As the final week of the 2024 regular season kicks off, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:
1. AL Wild Card race tightens:
The American League has put the “wild” in Wild Card this weekend. After months of the Royals and Twins consistently holding the final two Wild Card spots behind the Orioles, things got more interesting over the weekend as the red-hot Tigers knocked Minnesota out of playoff position entirely. Now, Kansas City and Detroit are tied for the last two playoff spots in the AL with identical 82-74 records, with the Twins just one game behind at 81-75. Should things come down to a tiebreaker, the Twins would benefit as they hold the tiebreaker over both Kansas City and Detroit, while the Royals won the tiebreaker over the Tigers.
The Wild Card isn’t limited to AL Central teams, though, and the Mariners notably lurk just one game back of Minnesota at 80-76 though all three Central clubs hold tiebreakers over Seattle. Meanwhile, neither the Red Sox nor the Rays have technically been eliminated at this point, but it would take a miracle for either 78-78 club to squeak into the postseason. Of all the potential Wild Card contenders in the AL, only the Mariners play today as they start a three-game set against the Astros that could either officially eliminate them from the AL West or vault them back into a playoff spot. That series kicks off at 7:10pm local time in Houston tonight, with youngsters Bryce Miller (3.06 ERA) and Hunter Brown (3.57 ERA) set to face off.
2. Phillies could clinch division:
The Phillies lost out on an opportunity to clinch the NL East against their division rival this weekend when they dropped the final two games of their series against the Mets, but that doesn’t have to stop them from clinching in front of the home crowd. The club will start their final regular season home series at 6:40pm local time this evening against the recently-eliminated Cubs, and winning any game in the three-game set would clinch the division. Meanwhile, sweeping Chicago would guarantee for the Phillies that they’ll land a bye through the NL Wild Card series. Their series against the Cubs kicks off tonight with right-hander Aaron Nola (3.54 ERA) on the mound opposite a likely bullpen game for Chicago that’s likely to be started by Nate Pearson (3.13 ERA in Chicago).
3. Moreno undergoing MRI:
The Diamondbacks are set to wrap up their regular season at home this week, hoping to clinch a playoff spot with six games to go against the Giants and Padres. While the reigning NL champs appear likely to make their second consecutive playoff run this October, it’s up in the air who will be behind the plate for them during that run after the club announced (as noted by Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic) that Moreno exited yesterday’s game against the Brewers with left adductor tightness.
Piecoro notes that the injury affects the same side as the groin strain that sent him to the IL for more than a month recently, and D-Backs reporter Jody Jackson notes that Moreno is set to undergo an MRI today. The loss of Moreno for the postseason would be a tough one for Arizona to stomach, as he not only won the Gold Glove for his work behind the plate last year but also has posted a 108 wRC+ in 92 games this season. Glove-first backup Jose Herrera and hot-hitting prospect Adrian Del Castillo (who batted .313/.368/.525 in 87 plate appearances in his first taste of MLB action this summer) would take over catching duties if Moreno misses time.
As an M’s fan, I hate the idea of the cheaters clinching against our feeble lot of hitters. Hoping for a Mariner sweep, even if the Astros still win the division.
You still have hope for the mariners? There will be a sweep alright, a sweep for the astros
The Astros cheated in 2017. Outside of Bregman and Altuve, there are no other position players remaining from that team.Harping on what happened 7 yrs ago seems like one is stuck in the past. 2017 has no affect on 2024 results but Stanton and his toady Dipoto certainly affected the M’s current performance. Maybe if Julio could play all year like the superstar he supposedly is, the Astros might be facing elimination tonight. And yes, I am sadly a Mariners fan.
All they had to do is give was 1 genuine apology to fend off the kangaroo courts. Sad when A-Rod could give them some sage advice on groveling.
“Sad when Arod..sage advice on groveling”…One might argue that Aroid Rodriguez has much experience at cheating than did the Astros.
