What team will come through in October?
by Jack Dusek
The final weeks of the MLB season are here, and it’s the witching hour for some teams. While Toronto, Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Philadelphia have all established themselves as playoff teams, we still have thirteen teams in the race for seven spots.
There is a three-headed monster in the AL East, with the surprising Blue Jays leading the way. At the beginning of the season, the Blue Jays were given just a 39% chance of making the playoffs, and a 1.2% chance of winning the world series (according to ESPN analytics). However, led by an upstart lineup containing superstar 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr and All-Stars C Alejandro Kirk and OF George Springer, the Blue Jays have surged into first in the AL East.
Trailing a few games back of Toronto is the Yankees, who after an ice-cold July and August, but have been better the past few weeks. Led by MVP candidate OF Aaron Judge, all-star 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. and the pitching of SP Max Fried and RP David Bednar, the defending American League champions could be poised to make a run.
The Boston Red Sox made probably the most head-scratching decisions earlier this season, trading star 3B Rafael Devers to the Giants, but simultaneously trying to compete . To everyone’s surprise, the move actually worked. Sitting at 37-36 before the Devers trade, Boston is now 43-29 since. Unfortunately for the Sox, rookie sensation Roman Anthony picked up an oblique strain that will most likely keep him out of the playoff run. Without him, players like SS Trevor Story and 3B Alex Bregman will have to pick up the slack if the Red Sox are to make a deep run.
After making a surprise appearance in the ALDS last season, the Detroit Tigers have proved it was not a fluke, coming out of the gate as one of the best teams in baseball. Pitcher Tarik Skubal is the best pitcher in the AL en route to another Cy Young and has a 13-4 record with just a 2.10 ERA, 2nd only to Paul Skenes of the Pirates. Followed by five other all-stars (OF Javier Baez, OF Riley Greene, SS Zach McKinstry, 2B Gleyber Torres and SP Casey Mize) the Tigers have a legit chance to win it all.
The Guardians and Rangers are both on the outside looking in at the playoffs, both sitting a few games behind the final wild card spot. Cleveland still has superstar 3B Jose Ramirez and all-star OF Steven Kwan, but other than that it is a lackluster lineup and pitching rotation. Texas is in the hands of two-time World Series MVP SS Corey Seager, OF Adolis Garcia, two-time Cy Young winner SP Jacob Degrom, and All-Star SP Nathan Eovaldi. Other than those bright spots, the Rangers have failed to live up to expectations yet again, although a comeback to a playoff spot would be a nice surprise given this teams position a month ago.
The Houston Astros just can’t be stopped. The team is going on seven straight postseason appearances and five ALCS appearances in that time. Last year seemed like it could spell the end to a dynasty, being swept by the Tigers in the Wild Card round, but they came back again this year and sit in first place. Future Hall of Fame 2B Jose Altuve is still a good player, and it has really been SS Jeremy Pena’s breakout season, becoming a top-five Shortstop in baseball. Key player DH Yordan Alvarez has been hurt, but when healthy he is a top-three DH in baseball.
Mariners C Cal Raleigh might be having the greatest season by a catcher of all-time. He has 53 Home runs, most all-time by a catcher, while being in the race for MVP and winning the home run derby. On to the rest of the Mariners team, OF Julio Rodriguez is an amazing defender, and the 2nd best hitter in this lineup,as well as adding slugging 3B Eugenio Suarez and always solid 1B Josh Naylor at the trade deadline to help the hitting. On the pitching side of things, the Mariners have the best rotation in the MLB. Led by SP’s Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby, facing this team in the playoffs means going against 4 former All-Stars, who would probably be aces on most teams.
Will this finally be the year for the Phillies? We are going on four straight years with the Phillies being actual contenders, but they just haven’t been able to pull it off. Lead by NL MVP Candidate DH Kyle Schwarber, who has over 50 Home Runs this season which only trails the Mariners Cal Raleigh, and 1B Bryce Harper a two-time MVP. SS Trea Turner, C J.T. Realmuto and OF Harrison Bader help round out the batting order. On the pitching side of things, the loss of ace SP Zack Wheeler due to injury and a rough year from SP Aaron Nola has been masked by the emergence of SP Cristopher Sanchez and SP Ranger Suarez along with the newly acquired RP Jhoan Duran.
