Tuesday evening was huge for clinching. The Astros secured the AL West, leaving solely the AL East and the NL West in play. The Guardians grew to become the primary workforce to clinch a first-round bye, and each the Orioles and Padres clinched playoff berths, the latter by getting the ultimate three outs by way of a triple play in opposition to the Dodgers, a confluence of circumstances unprecedented in main league historical past. The place we entered Tuesday with 10 groups preventing for seven remaining berths, we’re all the way down to seven groups battling for 4 spots. However even with the playoff subject not totally set, we thought it might be a enjoyable and worthwhile train to spotlight varied aspects of the potential October groups by going across the diamond to determine the strongest and weakest at every place in every league.
As famous in Tuesday’s installment, which targeted on the strongest positions among the many remaining NL contenders, that is one thing of an offshoot of my annual Alternative Stage Killers sequence, and in reality, even some confirmed October members have spots that also match the invoice as true lineup sinkholes — suppose first base for the Yankees and Brewers — solely this time with no commerce deadline to assist fill them. For this, I’m contemplating full-season efficiency however with an eye fixed to who’s finest or worst now, with accidents and changes in thoughts. In contrast to the Killers sequence, I’m additionally contemplating pitching, with the shortening of rotations and bullpens factoring into my deliberations.
For this installment, I’ll go across the American League, highlighting every place’s finest among the many remaining contenders. On this case that limits the sphere to the Yankees, Orioles, Guardians, Tigers, Royals, Twins, Astros, and Mariners, with the final of these admittedly on the ropes, down two and a half video games within the Wild Card race, with the Twins half a recreation forward of them, and Playoff Odds of simply 2.9%.
Catcher: Cal Raleigh, Mariners
“Massive Dumper” has had a really huge season on either side of the ball. His 31 homers not solely leads the Mariners, it leads all catchers, and his 5.1 WAR season makes him simply the third catcher of the previous two years to achieve that plateau, with Adley Rutschman in 2023 and William Contreras (each seasons) the others. His .218/.313/.424 slash line doesn’t scan as notably spectacular, however his 114 wRC+ is similar to these of the Astros’ Yainer Diaz (118) and the Royals’ Salvador Perez (116), and his protection separates him from that pair. His pitch framing is elite (12.7 runs by FanGraphs, third within the majors, and 13 by Statcast, second within the majors), and he’s common or higher in blocking and throwing by Statcast as nicely.
First Base: Carlos Santana, Twins
Right here’s the deepest dig for any place, in that Carlos Santana’s 2.8 WAR as a primary baseman (i.e., excluding time at different positions) isn’t star degree, and three of the seven remaining AL contenders cracked my midseason Alternative Stage Killers checklist, with a fourth that will have made it as nicely had the workforce been perceived as a contender then (I received’t spoil the suspense there). As for Santana, the well-traveled 38-year-old switch-hitter has put collectively his finest season since 2019, hitting .234/.322/.415 (110 wRC+) with 22 homers. He’s been distinctive defensively as nicely, rating first amongst all first basemen in FRV (11), and tied for third in DRS (8). If the Twins don’t make the reduce, it received’t be his fault.
Second Base: Jose Altuve, Astros
One could make a case for the Orioles’ Jordan Westburg (3.0 WAR and a 131 wRC+ in 119 video games), however he’s performed simply two video games since coming back from a seven-week absence attributable to a fractured proper hand, and has performed extra video games at third (67) than second (49), so I’m sticking with the nine-time All-Star, warts and all. The 34-year-old Jose Altuve has stayed wholesome this season, enjoying in 152 video games, his highest complete since 2017, and he’s nearly sure to surpass that 12 months’s complete of 153. That mentioned, his 126 wRC+ (.293/.349/.436) is his lowest full-season mark since 2015, and his 3.7 WAR his lowest since ’13 (each of these rely upon overlooking his depressing 48-game 2020 marketing campaign). Past his diminished energy and plate self-discipline, what’s actually driving his WAR down is his protection, which has slipped considerably. His -12 DRS makes this three years in a row of double-digit negatives by that measure, and his -6 FRV is a profession worst, 5 runs decrease than final 12 months (he has improved from -2.7 to 2.3 in UZR, go determine).
Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals
Bobby Witt Jr.’s franchise-record 10.3 WAR trails solely Aaron Choose’s 10.8 on this 12 months’s leaderboard, and given its centrality to the Royals’ turnaround — their first successful season and (in all probability) their first playoff look since 2015 — he has a strong case for MVP, although I believe the large slugger and his 56 homers will carry the day. Nonetheless, the 24-year-old celebrity has had a wonderful season, hitting .335/.392/.597 (170 wRC+) and changing into the youngest participant to go 30-30 twice, with 32 homers and 31 steals this 12 months. He’s additionally turned in his finest set of defensive metrics, together with 11 FRV (tied for third within the majors), 3.8 UZR (fifth), and a couple of DRS (tied for tenth). Based mostly on what he’s completed thus far in his younger profession, we’re going to be listening to about Witt for a protracted, very long time.
