Get 3 starters back after this next sim... Hope I can stay within reach till then.

As we head into the final month here is where each division race is at as well as the Wild Cards for both AL and NL and we will start things off in the AL East.

AL Playoff Race​

This looks like a two team race at best. Baltimore and Boston, although it doesn't look good for Boston in hopes for the division race. Let's take a look at each team individually.

Baltimore Orioles: 91-43
Key players to watch: SP Luis Saldina 19-4 2.21 ERA 214 K, 1B Dave Harris .287 AVG 33 HR 103 RBIs
Synopsis: Baltimore is leading the MLB in record currently and has lead from start to this point, not by any coincidence as the Orioles lead the leagues in starters ERA at 3.37 and runs scored at an astounding 786 runs. Baltimore express continues to roll along and as hard charging as the Red Sox have made it getting to within 9 games it appears the Orioles should be able to cruise into the playoffs as the number one seed.

Areas of concern: Baltimore does rank 12th in defensive efficiency and those errors could hurt them in the playoffs.
Boston Red Sox: 83-53

Key players to watch: SP Jesus Reyna 17-6 3.95 ERA, OF Jose Sanchez .344 AVG, 32 HRs, 102 RBIs

Synopsis: Boston is within 9 games for many of the same reasons as the Orioles are leading the way. If the Red Sox were in any other division they would be leading the way but had the unfortunate task of chasing the Orioles all season. Boston ranks 2nd in starter ERA at 3.85 and is 3rd in runs scored at 656 but has the 2nd highest batting average. Mike "Gee Gee" Russell also has over 40 stolen bases on the year so Boston seems to make the most of its chances to score. Jesus Reyna started the year off to a struggle but has turned it on after being the offseason big pick up for the Red Sox. A change at catching to a more ability used catcher has made a big difference in the pitching staff this year. Jose Sanchez has put up MVP type numbers this year and is the driving force behind it, the Red Sox will go as far as Sanchez takes them.

Areas of concern: CL Francisco Rios has had some issues during the year and even tho he has 39 saves he has an ERA over 3.59. In the playoffs the Red Sox bullpen will need to be lock down and if they hope to make a race for the division and to lock down the wild card the Sox will need a good bullpen.

New York Yankees: 73-63

Key players to watch: SP Salvador Nunes 13-8 2.91 ERA, LF David Brooks .269 AVG, 31 HRs, 74 RBIs

Synopsis: New York is currently leading the second wild card slot and tho their chances at the division are all but done. New York is 4th in runs scored and 2nd in home runs, New York relies heavily on the long ball and is 5th in on-base percentage. Outside of Nunes the Yankees starting pitching gets a little suspect and has been a tough point thru the year after the loss of Carter Hamilton who will be out for the remainder of the season the addition of Mauro Mendoza hasnt been what the Yankees were hoping and Shane Thomas from the White Sox has been extremely servicable at a 5-3 record with a 3.10 ERA for the Yankees. New York plays great defense as they are the number one ranked defense.

Areas of concern: New Yorks bullpen ranks 13th with a 4.36 ERA and when trying to make a deep run into the playoffs or to secure a playoff spot you need to know you can rely on the back end of your bullpen. New York will get the wild card if there bullpen is able to lock down.



The AL central looks to be all but over, if Cleveland continues to play even .500 baseball the way then the AL central belongs to them. It is a very weak year for the central as the sudden downfall of the White Sox leading to the fire sale and a terrible rest of the division has really diminished the value of the Central. At this rate the Indians could win the division with a losing record. Cleveland has lead from the start and looks to do the difficulty start to finish run.

Cleveland Indians: 70-64

Key players to watch: SP Bill Mcilvride 9-9 3.12 ERA 163 Ks, LF Moin "Izz" Gul .301 AVG, 24 HR, 62 RBIs

Synopsis: In a weak central the Indians have benefited from a horrible division. Otherwise in any other division Cleveland isn't even sniffing the division title. Cleveland offensively isn't spectacular ranking 9th in runs scored, but has the 3rd highest batting average. Cleveland does have a solid defense ranking 2nd only behind the Yankees and the 2nd best bullpen behind the Orioles. Elijah Reyes is on the DL for another 4 weeks but if they get Reyes back for the playoffs could provide a big boost for the playoffs.

