Final Week AL/NL Wild Card Preview

It's the final week of the regular season. Let the chaos begin!

You may be tired from hearing this famous Europe song in the occasional commercial here and there, but the time has come, it’s….The Final Countdown. The final week of the MLB regular season is upon us, and as always, there’s tight playoff races.

Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?

Eminem and Europe references in the same article, how about that? Enough with music, though. You get the idea. Here’s how things are looking prior to today’s games (Monday 9/23), with previews for the AL and NL Wild Cards.

Orioles: 8-11 in September. That’s no bueno right before playoffs. Thankfully they’re still up 4 games as of now, but they have two BIG series vs the Yankees and Twins. 3 games apiece, all on the road. Barring some insane collapse, they should nab the top WC spot.

Tigers: the SURGING Tigers have found themselves right there for the 2nd WC spot, tied with the Royals. In the past week and a half the Tigers have gone 4-2 vs the Orioles and swept the Royals. Great news if you’re a Tigers fan: their next 6 games are against the Rays and White Sox. Factor in a random loss or so and 4-2 to finish the year should be very doable. 4-2 or better and you’re very much in that 2nd spot to finish the season.

Royals: 7-12 in September. In the past week they’ve been swept by the Tigers and swept by the Giants, both at home. C’mon, guys. They start a 3-game series in Washington against the Nationals, but then after travel to Atlanta for 3 games against the Braves to finish the season. Similar to the Tigers, I’ll factor in a loss or two, so if they can go 4-2 or better then they’ll hang with Detroit for the 2nd WC. That Braves series is going to be verrrrry interesting for WC implications. Put a pin in that series coming up.

Twins: 8-13 in September. Aside from the Tigers, do AL teams even want to make the playoffs? What’s going on? Off day today before they play the Marlins and then finish the season vs the Orioles. Really have to capitalize on the 3 Miami games and even with Baltimore not playing so hot, it’s going to come down to that series for Minnesota’s fate.

Mariners: the Mariners have hung in there and find themselves 2 games back of a WC spot! They’ve got the Astros for 3 games and then finish with 3 vs the Athletics. Let’s just say they win 1 vs Houston and 2 from the A’s. 3-3 isn’t gonna cut it. I think a “realistic best case” would be 4-2 (2 from the Astros and a sweep of the A’s), but unless we see others under-perform to finish the year I think the Mariners just miss out.

Padres: my guy Mike Shildt has the Padres playing great ball (just hit the 90-win mark yesterday, too!). Up 3 games for the top WC spot, though it’ll be a bear to finish the season. They’ve got 3 games against the Dodgers in LA, then 3 against the DBacks in Arizona. I still believe they come away with the top spot, but man, what a 6-game stretch to decide it.

Diamondbacks: the DBacks enter a series with Giants after taking 3-of-4 from the Brewers in Milwaukee. 3 games at home vs SF then 3 vs SD to finish the season. They need to at least take 2/3 from SF as that would set them up well for the Padres series. They very well could play spoiler, but I think AZ’s best shot is that 2nd spot. Gotta hold off the Mets.

Mets: in Spring Training if you told me the Mets would be in a WC spot in the final week of the season I probably would’ve laughed. Major hat tip to David Stearns as well as the whole team coming together to make this run. Over the past week NY swept the Nationals and took 3-of-4 from the Phillies (wait, whaaaat?). NY heads to Atlanta and starts a 3-game set vs the Braves, then head to Milwaukee for 3 games. This has the potential to be rough. However, with the Braves offense being bipolar, who knows what could happen. Perhaps the Mets win a couple 4-2 or 5-1 games, or maybe the Braves dunk on them with 7+ run offensive surges. If you’re the Mets, you need at least 2 from ATL, and then 1-2 from the Brewers and you should be all right. What a crazy two series to close out the season!

Braves: the Bravos don’t have an easy 6-game stretch either by any means. As I just mentioned, they have 3 games against the Mets which is HUGE for their playoff chances, but then they play the Royals. At 2 GB, Atlanta has no room for error. Sweeping the Mets would be massive because then you finish against a struggling Royals team where 2/3 should be very doable. But it’s the Braves of course, so will any of that happen? As a Braves fan myself I believe in them, but I’m not holding my breath. After the season we’ve had with injuries it’s still remarkable they’re even this close. I can see them going 3-3 and just missing the playoffs, honestly. This Mets series, I feel, will dictate how the Royals series goes. Either the Braves take 2/3 (or sweep the Mets) and ride that high into the KC series feeling unstoppable, or they win 1 vs the mets (or get swept) and playoff hopes are pretty much shot. A sweep would be incredible, but need at least 2 here vs New York. For the Braves, I’ll end this article by asking them this question: Would you capture it or just let it slip?