MLB: The Biggest X-Factors for the Postseason Push

With the MLB playoffs just under two months away, there are still many races that look to go down to the wire. What players will have the largest impact on which clubs will be able to play in October?

Now that the MLB trade deadline has passed us by and the contenders are starting to separate themselves from the pack, the only question remains which teams will find themselves looking in and out of the postseason picture come late September.

Throughout the regular season it started to seem like the only the American League East would have a photo finish in terms of who would win the division. However, a couple of unexpected races have come about in recent weeks.

In the AL Central, it looked like the Cleveland Indians would run away with the division crown, especially after they added All Star reliever Andrew Miller. But, things have played out much differently than many expected thanks to a recent surge from the Detroit Tigers. Brad Ausmus has led his team to a 15-10 record since the All Star break, which included an eight-game winning streak from July 25-August 3. Now Detroit sits a mere 4.0 games back of the first place Indians with a lot of baseball still to play.

Another race that is looking more competitive everyday is the fight for the NL West between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Dodgers, even without Clayton Kershaw, have managed to cut the Giants lead to only one game. This seemed almost undoable as the Giants were playing better than any team in the MLB right up to the break. However, Bruce Bochy and his team have fallen on hard times just as their divisional rival is picking up steam.

Overall, there are probably still eight real postseason contenders left in each league, as the extra wild card continues to generate hope for teams that would have been thinking about 2017 in years past.

Being that there are still so many questions that need answering in the coming months, many of these playoff races may be decided by a couple of key contributors. Here are some of the biggest x-factors for this seasons’s postseason push.

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