There isn’t anything better than postseason baseball. And that means we are starting to see the MLB playoff picture become clearer as teams hone in on their postseason spots.
In the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves remain in the driver’s seat in each of their divisions, but the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs are positioning themselves for wild card spots while the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres battle for the final spot.
The races are tighter in the American League, where the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox currently hold the top spots in their respective divisions, while the Astros hold a slim lead over the Texas Rangers in the AL West. The New York Yankees join the Rays as the AL teams to clinch postseason spots, while the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Guardians are also in the mix for the final wild card spot.
Here is where the major postseason races stand as we inch closer to the postseason standings. Standings are as of Sept. 14.
JUMP TO:
AL: East | Central | West | Wild Card
NL: East | Central | West | Wild Card
Two AL East teams – the Rays and Yankees – are in with Tampa Bay holding pace ahead of New York in the division. The two teams still have a four-game series to play later this month which could decide who wins the division crown.
New York has secured at least one of the AL wild card spots, doing so on Monday with Aaron Judge hitting his first home run since returning from the injured list in the 8-3 win over the Twins. Boston is behind both the Rays and Yankees in the division standings, but is in prime position to clinch a wild card spot.
Chicago and Cleveland are in the midst of a three-game series from Sept. 14-16 that will go a long way in deciding who’ll win the AL Central crown.
Minnesota and Detroit aren’t eliminated yet, but it looks like it will be either the White Sox or the Guardians heading into the final weeks.
The AL West remains the closest division race in the league.
Houston’s lead over Texas stands at just one game, with the Astros holding the tiebreaker over the Rangers. Seattle is 5.0 games back.
New York and Boston hold the top two AL wild card spots. Cleveland, Toronto, Baltimore and Texas are within 3.5 games of each other for the final spot. Seattle and Detroit cannot be ruled out.
The Angels and Athletics have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Atlanta leads Philadelphia by 4.5 games. Ronald Acuña Jr. has been in the lineup since returning in late July, and Atlanta has performed better since his return.
Right-hander Tyler Mahle has a 1.24 ERA in six starts since joining the Braves at the trade deadline, giving Atlanta rotation depth behind ace Chris Sale.
Philadelphia was 12-19 through April but has closed the gap since and holds a wild card position. Starters Andrew Painter and Aaron Nola have each improved down the stretch, with Painter posting a 3.15 ERA and Nola a 2.31 ERA over their last several outings.
The Brewers have the best record in baseball and are circling in on another NL Central crown.
Milwaukee has rotation depth, led by NL Cy Young frontrunner Jacob Misiorowski—who became the second-fastest pitcher in MLB history to reach 200 strikeouts in a season last month.
The Cubs sit 9.5 games back while holding a top NL Wild Card spot and pose the only threat to the Brewers division title hopes. Pete Crow-Armstrong has established himself as an MVP candidate after completing a 30-homer, 30-stolen base season while leading the majors in WAR.
The Dodgers have taken another step toward a third straight World Series title. By securing at least a wild card spot, L.A. has made the postseason in 14 straight seasons, tying Atlanta’s all-time record set from 1991-2005. They are on the verge of a 13th NL West title in the past 14 seasons.
The Dodgers will aim to finish in one of the top two spots in the NL, which would provide a much-needed bye with star first baseman Freddie Freeman and MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani on the 15-day injured list because of right biceps inflammation.
Arizona and San Diego remain locked in a battle for the final wild card spot at the moment.
Philadelphia and Chicago lead the NL wild card standings. San Diego holds the final spot by 2.5 games over Arizona.
San Diego has been on a hot streak with an eight-game winning streak catapulting them up the wild card chase.
Other teams that are still in the hunt include Miami, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh.
In the AL, two teams – the Rays and Yankees – are the only teams that have clinched postseason spots.
The Brewers and Dodgers are the two NL teams that have clinched. The Braves still have a magic number of four games to clinch its playoff spot.
