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The 2026 Texas Rangers currently sit at 76-77 on the season, with nine games to go.

Most years, a team in this situation would either have been eliminated or would be on the verge of elimination, would be simply playing out the string or hoping for a miracle.

In the wild and wacky world of the American League in 2026, however, the Rangers are still legitimately in contention for a playoff spot.

They aren’t favorites, to be clear. Currently, Fangraphs gives the Rangers a 32.9% chance of making the playoffs, including a 21.8% chance of winning the division.

Those aren’t great odds. But if we think about it from a baseball perspective, its not exactly a long shot, either. Joc Pederson and Ezequiel Duran each have a .329 OBP this year, so we can think of the Rangers’ playoff chances as being more or less the same as Duran or Pederson getting on base in any given plate appearance this year.

The teams that the Rangers are fighting with to make the playoffs, with their Fangraphs playoff odds, are:

Houston Astros— 81.0% playoff odds

The hated Astros.

Currently sporting a 77-76 record, one game up on the Rangers, and holding the tiebreaker, so effectively two games up.

Fangraphs gives the Astros a 77.8% chance of winning the division,* and a 3.2% chance of getting the third Wild Card berth. Basically, if the Astros don’t do well enough in their final nine games to stay ahead of the Rangers, they probably aren’t going to do well enough to earn a Wild Card berth. That being said, if Astros were to win the division and the Rangers win the Wild Card, or vice versa, the two teams would almost certainly face each other in the Wild Card Round,** which would be exciting.

* The Mariners, currently 71-82, have a 0.4% chance of winning the American League West, an eventuality that none of us want to think about.

** The first two Wild Card spots will almost certainly be filled by the Yankees (88-64) and the Red Sox (83-70), unless the Rays (93-59) completely collapse and get passed by the Yankees. Regardless, the top two Wild Card teams are almost certainly going to be the second and third place finishers in the American League East, and as the #3 and #4 seeds they will play each other in the other American League Wild Card series.Thus, the team that gets the third Wild Card will end up playing whoever has the worse record between the A.L. West champ and the A.L. Central champ, with the team with the better record, as well as the A.L. East champs, getting a bye.

The Astros were in much better shape a week ago, before they got swept by the Rays in Tampa. Like the Rangers, this week they won two out of three at home, though the Astros were facing a weaker opponent in the Royals.

Chicago White Sox— 80.7% playoff odds

What a great story! The Cinderella team of 2026, coming off three straight 100 loss seasons, currently 78-75, tied for first in the A.L. Central. Chicago has led the American League Central for most of the second half despite everyone waiting for them to fade.

The problem is that the White Sox are kinda starting to fade. They were 2.5 up in the division after beating the Twins on September 6. They’ve gone 3-7 in ten games since then, including getting swept at home by the Pirates, though a 3-1 win against Detroit on Thursday may have righted the ship. The White Sox currently are given a 51.0% chance of winning the A.L. Central, and a 29.4% chance of claiming a Wild Card spot.

Cleveland Guardians — 77.1% playoff odds

Cleveland has won the A.L. Central three of the past four seasons, including chasing down a Detroit Tiger team last season that was up as many as 11.5 games in the division in late August. When the Tigers* ended up going into sell mode a couple of months ago, Cleveland was the team expected to inherit the A.L. Central lead when the ChiSox turned back into a pumpkin.

* The Tigers have a +74 run differential — fourth best in the American League — and are 72-81. The Rays have a +80 run differential and are 93-59. Baseball isn’t always fair.

The Guardians just keep plugging along, having just won two of three at home against Chicago, though the White Sox own the tiebreaker over Cleveland. Fangraphs has them with a 49% chance of winning the division and a 28.1% chance of earning the Wild Card.

Toronto Blue Jays — 23.8% playoff odds

Last year’s A.L. champs have not built on their 2025 success, and are sporting a 76-77 record. This is largely due to an underachieving offense with the best OPS+ among the regulars coming from third baseman Kaz Okamoto, with a 110 OPS+. George Springer (104) is the only other Blue Jay with at least 300 plate appearances to have an OPS+ over 100. Vlad Guerrero Jr. has a 92 OPS+ on the season and just nine home runs. He had his first home run at home this season less than a week ago. Its weird.

Still, Toronto has hung around, and after bottoming out at 49-59 in late July, they’ve won 27 of 45, including 11 of their last 17.

