October baseball: A complete guide to the 2026 MLB Postseason

[h2]MLB Postseason format[/h2][p]For those still relatively new to baseball, Major League Baseball's postseason format starts with a best-of-three Wild Card round between eight teams from September 29th to October 1st, while the top two teams from both the American League (AL) and National League (NL) have first-round byes. [/p][p]The four teams with byes are the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tampa-bay-rays/GCHgI4hp/"]Tampa Bay Rays[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/cleveland-guardians/4K05MrFG/"]Cleveland Guardians[/a] for the AL and the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/milwaukee-brewers/CGzqC60o/"]Milwaukee Brewers[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/los-angeles-dodgers/nwPDBpVc/"]Los Angeles Dodgers[/a] for the NL. [/p][p]After the Wild Card winners are decided, they will then play a best-of-five Division Series round against teams that had a bye. From there, the two winners from the Division Series (best-of-five) will meet in their respective league's Championship Series (best-of-seven) before [i]those[/i] winners meet in the World Series (best-of-seven). [/p][p]*[i]This article will be updated once the Postseason moves on to the next round.[/i][/p][h2]American League Wild Card matchups[/h2][p][b](4) [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-york-yankees/SrC4LDIT/"]New York Yankees[/a] vs. (5) [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/boston-red-sox/zaXTinF3/"]Boston Red Sox[/a][/b][/p][embed guid="49952634-f767-4fbd-a47c-1337ea871409" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iQ3t5thb34" social-type="youtube" /][p]No explanation is needed for this series unless you just started watching baseball. In what is widely considered the greatest rivalry in American sports, the Yankees (93-68) and Red Sox (87-75) will face off in the Postseason for the sixth time overall and the second time in back-to-back years.[/p][p]The record between the two in the Postseason is currently at 3-3, with the Yankees taking the Red Sox down in last year's Wild Card round in three games. New York also got the best of Boston during the regular season, winning seven of their 13 matchups with a whopping +26 run differential (56-30). [/p][p]The big headline heading into the matchup is superstar [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/judge-aaron/WSFM7DfK/"]Aaron Judge[/a] and whether or not he'll be ready. In the initial report on September 22nd, it was known that Judge wouldn't be ready for the Wild Card. A day later, Judge [a href="https://x.com/JeffPassan/status/2102891092043788412?s=20" target="_blank"]said himself that he plans to play[/a]. So who knows?[/p][p]New York possesses the best pitching staff in baseball, with AL Cy Young favorite [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schlittler-cam/MuCjCJ2E/"]Cam Schlittler[/a] leading the way with a jaw-dropping 1.95 ERA this season (ranked 2nd overall) and tied with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/toronto-blue-jays/zcDLaZ3b/"]Blue Jays[/a] pitcher [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cease-dylan/YV6Zrn91/"]Dylan Cease[/a] for the most strikeouts (239) in the AL. [/p][p]But the Red Sox pitching staff isn't far behind them, ranking third overall in ERA (3.54). First baseman [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/contreras-william/GneBtljC/"]William Contreras[/a] leads the team in home runs (27) and RBI (81), while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rafaela-ceddanne/YHOJiG2r/"]Ceddanne Rafaela[/a] is their contact guy, leading the team with 153 hits and a .283 average.[/p][p][b](3) [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/houston-astros/lfZXonNq/"]Houston Astros[/a] vs. (6) [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chicago-white-sox/SW9D1eZo/"]Chicago White Sox[/a] [/b][/p][embed guid="9a6ead0b-0e84-4e3b-b07d-f3c16fd12eb6" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-IWHN7mdBI" social-type="youtube" /][p]The White Sox (84-78) are back in the Postseason for the first time since 2021. Despite fumbling the AL Central title to the Guardians, the White Sox have been one of the most exciting teams in baseball this season. [/p][p]They have three players with at least 30 home runs. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/montgomery-colson/rPq2s8dk/"]Colson Montgomery[/a] put up 31, while also setting an MLB single-season record for strikeouts (225). Veteran [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vargas-miguel/KWk2Y3Hq/"]Miguel Vargas[/a] had 33 and led the team with 93 RBI in what is by far the best season of his career (also hitting .250). And the third is Japanese rookie sensation [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/murakami-munetaka/Um3qc5aF/"]Munetaka Murakami[/a], tied for the 10th-most home runs in the league with 35. [/p][p]However, the Astros (81-81) have been a thorn in the White Sox's side this season, winning five of their seven matchups with a +3 run differential (31-28). They're led by heavy AL