MLB Roundtable: Wild-Card Round Picks and World Series Predictions

The 2026 MLB postseason picture wasn’t set until the final day of the regular season, but it’s finally time for some playoff baseball. The Sports Illustrated MLB staff thought it was only right to get our picks for the wild-card round on the record before the action kicks off Tuesday, and we threw in our World Series picks for good measure. We hope you enjoy the playoffs as much as we will.

ALWC 1: Astros vs. White Sox

Tom Verducci: Astros in three. This should be a wild series with tons of pitching changes and home runs. Houston gets the home field despite a .500 record, a reality that should prompt discussion about the playoff format. And maybe this unlikely series does come down to batting last.

Ryan Phillips: White Sox in three. I can’t trust their starting rotation, but they’ve had one of baseball’s best offenses all season. The Astros barely eked their way into the playoffs and have major rotation issues as well. Chicago’s offense is the difference here.

Will Laws: White Sox in three. My brain is telling me to pick the Astros, who led MLB in home runs this year and have far more playoff experience. But with GM Dana Brown fired earlier this month and all signs indicating manager Joe Espada is next regardless of what happens in this series, there’s some bad juju in Houston. The White Sox, meanwhile, are playing with house money and have a deeper lineup. The Astros being forced to finally hit the reset button after losing to the first team in MLB history to make the playoffs following three consecutive 100-loss seasons feels right.

Karl Rasmussen: Astros in three. Neither team has very reliable starting pitching at their disposal, so this series may well be determined by the offenses, an area where the Astros hold an advantage. Houston hit the most home runs in MLB this season and the White Sox starting rotation had the league’s fifth-worst ERA.

Nick Selbe: Astros in three. This should be a slugfest of a three-game set, and I trust Houston to be able to send out just enough competent pitching to maintain an edge over the upstart White Sox.

ALWC 2: Yankees vs. Red Sox

TV: Yankees in three. First one to three in each game wins. The two best run prevention teams in the league will play low-scoring, tense games. Boston used lefties for 67% of the plate appearances vs. the Yankees this year and it will continue to roll in one lefty after another. The Yankees are just a little bit deeper in starting pitching and position players. Boston must somehow dent Cam Schlitter, which they never have done (0.56 ERA), to steal Game 1.

RP: Yankees in three. This might be the best series of the postseason, with two absolute heavyweights slugging it out. I have to give the edge to the Yankees because of their rotation, which is baseball’s best, in my opinion. They’ll go with Cam Schlittler and Max Fried in the first two games, and if it goes to a third, Gerrit Cole will be ready. That’s too much for Boston to overcome.

WL: Red Sox in three. Aaron Judge had yet to run outside on his strained calf entering Tuesday, so color me doubtful he plays in this series. I don’t see New York having enough firepower without him. The Red Sox, meanwhile, are getting healthy at the right time, with Ceddanne Rafaela, Willson Contreras and Tanner Houck returning to game action before the end of the regular season—with Garrett Crochet perhaps available out of the bullpen.

KR: Yankees in three. Neither offense has been particularly impressive this season, though the Red Sox enter the postseason in the midst of a woeful stretch at the plate. Boston was MLB’s worst offensive team in September, and they’ll find it hard to put up runs against the Yankees’ elite pitching.

NS: Red Sox in three. This is a dream matchup, and as boring as it is to say, it feels like whoever wins Game 1 wins the series. Cam Schlittler has been incredible, but Payton Tolle looks like he's built for these moments, and I have much more faith in Boston's bullpen for the high-pressure late innings.

Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale — Braves Game 1 starter Chris Sale is 3–0 with a 2.08 ERA and 29 strikeouts in four starts against the Phillies this year. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

NLWC 1: Braves vs. Phillies

TV: Braves in three. If you asked AI to create the perfect pitcher to beat the Phillies, it would be Atlanta game 1 starter Chris Sale: slingshot lefty with elite stuff to shut down Philadelphia’s left-handed power. He owns them. September injuries to Jesus Luzardo (now a bullpen piece), Luis Arraez and Jonathan Bowlan tilted the edge to Atlanta. One warning: the Braves’ aggressiveness at the plate can be exploited.

RP: Phillies in three. Philadelphia feels like a sleeping giant. They have the lineup and rotation personnel to succeed in the postseason. I’m betting that they finally get it all together in the postseason. Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler come out firing, and Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber carry the offense.

WL: Braves in two. Burning Zack Wheeler on Sunday really hurts Philadelphia, as does having Jesus Luzardo only available out of the bullpen. Chris Sale dominated the Phillies this year, going 3–0 in four games, and I expect him to get another win in Game 1. Atlanta was also the only team to deal Cristopher Sanchez two losses this year, and I also expect that trend to hold in Game 2.

