More to Baseball than Barry? Update on Close Playoff Races!
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by DRotch19
In the midst of the Barry Bonds chase of 755 and the surpassing of 755, baseballs playoff picture has changed quite a bit, and certainly become tighter.
In the American League, one would write in permanent marker the word: Boston. We could also confidently add Detroit, probably the Angels, and Cleveland as our wild card winner. Any baseball fan could see that these teams were playing the best ball in the AL at this time, and could easily make up the playoff lineup of the American League.
In the National League, there wasn’t a ‘Boston’ who was almost guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. In the East, it was either the Mets or the Braves, with the Brewers probably taking the Central, and the Padres and Dodgers fighting it out in the West. This would leave the two “losers” of the East and West going at it for the final spot as the wildcard.
If someone was comfortable with these picks still today, there would be some concern. With about 2 months left, let’s take a look at who is joining the party, and who, maybe, she be a little nervous?
AMERICAN LEAGUE:
Eastà The Yankees. Since the all-star break, the Yankees have been beating up on the weaker teams, playing .750 ball. Although these teams are sub-500 teams, they still are hitting the best pitchers of each team. This brought them from 9.5 to 5 games back of the Redsox, and more importantly 8 games to ½ game back of the wild card. If the Yankees can continue to play over .600 ball for the remainder of the year, look at them to take the wildcard.
Centralà Look out Detroit. With the Yanks beginning to heat up, and Cleveland maintaining a steady pace, the Tigers see themselves ½ game back of the Indians while only ½ game ahead of the surging Yankees for the wildcard lead. The Tigers have REALLY been struggling. Since the all-star break, they have posted a record of 10-15. If the Tigers have post season plans, they might want to revisit their winning ways in order to fend off their foes.
Westà The LA Angels have been keeping pace, and hold a 4 game lead in the division. The Seattle Mariners, although not mentioned before, still have a deficit of 1.5 games in the wildcard. If they want in, they will have to go stride for stride with the hottest teams in the AL.
NATIONAL LEAGUE:
Eastà New York and Atlanta are still battling it out. Atlanta is hoping to make a big run, adding slugger Teixiera and solid reliever Octavio Dotel.
Centralà The Chicago Cubs are playing excellent baseball, and looked to be the front-runner in the Central until quick-footed slugger Alfonso Soriano went down with an injury and was placed on the 15-day DL. The Brewers still have a slight lead in the Central (1 game), and the Cubs better keep pace with the Brewers, as the wildcard is a little bigger jump to make the playoffs.
Westà The West has seen a change of a division leader, as Arizona now has a 1 game lead over San Diego. Los Angeles sees themselves 4 games back of the division now and 3 games back in the wildcard.
The stats don’t lie often. And with this statistical update, these are the teams who are looking good/seeing some trouble.
Who do you see as the front runners/runners up in both playoff races this year?