Areas of concern: Cleveland's starting pitching ranks 5th at a 4.05 ERA, if Cleveland wants to go places in the playoffs they are going to need both their starting pitching to pitch better but also they need to get on base. They have the 3rd highest batting average at .262 but only have an OBP of .319 which is good enough for 9th best. Outside of hitting the ball Cleveland could do well to draw some walks.



Why hello Los Angeles, it's about time that all the talent in Los Angeles put it all together and this year they certainly have. Texas is the only other team in this division with a chance at the playoffs realistically.
Los Angeles Angels: 81-53

Key players to watch: SP Larry Langley 10-2 2.91 ERA, LF Jerome Johnston .339 AVG, 41 HR, 135 RBIs

Synopsis: Anaheim (ahem ahem) Los Angeles Angels after a disastrous last season the Angels put it together this year lead by there all-world DH/OF Jerome Johnston, Johnston who is having arguably the best year of anyone is carrying the Angels offensively and the pitching staff, which was already good, got one of the top pitchers in the history of the Dugout in Marcos "Spooks" Romero. Tho Romero's welcome has been anything but friendly as he is 2-3 with a 3.66 ERA, however the Angels have arguably the best 1-5 in the MLB with emerging star Andrew Evans and Larry Langley. Los Angeles gets on base better than anyone and has the best bullpen and 3rd best defensive efficiency. This team top to bottom looks tough to beat.

Areas of concern: We've seen it before, the injuries are a big thing with the Angels as it seems that if a player coughs to hard he might go on the DL. If anything is going to derail this team it is going to be the injury bug.
Texas Rangers: 71-63

Key players to watch: SP Chris Anderson 14-6 3.15 ERA, LF Thom Abrams .279 AVG, 24 HR, 83 RBIs

Synopsis: Texas has come out of no where to be in a dogfight with the Yankees for the final wild card slot. Texas has scored some runs being 5th ranked in the AL and has been a top 10 in most categories, hitting a whopping 179 HRs on the year. Texas is similar to the Yankees where it lives and dies with the long ball.

Areas of concern: Texas is terrible defensively, I might use the analogy that my grandmother can field better than these guys, but it just doesn't seem to fit as I think if they just stood still they'd have a better defensive efficiency. Ranking 14th in the AL in defense. Other area of concern is outside of Chris Anderson the Rangers don't have another double digit winner in there starting pitching. To win in the playoffs you need some form of pitching and Chris Anderson can't pitch every game.



Wild Card looks to be a 3 team race, with New York and Texas fighting it out for the 2nd Wild Card and Boston looks to take the top spot, if the Astros are going to make a run at it they need to have a big sim to start the month of September. Otherwise it'll be a close back and forth between New York and Texas.

NL Playoff Race​

New York Mets: 76-58

Key players to watch: SP Mark Hendrickson 17-3 3.54 ERA, C Jose Garcia .347 AVG, 24 HR, 88 RBIs

Synopsis: New York rides the coat tails of their own version of superman in Jose Garcia. Garcia is putting up good numbers for him but it's not a career year. Mark Hendrickson is the most reliable pitcher on the staff. New York is in a tough fight with the Nationals, if the Flushing, NY Mets are going to hold on they will need Garcia to do even more after the recent injury to OF Bob Allen.

Areas of concerns: Injuries, as mentioned above OF Bob Allen just went on the DL for 6 weeks and unless the Mets make a deep run in the playoffs could be done for the year. Defense wins championships is the phrase used a lot in football but when it comes to the Mets let's hope that isn't the case. New York ranks 13th in defense and starting pitching wise it maybe better if they woke up Dwight Gooden or got him out of rehab see if he can pitch for them as there starting pitching is ranked 12th.

