Spring is just around the corner and—with it—the season brings warmth, sunlight, flowers, and most excitingly baseball. Major league baseball begins on March 30 and fans are super pumped for another year of watching their favorite players tear it up. 

This might be the most skilled era of baseball in the history of the MLB (Major League Baseball) as players like Francisco Lindor, Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, and most importantly Shohei Ohtani all return to try and make their mark this year. There are plenty of skilled athletes in the world but the MLB and its fans have the privilege of having the best athlete in the world in their league in Ohtani.

 Nicknamed “The Japanese Babe Ruth ” Shohei has dominated the MLB since entering the league in 2018 after a successful career in Japan. He has been without question the best player in the league the past 2 years as he was the 2021 American League MVP(most valuable player) and the runner-up in 2022. What makes him so special is that he is not only one of the league’s top hitters but is one of the best pitchers as well. It seems like every time he steps onto the field he makes history and will look to add to his already Hall of Fame career this year. Despite his many personal awards including the World Baseball Classic MVP he just earned for leading his country to a gold medal in the tournament he has never seen the playoffs which is something he and his teammate Mike Trout will look to change this year. 

Mike Trout has been undoubtedly the game’s best player over the past decade and is still considered the second-best player in the league. The duo is under an immense amount of pressure to make the playoffs this year as Ohtani will be a free agent following this season and the Los Angeles Angels must convince him that they are a win-now team or he will almost certainly leave the organization this offseason. 

Another team that is under a ton of pressure to make a deep playoff run is the New York Mets as they have baseball’s highest payroll and richest owner. The team had an unsuccessful playoff campaign last year as they were a first-round exit despite their 101-win regular season. Even with some amazing offseason acquisitions including the reigning American League Cy Young winner in Justin Verlander, the team will be without their two best pitchers from last year. Starting pitcher and New York’s ace Jacob deGrom left the team in free agency and Closing pitcher Edwin Diaz will be out the entire year with an injury he sustained celebrating in the World Baseball Classic. 

Incity rivals of the Mets are the New York Yankees who will look to finally secure the franchise’s 28th world series title. The team is loaded with talent and won the American League East last year. Leading this bunch is New York’s homegrown superstar Aaron Judge who broke the MLB’s American League Home run record last year with 62. The Yankees have made three big moves over the past 5 years and will look to prove to everyone these acquisitions were worth the price. Anything less than a world series title won’t be worth the price though as the combined signing total is $1,009,000,000 which is split between three players: Aaron Judge (resigned for $360,000,000) Gerrit Cole (signed for $324,000,000) and Giancarlo Stanton (who the team traded for and he commands $325,000,000 contract). 

There’s a lot to be excited for this Spring but none more than this season as baseball enters its most skilled era ever. Over the past few seasons, there’s been a lot of uncertainty, especially with covid. With all this uncertainty one thing is for sure baseball fans are going to enjoy a historically good season as the pitches get nastier, the home runs go further, and players have more talent than ever.