Biggest Strength Of Each 2023 AL East Team
The 2023 MLB season is upon us. With the six remaining days of the 2023 MLB offseason, we’ll break down each MLB team’s biggest strength before the season begins, starting with the AL East’s biggest strengths.
The AL East is expected to be very strong in 2023. I did an in-depth preview of this division for this season along with predictions.
There could be four or potentially more teams in the AL East that finish over .500. Here is each AL East teams biggest strength as it stands now.
Boston Red Sox: New Look Outfield
Headlined by Masataka Yoshida, the Red Sox outfield has a lot of potential for the 2023 season. If this team wants to exceed expectations, this is the group that has to carry a lot of the load.
Along with the addition of Yoshida, Boston brought in Adam Duvall to man center field. He is actually an above average glove, and could hit 35+ home runs in any given season. The only remaining starter in the outfield from last season’s squad is Alex Verdugo, who has been consistently an above average hitter during his time in Boston.
The Red Sox have a lot of holes. Outfield may not be one of them. If Yoshida is the real deal in his first season in the United States, then Boston will be carried by this positon group.
Baltimore Orioles: Young Bats
The reason the Baltimore Orioles were relevant in the 2022 season was because of their young bats. And that’s what will keep them in the conversation again this season.
Adley Rutschman may have been this teams best player as a rookie last year. He posted a viscious 5.3 fWar, which was tied most of any rookie, with Julio Rodruiguez. Rutschman will be this lineup’s anchor.
Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, and Ryan Mountcastle are all 28 years old or younger. Those three bats all had above average hitting seasons in 2023, based off OPS+. The strength of this team is their youth, and that youth is layered within the lineup. Gunnar Henderson is expected to burst onto the scene just as Rutschman did. We’ll see what kind of first full season Baltimore can get out of Henderson.
Baltimore has the youth and farm system to have a strong offense for years to come.
Tampa Bay Rays: Rotation and Bullpen
The Rays model as a franchise means not spending a lot, making heady trades and building the team piece by piece. I like the Rays hitting, don’t get me wrong. But for the 2023 Rays, the biggest strength will the thier pitching staff.
Not having Tyler Glasnow for the first few weeks of the season will hurt, but they will likely see Glasnow pitch as their ace in 2023. Even without Glasnow, Tampa’s starting rotation has Shane McClanahan, a Cy Young contender. Picking up Zach Eflin in free agency was a nice move as well.
The bullpen is where this pitching staff really makes thier hay. Pete Fairbanks has been a staple and Jason Adam surprised everyone last season. Those two will run the show, but they also have quality depth in that ‘pen in case someone gets injured.
The Rays overall roster is solid, but it’s hard to compete with that pitching staff. As a staff, rotation and bullpen combined, the Rays have one of the best groups in the entire league.
Toronto Blue Jays: The Lineup, Of Course
We all know the biggest strength of the 2023 Toronto Blue Jays, and it has to be their death row of hitters.
Every position group in that lineup has bats to fear. The top three of George Springer, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. rivals anyone’s 1-2-3 in the league. When hit machine Whit Merrifield is your eight hitter, you know you have an incredibly deep lineup.
One of the most notable stats from this lineup in 2022 was their incredible home run ability. Five of their 2023 starting nine had 24 or more home runs last season. Six in the lineup had a slugging percentage higher than .400.
Anyone pitching to this lineup has their work cut out for them, because there simply isn’t many holes at all.
New York Yankees: Rotation
It’s no shock to anyone that the Yankees’ can score runs. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are still the big boppers on this team. Overall, I think I might like their rotation more than any other position group on the team.
The well-compensated Gerrit Cole is entering his fourth season in the Bronx. He hasn’t finished outside of the top nine in Cy Young voting since dawining the pinstripes. They paired him up a with a big-fish offseason splash in Carlos Rodon. That one two punch makes for one of the best in the league.
The rotation likely lost Frankie Montas for the entire season, but they can fill his shoes with Nestor Cortes, Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt.
Scoring runs may be hard to come by for anyone facing this Yankees’ rotation: especially with the high caliber bats they have on the other side.
The AL East has a lot of strengths. Could any of the top four teams win the division? Maybe. I’d give the Yankees and Blue Jays the best chance as it stands now.
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