The MLB season is a marathon. Teams compete over a 162-game schedule, needing to rank among the top six squads in their respective leagues to make the playoffs. Wins are just as valuable in April, May, and June as they are in the latter part of the season, and franchises can’t afford to lose ground to the teams ahead of them.
Here’s what the playoff brackets would look like if the postseason started today.
National League
| No. 1 – Atlanta Braves | First-Round Bye |
| No. 2 – Milwaukee Brewers | First-Round Bye |
| No. 3 – Arizona Diamondbacks | No. 6 – Pittsburgh Pirates |
| No. 4 – Chicago Cubs | No. 5 – New York Mets |
Not surprisingly, the Atlanta Braves find themselves atop the National League standings. The Braves are two years removed from their World Series win in 2021 and fifth straight NL East title. That gives them the advantage of a first-round bye next to the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
Beyond that, there are several unsuspecting squads in the other four playoff spots. Chief among them is the Arizona Diamondbacks, who lead the West Division through the season’s first three weeks. The D-Backs appear to have a tenuous grip on a postseason berth, as they are the only franchise in the league leading a division with a negative run differential. Moreover, they must fend off the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, who are within 2.5 games of the frontrunners.
What’s more surprising is Arizona might have to get past the Pittsburgh Pirates in the wild-card round. Pittsburgh is five games above .500 and within 2.0 games of the Brewers for the division lead. The Pirates are looking to snap a seven-year playoff drought, and the early returns look promising.
Two blue bloods occupy the other wild card spots, with the Chicago Cubs holding a home-field advantage over the New York Mets in the other first-round series. The betting odds that they hang onto their berth are not in the Cubs’ favor. FanDuel Sportsbook has Chicago priced at +220 to make the playoffs. The Mets are on the opposite end of the spectrum, priced as -420 chalk that they will be playing baseball come October.
American League
| No. 1 – Tampa Bay Rays | First-Round Bye |
| No. 2 – Texas Rangers | First-Round Bye |
| No. 3 – Minnesota Twins | No. 6 – Toronto Blue Jays |
| No. 4 – Baltimore Orioles | No. 5 – New York Rangers |
Year after year, the American League East produces some of the top teams in the MLB. Although that doesn’t equate to playoff success, it does elevate the stakes for divisional showdowns throughout the regular season.
As it stands now, AL East teams occupy four of the six playoff spots. The Tampa Bay Rays have been the class of MLB, leading the way in several notable categories. The Rays have scored 20 more runs than the next closest franchise while also setting the low bar in runs allowed. Moreover, their 42 homers are nine more than the second-place Dodgers. Their cushion could erode quickly, with the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and Toronto Blue Jays chasing Tampa. Any team that catches the Rays would likely leapfrog the Texas Rangers, who are locked into the second seed.
The AL Central was projected to be one of the closest contested divisions, living up to that expectation early on. The Minnesota Twins stand above the rest, but they have just 1.5 games of breathing room over the Cleveland Guardians. Their position would afford them a matchup against the lowest wild card team, which, as it stands now, is the Blue Jays.
The other wild card matchup pits two divisional foes against each other. Unexpectedly, the O’s rank above the powerhouse Yankees on the strength of a tiebreaker, giving them a leg-up over the defending divisional champions. Baltimore hasn’t hosted a playoff game since 2014, and including wild card games, is 0-3 against AL East opponents in the postseason. There would be no shortage of runs in this series, as the Orioles have unlocked their full offensive potential with their current roster.
