The 2023 MLB season is winding down as football and other winter sports get started. There are approximately 30 games left for every team across the MLB, with wildcard and division races heating up, one race stands above all.
The tightness, the surprises, and the excitement that is the AL West this season. The Texas Rangers held onto the number spot all season, with the Houston Astros breathing down their neck.
Then almost out of nowhere, in the month of August one team got hotter than the rest. The Seattle Mariners who now sit atop the division solely in first place. Historic run for the Mariners who not only close a double digit game deficit and join the race, they are not leading the pack.
AL West Going into August
Imagine it is July, 31st, 2023; the Rangers at 61-46 hold the top spot in the AL West. Right behind them are the Astros, sitting one game back from the Rangers.
All season it was thought to be the Rangers or the Astros. Yet, today on July 31st, the Angels of Anaheim who are 5.5 games back announced around this time that they will go for it.
The Angels announce they will not trade Ohtani at the deadline, they will chase a wildcard spot, boy is hindsight 20/20. As the Angels start to fall apart in August, another team is creeping in.
The Seattle Mariners are, on July 31st, 5 games back from the first place Rangers. Not one and I mean not one person is talking about them making a wildcard run and definitely not to win the division.
Seattle starts August off 8-1 before losing three in a row. At this time, I personally welcomed them to the race as a casualty. Thinking at least they deserved to be mentioned.
Then they win 9 in a row, now I am thinking, “holy cow! The darn Mariners”. After going 17-9 in July, and being as under the radar as you can be. They go 20-5 in August with 3 games left in the month.
…Going into Septemeber
The Mariners after going 20-5 in August are sitting atop the division with a one game lead, like the Rangers coming into August.
Right on their tail are the Rangers and Astros, who both are only one game back from claiming the top spot in the AL West once again.
Rangers have hit a bit of a speed bump on their season, being only 1-9 over their last ten. Texas is looking to get back to the dominant offensive team they were for the first 4 months of the season.
The Astros however, have been up and down all season. Right when you think they will get hot, they go cold, and vice versa. One thing is for sure when it comes to Houston however, they have been here and done that. There is no price you can put on experience this time of year.
With roughly 30 games left for these teams, who do you see winning this race for the AL West title? The streaky, yet, on fire Mariners? The team who abused opponents and balls this season in the Rangers? Or the reigning champs who are looking to find their groove before the playoffs start in the Astros?
Either way this race for the division will be an exciting one, with all three of these teams only one game apart in the standings.
Rowan Donaghey is a Sports and Betting insider for Stare Down Sports. You can follow him on twitter via @RowanDonaghey
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