MLB Postseason Picture: Pennant Odds for AL and NL

Introduction and MLB Regular Season Overview Live right here on the early line on Sports Grid. The month is August. Next up September. And then of course October. That's the heart of the postseason in Major League Baseball. We are nearing the home stretch of a long marathon that is American League Postseason Picture 162 games in an MLB regular season. So let's update the postseason picture. In both leagues, we start with the Al. Here's the numbers right now in the expanded postseason. Seeds one through six, the Orioles and the Yankees. The O's a slight advantage despite having the same record as the Yanks based on the tiebreaker for that American League East Divisional top spot. So the Orioles have the best record in the Al technically and in the American League East. A half game in front of the Guardians, who have a substantial lead in the American League Central. The Astros and the Mariners continue to flip flop for the top spot in the Al West. The Astros have a half game lead at this moment. The three wild card teams currently doctors in the American League, the Yankee, American League Standings Analysis twins, Royals that is the picture as of right now. Yes. And we're also taking a look. Let's go over the overall standings in the American League. Right. Just to take a look at how these teams records and how they line up, it's no surprise once again, two best teams in the American League just by record wise. Ben. That'se Orioles and the Yankees. They're going to come down the stretch. Jockey for position a major advantage to the team. That's going to win the Al East. But outside of that, the one team again we you know we've sent out tweets here on the Sports Grid network which clearly says me like, look, the Orioles and the Yankees to two best teams in the American League, bar none. A I think it's holding up now because you're looking at the Guardians. And there's no shame in the Guardians game. Just a few days ago, they were looking at the best record overall in major League Baseball. But now losers of five straight games, I understand the ebbs and flows of the Major League Baseball schedule the Phillies were going through it, and it looks like they're starting to pull themselves out. The Guardians are right in the middle of it with a five game loss. This is why I look towards the late games in the season and also obviously first couple of weeks of October trying to advance in the playoffs. I just don't know if the Guardians have enough firepower here from a pitching perspective and a hitting perspective to get over the hump. And what I mean by the hump is taking down the Orioles and the Yankees, who are stacked from a fnt line starting staff. Hopefully, if they're healthy from a bullpen perspective and the one through nine lineup each and every day, twins, Royals, Red Sox, Astros. Yeah, all d stories. We'll talk about them making the playoffs. But for my money once again in the American League it's the Orioles and the Yankees. And it's everybody else. And the Guardians making me look technically smart about that right now. Losing five straight games, doctors, everybody in the everybody in the bigs has played 113 games, which means we have less than 50 for all 30 clubs around MLB. Some teams, like the cubbies and the Dodgers, have played 117, so they're even closer to 162. The reason I bring that up is because we can start to categorize these games as the home stretch. As for the American League East, the Yankees right now technically tied record wise at 68 and 47 alongside Baltimore in the pinstripes, a -175 odds on favorite to win the Al East on the FanDuel sports book. But the O's have the tiebreaker. They've taken six of the ten games against the Yanks so far this year. The two teams will meet up in the Bronx in the second to last series of this season. How decisive could that be down the final week of the regular season? That remains to be seen. The Guardians on a slide. They've dropped five in a row now, only a three and a half game lead in the American League Central. But when you look at the odds, still minus 170 and again back in fourth, they go atop the American League. West does somebody want to take a strong hold of this divisio? Does not seem to be the Wild Card Watch in the American League case. The Astros -185 as the division favoritesn front of Seattle. Houston holds a half game lead now over the Mariners. Now here's the wild card. Watch around the American League. Whoever doesn't win the American League East between the O's and the bombers, that team is more than likely going to be the top American League wild card team. Currently, it's the Yanks. The twins have pretty much been in that second spot of three in the Al Wild Card Chase for a good majority of this season. Then you have the Royals and the Red Sox. Casey avoids the sweep at home yesterday thanks to Bobby Witt Jr. So the Royals a game and a half advantage over Boston for the third d final American League wild card position. Yeah, not as crazy as the National League certainly that we'll get to. But if you're looking at the Yankees, Twins and Royals comfortable in that spot along with thed Sox and the Red Sox are a game and a half out of that spot, but you can clearly see them a game and a half with, you know, August and September to go. You can make up those numbers. You start to see the Seattle Mariners down there at four and a half games. Well, you better just take that out of the equation. You better win that division or else you're not getting into the playoffs. So it seems like technically for me it is a four game race here in this with the Yankees slash Orioles, then you have the twins, Royals and then the Red Sox. You're just outside of it. The Tampa Bay rays, five and a half back. I think that's too long. Obviously the Detroit Tigers eight and a half games back. They're not making it into it again. You could talk about the Rangers where I tk they're not out of the divisional race as they're playing themselves out of it, as opposed to making in a wild card run. So it seems to me like that cutoff is going to be at the red Sox, and those teams will be jockeying for position the rest of the way. I just don't see it any other way. Like again with the rays five and a half games back, could they get hot? Yes, but they basically told their team at the deadline, look, we're not really going to fortify this lineup and make a big run here, which would be fascinating in the American League Central to see three of the five teams, the Guardians, as the champs, the twins and the Royals earn playoff spots. KC -164 to make the postseason in the American League. Boston even money plus 100. And I think Donnie's point there was very sound on Seattle. The Mariners plus 112 to see the American League playoffs plus 145 to win the American League West. They're only a half game behind Houst in that component. The M's DRS to your point four and a half games out of a wild card spot. So whether it's the Astros or the Mariners, those