TODAY’S SPORTSTAT — Brewers have plenty of competition for wild-card spot

By JERRY TAPP

Through games of August 25, the Milwaukee Brewers are 72-59 and  in third place in the National League Central, 4.5 games behind the first place Cubs. Right now, they are tied with Colorado for the second Wild Card spot (division foes the St. Louis Cardinals have the first Wild Card). That second Wild Card spot is pretty tenuous at best; there are six teams all within eight games of the Brewers vying for that Wild Card spot.

With all that being said, the month of September is going to be big for any team within shouting distance of a playoff spot. If history has anything to say about the conclusion of the 2018 pennant race in the N.L., the Brewers are going to have to hold off those six teams that listed below them in the Wild Card race.

Based on the past five seasons (2013-2017), the Cubs and Cardinals have two of the best September records over the past five campaigns. The Cardinals have the third best September record from 2013-17 with an 83-60 record (.580 winning percentage). The Cubs rank fifth in this stat with an 81-61 September record (.570 winning percentage) over the past five seasons. The Brewers? They rank 16th in this stat with a 69-73 mark, a .486 winning percentage.

Here are the September winning percentages of the 30 MLB teams over the past five seasons.

Cleveland .667 … Washington .604

St. Louis .580 … Boston  .576 … Chicago Cubs .570

L.A. Dodgers .54 5… L.A. Angels .54 2… N.Y. Yankees .531  … N.Y. Mets .521… Pittsburgh .514 … Toronto .514 … Kansas City .514 … Baltimore .510 … Texas .510… San Francisco .504

Milwaukee .486 … Seattle .482 … Oakland .482 … Tampa Bay .479 … Houston .468 … Arizona .458 … Miami .458 … Atlanta .454

Detroit .447 … Colorado .447 … San Diego .444… Chicago White Sox .432 … Philadelphia .429 … Minnesota .417 … Cincinnati .411

Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp