Baseball Fan Perspective

The Dodgers’ 2026 payroll is higher than the three other LCS teams combined. But will they win a third straight World Series title? I heard commentators say a few times during the LDS that the winner of a particular series would earn a spot in the Final Four. True, but I still prefer saying ‘The League Championship Series’ because that’s where the winner of the LDS officially goes. The Final Four is the name for the last four teams remaining in college basketball’s March Madness. That’s it.

Eight franchises battle in the 2026 League Division Series. The challenge is picking the four winners. Except for Atlanta-Philadelphia, the first round of the MLB postseason wasn’t thrilling. That’s not how I wanted to start this article, but after a few sweeps and one exciting three-game series, the final eight teams in this year’s playoff field are shown above. The only series that had at least one game settled by two runs or fewer was the Braves-Phillies (twice).

Four series. Four predictions. The always-intense Best-of-3 wild-card round begins. I do love playoff baseball. For me, it’s always been about the jubilation it brings to the fans and players. It makes me happy when it arrives, but at the same time, when it’s over, there’s a sadness that comes out of nowhere because the end of the playoffs always marks the beginning of winter.

It’s unclear if Sunday marked the end of another all-time great arm, but if it was Max Scherzer’s final career start, his seven-inning, 114-pitch performance was a nice way to go out. Astros-9, Athletics-0: Houston clinches the AL West with 81 wins (the fewest victories ever by any division winner) thanks to six pitchers combining for a shutout.

The Cleveland Guardians clinch their third straight AL Central title on Saturday to claim the American League’s No. 2 seed. (Photo credit: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Rockies-9, White Sox-6: Colorado’s Hunter Goodman blasted two homers to give him 41 taters on the year, while Chicago’s loss guarantees them the AL’s No. 6 seed.

Six straight wins for the Diamondbacks tighten up the NL wild card, leaving us with an entertaining situation over the final two days of the regular season. (Photo Credit: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) Rays-2, Phillies-0: Philadelphia’s ace Cristopher Sanchez pitches well after striking out 10 over seven frames of two-run ball, but with zero runs of support against the American League’s best team, it’s no surprise he took the loss in a game his team needed.

Sonny Gray collects his AL-best 18th win to lead Boston to victory over Cleveland. (Photo Credit: AP/Charles Krupa) MLB Quickcap note: I’m going to be releasing Quickcap this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to wrap up the regular season. Quickcap has been a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday release this year. But we’re in crunch time now, so let’s keep the momentum going into the playoffs. On Monday, I’ll also be making my wild-card round predictions. The postseason begins on Tuesday.

Yordan Alvarez’s 41st homer helps Houston draw even with Texas in the AL West. Mets-6, Rangers-3: Sean Manaea strikes out nine Rangers over six innings of two-run ball to drop the AL West leaders to 78-79 on the year. Astros-7, Mariners-0: Houston uses six pitchers to shut out the Mariners, and Yordan Alvarez goes 2-for-4 with a homer and three ribbies to boost Houston into a tie with Texas atop the AL West.

Pete Alonso’s two homers carry Baltimore to victory over Toronto on Monday night. (Photo credit: Jamie LeBlanc-Imagn Images) Orioles-4, Blue Jays-3: A crushing loss for Toronto (3 ½ games out of the wild card race) and a must-have victory for Baltimore (4 ½ games behind in the wild card race) is highlighted by Pete Alonso’s two-homer performance, giving him 40 long balls on the year.

The easy 2026 NL MVP choice, Pete Crow-Armstrong, homers twice more against Atlanta to give him three in the series and 44 on the year. (Photo Credit: AP Photo/Melissa Tamez) Cubs-8, Braves-4: Chicago takes the rubber game with Atlanta to remain a half-game up on Philly for the NL’s top wild card spot after Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two homers and a triple lead the Cubbies to victory.