It’s that time of year again when people ask how many wild card teams there will be in the MLB playoffs. What will the seeding order for the 2024 playoffs be? Luckily, the format has remained relatively unchanged for the past few seasons. There will be a total of six wild card teams in the playoffs this season. Unlike the WNBA, they are split evenly between the American League and National League, with three teams from each league earning a spot. Below, we explain how the seeding order for the MLB playoffs works.
How many wild card teams are there in the MLB playoffs?
The answer to the question of how many wild card teams there are is MLB Playoffs There are six teams: three from the American League and three from the National League. Over the years, this number has grown to the current number for the 2024 MLB Playoffs. Each team plays a total of 162 regular season games. These six teams, plus the six division winners, make a total of 12 teams that qualify for the playoffs (six from each league).
When do the MLB playoffs start?
The 2024 MLB playoffs will begin on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, just two days after teams finish regular season play.
What are the prospects for the 2024 MLB playoffs? Who qualifies for the playoffs?
At the time of writing, eight teams 2024 MLB Playoffs SlotsThe list will be updated as more teams qualify or win their divisions.
| American League |
| Baltimore Orioles |
| Cleveland Guardians (American League Central Division Champions) |
| Houston Astros (American League West Division Champions) |
| New York Yankees |
| National League |
| Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Milwaukee Brewers (National League Central Division Champions) |
| Philadelphia Phillies (National League East Division winners) |
| San Diego Padres |
How will the 2024 MLB playoffs work?
Once all teams have qualified for the playoffs, they will be seeded from 1 to 6. The three division winners will be the top 3 seeds (even if they have a worse record). Next, the wild card teams will be seeded. The top 2 seeds from each league will qualify for the division series. The remaining 4 teams will play in a best of 3 wild card round.
The higher (i.e. better) seeded team gets home games throughout the series. So we see #4 vs #5 (highest and second best wild card seed), #3 (third best division winner) vs #5 (third best wild card seed). There is no reseeding, so the #1 seed plays the winner of #4 vs #5, and the #2 seed plays the winner of #3 vs #6 in a best of five matchup. These winners then play in the ALCS and NLCS (best of seven games). Then comes the World Series.
How many games are there in an MLB playoff series?
Thus, in the Division Series, games are played in a 2-2-1 format, where the higher seeded team is the home team for the first two and five games. In the League Championship and World Series, the format switches to 2-3-2 for the best-of-seven series, where the higher seeded team is the home team for games one, two, six, and seven. In the World Series, the team with the better regular season record has home field advantage.
What is the 2024 MLB playoff schedule?
The 2024 MLB Playoffs top-level schedule is here. The full MLB Playoffs schedule can be found here. The twist is that the World Series will start early if all teams win the Championship Series early. You can also find a printable 2024 MLB Playoffs bracket and past World Series winners here.
| Wild Card Series: October 1-3 |
| Division Series: October 5-12 |
| League Championship Series: October 13-22 |
| World Series: Starts October 25th |
