The 2023 Major League Baseball campaign has now reached the three-quarter mark, six furlongs in a long horse race of a season, with most clubs now having completed 120 of the 162-game regular season schedule.
Over the course of the next 6 1/2 weeks, the dog days of summer will push into early fall, and the season will play out in a stretch run that promises to bring the thrill of the postseason chase to ballparks across the country.
Here in my hometown of Philadelphia, we know from first-hand experience the importance of reaching postseason play. Just get in, and anything can happen. Our Phillies got in a year ago as the final of three National League Wild Card teams and won the NL pennant before pushing the eventual champion Houston Astros to six games in the Fall Classic.
Every team that participates in playoff baseball is good enough to win a World Series. In October, it will take talent, for sure. But that is rarely enough. To win it all, it will also take grittiness, timely performances, hot streaks, and fortune with injuries.
So, just get in. You never know what might happen. Let’s look around MLB and get a handle on just what is in store in each of the six divisions as well as the two Wild Card races.
National League
The NL East appears to be over. The Atlanta Braves have been a true juggernaut, leading the division for all but one day to this point. Entering play on Aug. 16, Atlanta held a 12.5 game lead on the Phillies, 13 in the loss column.
The NL West is beginning to look as over as the East. The Los Angeles Dodgers, having won 10 of the last 11 division titles, entered the All-Star break in second place, a half-game behind Arizona. Since then, L.A. has run off a 21-8 record to open a nine-game lead over second-place San Francisco.
The NL Central is where the best race in the league can be found. The Milwaukee Brewers held a lead of 3.5 games over the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds, with the Cubs three and Reds four back in the loss column respectively.
Now to the real fun stuff. The NL Wild Card race. Entering Wednesday, there were six teams within five games of one another in the battle for one of three coveted final playoff spots.
The Phillies with 55 losses led the way, followed by San Francisco (56) and Miami (58) as the three teams controlling those three postseason berths. However, the Cubs also had 58 losses (with two fewer wins than the Fish), and both Cincinnati (59) and Arizona (60) entered the day at .500 or better and still squarely in the race.
American League
When the season began, if you would have said that in mid-August that the order of the standings in the American League East would be Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Rays, Orioles there would have been few who were surprised.
Instead, flip those standings completely on their head. “Strike that, reverse it,” as Gene Wilder’s “Willy Wonka” famously said in the film. The O’s lead the Rays by three games. Now, can their exciting young group hold up under the crucible of the September stretch run?
The AL Central race has been tight all year. At the All-Star break, Cleveland held the top spot, but with only a .500 record. Since then, the Guardians have gone 13-17. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Twins have gone 18-12 to open a 4.5 game lead.
In the AL West, the Texas Rangers hold a 3.5 game lead, four in the loss column, over the defending world champion Astros. The Seattle Mariners, a playoff team a year ago, have won 17 of their last 24 and are lurking there too, seven back in the loss column.
The AL Wild Card race is not quite as crazed as the NL race, but it still has multiple teams battling for the three spots. Tampa Bay with 50 losses, Houston (52), and Toronto (54) controlled those spots entering Wednesday play.
Right on the Jays’ tails are Seattle (55) and Boston (56), while the Yankees have fallen to the .500 mark and into the division cellar in the AL East. Since last reaching 10 over that .500 mark on July 4, the Yanks are 12-22 and have now dropped eight of their last 11.
Upcoming Big Matchups
With so many contenders, there will be plenty of big matchups coming.
If the Phillies want to make a race of the NL East, they’ll have to cut into the lead before the two clubs meet for seven games between Sept. 11-20.
Milwaukee still has six with the Cubs, including hosting Chicago for three on the final weekend of the season. Chicago visits Cincy on the first weekend of September. Amazingly, the Reds and Brewers have no matchups remaining.
The longtime rival Dodgers and Giants will meet seven times over the final 11 games of the season. San Fran would love to fight its way back within range by that point.
Baltimore hosts Tampa Bay for four games in mid-September and Toronto for three a week later.
Minnesota and Cleveland face off six times in nine games between Aug. 28 and Sept. 6.
Texas hosts Houston for three in early September, then has seven of its final 10 games in a home-and-home with Seattle.
In addition to their seven games with Atlanta, the Phillies host San Francisco for three next week, are at Milwaukee for three to open September, and host Miami for three a week after that.
The Marlins have a huge seven-game road trip to Philly for three and Milwaukee for four from Sept. 8-14, then host the Brewers for three more a week later.
The D-backs have seven with the Cubs between Sept. 7 to 17, the latter followed by hosting San Fran for two games.
Seattle has four at Tampa Bay in early September. Houston has a big run starting this weekend. Between Aug. 18 and Sept. 6, the Astros have 16 games with contenders: Home – Seattle (3), Boston (4), Yankees (3) and Road – Boston (3), Texas (3) all with playoff implications.
The MLB playoff races are coming into sharper focus with each passing week. And now, as those weeks dwindle away, every series will become more and more magnified.
MATT VEASEY 