MLB postseason tracker: The 12-team 2023 playoff field is set
The 2023 MLB regular season is in its final day, and the MLB playoff field is now set.
Earlier this month, the Atlanta Braves became the first team to clinch a postseason berth, following it up by winning the NL East. The Los Angeles Dodgers joined them by clinching the NL West, and the Milwaukee Brewers secured the NL Central title. Soon after, the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays both secured their spots in October, before a slew of teams sealed their spots on the penultimate day of the season.
Even with all 12 playoff spots now claimed, there are still seeding places to be decided as October begins.
Where do the current playoff matchups stand? What games should you be paying attention to today? And what does the playoff schedule look like? We have everything you need to know as the regular season winds down.
Key links: Full MLB standings | Wild-card standings
Who is in?
Atlanta Braves
With a win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 10, the Braves became the first team to punch a ticket to this year’s playoffs — their sixth straight postseason berth. Atlanta followed it up by clinching the NL East crown with a victory in Philadelphia last week.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers secured their 10th NL West crown in the past 11 seasons with a victory over the Mariners last week, making L.A. the second team to punch its ticket to this postseason.
Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles secured a playoff berth with a walk-off win in the 11th inning against the Rays. Baltimore followed it up by clinching the AL East crown with its 100th win of the season on Sept. 28.
Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays will host the wild card series as the No. 4 seed.
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers clinched a playoff spot with a blowout win over the Marlins and secured the NL Central title on Tuesday night.
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins clinched the AL Central title with a win over the Angels last week.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies clinched a playoff spot with a win against the Pirates on Tuesday — and just a few hours later secured the No. 4 overall seed when the Cubs lost. Philadelphia will host the No. 5 overall seed for a wildcard series.
Miami Marlins
The Marlins continued their surprising regular-season surge, clinching their first playoff berth since 2020 with a win over the Pirates on Saturday night.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers clinched a playoff spot by beating the Mariners on Saturday night.
Toronto Blue Jays
Despite a loss to the Rays earlier in the day, the Blue Jays clinched a playoff spot with Seattle’s loss on Saturday night.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Just after the Marlins secured a spot, the Diamondbacks completed the National League playoff field when the Reds lost to the Cardinals on Saturday night.
Houston Astros
On a Saturday night filled with teams punching their postseason tickets, the Astros completed the 12-team field by beating the D-backs and eliminating the Mariners.
What are this October’s MLB playoff matchups as it stands now?
American League
Wild-card round: (6) Astros* at (3) Twins*, (5) Blue Jays* at (4) Rays*
ALDS: Twins/Astros vs. (2) Rangers*, Rays/Blue Jays vs. (1) Orioles*
National League
Wild-card round: (6) Marlins* at (3) Brewers*, (5) D-backs* at (4) Phillies*
NLDS: Brewers/Marlins vs. (2) Dodgers*, Phillies/D-backs vs. (1) Braves*
* — clinched playoff spot
Here’s how ESPN Analytics projects the postseason bracket to look when the playoffs begin.
Breaking down the AL race
Despite spending much of the season atop the AL East, the Rays find 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 100 days this season but enter the final day with the Houston Astros right behind them. The Minnesota Twins will be the AL Central’s sole representative in October.
As for when these teams get to the playoffs? Here’s their chances for every round:
Breaking down the NL race
We won’t have any final day divisional drama in the NL — the NL East and West were both locked up early, and the Milwaukee Brewers have long held first place in the NL Central, too.
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.
As for when these teams get to the playoffs? Here’s their chances for every round:
Game of the day
Need something to watch today? Here’s the baseball game with the biggest playoff implications:
Playoff schedule
Wild-card series
Best of three, all games at better seed’s stadium
Game 1: Tuesday, Oct. 3
Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 4
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 5*
Division series
Best of five
ALDS
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 7
Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 8
Game 3: Tuesday Oct. 10
Game 4: Wednesday, Oct. 11*
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 13*
NLDS
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 7
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 9
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 11
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 12*
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 14*
League championship series
Best of seven
ALCS
Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 15
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 16
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 18
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 19
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 20*
Game 6: Sunday, Oct. 22*
Game 7: Monday, Oct. 23*
NLCS
Game 1: Monday, Oct. 16
Game 2: Tuesday, Oct. 17
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 19
Game 4: Friday, Oct. 20
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 21*
Game 6: Monday, Oct. 23*
Game 7: Tuesday, Oct. 24*
World Series
Best of seven
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 27
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 28
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 30
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 31
Game 5: Wednesday, Nov. 1*
Game 6: Friday, Nov. 3*
Game 7: Saturday, Nov. 4*
* If necessary
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Mired in a collective offensive slump, the Chicago Cubs are preaching sticking with the process — and not worrying about the results — as a way out of it.
The team has lost three consecutive series for the first time all season, culminating in a 2-1 defeat to the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday when the Cubs failed to push across the tying run in the eighth inning despite having runners on second and third with no outs.
“There’s a tendency to make everything sound worse than it is in our game,” manager Craig Counsell said Friday before facing the Pittsburgh Pirates. “That’s the nature of it when it’s every day.
“Things not going right is not what’s happening. I think that’s what you fall into. This is baseball that’s happening. You have to be tough enough to roll with that.”
Chicago ranks 28th in runs scored since the All-Star break after being at the top of the league for most of the first three months of the season. There’s no single culprit, as most of the top and middle of the order has struggled.
Right fielder Kyle Tucker was asked how to break out of it.
“I don’t know,” he said. “You just figure it out. We play so many games, you just got to get through it at times.”
Tucker is hitting .195 since July 1 with just one home run and four extra-base hits. After jamming his right ring finger on a slide in early June, he finished the month strong but has gone backward since.
The finger is “fine,” Tucker said.
He isn’t the only one struggling. Designated hitter Seiya Suzuki has driven in just eight runs since the break — he had 77 RBIs in the first half — while hitting .182. First baseman Michael Busch is batting .171 since the break, while left fielder Ian Happ is at .228.
But no one has struggled more of late than center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who had just three hits and 15 strikeouts in August before a second-inning double Friday.
“It becomes the self-inflicted pressure when you feel like you’re not playing your part in contributing,” Crow-Armstrong said before Friday’s game. “When stuff starts to kind of pile up like that, it sucks, but it’s also baseball and I still have however many fricking weeks left this season, and it’s still a lot of time to begin to produce again.”
Counsell added: “Sticking to the things that get you results and being OK it might not happen at that exact time you want it to is the right way to be your best self. I think we have to be consistent with that. For us to focus on results is harmful, so you focus on things that contribute to us being good.”
That’s the collective feeling of the group inside the clubhouse as the Cubs continue to maintain a spot in the wild-card race, even if the division seems as if it could be slipping away. Wins are still coming — just not at the clip they were during the first half. And the club still hasn’t been swept in a three- or four-game series — one of two teams in baseball that can make that claim.
There’s still time to find that offensive groove again as the Cubs look to cut into the Milwaukee Brewers‘ lead in the division while also staving off the Cincinnati Reds in the wild-card race.
“Brewers are hot,” Crow-Armstrong said. “The Reds are playing good baseball. It’s another division matchup [this weekend]. I mean, the Cubbies are the Cubbies. We’re going to go keep playing the same baseball we played all year. … It’s been an interesting two weeks, but we’re fine. I don’t think there’s any worry in the world.”
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