MLB 2026 regular season ends, postseason matchup confirmed

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jang Hyeon-gu = The 2026 regular season of the American professional baseball Major League (MLB), which involves 162 games per team, concluded on the 28th (Korean time).

The Houston Astros confirmed first place in the American League (AL) West Division on the last day, completing the postseason brackets for the two major leagues.

The Tampa Bay Rays, ranked 1st in the Eastern Division, received the 1st seed in the AL, and the Cleveland Guardians, the Central Division champion, received the 2nd seed and advanced directly to the Division Series (DS, 3 wins out of 5 games).

Houston (3rd seed) and the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox, ranked 1st to 3rd in the wild card, will play the Wild Card Series (WC, 2 wins out of 3) with the 4th to 6th seeds.

Houston, the White Sox, and the Yankees and Boston will face each other in the WC, and the winning team will advance to the DS to face Cleveland and Tampa Bay, respectively.

In the National League (NL), the Milwaukee Brewers, ranked 1st in the Central Division, went straight to the DS as the 1st seed with the 1st overall winning percentage, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, ranked 1st in the West, went straight to DS as the 2nd seed.

The Atlanta Braves (3rd seed), ranked first in the East, and the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies, ranked 1st to 3rd in the wild card, are preparing for the fall classic as seeds 4th to 6th.

As expected, the winner of Atlanta-Philadelphia and San Diego-Cubs will face the Dodgers and Milwaukee, respectively, in DS.

Attention is focused on whether Kim Ha-seong (Atlanta), Song Seong-moon (San Diego), and Kim Hye-seong (Dodgers) will enjoy fall baseball as they are included in the postseason roster.

Ha-Seong Kim, who fell on the ice earlier this year and fell to the floor after injuring the middle finger of his right hand, played as a shortstop at number 7 in the final game against the Miami Marlins and finished the regular season with no hits in two at-bats, two walks, and one run.

Ha-seong Kim's regular season record is a batting average of 0.116, no home runs, and 9 RBIs.

Song Seong-moon also appeared as the 8th hitter and shortstop in the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, recording no hits in 3 at-bats, 1 walk, and 1 run.

Song Seong-moon's performance in his big league debut year was a batting average of 0.191, 1 home run, 17 RBI, and 13 stolen bases.

Kim Hye-seong, who was unable to move up after being sent down to the minor league at the end of May, ended her second year in the big league with a batting average of 0.259, 1 home run, 11 RBI, and 5 stolen bases.

This year's MLB postseason begins with the Wild Card Series from the 30th to October 2.

The Division Series between the WC winner and the 1st and 2nd seeds will be held between October 4 and October 11, the League Championship Series (LCS, 4 wins out of 7 games) will be held from October 12 to 21, and the long-awaited World Series (4 wins out of 7 games) will be held from October 24.