Autumn begins, school starts, leaves fall, temperatures drops, and the Major League Baseball (MLB) playoff race heats up. There has been a lot of noise surrounding the MLB playoffs lately as there are a few spots still up for grabs. 

The Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland Athletics are still fighting for the top wild card spot in the American League, while the Cleveland Indians aren’t far behind, still with a chance at playing playoff baseball in October. 

Meanwhile in the National League, the Washington Nationals and the Brewers are in a race for the top wild card spot while a six game losing streak has all but eliminated the Cubs. The three division winners in each league get the automatic bid. In the American League those teams are the New York Yankees, the Houston Astros, and the Minnesota Twins. The National League will be represented by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Atlanta Braves, and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Over the MLB season, most of the divisions have had a clear leader with the lone exception being the Central division in both leagues. 

In the American League Central, everyone was expecting the Indians to come out on top of this year; but that wasn’t the case. The Twins came out of nowhere in the second half of the season, going on a serious win streak, and then they ran away with the division in September. The young core of third basemen Miguel Sano, and a very talented outfield consisting of Byron Buxton, Nelson Cruz, and Eddie Rosario, was just too much for the aging Indians to keep up with. The Twins have a very bright future ahead of them.

In the National League Central, the prevailing wisdom was that the division winner was either going to be the Brewers or the Cubs. The Cubs have consistently been one of the best teams in the league since 2015, making the National League Championship Series three years in a row, and winning the world series in 2016. 

Last year the Cubs did fall off a little bit, losing in the Wild Card game to the Rockies, but even then they still made the playoffs. The Brewers were one of the best teams in the MLB last year finishing with a record of 96-67, winning the division, and making it all the way to the NLCS before eventually losing to the Dodgers. 

The Brewers feature the 2018 (NL) MVP Christian Yelich, as well as fellow all stars Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain, not to mention one of the league’s strongest bullpens led by Josh Hader. That all adds up to what is looking like a second place finish behind the surprising St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals are led by star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, left fielder Marcel Ozuna and a stellar pitching staff led by Jack Flaherty, Carlos Martinez, and Andrew Miller in the bullpen. They have exploded in the second half and look to be peaking at the right time, including a 4 game sweep of the Cubs that pretty much ruined the Cubs’ season while sealing the division for themselves.

The Cubs have been up and down all year, but they were still looking like they had a chance to win the division. After the All Star break, everything started to slowly go down hill. They had injuries all across the board, they were continuously struggling to close out games with their bullpen, and starters John Lester and Cole Hammels started to really struggle on the mound. The season will be remembered as a disappointment for the Cubs and will likely lead to an overhaul in the offseason, including a new manager. There is speculation that the Cubs will bring in one of their former catchers, David Ross, or Joe Girardi, but that’s a conversation for another time.