We've reached the final week of the 2014 MLB season, and there are still five postseason spots up for grabs heading into Tuesday's slate of games.
The National League field is essentially set, with the Milwaukee Brewers all but eliminated at five games back in the wild-card standings. The big question is who will host the Wild Card Round game, as the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates are currently tied atop the standings.
Those teams could still conceivably catch the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals to win their division titles, but at this point it looks like they'll be battling it out for a spot in the NLDS.
The American League picture is a bit cloudier, especially with the Cleveland Indians making a late-season push for the No. 2 wild-card spot.
The Oakland Athletics currently hold a one-game lead over the Kansas City Royals in the wild-card standings, with the Seattle Mariners (two games back) and Indians (3.5 game back) on the outside looking in for a playoff berth. The Royals are also just a game behind the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central standings, so a division title is well within reach.
One way or another, only three teams are going to emerge from that group of five, and these next few days are what September baseball is all about.
So to recap, there are currently seven teams, two NL and five AL, that are legitimately still in the hunt for what boils down to five postseason spots.
With that in mind, what follows is a look at the biggest X-factor for each of those clubs that will determine whether they punch their tickets to the playoffs before the week is over.
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