We are officially entering the final month of regular season play in MLB.
That means all the ongoing divisional and Wild Card races will be decided in a matter of weeks.
The league’s official Twitter account highlighted all these races in a recent tweet.
“The chase is on. Welcome to #SeptemberBaseball!” it says, with a flag and players from the teams currently in contention pictured, as well.
The chase is on.
Welcome to #SeptemberBaseball! pic.twitter.com/KHHmi4ZzrB
— MLB (@MLB) September 1, 2022
16 teams are represented in the picture, and only 12 will make the postseason.
The Playoff Picture
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros have the best record in the National and the American League, respectively.
As of Thursday afternoon, the New York Yankees and the New York Mets are the remaining teams with a first-round bye: all four squads will enter play at the Division Series round, bypassing the Wild Card round, if the season ended today.
As of today, the Cleveland Guardians, the Seattle Mariners, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Toronto Blue Jays would be the remaining four playoff teams in the junior circuit.
In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Atlanta Braves, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the San Diego Padres are also in as things stand.
But the Milwaukee Brewers remain in the race, as do the Minnesota Twins, the Chicago White Sox, and the Baltimore Orioles.
There you have it: 16 of the 30 teams remain hopeful of making it into October.
They all have a realistic chance, although the Brewers and White Sox would need to win a lot in September to enhance their chances.
The surprising Orioles are just two games out of a playoff spot, which seemed implausible before the season started.
Anything can happen: welcome to the stretch run!
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