{"id":103556,"date":"2025-08-28T16:35:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T16:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/103556\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T16:35:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T16:35:18","slug":"where-mlb-postseason-races-stand-with-a-month-left-plus-ken-rosenthals-close-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/103556\/","title":{"rendered":"Where MLB postseason races stand with a month left. Plus: Ken Rosenthal\u2019s close call"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB<\/a> newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re exactly a month from the end of the 2025 regular season. Let\u2019s check in on those pennant (and wild-card) races.<\/p>\n

Plus: Ken tells us about the work dangers of the sideline reporter. I\u2019m\u00a0Levi Weaver, here with\u00a0Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!<\/p>\n

The East(s): Toronto, Philly holding off New York teams<\/p>\n

Division leaders:\u00a0Phillies (76-57 \u2014\u00a04 games up), Blue Jays (78-56 \u2014\u00a04 games up)
Current wild-card teams:\u00a0Red Sox (74-60), Yankees (73-60), Mets (72-61)
Other hopefuls:\u00a0None<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays\u2019 biggest division lead was 6 1\/2 games, back on July 26.<\/p>\n

It has hovered around five games for the last couple of weeks, but thanks to a recent hot stretch by the Red Sox \u2014 paired with a bit of bullpen trouble in Toronto \u2014 the collars north of the border are getting a little sweaty.<\/p>\n

The addition of Shane Bieber (he allowed one run on two hits, no walks and nine strikeouts in six innings in his season debut last week) makes them a very dangerous October team, and the pending returns of\u00a0Anthony Santander and others<\/a>\u00a0could help even more. Can the bullpen hold it together, though?<\/p>\n

(Speaking of bullpens: The Red Sox are getting\u00a0setup man Justin Slaten back from the IL<\/a>, likely today.)<\/p>\n

The Yankees are certainly a disappointment, sitting in third place in the division, but their wild-card spot seems relatively safe \u2014\u00a0after a\u00a0sweep of the Nationals this week<\/a>, they\u2019re 4 1\/2 games up on the Royals, with the Mariners between them.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in the NL, the Phillies had a seven-game lead as recently as \u2026 Monday morning. But their Citi Field woes continued this week\u00a0with a sweep by the Mets<\/a>, who seem determined to\u00a0make this an interesting race<\/a>\u00a0in September. Their playoff odds have jumped this week with the sweep \u2014\u00a0paired with the Reds being swept for the first time this season, at the hands of the Dodgers.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll get to the other divisions in a sec, but first \u2026<\/p>\n

Ken\u2019s Notebook: Close calls are just part of the job <\/p>\n

During last Thursday\u2019s broadcast on Fox, Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. air-mailed a throw that soared over first base and bounced off the netting above the camera well.<\/p>\n

A friend of mine texted, \u201cBe careful down there!\u201d<\/p>\n

On the broadcast, it appeared Chisholm\u2019s throw went almost directly to the spot where I was standing as Fox\u2019s dugout reporter. But in truth, it didn\u2019t come all that close, and I tracked it the entire way.<\/p>\n

Am I always so attentive? Uh, can I plead the Fifth?<\/p>\n

In 20 years with Fox, I\u2019ve been hit twice and had one other very close call \u2014 not bad, actually, considering the proximity of the camera wells to the field. But one of those incidents was definitely my fault.<\/p>\n

On the final weekend of the 2013 season, I was in Cincinnati, where the Reds were battling the Pirates for the higher seed in the wild-card game. Of course, that wasn\u2019t the only thing going on in baseball. At some point in the early innings, I took my eyes off the field to tweet that the Mets were signing manager Terry Collins to a contract extension.<\/p>\n

Standing close to a railing, I thought I was sufficiently covered. But the Reds\u2019 Todd Frazier hooked a sharp grounder into the camera well on the far side of the third-base dugout. The ball nailed me in the left pinky. Blood started gushing.<\/p>\n

The Reds gave me a towel. I finished the game. Afterward, a Pirates doctor diagnosed my wound, with Justin Morneau, a tough former hockey player from Canada, watching. Broken finger, 10 stitches. Much as I wanted to scream, I didn\u2019t dare utter a peep.<\/p>\n

Years before that in Atlanta, I was positioned on the near side of the first-base dugout when the Mets\u2019 Carlos Delgado hit a foul ball that didn\u2019t actually hit me, but crushed my Fox Sports microphone flag with me holding the mic.<\/p>\n

\u201cScared the s\u2014 out of you, didn\u2019t it?\u201d Delgado said later, taking delight in the moment.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, I had an even more frightening incident at Fenway Park. I thought I was standing in a good spot, behind a cameraman on the far side of the first-base dugout. But someone \u2014 I can\u2019t remember who \u2014 slammed a foul ball that ricocheted off the wall at the back of the well and struck me above the left eye. Again, there was blood. Again, I finished the game. But no stitches were required, and I didn\u2019t even end up with a concussion.<\/p>\n

