It’s one of the many things that make Minor League Baseball so incredibly fun to follow – having the season divided into two separate halves which, in turn, means that teams can qualify for a playoff berth through either half.

Ideally, a team would prefer to qualify for the postseason in the first half so that they could conceivably finish dead last in the second half and still be guaranteed a playoff berth, not that this is something that any team would want to do. But still, already having a playoff spot in the bank makes for a much less stressful second half.

With three games remaining in the 2017 California League – South Division’s first half, the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes find themselves in a position to accomplish exactly this, as they trail the Colorado Rockies (go figure) Advanced Single-A affiliate Lancaster Jethawks by one game, with three games remaining (as of this writing).

As you would expect from a top-contending team, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes are a very tight group under the skillful leadership of manager Drew Saylor (third from right). (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But wait, there’s more!

Those three remaining games are against (wait for it) the Lancaster JetHawks. In other words, the Quakes are in control of their own playoff destiny.

But while taking this huge series is unquestionably on the minds of every member of the Quakes 25-man roster, just how important is it in the big scheme of things when it comes to the absolute number one goal of the minor leagues – player development?

“It’s always important to be in meaningful baseball games throughout our players’ journey to the big leagues, but you don’t learn to win there, you learn along the way,” said Quakes manager Drew Saylor. “I believe this race, no matter how it turns out, will pay ten-fold in the future. Our men will know what it feels like to play under pressure, how it feels to be racing someone all the way till the end.”

Saylor’s team took the first game of the crucial four-game series against the JetHawks on Thursday night at LoanMart Field by a score of 4-1 behind the brilliant pitching performance of Quakes right-hander Adam Bray. In his five innings of work, Bray allowed only one run on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts, to improve his record to 2-1 and lower his ERA to a very respectable 3.63 in the hitter-friendly Cal League. Even more respectable is the fact that the 24-year-old Minneapolis, Minnesota native and Dodgers 33rd-round draft pick in 2015 out of South Dakota State University made only 75 total pitches, of which 56 were strikes. This figures out to be a very impressive 75 percent strike ratio. Respectable indeed.

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw says that an ideal inning for a pitcher is 15 pitches. Quakes right-hander Adam Bray did exactly that on Thursday night in the Quakes 4-1 win over the first-place Lancaster JetHawks.
(Photo credit – Steve Saenz)

But the work isn’t finished for the Quakes, not by any margin. They still trail the Cal League South division leading JetHawks by a full game, which means that they must sweep the series to win the first half outright. If they do not and finish the first half with identical records (which would require the Quakes to take two of the three remaining games), the very specific Cal League playoff procedures will come into play.

Tie-Breaking Procedures:

It is important for a half champion to be determined on the field. The following scenario balances determining a winner on the field. An additional regular-season game to determine the First-half Champion will be played according to the following scenario:

1) The first game between the two opponents in the second half will be designated a regular-season game to determine the First-half Champion.

2) If the two teams do not meet within 30 days of the conclusion of the first half, then the two teams will play on the first common off day of the second half.

But wait, it gets even better!

The first game of the Quakes second half is against the JetHawks on Thursday, June 22 at 6:35 pm PT at The Hangar in Lancaster. This means that even if the Rancho squad finishes the first half in a tie with the JetHawks, we will know after the very first game of the second half who gets that guaranteed pass to the playoffs.

As they say: “Minor Leagues, Major Fun.”