Special Edition: New month, new playoffs

The MLB playoffs consist of four rounds: the best-of-three Wild Card (WC) Series, the best-of-five League Division Series (LDS), the best-of-seven League Championship Series (LCS), and of course, the reason for the season: the best-of-seven World Series, which this year begins on Friday, October 25th. That’s a whole lot of baseball.

The 12-team postseason field features six squads from each league — the American League (AL) and National League (NL). That includes the three divisional winners (East, Central, and West) and the league’s three next-best teams (aka the WCs).

If this sounds a bit different than the format of old, you’re right! As of 2022, there are two three-game WC series and all three of those games are hosted by the higher-seeded team. There’s no place like home, after all.

• The new format also gives each league’s top two regular-season teams a bye to the LDS, where they’ll play one of the WC winners.

No. 6 Detroit Tigers vs. No. 3 Houston Astros: It’s giving David vs. Goliath. The never-say-die Tigers motored their way to their first postseason since 2014 by snapping a tie for the longest active MLB playoff drought. Meanwhile, the playoff mainstay ’Stros secured their eighth consecutive appearance, a span that includes four trips to the World Series.

• Detroit overcame their 0.2% playoff odds in August to reach the promised land thanks to team chemistry and lights-out pitching from AL Triple Crown winner Tarik Skubal.

• Houston, on the other hand, remains inevitable with three of the top-10 hitters in the game, including Yordan Alvarez, and top pitchers Ronel Blanco and Framber Valdez.

No. 5 Kansas City Royals vs. No. 4 Baltimore Orioles: October just became a lot more regal with the Royals making their first postseason appearance since winning it all in 2015. As for Baltimore, they’ll be looking to snap an eight-game playoff losing streak dating back to the 2014 ALCS against…Kansas City.

• KC is led by Bobby Witt Jr., a standout shortstop who leads the majors in hits and is known for making stunning plays. They don’t call him Bobby Baseball for nothing.

• But Baltimore boasts an elite shortstop of their own in 2023 Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson, a power-hitting leadoff that stirs the drink for the birds. Anything could happen.

No. 2 Cleveland Guardians (bye to ALDS): Perhaps the most under-the-radar postseason team, the Guardians handily reclaimed the AL Central title. Their secret weapon? Closer Emmanuel Clase, who’s been baffling hitters all season long, topping out at a whopping 103 mph with his cutter. Yeesh.

No. 1 NY Yankees (bye to ALDS): After missing the playoffs entirely last year, the Bronx Bombers are back in familiar territory, re-claiming the AL East pennant. Slugger Aaron Judge and his league-leading 58 homers power the squad, along with offseason acquisition Juan Soto and trade deadline pickup Jazz Chisholm Jr. Beware the Evil Empire.

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No. 6 NY Mets vs. No. 3 Milwaukee Brewers: It came down to the final day of the season…and then some, but the Mets are playoff-bound for just the second time in the last eight years. Their reward? A date with the Brewers, who’ve become a postseason stalwart in recent years, appearing in six of the last seven playoffs.

• Similar to the Tigers, the Mets rode a rollercoaster to make it here, rallied by a certain purple monster, a Latin pop hit, and shortstop Francisco Lindor’s clutch late-season efforts. Omg!, indeed.

• As for the Brew Crew, it’s all eyes on rookie 20-year-old outfielder Jackson Chourio, who’s made an immediate impact in his debut campaign, posting a 20-homer, 20-steals season. This kid is certainly alright.

No. 5 Atlanta Braves vs. No. 4 San Diego Padres: Just like the Mets, Atlanta clinched their seventh straight playoff berth on the very last day of the regular season, a surprising showing from the 2021 World Series champions. The Padres, meanwhile, battled it out in the strong NL West, earning a postseason after missing out last year.

• Atlanta’s player to watch is lights out starting pitcher Chris Sale, who’s largely expected to win his first career Cy Young Award, but was scratched from yesterday’s start with back spasms. Watch this space.

• The Dads will counter with some top hurlers of their own — San Diego has Michael King set to start today and strikeout machine Dylan Cease waiting in the wings.

No. 2 Philadelphia Phillies (bye to NLDS): The Fightins’ are dancing into October for the third straight season after capturing the NL East pennant for the first time since 2011. And after reaching the World Series in 2022 and the NLCS last year, this squad is more than hungry to hoist some hardware.

• Watch for designated hitter Kyle “Schwarbomb” Schwarber to continue his Red October heroics and pitcher Zack Wheeler to wheel and deal once again.

No. 1 LA Dodgers (bye to NLDS): Death, taxes, and the Dodgers in the postseason. This year marks the Blue Crew’s 12th straight playoff appearance, the longest active streak in the majors. And with the one and only Shohei Ohtani making his long-awaited playoff debut after signing with the Dodgers in the offseason, the Dodgers are looking better than ever.

• With Ohtani making history at bat seemingly every single night (the two-way player hasn’t pitched this season after undergoing elbow surgery last year), Mookie Betts doing Mookie Betts things, and veteran Freddie Freeman holding things down, this should be another deep playoff run for the 2020 champs.

The road to the Fall Classic begins when the Tigers face the Astros today at 2:32 p.m. ET airing on ABC in the U.S. and Sportsnet in Canada, the first of a Wild Card quadruple-header.

• ESPN networks will be your go-to for the Wild Card round in the States before the later rounds air on Fox networks and TBS. And if you’re in Canada, you can tune in on Sportsnet all postseason long. Batter up!

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