Welcome to the early 2025 prediction series! This is not for the division winners, but just a bold prediction for every team in each division for the 2025 season. There is still more time in the winter, but for now let’s take a swan dive into these predictions. Now we take a look into the NL West!

Los Angeles Dodgers

Prediction: Dodgers Repeat As Champions

Is this one really that much of a surprise? There is a mountain of reasons that the Dodgers are the favorite to capture the World Series.

The vibes for the Dodgers could not be higher and teams are willing to join what they are building. The cast of characters that shaped their lineup is returning and they signed Hye-Seong Kim from the KBO. Their infield is legitimate and they are insanely deep up and down the lineup. So deep that Mookie Betts is going to play short stop or second base.

The team saw just how many starters they truly lost to injury, so they added. 2023 CY Young winner Blake Snell is going to wear Dodger Blue. He now joins a healthy Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and even Dustin May and Bobbie Miller are part of this deep rotation. Oh, and Shohei Ohtani will likely be pitching.

The Champions are not backing down and will likely repeat as Champions. The last time the MLB saw a team repeat as Champions was the New York Yankees (1998-2000).

Arizona Diamondbacks

Prediction: Diamondbacks Finish Top Three in ERA Among Starting Pitching

When you think of dominant starting rotations, the team that comes to mind is the Seattle Mariners. Also, to a surprise the Royals had the second best rotation last season. When you look at the landscape of rotations in the division, the Dodgers have a deep one. But the Snakes are not far behind.

The nice thing is that the Diamondbacks overhauled their pitching coaching staff and rightfully so. The Diamondbacks finished 27th in ERA among starters (4.79). Brandon Pfaadt went from a strong postseason to having a 4.71 ERA. Jordan Montgomery notably struggled and Merrill Kelly was not healthy.

So with those names above and having guys like Eduardo Rodriguez and Ryne Nelson bounce back is huge. Also, they’ve added Corbin Burnes to help spearhead the rotation. Burnes finished with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. There are a lot of things that he does that are amazing and he will certainly be a massive boost to the rotation.

Burnes, Gallen, a healthy Kelly, Rodriguez, Pfaadt, and Nelson is a good rotation and will finish top three in baseball this season.

San Diego Padres

Prediction: Padres Extend Dylan Cease

The bold prediction is that the Padres do indeed extend pitcher Dylan Cease. Cease is set to become a free agent after the 2025 season and helps highlight what is a strong pitching class. It’s bold because it appears that the Padres are aiming to shed payroll and cut back financially. While they can still do that in other ways, they intend to keep Cease for the long run.

The Padres wanted a starting pitcher and they certainly got one with Cease. After picking up ammo from the Juan Soto trade, they took that same ammo and acquired Cease. Cease bounced back in a big way for the Padres, pitching the most innings in the last three seasons and seeing his ERA go from 4.58 to 3.47. Furthermore, he finished with a 1.07 WHIP.

He was a high strikeout pitcher and generated the swing and miss. His fastball packed high velocity (97 MPH) and his slider was untouchable. Given the state of their rotation, signing Cease makes sense and gives them a strong competitive outlook.

San Francisco Giants

Prediction: Giants Miss the Playoffs…Again

There is optimism with the Giants given their big addition. They managed to sign Willy Adames to a big ticket contract. That’ll give them a truly elite and dominant left side of the infield and desperately need that. The Giants were poor defensively, finishing below 20th in defensive runs saved and outs above average. But is that enough?

Well, they’ll get Jung-Hoo Lee back from injury, which will be huge. The rest of the cast is much intact, but the pitching remains to be seen. Adding future Hall of Famer in Justin Verlander is not a bad move and good depth, but missing out on Snell and Burnes could haunt them and they are in the division.

The Giants will be good, but a step behind other key contenders for the Wild Card slot. The Braves will be back, as well as the Phillies and Mets. Not to mention the rest of this division with the names above.

The Wild Card should be another gauntlet this season.

Colorado Rockies

Prediction: Kris Bryant Breaks out of his Shell and Has Best Season as a Rockies Player

It is truly disappointing that the tenure for Kris Bryant with the Rockies has been disappointing. He was once a cornerstone player for the illustrious Chicago Cubs and now people likely forget he is even in the league. You can even argue people actually forget how good he once was.

The best ability is availability and that’s not something that can be said about his tenure in Colorado. In his first season, he played 42 games, followed by 80 in 2023. 2024 saw him play just 37 games and injuries have derailed his time so far. That’s why the bold prediction is going to be Bryant having his best season as a Rockies Player.

This is a player that has hit 20+ home runs three times and 30+ home runs twice. Up until the shortened 2020 season, Bryant never finished with a batting average below .270, but his numbers like that have taken a swan dive. In three seasons with the Rockies, Bryant has slashed .250/.332/.381 and with a subpar 88 wRC+. If he can return even to the form he had in 2021 that would certainly be ideal. Our very own Skylar Timmins weighs in on this prediction.

“For Kris Bryants tenure it’s been frustrating for Colorado. He was a desperation signing pushed by Dick Monfort because he wanted a notable name after the Arenado debacle, so they overpaid for his services and have gotten nothing in return. His presence has handcuffed the Rockies financially as well as positionally as they keep trying to have him play the field despite being a below average defender, especially the outfield. Expectations are low for a guy that has played just 159 games over three years of his 7-year deal. The silver lining of his injuries has allowed the team to give full time chances to Michael Toglia at 1B (who put up 20+ homers) as well has opportunities for younger outfield players.

Now, reports are his back is feeling good and he’s working hard this winter, and with the chance to make him a primary DH there is some room for optimism that he could start producing in the lineup and boost the offense as a whole. I’d love for him to actually play well, but myself and a lot of beat writers I’ve talked to are not holding their breath.”