Opening Day. To some, it’s just another day. But baseball fans treat it as a holiday. Buckle up, because the 2022 season is under way and it should be a good one! 

Last season, we saw teams like the Giants finish with 107 wins while finishing with a 29-31 record in a shortened season.  We saw the Red Sox beat their bitter rival, the Yankees and then upset the Rays and make it to the American Championship League Series. 

And finally we saw the Atlanta Braves win the World Series for the first time since 1995. If this past season is any indicator of what this season will be like, we are all in for a treat. Let’s see how each division looks heading into this upcoming season. 

AL East

The most competitive division in the league, the AL East saw four of its five teams finish with 90 plus wins. The Tampa Bay Rays won it last year with a record of 100-62, while the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox battled it out for a spot in the Wild Card round. 

The big move that happened this offseason was All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman got traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. He joins an already stacked infield with All-Star shortstop Bo Bichette and first baseman Vladimir Guerro, JR. The Jays pitching staff will be the key in a competitive division. 

They have ace Hyun Jin-Ryu, who racked up 14 wins on the mound last season. They also signed Kevin Guasman, who had a great year for the Giants with a record of 14-6. 

As for the Red Sox, they signed stud shortstop Trevor Story to a deal. The Red Sox currently have a banged up pitching rotation, which will be a big question going into this season. 

The Yankees and Rays didn’t add much this offseason, but still have a great team and should be competitive once again. 

Final prediction: 1. Blue Jays: 96-66, 2. Yankees: 89-73, 3. Rays: 88-74  4. Red Sox: 83-79, 5. Orioles: 55-107

AL Central 

The Chicago White Sox are coming off their first division title since 2008. They return a stacked lineup with Jose Abreu, Eloy Jimenez, and Tim Anderson leading the helm. They also return a stacked pitching staff, but one of their best players will start on the DL in Lance Lynn. 

The Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers both made splashes this off-season. The Twins signed all star shortstop Carlos Correa to a big deal, and the Tigers inked shortstop Javier Baez.

The Twins look to return to their 2020 form, where they won the division. The struggle for them has been winning in the playoffs. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2002. They will look to snap that streak this upcoming season. 

The Tigers are a team many see on the come up, but it isn’t their year just yet. The Cleveland Guardians are a team that has declined over the years. They still have ace All

Star pitcher Shane Bieber, and All-star third baseman Jose Rameriz, but the team around them still has a lot of work to do.

The Kansas City Royals have a decent roster. They have veterans in Salvador Perez, and Carlos Santana. They also added veteran pitcher Zack Grienke. They also have some of the more underrated players around the league in Whit Merrifield and Andrew Benintendi. 

Prediction: 1. White Sox: 84-78, 2. Twins: 76-86, 3. Royals: 70-92, 4. Guardians: 64-98, 5. Tigers: 62-100. 

AL West

The Houston Astros are coming off of a trip to the World Series, after losing to the Atlanta Braves. This offseason, they lost their best player to the Twins in Carlos Correa. That is a big hole to fill. The roster is still talented with guys like Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and Yuri Gurriel. Their pitching staff is still all around solid, returning Justin Verlander, Lance Mccullers, and Framber Valdez. 

The Seattle Mariners had a surprise season going 90-72 and barely missing the playoffs. They loaded up in free agency signing Robbie Ray, who went 13-7 with a 2.84 ERA last season with the Blue Jays. They also traded for second baseman Adam Frazier and signed Jesse Winker to play DH. 

This could finally be the Mariners’ year to make it back to the playoffs. Their last appearance was 2001, which is the longest drought in the league.

The Los Angeles Angels have two of the best players in the league.  2021 A.L MVP and two-way player Shohei Ohtoni and All Star center fielder Mike Trout. However, the Angels have had talent over the years, but have struggled to make it to the postseason. 

They signed All-Star pitcher Noah Syndegard to complement Ohtani in the rotation. It could be the Angels’ turn to make it back to the playoffs. 

The Oakland Athletics are a team that just traded away their two best players in Matt Chapman and Matt Olson. Not a good way to start this upcoming season. 

The Texas Rangers were aggressive this offseason as they signed All-Stars Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. It will be interesting to see if the rest of the roster can step up. 

Prediction: 1. Mariners: 87-75, 2. Astros: 84-78, 3. Angels: 83-79, 4. Rangers: 68-94, 5. Athletics: 66-96. 

