October baseball is finally here, and what does that mean? Playoffs. Teams are clinching playoff spots and celebrations are happening. In the next few weeks teams will know who they are playing in the playoffs. Each team’s ultimate goal is to get to the World Series and be champions. So far, the teams in the American League going to the playoffs are the Yankees, Orioles, Guardians, and Astros, Royals and Tigers. In the National League the teams heading to the playoffs are the Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers, Padres
There are a few close division races throughout the league according to MLB.com. Two of the biggest division races. which is always close is the AL East with the Yankees and Orioles and the NL West with the Dodgers and Padres. Division races can come down to the final day of the regular season. At the time of writing this the Yankees are playing the Orioles and with one win the Yankees can clinch the AL East at home. Also happening as of right now, the Dodgers are playing the Padres who are their biggest rival and at the end of this pivotal series between the Dodgers and Padres could end with the Dodgers winning the NL West for the 21st first time in franchise history which the Dodgers did by beating the Padres.
In the AL East the Yankees clinched first place with an 94-68 record and lead the AL East by three games with their AL Rivals the Orioles behind them at a 91- 71 record. The Yankees, who now have clinched a spot in the playoffs, need just one win to win the AL East Division, which they did. The Yankees, who are on top of the AL East have a had a very up and down year with some very good stretches of games and some very tough losses along the way also. Yankee fan and Landmark student, Harry Englander said in a recent interview, “I think we have a good chance of winning the world series.” Harry also thinks “it’s a been a pretty good year but there has also been a lot of up and downs.”
The AL Central was won by the Cleveland Guardians this year. Cleveland Guardians were not a surprise to win the AL Central because they are almost always in the playoff race. What was a surprise is the two teams after the Guardians. One surprise was the Kansas City Royals, who earned their first winning season since 2015 with a record of 83-74. The other surprise was the Detroit Tigers finishing 2nd place in the AL Central, also with a record of 83-74 which many people didn’t expect.
In the AL West the Astros won the division with a record of 88-73. Even though the Astros started the season off rough they played very well after the trade deadline. The Astros made some big moves to help their pitching. One pitcher who has really helped them after he was traded to the Astros from the Toronto Blue Jays is Yusei Kikuchi who since coming from Toronto has been on a roll and has been dominating and as of now he’s gone 5-0 in his starts.
On the other hand, the Mariners haven’t had a great season despite their very good and young starting pitchers and the lack of the offense and inability to score runs. Jesse Pomerantz a 5th semester student and Mariner’s fan said, “hopefully our pitchers like Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller could get us into the playoffs.” Jesse also said hopefully our offense like Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez can turn it around even though they are struggling right now.” Jesse also says, “Our owner doesn’t give the team enough money to go out there and make any big moves like other teams do.” There will also be history made in the AL West as the Oakland A’s will be playing their final series at the Oakland Coliseum before they move to Sacramento where they will playing be next year.
In the NL Central the Brewers who won the NL Central are in first place with a record of 93-69. The Brewers who have been having a good season need just one more win to clinch a spot in the playoffs, which are starting at the beginning of this month. The Brewers have clinched the NL Central with a 2-1 walk off win against the Phillies and a Cubs loss. This year wasn’t expected to be the greatest year for the Brewers as this was more of a rebuilding year, but they are about to win the NL Central.
In the NL East the Phillies won the Division with a 95-67 record heading into the final stretch of the regular season. Behind the Phillies were the Mets with a record of 88- 72 but now the Atlanta Braves are in 2nd with a tie between them and the Mets who will play a double header today to determine who gets the playoff spot. The Mets were on a little winning streak getting them to 2nd place in the NL East which at the time put the Atlanta Braves in 3rd place. The Braves have had a lot of injuries this season which set them back and making it very hard to catch the Phillies. The Phillies who always have a very good team and lineup.
In the NL West the Dodgers, who always have a great team year in and year out. The Dodgers lead the NL West with a 98-64 season. In 2nd place in the NL West is the San Diego Padres who are 93-69 who will be playing in the Wild Card round. The Padres also are always a tough team to face especially for the Dodgers and the other NL West teams. The story of the year with the Dodgers is what a strong team they have this year with such a great lineup and great pitching also. The Dodgers need to win 7 more games to win the NL West.
I think the playoffs will be very good because there’s a bunch of great teams this year who have really good players. I think the Yankees could go far in the playoffs with the lineup they have with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Juan Soto if everyone stays healthy, along with the pitching the Yankees have. I also think that the Dodgers could go far in the playoffs because of their super star lineup which includes Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman along with other guys. The Dodgers also have superstar pitching like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Walker Buehler and Jack Flaherty. Other teams that I can see making a run in the playoffs are in the Padres because of hitters like Manny Machado, Jurickson Profar, Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogarts. The Padres also have very good pitching such as Dylan Cease, Yu Darvish, Michael King and Joe Musgrove.
