To see how this has changed, check out the September 7th update here and September 12th update.
The Angels have 16 games left this season and they are still in the wild card hunt. Very few people predicted they would be this close to reaching a post season spot in October and most predicted they wouldn’t even win 80 games. Right now the Angels have been cold and the Twins have been hot. Not a good time to go cold. The Rangers, Royals, and Orioles are all but all out of it while the Mariners have surged and are now only .5 game behind the Angels.
FiveThirtyEight has the Angels with a 14% chance of grabbing a wild card spot while MLB.com lists that as a bit more optimistic at 25%. This isn’t over yet.
Predicting wins and losses is a tricky thing and if anyone was THAT good at it, they’d be making a fortune in Vegas. But the charts below represent how teams are playing now, how they have played against specific opponents in this year, and how they have played at home and on the road. Did you know the Twins are worse at home than on the road?? Or how about that the Rangers and A’s are split at 6-6 so far this season?
The picture below doesn’t make things looks pretty. The Angels need to win some games they probably shouldn’t and the Twins needs to lose should games they should probably win. Three games back in the wild card race and 2 games back at the end of the season according to the below chart. This weekend the Angels MUST win the Rangers series this weekend and even better if the Blue Jays can take 2 of the remaining 3 they have against the Twins.
Take a gander below and the current lay of the land:
AL Wild Card Watch Sept 22nd
Team | Wins | Losses | home/away |
---|---|---|---|
Team | Wins | Losses | home/away |
Angels | 76 | 76 | |
Astros x3 | 1 | 2 | away |
White Sox x4 | 3 | 1 | away |
Mariners x3 | 2 | 1 | home |
Final Record | 82 | 80 | |
---------------- | |||
Twins | 79 | 74 | |
Tigers x3 | 1 | 2 | away |
Indians x3 | 1 | 2 | away |
Tigers x3 | 1 | 2 | home |
Final Record | 82 | 80 | |
---------------- | |||
Rangers | 76 | 76 | |
A's x3 | 2 | 1 | away |
Astros x3 | 1 | 2 | home |
A's x 4 | 2 | 2 | home |
Final Record | 81 | 81 |
Agree or disagree? Probably both I’m sure. But at least the info above will help you keep an eye on the wild card race and where the Angels stand. I’ll update it as the September rolls forward.