It’s late September, which means the regular season is nearing its end. Those 10 playoff spots are starting to disappear as a few division front-runners have claimed their rightful place in the postseason. While three teams have taken care of business, a few teams have gone in the complete opposite direction lately.
Let’s start with the good.
The Washington Nationals were the first team to clinch their division. After a relatively slow start the preseason favorites got healthy and overcame their inability to beat their rivals from Atlanta, who we will talk about shortly. On September 16th the Nationals popped bottles in the visitors clubhouse at Turner Field after beating the Braves to wrap up the National League East.
Since July 1st the Nats are an NL best 43-26. Entering play Friday, Washington is just one run behind the Dodgers and Pirates who are tied for second behind the Rockies in the stat category. Combine that with the best staff ERA in the league and you can see why they ran through their division so easily. Bryce Harper is healthy after missing 57 games with a thumb injury and Stephen Strasburg is primed for a postseason run after being shut down two seasons ago preventing him from pitching in the playoffs. Ryan Zimmerman will be back soon. Although it is not clear where he will play in the field, any team would welcome his bat in their lineup.
On the same night as the Nationals, the other Beltway team, the Baltimore Orioles, clinched their first American League East title since 1997. With the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays and defending champion Red Sox in the same division, the Orioles dominance came somewhat as a surprise.
The Orioles roster, under the leadership of Buck Showalter, overcame every obstacle thrown at them and just kept on winning. Their formula for success? How about the league’s sixth best run total, MLB best home run output, third lowest staff ERA and highest fielding percentage in the AL? That’ll do it.
The offseason signing stealing of Nelson Cruz paid off huge for the O’s as he crushed all season long. It’s hard to beat 39 home runs and 103 RBIs (so far) for $8 million. The Orioles were dealt a blow when Chris Davis was slapped with a 25 game suspension for adderall but he will be able to rejoin the club if his team keeps winning. With the long playoff drought, Baltimore is definitely the feel good story of the year so far. Here’s to many more pies to the faces for the birds.
Out West, the Angels just left the A’s in the dust and claimed the AL West title Wednesday night. Mike Trout gets his time to shine while Pujols and the gang look to make it back to the World Series for the first time since 2002.
The Angels were playing good ball but the A’s were already being touted as the “best team in baseball.” Well, since August 10th the Angels are an astounding 27-9. Overall, the Angels rank first in the league in runs and RBIs, second in hits and average, and fourth in home runs. They are also sixth in ERA and second in fielding percentage. The Angels appear to be primed for a run at their second American League pennant and maybe more.
As good as the Angels and other previously mentioned teams have been, a few clubs have been equally as bad.
Let’s talk about those Oakland Athletics for a minute. For as hot as they were leading up to their trade of Cespedes for Lester, they have been down right pitiful since. I mentioned the Angels record of 27-9 since August 10th. At the time the A’s had a four game lead over the Halos but since then, Oakland has been a brutal 11-24 and lost 15.5 games in the standings. How does that happen?
I should mention that Oakland is still alive in the Wild Card race (barely) but they are on the verge of one of the most epic collapses of all time. Since 1900 only eight teams have lost 15 or more games in the standings in the month of August. With only a one game lead over Seattle for the second Wild Card spot, the Athletics need to do some serious soul searching before their final 10 games.
Speaking of collapses, the Atlanta Braves didn’t just play themselves out of the NL East race, they apparently completely forgot how to play baseball. Atlanta led their division most of the first half but since the beginning of May they are only 59-66. There really isn’t much to say about the Braves other than someone will be losing their job soon. Frank Wren has made some good moves during his time as GM but he has completely whiffed on some big deals lately. A lot of people feel that Wren and/or Fredi Gonzalez will need to update their resumes soon.
Speaking of collapses, The Boston Red Sox have been in a season long slump. The defending world champions are a measly 66-87. I won’t waste your time writing anything else about them, but get this…The Houston Astros have more wins than the Sox with 10 games to play.
It’s getting late and the temp is cooling but the action is about to heat up.
Follow Dave on Twitter: @BirdmanBelt
*Featured Image Credit: AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
