0 of 50

Baseball fans can finally come out of hibernation—the 2013 MLB season has arrived.

Lovers of America's pastime will flock to stadiums across the country for the next two days. It's the 145th year of professional baseball, and Opening Day is just as exciting now as it was in the sport's early years.

This year, unlike any other, promises even more excitement. For the first time in MLB history, interleague games will take place throughout the year, with at least one interleague matchup to be contested every day of the regular season.

All eyes will be on last year's major award winners to see what they can do for an encore. The stars of tomorrow should also draw plenty of attention as they begin carving out their career paths. And as always, some teams will surprise this year, while others will disappoint.

In all, 2,430 regular-season contests and as many as 43 postseason games will be played.

Here are 50 predictions for the 2013 season.