If you haven't paid attention to the NL Wild Card picture yet, it's too late to look. Just fasten your seat belts! They'll be coming down the stretch five wide as they hit the final turn heading into September. The St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins are all in the hunt for only two wild card slots. That's not even counting the L.A. Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers who hold slim leads in their divisions. So, for the sake of sanity, let's assume Milwaukee and L.A. win their divisions. Who are the two teams that will rise to the top and earn a playoff birth into a one game, win-or-go-home NL Wild Card game?

Let's start at the bottom of the pack, with the Miami Marlins. This team has been forgotten for much of the year since the season ending injury to their ace Jose Fernandez. But, Miami has power arms and a scrappy offense that has kept them in it. They may be too young to realize that they do not belong. And that might be just what the doctor ordered. Still, the loss of their ace will be too hard to overcome, barring an outstanding hot streak. 

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a tall order at hand. They have not played very well down the stretch and it only gets worse. The month of September will put them up against their NL Central foes. Teams like the Cardinals,, Brewers and Reds will definitely make it difficult for the Pirates to climb into a wild-card spot. If Pittsburgh is going to make that run, they will have to rely heavily on the bats of Andrew McCutchen and Josh Harrison. Lefty starter, Francisco Liriano, needs to find his stride as well. 

Now we can start talking about the real contenders, beginning with the San Francisco Giants. The Giants probably do not have the horses to overtake the Dodgers for the NL West division title, but a slate of Diamondbacks, Rockies and Padres bodes well for the Giants' playoff hopes. The loss of Matt Cain hurts, but Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson give San Francisco veteran leadership that will help anchor their rotation. Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval will be asked to carry the offensive load. Never count these guys out, as they've won two World Series titles since 2010. 

The Atlanta Braves are a huge question mark, across-the-board. Their starting rotation is one of the most consistent in all of major-league baseball. Their bullpen is solid and Craig Kimbrel is the best closer in the game. But, Atlanta's offense is inconsistent at best. A swing for the fences approach gives Atlanta both the threat to go on a long winning streak, and to lose several in a row just as well.  Freddie Freeman and Justin Upton will be the difference in the playoff hopes for Atlanta. If these two guys continue to hit well, along with good contributions from Evan Gattis and Jason Heyward, the Braves should be October bound. 

The St. Louis Cardinals are probably the most dangerous of all the teams in the hunt. Having played below there expectations for 2014, the defending NL pennant winners are hitting their stride. The offense was record-breaking year ago, which cannot be expected to be repeated. The addition of John Lackey at the trading deadline has helped bolster their pitching rotation. Michael Wacha is expected back in a few weeks and could be the difference in a playoff spot.
In the end, the usual suspects will be there in October.

Writer's Prediction: Look for the Cardinals to potentially overtake the Brewers for the National League Central division. That leaves three teams for two spots in the wild-card race. The Braves and Giants will find a way to get past Milwaukee in the standings, and face each other in a one game winner take all wildcard game. Let the madness of the last 30+ games begin. 

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