The Philadelphia Phillies have wrapped up the NL East, but the final week of the regular season still holds plenty of intrigue. With six games remaining, the Phils are eyeing a first-round bye, while potential NLDS opponents are far from settled. Here’s a breakdown of the scenarios and what fans should be (?) rooting for as the 2025 MLB Postseason approaches in less than a week.

Who Does No. 2 Work For?

The Phillies “magic number” for clinching a first-round bye is just two. That can be achieved through any of the following:

The path is extremely favorable for the Phillies.

They have two home series remaining—against the Miami Marlins and Minnesota Twins—both teams with little to play for. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers face tougher challenges, including a playoff push from the Arizona Diamondbacks and a Seattle Mariners squad fighting for AL home-field advantage. A little luck with the scoreboard could see Philly comfortably secure the second seed.

A Shot at the No. 1 Seed

Climbing to the top record in the National League is much more difficult. The Phillies trail the Milwaukee Brewers by 2.5 games, and the Brewers hold the tiebreaker thanks to their regular-season series win. For Philadelphia to overtake Milwaukee, they’d need to finish at least 5-1 over the final six games while the Brewers go 1-4 or worse. Milwaukee still faces two games against the San Diego Padres — who just clinched a Postseason berth — before ending the season against Wild Card hopeful Cincinatti Reds, making the 1-seed a long shot—but not impossible.

Who to Root For?

Note: we will do our best to update this daily! 

Assuming the Phillies secure the 2-seed (extremely likely), they would face the winner of the 3-vs-6 Wild Card series. Currently, that would likely be the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Cincinnati Reds, as the Reds hold the tiebreaker over the Mets for the final playoff spot. But the upstart D-backs are also a possibility, trailing the other two by one game.

To Clinch the 2-Seed (First-Round Bye):

To Keep the 1-Seed (Top NL Record, Long Shot):

Wild Card Watch (Potential NLDS Opponent):

Reds: Hold tiebreaker over Mets; win would likely set up a Dodgers-Reds Wild Card matchup.

Mets: Fans may quietly hope for a Reds win to avoid a Mets-Wild Card tiebreaker scenario.

Diamondbacks: They still trail by one game and face Dodgers and Padres— wins over LA and San Diego can help the Phillies playoff positioning but also potentially open the door those pesky snakes to make the Postseason.

Simple Takeaway:

Cheer for Phillies wins first.

Root for Dodgers and Brewers losses second.

Keep an eye on the Reds vs. Mets tiebreaker race for a likely NLDS matchup.