NL Wild card spot very Close : New York Mets are the current leader for wild card spot
Fans love it when their team runs away with a playoff spot. It's much more fun to watch your team absolutely dominate the competition rather than just barely get by. When you're rooting for your team you could care less how everyone else does. For fans of the game, however, there is much more fun in watching close races for the various playoff spots that are available.
In baseball that means the teams all compete for their respective division titles, but then also with the rest of the American or National League teams for the wildcard. With the season closing in on the halfway mark, not only are the division races beginning to shape up, but the wildcard race is starting to take form as well.
The NL
Some of the usual teams are looking to win their division with the same suspects looking to battle it out for the wildcard spot.
In the NL East, the Philadelphia Phillies are having a hard time competing for the top spot that they have held for the last three seasons. The New York Mets have been running in second for three of the last four seasons with their last division title coming in 2006. So far this season they are making a hard push for the division sitting a 1 ½ games back of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have not even come close to winning the division since they dominated it from 1991-2005, but appear to be making a push for their soon to be retiring manager, Bobby Cox.
The NL Central is not nearly as interesting. Only two teams appear to be really competitive this season. The Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals have been battling it out for the division lead for the last few weeks. With 80 and 79 games under their belts, the Reds are currently holding the lead, but are only one game in front of the Cardinals.
Of the three divisions, the NL West would have to be the most competitive. The San Diego Padres have been in control for most of the season thanks to their dominant pitching staff. There have been times that Joe Torre's Los Angeles Dodgers have been in the lead as well, but they have been unable to hold it for long. With 78 games played the Dodgers are three games back.
A little further back, but still within reach are the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants; thanks to some excellent pitching and timely hitting the two teams are only five and five and a half games back respectively.
The NL Wildcard
With so many teams in contention for their division leads, the fight for the wild card is shaping up to be an intense one.
At 78 games in, with a winning percentage of .564 and a record of 44-34, the New York Mets are the current leader for the NL wild card spot. There are more than a few teams hot on their tails.
The Cardinals are in a hot battle for their division, but if that does not work out they are shaping up to give the Mets a run for the wild card at one game back (43-35). The Dodgers are in a similar position as their Midwestern brethren sitting one game behind the Mets as well.
Following the Cardinals and Dodgers is a team that is more accustomed to being the team getting chased instead of doing the chasing themselves. The Philadelphia Phillies have had to deal with some injury issues of late and find themselves sitting two games off of the pace the Mets are setting (41-35).
The competitive NL West has two more teams that are shaping up for a shot at the wildcard (if they don't win the division). With Ubaldo Jimenez leading the way the Rockies are staying within range three games back of the Mets. Just a half game behind them is the San Francisco Giants.
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