Bold 2023 fantasy baseball predictions just in time for MLB Opening Day

We made it — MLB Opening Day is here! With the fantasy baseball season beginning in earnest, Andy Behrens, Dalton Del Don and Scott Pianowski reveal their boldest predictions yet!

One hitter prediction

-Esteury Ruiz earned his way onto Oakland's Opening Day roster after a spicy spring, and he belongs on the watch list of players likely to lead the majors in steals. Ruiz swiped an outrageous 85 bags — eighty-five! — over 114 games in the high minors last season. Assuming he gets an every-day role, he's gonna be an elite category specialist in fantasy. He certainly isn't the buzziest or toolsiest prospect in the American League, but he's the rookie with the best shot to actually lead the circuit in a significant statistical category. As such, he's a great ROY flier. (Some of us got him at +5000 at BetMGM, just for the record.)

Official prediction: Ruiz steals 60-plus, leading the AL. — Andy Behrens

-Byron Buxton leads the majors with 45-plus homers. He stays relatively healthy thanks to knee surgery and playing more DH, leading to a monster campaign, and Buxton becomes a consensus first-round fantasy pick in 2024. — Dalton Del Don

-Seth Brown will be a top-100 fantasy producer. (Look at all our Athletics love today; they're probably the worst fantasy team on paper, but in mixed leagues, All The Pieces Matter). Brown's category juice pushed him quietly inside the top 160 last year (though his ADP is still well outside 200), and all he needs is a modest average bump (hey, he's a lefty; you might have heard there's no more radical shifting), and he can cash this prediction. If nothing else, this is a likely ADP profit for you to target in those late drafts. — Scott Pianowski

One pitcher prediction

-Lucas Giolito is bouncing all the way back, putting himself in the Cy Young conversation. His season went off the rails last year after he returned from the COVID list — a point Pianowski has made a time or two — but he closed with a solid final month (35 Ks, 33.2 IP, 1.19 WHIP). Giolito has had an excellent spring, too, looking exactly like the guy you thought you were drafting in March 2022. He has a pair of 200-K seasons on his résumé, and he's still just 28 years old. The White Sox's roster is essentially a list of Comeback Player of the Year candidates, with Giolito among the prime candidates. — Behrens

-Dustin May finishes as a top-10 fantasy starter thanks to the Dodgers' run support that helped Tony Gonsolin win the fifth-most games last year while pitching just 130 innings — oh, and terrific stuff. With workload concerns overblown, May is somehow not being drafted as a top-50 SP in Yahoo leagues. — Del Don

-David Peterson wins 14 or more games and is a top-40 fantasy starter. He has the bat-missing stuff to start the year in the Mets rotation, and the advanced age of this New York group will ensure that Peterson sticks. And the other support pieces are in place: strong offense, reliable defense and a decent bullpen even with the unfortunate loss of closer Edwin Diaz.

While we're in the NL East, Matt Olson is winning the homer title this year (less bold, but I wanted to give you a bonus pick on the way out). He's finally settled in his new city and league, and he's at a perfect age pocket for a career year. Stock up on that Atlanta lineup, early and often. It's the best in baseball. — Pianowski