- The MLB playoffs feature six teams from each league: three division winners and three wild card teams.
- The top two division winners in each league receive a bye, while the remaining four teams play in a best-of-three wild card series.
- The postseason is scheduled to begin on Sept. 30, with the World Series starting on Oct. 24.
The playoffs begin next week in Major League Baseball, but the participants and the matchups are far from settled.
The final week of the regular season should provide plenty of intrigue, especially for the teams seeking to secure the final wild-card berths.
Until the postseason was expanded to 12 teams in 2022, ties for playoff spots were broken by an extra regular-season game, sometimes called ‘Game 163.’ However, the expanded schedule in October doesn’t leave room for tiebreaker games anymore, so teams that finish with the same record will have their seedings determined by a tiebreaker formula — beginning with head-to-head record.
How many wild cards are in the MLB playoffs?
The addition of an extra wild-card spot in 2022 increased the number of playoff participants in each league to six: three division winners and three wild cards.
MLB playoff format
- The top two division winners (best overall record) in each league receive an automatic bye into the division series.
- The third division winner in each league (as the No. 3 seed) hosts the third wild card team (the No. 6 seed) in a best-of-3 series.
- The other two wild card teams (Nos. 4 and 5 seeds) play each other, with the higher-seeded team hosting all three games.
- The winner of the 4 vs. 5 matchup plays the No. 1 overall seed in a best-of-5 division series, while the 3 vs. 6 winner plays the No. 2 seed.
- The winners of those series face each other in a best-of-7 league championship series, with the winners advancing to the World Series.
MLB playoff tiebreaker procedure
If two or more teams finish tied with the same overall regular-season record, the ties are broken by MLB’s predetermined formula. The criteria are as follows:
- Head-to-head record
- Intradivision record
- Intraleague record
- Interleague record after the All-Star break
- Interleague record after the All-Star break, plus one
If three or more teams tie for a spot, they go through the same tiebreaker procedure outlined above based on winning percentages. However, if one team has a better record against all the other tied teams, that team gets the highest playoff seed and the others restart the tiebreaker procedure.
MLB playoff schedule
The MLB playoffs begin on Tuesday, Sept. 30, as two Ameican League and two National League wild-card series get underway.
The four divisional series are scheduled to start on Saturday, Oct. 4.
The American League championship series begins on Sunday, Oct. 12, while the National League Championship series begins on Monday, Oct. 13.
The World Series is set to begin on Friday, Oct. 24.