MLB Pennant Race 2024: The Beginning of the End

September. The ninth month of the year, the month that kicks off autumn, and the most infamous "Fast Money" answer in Family Feud history. September has another role for baseball fans: it's the beginning of the end. The last full month before the madness known as the Postseason begins. There are a lot of intriguing storylines in the month of September, which is the norm on this very pivotal month.

And we will start with the most intriguing one of the season:

Too Close for Comfort

Let me just say how happy I am that this September, unlike last September, has me talking about the New York Yankees in an actual race instead of having one foot in the proverbial grave and the other on a banana peel. It's been amazing to see the Yankees show out this season; adding Juan Soto to the team definitely helps. We are definitely a shoo-in for postseason baseball.

If only we can run away from the Orioles.

Even worse, we can't run away from the O's even when the O's are slipping. Entering this month, the Yankees had three straight series against softball opponents: the Rockies, Nationals, and Cardinals. Our record in those nine games: 4-5. Two of those series were at home, and it was capped off by a 14-7 loss to St. Louis on the first day of September. I imagined our division lead being at least three games at this point. The Yankees lead by only a half game over Baltimore. Oh boy.

What's Next: The Yankees go on the road this week for three in Arlington against the Rangers, followed by a weekend set in Wrigley. As for the Orioles, they're at home against the White Sox (who were eliminated from postseason contention on August 17--true story) and Rays. My main concern is three weeks from now, which is the last head-to-head series between the two clubs. As of now, the Orioles lead the season series 6-4, and the Yankees need to sweep the set to clinch the season series. The set will take place in The Bronx on September 24-26.

Central Intelligence

Remember when the American League Central sucked? Boy, things have changed. The AL Central now sees not one, not two, but three teams above the playoff line. The Cleveland Guardians, the Minnesota Twins, and the Kansas City Royals are not only in prime position to be part of October baseball, they all have good chances to take the AL Central this year. As it stands now, the Guardians lead the division by 3.5 games over both Minnesota and KC, who are also holding two of the American League's three Wild Card positions.

Speaking of the Wild Card, it does look like the two Central teams who don't win the division will most likely get the Wild Card spots. Right now, it's KC who holds the 3rd Wild Card position, and they are 4.5 games ahead of the first team behind that line: the Boston Red Sox.

What's Next: Regarding head-to-head between the three teams, KC clinched the season series over Cleveland, who clinched the season series over Minnesota, who clinched the season series over KC. Very interesting. However, the Royals and Guardians clash one more time in a three game set that starts on Labor Day Monday.

A Stacked Deck of Wild Cards

From the looks of it, the National League doesn't have a lot of close races. It's a foregone conclusion that the Phillies and Brewers will take the East and Central, respectively, and while the Dodgers have had a few bumps on the road in the West, the same can be said about the Diamondbacks and Padres. So it does look like the Dodgers will take the West. This leaves the Wild Card race as the only part of the National League playoff picture with any good drama entering September.

As it stands, the Diamondbacks, Padres, and Braves hold the three Wild Card positions, though it's pretty close as the standings get deeper. The Braves currently hold the 3rd Wild Card position by one solitary game over the New York Mets, who have been up and down in the last month. The Mets were actually above the playoff line about a month prior, but a skid allowed the Braves to pass them. However, the Braves' problems against the Phillies continued to plague them, resulting in the Braves' NL East chances slipping, as well as their Wild Card lead.

What's Next: Both the Braves and Mets will be at home this week. The Braves will host the Rockies and Blue Jays, while the Mets will host the Red Sox and Reds. The two teams have one more head-to-head series against each other, and that will be a three-game set on September 24-26 in Atlanta. The season series is deadlocked at 5-5.

This is the third year of the current postseason format, which sends three division winners and three Wild Cards in each league to the postseason, totaling 12 teams overall. The #1 and #2 seeds get byes to the Division Series, while seeds #3-#6 meet in the best-of-three Wild Card Series, with #3 and #4 having complete home field. The #4/#5 winner faces the #1 seed, while the #3/#6 winner faces the #2 seed. The 2024 Postseason starts on October 1.

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