The Dodgers will win the World Series, according to 'MLB: The Show 18'
Congratulations, Los Angeles Dodgers fans! Your favorite team just won the 2018 World Series. We know the regular season hasn’t started yet, but that’s how the season is going to play out … at least, according to “MLB: The Show 18.”
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We here at The Stew decided to have a little fun before the 2018 actually takes place. Just for the heck of it, we simulated through an entire season of “MLB: The Show 18” and took notes on the postseason, All-Star events and significant awards just to see what the game thought would happen.
Have no idea what that means? We’ll try to explain quickly. We fired up a copy of “MLB: The Show 18″ on a Playstation 4, started up a franchise and let the computer play every single game of the 2018 season. We didn’t influence the year in any way. Everything that happened was “The Show’s” doing.
The result: The Dodgers defeated the Boston Red Sox in the 2018 World Series in six games. Chris Taylor walked away with the World Series MVP award.
Would we recommend Dodgers fan start getting “2018 World Series champs” tattoos right now? We would not. This was nothing more than a fun way to grab a few predictions about the upcoming season.
But it’s also no surprise “The Show” came up with these results. The game aims for realism, and both the Red Sox and Dodgers are supposed to be World Series contenders in 2018. Those two teams could realistically meet in the World Series this season. The matchup makes sense.
That doesn’t mean everything went exactly how you would expect. During our simulation of “The Show,” a few surprising things jumped out. The Los Angels Angels snagged one of the American League wild-card spots. Shohei Ohtani was OK in his rookie season, putting up a 10-12 record, with a 4.01 ERA, a 141 WHIP and a 3.2 WAR.
The bigger surprise, however, happened in the National League, where the Atlanta Braves arrived a few years early, won 88 games and played in the NL wild-card game. Neither the Braves nor the Angels made it out of their wild card matchup, but those predictions should make some fans happy.
We also made sure to take note of all the major award winners and the All-Star events. Here’s what “MLB: The Show 18” thinks will happen.
ALL-STAR WEEKEND
Home Run Derby winner: Kris Bryant
All-Star Game starters: Chris Sale and Madison Bumgarner
All-Star Game result: AL defeats NL 5-3
END OF SEASON AWARDS
NL MVP: Bryce Harper
AL MVP: Chris Sale
NL Cy Young: Stephen Strasburg
AL Cy Young: Chris Sale
NL batting title: Daniel Murphy
AL batting title: Jose Altuve
NL reliever award: Kenley Jansen
AL reliever award: Nate Jones
NL home run leader: Harper with 43
AL home run leader: Trout with 41
Nothing too crazy there other than Chicago White Sox pitcher Nate Jones taking home the reliever of the year award in the AL. Also, you’ll note that the Washington Nationals almost swept all the National League awards and once again lost before reaching the World Series. We told you this game was accurate. Oh, and the reason you don’t see Rookie of the Year above: Two computer-generated players won those awards. That means “The Show” did not pick Shohei Ohtani to be the AL Rookie of the Year in 2018.
CRAZY TRADES
• The St. Louis Cardinals acquired Adrian Beltre from the Texas Rangers
• The Houston Astros sent Ken Giles to the Colorado Rockies
• The White Sox traded Avisail Garcia to the Toronto Blue Jays
• The Detroit Tigers sent Victor Martinez back to the Red Sox
• The Philadelphia Phillies and Rockies swapped Carlos Santana and Ian Desmond for some reason
THE CRAZIEST MOST UNBELIEVABLE THING THAT HAPPENED
It’s official, 2018 is the year of Baltimore Orioles outfielder Trey Mancini. The 26-year-old was an absolute monster in our simulation. He was a surprising participant in the Home Run Derby, was a starter in the All-Star Game and took home a Silver Slugger award. He finished the year as a strong MVP candidate in the AL.
Mancini did show off some of those skills in real life last season. He hit .293/.338/.488, with 24 home runs, over 586 plate appearances. “The Show” thinks that was just a small taste of what’s to come. If Trey Mancini completely dominates in 2018, remember that “MLB: The Show 18” predicted it first.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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