In the American League, the Toronto Blue Jays won the American League East division and along with the Seattle Mariners (AL West winners) will have the bye until the divisional rounds. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees will host their hated rivals, the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card round while the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers will battle it out in the other wild card series.
Over in the National League, the two division winners earning the bye will be the Milwaukee Brewers (who had the best overall record in baseball this year) and Philadelphia Phillies. The wild card teams playing each other will be the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres (winner plays the Brewers) while the Los Angeles Dodgers face the Cincinnati Reds, who backed into the final wild card spot when they won a tie breaker with the New York Mets, who were shut out in the season finale against Miami. Whoever advances between the Reds and Dodgers (the defending World Series champions) will have to go up against the Phillies.
AMERICAN LEAGUE OUTLOOK
Boston vs. New York - It's the Yanks vs. Red Sox in the playoffs for the first time in four years and these teams are 12-12 against each other since they first met in the 1999 post-season. This series features Boston's good starting pitching with Garrett Crochet leading the way and of course the ageless wonder Aroldis Chapman in the back end of the bullpen, which has been suspect at times this summer. The Bronx Bombers have been just that this year with monster man Aaron Judge leading the team with 53 home runs. The Yanks have Max Fried and Carlos Rodon heading their starting rotation and David Bednar has emerged as the closer since a trade with the Pirates two months ago. PICK - Yankees in three games.
Detroit vs. Cleveland - The Detroit Tigers folded like a house of cards in the last six weeks of the 2025 season and coughed up a record 15 1/2 games lead in the AL Central division and now have to face the Guardians on the road as a result. They do have ace pitcher Tarik Skubal to start the wild card series and if they get a leg up there, it could be all they need to advance. On the other hand, look out for Jose Ramirez highlighting the Cleveland lineup. That guy can carry the Guardians a long way if he gets it going in October. This series will likely go all three games at Progressive Field. PICK - Guardians in three games.
NATIONAL LEAGUE OUTLOOK
Cincinnati vs. Los Angeles - The Dodgers look to have too much firepower on offense (Shohei Ohtani with 55 HR leading the way) and their starting pitching has been lights out lately. The bullpen has been a sore spot since late August and if that doesn't get corrected quick, it will be all hands on deck in the playoffs. The Reds are battlers and have shown they have what it takes to compete, so do not count them out because we all know that baseball is indeed a funny game. PICK - Dodgers in three games.
San Diego vs. Chicago - This series could be the best of the bunch at historic Wrigley Field. The Cubs and Padres had an epic five game series eons ago (1984 actually) and Cubs fans would like to see payback for that heartbreak. The Cubs do have a World Series title under their belts since then while the Padres have been to the Fall Classic twice, only to get blown out both times in 1984 and 1998. The Cubs have three guys who blasted 30-plus homers in the lineup and the Padres are loaded as well with Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis, Jr. leading the charge. San Diego rates the edge in pitching, especially with their stellar bullpen. PICK - Padres in three games.
As for the playoffs and World Series after the wild card round, it remains to be seen how things will shake out . . . so based on the picks made, here goes nothing to figure out the rest of the way this October.
Play Ball !
ALDS - Seattle over Cleveland in 4 games; New York over Toronto in 5 games
ALCS - New York over Seattle in 6 games
NLDS - Milwaukee over San Diego in 5 games; Philadelphia over Los Angeles in 4 games
NLCS - Philadelphia over Milwaukee in 6 games
WORLD SERIES
Philadelphia Phillies over New York Yankees in SIX GAMES
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