The shocking thing here is how few ERA qualifiers there were - apparently Aaron Nola was in the only one in the NL and there weren't too many in the AL as Ryan Pepiot finished 3rd despite a 4.31 ERA. Meanwhile the Yankees squeaked in as the third wild card, tied with Houston but getting the nod since they swept the Astros 7-0 in their season series.
This is pretty ugly all around, looking at those team stats I wonder how we won 77 games. Aside from running the bases well and having halfway-decent starting pitching with a good BB/K rate there's nothing here to like.
I don't know why OOTP 25 puts all the pitchers in the batting report as well, especially since none of them came to the plate. Paredes was the clear team MVP, continuing to improve each year. Yandy had a dreadful first half but reverted to his 2023 form in the second to have a fine season. After that it was a lot of ugly although nobody than the two above had much more than 100 games player or 350 at-bats as injuries, trades, and platoons kept us from having a set lineup. One bright spot is that three of our young hitters had big Septembers: Caminero hit 337/379/600 with 7 HR, Aranda 321/400/513, and Mead 348/426/391.
An uncharacteristically bad performance from the pitching staff in 2024, although Taj took a step forward this year and Littell looks like the real deal as a starter. With McClanahan coming back and Rasmussen and Springs with a full winter to prepare, hopefully the rotation will be strong and deep next year. The bullpen needs a big-time makeover, though.
There is some hope for the future. Williams will get the chance to win the SS job next season, Isaac will probably be at AAA but could help the team, and Smith has an outside shot at the big club although with our starting depth he'll likely be in the minors.
Next up: The Wild Card round of the playoffs.