The 2023 MLB playoffs begin Tuesday with the Wild Card series. Here’s what fans need to know before the first pitch.
October has arrived, meaning playoff baseball has too, as the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs begin Tuesday with the Wild Card round.
Twelve MLB teams are one step closer to their World Series dreams. Eight of them— four each in the American and National Leagues—will compete in the first round of the playoffs with spots in the Division Series on the line. Last year, the Philadelphia Phillies reached the Fall Classic as a Wild Card team. Can the Phillies, or any other team, replicate that success this time around?
Here’s what fans need to know ahead of MLB’s Wild Card round of the playoffs.
This is the second year of MLB’s 12-team playoff format. The league’s bracket-style postseason involves 12 teams (six from each league), an increase from 10 teams under the prior layout.
Three division winners and three Wild Card teams make the playoffs from both leagues.
The No. 1 seed in both the AL and NL goes to the team with the best record in its respective league. The No. 2 seed goes to the team with the second-best record among division winners, while the No. 3 seed is the remaining division champion. The Wild Card slots go to the best three teams in each league that did not win their division, ordered in terms of best record to worst.
