Didn’t see this one started, so I stepped in. Technically the season ends on 10/1, but I suspect we can let the extra day slide and the next thread will be for the post-season.
The Cubs, after an 18-9 August catapulted them back into playoff contention (currently +2 on the Wild Card, 4.5 back of the Brewers) have struggled against the Reds on the long weekend series. Hopefully this is just a minor glitch and we can resume our winning ways quickly.
In other news, Ronald Acuña, Jr hit a grand slam to become the first player in MLB history with 30 dingers and 60 steals. On a day where he married his longtime companion (and mother of his two children) to keep her from having to go back to Venezuela and missing the stretch run and playoffs. They had originally planned to marry over the winter. The wedding was pulled together on the road in LA in less than 24 hours. It’s a cute story:
In the AL East, Baltimore is 2.5 ahead of Tampa Bay.
In the AL West, holy crap. Seattle is one ahead of both Texas and Houston.
The Central is likely Minnesota’s.
The Wild Card race is a three way race between four teams, since the AL West leader is unclear;
Seattle -1
Houston
Texas
Toronto +1.5
Boston is four behind Toronto so they’re obviously in need of a miracle.
Texas is about to start a three game series with Houston, and shortly afterwards plays Toronto for four, and then plays Seattle seven times at the end of the season, so who the hell knows what lies in store.
In the NL, Atlanta and LA have buried their divisions. They are so far out ahead o the rest of the league it’s silly. The Brewers have a nice lead in the Central but you never know.
The Wild Card is insane:
Phillies -5.5
Cubs -3
Arizona
Miami
San Fran
Cincinnati
Yes, it’s a four way tie for the last wild card. Yikes.
Reminds me of when Sammy Sosa was testifying about steroids before Congress and suddenly forgot how to speak English after more than a decade in the Major Leagues.
The Jays are just barely slipping by shit teams like Oakland, the Nats, and the Rockies. I mean, these are awful teams and yet they’re basically evenly matched. If the Jays do slip into the playoffs - and they’re only a half game out now - they are going to be utterly annihilated by a real contender. A 6-5 win against Oakland translates into a 9-2 loss against a team like Tampa Bay.
And Arizona and Chicago haven’t played each other yet this season. They have seven games to play against each other, and that’s going to go a long way toward deciding the final wild card standings.
The highlight of an otherwise forgettable season for the Royals may be the fact that they’ve won two games in balk-off fashion. On August 1, KC beat the Mets when Mets reliever Josh Walker didn’t come to a set position before throwing a pitch, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game. Then last Tuesday, the exact same thing happened when White Sox reliever Gregory Santos failed to come set before throwing a pitch, again in the bottom of the ninth of a tie game with the bases loaded.
I’m really enjoying the Yankee youth movement. The team plays with energy that I haven’t seen for a while. It was getting to the point where if they fell behind 1-0 in the first inning it felt like an insurmountable deficit, now it feels like they have a chance to win every game. That being said, I hope they get rid of Cashman and Boone. Dominguez in particular looks like the centerfielder of the future, though I am tempered in my enthusiasm by how good Gary Sanchez looked when he first came up and how worthless he turned out to be. Dominguez will likely cool off once the pitchers’ union figures out how to pitch to him but for now it’s a fun ride.
In 21 career games, Schneider is now hitting .403 with seven home runs. his OBP is .535 and he’s slugging .881. His OPS is the highest in the history of baseball for a player’s first 21 games; it was also the highest in a player’s first 20, 19, 18 etc., and after today will almost certainly be the highest after 22 games.
Schneider is credited by BBRef has being worth 2.2 WAR already, which if true would make him the seventh most valuable player on the team, ahead of at least two All-Stars, Jordan Romano and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and ahead of Chris Bassitt, who leads the AL in wins. This is, remember, a team in a playoff spot, it’s not like he’s seventh on the A’s.
Isn’t time just to shut down Ohtani? I assume they’re not doing it to help ticket and merchandise sales, but it seems clear that the Angels are running out the clock and booking tee times for October
Davis Schneider’s numbers projected for a full 162 game season:
.370/.500/.815 with 65 doubles and 52 homers. Somehow, he’d also have 123 walks and 188 strike outs. Helluva debut. It’ll be interesting to see what really happens next season.
Texas Rangers just spanked the Blue Jays. This would have been a nice series for the Jays to win or at least split. They’re stumbling at the worst time. After this series, the Jays have only AL East teams left on the schedule as we head into the playoffs
The Orioles have, for the most part, been playing great down the stretch. But they now have lost 3 of 4, including the last two to the not-very-good Cardinals, and their lead is down to two games over the Rays as they host Tampa Bay for a crucial four game series beginning tomorrow. Following that, they travel to Houston for 3 games against the Astros, who have the 3rd best AL record, behind Baltimore and Tampa Bay.
And, ho-hum, the Braves clinched their sixth straight NL East title tonight.
