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Playoff race a wide open affair
in the NL
If this was the final
week of Major League
Baseball’s regular
^ season, the pennant
races in both leagues
would be quite clear.
But it’s only the final week of July
and, quite literally, very little is clear.
If the playoffs began today, the At
lanta Braves would be part of that
fun, by virtue of winning the National
League East.
Also making the postseason would
be the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL,
and the Houston Astros and New York
Yankees in the American League - all
as division winners.
But the rest of the division winners
and the wild card teams are anybody’s
guess as we roll toward August.
In the AL, the Rays, Red Sox and
Athletics are all in the limit for wild
card spots, and the Twins and Indians
are in a dead heat for the Central Divi
sion crown.
The NL scene is even more muddled.
The Central is completely up for grabs,
with my Cardinals, the Cubs and the
Brewers vying for that crown, and an
other four teams are trying to lay claim
to the two wild card spots.
Seven teams trying to fit into three
By Dave Jordan
holes, as it were.
(Remember, the two teams with the
next best records after the three division
winners in each league play the so-called
“wild-card playoff’ after the regular sea
son concludes to determine the fourth
and final teams for each league’s divi
sional series. Last season, the Yankees
beat Oakland to advance in the AL, and
the Rockies beat the Cubs in the NL. )
So of these seven NL teams in the
limit for the remaining playoff slots,
who are these guys? Which are the three
teams most likely to claim those final
three spots?
Highest-scoring teams: Diamond-
backs, Cubs, Brewers.
Best defensive teams: Cardinals, Dia
mondbacks, Brewers.
Lowest team ERAs: Cubs, Cardinals,
Nationals.
Lowest starting pitcher ERAs: Na
tionals, Cubs, Diamondbacks.
Lowest bullpen ERAs: Giants, Cardi
nals, Cubs.
Best three players: Christian Yelich,
Brewers; Javier Baez, Cubs; Anthony
Rendon, Nationals.
Best pitchers: Zack Greinke, Dia
mondbacks; Max Scherzer, Nationals;
Stephen Strasburg, Nationals.
Best closers: Will Smith, Giants;
RHYTHM
ON THE
Sponsored by:
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Josh Hader, Brewers; Sean Doolittle,
Nationals.
Sharpest managers: Bruce Bochy,
Giants; Craig Counsell, Brewers; Torey
Lovullo, Diamondbacks.
Best home records: Cubs, Brewers,
Cardinals.
Best road records: Diamondbacks,
Giants, Cardinals.
Worst home record: Diamondbacks,
Giants, Nationals.
Worst road record: Cubs, Brewers,
Phillies.
Some of the numbers and names
above might be surprising. The Brew
ers, despite having a very potent offense
led by reigning league MVP Yelich,
are wildly inconsistent and are a truly
bad bunch away from their home park.
Likewise, the Cubs, who are literally
the worst road team in the NL to date.
The Phillies only show up in the
above array of stats on the negative
side, and the Giants aren’t very well
represented either in a positive light.
I might write off all four of those
teams right now barring significant ad
ditions at the trade deadline.
On the other side of the coin, the
Cardinals really show up favorably,
as do the Diamondbacks, which is a
bit of a surprise. I’d bet my egg money
both of those squads make it into the
postseason.
Baseball’s long season has a way
of weeding out the pretenders and re
warding the truly worthy.
The final two months should be a
blast.
— Dave Jordan is a native of Mable-
ton, a University of Georgia graduate,
and a diehard St. Louis Cardinals fan.
July 29, 2019, The Islander, Page 13
Glynn County
organizations
awarded DCA grants
to support special
housing projects
The Georgia Department of Com
munity Affairs (DCA) and Sen. Wil
liam Ligon recently announced that
three Glynn County organizations
— Coastal Georgia Area Commu
nity Action Authority, Inc., Gateway
Behavioral Health Services, and
Safe Harbor Children’s Shelter, Inc.
— will be the recipients of grants
to help support homeless and HIV/
AIDs populations in the area.
Coastal Georgia Area Community
Action Authority, Inc. was award
ed two grants, collectively worth
$90,000, to be used for homeless pre
vention and rapid rehousing.
Gateway Behavioral Health Ser
vice was awarded four grants worth
over $129,000 to help support rapid
rehousing, street outreach, shelter
plus care support services/harm re
duction programs.
Safe Harbor Children’s Shelter,
Inc. was awarded five grants worth
over $220,000 to help support emer
gency shelter, street outreach, hotel
motel voucher, Emergency Solutions
Grants support services and Georgia
Homeless Management Information
System programs.
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