MLB playoff tracker: Cubs, White Sox, Guardians, Padres all clinch Thursday — SkimNews
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- MLB playoff field grew to 10 teams Thursday, with the Cubs, White Sox, Guardians, and Padres all clinching postseason spots alongside the previously qualified Rays, Brewers, Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, and Red Sox.
- Brewers locked up the No. 1 overall seed Thursday, while the Rays claimed the AL East title and the AL's No. 1 seed, setting the bracket's top lines.
- Phillies can clinch the final NL wild-card berth Friday with a win combined with a Diamondbacks loss, making them the only team still on the doorstep.
- Current wild-card matchups: AL pits the White Sox at the Astros and the Red Sox at the Yankees; NL sends the Phillies to the Braves and the Cubs to the Padres.
- Cubs hold tiebreaker advantages over the Padres, Phillies, and Diamondbacks in the NL wild-card race, giving them leverage in seeding scenarios.
- AL West is the only remaining undecided division, with the Astros owning the tiebreaker over the Rangers; all MLB tiebreakers this year are resolved by standings, not extra games.
- The 2025 postseason begins Tuesday, Sept. 29 with best-of-three wild-card series, and the World Series Game 1 is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23.
Why it matters: With 10 of 12 spots locked and tiebreakers resolved by season head-to-head record rather than play-in games, every remaining game this weekend directly reshapes seeding and first-round matchups — the Cubs' triple tiebreaker edge and the unresolved AL West title mean Friday's slate could finalize the bracket before the regular season ends.
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