The AL West looks all sewn up with the AL-leading Houston Astros establishing a huge lead during the first half of the season. The only question now is not if they’ll win, but by how many games? Let’s find out by breaking down how many wins each team in the AL West ends up with by the end of the season.
It may just be the All-Star break, but the Astros basically have the AL West title all locked up. And with a 10-game lead on the Boston Red Sox, they’re also in pole position for the top seed in the AL, and are +475 contenders for the World Series.
While the Astros have been an absolute juggernaut for the first half of the year, you’d figure that with basically nothing left to push them for for the latter part of the season, they’ll likely let up and fall short of their current 109-win pace.
Prediction: The Astros still win 100 games, finishing 102-60.
Los Angeles Angels
Record at All-Star break: 45-47
One would think the return of MVP front-runner Mike Trout should lift the Angels during the second half of the season. But in reality, Trout’s return might not make that much of a difference. They were 26-27 when Trout went down, and they’ve gone 19-20 without him.
The Halos remain in contention for a wild card spot, but unless they make some moves to bolster their injury-ravaged pitching staff, they don’t figure to make enough of a run to make up ground in that race.
Prediction: The Angels finish right where they’ve been for most of the year. They go 80-82.
Texas Rangers
Record at All-Star break: 43-45
The Rangers are similarly still in the race for that wild card place. And with reports suggesting they likely won’t trade ace pitcher Yu Darvish, they should remain in contention.
The return of fellow ace Cole Hamels from a nearly two-month absence should also be a welcome sign for their prospects in the second half. The lefty looked good in his two starts in July, and will strengthen what has been a very strong Rangers rotation (4th in the AL in starter ERA at 4.25).
Prediction: The Rangers overtake the Angels for second in the division with an 83-79 record.
Seattle Mariners
Record at All-Star break: 43-47
The Mariners are capable of getting hot. Since the start of June, they’ve had two win streaks of five or more games.
However, they’re equally capable of falling apart, like they have toward the end of June and into July. After going a season-high two games above .500 on June 23, they went just 4-10 in their next 14 games. If they don’t get more pitching help, they will likely remain stranded in the bottom half of the division.
Prediction: The M’s end up going 77-85.
Oakland Athletics
Record at All-Star break: 39-50
With their chances of making a wild card slot remote at best, the A’s look resigned to their fate of finishing at the bottom of the AL West. They’ll likely be active sellers once again before the trade deadline, with Sonny Gray sure to be a hot commodity for teams in desperate need of quality starting pitching.
