Wild Card Speculation (Latest: 10 Game September Roadtrip)

[nate82]

Arizona vs. Chicago Cubs

Milwaukee vs. Philadelphia

 

Wild-card team plays the best team, provided they do not belong to the same division. It's a pretty safe bet that'd the Brewers would be playing the NL East Champion in the NLDS.

Personally I would rather play against the Phillies than the Diamondbacks. Webb and Haren is a better 1 2 punch in the beginning of the rotation than Zambrano and Harden/or anyone else on the Cubs roster. I would still take the Diamondbacks over the Cubs in the playoffs even with their current struggles.

 

I would rather take my chances with the Phillies pitching staff than the Diamondbacks pitching staff.

[RU Rah Rah]

With how the Cubs finish the season in September, and with how the Mets have been starting to come alive, I think we're going to be really confused with who to root for in that 4 game set prior to the last weekend.

Yeah, it is going to be messed up. The Central will be close either way, and so will the East. There might be a five-team scramble, between those two divisions, for three playoff spots.

The safest thing is always to just take care of business within your own division, and the Brewers will have a chance to do that with the Cubs at the end of the year.

[Oldcity]

I think it would be hilarious to see the Cubs draw Arizona again. Webb and Haren in a 5 game series=Early exit for the Cubbies.

[crewcrazy]

Eh, that Webb-Haren combo isn't so deadly for the Cubs now that they could possibly counter it with Zambrano-Harden, and they'd probably have the edge in the third game with Dempster vs. Davis -- not to mention they'd likely have homefield advantage in that series, and Wrigley would be absolutely rocking in the playoffs with a season like this. Anything could happen in a 5-game series, though...no one was counting on Zambrano and Lilly imploding in the desert last year.

[logan82]

I thought Zambrano was pulled early with the game still in doubt last year so he could make another start on short rest in the series.

[bucks2281]

I'd much rather play Arizona. One would expect Arizona to be pretty close to .500, probably stumbling into the playoffs, and of course, Arizona's offense is nowhere near as explosive as Philadelphia's. Heck, the Brewers are 10-4 against Arizona the past two seasons (if they don't puke up that game on July 3, they're 11-3). I'll take my chances with Sheets/Sabathia v. Webb/Haren.

 

Philadelphia would be rocking...Arizona likely not. I could see the Brewers caving in a pressure-filled, electric environment.

[crewcrazy]

I thought Zambrano was pulled early with the game still in doubt last year so he could make another start on short rest in the series.

Sorry, you're right -- Zambrano was taken out with the game still tied at 1. Marmol was brought in and he gave up a go-ahead HR and a sac fly to make it 3-1. Lilly did get roughed up pretty bad against Doug Davis in Game 2, though.

 

[RU Rah Rah]

Now there are Holliday-to-the-Mets rumors, which could really shake up the WC picture. I almost (but not fully?) think that could impact the Brewers as much as Harden going to Cubs -- it could really propel them forward over the second half. They could have a serious middle of the lineup.

 

Edit: On second thought, I checked some trade scenarios, and they seem far-fetched at best. Ken Rosenthal strikes again!

[splitterpfj]

The Cardinals did what they had to do, in climbing out of a hole every day to beat the last-place Padres. Good for them, they deserve credit, they've been getting it done all year.

 

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Brewers also did what they had to do, in pulling off a road sweep, also against an inferior opponent. Both teams gained some ground on the Cubs, but at the top of the wild card standings, St Louis added 1/2 game, while winning every game they played.

 

Here come the Brewers for four games, every bit as hot as the Cardinals. If the Brewers manage a split in this series, the Cards will have burned 8 home games to gain 1/2 game on the Crew. McClung vs Piniero is a matchup the Brewers might be able to win, and we've got Sabathia and Sheets for the second half of the series - a split is certainly possible.

 

Here's to 2 (or more) wins in St Louis, and a bit of frustration in Cardinal Land, as the home schedule gets shorter, while the standings stand still.

