{"id":221528,"date":"2026-08-22T02:18:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T02:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/mlb-playoff-picture-which-wannabes-can-win-the-world-series-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T02:18:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T02:18:23","slug":"mlb-playoff-picture-which-wannabes-can-win-the-world-series-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/mlb-playoff-picture-which-wannabes-can-win-the-world-series-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB playoff picture: Which wannabes can win the World Series? – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are few tasks more vexing than trying to find greatness lurking amid mediocrity. And that brings us to the final five weeks of Major League Baseball\u2019s season.
The contenders are real: Congratulations in advance to the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>, Milwaukee Brewers<\/a>, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs<\/a>, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees and, probably, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox.
You\u2019re going to the playoffs.
Four of those teams will receive first-round byes and thus avoid playing in the best-of-three wild card series, further enhancing their championship odds. But what to make of the mid, the uninspiring, the 12 teams lurking within four games of a playoff spot, yet far from guaranteed an October ticket?
More important, are they worth our time? Are they simply two-and-out fodder to provide television inventory to the networks and the league and the gambling-addicted masses?
Can they win the World Series?
Breaking down six teams within the disappointing dozen who absolutely can win it all \u2013 if they can simply get in the playoffs:
Playoff odds (per FanGraphs<\/strong>): 90.3%
Yes, the Phillies can win the World Series. Probably have a better shot than many realize.
But that\u2019s the kind of year it\u2019s been in Philly, a season seemingly destined for just two outcomes: Surprisingly glorious or utter despair. It looked like the latter for several stretches of this season, but now, they\u2019ve won 13 of 18 and put distance between themselves and the Marlins and Cardinals of the world.
Their chances are naturally enhanced by a starting trio that can stand up to the Dodgers and Brewers: Cristopher Sa\u0301nchez, Jesus Luzardo and Zack Wheeler. Luis Arraez\u2019s arrival added crucial contact to a lineup that can be too stationary. Yet their October fate will likely come down to the command of set-up men Orion Kerkering and Jonathan Bowlan. Kind of a scary way to live, and Phillies fans are in for either a soul-crushing or titillating ride.
Playoff odds<\/strong>: 21.1%
For all the appropriate hand-wringing over Vladimir Guerrero\u2019s lack of power and production, it\u2019s easy to forget about the guy who really makes this club go: Alejandro Kirk. The catcher and hitting savant missed 62 games with a left thumb fracture, a period in which the Blue Jays went 29-33. Kirk is now far removed from that injury and on a heater, batting .393 with a 1.074 OPS over his last 17 games.
No surprise the Blue Jays are 13-4 in that span, including series wins over Boston, Houston, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and the Yankees. They did the best job of any team in recent memory at playing the middle at the trade deadline, dealing rotation stalwart Kevin Gausman and reliever Jeff Hoffman yet getting an extra year of control with Jose Soriano in the rotation, while holding crucial pieces like closer Louis Varland.
The defending AL champs haven\u2019t given off \u201cdon\u2019t let them get hot vibes\u201d all season. Yet just when everyone stopped paying attention, they\u2019ve gotten hot. Beware.
Playoff odds<\/strong>: 53.9%
Speaking of getting hot, the Padres have left their early-season hitting miseries<\/a> behind and are 20-12 since the break, trailing only the Cubs in runs scored in that span. Averaging 5.1 runs per game will help any staff and now deadline acquisition Casey Mize is starting to lock in, giving up two runs in 12 innings of his past two starts.
This core is on track for its third consecutive playoff berth and fourth in five years. At some point, that experience is going to matter.
Playoff odds:<\/strong> 37.3%
A relatively big unknown here with the Ketel Marte semi-annual absence, but assuming his knee is sound<\/a> and he returns to the fold, Arizona remains a difficult out.
And pitching, not their All-Star second baseman, is the reason why. There\u2019s suddenly a very good starting troika in the desert, led by left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, who has covered 149 1\/3 innings \u2013 fourth in the NL \u2013 with a 2.71 ERA. Brandon Pfaadt, a 2023 World Series starter, spent most of June in the minors but has reemerged as a new man, going 7-0 with a 1.79 ERA over 10 starts; Arizona has won nine of them.
It might be a bit patronizing to call them \u201cpesky,\u201d due to their .398 slugging percentage ranking 10th in the NL. But \u201cpesky\u201d is a very good thing when you strike out far less than your peers \u2013 their 936 punchouts are fewest in the NL, with only the Blue Jays and Rays fanning less often.
Playoff odds<\/strong>: 30.1%
Have we given up on these guys? Just about. The Mariners continue to provide ample reason not to believe in them<\/a>. But still.
They have the advantage of two races to run, lurking four games back in the awful AL West and three out in the wild card. There are 34 games left. That\u2019s plenty of time.
And that vaunted starting rotation? It still covers more innings than any in the big leagues, while ranking fourth in WHIP and sixth in strikeouts. Why did it take so long for Kade Anderson to earn a call-up<\/a>? Is Cal Raleigh that bad? Can they produce just their second winning month this season in this weird 7-10 August?
So many reasons not to believe. Yet we just can\u2019t quit these guys.
Playoff odds<\/strong>: 14.7%
They didn\u2019t totally wave the white flag at the trade deadline \u2013 more a shade of beige \u2013 and it\u2019s hard to prop up a club that traded the greatest left-hander in the game<\/a> right now. But like the Mariners, the Tigers have two ports of entry to October, a hit machine who will come as close as any since Aaron Judge to pulling off a Rookie of the Year\/MVP double and a manager who knows how to push the buttons this time of year.
Yet can Kevin McGonigle and A.J. Hinch fully prop up a depleted rotation and already-leaky bullpen? Probably not \u2013 particularly with Riley Greene\u2019s hamstring strain putting him on ice at least a few more days.
But the Tigers sneaked into the playoffs in \u201924 and \u201925 and were very, very noisy both times. One of these days it\u2019s going to click \u2013 even if Troy Melton and Keider Montero, and not Tarik Skubal, must be the rotation bulwarks.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are few tasks more vexing than trying to find greatness lurking amid mediocrity. And that brings us to the final five weeks of Major League Baseball\u2019s season.The contenders are real: Congratulations in advance to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees and, probably, the Boston […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":221529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}