What to watch during MLB’s final weekend of the 2026 season
We have three days left in the 2026 MLB common season — and nonetheless have a number of playoff races and seeds to resolve, together with two division races. The Chicago White Sox clinched a playoff spot on Thursday, making them maybe the most surprising playoff group since the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays. But they nonetheless have their sights on a division title.
Across city, the Chicago Cubs additionally punched their ticket — the first time the two golf equipment have ever clinched playoff berths on the identical day, in accordance to ESPN Research — as Pete Crow-Armstrong became the seventh member of the 40/40 club. PCA has the NL MVP Award locked up, however he can nonetheless add the NL dwelling run title to his ledger of awesomeness. Chicago baseball followers can now formally dream of the first White Sox-Cubs World Series since 1906.
Let’s run down what’s at stake this weekend, in the playoff races and on the particular person aspect.
Playoff races
AL Central
Cleveland Guardians: 83-76 (at Kansas City Royals)
Chicago White Sox: 82-77 (vs. Colorado Rockies)
Tiebreaker: White Sox over Guardians
This has been a enjoyable race over the previous 10 days or so, since the pair performed an thrilling collection final week. Both groups have continued to play effectively. The Guardians received six in a row earlier than a 1-0 loss Wednesday, and a drained White Sox pitching workers delivered three one-run video games final weekend towards the Tigers.
Winning the division is necessary right here: The winner will get the No. 2 seed and a bye into the division collection and give you the chance to relaxation its pitchers for just a few days, which is very necessary for a White Sox bullpen that has been pitching a ton of innings. Closer Grant Taylor, for instance, has pitched a couple of inning in his previous 5 appearances, together with one outing of seven outs. At least he has had 5 days off since final pitching Saturday, so he is prepared to go for Chicago this weekend.
The Guardians have Gavin Williams beginning Friday towards Kansas City, with Tanner Bibee on Saturday after which Parker Messick if wanted on Sunday. If the Guardians do not win the division, that would depart Foster Griffin as the seemingly Game 1 starter in the wild-card collection, with Williams prepared to go in Game 2. That’s not an excellent state of affairs given Griffin has a 5.19 ERA since coming to Cleveland at the commerce deadline.
The White Sox line up Sean Burke, Davis Martin and Anthony Kay towards the Rockies.
NL wild card
San Diego Padres: 89-70 (vs. Arizona Diamondbacks)
Chicago Cubs: 88-71 (at Boston Red Sox)
Philadelphia Phillies: 87-72 (vs. Tampa Bay Rays)
Arizona Diamondbacks: 85-74 (at Padres)
Tiebreakers:
• Cubs over Padres, Phillies and Diamondbacks
• Phillies over Padres
• Diamondbacks over Phillies
OK, this received rather less difficult with the Padres’ win over the Dodgers on Thursday as they joined the Cubs in clinching a playoff spot. Arizona, with 5 wins in a row, stays alive. The Diamondbacks will need assistance from the Rays, but when they end tied with the Phillies, they’re in and the Phillies out.
The above tiebreakers are simply the head-to-head tiebreakers for a two-way tie. If three or extra golf equipment are tied, it goes to successful proportion in video games towards each other. The Cubs received the season collection towards all three opponents, which is why they’ve clinched. If the Cubs, Phillies and Diamondbacks end 88-74, the Cubs are the fifth seed whereas the Diamondbacks are the sixth seed. If the Cubs, Phillies and Padres end tied, the Cubs are the fourth seed, the Phillies fifth and the Padres sixth.
AL West
Texas Rangers: 79-80 (at Minnesota Twins)
Houston Astros: 79-80 (at Athletics)
Tiebreaker: Astros over Rangers
Yes, expensive readers, we’d get our first sub-.500 division champion. It in all probability would have occurred in the AL West in 1994, when the Rangers had been 52-62, however the strike hit. For now, the worst report for a division winner belongs to the 2005 Padres, who received the NL West with an 82-80 report. This has been the division no person needs to win: The Rangers are 11-10 in September after their win Thursday, and the Astros are 8-12.
The weekend’s beginning pitchers:
Rangers: Jacob deGrom, undecided, MacKenzie Gore
Astros: Hayden Wesneski, Hunter Brown, undecided
Neither group will likely be in nice form with its beginning pitchers getting into the wild-card collection. Cal Quantrill had been pitching nice for the Rangers however injured his lat in his final begin and landed on the 60-day IL. Cristian Javier could be slated to begin Sunday for the Astros, however he left his begin Tuesday after two innings. Kumar Rocker for the Rangers and Peter Lambert for the Astros could be the guys to begin Game 1 since they pitched Thursday.
