Atlanta Braves vs Washington Nationals FULL Highlights | MLB Training Spring 2025

Baseball's back, the 2025 season is officially here, and I thought it would be fun to react to ESPN's newest power rankings and projections for the upcoming season. Who's too high, who's too low? Let's talk about it. Before we get into the video, all that I ask is that you guys hit that like and subscribe button, it really helps out the channel. And don't miss out on up to $500,000 in giveaways on Underdog Fantasy. All you have to do is download Underdog to your phone, using code Fuzzy, pick any player that you want, and apply a home run token. If that player hits the longest home run of the day, you get a portion of the $500,000 pool, and if you're the only person that picks them, you get all 500K. To absolutely no one's surprise, the Chicago White Sox are projected to be the worst team in baseball yet again, with a 54 and 108 record. Their World Series odds are at 0%. The only thing that we're really gonna talk about is whether or not Luis Robert Jr. is gonna get traded or not, that's about it. Remember, he's a free agent after 2025, so they're gonna have to move on from him. Just ahead of the White Sox, the Miami Marlins also have a 0% chance of winning the World Series. They're projected to go 63 and 99. Just like Luis Robert Jr., the big thing that we're gonna be looking for is a trade piece, and that's Sandy Alcantara, the former Cy Young winner. I mean, after trading Luis Suarez, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jake Berger, Jesus Lizardo, and Tanner Scott, Sandy's kind of the only big name left on that team. The Colorado Rockies are projected to go, whoa, 57 and 105? How are they ranked ahead of the Marlins? Come on, ESPN, what are we doing? That's not math. Brenton Doyle is one of the most fun players to watch in all of baseball. Mike Utolia has a ton of pop, and also, I like the fact that Tyler Freeman's gonna get some playing time this year. Chris Bryant still exists, so that means there's still a chance that he can bounce back, but yeah, I agree with the projections. The Rockies are gonna be pretty bad. By the way, nothing changed in the World Series odds department. They're at a 0%. The Los Angeles Angels, I still wish it was of Anaheim or the Anaheim Angels, but they're projected to go 74 and 88, which is kind of surprising, not gonna lie. If they're really as bad as these projections suggest, I don't know if Mike Trout was gonna be an Angel past 2025. Shouldn't they move on from him? I've seen a lot of good things from Jorge Soler in spring training. Mike Trout looks as healthy as ever. I feel like the Angels could shock some people, but putting them at 74 and 88, I guess that's more realistic. The Washington Nationals could have the 2025 Rookie of the Year, but despite that, they're still projected to go 68 and 94, and the World Series odds, a tiny, a minuscule 0.02. James Wood and Dylan Cruz are stars in the making, and don't forget that the Nationals also picked up Josh Bell, Nathaniel Lowe. We have Paul DeJong, Ahmed Rosario, who kinda stinks, and Michael Sirocco, who was great for the White Sox out the bullpen. Luis Garcia Jr. showed up in 2024, and CJ Abrams is one of the more talented young guys in baseball. Combine that with Mackenzie Gore, who might take a step forward, and also Cade Cavalli, who could finally be back from injury. I feel like the Nationals could surprise some people this year and beat these projections. Wow, the St. Louis Cardinals are projected to go a even 500, 81 and 81. They have a 0.7% chance of making the World Series, or winning the World Series, I should say, the highest of the video so far. Just like the White Sox, the Marlins, even the Angels, if the Cardinals don't beat these projections, if they slug, Nolan Arnauto is for sure gonna get traded. I've always liked the Cardinals, so it kinda shocks me that they've been underperforming over the last few years, and it's really because of their front office. And the fan base, they're not happy with it. The Cardinals fan base is one of the most dedicated in baseball. The attendance is going down because they're sticking it to the front office, and good for them. The Pittsburgh Pirates are supposed to finish 14 games under 500, and they don't even have a 1% chance of winning the World Series. It's at 0.3, even with a historic talent like Paul Skeens at the top of that rotation. I wanna see if O'Neal Cruz can reach that 30-30 plateau, or even 40-40 that everyone's kinda touting he can reach. Cabrian Hayes, come on, buddy. This has to be the year you figure it out with a stick. You gotta have at least a 100 OPS plus. Maybe some young guys like Andy Rodriguez, Nick Gonzalez, and Henry Davis figure it out at the big league level, and maybe they outperform these projections. It's a big