Baltimore Orioles — 4.5% playoff odds

At 75-78, the Orioles are just one back of Texas and Toronto, despite having gone into sell mode at the deadline. Their path to a potential playoff berth is a narrow one, but there is a path.

So what lies ahead for these six teams that are battling for playoff spots?

Texas plays three games at home against the Blue Jays, the team they are tied with in the Wild Card race, this weekend. After an off day Monday, the Rangers play three at home against the Mets, then finish out the season with three in Minnesota.

Texas holds the tiebreaker against Cleveland, Baltimore and Toronto, but would lose a tiebreaker against the White Sox or Astros.

The Rangers need to win at least two of three against Toronto to feel good about things heading into the final week. That would give the Rangers effectively a two game edge over Toronto in the Wild Card race, and at least a one game edge over Baltimore even if Baltimore sweeps this weekend, due to the tiebreakers. Losing two of three puts the Rangers behind Toronto by a game, and also likely means, at best, treading water relative to Houston and the A.L. Central teams, and likely losing ground they can’t afford to lose. I’d expect Skip Schumaker to manage the next three games like a playoff series.

The Rangers have Kumar Rocker going up against Dylan Cease Friday night, Cal Quantrill versus Jose Soriano on Saturday, and Jacob deGrom going Sunday, with the Jays’ starter yet to be determined. The Friday matchup is the worst one for the Rangers, though the heavy bullpen usage on Thursday means that the Rangers may ask Rocker to wear it if they get down significantly early, or have Trevor Williams eat innings to save the rest of the bullpen. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Robby Ahlstrom was sent down so the Rangers could bring up Winston Santos, who last threw 36 pitches on Sunday for Round Rock, as a length guy to be used in case of a blowout.

If the Rangers can win at least two of three, they should be in a relatively good place for the final week. I would expect Nathan Eovaldi, who says that after Wednesday’s four inning outing he’s ready to move back into the starting rotation, to start Tuesday’s opener against the Mets and, if the game matters, the season finale against the Twins, with deGrom most likely pitching the opener in Minnesota on Friday.

Houston finishes out their season with three at home this weekend against Atlanta, an off day on Monday, two games in Seattle, and then a four game set in Sacramento against the A’s. Atlanta hasn’t clinched the N.L. East mathematically yet, but up four on the Phillies and with the tiebreaker in hand, and with the likelihood of passing the Brewers or Dodgers to earn a first round bye remote, the Braves don’t have a ton to play for.

In the opener, Houston has Peter Lambert going up against our old friend Tyler Mahle (who has been surprisingly effective since being traded to the Braves, putting up a 1.25 ERA in 43 innings over 7 starts) in the opener, Hayden Wesneski facing Grant Holmes on Saturday, and then Hunter Brown going against our other old friend Martin Perez on Sunday. The Braves are narrow favorites on Friday, with Saturday’s game likely being a pick ‘em or the Braves as slight favorites. Other than a hiccup a couple of starts ago, Brown has been outstanding of late, and Houston is probably going to be a significant favorite in that matchup.

As for the Seattle and Sacramento series, the reflexive reaction is to say, well, Seattle and the A’s are terrible and are playing out the string, so Houston will go at least 5-1. I will note, however, that Houston has a losing record against both of those teams this season, including a 2-9 record against Seattle. The Rangers went 2-5 in Anaheim and Sacramento last month in a series we thought we could clean up in, and just lost 2 of 3 in Seattle. You may say, well, yeah, but that’s because we’re the Rangers and they are the Astros, but I’m going to tell you a secret…the Astros aren’t any better than the Rangers right now. And the A’s actually have a winning record this month, including winning a series in Toronto.

Houston will be without Carlos Correa the rest of the season, which is a blow for them, as he is one of just six players who have appeared for the Astros this season with an OPS+ over 100 (one of those six is Nick Allen). Yordan Alvarez has been an MVP caliber performer this year, Jeremy Pena is raking, Isaac Paredes has been quite good, but there have been problems elsewhere in the lineup, and their bullpen, outside of Josh Hader, has been shaky.

The White Sox played Detroit on Thursday and have three more against them at home this weekend before an off day on Monday, followed by three in Kansas City and three at home against the Rockies. The White Sox rotation is a bit unsettled, with Luis Castillo, acquired from the Mariners at the deadline, being moved to the pen in favor of 25 year old rookie David Sandlin, who has a 5.64 ERA and 5.04 FIP this season. If Chicago can take two of three against Detroit, they should be in good shape with their weak opponents the final week, though their Three True Outcome-oriented offense has cooled of late.

