The MLB playoffs are underway. In the National League, two wild-card teams — the Cincinnati Reds and the San Diego Padres — are already on their way home at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, respectively.
Only one of the four remaining teams will represent the National League in the World Series.
Milwaukee Brewers, No. 1 seed | 97-65 | NL Central champs
Ever hear of the movie “Moneyball?”
For much of the 21st century, Major League Baseball has been shaped by analytics — first through the Athletics’ Moneyball approach, then the Statcast era of launch angle, exit velocity and power pitching. The game increasingly revolved around home runs, walks and strikeouts, with rule changes like the pitch clock and shift ban further standardizing play.
This year, however, the Milwaukee Brewers are breaking that mold. After a 32-28 start, they’ve surged to a league-best mark with a 45-18 run, including a franchise-record 14-game win streak. Ranking second in batting average, hits, runs and steals, the Brewers thrive on contact and chaos once on base.
They have nine hitters with an OPS+ over 111 and two more with an OPS+ over 100, the NL-best 164 steals and glovework that ranks among the best in MLB by every publicly available defensive metric. Midseason pickup Andrew Vaughn has provided a stunning spark with nine home runs and a .979 OPS since joining. The team also features the third-best pitching in the league with a 3.58 ERA and a staff led by Freddy Peralta and rookie phenom Jacob Misiorowski.
With a payroll that ranks 23rd out of 30 teams and only Christian Yelich earning more than $8 million, the Brew Crew has built an unconventional contender. Even better for fans, most of its offensive core is under team control, suggesting this “old school” revival has the term “dynasty” written all over it.
Philadelphia Phillies, No. 2 seed | 96-66 | NL East champs
Trea Turner is back, Jhoan Duran is the hottest closer in baseball and the team is led by two men who are still seeking one last asterisk on their careers to fulfill their legacies — a championship.
Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, the faces of the Fightin’ Phils, stand at the heart of October. Schwarber, the presumed MVP runner-up, has launched 21 home runs with a .906 OPS across 69 postseason games, while Harper — baseball’s October heartbeat — owns a 1.016 OPS with 17 homers in 53 playoff battles.
The only true concern that could bring this team down is the injury of Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler. Yet, a trio of Christopher Sanchez, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez is still the best pitching lineup in the postseason.
With the clock ticking on this veteran core, the Phillies know the truth — destiny calls and it’s now or never.
Los Angeles Dodgers, No. 3 seed | 93-69 | NL West champs
The LA Dodgers, the reigning champions, return yet again as favorites … who will play in the Wild Card series?
This season, fans thought the Dodgers would break every record in the books, as the immortal team of all teams. Yet, they were mortal, showed cracks at times and the additions of RokiSasaki and Blake Snell meant nothing.
The Dodgers have the best pitching staff and the greatest player of our lifetime in Shohei Ohtani. For the first time in his postseason career, he’ll be contributing both on the mound and at the plate, tilting the odds in favor of Dodger baseball.
They have far and away the most talented roster heading into October.
Plus, Clayton “The Claw” Kershaw is retiring. Why wouldn’t a powerful dynasty want to send the face of the city out with a happy ending as he awaits his first ballot entry into Cooperstown, with one more ring?
Chicago Cubs, No. 4 seed | 92-70 | NL wild card
Heading into the All-Star break, Chicago’s bats were on fire. They ranked second in MLB with 512 runs scored and trailed only the Yankees in wRC+ at 115. Few lineups in the game were more intimidating.
They have the second-highest run value (41) in all of baseball and the highest in the majors.
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The Cubs are the only National League playoff team with two players in the top 15 margins for xwOBA, a sabermetric statistic that measures a player’s offensive performance based on the quality of batted ball contact, rather than the actual outcome of the play.
Those two players are Michael Busch and Kyle Tucker.
For Busch, all the pressure is on him to keep his regular-season campaign going into October. And Tucker, who totaled one hit in 11 at-bats in his last series, just returned from injury.
The likeliest NL Rookie of the Year Cade Horton is out to start the playoffs. In simple terms, the best hitter is still recovering and the best pitcher is still hurt.
What needs to happen for the Cubs to contend? The first-half NL MVP, Pete Crow-Armstrong. Crow-Armstrong’s elite glove adds to his postseason worth, and in this last series, he rediscovered his power stroke with two homers after managing just four over his previous 59 games since the All-Star break. Crow-Armstrong had the majors’ lowest OPS among qualified hitters after the start of August.
Tucker’s contract will end, and he is the top name in the upcoming free agency period. Win, and he stays. Lose, and that question will become bolder as the winter meetings come and go.