if, though. Remember, guys, these are the athletics. They are not the Sacramento Athletics. Another 0.1% chance of winning the World Series team. They're projected to have the exact same record as the last team we talked about, the Pirates, but I don't know if I agree with that. That's kind of the first one where I'm like, hold up a minute. Now, maybe this is because I've always been a fanboy of Jeffrey Springs, and the A's added him via a trade. They also added Luis Severino. They brought in Jose Leclerc for the bullpen, and they still have Brent Rooker, Lawrence Butler, guys who rake. We haven't even mentioned Tyler Soderstrom, who has a crazy high ceiling. Shea Langeleers was crazy down the stretch at 2024. What about a rookie of the year guy in Jacob Wilson? Honestly, if I had to put my money on rookie of the year guys, we might have already talked about them today. Dylan Cruz in the NL and Jacob Wilson in the AL. So I'm gonna disagree with this projection. I don't think the athletics are gonna be that bad. The Giants just named Justin Verlander I'm obviously joking. San Francisco is projected to finish two games under 500 at 80 and 82, and they have a 0.6% chance of winning the World Series. There are some big questions to answer for this team, not even including Justin Verlander. Will Willie Adamas be able to rake in Oracle Park? I think so. What about Jung-Hoo Lee? Can he stay healthy? Logan Webb is a bonafide ace. I have no doubts about him. So let's see if the Giants can beat those 80 and 82 projections. Wow, the Cincinnati Reds are supposed to finish 10 games under 500. I, whoa, I'm a little trepidatious with this projection because Elie De La Cruz, and I know it's spring training, so take this with a grain of salt, but he looks like he could go 50-50 as well. Hunter Green finished 2024 as a Cy Young type candidate. They brought back Nick Martinez, which is awesome for that depth. Matt McClain is back. Maybe Nick Lodolo finally is able to stay consistent. Andrew Abbott, another lefty, he looks solid as well. With Matt McClain back in the infield with Elie De La Cruz, you also have Gavin Lux kind of patrolling infield and outfield duties. I genuinely think the Reds, I don't know if they're gonna be a full-blown World Series contender, but a playoff team, I could see it. The Toronto Blue Jays barely squeaked in with an 83 and 79 record. Their playoff odds are basically at 40%, whereas their World Series odds are at 1.6%. So the highest of the video so far. Yes, the Blue Jays lost out on Otani and Soto in back-to-back offseason, but they did bring in Anthony Santander on a pretty good contract. Same with Jeff Hoffman. I like bringing back Jimmy Garcia and Max Scherzer. He looked great in spring. Can't forget about the Platinum Glover, Andres Jimenez. He did have an insane offensive season a few years ago. Maybe he can capture lightning in a bottle all over again. I still like the rotation, but obviously the two biggest things that we're gonna be paying attention to, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. Can Vladdy keep up the success that he's had recently and can Bo bounce back? They're both free agents after this year, so they need a big season. Whoa, holy disrespect. My Guardians are gonna go 78 and 84 with a 0.5% chance of making the World Series after making the ALCS. I get it, they traded away Josh Naylor and Andres Jimenez, but both of those guys stunk in the playoffs. They added absolutely nothing to the postseason. They're also getting Shane Bieber back a few months into the season. Kyle Manzaro looks like he could be a really good hitter, and they also brought in Carlos Santana. They also just traded for Nolan Jones. They're gonna have Steven Kwan, Lane Thomas, and Nolan Jones in an outfield. That's really, really good. Yeah, I'm disagreeing with this one. Gavin Williams looks like he's gonna break out as well. What are we doing, 78 and 84? That's disrespectful. The Tigers did get better over the offseason, so the fact that the series between them and the Guardians was so close, and again, they did have a better offseason, I can see why they're ranked ahead of the Guardians, but again, the Guardians' record was just disrespectful. Detroit has a 1.8% chance of winning the World Series, and they're projected to finish four games Tarek Skubal is the best pitcher in baseball heading into 2025. I mean, right? Or is it Paul Skeens? Regardless, you're going Tarek Skubal with Jack Flaherty back in there. He was insane for them before getting traded to the Dodgers. Jackson Jobe is a young rookie. I love Reese Olsen and Casey Mize. It looks like he might finally pop off. Riley Green is insane. Parker Meadows is awesome. Same with other young guys like Colt Keith, Trace Winney has a high ceiling. Carey, Scary, Bonds, Carpenter, he rakes. You bring in Glaber Torres. By the way, it's bearded Glaber Torres. Now maybe he's a better version of himself now that he can be himself. We haven't even talked about the bullpen yet. It is elite. So these 83 and 79 projections, I feel like they could get beaten. The highest World Series odds by far, almost by double. Actually, I'm not good at math. That's not double. But the twins have a 2.7% chance of winning the World Series. They're projected to go 85 and 74 just ahead of the Tigers, but they have a over half percent, a 52.4% chance of making the playoffs. It's all about health. Can Royce Lewis stay healthy? He's already injured to start the season. Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, they have to stay healthy. Same with Bayley Ober. We always love the twins on paper heading into any season, especially as of late with the addition of Correa and the fact that he's been really, really good when healthy but towards the middle half of the season and eventually into September, it just kind of fades. And I hate that. And I'm saying that as a Guardians fan, I like when the twins are good. It makes me more engaged with the game. And I just want to watch every single Guardians game because it means that much more. The Tampa Bay Rays are at 16. And am I misunderstanding this article? No, because at the very top we have tier one and then tier two. So it's very much a rankings system, but some of the teams ahead of other teams have a worse record than the teams behind them. I'm confusion. Anyways, the Rays could finish two games under 500 according to the projections. Shane McClanahan, thank God he's going to be all right. It's not an elbow issue. He should be back in a month or something like that. Even without Shane, the Rays rotation is Ryan Pepio, Taj Braly, Drew Rasmussen. He's going to be back in the rotation, I think. Shane Boz, Zach Littell. I mean, that's a disgusting rotation. Yondi's going to bounce back. I can pretty much guarantee that the offense is going to be really good. I feel like the entire AL East is going to finish above 500. So I got the Rays beating these projections, not by a ton, but they will, at least in my opinion. Matching the Rays, we have the kind of the NL version of the Rays, a team who doesn't spend a lot of money. They rely on trades and building from within. The Brewers at exactly 80 and 82, just like their AL counterparts. They have a 0.5% chance of winning the World Series, and that's after losing Willie Adamas, Devin Williams. He's with the Yankees now. So those are two big losses. We can't just ignore that. Can Joey Ortiz replace the offensive production from Willie? We know defensively he's going to be a vacuum. Trevor McGill, he's going to have to be the full-time closer now, not the part-time. But when we saw him in part-time last year, he was disgusting. It's all about the big dogs, Yelich and Woodruff. Can those guys come back and stay healthy? If they do, they're beating these projections pretty easily. Watching the Royals completely turn around their franchise over the last few years has been a lot of fun to watch. And honestly, I tip my cap to them. I respect it a lot. They went out and spent a bunch of money in 2024 after realizing that Bybewood Jr. is literally the second coming of Mike Trout. KC is at a 2.3% chance of winning the World Series, and ESPN thinks they're going to finish 85 and 77. If Cole Regans keeps on pitching like an ace, and they call it Jack-Hag-Leon after a few months, I'm telling you this right now, the Royals are going to be one of the sneakiest teams in baseball. You can't write them off like you could last year. At number 13, the Chicago Cubs, finishing at an 84 and 78 record with a 1.5% chance of winning the World Series, again, according to ESPN. Their biggest question mark is easily what they're going to be doing with Kyle Tucker, because just like the Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., you only have them for, what, maybe half a season if you don't perform to expectations. They have a lot of nice pieces. If Dansby Swanson continues that 2024 second half into the entire 2025 season, and Nico Horner continues to be one of the more slept-on players in baseball with that rotational depth, the Cubs are going to win a lot of games. It's just, you can pencil it in. The Seattle Mariners, or as I like to call them, the Seattle Police Fixed Center Field in the Batter's Eye-ers. ESPN has Seattle as an 84 and 78 ball club with a 2.5% chance at winning the World Series. Okay, some of these projections are interesting. When healthy, the Mariners can go Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, Brian Wu. Brian Wu is a five-starter who could be an ace on like half of the other teams in Major League Baseball. Not only do you have to keep in mind the home and road splits, because the Batter's Eye really affects their lineup