MVP favorite [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alvarez-yordan/dINBHBc3/"]Yordan Alvarez[/a], who finished the season leading the league in batting average (.316), on-base percentage (.432), slugging percentage (.601), and walks (109), while also posting 42 home runs and 106 RBI. [/p][p]As a team, the Astros led the league with 226 home runs, but failed to finish top 10 in almost every other hitting category outside of slugging percentage (t-4th - .417) and OPS (7th - .732). [/p][p]Houston are the first team in MLB history to reach the postseason with a .500 record or worse. [/p][h2]National League Wild Card matchups[/h2][p][b](4) [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/san-diego-padres/8poQN9Ud/"]San Diego Padres[/a] vs. (5) [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chicago-cubs/j7ZnBQFi/"]Chicago Cubs[/a][/b][/p][embed guid="1cf93869-fc45-43a3-b622-55456f694121" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn3SRQpR6Ko" social-type="youtube" /][p]It's a rematch of last year's Wild Card duel that went the full three games. Chicago (89-73) eventually got the best of San Diego (91-71) before losing to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS (3-2). [/p][p]But this is a matchup that plays heavily in the Cubs' favor. Chicago went 5-1 against San Diego during the regular season, outscoring them 55-28. In their latest matchup, the Cubs smacked the Padres in a 23-3 beatdown to start July. [/p][p]The Cubs head into this series with the most runs scored (850) of any team in the league, while also leading in RBI (804), walks (674), and slugging percentage (.428). NL MVP favorite [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/crow-armstrong-pete/WSh7LACO/"]Pete Crow-Armstrong[/a] will look to carry his team to a World Series after becoming just the eighth player in MLB history to record a 40-40 (home runs/stolen bases) season.[/p][p]As for the Padres, this will be their fourth Postseason appearance in the past five years. Despite putting up at least 90 wins in now three straight seasons, the Padres only ranked in the top 10 in two statistical categories this year - tied ninth in strikeouts (hitting) and 10th in team ERA (3.99). [/p][p]They're led by superstars [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/machado-manny/fkNZ90Jg/"]Manny Machado[/a], team leader in home runs (30) and RBI (91), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tatis-fernando-jr/Ic5vhveI/"]Fernando Tatis Jr[/a]., and relief pitcher [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/miller-mason/zoqhIduK/"]Mason Miller[/a].[/p][p][b](3) [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atlanta-braves/0UPxbDYA/"]Atlanta Braves[/a] vs. (6) [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/philadelphia-phillies/QTNHA4p4/"]Philadelphia Phillies[/a][/b][/p][embed guid="1790c0ac-6d62-4a90-8980-3dd133dac46b" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr-Nxi7Mfx8" social-type="youtube" /][p]The Braves (94-68) have now made the Postseason for the eighth time in the past 10 seasons, also winning the NL East title in seven of those eight. In 13 matchups this year, the Braves are 9-4 with a +23 run differential (66-43). Atlanta have also won four straight against the Phillies leading up to the Wild Card round. [/p][p]The Braves ranked in the top 10 for runs (8th - 742), hits (8th - 1,348), home runs (t-7th - 204), RBI (8th - 711), batting average (10th - .246), and slugging percentage (7th - .409). They're led by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/olson-matt/GvvV3tAQ/"]Matt Olson[/a], who led the team with 41 home runs and 93 RBI; center fielder Michael Harris II, who is having a career year with 26 home runs and a team-leading .294 batting average; superstar [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/acuna-jr-ronald/l4fMjWuo/"]Ronald Acuna[/a] Jr.; and NL Cy Young candidate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sale-chris/WxqHxcJe/"]Chris Sale[/a], who has the third-best ERA (2.16) in all of baseball this year. [/p][p]Meanwhile, the Phillies (88-74) clinched the final NL Postseason spot after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 in their final game of the season. This marks their fifth-straight Postseason appearance.[/p][p]Philly almost choked away their spot after hitting a massive slump towards the end of the season. They wrapped it up going 9-13 in their final 22 games, including five straight losses before game No. 162. [/p][p]Their superstar slugger [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schwarber-kyle/jPbF6sQD/"]Kyle Schwarber[/a], who led the NL in home runs last season, tied with Crow-Armstrong this year for the most in the entire league with 45. [/p][p]Philly's lineup didn't rank in the top 15 in any hitting category except triples (11th - 23) and stolen bases (15th - 105). So they'll be relying on their pitching staff, especially their starters, who ranked eighth overall in ERA (3.80) and No. 1 in strikeouts (970) - no other starting pitching rotation in baseball had more than 910.[/p][infobox id="3e982646-21d3-4baf-ac34-10f731dff476" /]