The 2023 Major League Baseball Playoffs are Set
There’s a crispness in the air that speaks of baseball. Gone are the lazy days of summer. The book has been closed on the 2023 regular season in Major League Baseball and the lineups are set for this year’s postseason. Let’s take a look at some of the familiar and unfamiliar teams vying for a World Series ring.
The Structure of the Major League Baseball Playoffs
The format of the MLB playoffs has evolved over the past few years, with the most recent changes being implemented in 2022. Under the current structure, the playoffs start in each league with the “wild card” games, where three “wild card” teams from each league, along with that league’s worst-seeded division winner, play a best of three series.
In 2023, the four American League teams playing in the wild card series were:
- The Texas Rangers (wild card)
- The Tampa Bay Devil Rays (wild card)
- The Minnesota Twins (lowest seeded division winner)
- The Toronto Blue Jays (wild card)
The Rangers and the Twins both won their wild card series this year.
This year’s National League wild card contestants were:
- The Arizona Diamondbacks (wild card)
- The Milwaukee Brewers (lowest seeded division winner)
- The Philadelphia Phillies (wild card)
- The Miami Marlins (wild card)
The Diamondbacks and the Phillies were victorious in this year’s wild card series.
The next step of the MLB postseason involves four best-of-five series, with the two highest seeded division winners taking on the wild card winners. In the American League, the Rangers will face the Baltimore Orioles and the Twins will play the Houston Astros. In the Senior Circuit, the Braves take on the Phillies and the Diamondbacks play the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The winners of each best-of-five series will battle for the league championship in a best-of-seven series and the league champions will then play a best-of-seven World Series. If the World Series goes to the limit, the last game would be scheduled for November 4.
New and Unfamiliar Faces
The Dodgers and Astros are well-known in the postseason, as L.A. makes its 11th consecutive postseason appearance and Houston comes for the seventh year in a row. The Rangers and the Orioles are in the playoffs for the first time in 7 years, and the Diamondbacks make their first appearance since 2017.
