With the minor-league season over and our typical 8:00 AM slot suddenly open, I figured it would be worthwhile to take a quick daily look at how the playoff picture has changed in the American League on a day-to-day basis. This will be nothing fancy. Just a look at how playoff contenders did on the day, how it affected the standings and what it means for the Red Sox. I’ll consider any team within five games of a playoff spot as a postseason contender. It is entirely possible this threshold will disappear completely as soon as tomorrow.
Scores
BOS 10, TOR 7
CLE 4, MIN 2
HOU 12, TEX 2
NYY 6, TB 1
CHW 6, LAA 4
Playoff Odds
Team | Fangraphs | Baseball Prospectus |
---|---|---|
Team | Fangraphs | Baseball Prospectus |
Red Sox | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Indians | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Astros | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Yankees | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Twins | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Division Odds
Team | Fangraphs | Baseball Prospectus |
---|---|---|
Team | Fangraphs | Baseball Prospectus |
Red Sox | 97.00% | 96.30% |
Indians | 100.00% | 100% |
Astros | 100.00% | 100% |
Yankees | 3.00% | 3.40% |
Twins | 0.00% | 0% |
Angels | 0% | 0% |
Playoff Picture Update
Well, we now know the five teams that will be participating in the American League playoff bracket. That certainly puts a damper on the final four days of the regular season, but there are still some questions left to be answered. The American League East is the biggest one, but with a magic number of two the Red Sox should certainly win it. They could do so as soon as tonight with a win and a Yankees loss. They’ll of course be playing the Astros, who are currently fighting with Cleveland for the top overall seed in the AL and the right to play the wildcard winner in the ALDS. This is a race Cleveland currently leads by one game. The Indians own the tiebreaker in that race. They are also battling the Dodgers for home field advantage in a potential World Series matchup, with Los Angeles holding a 2.5 game (two in the loss column) lead in that race. Speaking of the National League, the Cubs clinched the Central last night. Meanwhile, with the Rockies winning and both the Brewers and Cardinals losing, Colorado has a 2.5 game lead over Milwaukee and a 3.5 game lead over St. Louis for the wildcard. It’s shaping up to be a pretty boring final weekend around the league, unfortunately.