Bat Flips & Nerds does Bold Predictions (2025 edition)

One of the problems with bold predictions is that if they are correct, the assumption is that they were not bold enough.

When we review this article in the offseason, we won’t be able to recall the exact baseball landscape of March 2025.

Take Ash Day’s predictions, for example. In three of the last four years, injury has prevented Mike Trout from even hitting 20 home runs. Predicting that he plays enough games to homer 30 times is very ambitious, but come October, if he is a 7 WAR player, Ash’s bold prediction will seem relatively tame. At the moment, it is BOLD.

ASH DAY

1. Twins win the AL Central
2. Nolan Arenado will be a Yankee
3. Giants will have their first 30 HR hitter since Barry Bonds
4. Francisco Lindor wins NL MVP
5. Mike Trout hits 30+ home runs

Matt Chapman and Willy Adames are projected for 25 homers each. Bryce Eldridge has the power but not the playing time. Does Heliot Ramos have 30 homers in him?

IAN BLEASE

1. Deja vu all over again as the Dodgers face the Yankees in the World Series
2. Clayton Kershaw breaks the 3000-strikeout barrier
3. Juan Soto will get booed by Mets fans at least once this season
4. Shohei Ohtani hit 3+ HRs and strikes out 15+ hitters in the postseason
5. Blake Snell wins NL Cy Young

As if Mets fans would turn on one of their own.

RICHARD WILSON

1. The White Sox will be worse
2. Athletics will make the playoffs
3. A Met will be the home run leader (Pete Alonso redemption season)
4. There will be at least one issue where a game is called early (probably a Blue Jays one) because of protests over the world
5. Paul Goldschmidt will be an All-Star

Athletics making the playoffs is bold. That’s what we like. If Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker are vying for MVP votes, and we see breakout seasons from Jacob Wilson and JJ Bleday, then maybe it’s possible.

CHARLIE DEEKS

1. Riley Greene finishes top 5 in MVP voting
2. A pitcher gets an at-bat this year
3. Bryce Harper misses time with an ‘illness’ as a result of drinking raw milk
4. Jesse Chavez pitches for the Atlanta Braves and another team this year
5. MLB announces plans for a midseason tournament

I love number 1. Riley Greene seems like a woefully underrated player. It should also be noted that Charlie submitted these bold predictions before Jesse Chavez signed a Minor League deal with the Braves, so he is halfway to correctly predicting number 4.

TOM PRINGLE

1. Wade Miley will pitch over 100 innings in MLB
2. Wade Miley will have over 50 strikeouts
3. Wade Miley will extend his streak to seven years of no intentional walks
4. Wade Miley will give up less than 50 walks
5. Wade Miley will win 5-games or more.

The 38-year-old lefty threw just seven innings last season and has signed a Minor League deal with the Reds. The six years without an intentional walk is an interesting stat from Mr Pringle.

ADAM NICHOLSON

1. Someone other than the Chicago White Sox loses most games in 2025
2. Both Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks make the playoffs
3. New York Mets miss the playoffs
4. Baltimore Orioles miss the playoffs
5. Blake Snell wins NL Cy Young

If any team loses more games than the White Sox, then MLB has hit a new low

TOMI KORKEAMAKI

1. Sandy Alcantara will make a start in the ALDS
2. Kris Bryant plays +100 games during the regular season
3. Roki Sasaki pitches a no-hitter
4. Justin Verlander (3416 SO) and Max Scherzer (3407 SO) both reach 3500 career strikeouts
5. Tim Anderson (140 errors) reaches 150 career errors before the All Star break

Love these from Tomi! A healthy Sandy could be Baltimore or New York bound. And I would love to see Sasaki pitch a no-hitter

BEN RUSSELL

1. Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth ground into 25+ double plays combined
2. Dodgers repeat their World Series win (I hope they don’t)
3. Guardians win 85 games or less
4. White Sox improve, only lose 110 games
5. Aaron Judge has less than 50 home runs

Bogaerts and Cronenworth combined for 32 GIDP last season, so number 1 isn’t bold enough, unlike the dreadful White Sox only losing 110 games. Cleveland has won more than 90 games in six of the last eight seasons, so predicting 85 wins or fewer is a bold shout.

