AILSA CHANG, HOST:
OK, baseball fans. You may still be swaddled in layers and layers, but feel that warmth in your heart because it is Opening Day. The Major League Baseball season has kicked off, so we invited Keith Law from The Athletic to talk us through what we need to know. Keith, welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
KEITH LAW: Thanks for having me.
CHANG: Well, thanks for being with us. OK, so we know about Juan Soto leaving the New York Yankees and signing with the New York Mets. Scandal.
LAW: (Laughter).
CHANG: Everyone is talking about the Los Angeles Dodgers and how they are the team to beat this season. Go Dodgers. That's my home team. But I am curious to find out what under-the-radar story you will be following this season.
LAW: In the American League, the Yankees won the pennant last year, but they have suffered some pretty significant injuries, including the loss of their top starter Gerrit Cole. And what that's left us with is kind of a very flat American League where I could make decent arguments for probably eight different teams to end up winning the American League pennant. And I think that's going to produce a much more interesting season, whether you're talking about following one team or just looking at the three individual division races and certainly once we get to the playoffs in October. Much more interesting than, I think, what we had last year in the playoffs, and probably more interesting than what we'll have in the National League - although I will say, the Dodgers have been the team to beat many times in recent years, and they've had lots of early playoff exits before last year's success.
CHANG: Well, what individual players are you excited to watch this year?
LAW: I don't think anybody is set to make a bigger splash than Roki Sasaki, who is the young, right-handed pitcher the Dodgers signed from Japan as a limited free agent this past offseason. He has got an unbelievable, unhittable split-fingered fastball. He's been in the upper 90s before. He hasn't pitched that much in his career. He's had some minor injuries that have limited him. So I'll be interested in seeing him pitch and also seeing how they handle his workload going forward.
CHANG: Well, I mean, the Dodgers, they're coming off a 4-1 World Series win over the Yankees. They are still stacked with all these big-name players. So who do you think could really take on the Dodgers this season?
LAW: I think the Red Sox have an excellent chance, at the very least, to come out of the American League as the pennant winners this year. They have - they made one of the most significant trades of any contender this offseason, picking up left-handed starter Garrett Crochet in a 4 for 1 trade with the Chicago White Sox. Their top three prospects - the Red Sox's top three prospects, that is - are all set to help the Major League team this season, with second baseman Kristian Campbell actually winning the job out of spring training. He's going to be in the Opening-Day lineup and outfielder Roman Anthony not that far behind him. They have really repositioned themselves to be legitimate contenders for the first time in several seasons.
CHANG: OK. Let's go back to your predictions for the season. You have the Atlanta Braves beating the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. That's, like, an annual tradition for you, right?
(LAUGHTER)
LAW: I joke that making my predictions and having them be wrong is probably my biggest annual tradition. I think last year I had the Yankees finishing in fourth place, and they won the pennant, so...
CHANG: Oh, great.
LAW: ...I don't know how seriously you should take mine. But I will say, I think Atlanta's got a very good chance of beating the Dodgers this year. It's a great offense. When healthy, it's a really good and deep rotation, the kind you could see not just carrying them through a regular season but holding up against any opposing lineup in the postseason. So I had to pick someone other than the Dodgers, just on principle.
CHANG: Come on (laughter).
LAW: And I looked around. You can't - chalk is boring. Nobody wants that. Absolutely nobody wants that.
CHANG: Global domination is glorious. Keith Law is a senior baseball writer for The Athletic. Thank you so much for coming on the show today, Keith.
LAW: My pleasure.
(SOUNDBITE OF NANCY BEA HEFLEY'S "TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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