And then there were eight.

The Wild Card Series finally delivered on its promise Thursday, giving us three winner-take-all games to set up a wide-open Division Series. I’m going to be honest here, I did not pick the Blue Jays and Mariners to have byes in the American League back when I made my predictions on September 20. And sure, while I knew the Brewers would capitalize on the market inefficiency of “playing baseball,” I still didn’t think they’d lead all of baseball in wins.

Advertisement

With eight teams left, I can see eight different teams emerging as a champion. And that’s because, I’ve seen teams like each of these teams do it before.

I’ve looked through history for teams that entered the postseason with similar statistics to this year’s eight remaining playoff entrants. I’ve looked at every World Series winner since divisions were instituted in 1969 and gauged how well they did compared to the league average that season in runs scored, runs allowed, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, ERA, strikeout rate and walk rate. I also looked at their record in September to see whether momentum can play a role.

There’s a historical comp for all eight teams left — a team that resembled it on paper at the start of October and ended the month holding the World Series trophy.

Anything can happen, because most everything already has.

Toronto Blue Jays

Historical Comp: 2011 St.