Sports

MLB predictions 2021: SN projects division winners, playoff picture, World Series matchup

Published

2 weeks ago

April 1, 2021

MLB predictions 2021: SN projects division winners, playoff picture, World Series matchup

Let the speculation begin.

It’s Opening Day, which means we’re in for roughly six months of prognostication about who’s going to win what, who’s going to surprise and who’s going to disappoint. Of course, nobody really knows anything because predicting baseball is mostly a fool’s errand. But it’s always fun, because we all get to look back in October and see just how wrong we were.

RIVERA: Meet MLB’s All-Fun Team for 2021

In the spirit of pretending to have all the answers, here are Sporting News’ certain-to-come-true predictions for the 2021 MLB season.

MLB predictions 2021

Ryan Fagan
Twitter: @ryanfagan

American League races

East: Yankees
Central: White Sox
West: A’s
Wild cards: Blue Jays, Twins

American League awards

MVP: Shohei Ohtani, Angels
Cy Young: Gerrit Cole, Yankees
Rookie of the Year: Wander Franco, Rays

National League races

East: Braves
Central: Cardinals
West: Dodgers
Wild cards: Padres, Mets

National League awards

MVP: Mookie Betts, Dodgers
Cy Young: Walker Buehler, Dodgers
Rookie of the Year: Ke’Bryan Hayes, Pirates

Postseason

AL champ: White Sox
NL champ: Dodgers
World Series winner: Dodgers

Storylines I’m watching

— I say this every year, but it remains as true now as the first time I had this realization: The thing I love most about each new baseball season are the surprises. We go through the exercises of making predictions about division titles, playoff spots, awards and champions, and that’s all well and good. But personally? I get much more excitement and joy out of watching a player or team come from out of nowhere to capture the nation’s attention than I do in being able to say I successfully predicted the Dodgers to win the NL West. C’mon, baseball. Surprise and thrill me.

— Will 2021 be a welcome season of success for fans of two particular franchises that have struggled to reach expectations in recent years? Everyone brings up the Angels’ failure to get back to the postseason in the Mike Trout era — as they should — but Angels fans aren’t the only ones hoping to get back to October. The Phillies haven’t made the playoffs since 2011 (a year after the Angels’ last trip), hovering around .500 all three years of the Bryce Harper era so far. I think Shohei Ohtani is primed to have the breakthrough year that matches his talent, and that would be a huge boost. And if the Phillies can get even mildly competent relief pitching, they should be right there in the mix with the Braves and Mets in the NL East. But we’ve said those things in the recent past, too.

— I do hate to bring this up, but the CBA that expires after the 2021 season will hang over everything this summer. The looming negotiation between MLB and the MLBPA is the reason we don’t have the DH this year, after playing with the DH in the shortened 2020 season. It’s the reason “only” five teams in each league will make the postseason, instead of some type of expanded playoffs. It’s going to get ugly, folks. That happens after the season, sure. But you can only ignore it for so long.

Jason Foster
Twitter: @ByJasonFoster

American League races

East: Yankees
Central: White Sox
West: A’s
Wild cards: Angels, Twins

American League awards

MVP: Mike Trout, Angels
Cy Young: Gerrit Cole, Yankees
Rookie of the Year: Andrew Vaughn, White Sox

National League races

East: Braves
Central: Cardinals
West: Padres
Wild cards: Dodgers, Mets

National League awards

MVP: Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves
Cy Young: Jacob deGrom, Mets
Rookie of the Year: Ke’Bryan Hayes, Pirates

Postseason

AL champ: Yankees
NL champ: Padres
World Series winner: Yankees

Storylines I’m watching

— Will the Padres give the Dodgers a real challenge in the NL West? I’m picking them to win the division, so I’ll say yes. Maybe I’m being overly optimistic, but as talented as the Padres are, it seems like a lot of people are underestimating them. We’ll see.

— How soon before stadiums are back at full capacity? My prediction is that after gradual increases in April, May and June — boosted by ever-increasing vaccination rates around the country — that most teams will have 90-plus percent capacity by July. Come September, we might even seen 100 percent capacity.

— How long before everyone agrees that pitchers shouldn’t be hitters? I understand that we’ll never get unanimity on this, but it seems very likely that after not hitting for a year, pitchers will have such a poor showing this season — way worse than usual — that there will be very few holdouts about the universal DH, which hopefully will become a permanent thing in 2022.

