Now that the 2026 MLB regular season has concluded, let’s take a look back at the season that was before the lights get bright on Tuesday. It took all 162 games to settle the field. Two spots were still up for grabs on Sunday, and one division went to a team that finished exactly .500.
The 12-team bracket has a little bit of everything: a two-time defending champion chasing history, a Brewers team that set a franchise record, a Rays club nobody picked, and a White Sox team that was the worst in modern baseball just two years ago. After a long season, I am ready to witness every team’s chase for the title.
The Bracket at a Glance
The Brewers (103-59) own the best record in baseball and home-field advantage throughout. The top two seeds in each league skip the Wild Card round.
| Seed | American League | Record | How they got in | National League | Record | How they got in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tampa Bay Rays | 98-64 | AL East champ, bye | Milwaukee Brewers | 103-59 | NL Central champ, bye |
| 2 | Cleveland Guardians | 85-77 | AL Central champ, bye | Los Angeles Dodgers | 100-62 | NL West champ, bye |
| 3 | Houston Astros | 81-81 | AL West champ | Atlanta Braves | 94-68 | NL East champ |
| 4 | New York Yankees | 93-68* | Top Wild Card | San Diego Padres | 91-71 | Top Wild Card |
| 5 | Boston Red Sox | 87-75 | Second Wild Card | Chicago Cubs | 89-73 | Second Wild Card |
| 6 | Chicago White Sox | 84-78 | Third Wild Card | Philadelphia Phillies | 88-74 | Third Wild Card |
*The Yankees played 161 games; their finale against Baltimore was rained out.
The American League: The Rays Did It the Rays Way
The AL did not go according to anybody’s script. Coming off back-to-back fourth-place finishes and an offseason that sent away Brandon Lowe and Shane Baz, the Rays were supposed to be the fifth wheel in a division of spenders. Instead, they won 98 games and the fifth AL East title in franchise history, their first since 2021. They sealed it on Sept. 22 at Yankee Stadium, where Drew Rasmussen struck out 11 and carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning of a 6-1 win.
The Yankees won 93 games anyway, which says a lot considering they played long stretches without Aaron Judge. Ben Rice kept the lineup afloat, and young right-hander Cam Schlittler turned into the league’s best pitcher. Their reward is a best-of-three with the Red Sox in the Bronx. Yankees vs. Red Sox in October never needs a sales pitch.
Cleveland pulled off its annual late-summer magic trick. The Guardians sat at 61-66 on Aug. 19 and were as many as seven games back in July, then chased down the White Sox and clinched the Central on Saturday.
Then there is the AL West. The Astros won the division at 81-81, clinching on Sunday when Texas lost 6-4 to the Twins. That makes Houston the first team in a 162-game season to win a division without a winning record. They still get to host a Wild Card Series, and they still have Yordan Alvarez, which is the whole argument for taking them seriously.
The National League: Brewers vs. Everybody (For Real This Time)
Back in 2018 I called the Brewers the surprise of all surprises. Yes, those Brewers. Eight years later, they are nobody’s surprise. Milwaukee won a franchise-record 103 games, six more than the record they set just last season, and finished 44 games over .500. They did it with the second-best ERA in baseball and the second-most runs scored despite hitting the second-fewest home runs. That is a team built for October baseball, where the long ball is not always there.
The Dodgers won 100 games and the NL West by nine, and they are chasing something no team has done since the 1998-2000 Yankees: a World Series three-peat. They also tied the Braves’ record of 14 straight postseason trips. Injuries hit hard, including a late IL stint for Shohei Ohtani, but a playoff rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow is the kind of thing that keeps other front offices up at night. The betting markets still have them as the favorite.
Atlanta took back the NL East with 94 wins, while the Padres (91 wins) and Cubs (89) locked up the top two Wild Cards. The Phillies nearly gave the last one away with an ugly final week. They needed a 7-3 win over the Rays on Sunday, plus a Diamondbacks loss in San Diego, to hang on.