Third Base: José Ramírez, Guardians
Ho hum, simply one other stellar season from José Ramírez, a possible future Corridor of Famer. The 32-year-old has set a profession excessive in steals (40) whereas hitting 37 homers, the latter of which ties him for fifth within the league and nonetheless leaves open the likelihood that he might sneak into the 40-40 membership within the season’s closing days. He’s been a bit chase-happy on the plate, swinging at a career-high 31.7% of pitches outdoors the zone, and his 49.2% swing fee is a profession excessive as nicely. Nonetheless, he’s hitting .275/.332/.521 (136 wRC+) and has paired that with sometimes robust protection en route to five.8 WAR, good for sixth within the league.
Left Subject: Riley Greene, Tigers
This was my hardest name amongst this group of place gamers. Amongst these whose main place is left subject, Riley Greene, Colton Cowser, and Steven Kwan are tied at 3.9 WAR general. Kwan began the season red-hot, with an atypical burst of energy, however since being sidelined for many of Could by a left hamstring pressure, he’s hit .266/.348/.389 (115 wRC+) in 387 PA. What’s extra, he’s acquired an enormous second-half cut up (165 wRC+ earlier than the All-Star break, 76 since), and he landed on the IL with mid-back irritation on September 14; whereas he was activated an hour after this text was initially revealed, inside this specific context, he carries sufficient danger to bump him from consideration.
In the meantime, each Cowser and Greene have performed the vast majority of their outfield time in left subject, and each have no less than one excellent defensive metric to go along with some robust offensive work regardless of their excessive strikeout charges. Greene has the full-season benefit in wRC+ (136 to 120); he’s been restricted to 36 video games because the All-Star break attributable to a proper hamstring pressure that price him over three weeks, however he’s been the warmer of the 2 in September, with a 148 to 123 edge in wRC+. In an in depth name, he’s the one I’m choosing right here.
Heart Subject: Aaron Choose, Yankees
No person anticipated Choose to place collectively one other season on par together with his 62-homer 2022 marketing campaign, not after he missed practically two months of final 12 months with a proper huge toe harm, and but he’s completed simply that. His 56 homers is not any menace to the report books, however it’s his third season with no less than 50; the opposite 4 gamers with no less than that many have all been linked to performance-enhancing medicine, should you embrace Babe Ruth’s alleged 1925 injection of testosterone extracted from sheep testicles. In the meantime, Choose’s 218 wRC+ is 12 factors greater than that 12 months’s mark, and his slash stats (.323/.459/.699) are every higher as nicely — in a lower-scoring atmosphere. Defensively, he’s stretched in heart subject (-10 DRS, -4 FRV, -0.6 UZR), however that hasn’t prevented him from totaling 10.8 WAR to this point, making him the fourth participant of the post-1960 enlargement period to achieve the 10-WAR plateau no less than twice, after Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, and Mike Trout.
Proper Subject: Juan Soto, Yankees
It could solely wind up as a one-year experiment, however what a season for Juan Soto. Hitting in entrance of Choose, the 25-year-old has batted .287/.418/.572 whereas setting full-season highs in slugging share, dwelling runs (40 — making him the ninth participant to achieve 200 homers by the tip of his age-25 season), wRC+ (179), and WAR (7.9). He’s second within the AL in wRC+ and third within the different stats talked about. What’s helped to raise his WAR rating is his work to enhance his protection; he’s gone from -23 FRV in 2022–23 to -1 this 12 months, and from -8 DRS in these two seasons to zero this 12 months. Given his age and celebrity standing, he’s going to receives a commission like no person this aspect of Shohei Ohtani. Can he win a second World Collection ring first? We’re about to search out out.
Designated Hitter: Yordan Alvarez, Astros
Yordan Alvarez is solely probably the greatest hitters within the recreation. This 12 months’s 167 wRC+ (.308/.392/.567) trails solely Choose, Soto, Ohtani, and Witt amongst all main league hitters, whereas his 35 homers and 5.2 WAR rank seventh and eighth within the AL, respectively. He’s acquired nice bat management for such an influence hitter, putting out simply 15% of the time; amongst gamers with 30 homers, solely Witt (14.9%), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (13.7%), and Ramírez (12.8%) have completed as nicely or higher at avoiding Ok’s. Alvarez is able to placing on a present in October, a profession .295/.393/.556 hitter in 244 PA when the lights have been at their brightest, with quite a few memorable homers from amongst his dozen. The dangerous information is that the 27-year-old slugger suffered a proper knee sprain on Sunday and can miss no less than this week’s sequence in opposition to the Mariners; the Astros’ clinching buys him much more time if wanted.
