Happy playoffs! Sadly, the Mets didn’t make it for the second straight year, but we’ll be watching anyway. (There’s still plenty of hate watching to do.)
All Game 1s of the Wild Card round start today, beginning with the Braves and Phillies at 2 p.m. and ending with the Cubs and Padres at 10 p.m. That’ll be about 12 hours of playoff baseball. We’ll take it.
Teams with byes until Saturday:
- Milwaukee Brewers (1)
- Los Angeles Dodgers (2)
- Tampa Bay Rays (1)
- Cleveland Guardians (2)
Below are the matchups with brief notes on each series, and follow along in the comments! All games are on NBC or Peacock.
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Philadelphia Phillies @ Atlanta Braves, 2:00 P.M., NBC
The Phillies have limped into the postseason, and the Cumberland Braves finally get to play in the Wild Card round after complaining about the gap in play between the regular season and divisional series the last few years.
Jesus Luzardo (14-5, 2.86 ERA) gets the start against Chris Sale (14-9, 2.16 ERA). Luzardo is the most rested of the Phillies starters, though he threw an inning on Sunday in the Phillies’ playoff-clinching win. Sale will go on regular rest.
They have yet to play in a three-game series in the playoffs, but the Phillies bested the Braves three games to one in 2022 and 2023 in the NLDS.
Chicago White Sox @ Houston Astros, 5:00 P.M., Peacock
The enjoyable Chicago White Sox have made the postseason! Their reward is playing the Houston Astros, the owners of the worst record entering the postseason ever at 81-81, though it won them the AL West.
In a sign of the times, both teams plan to run bullpen games in Game 1. Hagen Smith will start for the White Sox, and AJ Blubaugh will start for the Astros.
Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees, 8:00 P.M., NBC
Here we are again, with the Red Sox and Yankees facing off in the Wild Card round in Yankee Stadium. The two teams did the same last year, with the Yankees winning two of three games en route to their World Series appearance.
Things are a bit different this time around, though. Aaron Judge is not on the Yankees’ postseason roster due to his leg injuries. The Red Sox, on the other hand, get Garrett Crochet back for the first time in five months. He’ll likely be available out of the bullpen.
After a stellar summer for the Sox, in which they won something like 90% of their games over six weeks to get back into contention, their offense has limped into the postseason. And the Yankees will have to continue figuring it out without Judge. Cam Schlittler (14-6, 1.95 ERA) will start for the Yanks, and Payton Tolle (9-6, 3.03 ERA) gets the ball for the Red Sox.
David Banks-Imagn Images
Chicago Cubs @ San Diego Padres, 10:00 P.M., Peacock
If the Sox and Yanks is a blow out, you and tune into watch future MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong get the first at-bat of tonight’s game against Michael King (12-10, 3.21 ERA) and the Padres. Michael Boyd (10-5, 3.91 ERA) starts for the Cubs.
The Cubs have the league’s best offense and defense in the game, largely in part to the aforementioned MVP. The Padres have one of the best bullpens in the game. Both teams’ starts are just about average. We’ll see who wins out! (It’s usually the powerful offense/team with the MVP.)
