The 2023 MLB playoffs are right around the corner. Here's how the bracket shapes up as of Aug. 18.
The 2023 MLB season is winding to a close. We have 1.5 months until October, the most hallowed stretch of calendar for every baseball fan in the country. As the jack-o'-lanterns come out, so do the legends of America's pastime. The best baseball of the season is right around the corner.
Per current rules, the MLB playoffs will feature 12 teams — six from the American League, six from the National League. All six division winners are guaranteed a top-three seed. Then, each league gets three wild cards. The top two seeds from each league get a first round bye.
The MLB playoffs are generally rife with competitive parity. Last season, the Phillies scraped together a late-season wild card push and made it all the way to the World Series. Anything can happen. Here's how the brackets shape up at the moment.
MLB playoff bracket: National League bracket if season ended today
1. Atlanta Braves (78-42)
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (74-46)
3. Milwaukee Brewers (65-57) vs. 6. Chicago Cubs (62-58)
4. Philadelphia Phillies (66-55) vs. 5. San Francisco Giants (64-57)
The headlines for Phillies-Giants write themselves. "Gabe Kapler, wrongly ousted from his seat on the Phillies bench, gets his chance to exact revenge." The Giants are one of the most unique contenders in baseball, and their place in the playoff picture is largely a credit to Kapler's bold strategies. The Phillies, meanwhile, are loaded with star power and hoping to turn their early-season stumbles into another late-season triumph. Do not count out the Phils. That's a special group.
The Brewers-Cubs series pits division rivals against one another. Milwaukee has been holding off the Cubs and Reds atop the NL Central all season, but few teams have as much momentum as the Cubs right now. This particular matchup, right this very second, probably worries the Brew Crew.
To nobody's surprise, the Braves and Dodgers sit at the top and will get an extra few days of rest before the postseason kicks into high gear.
MLB playoff bracket: American League bracket if season ended today
1. Baltimore Orioles (74-47)
2. Texas Rangers (72-49)
3. Minnesota Twins (63-59) vs. 6. Toronto Blue Jays (67-55)
4. Tampa Bay Rays (73-50) vs. 5. Houston Astros (70-52)
The Minnesota Twins are the pretenders here, division winners who pale in comparison to the wild card teams. If ever there was a strong case to be made against the current MLB postseason format, it's probably the Twins getting home-field advantage against the Blue Jays. Even so, the American League boasts a loaded slate of contenders.
The Rays and Astros are both 70-win teams already. That's a bloodbath in the wild card round, all for the right to play the current best team in the AL. The Baltimore Orioles have comfortably flown under the radar all season. Baltimore and Tampa Bay are organically grown contenders with a strong chance to represent the AL East in the World Series. Maybe the Yankees should take notes.
Meanwhile, the Rangers and Astros will make an equally strong push to get the AL West — and the Long Star State — back on the final stage. The Astros have been postseason juggernauts for a minute and that experience tends to play well when the lights are bright. The Astros haven't exactly endeared themselves to fans outside of Houston, but that's a tough team to beat.
All win totals are accurate as of 3:00 p.m. CT on Aug. 18.