I want to start following baseball again as we head into the postseason. With all of my NFL charting it may be hard to watch many games, but I should be able to at least watch the condensed games afterwards. I want to check my model for player rankings, pitcher rankings, bullpen rankings, etc. I will check the futures market more as I chart things out and follow the races. Let’s check in on the races below:

American League:

AL East – The Orioles have a 2 game lead on the Rays for the Division. This week the Orioles are on the road in Houston and the Rays are at home against the Angels. This race could tighten up quickly pending the results of these series. the Orioles @ Astros series will be a great one to watch.

AL Central – The Twins have a 7 game lead and are working to close out the Guardians. The magic number in this race is 6 with the Twins at the Reds and The Guardians visiting the Royals.

AL West – The Astros lead the Rangers by 1.5 games and the Mariners by 2.5 games. Astros are home vs the Orioles, Rangers home vs the Red Sox, and the Mariners visiting the Athletics.

AL Wildcard – The Astros, Rangers, Mariners (Or Rather the 2 who do not win the division) will fight with Blue Jays for 2 wild card spots. Blue Jays are visiting the Yankees, crucial to their season.

National League:

NL East – The Braves have clinched the division

NL Central – The Brewers have a commanding lead over the Cubs by 6.5 games and the Reds by 7 games

NL West – The Dodgers clinched the division.

NL Wildcard – The Phillies have a 3 game lead over Dbacks and 3.5 over the Cubs and Marlins. The Reds are a half game back and the Giants are 2 games back of the wild card positions. Assuming Philly can close out their spot, there will be a fight for two places between the Dbacks, Cubs, Marlins, Reds, and Giants. Phillies are visiting Atlanta in what will surely be a great series and a potential playoffs preview. The Dbacks are hosting the Giants in a very important series, The Cubs are hosting the Pirates, the Reds are visiting the Twins, and the Marlins have the Mets.

Best Series to Watch:

Orioles @ Astros – Relevant to both the AL and the NL races

Giants @ Dbacks – Giants can make a big postseason move in this series

Phillies @ Braves – Potential Postseason Preview

Pirates @ Cubs – The Cubs can make a big postseason push in this series.

Blue Jays @ Yankees – With the Rangers and the Mariners favored in their series, the Blue Jays need a sweep in this series to have a real chance at the wild card this season.

Twins @ Reds – A good chance to get a feel for the Twins who will very likely be in the post season while seeing if the Reds can somehow sweep them to fight their way back into the race.

I will check back in on these races and the dive deeper into the futures market before heading into the final few series of the season.