2017 MLB Thread

[ELA]

It's not even August yet, and would anyone bet that any of the 10 teams in the playoffs now won't get in?


Could be a lackluster final two months.  Really the only drama might be which team in the AL East and Central wins the division and which gets the Wildcard.


Astros will be the 1 seed


Dodgers will be the 1 in the NL, face the Diamondbacks-Rockies winner, with Cubs-Nats in the other series.

[MarqHusker]

RIP Darren Daulton and Don Baylor.   Both had long battles with various cancers.

Baylor managed to have some really good timing (in terms of joining winning clubs down the stretch).  master of getting plunked too.
I just noticed, he managed to have 680 plate appearances in 1982 without taking the field once.

[OrangeAfroMan]

This is one helluva season for the Dodgers.  1988 was a looooong time ago, but with the crapshoot that is the postseason, I'm not confident LA is going to win the World Series.

[FearlessF]

I'm not confident LA is going to win the World Series.

good

[ELA]

It's not even August yet, and would anyone bet that any of the 10 teams in the playoffs now won't get in?


Could be a lackluster final two months.  Really the only drama might be which team in the AL East and Central wins the division and which gets the Wildcard.


Astros will be the 1 seed


Dodgers will be the 1 in the NL, face the Diamondbacks-Rockies winner, with Cubs-Nats in the other series.

Of course then the Royals immediately go in the crapper and the 2nd AL Wildcard spot is wide open.  I think everyone but Detroit, Chicago and Oakland is within 4 games now.

[FearlessF]

Halos only 2 games back!

[FearlessF]

The Angels have reached a notable, although meaningless, moment.


They are currently sitting in the second wild card spot, after running their winning streak to five games with a come-from-behind, 6-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.


“It gives us a little taste of what’s left to come,” Jesse Chavez said.



The Angels have taken the first three games of this series against the team that was leading the race for the second wild card when it began. The Mariners were since passed by the Minnesota Twins, who also lost on Saturday to allow the Angels to pass them both.
At 60-58, the Angels still have 44 games to play, which is why being in playoff position now means little.


Asked if there was any small significance to draw from the standings now, Manager Mike Scioscia said flatly: “No. Nope. We’ve got a game tomorrow.”

[OrangeAfroMan]

Kudos to LAA for staying in it, largely without their 9-10 win stud.  Idk if it was sample size, luck, schedule, or genuine play, but it's cool for them.

[ELA]

God bless the second Wildcard for ensuring a very mediocre AL team will get in

[FearlessF]

and a very mediocre NL team

[OrangeAfroMan]

2nd wildcard sucks.  Just like the first wildcard.  2nd-place teams winning the World Series - how 'bout that for 'everyone gets a trophy'?

[ELA]

and a very mediocre NL team

The 2nd Wildcard team in the NL is going to likely be better than the NL Central champ, and likely a whole lot better than either AL wildcard team.

[FearlessF]

5 or 6 games better if the season ended today

that's a whole lot better?

or you think those NL wildcards are going to play much better ball before the end of the season?

[ELA]

5 or 6 games is a pretty decent margin.  The Tigers suck, and at 6 games better, they'd be in the Wildcard.

They have the 5th and 6th best record in all of baseball right now.  So if they are mediocre, then basically everyone is mediocre.

IMO there are 7 good teams this year.  5 of the 6 division leaders (Cubs excluded) and both NL wildcards.

But baseball playoffs are funny, so whoever wins the NL Central or the AL Wildcard has as good a shot as the Dodgers to win it all