The regular season in Major League Baseball is a 162-game marathon. An endurance test that begins in the cold of early spring, advances through the long, hot dog days of summer, and winds down as the leaves begin to fall from the trees and the weather again cools at the start of fall.
As of the start of play on Monday, September 25, there was just one final week remaining in the 2023 MLB regular season. For at least half of the 30 clubs, the test results are going to result in a failing grade. Well, that is, at least if postseason contention is your measuring stick.
But the other half still hold out hope of becoming World Series champions this year. And in both the National and American Leagues, the races for the final precious postseason berths are shaping up to be particularly dramatic over the final week.
In the American League, the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays are battling for the East Division crown. The Minnesota Twins have clinched the Central Division title. And out in the West Division a three-team scrum has unfolded with the Texas Rangers leading the defending world champion Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners.
The National League East Division has been clinched by the Atlanta Braves, the West Division by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Central Division nearly clinched by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Let’s examine the postseason races and closing team schedules as these final days approach.
AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
Both the Orioles and Rays have clinched playoff spots. The O’s are up by three in the loss column, hold the tiebreaker over Tampa Bay by virtue of winning their season series, and entered Monday with a ‘Magic Number’ of three.
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST
The best divisional race in baseball this season is setting up as a potential three-team race to what may be a photo finish. Texas has gone 6-4 while both Houston and Seattle have slumped to 3-7 over the last 10 days. This has allowed the Rangers to open a three-game lead over the Astros, four games over the Mariners in the loss column.
The Mariners host the Astros for three as we begin this final week and will end the season by hosting the Rangers for four next weekend.
Here are each of the club’s remaining contests: Houston (at SEA-3, at ARZ-3), Texas (at LAA-3, at SEA-4), SEA (HOU-3, TEX-4).
AMERICAN LEAGUE WILDCARD
Barring an epic collapse by Baltimore, the Tampa Bay Rays will be the top AL Wildcard team and host a first-round postseason series. But the final postseason berths are set up to be a four-team battle for two spots.
One of the three above AL West clubs will win that division. The two who fall short will have to contend with the Toronto Blue Jays for just two remaining playoff berths. Toronto is currently one game better in the loss column than all three. The Jays close things out this week by hosting both the Rays and Yankees for three games each.
NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL
The Milwaukee Brewers lead the Chicago Cubs by six games entering the week. The two teams have split the season series thus far at 5-5 and will close things out with three in Milwaukee next weekend. But it likely won’t come down to that as the Brew Crew have a ‘Magic Number’ of just one now to clinch their third division crown in the last six years.
NATIONAL LEAGUE WILDCARD
The defending NL champion Philadelphia Phillies are up by five games over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the loss column for the top Wildcard berth and home field in an opening round series.
The Phils ‘Magic Number’ to clinch both the top spot and the coveted Wildcard round home field advantage is down to just two. The Fightins’ are on the verge of a postseason berth and a chance to again fight through a ‘Red October’ in defense of that league pennant.
Loss column totals for the other teams still in the race: Diamondbacks – 74, Cubs – 74, Marlins – 75, Reds – 77, Giants – 79. While the San Diego Padres have gotten suddenly hot, they are virtually eliminated with 80 losses and needing to climb over four teams with just a week remaining.
Closing schedules for the NL contenders: Phillies (PIT-3, at NYM-3), Dbacks (at CHW-3, HOU-3), Cubs (at ATL-3, at MIL-3), Marlins (at NYM-3, at PIT-3), Reds (at CLE-2, at STL-3), Giants (SDP-3, LAD-3).
Now…what about (gulp) a tie for any of these final races? Well, MLB has a tie-breaker system. Anthony Castrovince at MLB.com broke it all down with a fine piece back on August 31st. The simplest of these tiebreakers would be the head-to-head regular season records of games between teams involved in ties.
MATT VEASEY 