MLB Playoff Qualifications

Six teams from each league qualify for the playoffs: the three division winners (seeded 1–3 by record, with the top two earning a first-round bye), plus the next three best teams by record regardless of division (the wild cards).

• Clinched division
• Clinched wild-card berth
• Eliminated from the playoffs

A number in the grid is the magic number: the combined number of wins (by the row team) and losses (by the column team) needed for the row team to guarantee finishing ahead of the column team. “NC” (not clinched) means the column team currently has the better record, so no magic number applies in that direction yet.

If the row team has clinched the season series against the column team — either all of their head-to-head games are done and it won more, or its head-to-head lead is bigger than the number of meetings still left — its magic number is one lower than usual. A tie in the standings would go to the row team, so it only needs to force a tie rather than finish outright ahead.

Flip on tragic numbers above and the grid instead shows each row team’s elimination number (E#) against the column team — the same head-to-head math, just read from the trailing team’s side: the combined losses (by the row team) or wins (by the column team) that would mathematically eliminate the row team from finishing ahead of the column team. “NE” (not eliminated) means the row team currently has the better record, so no elimination number applies yet; “E” means that number has already reached zero.

Cells are flagged when a magic number has dropped since this morning's snapshot:

• ▼ down 1
• down 2 or more (e.g. a doubleheader)