The Surprise of All Surprises: The White Sox
Yes, those White Sox. The White Sox who went 41-121 in 2024, the most losses in modern baseball history. The White Sox who followed that with 102 more losses in 2025. That team is in the playoffs.
Chicago clinched with a 9-1 win in Kansas City on Sept. 24 and became the first team ever to reach the postseason right after back-to-back 100-loss seasons. Will Venable’s club did it young, with seven of nine starters in the clinching lineup still under two years of big-league service. They led the Central by 5 1/2 games in August and missed the division by one game, but they finished 84-78 and head to Houston as the No. 6 seed.
The White Sox have not won a playoff series since 2005. I would not bet against this group being the one that changes that.
Award Watch
The hardware will not be handed out until November, but most of these races were decided weeks ago. All four MVP and Cy Young awards look headed to first-time winners.
- NL MVP: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs. He joined the 40-40 club and finished with 45 homers, 41 steals, 107 RBI, and a .941 OPS, all while playing Gold Glove center field. It is one of the best all-around seasons of this century, and it knocked Shohei Ohtani off the throne.
- AL MVP: Yordan Alvarez, Astros. The heavy favorite. Houston does not sniff the AL West title without him. Junior Caminero of the Rays is the closest challenger.
- NL Cy Young: Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers. The 24-year-old averaged over 100 mph on his fastball as a starter and led the majors in ERA and strikeouts. His .157 opponents’ batting average is the lowest ever for a full season, beating Pedro Martinez’s 2000 mark.
- AL Cy Young: Cam Schlittler, Yankees. Considered a lock heading into the final week.
- AL Rookie of the Year: Kevin McGonigle, Tigers. The clear front-runner all season.
Wild Card Series Schedule and the Road Ahead
All four best-of-three series start Tuesday, Sept. 29, with the higher seed hosting every game. It is also the first postseason baseball on NBC since 2000.
| Matchup | Game 1 (Tue.) | Game 2 (Wed.) | Game 3 if needed | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 6 Phillies at No. 3 Braves | 2 p.m. ET | 2 p.m. ET | Thu., Oct. 1 | NBC, Peacock |
| No. 6 White Sox at No. 3 Astros | 5 p.m. ET | 5 p.m. ET | Thu., Oct. 1 | Peacock, NBCSN |
| No. 5 Red Sox at No. 4 Yankees | 8 p.m. ET | 8 p.m. ET | Thu., Oct. 1 | NBC, Peacock |
| No. 5 Cubs at No. 4 Padres | 10 p.m. ET | 10 p.m. ET | Thu., Oct. 1 | Peacock, NBCSN |
After that:
- Division Series (best of five): both start Saturday, Oct. 3. Guardians host the White Sox/Astros winner, Rays host Red Sox/Yankees, Dodgers host Phillies/Braves, Brewers host Cubs/Padres.
- NLCS: begins Sunday, Oct. 11.
- ALCS: begins Monday, Oct. 12.
- World Series: Game 1 is Friday, Oct. 23 on FOX. A Game 7 would land on Halloween.
Bold Predictions (Hold Me to These)
In 2018, I admitted our National League picks got handed to us like a pie to the face. That will not stop me from making more.
- Wild Card: Braves over Phillies, Yankees over Red Sox, Cubs over Padres, and the White Sox stun the Astros. An 81-win division champ feels like the easiest upset pick on the board.
- Division Series: Yankees over Rays, Guardians over White Sox, Brewers over Cubs, Dodgers over Braves.
- League Championship Series: Yankees over Guardians. Brewers over Dodgers, with Misiorowski starting twice.
- World Series: Yankees over Brewers. No three-peat for the Dodgers, and the Yankees finally get number 28.
If the Dodgers make me eat this one, at least I have been to Dodger Stadium.
Ready for October
Now that the regular season is over, I am patiently awaiting Tuesday afternoon. Can the Dodgers do what no National League team has ever done? Can the Brewers turn 103 wins into a parade? Can a White Sox team two years removed from 121 losses make one more impossible run? There will be many stories to see play out, and after a long season, I am ready for all of them.
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