Aldwarfve!
Darcy: I don’t know. I’m still not over 1919.
M’s need to get on a hot stream. Sweep the ‘stros and A’s to finish the year off and go into the playoffs hot.
Sure,he has placed a few extra pins in his head!
I wonder……can he wear a thimble for a hat?
Was really hoping the Moreno in the headline was Arte pursuing another sale of the team.
Hope this Moreno heals up fir the playoffs.
Glad I’m not the only one that assumed it was about Arte Moreno lol
As a White Sox fan, I feel your pain, would love to be rid of Jerry Reinsdorf…
“Of all the potential Wild Card contenders in the AL, only the Mariners play today…” Red Sox first pitch at 7:07 PM
Troy – Thanks, I needed that laugh today!
Neither the Red Sox nor the Rays are out. Two keys: Rays have 3 with the Tigers and Minnesota and KC end with BAL and ATL, who will have things at stake.
Start with a TB sweep of DET and exactly one loss by MN and/or KC to WASH/MIA. Now DET is behind KC and MN and TB is 1 behind MN and 2 behind KC. Add for fun a Bosox sweep of TOR and both east teams are 81-78, KC is 84-75, MN is 83-76 and DET is 82-77. DET is probably fine against CHI. But KC and MN are very vulnerable. And, of course, if either KC or MN lose two to WASH/MIA they are really at risk in the last 3.
Atl – Sorry but that’s just silly about the Red Sox.
They would need to go EITHER 6-0 with the Tigers going 0-6 or 1-5, or they would need to go 5-1 with the Tigers going 0-6 and that’s on top of the Twins, Mariners and Rays all losing most of their games.. Tigers playing half their games against the ChiSox ensures none of those scenarios will happen.
Red Sox could also go 6-0, 5-1 or 4-2 and even if the Royals go 0-6 or 1-5 or 2-4 the Sox would STILL need the Twins, Mariners and Rays to lose most of their games.
I’m the most optimistic person here and even I have conceded the season, having held out until after last Friday’s game.
I was wondering if Moreno has a first name?
Met – It’s Omar.
My Moreno has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R.
Gabriel
MrMet: A friend of mine bought duplicates of newspapers from the 1920s. They never used first names for some reason.
Avenger – Cher, Madonna, Bono, Adele, Beyonce, Sting, Usher, Pink, Slash, Charo, Seal, all say hello.
I can’t believe you didn’t include Prince!
gbs – Of course I thought of him, Pele, Maradona …. but they can’t say hello.
Alright I found a way for Prince ……
youtube.com/watch?v=agjUkQZPnwE
Okay, now I get it.
I just wish you hadn’t included that link, because that’s far from his best song.
gbs – ANY time you want to discuss Jamie Starr, I’m game ….. huge longtime fan here :O)
Most underrated songs …. 17 Days & She’s Always In My Hair.
Alexander Nevermind penned a really good one with “Sugar Walls.” A friend said it was decades before she really paid attention to the lyrics, and when she did, she was blushing in her car while listening.
gbs – Haha …. thank you for making me and Christopher Tracy smile on this Manic Monday ;O)
The Bangles are the first band I ever saw in concert, opening for Mr. Mister! I went with my friend and his aunt & uncle, who made us leave early to beat traffic. What?!?!?
gbs – Does that mean you missed the finale? Walk Like An Egyptian?
It was nice to see a pitcher actually go 9-innings on Friday night. Miss those days when it was expected of your starter. Starters nowadays are just too weak to go 9-innings and need others to help them.
Do you miss candy cigarettes?
Nothing wrong with them…
Dear Detroit and KC… Your welcome!!! Your friends from the east coast..( didn’t have them winning two more games this year let alone a DH sweep)
@olmtiant
Det/KC had a cakewalk season this year. Both would be out of the WC picture if they hadn’t played the ChiSox a thousand times.
