Presenting the 2026 All-Postseason Team

The 2026 postseason is in the books, and it ended in a way we’d never seen before.

The Brewers laid waste to the baseball landscape and romped to the first World Series title in franchise history. Milwaukee closed out the Tampa Bay Rays with a 4-1 win in Game 5 of the Fall Classic on Wednesday night, its 11th victory in 13 postseason games.

So it’s no surprise that you’ll see plenty of Brewers stars on our 2026 All-Postseason Team, starting with the World Series MVP. But a number of other teams are represented, too.

C William Contreras, Brewers
The man they call Wild Bill provided plenty of bravado amid Milwaukee’s magical run. Contreras impacted the game in nearly every facet, as only a catcher can, and is plenty deserving of World Series MVP honors. Contreras took over the World Series behind the dish, stymieing the Rays on the bases with his throwing arm and overturning numerous ball-strike calls via ABS challenges for his pitching staff. He also hit .373 with a 1.036 OPS, rapping out six multi-hit games and leading all players with 19 base knocks this postseason.

Honorable mention: Patrick Bailey, Guardians

1B Jake Bauers, Brewers
There were so many indelible moments from the Brewers’ all-time postseason run, and Bauers gave us an at-bat for the ages in NLCS Game 3. The rejuvenated slugger capped off an 11-pitch battle against the Dodgers’ Blake Snell with a go-ahead two-run home run, flipping the script in the seventh inning of a game that staked Milwaukee to a 3-0 series lead. Just two days earlier, Bauers waged a similar war against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, culminating a 12-pitch plate appearance with a walk.

Honorable mention: Alec Bohm, Phillies

2B Brice Turang, Brewers
After going just 2-for-16 in the NLDS against the Padres, Turang provided the Brewers with an early jolt in the NLCS against the star-studded Dodgers. He powered out an inside sinker from Tarik Skubal over the left-center-field wall, helping Milwaukee crack the two-time Cy Young Award winner. His two-run single also kickstarted the Brewers’ eight-run outburst in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the Fall Classic. Turang finished the postseason with a .404 on-base percentage and an .817 OPS.

Honorable mention: Ozzie Albies, Braves

3B Manny Machado, Padres
The seven-time All-Star entered this year hitting just .209 in 51 career postseason games. But Machado was at his best this fall, hitting .350 (7-for-20) with a 1.080 OPS in six playoff games. He nearly had a signature playoff moment, too. In the eighth inning of NLDS Game 4 against the Brewers, Machado hit a fly ball to center field that looked like it had the distance to be a game-tying homer. But Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell reached over the fence to take it back, denying Machado of a season-saving blast.

Honorable mention: José Ramírez, Guardians

SS Cooper Pratt, Brewers
The Brewers stuck with Pratt through a few defensive miscues early in October, and boy did the 22-year-old rookie reward the organization’s faith. Pratt rapped out four hits in Game 4 of the World Series, including a go-ahead home run in the 12th inning that seemed destined for a special place in franchise history. It was the 29th extra-innings home run in World Series history, and the first by a rookie. A Rays rally may have muted the significance of Pratt’s home run, but he was back at it again the next night, opening the scoring with a second-inning single. Pratt became just the 14th player in MLB history with at least eight hits in a World Series at age 22 or younger.

Honorable mention: Colson Montgomery, White Sox

LF Jackson Chourio, Brewers
From his walk-off frozen rope off Mason Miller in Game 2 of the NLDS to a record-breaking World Series, Chourio -- just 22 years old -- continues to do things that no one his age has done before. In Game 3 of the World Series, he became the youngest player with a four-hit game in the Fall Classic since Joe Garagiola in 1946, while his 10 hits in Games 1-4 were the most by a player through the first four games of the World Series since Babe Ruth. He finished these playoffs with 17 hits -- matching Pratt and only trailing Contreras -- and nine RBIs, tied with Contreras for the most by a player this postseason.

Honorable mention: Chandler Simpson, Rays

CF Michael Harris II, Braves
No one could retire Harris, who hit .407 (11-for-27) with a pair of three-hit games across two postseason series. His three-run home run off Aaron Nola in the first inning of Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series helped propel the Braves to their first postseason series win since the 2021 World Series.

