MLB Network | 2024 Playoff Picture: Dodgers & Yankees the AL & NL winners, Mets in wildcard hopefuls

but let's get back to the NL playoff picture uh you see the division leaders there the Dodgers Phillies Brewers the Diamondbacks Padres and the Braves in those Wild Card spots Mets just one game back and right there we got the Cubs knocking on the door won their six straight game only three games back switching over to the AL playoff picture Yankees Guardians and Astros they are the division leaders in the Wild Card spots you got the O's the Twins and the Royals and then we have the Red Sox trying to get into that final wild card spot four and a half games back of the Royals for that third and final spot as mentioned they start a three-game set with the Mets tonight let's talk about that match up with our Jim Bowden and Matt Snider it's a meeting between two teams that are on the outside looking in when it comes to the postseason with the Mets and the Red Soxs um Jim I'll start with you what team do you give the edge in terms of getting that wild card spot especially when you think of the schedule not only the upcoming series but beyond that I mean I think you have to give the edge to the New York Mets because they're only one game behind the Braves right uh behind the Braves right now and so uh they've been red hot they've got three starting pitchers at the top of their rotation that's been getting it done with lisis srino and David Peterson and sha Mania you know I talked to their manager Carlos Mendoza yesterday and it was very interesting because after he was raving about his MVP Francisco Lor who by the way has 29 homers and 25 steals with a 64 he really talked to me about the human beings in that room the culture that he has and he said it's a a much different clubhouse that he thought it was going to be it's a very close-knit group so look I think the Mets have a chance you know Atlanta still you know doesn't have Ronald munia Jr they don't have Austin Riley they don't know Spencer Strider they're hoping to get aie alins back but they've opened up a pathway here for the New York Mets so I think they have a better shot than the Red Sox but I'll say this about Boston I also talked to Alex cor their manager yesterday and he said something very interesting to me he said did I see the box score for the Worcester Red Sox yesterday and I said no he said well Trevor story went two for four and weekend he's going to be my short stop and I'm going to move sidon Rafael at a second base and he thinks that could be the X Factor that could get the Red Sox on a nice winning streak here and maybe get right back into this race but as of this moment I think the Mets have a better shot yeah they definitely need a boost because the Red Sox are not going well right now they split with the Blue Jays they lost the Series of the Tigers they've actually lost seven of the last 10 and they're four and a half out and while there is time to come back man it's got to start really quick and the Mets are a tall order now I mean they they've in the last couple weeks beat the Orioles in a series beat the Diamondbacks in a series split four games in San Diego and then they get the white socks and they took care of business by sweeping the white socks instead of just getting a series win so the the Mets have actually been one of the best teams in baseball since the start of June they they got on that what was it Grimace inspired winning streak they've been amazing since the start of June and that's a pretty decent sample here so it's not like they've just cut lightning in a bottle for a couple weeks they've been good for several months I think they're definitely better than the Braves and are going to end up winning that third wild card spot so uh yeah it's like I said for the Red Sox they need to start winning right now but it's a tall order because the Mets are going really really well oh my gosh I'm so down bad right now because I had to talk about the Florida Gators a little bit earlier just getting absolutely smoked and of course as both of you know our producer Jack is a huge Mets fan and now he's in my ear as a Braves fan uh talking trash me because now Matt is predicting them to get that third and final Wild Card Spock what the heck Matt let's talk about your Cubs because they're just three games back still in that conversation as well a six-game win streak Matt what needs to happen down the stretch if the Cubs want to sneak into that wild card spy I know you said you think it's going to be the Mets in that third and final one but if the Cubs want to make it happen what do they need to do yeah they've got a shot they have a lot of Series against easy teams I mean they do have the Dodgers Yankees and Phillies in the schedule but the rest of the schedule is sub 500 teams including some bad ones look they've become much more of a team in the last month for a good portion of the season the offense was subpar because it was really topheavy they weren't getting any production at all from the bottom of the order and the bullpen was kind of in shambles at least at the start of the Year Pete Crow Armstrong has been amazing at the plate in the last month or so so has Miguel Amaya and those guys were basically automatic outs through the All-Star break in a couple weeks after the All-Star break but they've both been great and that has made the offense much more well routed Dan V Swanson as well had been having a Lost season offensively he's really heating up as well Ian hap has been amazing so the offense in the last couple couple weeks has been just off the charts they keep scoring in double digits it's ridiculous it's not just them though the rotation has been good all year but the bullpen they haven't been able to find a good mix back there but now with Porter Hodge Tyson Miller and Jorge Lopez they've really solidified the seventh through ninth Innings there for Craig counil and everything's working right now now it might be the schedule but they are kind of playing to a level that a lot of people thought they would before the season started yeah and let me add to that Matt because how good has the offense been well let's look over the last 10 games this offense since August 22nd has scored 99 runs that leads Major League Baseball no one has scored more runs over the last 10 games and they're getting it from two of their young kids right Peter Crow Armstrong has been amazing over his last 25 games hitting 325 with four homers and 17 RBI Matt mentioned Miguel Amaya the catcher since July 7th he leaves all catchers in Major League Baseball in batting average and is second in Ops and oh by the way is 13 for his last 20 six those two guys have been huge for this offense on this team that's won six in a row and he mentioned the starting pitching and