Mlb playoff possibilities

American League. Baltimore Orioles. No. 1 seed | | AL East champs. ALDS opponent: Rangers (% chance of. Complete MLB postseason results · WORLD SERIES · WILD CARD SERIES · DIVISION SERIES · LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES. Mlb playoff possibilities + · Dodgers: + · Orioles: + · Rangers: + · Rays: + · Phillies: + · Astros: + · Blue Jays: + The third-seeded Twins would play the Astros (No. 6), and the Rays (No. 4) would play the Blue Jays (No. 5) in the AL wild-card round. The.

MLB playoff tracker: Who has clinched, plus scenarios, schedule

How will the MLB playoffs work? 12 teams in total make the MLB playoffs, six from each league. Two teams from each league (division winners with the best records) will receive first-round byes, while the remaining four teams from each league will compete in the Wild Card round.

Who do Phillies play if they beat Marlins? Atlanta Braves Miami caused problems for the Phillies in 2023, as Philadelphia dropped seven of the 13 meetings between the two clubs. The winner of the best-of-three series will play the National League-best Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series, beginning Saturday.

Who has tiebreaker between Astros and Rangers? The Rangers and Astros open a three-game series Friday night in Houston, so will play seven of their 13 games against each other in the first 2 1/2 weeks this season. Both teams finished 90-72 last year, but Houston won the AL West title with the head-to-head tiebreaker by going 9-4.

Do the Yankees have a chance to make the playoffs? Yankees eliminated from postseason contention for first time since 2016: What went wrong for New York. The New York Yankees lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1 on Sunday, eliminating them from 2023 postseason contention.

Who holds tiebreaker between Rangers and Phillies? Home-field advantage: Rangers

MLB playoffs 2024: Postseason predictions, MLB postseason history and FAQ

The one thing that will decide their October fate: Will the Twins stay healthy enough. Everything went Minnesota's way in the opening round, but health remains a question. Carlos Correa missed the final two weeks of the regular season with plantar fasciitis. Royce Lewis , who hit four grand slams in an eight-game stretch and leads the team in OPS, missed the end of the season with a hamstring issue before a stellar wild-card round.

Byron Buxton , who didn't play in the field all season, missed almost all of the final two months and scuffled at the plate all season anyway. Reliever Brock Stewart , who came out of nowhere to post a sub Ready for his October closeup : Lewis spent the first two months of the season recovering from his second torn ACL and didn't join the team until late May. But he has been the Twins' most productive hitter, slashing.

Injuries, unfortunately, continue to be a big part of his story. Lewis missed six weeks around midseason with an oblique strain and finished the year on the injured list, though he seems on track to at least make it back as a designated hitter. The Twins had high hopes for Lewis when they took him with the No.

His real opportunity is in the postseason -- and he is off to a roaring start. Why you should root for them : This is an easy one. You're certainly tired of the Astros. You're not ready to jump on the Orioles' or Rangers' bandwagons. But the Twins The fine people of Minnesota don't deserve this.

Let the Twins make a run. Nobody expects them to win, so if you want an underdog in the AL, the Twins are your team. What they do that could take down the Braves: One of the things that makes the Braves so lethal is that despite a historic level of collective power, they don't strike out that much. Nevertheless, the standout trait of the Twins has been the ability of their pitchers to dominate the strike zone.

Minnesota's hurlers led the majors in strikeout percentage and ranked fourth in walk percentage. Mlb playoff possibilities The strike zone is a dangerous place to be against the Braves: Their OPS on pitches in the zone was nearly points better than that of any other team. For Sonny Gray , Pablo Lopez and the rest, throwing strikes while staying out of the middle of the plate is their best hope of keeping the Braves in the ballpark and, perhaps just as important, keeping runners off base so when Atlanta does go deep, it's a solo shot.

The one thing that will decide their October fate: The bullpen. The Rangers have the worst bullpen ERA of any of the playoff teams and rank 26th in the majors in bullpen win probability added. Will Smith lost his job as closer weeks ago and Aroldis Chapman and Jose Leclerc have shared closer duties in September.