N.L East

The defending world series champion Atlanta Braves look to win the East again. However, this offseason they ended up losing arguably their best player in Freddie Freeman who’s been with the team since 2010. 

The Braves reloaded however. They traded for All-Star first baseman Matt Olson to replace him. The Braves will also return Ronold Acuna whose season got cut short last July. They pretty much return most of the nucleus from the championship team, and they look to repeat this upcoming season. 

The Phillies are on the rise. They return Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, J.T Realmuto, and Aaron Nola. They also signed All-Star Nicholas Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber. Look out for a much improved Phillies season. 

The New York Mets return most of their team from last year and are led by Fransisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and All-Star pitcher Jacob Degrom. Unfortunately for Degrom, he’s been shut down for four weeks to start the season. He’s struggled with injuries in the past, and this is not a good sign. New Met veteran pitcher Max Scherzer will have to pick up the slack along with the rest of the Mets’ underrated rotation. 

The Miami Marlins are still pretty far away from success. Jesus Agular and Jorge Soler will look to try and lead the team. 

The Washington Nationals are led by one of the best players in the game in Juan Soto. Josh Bell and Stephen Strausburg return for the Nats, while also adding designated hitter Nelson Cruz. Looking at the rest of the roster, the Nats could be heading towards another disappointing season. 

Prediction: 1. Braves: 97-65, 2. Phillies: 85-77, 3. Mets: 76-86, 4. Nationals: 64-98, 5. Marlins: 56-106. 

N.L Central

The St. Louis Cardinals are coming off of a Wild Card berth in 2021 after losing a heartbreaker on a walk-off home run by the Los Angeles Dodgers Chris Taylor. All-Stars Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado lead the team as they will look to win the Division for the first time since 2019. The Cards’ pitching staff is led by Jack Flaherty and veteran Adam Wainwright. 

A big storyline for the Cardinals is their bringing back fan favorite Albert Pujols to DH. He won a World Series with them in 2011. 

The Milwaukee Brewers have a solid pitching staff coming into this season with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Perelta. They all had solid years last season for the Brew crew. 

The Brewers’ bullpen is another dangerous attribute as they have All-Stars Devin Williams and Josh Hader. Hader had a 1.23 ERA. last season with 34 saves. Christain Yelich leads the Brewers’ bats. They also added veteran Andrew Mccucthen who is familiar with the Central division playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2009-2017. 

The Chicago Cubs look to reload as they had a fire sale last July, trading Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Craig Kimbrel. However, the Cubs were active this offseason. They signed high upside pitcher Marcus Stroman and right fielder Seiya Suzuki from Japan. 

However, a lot of the overall roster is still getting used to being in the big leagues. This could be a down year for the Cubs.

The Cincinnati Reds have a high upside team with the likes of Jonathan India and Kyle Farmer. They also have a nice veteran mix with Joey Votto and Mike Moustakis. 

The Reds are a team that can make some noise this season. The Pirates are still far away from being competitive, as they will likely finish last again in the division.

Prediction: 1. Cardinals: 90-72, 2. Brewers: 84-79, 3. Cubs: 76-86, 4. Reds: 73- 95, 5. Pirates: 52-110. 

N.L West

The Los Angeles Dodgers made a big splash this offseason signing Freddie Freeman to a massive deal. He joins a stacked roster with the likes of Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, and Trea Turner. The Dodgers’ rotation is also looking good with Walker Beuhler and Clayton Kershaw at the helm. Look for another strong season from the Dodgers. 

The San Francisco Giants had a phenomenal season in 2021 finishing with 107 wins. They added Carlos Rodon to their rotation as he joins Logan Webb who did great last year. On offense, the Giants are led by Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt. They’ll try to duplicate what they did last season. 

The San Diego Padres had a disappointing end to last year. They thought they had a talented enough roster to make the playoffs, but completely fell apart down the stretch. The Padres’ rotation is one of the best in the league with Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Joe Musgrove leading the charge. The Padres return All-Star’s Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado. They also added Luke Voit to fill the designated hitter role. Look out for the Padres this year. 

The Colorado Rockies made a big move in signing Kris Bryant to a big deal this offseason, but are still far away from being a winning ball club again. The Arizona DIamondbacks are in the same boat, as they are far from successful at the moment. 

Prediction: 1. Dodgers: 106-56, 2. Padres: 101-61, 3. Giants: 93-69, 4. Rockies: 66-96, 5. Diamondbacks: 54-108.