MLB Playoff Bracket 2024: Expert Hot Takes on Wild-Card Race

The hunt for the remaining Wild Card spots in the 2024 MLB Postseason is red-hot, with three different teams laying claim to the final two while one of the most unexpected success stories of the entire season clinched their ticket to the dance Friday night.

Ahead of the final games of the regular season, and in participation of what is sure to be a wild and unpredictable playoffs, find out what experts are saying about the struggling New York Mets, the surging Atlanta Braves, and the inspirational Detroit Tigers.

Nothing has gone as expected for the New York Mets thus far in the final games of the 2024 regular season.

Hurricane Helene canceled a pivotal series against the Atlanta Braves which will not conclude Monday with a doubleheader. Then, Friday night in Milwaukee, the team failed to show a spark in an 8-4 loss to the NL Central champion Brewers.

The New York Post’s Jon Heyman declared the no-good, very bad outing in Milwaukee “one of the worst performances of the season” and that “there was almost zero encouraging happening.”

He is not wrong, either.

Francisco Lindor returned to the lineup but is not close to his MVP-level self as he continues to deal with a back injury.

Ace pitcher Sean Manaea, the team’s best this season, lasted just 3.2 innings and gave up five earned runs, including a grand slam from the team’s own, personal Freddy Krueger, Rhys Hoskins.

Manager Carlos Mendoza was tossed after (rightly) arguing a (horrendously bad) called strike by umpire Ramon De Jesus and Francisco Alvarez left the game with back tightness after an awkward slide.

If what happened on the field was not bad enough, the Atlanta Braves defeated the Kansas City Royals on a strong effort by starter Max Fried (more on him in a moment) and are now engaged in a virtual tie with the Mets and defending NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks for the final two Wild Card spots.

If there is a positive for the team it is that they possess the tie-breaker with the D’backs so should those two teams be tied at the end of the season, the Mets would get the playoff nod.

The team can go 3-1 in their final four and clinch, per SNY. They can also go 2-2, but both those wins have to come against Atlanta for that scenario to play out. Should the team somehow manage a playoff berth before Monday’s scheduled games with the Braves, that doubleheader may not be played at all.

Regardless of how they get there, the Mets cannot afford to play like they did against Milwaukee Friday night or Atlanta on Thursday, when they lost 5-1. They have to find that momentum that drove them to a 3-1 series win over the Phillies that had them looking like the hottest team in the NL entering the final week.

It will not be easy.

The Mets face a sticky pitching situation with their two best, Manaea and Luis Severino, having been beaten up and bullpen depth being questionable all season.

Jose Quintana (10-9, 3.74 ERA, 126 SO) will take the mound against Milwaukee’s Jared Koenig (9-4, 2.51 ERA, 61 SO) Saturday night while no probable pitchers have been announced for the series-ender Sunday.

If Lindor is still banged up and cannot contribute to the level he had set for himself, the team must consider putting Luisangel Acuña back in the lineup.

In 10 games with the Mets, Acuña blasted three home runs, 12 hits, and only four strikeouts in 32 at-bats while accumulating a slash line of .375/.394/.781.

Preserving the NL MVP candidate for the postseason, when his on-field leadership will be most important, is the right call.

The Detroit Tigers were left for dead at the trade deadline, a seller who gave up one of their best arms (Jack Flaherty to Los Angeles) and a veteran outfielder beloved by his teammates (Mark Canha).

To say no one expected the team to accomplish much more than playing out the rest of the season would be an understatement.

Then came a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on August 11 that ran the team’s record to 56-63 and from that point on, all the Tigers have done is become the best in baseball with a record of 31-11 and a magical run that culminated Friday night with a 4-1 win over the historically bad Chicago White Sox that clinched them an AL Wild Card.

Yahoo’s Jake Mintz attributed the monumental turnaround, and Detroit’s first postseason bid since 2014, to a recipe that includes championship manager AJ Hinch, an extraordinary season from ace Tarik Skubal, a bullpen full of workhorse pitchers, a red-hot Kerry Carpenter, and solid hitting up and down the lineup.

He is right, too.

In a star-driven game, the Tigers have shown a collective grit and resiliency that has allowed them to scratch and claw their way out of the doldrums and into World Series contention.

It has been a team effort.

The Tigers front office believed in Hinch to lead the team coming off a suspension for his role in the 2017 Astros cheating scandal and he has repaid them by leading a band of young, inexperienced players.

Kerry Carpenter shook off an injury that kept him on the sidelines for three months to become the team’s best hitter, with 17 home runs and an OPS of .935.

Spencer Torkelson returned from a demotion to Triple-A, shook off the negative effect such a move can have on players, and is vastly improved from his poor start to the season.

The bullpen has done its job, establishing a .227 relief ERA and keeping the team in close games.

Like last year’s World Series teams, the Diamondbacks and Rangers, the team has momentum on its side and believes in itself. The manager, coaches, and players have survived the brutal stretch to start the season and have seen all of the adjustments and lineup changes payoff.

It creates mutual trust and confidence in the locker room, both elements of a team that can go into the playoffs, beat any opponent, and compete for a world title that seemed impossible two months ago.

Atlanta beat writer Gabe Burns has watched a lot of Braves baseball and not only believes last year’s NL East champs can get into the postseason but, when they do, will do damage.

“If the Braves can get into the postseason, this rotation is going to give them a chance. They would be a very tough out,” he posted on X.

While it remains to be seen if the Braves will ultimately make it to the dance, it is difficult to argue that their starting pitching makes them a difficult team to beat at a time of year when it makes all the difference.

Spencer Schwellenbach went 7.0 innings, gave up three hits, one earned run, and struck out four in the team’s crucial 5-1 victory over the Mets Thursday.

Friday, Max Fried proved why he will be one of the most coveted free agents this offseason, hurling an 8.2-inning gem in which he allowed just three hits and tallied nine strikeouts.

Veteran lefty Chris Sale will win the NL Cy Young Award to cap off a season in which he went 18-3 with an ERA of 2.38 and 225 strikeouts in 177. 2 innings while Reynaldo Lopez went 8-5 with a 2.03 ERA in 24 appearances, the best of his career.

Starting pitching has been a saving grace for a Braves team that has experienced an incredible rash of injuries in 2024, including the loss of last season’s NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr., and whose bats have not been nearly as hot as they were in 2023.

Even more impressive is the fact that the Braves rotation has been as great as it has been despite losing ace Spencer Strider to Tommy John surgery.

Lopez returns from his own time on the IL Saturday for a showdown with Kansas City in which the Braves have everything to gain as they fight for an NL Wildcard position with the Mets and Diamondbacks, and the newly clinched Royals have essentially nothing to lose.

If the team can continue its excellence over the final two games against the Royals and shut down the Mets as they did in that key Thursday win, the Braves will have a shot at proving Burns right.

And potentially go on one of the more unexpected runs in recent memory.