2024 MLB playoff picture: bracket, baseball standings, magic numbers, tiebreakers, postseason predictions

With less than a week left until the 2024 Major League Baseball regular season, the MLB playoff picture is becoming clearer as five teams secured a playoff spot this week. The New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Guardians and Milwaukee Brewers were the first five teams to secure their playoff spots.

As a reminder, MLB now awards 12 playoff spots — six total to the division winners and then three wild-card spots in each league. The top two division winners in each league, based on overall record, receive a first-round bye, meaning they don’t have to play in the best-of-three wild-card series that acts as the first round.

The Brewers and Guardians are the first teams to clinch their divisions so far. While things could certainly change in the final days of the season, none of the other four division races in baseball are as close. The other division leaders – the Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers and Houston Astros – all have leads of at least three games.

There will be plenty of wildcard drama, though. In the American League, the up-and-coming Detroit Tigers are right behind the Minnesota Twins in the standings. The Tigers haven’t played postseason baseball since 2014, putting them in a tie with the Los Angeles Angels for the longest losing streak in MLB. In the National League, the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks are locked in a tight battle for fifth place. Both the Mets and D-backs are in playoff position and trying to keep the Atlanta Braves at bay.

Now we want to bring you up to speed on all of these races as we enter the final weeks of the regular season. All divisional and postseason predictions mentioned in the standings come from SportsLine.

Picture of the 2024 MLB playoffs

If the season ended today…
American League
Byes: No. 1 Yankees, No. 2 Guardians
Wild Card Series: No. 3 Astros vs. No. 6 Twins, No. 4 Orioles vs. No. 5 Royals

Bundesliga
Byes: No. 1 Phillies, No. 2 Dodgers
Wild Card Series: No. 3 Brewers vs. No. 6 Mets, No. 4 Padres vs. No. 5 D-backs

Who won?

• The Brewers won the NL Central
• The Guardians won the AL Central
• The Yankees have secured a spot in the AL playoffs
• The Dodgers and Phillies have secured the NL playoff spots

The magic numbers of the MLB

(Arrival on Saturday, September 21)

• AL East: Washington Nationals – 5
• AL West: Astros — 3
• AL playoff spots: Orioles – 3, Astros – 3, Royals – 7, Twins – 8
• NL East: Philadelphia – 1
• NL West: Dodgers – 5
• NL playoff spots: Padres – 2, Diamondbacks – 4, Mets – 5, Braves – 7

Notable tiebreakers

(Note: MLB tiebreakers between two teams are determined by head-to-head results. If the teams have the same head-to-head record, the result within the division is used.)

• The Yankees won the tiebreaker against the Guardians
• The Guardians won the tiebreaker against the Orioles
• The Orioles currently have the tiebreaker against the Yankees
• The Twins won the tiebreaker against the Tigers and Royals
• The Phillies won the tiebreaker against the Dodgers and the Brewers
• The Mets won the tiebreaker against the D-backs and the Padres
• The D-backs currently have the tiebreaker against the Padres
• The Mets currently have the tiebreaker against the Braves

American League table

Table of the National League

Division won – x
Wildcard secured – y
Playoff spot secured – z
Eliminated – e

MLB Wildcard Rankings

Odds for the 2024 World Series

• Dodgers: +340
• Yankees: +450
• Philadelphia: +450
• Astros: +700
• Orioles: +1000
• Guardian: +1100
• Padres: +1200
• Brewer: +1500
• Diamondbacks: +2000
• Mets: +2200
• Royal: +2800
• Braves: +2800
• Gemini: +2800
• Tigers: +6000