Tracking every MLB team that’s already clinched a playoff spot

Back in March, 30 teams began the season hoping to be one of the 12 to earn entry into October. Slowly but surely, those spots are being filled — with both the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays punching their tickets to the postseason this week, we’re officially in clinching season.

Of course, the Brewers and Rays have bigger fish to fry than merely punching their tickets to October. But this is the first step on the road to a World Series, and plenty of teams will be hoping to follow in their footsteps in the coming days and weeks. Which ones are next in line? That’s why you’re here, and we’ve got all the magic number information you need to know as September rolls on.

Which MLB teams have clinched playoff spots?

The criteria for when an MLB team has clinched a playoff berth is straightforward: Essentially, their lead over every non-playoff team is so wide that there’s no time left in the season to close that gap even if the team in question were to lose all of its remaining games. The formula to calculate a team’s magic number is actually pretty simple:

• Total Games in Season + 1 − Leader’s Wins − Trailing Team’s Losses

There’s still a ton that we don’t know about MLB’s final playoff bracket. Now, though, we can at least start saying some things with certainty.

Milwaukee Brewers

• Next up: NL Central/No. 1 overall seed

There’s punching your ticket, and then there’s busting through the wall like the Kool-Aid man. Milwaukee chose the latter route to October, clinching a postseason spot via a 20-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday. It’s a fitting exclamation point to what’s been yet another sensational regular season for the Brewers, currently in possession of the best record in baseball.

The question now: Can they finally pay it off in October? Clinching home-field throughout the playoffs by holding off the Dodgers and Braves would help, but first up will be sewing up the NL Central.

Tampa Bay Rays

• Next up: NL Central/No. 1 overall seed

From one top seed to another, the Rays also earned their spot in October with style on Friday, as Junior Caminero launched a walk-off homer to secure a win over the Houston Astros. Tampa can’t afford to celebrate for long, though, as the New York Yankees are still just three games back in the AL East — and the loser of that race will drop all the way to the No. 4 seed.

Which MLB teams could clinch a playoff spot next?

We now know two of the 12 teams that will comprise this year’s postseason bracket. Which teams might be up to celebrate next? Here are the smallest magic numbers left.

The Yankees and Dodgers could clinch playoff spots this weekend, but celebrations should be pretty muted. New York and L.A. are both looking to avoid first-round playoff series that could put World Series hopes in jeopardy far too early.

Really, the worry for most (if not all) of the teams in the table above are division races and postseason positioning, rather than simply making the dance at all. And with just weeks remaining, there are only two divisions that feel more or less sewn up.

The Braves have a chance to put the NL East in a stranglehold if they can finish the weekend strong against the second-place Phillies. All three divisions in the AL are very much up for grabs, though, which means we’ll have plenty to sweat out from now until the end of September.