Rejoice, ball fans, because baseball season has officially arrived. Sure, the Cubs and Dodgers got things started with two games last week in Tokyo, but on Thursday, 28 of 30 MLB teams will take the field on Opening Day. The Rockies and Rays will join the fun on Friday.
To get you ready for Opening Day, Yahoo Sports’ MLB experts — Jake Mintz, Jordan Shusterman, Russell Dorsey, Jack Baer and Jason Owens — made their predictions for the 2025 season, from the division winners and World Series champion to the first no-hitter thrown, Shohei Ohtani’s home run total and everything in between.
Let’s jump in.
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Our experts are high on the Red Sox and Cubs to get back to the postseason this year. The AL Central looks to be wide open, but the one thing we can all agree on?
Picking the Dodgers to take the NL West crown once again.
MLB previews by division: NL East | NL Central | NL West | AL East | AL Central | AL West
Is this the year that Bobby Witt Jr. and Elly De La Cruz claim the MVP Award? Could be. How about Gunnar Henderson and Fernando Tatis Jr.? We won’t rule it out.
Or maybe it’ll be Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani taking home the trophies again.
2025 26-and-under power rankings: Nos. 30-26 | Nos. 25-21 | Nos. 20-16 | Nos. 15-11 | Nos. 10-6 | Nos. 5-1
Our experts are expecting Paul Skenes’ rapid ascent to continue in his sophomore season, with him possibly becoming MLB’s ERA champion and winning the NL Cy Young.
Most of the other awards are tough to forecast, but we can count on Aaron Judge to hit home runs, Luis Arraez to get on base a lot and Logan Webb to post.
Read more: Logan Webb’s throwback style could be a lesson for baseball’s future
We can’t agree on who might throw the first no-hitter, who might disappoint and who’s still got it, but there’s a clear consensus about one thing.
Whether or not he’s traded from Toronto, Vlad Guerrero Jr.’s walk year is going to be a storyline worth following.
Read more: Paul Skenes is working on two new pitches. Does he really need them?
It seems safe to bet on the Dodgers to win more than 100 games and Ohtani to hit at least 40 home runs. But how many innings will he pitch? And which surprise team will miss the postseason?
Those are much tougher to predict. As the saying goes, that’s why they play the games.
Read more: How Tanner Scott’s decade-long development journey led to the Dodgers