Washington Nationals: 75-60

Key players to watch: SP Anthony Wagner 10-5 2.85 ERA, OF Anthony Wagner .277 AVG, 32 HR, 102 RBIs

Synopsis: Washington does well offensively as it ranks top 5 in, runs scored, batting avg, on-base pct. Pitching wise the Nats pack a good 1-2 punch with Tim Simmons and Anthony Duncan. In a 7 game series Washington could do well with seeing those two twice, if you get down the line at the #4-5 pitchers they are not very good. History is not however on the side of the Nats, during the past seasons the Nats have had some epic collapses and will need to exercise those demons in order to get in, but do have the benefit of leading the two wild card slots currently.

Areas of concerns: Defense, as bad as the Mets are at 13th, the Nationals are 14th. If this were basketball the Nats players would be like Larry Johnson, Muggsy Bogues, Patrick Ewing, Shawn Bradley, Charles Barkley after getting their talent stolen in Spacejam. Middle relievers, as the Nats are sporting some former starters and are kind of iffy in the middle relievers before they get to the set up men.



NL Central race is done, the Cubs are winning the division and looking to keep the best record in the NL in the process.

Chicago Cubs: 87-47

Key players to watch: SP Owen Bourns 13-8 3.02 ERA, 1B Joe Quate .304 AVG, 29 HR, 84 RBIs

Synopsis: There is a lot to like about this Cubs team, they all play well and offensively are strong. Quate, Owens, Kawamura are the big bats in the lineup. This is a formidable team that no one will really want to see in the playoffs out of the NL.

Areas of concern: Bullpen, currently ranked 10th if you can drive up pitch counts early on their starters and get to the bullpen you have a good chance at getting a few runs across.

St. Louis Cardinals: 72-62

Key players to watch: SP David Bush 13-7 4.01 ERA, 3B Adrian Warren .334 AVG, 25 HR, 91 RBIs

Synopsis: Cardinals are all but out of the division but is currently holding the second spot in the Wild Card, its a tough road ahead for the Cardinals to get the second wild card slot especially if the Miami Marlins and San Francisco Giants continue to play good ball.. Cardinals offensively scored the 3rd most runs which helps them a lot in games. They are top 10 in every major category for teams.

Areas of concern: Starting pitching has a 4.21 ERA, not what your looking for from your starters in the playoffs. Ace David Bush will be expected to keep teams from scoring not allowing runs, and have allowed 582 runs scored against them.



NL West is won by the Diamondbacks, the Giants could put in a run but are relegated mostly towards the Wild Card.

Arizona Diamondbacks 85-51

Key players to watch: SP Chris Gordon 18-3 2.99 ERA, DH David Haynes .241 AVG, 21 HR, 71 RBIs

Synopsis: Arizona much like Cleveland benefited from a horrible division this year and capitalized early, when they do get on base the Diamondbacks are looking to steal that next base and get in scoring position as they have they 2nd most steals in the league. Arizona so relies on the best bullpen in the NL with a below 2.70 ERA. If the Diamondbacks have the lead late in the game you can almost bank on it being over.

Areas of concern: Arizona struggles to put the ball in play, only sporting a .252 batting average, when your in the playoffs with good pitching every night you need to be able to put the ball in play.

San Francisco Giants: 68-65

Key players to watch: SP Alex Byrne 10-4 3.27 ERA, 1B Angelo Ortiz .312 AVG, 22 HR, 84 RBIs

Synopsis: San Francisco surprisingly is making a run at a wild card, earlier in the year did not look for them. San Francisco is relying on pitching as they are 3rd in the NL in starting pitching and is also 9th in bullpen ERA. San Francisco is going to need to it's pitching as offensively they struggle.

Areas of concern: San Francisco struggles to score runs as they rank 9th in runs scored and 13th in batting average, but do draw walks as they are 5th in on-base percentage but are going to need to rely on Ortiz to jump start the offense in order to make it to the playoffs.






There you have the breakdown of each team fighting for the playoffs with the synopsis and weaknesses of each team as we head towards the playoffs.

Awesome job kdpnutter

Ah gotcha, well still the stat your holding, didn't get too much of time to dig into it, lol 24 hour sims make for a quick turn around.

Thanks Drifter, that's definitely pretty cool.

Couldn't make a move that sim. Looks like I'll be sitting out the playoffs this eyar.