The MLB season is wrapping up, and the playoff picture is set. There is a lot of new faces for this October.

The AL bracket set itself up entirely. The Houston Astros have won the AL West, and will play the winner of the wild card game. In that game, the Athletics have played well enough to host the wild card game, and the Tampa Bay Rays will play against them. The other ALDS sets up as the New York Yankees, who won the AL East, and the Minnestota Twins, who slugged their way to the AL Central champions. The Astros, Yankees and Athletics all played in the playoffs last year. The Rays have not seen October baseball since 2013, and the Twins have not since losing the 2017 Wild Card game to the Yankees. 

“The MLB postseason is shaping up to be really good. The competition is going to be better than it has been recently, and there’s really no obvious team that has a disadvantage. I think the World Series will be down to the Astros and Dodgers, though I could see any team making a run with the balance this year,” senior Tommy Flores said.

The NL bracket has also been set. The NL West winners, the Dodgers, won the first seed by having the best record in the league, and will play the wildcard winner. The NL wild card teams are the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals, though it is still up in the air who is to host that game. The NLDS thats set up so far sees the NL East champion Braves playing host to the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Dodgers, Brewers and Braves each made the playoffs last year. The Nationals have not made an October appearance since 2017, nor have Cardinals since 2015. 

“I hope the Cardinals make a World Series run this year. It would be cool to see two teams have parades in the same season,” senior Edwin Robinson said.

As previously stated, the Cardinals will get the Braves in the first round of the playoffs. The NLDS, which is a best of five. The first two games of the series will be played in Atlanta, the following two in St. Louis, and a game five, if needed, will be back in Atlanta. The first game of that series is scheduled for October 4th, though first pitch time depends on the outcome of the NL Wild Card game.

The rest of the first postseason is scheduled for October 1st, which will be the previously stated NL Wild Card game.