Which teams could spoil someone's season this September?
It’s getting clearer and clearer which teams remain in the playoff race and which are already looking ahead to 2027. But even a last-place club can surprise a leading contender any day of the season, and that should make for a fun final few weeks.
Here are five potential spoiler teams for the 2026 stretch run.
Royals (63-78)
Kansas City picked up the pace in August, going 16-11 with a nine-game win streak along the way and winning series against the Twins, Tigers, Blue Jays and Guardians. Bobby Witt Jr. and Jac Caglianone have been leading the way in a lineup that also features Salvador Perez, Carter Jensen and Vinnie Pasquantino. Since the All-Star break, three Royals starters -- Michael Wacha, Noah Cameron and Randy Dobnak -- each have sub-3 ERAs.
All seven of the Royals’ remaining series are against contenders, making for a difficult final-month schedule but also affording Kansas City opportunities to play spoiler for a number of clubs, including the Red Sox and Astros. The Royals will host the White Sox (Sept. 22-24) and Guardians (Sept. 25-27) in their final two series of the season, giving them a chance to have a major say in the American League Central race.
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Reds (67-73)
The Reds’ next 19 games are all against National League contenders, giving Cincinnati every opportunity to shake up the playoff picture. Those opportunities won’t come easy, though: The Reds face the Dodgers seven times, play the division-leading Brewers six times and have back-to-back series against the Cubs and Braves. They’ll close out the season with a trip to Toronto to face the Blue Jays, another team in the postseason mix.
The Reds are 24-21 (.533) since the All-Star break despite ranking 23rd in MLB in runs per game (4.13) and 27th in runs allowed (5.20) in that span. NL Rookie of the Year Award favorite Sal Stewart, who leads MLB with 105 RBIs, has hit 12 home runs in the second half, while catcher Tyler Stephenson has a .268/.348/.537 slash line since the break. Hunter Greene is out for the season and Chase Burns is on an innings limit, hampering a talented Cincinnati rotation, but the Reds could still surprise some people.
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Mets (63-77)
After a poor April, the Mets are actually just 53-56 since May 1 and stepped it up with a 15-12 mark in August, a month that included a three-game road sweep of the Guardians. New York also took two of three from the AL-leading Rays from Monday-Wednesday in St. Petersburg, a major sign the Mets are ready to play the role of September spoilers.
What damage can they do? The Mets would surely love to harm the division hopes of the rival Yankees (Sept. 11-13) and Phillies (Sept. 17-20) if they can. They’ll also hope to bury the Marlins’ outside chance at a Wild Card spot during a three-game set in Miami and keep old friend Pete Alonso and the Orioles from gaining ground in the AL race. Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor and a Mets lineup at relatively full strength can still make an impact.
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Giants (58-83)
Rafael Devers has been red hot, and rookies Turner Hill, Bryce Eldridge and Jonah Cox each have an OPS above .800. There’s plenty of thump in this Giants lineup, and righty Logan Webb -- even in the midst of an up-and-down season -- can hold opposing offenses at bay. Can San Francisco salvage a disappointing year by sticking it to its rivals down the stretch?
The Giants will certainly have their chances. Nine of their final 21 games are against the Padres and Dodgers, two NL West foes against whom the Giants have played surprisingly decent baseball. San Francisco is 4-6 against San Diego and 4-3 against a Los Angeles club that the Giants will see six more times, including in the regular-season finale from Sept. 25-27 at Oracle Park. With a schedule that also features six games against the Cardinals and three against the Twins, the Giants can be major spoilers in September.
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Tigers (64-75)
At 5 1/2 games out of a Wild Card spot, the Tigers are the closest of the five teams on this list to the playoff field. Plus, their +47 run differential -- the best in the AL Central -- indicates some poor fortune in 2026. But the reality is, they’re 11 games under .500 at 64-75, dealt away starters Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize at the Trade Deadline and don’t seem to have a wild late-season run in them.
That said, they can still manage to irk every contending team from their own division in the final three-plus weeks of the year. The Tigers will take on the Guardians in a doubleheader on Friday to begin a four-game series against a club fighting for the Central crown. After that, Detroit will host a Minnesota team with postseason hopes before a four-game road set against the division-leading White Sox at Rate Field from Sept. 17-20. Throw in series against the Blue Jays and Pirates, and there are considerable opportunities for the Tigers to upend the playoff race from the outside.