Once the Wild Card Series round is complete, the 2025 postseason will move on to its next phase: the best-of-five Division Series.
The first Division Series matchup was set on Wednesday night — after sweeping the Reds in the National League Wild Card Series, the Dodgers will face the NL East champion Phillies in the NLDS.
On Thursday, there were three decisive games, and while the Red Sox and Yankees are in action in the Bronx, two other clubs punched their tickets to the next round. The Tigers won the decisive Game 3 of their American League Wild Card Series against the division rival Guardians, meaning Detroit will take on the AL West champion Mariners in the ALDS. And the Cubs held on to beat the Padres — Chicago will face the division rival Brewers in the NLDS.
The winner of the Red Sox-Yankees game will move on to play the No. 1-seeded Blue Jays. All four LDS matchups are scheduled to get underway Saturday.
As the matchups come into focus, weâ€ll be breaking down each series below.
Schedule
Game 1 (at MIL): Saturday on TBS
Game 2 (at MIL): Monday on TBS
Game 3 (at CHC): Oct. 8 on TBS
Game 4 (at CHC, if necessary): Oct. 9 on TBS
Game 5 (at MIL, if necessary): Oct. 11 on TBS
Season series: The Cubs went 7-6 against the Brewers in their head-to-head matchups during the regular season. They last met for five games (including a doubleheader) at Wrigley Field from Aug. 18-21.
Postseason history: This is the first playoff meeting between the Brewers and Cubs.
Keys to the matchup: Freddy Peralta is the only ace-level starting pitcher weâ€ll see in this series, so it could come down to a battle of the bullpens. The Brewers had one of baseballâ€s best relief corps throughout the season, but the Cubs†bullpen is on a heater right now. Chicagoâ€s â€pen struck out 30.8% of the batters it faced in the final month of the season and — not including Shota Imanaga’s outing after Chicago used an opener in Game 2 — the Cubs’ relief corps yielded just one run over 13 2/3 frames vs. San Diego in the NL Wild Card Series.
The Brewers (164) and Cubs (161) ranked first and second, respectively, in the NL in stolen bases this season, so the batteries for both teams will need to be on high alert when someone reaches base. The long ball could also loom large — the Cubs hit 57 more home runs than the Brewers in the regular season, but Milwaukeeâ€s pitching staff ranked among the best at limiting big flies.
Player to watch: Seiya Suzuki. With Kyle Tucker still working his way back into form after missing nearly all of September due to a calf issue and Pete Crow-Armstrong coming off a rough second half (.634 OPS), the Cubs will continue to lean on Suzuki and Michael Busch to drive their offense. Suzukiâ€s bat was ice cold for much of the second half, but he followed up a 38-game homerless drought by going deep in each of his last four regular season games before hitting another dinger in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series. Weâ€ll see if he can solve Milwaukeeâ€s pitching after going 6-for-50 (.120) with 22 Kâ€s and a .428 OPS in 13 games against the Brewers this season.
(2) Phillies vs. Dodgers (3)
Schedule
Game 1 (at PHI): Saturday on TBS
Game 2 (at PHI): Monday on TBS
Game 3 (at LAD): Oct. 8 on TBS
Game 4 (at LAD, if necessary): Oct. 9 on TBS
Game 5 (at PHI, if necessary): Oct. 11 on TBS
Season series: The Phillies went 4-2 against the Dodgers in the regular season, taking two of three when they played in April and doing so again when they matched up in September.
Postseason history: This will be the sixth postseason matchup between the Phillies and Dodgers and the first in the Division Series. The Dodgers defeated the Phillies in the 1977 and â€78 NL Championship Series, but Philadelphia has gotten the better of Los Angeles in their past three playoff meetings — the â€83 NLCS, the 2008 NLCS and the â€09 NLCS.
Keys to the matchup: This is perhaps overly simplified but this series will likely come down to how the stars on each club perform, and there are plenty of them. Whether itâ€s Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber, Freddie Freeman or Bryce Harper, some of baseballâ€s top names will be facing off in a star-studded NLDS matchup. Even each teamâ€s rotation features top-shelf starters like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Cristopher Sánchez, Blake Snell, Ohtani and many more. For a division series, this is about as good of a matchup as you could ask for.
Player to watch: Trea Turner missed the better part of September with a strained right hamstring. He returned for the season finale but he had missed the previous three weeks which, including the Phillies†first-round bye, means Turner has played in few games over the last month. If he picks up where he left off before the injury, the Phillies could be in great shape. Turner had an excellent ‘25 season, posting an .812 OPS with 6.7 WAR, third among all NL position players. Turner, too, stole 36 bases this season and could provide a valuable element on the bases if heâ€s healthy.
(2) Mariners vs. Tigers (6)
Schedule
Game 1 (at SEA): Saturday on FOX or FS1
Game 2 (at SEA): Sunday on FOX or FS1
Game 3 (at DET): Tuesday on FOX or FS1
Game 4 (at DET, if necessary): Oct. 8 on FOX or FS1
Game 5 (at SEA, if necessary): Oct. 10 on FOX or FS1
Season series: The Mariners went 4-2 against the Tigers in the regular season. Seattle played Detroit at T-Mobile Park in its second series of the year and lost two of three but swept the Tigers at Comerica Park right before the All-Star break, outscoring them 35-14 in that series.
Postseason history: This is the first playoff meeting between the Mariners and Tigers.
Keys to the matchup: The Mariners appear to have the edge over the Tigers in the power department, outhomering Detroit 238-198 during the regular season. The same goes for their pitching depth. Even with questions of Bryan Wooâ€s availability due to a pectoral issue, the Mariners still have more trustworthy starting pitching options at their disposal than the Tigers, and their bullpen should be well rested after a superb September. The Tigers, though, have Tarik Skubal. After striking out 14 batters over 7 2/3 dominant innings against the Guardians in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series, Skubal could make multiple starts on regular rest in the ALDS, including a potential winner-take-all Game 5.
Player to watch: Cal Raleigh. Every step of the way, this has been Raleighâ€s year. He became the seventh player in Major League history with a 60-homer season, setting records for catchers and switch-hitters along the way. He led the AL with 125 RBIs and helped the Mariners win their first division crown in more than two decades. He even won the Home Run Derby. Now, heâ€ll try to carry the Mariners to the ALCS for the first time since 2001.
(1) Blue Jays vs. Yankees (4) or Red Sox (5)
Schedule
Game 1 (at TOR): Saturday on FOX or FS1
Game 2 (at TOR): Sunday on FOX or FS1
Game 3 (at NYY/BOS): Tuesday on FOX or FS1
Game 4 (at NYY/BOS, if necessary): Oct. 8 on FOX or FS1
Game 5 (at TOR, if necessary): Oct. 10 on FOX or FS1
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