September, the final month of MLB’s regular-season calendar, has arrived. That means baseball’s stretch drive is here, and MLB playoff races have begun to heat up. There are plenty of intriguing postseason races happening with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros among the teams trying to secure their spot in baseball’s postseason.
By way of reminder, MLB now grants 12 playoff berths — a total of six to the division winners and then three wild-card berths in each league. The top two division winners in each league as measured by overall record are rewarded with first-round byes, which means they won’t have to play in the best-of-three Wild Card Series that functions as that first round.
As for what hangs in the balance, there’s quite a bit of it. The Yankees and Baltimore Orioles remain locked in a tight struggle atop the American League East standings — and the Orioles just jumped the Yankees for first place on Tuesday night. Three teams — the Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals, and Minnesota Twins — have designs on the AL Central title, though Cleveland has started to pull away in the division. The Dodgers, Phillies and Houston Astros all have fairly comfortable leads in their respective divisions, but they haven’t buried the competition yet. The only team that has essentially wrapped up its division title is the first-place Milwaukee Brewers, who have run away with the NL Central.
On the wild-card front, the surging New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs are trying to track down the Atlanta Braves, who hold the third and final spot in the NL. On the AL side, the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners are trying to stay within shouting distance, but both clubs are hovering around .500.
Now let’s get you caught up on where all these races stand right now as the final weeks of the regular season loom before us. All division and postseason projections referenced in the standings come from SportsLine.
2024 MLB playoff picture
If the season ended today…
American League
Byes: No. 1 Orioles, No. 2 Guardians
Wild Card Series: No. 3 Astros vs. No. 6 Royals, No. 4 Yankees vs. No. 5 Twins
National League
Byes: No. 1 Dodgers, No. 2 Phillies
Wild Card Series: No. 3 Brewers vs. No. 6 Braves, No. 4 Padres vs. No. 5 D-backs
American League standings
| Baltimore | 81 | 60 | — | 50.8% | 100% |
| N.Y. Yankees | 80 | 60 | 0.5 | 49.2% | 100% |
| Boston | 70 | 70 | 10.5 | 0.0% | 7.0% |
| Tampa Bay | 69 | 70 | 11.0 | 0.0% | 2.2% |
| Toronto | 67 | 74 | 14.0 | 0.0% | <1.0% |
National League standings
MLB wild-card standings
| AL wild card | W | L | WCGB |
|---|---|---|---|
| N.Y. Yankees | 80 | 60 | +4.5 |
| Minnesota | 75 | 64 | — |
| Kansas City | 76 | 65 | — |
| Seattle | 70 | 70 | 5.5 |
| Detroit | 70 | 70 | 5.5 |
| Boston | 70 | 70 | 5.5 |
| Tampa Bay | 68 | 70 | 6.0 |
| NL wild card | W | L | WCGB |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego | 80 | 61 | +3.0 |
| Arizona | 79 | 61 | +2.5 |
| Atlanta | 76 | 63 | — |
| N.Y. Mets | 76 | 64 | 0.5 |
| Chi. Cubs | 72 | 68 | 4.5 |
| St. Louis | 71 | 69 | 5.5 |
| San Francisco | 68 | 72 | 8.5 |
2024 World Series odds
(As of Sept. 5)
- Dodgers: +350
- Phillies: +500
- Yankees: +600
- Orioles: +600
- Astros: +700
- Guardians: +1400
- Padres: +1400
- Brewers: +1400
- Braves: +1600
- Diamondbacks: +1600
- Twins: +1600
Source: www.cbssports.com…
