Why the St. Louis Cardinals Will Win the NL Wild Card

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The St. Louis Cardinals are just a half game out of first place in the NL Wild Card. This team has made last season runs before and can do it again this season.

The Cardinals have struggled as of late, losing their last two games by a combined score of 16-1. However, they are not the team that struggles most out of the three teams in the race.

That would be the San Francisco Giants. The Giants have the worst record in baseball since the MLB All-Star Break ended back in July. If the Cardinals meet up with the Giants in the NL Wild Card game on Oct. 4, the Cardinals could have a good chance at advancing to the NLDS.

Why the New York Mets Will Win the Wild Card

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The last place Atlanta Braves (61-91) who are 27.5 games behind the NL East leading Washington Nationals, just swept the New York Mets in a three-game series this week. New York bounced back the following night against the Philadelphia Phillies, winning 9-8. The Mets were below .500 as recently as mid-August, but went 15-4 between Aug. 20 and Sept. 9. That stretch of play allowed the Mets to climb back into the Wild Card hunt. New York is now 6-6 in their last 12 games. If the Mets had taken care of business against Atlanta, they'd be running away with one of the National League's Wild Card spots.

As of now, though, the Mets find themselves in a three-way tie with the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals for the final two Wild Card spots. The Giants who had the best record in the majors prior to the All-Star break, now have the worst record in the majors since the All-Star game. One of the main reasons for the Giants collapse has been their bullpen, which seems to find ways to lose games, night in and night out.

The Cardinals on the other hand, have found themselves playing .500 baseball. So far in September, the Cardinals are 10-10 despite the fact that they've played the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies and the struggling Giants.

Despite the Mets ability to hit homeruns, they continue to struggle when it comes to scoring runs for the most of the season due to their inability to put runners on base before they hit those homeruns. The injuries to the Mets starting rotation have left them with some not so well known pitchers behind Noah Syndergaard and Bartolo Colon. New York is hoping to get their star lefty, Steven Matz, back from an ailing arm injury, and with their recent reshuffling of their lineup, hope to be heading in a positive direction offensively.

You only have to look at each of the club's schedules in order to determine which two clubs will move on to the Wild Card game.

The Cardinals have one series each remaining against the Reds (63-89), Pirates (76-75) and a Cubs (97-55) team that has already clinched the NL Central. If the Cardinals want to make it to the Wild Card game, they'll have to play much better than .500 baseball.

The Giants face the Padres (64-88) and Rockies (73-79), before they take on the NL West leading Dodgers (86-66) - who will likely have clinched the division by the time that series starts.

The Mets have arguably the easiest schedule of all three teams. With a four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies (69-83), followed by a three-game series with the Miami Marlins (76-76), and a three-game series against the Phillies to close out the season.

Given who the Mets have to play, they're most likely to claim the top Wild Card spot, but advancing past the Wild Card game is a different matter entirely.

Why The San Francisco Giants Will Win the NL Wild Card

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With the Major League Baseball regular season quickly approaching its conclusion, the National League Wild Card race has become a tense, closely contested battle. As of Friday morning, the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants are tied for the lead with matching 81-72 records. Should those positions hold, both teams would both qualify for the one-game wild card playoff and would face each other. Not be left out, the St. Louis Cardinals, sit merely one half-game behind the both of them, one win shy in the victory column, at 80-72.

Since the league is in an even year (2016 for those with other information on their mind), expectations are high for the Giants, who have won the World Series in each of the last two even years, in 2014 and 2012. To keep up the pattern, they will have quite a bit of work ahead of them.

In their last nine games of the season, the Giants have three more games to finish a series in San Diego against the Padres, followed by finishing the season at home with three games against the Colorado Rockies and the last three against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After starting the year 50-31 over the first three months of the season, San Francisco has slowly spiraled downwards. In July, August and September, the Giants have a combined record of 31-41, including a 4-7 stretch in their last 11 games.

Their second half swoon can be attributed to multiple factors, most notably poor hitting. Left fielder Angel Pagan is hitting just .165 in September after going .324 in August. Right fielder Hunter Pence has been consistently around .290 all year, though he missed all of June and July to injury. Second baseman Joe Panik is following an All-Star 2015 campaign (.312 BA, .378 OBP, .833 OPS) with an underwhelming 2016 season (.241, .317, .698), including hitting just .145 in September. First baseman Brandon Belt is at .245 for August and September. 

The pitching staff hasn't been terrific, either. Ace Madison Bumgarner had a relatively abysmal August, with and ERA over 4.00, a WHIP approaching 1.300, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio under three. First-year Giant Johnny Cueto also had a poor August, with a 1-2 record, 4.38 ERA, and 1.243 WHIP. Matt Cain had a horrible July and August, ERAs of 6.39 and 7.24, and WHIPs of 1.421 and 1.829, respectively.

Additionally, the relief pitching has been a disaster all season. Out of 71 save opportunites, the bullpen has blown 30 of them. No other team has more, and of the nine other teams with at least 20, only the Dodgers, Marlins and Mariners are not at least seven games under .500. 

All that being said, all is not lost for the Giants as they finish their season. To this point they have split their season series with the Dodgers and Rockies, and have an advantage over the Padres. Bumgarner and Cueto have returned to stellar form in their most recent starts, and a majority of the lineup have been through the entire postseason experience multiple times, so they are more than ready and comfortable in those pressure situations. The Mets finish the season with their last six games on the road, at Philadelphia and Miami. The Cardinals end with 3 games in Chicago against the Cubs (the best record in the Majors), and then two series against the Reds and Pirates, who the Cardinals have a combined 15-16 record against. 