CRAIG RICHMOND

1. Garrett Crochet will win the AL Cy Young award
2. Alex Bregman will be the Red Sox’ everyday third baseman by June
3. Triston Casas will hit more than 30 HR
4. None of Boston’s Big 3 prospects will be regular starters in 2025
5. Yankees finish third in the AL East

To be fair to Craig, he submitted these two weeks before it was confirmed that Kristian Campbell would break camp. Whether the 22-year-old establishes himself as a regular starter remains to be seen.

MARK BLAKEMORE

1. Washington Nationals lead the league in stolen bases
2. The Pirates lead the NL in team ERA
3. Aaron Boone leads the league in managerial game ejections
4. One team will pitch two or more combined no hitters
5. Politics interferes in the baseball season as it is affected by the growing US and Canadian trade war

Do you know which team led the league in stolen bases in 2024? That’s right, the Washington Nationals. Not the boldest prediction we’ve ever received from Mark. Pirates leading the NL in ERA is much bolder; they weren’t even in the NL’s Top 10 last season.

ROB NOVERRAZ

1. The league leader will have fewer than 35 saves
2. Two Mariners will get Cy Young votes
3. The Rockies will remain relevant into July
4. Eugene Levy will feature in a Major League broadcast
5. The deadbeat Rays will continue to be deadbeats

As 15 relievers have notched at least 35 saves over the last three years, no one getting to 35 saves is an interesting prediction from Rob. Oh, and the Rockies remaining relevant would be fun.

JASON TOMS

1. The best-performing Japanese player in MLB (by fWAR) will be a quietly masterful Tomoyuki Sugano
2. Kent Mariners, Plymouth Mariners and newly Sasaki-less Chiba Lotte Marines all make the playoffs, but the Seattle Mariners don’t
3. Chicago Cubs win the NL Central by a wider margin than any other division winner
4. All four Cy Young winners and MVPs are born in the continental United States
5. No team in MLB will win OR lose 100 games

Genius predictions. Fantastic out-of-the-box thinking by Jason, although as an Ipswich Town fan I’m disappointed he failed to mention the Poole Mariners.

BRETT WALKER

1. Sutter Health Park will set a new record for home runs in a ‘major league’ ballpark.
2. Because of the above, Brent Rooker will hit 50+ home runs.
3. Because everyone has a podcast now, THOSE Yankees fans will start their own podcast.
4. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mookie Betts won’t agree to be their first guest.
5. N.B. Tongue firmly in cheek – I will finally agree to a BCS Podcast x Bat Flips and Nerd Podcast crossover episode. (Admittedly, they haven’t even asked me yet! 😆)

I think there is more chance of a Capobianco and Hansen/BCS Podcast crossover than number 5. Just sayin’.

RUSSELL EASSOM

1. Vladdy will win the World Series but not with Toronto
2. The Yankees will finish bottom of the AL East
3. Brayan Rocchio will be an All-Star
4. No one will pitch 200 innings
5. Joey Bart will outperform Patrick Bailey in fWAR

Really interesting predictions. No starter pitching 200 innings is a fascinating pick. Only four pitchers threw over 200 innings last season, so it’s definitely a possibility.

BEN CARTER

1. Juan Soto sets the Mets single-season home run record, but the Mets miss the playoffs
2. San Francisco Giants are the surprise team of the season, winning 97 games
3. For the first time since 2001, the Seattle Mariners win the AL West
4. Aaron Nola is the only pitcher in the Majors to go over the 200 innings mark
5. A number of poor ball/strike calls lead to MLB implementing the ABS challenge system by the All Star Game

These ARE bold. I can’t imagine Soto hitting 54 homers and the Mets missing the playoffs… but they are the Mets. And as for the Mariners winning the AL West, wow!

CARL TAYLOR

1. Diamondbacks will win the NL West
2. Houston Astros will finish last in the AL West
3. Bobby Witt Jr. will win the AL MVP award
4. Ronald Acuna Jr will steal less than 20 bases
5. Boston Red Sox will win the World Series!

Some tremendous bold predictions by Carl. Astros finishing behind the Athletics and Angels is BOLD with a capital B.

GAV

1. Trevor Bauer will pitch in MLB
2. White Sox will lose more than 121 games
3. D-Backs beat the Dodgers in the playoffs
4. Vlad Guerrero Jr. plays in the World Series
5. Nolan Arenado gets MVP votes

Featured image photo of Nolan Arenado by Christian Petersen (Getty Images)

What did we get right? Where are we way off? Give us your bold predictions in the comments or on social media. Want to write for us? Get in touch