Final look at playoff projections

A few things have changed since the last time I wrote one of these. Last time there were six teams vying for two spots in the playoffs. The Phillies had pretty much locked up their spot in the postseason, but there were two more spots after them. The Diamondbacks, the Cubs, the Marlins, the Reds, the Padres, and the Giants were all trying to find their way into the playoffs.

Now, we are one or two games away from the regular season being over and the list of teams vying for those two spots has been cut down to four. The Arizona Diamondbacks, the Miami Marlins, the Chicago Cubs, and the Cincinnati Reds are all that remain. The Padres and the Giants have been eliminated from the postseason. For the Giants, that led to their manager getting his walking papers.

The Cubs looked to have an advantage over all the others at the start of September. Their social media team even put out an ad for playoff tickets. The Cubs have gone 11-16 this month and have lost four games in a row. They were too busy crying about Acuna celebrating breaking a record rather than winning games. I guess they can keep crying from their couches in the playoffs.

The Cubs got jumped by the Miami Marlins. The Marlins now have a magic number of one. They take on the Pirates today and a win in that game would secure them the final wild card spot. There is a chance they could even take the No. 5 seed. The Diamondbacks are sitting at the No. 5 spot at the moment, but they are facing the Houston Astros, who are in a battle for the AL West championship. If the Astros keep beating the Diamondbacks and the Marlins sweep the Pirates, Miami will play the Phillies. The winner of that series would get a shot at the Braves in the NLDS.

I haven't mentioned the Reds yet. They are in the same situation as the Cubs. 1.5 games back from the final Wild Card spot and if the Marlins win, it does not matter what they do. With all that being said, it appears the Braves will play either the Phillies, the Diamondbacks, or the Marlins. Whoever finishes as the No. 6 seed (Arizona or Miami) will play against the Brewers.

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