Astros Minor League Playoff Picture - 8/25 Update

Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City is currently in first place with a magic number of three to clinch the division. They have 9 games left to play. Albuquerque is now in second place in the division, seven games behind the RedHawks. Any combination of three RedHawks wins and Isotope losses will clinch the division. With Saturday's win over Round Rock, the magic number to eliminate them is two. Oklahoma City has one more head-to-head game with Round Rock and could eliminate them with a win today. Albuquerque and Round Rock face off for four next week.

If Oklahoma City makes the playoffs and if the conference series and the finals both last the full five games and if they take the same days off as last year, get your tickets for the Astros-Reds series starting September 16th, because that's when you'll be seeing George Springer's MLB debut (at least that's what I predict). You may want to get tickets for the preceding Angels series just in case.

Corpus Christi
The Hooks are in the playoffs by virtue of winning the first half of the season. The schedule for the first four games has already been set with the first two against San Antonio at home on Wednesday, September 4th and Thursday, September 6th and the next two at San Antonio on that Friday and Saturday. The Hooks will get plenty of practice for the playoffs since five of their last 9 games are against the Missions. With Saturday's loss against the Missions, the Hooks currently trail them by two games for the second half title. The Hooks lead the Missions by one and a half games for the season.

Lancaster
The JetHawks are also in the playoffs by virtue of winning the first half. The schedule for the first four games has been set with Lancaster playing at home on Saturday, September 7th and Sunday, September 8th (and will be attended by yours truly) and on the road the following Monday and Tuesday. What is still to be determined is the JetHawks opponent. If they win the second half (they have a magic number of 2 with 9 games left to do so), they will play the winner of a mini-series between the #2 and #3 seeds. At this point, Inland Empire, Rancho Cucamonga and Lake Elsinore are all in the hunt to play in the mini-series.

Quad Cities
Quad Cities actually has a magic number of one to clinch a playoff berth because of the rules for qualifying for the second half. They are currently in second place, four and a half games behind Western League leader Cedar Rapids. They have won three in a row with 9 games left to play. Quad Cities needs either one more win or a loss from the Peoria team to qualify for the playoffs.

Tri-City
The ValleyCats have two ways to make it to the playoffs. They are currently in first place, three games ahead of second place Lowell with 12 games left to play. The magic number to eliminate Lowell is 9 (3 for the other two teams in the division). If they fall out of first place, they can earn a wild card berth. Their current record would give them the wild card lead if they weren't in first place. They have won four games in a row and have two games left to play against Lowell.

Greeneville
The Astros need to be in first or second place in their division to make the playoffs. They are currently in second place a half game in back of Kingsport and two games ahead of third place Elizabethton and two and a half ahead of fourth place Johnson City with six games left to play. This one will likely come down to the wire. Greeneville lost no ground in the race on Saturday as everyone in the Western division lost. They have 3 games left against Danville who they have gone 1-2 against thus far and three games against the East division leader Bluefield who they are 1-2 against this season.

GCL Astros
The GCL club has been eliminated from playoff contention. They are 26-30 with four games left. They will need to go 4-0 to end the season at .500.

DSL Astros
The DSL team was also eliminated from contention. They ended their season on Saturday with another win to cap off a four-game win streak and a 39-31 record for the season.