It's been a long, winding, wild road to get here, but we've finally reached the final week of the 2025 MLB regular season. And while it seemed like we were heading for a stretch run without a ton of drama when it came to playoff positioning, the baseball gods had other ideas: Sheer chaos has already broken loose thanks to a wild Tuesday night around the Majors, one that saw the Blue Jays make things awfully interesting in the AL East, the Mets make a big statement and the Tigers continue their historic collapse.
Who will be on the right side of the bubble when the music stops, and what will the postseason bracket look like? We've got you covered with up-to-date standings and first-round playoff matchups, so be sure to check back here every morning for the latest.
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Which teams have clinched a postseason spot?
Toronto Blue Jays
How quickly the vibes can shift this time of year. The Jays appeared to be cruising toward an AL East title and the No. 1 overall seed while becoming the first AL team to clinch a playoff spot this past weekend. Now, though, both of those things are very much up for grabs: A frustrating loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday night combined with wins from the Mariners and Yankees now puts Toronto's division lead at just one game, while they're just two up on Seattle in the race for home-field advantage through the ALCS.
Seattle Mariners
Seattle looks like it's going to enter October as arguably the single hottest team in baseball. Josh Naylor's go-ahead, three-run double in the eighth inning against the Rockies on Tuesday night put the Mariners officially back into the postseason for the first time since 2022 and also secured Seattles ninth win in its last 10 games. The rotation remains elite, and the new-look lineup is finally rounding into form the way we thought it would after acquiring Naylor and Eugenio Suarez at the trade deadline.
New York Yankees
It hasn't always been pretty, particularly during an 87-game stretch in which they were just one game over .500. But the Yankees appear to have righted the ship at the perfect time: Tuesday's wild, walk-off win over the White Sox made it eight postseason appearances in the last nine years in the Bronx, and the division remains very much alive with just five games to go in the regular season. Of course, falling behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card pecking order is also on the table.
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers have understandably flipped it into cruise control after becoming the first team in baseball to secure its spot in the postseason last week. Milwaukee has lost three in a row, but they still hold a two-game lead over Philly for the top overall seed in the NL and still look as dangerous as any team come October.
Philadelphia Phillies
Philly had a chance to leapfrog the Brewers and secure home-field advantage through the NLCS, but they haven't been able to take advantage so far, losing three in a row after clinching their postseason spot over the weekend. Granted, they still have a first-round bye more or less sewn up, which means at least an NLDS in what should be a raucous Citizens Bank Park.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers are postseason-bound, but it's hard to feel particularly good about where this team is at right now — especially relative to preseason expectations. The bullpen coughed up another one on Tuesday night, dropping L.A.'s lead over the Padres in the NL West to just 1.5 games with five games left to play. The Dodgers do have the head-to-head tiebreaker there, but still, this pitching staff needs to get things sorted out in a hurry if Dave Roberts and Co. don't want to be playing a best-of-three Wild Card series on the road.
Chicago Cubs
Does anyone at the top of the NL actually want to be there right now? The Cubs have lost a whopping five straight after a tough late loss to the Mets on Tuesday night, and while they're still in good position to secure home-field advantage in the Wild Card round, the Padres are just two games back and charging hard.
San Diego Padres
San Diego has won four straight to not only secure its spot in October but also put a little heat on the teams ahead of them in the standings. The NL West remains very much in play, and the Padres have the advantage of staying home throughout this week with games against a coasting Brewers team and the D-backs.
Projected American League postseason bracket as of Sept. 24
Here's how things stand entering play on Wednesday, Sept. 24:
- Toronto Blue Jays (90-67, AL East champs)
- Seattle Mariners (88-69, AL West champs)
- Cleveland Guardians (85-72, AL Central champs)
- New York Yankees (89-68, No. 1 AL Wild Card)
- Boston Red Sox (86-71, No. 2 AL Wild Card)
- Detroit Tigers (85-72, No. 3 AL Wild Card)
Also in the hunt: Houston Astros (84-73)
The Tigers' collapse continued on Tuesday night, with another loss to the suddenly streaking Guardians dropping Detroit out of first place in the AL Central and all the way to the No. 6 seed in the playoff bracket. They remain a game up on Houston for a playoff spot, and they do hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Astros (who are themselves playing some very bad baseball right now). Still, winning the final two games of their series in Cleveland would do a lot to alleviate the anxiety.
From there, the next biggest question mark comes in the AL East, where the Yankees have cut the Blue Jays' lead down to just a single game (through Toronto dose still have the tiebreaker). With the Jays facing Garrett Crochet on Wednesday while New York sends Max Fried to the mound against the White Sox, we could have a tie atop the standings on Thursday morning.
There's still a lot that could change over the next few days, but here's how the Wild Card round would shake out if the postseason began today.
- No. 5 Boston Red Sox at No. 4 New York Yankees
- No. 6: Detroit Tigers at No. 3 Cleveland Guardians
Again, take this all with a grain of salt. The Red Sox could jump as high as No. 3 or fall out of the playoffs entirely. The Yankees still aren't out of the division race just yet. The Guardians and Tigers are in a dogfight atop the Central. And while the Astros saw their AL West hopes more or less slip away this weekend, there's still hope for a Wild Card berth yet.
Projected National League postseason bracket as of Sept. 24
Things are a bit more settled in the NL, where five teams have already clinched at least a playoff spot. There's still plenty up for grabs, though:
- Milwaukee Brewers (95-63, NL Central champs)
- Philadelphia Phillies (92-65, NL East champs)
- Los Angeles Dodgers (88-69, NL West champs)
- Chicago Cubs (88-69, No. 1 NL Wild Card)
- San Diego Padres (87-71, No. 2 NL Wild Card)
- New York Mets (81-76, No. 3 NL Wild Card)
Also in the hunt: Cincinnati Reds (80-77) and Arizona Diamondbacks (80-77)
The Reds fell back out of the No. 6 seed with a bad loss at home against Pittsburgh on Tuesday coupled with the Mets' win over the Cubs. And don't sleep on Arizona, which is now just a game back of New York after a walk-off victory over the Dodgers. The Mets would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker to either Cincy or the D-backs, so nursing that one game lead is pivotal if they want to survive until October.
From there, the main questions become 1) will the Padres manage to chase down the Dodgers and/or Cubs and 2) can the Phillies make Milwaukee sweat out the No. 1 seed? L.A. closes the year with a tough road series at Seattle, so anything is still possible here.
- No. 5 San Diego Padres at No. 4 Chicago Cubs
- No. 6: New York Mets at No. 3 Los Angeles Dodgers
The Padres' bullpen is something no team wants to face in the postseason, especially not in a best-of-three. New York vs. Los Angeles, meanwhile, would be a deliciously angsty matchup between the two richest teams in baseball — both of whom expected to be cruising right now.