NL West
The NL West seems to be a division that is no longer owned by the LA Dodgers, year in and year out. The San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres have made their presence heard and felt these last two seasons (Sorry, Rockies fans, you’re still working on improving). And with around 50 games left in the season, the Giants and Diamondbacks are within striking distance of taking the division title. What can’t be taken away from LA is that they are an offensive powerhouse, just like any recent year, leading the division with a +122 run differential as of August 10th (It just means they’ve scored 122 more runs than they’ve given up over the season). No other team has come close to even half that, so they won’t be giving up the top spot without a fight. The most probably second place team who will get into the playoffs by means of the Wild Card are the Giants, as long as they don’t go on an eight game losing streak like Arizona is on currently. That’s right, the Diamondbacks haven’t won a game since the trade deadline, and it looks to be putting them out of playoff contention along with San Diego and Colorado. The Dodgers and Giants should make up the representatives for the West in the NLDS and Wild Card come October.
NL East
The East is a beast, to say the least. Probably stronger than their AL counterpart, even. The Atlanta Braves were the first team this season to reach 70 Wins, they have three of the best position players in Acuna Jr., Riley, and Olson. Acuna’s x-rays from getting hit by a pitch earlier in the week came back negative, so hopefully he makes a full recovery as he was given a day off yesterday to recuperate. When the season wraps up, I fully expect to see the Braves as the number one team going into the NLDS, and high favorites to win the World Series. The Phillies have a lot to celebrate about as their trade deadline pickup in Michael Lorenzen just threw a no-hitter for the team in his home debut, and they sit in second place in the division and atop the Wild Card teams by one game over the Giants in the West. Being 7-3 over their last 10, they have started off August strong, and should make it into the playoffs by way of the Wild Card with no trouble; whether that be the top team remains to be seen. The Marlins find themselves in an odd position currently as the Central is all tied up for second place, giving them a half game lead over both of those teams as the last Wild Card team. I highly doubt that this will continue to be the situation, obviously, and they will have to fight their way into the playoffs. The New York Mets had a fire sale from June until the end of the trade deadline, and seem to be waving the white flag as they look to the 2025-26 seasons for another run at things. Meanwhile, in DC, the Nationals are floundering at the bottom of the division, with no obvious plans or direction for a playoff run in the immediate future.
NL Central
The Central division is the most intriguing, with the Brewers leading, and Cubs tied at the top with the Reds. Both Chicago and Cincinnati are only 2.5 games back of Milwaukee and first place, and only half a game back of Miami for the last Wild Card position. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh and St. Louis sit several games back of any playoff position, but no team in the majors mathematically eliminated, yet. Both have a very small chance at a miracle run and coming back for either the division title, or more likely, the Wild Card spot. The Cardinals have fallen far from where they were just over a decade ago, now in last place (usually reserved for the Pirates), and the Reds are using a similar tactic as the Orioles, relying on their youth to give them a shot at the division.
Wrap up
The National League landscape seems a bit more balanced than the American League, with each division only having two representatives in the playoffs with two going straight to the NLDS, the Braves a lock for one of those spots, and the Dodgers or Giants taking the second. The Marlins, Cubs, Reds, and Diamondbacks will all be duking it out for the last Wild Card position, meanwhile the NL Central division winner will have to take on one of the WC teams to move onto the NLDS. There will be the possibility of the NL Central division winner being knocked out at the very beginning of the playoffs, but no more than two teams in one division will move onto the NLDS, unlike the madness that is going on over in the American League. The only team breaking a true “drought”, here would be the Arizona Diamondbacks if they sneak into the Wildcard, not making the playoffs since 2017, when they were knocked out in the NLDS. Every other team that is currently leading their division, are in a Wild Card spot, or are within striking distance of either have been to the playoffs no later than 2020.
