MLB Postseason Picture: Lots to Decide as Final Weekend Approaches
As the afternoon games between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays as well as Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies got underway, there was still much to decide in the Major League Baseball Playoffs as the few hopeful teams remaining in the race look to make a less minute push to get into the playoffs. Similar to last week, we are going to break down the situations for the teams remaining in the playoff race by division and wild card races. Let us get started again with teams eliminated from division contention...
Teams Eliminated From Division Contention:
AL East: New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles
AL Central: Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals
AL West: Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers
NL East: Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Miami Marlins
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds
NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres
Once again, here is an updated look at the teams eliminated from wild card contention in both the American League and National League...
Teams Eliminated From Wild Card Contention:
American League Wild Card:
Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles
National League Wild Card:
Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Miami Marlins
With all this in mind, there are now just four teams battling it out for two divisions, both of which are in the National League. So now we will take a look at teams still alive for division contention. The teams in italics currently lead their respective division...
Teams Still Alive For Division Contention:
AL East: Boston Red Sox (Clinched)
AL Central: Cleveland Indians (Clinched)
AL West: Houston Astros (Clinched)
NL East: Atlanta Braves (Clinched)
NL Central: Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers (Both Clinched Playoff Spots)
NL West: Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers
The wild card races are starting to take shape as well. Only one wild card spot remains and it is located in the National League while both American League wild card spots are clinched with home-field advantage still up for grabs. Nonetheless, here are the teams still alive in the wild card races at the current moment. Like before, the teams in italics currently hold a wild card spot in their respective league...
Teams Still Alive In Wild Card Contention:
American League Wild Card:
New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics
National League Wild Card:
Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals
As we did last time, we will take a look at the magic numbers for teams to clinch their divisions now as well as how many games they have remaining in their season. These numbers are all accurate as of the completion of the games between the Yankees-Rays and Phillies-Rockies from earlier today...
Division Leaders and Magic Numbers:
AL East: Boston Red Sox (Clinched)
AL Central: Cleveland Indians (Clinched)
AL West: Houston Astros (Clinched)
NL East: Atlanta Braves (Clinched)
NL Central: Chicago Cubs (0.5 Games Ahead of Milwaukee Brewers)
Magic Number: 4
Games Remaining: 4
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers (1.0 Games Ahead of Los Angeles Dodgers)
Magic Number: 3
Games Remaining: 3
As I mentioned before, home-field advantage is still up for grabs in the American League and there is one wild card spot remaining in the National League. So here is what everything looks like now with that...
American League Wild Card:
New York Yankees (Top AL Wild Card Spot-2.0 Games Ahead of Oakland)
Magic Number (For Home-Field Advantage): 1
Games Remaining: 3
Note: Clinched Wild Card Spot
Oakland Athletics (Second AL Wild Card Spot-2.0 Games Back of New York)
Games Remaining: 3
Note: Clinched Wild Card Spot
National League Wild Card:
Milwaukee Brewers (Top NL Wild Card Spot-4.0 Games Ahead of Los Angeles)
Note: Milwaukee has clinched top wild card slot and has home-field advantage
Los Angeles Dodgers (Second NL Wild Card Spot-1.0 Games Ahead of St. Louis)
Magic Number (For Wild Card Spot): 3
Games Remaining: 3
Now let us move on to the elimination numbers for division hopefuls, this time only two divisions will appear as there are only two divisions, both in the National League, that are yet to be decided...
National League Division Race: Elimination Numbers
NL Central:
Milwaukee Brewers (0.5 Games Behind Chicago (N))
Elimination Number: 4
Games Remaining: 3
NL West:
Los Angeles Dodgers (1.0 Games Behind Colorado)
Elimination Number: 3
Games Remaining: 3
Now for the final piece like last week, the elimination numbers for teams still in the wild card hunt. As previously mentioned, the AL Wild Card is set in stone and the NL Wild Card is currently a three-team race. Therefore we will look at elimination numbers for home-field advantage in the American League and the elimination number for the National League team still in the hunt...
American League Wild Card Race: Elimination Numbers For Home-Field Advantage
Oakland Athletics (2.0 Games Behind New York)
Elimination Number: 1
Games Remaining: 3
National League Wild Card Race: Elimination Numbers
St. Louis Cardinals (1.0 Games Behind Los Angeles (N))
Elimination Number: 3
Games Remaining: 3
There you have it. With the evening slate of games on tap for Thursday and three full days of baseball still remaining, there are still plenty of scenarios for teams to be in or out of the playoffs as well as changing their seeding. Enjoy it!
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