Mike Freire - MLB Playoff Picture (Final Week)

There are roughly 6 games left in the MLB regular season, which is approximately two series or in other words the FINAL week of the regular season, if you can believe that!.  Much like the last few weeks, that means that the playoff races (Divisions and Wild Cards) are pretty much over and our final playoff picture will be available to all of us shortly.

Since we are almost there, I will focus on both league’s probable playoff teams. 

American League (current standings and projected records)

1.     ***Boston            105-51 (.673)       109-53
2.     Houston               98-57  (.632)        102-60
3.     ***Cleveland         87-68  (.561)         91-71

W1.  New York              95-60  (.613)         99-63
W2.  Oakland                94-62  (.603)         98-64

Since the last time I posted a "standings" article, the Red Sox and Indians have clinched their respective divisions and the automatic playoff berth that comes with it. Furthermore, based on records, the Red Sox have also clinched home field advantage as long as they are alive in the playoffs (#1 seed) and the Indians have clinched the third best record which means a trip to either Houston (likely) or Oakland for the first round of the playoffs.

Houston continues to roll along and they currently have a magic number of 3, needed to clinch the AL West and the #2 seed in the playoffs.  With only 7 games left on their schedule, that seems extremely likely. If that comes to pass, then Oakland will assume one of the Wild Card spots and a much tougher road in the playoffs (their magic number to make the playoffs is 1, so the Rays will be officially eliminated shortly).

Speaking of Wild Cards, the Yankees are still holding off the A's for the right to host the Wild Card match up, but that lead is a bit tenuous with just 7 games left to play (2 games in the loss column, magic number of 6). Despite the drama, I expect the Yankees to hold onto the #4 spot in the playoff picture since they understand that their chances are much better in the "band box" they call Yankee Stadium.

IF all that comes to pass, New York would host Oakland in the Wild Card, with the winner going to Boston for the Divisional Series.  Houston would host Cleveland in the other Divisional Series and the winners would meet in the ALCS. Houston and Boston, could potentially meet in the ALCS, so in other words, not much has changed in the past week.

National League (current standings and projected records)

1.     Chicago                    91-64  (.587)       95-67
2.    *** Atlanta                 88-68  (.564)       91-71
3.     Los  Angeles             87-69  (.558)       90-72

W1.  Milwaukee                89-67  (.571)       92-70
W2.  St. Louis                  87-69  (.558)       90-72

***Colorado has started to "spit the bit" with a horrible series against Los Angeles that moved them from leading the division, to trailing the second Wild Card team by a game, heading into the last week of the season. None of the other teams in the National League are in the playoff picture at this juncture.

Unlike the American League, most of the National League playoff races are still in doubt, as you can see above. Atlanta has been playing really good baseball and they have already clinched the NL East (for this year anyway). However, they still trail the Cubs by 3.5 games for the top seed in the National League, so they seemed destined to meet the winner of the NL West in the first round of the playoffs.  But, they shouldn't feel too comfortable, since the surging Dodgers are only a game back of the Braves and could easily overtake them and host the listed series, as opposed to traveling to Atlanta (very tight contest as they head down the stretch).

The Cubs (2.5 game lead, magic number of 5) still have the Brewers right behind them and the aforementioned Dodgers (1.5 game lead, magic number of 6) still need to contend with the fading Rockies. Any of those scenarios could change with a bad week of baseball, so stay tuned.

The Wild Card chase remains close with the Brewers, Cardinals and Rockies all within 3.5 games of each other!  Milwaukee is in solid shape (magic number of 4 for a playoff berth and 6 for home field in the Wild Card match up), but the Cardinals and Rockies could finish in either spot or out of the playoffs all together. All of this is to say that handicapping the NL playoff picture is much more problematic as the final week unfolds.

IF the season ended today, Milwaukee would host St Louis in the Wild Card with the winner going to Chicago for the Divisional Series. Atlanta would host Los Angeles (for now) in the other Divisional Series and the winners would meet in the NLCS.  Picking the potential NLCS is much more difficult, but if we rely on the home teams, you would have the Braves and Cubs going at it for a chance to reach the World Series against  either Boston or Houston, most likely.

BUT, as I said in a different article over the weekend, don't look past the Dodgers and Astros! We could easily have a repeat of the 2017 World Series before all is said and done.

Once the playoff picture has been finalized, I will put together a preview of the different match ups as we move forward.