The 2025 regular season is in the books, and the baseball world is now gearing up for what might be a wild postseason.\u00a0 It took until Game 162 to finalize the full slate of playoff teams and matchups, but now we know the eight clubs who will take part in the wild card round that begins on Tuesday, as \u201cOctober baseball\u201d gets started a bit early this year on September 30.\u00a0 All WCS matchups are best-of-three, and will take place entirely in the home ballpark of the higher-seeded team.<\/p>\n
The Guardians will meet the Tigers again after Cleveland posted a 5-1 record against Detroit over a pair of series in the last two weeks, contributing to the AL Central\u2019s epic shakeup.\u00a0 The Tigers held a 9.5-game lead in the division before going 3-13 over their last 16 games to barely eke out a wild card slot.\u00a0 The Guards, meanwhile, went 19-4 over their final 23 games to overtake Detroit and claim Cleveland\u2019s third division title in the last four years.<\/p>\n
After all of that, the two clubs find themselves facing off in the postseason for the second straight year.\u00a0 The Guardians needed the full five games to oust Detroit in the 2024 AL Division Series, as last season the Tigers were the team surging into the playoffs after a late-season hot streak.\u00a0 All of the momentum is on the Guardians\u2019 side at this point, and even though the Tigers will have Tarik Skubal<\/a> going in Game 1, Cleveland\u2019s pitching has been on such a roll that the Guards have the overall pitching advantage.\u00a0 The Guardians held an 8-5 record against the Tigers in regular-season play this year.<\/p>\n One of baseball\u2019s greatest rivalries will be renewed again in October when the Yankees host the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.\u00a0 The Yankees lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Blue Jays to fall just short of the AL East crown, despite an eight-game winning streak to finish the regular season.\u00a0 New York\u2019s rotation and homer-heavy offense seem to be clicking at the right time, yet the Sox had seemingly had the Yankees\u2019 number this year, with a 9-4 record in head-to-head play.<\/p>\n After falling short to the Dodgers in last year\u2019s World Series, the Yankees are eager to return the Fall Classic and finally win the first championship of the Aaron Judge<\/a> era.\u00a0 Boston hasn\u2019t quite been the same since Roman Anthony<\/a> was lost to an oblique injury in early September and the rookie star\u2019s status remains unclear<\/a> for postseason action.\u00a0 However, the Red Sox have a well-rounded roster and an ace of their own in Garrett Crochet<\/a>, plus the organization is hungry for postseason success in their first playoff trip since 2021.<\/p>\n The Cubs have also just ended a mini-drought in reaching October for the first time since the shortened 2020 season, as Chicago stepped up to win 92 games after posting 83-79 records in both 2023 and 2024.\u00a0 They\u2019ll now host the Padres in the first postseason meeting between the two clubs since 1984, when San Diego fought back from a 2-0 series deficit to win a best-of-five NLCS and deny Chicago a trip to the World Series.\u00a0 Forty-one years later, it\u2019s the Padres who might feel slightly more cursed at the moment, since the club has yet to advance beyond the NLCS in their three previous playoff trips in the last six seasons.<\/p>\n There\u2019s plenty of pressure on the Friars to finally reach the pinnacle of this era of success, though Chicago is hoping for more than just a playoff appearance after its win-now trade for Kyle Tucker<\/a> last winter.\u00a0 After starting 38-22, the Cubs have been more okay than elite (54-48) over the better part of the last four months.\u00a0 The series\u2019 Wrigleyville locale could be impactful, as the Padres were only 38-43 on the road this season.<\/p>\n The Dodgers host the Reds in a matchup of two teams with very different recent postseason histories.\u00a0 Los Angeles has won 12 of the last 13 NL West titles, and is looking to become baseball\u2019s first repeat World Series champ since the 1998-2000 Yankees pulled off the three-peat.\u00a0 Cincinnati, meanwhile, is in the playoffs for just the fifth time in the last 30 years, and the Reds haven\u2019t won a playoff series since all the way back in 1995 \u2014 when they beat the Dodgers in the NLDS.<\/p>\n Winning \u201conly\u201d 93 games counts as a relative disappointment by the Dodgers\u2019 standards, and the club will need to navigate an extra playoff round.\u00a0 This puts more pressure on the beleaguered L.A. bullpen, and Will Smith<\/a>\u2019s participation is a question mark due to a hairline fracture in his right hand.\u00a0 The rotation is on a roll, however, and naturally there\u2019s a lot of built-in playoff experience for the reigning champs.\u00a0 The young Reds gained some seasoning in beating out the Mets for a wild card berth, and of course manager Terry Francona is no stranger to October.\u00a0 Cincinnati\u2019s rotation and bullpen will need to continue their excellent form to counter Shohei Ohtani<\/a> and company, and the wild card series would be a great time for the inconsistent Reds lineup to get on track.<\/p>\n Which four teams do you think will reach the Division Series?\u00a0 Vote now in our polls:<\/p>\n