Major League Baseball’s 2024 regular season will wrap up Monday as the Braves and Mets play a crucial doubleheader that will determine the final two spots in the postseason. The playoff picture is mostly formed as 10 of the 12 teams in the postseason field have clinched their spots, and seeding is fully set on the American League side. While we don’t know every playoff matchup just yet, we do know the 2024 MLB playoffs schedule.
Fittingly, playoff baseball begins on Oct. 1 this year. The four best-of-three Wild Card Series will be held this week, and the quartet of League Division Series will get started on Saturday, Oct. 5. We do know the four teams who will host Wild Card Series: the Astros, Orioles, Brewers and Padres. And we do know the four teams who have byes to the LDS round: the Yankees, Guardians, Dodgers and Phillies. The two AL Wild Card Series are locked in, with the Royals leaping the Tigers for the No. 5 seed on Sunday. The Royals will face the Orioles, while the Tigers will play the Astros this week.
As a reminder, the 12-team playoff bracket is broken up into four rounds. Eight teams will play in the best-of-three Wild Card Series with the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds in each league hosting the No. 6 and No. 5 teams, respectively. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in each league earn byes to the League Division Series, which gets started on Saturday, Oct. 5.
The 2024 World Series will either start on Friday, Oct. 25 or Tuesday, Oct. 22. The start date gets moved up if both the ALCS and NLCS end in five games or less.
Got it? Good. Below is the bracket and complete schedule for the 2024 postseason. MLB should announce game times for the Wild Card Series either Sunday night or Monday.
Wild Card Series
Tuesday, Oct. 1
AL Wild Card Series Game 1: Astros vs. Tigers, time TBD
AL Wild Card Series Game 1: Orioles vs. Royals, time TBD
NL Wild Card Series Game 1: Brewers vs. Braves/Mets/D-backs, time TBD
NL Wild Card Series Game 1: Padres vs. Braves/Mets, time TBD
Tuesday, Oct. 2
AL Wild Card Series Game 2: Astros vs. Tigers, time TBD
AL Wild Card Series Game 2: Orioles vs. Royals, time TBD
NL Wild Card Series Game 2: Brewers vs. Braves/Mets/D-backs, time TBD
NL Wild Card Series Game 2: Padres vs. Braves/Mets, time TBD
Tuesday, Oct. 3
AL Wild Card Series Game 3: Astros vs. Tigers, time TBD (if necessary)
AL Wild Card Series Game 3: Orioles vs. Royals, time TBD (if necessary)
NL Wild Card Series Game 3: Brewers vs. Braves/Mets/D-backs, time TBD (if necessary)
NL Wild Card Series Game 3: Padres vs. Braves/Mets, time TBD (if necessary)
Division Series
Saturday, Oct. 5
ALDS Game 1: Guardians vs. TBD
ALDS Game 1: Yankees vs. TBD
NLDS Game 1: Phillies vs. TBD
NLDS Game 1: Dodgers vs. TBD
Sunday, Oct. 6
NLDS Game 2: Phillies vs. TBD
NLDS Game 2: Dodgers vs. TBD
Monday, Oct. 7
ALDS Game 2: Guardians vs. TBD
ALDS Game 2: Yankees vs. TBD
Tuesday, Oct. 8
NLDS Game 3: TBD vs. Phillies
NLDS Game 3: TBD vs. Dodgers
Wednesday, Oct. 9
ALDS Game 3: TBD vs. Guardians
ALDS Game 3: TBD vs. Yankees
NLDS Game 4: TBD vs. Phillies (if necessary)
NLDS Game 4: TBD vs. Dodgers (if necessary)
Thursday, Oct. 10
ALDS Game 4: TBD vs. Guardians (if necessary)
ALDS Game 4: TBD vs. Yankees (if necessary)
Friday, Oct. 11
NLDS Game 5: Phillies vs. TBD (if necessary)
NLDS Game 5: Dodgers vs. TBD (if necessary)
Saturday, Oct. 12
ALDS Game 5: Guardians vs. TBD (if necessary)
ALDS Game 5: Yankees vs. TBD (if necessary)
Championship Series
Sunday, Oct. 13
NLCS Game 1: TBD vs. TBD
Monday, Oct. 14
ALCS Game 1: TBD vs. TBD
NLCS Game 2: TBD vs. TBD
Tuesday, Oct. 15
ALCS Game 2: TBD vs. TBD
Wednesday, Oct. 16
NLCS Game 3: TBD vs. TBD
Thursday, Oct. 17
ALCS Game 3: TBD vs. TBD
NLCS Game 4: TBD vs. TBD
Friday, Oct. 18
ALCS Game 4: TBD vs. TBD
NLCS Game 5: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
Saturday, Oct. 19
ALCS Game 5: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
Sunday, Oct. 20
NLCS Game 6: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
Monday, Oct 21
ALCS Game 6: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
NLCS Game 7: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
Tuesday, Oct. 22
ALCS Game 7: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
World Series
(The 2024 World Series schedule is subject to change. Every game would be moved up by three days if both the ALCS and NLCS end in five games or less.)
Friday, Oct. 25
World Series Game 1: TBD vs. TBD
Saturday, Oct. 26
World Series Game 2: TBD vs. TBD
Monday, Oct. 28
World Series Game 3: TBD vs. TBD
Tuesday, Oct. 29
World Series Game 4: TBD vs. TBD
Wednesday, Oct. 30
World Series Game 5: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
Friday, Nov. 1
World Series Game 6: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
Saturday, Nov. 2
World Series Game 7: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