KR: Braves in two. Zack Wheeler pitched in the final game of the regular season, so his status for the Wild Card series isn’t clear. The Phillies’ offense has been abysmal in September, and they’ll have to take on Chris Sale in the series opener. With this series being played in Atlanta, the Braves should get the job done swiftly.

NS: Braves in two. Philadelphia's offense picked the worst time to go ice cold. The Braves have plenty of warts as well, with a lineup that's been prone to long stretches of ineffectiveness, but they've been a more consistent team on the whole.

NLWC 2: Padres vs. Cubs

TV: Padres in three. It’s a rematch from last year, when the six starting pitchers combined to throw 19 innings. Get ready for the same kind of harried managing, with Padres manager Craig Stammen eager to get the game to his bullpen and Cubs manager Craig Counsell playing matchup with an inconsistent bullpen. The Padres are so good at home they may have won this series in the closing weeks of the regular season when they soared to the top wild card spot.

RP: Padres in two. The Cubs and Padres have had the best two offenses in baseball during the second half, but both teams have rotation issues. With that in mind, I have to pick the team with the better bullpen, and that’s San Diego by a mile. Home field advantage is also huge for the Padres, who fell to Chicago at Wrigley in this round last year.

WL: Cubs in three. Chicago is really putting the adage of “pitching wins in the postseason” to the test. If that’s true, San Diego should win—the Cubs are MLB’s best hitting and fielding team, but own one of the three worst pitching staffs in the playoffs. But Chicago was a better team all year long until the season’s final few weeks. San Diego’s rotation isn’t all that great, either, so I think Chicago can build a couple of early leads to neutralize Petco Park’s home-field advantage and use an all-hands-on-deck approach with its arms to advance.

KR: Padres in three. San Diego managed to secure home field advantage for this series, and that should play into their favor against the Cubs and its potent offense. The Padres own MLB’s third-best home ERA (3.48), while Cubs pitching has surrendered the second-most home runs on the road this season (108).

NS: Cubs in three. Yankees-Red Sox is the wild-card series with the most hype, but this will be the best series of the four. The Cubs feature the deepest lineup—both offensively and defensively—in the sport, and this will be Pete Crow-Armstrong's chance to author a signature playoff run following a historic regular season. The Padres have home-field advantage, an elite bullpen and plenty of talent to take Chicago down, but give me the Cubs by the thinnest of margins.

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Logan Henderson — Brewers rookie pitcher Logan Henderson (11–3, 2.47 ERA) will likely follow Jacob Misiorowski in Milwaukee's playoff rotation. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

World Series picks

TV: Brewers over Yankees in seven. Small ball wins. Milwaukee finally gets rewarded by a throwback style that makes them the first champion in a full season without 199 home runs since the 2015 Royals—an analytics revolution ago. The world knows how good Jacob Misiorowski is, but they will discover the Brewers’ bullpen is a deeper, harder-throwing version of the pen of those ’15 Royals.

RP: Dodgers over Rays in six. The Dodgers may look more vulnerable than they have in three years, but their roster is still baseball’s most loaded and getting healthy at the right time. The Rays get here on the backs of Junior Caminero and an elite pitching staff. In the end, the rematch of the COVID World Series ends the same way, with the Dodgers taking it in six games.

WL: Brewers over Red Sox in seven. This is Milwaukee’s eighth playoff appearance in nine years, and none of the previous ones have even resulted in a World Series appearance. But none of those teams had Jacob Misiorowski at the peak of his powers. The Miz, rookie phenom Logan Henderson and Milwaukee’s loaded bullpen have what it takes to keep MLB’s best offenses at bay. As for the Red Sox, I love the top three of their rotation (Sonny Gray, Payton Tolle, Ranger Suarez), deep lineup and underrated bullpen. Just not more than I like the best team in baseball.

KR: Dodgers over Yankees in five. L.A. will lean on its elite starting rotation to silence an inconsistent New York lineup, even if Aaron Judge is back in the mix. The Dodgers will get off to a strong start at home in Games 1 and 2, before stealing two more wins on the road in the Bronx to become the third organization in MLB history to complete a three-peat.

NS: Brewers over Red Sox in six. Now this would be a World Series matchup that flies in the face of the modern game. The Brewers ranked 29th this year in home runs, while the Red Sox were 26th. Milwaukee's pitching is unmatched, and what the Brewers lack in power hitting, they more than make up for with power pitching. The AL playoff field is wide open, so I'll take Boston as a bit of a flier to cap their turnaround season with a run to the Fall Classic. The Red Sox have found success with its light-hitting approach, but they merely adopted the dark. The Brewers were born in it.

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