MLB Playoff Picture 2023: Wild Card Standings and Bracket Review Entering Last Week
Most of Major League Baseball's drama in the final week of the regular season resides in the American League West.
The Texas Rangers, Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners are all still alive for the AL West crown and the final two wild-card positions.
Texas gained a significant advantage with a weekend sweep over Seattle. The Rangers enter the week with a 2.5-game lead over the Astros and a three-game edge over Seattle.
The Rangers could have the division title wrapped up, or be close to it, by the time they reach Seattle on Thursday.
Seattle has the most to gain in the next seven days, as it plays host to the Astros and Rangers at T-Mobile Park.
The Astros and Mariners kick off what feels like a playoff series with a Justin Verlander-versus-Luis Castillo battle on Monday night.
The Toronto Blue Jays will have a say in the AL wild-card race, as they enter Monday with a 2.5-game advantage over Seattle. A few wins by Toronto this week could keep one of the three AL West challengers out of the postseason.
Over in the National League, six teams are still alive to fill the two remaining wild-card spots behind the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs are in the best positions to clinch playoff spots, and depending on how results go early in the week, the Miami Marlins may be the only team left to challenge the current holders of the second and third wild-card positions.
Updated Wild Card Standings
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American League
Division Leaders
Baltimore (97-59)
Texas (87-68)
Minnesota (83-73)
Wild-Card Race
1. Tampa Bay (95-62)
2. Toronto (87-69)
3. Houston (85-71)
4. Seattle (84-71)
National League
Division Leaders
Atlanta (100-56)
Los Angeles Dodgers (96-59)
Milwaukee (88-68)
Wild-Card Race
1. Philadelphia (87-69)
2. Arizona (82-73)
3. Chicago Cubs (82-74)
4. Miami (81-75)
5. Cincinnati (80-77)
6. San Diego (77-79)
7. San Francisco (77-79)
American League
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Updated Bracket
No. 6 Houston at No. 3 Minnesota
No. 5 Toronto at No. 4 Tampa Bay
Houston/Minnesota winner at No. 2 Texas
Toronto/Tampa Bay winner at No. 1 Baltimore
All eyes will be on Seattle this week.
The Mariners host the Astros for three games starting on Monday and then play a four-game set with the Rangers.
Texas could be on the verge of clinching the AL West title in Seattle on Thursday since it plays three games against the Los Angeles Angels from Monday-Wednesday.
A Rangers sweep at Angel Stadium combined with mixed results between the Astros and Mariners is the ideal situation for Texas.
Houston and Seattle will throw their best three starting pitchers inside T-Mobile Park in what will feel like a playoff series.
Houston would love to come away with two wins from that three-game set because it closes the regular season in Arizona.
The Diamondbacks should have a playoff spot before the weekend hits, but they will still be playing for seeding.
Toronto is hoping for Houston and Seattle to split up the wins in their series so that the Blue Jays can pull away with three wins over the New York Yankees.
The Blue Jays went 4-2 on their road trips to New York and Tampa last week to place them two games ahead of Houston.
A sweep of the Yankees would put the Blue Jays in a comfortable spot ahead of a weekend series with the Tampa Bay Rays.
The weekend series in Toronto will have a weird feel to it if both teams are locked into the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds. That would mean the Jays and Rays would head to Tampa for a wild-card series, and it may result in some rested players to finish the regular season.
National League
3 of 3
Updated Bracket
No. 6 Chicago Cubs at No. 3 Milwaukee
No. 5 Arizona at No. 4 Philadelphia
Chicago/Milwaukee winner at No. 2 Los Angeles Dodgers
Arizona/Philadelphia winner at No. 1 Atlanta
Arizona can make the NL playoff match very simple.
The Diamondbacks should beat the Yankees behind Merrill Kelly on Monday, and then they should sweep the Chicago White Sox.
Four wins to start the week should put the DBacks in a comfortable spot going into their weekend series with the Astros, where one win may be enough to put them in the postseason.
Arizona is 6-1 in its last seven games, and it could be a hard out in a three-game series with Kelly and Zac Gallen on the mound.
If the DBacks cruise in their next four games, the No. 6 seed will be the only spot up for grabs in the NL.
The Chicago Cubs possess that spot entering Monday, but their fate could change since they finish with six games on the road against Atlanta and Milwaukee.
Atlanta is still playing for the best record in the majors, which would give it home-field advantage in the World Series.
The Marlins would love if Atlanta continues to play all of its top players this week, so that they can make up ground on the Cubs.
Miami has the easier finishing schedule with six road games against the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Cincinnati Reds will hope for losses from the Cubs to make one final push in their last five games against the Cleveland Guardians and St. Louis Cardinals.
The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants are both five games back and would need a few miracles to happen to reach the No. 6 seed.
Chicago needs at least one win in Atlanta to be in a position to take two or three games off Milwaukee.
The Brewers sit in an interesting spot for the weekend series. They are the No. 3 seed and would face the No. 6 seed in the wild-card round. They have to balance the want to eliminate the Cubs while also resting Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta so they are ready for the three-game wild-card round.
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