in Seattle, you have to pay attention to J-Rod's first and second half splits. He's always been a second half monster, so he performs well when it's a little too late in the season, when the team's basically done. The Houston Astros are still very much a elite ball club, in my opinion, even without Justin Verlander, Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman. They called up Cam Smith already, who was acquired in the Kyle Tucker trade. He could be special. Izak Paredes, he might hit 35-plus home runs with the Crawford boxes. And Lance McCullers should be back soon, so when you still have a really good bullpen, you have Franber, Valdez, and Hunter Brown at the top of that rotation, with offensive juggernauts like Jose Altuve and Yordan, and also Yaner Diaz. That dude might be the best hitting catcher in baseball, not named William Contreras. The Astros at 89 and 73, yeah, I'm with that. The San Diego Padres don't have the same odds as the Astros, but they're ahead of them. They also have a worse record. I don't understand these rankings at all. Either way, the Padres are slated to have an 84 and 78 record, and that's with losing Tanner Scott, Jerkson Profar, Kyle Higashioka, Joe Musgroves out, and Ha-Sung Kim. He's gone as well. But then again, you still have Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill, Luis Uriah, Xander Bogart, Jake Krohn, with Michael King, Dylan Seas, Nick Pavetta, Hugh Darvish, now he's gonna be missing some time, but those are a lot of good pieces. It's just that the NL West is absolutely stacked. We have a lot more West teams coming up. ESPN has the Boston Red Sox at number nine, whereas Major League Baseball, they just came out with their predictions. They have the Boston Red Sox coming out of the American League to face the Dodgers in the World Series, so I think that's a repeat of what, the 2018 World Series? But staying with ESPN, they think the Red Sox are gonna go 84 and 78, which is laughable. The Red Sox are insane. You add Garrett Crochet, Alex Bregman, Rafael Devers seems to be finally coming around to the idea that maybe he's gonna have to play some first or DH. I mean, that's amazing. Now you have room for Christian Campbell and potentially Marcelo Mayer. The Red Sox are gonna be flat out disgusting, and 84 and 78 is wild. That's not, no, nope, nope, nope, increase it. This might not be as much of a hot take as I'm making it out to be with the Rangers. They're so slept on. They're projected to finish 87 and 75 with a 5.2% chance of winning the World Series. Jacob deGrom is healthy. Now, you did just lose John Gray, but that's okay because Jack Leiter looks like he's corrected a few things, but then again, he's walking guys left and right, so that's gonna be a storyline we have to pay attention to. Kumar Rocker's in that rotation as well, Nathan Evaldi, and that, I mean, that lineup is, it's haunting. Wyatt Lankford has a similar build to Mike Trout, a fantastic defender who's beefed up in terms of muscles, but he's also one of the fastest players in baseball. He was a top 10 hitter in the second half last year. If Adolis Garcia and Marcus Simeon bounce back and Josh Young can stay healthy, man, the sky is the limit for the 2025 Rangers. I think that this is their year to win the West. Going back to another powerhouse division, the AL East, the Yankees, and this is, again, taking into account that Garrett Cole's gonna be missing all of 2025. ESPN says they have a 6.5% chance of winning the World Series, but they are gonna finish 16 games over .500. Garrett Cole and Luis Hill are gonna be missing a chunk of the season, so newcomers like Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger, they're gonna have to step up. Younger guys like Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe, we have Austin Wells. Wells is literally gonna be the leadoff hitter versus Wrighties, and I think they're gonna go with Paul Goldschmidt as the leadoff hitter versus lefty, so they're trying everything. Stanton's gotta get healthy. Max Freed's gotta carve. Rodon, maybe with the beard, he goes back to being Giants' Carlos Rodon and Clark Schmidt, praying that he stays healthy as well, but the Yankees, even without heel and colt, they're still really, really good. The Baltimore Orioles are projected to have a just slightly worse record at 88-74, but wait, why are they ahead if they have a worse record and a lower World Series odds? What is going on, ESPN? Now, we can't ignore that the GM of the Orioles, Mike Elias, is an egomaniac, and he really thinks that he can win a World Series with 48-year-old, I'm obviously joking and exaggerating, 41-year-old Charlie Morton. You have Tomoyuki Suganu, who's 35 years old, never played in Major League Baseball, and they just brought in, what, 37, 38-year-old Kyle Gibson. Come on, man, what are we doing? Yeah, he's waiting for Kyle Braddish to come back and Grayson Rodriguez, and also they moved in that left-field wall. Maybe Tyler O'Neal is way better than Anthony Santander because he's getting his athleticism back and he's gonna be a better defender. Gary Sanchez is gonna be a welcomed addition with that new left-field wall, so I feel like they're underselling the Orioles a little bit. They're gonna have 90 wins. That's just me, though. Also, completely forgot to mention that Felix Bautista, the Mountain, is back in the bullpen, so he's gonna be light years better than Craig Kimbrell, who is blowing games left and right. The Diamondbacks are gonna be powerhouses, and I do not say that lightly. They're projected as the fifth-best team in baseball with a 3% chance of making the World Series and an 87. Okay, we're not gonna talk about these rankings anymore because they're weird, but ESPN does have them as a top team in baseball. They added Corbin Burns. Yes, they lost Christian Walker, but they brought in Josh Naylor, who lost some weight, and I won't lie, when I saw him live down here in Vegas, he took on the A's at their Triple-A ballpark. He looked lean. He looked great. Jordan Montgomery, it sucks that he's out for the year, but it could be, I don't wanna say this, but I kinda have to. It was kind of a distraction last year. Maybe it took away from the vibes. That's not a thing this year. It can't be. 87 and 75 is disrespectful. Come on, guys. They're like a 90-win team easily. The Mets, is this our first 90-win team of the video? I believe it is. Juan Soto, I mean, that's really all we have to say. He's a big reason why the Mets have a 6% chance of winning the World Series. You got Juan Soto in the same lineup as Francisco Lindor. You bring back Pete Alonso, Mark Vientos, Brandon Nimmo. I mean, they're dogs as well. It's all gonna be about the rotation. Shamanaya, who was insane last year, he's out for some time, and also Frankie Montas, who just got signed, he's out as well. It's gonna be up to Klay Holmes and a bunch of guys who don't stay healthy very often. The Phillies, here we go. The Phillies have a near 9% chance, an 8.7% chance of winning the World Series, and they are still one of the more well-rounded and best teams in baseball, and honestly, if I'm looking at full rosters, this is a roster that rivals the Dodgers. I know it's blasphemous and crazy to say that, but that's how good the Phillies are. They are a little bit on the older side, but when you can go Zach Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Jesus Lozardo, Ranger Suarez, Christopher Sanchez, my God, that's a rotation. You obviously got the two-timer in Bryce Harper. You still have Jay Tiramuto, Trey Turner, Bryson Stott, that elbow is finally fixed, and he was so dang productive in the first half of 2024 before hurting that arm. I could be a fanboy. You guys know I love my Vegas boys, Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott, but I really think the Phillies can win 95 games. Jesus Lozardo is an awesome addition. The Atlanta Braves, wow, 96 and 66. They said that the thing we're looking forward to the most when it comes to Atlanta is the return of Ronald Acuna Jr. and Spencer Strider. I couldn't agree more, and that's kind of obvious. Spencer Schwellenbach is competing to be the best Spencer in that rotation. He's that disgusting. Spencer Schwellenbach, he might have a 10.5 strikeouts per nine and a sub three ERA. That's how lethal he is. Do not discount AA. Alex Anthopoulos, I keep saying Anthropoulos. There's no R. It's Alex Anthopoulos. That guy's a madman. He knows how to build a winning ball club. The fact that they won as many games as they did in 2024 despite all of their injuries is a testament to how well-rounded this team is. They're projected to have 96 Ws and go 30 games above 500. I completely agree. And last but certainly not least, the Doyers. They are projected to go back-to-back with a near 30% chance of winning the World Series. They're the only team according to ESPN that's gonna win above 100 games. Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell, Tanner Scott. I mean, some of the more highly touted and sought-after free agents at their respective positions. They're all on the Dodgers. Even Kirby Yates, Michael Conforto. Kirby Yates was disgusting for the Rangers and Michael Conforto, I know it was kind of a few years ago, but he was a savage in the box with the Mets. I'm not using that as a Yankees reference, by the way. Yeah, I mean, if you don't have the Dodgers at one, what are you doing? And there you have it, the 2025 power rankings and projections according to ESPN. But I appreciate all of your support. MLB Recap is gonna be cinema this year. I can just feel it in my bones. Thank you guys for everything. Stay safe and I'll catch you in the next one.