Three Bold Predictions for the 2024 MLB Season
With all 30 teams in full swing (yes, pun intended), fans across the world are excited to see what their favorite teams do. Many fans are looking towards young stars to break out or for established players to prove themselves. Other fans are looking for their favorite team to shock the rest of the league. Today, we are going to look into some of these bold takes.
1. Spencer Strider wins the National League Cy Young Award and, emerges as the best pitcher in the MLB
Spencer Strider is a name that has been swirling around Cy Young talks. In 2023, Strider went 20-5 with a 3.86 ERA and led the MLB with 281 strikeouts and a 2.85 FIP. The knock-on Strider has always been his issue with the long ball, giving up 1.8 home runs per nine innings. However, Strider has one of the best fastball-slider combinations in the league. My bold take here isn’t so much that he’ll win the National League Cy Young, but that he will emerge as the best pitcher in the league. He has the skill to do it, but if he can get that home run rate down, it won’t be that bold of a take come August.
2. The Reds will win the National League Central
The Reds are one of the most young and exciting teams in the league, led by phenom Elly De La Cruz, flamethrower Hunter Greene, super-utility man Spencer Steer, and former Rookie of the Year Jonathan India. They play in one of the worst divisions in the league with no team projected to win 90 games. The Brewers, who have won the division three out of the last five years, seem to be in the midst of a rebuild after trading Corbin Burnes to Baltimore. The Cardinals are coming off a tough season and the Cubs don’t have a fully complete roster. If De La Cruz can tap into his high-end potential and Greene can continue improving throughout the season, they have a legit shot at winning the National League Central.
3. Jackson Chourio wins the National League Rookie of the Year
Sticking with the National League Central vibe, Jackson Chourio is a beast. The 20-year-old is the Milwaukee Brewers starting center fielder and is the second overall prospect in baseball, only behind Jackson Holliday of the Baltimore Orioles. Churro, who signed with the Brewers, signed an eight-year, 82-million-dollar extension last season, giving him the biggest contract for a player who hasn’t made his MLB debut yet. His only competition for Rookie of the Year is Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who didn’t pitch particularly well in spring training and in his debut. If Chourio gets hot, he may run away with the award.
