1. St. Louis Cardinals (98-58, Last Week-1): Losing Carlos Martinez for the rest of the season could be killer. They need to win just one game of a three game series against the Pirates to win the division. If they don’t win the division, it will be a huge disappointment.
2. Pittsburgh Pirates (95-61, Last Week-2): They desperately want to avoid the wild card game versus the Cubs and Jake Arrieta.
3. Toronto Blue Jays (90-65, Last Week-3): The Blue Jays have caught the Royals, and it would not surprise me if they end up taking the top spot for the playoffs.
4. Kansas City Royals (90-65, Last Week-6): Greg Holland has been shut down because of an elbow injury that may lead to Tommy John surgery. Next man up: Wade Davis and his 0.99 ERA.
5. Chicago Cubs (90-65, Last Week-4): Clinched their first playoff spot since 2008. If they can get passed the wild card game, they have as good of a chance as anyone to make it to the World Series for the first time since 1945.
6. Los Angeles Dodgers (87-68, Last Week-5): Greinke is pitching tomorrow in San Francisco for the chance to clinch the division.
7. New York Mets (89-67, Last Week-7): Home-field advantage in the division series would be very beneficial with how much better Syndergaard has been at home.
8. New York Yankees (86-69, Last Week-8): They are pretty much locked into the first wild card spot being 4.5 up on Houston and 4 back of Toronto.
9. Texas Rangers (84-71, Last Week-9): They are in good shape to win the division leading by 2.5 games with the Tigers and Angels at home to finish the season.
10. Houston Astros (82-74, Last Week-10): Blowing the rubber match of a three game series against the Angels hurts, but the Astros got a much needed series win at home against Texas. They will make the playoffs if they learn to win on the road.
11. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (81-74, Last Week-11): They played about as well as they could have this week going 5-1 and with seven games left. They are in decent shape to make the playoffs even though they are a half of a game back and closer Huston Street may be done for the season.
12. Minnesota Twins (80-75, Last Week-12): Still have a chance to make the playoffs (1.5 games back), but it won’t be easy with Cleveland and Kansas City to finish the season.
13. San Francisco Giants (81-74, Last Week-13): Pretty cool that Tim Hudson was able to pitch against Barry Zito in Oakland on Saturday. If it was 2002, the score would not have been 14-10.
14. Washington Nationals (79-76, Last Week-14): Papelbon and Harper got into a brawl during the game, then Matt Williams proceeded to pitch Papelbon in the ninth. Papelbon blew the game against his former team. #Natitude.
15. Cleveland Indians (77-77, Last Week-15): They have an outside chance of making the playoffs, but they should be in good shape next year to be contenders.
16. Boston Red Sox (75-80, Last Week-17): With a strong last week they could finish in third place which is impressive because they were pretty far back in early August.
17. Baltimore Orioles (76-79, Last Week-16): Disappointing season for Baltimore and they could be losing some big pieces in the offseason. Their window may have closed.
18. Tampa Bay Rays (75-81, Last Week-19): Archer has not had a strong second half, especially compared to his first half, with an ERA of 4.01; that is largely due to an awful September (ERA of 6.58).
19. Seattle Mariners (74-82, Last Week-18): The Mariners have clinched a losing season, which is a major disappointment as they were a popular pick to win the AL West and the pennant.
20. Arizona Diamondbacks (75-81, Last Week-20): Robbie Ray has quietly pitched well this season with an ERA of 3.53 in 21 starts.
21. San Diego Padres (73-83, Last Week-22): James Shields is going to be a liability for the Padres for several years if they do not trade him with that contract.
22. Chicago White Sox (73-83, Last Week-21): Jeff Samardzija pitched a complete game one-hitter on just 88 pitches after going three innings and giving up ten runs in his last start.
23. Detroit Tigers (72-83, Last Week-23): It was announced that Brad Ausmus will be back next year, and I don’t think the Tigers struggles this season were his fault.
24. Miami Marlins (69-87, Last Week-26): It’s a real shame Giancarlo Stanton has been out for half of this season because he could have approached 60 home runs this season. He had 27 home runs in 74 games.
25. Milwaukee Brewers (66-90, Last Week-25): Ryan Braun has been shut down for the season because of back issues, but he should be fine going into the next season.
26. Oakland A’s (65-91, Last Week-24): Sonny Gray’s Cy Young chances have taken a hit with a rough stretch in his last seven starts going 2-2 with an ERA of 5.53.
27. Cincinnati Reds (63-92, Last Week-27): Joey Votto has 13 more walks (140) than strikeouts (127). He has been incredible this season.
28. Colorado Rockies (66-90, Last Week-28): Nolan Arenado needs to get some MVP consideration with the season he is having. He’s hitting .285/.319/.569 with 41 home runs and 126 RBIs.
29. Atlanta Braves (62-94, Last Week-29): Shelby Miller has 17 losses and an ERA of 3.10. If he was on the Blue Jays, he would probably have 170 wins.
30. Philadelphia Phillies (59-97, Last Week-30): Good first season for rookie Aaron Nola, going 6-2 with an ERA of 3.59.
Sources:
MLB.com