Postseason preview

It’s time for October baseball. The 2025 regular season just came to an end. In a couple of days, the Wild Card Series will begin. So, the postseason will officially kick off. Baseball fans will surely enjoy this month because lots of exciting things could happen.

 

Before the Wild Card series starts, let’s take a quick look at those teams that will play in October.

 

Firstly, let’s start with the NL Wild Card Series. The Dodgers will host the Reds in the NL Wild Card Series. During the regular season, they faced each other 6 times and the Dodgers took 5 wins. However, with Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo (if available) and Hunter Greene in the rotation, it’s a good rotation for a 3-game series. At the same time, Terry Francona has rich experience in the postseason. This time, he will face Dave Roberts, who was with him in the Red Sox in 2004. A year that the Red Sox fans all remember. At the same time, the Cubs will host the Padres. They faced each other 6 times in the 2025 season and they each got 3 wins. Moreover, they each got 2 of those 3 wins in home games. Hence, home field advantage could be an important factor of this matchup.

 

In addition, let’s shift our focus on the AL. The Cleveland Guardians will face the Tigers again in the postseason. Last postseason, the Guardians defeated the Tigers in the ALDS. In the 2025 regular season, the Tigers and the Guardians faced each other 13 times. The Guardians got 8 wins. Another key thing is that the Tigers haven’t played well at the end of the regular season. In the last 10 games of the 2025 regular season, the Tigers only won 2 games. Meanwhile, the Guardians finished the season strong with 7 wins in the last 10 games.

 

Furthermore, the Yankees will play against the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Series. This is certainly one of the most well-known rivalries in sports. The matchup, without a doubt, will attract a lot of attention. During the regular season, the Red Sox took 9 wins in 13 games against the Yankees.

 

Finally, the Mariners, the Blue Jays, the Brewers and the Phillies each got a first-round bye. Looking at their last 10 games in the regular season, the Blue Jays and the Phillies each got 5 wins. But the Blue Jays finished the season with a 4-game winning streak. The Brewers took 4 wins and the Mariners got 7 wins. Nonetheless, the Mariners were swept by the Dodgers in the last series of the 2025 season.

 

With the Wild Card Series going to start soon, baseball fans can’t wait to watch October baseball. The front offices from those 8 teams will have to identify the best roster to play for the 3-game series. In the meantime, it’s important for those 4 teams which got a first round. They have to know how to adjust or prepare for the division series. In particular, the Phillies got a first round bye in the 2024 postseason, but they lost in the division series. They certainly want to avoid this again and this postseason, they won’t have Zack Wheeler, their ace.