In this week’s AL Playoffs Watch: How much will injuries impact the outcome of the AL East? Will the Texas Rangers be the odd man out in the race for the AL West? Can the dark-horse Seattle Mariners keep up with the proven Houston Astros? Is this week do or die for the Cleveland Guardians?
AL Playoffs Weekly Watch: A Three-Way Fight, a Duel and the Twins
AL East: Untimely Injuries
This week, both the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays suffered substantial losses.
For Toronto, superstar shortstop Bo Bichette is once again out, with a leg injury. This is another frustrating loss for a team that needed everyone on deck for the final stretch of the season. With another disappointing 3-4 week, the Blue Jays are 2.5 games back of the Wild Card. They may have an easy week incoming, against the Colorado Rockies and the Oakland A’s. But if they are to make the dance, they will need to beat some good teams down the stretch. And doing so will be that much harder without their best player.
Bo Bichette is headed back to the IL pic.twitter.com/lylQRLcFEe
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 29, 2023
If the Blue Jays losing Bichette is bad news, the Baltimore Orioles injury is a catastrophe. They have lost their closer, Felix Bautista, to a UCL injury. This probably puts him out indefinitely and is a death blow. They may have had a great 5-2 week, holding back the Tampa Bay Rays in their hunt for the division title, but losing your superstar closer, when your team is known for winning close games, is by all means a disaster. So this coming week, with games against the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Angels, is a test of adversity. Let’s see how Baltimore responds.
Félix Bautista has “some degree of injury” to his UCL and will go on the IL, per @MelanieLynneN pic.twitter.com/kNDqwWqxXa
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 26, 2023
Meanwhile, the worst thing the Rays had to deal with this week was not having the pleasure of sweeping the New York Yankees when they came to town. With a 5-1 week, and an upcoming schedule against the Guardians and the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay is ready to reclaim the division. All they need now is for one Orioles misstep.
[metabet_core_side_odds_tile query=”bbm/mlb_winner_al_east” size=”350×300″ site_id=”lastwordonsports”]
AL West: The Young, the Proven, and the Rangers
With another 5-1 week, and a month with the most wins in team history, the Mariners fans are trying their best to hold in their excitement. They are, as of right now, the leader in the division, and would be the 2nd seed in the playoffs. This is something that the Seattle faithful haven’t experienced in 22 years. However, their rivals are still close. One is red hot. And the other is trying to regain form. So right now, while their fans are overjoyed, the team can only have one thing in mind: next week. And while the series against the underachieving New York Mets doesn’t sound particularly challenging, the one against the Cincinnati Reds most definitely is. They do have the lead. Now comes the hard part: keeping it.
FIRST MARINERS TEAM EVER WITH 21 WINS IN A MONTH!pic.twitter.com/uHyx8B24AW
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 31, 2023
Right behind them, the Astros are starting the regain their World Series form. With a five-game winning streak, populated only by blowouts, their fans have plenty to cheer for. Justin Verlander seems to be back to his Cy Young self after a rocky start. Jose Urquidi had another solid start as he is trying to regain form after the injury. Outside of Corey Julks, their batting line-up is finally healthy, and performing beautifully. Now, they have a month to fight off their competition, and it starts this week. With a series against the Rangers, the Astros have a chance to deal a big blow to their contention dreams. They also play the Yankees. A great moment to remind them of the beating they took last year by sweeping them again.
JOSE ALTUVE HITS FOR THE CYCLE AT AGE 33!!
PUT HIM IN COOPERSTOWN
pic.twitter.com/7gCzC2mrQQ— MLB Metrics (@MLBMetrics) August 29, 2023
At the bottom of the race, and holding the final Wild Card spot, the Rangers are trying their best to find form again. They may have snapped that horrendous losing streak, but a 3-4 week simply will not do it. Not if you want to compete for the AL West or if you want to make the post-season. The Toronto Blue Jays are only 2.5 games back. If the following week goes bad, they might lose their Wild Card spot. Houston looks like a buzzsaw right now, so playing the Minnesota Twins first is a blessing. If they want to have any chance against the Astros, they need an opportunity to regain their form.
[metabet_core_side_odds_tile query=”bbm/mlb_winner_al_west” size=”350×300″ site_id=”lastwordonsports”]
AL Central: This is it, Cleveland
The Cleveland Guardians are still trying their best to not fall out of contention for their division. After a 4-3 week, they maintained the 5-game differential, but that was not enough. There is only a month left of the season. Cleveland needs to emerge, and they need to do it now. This week features the Rays and their last series against the Twins. A hard week, but it is their final chance to cover significant ground in the standings. They need to seize it.
As for the Twins, another 4-3 week has kept the Guardians away for now. But they have to put all their focus on this following week. If they can win the series against the Guardians, it will make them a guarantee for the division title. But if they lose to Cleveland, and have a subpar performance against the Rangers, the heat will be back on them. Knowing their playoff performances, Minnesota doesn’t deal well with pressure.
[metabet_core_side_odds_tile query=”bbm/mlb_winner_al_central” size=”350×300″ site_id=”lastwordonsports”]
Playoff Picture
With the Mariners leading the AL West playoffs race, it’s them and the Baltimore Orioles holding the two byes. The eternally underwhelming Twins are the third division leader.
As for the Wild Card, the Rays have a more than comfortable 6.5-game cushion over the Astros and Rangers. On the outside looking in, Toronto is 2.5 games back, hoping for a Rangers collapse. All while the Red Sox sit 6.5 games back, with 4 losses in a row, wondering where it all went wrong.
Main photo credits:
Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports
