We have right around 45 games left in baseball’s regular season, and it appears as though half of the division might’ve been decided a while ago. Even with the struggles the New York Yankees have had they still hold a 9-game lead in the American League East. In the American League West, the Houston Astros have opened up an 11-game lead in that division. The Los Angeles Dodgers have the biggest lead out of any of the division leaders as they lead the National League West by 17 games.
That leaves what looks like three divisions up for grabs and the races in the American league Central and the National League Central might be more important since it looks more and more like only the division winner will make the playoffs.
The Atlanta Braves have cut the New York Mets lead to 3 1/2 games in the National League East, but it looks like both teams should make the playoffs barring one of them completely collapsing. The same can’t be said for the teams in both Central divisions.
The American League Central is a three-team race. The Cleveland Guardians lead the division by just one game. The Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox are tied for 2nd place behind Cleveland. Now the Twins and the White Sox are actually just one game out of a wild card spot, but there are more teams that they’d have to pass to get a wild card spot than they’d have to move past to win the division.
Over in the National League Central the St. Louis Cardinals have a two-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers. The team that doesn’t win this division has a much better chance of grabbing one of those three wild card spots as the Brewers are currently just one game behind the San Diego Padres for that final national League wild card spot. Milwaukee’s cause has been helped by the Padres sliding back to the pack.
With the added wild card teams, it’s also important for the winners of each of the Central divisions as they would host the three-game wild card series. The way the playoffs are set up now that there’s been an extra team added is the lowest seeded division winner and the wild card team with the best record will be the host teams for the wild card round. There are no travel days in this opening round as all three games would be played in the higher seeded team’s ballpark.
I’ve heard discussion on both sides of this set up, but I really think it’s the only way Major League Baseball could add another playoff team. If there was an off day for travel that means the division winners that received byes would sit for almost a week without playing and that’s not exactly fair to them. As it sits now, they could go four or maybe five days without playing a game depending on how the playoffs are scheduled.
Don’t forget that weather could also become a factor as places like Toronto, Minnesota, New York or right here in the Chicago area where I live could easily experience rough weather any time in November. So, the sooner they can get the playoffs started and keep them moving the better off Major League Baseball is.
So, since we have what seems to be three division races still up for grabs it’s time for you to make some predictions. Who do you have winning the American League Central, the Nationals League Central and the National League East? Also, I’d like to know if you think any other teams besides the division winner in both of the Central divisions make the playoffs.
Don’t forget that you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.
Sports Time Radio 
Both of the central division races will go down to the last week of the season.Right now, I’m of the opinion that both the Brewers and Cardinals will make it into the playoffs. But I think that only the winner of the AL Central will get in so that should make for at least some excitement in baseball over the next few weeks. The Yankees Astros and Dodgers are virtually in already but the NL East is far from decided. Every time the Mets seem to pull away; the Braves get on a run and make it interesting again.
LikeLike