The good stuff is upon us as this 2018 season winds down and the races tighten and the pulses quicken. Here are five topics to track this weekend in MLB:
1. Rocky Mountain high: The National League West is a legit three-team race, and here is a look at how many days each of those three clubs has spent in first place this season:
D-backs: 125
Dodgers: 29
Rockies: 19
Funny thing about races, though: All that matters is who is in front at the finish line. With that in mind, here's a look at the current NL West standings:
Rockies: 77-62 (--)
Dodgers: 76-64 (1 1/2 GB)
D-backs: 75-65 (2 1/2 GB)
The Rox might have picked a fine time to peak, having won all five of their September games so far. Of course, it didn't hurt that those games came against the West's also-rans (Giants and Padres). The next seven days at Coors Field will see the Rockies dealing with the Dodgers and D-backs directly, and it's going to be a fascinating window into where this crowded competition is headed.
This weekend, as the D-backs battle the NL East-leading Braves (more on that below), the Rockies and Dodgers have three opportunities to disrupt each other's mojo. Like Colorado, the Dodgers have looked pretty good lately, winning nine of 12. But closer Kenley Jansen has been advised to skip this trip because of the effects the altitude could have on his irregular heartbeat.
So that's an interesting X-factor, as the Dodgers, who suffered their fair share of bullpen blowups during Jansen's recent DL stint, try to absorb his absence again -- albeit with an expanded roster this time. The three-game set between Colorado and L.A. begins with Jon Gray and Clayton Kershaw on the mound at 8:40 p.m. ET tonight.
2. Dress rehearsal? The American League Championship Series begins five weeks from Saturday -- quite possibly at Fenway Park and quite possibly with the Astros occupying the third-base dugout.
If that's the case, we'll look back at whatever happens this weekend -- when the Red Sox and 'Stros stage a three-game set at Fenway that concludes with ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" -- as an early identifier for what to expect between these two behemoth ballclubs. It will be erroneous, because by then the rosters will be fine-tuned and October baseball is a season unto itself, but we'll do it anyway.
There is so much starpower on the field when these two clubs get together, including last year's AL MVP Award winner in Jose Altuve and this year's potential MVP in Mookie Betts. Alex Bregman, who has an MVP argument of his own, is sort of the second coming of Dustin Pedroia, and here's another opportunity for J.D. Martinez to haunt Houston.
This weekend's series has far more mathematical meaning for the Astros, who are 3 1/2 games ahead of the A's in the AL West, than it does for the Red Sox, who are 9 1/2 games in front of the Yankees in the AL East.
But there are still things the Sox are sorting through, including the health of David Price, who will return to action tonight opposite Gerrit Cole (7:10 p.m. ET) after taking a liner off his pitching wrist on Aug. 29. Prior to that injury, Price had compiled a 1.62 ERA over seven starts. The Astros are also getting an important pitcher back in action this weekend, with Charlie Morton, who missed one start due to shoulder discomfort, returning Saturday (4:05 p.m.) opposite Eduardo Rodriguez (who is making just his second start after missing a month and a half with an ankle injury).
As if all of that isn't enough, it's a matchup of past Cy Young Award winners -- Dallas Keuchel and Rick Porcello -- in Sunday's 8:05 p.m. nationally-televised tilt.
3. And so it Gaus: Speaking of potential postseason previews, the D-backs vs. Braves series that began Thursday night obviously qualifies.
Neither of these clubs has played particularly great of late (the Braves entered this series having lost six of eight and the D-backs entered having lost eight of 12), and this series marks the start of a pretty brutal stretch for Arizona -- 20 consecutive games against the Braves, Rockies, Astros, Cubs and Dodgers.
The D-backs, who have been scrambling for runs of late, have their work cut out for them tonight, with Braves right-hander Kevin Gausman on the hill. He wasn't the sexiest of Trade Deadline pickups, but he's been one of the best. Gausman allowed three runs or fewer in each of his six starts for Atlanta and two runs or fewer in five of them. The Braves are 5-1 in games Gausman has started.
Then again, Arizona starter Patrick Corbin, a pending free agent, has been pretty good, too, with a 3.06 ERA and a 143 ERA+ this season.
4. The Snell of victory: When Chris Sale's 2018 season was put on pause because of shoulder inflammation (he's pitched just five innings since the start of August), it opened the door for other AL arms in the Cy Young Award race. It's going to be an interesting vote when all is said and done, because 200-inning efforts like what the Indians' Corey Kluber and the Astros' Justin Verlander are on track for are increasingly rare in today's game, and it's possible that somebody with incredible rate stats but fewer innings could fare better than in years past.
Enter Rays ace Blake Snell. He's broken out in a big way in 2018, with a 17-5 record, a 2.02 ERA, a 201 ERA+ and a 1.01 WHIP in 151 2/3 innings. He also missed some time this season with shoulder fatigue, but he's come back all the stronger from the experience, winning AL Pitcher of the Month for August after going 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA.
Snell, a recent guest on the MLB.com Morning Lineup podcast, has a chance to pad his Cy Young credentials at 7:10 p.m. ET tonight. Not only is he pitching in Tropicana Field, where he's allowed one or zero earned runs in 14 consecutive starts, but he's facing the Orioles, who are one of only seven teams with a sub-.700 team OPS this season.
5. Knight game: The Yankees lost the slightest bit of ground in their bid to host the AL Wild Card Game when they dropped two of three in Oakland this week, but they've still got a 3 1/2-game cushion there.
It sure appears likely those two clubs are bound for an Oct. 3 date in the Bronx, barring an AL West surge from the A's and/or a dramatic final flourish from a Mariners club currently 5 1/2 games back in the Wild Card race. Some clubhouse in-fighting was the big story in Seattle this week, with the frustrations of a 20-23 second-half showing boiling over.
The Yankees' visit to Safeco Field this weekend is their chance to effectively slay what slim hope still exists for the M's, and they might just have a Knight to aid the effort. Sir Didi Gregorius, who has been out with a bruised left heel since Aug. 21, is expected back in the lineup for tonight's 10:10 p.m. opener, in which Masahiro Tanaka (a potential Wild Card Game starter) and M's ace James Paxton oppose each other.