Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) hits a double in the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium.

The 2025 Major League Baseball regular season is down to its final couple of weeks, with plenty of teams hoping for a spot in the playoffs.

Entering play Friday, Sept. 12, no team had qualified for the postseason. With most teams down to the final 15-16 games on their 2025 schedule, the battle to get into the playoffs in both the American League and National League promises to go down to the wire.

While the MLB playoffs used to be restricted to division winners, we are now in the 30th year of the wild card era, with the current format (including three wild card teams) coming online in 2022. It is possible that a team could have to win 13 playoff games, and could play up to 22 times, to lift the Commissioner's Trophy at the end of the World Series.

Here's a breakdown of how the MLB playoff format works:

MLB playoff format, explained

The 2025 MLB playoff format is a familiar one for baseball fans. Twelve teams in total will qualify for the postseason with six teams each coming from the American League and National League.

Each league is divided up into three divisions: Central, East, and West. The top three playoff seeds in both leagues will go to the teams that finish atop those divisions at the end of the 162-game regular season. The three division winners all advance to the playoffs, joined by the three remaining teams with the best record (regardless of division).

The two division winners with the best records will get a bye directly to the Division Series, while the third division winner and the other three clubs have to play through a Wild Card Series. The two Wild Card Series winners will take on the top two division winners in the Division Series round, with the winners of those pairings advancing to the Championship Series.

The two teams to come out on top at that stage will meet in the 2025 World Series.

How many games in each MLB playoff round?

  • Wild Card Series: Best-of-three
  • Division Series: Best-of-five
  • Championship Series: Best-of-seven
  • World Series: Best-of-seven

How does MLB playoff bracket work?

The MLB playoffs do not re-seed, with the bracket set in stone once the playoffs start.

Here's how the bracket works in both the American League and the National League:

Wild Card Series

  • Third-best division winner (3) vs. Third-best wild card (6)
  • Best wild card (4) vs. Second-best wild card (5)

Division Series

  • Best division winner (1) vs. Winner of 4-5 Wild Card Series
  • Second-best division winner (2) vs. Winner of 3-6 Wild Card Series

Championship series

  • Two Division Series winners (higher seed gets four home games)

World Series

  • ALCS winner vs. NLCS winner (team with best regular-season winning percentage gets four home games)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB playoff format: How does baseball postseason bracket work?

Reporting by Jason Anderson, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect