Well, with the Olympics now over, it’s time to return to 100% baseball mode. Okay, 97% baseball mode. You never know when I might decide to go off on a tangent about football or the movies or something.
But right now, all baseball. With the season about to enter it’s last month-and-a-half of madness, it’s time to figure out where all the teams are and who, exactly, still has a shot at reaching the playoffs. With the addition of the second Wild Card, this means more teams than previous years have at least an outside shot at the postseason. Of course, that doesn’t mean every team has an outside shot. So, here are how every team can be classified, in rough order of least to most chance of reaching the playoffs.
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The No-Hopers- These teams have no hope of reaching the playoffs, even with the additional wild card. Technically, they aren’t out of it mathematically, but it would require a comeback that would make last year’s madness look like a walk in the park. This group has the Cubs, Astros, Twins, Royals, Mariners, Padres, Marlins and Phillies. All of these teams are at least 10 games out of a Wild Card spot, and are listed on Baseball Prospectus as having a 0% chance of reaching the playoffs. Wait until next year!
Near Death- Some teams still have an outside-outside chance to make the playoffs, but it would require everything, and I do mean everything, to go right. And they have to start now. If they were to make it, it would be something like those “medical miracle” stories you see every once and a while. You know, people who are declared medically dead, but then wake up and ask for a sandwich. Baseball also has those miraculous resurrections, but they are rare, and I doubt that any of the teams in this category will be able to pull it off. The teams that are close to seeing their playoff hopes die are the Brewers (who only have any type of shot because many of their remaining games are against no-hope teams), the Indians, the Mets and the Blue Jays.
Only in it because of the 2nd Wild Card– The Red Sox are the lone team in this category. They have no hope for the AL East title, and it’s unlikely that they’d be able to get past all of the teams ahead of them if there was only one Wild Card spot at stake. However, with the second spot now added in, there is a chance they might be able to snag a trip to the play-in game if they finish the season strong. Maybe.
Birds Defying Gravity– The Baltimore Orioles still shouldn’t be in it. Really, they shouldn’t. They have a Wild Card spot as of this writing (morning of August 14), and are still semi-in the AL East race should the Yankees crumble, but… it doesn’t make sense. They’ve given up 49 more runs than they have scored. If their record reflected that, they’d be 52-63 and last place in the division, not 62-53 and in the second Wild Card spot. And yet, not only are they not dropping out of the race, they continue to do well- they are 7-3 over the past 10 games. They should be collapsing any moment now… but then again, everybody has been saying the same thing the past few months.
The Diamondbacks Enigma– The Arizona Diamondbacks are six games out of a Wild Card spot. They are 4.5 out of the NL West lead. Therefore, they are definitely in the NL West race, but are also on the periphery of the Wild Card race. I think they are more likely to get in by way of the NL West than they are the Wild Card.
Probably Need a Wild Card Spot– The Angels, Athletics and Cardinals aren’t out of their division races yet, but it is far more likely that they will get in by getting a Wild Card spot. To a certain degree, the Pirates, Braves and Rays are also in this group.
Objects in the Mirror are Closer Than They Appear-The aforementioned Pirates, Braves and Rays are all five or more games out of their division lead but are near the top of the Wild Card race. However, they are just close and talented enough that they could make a definite run during the final month-and-a-half to grab a division title. The Rays are the most likely to pull it off (especially if the injury bug continues to hit the Yankees), followed by the Braves (especially if the Nationals actually do shut down Stephen Strasburg) and then the Pirates.
The Contenders- They are in the thick of the hunt for not just Wild Card spots, but division titles. The Tigers, as well as the Dodgers and Giants (currently tied for first in the NL West), are in this category.
The Division Leaders That Still Need To Be Careful– The Yankees, White Sox, Nationals and Reds all currently hold division leads, but certainly are in no position to start celebrating, especially the White Sox, who have the Tigers only two games behind them.
Prepare the Champagne!- The Rangers have a six game lead on the Athletics, Josh Hamilton is starting to heat up again, and they have experience on their side. There are no shoo-ins, but the Rangers are probably the closest thing around to a lock for a post-season berth.