Somehow, there are just two weeks left in the 2026 regular season. And as the allure of postseason baseball looms, there is still plenty undecided about the playoff picture.
Here’s a look at where things stand in both leagues, from the postseason spots still up for grabs to tight races for homefield advantage and first-round byes.
DIVISION RACES
AL East (Rays-Yankees), AL Central (Guardians-White Sox), AL West (Astros-Rangers)
NL East (Braves-Phillies)
All three AL division crowns are still up for grabs.
The Yankees have 23 wins since the Trade Deadline, more than all but three teams in the Majors. But they have not been able to close much ground in that time on the AL East-leading Rays, who have 25 wins in that stretch to pace MLB. With two weeks to go in the regular season, Tampa Bay has a four-game lead as it eyes its first division title since 2023. This race may very well come down to a four-game tilt in the Bronx next week, beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
It sure feels like we repeat this lesson every season, and here we go again: Do not count out the Guardians. Cleveland (76-74) is playing its best baseball of the year in the final stretch, riding a late-season surge to close ground on the White Sox (76-73) in the AL Central. The White Sox are just 4-8 in this month, leaving the door ajar for the Guardians to work their magic.
Things aren’t really wild in the AL West, but they sure are close. The Astros (75-75) are back at the .500 mark after being swept over the weekend by the Rays, with the Rangers (74-76) lurking just one game behind. Even the Mariners (70-79) are just 4.5 games behind the division lead. Of note, the Astros own the tiebreaker thanks to their 9-4 head-to-head record against the Rangers this season.
It’s a different story in the NL. As recently as last week, the Phillies (83-67) had crawled to within three games of the first-place Braves (88-62) in the NL East race. But Atlanta reaffirmed its footing as the team to beat over the weekend, taking two out of three to take a five-game lead in the division with just 12 games to play. Barring a miracle comeback, this one seems wrapped up.
WILD CARD RACES
NL WC No. 3 (Padres, D-backs, Pirates)
AL WC No. 3 (Guardians, Blue Jays, Rangers, Orioles)
In the NL, two NL West foes are vying for the final postseason spot and the right to be the No. 6 seed in the bracket. The Padres (81-68) are 2 1/2 games ahead of the D-backs (79-71), though this race could very well come down to the final weekend of the regular season, where San Diego and Arizona will clash in a three-game set at Petco Park. To this point, they have split their 10 head-to-head matchups. Don’t sleep on the Pirates (75-75) either, who have gone 10-4 in their last 14 games to remain in the race.
The picture is just as murky in the AL, where a bevy of underachieving teams are battling for the final Wild Card spot. The Guardians (76-74) are one game ahead of the Blue Jays (75-75), who have crawled back to the .500 mark. The Rangers (74-76) are two games out of the final spot, while the Orioles (72-78) are four games behind. Whereas Cleveland and Texas are still vying for a division title, that’s not a postseason path for Toronto and Baltimore, with the AL East far out of their reach.
FIRST ROUND BYE
On the NL side, the picture seems to change on a weekly basis. Lately, the Dodgers have roared back to life, riding a recent eight-game winning streak to overtake the Braves for the No. 2 seed. But Atlanta is just 2.5 games back and owns the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series with L.A.
Similarly, in the AL, there is little separation between the No. 2 seed -- currently the White Sox -- and the No.3 seed, which the Astros claim at the moment. But these teams aren’t even a lock to win their division, which makes this race all the more murky. For example, it’s certainly possible that the Guardians -- who aren’t even in first place in the AL Central -- wind up with the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye come the start of the postseason.
HOME FIELD IN WILD CARD ROUND
If they cannot surpass the Rays atop the AL East, then the Yankees are destined to battle the Red Sox in a rematch of last year’s AL Wild Card Series. The club with the better regular-season record will host every game in the best-of-three series, and the gap has widened between these two bitter rivals over the last few weeks. New York is 4.5 games in front of Boston, which has cooled off following a remarkable midseason renaissance. That would mean this AL Wild Card Series would take place at Yankee Stadium, just like it did last season.
Things are much tighter in the NL, where the Phillies and Cubs seem to be on a collision course to a playoff matchup. But will the Wild Card series be at Wrigley Field or Citizens Bank Park? The teams sport identical 83-67 records with 12 games to play. But Chicago owns the all-important tiebreaker by virtue of a 6-1 regular-season record in head-to-head meetings with Philadelphia.
TOP OVERALL SEED
The team with the best record in all of baseball will earn homefield advantage through the World Series -- if it can get there. Right now, this is a three-team race. The Brewers (93-57) lead the way, as they have since Aug. 15, when they first claimed sole possession of the best record in MLB. The surging Dodgers (90-59) and AL-best Rays (90-59) each trail Milwaukee by 2.5 games. These are the only three teams in baseball with fewer than 60 losses this season.