WASHINGTON — The annual Sports Illustrated baseball preview was released Tuesday, and the magazine has chosen the Washington Nationals to beat the New York Yankees in this year’s Fall Classic. It’s not the first time they’ve predicted a Nats World Series title.
The magazine first picked the Nationals to win in 2013, following the club’s breakout, 98-win 2012 campaign. Despite Washington missing the playoffs that year, SI doubled down in 2014, choosing the Nats again. They picked the Nats to make it to (but lose) the series in 2015, another season that ended short of the playoffs.
SI picked the Astros to win in 2016, the year before they actually pulled it off. And while the 2014 prophetic cover came true, the magazine actually backed off and chose the Dodgers at the beginning of last season. That makes their 2009 choice — the Yankees — the last team to actually fulfill the prophecy.
The Nationals’ 2018 season begins Thursday, Mar. 29 on the road at Cincinnati, with the home opener on Thursday, Apr. 5 vs. the New York Mets.
