5 Surprising Baseball Predictions in 2022

 

The 2022 MLB season is underway and through the first 35 games of the season, a handful of teams have started to stand out. With that in mind, sports bettors alike have started to bet on baseball with some off to a good start and others bleeding in the red.

In 2021, the sports betting market grew by 21.54% year over year.

That means that more sports bettors are betting on games and with that in mind, there comes more baseball traditions.

So, what are our baseball predictions for the 2022 baseball season? Here are five that might surprise you.

The Yankees Will Win the World Series

At the time of writing, the New York Yankees have the best record in baseball, winning almost 75% of their games. They are on track to win around 120 games and are building a comfortable lead to take over the AL East.

During the offseason, this would have come as a surprise due to some of the moves that transpired. Two of the big losses the Yankees had to deal with were losing catcher Gary Sanchez and third basemen Gio Urshela. New York also chose not to re-sign long time veteran outfielder Brett Gardner.

They are led by ace Gerrit Cole, who finished second in the AL Cy Young voting in 2021. However, he has young pitchers backing him up now such as Nestor Cortes and Jameson Taillon.

On top of this, New York has a stacked bullpen led by closer Aroldis Chapman.

Then, on the offensive side of ball, the Yankees have one of the best dynamic duos in baseball in Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. They are complimented by first baseman Anthony Rizzo hitting between them and DJ LeMahieu leading off.

For the pieces the Yankees lost during the offseason, they did replace them with pieces such as veteran third baseman Josh Donaldson and shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

Right now, the Yankees look like they have the pieces of a well balanced lineup to make a serious run at a World Series.

The Mets Will Collapse Again

The New York Mets started out as one of the hottest teams in baseball during the first month of 2022. Some thought they were one of the bets MLB teams, however, they seem to be coming back down to earth a little.

One pro for the Mets is that they hired veteran manager Buck Showalter to lead this team. They also made one of their biggest offseason acquisitions in years, signing ace Max Scherzer.

However, some concerns about this team are the fact their other ace Jacob deGrom is on the 60-day IL at the time of writing.

Another concern is the performance of one of their highest paid players in Francisco Lindor.

Since he has started with the Mets, he finished with a .230 batting average in 2021 and is sitting around the same number this year at the time of writing. Both are career lows for Lindor.

Last year, New York also had an early lead for the NL East and ended up falling short for the division and the playoffs outright. The eventual World Series Champion Atlanta Braves went on to win the NL East last year.

If the Mets do not watch themselves, they could see a similar collapse to the Braves or the Philadelphia Phillies this year.

The Astros Will Lose the AL West

At the time of writing, the Astros hold the lead for the AL West division. The only team even close to them at the time of writing are the Los Angeles Angels.

There is a lot of talent on this Angels team, with the biggest game changer of all being Mike Trout is actually healthy this year. Last year, he missed most of the 2021 season with a calf injury.

While one person cannot carry a baseball team, this is arguably the best everyday player in baseball. On top of this, there is international superstar Shohei Ohtani, who is a two-way player hitting and pitching near the top of the league.

With that dynamic duo along with great supporting players like Anthony Rendon, this may be the year that the Angels make a move.

NL West Will Have Three Playoff Teams

Maybe not the most surprising prediction but with six teams making the playoffs in each league this year, that leaves an opening for an extra team to make it.

At the time of writing, every team in the NL West was .500 or better. Also, the only other non-division leader that is over .500 outside of the NL West is the St. Louis Cardinals.

Teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants made the playoffs last year and seem to be on pace to do it again. Then, there is the San Diego Padres, who had an epic collapse at the end of last season to miss the playoffs.

If these teams can keep it together this year, three representatives from the NL West seems likely.

The Reds Will Win Over 50 Games

Normally, this may not seem like much of a surprise, but the Reds are currently barely winning a quarter of their games. They are on pace to win about 40 of their games.

In the modern era, only five teams in MLB history have won 40 games or less. This does not seem like a realistic expectation for the Reds to keep and they should get back on track later in the season but in the meantime, some MLB parlay picks involving them could benefit you.

See More Baseball Predictions

These are just five of the baseball predictions that could surprise you. From both West divisions to the New York teams and making bad history, a few of these may end up coming true.

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