Hi everyone, today’s Drew’s Top 12 goes over our Storylines of the 2021 MLB Baseball Season. There are a lot of great narratives so let’s get to it.
#12 Will the Blue Jays ever make it back to Canada
It’s been well documented with Canada’s travel restrictions the hardships that Canadians sports teams have gone through over the past calendar year. A perennial Eastern Conference contender in the Toronto Raptors have fallen apart with not being able to play their home games in the dinosaur pen. Will the Blue Jays have a similar fate playing their home games to start 2021 in their spring training facility? There is a lot of optimism and buzz in Blue Bird nation this season. Will they be able to band together and power through the adversity of not being home? The bigger question is when or if the Jays will return home this season at some point? We will find out.
#11 How bad is the NL Central
The Cubs are regressing, the Cardinals can’t hit, the Brewers don’t have any starting pitchers that can throw more than five innings, the Reds lost their best pitcher and hit .220 last season, the Pirates are me and my friends everyday instead of major league players. A lot of computer projections are crunching out the winner of this division going 81-81 or 82-80. I don’t think it will be that dire but it may be first team to 85 wins wins this division.
#10 How about the rule changes this year and moving forward
Baseball implemented a couple of temporary rule changes last season. The universal DH did not stick around (we get to see MadBum hit again so not all bad pitchers are hitting again), the extra inning rule with a runner on 2nd to start the 10th inning did. Will there be more rule changes coming down the pike after this season. Will the shift go away as it should? Will there be a pitch clock? Will players get lolipops and cookies for not striking out on given nights? We shall find out but baseball is trying to make their game still relevant in this short attention span high tech world we live in.
#9 How will the new baseball perform
Baseball didn’t do itself any favors announcing they changed the baseballs that will be used on game days in 2021. My question is did you really doctor up the baseballs to travel further like many skeptics thought over the past few seasons. It does make many of the critics who think that baseball players and executives are cheaters validate their argument. Let’s see if there is any difference in 2021 or if this is just a publicity stunt because of the complaints of too many homeruns.
#8 Are the Astros off the hook
Did everyone forget the Astros scandal? Last spring there was outrage across the game with the Astros using trash cans and a camera to steal signs back in the 2017 Season. The pandemic quieted much of this conversation and this became almost a non topic when games resume. Are the Astros off the hook or is all of baseball still pissed at the Astros stealing a championship (no pun intended) four years ago.
#7 How bad are the Pirates
In my predictions I won’t bold move Cotton and picked the Pirates to get to 65 wins. This was mainly due to the Pirates getting to play more than half of their games against the weak NL Central-Tigers-Royals combo. Many believe the Pirates could be 110 losses bad without much major league experience on this roster and a payroll/budget that would have many shopping at Dollar Tree. It will be interesting to see how bad the Pirates are, either way it’s going to be bad.
#6 Who is the Surprise Team
Most seasons there is a team that Vegas does not project to do much that contends. Last Season’s shortened season this team was the Marlins. In 2021 I think the best candidate for a surprise run is the Arizona Diamondbacks (a perennially competitive team that had a rough 20 game stretch in a shortened season). Since the Blue Jays and White Sox do not count (look at their over/unders) can you find a team that is projected to win 81 or less games who could contend or make the playoffs this season.
#5 Are the White Sox for Real
There is a lot of Vegas and Drew buzz around the White Sox which over the last three full seasons only averaged 67 wins. So is this buzz real or not? I will tell you it is real, the Padres have a lot of buzz that isn’t questioned by anyone and they finished in last place in 2019 so the two years ago argument doesn’t apply here. The White Sox are the only AL team without a glaring weakness and teams who do not have a glaring weakness almost always win at least 90 games. Take the over on the Sox win total and thank me later.
#4 Is this the year the Mets finally make a jump
Remember 2015, the Dark Knight and Thor? Matt Harvey is just trying to stay in the majors and Noah Syndergaard has had issues staying healthy. But the third and forgotten member of that lethal 2015 rotation Jacob Degrom is healthy and has been the best pitcher in the game over the past three seasons and looks primed to have another monster year in 2021. The addition of Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso looking ready to explode in 2021 says that the Mets are primed to make that jump this year. But let’s remember these are the Mets we are talking about so you might have to hold your breath a bit.
#3 Can the Padres dethrone the mighty Dodgers
The Padres are going for it in 2021 with their pickups of Yu Darvish and Blake Snell. With Mike Clevinger getting Tommy John Surgery Dinelson Lamet coming back from an elbow injury those two pickups just stabilized what would have been a shaky rotation otherwise. At full strength this would have been a fun argument to have but most likely the Padres do not have enough depth to hang with L.A for the full 162. But Fernando Tatis Jr. is a superhero and they don’t play the games on paper so let’s see what happens!
#2 Can the Yankees make it back to the Series
The Yankees are loaded and ready to make it back to the World Series for the first time since 2009. It’s crazy to say that the Yankees with all of their historical success haven’t been to the Series in 12 years but here we are. The Yankees are a safe bet to win the AL East but my concern (as well as many others) is the rotation is Gerrit Cole and pray. The Yanks will almost certainly add starting pitching at the deadline because 2021 is more than just getting another division title banner in the Bronx.
#1 Are the Dodgers going to become a dynasty
The Dodgers have won the NL West 8 years in a row. The Dodgers won their first World Series since 1988 in 2020. The Dodgers are loaded more than ever with the addition of Cy Young award winner Trevor Bauer to an already stacked pitching staff. So what next? The Dodgers are only +350 to win the World Series which tells you Vegas agrees that the Dodgers are the overwhelming favorite to become the first repeat champion since the Yankees in 2000. It would take a collapse in a short series for the Dodgers to not repeat. The great thing about baseball is anything can happen in a short series,. Are you ready for 2021 because I sure am!!!