Before the start of last season, we asked a few pals to come up with bold predictions for 2024. Here are a some of the highlights.
JOHN McGEE
- Twins finished fourth in the AL Central
- Finished 38th among AL starters
- Nope
- Posted an ERA of exactly 3.00
John’s fifth bold prediction of “A classic butcher’s dog (complete with a string of sausages) enters the field of play in Anaheim and pees on the field, immobilising Anthony Rendon” failed to materialise.
BEN CARTER
- Pirates win NL Central
- Angels lose 100 games
- Kyle Tucker wins AL MVP
- A game ends with pitch clock violation
- Joey Votto retires for job in broadcast booth
- Pirates finished bottom of the NL Central
- So close! Angels lost 99 games
- Missed half the season, but still 4.7 WAR
- CORRECT! Rockies walked-off vs. Nats
- He retired and guested in commentary booths
RUSSELL EASSOM
- Yankees (AL East) were AL champions
- 27 HR was good for 29th in MLB
- Nope, he had a 1.8 WAR season
- WOW! Chris Sale won the NL Cy Young
- He was limited to just 90 innings
TOM PRINGLE
- Wade Miley gets Cy Young talk
- Animal larger than a gull will delay a game
- Both London games will end 1-0
- Giancarlo Stanton will not go on IL
- Angels avoid a scandal all season
- Nope. Bat Flips & Nerds pod doesn’t count
- No, but a swam of bees did
- Nope
- He missed 48 games
- Hmm, there was the stadium lease stuff and the settlement, and the Tyler Skaggs case.
ROB NOVERRAZ
- Detroit have lowest ERA in MLB
- Rob Manfred exhibits a visible injury
- Most inside-the-park homers since 2000
- There is a food poisoning scandal
- Not bad. 3.63 ERA was fourth lowest
- Not a visible one
- No. 2024 was a bad year for ITPHR
- I don’t think so
Rob’s fifth bold prediction was interesting, “only one division is won by the Fangraphs’ projected favourites. (Yankees, Twins, Astros, Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers)” – Only half of the favourites (Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers) won their divisions.
DARIUS AUSTIN
- 31 SB was good for 17th in MLB
- No, but he won the Gold Glove with 5.0 WAR
- Not bad, he was fourth.
- Sano = 0, Trout = 6
- Nope
*73 stolen bases was the number Ronald Acuña Jr. reached in 2023.
CHARLIE DEEKS
- Braves get reverse-swept in World Series
- No no-hitters in 2024
- Christopher Morel gets MVP votes
- Mike Trout wins the AL MVP
- One pitcher will hit a home run
- Have to get there first
- Good effort, but I think there were three (Blake Snell, Dylan Cease, and Ronel Blanco)
- It was a -0.6 WAR season for Morel
- East coast bias gave it to Aaron Judge
- No, but there were 24 chances when pitchers hit
ASH DAY
- Jung Hoo Lee wins Rookie of the Year
- Mike Trout hits 30+ home runs
- Dodgers win 100+ games but lose in NLDS
- Royce Lewis gets MVP votes
- The Orioles win the World Series
- Only injury and Paul Skenes prevented this
- Trout didn’t manage 30+ games
- The first bit was wrong and so was the second
- No, but maybe in 2025
- No, but maybe in 2025
BRETT WALKER
- Rockies have the fewest wins in MLB
- Orioles won’t win the AL East
- Donald Trump turns up to a World Series game and gets booed
- Jerry Seinfeld will sing “Take me Out to the Ball Game” at the London Series
- Shohei Ohtani becomes the new face of Fan Duel
- White Sox say “hold my beer”
- CORRECT
- No, I don’t recall this
- That would have been great
- Nope
MARK BLAKEMORE
- Pirates make the playoffs
- White Sox lose the most games in MLB
- There will be more betting scandals
- Two Mariners finish as Top 5 AL pitchers
- Someone will get 10+ RBI in a game
- Nope
- CORRECT
- Unfortunately, correct
- They had two All-Star pitchers. Does that count?
- Take a bow! Ohtani had a 10-RBI game v. Miami
TOMI KORKEAMAKI
It’s safe to say we caught Tomi in not the greatest mood for a Marlins fan.
