MLB

How many teams make the MLB playoffs?

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2m ago

Sep 24, 2024 / 2222 Views

Evan Walker

The 2024 MLB playoffs are scheduled to begin next week, kicking off a month of postseason baseball that will reach its climax with the North American league’s championship decider - the World Series.

How many teams will be in the 2024 MLB playoffs?

This is the third season since the playoffs were expanded from 10 teams to 12. Six franchises each from MLB’s two leagues - the American League and the National League - progress from the regular season to the postseason, in which AL and NL teams are kept apart until the World Series.

How do teams qualify for the MLB playoffs?

At the end of the regular season, the winners of the MLB’s six divisions - AL East, AL Central, AL West, NL East, NL Central and NL West - all qualify for the playoffs. So, too, do the three teams in each league with the next-best win-loss record. Heading into the playoffs, the six AL teams and six NL teams are all given a 1-6 seeding determined by the strength of their regular-season record.

The top two AL and NL seeds all get a bye through the first round of the playoffs; they join the postseason when there are just eight teams remaining in the race for the Commissioner’s Trophy.

MLB playoffs: format explained

Wild Card Series

The MLB postseason begins with the Wild Card round, which features seed Nos. 3 to 6 in each league. Where the Wild Card stage was previously just a single knockout game, it’s now comprises best-of-three series which, this year, get underway on Tuesday October 1. The No. 3 seed faces No. 6, and No. 4 plays No. 5. In each tie, the higher seed gets home-field advantage throughout.

Division Series

After the Wild Card Series, the playoffs are reduced to the four regular-season division winners, and the four victorious teams from the Wild Card round. In each Division Series matchup, a division winner is paired with a Wild Card tie winner.

Again, the higher seed gets home-field advantage, but in the best-of-five Division Series, they aren’t the hosts throughout; instead, they’re the home team for Games 1 and 2, and for Game 5 if it’s needed.

In the Division Series, which is due to begin on Saturday October 5, the two top seeds in the AL and NL face the winners of the Wild Card clashes between seeds No. 4 and No. 5. The second seed takes on the winner of No. 3 vs No. 6.

Championship Series

The winners of the four Division Series matchups then progress to the Championship Series, where the American League and National League champions are decided in two best-of-seven clashes. Here, home-field advantage for the higher seed translates into home matches in Games 1 and 2, and Games 6 and 7 if they’re needed. The 2024 Championship Series are scheduled to begin on Sunday October 13 and Monday October 14.

The World Series

Once the AL and NL pennants have been won, it’s time for the top dogs in the Championship Series to battle it out for the MLB title in the World Series, which is also best-of-seven. Home-field advantage goes to the team with the better win-loss record in the regular season and, as in the previous round, applies to Games 1, 2, 6 and 7.

The 2024 World Series is due to get going on Friday October 25, with Game 7 (if needed) scheduled for Saturday November 2. However, if both Championship Series conclude by Saturday October 19, the World Series will be brought forward: Game 1 will be on Tuesday October 22, with Game 7 (if necessary) played on Wednesday October 30.