Yes, the season is around the corner, the bunting in place, the pomp and circumstance that surrounds Opening Day about to take place. We’re ready for the season to begin and that means making reckless predictions that are definitely going to be right (and by definitely, we mean they’re all going to be wrong). Here, your favorite TGP writers will make their boldest predictions of the season.

Cristopher Sanchez will finish in the top three in Cy Young voting

A trendy breakout pick amongst national writers, even though he really actually broke out in 2024, Sanchez has been quite the story in spring training. Blessed with adding more velocity to a sinker that was already averaging 94.5 mph, Sanchez has even added a few ticks more this spring, leading one to think there is still another gear. The lack of glamorous strikeout totals will probably keep some people from believing that he is among the game’s elite starting pitchers, but that added velocity, should he maintain it through the season, might help with that aspect of his game. Particularly if he can keep the separation large enough from his changeup. But once he starts racking up strikeout totals to go with his ability to limit walks and balls hit in the air, the bigger numbers that people often pay attention to (wins, ERA) will trend in the right direction as well. – Ethan Witte

The Phillies will have two starters in the top three in Cy Young voting, and three in the top ten

I’m going to take Gabe Kapler’s advice to be bold and build off of Ethan’s prediction. Not only will Cristopher Sánchez finish in the top three in Cy Young voting, but so will Zack Wheeler. And to be even bolder, Aaron Nola will join them in the top ten, giving the Phillies three fifths of their rotation within the top ten. Wheeler has finished as the Cy Young runner up twice in his Phillies tenure already with two other finishes at sixth and twelfth, so it’s not a stretch to think he will be in the mix again. He’s a workhorse that’s averaged 190 IP in his non-2020 seasons in a Phillies uniform with a total ERA across those years of 2.94. Nola meanwhile has finished in the top ten three times in his career and finished 11th last year. If he can vanquish his odd year blues (3.07 ERA in even years and a 4.31 ERA in odd years) and turn in a similar season as 2024, it’s easy to see him cracking the top ten. It wouldn’t be the first time the Phillies had such representation for the award, as Roy Halladay (2nd), Cliff Lee (3rd), and Cole Hamels (5th) all cracked the top five in Cy Young voting in 2011. – Joe Edinger

JT Realmuto makes the All-Star game

There has been this notion around the fanbase that JT Realmuto is starting to decline or is already declining.

While he is 34 years old and had knee surgery last season, he hasn’t shown any real physical declines yet. His exit velocity looked fine last season, and his xwOBACON was higher than his 2022 season. He finished with only 2.0 fWAR but only in 99 games, when he is probably scheduled to play closer to 120 games.

After the knee surgery, Realmuto played better than people realize. In 48 games, he hit .272 with a .788 OPS and a .179 ISO. All are much closer to Realmuto-like numbers that fans are used to seeing.

Father time is going against me and Realmuto’s last two seasons haven’t been prime-caliber consistently, but I think there is one more season left where he looks like a top-five catcher in the sport. You could argue he is still top-three in the National League so a hot-streak the first couple months of the season might be enough for him to win out votes. – Anthony Esbensen

Brandon Marsh will hit lefties reasonably well

Much has been made of Brandon Marsh’s struggles against southpaws (.192/.270/.282 in 2024). It caused all sorts of lineup construction trouble for the Phillies as they sought to minimize his exposure to same-handed pitching. But this season, a solution will present itself. No need to look for the One Weird Trick that’ll solve the issue. It’ll be simple: Marsh will just hit better against his fellow lefties this year. The Phillies have an excellent hitting coach in Kevin Long; you can bet that he’s been working on ways to alleviate the issues that plagued Marsh last year. Marsh’s spring has been promising in this regard: .444/.583/.556 against lefties, better than he’s hit righties. Of course, that’s over just 9 plate appearances, so the sample size is far too small to be meaningful. While I don’t expect those eye-popping numbers to carry over to the regular season, I do expect substantial improvement from last year. He won’t mash against southpaws, but he won’t look lost against them either. – Jared Frank

Alec Bohm hits 20+ homers and reaches 100+ RBI

The closest Bohm has gotten to this feat so far in his career was 2023 when he hit 20 homers and had 97 RBI. He hit 15/97 last year. With another year of maturity and a calmer demeanor at the plate, this will be the year he finally surpasses both marks. A key factor to finally reaching 100 RBI will be the performances of the guys in front of him in the lineup, who will get on base more often giving Bohm more opportunities to drive in runs. – Allie

Aaron Nola breaks the odd year curse and makes the All-Star Game

It’s well known that Aaron Nola has fared far better in even years than odd ones. Typically, he earns Cy Young votes when the year is divisible by two, while he’s more of an innings eater in the others.

There’s no real reason for this trend, so I’ll predict it ends. Instead of regressing from a strong 2024, Nola will have an even better season that sees him named to the NL squad in the Midsummer Classic. – Smarty

The Phillies will lose a key player to a season-ending injury in the first half of the season

It won’t be all sunshine and rainbows. The team has been incredibly fortunate to have avoided some Ronald Acuna Jr. or Spencer Strider lengthy injuries in the last few years. I just have a sinking feeling that streak will end this season to throw additional adversary their way. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…trying to delete this. – Jay Polinsky

The Phillies will trade for Willson Contreras

The Cardinals finished second in the NL Central last season with an 83-79 record and had the most quiet offseason of any team in the division. FanGraphs projects them to finish third with 79 wins but the Reds and Pirates are right behind them at 78. Most sportsbooks have their win total over/under set at 76.5. Based on these projections and their timid approach to altering the roster, it’s not difficult to envision a scenario where they tread water for a few months and then sometime in June decide to throw in the towel and get whatever returns they can for some agéd vets.

The Cards are blessed with a glut of catching depth, so much so that they moved Willson Contreras to first base. Contreras has averaged 107 games played per season over the first three years of his five-year deal, so the move to first was more an effort to preserve his health but only made possible by their luxury of other MLB-ready catchers. He does have a full no-trade clause but should waive it if the writing’s on the wall that a rebuild is going to outlive him and he’s got a chance to go to a contender.

Pedro Pagés and Ivan Herrera are still in a battle for the starting catcher’s spot as we speak. On the farm, the Cards have four backstops in their Top 30 Prospects, including their #4 ranked prospect, 23-year-old Jimmy Crooks, who will be starting the year as the everyday catcher at AAA Memphis.

If any of Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber or JT Realmuto go down with a significant injury, the lineup will be weakened and there will be a vacancy at either DH, first base or catcher. Schwarber and Realmuto are also free agents after the season while Contreras would be under team control at a reasonable price until 2028. If Mick Abel puts together a decent first half at Lehigh Valley, maybe you can make him the centerpiece. How ‘bout you, Utivich, you make that deal? – Rich