The Return of Baseball

As the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) season approaches, fans are eagerly awaiting the return of America’s favorite pastime. With a plethora of storylines, new rules and superstars this season, opening day cannot come soon enough for fans.

The MLB’s 119th season started on March 30th; however, this season may differ slightly from previous ones. For starters, MLB owners decided to increase the base sizes by 20%. This will allow players to have more room to operate and will result in fewer collisions on the basepaths. In order to increase batter performance at the plate, the infamous shift—where infielders would shift to different portions of the infield and/or outfield based on the hitter’s hitting tendencies—has been outlawed. In addition, a pitcher now has a restricted number of pick-offs during a game and must pitch the ball inside a set amount of time due to the new pitch clock/timer. These actions are intended to shorten the dead ball times during MLB games, which are times when the ball is not in play.

This season there will be plenty of familiar faces, with some of the most recognizable being in new threads. Players like Trea Turner, Justin Verlander, Dansby Swanson, Jacob DeGrom, Carlos Rodon, and many other former cornerpiece players of their franchise will be playing for a new ball club this year. These new faces will allow for new organizations to be in contention for the playoffs this year. Look for these teams to make a leap from last year– the Texas Rangers, the Chicago Cubs, and the New York Mets. On the contrary, teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, and the Cleveland Guardians may be due to regress in comparison to their 2022 season, due to the loss of notable players this prior offseason.

Baseball fans are at the edge of their seats waiting for what has potential to be the most exciting MLB season ever, including many of our own Scorpions. We take a look at some hot takes and bold predictions for this upcoming season from the Oakland Mills community: 

Cara Baus (12th): The Phillies have the best mascot in the MLB.
Frankie Moore (11th): Fernando Tatis will hit 30 home runs this season.
Luke Maloy (11th): Jorge Mateo & Cedric Mullins will lead the American League in stolen bases, respectively.
Logan Mahajan (10th): The Dodgers will miss the playoffs without their stars. 
Mr. Fenicle (Teacher): The pitch clock will make the game more exciting and more fun to watch.