MLB Playoff Picture: Slumping Teams That Won't Make the Postseason

September baseball is right around the corner, and several teams still have excellent opportunities to make a playoff run. However, not all teams will be as lucky, and some recent slumps by the Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays might be too much to overcome.

Only a handful of games separate teams vying for wild-card spots, and most of those teams play each other at least one more time the rest of the way. Look for the teams with the most consistency slowly begin to make a move to the top.

The teams in this list have some of the more obvious flaws of the current wild-card contenders and also have difficult schedules for the rest of the season. Some of these teams have underperformed this year, while all have suffered difficult losses in recent weeks that have significantly hurt their chances of gaining ground.

The slides ahead will discuss the flaws of those teams and explain why each squad will be unable to right the ship in time to make the postseason.

Tampa Bay Rays

LM Otero/Associated Press

The Tampa Bay Rays sit just three games back of the second wild-card spot in the American League, but they really haven't turned any heads this season.

Though Tampa Bay still has a shot, the Rays lack the firepower through the batting order to overtake the handful of teams also clamoring for a playoff berth in the AL.

In the American League, the Rays rank next to last in runs scored per game and third-worst in hits. Tampa Bay boasts an excellent starting rotation but frequently wastes quality starts because of poor offensive performances.

The Rays didn't help their cause by getting swept by the Texas Rangers earlier in the month, and they now trail Texas by two games in the wild-card chase. Tampa Bay also has a difficult schedule ahead, playing most of its remaining games against other AL East teams and squads also in the thick of the wild-card race.

As it stands, it appears the Rays will end up as the fourth-best team in their division this season.

Minnesota Twins

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

It might be hard for the average fan to name half of the starting lineup for the Minnesota Twins. 

Jokes aside, the Twins have one of the best young lineups in the American League, which has helped place the team right in the thick of things just three games back in the wild-card race.

The mound is a different story for Minnesota, however. The Twins rank 11th in the American League in team earned run average and dead last in strikeouts.

With a 4-1 lead against the Yankees on Tuesday night, Minnesota surrendered a grand slam to Alex Rodriguez and ended up losing the game, 8-4.

After the Blue Jays swept the Twins in four games earlier in the month, New York could also earn a three-game sweep on Wednesday and push the team further down the standings. Things don't get any easier on the schedule from here on out, either, as many of Minnesota's opponents are also in contention and boast decent batting lineups.

Though the future looks bright for Minnesota, there are just too many good teams contending for a wild-card spot for the Twins to make any ground.

Detroit Tigers

Duane Burleson/Getty Images

The Detroit Tigers were expected to make the playoffs this season, but they find themselves five games under .500 instead.

Somehow, Detroit is just five games back of the second wild-card spot in the American League. However, even with the return of slugger Miguel Cabrera to the lineup, the Tigers have too much ground to cover and not enough assets to do it.

One of the more exciting moments for Tigers fans this season was the fire sale during the trade deadline that sent David Price and Yoenis Cespedes packing as a way to begin looking toward the future.

It's a good sentiment for fans, because the present hasn't been too great.

The Tigers managed to edge the Chicago Cubs 10-8 on Tuesday, but they had lost five of their last seven entering the game. Since the All-Star break, Detroit has won just one series.

Though Detroit features an above-average offense, the pitching staff has the second-worst ERA in the AL and has given up the third-most hits. The starting pitching has been shaky, and the bullpen has had trouble for most of the season.

Overall, the Tigers won't be able to compete with some of the other teams that are competing for the Wild Card Game in the American League. They simply don't have enough arms.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Mike Trout is on his way to another Most Valuable Player award for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

While having one of the best players in the game is nice, one player is almost never able to single-handedly win a team a World Series (unless you happen to be Madison Bumgarner).

Albert Pujols has as many home runs as Trout this season (33), but he has had a handful of slumps in 2015. Aside from Pujols and Trout, the Angels don't exactly have a Murderers' Row lineup. In the American League, Los Angeles ranks 11th in runs scored and 12th in on-base percentage.

What will put the Angels over the top is their starting pitching, but even that has been shaky at times this season, and their remaining schedule isn't exactly easy.

Los Angeles currently holds a half-game advantage for the second wild-card spot in the AL. However, seven teams trail by fewer than seven games.

The Angels have one or more series remaining with six of those teams, and that doesn't include sets against the Toronto Blue Jays (who currently hold the first wild-card spot) and the Houston Astros (who hold a 2.5-game lead over the Angels in the AL West).

It also didn't help that the Angels lost six of seven games last week before beating the Chicago White Sox on Monday and Tuesday.

With so many teams still in contention for a playoff spot, the Angels will have a tough time managing to hold their slim playoff lead.

Washington Nationals

Greg Fiume/Getty Images

The Washington Nationals ended their five-game losing streak on Tuesday night with a 15-6 drubbing of the Colorado Rockies.

Unfortunately for the Nats, the New York Mets also won and continue to hold their 4.5-game lead in the National League East over Washington.

It's no secret the Mets will be the Achilles' heel for Washington the rest of the season. Because the National League is loaded with depth, the Nats sit nine games back of a wild-card spot and can only hope to gain ground on New York in the final month-and-a-half.

However, the Mets are a better baseball team than the Nationals. Though that didn't seem plausible before the start of the season, the Nats have yet to live up to the expectations placed upon them.

For what seems like the third or fourth year in a row, critics predicted good things for the Nationals before the start of the season and almost guaranteed them a playoff spot.

But Washington has a history of struggling to remain healthy, and this season was no different. Ace pitcher Stephen Strasburg suffered another lengthy stint on the DL and was joined by teammates Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon and Jayson Werth at some point during the season, just to name a few.

As far as pitching is concerned, Washington's starting rotation hasn't exceeded expectations, as Chris Johnson recently noted for MASNsports.com. Johnson specifically focused on August and the Nats' 4-12 record and 5.23 team ERA, which is third-worst in the National League.

Adding Jonathan Papelbon to the back end of the bullpen to pitch after Drew Storen wasn't exactly the signing of the century, either.

At the plate, Bryce Harper is putting together an MVP-caliber season, but his teammates are having difficulty keeping up.

But even with their struggles, the Nats had control of the division not too long ago. However, allowing the Mets to hang around and slowly chip away at the division lead proved to be a mistake.

New York completed a three-game sweep of Washington to start the month of August, and the San Francisco Giants joined the party by sweeping a four-game series against the Nats last weekend. That same weekend, the Pittsburgh Pirates swept the Mets, but New York lost no ground in the division thanks to San Francisco.

Washington still has one more series to gain some ground against the Mets, and it travels to New York for a three-game set in early September. Since the Mets have a slight advantage with their schedule from here on out, Washington will almost be forced to sweep that series in order to have any shot at the division.

However, the Mets have one of the best starting rotations in baseball, which should be enough to help carry them into the postseason.

Unfortunately, that would mean another disappointing end to the Nationals' year and almost certainly some forthcoming changes during the offseason.