Red Sox bounce back in ‘MLB The Show’ simulation
Boston wins its most games since 2018 in the video game's prediction.
The Red Sox make the playoffs and bring home major individual awards in MLB The Show’s most recent simulation of the major league season.
According to the simulation, Boston’s current iteration will finish with a 98-64 record, its best since the 2018 season.
The 98 wins, however, weren’t enough to win the AL East. The Red Sox finished second in their division in the simulation behind the Blue Jays. In the rest of the East, the Yankees finished third, the Orioles fourth, and the Rays fifth.
The sport’s most popular video game series also predicted Boston players will take home some hardware following the 2023 regular season.
In terms of hitting, Justin Turner was projected to win his first career batting title. The Show’s simulation gave the infielder a .323 average on the season, the best in the American League but not better than Freddie Freeman’s .335 mark for the Dodgers.
While Turner hasn’t hit in the .310s since the 2018 season, a figure in the .320s is not impossible. He has passed the .320 threshold twice in his career, most recently in 2017 when he hit .322 in 130 regular season games.
On the pitching side, reliever John Schreiber took home the American League Reliever of the Year Award. The game predicted the right-hander to build on his breakout year in 2022 when he had a 2.22 ERA in 64 games.
In the game’s simulated playoffs, the Red Sox swept the Rangers in two games in the wild card round before falling to a 108-win Blue Jays team in five games in the ALDS.
Around the rest of the league, Yordan Alvarez continued to dominate, taking home his first career MVP after hitting 43 home runs and driving in 111 runs. On the National League side, Pete Alonso hit 46 long balls and added 125 RBIs to win the MVP.
In the simulation, Alvarez’s Astros are the team that represents the American league in the World Series, but Alonso’s Mets fall short.
Houston’s opponent and the eventual 2023 MLB champion according to the sim is Atlanta. The Braves are led by pitchers Spencer Strider and A.J. Minter during the season, and they take down the Astros in six games in the World Series.