MLB Playoff Format As of 2025

by
Bracket Yard
September 19, 2025

With the 2025 season about to end, and the playoff picture taking shape, here’s what to know about the MLB playoff format.

This is, after all, the Bracket Yard, so we have brackets. Baseball did not always; in fact, the adoption of the set bracket is a relatively recent development in the game. Up until 2011, there were just eight playoff teams, four per league, which included three division champions and one wild card. Under that format, the teams re-seeded after the Division Series, and two teams from the same division could not meet in the first round.

In 2012, baseball’s postseason expanded to five teams per league, ten total. From this point on, a firm bracket was set. Then, in 2022, we achieved our current format with six teams per league, 12 total. There are three division winners and three wild cards in each league. It mostly resembles the NFL’s old playoff format, except instead of four division champions and two wild cards, it’s three and three, respectively.

2025 MLB Playoff Format: Who’s In?

MLB playoff format as of 2025 - Selecting the teams - 3 division winners and the 3 best non-division winners qualify — In each league, whether American or National, the winners of each division qualify for the postseason. Then, of the 12 remaining teams who did not qualify, the three teams with the best records qualify.

Each league in baseball has 15 teams, which are equally divided into three divisions – East, Central, and West. The team with the best record in each is the division winner and goes to the postseason. If necessary, ties are broken amongst two or more teams who may share the division lead. The primary tiebreaker is head-to-head record.

Then what happens to the other 12 teams which did not win their division? All of them are taken together, and the three with the best record, regardless of division, qualify for the postseason. Tiebreakers will also apply in this case, both for determining playoff teams and seeding amongst entrants. In theory, a division could get four teams into the playoffs (division winner plus three wild cards) while the other two have just one. The remaining nine teams in each league are eliminated.

Now Let’s Arrange Them Into Seeds

MLB playoff format as of 2025 - Organizing the bracket - the division champions are seeds 1-3, and the wild cards are seeds 4-6 — In each league, the three-best division champions receive the top three seeds, while the wild cards receive seeds 4, 5, and 6, depending on their record.

You know who has earned their way into the postseason, so now we must start to organize the bracket. First, we need to assign seeds to each, which will determine where and when they play their games.

The three division champions will always receive the top three seeds, even if there are wild card teams with better records. Winning the division takes precedence. The best division winner will have the best record in the league, and therefore, home-field advantage.

Wild card entries will receive the 4th, 5th, and 6th seeds. The wild card with the best record gets the #4 seed, and then #5 and #6 are allocated in the same manner. The #6 seed will ostensibly have the worst record out of the six playoff teams, unless the third-best division winner claimed a badly-underperforming division.

2025 MLB Playoff Format: Building the Bracket

MLB playoff format as of 2025 - Building the bracket - 6 plays 3, 5 plays 4, then 2 plays the 6/3 winner, and 1 plays the 5/4 winner — The top two division winners in each league receives a bye to the Division Series. The four remaining teams play each other in a best-of-3 Wild Card Series. Winners advance to the Division Series, then Championship Series, and then ultimately, the World Series.

Since we know who is in the playoffs and how they are seeded, let’s plug them into the bracket. It looks the same in each league, and the teams that emerge on each side will meet in the World Series.

The worst division winner (3) hosts the worst wild-card team (6) in a best-of-three series, while the top wild card (4) hosts the second-best wild card (5) in another best-of-three series. These series do not change venues, and it takes two wins to advance to the Division Series.

The top two division winners (1, 2) automatically receive a bye to the Division Series. The top seed (1) will face the winner of the 4-vs.-5 series, while the second seed (2) faces the winner of the 3-vs.-6 series. These two resulting Division Series are best-of-five; it takes three wins to advance. In the Division Series, if necessary, Games 1, 2, and 5 would be hosted by the better seed, while Games 3 and 4 would be hosted by the lower seed.

From there, two teams will emerge, and that is the League Championship Series. This is a best-of-seven, meaning that the first team to win four games advances to the World Series. As needed, Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 would be hosted by the better seed, while Games 3, 4, and 5 would go to the lower seed. Two teams will be left standing by then for what is also a best-of-seven series. The team that comes out of that gets a nice trophy and a parade.