MLB Playoff Bracket if the season ended today: Braves, Mets fight it out
By Curt Bishop
The MLB postseason is almost here. In just three weeks, the regular season will have come to an end, and it will be time to take a look at the playoff bracket. It will certainly be interesting to see who will be in and who will be out by that time.
It's common every year that when the playoffs approach, we discuss what the bracket would look like if the season ended on that day. Of course, the season does not end today. It ends September 29, and that will be the time to start making predictions for who will go deep into October and capture a World Series title.
The playoff bracket will be set by then, but now is still a good time to take a look at what the bracket looks like and who would be in if the postseason began today.
MLB Postseason bracket if the season ended today
Before we take a look at the bracket, it's important that we explain how the playoffs work. These days, there are 12 postseason teams, six in the American League and six in the National League. Everything starts now with the Wild Card series, which is a best-of-three series with all three games hosted by the higher seed.
The top two Wild Card teams face off while the lowest-seeded division winner hosts the third Wild Card. After the Wild Card round is over, the field shrinks to eight teams for the Division Series, which is best-of-five.
The top seed in each league hosts the winner of the top two Wild Card seeds while the No. 2 seed hosts the winner of the seed 3-6 matchup. From there, the League Championship Series and World Series are best-of-seven.
But let's have a look at the current bracket. In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies would be the top two seeds, respectively, while the Milwaukee Brewers would play host to the third Wild Card team in the first round.
National League Postseason participants |
|---|
No. 1 seed Los Angeles Dodgers |
No. 2 seed Philadelphia Phillies |
No. 3 seed Milwaukee Brewers |
No. 4 seed San Diego Padres |
No. 5 seed Arizona Diamondbacks |
No. 6 seed Atlanta Braves/New York Mets |
The third spot is a battle between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves, so Milwaukee would host one of those three teams. The San Diego Padres would also play host to the defending National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks. The winner of the Padres-Diamondbacks matchup would advance to play the Dodgers in the NLDS, while the winner of the matchup between the Brewers and whoever wins the third Wild Card would advance to take on the Phillies.
In the American League, the New York Yankees would be the top seed. They would await the winner of the matchup between the Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals, who are the top two Wild Card seeds, respectively. The Cleveland Guardians would be seed two and await the winner of the No. 3 seed Houston Astros and the Minnesota Twins, who would be the third Wild Card team.
American League Postseason participants |
|---|
No. 1 seed New York Yankees |
No. 2 seed Cleveland Guardians |
No. 3 seed Houston Astros |
No. 4 seed Baltimore Orioles |
No. 5 seed Kansas City Royals |
No. 6 seed Minnesota Twins |
A lot can change over a few weeks, so it's too early to make predictions. But it will be fun to see how everything shakes out.