The Regular Season started for the Dodgers and Padres in Seoul, Korea back in Mid-March in a two game series, but the last week of March brought all 30 teams into the regular season and those two teams mentioned in at a 1-1 record. Although the Dodgers stood at first place going into March 28th, where most teams started their season at 0-0 with 162 Games to play, things would be very different by the end of the weekend. Before the review, I’ll be posting my way-too-early predictions for some of the AL and NL awards, as well as WS winners this season.
2024 World Series Champions – Atlanta Braves
2024 American League Champions – New York Yankees
2024 NL Rookie of the Year – Paul Skenes*, Jung Hoo Lee
2024 NL Cy Young Award – Dylan Cease
2024 AL Rookie of the Year – Jackson Holliday*, Evan Carter
2024 AL Cy Young Award – Framber Valdez
*Both of these picks have started out in the Minors, and therefore are not eligible for the award that they have been listed for. The names listed next to them are the “backups”, if they don’t reach the Majors, or eligibility for the award.
American League
AL East
- New York Yankes (4-0)
- Baltimore Orioles (2-1)
- Boston Red Sox (2-2)
- Toronto Blue Jays (2-2)
- Tampa Bay Rays (2-2)
AL Central
- Detroit Tigers (3-0)
- Cleveland Guardians (3-1)
- Minnesota Twins (2-1)
- Kansas City Royals (1-2)
- Chicago White Sox (0-3)
AL West
- Texas Rangers (2-1)
- Seattle Mariners (2-2)
- LA Angels (1-2)
- Oakland As (1-3)
- Houston Astros (0-4)
To start off in the American League, my early choice of the Yankees being the AL Champs looks good already as they swept the Astros in a four game series, and their new Outfielder in Juan Soto was named AL Player of the Week, leading them to their best start in 20 years.
This is not to say that the Astros will be sitting in the cellar all season long, but Opening Weekend was not kind to them at all. Over in the Central, the Tigers swept their division foes in the White Sox, giving themselves a strong start in a generally weak division. In the West, for what was their Opening weekend, and reveal of some nice hardware in the form of some large World Series rings for the 2023 season, the Rangers took an early but middling first place stance, just ahead of Seattle, and surprisingly, the Angels. With April just ahead, where seasons CAN be lost, but not won, it will depend on how all of these teams do going into the All-Star Break and Trade Deadline before we can get a better idea of who will finish where in September.
National League
NL East
- Atlanta Braves (2-1)
- Washington Nationals (1-2)
- Philadelphia Phillies (1-2)
- New York Mets (0-3)
- Miami Marlins (0-4)
NL Central
- Pittsburgh Pirates (4-0)
- Milwaukee Brewers (3-0)
- Cincinnati Reds (2-1)
- Chicago Cubs (1-2)
- St. Louis Cardinals (1-3)
NL West
- Arizona Diamondbacks (3-1)
- Los Angeles Dodgers (4-2)
- San Diego Padres (3-3)
- San Francisco Giants (2-2)
- Colorado Rockies (1-3)
In the National League, the snakes were looking good in the West on the back of Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who was named NL Player of the Week. During his torrid week, hitting three HR and driving in 10 RBI (a new franchise record to start the season), Gurriel made the Front Office look very smart to give him a 3-year extension back in December of 2023, possibly locking him in through the 2027 season. He does have an opt-out after next season, but that’s a topic for another time. 
Yoshinobu Yamamoto made up for his disastrous Start in Korea by spinning five shutout innings in his home debut against the Cardinals, while also grabbing five Strikeouts over 68 pitches. Atop the East sit the Braves, my personal pick to be this year’s World Series Champions. Although they weren’t perfect to start the season, they showed what they could bring as their pitching and defense allowed the second least amount of runs, second only to the Brewers. With the help of their bullpen and Ke’Bryan Hayes’ hot bat, the Pirates would go on to have their first 5-0 start in over 40 years, after beating the Nationals the following day.
