2026 Major League Baseball postseason
2026 Major League Baseball playoffs
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The 2026 Major League Baseball postseason will be the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball (MLB) for the 2026 season. The winners of the Wild Card Series will face the two best division winners (seeds) in each league in the Division Series, and the victors will advance to the League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners who then play each other in the 2026 World Series. The postseason will begin on September 29.[1][2]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | September 29 – October 31, 2026[a] |
| Teams | 12 |
In the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays returned to the postseason for the sixth time in the last eight years (2019–2023; 2026). Joining them were the New York Yankees, who clinched their third consecutive playoff berth (2024–2026) and the tenth in last twelve years (2015; 2017–2022; 2024–2026).
In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their fourteenth straight postseason berth (2013–2026), tying the Atlanta Braves for the longest postseason appearance streak in league history (the Braves previously made fourteen straight postseason appearances from 1991 to 2005, excluding 1994, when the season was canceled due to a strike).[3] Joining them are the Milwaukee Brewers, who returned for the fourth consecutive season (2023–2026) and the eighth time in the last nine years (2018–2021; 2023–2026).
Teams
American League Teams 
National League Teams
As of September 16, 2026, four teams have qualified for the playoffs. The 3 teams that are division winners in each league and the top 3 non-division winners (Wild cards) will qualify for the playoffs. The top 2 division winners receive byes to the ALDS or NLDS while the other teams have to play in the wildcard round.
American League
- Tampa Bay Rays — clinched playoff berth (September 11)[4]
- New York Yankees — clinched playoff berth (September 14)[5]
National League
- Milwaukee Brewers — clinched playoff berth (September 11);[6] NL Central champions (September 15)[7]
- Los Angeles Dodgers — clinched playoff berth (September 14)[8]
Broadcasting
Television coverage
Coverage of the four Wild Card Series will be produced by NBC.[9]
Fox will have coverage of the National League Division Series and National League Championship Series.
Both the American League Division Series and American League Championship Series will be on TBS.
The World Series will air on the Fox broadcast network for the 27th consecutive year.
Spanish language broadcasts will be available on ESPN Deportes for ESPN's games, Fox Deportes for Fox Sports' games, and MLB Network for TBS's games.
Streaming
TBS's games will be available on the streaming service HBO Max's ad-free tiers. ESPN, TBS and Fox's games will be streamed on their respective apps.
Radio
ESPN Radio will air the entire Major League Baseball postseason.
Notes
- October 31 would be the date of a World Series Game 7; the soonest the postseason could end would be on October 27, the date of a World Series Game 4.