With six weeks left in the season four teams have a realistic shot at the two wild card slots. All four - Ducks, Balls, Friday, and Warriors - have recently signed new roster acquisitions that strengthen their lineups and/or rotations for a playoff push. Current leaders in the Wild Card race, Westside Warriors, have reactivated
Sam Hatt who had a lower body injury at the start of the season. Both on the mound and at the plate, Sam's presence will be a "huge boost for the team!" as praised by Alex Shore. Holy Balls, who currently hold the second Wild Card slot, have seen their offense surge after the signings of
David Castle and rookie
Andrew Piasecki. Castle is hitting .600 with three doubles, a
| Wild Card |
| TEAM |
W |
L |
E# |
| Warriors |
11 |
5 |
|
| Holy Balls |
10 |
6 |
|
| King Friday |
6 |
8 |
11 |
| Ducks |
6 |
8 |
11 |
| Islanders |
4 |
16 |
3 |
| Belgian Wiffles |
4 |
20 |
E |
triple, and eleven runs scored since joining the Balls; in six games, Piasecki has three home runs, eleven RBI, is hitting .381 and slugging .810.
Not to be outgunned, the trailing teams have also bulked up. The Ducks signed a rookie of their own, hard-throwing lefty Phillip Morris (not to be confused with big tobacco, but who wants to bet we start calling him that?). In his first appearance he recorded every out by strike out, but was a little wild: walking 13, including two runs pushed across. Michael Sessions of the Islanders added, "Morris' debut was exceptional as he homered on his first at bat." Rumors of Morris being "the left-handed Pearson" seem like they could be true; good news for the Ducks if so. King Friday made the biggest splash of any midseason signings with the
six-player trade between themselves and Belgian.
Mark Brannan,
Greg Brannan, and
Jason Hollister add a second strong arm to the King's rotation and some much need power in their lineup. In their first series with the team, Greg hit .500 with four home runs, Hollister also got in on the home runs with one of his own, and Mark - while not getting out of the park - hit a cool .500 with seven runs scored.
The biggest moves seem to have already been made, but with the trade deadline half a week away (June 25th) there is still a chance one of these teams could make another move for the stretch run. With that in mind let us take a look at the obstacles and advantages presented to these four teams over the final five weeks of the season.
Strength of Schedule = (∑(# of games remaining vs. Team * winning % of Team) / # of games remaining) * 10
 |
Current Position |
Games Remaining |
Strength of Schedule |
| 1st Wild Card |
12 |
6.24 |
|
|
Anyway you look at it, four games to play against the Wicked Aces is rough. The remainder of Westside's games all being against teams in the playoff hunt can go either way, depending on your level of optimism. On one hand it makes the road that much tougher, and losses to trailing teams give them twice the boost. However, wins coming in those series will beat those teams back with twice the impact. This is a tough road. Realistically, going 5-7 over this stretch of the schedule would be impressive, and that could be enough to secure a playoff berth with their current 3 game lead.
| Tiebreakers |
| H2H: |
2-0 vs. against KF, cannot give up the tiebreaker / 1 more win earns it; 0-2 vs. HB, cannot get the tiebreaker; yet to play DU, up for grabs |
| Diff: |
Sitting at +8: 5 ahead of DU and KF (+3), 32 behind HB (+40) |
|
 |
Current Position |
Games Remaining |
Strength of Schedule |
| 2nd Wild Card |
12 |
4.71 |
|
|
Whereas Westside has 12 games remaining against playoff contenders, the Balls have just 8: 2 against Whiteford, and 2 against each team chasing the Wild Card. There are still some tough series in there, but what makes the Balls schedule a much safer path to the playoffs is that they close out the season with four games the against Islanders and a deflated Belgian team. Getting 7 wins over their final 12 games is not asking much. Another thing in the Balls' favor is their opportunistic standing with the tiebreakers. There is only one of the three head-to-head variety they can potentially lose; following that, they have a commanding lead in run differential over the other teams in the running.
| Tiebreakers |
| H2H: |
2-0 vs. KF and WW, cannot concede either / 1 more win earns either tiebreaker; 1-1 vs. DU, tiebreaker up for grabs |
| Diff: |
Sitting at +40: 32 ahead of DU and KF (+3), 32 ahead of WW (+8) |
|
 |
Current Position |
Games Remaining |
Strength of Schedule |
| 3 Games Back |
14 |
6.00 |
|
|
Friday's remaining schedule is essentially a mirror of Westside's, including two dangerous series against the Wicked Aces. The one difference is the two extra games left to play, which come at home against the Islanders. Holding no tiebreakers at the moment, Friday needs to play 3 games better than Balls and Warriors, while taking both games remaining against both teams to avoid conceding to them the head-to-head tie-breaker. In all likelihood, they need to get 9 or 10 wins in their final 14 games to clinch a playoff berth. It will not be easy, but the restocked Friday roster has the advantage desperation provides on their side.
| Tiebreakers |
| H2H: |
0-2 vs. HB and WW, cannot get either tiebreaker; yet to play DU, up for grabs |
| Diff: |
Sitting at +3: tied with DU (+3), 5 behind WW (+8), 37 behind HB (+40) |
|
 |
Current Position |
Games Remaining |
Strength of Schedule |
| 3 Games Back |
14 |
6.37 |
|
|
The Ducks are the only team in the Wild Card hunt who are done with the Wicked Aces. However, they are also the only team with games remaining against El Diablos. Call it a push. Like Friday they need to play 3 games above the leaders to have a shot at making the playoffs. But like Westside they face the hard track of having to accomplish that task against a schedule entirely of teams in a playoff push of their own. One possible reprieve for the Ducks is that the head-to-head tiebreaker between them and each potential Wild Card team is still wide open; this yields a slight edge over King Friday while coming from the trailing position. However, the fact their additional games come against Westside (instead of the Islanders, as in Friday's case) makes their schedule that much more difficult to accumulate those wins.
| Tiebreakers |
| H2H: |
1-1 vs. HB, tiebreaker is up for grabs; yet to play KF or WW, both are up for grabs |
| Diff: |
Sitting at +3: tied with KF (+3), 5 behind WW (+8), 37 behind HB (+40) |
|
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