Rounding the Bases

The Home Stretch

by Eric Berkenpas

We are in the final month of the Baseball regular season so it's time to break down the playoff picture as well as make some bold predictions! So without further ado, let's jump right in.

AL East

Photo cred: boston.sportsthenandnow.com

Things have been somewhat of a roller coaster ride in the AL East division this year but the one consistent thing is that the Red Sox have been in first almost the entire year and don't look like they are going to lose that spot. Led by 9-time all star, David Ortiz, this rag tag bunch of young stars look to get their team back in the playoffs for the first time since 2009. Clay Buchholz was having himself a turn-around year and was leading a sub-par pitching staff with a 1.71 and no losses until he hit the DL with a neck strain. He appears to be re-joining the club and starting Thursday's game which can only bode well for the Bo Sox.

Behind the Red Sox is a pretty tight race for second, currently being led by the Rays. In July it was looking like they were going to run away with the division when they went 21-5 overall and 8-2 against divisional opponents, but everything came to a head in August which allowed the Red Sox to pull comfortably ahead. Behind the Rays are the media blasted Yankees and pitching deficient Orioles. One might say that if the distraction of A-Rod wasn't there, the Yankees might be vying for the top spot in the division, but injuries have had something to say about that. Teixeiria and Granderson have sat out almost the entire year and Jeter has also been battling injury. Vernon Wells has contributed nicely, as has Kuroda, but the team just isn't complete enough to be a legitmate playoff contender. The Orioles have arguably the best lineup in baseball with Chris Davis, Adam Jones, Manny Machado, JJ Hardy, Nate McClouth, Matt Wieters and Nick Markakis but their pitching staff led by their "ace" Bud Norris is nothing to write home about. Can't win playoff baseball without good pitching.

Prediction: Red Sox win the division, Rays grab the second wild card spot.

AL Central

Photo cred: sportsillustrated.cnn.com

This division for the most part has been a one man....er...team show for the majority of the year. The Miguel Cabrera's (aka the Detroit Tigers) have been given some pressure by the Indians but now hold a comfortable 5.5 game lead in the division. Cabrera has been battling nagging injuries in the past couple weeks while trying to chase his second straight Triple Crown but Detroit has too many other weapons to let that hold them back. Prince Fielder, Victor Martinez, Austin Jackson and Torii Hunter lead the batting when Cabrera is out and with as formidable a pitching staff the Tigers have, batting issues will not hurt them too bad. Verlander is having an off year with 182 Ks and a 3.64 ERA (yes, that is considered an off year for him) while Max Scherzer took the reigns of the pitching staff. It took months before he suffered his first loss and he sits now with a 19-2 record, a 2.88 ERA and 209 Ks. This team is primed and ready for the post season and not a single team in the division will have anything to say about it. The Indians are a good team but they lack the pitching to truly compete with the Tigers.

Prediction: Tigers win the division by 10+ games.

AL West

Photo cred: sportsillustrated.cnn.com

At the beginning of the year I would have told you that at this point in the year, the Angels would be leading the division and storming into the playoffs like Gandalf charging into battle at Helms Deep...pardon the nerdy analogy). Needless to say, that is not the current situation. The Angels sit 15.5 games out of first and will need a miracle if they want a playoff berth. Texas, yet again, reigns supreme out west. Beltre is having a monster year (.322 AVG, 28 HRs, 83 RBIs) with Kinsler, newly acquired Rios, Andrus and Moreland as quality compliments. Even without PED violator Cruz, the Rangers win. Yu Darvish has been everything the Rangers needed and more. He is 12-7 with a 2.91 ERA and 240 Ks. 240!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Outside of him, the pitching staff is average, but they have all pitched well enough to give their team a chance of winning each night, which is really all you need to ask for with the formidable lineup that the Rangers posses.

