See the moment an MLB superstar showed up to play backyard wiffle ball
Kansas City Royals catcher, Salvador Perez, stops to join a group of kids in a backyard game of wiffle ball in Kansas City, Kansas.
USA Today
With no more than eight games separating the top five teams in each league, Major League Baseball‘s playoff field remains an exercise in fluidity as the regular season winds down.
While a handful of division leaders have comfortable leads — counting down increasingly granular magic numbers to clinch — the wild-card spots and overall seedings are very much up for grabs.
Here’s how the American and National league playoff fields stack up if the postseason began today:
(Updated through games played Sept. 19)
American LeagueTop seeds
No. 1 New York Yankees (90-64) – bye to AL Division Series, vs. Royals-Orioles winner
No. 2 Cleveland Guardians (90-65) – bye to AL Division Series, vs. Twins-Astros winner
AL wild card series
No. 6 Minnesota Twins (81-73) at No. 3 Houston Astros (84-70)
No. 5 Kansas City Royals (82-72) at No. 4 Baltimore Orioles (86-68)
National LeagueTop seeds
No. 1 Philadelphia Phillies (92-62), bye to NL Division Series vs. Padres-Diamondbacks winner
No. 2 Los Angeles Dodgers (92-62), bye to NL Division Series, vs. Brewers-Mets winner
NL wild card series
No. 6 New York Mets (85-69) at No. 3 Milwaukee Brewers (88-66)
No. 5 Arizona Diamondbacks (86-68) at No. 4 San Diego Padres (88-66)
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.