The race for the MLB Wild Cards is an extremely exciting one.
The league announced, as part of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), that six teams will make the playoffs in each league.
The new format has the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds getting a bye, while No. 3 seed will host the No. 6 seed in a best-of-three series.
The same will happen between the No. 4 and No. 5 seed (the owner of the best record in the regular season will host the mini series).
Two teams that appeared out of the playoff picture a month ago are now making a push to secure their places among the contenders: the Baltimore Orioles and the Seattle Mariners.
The two hottest teams in the AL are the Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles.
What a time to be alive.
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) July 10, 2022
The Mariners finished with a 90-72 record last year and got to the last weekend with chances of securing a Wild Card spot.
The Orioles, though?
Talk about a shocking development.
The O’s And M’s Can’t Be Beat
Both teams are working on eight-game winning streaks.
Did you have the Orioles as candidates to win eight games in a row in 2022?
Don’t lie!
In any case, they are letting the kids play and develop, and they have been so good that they are now knocking on .500’s door, at 43-44.
Austin Hays, Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins, Trey Mancini, Adley Rutschman, Anthony Santander… they actually have quite a decent offense.
And their pitchers have been surprisingly good.
As for the Mariners, they are already over .500 (45-42) after a few ugly weeks.
They were fourth in the AL West at one point: now, they are second and looking very much like a playoff team.
Julio Rodriguez is doing the heavy lifting, but he has found some help, too.
For MLB, it’s amazing to have new actors in a postseason race.
Hopefully, at least one of them makes it.
NEXT: Julio Rodriguez Shares A Message Following His All-Star Nod