When Does the Major League Baseball Playoffs Start?

Find out when the Major League Baseball Playoffs start so you can make sure to catch all the action.

Introduction

The Major League Baseball playoffs are a postseason tournament held every October in the United States, featuring four teams from each of the two American League (AL) divisions and four teams from each of the two National League (NL) divisions. The tournament culminates in the World Series, a best-of-seven playoff between the AL and NL champions.

What is the Major League Baseball Playoffs?

The Major League Baseball playoffs are a postseason tournament held after the conclusion of the MLB regular season. The tournament is used to determine which team will represent the league in the World Series, the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB).

How the Major League Baseball Playoffs Work

The Major League Baseball playoffs are a ladder tournament held after the conclusion of the MLB regular season to determine the league’s pennant winner. The single-elimination tournament expanded from four teams in 1995 to eight teams in 2012.

The playoffs are structured so that four teams from each league play each other in two first-round series, two Division Series (DS). The winners of those series advance to the best-of-seven League Championship Series (LCS). The winners of each LCS advance to the best-of-seven World Series.

So, when do the MLB playoffs start? Check out the schedule below.

MLB Playoffs Schedule
+ Wild Card Game (2): October 2
+ LDS Game 1 (4): October 3
+ LDS Game 2 (4): October 4
+ LDS Game 3 (4): October 6
+ LDS Game 4* (4): October 7
+ LDS Game 5* (4): October 9
+ NLCS Game 1 (2): October 11
+ NLCS Game 2 (2): October 12
+ NLCS Game 3 (2): October 14
+ NLCS Game 4* (2): October 15
+ NLCS Game 5*(2): October 17

*If Necessary

When Do the Major League Baseball Playoffs Start?

The American League and National League playoffs begin on the same day, usually the Wednesday after the final Sunday of the Major League Baseball regular season
(which is also the last day of the MLB season). playoff games are not played on Monday or Tuesday to give teams a chance to travel.

The first two games of each series are played at the home ballpark of the team with the better regular-season record. If a series is tied at 1–1, then games 3 and 4 (and, if necessary, game 5) are played at the home ballpark of
the other team. If a series is tied at 2–2, then games 5–7 are played in a best-of-seven format. In all rounds except for the World Series,
the higher seed has home-field advantage regardless of whether its better record was in a divisional or wildcard playoff game.

The Major League Baseball playoffs start with two wildcard games on October 1, followed by four Division Series from October 3 to 10. The winners of each Division Series advance to face off in
the best-of-seven American League Championship Series (ALCS) and National League Championship Series (NLCS), respectively, with those winners continuing on to play in the best-of-seven World Series.
The entire Major League Baseball postseason schedule is typically completed within six weeks from start to finish.

Conclusion

So, when does the Major League Baseball playoffs start? The answer is that it depends on the year, but it is typically around the end of September or early October. So, start preparing your game-watching schedule now!