Both do have strikeout stuff and the ability to dominate -- when they're not walking everybody. And who sets them up. Andrew Heaney has been pitching out of the bullpen and will get key innings. Jonathan Hernandez had to relieve Chapman in a key spot in Seattle and gave up a game-losing bases-loaded double. The lack of depth also means it's imperative for the starters to give Bruce Bochy some length.

Jordan Montgomery has been able to do that, but Nathan Eovaldi had been slowly ramping up since his return from the injured list before a strong showing to open the postseason. And Max Scherzer. The Rangers haven't ruled him out of the postseason -- and you don't want to bet against Scherzer -- but his return appears unlikely.

The Cardinals had basically given up on him, and so in December of , the Rangers picked him up for mere cash considerations. He didn't establish himself in the major leagues until , his age season, but he has improved every year since with his OPS jumping from. As the Rangers have lifted themselves into championship contention, Garcia has emerged as one of the sport's most menacing power hitters.

He also has become a lot more discerning within the strike zone. The Rangers, with that very shaky bullpen situation, are going to have to hit their way through October, and Garcia will be a big part of that. Why you should root for them: The Braves' offense has understandably received much of the national attention, but the Rangers aren't far behind in runs scored -- although they've benefited from a huge home-park advantage with 53 more home runs at Globe Life Field than on the road.

Like the Braves, they have ridiculous depth from No. Oh, and keep an eye on year-old outfielder Evan Carter , who has torn the cover off the ball since his September call-up. What they do that could take down the Braves: The Rangers bashed their way to a breakout season for much of the summer.

They won 11 games by 10 or more runs, far and away more than any other team. That includes the homer-happy Braves. If the Rangers survive the AL bracket, it's almost certainly going to be because they've touched the offensive ceiling they displayed earlier in the campaign.

The pitching staff, especially the bullpen, has to be better than it was for much of the post-trade-deadline part of the season. But if the Rangers win the World Series, it's going to be because Marcus Semien , Seager, Garcia and the rest are turning the scoreboard.

In particular, that is their formula for beating Atlanta. The one thing that will decide their October fate: Suddenly there are big concerns about Atlanta's starting rotation. Max Fried missed his last couple of starts of the regular season with a blister problem. Charlie Morton has already been ruled out of the division series with a finger issue.

Even Spencer Strider has had some mediocre outings down the stretch and seen his MLB-leading strikeout rate drop in the final two months. On top of that, the bullpen has some injury issues and had its worst month in September, which puts even more pressure on the rotation.

Ready for his October closeup : Ronald Acuna Jr. He had made it back when they returned to the postseason in , but he clearly wasn't himself yet. This year, he has reached a new level. He's the NL MVP front-runner, the first member of the club and a far more disciplined hitter than he ever has been. At 25, he is the best baseball player on the planet non- Shohei Ohtani division.

And his prowess from the leadoff spot is the biggest reason this Braves lineup has become historic. When the games matter most, Acuna can impact them with his majestic power and blazing speed and rocket arm, and he's sure to do plenty of that in October. The Brooklyn Dodgers of the s. The Big Red Machine.

The "Idiot" Red Sox of With a World Series title, the Braves have a chance to cement their place in history as one of the most fearsome lineups of all time. They dominated the regular season -- tying the single-season home run record -- with a lineup that became the first to feature four players with plus home runs. They've been the team to watch all season and now that greatness will be tested in October.

Why they are the team to beat: The offense is just too good to keep down. And while we've seen offensive powerhouses falter before in the crucible of October, the Braves' attack looks airtight. Their numbers hold up no matter how you split them up. They mash at home and on the road, against lefties and righties, against all kinds of pitch profiles. They have power at every spot in the lineup.

Earlier in the season, it looked like the Braves might have become too reliant on homers for scoring, a trait that doesn't always hold up well in the playoffs. But Atlanta's offense has gradually become more varied as the season has progressed and right now appears to be without weakness.

