With the stretch run underway, the storylines this week ranged from a historic strikeout pace in Milwaukee to a crowded wild-card scramble on both sides of the bracket. Here’s what our team is watching heading into the final six weeks of the regular season.
The Cubs Keep Finding Ways to Win
Chicago is riding one of the better stretches in baseball right now, and they did it the fun way this week — a walk-off win over the crosstown White Sox in a rivalry matchup that had extra juice given the standings implications. Pete Crow-Armstrong has been at the center of the Cubs’ surge, reaching 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases this season, a rare power-speed combination that puts him in elite company. The Cubs currently sit atop the National League wild-card picture, with a handful of other clubs still within striking distance.
It hasn’t come without cost, though. Chicago’s injury report is crowded: closer Daniel Palencia is expected back this week but won’t immediately reclaim ninth-inning duties while he rebuilds his form, and starters Ben Brown and Justin Steele are both progressing through live batting practice as they work toward rehab assignments. On the tougher end, reliever Hunter Harvey’s triceps recovery is described as a genuine question mark for the rest of the season, and Riley Martin is done for the year. Dansby Swanson has been given rest and will sit out an upcoming road trip. For a team fighting for playoff positioning, managing that many moving parts is its own kind of test.
Misiorowski Is Putting Together a Cy Young Case
In Milwaukee, the Brewers own the best record in baseball, and right-hander Jacob Misiorowski is a big reason why. The 24-year-old has a 1.76 ERA and 204 strikeouts through 22 starts, and this week he became just the second pitcher ever to reach 200 strikeouts this quickly in a season — trailing only Spencer Strider’s pace from 2022. With roughly two months of regular-season baseball left, Misiorowski currently looks like the favorite for the National League Cy Young.
Ohtani and the Dodgers Bounce Back
Los Angeles has stretched its NL West lead to 8.0 games, punctuated by an 11-5 win over Colorado this past Monday. Shohei Ohtani provided the headline moment with a two-home-run game, continuing a season in which he’s already collected his 29th career leadoff homer as a Dodger — second-most in franchise history. The lead is comfortable, though bullpen questions around Edwin Diaz remain a storyline worth tracking as October approaches.
Tight Races Everywhere Else
Not every division is settled. In the American League, Tampa Bay holds a 6.0-game edge in the AL East, with the Yankees currently occupying the top wild-card spot rather than chasing the division. The AL Central has the White Sox in front by 4.5 games over Detroit, backed by a run differential of plus-45 that suggests the gap is real rather than a hot streak. The AL West is the closest race in baseball, with Houston up just 2.0 games on Texas — and notably, both contenders currently carry negative run differentials, a sign of just how unsettled that division has been.
The AL wild-card chase might be the tightest storyline in the sport right now: four teams are separated by just 1.5 games for the final spot. Boston is part of that mix after snapping a brief skid with an 11-1 blowout of Arizona, a result that keeps the Red Sox squarely in the conversation.
Over in the National League, Atlanta has pushed its NL East lead to 6.5 games over Philadelphia, with the return of Ronald Acuña Jr. giving the Braves a boost at the right time. The NL wild-card race, like its American League counterpart, remains crowded behind the Cubs, with several clubs still mathematically alive.
What We’re Watching
With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, rosters are largely set, and the teams that reshaped themselves in July are starting to show what those moves were worth. Between Milwaukee’s historic pitching, a loaded Dodgers lineup trying to peak at the right time, and four separate wild-card races still up for grabs, the next few weeks of the regular season have plenty on the line. As always, our team will keep breaking down the matchups, the line movement, and the numbers behind them as the races tighten.