- The Marlins might win one game
- CORRECT. 62 wins (they have only won fewer than 62 games on three occasions)
JENNIFER ANNELY
- Braves won’t win the NL East
- NL Central will be the worst division in baseball
- NL MVP won’t be a Dodger
- Philly Phanatic causes an international diplomatic incident at the London Series games
- Miles Mikolas creates a nationwide sage shortage trying to cleanse the outfield of bad vibes at Busch stadium
- CORRECT
- Surprisingly not. AL West had the least wins
- Nope
- I think they kept it quiet
- Not to my knowledge
NATHAN SWANNEY
- Ohtani gets injured and misses the second half
- Yankees miss the playoffs
- Brewers win the NLCS
- Dodgers won’t win a playoff series
- Pirates finish with more wins than D-Backs
JASON DERR
- George Kirby wins AL Cy Young award
- Jarred Kelenic realises his full potential
- Rays get approval for a new stadium
- A’s change their name to the Gamblers
- Padres are sold to Mexican drug lords
- Nope
- Nope
- Yes. Whether it happens is another matter.
- Not yet
- Let’s see what happens after the court case
MARK PHILLIPS
- Bryce Harper homers in both London games
- Masyn Winn will win a gold glove
- Royals will be the most-improved team in win total
- Rangers will not make the playoffs
- Bobby Miller will get the most wins in the NL
- Half a point
- He was a finalist. Another half point
- WOW! KC improved by 30 wins.
- CORRECT
- Miller got two wins
TOM BAKER
- Orioles win the ALDS
- Garrett Crochet pitches a combined no-hitter
- Brandon Marsh takes a selfie outside Buckingham Palace
- Ronald Acuña Jr. hits his 200th career home run at Truist Park, and the Acuñamania mega fan guy catches it
- Rockies win 75 games
- Nope
- Nope
- I don’t recall seeing this
- Ronnie is on 165 homers
- Nope. Rockies won 61 games
SAM DOUGHERTY
- Yankees win the World Series
- Mike Trout is traded at the deadline
- Diamondbacks miss the playoffs
- Tyler Glasnow has over 20 wins and wins the NL Cy Young
- St Louis Cardinals stink again
- Nope
- If only he hadn’t been injured
- CORRECT
- Nope and nope
- 83 wins. Not brilliant but not stinky
MATT MUTTON
- We have a first-time World Series winner
- Manchester Baseball Club beats Liverpool Trojans this season
- There will be a new BBF NBL winner this year
- GB baseball under-23s win quite a few games at the World Cup
- British Baseball goes from strength to strength, and the number of players grows
- Dodgers won their eighth World Series
- Not this year, Matt
- Essex Arrows won the regular season
- 2-6 record. Two isn’t quite a few
- CORRECT
GEMMA NEWMAN
- Jackson Chourio wins NL Rookie of the Year
- Colorado Rockies make the playoffs
- There will be eight or more triple plays this season
- Francisco Alvarez will win an NL Silver Slugger Award
- Angel Hernandez breaks the 40 missed calls in a single-game barrier
- Not bad. He finished third
- Nope
- Nope, only two
- Nope
- Good shout, but his highest was 21.
IAN BLEASE
- Dodgers win 115+ games
- All three NL wildcard slots go to the NL West
- Chris Sale finishes in the Top 5 in NL Cy Young voting
- Corbin Carroll steals 70 bases, wins a gold glove and is in the Top 5 in MVP voting
- Yankees face the Dodgers in the most-watched World Series since 2001
- Not bad, they won 98
- Not bad, there was one
- CORRECT
- Nope, nope and nope
- So close! It was the most-watched World Series since 2017
Selection from Gav’s 30 Boldish Predictions
- Brenton Doyle has a 20 HR, 25 SB season
- Erick Fedde gets Cy Young votes
- Byron Buxton plays 100 games with .980 OPS
- A’s have 6 players over 100 OPS+
- World Series champs Texas Rangers fail to reach the postseason
- CORRECT: 23 HR and 30 SB
- INCORRECT but 5.9 WAR was better than second-place Seth Lugo
- He played 102 games with .859 OPS
- In fact, they had 7
- CORRECT
Obviously, there were many dreadful predictions in Gav’s article, like Seiya Suzuki will finish the season as the top Japanese player.
Now it’s your turn. Submit your FIVE BOLD PREDICTIONS FOR 2025
