The Major League Baseball (MLB) season is upon us. This is the time of year that many just can’t wait for, as baseball season means games to watch each and every day.
The 2017 season should be a good one as last year’s champs, the Chicago Cubs, attempt to win a second straight World Series, which would be quite an accomplishment since they went 108 years between titles. Let’s get to the predictions.

The division winners and wild cards will look pretty familiar in 2017. In the American League, look for the Red Sox to win the East, the Indians to take the Central, and the Astros to capture the West. The wild-card winners will be the Orioles and Tigers, with the Tigers winning the play-in game.
In the National League, the division winners will be the Nationals in the East, the Cubs in the Central, and in the West the Dodgers will hold off the Giants. The Mets and the Cardinals will battle it out in the wild-card game with the Cards advancing.

The AL playoffs will see the Red Sox beating the Tigers in the division series, and the Indians will defeat the Astros in their matchup.

In the American League Championship Series, the Red Sox will defeat the Astros to move on to the World Series.

In the National League, the Cardinals will drop their division series to the Cubs, and the Nationals will finally get over the play-off-hump and go to the franchise’s first league championship series when they beat the Dodgers.

In the National League Championship Series, the Cubs will go to their second straight World Series when they beat the Nationals.

In the World Series, the dream matchup between the Cubs and the Red Sox will see the Cubs winning their second straight championship.

The AL and NL MVP’s will be a good battle this year. In the American League the MVP will be Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, one of the best all-around players in baseball. Altuve led the AL in batting average with a .338 average and also led the AL in stolen bases with 30. He is also top 10 in runs and (OPS) on base plus slugging percentage – a key statistic in today’s game.

The National League MVP will be another second baseman; the Washington Nationals’ Daniel Murphy will surprise everyone and win. Murphy was the best and most- consistent hitter for the Nationals last season. He was second in the NL in batting average with a .347 average, was first in the NL in slugging with .595 average, and first in the NL in OPS with .985 average.

The NL and AL Cy Young awards will be interesting. In the American League, it will be Detroit Tigers ace pitcher Justin Verlander. This guy was quietly one of the best pitchers in baseball last season, as he led the AL in strikeouts with 254, and was also top- two in innings pitched, ERA (Earned Run Average), and WHIP (Walks Plus Hits Per Inning Pitched).

The NL Cy Young will be Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, who will have a bounce-back season after suffering a back injury that forced him to miss most of last year.

He was top-three in the NL last year in complete games with three, despite missing so much time. Another incentive – if he wins his fourth Cy Young, he will be in a tie with Steve Carlton and Greg Maddux for the most in National League history.