Astros Minor League Playoff Standings

With approximately two weeks left in the minor league season for most of the teams, let's look at the playoff picture.

Oklahoma City is currently in first place in their division with 14 games remaining. They are six games ahead of Round Rock with a magic number of nine to eliminate the Rangers affiliate. The RedHawks and the Express will face off for five games at Round Rock starting Wednesday. Oklahoma City has a 5-6 record against Round Rock this season. All nine of the other remaining games are at home and eight of the nine are against sub-.500 teams.

Corpus Christi has already clinched a playoff berth by virtue of winning the first half. They are currently in first place for the season overall as well, but only lead San Antonio by one and a half games. In the second half of the season, the Hooks actually trail San Antonio by two games. If I am reading the playoff procedures correctly, the only real advantage for the Hooks in winning the second half would be to get home field advantage in the event that the Division Series goes to a fifth game and bragging rights, of course. That is not the case for the Championship Series which is set for the first two games in the South Division winner's park and the last three games at the North Division winner this year (which schedule alternates each year).

With all of that said, Corpus Christi plays six of the 14 remaining games head-to-head against San Antonio, three on the road and three at home. The Hooks are 10-12 in the season series against San Antonio. The remaining eight games are split 4-4 road/home and are against sub-.500 teams. San Antonio has virtually the same schedule, playing the same two teams split 4-4 road/home.

Lancaster has also clinched a playoff spot by winning the first half. They are also currently winning the second half, ahead of second place Rancho Cucamonga by eight games. They are 11 games ahead of second place Inland Empire for the division for the full season and two games ahead of San Jose for the best record in the California League. Similar to Corpus Christi, the only thing that is really left to determine is whether or not the JetHawks become the number one seed in the division which would bring a possible game five in the Division series home to Lancaster. They have an even split of seven games remaining at home and seven on the road. Six are against Lake Elsinore (season series 9-7) and the remaining 8 are against Rancho Cucamonga (season series 11-6).

Quad Cities also has 14 games left to play in the season. They are in second place in the division, five and a half games behind first place Cedar Rapids and three and a half games ahead of third place Clinton. The second place team in the division earns a wild card berth. Quad Cities has no more head-to-head games with third place Clinton. In their final 14 games, they play seven at home and seven on the road. They are 26-22 in their season series against their final four opponents. This is a race that will bear watching on a daily basis, but the River Bandits are well-positioned to get into the playoffs; they just can't go on an extended losing streak.

Tri-City dropped into second place in the division with yesterday's loss. They are a half game behind Lowell for first place in the division, but are six games ahead of the third place team. The bad news is that second place doesn't count. With three divisions, there is one wild card berth and Tri-City is currently trailing State College by two games for that spot. The ValleyCats have 16 games left to play with nine of those at home. They go head-to-head against Lowell for two games on the road who they lead in the season series 5-3. Of their other three opponents the rest of the way, Tri-City is 4-5 against Vermont, 2-1 against Staten Island and has not yet faced Brooklyn with whom they will have six games. Brooklyn is currently 30-29 and a game and a half out of first in their division so they will be highly motivated to win. This is another race that will bear watching on a daily basis.

Greeneville is still in first place in their division, but they have scuffled as of late. They are one and a half games ahead of Kingsport and three games ahead of Elizabethton (who they play one more game against tonight trying to avoid a sweep). The second place team in the division does advance to the playoffs. Greeneville has 10 games remaining on their schedule, six of them at home. Of those 10, they will be playing Danville six times. They have not played Danville yet this season, but the Danville team is 24-31 and is currently on a seven-game losing streak. The other three are against the Bluefield Blue Jays. The Blue Jays have the best record in the Appy League. Greeneville has not played them since the first three games of the season and went 1-2 against them in those three games. On paper, both Kingsport and Elizabethton have harder schedules remaining as they play the teams with the best record and second best record in the Appy League, respectively, for six of their final games.

The GCL Astros are in third place, eight games back, behind two teams with a magic number for elimination of two. So barring an epic collapse by the Yankees2 and Tigers and an unprecedented winning streak by the Astros, the playoffs are highly unlikely.

The DSL Astros were eliminated from playoff contention over the weekend, but at 35-31 with five games left to play, they are well poised to put up a winning season which is extremely encouraging after their poor showing in 2012.