After taking a shot at the National League playoff races last week, I promised to predict the American League playoff races this week. Quite frankly, there is not much left to predict.
The New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians, and Houston Astros are a lock to win the East, Central, and West division titles respectively.
The Wild-Card spots appear to belong to Toronto, Tampa, and Seattle, although a surge by Baltimore and a collapse by the Mariners or Rays could make the third spot somewhat interesting. With Houston and New York virtually assured of the top two seeds in the AL playoffs and the Guardians looking to be the third seed, the only question really is the seeding of the three Wild-Card teams.
The Yankees and Astros will have the first-round byes, leaving the Guardians to face the sixth seed in the first-round, as the fourth and fifth seeds square off in the other first-round match up.
Seeding matters because the first-round two-out-of three series will be entirely hosted by the highest-seeded team.
Let’s take a look at what is facing Toronto, Tampa, Seattle, and Baltimore over the next 10 days. Remember that while you are likely reading this on a Wednesday or Thursday, it’s being written on Monday morning.
Toronto, which leads the Wild-Card race by two games entering the week with a record of 86-67, hosts a three-game set with the Yankees to begin this week, followed by three games at home with Boston before closing out the regular season with what could be a crucial three-game set at Baltimore.
Tampa has a tougher last nine game stretch than Toronto, as the Rays visit Cleveland, Houston, and Boston to close out the 162-game slate.
Seattle, who just lost two-out-of-three to Kansas City, has 10 games left to play with all of those being at home. The Mariners host Texas and Oakland for three each, before playing Detroit four times to close out the season. Those are three of the four worst teams in the American League, but it must be noted that one of the four worst teams is Kansas City, which Seattle just dropped a series to.
Baltimore has four on the road at Boston, followed by three at the Yankees. Then comes the season-ending three-game set with Toronto.
Look for Toronto to win five of its last nine games to finish at 91-71, clinching the No. 4 seed in the playoffs and assuring itself of a first-round series at home.
The Rays have been 51-30 at home, but are 33-39 on the road, where they will play all nine of their remaining games. Look for Tampa to win just three of those remaining games and finish at 87-75 on the year.
Baltimore will split their last 10 games to close out the year at 84-78, missing out on the playoffs.
Seattle should dominate down the stretch. The Mariners are 39-32 at home and their final three opponents are a combined 92-135 on the road. We will give the Mariners the benefit of the doubt and say they will win seven of those games, putting them at 90-72 on the season.
That would leave Cleveland hosting Tampa, and Toronto entertaining Seattle in the two AL first-round series.
In the end, it really doesn’t matter much as the Yankees and Astros should cruise to the AL Championship Series.
But, we shall see.
Austin Bishop, AKA The Old Sports Dude, has been covering high school, college, amateur, and professional sports since 1975 and is an ordained Assemblies of God minister. He may be contacted by email at starsportsboss@yahoo.com or by phone at 601-938-2471.