MORE: 21 things I want to see during the 2021 season | 21 very specific predictions

Joe Rivera
Twitter: @JoeRiveraSN

American League races

East: Yankees
Central: Twins
West: Astros
Wild cards: Athletics, Rays

American League awards

MVP: Mike Trout, Angels
Cy Young: Gerrit Cole, Yankees
Rookie of the Year: Jarred Kelenic, Mariners

National League races

East: Mets
Central: Cardinals
West: Dodgers
Wild cards: Padres, Braves

National League awards

MVP: Fernando Tatís Jr., Padres
Cy Young: Jacob deGrom, Mets
Rookie of the Year: Christian Pache, Braves

Postseason

AL champ: Yankees
NL champ: Dodgers
World Series winner: Dodgers

Storylines I’m watching

— Once again, the Yankees are entering the 2021 season with starting pitching question marks. With Masahiro Tanaka back in Japan and Luis Severino rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, it’s Gerrit Cole, Corey Kluber, Domingo German, Jameson Taillon and Jordan Montgomery as the one-through-five to start the season. New York seems to be relying on either veteran reclamation projects (Kluber, Taillon) or youth (Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt waiting in the wings). It’s a high-risk, high-reward rotation, so we’ll see whether it, once again, haunts them this year.

— The NL West battle is going to be, in a word, fun. The Padres are good, and legit, and once again improved with Yu Darvish entering the rotation this year. And they have plenty of youth they can turn to in the minors, as well. The Dodgers, defending champs, are clearly out to prove that their 60-game romp through the NL and World Series were no fluke.

— Another year, another year of waiting for October baseball that features Mike Trout. The longer this goes, the sadder the story gets, man. But hopefully the Angels can at least make strides this season — but don’t count on it.

Tom Gatto
Twitter: @tgatt_tsn

American League races

East: Yankees
Central: White Sox
West: Astros
Wild cards: Rays, Blue Jays

American League awards

MVP: Aaron Judge, Yankees
Cy Young: Gerrit Cole, Yankees
Rookie of the Year: Jarred Kelenic, Mariners

National League races

East: Braves
Central: Brewers
West: Dodgers
Wild cards: Mets, Padres

National League awards

MVP: Juan Soto, Nationals
Cy Young: Jacob deGrom, Mets
Rookie of the Year: Sixto Sanchez, Marlins

Postseason

AL champ: Astros
NL champ: Dodgers
World Series winner: Dodgers

Storylines I’m watching

— The top half of the American League will be extremely competitive. Eight teams have legit postseason cases: Rays, Yankees, Blue Jays, White Sox, Twins, Indians, Astros and A’s. That doesn’t include teams like the Angels and Red Sox, who should be better this season. Even the Mariners and Royals are starting to think about October. Division matchups especially should become more and more intense as more fans return to ballparks during the season.

— Will the teams that won the offseason be able to carry the momentum through the regular season? The Padres and White Sox made the expanded playoffs in the abbreviated 2020 season and then added to their rosters in a big way; can they be good for 162 games instead of 60? Can the Padres match the Dodgers’ offensive firepower? Can rookie Andrew Vaughn replace Eloy Jimenez’s bat in the early part of the season and convince the White Sox that they don’t need to add a hitter before the trade deadline?

— Will the 2021 ball actually have less juice in it, and will offense really suffer if it does? Teams that are built to mash (and, really, that’s almost every team) might lose a couple of dingers in the early going, but they’ll still be able to do damage. Pitchers might feel more confident in challenging hitters if they think the ball has a better chance of staying in the yard, but naturally that might lead to more mistake pitches that can travel a long way, no matter the ball’s composition.

Sports

Why are Jake Paul and Ben Askren fighting? A callout lured ex-MMA champion out of retirement

Published

25 mins ago

April 16, 2021

Anisa News

Why are Jake Paul and Ben Askren fighting? A callout lured ex-MMA champion out of retirement

Jake Paul will look to improve his boxing record to 3-0 on April 17 when he steps into the ring with former MMA champion Ben Askren on Triller’s Fight Club.

Paul started his pro boxing career in January 2020 with a first-round knockout against fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib. He followed that with a knockout of former NBA player Nate Robinson in November on the undercard of Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones. This will be the first time that Paul steps into the ring with a former fighter.

Askren is a two-time Division I wrestling national champion who became a champion at Bellator and ONE Championship before finishing his mixed martial arts career in the UFC. He amassed a record of 19-2 before retiring from the sport in November 2018.

How did a fight between a YouTuber and a former MMA champion happen?

RELATED: Jake Paul accused of sexual assault by TikTok star

Why are Jake Paul and Jake Paul fighting?

Before and after his second-round knockout over former NBA player Nate Robinson last November, Jake Paul called out several MMA fighters to step into a boxing ring with him. Among them were Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Dillon Danis, Jorge Masvidal and Ben Askren. Although some suggested they’d take the fight on social media, only the recently retired Askren made it clear that he’d be more than willing to meet the YouTube celebrity for a fight.

“Boxing, that seems kind of easy,” Askren told Submission Radio about the possibility of stepping into the ring following hip surgery. “Like, I’m sure I could do that. Like, there’s no shots, there’s no slams, there’s not leg locks. I dunno, that seems relatively safe to me.”

Askren wasn’t impressed with Paul’s knockout of Robinson and stated that he’s sure he’d fare much better than Robinson and AnEsonGib, a YouTuber that Paul stopped in the first round last January.