NL seeding
Milwaukee Brewers: 100-59 (vs. St. Louis Cardinals)
Los Angeles Dodgers: 97-62 (at San Francisco Giants)
Tiebreakers: Brewers over Dodgers
The Brewers clinched the No. 1 seed Thursday with a win and a loss by the Dodgers; the Braves’ loss to the Reds on Thursday locked them into the No. 3 seed and clinched a bye for the Dodgers.
How has the prime total seed performed in the postseason? Though baseball’s playoffs are broadly considered having a extra random nature than different sports activities’, over the previous 10 seasons, 4 of the prime groups did win the World Series and two others reached it. Of course, there have all the time been the anomalies — like in 2021, when the Braves received all of it after ending the common season with the Twelfth-best report in the majors, or 2023, after we had a World Series matchup between the Rangers (tied for sixth-best report) and Diamondbacks (tied for Twelfth).
Here’s what this weekend’s starters seem like for every group:
Brewers: Robert Gasser, Dustin May, Jacob Misiorowski
Dodgers: Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell, undecided
Braves: Grant Holmes, Martin Perez, undecided
Misiorowski final pitched Sunday, when he threw 44 pitches in three innings whereas pitching on 4 days’ relaxation for the first time since July 7. The first recreation of the NLDS will not be till Oct. 3, so that may give him 5 days of relaxation earlier than his Game 1 begin. Like his final outing, this is perhaps an abbreviated one to hold him as recent as potential for that first October recreation.
Of observe: The NL division collection schedules have one much less off day than the AL collection, with off days after Games 2 and 4, so Misiorowski in all probability would return in a possible Game 5, pitching on 5 days’ relaxation. In the AL, the Game 1 starter may return for Game 4 on 4 days’ relaxation. For the Brewers, that additionally means they may want 4 starters in the NLDS, when solely Misiorowski and Logan Henderson look reliable proper now. May has been pulled in the third inning of his previous two begins, which may push Gasser into the No. 3 position (Kyle Harrison seems like a whole nonfactor proper now).
Keep in thoughts that the Brewers used an opener in 4 of their 9 playoff video games final 12 months, in order that’s a risk — though the extra seemingly state of affairs is that supervisor Pat Murphy has fast hooks with Gasser and May and depends on his bullpen.
AL final seeds
Boston Red Sox: 85-74 (vs. Chicago Cubs)
Cleveland Guardians: 83-76 (at Kansas City Royals)
Chicago White Sox: 82-77 (vs. Colorado Rockies)
Cleveland’s 1-0 win over the Red Sox on Thursday means it is not but a lock that the Red Sox will play the Yankees in a wild-card collection repeat of 2025. The AL Central winner is locked in as the No. 2 seed, whereas the loser is “battling” the Red Sox for the fifth seed. Of course, due to the wackiness of the bracket setup, you’d somewhat be the sixth seed, which is the aspect of the bracket to play the AL West winner somewhat than the Yankees (after which the Rays).
So, the two eventualities the place we go to the tiebreaker:
All three groups find yourself at 85-77. The White Sox win the AL Central whereas the Guardians are the fifth seed and the Red Sox the sixth. Cleveland and Boston break up the season collection, however the Guardians get the increased seed as a result of they’ve a greater report inside their division (27-22 to date) than the Red Sox do in the AL East (25-27).
The Guardians win the AL Central at 86-76 whereas the Red Sox and White Sox end 85-77. Boston is the fifth seed because it went 6-0 towards Chicago.
Got it? Which leaves the query: How many of their finest pitchers will the Red Sox use towards the Cubs? Brayan Bello is scheduled to pitch one of the doubleheader video games Friday, however Sonny Gray is finished till the postseason and Payton Tolle and Ranger Suarez simply pitched Wednesday and Thursday, so will probably be back-end starters and relievers in the different two video games.
Statistical races
Yordan Alvarez tries to lock up MVP
This was a Triple Crown chase just a few weeks in the past, however Pete Alonso has opened an eight-RBI lead over Alvarez, so the Astros slugger in all probability may have to accept the MVP Award as a substitute. The query: Do the Astros want to win the division for Alvarez to win? I do not suppose so. Though we’re seemingly to see a scattered vote, with Alvarez, Junior Caminero, Bobby Witt Jr. and perhaps Cam Schlittler all receiving first-place votes, Alvarez might be the solely participant who’s going to land first or second on nearly each poll.