Rotation: Astros
The Mariners and Royals have the majors’ high two rotations by ERA (3.42 and three.57 respectively) and are nearly tied for third in FIP (3.65), however even with Seattle proudly owning a 30-inning benefit in workload, Kansas Metropolis has an almost two-win benefit in WAR (16.6 to 14.8) as a result of a few of Seattle’s shinier numbers owe to the affect of their pitcher-friendly ballpark. That mentioned, that is much less about full-season, full-rotation efficiency than doubtless postseason rotations, and the case may be made for the Astros to affix the fray, not solely based mostly on their starters’ robust second half (3.30 ERA, 3.41 FIP, each round a quarter-run higher than that pair), however the truth that Justin Verlander is bogging down these numbers together with his tough return from the IL, leaving him little case for him to start out in October. That leaves supervisor Joe Espada with 4 starters (Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, Yusei Kikuchi, and Spencer Arrighetti) who’ve second half ERAs of three.30 or decrease (counting solely Kikuchi’s time post-trade, together with his reconfigured arsenal) and FIPs of three.74 or decrease; by comparability, each the Royals and Mariners have some excellent starters who’ve been beneath common in run prevention within the second half, and neither of these teams are as battle-tested within the postseason.
If that logic isn’t sufficient, take into account that the Astros’ starters have outperformed these on the Mariners since June 18, the beginning of what now quantities to a 15-game swing within the AL West standings. In the meantime, the Royals have been sucking wind over the previous few weeks as nicely, with a pair of seven-game shedding streaks; their huge three of Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, and Michael Wacha has been excellent inside that span and general as nicely, however their fourth (Brady Singer) has light drastically. If I’m choosing — and [checks byline] apparently I’m — I’m calling it for Houston right here.
Bullpen: Guardians
Resolution-wise, this one is so much simpler. The Guardians’ bullpen has the bottom full-season, second-half, and September ERAs of any workforce in both league (1.27 within the final of these, accompanied by a 2.75 FIP). They’ve the sport’s high nearer in Emmanuel Clase (0.62 ERA, 2.14 FIP, 46 saves for the complete season), two setup males with sub-2.00 ERAs and sub-3.00 FIPs over the complete stretch (Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith, and a middle-relief lefty (Tim Herrin) who suits these {qualifications}, too. Decrease down the leverage ladder, Eli Morgan and Erik Sabrowski have pitched nicely recently as nicely. Given their admittedly flimsy rotation, the Guardians could have their work reduce out for them to go deep within the playoffs, however they wouldn’t have gotten thus far with out this unit.
Protection: Guardians
By the metrics there are instances to be made for each the Guardians and Royals; the previous leads the remaining contenders in each leagues with 80 DRS, the latter with 26.9 UZR and 35 FRV. Between the 2 groups, the Guardians have a considerable benefit in each the FanGraphs and Statcast flavors of pitch framing. Each have standout defenders at one center infield spot (Witt and Guardians second baseman Andrés Giménez) with succesful enhances on the different and on the corners. Each are stronger within the filth than within the outfield, and so they every have heart fielders who in all probability wouldn’t be within the lineup if not for his or her protection. Even with some uncertainty about Kwan, I went with the Guardians right here.
One closing word: Orioles
I’ll admit that it appears odd for the workforce with the AL’s third-best report to not place anybody on this checklist, so I believed it might be value a number of sentences to evaluation. Their finest participant, shortstop Gunnar Henderson, is having an amazing 12 months however is 2 full wins behind Witt. Rutschman is likely to be the perfect long-term guess amongst all catchers, however he’s had a tough second half, with a .302 slugging share and a 70 wRC+, leaving him with a 104 wRC+ and a couple of.9 WAR general, numbers that pale subsequent to Raleigh’s. Westburg was caught between two positions the place I had extra established choices to contemplate. Cowser was an in depth name in left, however 44-homer slugger Anthony Santander had no case to surpass Soto in proper, and there isn’t a participant alive I’d take over Choose in heart subject even when he had been pulling an oxcart. And let’s face it, pitching just isn’t this present workforce’s power, as any Orioles fan will inform you as they peer by their fingers. My logic in making the alternatives all through this sequence is hardly infallible — Manny Machado’s sensible begin on that triple play jogged my memory that I in all probability ought to have thought of him extra strongly amongst NL third basemen — however I’m not second-guessing my Orioles-free lineup right here.