Sure, the Braves have question marks around their pitching staff, but if their offense is putting up five or more runs a game, that might not matter. Salt lake city elevation vs denver The one thing that will decide their October fate: Sure, they'll need this patched-together starting rotation to step up, but let's face it: Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman have carried this team all season with their all-around brilliance and L.

Yes, those two have supporting offensive characters in Max Muncy and J. Martinez , who both topped 30 home runs, and Will Smith , but this has been the Mookie and Freddie show. It's hard to envision a path to the World Series that doesn't revolve around those two both having big October runs.

Ready for his October closeup : Clayton Kershaw and Lance Lynn will be limited in their starts and the likes of Emmet Sheehan , Ryan Pepiot and Ryan Yarbrough will be used mostly to soak up the middle innings. But Bobby Miller -- the year-old power right-hander, the best of an emerging young core of starting pitchers -- will essentially be counted on to be the Dodgers' ace.

He has the electric stuff, and the Dodgers believe he also possesses the poise, a la Walker Buehler. Miller dominated at the outset, allowing only two runs in 23 innings through the first four starts of his major league career. He hasn't been as effective since, but he had a solid month of September. He'll need to take it to another level in October. Why you should root for them : I get it: The Dodgers are here every year, they're a blue-blood franchise with a high payroll and you're about as tired of them as you are of the Astros.

But you also have to respect what this organization has accomplished, tying an MLB record with a third straight win season a stretch that almost certainly would have been five in a row if the entire season had been played. And yet, their only World Series title during this dynastic run carries an asterisk because it came that shortened campaign with playoff games at neutral sites and the whole weirdness of that season.

So, yes, there is part of me that would like the Dodgers to win a World Series in a real season, with fans in the stands, with Mookie hitting home runs, Freddie hitting doubles and maybe even Kershaw dialing up Father Time and having his best October ever. What they do that could take down the Braves: While the Braves might be scrambling to fill out an injury-riddled rotation, the Dodgers have been doing that all along.

So there doesn't appear to be an advantage for Atlanta in starting pitching and the Dodgers' bullpen is deeper and better. If that translates to lower-scoring games than the Braves prefer, the chances of one or two performances tipping the series rise. And for all of Ronald Acuna Jr. Their combined brilliance this season has been breathtaking and the postseason context for both of them is by now old hat.

The one thing that will decide their October fate: Home runs. This is true of every team, of course, that you need to hit home runs to win in the postseason, but the Phillies spent the first four months of the season not hitting enough homers. Through the end of July they were 21st in the majors in home runs, topping out at 33 in a month.

Then they hit 59 in August and 46 in September to tie the Braves for the most home runs over the final two months. That team -- like the one we saw last October with Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber leading the way -- is a team that can return to the World Series. Ready for his October closeup : Phillies fans rallied behind Alec Bohm last year and watched him go from being a mess defensively to a very capable third baseman who became an integral part of a World Series team.

He then got a supportive standing ovation from the home crowd , and went off in August and September. It's probably no coincidence. Despite spending much of the season atop the AL East, the Rays found themselves the top wild-card team in the American League after the Orioles took sole possession of first place in the division in late July.

The Toronto Blue Jays joined them by securing a wild-card spot. The Texas Rangers , like the Rays, led the division for more than days this season but dropped below the Houston Astros on the season's final day. Mlb playoff possibilities The wild-card race is where it came down to the final days, after the Phillies claimed the first wild-card spot and the Miami Marlins joined them in the field with the Diamondbacks following.

Wild-card series Best of three, all games at better seed's stadium. Game 1: Friday, Oct. Skip to main content Skip to navigation. MLB postseason tracker: The team playoff field is set. Arizona Diamondbacks. Texas Rangers. Ohtani breaks mark for HRs by Japan-born player. Los Angeles Dodgers.

Astros' Javier to go on IL with neck discomfort. Houston Astros. Reds' Montas leaves start after hit by line drive. Cincinnati Reds. Bauer fans nine straight in Mexican League game. Los Angeles Angels. Boston Red Sox. Brewers' Hall sprains knee chasing bunt, to IL. Milwaukee Brewers. New York Mets. Mike Trout still wants to win -- and only with the Angels.

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