MLB: AL Wild Card Race

Those four teams are the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Oakland A’s, and Tampa Bay Rays. The Boston Red Sox are not considered as a team in the hunt right now. They are five games behind the tie for the second Wild Card. While the Red Sox play four games against the Rays in the last two weeks of the season, it’s not only the Rays they need to catch. The Red Sox need to make up ground on both the A’s and Indians, but the Sox play against neither team for the rest of the year. To get a good image of the Wild Card race, we need to take a deeper look at each team individually.

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians currently lead the right to host the AL Wild Card by half of a game, touting a 79-56 record. They trail the AL Central by only 4.5 games, however, and could still win the AL Central. With that being said, the team is currently depleted by injury, especially the pitching staff.

The Indians’ rotation has gone much of the season without veteran Carlos Carrasco, who has been battling leukemia. They are also currently missing Corey Kluber, A.J. Cole, and Danny Salazar. On the other side of the ball, Jose Ramirez was recently placed on the 10-day Injured List. It was interesting that they traded away Trevor Bauer, especially with the question marks in their rotation.

On the bright side for the Indians, Carlos Carrasco is on the verge of returning to action, and the offense has been bolstered by the play of newly acquired Yasiel Puig and youngster Franmil Reyes. Puig is batting .275/.353/.440 since joining the Indians. Meanwhile, Reyes is batting only .200/.279/.459, which is a drop in production from San Diego. However, he’s been making up for that low average with the long ball and RBIs. Reyes has 6 homers with the Indians and 17 RBIs. The Indians are likely to make the postseason, and the division is still very much in play for them.

Minnesota Twins

While on the subject of the AL Central, we may as well look at the Twins. They currently lead the division by 4.5 games and don’t look to be letting go of that small lead. They currently have won six in a row and are still finishing up a series against the Tigers. The Twins still have six more games against the Indians, so it is anybody’s division, but they are in the driver’s seat.

The team itself is balanced. They have received adequate pitching from a deep staff, anchored by Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi, and Martin Perez. The Twins’ offense is held up by ageless wonder Nelson Cruz, C.J. Cron, and Miguel Sano. Cruz is having yet another strong season, having hit 33 bombs as part of his .299/.385/.637 slash line. Cron is also having another good year, the second consecutive with more than 20 HRs. The Twins should keep pace, especially with their great offense, and win the AL Central. This would force the Indians into either the Wild Card game or out of contention.

Oakland A’s

The Oakland A’s are one of two AL Wild Card teams looking to build upon newfound success from the previous season. They are currently have a one game lead on the Tampa Bay Rays for the second Wild Card slot and are half game back of hosting the game. The Athletics have a 78-56 record and have gone 7-3 in their last ten games.

The A’s are another very balanced lineup in the hunt for the playoffs. Even though they are missing their aces in Sean Manaea due to injury and Frankie Montas due to a suspension, the rest of the pitching staff has picked up the slack. They boast talents in Mike Fiers, Liam Hendriks, Tanner Roark and Homer Bailey in their rotation.

The bats have come alive this year for the A’s. Matt Chapman is only the third ever A’s third baseman to hit 30 bombs. Marcus Semien is having another great year. Semien is two home runs away from his career high in a season, and has slashed .276/.359/.496. Unfortunately, the injury bug hit the A’s hard this year. They are currently without Ramon Laureano, Manea, and Stephen Piscotty.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays are currently one game behind the second Wild Card slot with a 78-58 record. The Rays do not have an easy road to the finish line of the season. They have been scuffling as of late, and they will need to pick it up if they want to enter into the Wild Card game.

The Rays are currently dealing with an extremely depleted team. Three of the team’s starting pitchers are injured. To go along with those injuries, the Rays have also lost Brandon Lowe, an All Star second baseman, for the season, and Yandy Diaz, a hard hitting infielder, is on the injured list as well.

While the Rays have gotten good news regarding their injured players in that Tyler Glasnow should start his rehab soon, the team is limping to the finish. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games and are on a slide. The Rays draw the Indians, Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers over the final month of the season and it may see them fall out of contention.

All in all, the Rays have been held afloat by their starting pitching. It has mostly been Charlie Morton and Ryan Yarbrough holding the team together. Morton and Yarbrough have 24 wins combined, and have really kept their team in the ball game. Austin Meadows has provided much of the Rays’ offense. He has hit a team leading 24 homers this year while producing at a .276/.344/.526 clip. The way things have fallen for the Rays as of late may leave them on the outside looking in unless they pick up the pace.

Conclusion

The Wild Card race is filled with a lot of intrigue. It seems that the two teams will inevitably be the Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics. However, there is still a month to go and a lot can happen. If the Red Sox continue their hot streak, they could enter the contender conversation over the final month of the season and really make this interesting.

Author Twitter: @kinggeorge94

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