Countdown To The MLB Opening Day 2017: "4" Stories That Can Shape The 2017 MLB Season

As we are getting into Spring and getting Winter behind us, we could look forward to baseball beginning in a few days. Since we are only four days from the start of the season, I thought it would be appropriate to look at four stories that could play a role in the 2017 MLB season.

[Jon]

Without further ado, let us look at four stories that could play a role in how the 2017 season turns out for some teams:

Can the Chicago Cubs dominate the National League once again? – The Cubs won the World Series for the first time since 1908 a season ago. They got there by dominating most of the National League during the 2016 regular season. However, in the 2017 season, you have teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and Washington Nationals, who are all expecting to be healthy for this upcoming season. It will be interesting to see how their veteran pitching staff does this season.

How close are we to seeing the New York Yankees be on top of the American League East? – 2017 will be the first year without Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and many of the others who played a crucial role in the 2009 World Series team. The 2017 Yankees team will be lead by Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, and other youngsters. For many of these guys, it will be their first full season in the majors. I still feel we are a few years away from the Yankees being on atop of the American League East division as a result.

Will health play a factor for the New York Mets? – In the 2016 season, the Mets had a ton of injuries. From David Wright to Neil Walker plus a majority of the pitching staff. No one knows how good this team can honestly be if everyone is healthy. The health factor will play a huge role for me, especially for the pitching staff.

Can the Mariners end their 15-year drought? – The last time the Mariners made the playoffs was when you had Ichiro Suzuki on the team. However, if Felix Hernadez can be healthy, this team, who is lead by Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano, might be what the Mariners need to finally make the playoffs. Only time will tell.

These are the four stories that I see that could play some role in how the 2017 season turns out. The Major League Baseball season gets back in action this Sunday, April 2nd.