October Baseball

HOW IS IT ALREADY OCTOBER?!

Ok, the initial shock of the fact that we’re in the 10th month of 2015 has worn off. I’m good now.

In the midst of all of the football, rain (ugh.), and basic white girl #pumpkinspicelatte posts (guilty), there’s what’s possibly the best part of the year.

(figured out a new WordPress trick, go me.)

That’s right. The 162-game season is almost over and the playoffs are coming. And for those of you who a) only care during October or b) have given up on baseball this year because your team is (NOT!!) the worst team in baseball, I’m here to break down the playoff picture for you.

Already in:
National League – NY Mets (East), St. Louis Cardinals (Central), LA Dodgers (West)
Wild Card – Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs

(So the National League playoffs are set. NY and LA will meet in the National League Division Series; St. Louis will face either Chicago or Pittsburgh in the National League Division Series.)

American League – Toronto Blue Jays (East), Kansas City Royals (Central)

(The AL West is still up for grabs. Texas leads right now, with Houston and LA Angles 2.5/3.0 games back. The AL Wild Card game is also still undecided, but if the season ended today it’d be the Yankees and the Astros)

Here’s how the teams are looking heading in to the final weekend of the 2015 season, listed in order of their overall records:

NATIONAL LEAGUE

St. Louis Cardinals – 100-59 – NL Central Champions
The Cardinals are the first team in 2015 to reach 100 wins, and the first in baseball since the Phillies did it in 2011. (what, like it’s hard? #legallyblonde). The Jason Heyward trade is working out nicely for the Cards (twisting the freakin’ knife), as he’s leading the team in batting average (.292) with 13 HRs, 60 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. Matt Carpenter is as solid as ever, with 28 HRs and 84 RBIs, a .505 slugging percentage and .870 OPS. John Lackey’s ERA is sub 3.00 (again) and Michael Wacha leads them in wins with 17. They’ve been “meh” in September, but the Cardinals ALWAYS head into October expecting to win. Don’t expect that attitude to change.

Pittsburgh Pirates – 96-63 – NL Wild Card
The Pirates are headed to the Wild Card Round, despite having the second-best record in all of baseball. You know why? The Cardinals. And the NL Central. That’s why.

The last time the Pirates won this many games, Barry Bonds was playing left field. #fact

The Pirates have Andrew McCutchen, MLB darling. He cut the dreads and started the year HORRIBLY. (Samson?) He said himself that he was “sick and tired of going 0-for-freaking-4,” and then he turned it on and never looked back. After their regular-season-ending series with the Reds, the Pirates will face the Cubs and Jake Arrieta in a win-or-go-home Wild Card matchup (HATE HATE HATE), but as long as they can get past that game, it’s Cards/Pirates NLDS. *grabs popcorn*

Chicago Cubs – 93-65 – NL Wild Card
Here we go again. Another NL Central team with 90+ wins. We get it, guys. You’re the most loaded division in baseball. Blah, blah, blah.

The Cubs have clinched their first playoff berth since 2008 and have Jake Arrieta (#stud) ready to start the Wild Card Game after his final regular-season start on Friday. AND. They can still overtake the Pirates for home-field advantage in that Wild Card Game at 2.5 games back in the standings with four to play. (dramaaaa)

Just a note on Arrieta – he’s pitched out of his mind the past two months at 10-0 with a 0.44 ERA in his last 11 starts. *big eyed emoji*

I’m an NL East girl at heart, but this whole NL Central Wild Card/NLDS thing has me PUMPED.

NY Mets – 89-69 – NL East Champions
Somewhere, Jerry Seinfeld is smiling. The Mets clinched their first NL East title and playoff berth since 2006. BUT. The Mets are still battling it out with the Dodgers for home-field advantage in the NLDS. The Mets currently have a one-game lead over the Dodgers and face the Nats in the last weekend of the season (lol, the Nats). Yoenis Cespedes has been a key in turning around this Mets team, and the David Wright saga has been unbelievable. “Concerns about Wright potentially being permanently sidelined by spinal stenosis have been replaced with highlights featuring the living Mr. Met crushing five home runs and delivering 17 RBI in 34 games played. Those numbers are nice, but anybody who has followed the Mets since 2004 knows that Wright means far more to the club than what he contributes to the lineup and in the field.” (Zac Wassink, Bleacher Report) My only question is “Can Matt Harvey figure out this whole ‘limited innings’ fiasco to help carry the Mets through the playoffs?”

LA Dodgers – 88-70 – NL West Champions
The Dodgers. I don’t even know how to go into detail about the Dodgers. They’re just “the Dodgers”. They have the two best pitchers in baseball (yeah, I said it) in Kershaw and Greinke, and they have a solid lineup led by Adrian Gonzalez and rookie-extraordinairre Joc Pederson. They’re fighting the Mets for home-field advantage and are facing one of the biggest disappointments of 2015 – the San Diego Padres – in the final three games of the year.

Here’s my summary of the Dodgers – THIS.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Toronto Blue Jays – 92-66 – AL East Champions
The Blue Jays just clinched their first division title since 1993. (Current mood) R.A. Dickey (who, ps, is 40 years old) just made the postseason for the first time. Jose Bautista (who follows me on Twitter, ps) is finally playing in October. It’s an exciting time to be a Blue Jays fan.

Marcus Stroman (yes, the guy from Duke) missed almost all of 2015 thanks to a freak knee injury in the spring, but was back in time to help the Jays clinch their division title. (ps – he was 2 the last time the Jays went to the playoffs)

The Jays also have Josh Donaldson, AL MVP candidate, who isn’t afraid to do this during a post-division clinch interview.

Kansas City Royals – 91-67 – AL Central Champions
The Kansas City Royals have something to play for in this final weekend, as they try to overtake the Toronto Blue Jays for the best record in the AL and the No. 1 seed in the division series. No pressure. The Royals have Kris Medlen in their rotation, who’s been outstanding on the road this year, and everyone loves Mike Moustakas (or they just love to wear Moose hats…)

The Royals have two guys hitting over .300 for the year, and Kendrys Morales is not far behind at .291. They did lose their closer Greg Holland to Tommy John surgery, but the Royals have been a postseason staple the past few years and will be able to hold their own.

Ok, here’s where it gets interesting. There are four AL teams vying for two spots – the AL West title and the 2nd AL Wild Card spot. I’m so out of tune with the American League (#GoBraves) that I’ll just confuse everyone, so I’ll leave the explaining of the rest to the experts, like Marc Normandin ->  AL breakdown.

So here we are. The first four days of October. The last four days of the regular season. You’ve got four more chances to watch the Braves this year (that’s another post for another time), and four more chances to see my commercial. Then, the real fun starts.

Settle in everyone. This is gonna be fun.

xo