Photo cred: www.sfexaminer.com

Oakland has been hiding in the shadow of the Rangers but have just recently made a move into first place and now sit 1.5 games ahead of Texas. Once again, the A's have done it with starting pitching, only one of which anyone has ever heard of. Bartolo Colon has resurrected his career and leads a group consisting of Jarrod Parker, A.J. Griffin, Tommy Milone and Dan Straily to the 2nd best team ERA in the league. This year, however, the batting lineup is a little more potent. 3 players (Brandon Moss, Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Donaldson) have hit the 20 HR mark and Coco Crisp is only 2 away. It's still nothing close to the best lineup in baseball, but it's much better than prior years when Coco Crisp was leading the team in every stat.

Prediction: Rangers regain first and take the division. Athletics fall short against the Rays in the play in game.

NL East

Photo cred: www.mobypicture.com

The Phillies need to officially hit the reset button in the coming years as the Braves look like they are set to take over the division in those years. Washington got rudely pushed aside by Justin Upton, Freddie Freeman and the MLB's best pitching staff. There is no team better than the Braves right now and they appear to be a shoe-in to the World Series. Through development of young talent, the Braves have constructed an extremely dangerous pitching staff, even after losing Tommy Hanson in the offseason to the Angels. There are too many dangerous weapons on this team to not consider them a legitimate contender for the World Series and there is most definitely not another team in this division who can be put up against the Braves. Washington could hit a hot streak and maybe sneak into a wild card spot, but other than that, the Braves are the only team worth talking about in the NL East.

Prediction: Braves win division by a landslide while Phillies and Nats carry big question marks into the offseason.

NL Central

Photo cred: www.zimbio.com

Arguably Baseball's best division all year, the NL Central may well showcase the most exciting playoff race of the year. The Cardinals were the best team in Baseball for the first half of the season with the Pirates and Reds trailing closely behind. Now, It's anyone's division to take. The Reds have come back after letting the Pirates and Cardinals battle for first for a couple months but now it's very much a 3 team race. Pirates made some big acquisitions in Marlon Byrd and Justin Morneau in hopes that their lineup will be one that can win some playoff baseball games behind one of the top pitching staffs in the league. So far, it does not look any better than before. Cincinnati has it all going for them right now. The bats are hot and the pitchers are all giving the team a chance to win each night. At this point, it's pretty safe to say that these 3 teams will all be playing in the playoffs in some capacity, all we need to see is in what order they finish.

Prediction: Reds storm into first and edge out the Cardinals. Pirates finish in third and lose play in game to the Cards.

NL West

Photo cred: www.fangraphs.com

Midway through the season it didn't look like anyone wanted to take control of the division. Colorado had a big start to the year while San Fran faltered in their post-world series hangover. Arizona has shown some fleeting moments of solid baseball while San Diego has been the same old boring team that just can't seem to get out of the gutter. Los Angeles had the most pressure on them from the start as they command the highest payroll in the MLB and made big offseason acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Zack Greinke, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Josh Beckett. They appeared to be headed in the same direction as the Angels until a spark lit as they went 42-10 in July and August, vaulting them comfortably into the top spot in the division. Gonzales leads the team in AVG, HRs and RBIs but behind him is nothing impressive. The strength of this team resides in the pitching rotation which may be the most intimidating in all of Baseball: Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, Nolasco and Capuano. To this point in the season, Kershaw still maintains a sub 2 ERA. His strikeout numbers are down but that only seems to have helped him. Greinke battled a broke collar bone compliments of Carlos Quentin but battled back and has been very successful and huge part of why the Dodgers have been so successful. Ryu in his first year in the majors has been just about what everyone expected him to be; solid. Having that caliber of skill for your 1, 2 and 3 pitchers in the playoffs cannot be undervalued. Needless to say, the Dodgers are going to be extremely tough to beat in the playoffs.

Prediction: Dodgers win division by 15+ games.


Playoff Prediction: Tigers rematch the Rangers in the ALCS. Reds play the Braves in the NLCS. Reds win World Series over Tigers 4-3 behind the bat of Jay Bruce.

Well folks, there you have it! Make sure to drop comments about what you think will happen.


Eric Berkenpas is the newest member of Sports Eye View and can be reached at ejberkenpas22@gmail.com