
4. Philadelphia Phillies 
5. Miami Marlins 

NL Central 

1. St. Louis Cardinals
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. Chicago Cubs
4.  Cincinnati Reds 
5. Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. San Diego Padres
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Colorado Rockies

AL East

1. New York Yankees 
2. Toronto Blue Jays
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Boston Red Sox
5. Baltimore Orioles

AL Central

1. Chicago White Sox
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Clevland Indians
4. Detroit Tigers 
5. Kansas City Royals

AL West

1. Houston Astros
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Oakland As
4. Seattle Mariners 
5. Texas Rangers

Playoffs

NL

1. Dodgers
2. Braves
3. Cardinals
4. Padres
5. Mets

AL

1. White Sox
2.  Yankees 
3. Astros 
4. Twins
5. Blue Jays

Wild Card:

Padres beat Mets

Blue Jays beat Twins

ALDS

Braves beat Cardinals 3-0

Dodgers beat Padres 3-2

Yankees beat Astros 3-2

White Sox beat Blue Jays-3-1

ALCS

Dodgers beat Braves 4-2

White Sox beat Yankees 4-3

World Series

Dodgers beat White Sox 4-2

The Dodgers are the first team to repeat as World Series Champs since the Yankees of the late 90s early 2000s and prove to be one of the best dynasties in all of baseball in recent memory. 

The White Sox proves not to be an up-and-coming team anymore and becomes one of the best baseball teams, entering 2022 as favorites to come out of the AL once again.