This week’s takeaway discusses the streaking Mets, the plummeting Orioles, and Cleveland’s last-second dash for playoff relevancy.
Mets: 72-58
There are simple places to look for whom to credit with the Mets’ run of success. Their pitching staff is young, has great hair and better stuff. Their mid-season acquisition of Yoenis Cespedes has been a massive boon to what was an ailing lineup, as he’s OPSed over .900 since his arrival. Better yet, David Wright is healthy! The guy not getting a ton of credit so far? Rookie Michael Conforto, who has only 28 games to his name (one more than Cespedes) but has put together an .860 OPS in that time. The pitching is dominant and not to be overlooked, but adding Cespedes, Wright, and Conforto (when they slide Cespedes to center) has lengthened the Mets lineup - and divisional lead - considerably.
Orioles: 63-67
This was a fringe playoff team not but a week ago. Extending back a little further than that, the Orioles have lost 10 of their last 11, fallen four games below .500 and find themselves behind four teams just to get to the second wild card. They’re 5.5 games back and realistically, their season is over, not because that number is too high (though it’s quite high) but more because of the combination of games back and how many teams they’d have to climb over. One can’t help but wonder how different things might have been had they acted more boldly at the trade deadline (think Cespedes or Justin Upton) rather than settling for Gerardo Parra (OPS under .700 since the trade).
Cleveland: 63-66
No, Cleveland doesn’t really have more hope than Baltimore, but things are trending up rather than down, despite the departure of team President Mark Shapiro. Cleveland has won eight of its last 10, and is only five games back of Texas for the second wild card. With their pitching coming together (they have four starters with 150+ strikeouts for the first time in club history), and Francisco Lindor putting together an incredible rookie season with the bat and the glove (2.6 fWAR in 66 games), the ingredients are there for a late-season run. The only issue is that it’s likely too little, too late.
For the full Playoff Odds Power Rankings, click here.
