3 NL Wild Card Hopefuls That Could Be Eliminated Tonight

The 2026 Major League Baseball playoff picture is becoming much clearer, and it could continue to do so by the end of night on Friday. The National League West and National League Central have already been won, while the other divisions are still very much up for grabs.

The wild card races have also yet to be decided, so there is a lot still left to be figured out. One thing is for sure though. There are a few teams that could see their playoff dreams die on Friday night. Here are three teams in the National League that could be eliminated by the end of the day.

Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins have had some success stories this year, and they do have a pretty solid young core. But with a loss to the San Diego Padres, Miami could be eliminated by the end of the day. They are eight games back of the Padres in the wild card race. Their elimination number is down to 2.

Tyler Phillips takes the mound against Nick Pivetta as the Fish try to stave off elimination for at least another day, but things aren't looking good. At least the future appears bright, which means Miami could find itself back in the mix in 2027.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates actually spent some money in the offseason and made some solid trades, which made them a much better team and kept them in the race for quite some time. After losing 91 games in 2025, they are just one game below .500.

They'll face the Kansas City Royals and have Paul Skenes on the mound at home, so they could be in position to grab a win. Unfortunately for them, everything depends on what the Padres do, and that will essentially be the deciding factor. Like the Marlins though, things are looking up for the Pirates, so a few tweaks in the offseason could help them improve for next year.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals may be a couple years ahead of schedule in their rebuild. In fact, they were close in the wild card race up until last week in San Francisco. They are one game behind the Pirates, but the reason they aren't officially eliminated yet is because they won the season series with the Padres.

Still, they're nine games behind San Diego and three games below .500, so it's only a matter of time. But the fact that they didn't fall below .500 until late July after making four big trades in the offseason is a testament to the young players they have and has ignited hope for the next several years.

It may not take as long as originally expected for St. Louis to contend again.

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