With just one week remaining in the 2024 Major League Baseball regular season, the MLB playoff picture is becoming clearer as five teams secured playoff berths this week. The New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Guardians and Milwaukee Brewers are the first five teams to qualify for the playoffs.
As a reminder, MLB currently awards 12 playoff berths: six total for division winners and three wild card berths in each league. The top two division winners in each league based on overall record are awarded first-round byes, meaning they do not have to play in the best-of-three wild card series that serves as the first round.
The Brewers and Guardians are the first teams to clinch their division titles so far, and while that could certainly change late in the season, none of baseball’s other four division title races are nearly as tight. The other division leaders — the Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers and Houston Astros — are all leading the division by at least three games.
However, there is expected to be plenty of drama in the race for the wild card. In the American League, the rising Detroit Tigers are just behind the Minnesota Twins. The Tigers haven’t played in the postseason since 2014, tying them with the Los Angeles Angels for the longest drought in MLB history. In the National League, the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks are locked in a tight battle for the fifth seed. Both the Mets and Diamondbacks are in the running to hold off the Atlanta Braves, both in the playoff running.
Now, let’s take a look at where all these races stand right now as the final week of the regular season looms: All division and postseason projections referenced in the standings come from SportsLine.
Outlook for the 2024 MLB Playoffs
If the season ended today…
American League
Buys: 1st Yankees, 2nd Guardians
Wild Card Series: #3 Astros vs #6 Twins, #4 Orioles vs #5 Royals
National League
Buys: 1st Phillies, 2nd Dodgers
Wild Card Series: #3 Brewers vs. #6 Mets, #4 Padres vs. #5 Diamondbacks
Who won?
The Brewers won the National League Central Division, the Guardians won the American League Central Division, the Yankees qualified for the American League playoffs, and the Dodgers and Phillies qualified for the National League playoffs.
MLB Magic Numbers
(Entry on Saturday, September 21st)
AL East: Yankees — 5AL West: Astros — 3AL Playoff qualifiers: Orioles — 3, Astros — 3, Royals — 7, Twins — 8NL East: Phillies — 1NL West: Dodgers — 5NL Playoff qualifiers: Padres — 2, Diamondbacks — 4, Mets — 5, Braves — 7
Notable tiebreakers
(Note: Two-team MLB tiebreakers are determined by head-to-head records. If teams have the same head-to-head records, their division records will be used.)
The Yankees won the tiebreaker against the Guardians.
The Guardians won a tiebreaker against the Orioles. The Orioles currently hold the tiebreaker against the Yankees. The Twins won tiebreakers against the Tigers and Royals. The Phillies won tiebreakers against the Dodgers and Brewers. The Mets won tiebreakers against the Diamondbacks and Padres.
The Diamondbacks currently hold the tiebreaker with the Padres. The Mets currently hold the tiebreaker with the Braves.
American League Standings
NY Yankees – z9164—99.4%100%Baltimore86695.00.0%99.9%Tampa Bay777814.00.0%<1.0%Boston
767814.50.0%<1.0% Toronto - e738218.00.0%0.0%
National League Standings
Philadelphia – z9263—100%100%NY Mets86696.00.0%68.3%Atlanta84718.00.0%36.3%Washington – e698623.00.0%0.0%Miami – e579835.00.0%0.0%
Winner – x
Wild Card Winner – y
Playoff Qualification – z
Eliminate – e
MLB Wild Card Standings
AL Wild Card WLWCGB Baltimore 8669+4.5 Kansas City 8273+0.5 Minnesota 8173–Detroit 81740.5 Seattle 80751.5 NL Wild Card WLWCGB San Diego 8966+3.0 Arizona 8768+1.0 NY Mets 8669–Atlanta 84712.0
2024 World Series Odds
Dodgers: +340Yankees: +450Phillies: +450Astros: +700
Orioles: +1000 Guardians: +1100 Padres: +1200 Brewers: +1500 Diamondbacks: +2000 Mets: +2200
Royals: +2800 Braves: +2800
Twins: +2800 Tigers: +6000
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