Sadly, I am putting this playoff update together knowing that our favorite team will likely NOT be in the field of contenders once all is said and done. Hopefully, the lessons learned this season by our management team will be used to improve the team's standing in 2020 and beyond.
With that said, there will be a post-season in 2019 and if you are a Mets' fan, chances are you are also a baseball fan. The upcoming playoffs should be extremely entertaining with several of the participating clubs playing extremely well. That SHOULD result in some memorable series and an exciting World Series, so long as the Yankees aren't the eventual champions! OK, so maybe that was a bit childish and resentful.
So, how are things shaping up with only a couple of weeks of regular season games left to be played?
Five of the six division races are pretty much decided, outside of the National League Central. So where's the excitement in that, you may ask? Well, the two Wild Card races are much more in doubt, so the final roster of teams that make the playoffs is still to be determined. For example, the Cubs and Brewers are tied for the second Wild Card slot, while the Indians are only a half game behind the Rays for a similar position. I will check back with all of you in a few days to see how things have progressed.
With that said, here are the updated playoff positions IF the season ended today (09/18/19);
American League National League
1. Houston 99-53 (3) 1. Los Angeles 98-54 (0)
2. New York 99-53 (1) 2. Atlanta 93-59 (3)
3. Minnesota 93-58 (7) 3. St Louis 84-67 (10)
4. Oakland 91-61 4. Washington 83-67
5. Tampa Bay 89-63 5. Chicago/Milwaukee 82-69
***The numbers in parenthesis are the "magic number" for each team to clinch their respective division and guarantee a first round series instead of the equivalent of a one game playoff in the Wild Card match up.
These teams will likely move around a bit as the season draws to a close, but here are the potential matchups for the Wild Card Round and the Divisional Round as things stand today;
Wild Card Round (one game)
Tampa Bay @ Oakland
Chicago/Milwaukee @ Washington
Divisional Round (five game series)
AL Wild Card Winner @ Houston
Minnesota @ New York
NL Wild Card Winner @ Los Angeles
St Louis @ Atlanta
***The Championship Series and the World Series set ups are to be determined and will be covered at a later date.
At this stage, I don't see either Wild Card winner having much of a shot against the Dodgers and/or the Astros (or Yankees) in a five game set. Especially since the teams that advance out of the Wild Card matchup will have burned their best starter in an effort to simply advance to the Divisional Round.
Most folks are predicting a Dodgers/Yankees or a Dodgers/Astros World Series, but I wouldn't ignore the Twins or the Braves at this point who are "dark horse" teams to be sure.
It should be an interesting finish to the regular season, setting up an even better post-season.
Since the Mets are not participating, who are you rooting for?
5 comments:
Are we going to hop back on the merry-round after the results of last night's games?
It is tempting, isn't it?
The Mets pretty much need to sweep the rest of their remaining games to have a serious shot at one of the Wild Card slots. They have three with the Reds on the road, followed by seven at home (4 against the Marlins and 3 against the Braves who have already clinched).
I think they fall a bit short and we will all look back at the six games they lost in a row to Chicago and Atlanta, but I don' mind being wrong either.
Hold on just a sec, Mike:
CUBS AND CARDS HAVE SEVERAL GAMES LEFT in a Division dogfight, so the Cubs could easily lose several. Maybe 5-5.
Milwaukee, though, has one with SD, then the Pirates, Reds, and Rockies - so, pretty easy schedule, but last 6 on road, and no Yelich. And their run differential for the year, most of which Yelich excelled in, but who is now missing? A minus 25. So they seem like they could go 5-5.
So? Mets are still breathing. Very much breathing if they keep winning. And they are 39-22 in their last 61, with many of those losses due to the pen strategy, which has been refined, so if they can avoid bullpen losses, which have been fewer very recently, why can't they win 9 of 10?
To answer Mack's question : SOME of us never got OFF the m-g-r, so we don't need to get back on. 😉
3 out of the WC with 10 to play is hardly insurmountable. LFGM! YGB!
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