Only two weeks and four days remain in MLB's regular season. No postseason berths have been clinched yet (though that will start happening soon) and at least four of the six division races are very much undecided. There are also the awards races.
You can't call any of them yet. There is not much regular season baseball remaining but there is still plenty on the line. Here now are three trends worth keeping an eye on as the regular season winds down.
Most teams have an identity. The Yankees are the Bronx Bombers. They're going to home run you into submission.
The Brewers are small ball short kings who will do to you the opposite of what the Yankees do to teams. The Phillies have a powerhouse rotation. The Padres have an impenetrable bullpen.
Good teams have a strength and lean into it. For the Cubs, that strength is their defense, which is the best in baseball and one of the best in recent memory. Really, it's one of the best ever.
Both Baseball Info Solutions' defensive runs saved (DRS) and Statcast's outs above average (OAA) have Chicago as the best defensive team in the game by an enormous margin. The numbers going into Tuesday's games: The eye test and the numbers agree Pete Crow-Armstrong is the best defensive player in baseball at any position. He's a dynamo in center field.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
