 | Edition #1324 Sep 30, 2025 |
| From The GIST Team |
Hey batter, batter! | ||
| Happy MLB postseason to all who celebrate. That's right, the playoffs begin today at 1:08 p.m. ET with 12 of the league's 30 teams swinging to hoist the World Series trophy. Today's newsletter has everything you need to know before the first pitch — and to help complete your pro baseball playoff bracket challenge. Play ball. | ||
| Quote of The Day |
 | Might as well go win the whole f***in' thing. |
 | — Seattle Mariners breakout star catcher Cal Raleigh, sharing his team's unfiltered goal after the M's clinched a postseason spot. Turns out the only thing bigger than his dumper is his mic drops. |
| The Breakdown |
⚾ How it works Source: The GIST The MLB playoffs consist of four rounds: the best-of-three Wild Card (WC) Series, the best-of-five League Division Series (LDS), the best-of-seven League Championship Series (LCS), and, of course, the reason for the season: the best-of-seven World Series, which begins on Friday, October 24th. That's a whole lot of baseball. The 12-team postseason field features six squads from each league — the American League (AL) and National League (NL). That includes the three divisional winners (East, Central, and West) and each league's three next-best teams (aka the WCs). If this sounds a bit different than the format you grew up with, you're right! As of 2022, there are two three-game WC series, with all three games hosted by the higher seed. There's no place like home, after all.
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‼️ Storylines to watch Source: LA Times We'll dive deeper into each team below, but let's lead off with a few headlines driving the conversation as the calendar turns to October. 😮 Defending champ LA Dodgers land in the Wild Card: Yes, the dynastic Blue Crew are making their 13th straight postseason appearance, but their journey will begin a bit earlier as they feature in the WC for just the third time in this run and the first since 2021.
😬 Houston Astros miss playoffs for first time since 2016: Houston, they have a problem. The 'Stros' streak of eight straight postseasons — a span that included four World Series appearances — was snapped after an up-and-down, injury-filled season.
🔥 Anything can happen in October: Even after a long and grueling 162-game regular season, postseason baseball is notoriously flukey. A 2023 study found that the best team on paper fails to win the World Series more than half the time, compared to a quarter of the time in other major American men's sports. And that's why you play the games. |
🔴 American League teams Source: New York Times 🐯🛡️ No. 6 Detroit Tigers vs. No. 3 Cleveland Guardians — 1:08 p.m. ET: The back-and-forth battle for AL Central supremacy continues as these divisional foes go head-to-head once again. ICYMI: Cleveland, buoyed by sharp pitching, clawed back from what was once a 15.5-game deficit, overtaking the Tigers to claim the division crown.
🧦🍎 No. 5 Boston Red Sox vs. No. 4 NY Yankees — 6:08 p.m. ET: Another divisional matchup, there's no love lost between these bitter AL East rivals. Boston took nine of their 13 thrilling and always lengthy regular-season contests, but NY had the most recent laugh, winning a pivotal September series in Boston.
🔱 No. 2 Seattle Mariners (bye to ALDS): Powered by the aforementioned most discussed posterior in baseball, Seattle's back atop the AL West for the first time since 2001. And it's not just Home Run Derby champ Raleigh who's blasting dingers — the Mariners rounded the bases 238 times this year, the third-most in baseball. 🐦 No. 1 Toronto Blue Jays (bye to ALDS): Canada's team is soaring back into the postseason after a historic regular season that earned them their first AL East pennant since 2015. The Jays put the ball in play better than anyone, leading the league in team batting average behind a resurgent season for 36-year-old outfielder George Springer.
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🔴 National League teams Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 🔴💙 No. 6 Cincinnati Reds vs. No. 3 LA Dodgers — 9:08 p.m. ET: A real David vs. Goliath showdown, LA dominated the regular-season series, going 5-1 against Cincy this season. That's why it's no surprise the defending champ Dodgers are the runaway favorites, boasting one of the best offenses in the majors this season.
🙏🐻 No. 5 San Diego Padres vs. No. 4 Chicago Cubs — 3:08 p.m. ET: Perhaps the most evenly matched WC matchup on the docket, these squads split the six regular-season games they played back in April. This one could be a true battle of offense vs. defense — the Cubs scored the fifth-most runs in MLB this year, while the Dads posted the third-best ERA.
🔔 No. 2 Philadelphia Phillies (bye to NLDS): The Fightins have become a postseason mainstay, dancing into a fourth straight October after defending their NL East title. That said, they didn't stick around long last season, suffering a stunning upset in the NLDS.
🍻 No. 1 Milwaukee Brewers (bye to NLDS): Thanks to The Power of Friendship, the Brew Crew had the ultimate mid-season glow-up, coming back from a tough start to finish with the best record in the bigs. Plenty of role players helped them get the job done, along with the resurgence of 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich. |
📺 How to tune in Source: MLB.com The road to the Fall Classic begins when the Tigers face the Guardians today at 1:08 p.m. ET, airing on ESPN in the U.S. and Sportsnet in Canada, the first of a Wild Card quadruple-header.
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| The GIST's Bracket Challenge  Source: The GIST Baseball's postseason is officially upon us — are you ready to put some skin in the game? Make this playoff run the best yet with The GIST's second annual, free-to-enter Pro Baseball Bracket Challenge. This challenge is for:
With sweet prizes and eternal bragging rights on the line, you need to hustle to submit your bracket (or three!) ASAP — we're only taking submissions until tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET. No pressure, no diamonds. |
| The GIST's Picks |
Here's what has GIST HQ buzzing:
💃 What to look forward toThe Women's Pro Baseball League (WPBL) launching next year, with the first-ever player draft set to take place in October. A league of their own is just around the corner. |
⚾ What to enterOur pro baseball bracket challenge before the first pitch is thrown today at 1:08 p.m. ET. A hot tip? The Game 1 WC winner has gone on to win the series every single time since the best-of-three format was introduced in 2022. Truly wild. |
😆 Who to follow@Cut4, the official MLB account covering all the zany, quirky, and straight-up silly moments that make baseball so special. How can you not be romantic about it? |
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Today's email was brought to you by Lauren Tuiskula. Editing by Katie Kehoe Foster. Fact-checking and operations Marga Sison. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster, Alessandra Puccio, and Lisa Minutillo. Managing edits by Ellen Hyslop.
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