Yes, it can get a little hairy down there, and I occasionally get distracted. But Chisholm\u2019s throw actually came closer to hitting someone a whole lot more important than a baseball reporter. If not for the netting, the men\u2019s bracket in the U.S. Open tennis tournament might have looked a lot different.\u00a0Novak Djokovic was sitting in the front row.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Central(s): Brewers, Tigers cruising<\/p>\n

Division leaders:\u00a0Tigers (78-57 \u2014\u00a08 1\/2 games up), Brewers (83-51 \u2014 6 1\/2 games up)
Current wild-card teams:\u00a0Cubs (76-57)
Other hopefuls:\u00a0Reds (68-66), Royals (69-65) and \u2026 Guardians? (66-66)<\/p>\n

I remember thinking the Central divisions were going to be really interesting this year. The Tigers and Royals \u2014 both playoff teams last year \u2014 trying to hold off the Guardians and Twins, while the upstart Cardinals and Reds (and mayyyyyybe the Brewers) might press the Cubs a little bit.<\/p>\n

So much for that.\u00a0The Brewers and Tigers have the two biggest divisional leads in the sport. Detroit has struggled in the second half \u2014 they were just swept by the A\u2019s in Sacramento \u2014\u00a0but their first-half lead has given them a bit of cushion.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Milwaukee just put\u00a0closer Trevor Megill on the IL<\/a>, and the Cubs still think they have the juice to regain the division lead. But\u00a0Jameson Taillon is on the IL now<\/a>, and \u2026 well, it\u2019s still not particularly close just yet. Consider this: I picked the cutoff for \u201ccontenders\u201d at teams that trail by five or fewer games. Right now, the Guardians are closer to a playoff spot than the Cubs are to overtaking the Brewers.<\/p>\n

Despite\u00a0Cincy being swept this week in L.A.<\/a>, I still think the Reds and their strong rotation have one more run left in them. But they\u2019re 4 1\/2 games back in the wild-card race, and running out of time. The Royals continue to trend upward \u2014 they beat the White Sox 12-1 last night \u2014 but they still trail the Mariners by three games for the final wild-card spot.<\/p>\n

As for the Guardians \u2026 They\u2019re five games back. So I\u2019m mentioning them.<\/p>\n

The West(s): Here\u2019s where the real intrigue lies<\/p>\n

Division leaders:\u00a0Dodgers (77-57 \u2014\u00a02 games up), Astros (73-60 \u2014 1 1\/2 games up)
Current wild-card teams:\u00a0Mariners (72-62), Padres (75-59)
Other hopefuls:\u00a0Rangers? (68-67)<\/p>\n

The Dodgers and Padres have a chance to take this thing down to the wire in the NL. (If that happens, the Dodgers have the tiebreaker, by virtue of winning the season series.)<\/p>\n

Los Angeles still has the sport\u2019s most impressive roster on paper \u2014\u00a0and the\u00a0rotation is maybe starting to take form<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 but injuries and some defensive miscues have left the door cracked, and the Padres have stuck right there with them.<\/p>\n

In the AL, it\u2019s the same story, but for different reasons. The Astros are 11-13 in August, but still lead the division by the slimmest margin in the sport, with the Mariners at 14-10 for the month, with one month to go.<\/p>\n

As with the Guardians, I\u2019m mentioning the Rangers here because they are 4 1\/2 games back in the wild-card race. But they\u2019re 11-14 in August, and would have to leapfrog both the Royals and Mariners over the next month. With Marcus Semien and (almost certainly) Nathan Eovaldi out for the rest of the season, that seems \u2026 optimistic.\u00a0Though they did\u00a0drop 20 runs<\/a>\u00a0on the Angels last night. So.<\/p>\n

More West: Astros starter Luis Garcia had Tommy John surgery. He\u2019s still not back in the big leagues. What gives?\u00a0Chandler Rome investigates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Handshakes and High Fives<\/p>\n

Evan Drellich spoke with Jesse Cole, founder of the Savannah Bananas, and asks the question: Is\u00a0Major League Baseball getting a legitimate competitor<\/a>\u00a0for the spending dollars of baseball fans?<\/p>\n

Eno Sarris dug into the metrics on\u00a0the swing of A\u2019s rookie Nick Kurtz<\/a>. The two closest comparisons? Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. Whew.<\/p>\n

On the pods: On \u201cRates & Barrels<\/a>,\u201d Eno, Jed and DVR focused on a study from Stephen Sutton-Brown of Baseball Prospectus that modeled how hitters make swing decisions.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in our last newsletter: Tyler Kepner\u2019s\u00a0visit with Bobby Shantz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love The Windup? Check out\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(Photo: Jim Rassol \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-103556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}