2025 Wild Card Series Preview

It's here, folks! The 2025 Major League Baseball Postseason is here!

I'm always fascinated by the placement of each league's playoffs and championships--chronologically, that is. The NFL's playoffs and Super Bowl kick off the calendar year in January and February, the Stanley Cup and NBA Playoffs both start in April, and each champion is crowned in June. In baseball, the postseason and championship occur in October, though in this case, it actually begins in the final day of September, and the World Series is set to last as late as the first day of November.

For the fourth year, and the fifth in six years, the Postseason begins with the best-of-three Wild Card Series. From 2012-2021, the Wild Card round was a single game, but it would be extended from a single game to a best-of-three series beginning with the 2022 season, though we saw the best-of-three series during the COVID-affected 2020 Postseason. The Wild Card Series pits the lowest ranked division champion (the #3 seed) against the 3rd ranked Wild Card (the #6 seed) in one series, while the other two Wild Cards (the #4 and #5 seeds) face off in another series. The #1 and #2 seeds get byes right to the Division Series. It's a fixed bracket; no reseeding after the Wild Card Series. The winner of the #3 vs #6 series will face the #2 seed, while the winner of the #4 vs #5 series will face the #1 seed. Regarding home field, the #3 and #4 seeds will host the entire series.

So without further ado, here's a look at each series:

Tigers @ Guardians

The American League Central was over before All-Star Break. The Detroit Tigers had the division on lockdown. Even entering the month of September, they had it in the bag. Up by 9.5 games after August ended. Even crazier: that's the lead they had over the Kansas City Royals. The Cleveland Guardians were in third place. 10.5 games out of first. In danger of missing the postseason after finishing as the runners-up in the American League. Funny thing happened in the final four weeks. The Tigers went south, and the Guardians rose up. Cleveland's 10.5 game deficit was gone by the final week. They won four of their six final games against Detroit, and the final day saw the Guardians actually clinch the Central when the Tigers lost before Cleveland's game was completed.

The Tigers ended up locked in as the #6 seed, creating this matchup in the Wild Card Series. This is the second time these two teams will meet in the Postseason; the only other time was last year in the Division Series, which the Guardians won in five games.

The winner of this series will face the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS.

Red Sox @ Yankees

What can I say about Red Sox vs Yankees that hasn't been repeated on a loop within a loop for decades? We know the history. We know that the Red Sox were once the cock of the walk until they sold some guy named Babe Ruth to the Yankees. The Yankees snatched the torch from Boston and never looked back, and it wasn't until 1999 that we would see these two teams meet in the Postseason. A five game ALCS victory that year. Then the 2003 meeting ended in seven games and saw our future manager win the pennant with one swing. Then there's 2004. We don't talk about that.

Overall, these hated rivals have met five times in the postseason, but Boston has won the last three meetings--the last one occurring in 2021's Wild Card Game. Round Six will see the clubs face off in the best-of-three series at Yankee Stadium, with the Yankees entering on a hot streak--winners of eight straight games. The Red Sox had a strong start, and it got better after they traded Rafael Devers away. Oh, and one more thing. Aaron Judge is the MVP. Stop acting like he's not.

The winner of this series will face the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS.

Reds @ Dodgers

The ultimate shocking member of MLB's Dirty Dozen has to be the Cincinnati Reds. No one had the Reds making it. Even with the Braves falling, there was still a team called the New York Mets out there. The team who paid a mint for Juan Soto. Even with the Mets having their problems in the end, they were still supposed to be in over Cincy. Then the final day happened. Reds lost, opening the door for the Mets to sneak in. Mets decided not to score in Game 162. So the Reds are part of the dance, and they have a hell of a test in the form of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's no big deal. Dodgers are only the defending champions and have this guy named Shohei Ohtani leading the way. That's all.

It's been a minute since these two teams faced off in October. 15,768,000 minutes, to be exact. 30 years--1995 was the last time the Dodgers and Reds faced off in the Postseason, with the Reds defeating the Dodgers in what stands as their last playoff series win to date.

The winner of this series will face off against the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS.

Padres @ Cubs

At least when the Dodgers and Reds last met in the postseason, there were still six divisions. For the Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres, it's been over 40 years. 41, to be exact. The last time these two teams met in the Postseason, it was the 1984 NLCS, the final year that the LCS was best-of-five, and the Padres won their first pennant in franchise history. This year, these are two teams who had been hard luck this year in their quests to win their respective divisions.

The Cubs looked like they would run away with not just the Central, but the best record in baseball, but they fell off, and the Brewers capitalized. As for the Padres, they couldn't capitalize on the Dodgers' losses, and ended upo falling just short of winning the West. Even so, these are two strong teams, and I expect a hell of a short series.

The winner of this series will face off against the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS.

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Regarding telecasts, ESPN and ABC will have the entire Wild Card Series, which will be played on three consecutive days. Game One on Tuesday, Game Two on Wednesday, and any and all Game Threes on Thursday. Three of the series will air on ESPN, with ABC airing Padres/Cubs. ESPN has aired the Wild Card Series every year under this format, but according to the reports, this season will mark the end of MLB on ESPN after well over three decades, as ESPN's deal with MLB came to an abrupt end just prior to this season starting. The heavy rumor is that NBC could take over ESPN's MLB package, which includes the Wild Card Series. ESPN's MLB Postseason history has seen them air the Division Series for many years back when it was the opening round, and they also aired one of the Wild Card Games since its inception in 2012.

The 2025 MLB Postseason is here! We are in for a very fantastic month of intense Postseason baseball!