“It’s hard to say when you’re going against someone who’s that bad,” Askren said. “I watched the highlights, Nate Robinson, good god. I mean, honestly, it looked like he’d never been boxing before. For someone who’s such an elite athlete – I mean, this guy’s a very elite athlete, he was a great basketball player – he couldn’t box worth a damn.

“Obviously I’m someone who is a high-level fighter, who has a large following, who was maybe not known for his stand-up. I think that’s probably what he’s thinking.”

After a bit of back and forth on social media, it was announced that Paul would return to the ring in April for a fight on Triller against Askren in an eight-round cruiserweight bout.

Since the fight was announced, the two have ramped up their rivalry on social media with Paul dragging Askren’s wife into the feud. The feud heated up at a March press conference where words were exchanged and it nearly became physical during the staredown.

Both have made promises to knock out the other but only one will come out victorious on April 17.

Sports

ESPN’s Holly Rowe speaks French and English in WNBA Draft interview; Twitter reacts

Published

10 hours ago

April 16, 2021

Anisa News

ESPN's Holly Rowe speaks French and English in WNBA Draft interview; Twitter reacts

ESPN reporter Holly Rowe received many a “tres bien” from her confrères in media for conducting a bilingual interview with WNBA Draft pick Iliana Rupert, a France international, on Thursday night.

Rupert was chosen 12th overall by the Las Vegas Aces. With the draft being a virtual event for the second year in a row because of COVID-19, Rowe conducted the post-selection interview in an ESPN studio while Rupert was on camera remotely.

MORE: Why Paige Bueckers was ineligible for ’21 WNBA Draft

Rowe began the interview with “Bonsoir,” or “Good evening,” and asked Rupert in French whether she spoke English. Rupert responded in the affirmative and the interview proceeded in English.

“It’s always been one of my dreams and it’s amazing being recognized,” Rupert said. “I’m really happy to [represent] my country and I’m just excited to finally start this journey.”

After two more questions and responses in English, Rowe switched back to French for the interview’s conclusion, telling Rupert “Bienvenue,” or “Welcome,” to the WNBA. She also gave her regards to Rupert’s family.

Rowe’s media colleagues were quick with the compliments.

Nobody deserves Greeny money. Not even Greeny. That said, Holly Rowe @sportsiren and Doris Burke @heydb are as good at what they do as anyone on the Bristol campus regardless of any whatever qualifier you want to add.

— jay greeson (@jgreesontfp) April 16, 2021

It’s hard enough to say your own name on TV let alone speak French. Holly Rowe ain’t have to stunt on us like that. Now I gotta learn too.

— Max McGee (@MaxMcGeeTV) April 16, 2021

Holly Rowe out here dominating play IN FRENCH

— Erik Horne (@ErikkHorne) April 16, 2021

Sports

‘It shows how exciting we can be!’ – Saka says Arsenal have real chance of winning Europa League after Slavia rout

Published

14 hours ago

April 15, 2021

Anisa News

'It shows how exciting we can be!' - Saka says Arsenal have real chance of winning Europa League after Slavia rout

Bukayo Saka says Arsenal have a real chance of winning the Europa League after their rout of Slavia Prague, and claims their latest performance “shows everyone how exciting we can be”.

Arsenal bounced back from a disappointing 1-1 draw against Slavia in the first leg of their quarter-final tie at Emirates Stadium by picking up a comprehensive 4-0 victory in the Czech Republic on Thursday night.

Saka was among the scorers as the Gunners booked a last-four clash with Villarreal, and he is confident they can now go all the way in the competition after flexing their attacking muscles at the Sinobo Stadium.

What’s been said?

“It was fantastic from start to finish. We did it for all the fans, they all deserve it for all the support they give us. We are really happy to progress,” the Arsenal winger told BT Sport.

“We showed real character. The first one was disallowed, Emile deserved a goal, we kept going and got the first one again. We pretty much killed the game in the first half.

“In the first leg we played well but weren’t clinical, credit to the manager and coaching staff, the way we set up, pressed, they couldn’t get out.

“It shows everyone how exciting we can be, when we play like this it is so amazing to be involved in. We have a chance of going to the final and winning this competition, it is up to us. We look forward to the next opponent.”

Arsenal put Slavia to the sword

The Gunners went at their Czech opponents right from the first whistle in the second leg clash, and found themselves in front after just 18 minutes when Nicolas Pepe dinked the ball into the net after being teed up by Emile Smith Rowe.

Alexandre Lacazette then doubled the visitors’ account from the penalty spot after Saka was fouled in the box, and the teenager got his goal moments later when he cut in from the right-wing before firing the ball low past the goalkeeper at his near post.

Lacazette added extra gloss to the final scoreline with a trademark finish 13 minutes from time as Arsenal progressed to the semi-finals 5-1 on aggregate.