two clubs best chances of seeing the American League postseason, just taking care of business in the division, yeah, you better do that. And that's what you have to focus on, which sometimes takes you know, many times you take a look and say, hey, let's jut scoreboard watch. You don't really have to do that. Your scoreboard watching basically one team here for the Mariners just worrying about what the Houston Astros are doing. Sure. Winning on the field. And can they overcome and say, you know what. The Astros were great down the stretch. We were too. We lost out on the division but made the wild card. Yes there's still an opportunity, but the most feasible way to get in is just to beat the team that's just in front of you at this point, right now. So that singular focus for the Mariners, Ben might be able to help them down the stretch. Because you're not watching six teams. You have to climb over with three and a half games between you. You're just worried about one team here. And also when you win the divion, to the victors go the spoils here, where you actually get home field advantage in round number one. Yeah, it's a huge point dollars. And also start to pay attention to strength of schedule around Major League Baseball. Kansas City second hardest schedule remaining Boston 13th most difficult schedule, much more middle National League Postseason Picture of the pack. Unfortunately for KC, no more Looking at the National League postseason picture. But a breaking news update Chicago White Sox Managerial Change from the Al. The Chicago White Sox have reportedly made a move. According to underdog MLB, the Chicago White Sox have fired their manager, Pedro Grifol, who has been the manager there for two years. What? What? Did I say it wrong? Is it Grifol? No, it's just I'm just like the whole scenario is just fantastic at this. I mean, just doing this guy, by the way, the only objective here, Ben, for us with the White Sox firing Grifol, ishat you got to have to go back to Ozzie Guillen now. Is that like like it's got to be Ozzie Guillen goes right back in there. It has to be that way. I mean, it really does have to be. He's on the coverage. I know he works for the White Sox in terms of their television coverage. And I saw a great clip of him calling in the other night because he wasn't in studio. When Grifol finally led the White Sox to a victory to snap the historic 21 game losing skid. But why do it the day after? The day after Chicago snapped the skid? Yeah, they lost the rubber match yesterday in Oakland. Was that the final nail in the coffin? Oh, we're back to 61 losses below 500. What's the point? They said look man you blew that two nothing lead. We just can't watch anymore. But I do understand what the concept was here. You're not like, let's just say he did lose 22 and they fired him. What new manager's coming in like, hey, by the way, hit the ground running. Let's see how much he can extend this historic losing streak. So sort of made sense where it's like, okay, we can't put an interim manager in place during this lengthy long streak. Hopefully he'll break this sooner than later. We'll can him the minute he breaks it and then the new manager comes in and basically has a clean slate at this point, not looking over his shoulder with that massive losing streak, but firing the manager as if that was his fault with that travesty of a team. But again, sometimes the players can't go. The manager always can go. And that's what happened here in Chicago. I mean, it's really the ownership looking at you. Mr. Reinsdorf, 89 and 190. That's the record in about a year and a half or a little bit more than a year an a half for Pedro Gavel in Chicago, 61 and 101 a year ago, 28 and 89 currently for the White Sox. That's an overall win percentage of 0.319. Listen, he might be the scapegoat. He might be the figurehead. He has now been fired. The White Sox officially releasing that National League Wild Card Race information as well. That Pedro gavel has been fired as the manager on the South Side. Oh, boy. Anyway, as we go around the National League, here is what the playoff picture looks like at this moment. And we have seen some changes. Not in the divisional frontrunners. The Phillies, the Dodgers or the Brewers in the National League Central. But the National League wild card that around the all star break was highly competitive. We had six teams really separated by about two two and a half games. Well, the teams out of the National League West cannot seem to lose the Arizona Diamondbacks 12 victories in their last 14 games, 14 and four since the all star break. The San Diego Padres keep winning as well. Four consecutive wins, I believe 13 and three since the all star break. They have taken command of those top two spots in the National League wild card, and the Braves have lost four in a row at a bad time. They fall to that third and final spot. It's crazy. And you're right. It's just the pressure that you're putting on from two teams. We expecd to be decent teams coming into the season. The Padres and the Diamondbacks playing great baseball. Now, if you extend it down the Braves should have been just walking into that first overall wild card seed, but they've been so injured, so damaged right now at this point. And they just can't hit. They're falling by the wayside. The Mets, Cardinals and the Giants. But here's where the problem comes in once again because yes, we're going to say three teams have to make the wild card. But I'm telling you right now, the Pittsburgh Pirates now have lost three straight baseball games. They sit four games back of that wild card. I'm telling you right now, just keep an o have a ticket in your pocket for Skenes, he's a wonderful pitcher. But we were talking just two weeks ago like, he, look at the Pirates. They're rate a half game out of the wild card they can do this year, which was great for those tickets. If the Pirates continue to slip where they're six and seven games back with two weeks to play, you are not going to see Paul Skenes over those final two starts just to get innings in. Keep an eye on the Pirates. If you have that Skenes ticket, you better start cheering on the Padres and the Diamondbacks to falter here. So at least they don't run away with those wild card spots pushing you back further and further and further. Doctors were starting to see though those levels of separation. As you said, the Buccos now four games out of a wild card spot. Even the Cardinals two games out and it does not seem like San Diego or Arizona are slowing down any time soon. Of course, they're not going to stay this hot for the remainder of the 45 or 50 games left in this MLB regular season, but the Padres 13 and three since the all star break Arizona 14 and four since the all star break. As you look around the divisions in the National League, the Phils, a seven and a half game lead over Atlanta, the Brew Crew, a six game lead in the National League Central. The Dodgers, actually seeing their lead tighten only thren the