After six months, 162 games and one long, hot summer, the MLB playoffs are here.
MLB Playoffs 2025: Rule changes, format, and more
The Road to the World Series is upon us, and there are storylines galore.
- Can the Dodgers overcome a less-than-superlative regular season and win their second straight World Series?
- Can three teams that have never won a World Series, the Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres, finally break through?
- Can the Philadelphia Phillies, after three straight years in the playoffs without a title, get their long-awaited parade down Broad Street?
- Can the Cleveland Guardians, who have not won a title since 1948, finally win it all after 77 years and a miraculous September comeback to win the AL Central? Can the Detroit Tigers overcome their September collapse and break a 41-year drought as a wild card? Can the Cincinnati Reds end theirs at 35 years?
- Can the Toronto Blue Jays, the AL’s top seed, win their first since back-to-back titles in 1992-93?
- Can last year’s AL pennant-winner, the New York Yankees, finish the job this time? Can the once hard-luck Boston Red Sox snag their 10th title, and fifth in the last two decades?
There is no super team. There is no clear favorite. The 2025 MLB postseason is wide open, and there are arguments to be made for every team in the tournament to finish as world champion.
OK, maybe not the Reds, but you get the idea. Here is a primer to get you set up for what should be a magical month of baseball.
Who’s In?
In the National League, the Brewers, Phillies and Dodgers are your division winners, with the Cubs, Padres and Reds the three wild card teams. In the American League, the Blue Jays, Mariners and Guardians all won their divisions, with the AL East and Central races not decided until the season’s final days. The Yankees, Red Sox and Tigers are the wild cards.
What’s the format?
Since expanding to six playoff teams per league, MLB has three rounds before the World Series.
The wild card round is a best-of-three series in which the higher seeded teams play all three games (if necessary) at home. The No. 3 seed, which is the division winner with the worst record of the three, hosts the wild-card team with the third-best record, the No. 6 seed. In the NL, the 6-seed Reds will travel to Los Angeles to take on the 3-seed Dodgers. In the American League, the 6-seeded Tigers head to Cleveland to face the team that overtook them in the final month, the Guardians, who are the No. 3 seed there. The NL’s No. 4 seed, the wild card team with the best record, the Cubs, stays in Wrigley Field to host the No. 5 seeded San Diego Padres. In the AL, it’ll be the the 4-seed Yankees hosting the 5-seed Red Sox in a classic battle between two historic rivals..
Teams are not re-seeded after the wild card round, so it is possible that the No. 1 seed would play a better team, the No. 5 seed, while the No. 2 seed could play the No. 6 seed.
The two division winners with the best record in each league get a bye past the wild card round. In the NL, that would be the No. 1 seed Brewers and 2-seed Phillies. In the AL, Toronto finished with the best record, followed by the Mariners as the 2-seed.
In the next round, the best-of-five Division Series, the top seed in each league plays the winner of the 4-5 match-up and the No. 2 seed plays the winner of the 3-6 match-up. The higher seed plays Games 1 and 2 at home, with the lower seed playing Games 3 and 4 in their ballpark. A Game 5, if needed, would return to the home field of the higher seed.
The best-of-seven Championship Series is next, followed by the best-of-seven World Series.
Home Field Advantage for the World Series
Who gets home field advantage in the World Series? The team with the better regular season record would host Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 (if necessary) while their opponent hosts Games 3, 4, and 5 (if necessary).
Rule changes for the Playoffs
There are a few differences between regular season rules and playoff rules.
- Extra Innings: In the regular season, teams begin the 10th inning with a runner on 2nd to start the inning, the so-called “zombie runner.” In the regular season, this is done to keep games from stretching too long and reduce the risk of injury. In the playoffs, however, traditional extra inning rules are utilized, with no runners placed on base at all.
- More Replay Challenges: In the regular season, managers are allowed one replay challenge at the start of the game. In the postseason, they have two.
How long will the games be?
Why, you got somewhere to go? In the playoffs, the break between innings is 30 seconds longer to allow for an additional commercial, but the pitch clock remains in effect, so the pace of play will remain like it is in the regular season. However, most games will remain under three hours.
What happens if it rains?
Game 5 of the 2008 World Series saw the Phillies clinch their second-ever title over the Tampa Bay Rays, but it took place over three days and two separate games due to a rainstorm that moved in midway through the game.
Major League Baseball doesn’t want that to happen again, so if there is even a hint of rain in the forecast, there will not be a game played. That said, games cannot be shortened due to inclement weather. If a game does get interrupted, it will be played due to its conclusion.
When do the playoffs begin?
The wild card round begins on Tuesday, September 30. The divisional round starts on Saturday, October 4, Game 1 of the ALCS will be on Sunday, October 12, with the NLCS beginning Monday October 13. The World Series is slated to begin on Friday, October 24. Even if all series end early, the start dates for these four rounds of the postseason remain static.
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