Beginning of the Season Mailbag!
Answering Subscriber Questions At the Start of the Season!
Welcome to Baseball ‘Caps’ first-ever subscriber mailbag! With the season starting recently, let’s look at some questions related to the 2025 MLB season!
: Who do you think is a sleeper team that could make the playoffs?
Honestly, there are many teams that I feel are being slept on going into the season. Even some teams that made the playoffs last year, such as the Baltimore Orioles & the Kansas City Royals, aren’t being talked about much. In addition, the team that won the World Series two years ago, the Texas Rangers, isn’t being talked about that much, even though they have a very good core. Nevertheless, I think the [Sacramento] Athletics are still being slept on.
Even though they haven’t been good in past years, the A’s have a great young core consisting of superstars in the making such as Lawrence Butler, Mason Miller, Jacob Wilson, & Shea Langeliers, while also featuring some talented veterans in Brent Rooker & Luis Severino. In my playoff predictions post that I have the Athletics making the playoffs via the Wild Card.
: Who are your AL playoff teams?
(1) Texas Rangers [BYE]
(2) New York Yankees [BYE]
(3) Kansas City Royals
(4) Boston Red Sox [WC]
(5) Baltimore Orioles [WC]
(6) Athletics [WC]
: How will the Orioles do in 2025?
This is a tough one, Rohit, as the Orioles have been a playoff team for back-to-back seasons, but also considering that they lost an ace in Corbin Burnes. The past two years, the O’s entered the playoffs through the Wild Card, and I expect no different in 2025. Baltimore has an extremely talented offense, with Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, & Tyler O’Neill. However, the club lost slugger Anthony Santandar and ace Corbin Burnes to free agency this offseason, both of whom were very important in the team’s success last year. Even with Grayson Rodriguez & Charlie Morton, I am concerned about the Orioles’ pitching, no matter how good their offense is. Considering all of this, I expect the Baltimore Orioles to be a Wild Card team in 2025, finishing third in the AL East behind the Yankees and the Red Sox.
: Who’s winning the next World Series?
Great question Smayan! Now, I‘ll start by narrowing this down to four teams, all of which I think will appear in their respective leagues’ championship series— the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, and the Boston Red Sox. I think that all four of these teams have a very good chance at winning the 2025 World Series, but there is only one champion each year. Now, I think the Phillies will outlast the Dodgers in the NLCS in 7 games while the Red Sox will beat the Rangers in the ALCS in 6.
So, we have a Red Sox-Phillies World Series as my prediction. Now, you are going to think I’m biased with this pick, but I do think this is the Phillies’ year. The Red Sox won’t be able to handle the atmosphere in Philly, and the club has a tremendous amount of talent, as do the Red Sox. However, I do think the Phillies will finally win the World Series in 2025.
: What do you think about a potential MLB lockout in 2026?
I think that an MLB lockout in 2026 is going to happen. I don’t want to get into the politics of the matter, but I expect this to be a quick lockout, probably around 4 to 6 weeks long if everything plays out right. A reason for the owners and MLBPA to try to get the deal done quicker is because we are in a great time of baseball, with superstars like Elly De La Cruz, Bobby Witt Jr., Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, & Juan Soto in the league along with powerhouse teams in the Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, & Mets. I’m sorry that I didn’t answer your question completely, but next offseason and as this season goes on, there will be more content on this issue.
: Where would you rank the Diamondbacks’ rotation?
Let’s start with a first impression of Arizona’s starting rotation, which features All-Star RHP Corbin Burnes, RHP Zac Gallen, RHP Brandon Pfaadt, RHP Merrill Kelly, & LHP Eduardo Rodriguez. Adding Burnes to this rotation was an amazing signing by the Diamondbacks this offseason and improved this rotation significantly. Burnes is the ace of the rotation, and he had a great year with the Orioles last year.
When looking at the other four starters in the D-backs’ rotation, they all have the potential to be great if they can stay healthy. The biggest thing that concerns me about this rotation is the fact that they only have one left-hander. As of now, I would say the Diamondbacks have a top 10 rotation, probably around number 6 in the league.
: Who will be the starting pitchers for the 2025 All-Star Game?
This is the easiest question to answer for me, as I’m going with two of the best pitchers in the league right now. For the National League, there are a lot of options such as Zack Wheeler, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, & Spencer Strider. However, I’m going with one of the most popular players in the show right now, Pirates superstar RHP Paul Skenes, to start for the NL. Skenes is the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, and he also started the All-Star Game last year in Arlington. On the other hand, the American League is more limited in obvious options in Seth Lugo, Jacob deGrom, & Tarik Skubal. The reigning AL Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal, is my prediction for the AL’s starting pitcher for the All-Star game in Atlanta this year.
I'm a lifelong Cincinnati Reds fan. I think we have good and deep pitching. When you mentioned NL Cy Young, you didn't mention Hunter Greene. He's my pick.(Bias aside😂😂) I think my Reds will win the NL Central.