Because they have the tiebreaker over Texas, the Rangers really need the White Sox to either be very good or very bad at this point. If the White Sox are very good, it makes it more likely they win the division over Cleveland. Since Texas has the tiebreaker over Cleveland, we’d rather see Chicago win the division than the Guardians. Alternatively, if the White Sox go into a tail spin and finish, say, 2-7, that puts the Rangers in a better position to pass them in the Wild Card race and not have to worry about the tiebreaker.

Cleveland has three games at home against the A’s this weekend, an off day on Monday, then three games in Boston before finishing the season with three games in Kansas City. The Guardians figure to be heavy favorites in all three games this weekend, and a sweep would put them in a very strong position for the final week, even with having to face a very good Boston team (albeit one that will not have much to play for) at Fenway.

Something to be aware of — if the White Sox, Guardians and Rangers all finished with the same record, and tiebreakers between the teams would determine both the A.L. Central and the third Wild Card spot, the White Sox would be named division winners by virtue of having won the season series against Cleveland. Then the tiebreaker would be applied to the Guardians and Rangers, in which case the Rangers would get the third Wild Card spot since they also won their season series against Cleveland.

Cleveland also lost their season series to Houston, so they’d lose out to the Astros should the two of them tie for the third Wild Card spot. The only contender they have the tiebreaker advantage over is Baltimore, which is the team they’d be least likely to be tied with, I think.

Toronto, as discussed above, plays Texas this weekend in Arlington, and unless there’s much stumbling from the other contenders as well this weekend, whoever loses that series will likely be, if not mathematically eliminated, needing a Hail Mary to make the postseason.

Toronto then plays three in Baltimore Monday through Wednesday, is off Thursday, and finishes the season at home against Cincinnati. Toronto holds the tiebreaker advantage over Baltimore and Cleveland, lost their season series to Texas and the White Sox, and split their series with Houston, as far as potential Wild Card tiebreaker scenarios go.

Baltimore is three games back, making them a very long shot right now. They currently hold the tiebreaker advantage over Houston and the White Sox, with Texas and Cleveland holding the tiebreaker advantage over the O’s. The Jays would have the tiebreaker advantage over Baltimore unless the Orioles sweep the Jays next week.

The Orioles have three games at home this weekend against the Brewers, play Toronto Monday to Wednesday at home as discussed above, then play three at Yankee Stadium to finish out the season, making theirs the most difficult schedule of the remaining teams.

Got all that? Good. Hopefully, we’ll have reason to re-visit and update all this Monday morning.

Last week, I wrote about Cam Schlittler’s outside case to be AL MVP. Many outlets have since followed my lead, which tickles the old ego, but really the fallout from that story has been more personal. I always try to be someone that is open to changing his mind, open to new information leading to a new belief or value. Thinking about the season Cam’s had, and his potential to receive MVP, has me embracing a new value. I’m breaking up with fWAR.

FanGraphs WAR has been, to this point, the gold standard of single statistics; if you could only have one, it was the one I’d want. Including Statcast’s defensive metrics for position players was critical for me — it’s the best measure we have for something as complex as defense, so including it in the equation is critical. Basing pitcher value on a FIP basis mattered; it’s the best counter of what a pitcher is actually responsible for, and unlike the conventional Internet narrative, FIP does measure what actually happened. It measures your performance based on strikeouts, walks and home runs. Those things happened!

But Cam Schlittler has a 1.95 ERA, and bWAR starts by taking runs allowed and working backwards from there. By that metric, Cam is the third-best player in all of baseball, second-best pitcher behind Cristopher Sánchez, more than a full win ahead of those immoral hurlers Jacob Misiorowski and Dylan Cease.

Take Cam’s last three starts, this madcap September where he’s worked 21.0 innings. Yes they’ve come against the Angels, Rockies and Mets but I don’t care about that right now, I care about the 0.86 ERA in that stretch. Those three outings have built some distance between himself and Cease for the Cy Young award, but here’s the thing with FIP. Cam’s so good down the stretch that the only thing that can really get in his way is Cam himself — the sometimes-questionable Yankee defense can’t let him down if he strikes out 32 percent of men he faces.

Still, the two home runs and two walks means Schlittler’s FIP over those three starts is 2.05. Now 2.05 is an excellent FIP, Bob Gibson himself had only one season with a FIP lower than that. Still, back-of-the-envelope math tells us that 0.86 is better than 2.05, and has contributed to more of Cam’s bWAR lead than his fWAR lead.

