Week 17 notes and records

[Rangers GM (Stephen)]

Week 17 notes and records


Division leaders:
- Orioles (#1 AL, #3 overall) *clinched wild card
- Royals (#4 AL, #7 overall) *clinched division
- Rangers (#2 AL, #4 overall) *clinched division
- Marlins (#3 NL, #5 overall) *clinched wild card
- Brewers (#1 NL, #1 overall) *clinched division, clinched bye
- Rockies (#2 NL, #2 overall) *clinched division, clinched bye

Wild Card leaders:
- Rays (#3 AL, #8 overall) *clinched wild card
- Astros (#5 AL, #9 overall) *clinched wild card
- Guardians (#6 AL, #11 overall)
- Braves (#4 NL, #6 overall) *clinched wild card
- Giants (#5 NL, #10 overall)
- Reds (#6 NL, #12 overall)


Races within 10 games:

AL East
----- Orioles
-9.0 Rays

NL East
----- Marlins
-2.0 Braves

AL WC3
+6.0 Astros
----- Guardians
-7.0 Angels
-7.0 Mariners

NL WC3
+9.0 Giants
----- Reds
-0.0 Cardinals
-2.0 Padres
-4.5 Cubs
-5.5 Pirates
-8.5 Nationals
-10.0 Diamondbacks

AL Wildcard Week Bye
+2.5 Orioles
----- Rangers
-6.0 Royals
-6.5 Rays
Note: only one of Orioles and Rays can earn a wildcard bye



Notes:
- One team achieved a 10-0-0 win this week. Congrats to the Braves for whitewashing the Mets. In a week of predominantly one-sided matchups, five teams achieved 9 category wins and a further three teams achieved 8 category wins.
- No division leads changed hands this week. Two division titles are up for grabs in our final week of the regular season.
- The Reds retain the NL WC3 spot by the most slender of margins. They hold the same Win% as the Cardinals, but currently lead them by virtue of the category wins tiebreaker.
- The Brewers have eeked into a 0.5 game lead over the Rockies for the #1 overall spot. Both teams have now clinched a bye through the first round of the playoffs.
- Barring something truly unthinkable in the final week, the NL representative will have homefield advantage in the World Series if either of the Brewers or Rockies make it to the big one.
- If the two teams end tied on identical W-L-T records, the Rockies would win the tiebreaker by virtue of having the higher Win% within their own Division (rule 2.6.4).
- After a second tough showing in a row, the Marlins are now only two games ahead of the Braves for the lead in the NLE. These two teams meet this week to fight it out for the divisional title.
- A modest week for the teams vying for NL WC3 contention saw three additional teams pull to within 10 games of the final NL playoff spot. The Cardinals and Padres may be the the teams to watch as they face the lowly A's and Dodgers respectively. The Reds look to have a tougher task against the Pirates.
- Not a record, but a hat-tip to the Braves for posting a whopping .350 BA across 206 ABs this week. #Hot.
- Fewest wins isn't a negative record category we record, but if it were I imagine that the Rangers achieving 0 wins from 67.2 innings pitched may be in the top 5 if we did.
- All teams met the AB and IP minimums for scoring. I think we could be on for a clean-sweep across the whole season?


Records:
None this week

[Red Sox GM (Nick)]

I’d like to thank Jake McCarthy for his parting gift: 2 SB on Sunday to flip the category and stop the Mighty O’s from shutting out the Low Sox.

[Orioles GM (Andy)]

(Nick, you couldn't have traded him a day earlier?!?!?)

[Red Sox GM (Nick)]

Aug 7, 2023 7:55:32 GMT -5 Orioles GM (Andy) said:

(Nick, you couldn't have traded him a day earlier?!?!?)

Not for lack of trying…

[Rangers GM (Stephen)]

A brief mid-week 18 update...


As things stand:

- Colorado lead 8-2-0 and would claim the #1 overall seed, passing the Brewers who are being held 4-4-2.

- Despite trailing to Tampa Bay 4-6-0, that result would be plenty for Baltimore to claim the ALE title. Tampa need to improve to 9-0-1 or better to hop the O's and steal the division from underneath them.

- The Braves lead the Marlins 6-4-0. This result would tie the teams on Win%, but Braves narrowly would hold the first tiebreaker with most category wins.

- With Texas currently leading 6-3-1, Baltimore and Texas would end tied on Win% and the AL #1 seed would go to tiebreakers. As this exact score combination would see both teams finish on identical records and they didn't face each other in the regular season, the third tiebreaker would be required and would see the Rangers finish on top by virtue of having a higher Win% within their own division.

- Despite trailing 2-8-0 to #1 overall-chasing Rockies, just two category wins is enough for the Giants to mathematically secure the NL WC2 spot.

- It's close for the NL WC3 slot. Reds currently have their noses half a game ahead of the Cardinals, but I imagine the Cardinals will be hoping to improve from 6-2-2 against their lowly-ranked opponents. Padres and Cubs are also still in the mix, but neither look to be mounting a serious challenge as of right now.

- If the Astros retain their 5-4-1 score or improve, that would secure the AL WC2 spot no matter what the chasing Guardians do.

- The Guardians are holding their own against ALC champion Royals, and maintaining the current 4-6-0 scoreline would see them claim the AL WC3. The chasing Angels and Mariners are putting up strong showings this week, but they also face playoff-calibre competition who are above them in the standings so the road ahead is not easy for them.

[Rangers GM (Stephen)]

One day to go!

The Cardinals have pulled ahead of the Reds for NL WC3 and now look favourite to secure the last NL playoff berth.

The Braves and Rangers have improved their positions so that they have slender leads rather than requiring tie-breakers.
These look the most realistic positions to change hands on the final day.

All other situations look to me to remain the same, despite modest changes in the score lines.

[Athletics GM (Daniel)]

The Athletics appreciate the anonymity provided by being referred to as ‘opponents’ rather than by name.

Lots of exciting races, wishing all of you luck in this final day!

[Marlins GM (Dan)]

Aug 13, 2023 5:16:37 GMT -5 Rangers GM (Stephen) said:

One day to go!

The Cardinals have pulled ahead of the Reds for NL WC3 and now look favourite to secure the last NL playoff berth.

The Braves and Rangers have improved their positions so that they have slender leads rather than requiring tie-breakers.
These look the most realistic positions to change hands on the final day.

All other situations look to me to remain the same, despite modest changes in the score lines.

Oh bother...