Grading bold 2025 season predictions for all 30 MLB teams - ESPN

Each year, I make a bold prediction for every team as part of our MLB season preview. These aren't wacky, unthinkable predictions — like a catcher hitting 60 home runs or a hitter reaching base nine times in a World Series game or the World Series being decided by the length of the lead a runner gets off third base. No, who could predict any of that happening?

These were bold — but realistic — predictions for the 2025 season. Let's go back and grade each one to see how I did — and then spin it forward to next year.

The prediction: Paul Skenes doesn't just win the Cy Young Award — he has the best season ever for a Pirates starter (in the live ball era, since 1920).

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Cy Young Award? Check. Highest WAR for a Pirates starter since 1920? Check. Lowest ERA by a Pirates starter since 1920? Check. Well done, Mr. Skenes, well done.

Grade: A+

Looking ahead to 2026: It won't be easy to top 7.7 WAR and a 1.97 ERA, but Skenes can do it. He can certainly improve upon his 187⅔ innings as the Pirates still held him back, letting him reach 100 pitches in just eight of his 31 starts. With a few more starts on four days of rest and additional innings, a 9- or 10-WAR season is possible.

The prediction: Bryan Woo will be the best starter on the Mariners.

Nailed it. Woo went 15-7 with a 2.94 ERA and 4.2 WAR — double the 2.1 of fellow rotation members Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo. Woo, who finished fifth in the Cy Young voting, also set an MLB record when he pitched at least six innings in each of his first 25 starts of the season. Unfortunately, he injured his pectoral muscle in his final start of the regular season, missed