They say it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, but I don’t even feel like I’m losing anything. bWAR captures perhaps the most important thing about a singular Yankee season, that Cam Schlittler is the best pitcher in the AL and just a hair off the best pitcher in the game itself. fWAR is dead, long live bWAR.

There are times in a game when a manager must make a decision. The first one comes prior the game when he makes his rounds around the roster, determining the batting order and defensive alignment for the game. Is Kyle Schwarber going to be DHing today or will help be more useful grabbing his first baseman’s mitt and giving Alec Bohm a day off? Is this the day where Edmundo Sosa gets onto the field as a substitute for one of the infielders? This is one of the first of many that Don Mattingly has to make.

The next few are more inconsequential. What will he eat, which non uniform top will he wear in the dugout, simple, tedious decisions that really have no bearing on the game outside of whatever superstition he has about what lies ahead. He’ll know the starting pitcher well ahead of time, so that’s really nothing that needs to concern him outside of a possible need to scratch the starter due to injury.

One other thing that might be on his pregame checklist is a rundown of the bullpen members to determine who is available for the evening and who is down. Should one of those relievers throw for two or more consecutive games, chances are that he is not going to pitch the game that night. Rob Thomson had his own faults about him when it came to the actual managing of a baseball game, but his ability to back off of relievers when he had to and push when necessary was one of his strengths.

Mattingly is a near butcher when it comes to his bullpen. Not so much of his usage of any one pitcher in particular. This day and age of available data and information about each and every little thing about a player’s health dictates that they be smart about who is to be used on a given day and who is not. Gone are the days of Joe Torre signaling for Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton every day in order to get out of jams. Instead, the manager of today’s game needs to make sure that he is using all members of his bullpen in order to maneuver the 27 outs he needs to accrue to win a game.

The way in which Mattingly has put wear and tear on the members of his bullpen is different. There isn’t any kind of statistic to track this, but rather more of a hunch and feeling that there is no manager in today’s game that gets his relievers warmed up only to not use them in a game more often than what Don Mattingly does. It’s not something that is just limited to one person noting it, it’s something that other people closer to the team have seen.

The Phillies have run their bullpen in a different way since Mattingly became interim manager in late April. Anecdotally, they have warmed up more relievers this season without using them in a game. Several of the team’s relievers attested to that dynamic but downplayed it. No one will blame the bullpen’s inconsistent performances on how it’s been managed.

But it’s worth wondering about.

I’m sure the players are going to downplay it now since the season is ongoing and no one wants to rock the boat, but constantly seeing someone warming in the bullpen, only to see them not appear in a game, it has to start to wear on a pitcher. It’s not the same as actual game usage as there is less stress in just warming up. However, it’s still a pitcher throwing and it’s still his getting used to pitching in live action. This late in the season, it looks like it is starting to cost the team dearly.

Jonathan Bowlan has struggled lately. Giving up runs in his previous four games prior to pitching on Thursday evening, his insertion into a tight game was somewhat surprising given the need for the Phillies to take the game. What was even more surprising was that Mattingly had Alex McFarlane warming up in the seventh inning, ready to come in if Aaron Nola ran into trouble. Since that trouble never arrived, McFarlane was then sat down in favor of Bowlan. However, as he continued through the eighth inning, Bowlan ended up needing to leave due to a groin injury. Tim Mayza finished the inning before Jhoan Duran finished the game, meaning McFarlane was heated up once again, only to not be used.

How often has this happened in the season under the watch of Don Mattingly?

Bowlan was someone he did this to earlier in the year. As one of the more reliable members of the bullpen for much of the season, he started gaining more and more chances to pitch in higher leverage situations. Therefore, he was warmed up again and again. Now, as the season winds down and Bowlan starts to lose steam, one has to wonder if the combination between his actual appearances on the mound this year and the number of times that he has been warmed up to not be actually used in the game (the baseball term for this is “dry humping”, but we will use a little more tact) has to be connected to his late season struggles. True, he’s never thrown this many innings in a season before, innings that have increasingly gone up in stress, but his manager has not helped him at all by continually making him throw even if he wasn’t going to appear in a game.