Caminero has the benefit of having Drew Rasmussen and Nick Martinez as teammates on the mound, whereas Alvarez had Mike Burrows and Tatsuya Imai. But as hitters, Alvarez has been significantly better: He has created an estimated 151 runs heading into Thursday’s video games in contrast with 107 for Caminero (who additionally ranks behind Ben Rice, Alonso and Miguel Vargas). And since Alvarez has the a lot increased on-base proportion — .432 to .360 — and Caminero has additionally grounded into 26 double performs, Alvarez has created extra runs whereas utilizing far fewer outs. He’s the finest hitter in baseball this 12 months, and it is not shut. That ought to get him MVP honors.
Who will end with the most dwelling runs?
AL: Alvarez, Alonso, Caminero and Rice are all sitting on 41 dwelling runs. The final dwelling run tie got here in 2021, when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Salvador Perez led the AL with 48. There has by no means been a three-way tie … however there was a four-way tie in the AL in the strike-shortened season of 1981, when Eddie Murray, Dwight Evans, Bobby Grich and Tony Armas all hit 22.
NL: Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Schwarber are tied with 45. Schwarber is trying to lead the league for the second straight season and the third time since he joined the Phillies in 2022.
Who wins the batting title?
AL: Alvarez (.315) and Chandler Simpson (.308) are the solely AL batters hitting .300.
NL: Luis Arraez (.310) leads Gabriel Moreno (.308), with Otto Lopez (.304) needing an excellent end. Arraez, who left Thursday’s recreation with a sprained ankle and will likely be re-assessed on Friday, goes for his fourth batting crown, and Moreno could be the first catcher to lead since Buster Posey in 2012.
Will Alonso make historical past?
If Alonso does maintain on to his RBI lead, he’ll change into the first participant to lead each leagues in RBIs after main the NL with 131 in 2022 whereas with the Mets.
A couple of different races:
• NL RBIs: Alec Burleson (113) leads Sal Stewart (110) with Crow-Armstrong at 107. Not precisely the prime contenders in March. Stewart would change into the first rookie to lead his league since Walt Dropo of the 1950 Red Sox (some man named Ted Williams is the solely different rookie to do it).
• MLB strikeout chief: Misiorowski leads Cleveland’s Williams, 247 to 244. Misiorowski additionally leads Schlittler for the total main league lead in ERA, 1.86 to 1.95.
• A swing and a miss: Colston Montgomery tied Mark Reynolds’ single-season report of 223 strikeouts Thursday, so he seems like a positive factor to break that. But Schwarber is shut behind with 218 strikeouts.
Saying goodbye
This is the final weekend for Justin Verlander … and perhaps Max Scherzer?
Verlander has announced his retirement, so we all know his start Saturday at Comerica Park will likely be the final one of his illustrious first-ballot Hall of Fame profession. Verlander has made just one begin for the Detroit Tigers this season after returning to the group that drafted him No. 2 in 2004 (the Padres chosen Matt Bush in entrance of him, one of the largest draft errors of all time).
The three-time Cy Young winner seemed like a possible 300-game winner in 2019, when he had 225 wins by his age-36 season and was coming off a 21-win and Cy Young season for the Astros. But Verlander pitched solely as soon as in 2020 earlier than his elbow surrendered to time after which he sat out all of 2021. Remarkably, he got here again in 2022 and received one other Cy Young Award with an 18-win season and career-low 1.75 ERA. At the time, 300 wins remained a risk — and a purpose.
But he would go simply 22-26 over the subsequent 4 seasons, leaving him at 266 wins getting into his final profession begin. After Scherzer and his 224 wins, subsequent on the lively wins listing are Gerrit Cole at 163 and Chris Sale at 159. We’re not solely not going to see a 300-game winner for … effectively, who is aware of … however we’d not even see a 200-game winner for a very long time. Indeed, Verlander and Scherzer will go down as perhaps the last of the true old-school guys who pitched 200-plus innings — and extra at their peak — 12 months after 12 months.
Scherzer, who has a 6.14 ERA in 17 begins this season, hasn’t formally introduced his retirement, lately saying he’ll have an announcement on his future in the coming days. He simply pitched Wednesday however may come again on brief relaxation to make one final begin at dwelling for his Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. Maybe he needs to attempt to go his former teammate on the profession strikeout listing: Verlander is eighth with 3,554 strikeouts, whereas Scherzer is 4 behind at 3,550.
The two had been teammates for 5 seasons in Detroit, the place that they had, allow us to say, a bit of a rivalry. Here’s hoping Scherzer will get one final alternative, if that is certainly the finish, and finishes in a useless warmth with Verlander. Then they will enter Cooperstown collectively.