Major League Baseball

MLB Playoff format: How does MLB postseason work?

Updated Jul. 27, 2023 12:20 p.m. ET

Back in 2022, the MLB introduced a new playoff format focused on two key areas — more teams and an expanded Wild Card round.

Here's everything you need to know about the MLB postseason format:

How many teams reach the MLB playoffs?

12 teams will make the MLB playoffs — six from both the American League and National League. This is an increase over the previous format which had 10 teams.

This is broken out with three division winners in the AL and NL as well as three Wild Card teams.

How are the teams seeded?

Each league uses the same seeding format below:

No. 1 seed: Best record in the AL or NL
No. 2 seed: Second-best record for a division winner
No. 3 seed: Third-best record for a division winner
No. 4 seed: Best record for Wild Card teams
No. 5 seed: Second-best record for Wild Card teams
No. 6 seed: Third-best record for Wild Card teams

The first and second seeds in each league advance automatically to the Division Series. The Wild Card Series features each league’s No. 3 seed against the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed against the No. 5 seed.

How many rounds are in the MLB Playoffs?

There are four rounds:

Wild Card Round
Divisional Round
League Championship Round
World Series

What happened to the Wild Card Game?

The single-elimination Wild Card game was replaced with a best-of-three Wild Card Series.

What’s the format for the Wild Card Series?

The higher-seeded team (No. 3 and No. 4) in each series will host all three games. The games will take place on three consecutive days.

Will the MLB playoffs have reseeding?

There will be no reseeding in this format. The winner of the No. 4- and 5-seeded matchup will advance to the Division Series and play the No. 1 seed. The winner of the No. 3 and 6 seeded series will take on the No. 2 seed. The goal is to keep the No. 1 seed from having to face a divisional winner until the League Championship Round.

What are the division title tiebreakers?

Tiebreaker games, also known as Game 163, are not used anymore. Ties are solved by head-to-head record initially. If there is still a tie, other factors are considered such as:

Record against other teams in their division
Record against other teams in their league, but outside their division
Record of last half of intraleague games
Record of last half of intraleague games plus one

Which team gets home-field advantage in the World Series?

The team with the best record in the regular season gets to begin the World Series (and potentially host Game 7) at their home ballpark regardless of playoff seeding. If two teams have the same record, they use a tiebreaker system based on the division tiebreaker rules.

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