As previously stated, one of Rob Thomson’s strengths was that if a pitcher was down in his bullpen, he was down. He wasn’t going to pitch in the game, he wasn’t going to warm up, nothing. Once the Phillies were in the playoffs, the relievers looked fresher and more ready to perform when called upon. That has rarely, if ever, been the case under Mattingly. What we’re seeing instead is pitchers starting to get pushed to an extreme they have not been ready for. We can see that there are really only four, maybe five pitchers that Mattingly trusts – Duran, Bowlan, McFarlane, Jose Alvarado and maybe Tim Mayza. Constantly getting those guys up only to not use them in a game is not giving them the recovery time that they require. Other arms are going to have to step up and deliver as the season winds to a close.

Therein lies the rub. Mattingly only has a bit of trust in those five relievers, the other five of the staff be damned. Should he continue warming up and using the same guys, he’s going to have a problem getting to October baseball, let alone winning anything there. There is also the danger of pushing these guys closer to injury than they maybe would have if they were used in a more proper manner. Was the injury to Bowlan something that could have been avoided, letting his body heal properly by avoiding his getting heated up when he wasn’t going to come into a game in the first place? We’ll never know.

But please, Donnie.

There are important games coming.

Stop killing the relievers anymore than you already have.

The Washington Nationals will head to St. Louis for a three-game weekend series after splitting a short two-game set against the Philadelphia Phillies. Washington took the opener 6-3 behind a pinch-hit three-run home run from Daylen Lile, but the offense went quiet in Wednesday’s 3-0 loss. The Nationals enter the weekend at 71-82 and have officially secured their seventh straight losing season, but they have still won four of their last five games after sweeping the Angels and splitting with Philadelphia.

The Cardinals enter the series at 75-78 and sit fourth in the NL Central. St. Louis is a game away from being eliminated from playoff contention and is coming off a series loss to the San Francisco Giants. However, the Cardinals have plenty of young talent worth watching, including Jordan Walker, JJ Wetherholt, and rookie catcher Leo Bernal. Alec Burleson has been the biggest threat in the lineup, leading the National League with 109 RBIs, while Wetherholt recently returned from the injured list. With both teams looking toward 2027, this series will give several young players another opportunity to make an impression before the season comes to an end.

Game One – Friday, 8:15 PM ET

WSH: Cade Cavalli, RHP (12-5, 3.12 ERA)

Cavalli will take the mound for the Nationals in the series opener after another strong outing against the Angels. He allowed two runs on three hits over six innings while striking out nine, keeping Washington in the game before the offense rallied late for a 4-3 win. Cavalli has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 29 of his 31 starts this season and has established himself as the clear ace of the Nationals’ rotation.

STL: Kyle Leahy, RHP (10-4, 3.33 ERA)

Leahy will make his second straight shortened start as the Cardinals continue to manage his workload late in the season. He threw three scoreless innings against the White Sox in his last appearance, allowing two hits and striking out four without issuing a walk. Leahy has been one of St. Louis’ most consistent pitchers this season, but the Nationals should see the Cardinals’ bullpen early in the series opener.

Game Two – Saturday, 7:15 PM ET

WSH: Andrew Alvarez, LHP (2-6, 3.35 ERA)

Alvarez is coming off the best start of his young major league career. The left-hander held the Angels scoreless over seven innings, allowing only one hit while striking out a career-high eight. Alvarez has quietly become one of the Nationals’ most reliable starters, posting a 2.44 ERA over his last eight outings and making a strong case for a spot in the 2027 rotation.

STL: Michael McGreevy, RHP (7-9, 3.83 ERA)

McGreevy earned the win in his last start after holding the White Sox to one run over six innings. The right-hander has settled into the Cardinals’ rotation after an inconsistent start to the season and will look to build off one of his better recent outings. Washington will need to do a better job cashing in on its opportunities after being shut out and leaving seven runners on base Wednesday night.

Game Three – Sunday, 2:15 PM ET

WSH: Jake Irvin, RHP (2-9, 5.51 ERA)

Irvin will return to the mound after allowing three runs on eight hits and two walks over 5⅔ innings against the Padres in his last start. The right-hander has struggled to find consistency this season, but he will look to finish the year on a positive note with a strong performance in the series finale.

STL: Quinn Mathews, LHP (2-3, 3.62 ERA)

Mathews is lined up to start the finale after delivering the best outing of his young career against the Giants. The rookie left-hander allowed one run on four hits across 6⅔ innings while striking out a career-high eight. Mathews did not allow his first hit until the sixth inning and has quickly become one of the most interesting young arms in the Cardinals’ rotation.

We have a three game series with the Rangers starting tonight.

The Jays (and Rangers) are two games back of the last Wild Card spot held by the Guardians (who are tied with the White Sox for the top of the AL West, so catching with either would work, though the White Sox hold the tiebreaker over the Jays, where the Jays hold the tiebreaker with the Guardians). The Jays also have to finish ahead of the Rangers.

