NL Playoff Rundown

The remaining weeks left in the 2008 MLB regular season will be a fight to the finish. The NL East is shaping up to be another battle that will go down to the final days of the regular season. The Chicago Cubs secured home field advantage throughout the playoffs with their 9-5 win over the Mets on Monday. The Cubs are now 34 games over .500 and will be interested observers in the race. If the Mets are the wild card they will face the Cubs. If the Brewers are the wild card, the Cubs will face the NL West champ, most likely the LA Dodgers.

NL East: The Mets are in danger of a second straight late-season collapse. While it may be premature to say the Phillies have locked up the NL East, the Mets certainly aren’t playing with the intensity needed to win the division crown. The Phillies are 10-2 in their last 12 games and have scored 68 runs over that span. The Phillies bats are looking alive and their bullpen is one of the tops in the league. The Phillies finish off the season with Atlanta and Washington. The Phillies have combined to go 23-8 versus these two opponents, with an impressive 14-2 record versus Atlanta alone. The Phillies are healthy and motivated; the Phillies should win the NL East.

NL West: The LA Dodgers have been in first place in the NL West for most of September. Arizona is 3 games back of the Dodgers and if they do not put up a fight for the division they will not have a chance at making the post season since they are out of reach from the wild card. The Dodgers posted a 10-1 record from September 1st - 13th which helped them stay at the top of the West. Manny Ramirez has surely sparked the team from an offensive perspective. Since acquiring Manny from Boston, LA increased its offensive productivity from batting .250 in July to making contact with the ball for a .280 BA in August. Manny’s playoff experience is a bonus for Joe Torre and the Dodgers. With Dan Haren (16-8), Brandon Webb (22-7) and Randy Johnson (10-9) taking the mound in the upcoming days for Arizona, the Diamondbacks will need their aces to help keep them in the race. Although Arizona will put the heat on LA, the Dodgers should secure a playoff position by winning the NL West.

Wild Card: Many fans would like to see Milwaukee squeeze into the post season. With Ben Sheets out due to an ailing elbow and the firing of Ned Yost, the Brewers chances do not look good. The Mets currently sit 1 game up on the Brewers and appear to have a better chance of clinching the wild card birth. With the Brewers faltering and the Mets collapse, whoever secures the wild card will inevitably lose in the NLDS. We like the Mets to win the wild card but don’t expect them to make magic happen in the playoffs.

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Tags: Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Mets, NL East, NL Playoffs, NL West, Phillies, Wild Card

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 12:35 pm and is filed under MLB Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

NL Playoff Rundown

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