September is here, and that means there is just one month left in the MLB regular season action. The AL East and the NL West are seemingly up for grabs, while the AL West and NL Central seem to be almost locked in. The winner-take-all Wild Card games are going to be a sight to see this year, leaving some teams broken and others filled with joy. Individual players are reaching new milestones, while others have disappointed. This has been a great first season in Major League Baseball for some, and it’s the last for others. Here’s what baseball fans can expect to see this month.
The September call-ups are going to be one of the best parts of the month. Last year, fans got one incredible showing from the Minor League Baseball players who hit the bigs. Kris Bryant and Carlos Correa are just two of the several call-ups that made an impact last year. Expect to see Yoan Moncada, a top prospect for the Red Sox and No. 2 ranked in all of baseball, make one stellar impact.
This quick, base-stealing fiend could be the slight edge that the Red Sox need to edge out the Blue Jays in the AL East. Joey Gallo, a top prospect for the Rangers and ranked No. 12 in baseball, is a power phenom. He could be a left-handed home run machine that pushes Texas to the World Series. But it’s not all fun and games in September. This is where the true battles begin.
The Boston Red Sox sit just two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East, while the Baltimore Orioles are catching up, at just four games back themselves. The Red Sox are making a strong contention for postseason play, with David Ortiz’s last season in baseball being a spectacular one for him.
These three AL teams will face off against each other several more times in this last month of baseball, and each of them will also have to battle a new, youth-infused New York Yankees roster. Expect the AL East to be a true race until the very last regular season game is played.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants are battling it out in the NL West. The Giants were an early season favorite, seeing as how it is an even-numbered year. The Dodgers have managed to creep up, and take a slight lead in the West.
With that being said, the Dodgers are playing without their ace, Clayton Kershaw. With Kershaw gone, as well as the other numerous injuries the Dodgers are suffering, a postseason run isn’t set in stone. Should the Dodgers get there, they’ll have to truly strategize at the top of their game to make it far. The one thing that the Dodgers do have working in their favor is Corey Seager. He’s the likely NL Rookie of the Year winner.
Managers for the Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks, Robin Ventura and Chip Hale respectively, are all but surely out of a job when 2017 rolls around. The White Sox don’t have a single .300+ hitter in their starting nine and sit at the bottom of the AL in hits, runs, and homers. The D-backs aren’t doing much better, striking out near-most. Neither of these two teams is likely to make the postseason, and their fans can expect to hear announcements about their manager’s dismissal shortly after the regular season is over.
The Chicago Cubs are looking to make history this year. They are well on pace to get over 100 wins and haven’t won the NL Pennant in 70 years and haven’t won a World Series in 107 years. Cubs fans are going nuts right now and have every reason to. They are among the top of the NL in on-base percentage and runs, the very basics needed to win the game.
Even far more impressive than Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo battling each other for best at the plate, is the Cubs’ top-tier pitching. The lead the NL in ERA and hits allowed and sit among the top in strikeouts and complete games thrown. History is in the making.
No matter what you look at, the good or the bad, September is one exciting month in Major League Baseball. Teams are made and broken, players are put up and taken down from pedestals, and World Series champions begin to emerge.