MLB Bullets still has a chance

Fangraphs has the Cubs with an 87.3% chance of winning the NL Central and a 99.9% chance of making the playoffs.

• You know who has a 100% chance of making the postseason? Yes, the Red Sox. But also the Cleveland Indians, who became the first team to clinch a division title on Saturday.
• Here are ten big moments in the Indians’ 2018 season.
• Christopher Dale looks at some ideas to make the playoffs fairer, including re-seeding the teams after the Wild Card game. I’ve thought about this as well. If somehow the Rockies hold off the Dodgers in the NL West, would you rather the Cubs face the Rockies or Braves in the NLDS or whichever team emerges from the Brewers/Cardinals/Dodgers scrum? I know my preference, although I’m not sure that’s reason enough to re-seed the playoffs.
• Richard Justice has some big question marks that still hang over some of the postseason contenders.
• I’m surprised Justice doesn’t have the Diamondbacks bullpen as a question mark, although maybe the D-Backs don’t count as contenders anymore with just a 2.2% chance of making the playoffs according to Fangraphs. Mike Axisa looks at despite the many efforts of the Arizona front office to reinforce the bullpen, the team’s late-season collapse is a direct result of the implosion of the ‘pen.
• The Tampa Bay Rays have just a 0.1% chance of making the postseason, but as Jeff Sullivan writes, the Rays might just be the best team in baseball right now and they’ll likely only get better in 2019.
• Ramona Shelburne has a profile of the return of Matt Kemp to the Dodgers and how he’s rejuvenated his career back in LA. That was a surprise to everyone but Kemp. Certainly the Dodgers were surprised, as noted in the piece.
• Mike Axisa looks at how the emergence of rookie pitcher Walker Buehler has kept the Dodgers in the playoff hunt.
• David Schoenfield writes that Astros pitcher Justin Verlander definitely isn’t pitching like he’s 35 years old.
• Michael Baumann looks at how Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich found his power stroke and became an MVP-candidate in Milwaukee. Complete with pop culture references that I don’t get!
• The Yankees are adding to their bullpen by calling up top prospect Justus Sheffield.
• Here’s your feel-good story for the day. Thirty years ago, Jay Handy was ten, had leukemia and was given a 50-50 chance of surviving. As a Make-A-Wish request, he got to meet his idol Don Mattingly. Not only did he survive, but 30 years later, he was reunited with Mattingly at Citizens Bank Park. (Mattingly did remember Handy, but he did need a little prompting.)
• Mattingly also has some ideas to fix the September roster problems, but it’s nothing we haven’t heard before. (The “taxi squad” solution.)
• Bill Shaikin reports that the efforts to prevent minor league pay increases may have backfired as efforts to unionize minor leaguers is gaining steam. The United Steelworkers are at least “talking” to some minor leaguers who are interested, but the USW emphasizes that they are not currently engaged in any organizing campaign for minor league ballplayers.
• Now it’s time for everyone’s favorite show, “Umpires Behaving Badly.” Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper and home plate umpire Laz Diaz got into it despite Harper being a few hundred feet away. Harper thinks Diaz crossed a line when he went after him, and it’s hard to disagree with Harper. Diaz also continued yelling at Harper when he came in from the outfield at the end of the inning.
• And then there was this bizarre confrontation between home plate umpire Tom Hallion and Mets third baseman Todd Frazier at home plate as Frazier scored on his walk-off home run. Hallion was actually standing on home as Frazier went to step on the plate. MLB says they are looking into the incident.
• Bob Nightengale remembers “the last true pennant race,” the 1993 NL West when the 104-win Braves went to the playoffs and the 103-win Giants stayed home.
• Ben Lindbergh doesn’t want the injuries to Shohei Ohtani this year distract from the fact that his 2018 season has been close to miraculous.
• In light of the end of David Wright’s career, Andrew Simon has a list of players on-course for Cooperstown before they were derailed by injuries. Mattingly is on the list, as is Eric Davis. If you’re too young to know how great Davis was for his first four or five seasons, trust me. He was almost Trout-esque.
• Davis’ old team the Cincinnati Reds are in a rebuild and R.J. Anderson looks at how their weakness in starting pitching is hindering their return to competitiveness.
• Astros third baseman Alex Bregman wears the number two on his back as a reminder that the Diamondbacks passed on him with the first pick in the draft in 2015. Geez, maybe Kris Bryant should change his number to 2 to remind the Astros what they passed up.
• The injury to Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco is more serious that first thought and he’ll now miss seven-to-nine months, meaning he won’t be back until mid-season in 2019.
• The Yankees activated slugger Aaron Judge off of the disabled list.
• Nationals pitcher Jeremy Hellickson re-injured his wrist and will now be shut down for the season.
• And finally, it’s rookie-hazing season and I must say, the new rules about what is permitted has made teams to be much more creative and interesting than the old “dress like a cheerleader” stuff. The Twins had all their rookies participate in a “horse” race—as they were all wearing a horse-and-jockey costume. It’s quite a sight.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.