And the Tigers finish the season at home, 3 vs. Tampa Bay then 3 vs. the ChiSox. Detroit Free Press is saying Tigers control their destiny for a wild card.
Detroit deserves credit. Trading away Chafin, Kelly, Flaherty and Canha while essentially waving the white flag on their season is commendable. On the other side, the ill timed collapse of KC and MN is embarrassing.
olm – I was expecting a split yesterday, but the Twins are playing hella bad.. At least now the Sox need just one more win to finish better than the last two years.
The new Sox marketing campaign: “Best Red Sox team since 2021!”
A lot of NL teams would be ahead of those AL wildcard teams. 3 NL West teams and 3 from NL East have a better record or the same (ATL) as Houston who leads the AL West. But even the teams with best records in NL are a bit weak. Philly played great on a weak schedule in first half but aren’t that great imo. And LAD don’t have the pitching for playoffs. Odd year.
@Rishi
Agreed. I’d prefer the best teams, regardless of league, in the playoffs.
This is what the playoffs should be if they ended today:
Dodgers vs. Tigers
Yankees vs. Astros
Phillies vs. Braves
Padres vs. Orioles
Indians vs. Mets
Brewers vs. Diamondbacks
Interleague play in wild card/LDS/LCS would destroy whatever credibility baseball still has. It’s bad enough that the balanced schedule has neutered the traditional rivalries.
@ChuckyNJ
They’ve already destroyed it by having interleague in the first place during the regular season. Honestly, those games shouldn’t count towards winning the league. You win the league by beating teams in your league.
NYY
CLE
BAL
MIN
HOU
KCR
PHI
LAD
SDP
NYM
ARI
MIL
Old York. Totally agree. Seed the 12 best teams no matter what division or league. Then you wouldn’t have had the Braves and Phillies playing each other in the second round.
avenger – That wouldn’t work, the schedules would be too radically different.
Six wildcards is awful, but prepare yourself …. next CBA there will be 8 wildcards.
Fever I agree. First big change is adding two teams and cut the Central out. East/West, rekindle some old rivalries (Detroit & Cleveland vs East teams), it’ll help balance out the schedule a lot more. Still won’t be perfect but better than what it is today.
They could keep the division winners and have the wild cards be based off the best record regardless of league. Nothing’s perfect. AL Central teams beating up on the White Sox for example.
Add two expansion teams and go back to East/West. This will alleviate most of the problems.
There’s not enough quality ballplayers to fully stock 30 major league teams. Expansion would only make it worse.
It’s not the players, it’s the philosophy. It has been 26 years since expansion and two new cities breeds new fans and a more balanced schedule.
If you are concerned about the lack of quality players the first place you should look is the rule changes over the last 10 years followed by the absurd analytics people struggle to articulate. Thats where your quality decreases.
Tigers looking great for 2nd WCard with last 3 vs WSox. If ATL takes 2 of 3 vs Mets, they’ll be very motivated to sweep KC. Royals better get their act together against the try hard Nats or Twins/Sea can squeak by them despite its own struggles.
This post is proof that the Shapiro/Atkins era of incompetence will hurt the Jays for years to come.
Moreno and Pearson both were the Jays top prospect within the last five years. Giving up Moreno to help “balance the lineup” with a guy who has never proven to be more than a good defensive player with a subpar bat save for the occasional power boost was a terrible move. Add to the deal that it’s much more difficult to find a real talent in a premium position such as Catcher, AND the Jays threw in Lourdes, who was an All-Star last season, and who’s two year OPS+ is 214 (32 points better than Varsho) just makes the it even worse.
The Jays could never figure out Pearson’s penchant for walking batters, so they handed him to the Cubs for two average at best prospects. It’s a small sample size to be fair, but Nate has walked a total of three batters over 23 innings, leading to much better metrics across the board.
Yeah, thank goodness Shapiro saved the organization from the evil AA and his trading the future for winning now!
