Divisions are starting to finally settle and the Wild Card picture is becoming clear as the baseball regular season end is only three weeks away. Here’s where every team stands with roughly 20 games left before season’s end.
30. Detriot Tigers, 43-100, last in the AL Central (ranked 30th last week)
The good news for the Tigers is that three of their top four prospects are expected to make their debuts next season, according to MLB Pipeline. All three players are pitchers, including RHP Casey Mize, who is the No. 2 overall prospect per MLB Pipeline, but the Tigers don’t have a top 100 hitter that is ready to contribute for another few years. INF Issac Paredes was acquired from the Cubs in the Justin Wilson deal a few years ago and looks like he could contribute next season.
But when you look at the rest of this Tigers roster, there are few bright spots on the offense. 1B Brandon Dixon showed some pop but not much else, Niko Goodrum is a talented infielder but isn’t enough to move the needle much. The veteran Miguel Cabrera hasn’t had a terrible season but the power numbers are never going to be the same. Detriot has a long rebuild ahead of them, but at least pitchers like Mize will give fans something to look forward next season.
29. Baltimore Orioles, 46-98, last in the AL East (ranked 27th last week)
Baltimore has been on quite a rough stretch of games, losing nine of their last 10 games and have only managed to win nine games total since August 1st. Their pitching is the root of the cause and it comes as no surprise with only John Means and Andrew Cashner posting sub-4.00 ERA’s in their rotation, with the latter being traded to Boston.
The offense has some promising bats behind Outfielders Trey Mancini and Anthony Santander, with the 24-year-old Santander completely flipping the narrative on his career. Santander has 18 HRs with a .831 OPS in 82 games this season, finally putting it together in the big leagues. But neither Mancini or Santander are franchise pieces and the Orioles still figure to be years away from competing at the moment.