Stock Up, Stock Down: Braves, Yankees, Cubs, Red Sox

As the 2023 regular season hits mid-August and September is just around the corner, the postseason picture is starting to slowly come into focus for some teams both in the American League and National League.

Over the last seven days, some teams did themselves some favors in terms of the division and Wild Card races and some completely fell flat and are on life support in terms of their playoff hopes. In this edition of Stock Up, Stock Down, here are two teams that improved their postseason chances and two who are all but out of contention for any kind of spot.

Stock Up: Chicago Cubs

One of the second-half surprises has been the Chicago Cubs, who went from being sellers at the trade deadline to becoming buyers, keeping their key pieces for the rest of the season and they are right in the middle of the NL Wild Card race.

They went to Canada last weekend and took two out of three from the Toronto Blue Jays, then split a two-game set with the crosstown rival Chicago White Sox, winning the final game on a three-run home run from Christopher Morel Wednesday night in a 4-3 victory.

They currently hold the final spot for the third and final Wild Card team in the National League postseason, but they get some bad news with one of their top arms. Marcus Stroman, who drew a lot of attention ahead of the trade deadline, is out with a right rib cartridge fracture. There is no timetable for a return, but that is going to put more pressure on the rest of the rotation in his absence.

Chicago is in a good spot in terms of the standings and the upcoming schedule with their right-hander. They host the Kansas City Royals this weekend, then hit the road for a series against the Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates. The next 10 days are going to go a long way into either helping their playoff chances or hurting them. They are turning into a team that nobody wants to play.

Stock Down: New York Yankees

After the last week, the New York Yankees had and the overall nine-game road trip they finished up by getting swept by the Atlanta Braves, the 2023 postseason is a foregone conclusion for the Bronx Bombers, regardless of what manager Aaron Boone thinks.

“There’s a lot of season left,” said Boone after Tuesday’s 11-3 loss. “We gotta do better than this.”

Yes, there is a quarter of the season left for the Yankees, however, with injuries to their pitching staff, their lack of offense, defense, and overall competition level, the ship has sailed on the 2023 season for both Boone and the Bronx Bombers.

When they began their nine-game road trip on August 7 in Chicago against the White Sox, yes, there was plenty of season left, but after dropping two out of three there, then two out of three to the Miami Marlins, which included a ninth-inning meltdown by Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle Sunday in an 8-7 loss. The icing on the cake was the Braves’ sweep and dropping New York under .500 at 60-61. They went scoreless in the final two games in Atlanta.

The Yankees return home to open a weekend series against the Boston Red Sox and for late August, this is going to be the least hyped Yankees/Red Sox series in some time.

Stock Down: Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox began a stretch of 10 games against the Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, and Washington Nationals where they had a chance to make a dent in the Wild Card race behind the Blue Jays. They went 5-2 against the Royals and Tigers at home, but stumbled against the Nationals, dropping two of three against a team they needed to at least win two from or sweep.

After winning the first game against Washington, they turned to James Paxton and Chris Sale to win the series and while the starters delivered, the bullpen and defense did not. The bullpen allowed four eighth-inning runs in a 6-2 loss on Wednesday then, one day later, they allowed seven in a 10-7 loss. The Red Sox defense, which has been bad all season, did not help the cause with two key errors in a five-run fifth inning Thursday.

During their 10-game stretch, Boston needed to win at least seven games, but only went 6-4 and now head to the Bronx for a three-game weekend series with the Yankees. After that, they have four against the Houston Astros on the road before returning home for three with the Los Angeles Dodgers and three against the Astros. The last two games against the Nationals feel like a big missed opportunity.

The Yankees and Red Sox are clearly in trouble, while the Braves are still setting the pace and improving their standing at the top, while the Cubs are turning into a legitimate playoff team. It was certainly an up-and-down week for the four teams.