- Posts: 5216
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 6:04 pm
- Location: SF Bay Area
Last night's games were the end of intra-divisional play. It's all within the divisions the rest of the way.
With that in mind, let's look at how the races shape up.
East
It appears to be a two team race with Spidey and the Bird. The two teams are 6-6 so far. However, so far, Spider is +9 in the division while Falcon is -1. So that (plus the fact that he's 5 up) would favor Spider. The ratings have these are the lowest rated teams in the league so what do they know?
Central
Probably also a two team race, but Jeep's squad has come on strong of late so they remain a dark horse here. Miller and JTJ have split their series so far. Like Spider, Miller has a better record in the division (+5 to +1). Jeep is -7 in the division and would, obviously, have to turn that around. Maybe he's due?
As in the East, due to the above factors, you have to favor Miller here. Looking at just the parks left to play in, the ratings also favor Milleram
West
Probably a two team race, but Semper remains on the fringe of the race, six back, and like Jeep, a dark horse.
Stoney has continued his streaky ways, so much so that, after leading the division the entire season, he has now fallen a game back of KLX. To counter that, Stones can point to a superior division record (+9 v +1) . To counter the counter, KLX is 8-7 versus Stoney and has six games at home with Stoney versus 3 on the road. The two team's ratings in the four parks are almost identical. Stoney is better against all three teams at home and in Doug's park, while KLX is also better than all three teams at home and is better than both Semp and Doug on the road.
It may come down to KLX having an extra three games at home against Stoney. Either way it breaks, it will probably come down to the last series. Also, both teams will be contending for the WC. Speaking of which....
Wild Card
Removing the current division leaders, the WC standings are:
Stoney 69
JTJ... 68 -1
Jeep 65 -4
Falcon 64 -5
Semper 64 -5
Stoney and JTJ would be the favorites, but any of these teams could get hot and get there.
If you look at the divisional records, Stones and JTJ are the only two teams over .500 and Jeep and Semper are -7 and -9 respectively. Falcon is only -1. From a ratings perspective, Semper and Stoney have the best shots although they are in the toughest division, while JTJ is far ahead of Jeep and Falcon. Of course, the ratings are definitely not the final word here. Falcon plays in a weak division so that could also factor in. Although, the two teams behind him have better ratings.
Given the current standings and the divisional records, you have to favor Stoney for the WC with JTJ hoping to get a break to get there. . The other three will need to get very hot.