As we enter the final week of the 2025 regular season, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on:
1. AL contenders prepare for a hectic week:
No teams in the American League have games scheduled for today, giving everyone in the league a breather ahead of a wild final week of the regular season. Only the Blue Jays have clinched a postseason spot among the AL’s teams, and even they haven’t clinched a division title. The Yankees and Mariners appear all but guaranteed a playoff spot at this point, but the Red Sox and Tigers are still facing realistic scenarios where they’re on the outside looking in come October. The Astros and MLB’s hottest club, the resurgent Guardians, are vying for that final spot in the playoffs. With series coming up between Cleveland and Detroit, Boston and Toronto, and Detroit and Boston before the regular season comes to a close, there are plenty of big games to watch throughout the week that will impact the AL playoff picture in a big way.
2. Series Preview: Brewers @ Padres
Over in the NL, one big series between playoff contenders is set to commence today when the Brewers head to San Diego. Milwaukee has already clinched the NL Central but will still need to fend of the Phillies to secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Padres, meanwhile, have not yet clinched a playoff berth (although they’re very close to doing so), and they also sit just three games back of the Dodgers in the NL West.
San Diego would love a late hot streak to pry the NL West away from the Dodgers, but Brewers ace Freddy Peralta (2.65 ERA) stands in the way of that today. The Friars will counter with Nick Pivetta (2.81 ERA) opposite Peralta. Randy Vasquez (3.94 ERA) will take on an as-of-yet unannounced Brewers starter for Game 2. The series wraps with Milwaukee’s Quinn Priester (3.25 ERA) on the mound, while the Padres’ starter for that final game is still TBD. The set is scheduled to kick off at 6:40pm local time in San Diego this evening.
3. Star lefties face off in the AL East:
Neither the Braves nor the Nationals are a factor in the postseason race, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t intrigue to be found in their game this evening. One of the top up-and-coming lefties in the game, Nationals southpaw MacKenzie Gore, is set to take on reigning Cy Young winner Chris Sale in Atlanta. First pitch will be 7:15pm local time.
It’s been an up-and-down year for Gore, who looked like a Cy Young contender early on but started to slip during the summer months and wound up taking a trip to the injured list. He’s posted a 1.74 ERA in two starts since returning and will look to finish the season on a strong note. Sale had a chance to repeat as the NL’s Cy Young winner until a ribcage injury sidelined him over the summer. He’s been elite when healthy, posting a 2.35 ERA with a 32.3% strikeout rate, but he’s been limited to 115 innings and 19 starts this season.
The last week of the season seems like an odd time for realignment…
See glaring error -> scroll to author line -> “Nick Deeds” every time
We do not tolerate hate to any author on this site unless his name is angel hernandez
Meow – Like I’ve been saying for three years now, he’s a rookie …. cut him some slack ;O)
I think we knew what he meant.
Toronto and Detroit entering these last 6 games with business to take care of still is the worst case scenario for Boston. I suppose even if the Sox don’t make the playoffs these last two series will have a “playoff feel”?
On the other hand, both teams have struggled to varying degrees lately and may still feel pressure, Detroit especially. In Toronto’s case, they’ve got a spot locked up and although they should keep pushing for the division and league, they may mistakenly let off the gas.
If a team that Max Scherzer is on even tries to let off the gas at any point I assume he goes and tapes a brick to the gas pedal 😂
But here’s hoping… 🤞
True, but Max himself laid a pretty ugly egg last time out, so who knows.
Canuck – Max isn’t far off from Morton. I expect the Sox to feast on him.
Fever I’m just saying if the Sox fall out of their playoff spot I’m blaming you for being so blithe on here about how Boston blowing their lead would be impossible 😛
Meow – Being confident and positive is what pleases the people here! Considering how great the pitching has been most of the season, and how bad the rest of the league has been, it’s hard not to feel confident!
Good poll question for the final week since tight race and a wild guess.
Which AL team do you believe will miss the playoffs?
Astros, Guardians, Tigers, Red Sox
I don’t know about who’s going to miss the PO. I just hope Boston gets in.
avenger – Red Sox in the postseason is a sure thing! They have a 2 game lead on both Houston and Cleveland.
With a career ERA of 4.14 (4.00 this year) and an embarrassing WHIP (1.39 career, 1.32 this year), I have a hard time seeing Gore as a “star”. He’s a solid #3 SP on most teams.
Keep preaching Brew. Been saying this since the trade and even adding that based on his projection of being a #1, his being a 3/4 is a real let down (while generally being a 3/4 is a good thing of course).
He still may find something or get with the right coach and run up the charts. For now / post trade, he isn’t what people seem to think he is.
Hey LT I’m rooting for Gore for sure to make the turn to stardom. But until his performance actually warrants it, beyond his potential, then I can’t accept such a narrative just yet. If Gore is a star then so are about 50-60 other SPs (Chris Bassitt, Jeffrey Springs, etc…) with ERAs of 4?
For those that watched the Mariners’ game last night:
What the f*** was Logan Gilbert doing?!?!?! “Oh we’re up by 7 in the second inning? Time for me to work on a pitch that is going bounce every 3rd pitch I throw.” If I was Cal I’d be pissed!
At the same time though, we were up by 7
Logan did his job he didn’t give up many runs
As a Pads fan who’s also an occasional closet Mariners fan, any news on Woo?
Need to reward teams for having wins and being the better team. This should be the current seeding:
#1. Toronto
#2. New York Yankees
#3. Seattle
#4. Boston
#5. Detroit
#6. Cleveland
#1. Milwaukee
#2. Philadelphia
#3. Chicago Cubs
#4. Los Angeles Dodgers
#5. San Diego
#6. Cincinnati
Until the schedule is truly balanced, that makes zero sense.
@Hitsthemhighandfar
So you’re saying the best teams shouldn’t be rewarded because MLB hasn’t perfectly balanced the schedule? That’s backwards. The point of a season is wins. If a team has more of them, they’ve earned the higher seed — period. Otherwise, you’re giving participation ribbons to teams just because of their zip code.
Was a little surprised to see that Sale is up to 57 bWAR for his career. He’s starting to get into HOF territory. He doesn’t have big counting stats, though. Only 143 wins. So I doubt that he’ll make it to Cooperstown. Still, a few more reasonably healthy and productive years and he might get lucky.
@CaseyAbell
I’m hopeful that as we progress in the decades that voters start looking at the actual data that matters when evaluating pitchers and not whether their ERA was good or they had 300 wins. There are a few things that pitchers can control and that is what they should be evaluated on.
The Tigers were the least talked about team all year long, and if they fail to make it in this year, the negative stories will have no end. Still they control their own destiny right now. Win the next three games in Cleveland, and rest up until the playoffs. The team has surpassed the expectations the fans had to start the season so its been a very good season for the team. They are young, and whats more important they did not sell the farm on the trading deadline.
Next year they’ll be better just by experience wise they’ll be better. They have some exciting players on the farm, and they have no real long term costs to date. As a fan they’ve been more than meeting my expectations the last two years. The 2013 had so many high value talents, and they blew up in Boston. The 2012 team blew up in Detroit. The young guys of today have no reason to hang their heads over the last few months of play, as no one expected them to have done so well to start the year.
They still have this week. They still have a great chance to make the playoffs no matter the last week. This is exciting for the team, backs against the wall, and all eyes on them. That type of pressure experience is invaluable no matter the outcome. GO TIGERS !