 

Soon enough, we'll be playing at home....and the Padres are still on the schedule.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

National League

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/nl_symbol.gif

Team	W	L	PCT	GB	E#	L10	STRK	LAST GAME	NEXT GAME
Milwaukee	57	43	.570	-	-	7-3	W6	7/22 @ STL, W 4-3	7/23 @ STL, 8:15P
St. Louis	57	45	.559	1.0	61	6-4	L2	7/22 v MIL, L 3-4	7/23 v MIL, 8:15P
Florida	53	47	.530	4.0	59	7-3	W1	7/22 v ATL, W 4-0	7/23 v ATL, 7:10P
NY Mets	53	47	.530	4.0	59	7-3	L1	7/22 v PHI, L 6-8	7/23 v PHI, 7:10P
LA Dodgers	49	51	.490	8.0	55	5-5	L1	7/22 @ COL, L 1-10	7/23 @ COL, 3:05P
Cincinnati	49	53	.480	9.0	53	6-4	W1	7/22 v SD, W 4-3	7/23 v SD, 12:35P
Atlanta	47	53	.470	10.0	53	5-5	L1	7/22 @ FLA, L 0-4	7/23 @ FLA, 7:10P

 

Edit: Took out lower half of standings.

[Principessa21]

I wanted to share this post from a Yankee beat writer with Brewers fans. He posted the odds from bodog.com on several categories, including the chances of a team winning the World Series, NL Pennant, and NL MVP and Cy Young. Take it for what it's worth, but I thought it was cool to see where the Brewers ranked. (BTW, it was before the Brewers won and Cubs lost tonight.)

 

ETA: Check out who was ranked last in the NL MVP section. LOL! Why was he even included?

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Check out who was ranked last in the NL MVP section. LOL! Why was he even included?

Because Vegas was looking to make some extra dollars off of a big name. What a sucker bet.

 

I like those odds though. Notice how the Twins are 25 to 1 and the Brewers are 12 to 1 to win the WS. Vegas also thinks the Twins are getting lucky. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[rluzinski]

Does Bodog list the odds for the NL Central?

[dlk9s]

Check out who was ranked last in the NL MVP section. LOL! Why was he even included?

Because Vegas was looking to make some extra dollars off of a big name. What a sucker bet.

 

I like those odds though. Notice how the Twins are 25 to 1 and the Brewers are 12 to 1 to win the WS. Vegas also thinks the Twins are getting lucky. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/tongue.gif

That's probably not the case. It's most likely because the AL is considered tougher than the NL and thus the Twins' road to win the WS will be more difficult than the Brewers'.

They have to compete directly with the White Sox and Tigers in their division and would have to compete with one of those teams plus two of the Rays, Red Sox, and Yankees to grab the WC. Factor in the Angels in the playoffs, and that's a more formidable challenge than the mix of the Dbacks, Dodgers, Cubs, Cards, Mets, Phils, and Marlins in the NL.

 

[dlk9s]

Does Bodog list the odds for the NL Central?

No. Right now, they just list the WS, NL, and AL pennant odds:

 

 

http://sports.bodoglife.com/sports-betting/baseball-futures.jsp

 

[uwisfan]

I must say the 7-2 odds for the pennant from the crew looks pretty decent to me

[1992casey]

1992casey wrote:

---

The first one was fine, but it'd be better not to continually be posting the standings directly into this thread. They're easy enough to look up.

 

As an occasional option, let me suggest this. ESPN's standings offer some nice sort options. Here's an example sorting for wild card order on June 1. Grab the date you desire, then copy and use the URL.

 

To grab an URL that would force today's standings to still show up tomorrow, toggle the popup to a different date, then toggle it back.

There's been a bit of confusion about posting standings to this thread. Mods have discussed this and have come to this consensus.

 

The issue is that posting messages containing nothing but standings bumps the thread, causing members to click through and see something they're probably looking at anyway. Besides all of our favorite places to check standings, they also tend to be posted in the In-Game Threads. Standings in the IGTs are fine, of course.

 

Therefore, messages in this thread should focus on useful and interesting content. Messages containing only standings will be hidden. If there's a case where a small snippet of the day's standings or a link adds clarity to an original post, that's fine.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

That's probably not the case. It's most likely because the AL is considered tougher than the NL and thus the Twins' road to win the WS will be more difficult than the Brewers'.

That's a valid point, and that sure is a factor, but I think if you asked Vegas who was a better team, they would say the Brewers. That's just my speculation though.

[BrewCityUnit]

Right now the Cubs are at -300 to win the division and the Brewers are at +250. I think that has a lot to do with Vegas wanting to keep the odds higher for all the silly Cub fans out there.

[pitchleague]

the brewers are at +250? Really? I better go back to Vegas with my wife next week (she has to pick some stuff up) and place some wagers.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

2 game lead now. The game tonight is huge because we either have a 1 game lead or a 3 game lead after tonight on the Cards. Big difference.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

So who do we root for between the Cards and Mets this weekend in their 3 game series?

[razzzorsharp]

Is there a place where we could see the percentage of a postseason chance throughout the year (in line graph form).

[zzzmanwitz]

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/MLB.html

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

70% playoff odds are nice.