I don’t see how a post about the AL wildcard, Phillies clinching, and a former Jay getting an MRI is proof of anything. I get that Jays fans are upset and will never miss an opportunity to trash Shapiro/Atkins, but cmon.
A good argument can be made that the DBacks would be out of the race if not for that trade. And, many Jays fans not only justify the move but some make an attempt to convince people they won the trade with Arizona.
Greg’s comment is valid.
Respectfully, there isn’t a team out there that can’t play the what if card. There isn’t a fan base that will be satisfied with ownership, front office personnel, managers, or even players. There isn’t a politician that will have a 100% approval rating. This whole Sliding Doors, Six degrees of separation theory only goes so far. So the Jays keep Moreno, are they in the playoffs? Is AZ out? That’s impossible to quantify. All we know is he’s having an MRI in AZ and not Toronto. But maybe he would have never been injured since it would have been a different game in a different stadium, against a different opponent. All crazy talk
Respectfully, you’re the one with the problem over Greg’s comment, and it wasn’t necessary.
If you’re going to make a point please remember the parts involved. It wasn’t just Moreno, it was Gurriel as well. It would be crazy not to concede the DBacks improved their team with the trade and the Jays didn’t. This “no politician has 100% rating”. Oh, so he’s not entitled to an opinion according to slider? Who are you to say he’s wrong for posting his feelings on the matter? Moreno is a DBack because some nerds showed some graphs to say this trade will be a net plus for Toronto. For that, greg1 can say how he feels on this message board whether you like it or not.
Respectfully, you are in the wrong to question it slider.
No clue where youre getting any of that from but okay. Thanks for the enlightenment and diatribe.
Got it from your comments pal. You lost?
Thank you, you understand my points.
Slider with Cheese, I’m a Cards fan, not an unhappy Jays one.
@greg1
Jays suck and will always do so. Both Moreno and Pearson needed to get out of the Toronto system. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bo and Vlad left, they both start performing like stars again. I miss when the Jays were all about putting the best team on the field, where they were winning championships. Now, it’s just about marketing for Rogers.
You must not be from up North. In Canada, especially in Toronto, baseball is something for TV to show when the hockey is not on.
@ChuckyNJ
Who watches hockey? It’s like watching paint dry or a soccer match. Who would spend 2 hours watching that?
Is every poster from NJ completely lost? Exactly what point are you attempting here besides the fact that NJ might as well be Canada given it’s temperatures.
Way to go NJ, make the ignorant “hockey is life” comment about Canadians. I am Canadian and haven’t watched an NHL game since the early’90’s. Hockey’s registration is down 50%+ over the last decade in Canada. Basketball registration is almost 15 times what it was a decade ago.
Playoff baseball returns to Detroit ! Waku waku. The M.LB. trade of the year by Harris getting Trey Sweeney was huge. I can’t believe both N.Y, and the Dodgers let him go, insane. Wow, he’s almost exceeded Baez production for the year in less than a hundred at bats.
The team is on fire, all 28 guys. All the hitters playing everyday almost, and the pitchers every other day almost. It’s as exciting a run as back in 84. Everyone contributes is something to behold. 27-11 with 6 to go, that’s been so much fun to watch.
This a very cool team, and they are pulling together. No egos, just playing baseball. Whatever happens next year don’t matter. IT’S RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW……GO TIGERS.
I’m excited too, but as hopeful as these signs are they aren’t enough to get past the really great teams. Playing the first series on the road will be tough (and loud). Hopefully it is just the first series and not also their last series this year! Still, the comeback has been great and legendary for a team given up for dead in July and early August. GO TIGERS!
The whole thing is getting a ticket to the dance… last year shows that’s all that it takes.. I mean who had Texas/ Arizona at beginning of playoffs??? If you answer I did…. either you’re a liar/ professional gambler… back in the day I would say to my friends who made outlandish predictions… okay ( cap) gun too your head .. now make your predictions… Hoping for that kind of playoffs again!!!