10 Stat-Free Hot Takes for the 2024 MLB Season
It's easy when talking or writing about sports to get bogged down by statistics. And more so than maybe any other sport, there is truly a stat for everything that happens on the baseball diamond.
Stats can often be spun to fit a preconceived narrative, and with a wealth of knowledge at everyone's fingertips by way of cellphones and the internet, the days of passionately arguing a sports take based solely on subjective feelings has become a thing of the past.
As a fun way to look ahead to the upcoming season, we have put together 10 hot takes, but they were all made without the use of statistics.
No Baseball Reference. No FanGraphs. No Baseball Savant. Just hot takes delivered straight from brain to paper.
So, sit back and enjoy these 10 stat-free hot takes for the 2024 MLB season.
The San Diego Padres Improve After Cutting Payroll
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The San Diego Padres entered last season with lofty expectations after reaching the NLCS in 2022, but they fell flat and finished 82-80 and a distant third in the NL West.
With Bob Melvin now in the manager's chair for the San Francisco Giants, there is a new lead voice in the dugout with former St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt taking over, and that could go a long way in changing a stagnant culture.
The front office wasted little time announcing it planned to cut costs heading into the offseason, and backed it up by trading away superstar Juan Soto ahead of his final year of arbitration eligibility.
They also let Blake Snell, Josh Hader, Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo and Nick Martinez all walk in free agency. And while it's difficult not to view all of that roster turnover as a step backward, there is ample room for in-house improvement.
Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish both missed time atop the rotation last year, while the lineup is still strong at the top with Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim.
The bullpen has been revamped with five outside additions projected for the eight-man bullpen, and there is upside at the back of the rotation with several young arms vying for the final two spots.
Throw in the potential impact of rising top prospects Jackson Merrill and Drew Thorpe, along with 2023 AFL MVP Jakob Marsee, and it's not hard to envision this still being a playoff team in 2024.
Freddy Peralta Wins NL Cy Young
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Freddy Peralta was really, really good after the All-Star break last season.
This is a stat-free article, so I'm resisting the urge to pull up Baseball Reference and look at his first- and second-half splits, but he was one of the best pitchers in the game down the stretch.
He was an All-Star in 2021 and has always had some of the best pure stuff in baseball, but things have never quite fully clicked over the course of a full season. Now the 27-year-old is entering the prime of his career and is poised to make his first Opening Day start.
With Corbin Burnes now in Baltimore and Brandon Woodruff sidelined while he recovers from shoulder surgery, Peralta is the unquestioned ace of the Milwaukee staff, and he is arguably as important to his team's success as any player in baseball.
If he picks up where he left off down the stretch in 2023, he will be among the front-runners to take home the NL hardware.
The Orioles Lead MLB in Home Runs
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The team home run crown belonged to the Atlanta Braves during the 2023 season, and they have the firepower to lead the majors in that category once again.
But don't sleep on the Baltimore Orioles taking aim at the top spot.
With Jackson Holliday poised to join Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson as up-and-coming stars on the rise, they have three of baseball's best young talents, and they all have the power potential to put up big offensive numbers.
They join established sluggers Anthony Santander and Ryan Mountcastle, power-speed threat Cedric Mullins, underrated contributors Austin Hays and Ryan O'Hearn, and fellow rising prospect Jordan Westburg to form a dynamic offensive core with significant untapped upside.
Don't sleep on Coby Mayo and Heston Kjerstad as potential in-season additions to that group either, and both rank among the best power hitters in the minor leagues.
The Orioles went from rebuilding to contending in a big way last season, and they are just scratching the surface of their competitive potential.
Juan Soto Leads the AL in Home Runs
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Juan Soto set a career high for home runs last season playing his home games at Petco Park and regularly taking the field in pitcher-friendly venues across the NL West aside from the launching pad that is Coors Field.
The 25-year-old now heads to Yankee Stadium where he will take aim at friendly right field dimensions while likely hitting in the No. 2 spot in the lineup behind all-world slugger Aaron Judge, giving him the best protection of his career.
Soto is not a dead-pull hitter, so his home run total is not going to skyrocket by turning on balls down the right field line, but more hitter-friendly dimensions overall should help add to last year's impressive longball total.
Add to that the fact that he is playing for a massive new contract, and it's not out of the question to think he could employ a more aggressive approach in 2024 while aiming for a career year at the plate.
The offensive tools are all there for 40-plus home runs in his Yankees debut.
The Dodgers Use More SPs Than Any Other Team...and Still Dominate
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The Los Angeles Dodgers have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to settling on a five-man starting rotation.
- Walker Buehler
- Tyler Glasnow
- Kyle Hurt
- Clayton Kershaw
- Landon Knack
- Dustin May
- Bobby Miller
- James Paxton
- Emmet Sheehan
- Gavin Stone
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto
- Ryan Yarbrough
Kershaw (shoulder surgery) and May (flexor tendon surgery) likely won't be back until after the All-Star break, while Buehler and Sheehan will also open the year on the injured list.
Meanwhile, Hurt and Knack are all expected to open the year at Triple-A where they will be knocking on the big league door, but all three are capable of making an impact in 2024.
That's 12 different starting pitchers who could all conceivably carve out a role in the rotation, along with any potential in-season pickups or breakout prospects, and the potential is there for this to be baseball's best staff in a fluid situation.
