All of the wild card races are suddenly very crowded

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In the American League, six teams — the Orioles, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Tigers, Astros, and Mariners — are within five games of a wild card spot, and the Yankees are just 5.5 out. In the NL, you’ve got six teams —the Dodgers, Marlins, Cardinals, Mets, Rockies, and Pirates — within three games of a wild card spot. To make things that much more complicated, over in the AL, there are six teams bunched up like that in part because just .001 points of winning percentage separate the Orioles and Blue Jays in the AL East — the Red Sox hold the second wild card and are just two games back of the division lead themselves, and the only way the O’s and Jays both end up with a wild card is if Boston leapfrogs them for the division.

There’s similar bunching with three teams holding onto the two wild card spots in the Senior Circuit, as the Marlins and Cardinals are tied at 57-51 for the second one. The Mets are then only one game back of those two, while the Rockies and Pirates are both three out. Back in the AL, the Tigers sit just half-a-game behind the Red Sox, the Astros are three games behind Detroit, and the Mariners are 1.5 games behind Houston. None of these leads are insurmountable, nor would you label them as safe.

With less than one-third of the season left, we’ve got 14 teams vying for seven of the 10 playoff spots. The NL Central looks safe, at least relatively speaking, with the Cubs 9.5 games up on the Cardinals. The NL East is a little less safe, with the Nats seven games up on the Marlins, but seven is still strong. The Rangers are up 6.5 on the Astros, as well, and that’s it for comfy leads. The Indians are just two up on the Tigers in the AL Central — they could easily end up as part of the wild card race with a bad week. The same goes for the Giants, who are just two up on the Dodgers in the NL West. It’s going to be a ridiculous last two months of the season, because we’re going to end up with as many disappointed clubs as relieved ones when October hits.