Call to the pen
Fansided

MLB: An updated prediction of the 2017 playoff picture

By Anthony Sosa

May 17, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Jedd Gyorko (3) congratulates center fielder Dexter Fowler (25) after hitting a solo home run off of Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Rick Porcello (not pictured) during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
May 17, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Jedd Gyorko (3) congratulates center fielder Dexter Fowler (25) after hitting a solo home run off of Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Rick Porcello (not pictured) during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 8
Next
Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /

AL East

Current Standings:

New York Yankees: 26-17

Baltimore Orioles: 25-19

Boston Red Sox: 23-21

Tampa Bay Rays: 23-25

Toronto Blue Jays: 20-26

Before the 2017 season began, I ranked each division by how strong each of them looked heading into the new season. The AL East happened to rank No. 1 on that list. So far, I have mixed feelings about what’s going on in this division.

The New York Yankees are showing that their youth won’t keep them from competing. They took the league by storm and have held the AL East lead for a majority of the season.

The Boston Red Sox seemed like the clear favorite in the AL East when the season started. Even with the injury to David Price, Boston looked ready to roll with newly acquired ace Chris Sale. Inconsistencies from the entire team, outside of Sale, has them hovering above .500, right now.

Another team with high expectations, the Toronto Blue Jays, started the season off slow and are just now beginning to recover. The loss of Edwin Encarnacion hurt, but even more so with the early injuries to Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki.

For the Baltimore Orioles, the emergence of Dylan Bundy helped the O’s questionable rotation. Bundy and Tillman create a nice one-two punch at the top of the rotation. Baltimore remains just a game out of the division lead, despite a slow start from star third baseman Manny Machado and dominant closer Zach Britton spending a majority of the time on the DL.

And the Tampa Bay Rays have played just below .500 ball, so far, thanks to stellar play from both Logan Morrison and Corey Dickerson. With that said, I still expect the Rays to become sellers at the trade deadline.

Who wins the division?

Despite their slow start, the Red Sox still finish on top of the division come season’s end. If Price can return to form when he comes off the DL, the Red Sox will boast one of the best rotations in baseball.

And even though their run production sits middle of the pack in MLB, they own the third best team batting average. That can only cause the run production to increase.

The youth of the Yankees plays a bigger factor in the Red Sox winning the division. I’m not sure the Yankees’ young stars can succeed throughout the whole season.

Home/MLB News