MLB Prediction: Cubs, Dodgers Will Be 'Best In Baseball' For 2017, Professor Says

NEWARK, NJ — According to New Jersey Institute of Technology math professor Bruce Bukiet, the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers should be the best teams in baseball this year.

If you doubt Bukiet’s baseball forecast, keep this in mind: The associate dean and mathematical sciences professor successfully picked eight of 10 MLB post-season teams in 2016, including the Chicago Cubs’ historically successful rise to the top of the NL Central division.

• See related article: N.J. Professor Predicts The Best Teams In Baseball For 2016
• See related article: Cubs Win World Series Title After Epic Comeback

According to NJIT administrators, this is the 20th year that Bukiet has applied mathematical analysis to compute the number of regular season games each Major League Baseball team should win.

See a chart with his predictions below.

The numbers indicate that while Bukiet’s favorite team, the New York Mets (92 wins), should make the playoffs, the Washington Nationals (97 wins) should repeat as winners of the National League East.

The World Champion Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers should repeat as winners of the National League Central and West divisions, respectively, with 104 wins each to lead the major leagues.

The San Francisco Giants (95 wins) should be the fifth National League post-season team, according to Bukiet.

In the American League, Bukiet’s model has the Boston Red Sox (91 wins) and the American League pennant holder Cleveland Indians (99 wins – best in the American league) repeating as division winners in the East and Central divisions, respectively.

Bukiet once again called for the Houston Astros (94 wins) to win the American League West and for the Toronto Blue Jays (90 wins) and the Detroit Tigers (86 wins) to be the American League Wild Card teams.

At the other end of the spectrum, the San Diego Padres (53 wins) should replace the Minnesota Twins as the team with the worst record in baseball, Bukiet predicted.

See more results for his baseball modeling here, including the projected wins for each of the 30 Major League Baseball teams.

And if you want to compare Bukiet’s predictions for 2016 with the actual MLB final standings, take a look at the images below.

Send feedback to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Main Photo (Wrigley Field): Flickr Commons

Graphics via New Jersey Institute of Technology