The 2015-16 MLB National League Wild Card race appears as it will provide a epic finish with Pirates of Pittsburgh, Cubs of Chicago, Giants of San Francisco and the Nationals of Washington D.C. are all good talented teams who are in a fight for the NL 2 Wild Card spots. What we are wondering is which of these 4 hopeful candidates will take the lead in this Wild Card race?
In preview the teams we start with the Pirates of Pittsburgh who as of today have 63 wins and 44 losses and their early World Series Odds for the 2015-16 seasons is at +1,500.
At present the Pirates are at the top of the standings for a Wild Card spot, with a win over the Cubs of Chicago this past Wednesday, bring their record to 63 wins and 44 losses and that puts them at present 3.5 game over the Cubs in the NL for the 1st spot. That gives them the lead a present, but that does leave them in a safe spot.
Things that are problematic for the Pirates in the stretch run with the injury to A. Burnett their right handed veteran pitcher, who will be out for some 4 weeks with an elbow injury. That’s a blow to their pitching rotation that was 5th ranked in the MLB. Burnett, a starter with a 3.38 ERA with 8 wins and 5 losses in 2015 as his injury hits the Pirates when they begin a difficult 16 game streak where they face the Giants, Dodgers, Mets, Cardinals and D-Backs during the stretch.
Next are the Cubs of Chicago whose record as of this writing is 60 wins and 48 losses and with early World Series odds at +1,400 for the 2015-16 seasons. At present for the Cubs it has been some 107 years since they have had a World Series Title, and some 7 years since they have made it to postseason play. This year that all could change as they strive for a wild card slot, as on Thursday the beat the Giants of San Fran 5-4. What a turnaround for a team the in the last 5 seasons they combined to be below .500.
The leaders this year for Chicago are A. Rizzo with a 2015 average of .405 with 63 RBI’s and 21 home runs, while Bryant is at .355 with 61 RBI’s and 14 home runs. These 2 players will have to continue the streaks for this upcoming run for a Wild Card spot, since the Cub have a remaining schedule that in the NL is ranked at 7th toughest.
Then we have the Giants of San Francisco whose record as of this writing is 59 wins and 50 losses and with early World Series Odds at +1,000 for the 2015-16 seasons. Yes the Giants are just a half game behind the Cubs for the last Wild Card slot in the NL, but that’s liable to change at any time since the Giants start a crazy tough 25 game period. All the teams in those 25 games have winning records. Included are 5 games with the Cubs and Cardinals and 4 games against the Pirates of Pittsburgh.
The Giants have a great shot at defending their title as they enter this difficult run, and they must defend their position by holding their fort.
Last but not least of the 4 challengers are the Nationals of Washington D.C. who at present have a record of 56 wins and 52 losses to date, with an early World Series Odds of +900 for the 2015-16 Seasons.
It’s almost unbelievable that the strong Nationals are where they are at, as they have struggled since the MLB had its All-Star break as in their ultimate 20 games, they have lost some 12. Thus, they lost their lead in the East to the red hot Mets of New York, and now they have fallen to some 3 games behind in the wild card run.
If the Nationals are to make a comeback, they need their offensive efforts to improve as since the breaks they have only scored some 73 runs, and that’s ranks 8 worst in the MLB. If you Bet on MLB at a Sportsbook, you must know the Nationals are depending on B. Harper to step up offensively as he is the team leader averaging .462 in 2015 with 29 home runs and 69 RBI’s, but in their ultimate 7 games, he has not homered, nor had any RBI’s, and has had only 8 hits in 25 at bats. This race should prove to be interesting for the MLB fans so stay tuned.