It's the opening of the baseball season, which is the 122nd for the Yankees, 63rd for the Mets and 141st for the Phillies. Strat-O-Matic, the Long Island-based sports simulation company whose games have been played by baseball fans since its founding more than 60 years ago, provided its annual simulation of the upcoming season, and the results will have one of those three teams smiling and the other two wondering if the dice might somehow roll in their favor when the actual season is played out.
It's the Yankees, led by reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, that claim their 28th title, per Strat's simulation. The hulking right (sometimes center, sometimes left; don't worry the game accounts for all that) fielder doesn't replicate his 62 home run output from a year ago, but his 52 homers, 132 RBIs and .313 average are still good for his second straight top league honor. The simulation predicts the Yankees to win 102 games, second to the Cleveland Guardians with 111, but has the Guardians bowing out to the Twins in a three-game ALDS sweep. The Yankees then take out Minnesota in a seven-game nailbiter in the ALCS and the Dodgers in the World Series, four games to two.
For the Mets, preseason expectations notwithstanding, Strat-O-Matic's simulation sees Buck Showalter's troops finishing second in the N.L. East with an 87-75 mark, nine games behind the Braves and slotted in the second wild card spot. They face the Dodgers in that round, bowing two games to one.
As for the defending N.L. champ Phillies, they are a few beats behind the Mets at 84-78, pulling the last wild card spot (sound familiar, Phils fans?). Again facing St. Louis, the Phillies advance to the NLDS but this time the magic stops with a loss to the Braves in five.
Other A.L. awards went to Cy Young winner Shane Bieber of Cleveland (20-6, 2.80 ERA, 228K) and Rookie of the Year Grayson Rodriguez of Baltimore (11-6, 2.97 ERA). In the N.L., Nolan Arenado's .293 average, 46 home runs and 116 RBI for St. Louis earned the third baseman the MVP, Yu Darvish of San Diego claimed the Cy Young with his 17-4, 2.55 ERA and 221 strikeouts and Corbin Carroll of Arizona taking the Rookie of the Year (20 home runs, 62 RBIs).
Strat-O-Matic, originally formed as a tabletop baseball simulation and later expanded to the four major sports and a successful computer version which replicates the card-and-dice version, has had great success in predicting outcomes through its simulations. A lot of fans use the game to play off "greatest teams ever" or some of their favorite teams like the '69 Mets, '27 Yankees, '08 Phillies, or even the '62 Mets for fun.
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