We’re past the craziness of the trade deadline and eyes are fully set on the postseason now!

There are roughly 40 games left in the MLB season with so many teams still in the playoff mix and plenty of excitement on the way.

Headlines

Just because the trade deadline has passed doesn’t mean there’s not news and stories swirling constantly. For now, we focus on the intense playoff races and the three awards that have become quite the battles now late in the year.

Wild Card Madness

The Wild Card races in both leagues are incredibly tight with many teams still truly in contention for a postseason berth.

Yesterday on the Just Baseball Show, Peter and Ryan drafted potential Wild Card teams in order of how far he believes they can make it this October.

Here’s how the standings currently line up in each league as of Thursday, August 13th.

American League

• AL East: Rays (74-46)

• AL Central: White Sox (62-57)

• AL West: Astros (62-60)

Wild Card

1. Yankees (68-52)

2. Red Sox (64-56)

3. Rangers (60-61)

4. Twins (0.5 GB)

5. Tigers (0.5 GB)

6. Guardians (1 GB)

7. Blue Jays (1.5 GB)

8. Orioles (2 GB)

National League

• NL East: Braves (73-48)

• NL Central: Brewers (74-47)

• NL West: Dodgers (73-48)

Wild Card

1. Cubs (71-50)

2. Padres (65-57)

3. Diamondbacks/Phillies (64-58)

4. Phillies/Diamondbacks (64-58)

5. Marlins (1.5 GB)

6. Cardinals (2.5 GB)

Award Races Heating Up

A trio of major award races have heated up in a big way over the past few weeks!

We’ve got closes races that ultimately could come down to the wire on three of the six major MLB awards this season.

As always, odds are provided by our partners at BetMGM.

NL MVP

Pete Crow-Armstrong: -120

Shohei Ohtani: +100

There’s a new favorite for this one despite Ohtani being the heavy favorite all season until recently. PCA has been on an absolute tear and has a real shot to stop Shohei from his third straight NL MVP.

AL Cy Young

Cam Schlittler: -150

Dylan Cease: +135

The favorite since early in the year has been Cam Schlittler, but Dylan Cease put together a stretch of excellence that brought him real close prior to a dud this week. Even with his start this week, Cease is still very much in the mix and this one is far from over with each starter still slated to make at least another handful of starts.

NL Rookie of the Year

JJ Wetherholt: -170

Sal Stewart: +135

These two studs in the NL Central have flipped throughout the year as Sal Stewart got off to an early lead for this award but JJ Wetherholt has been the clear favorite for a while now. The gap has closed a little of late with Stewart’s offensive prowess compared to Wetherholt’s overall impact becoming a fascinating conversation around baseball.

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Weekend in a Nutshell

Presented by Hampton Farms

From Payton Tolle's eye-popping performance to Will Venable's shocking mistake and plenty in between, let's take a look at the weekend in a nutshell, brought to you by Hampton Farms Peanuts.

Use code JUSTBASEBALL for 25% off when ordering the best peanuts in the game at Hampton Farms Peanuts!

Payton Tolle on a Roll

Red Sox lefty Payton Tolle decimated the Athletics on Friday, racking up 14 strikeouts over six innings of one-run ball. He racked up 24 total whiffs, bullying hitters with his fastball and cutter. And per OptaSTATS, Tolle's 14 strikeouts on 84 pitches was the second-fewest pitches per strikeout in a start since pitches were first tracked in 1988.

The Jackson Jobe Return

Another 23-year-old who impressed on the mound this weekend was Tigers right-hander Jackson Jobe, who made his return to the mound 14 months after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Jobe looked like the budding key rotation piece he had been prior for the Tigers, averaging north of 98 miles per hour on his fastball while showcasing a nasty five-pitch mix on his way to a five-shutout-inning performance of one-hit ball.

Luis Lara Home Run Robbery

Luis Lara was the difference in a 4-3 win for the Brewers, and it was with his elite glove. As a prospect, people around the Brewers organization told me that they expect Lara to win multiple Gold Gloves, and it's easy to understand why when you're watching him in the big leagues. The first catch was as good of a recovery as you'll see in the outfield, while the second catch came in extras with no regard for his own body. He crashed into the wall, saving a run plus extra bases in the 10th inning before the Brewers walked it off in the home half.

Ryan Waldschmidt Plays Hero

Another top prospect turned heroic rookie is Diamondbacks outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt, whose only hit of the weekend against the Dodgers could not have come at a better time. Down one in the bottom of the ninth with one on and one out in a 2-2 count, Waldschmidt took Edwin Díaz deep to left center to walk it off and beat the Dodgers. It was only Waldschmidt's second career homer, but he's already made an impact for the D-backs in several ways in his early big league career.

Will Venable's Big Mistake

Unfortunately, White Sox manager Will Venable was not a hero on Friday, putting his team in a brutal spot in the first inning when he walked out to the mound to chat with starter Noah Schultz. What he didn't realize is the White Sox had already used a mound visit a few batters earlier, meaning Schultz had to come out of the game after recording just one out. As a result, first-rounder Hagen Smith was called up to make his MLB debut out of the bullpen the next day, because the bullpen had to wear it in that Friday game. Smith flashed his nasty stuff but also spotty command, and the Sox lost that game one but took the next two against the Guardians in a big series win.

Just Baseball Discord

We have reached over 1,000 members of our Discord in just one year and expect another awesome season with our community!

Our Discord channel is the ultimate baseball group chat while also providing exclusive access to Peter’s MLB best bets, Aram’s prospect content, giveaways, and direct connection to the entire Just Baseball staff.

Read all the details about our Discord community here.

Collectibles Corner

We pulled our first 1/1 Superfractor on Just Baseball Breaks this week 🤯

Check out this CRAZY Yoshinobu Yamamoto card and make sure to sign up and follow our shop on Whatnot for $25 of free credits to use in our breaks!

Just Baseball Merch

Our newest merchandise features retro logos, tv-inspired designs, and the anti wave social club!

We have also restocked on all your favorites including our vintage World Series line, hats, hoodies, City Series line, spring line, and much more.

Check out the full collection of Just Baseball swag here!