Over the last few years, the American and National leagues have been completely different beasts during the stretch run. In the AL, there have generally been tight races but a lack of totally dominant teams at the top. In the National League, it’s been more of a stars-and-scrubs approach in the standings. Basically, it has seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Nationals, Dodgers and Cubs would win their divisions for months. Likewise, the Rockies and Diamondbacks have controlled the wild-card race for most of the year. There’s not really much room for surprise in the National League playoff chase. At least, that was the thought until the red-hot Marlins came out of nowhere to put themselves over .500 and into contention in the wild-card race.
The Marlins are quietly in playoff contention
Sunday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes the red-hot Marlins, the absurd American League wild-card chase, and fallout from the Yankees/Tigers brawls.
Miami, after Saturday night’s 11-inning victory over the Padres, has now won 12 of its last 15 and has put itself just 3.5 games behind the Rockies for the second wild card spot. This performance has, of course, come out of nowhere as this team was written off by most months ago. The run has been led by Giancarlo Stanton, who is going on a Bondsian run through the second half and is looking to be the first hitter since Bonds to challenge the 61 home run mark. Since August began, the Marlins slugger is hitting an absurd .368/.455/.977 (!). He’s not the only Marlin who is playing well — Marcell Ozuna in particular has stood out along with Stanton — but the latter is clearly the face of this run.
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More likely than not, this run is simply a mirage that we shouldn’t be fooled by. The large sample before this impressive run tells us more about this team than the last couple of weeks, and no team should ever be judged by its highest peak or its lowest valley. Additionally, the wins haven’t come against the strongest competition, as the Rockies are the only playoff team the Marlins have played through this stretch. The other teams include the Mets, Phillies, Giants, and Padres. They’ll have a real test coming up this week against an ailing Nationals team. Either way, the fact that the Marlins (along with the Brewers and Cardinals) have made the NL playoff chase exciting is amazing enough on its own.
- We’re about to begin September, and the AL wild-card race is absurd.
- Bradley Zimmer goes a long way to make one of the most absurd catches you’ll see all year.
- The suspensions for the Yankees-Tigers brawl were released on Friday night, and many in Detroit were not thrilled with what the league came up with.
- Joe Girardi was asked about the incidents with the Tigers, and he made sure to point out the umpires’ role in all of it.
- The Diamondbacks are a somewhat surprising postseason contender in the National League. Here’s how they can make it to October.
- Arizona can offer a bit of hope to the Giants, though it will probably also make San Francisco fans really sad.
- There haven’t been many reasons to turn on Phillies games this year, but now that Rhys Hoskins is up they are becoming a must-watch.
- Joe Maddon and the Cubs are already looking forward to an NLCS matchup against the Dodgers, and that could provide a bit of motivation to the Nationals.
- It’s been a disappointing year for the Cardinals, but no matter what happens this is still a good baseball team. Devil magic can’t work every year, ya know?
- Over in Williamsport, the Texas Little League team has moved on and will represent the United States in the finals.
