With a little over three weeks left in the regular season it’s time to start looking at the playoff races that are going to be interesting to watch in September. There are 11 teams that are either leading or within five games of leading their division or wild card races. Today we’ll go over the American League races and the National League tomorrow.
American League
The division leaders for the AL all have a firm grasp on their leads, and should have no problems making their way into the playoffs. The New York Yankees are within six games of the East leading Boston Red Sox, but the Red Sox have held off the Yankees all season and shouldn’t have any problems down the stretch. Even if Manny Ramirez does not make it back the Red Sox should have enough firepower in the lineup and on the mound to hold the lead.
The Cleveland Indians are sitting seven games in front of the Detroit Tigers, and with the combo of Fausto Carmona and CC Sabathia should hold off the Tigers. The Tigers have a very slim chance if they gain a few games and sweep the Indians in the last meeting between the clubs in ten days.
The Los Angeles Angels have the biggest lead in the AL at 7 1/2 games over a surprising Seattle Mariners club, but Seattle has been falling the past few weeks hard and the Angels should be the first team to punch their tickets for the playoffs.
That brings us to the only real race going on right now in the American League, the wild card. Here are the wild card standings as of Wednesday night.
New York Yankees 78-62 -
Seattle Mariners 74-64 3GB
Detroit Tigers 74-65 3 1/2
New York Yankees
The Yankees just won two of three games from the Mariners in the Bronx, and appear to be gaining a strangehold on the wild card. They’ve been winning with the bats and have had trouble with pitching outside of Chien-Ming Wang. Roger Clemens has said he will return before the end of the season, but some are wondering how effective Clemens will be if he does return. Taking Mike Mussina out of the rotation was a good decision by Joe Torre, as is the way he is using rookie pitcher Joba Chamberlain to set-up Mariano Rivera. It is hard to see the Yankees out of the playoffs with names like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui in the lineup.
Seattle Mariners
One of the feel good stories of the season is starting to become a nightmare. The Mariners have lost 10 of 11 and are heading backwards at the wrong point in the season. They head into a three game series against Detroit needing some wins, but with the way the pitching and hitting has been the Mariners season will probably be over at the end of the month.
Detroit Tigers
At the midway point of the season the Tigers looked like the team to beat in the AL, but a downward slide in the second half has them on the outside looking in. The bullpen has started to look like the ‘pen from last season with the return of Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney. Kenny Rogers pitched well yesterday in his first start in a month, and with the return of Gary Sheffield to the lineup the Tigers might be poised for a comeback. Injuries aren’t to blame for all of the Tigers second half woes, but having a complete team should have them in the wild card race until the end of the season.
The division winners are set. I don’t see anyone coming back and catching Boston, Cleveland or Los Angeles, but the wild card should be exciting. I don’t see the Mariners changing their losing ways, and while I think the Tigers will make the race go down to the wire the Yankees will be the wild card team at season’s end.
Other News:
- MLB investigator George Mitchell has asked for the cooperation of 45 current and former major league players in his investigation of performance enhancing drugs.
- For the first time fans can help choose the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award. The award is given annually to one Major Leaguer who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.
