Hard as it is to believe, we’re less than three weeks away from the conclusion of the 2023 MLB regular season. The playoff picture is beginning to take shape — although in the American League, things remain pretty wide open. Sure, the Minnesota Twins seem to finally be running away with the AL Central (though that says more about the state of that division than the Twins), but beyond that, the other two divisions could very well go down to the wire. Here we’ll focus on the AL West, where the lead has seemingly changed hands every other day over the last couple of weeks and three teams sit within 2.5 games of first place.
MLB playoff picture: AL West standings
The Mariners’ scorching start to the second half looked to have them in the driver’s seat, but four straight losses dropped Seattle all the way back down to third — and into a tie for the third and final Wild Card spot. Texas appears to have righted the ship — for now, at least — as their offense begins to get back on track, but there are still a ton of question marks remaining in both their rotation and the bullpen. Houston stubbed their toe against the A’s last night, and really the Astros hasn’t so much taken control here as they have just stayed steady while the Rangers and Mariners fluctuate around them. The season’s final few days are likely to decide things here: Seattle ends with nine straight against both of the teams above them (six against Texas, three against Houston).
