Early 2019 MLB Betting Predictions for the Season

We’re right in the middle of the NFL playoffs and inching up to the college football national championship game. However, we’re also just a few weeks away from the time when pitchers and catchers report to spring training sites in Florida and Arizona, the first players to start preparing for the 2019 Major League Baseball season. Last year, we saw the Los Angeles Dodgers fall in the World Series for the second straight year, losing to the Boston Red Sox. Which teams will emerge as contenders this year? We have some predictions for the coming season for you to use as you consider your MLB betting for 2019.

Early 2019 MLB Betting Predictions for the Season

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The Dodgers and Red Sox will miss the postseason

The Yankees will be improved in the American League East. So will the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays. Baltimore? (Well.) So that’s fewer easy wins for the Red Sox to count on as they run through that unbalanced schedule. The Red Sox haven’t made any major additions to this point, and the cracks that started to show, particularly in the bullpen, haven’t been addressed, with Joe Kelly heading west and Craig Kimbrel showing that he may have peaked as a closer. What about the Dodgers? Clayton Kershaw has now had two consecutive chances to deliver in the Fall Classic, and he hasn’t finished in either one. Manny Machado looks to be taking his talents elsewhere, and it’s not like the Dodgers were all that solid last year. They benefited from a weak division (and that may stay the same, especially after Arizona traded away their best hitter in Paul Goldschmidt), but the Dodgers had to mount a furious comeback late, not winning the division until Game 163. Another iffy first half of the season would allow Colorado or Arizona to solidify their grip on the division.

The Yankees win the American League East

Last year, New York set the record for home runs in a season with 267, edging the record that the 1997 Seattle Mariners had set by three long balls. Also, they didn’t have Aaron Judge, one of their biggest bombers, for two months. Gary Sanchez either was on the injured list or was struggling at the plate for most of the season. Shortstop Didi Gregorius will miss the first half of the season as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery, but there are plenty of other big hitters to pace the Yankees, and they have some serious pitching coming from a staff led by youngster Luis Severino. And what if the Yankees end up inking Manny Machado? That could make for an unbeatable lineup in The Bronx. Given the hunger that should be rumbling in the Yankees’ clubhouse after seeing Boston win another World Series, it’s time for greatness to return to Yankee Stadium.

San Diego snatches a wild card

The Padres? Yes, they’re still there, the only professional sports team left in San Diego. But contenders? Their farm system is ranked in the top three to five in the majors, depending on which scout you talk to. They have enough prospects to put together a deal for a top-of-the-line arm, or they could be patient, as seven of their top ten prospects are pitchers. Several of those are expected to arrive with the big club this year. Eric Hosmer put up disappointing numbers last year, hitting just .253 and only slugging 18 home runs. He should turn that around and have a better 2019. Also, there is the NL West — with the Giants and Diamondbacks likely to continue their struggles, and with the Dodgers likely to be down again, there’s little keeping the Padres from pushing the Rockies and snagging a wild card. Could they win 80 games? Maybe even 90 games? It’s hard to say. That would be a year early on the projected timeline, but we saw Houston do the same thing.