With the Braves having a down year and Fantasy Baseball Championships ending, I’ve grown increasingly interested in seeing how the remaining teams finish the season and who can clinch the final Wild Card Slots.
The regular season ends 9/28 with teams having about 12 games remaining. So that leaves about 4 teams outside of the final 3 wild card slots with a legitimate chance to make it. I left off the Miami Marlins since they are 7.0 games back and virtually are eliminated even though mathematically still alive at this moment.
NL Wild Card Standings – 9/16
- New York Mets – After snapping an 8-game losing streak on Sunday, the Mets play the Padres and Cubs for 6 of their final 12 games. With 4 clubs within striking distance, the Mets will have to take care of business against the Nats and Marlins to have a shot at staying in the race.
- Arizona Diamondbacks – with the Hardest remaining schedule left, Arizona will need to take on 4 teams who are either playoff bound or in the hunt. 6 games against the Phillies and Dodgers, and 6 against the Giants (currently 1-0) and 3 @ SD.
- Cincinnati Reds – with a fully healthy rotation the Reds will be a tough out down the stretch. They 2 remaining games against Cardinals (currently 1-0), 4 against the Cubs, 3 vs the Pirates, and 3 to finish it off against the Brewers.
- San Francisco Giants -San Francisco called up their #1 prospect Bryce Eldridge to try add some power to the lineup down the stretch. The rotation is missing 2 arms but with enough power they may be able to sneak into the playoffs. 2 remaining games left against the Diamondbacks (currently 0-1), 4 against the Dodgers, 3 vs the Cardinals, and 3 against the Rockies. Ending against the Rockies will be favorable and maybe a way for them to sneak in to the final spot if they can stay within 1.5 by the final weekend.
- St. Louis Cardinals – Returned Brandon Donovan and Nolan Arenado from the IL to the lineup and Willson Contreras (day to day again) to a struggling offense. The final stretch will be a tough one but I just never count out the Cardinals until the season is over. They have 2 remaining games against the Reds (down 0-1), 2 against Division leading Brewers, 3 @ San Fran, and 3 @ the Cubs. They play 2 series against those above them and with the NL Central Race still ongoing, games against the Brewers and Cubs will be tough if the Brewers don’t clinch sooner rather than later.
NL Central Race
- Milwaukee Brewers – The Surprise of the National League in 2025. No one had the Brewers with the top record in the MLB and NL at this point in the season. The Brewers and Phillies are neck and neck for the #1 seed but the Brew Crew have a tough remaining schedule and I will be pulling for them to pull it out. Remaining games: 3 against LAA, 3 @Cardinals, 3 @ Padres, 3 vs Reds. Not exactly a cake walk with 3 remaining teams left in the Playoff hunt.
- Chicago Cubs – With all the attention on the Brewers and Phillies, it’s almost an afterthought that the Cubs currently have the 3 best record in the NL with 86 wins and are having a better season than the Dodgers. If Milwaukee were to hit an untimed losing streak, the Cubs could play spoiler to the Brewers season and claim the division. Remaining games: 2 against PIT (currently up 1-0), 4 @ Reds, followed by 6 home games against the Mets (3) and Cardinals (3).
NL West Race
- Los Angeles Dodgers – The Preseason favorite to win the World Series is just 2 games atop the Padres in the NL West and 4th in NL record. They do not have an easy schedule by any stretch of the imagination and could easily have a disastrous ending and end up as a Wild Card team, however, there’s too much talent on this team to go down easily. Remaining Games: 2 vs Phillies (Currently down 0-1), 4 vs Giants, 3 @ ARI, 3 @ SEA
- San Diego Padres – San Diego has been buying and trading for talent for this moment here. With only 2 games out of the Division Lead the Padres are very much in this race. They are one of the hotter hitting teams at the moment so we’ll see if they can keep it going on the road this week. Remaining Games: 3 @ Mets, 3 @ White Sox, 3 vs Brewers, and 3 vs Diamondbacks to finish off the season.
The NL is tight in some spots and could be full of surprises. The Dodgers play 4 playoff hunt teams and the Padres play 3 teams in the hunt.
One of the NL West or NL Central could send 3 teams to the playoffs this year.
Who will finish with the best record in the NL and will it also end up as the Best Record in Baseball?
And finally,
Will the Mets, after producing the highest Payroll of the 2025 season, miss the playoffs?
I’m looking forward to seeing it play out and hopefully we get some good action to close out the season.
-Robert
The Other Side of Sports 