With Major League Baseball starting its spring training games later this week, it is not too early to start thinking about which players are going to have the most impact on this upcoming season. What better way to do that than to predict the 2023 MLB awards?
National League MVP:
Let’s start off by taking a look at who will take home the crown of best player in the National League. Here are the top 10 best odds of winning the award according to DraftKings Sportsbook:
Juan Soto, SD (+500)
Mookie Betts, LAD (+900)
Fernando Tatis Jr., SD (+900)
Ronald Acuña Jr., ATL (+950)
Freddie Freeman, LAD (+1200)
Trea Turner, PHI (+1300)
Paul Goldschmidt, STL (+1300)
Manny Machado, SD (+1500)
Pete Alonso, NYM (+1500)
Austin Riley, ATL (+1500)
Juan Soto is the frontrunner for the award, even after a slow start to his tenure with the Padres. In 52 games played with the Padres last season, Soto hit 6 home runs, had 16 RBIs, and batted .236. On top of this, Soto plays in arguably one of the toughest divisions in all of baseball. The NL West is stacked, with the Dodges, Padres, and Giants all considered to be World Series contenders.
My sleeper pick for the NL MVP has to be Paul Goldschmidt pulling off the repeat. At +1300 odds, Goldschmidt plays in the opposite of Soto: possibly the easiest division in the MLB. Last season for the Cardinals, Goldschmidt had 151 AB’s, 35 home runs, 115 RBI’s, scored 106 runs, and brought home the 2022 NL MVP award. That is all with a slow start to the season. Goldschmidt has a tendency to start seasons off slow, as he did last year, but if he is able to turn that around and play consistently like “Goldy” all season long, I think he raises a very viable argument for best player in the NL.
American League MVP:
Who is going to be the best player in the American League this 2023 season? Here is what DraftKings Sportsbook thinks:
Shohei Ohtani, LAA (+200)
Aaron Judge, NYY (+450)
Mike Trout, LAA (+450)
Julio Rodriguez, SEA (+700)
Yordan Alvarez, HOU (+1100)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., TOR (+1200)
José Remírez, CLE (+1500)
Rafael Devers, BOS (+2000)
Corey Seager, TEX (+2000)
K. Tucker, HOU (+2500), A. Rutschman, BAL (+2500), W. Franco, TB (+2500)
The AL does not seem to be as much of a toss-up as the NL, with Ohtani taking +200 odds to win the award. It is hard to argue with this logic, as someone like Shohei Ohtani only comes around once in a blue moon. To be dominant both in the batter’s box and on the mound, he truly is the “Most Valuable Player” in all of baseball year in and year out.
However, as has been shown time and time again, the American League has a lot of talented guys who can easily take the crown of most valuable player. My sleeper pick for the American League has to be José Remírez. The switch-hitting third baseman has proven himself as a potential face of the league, and performs day in and day out. Last season, Ramírez played in 157 games and hit .280. He had 29 home runs, 90 runs scored, and had 126 RBI’s. Although none of these numbers are astronomically high, José shows signs every day of having the potential of being the best player in the American League. Also, it doesn’t hurt that he plays in the AL Central.
National League Cy Young:
Now we move to pitchers in the National League, and their likelihood of taking home the NL Cy Young Award:
Sandy Alcantara, MIA (+450)
Corbin Burns, MIL (+550)
Justin Verlander, NYM (+600)
Max Scherzer, NYM (+800)
Max Fried, ATL (+1000)
Spencer Strider, ATL (+1100)
Aaron Nola, PHI (+1200)
Zack Wheeler, PHI (+1200)
Zac Gallen, ARI (+1700)
Julio Urías, LAD (+2000)
DraftKings Sportsbook has Sandy Alcantara repeating as NL CY Young. This has only been done by 11 pitchers in MLB history, one of which is also on this list with Sandy, Max Scherzer. I like Sandy’s odds of doing so. He leads a young pitching staff in the NL East, and has shown that he is a proven leader in the clubhouse. Last season, Alcantara pitched in 32 games, where is had a 2.28 ERA, notched 207 strikeouts, only gave up 58 earned runs, threw 6 complete games, and had a 14-9 record. I think that he can easily put those numbers up again this season.
For my sleeper pick, I like Corbin Burnes. Burnes is obviously a franchise arm in the MLB, and he has shown that he is a top arm every year. Last season, Burnes pitched in 33 games, had a 2.94 ERA, gave up 66 earned runs, had a whopping 243 strikeouts, and had a 12-8 record on the mound. Burnes has a lot to prove this season has he looks to notch a large contract after this season. Burnes is going to be on a one year $10,010,000 contract for the 2023 season, and should be hungry for the larger, long-term contract that he deserves.
American League Cy Young:
Finally, the odds for the best pitcher in the American League, per DraftKings Sportsbook:
Jacob deGrom, TEX (+500)
Gerrit Cole, NYY (+600)
Alek Manoah, TOR (+800)
Dylan Cease, CHW (+900)
Carlos Rodón, NYY (+1000)
Shane Bieber, CLE (+1000)
Shohei Ohtani, LAA (+1200)
Shane McClanahan, TB (+1200)
Framber Valdez, HOU (+1500)
Luis Castillo, SEA (+1800)
Jacob deGrom has shown that he is one of the most dominant starting pitchers in MLB history. However, I do not like his odds to win the AL Cy Young this season. This is deGrom’s first season away from the Mets, and it seems to me like he may have his work cut out for them. The Rangers are a young, talented team, but I have them as the third best team in the AL West, and that is if they can manage a better record than the Angels. Last season deGrom notched 102 strikeouts in 11 games played, 22 earned runs, and had a 3.08 ERA. A new catcher, a new coach, and a new ballpark to play in could cause a bit more of a struggle for deGrom.
My sleeper for this award is going to have to be Luis Castillo. The strong righty for the Mariners has the stuff to be an elite MLB pitcher, as he has shown for years. In 2022, Castillo had an 8-6 record, with half those games being played with the Cincinnati Reds. Furthermore, I think that Castillo has been placed in a perfect situation to be the number one arm in the American League, with a young, dominant, fun team around him like the Mariners are. Castillo has exerted dominance even in his time in Cincinnati, and I think that will carry over very well to his first full season in Seattle.
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