The October baseball chaos and knockout drama are at the door, as the 2025 MLB Postseason kicks off this Tuesday. The Los Angeles Dodgers are the defending champions, having beaten the New York Yankees last year to win the World Series, and they will start their title defense by facing the Cincinnati Reds.
This Major League Baseball season had it all, from big teams missing the playoffs to a lot of underdogs performing well, but the playoffs are what matter the most. The 2025 MLB Postseason full schedule has been released after the regular season ended, and it is set to start on Tuesday, September 30, with the Wild Card Round, while the World Series will begin on October 24 and potentially end on November 1 if it reaches game seven.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were expected to have one of the best MLB seasons in history, but they had a little drop in performance. The Atlanta Braves were second on the power rankings before the season, but they failed to qualify for the playoffs after doing that successfully for seven consecutive years. Teams like the New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, and the Arizona Diamondbacks had a disappointing season and will miss the playoffs.
| ℹ️ Tournament: | 2025 Major League Baseball Postseason (MLB 2025 Playoffs) |
| 🏟️ Venues: | Baseball venues across the United States |
| 🗓️ Dates: | 30 September – 1 November 2025 |
Here’s a look at the top contenders and the latest odds to win the 2025 MLB World Series title from the best baseball bookies:
The Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Seattle Mariners are the top three favorites, according to the latest MLB playoffs 2025 odds. The Phillies had the second-best record in the league this season, with 96 wins and 66 losses. Missing Zach Wheeler will be a big hit for them, but they are still very capable of winning the title with this roster. The Dodgers won two championships in the last five years, and they are looking stronger than ever with most of their injured players coming back.
The Seattle Mariners could be the surprise of the season, having beaten the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers to win the AL West Division. They are the only team in the league that have never reached a World Series, but they are coming off their best season in more than 20 years. The Toronto Blue Jays beat the New York Yankees on tiebreakers to win the AL regular season with a 94-68 record. They have a bye from the Wild Card, so that makes their route to the World Series easier, but it’s still hard with a potential ALDS clash with the Yankees in sight.
The Milwaukee Brewers are only the 5th favorites to win the title, despite finishing with the best regular-season record in MLB. They lost five of their last seven games and aren’t in their best form, but that could change in the postseason.
The 2025 MLB playoff bracket is finally set after an exciting regular season. This will be the fourth edition with the 12-team postseason format, as the top two teams in each league receive a bye from the Wild Card Round: the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners from the AL, and the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies from the NL.
There are four matchups in the Wild Card Round, and they are decided with a best-of-three series, as the winners qualify for the Division Series, which will be a set of best-of-five series. The winners from the Division Series will advance to play the League Championship Series, which is played in a best-of-seven format. The ALCS and NLCS winners will clash in the World Series for the championship, also in a best-of-seven series.
Here is how the last five World Series matchups ended:
2 (100%)
0
It’s true that the Dodgers won’t have a bye from the Wild Card like they had last season, but they have the easiest matchup in that round against the Cincinnati Reds, who barely qualified on the last day of the season. The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series last year, despite having most of their pitchers injured, but this time they have Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow.
In addition to the MVP contender Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers have some of the most talented hitters, like Freddie Freeman, Andy Pages, Teoscar Hernandez, Will Smith, and Mookie Betts. The best bookmakers for MLB have them as one of the top two contenders for a reason, and they will be motivated to be the first team to win back-to-back titles in the last 25 years.
2 (100%)
0
The Seattle Mariners couldn’t be closer to a World Series appearance than now with this performance. They finished the regular season with a 90-72 record, which is their best in decades. The Mariners had a great 17-1 run before losing their series to the Dodgers to end the season, and they are clearly the best team in the American League right now, with the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and Toronto Blue Jays all being inconsistent.
Cal Raleigh is one of the top favorites to win the AL MVP, having hit 60 home runs to be the 7th player to achieve that in a single season in the league’s history. Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena have also been great throughout the season. The Mariners will have a bye from the Wild Card, and they should handle either the Detroit Tigers or the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS.
1 (100%)
0
The Cleveland Guardians have been a nightmare for the Detroit Tigers this season, beating them in five of their last six head-to-head games in September. The Tigers had a great start to the season, but they had a big drop-off in their performance in the last three months, as they have lost 13 of their last 16 games. The Guardians are the complete opposite, as they have won 14 of their last 17 games, and they are in their best form of the season right now. Cleveland will also have the home-field advantage in this matchup.
1 (50%)
(50%) 1
The San Diego Padres are on fire right now, having won seven of their last eight games. The Padres swept the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-0 in the last series of the season, and they also beat the Milwaukee Brewers, who had the best record in the league, 2-1, before that. The Chicago Cubs lost six of their last 10 games, and they are a bit shaky right now. The Padres and Cubs split their head-to-head games this season 3-3, as the Padres beat them in three of their last four games.
The Padres have a great advantage in the bullpen in this matchup with players like Mason Miller and Robert Suarez, as they have one of the best bullpens in the playoffs, if not the best, while the Cubs are very weak in that area after the Cade Horton injury.
To conclude this 2025 MLB World Series betting guide, here are our recommended picks ahead of the playoffs:
This postseason will definitely be an exciting and competitive one, and we will go with the Los Angeles Dodgers to defend their title. Make sure you use our MLB 2025 predictions and bet them at the US sportsbooks and sports betting apps to have more fun watching the event.
