As the MLB playoffs have proven time and time again, the regular season often means nothing in terms of performance in the postseason. However, teams need to be at the top of their division during the regular season if they even want to get to the playoffs.
At roughly a fourth of the way through the season, the standings are starting to play themselves out as teams get deeper and deeper into the season.
But a first-place standing now doesn’t mean a team will still be there in October.
These are the teams that are in first place in their division as of Wednesday night, but likely won’t be there when the season finally comes to an end.
Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox, who are a game up on the New York Yankees, will make it into the playoffs this season, but not because they won the American League East Division.
The Yankees have done remarkably well considering the injuries they’ve faced so far this season, which leaves fans to wonder how good they will be once they are healthy.
New York has been without left fielder Curtis Granderson for most of this season, who will be back eventually once he recovers from his most recent finger injury. When he does return, the Yankees will greatly benefit from the 43 home runs and 106 RBI Granderson had last season.
Put that up against the Red Sox, who right now are benefiting from the great play of designated hitter David Ortiz. Ortiz is currently hitting .336, but the 37-year-old won’t be able to keep up that pace all season.
Starting pitcher Clay Buchholz also won’t be able to keep up his 1.73 ERA, which currently leads the team.
By the time the playoffs role around, the Red Sox’s players will be back to themselves, and a healthy Yankees team will easily be able to catch them in the standings.
Atlanta Braves
After getting off to an incredibly hot start, the Atlanta Braves have come back to Earth, but are still four-and-a-half games up on the Washington Nationals in the National League Eastern Division. The Nationals have not played up to what many analysts expected them to do, only staying two games above .500.
Like the Red Sox vs. Yankees matchup, the Braves’ lead is going to shrink because of the play on both sides of this matchup.
Atlanta can’t keep up their current production on offense, mainly because their batters strike out too much. They currently rank 21st in the league in batting average and 15th in on-base percentage. Three of their every-day starters, B.J. Upton, Justin Upton and Dan Uggla, have all struck out 57 or more times so far this season, and Uggla and B.J. Upton are hitting a combined .168. Their power numbers are impressive, but they won’t be enough to stave off the Nationals, who are going to turn around eventually. Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth have both battled injuries this season, and having their bats back in the lineup should certainly inject some run production into the lineup. Adam LaRoche is also starting to turn around his play, hitting .341 in May as opposed to .136 in April.
Washington’s pitching has been fairly solid all season with the exception of poor outings here and there by Dan Haren and Stephen Strasburg, and more run support will lead to more runs, allowing the Nationals to eventually catch the Braves.
Arizona Diamondbacks
While no one really expected the Diamondbacks to be in this position at the beginning of the season, they virtually have no chance to holding off the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants. San Francisco is two games back of Arizona, but Arizona’s 30-22 record has certainly been impressive.
Currently, Paul Goldschmidt has carried the National League Western Division leader’s offense, hitting .324 while driving in 40 runs. Over the course of an entire season, that won’t be enough to keep the D-Backs in first place, as no one behind Goldschmidt has higher than 25 RBI and only one starter has a higher average than Goldschmidt.
The Giants are too good to fall any further back than they already are, especially after only winning four out of their last 11 games. With the lineup San Francisco has, that certainly won’t be a continuing trend. The Giants have five starters all hitting .277 or higher, and four players have 25 or more RBI.
Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner are just too good to continue struggling with pitching like they have so far this season, Cain currently holding a 5.19 ERA and Bumgarner a team-leading 3.13. Cain leads the team with four wins, but he is certainly a much better pitcher than that, and it will show through by the time October comes around, making first place a very obtainable goal for the Giants.