MLB Wild Card Standings: Orioles, Red Sox, Indians in tight AL race
Six weeks into the season, the MLB Wild Card races are heating up – especially in the American League with the Orioles, Red Sox and Indians jockeying for position.
The Baltimore Orioles have made a habit of over performing their preseason projections. Two of the titans in the industry, Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs, both expected the Orioles to miss the postseason in 2017. However, the O’s jumped out to a hot 7-2 start, improved to 12-4 in mid April, and sat atop the AL East May 9 with a 22-10 record after walking off with a 5-4 victory over the NL East leading Washington Nationals.
Of course, after that dramatic victory in Baltimore, the Orioles have lost four in a row on the road – one in Washington and three in Kansas City of all places. Given the early season success the New York Yankees have had, the Orioles slipped back into second place by the end of the weekend.
The Boston Red Sox, considered the AL East preseason favorite according to Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, Las Vegas odds makers and nearly everyone else that cared to make a prediction, sit in third place in the division. But, like the Orioles, the Red Sox are still in a the mix for a Wild Card position, and have an opportunity to improve their standing because of Cy Young candidate Chris Sale and reigning AL Player of the Week Mookie Betts, and eventually David Price, who has been sidelined since the beginning of spring training.
How do the complete MLB Wild Card standings look? We explore tight races in both the AL and NL.
American League Division Leaders
AL East
New York Yankees (22-13, .629)
There isn’t a more explosive offense in the American League to this point in the season. The Yankees were the first AL club to reach 200 runs thanks in large part to Aaron Judge’s 14 home runs and 29 RBI, Starlin Castro’s .338/.373/.531 slash that includes seven homers and 25 RBI. New York has also benefitted from strong starts by Aaron Hicks, DiDi Gregorius, Brett Gardner and Matt Holliday.
On the mound, Michael Pineda and Luis Severino have been the most consistent starters, and the bullpen is fantastic. However, the recent loss of Aroldis Chapman to injury hurts.
AL Central
Minnesota Twins (19-15, .559)
Ervin Santana is 6-1 with a 1.50 ERA in eight starts this season, making him the shining star of an otherwise mediocre (borderline bad) pitching staff. Jose Berrios’ season debut (one earned runs on two hits in 7.2 innings Saturday) was a great sign.
The Twins have turned their defense around, and though Byron Buxton has continued to struggle at the plate, he’s a web gem waiting to happen in center. The addition of catcher Jason Castro has also helped the pitching staff. Miguel Sano leads the team in most offensive categories, including all three slash stats – .297/.439/.667 – as well as 10 home runs and 30 RBI.
AL West
Houston Astros (27-12, .692)
The Astros picked up their seventh win in eight games, and their 12th in 15 contests, Monday against the Marlins. Houston has a deep, talented lineup in which Marwin Gonzalez and George Springer share the team lead with nine home runs and 10 players are already in double digits in RBI (including four with 20-plus). Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers, Jr. and reliever Chris Devenski are all worthy of Cy Young chatter.