The 2026 MLB playoff field is set and by Halloween, we'll have a new World Series champion. The Wild Card Series begin on Tuesday afternoon with four best-of-three matchups. From there, those four winners will move on to the League Division Series, where the top two teams in each league will join the mix after a first-round bye.
The winners of the best-of-five Division Series move on to the best-of-seven League Championship Series, and, of course, the best-of-seven World Series. Here's a look at how the playoffs are laid out: First-round byesNo. 1 Rays, No. 2 Guardians Wild Card SeriesNo. 3 Astros vs. No. 6 White SoxNo. 4 Yankees vs.
No. 5 Red Sox First-round byesNo. 1 Brewers, No. 2 Dodgers Wild Card SeriesNo. 3 Braves vs. No. 6 PhilliesNo. 4 Padres vs. No. 5 Cubs And now here are our staff picks for the 2026 postseason from your CBS Sports MLB writers.
We're predicting every round of the bracket from the Wild Card Series through the World Series. Explanation: I don't feel strongly about my bracket at all, so I'm sticking with the "just pick who you think are the best teams, stupid" approach. Even without Aaron Judge, the Yankees have enough firepower to come out of the American League, and their pitching is tremendous.
My only concern is an overworked bullpen, but guys always seem to find an extra gear in the postseason. The Dodgers are more vulnerable than the last two years, I think, especially since Shohei Ohtani clearly isn't 100% physically (or close to it). That rotation is so good though -- Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow is about as good as it gets -- and there's enough on offense to pick up Ohtani.
I feel like Josue De Paula is going to play a huge role in October. He'll force his way into the everyday lineup at some point and make a big impact. Explanation: I never predict the MLB postseason with much conviction because so much randomness is involved.
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