Starting pitchers:

• Tonight, 8:00 Eastern: Dylan Cease (11-5, 2.38) vs Kumar Rocker (5-11, 4.54).
• Saturday, 7:00 Eastern: José Soriano (12-7, 3.56) vs Cal Quantrill (9-5, 2.90).
• Sunday, 2:30 Eastern: TBD, some sort of bullpen day with Spencer Arrighetti (8-9, 4.91) vs. Jacob deGrom (11-9, 3.79).

I’m still not a fan of bullpen days.

The Rangers are 11th in the AL in runs per game at 4.17 (Jays are last at 4.05).

And the Rangers are also 11th in the AL in runs allowed per game at 4.30 (Jays are 6th at 3.92).

The Rangers are 8-7 in September and are just off a four-game win streak (they lost yesterday to the Red Sox).

Unlike the Tigers, the Rangers record (76-77) is much better than than Pythagorean record (72-81).

Tigers top hitters:

• Ezequiel Durán, who has played every position other than catcher, this year, hitting .268/.329/.436 with 17 home runs, 43 walks and 131 k with a 4.4 bWAR. He’s an excellent defensive player at short and second.
• Corey Seager, SS. .234/.325/.434 with 18 home runs, 44 walks and 92 strikeouts, 3.1 bWAR.
• Jake Burger, 1B. .233/.305/.424 with 26 home runs, 52 walks and 156 strikeouts, 2.0 bWAR.
• Josh Jung, 3B. .298/.361/.449 with 10 home runs, 33 walks and 73 strikeouts, 1.8 bWAR.
• Joc Pederson, DH. .235/.329/.487 with 26 home runs, 49 walks and 102 strikeouts, 1.7 bWAR.

Bullpen:

• Jacob Latz: 2.11 ERA, 30 saves, 4 blown. Batters are hitting .146/.218/.270 against him.
• Tyler Alexander: 3.33, 4 saves, 2 blown, 13 holds. Batters are hitting .254/.315/.338 against him.
• Jakob Junis: 3.66 ERA, 6 saves, 2 blown, 18 holds. Batters are hitting .244/.309/.338 against him.
• Robby Ahlstrom: A lefty. 6.08, 7 holds, 1 blown. Batters are hitting .264/.346/.465 against him.

The Jays, pretty much, have to win this series, if they are going to make the playoffs.

The magic numbers for the Atlanta Braves are starting to get lower and lower now that we’re entering the final portion of the regular season. As far clinching Atlanta’s first Postseason bid since 2024 and their eighth playoff appearance in the past nine seasons, the math is as simple as it gets. The Braves get in here on Friday, September 18 with either:

• A win over the Astros, OR
• A Diamondbacks loss

That’s it. Just one of those things need to happen and the Braves will be sharing firm handshakes and pats on the back by the end of the night. As far as the division goes, there’s still some work needed to be done. The Phillies beat the Mets on Thursday night to kick off a four-game series so the magic number for the division is still at five. The tiebreaker and the calendar is on Atlanta’s side here, so a win on Friday night for the Braves would still go a long way.

Depending on the 2026 Mets is a fool’s errand but let’s just play it out. If the Mets can get a split while the Braves avoid getting swept then Atlanta’s going to be coming back home with a shot to clinch the division against the Cincinnati Reds. If the Phillies really trip up and lose three straight while the Braves take the series in Houston then the champagne could be popping in H-Town. The latter scenario is currently the only way that the Braves can end up clinching in Houston. I am not a doomer so I’m not going to entertain the doomsday scenarios so you can do that on your own.

I think we’d all prefer to see this end as early as possible but if I had to guess, we’ll probably see this race come to an end in Cobb County against the Reds. That’s still just a guess. I don’t think anybody would like to see this race end up heading into the final weekend with the Braves having to get something against a Marlins team that would likely relish being able to play the role of spoiler for their regular tormentors from Georgia while the Phillies would be getting a Rays team that would likely already have both the division and their seeding wrapped up by then.

So yeah, hopefully this all gets taken care of much sooner rather than later so Atlanta can ultimately turn their focus onto which minefield they’ll have to navigate in the Wild Card round between the Padres, Cubs and maybe even the Phillies. Again, both the tiebreaker and the calendar is on Atlanta’s side so this should get taken care of sooner rather than later. We’ll see what happens.