Braves ‘Lead’ Race For 2017 First Pick, But Gap Closing

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Atlanta	43	70	.381	—
Minnesota	46	67	.407	3
Cincinnati	46	66	.411	3.5
Arizona	46	66	.411	3.5
Tampa Bay	46	66	.411	3.5
San Diego	48	64	.429	5.5
Los Angeles (AL)	49	63	.438	6.5
Milwaukee	49	62	.441	7
Oakland	50	63	.442	7
Philadelphia	52	63	.452	8
Kansas City	53	59	.473	10.5
Chicago (AL)	54	58	.482	11.5
Colorado	55	58	.487	12

As the minors season heads into its final month, the major league season is now two-thirds complete. There is still a lot of baseball to play, but we are close enough to start to look to see how the battle for the first pick in next year’s draft will line up.

At the all-star break, the Braves seemed to be running away with the worst record in baseball and the first pick in the draft that comes with it. But Atlanta is 12-12 since the all-star break, which means the Braves have closed the gap with the Twins, Reds, Diamondbacks and the Rays. The Twins (14-11 since the all-star break) are also showing improvement after a very poor first half. On the other hand, the Diamondbacks (8-14 since the break) and Phillies (10-15 since the break) are headed in the other direction.

A lot can chance over the final 50 or so games of the season. At this time last year, the Marlins had the worst record in baseball and they finished with the seventh-worst record. Two years ago the Diamondbacks had the fifth-worst record on Aug. 10, and finished with the worst record.