It is hard to believe that summer is coming to a close and with it baseball’s regular season. There has already been a lot to remember from this 2016 season: Giancarlo Stanton’s total annihilation of his opponents in the Home Run Derby, the Chicago Cubs’ complete destruction of every other team in the standings, David Ortiz’s extraordinary and MVP-caliber final season and Alex Rodriguez’s underwhelming and not so MVP-caliber final season.
Some divisions have seemingly already been decided, while others remain murky. As the days until October dwindle down, there will be no storyline that provides as much excitement as the three-team, neck and neck battle in the American League East.
Prior to the start of the season, the AL East appeared to be a dogfight, with any team capable of winning the division. Of the five teams, the Tampa Bay Rays have been the biggest disappointment, since they have spent a majority of the season in the division cellar. In New York, the Yankees are just barely hanging onto the slightest of playoff hopes. After the All-Star Break, the Bronx Bombers seemed to sneak back into the race, following a mediocre first half. However, they have been unable to make a major push in recent weeks. Consequently, it looks like they will be on the outside looking in come playoff time.
Meanwhile, Boston, Baltimore and Toronto won the AL East in 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively, so it is no surprise that they are the three teams jostling for the division crown once again. Throughout the season, the Orioles, Red Sox and Blue Jays have pushed each other back and forth, moving up and down the AL East standings without gaining any sizeable leads. Meanwhile, the two teams not in first place have held the two wild card spots for a majority of the season.
No American League teams should be as well suited as the Orioles, Sox and Jays to reach the World Series. Each of them has already played numerous playoff-caliber games against the others and will play quite a few more before the regular season concludes. While none of these teams possess the best record in the American League, the simple explanation is that they have been beating up on each other throughout the entire season. Entering September, the Orioles and Red Sox have split the season series 6-6 with seven games remaining against each other.
The Blue Jays lead the Orioles 9-7 in the season series with three games left between the two teams. Finally, the Blue Jays lead the Red Sox 7-6 with six games left on the calendar between the teams. The experience of playing in so many big games throughout the season should prove key come October.
All of these teams have a favorable balance of youngsters and veterans, reliable fielding, solid starting pitching and elite bullpens. Most of all, each of these three teams have deep and dangerous lineups. These three teams truly have all of the pieces in place to make a long playoff run.
Digging deeper through the team, the O’s offense has been extremely strong from top to bottom. Manny Machado has followed up an MVP-caliber 2015 season with an even better 2016, during which he has turned into one of the game’s best all-around superstars. Meanwhile, Machado’s best friend and fellow 24-year-old, Jonathan Schoop, is having a breakout season and has a promising future as Baltimore’s second baseman. Sluggers Mark Trumbo and Chris Davis have done their part, as have team leaders Adam Jones and J. J. Hardy and offseason acquisitions Pedro Álvarez and Hyun-soo Kim.
Players up and down the lineup have provided timely hitting and extraordinary power throughout the season. The Orioles lead the league in home runs and have six players that have eclipsed the 20 HR mark including Trumbo, who leads all of baseball in long balls. On the mound, the O’s have demonstrated significant improvement to their starting rotation that looked mediocre at best earlier in the season.
Chris Tillman has been a consistent presence atop the rotation throughout the season, while former first round picks Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman have come on strong in the second half and are finally starting to pitch to their potential. The Orioles also boast a lights-out bullpen, which is headlined by virtually unhittable closer Zach Britton. With clever and resourceful manager Buck Showalter at the helm, the Orioles are absolutely capable of winning important games when they matter most.
In Boston, the Red Sox are back to their winning ways after two down seasons. Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz have all led the balanced offense, by each demonstrating the ability to hit for both average and power. Expect top prospect Yoan Moncada, who was just called up to the majors for the stretch run, to serve as yet another strong element for what is already the best statistical offense in baseball.
On the Sox’s pitching side, Rick Porcello has rebounded from a disappointing and injury-riddled 2015 with a Cy Young-caliber season. Prized free agent acquisition David Price has rebounded from his early-season struggles and has been able to pitch deep into ball games on a regular basis.
In addition, Drew Pomeranz is looking like a great trade deadline acquisition, as he allowed a total of 11 runs in his six August starts. If knuckleballer Steven Wright, who has recently dealt with shoulder issues, gets back to full strength, the Red Sox will have more than enough starting pitching to complement their potent offense.
Throw in closer Craig Kimbrel as the cherry on top, and you are looking at a very dangerous and very deep Red Sox team that is more than capable of bringing another championship to Boston.
Last but not least, the Toronto Blue Jays appear to have all of the pieces in place to build on last year’s playoff appearance, their first since 1993. Reigning MVP Josh Donaldson has been every bit as dominant in 2016 as he was in 2015 while slugger Edwin Encarnación has been an absolute machine in what will be the strongest offensive season of his career thus far.
José Bautista, who has battled injuries over the past several months, appears to be healthy for the stretch run and should thrive in his new role as the team’s powerful leadoff hitter.
Encarnación and Bautista will both be free agents at the end of the season and are going to be looking at some massive contract offers that could very well pry them away from Toronto.
The Blue Jays need to capitalize on their opportunity to win a championship this season before potentially losing two focal points of their offense. Beyond those three, Michael Saunders and Troy Tulowitzki are putting up decent numbers in their second seasons in Toronto. They have solidified the Blue Jay offense into one that is every bit as good as Baltimore’s and Boston’s.
Toronto also has the best starting pitching in the division. Led by youngster Aaron Sanchez and consistent veterans J.A. Happ and Marco Estrada, the Blue Jays have the lowest starting rotation ERA in the American League. Their bullpen is also dominant with flamethrower Roberto Osuna at the back-end.
With all of the pieces that they have in place, the Blue Jays could be the most legitimate World Series contender of these three teams.
The AL East race will be the one to watch down the stretch, but the other American League powerhouses — Cleveland and Texas — have already all but clinched their division titles and are also threats to make deep postseason runs.
Also, Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers, José Altuve and the Houston Astros and the defending champion Kansas City Royals still have legitimate shots at the second wild card spot. However, if Baltimore, Boston and Toronto keep playing the way they have been, it is hard to see one of these teams sneaking into the playoffs.
The wild card game is essentially a toss-up, so capturing the division title is absolutely vital for these three teams. With all of these competitive lineups considered, who will come out on top? We probably won’t find out the answer to this until game 162.
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