This year’s playoff races are certainly not bereft of drama, not when two NL East teams are tied for first, not with the Brewers, D-Backs, and Rockies all between 1.5 and 2.5 games of first place in their divisions. However, there is a pretty significant chasm between those contending and those not contending, which has limited our imaginations for postseason possibilities a little bit despite the fact it’s still July.
The A’s and Pirates are making the wild card races far more fun
Tuesday’s Say Hey, Baseball looks at the recent surges by the Athletics and Bucs.
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
The Pirates and A’s have been working overtime to help improve that potential problem. Pittsburgh won again on Monday, their 10th victory in a row, and it put them four games back of an NL wild card spot -- ahead of the Giants in the same chase, and closer than the Yankees are to the Red Sox in the AL East. There are now six teams within six games of the second wild card spot in the National League, and the Brewers are just half-a-game up on the Phillies, so just 6.5 games separate the entire eight-team group vying for those two slots.
Meanwhile, in the American League, the A’s have won 24 of 31, and are the only real threat to either of the Yankees or Mariners for a wild card spot. While Oakland sits 6.5 back of the Yankees, holder of the top wild card spot, in the standings, they’re just 2.5 back of the Mariners. The A’s were eight back of Seattle on July 3 after the Mariners rattled off eight wins in a row. The Mariners are just 7-9 in July, though, while the A’s are 12-5, and that difference has begun to close the gap between them.
Considering that the AL East race is down to two teams who are both likely to make the postseason in some fashion, the AL Central is lead by the Indians, who are as far ahead as they are because the rest of their division is embarrassingly awful, and the West is ruled by the defending champion Astros, getting some additional drama thrown into the wild card race was absolutely necessary in the junior circuit.
The Pirates’ entry into the NL wild card field was a little less imperative along the same lines, but still key in that it makes the NL more competitive and enjoyable for another fan base as we approach the final two months of the season. In a season so far defined by tanking and arguments about efficiency and game pacing, more meaningful games played by more competitive teams is inherently a good thing.
- The Mets are an absolute mess, and only getting messier. Grant Brisbee wonders if there was anything they could or should have done differentlyover the last few years, or if they just serve as a reminder that baseball hates you, yes you, and everything you love.
- Max Scherzer will destroy you at Connect Four. Just ask the people who have tried to play the Nationals’ ace about it.
- David Ortiz doesn’t miss playing baseball, but he hasn’t left the game behind in his retirement, either.
- If you were wondering what veterans think of all the overdone displays of patriotism in sports, well, how I just described the patriotism in sports is a good hint.
- The Mets are just a normal baseball team as Grant Brisbee wrote, but they’re also the most Mets of the baseball teams, and that has everything to do with the leadership at the top.
- Michael Clair wrote about Eric Thames’ muscles.
- Trades aren’t the only moves the O’s should be making, writes Camden Chat.
- Speaking of O’s trades, though, the Yankees are reportedly interested in reliever Zach Britton.
- The Yankees might also be interested in acquiring Chris Archer, though, Archer might not be available.
- The Brewers also want in on the Chris Archer action.
- The Nationals and Rangers are discussing Cole Hamels... maybe.
- While we’re on the subject of former Phillies, Chase Utley received multiple standing ovations in the first game of his final series in Philly.
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