If the final weekend of the 2025 regular season was any indication, October is set to bring plenty of drama. And it all begins Tuesday, in the wild-card round, with four best-of-three series full of intrigue.
Front and centre once again in this year’s post-season picture are Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers, entering their first wild-card series since the field expanded to 12 teams. The upstart Cincinnati Reds, who secured the sixth seed after a late-season battle with the Mets, are the Dodgers’ first hurdle in their quest to repeat as World Series champions.
While the Dodgers vs. Reds series gives off strong David vs. Goliath vibes, the other National League matchup looks far less straightforward. The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres have been contenders from wire to wire, and now square off as two of the league’s most well-rounded clubs.
In the American League, it’s a pair of intra-divisional battles between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, and the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians. Zoning in on Tigers-Guardians — with David Singh teeing up Red Sox-Yankees from the Bronx — it’ll be the second straight year that the AL Central foes have met in the post-season. This time around, Cleveland is the team on a tear, fresh off the largest comeback by a division winner in history, erasing a 15.5-game deficit to seize the AL’s third seed and home-field advantage.
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The road to the World Series begins Tuesday with Game 1 of all four wild-card series. Catch the action on Sportsnet or Sportsnet+.
With the groundwork laid, let’s dive into the specifics for all three matchups before first pitch on Tuesday afternoon.
National League
No. 3 Los Angeles Dodgers (93-69) vs. No. 6 Cincinnati Reds (83-79)
What’s working for the Dodgers: It wasn’t the world-beating season that many expected from Los Angeles after adding a number of notable free agents to its championship core, but the Dodgers have rounded into form at the right time. L.A.’s starting pitchers delivered an MLB-low 2.07 ERA in September, and only Seattle hit more homers in the final month. With Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman clicking, the Dodgers are as tough a team to beat as any, especially with Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Ohtani anchoring their playoff rotation.
What’s working for the Reds: Cincinnati’s success has come largely from its rotation. Led by Hunter Greene, Reds starters were MLB’s second most valuable group by fWAR in 2025, with Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo and Brady Singer playing major roles as well. If Cincinnati is to shock the Dodgers, this group will have to lead the way. Greene, the 26-year-old fireballer, will take the ball in Game 1 with a chance to set the tone after posting a 2.76 ERA and 132 strikeouts over 107.2 innings in the regular season.
Potential Achilles heel for the Dodgers: The bullpen. Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates were added to stabilize a relief corps that bent but didn’t break in 2024, but neither was able to maintain stardom in 2025. Los Angeles eventually finished 21st in reliever ERA, and with bullpens more important than ever in October, the Dodgers will need unexpected arms to step up.
Potential Achilles heel for the Reds: The offence. None of Cincinnati’s regulars with more than 200 plate appearances finished with an OPS above .800. Runs will be hard to come by against L.A.’s rotation, but if any manager can squeeze the most out of a lineup in October, it’s Terry Francona.
It’ll all come down to: The Reds’ pitching vs. the Dodgers’ hitting. Strength on strength. Cincinnati is going to need its pitching staff to shut down L.A.’s star-studded offence if it wants to play spoiler.
No. 4 Chicago Cubs (92-70) vs. No. 5 San Diego Padres (90-72)
What’s working for the Cubs: It’s been a tale of two halves in Wrigleyville. Chicago scored the second-most runs in MLB before the break while its rotation scuffled, then flipped the script in the second half. Since the All-Star Game, Cubs starters own the second-lowest ERA in the majors (3.49), but the offence cooled as Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker slumped. Even without rookie Cade Horton until the NLDS, the Cubs will open the wild card with lefties Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga against a Padres team that has struggled vs. southpaws.
What’s working for the Padres: After pushing the Dodgers to the brink last October, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Co. are back, but it’s the pitching staff that’s brought the Padres back to the post-season. Canadian Nick Pivetta has emerged as the ace, delivering a career-best season in San Diego, but the bullpen has been the club’s defining strength. San Diego’s relievers were by far the best in the majors this year, with five or six legitimate high-leverage options. The trio of Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Robert Suarez will allow the Padres to shorten games in the playoffs against even the deepest lineups.
Potential Achilles heel for the Cubs: While Cubs pitchers have found better results in the second half, they still lack some of the high-end swing-and-miss you need to succeed in the playoffs. Chicago finished middle of the pack in strikeouts and now faces one of baseball’s most contact-heavy lineups. Pair that with a high home-run rate and the quirks of Wrigley Field — the league’s most wind-impacted park — and there’s a clear vulnerability.
Potential Achilles heel for the Padres: Their starting pitching depth. We’ve already established that the Padres’ bullpen can hold a lead with the best of them, but that scenario requires taking an early lead. And although Pivetta has been steady, Dylan Cease, Michael King and Yu Darvish haven’t quite looked like the best versions of themselves in 2025. If San Diego is to lose this series, its starting pitching likely faltered.
It’ll all come down to: Chicago’s offensive stars. If Tucker and Crow-Armstrong can look anything like the early-season version of themselves at the plate, especially early in games, the Cubs become much tougher to beat.
American League
No. 3 Cleveland Guardians (88-74) vs. No. 6 Detroit Tigers (87-75)
What’s working for the Guardians: Everything has been going Cleveland’s way as of late. The Guardians went 20-7 in September to steal a playoff spot on the back of a dominant six-man rotation, the steady brilliance of José Ramírez, and timely contributions from unlikely sources. If there’s one thing that flipped the switch for Cleveland, though, it was the starting pitching. Each member of the Guardians’ scheduled wild-card rotation — Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Slade Cecconi — was fantastic in September, combining for a 2.42 ERA over 81.2 innings.
What’s working for the Tigers: Not a lot went right for Detroit in September, as the club lost 13 of its last 16 games and missed out on the division title. But October often renders September struggles irrelevant — and one win can change the narrative entirely. The Tigers have a pretty good shot at getting that winning feeling back in Game 1 behind Tarik Skubal. The likely AL Cy Young winner hasn’t eased up all season, and he’ll surely be seeking revenge after the Guardians tagged him for five runs in last year’s ALDS clincher.
Potential Achilles heel for the Guardians: Cleveland spent most of the regular season as one of baseball’s lightest-hitting teams. Ramírez and first baseman Kyle Manzardo finished as the only two Guardians hitters to finish with an OPS north of .750, so it’s little surprise their September surge coincided with the lineup finally coming alive. Now, they’ll have to sustain their offensive turnaround if they want to keep the good times rolling against the Tigers.
Potential Achilles heel for the Tigers: In last year’s improbable romp to Game 5 of the ALDS, Detroit rallied around the idea of “Skubal and chaos.” This season, the Skubal part has continued to prove effective, but the chaos portion has lost some steam. The formula of mixing and matching non-Skubal arms worked only when every pitcher was sharp — a margin that shrinks when multiple pitchers falter, as they did in September. It’s something they’ll need to change with a clean slate in Cleveland.
It’ll all come down to: Detroit’s Game 2 and 3 starters. The Tigers are going to need one of Casey Mize or Jack Flaherty to rise to the occasion if Skubal handles business in Game 1. The Guardians have all the momentum, and it’s going to take the entire rotation to turn the tide.