If the Giants merely hit a little better for the last two weeks, and can manage a few good performances out of the bullpen, they stand a great chance at finishing as one of the wild card teams headed into the playoffs.

From Wet to Dry

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The 2017 MLB season begins in the one of, if not the wettest state in the USA, Florida. The Tampa Bay Rays kick off the season at Tropicana Field against their AL East rival in the New York Yankees. Rain won't be a problem, however, as the Rays play in the only dome stadium in the MLB.

Three hours later, in one of, if not the driest state in the USA, Arizona, the Diamondbacks host their NL West rival in the San Francisco Giants. Fans of the MLB will get views of two totally different climates to kick off the season. 

The Braves Don't Play at SunTrust Park Until April 14

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The Atlanta Braves will be opening their new stadium in 2017. Those who are looking forward to seeing them playing in it will have to put the brakes on. 

The Braves don't play a home game until April 14, almost two weeks after the season begins. Their first game at SunTrust Park will be against the San Diego Padres. The Braves begin their season on the road against the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins. 

2016 Chicago Cubs Playoff Preview

Anthony Rizzo celebrating with fans after clinching a playoff spot in 2015

With what has been one of the most successful and memorable season as a Chicago Cubs fan, October is right around the corner. The Cubs magic number is now down to 3 to clinch the NL Central & lock up that playoff spot. Even with all the pressure on them this season, dating way back to January, that didn't stop them from going out on that field every day and proving themselves. "Never permit the pressure to exceed the pleasure.", as Joe Maddon said it best.

Even being the best team in all of baseball, come October that record goes away and it's a new ball game for that month. Anything can happen. There are a few things the Cubs need to work on and do in October to be successful and have that long curse come to an end.

1. RISP: The Cubs no doubt have the best lineup in all of baseball. Even with Jason Heyward struggling at the plate this whole year, that hasn't stopped the Cubs from putting up a league leading run differential of 227 runs. But I would be lying if I said we always come through in scoring positions. That's been some what of a struggle; not getting those runners across to home. Addison Russell this season has done a tremendous job delivering in big clutch moments. Come October they really need to eliminate the strikeouts with men in scoring position and drive those runs in.

2. Young Struggles: In 2015, the young power hitting stars on this Cubs team had a look at what the post season looked like for the first time. They weren't facing the Atlanta Braves starting rotation, they were & will be facing the top throwers in the league. Just last year Anthony Rizzo batted a .188 while Kris Bryant followed and batted a .176 in the post season. Those two in particular really need to start off hot and carry on what they have done in the regular season to the playoffs. There's no doubt in my mind if they follow through with their MVP like seasons in the post season, This Cubs team will be set offensively.

3. Resting Guys: Joe Maddon has done a tremendous job this season with giving guys rest. The Cubs are so deep within positional players they have the ability to give those every day guys rest. I think a big part of last years NLCS bust was because guys just got worn out. You could see Arrieta becoming human again while pitching. He just got worn out. Well Joe has been giving guys off days regularly and making sure come October his team is rested. Even with going to that 6 man pitching rotation as of late, he is making sure his pitchers aren't over doing anything. That will be KEY moving forward next month.

4. Beating Themselves: The Chicago Cubs record speaks for itself. They are, no doubt, the most complete team and the best team in all of baseball. Their offense is unbelievable & their defense is one of the more underrated things about this team. They have a league leading 75 defensive runs saved as a group. With what the Cubs have done in the past 144 games, it's hard to bet against them in any type of series. They will beat themselves before another team beats them.

This is a team for the ages on the North Side of Chicago. This is a very rare and special year for the players, owners, and all of the fans around the world representing that blue and red. It's going to be a fun post season and hopefully one that will bring the Cubs to a long over due championship. Are you ready, Cubs fans?

Royals Take Series Over Sox

ROYALS WIN 2-0 over the Chicago White Sox and win the series. The Offense scored 2-runs on 2 solo homers by Kendrys Morales in the 2nd and Eric Hosmer in the 6th. Ian Kennedy pitched 6 complete innings of 1 hit baseball giving up 4 walks and recorded 6 strikeouts. The Royals now return home for a 8 game, 2 series home stand starting tomorrow with a 4 game series with the Oakland Athletics. Pitching tomorrow for Oakland is Ross Detwiler and Dillon Gee will pitch for the Royals. The game is scheduled for 6:15. #ForeverRoyal -#RoyalNoah

Kendrys Morales Hits 2 Bombs, Royals Dominate Twins

ROYALS WIN 10-3 over the Minnesota Twins and win game 2 of the series. The Royals scored 10 runs on 10 hits including a 2-run homer by Kendrys Morales to get the Royals on the board early in the 1st and another one, this time a 3-run jack by KMO putting the exclamation point on the game in the 9th. Dillon Gee pitched 6 complete innings giving up 3 runs on 8 hits, 0 walks and 3 strikeouts. Pitching the final game of the series tomorrow for Minnesota is Kyle Gibson and Danny Duffy will pitch. The game is scheduled for 7:10 at Target Field. #ForeverRoyal -#RoyalNoah

Royals Hit 2 Bombs In Minnesota

ROYALS WIN 11-5 over the Minnesota Twins and win game 1 of the series. The offense scored 11 runs on 16 hits highlighted by a pair of 3-run homers by Kendrys Morales and Eric Hosmer. Ian Kennedy pitched 5.1 innings giving up 4 runs on 9 hits, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. Pitching game 2 tomorrow for the Twins is Ervin Santana and Dillon Gee will pitch for the Royals. The game is scheduled for 7:10 at Target Field. #ForeverRoyal -#RoyalNoah