Tuhy posted on July 01, 2015 23:55
Most of the Super Best Friends did a podcast at the beginning of the year and they pretty much all agreed that the Reds and Yankees would win their respective divisions. I would go back and give it a re-listen to hear their points, but the website is still not done, and I wouldn’t know where to find it at this point.
With less than 2 months to go, it appears they were sadly correct in their completely biased theories, but we do have one semi-interesting playoff race developing in Eagan it looks like. The only real playoff battle remaining is for the first wild card spot. And that battle is between the Kardinals, Phillies and Pilots. Here are my predictions for the rest of the way:
Kardinals
Current Record: 14-10
Remaining Strength of Schedule: 0.544
Very tough schedule remaining with all 3 of the best Hopkins team (record-wise), as well as a showdown with the division leading Yankees in the closing weeks. Bats have been very cold all season long compared to a stellar 2014 season in which they batted over .300 and finished 2nd in Home Runs. The Kardinals are once again near the top of the league in Home Runs in 2015, but are also near the league lead in Strikeouts. Pitching has been a crap shoot all season as former aces Kobra and Fish have struggled greatly at times, and Boom has not quite found the groove yet this year.
Kardinals Prediction - Finish 8-6 for an overall record of 22-16
Phillies
Current Record: 12-9
Remaining Strength of Schedule: 0.402
The Phillies have already faced most of the top tier teams in the league and still sit with an above .500 record. If the Kardinals are struggling at the dish this year, then the Phillies bats would have to be labeled as non-existent. After batting over .300 in 2014, they are batting well below .200 in 2015. They continue to be a patient team at the plate, so that has stolen them some wins early on that will definitely make a difference later on. Injuries to The Kid have hurt the Phillies on the mound this year, and it looks to be a two man pitching staff of Shirls and JC down the stretch if they hope to stay in the Wild Card Race.
Phillies Prediction - Finish 10-6 for an overall record of 22-15
Pilots
Current Record: 11-11
Remaining Strength of Schedule: 0.475
They have a very workable schedule until crunch time in the last two weeks of the season with big matchups against the Reds and Phillies. Surprising to myself, the Pilots led the HRL in Strikeouts in 2014 and have trimmed those numbers a bit in 2015, and have added some Home Run totals to move them up the leaderboard in that category. As with the rest of the teams in the Wild Card Race, the Pilots have seen their pitching stats deteriorate a bit from the prior year. Attendance issues have hurt the Pilots and if Rex and Neighbro are unavailable down the stretch, this team will have a long road ahead of them.
Pilots Prediction - Finish 10-6 for an overall record of 21-17
Final Thoughts
As you can see, this race will come down to the final few weeks, and the strategic use of the few remaining Game 3’s for these teams could decide the race. (Hopefully for the Kardinals sake, the Phillies will keep Double/Triple Grab Bag a tradition for these instances).