What to watch during MLB's
best-of-5 Division Series
[October 04, 2025]
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
Major League Baseball’s playoffs now move into the Division Series,
which will include Shohei Ohtani's postseason pitching debut, an
unwelcome reunion in Milwaukee, a matchup of teams that tied for the
most wins in the American League, and a switch-hitting catcher who
finished the season with 60 home runs.
All four series begin Saturday, when two-way star Ohtani — already
with two home runs this postseason after hitting a career-high 55 in
the regular season — starts on the mound for the reigning World
Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 at Philadelphia. He
was recovering from elbow surgery while appearing only as a
designated hitter last season, but has a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts since
returning to pitching in mid-June.
In the other National League series, the 97-win Brewers open at home
against former manager Craig Counsell and the Chicago Cubs. Counsell
has been booed lustily in Milwaukee ever since he left two years ago
for the NL Central rival Cubs.
AL East rivals Toronto and the New York Yankees both won 94
regular-season games. Star slugger Cal Raleigh and Seattle take on
Detroit in the other American League series.
The Dodgers were the only team to sweep its best-of-three Wild Card
Series, winning at home against Cincinnati. The rest were decided
Thursday, the first time MLB had three postseason elimination games
on the same day: the Cubs beat San Diego; Detroit knocked out
Cleveland; and the Yankees eliminated Boston.
What to know about the Division Series
1. The Blue Jays and Yankees finished tied atop their division, but
Toronto got the AL's top seed and a first-round bye because of its
8-5 edge in the season series. New York had to play a Wild Card
Series against another division foe but beat Boston to advance.
Toronto could still be without shortstop Bo Bichette, out since
spraining his left knee Sept. 6, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George
Springer and All-Star catcher Alejandro Kirk boost a solid lineup.
Aaron Judge, who went 4 for 11 with one RBI against Boston, had a
major league-leading .331 batting average with 53 homers and 114
RBIs in the regular season.
2. Ohtani’s 55 homers were second in the NL and one behind Kyle
Schwarber, the Phillies DH he will face in the first inning after NL
batting champion Trea Turner leads off for them. Ohtani pitched only
47 innings while building up his arm, but threw five no-hit innings
against Philadelphia on Sept. 16. The Dodgers, who went 2-4 against
Philadelphia this year, are in the NLDS for the 13th season in a
row. During the 96-win Phillies’ five-day layoff between games, more
than 30,000 fans paid $10 to attend an intrasquad scrimmage at
Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia last won the World Series in 2008,
after beating the Dodgers in a five-game National League
Championship Series — just like the following year in their last
postseason meeting.
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Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh celebrates in the dugout after hitting
his 60th home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game
against the Colorado Rockies, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Seattle.
(AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
3. The Cubs advanced with their first postseason series victory
since 2017, the year after winning the World Series. Milwaukee led
the majors with 97 wins and won its second NL Central title in a row
since Pat Murphy, who was on Counsell’s staff, succeeded him as
manager. The Brewers won the division by five games over Chicago,
but the Cubs took the season series 7-6. Counsell is Milwaukee’s
winningest manager with 707 wins and three division titles from
2015-23. The Brewers had an NL-best 3.58 ERA with a staff led by
All-Star pitchers Freddy Peralta, the NL leader with 17 wins, and
closer Trevor Megill (6-3, 30 saves). The lineup with 2018 NL MVP
Christian Yelich scored 806 runs, their most since 1999.
4. Detroit blew a 15 1/2-game lead and lost the AL Central title to
Cleveland last weekend, but the Tigers are still playing after
beating the Guardians in the Wild Card Series. Tigers ace lefty
Tarik Skubal, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner who could win
that prize again, was picked by Detroit in the ninth round of the
2018 amateur draft out of Seattle University, which is only a couple
of miles from the Mariners' ballpark. AL West champion Seattle had
some extra time off, but the status of All-Star right-hander Bryan
Woo (15-7, 2.94 ERA) was still uncertain since he exited his last
start Sept. 19 because of pectoral tightness.
What is the MLB playoff format?
There were 12 teams that qualified for MLB’s postseason, six teams
from both the AL and NL. That is down to eight still alive.
The two teams with the best records in both the AL and NL advanced
directly to the Division Series with home-field advantage.
Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Seattle and Toronto haven't played since
Sept. 28, the last day of the regular season.
Division Series winners move on to the best-of-seven League
Championship Series, with the AL and NL pennant winners then playing
in the best-of-seven World Series.
What is the MLB postseason schedule?
Division Series: Oct. 4-11 (NL on TBS, AL on FOX/FS1)
Championship Series: Oct. 12-21 (NL on TBS, AL on FOX/FS1)
World Series: Oct. 24-Nov. 1 (FOX)
Who are the favorites to win the World Series?
The Dodgers (+360) are the favorite to win the World Series,
according to BetMGM Sportsbook. After that, it’s the Yankees (+475),
Phillies (+500), Mariners (+550), Cubs (+750), Brewers (+750), Blue
Jays (+800) and Tigers (+1000).
The Blue Jays opened the season at +6000 odds.
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