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With three days left in the regular season, 11 of the 12 MLB playoff teams have been determined, but the Wild Card seedings have yet to be decided.
NEW YORK — One of the best sports months of the year has suddenly arrived, with the Major League Baseball playoffs just around the corner. Regular season games will conclude on Wednesday, which means the playoffs will begin this weekend.
This year we expanded the playoffs for baseball with three division winners and three Wild Card teams represented in each league. A total of twelve teams will compete for a chance at the World Series title.
The regular season is three days away, but there are still things that could decide who plays whom in the playoffs, or even who makes it.
All six teams in the American League playoffs have been decided. On the National League side, five teams were selected. The Phillies lead the Brewers by two games with three to play in each.
Let’s take a look at how the playoff picture looks now, as of Monday before the games.
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American League
The AL is now a bit less dramatic than the National League.
Here’s what we know now:
The Houston Astros are the No. 1 seed and will have home-field advantage in the AL Championship Series if they make it there. They will have a bye in the Wild Card Series and will be waiting for another team to host in the AL Division Series, which is technically the “second round” of the playoffs.
The Yankees are the No. 2 seed and, like the Astros, will look to face the winner of the Wild Card series. The Yankees will host another ALDS series.
As the division winner, the Cleveland Guardians will host a best-of-three AL Wild Card series beginning Friday night in Cleveland. Their opponent has yet to be determined, but it will likely be the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are currently 6th in the American League standings. The Mariners are in fifth place, 2.5 games behind the fourth-place Blue Jays.
Currently, the Guardians will host the Rays and the Blue Jays will host the Mariners.
Under the new MLB playoff rules, the top seed (Guardians and Blue Jays) will host all three games of the Wild Card series if three are necessary. The first team to win goes two moves further.
As it stands now, the winner of the Guardians-Rays series will face the Yankees in the ALDS. And the winner of the Mariners-Blue Jays series will face the Astros in the ALDS. The American League Division Series is a 7-game, first-to-four series.
To recap, here’s how it currently stands if the season were to end:
Wild Card Series: #6 Tampa Bay Rays at #3 Cleveland Guardians
Wild Card Series: #5 Seattle Mariners at #4 Toronto Blue Jays
AL Division Series: Tampa or Cleveland at No. 2 New York Yankees
AL Division Series: Seattle or Toronto at No. 1 Houston Astros.
All six AL Wild Card slots are final, but the seeding could change between Toronto, Seattle and Tampa in the coming days.
National League
All six spots are still undecided in the NL. The top five spots are the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals.
The Phillies are two games ahead of the Brewers to become the final team in the NL playoffs.
Another big thing that has yet to be decided is the winner of the NL East. The Braves currently lead the Mets by two games, which would cement Atlanta at No. 2 and the Mets at No. 4.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are anchored at No. 1 and the St. Louis Cardinals at No. 3.
While the San Diego Padres are in, their spot is not set in stone. They are currently the fifth seed, but have a chance to drop as low as sixth if the Phillies have a good three days and the Padres don’t.
The Cardinals will host the Wild Card Series. They are in the same position as Cleveland on the American League side. The Wild Card Guardian and Wild Card Cardinals series will begin on Friday. Their opponents have yet to be set, but here’s what it looks like when the playoffs begin today on the NL side.
Wild Card Series: #6 Philadelphia Phillies and #3 St. Louis Cardinals
Wild Card Series: #5 San Diego Padres at #4 New York Mets
NL Division Series: Cardinals or Phillies at Atlanta Braves
NL Division Series: Mets or Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers
There are many things to watch out for in the last three days.
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