Honorable mention: Petey Halpin, Guardians

RF Kyle Tucker, Dodgers
To his credit, Tucker put a lost regular season behind him and looked at his best in the postseason -- ironic, too, considering how the rest of L.A.’s high-powered lineup slumped around him. Tucker hit .333 with a .938 OPS in eight postseason games. That’s his highest OPS in a single postseason, and it came in his eighth trip to the playoffs.

Honorable mention: Chase DeLauter, Guardians

DH Ben Rice, Yankees
Rice carried a sensational regular season over into the postseason, doing his best to anchor a Yankees lineup that sorely missed Aaron Judge. Among all hitters to take at least 20 plate appearances this postseason, Rice posted the highest batting average (.421), slugging percentage (1.105) and OPS (1.605). He smashed four home runs and became the first player in Yankees history with two multihomer games in a single postseason.

Honorable mention: Yandy Díaz, Rays

SP Drew Rasmussen, Rays
Tampa Bay’s ace set the tone for the club’s run to the AL pennant, carrying a no-hit bid through 7 2/3 innings in Game 1 of the ALDS vs. New York. Rasmussen allowed just three runs across 21 innings in his first three starts before faltering in Game 2 of the World Series. But the right-hander stepped back into the spotlight for Game 5, adamantly taking the ball on three days’ rest with the Rays pressed against the wall. Rasmussen allowed one run in three strong innings opposite Jacob Misiorowski, finishing the postseason with a clean 2.20 ERA.

SP Freddy Peralta, Rays
Peralta’s postseason star turn was less of a reinvention and more of a rediscovery. The Rays suggested a few tweaks and pumped the right-hander with confidence following a midseason trade with the Mets, and it sure did work. Peralta won ALCS MVP honors after recording a 0.75 ERA in three appearances against the Guardians, including five solid frames in Tampa Bay’s pennant-clinching victory. While he wasn’t as crisp in the World Series against his former team, Peralta nonetheless finished the postseason with a 2.95 ERA.

SP Gavin Williams, Guardians
One of the game’s elite strikeout artists showcased his overpowering stuff on the national stage, no more so than in Game 5 of the ALDS. Two days after recording the final three outs of Game 4, Williams struck out 12 to punch Cleveland’s ticket to the ALCS. Those 12 K’s tied a franchise single-game postseason record set by Charles Nagy in Game 4 of the 1996 ALCS. Of the 50 outs that Williams recorded in the postseason, 33 came via the strikeout.

SP Robert Gasser, Brewers
Everyone had a role to play for the Brewers this postseason, and “Bobby Diesel” carved out a unique niche. No one else silenced raucous road stadiums like he did. Across three postseason starts -- all on the road -- Gasser allowed just one run in 15 innings. His best work came in Game 3 of the World Series, giving up a leadoff single and nothing else across six innings of one-hit ball in a resounding Brewers victory.

SP Michael King, Padres
The Padres ace began his postseason by carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series. But he may have one-upped that outing with a gutsy relief appearance one week later. San Diego needed a win in Game 3 of the NLDS to keep its season alive, and its top two relievers were unavailable. So, King -- two days after pitching five solid innings in NLDS Game 2 -- came out of the bullpen to nail down the final six outs of a victory taut with tension.

Honorable mentions: Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers), Tyler Mahle (Braves), Nick Martinez (Rays), Sean Burke (White Sox), Tarik Skubal (Dodgers)

RP Aaron Ashby, Brewers
The indomitable, indefatigable Ashby tossed 18 scoreless innings in a postseason for the ages, passing Andrew Miller for the longest scoreless streak by a reliever in a single postseason, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Ashby was an old-fashioned fireman for Brewers manager Pat Murphy, recording at least five outs in eight of his nine appearances out of the stalwart Milwaukee bullpen.

RP Cade Smith, Guardians
Smith was an October bulldog each of the past two seasons, and this postseason proved no different. He appeared in each of the Guardians’ first six playoff games and wound up pitching in nine of their 11 contests, posting a 2.38 ERA with 14 strikeouts. Smith punched Cleveland’s ticket to the ALCS by retiring the final five White Sox hitters in Game 5 of the ALDS, four via the K.

Honorable mentions: Bryan Baker (Rays), Trevor Megill (Brewers)