I want to go back there because I want people to realize how good their top three are sh de managa Javier Assad and Justin steel over their last five starts each their ER are 3.3 or under they are giving their this team a chance to win they're getting run support and as Matt mentioned the bullpen is getting it done I want to see what this team can do over the next nine games because they had three against Pittsburgh but they have to face Paul SK and Jared Jones and then they have three against the Yankees and three at Dodgers Stadium if they can get out of those games those nine games and still be within a couple of games of the wild card this team has a chance to stay in the race with the Braves and the Mets to the very end so we just showed the NL playoff picture and the race for that final wild card spot that is tight but it's also a tight race a top of the NL gentleman only two games separating three teams for the best record and the Dodgers the Phillies and the Brewers um and the Rogers and the Phillies have been kind of battling it out for most of the regular season for that top spot Jim yeah they certainly have been uh but here's the thing to keep in mind right with the Brewers the Dodgers and the Phillies they all are really good at home they all have great home records so you want to have home field advantage you want to finish with the best record and although we always talk about the Dodgers and Phillies being the two best teams in the league and the reason is because they are but the Milwaukee Brewers actually have a better run differential than the Dodgers and Phillies they run differentials plus 133 Dodgers at 112 and the Phillies are at 110 and so this Milwaukee Brewer teen has a shot to end up with the best record I think it's going to go down to the very end to decide who has HomeField Advantage but I think it's going to matter yeah it's it's so interesting to me because I have to deal with these teams in the power rankings every week and anytime I'm trying to figure out who should be number one every single team has some major Wards to them I think the Phillies seem like the most well-rounded team team with the four really good starting pitchers now that Ranger Suarez is back off the injured list the back end of the bullpen we saw that on display last night in the Sunday night game uh several relievers that they can go out there and give them multiple Innings of zeros if they need to and the offense we know what kind of Firepower the Phillies have the Dodgers have amazing talented offense especially now that Mookie Betts is back now that Max mzy is back uh along with Freddy Freeman show sh Otani and tasar Hernandez who's having a great year uh then you look at the Brewers and they seem like have the least amount of Talent on paper especially with the Dodgers having all those rotation issues with all their injuries and we know CL Clayton Kershaw can be added back to that list and then the The Brew Brewers Christian Yelich is out for the season and you just think man it doesn't look like they have as much talent as those two teams but I think you could also argue they've been the most consistent of these three even if they have a little bit fewer wins because they don't get nearly as hot but they also don't get nearly as cold and as frustrating as the other two teams I don't think if we switch over to the AL the Guardians reclaim the AL Central they have a lead there but they do have a tough schedule ahead a three- game set with the Royals followed by a three- game set with the Dodgers um Matt How likely is it that the uh twins can catch the Guardians after that schedule it's decently likely I mean it's a three and a half game Advantage so that the Guardians have put themselves in position to just kind of almost tread water and then bring it home but they've got to take care of business here and it is a tough week but it's also an opportunity because they've got the three against the Royals and it's a three and a half game lead so if they take two out of three they're up four four and a half over the Royals and don't have to play them again this year if they sweep them they're up six and a half I think that would effectively bury the Royals in the division they do have three left against the twins so that again you could view that as an opportunity and then when they go to Dodgers Stadium it's an opportunity to show that they can play with the big guns in the league and I think that they kind of need to start to do that again because as I said they built themselves a huge lead by starting the season 51 and 26 but they're 27 and 33 since then so if they continue to play mediocre or subpar baseball the rest of the way the door is definitely open for the twins or the Royals and you know I said if the Guardians take two of three or sweep the Royals or whatever if the Royals sweep the Guardians it's a half game that's essentially a watch so the Guardians need to wake up here and the Royals took three out of four against Cleveland last week but something happen since then it's an injury to first baseman didny pantino and that's an injury that's going to be significant he was on Pace to drive in 100 runs he was very important in the middle of that lineup and his loss isn't just about his back it's about the effect it's going to have on Bobby wit Jr and Salvador Perez because when the three of them were stacked in the lineup you couldn't pitch around any of them because they were all doing the damage now with pastino injured now you're going to be able to pitch around Bobby wit a little bit more you can pitch around Perez a little bit more so it's going to probably affect both of those guys offensively now the Royals were very aggressive on the release waivers uh they added Tommy fam they added Robbie Gman and they added Julie guel this past week trying to get some veteran guys to try to make up for the loss of pastino this is a huge series for Kansas City but if Cleveland can take a couple of games here then they go play the Dodgers who remember their starting rotation is in disarray the only way the Dodgers are are beating people is they're just out slugging them every single night so Cleveland's going to have a shot there and if they can get by those games against Kansas City and the Dodgers then you get the three automatic wins when you play the white sock so Cleveland's I think in a better position because of the injury to pastino because the Dodger starting pitching it is in disarray right now and then you get the white sock so I think they're in pretty good position even though it's only three and a half game all right Jim Bowden Matt Snider we certainly appreciate it talking playoff baseball it's going to be here before we know we certainly appreciate it gentlemen and just a reminder e e e e e e e e e e