Their margin for error is simply unparalleled when it comes to the starting rotation, and with a high-powered offense backing that staff, they are also capable of outslugging an opponent on any given night which helps take even more pressure off their arms.
Chris Sale Returns to Frontline Form
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The last time Chris Sale could truly be called a bona fide staff ace was back in 2018 when he was helping lead the Boston Red Sox to a World Series title.
In the five seasons since then, the 34-year-old has had a tough time staying on the field. From Tommy John surgery to a broken wrist to a fractured pinkie finger to a stress fracture in one of his ribs, a wide variety of issues have kept him on the sidelines.
That said, he did manage to stay healthy enough to make 20 starts last season, and the Atlanta Braves bought low when they acquired him from the Boston Red Sox in December in exchange for Vaughn Grissom.
In Atlanta, Sale doesn't need to be the ace of the staff, he simply needs to provide support to Max Fried, Spencer Strider and fellow veteran Charlie Morton slotted somewhere in the middle of the rotation.
A change of scenery, lowered expectations and a healthy finish to the 2023 season all have him in great position for a bounce-back season.
And if Sale can return to frontline form, it makes an already dangerous Atlanta squad that much scarier.
A Surprise Contender Emerges from the AL Central
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Did the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians do enough this offseason to remain the top dogs in the AL Central race?
My money is on "no."
The Twins lost Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda from the starting rotation and didn't add anyone, instead relying on a healthy Chris Paddack and whoever wins the No. 5 starter job to fill the gaps. On the offensive side of things, veteran Carlos Santana is the only notable newcomer.
Meanwhile, the Guardians did even less, with a couple of bench pieces and bullpen arms headlining their offseason haul. Is anyone in their lineup outside of José Ramírez, Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor capable of above-average production?
That would seem to leave the door cracked for someone else in the division to make a move.
The Chicago White Sox are a dumpster fire right now, but the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals both quietly had solid offseasons.
The Tigers added the aforementioned Maeda and Jack Flaherty to a staff that will also benefit greatly from a healthy Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize. The offense will get a boost from veterans Mark Canha and Gio Urshela, as well as top prospect Colt Keith.
The Royals were even busier, adding Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo to the starting rotation, a cavalcade of new arms to the bullpen and slugger Hunter Renfroe to the middle of the lineup.
There is always a surprise contender that comes out of nowhere each year, and the Royals and Tigers both look like prime candidates to be that team in 2024.
Jordan Walker Is Baseball's Most Improved Player
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With an imposing 6'6", 250-pound frame, Jordan Walker looks the part of a middle-of-the-order force, and it's almost impossible to believe he is still only 21 years old when watching him dig into the batter's box.
The Cardinals asked a lot of him as a rookie, forcing him to learn how to play the outfield on the fly in an effort to get his bat in the lineup while Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado blocked the infield corners where he is a more natural fit.
His work-in-progress defensive game ultimately dragged down his overall value and left him as something of an afterthought in a historically deep crop of rookies in 2023, but he still has as much upside as any young player in the game.
He is also a sneaky good athlete for his size, with speed that shows up on the base paths, so don't be surprised if he goes from a defensive liability to a legitimate asset with another year of work in the grass under his belt.
Baseball doesn't have a "Most Improved Player Award" like the NBA, but if it did, Walker would be a prime candidate to take home the hardware.
The NL Central Is a 5-Team Race
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The AL East was the best division in baseball during the 2023 season. Four clubs posted a winning record, three reached the postseason, and even the last-place Boston Red Sox did not fall out of the playoff picture until September.
The NL Central might not have a 100-win team in 2024 like the AL East did last year, but it could be a legitimate five-team battle all season for division supremacy.
The Milwaukee Brewers lost Corbin Burnes, but they upgraded a lackluster offense and have a ton of young talent with significant upside led by uber-prospect Jackson Chourio, who could be an instant star.
The Chicago Cubs were in the thick of the playoff race before a late-season collapse, and they brought back Cody Bellinger while adding Japanese League star Shōta Imanaga to the rotation and bolstering the bullpen.
It's not often the St. Louis Cardinals are irrelevant in the division race, and after last year's dud, it's fair to assume they won't be down for long. The rotation is rebuilt, and the lineup has plenty of room for in-house improvement.
The wild cards here are the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates, but both teams welcomed a wave of rookie talent to the majors last year, and that experience could pay dividends in 2024. Both teams also took steps to upgrade leaky starting rotations.
And let's not forget, the Pirates came out of the gates hot last year and looked ready for a step forward.
All five teams have the potential to remain relevant into September.
Wyatt Langford Is 2024's Rookie Superstar
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For all the hype surrounding LSU teammates Dylan Crews and Paul Skenes heading into the 2023 draft, Wyatt Langford is going to beat both of them to the majors, and the idea of him having the best career of the bunch is a real possibility.
The University of Florida standout raked across four minor league levels last season, reaching Triple-A in his brief pro debut, and he has been turning heads all spring with his polished offensive game and major power potential.
The Texas Rangers did nothing to address the loss of designated hitter Mitch Garver during the offseason, and a big reason why is the perceived MLB-readiness of Langford, who is making a compelling case to break camp with a starting job.
Texas teammate Evan Carter will likely open the year as the AL Rookie of the Year front-runner alongside baseball's top overall prospect Jackson Holliday, but don't be surprised if Langford turns out to be the 2024 version of Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson by finding immediate stardom.
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