MLB Update

The month of July brought great clarity to the MLB season.  We now have a strong indication that the five playoff teams in the NL will be the Pirates(!), the Braves, the Reds, the Cardinals, and the Dodgers (who are suddenly red-hot).  At this point, the Diamondbacks are the only other NL team with a greater than 6.4 percent chance of making the playoffs.  In the AL, the Red Sox, the Devil Rays, the Tigers, and the A's all appear to be in strong shape -- while the Indians, Orioles, and Rangers are likely to battle for the last Wild Card.  The Yankees are almost certain to miss the playoffs -- something that has happened very rarely since the 1994 strike ended.

Here are the latest standings by league.  The percentages represent each team's chance of making the playoffs, as measured by coolstandings.com.  Teams with a less than 10 percent chance of playing in the post-season are in italics:

NATIONAL LEAGUE:
1.  Pittsburgh Pirates (97.5 %):  66-44  --
2.  Atlanta Braves (99.7 %):  66-45  1/2
3.  St. Louis Cardinals (98.5 %):  64-45  1 1/2
4.  Cincinnati Reds (83.6 %):  61-50  5 1/2
5.  Los Angeles Dodgers (79.0 %):  60-49  5 1/2
6.  Arizona Diamondbacks (28.4 %):  56-54  10
7.  Washington Nationals (6.4 %):  54-56  12
8.  Colorado Rockies (2.1 %):  52-60  15
9.  San Diego Padres (1.7 %):  51-59  15
10.  Philadelphia Phillies (0.2 %):  50-60  16
11.  New York Mets (1.2 %):  49-59  16
12.  San Francisco Giants (1.0 %):  49-60  16 1/2
13.  Chicago Cubs (0.6 %):  49-61  17
14.  Milwaukee Brewers (<0.1 %):  46-64  20
15.  Miami Marlins (<0.1 %):  43-66  22 1/2

AMERICAN LEAGUE:
1.   Boston Red Sox (93.7 %):  67-45  --
2.  Tampa Bay Devil Rays (87.7 %):  65-45  1
3.  Detroit Tigers (93.8 %):  63-45  2
4.  Oakland Athletics (82.0 %):  64-46  2
5.  Cleveland Indians (48.1 %):  61-49  5
T6.  Texas Rangers (45.0 %):  61-50  5 1/2
T6.  Baltimore Orioles (31.4 %):  61-50  5 1/2
8.  New York Yankees (7.1 %):  56-52  9
9.  Kansas City Royals (9.4 %):  55-52  9 1/2
10.  Seattle Mariners (0.2 %):  51-59  15
11.  Los Angeles Angels (1.3 %):  50-58  15
12.  Toronto Blue Jays (0.2 %):  50-59  15 1/2
13.  Minnesota Twins (<0.1 %):  47-60  17 1/2
14.  Chicago White Sox (0.0 %):  40-68  25
15.  Houston Astros (0.0 %):  36-73  29 1/2