As the calendar flips to September, we’re entering the final weeks of the regular season and gearing up for the postseason.
There are plenty of storylines to follow in the coming weeks, with much left to be decided across MLB.
Here’s a breakdown of everything to watch for in the final calendar month, from postseason battles to award races to stat chases and more.
The following statistics are entering Monday's games. Team records and games back are entering Tuesday.
Playoff picture
Much of the attention has been on the National League. The Brewers lead the Majors with 85 wins and the Dodgers (82-55) and Braves (82-56) find themselves just behind Milwaukee. It’s quite possible one of those teams will finish with a top-three record in the Majors and still not secure a first-round bye.
In terms of divisional races, five of the six divisions have a pretty clear frontrunner as we enter September: the Dodgers, Brewers, Braves, Rays and White Sox all have comfortable enough leads right now, although Chicago's lead is down to three games ahead of Cleveland. The AL West is the one division where things could get interesting: The Astros have a narrow two-game lead over the Rangers.
The Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs and Phillies each have a comfortable hold on Wild Card spots, leaving one berth up for grabs in each league. The D-backs are duking it out with the Padres in the National League for the final NL spot, while the Guardians, Orioles, Blue Jays, Rangers and Twins are within a handful of games of each other for the final AL spot.
Major awards races
Could this be the year that Shohei Ohtani is dethroned from winning Most Valuable Player? It could happen for the first time since 2022, when Ohtani finished in second with the Angels behind Aaron Judge’s historic 62-homer season.
Early on in 2026, Ohtani looked well on his way to securing a fourth straight MVP Award and fifth overall until a knee issue sidelined him from pitching in early July (he’s expected to return to the mound soon) and Pete Crow-Armstrong took off, building a potentially historic season. The Cubs’ star center fielder is arguably the top defender in baseball and is boasting a .954 OPS with 38 home runs and 32 stolen bases, putting him in line for a potential 40-40 season. He’s also racked up 9.3 WAR (per FanGraphs) through Sunday, making a 10-plus WAR season possible.
Ohtani or PCA is hardly the only compelling award race, though. In the American League, Bobby Witt Jr. leads position players with 6.4 WAR thanks to excellent defense and baserunning and an .812 OPS. Yordan Alvarez, meanwhile, has been the best hitter in baseball this season with a 1.039 OPS and 37 home runs as he flirts with a Triple Crown. Alvarez’s high-level offense as a primary designated hitter and Witt’s all-around skillset should make for a fascinating race.
Then there’s the Cy Young Award battle in both leagues. Jacob Misiorowski leads qualified pitchers with a 1.73 ERA and has an MLB-leading 222 strikeouts. Cristopher Sánchez, though, has been excellent in his own right with a 2.52 ERA and 202 strikeouts and has thrown 24 1/3 more innings than the Miz. Chris Sale, too, has a 2.06 ERA and 177 strikeouts, but has thrown fewer innings than Misiorowski.
In the AL, Cam Schlittler has the third-best ERA (2.09) among starters and has struck out 201 batters. Dylan Cease has more strikeouts (217) than Schlittler, but a higher ERA (2.33) in 13 1/3 fewer innings, thanks to an injured-list stint in May. This, too, is a close race that could be determined in the final month.
It doesn’t stop there. The AL Rookie of the Year battle will assuredly come down to the Tigers’ Kevin McGonigle (4.6 WAR, 14 home runs and a .795 OPS) and Cleveland’s Parker Messick (4.3 WAR, 2.46 ERA and 161 strikeouts in 161 innings). In the National League, it could be a three-player race between the Mets’ Nolan McLean (2.8 WAR, 3.06 ERA and 172 strikeouts in 155 2/3 innings), the Cardinals’ JJ Wetherholt (4.4 WAR .713 OPS and 22 Outs Above Average) and Cincinnati's Sal Stewart (2.7 WAR, .826 OPS and MLB-leading 105 RBIs). Wetherholt, however, was just placed on the injured list with right wrist tendinitis.
Stat chases
For a while, Alvarez was vying for the first MLB Triple Crown (leading both leagues in average, home runs and RBIs) but has fallen behind in the RBI race. Still, the AL Triple Crown is in play: He leads the American League with a .317 average and 37 home runs and is two RBIs (93) ahead of Pete Alonso (91). If he pulled it off, Alvarez would be the first Triple Crown winner since Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
Kyle Schwarber also has a chance to do something he’s never done before: outright lead the Majors in home runs. The Phillies’ slugger tops MLB with 40 home runs, two more than PCA (38) and three more than Alvarez, Junior Caminero and Matt Olson. When Schwarber led the NL with a career-high 56 home runs last year, he finished four behind the 60 homers from Cal Raleigh. And in 2022, Schwarber’s 46 home runs trailed the 62 home runs from Judge.
Reds rookie Stewart has driven in 105 runs, which leads the Majors and already puts him in rare territory. He’s just the seventh rookie in the 21st century to reach that mark and is on pace for much more. If he reaches 120 RBIs, he’d be just the eight rookie to hit that mark since the stat became official in 1920.