When MLB expanded its playoff format to 12 teams in 2022, the hope was that it would create a more compelling final few weeks of the season. Four years in, it seems that mission was accomplished.
With just over a month to play, the races for each league’s three wild-card spots are far from settled. In the American League, five teams are within three games of the final bid. In the National League, the Cubs, Padres and Mets are fighting to fend off the Reds, who are just a game back. As each club jockeys for position, the margins will be thin in determining who makes it to October and who gets left out in the cold.
