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 – Los Angeles Dodgers | First-Round Bye |
| No. 3 – Milwaukee Brewers | No. 6 – Chicago Cubs |
| No. 4 – Philadelphia Phillies | No. 5 – Cincinnati Reds |
It was a tumultuous seven days for a few National League teams trying to hold onto their postseason berths. The San Francisco Giants and Miami Marlins have fallen out of the playoff picture. San Fran lost two series to teams ahead of them in the standings. The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies did the heavy lifting, taking two of three each versus the Giants. Now, the Giants have one day to regroup before they host the Braves for a grudge match series in the bay. Likewise, the Marlins lost both series on their West Coast road trip, falling outside a wild card spot.
Due to several ties last week, there has been no change to the remaining teams in the bracket. The Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers are all but guaranteed first-round byes, leaving the four other teams to battle it out in the wild-card round. There is still a lot to sort out in the NL Central. After malingering through the early part of the season, the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago Cubs are all clutching to playoff spots. The division race will intensify as we move toward the exciting conclusion of the season.
But if the playoffs were to start today, the Brew Crew would host the Cubbies in the opening round, leaving the Phillies and Reds to sort things out in the other matchup. That’s good news for Cincinnati, who have gone a laughable 16-23 against divisional opponents this year. With all three teams separated by 3.5 games in the standings, next week’s series between the Brewers and Cubs could go a long way to determining who finishes on top.
American League
| No. 1 – Baltimore Orioles | First-Round Bye |
| No. 2 – Texas Rangers | First-Round Bye |
| No. 3 – Minnesota Twins | No. 6 – Seattle Mariners |
| No. 4 – Tampa Bay Rays | No. 5 – Houston Astros |
Fewer teams are vying for the American League side of the bracket, but the races are just as intense as their NL counterparts. Division races have tightened over the past week besides the underwhelming AL Central. Pressures will only ratchet higher over the final six weeks of the season.
The Tampa Bay Rays made up one game on the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East. Still, the O’s control their own destiny, having three fewer losses than the Rays. Baltimore is poised to snap a six-year playoff drought, trying to record its first playoff series win since 2014. These teams play each other again this season in what could be a winner-take-all outcome in the middle of September. As it stands, the Orioles would get a first-round bye, and Tampa would host the Houston Astros.
Of course, there are no guarantees the Astros will remain in a wild-card spot. Houston sits just one game back of the Texas Rangers for supremacy in the AL West. Texas has been mired in a six-game losing streak, watching its division lead evaporate in the August sun. Nevertheless, the Rangers are locked into the second seed in the AL.
Both teams need to fend off the surging Seattle Mariners, who have gone 18-5 since the end of July. That’s enough to usurp the Toronto Blue Jays for the final wild-card spot, setting up a potential opening-round clash with the Minnesota Twins. This would be the most favorable wild card round matchup for the M’s, as the Rays and Astros are priced at +1200 and +700, respectively, in World Series futures betting. In comparison, the Twins are a distant +2500.
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