It has been a tale of two halves for the Mets. New York held the best record in baseball on June 13th, but since that date they have been 4th worst in the MLB. Luckily for them, they had built up enough of a lead to still remain a few games up in the Wild Card entering the final two weeks. OF Juan Soto, SS Francisco Lindor and 1B Pete Alonso have been the only good hitters this year, but none have been consistent which has been the biggest problem for the Mets. On the pitching side, All-star SP David Peterson and RP Edwin Diaz have been one of the only bright spots since the start of June, where the Mets have had some of the worst pitching in baseball. Hopefully for New York, rookie SP’s Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Brandon Sproat will be able to put a jolt into this group to get them going.
No one expected to be looking up in September and see the Brewers as the best team in baseball. After the rest of the division (except maybe the Pirates) got better in the offseason, the Brewers traded away all-star RP Devin Williams and lost SS Willy Adames in free agency. After a mediocre start to the season, Milwaukee was viewed as a borderline playoff team, but a blazing hot June and July and they are atop the NL. Things have not slowed down either. OF Christian Yelich has returned to All-Star form after a back injury last year, and 2B Brice Turang has filled the Adames-sized hole in the lineup, and C William Contreras has been consistent as always. The true strength of this team lies in the pitching. SP’s Freddy Peralta has been an ace, and the rookie sensation SP Jacob Misiorowski has been a large catalyst of the Rotation. In the bullpen, RP’s Trevor Megill and Nick Mears have helped replace Devin Williams.
The Chicago Cubs are having their best season since 2018, just unfortunately for them, they are in the same division as the Milwaukee Brewers. Adding superstar OF Kyle Tucker in the offseason was a fantastic move, as he has been a catalyst for this offense alongside All-Star OF Pete Crow-Armstrong. Chicago also has 1B Michael Busch, SS Dansby Swanson, and OF’s Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki as good bats in the order. As for pitching, the lefty duo of Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga will be tough to face in the playoffs. However, aside from that it gets grim with no one in the rotation or bullpen really establishing themselves as good players.
The reigning World Series Champions seem to be having a World Series hangover, which is still an amazing season for 25 teams in the MLB. This lineup contains three MVP’s with SS/OF Mookie Betts, 1B Freddie Freeman and of course, two-way star SP/DH Shohei Ohtani. First of his kind since Babe Ruth, Ohtani is on track for his fifth straight MVP. The rest of the team is no slouch, containing All-Stars in C Will Smith and OF Teoscar Hernandez, and a star studded rotation with SP’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, and Clayton Kershaw. And once a team knocks one of them out of the game, they would have to face this bullpen that is just as good with RP’s Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Blake Treinen.
Just behind the Dodgers sit their bitter rivals, the San Diego Padres. This team went all out this season, pushing for that elusive World Series, acquiring All-Stars DH Ryan O’Hearn and RP Mason Miller, alongside C Freddy Fermin and OF Ramon Laureano at the trade deadline. This adds to a team already containing 6 All-Stars in the lineup. 1B Luis Arraez, 2B Jake Cronenworth, 3B Manny Machado, SS Xander Bogaerts, and OF’s Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill. The one weakness of this team has been the SP. Both Yu Darvish and Dylan Cease have had poor years when compared to their usual form, but Nick Pivetta was an amazing pickup in free agency.
The San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds both sit on the outside looking in at this Wild Card spot. The Giants looked dead in the water in Mid-August, but have since gone on a tear this past month lead by 1B Rafael Devers, 3B Matt Chapman, SS Willy Adames and SP’s Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. The Reds have been stuck behind the Mets for the entire season, but maybe a little luck and they could overtake them for the final Wild Card spot. With SS Elly De La Cruz holding down the fort offensively alongside SP’s Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott having solid seasons.
Abbreviation Key
C- Catcher
1B- First Baseman
2B- Second Baseman
3B- Third Baseman
SS- Shortstop
OF – Outfielder
DH- Designated Hitter
SP- Starting Pitcher
RP- Relief Pitcher