Who will make the MLB playoffs this year? We’re tracking the postseason race every week with regular updates for the MLB postseason brackets and the playoff seeding outlook for the American League and National League in 2023.
As we do every season, Sportsnaut’s MLB playoffs picture will take a look at where things stand across the league. You can find our MLB postseason predictions from spring training further below, with the latest playoff outlook atop the page.
Bookmark this page for updates throughout the season, including detailed predictions, MLB postseason schedule updates and more. For now, here is everything you need to know about the MLB playoff this year.
We’re quickly approaching the quarter point of the 2023 MLB season, with every club having played at least 35 games. Based on the latest MLB standings, here’s the latest outlook for the MLB postseason picture as of July 9.
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The Tampa Bay Rays would be the American League’s No. 1 seed if the MLB postseason began today. As the top seed, Tampa Bay would have a first-round bye for the AL Wild Card series and would face the winner of the No. 4 vs No. 5 seed in the AL Divisional Round. The Rays would have home-field advantage through the World Series, with the best record in MLB.
The Texas Rangers lead the AL West and have a better record than any team in the AL Central, giving them the No. 2 seed in the American League. If the MLB postseason began today, Texas would have a first-round bye in the playoffs and then face the winner of the AL Wild Card’s No. 3 vs No. 6 seed matchup in the AL Divisional Round.
The Atlanta Braves would be the No. 1 seed if the MLB postseason began today. As the top seed, Atlanta would have a first-round bye for the NL Wild Card series and would face the winner of the No. 4 vs No. 5 seed in the NL Divisional Round. The Braves would also have home-field advantage in any matchup during the NL playoffs.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are currently the No. 2 seed in the National League. If the Diamondbacks keep the No. 2 seed, they will have a first-round bye for the NL Wild Card Series and then face the winner from the No. 3 vs No. 6 seed matchup.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres are fighting for NL Wild Card spots in the MLB postseason. In the American League, the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners are fighting for AL Wild Card spots.
In the National League, the Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies are currently leading the NL wild-card race. In the American League, the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays are leading the AL wild-card race.
No teams have been officially eliminated from the MLB playoffs yet. However, the Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies mathematically have less than a 1% chance to reach the postseason.
The 2023 MLB playoffs start on Tuesday, Oct. 3. The MLB postseason begins two days after the regular season ends, which is Sunday, Oct. 1. So, the Wild Card round begins on Oct. 3.
Sportsnaut’s 2023 MLB postseason predictions are created before Opening Day and will be updated right before the start of the regular season. After that, updates throughout the regular season will focus on the latest MLB postseason race.
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The 2023 MLB playoffs begin on Tuesday, October 2 with the Wild Card schedule. Similar to the MLB schedule in 2022 when the regular season ended on Wednesday, Oct. 5 and the postseason began two days later. Following the same precedent, the MLB playoffs schedule starts two days after the final day of the regular season (Sunday, October 1).
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Twelve teams make the MLB playoffs, with six each from the National League and American League. The top two division winners with the best record in the AL and NL each receive a first-round bye, while the No. 3 division winner and the three Wild Card teams play in the Wild Card round of the MLB playoffs bracket.
Major League Baseball expanded its playoff field in the COVID shortened 2020 season but the playoffs returned to the standard 10-team format in 2021. While league officials pushed for a 14-team MLB postseason format in 2022, players wouldn’t go for it. and settled on a 12-team playoff.
No MLB teams have clinched a playoff spot in 2023. Because it’s a 162-game season, we won’t see any clubs clinch a playoff spot until September.
The MLB postseason starts in October, with the regular season concluding in the early days of the month followed by the playoff schedule kicking off days later. The World Series typically ends in November, depending on how long the series goes.
Yes, MLB uses a 12-team bracket with six teams from the National League and six teams from the American League separated into two sides of the bracket. The winner from each side of the bracket then meets in the World Series.
Here is the MLB postseason format, with the new bracket going into effect beginning in 2022.
The Wild Card round matchups between the No. 3 vs No. 6 and No. 4 vs No. 5 seeds are a best-of-three series. The winner of 3 vs 6 plays the No. 2 seed and 4 vs 5 faces the No. 1 seed.
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The date for the 2023 World Series is undetermined. However, the MLB regular season ends on Sunday, Oct. 1 and the MLB playoffs are expected to begin on Tuesday, Oct. 3. Stay tuned for updates on the MLB postseason schedule.
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There are six wild card teams in the MLB playoffs. Under the new MLB collective-bargaining agreement, the postseason was expanded starting in 2022. There are three wild card teams in the NL and the teams in the AL. Each wild card team with the lowest seed faces the division winner with the lowest record. The format looks like this, with playoff positioning determined by the latest MLB standings.
Each AL and NL Wild Card series is a best-of-three set. The No. 1 seed, the team with the best record in each league, hosts the winner of the 4 vs. 5 matchup. Meanwhile, the No. 2 seed faces the winner of the No. 3 vs No. 6 in the Divisional Round.
The number of games in the MLB postseason depends on how long it takes teams to win each series, ultimately advancing and being crowned World Series champion. Here is a breakdown of the length of each playoff series.
Twelve teams made the 2022 MLB playoffs, following the expansion of the MLB postseason format implemented under the new collective bargaining agreement. Here are the eight teams that made the playoffs in MLB last season.
The New York Yankees have the most playoff appearances in MLB history, appearing in the MLB playoffs 58 times.
MLB eliminated ‘Game 163’, which it used as a tiebreaker for teams to determine postseason eligibility. With its elimination, MLB is moving towards a tiebreaker system that will determine postseason eligibility and seeding for the MLB playoffs. Here is the order of determination for each MLB playoff tiebreaker.
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A full 2023 schedule, including broadcast information, can be found on MLB games today.
Here are the scores and results from the 2021 MLB playoffs.