Therefore, being only halfway through the season, even though it’s been so difficult to get to this point, let’s take a look at each playoff matchup and predict how entertaining (read: close) it will be.
AL East — Snoozefest. It is done.
AL Central — We discussed this last week and the bottom line is the same. While it may not be the best baseball, there is a great shot that will be incredibly fun. The White Sox are in third place but are within striking distance and have a load of back-to-back games against the Guardians and Twins.
AL West — The Astros can yawn for another title here, so we’ll yawn with them. The fact that two division leaders have a 13 1/2 game lead on the 4th of July is ridiculous.
AL wild cards — AL East teams hold all three spots right now, but the Guardians are only 1 1/2 games out. The White Sox are four out and, get this, the Rangers and Mariners are only five out. With the AL East so tough — even the Orioles aren’t that far back here at 7 1/2 — there could very well be an opening for a less flashy roster. There’s potential for a lot of chaos here, and that’s fun.
NL East — I’m counting the Phillies now, but a Mets-Braves matchup is interesting. It’s currently a 3 1/2 lead for the Mets, though it was once 10 1/2, meaning the conventional wisdom here is that “the Braves have all the momentum and are going to catch them.” To me, what matters most is that the Mets have the lead. Those early-season wins count just as much as the Braves’ June wins. It will be a battle, but the Mets have the edge. Best of all, there are 15 games left between the two teams(!), starting a week from Monday. 👀
NL Central — It’s a two-team battle, as most assumed it would be early on. Unfortunately, there are only seven games left between the Brewers and the Cardinals. Fortunately they will be very competitive. They have gone 6-6 against each other so far, with three of four games.
NL West — The Dodgers got a bit of a split here last weekend, though the Padres bailing on Sunday made it workable. However, the smart money is on the Dodgers. In fact, a Dodgers win of at least 10 games here seems more likely than another team to win it.
Wild cards NL — Whoever doesn’t win the Central and East will be major players here, as will the Padres. Those would be the chalk picks at this point (giving us the Mets, Braves, Cardinals, Brewers, Dodgers and Padres in the playoffs), but the Giants and Phillies are in the field and even the Marlins are within striking range. The chance of chaos here is much less than AL, but it is possible. We’ll go with a mid-fun prediction. He’s winning those AL East and AL West games, right?
1st in Official Power Rankings — The Yankees have held onto the top spot the past few weeks with ease, but I think the Astros and Dodgers will make this a fun three-team matchup the rest of the way.
Larger Movers
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Team’s
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1 Yankees Here’s our extreme stat of the day: The Reds have lost 22 games in their first 25 games. The Yankees lost their 22nd game on Sunday, which was their 80th. — 58-22 2 Astros Remember when their World Series rotation was in fumes last year? The rest of Major League Baseball won’t be so lucky this time. This bunch is ridiculous and only getting better. 1 51-27 3 Dodgers They sure don’t want to go to the playoffs with Craig Kimbrel as their closer, do they? 1 49-29 4 Mets Max Scherzer returns Tuesday, Jacob deGrom started rehab Sunday (five in 1 2/3 innings). Ownership and front office will be very aggressive in acquisitions in July. There are many tools here for a delayed increase. — 49-30 5 Braves Spencer Strider has been one of the best pitchers in baseball in four of his last five starts. This June 21st dude seems extreme, because I think he’s legit. 2 46-34 6 Padres If the Padres end up winning the West and prove me wrong, Sunday’s ninth-inning comeback will end up being a game they could look back on. — 47-34 7 Brewers Won six of eight and Brandon Woodruff is back. 1 46-35 8 Rays Seven of their next 10 games are against the Red Sox with the Reds in between. Maybe they’ll see red. Sorry, that was bad. It’s a great opportunity. 3 43-36 9 Blue Jays Still, a 4-4 week against the Red Sox and Rays isn’t too bad, but they won four of their first five before dropping the final three. It was such a good start to the week that he gave them a chance and they broke up. — 44-36 10 Red Sox Sometimes I don’t realize the power I have. I never know when it will happen like this, but the Red Sox were a victim. I thought they deserved an aggressive promotion up to number five last week. Then they lost two of three in a long series in Toronto and were nearly swept at Wrigley. It seems too obvious to point out that they really saw their high ranking from yours and were very proud of themselves. 5 44-35 11 Cardinals On Saturday, the Cardinals became the 11th team in MLB history to back-to-back home runs. There were only three cases prior to 2006 and all occurred from 1961-64. How weird and cool is that? 1 44-37 12 Guardians The highlight of the week was Josh Naylor’s walkout celebration when he hit manager Terry Francona (who was armed and ready with a helmet). 1 40-36 13 Twins All five of their losses to the Guardians in the last two weeks have come by blow. Had they held on in each of those games, they would have had a 12-game lead. Instead, there are two. I’d say “could” matter, but I actually feel like I should, you know? 1 45-37 …
