Ahead of these exciting matchups, we asked a number of MLB.com experts to weigh in and make their predictions on how the Wild Card round of the 2025 postseason will turn out. Check out their picks for each series below.
Tigers (6) at Guardians (3)
These two AL Central rivals will meet in a rare postseason rematch after Cleveland took a thrilling AL Division Series from Detroit in five games in 2024. Lane Thomas’ go-ahead grand slam off Tarik Skubal in Game 5 sent the Guardians to the ALCS, where they lost to the Yankees in five games.
It’s remarkable that Cleveland is even hosting this series as the AL Central winner after trailing Detroit by as many as 15 1/2 games in early July. But the Guardians roared back, pulling off the largest comeback for a division or league title in history. They finished a game ahead of the Tigers to earn the right to host the three-game Wild Card Series.
Our voters were pretty split on their predictions for this series. A slight majority picked the Guardians to stay hot and take down the Tigers for the second straight year, but plenty chose Detroit (with Skubal pitching Game 1) to recapture its first-half success and advance to the Division Series.
“Losing 41 of their last 69 games won’t give them momentum, but the Tigers have the perfect setup to advance: Win with the AL’s best pitcher and split the remaining two games.” — Tom Vourtsis, editor
Red Sox (5) at Yankees (4)
MLB’s most famous rivalry is about to be renewed in the postseason. For the second time in the past five seasons, the Red Sox and Yankees will face off in the playoffs, where they have a perfectly even 12-12 record against each other dating back to their first postseason matchup in 1999. The Red Sox won their most recent clash, the 2021 AL Wild Card Game, en route to the ALCS — their most recent postseason experience.
If the Sox are to get deep into October once again, they’ll have to start by beating a Yankees team against which Boston enjoyed considerable success in 2025. The Red Sox went 9-4 against their division rivals, including eight straight wins and a 5-2 record at Yankee Stadium.
“The Red Sox have the better Game 1 starter and the league’s sixth-ranked bullpen since the Trade Deadline. The Yankees’ bullpen ranks 26th over that same stretch.” — Anthony DiComo, reporter
Winners of their 12th NL West title in the past 13 seasons, the Dodgers are playing in the Wild Card round of the postseason for the first time since 2021. The defending World Series champions are heavy favorites against the Reds, who claimed the final NL Wild Card berth on a tiebreaker with the Mets.
With flamethrower Hunter Greene and lefties Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo, the Reds will rely on their pitching to pull what would be a considerable upset. A big series from Elly De La Cruz, who appeared to rediscover his power late in the regular season with three homers in his final nine games, could help Cincinnati advance to the Division Series against the Phillies.
But for as good as De La Cruz and Cincinnati’s top arms are, the Dodgers roster is downright scary. Los Angeles has Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto slated to start on the mound in Games 1 and 2, and Shohei Ohtani looms for a potential Game 3. With Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández leading the lineup and a talented — if mercurial — bullpen, it’s hard to pick against the Dodgers in any round. By a large majority, our voters chose them to beat the Reds and advance to the Division Series.
“It’s easy to think of the Dodgers as a massive favorite here, but there really is no such thing in a best-of-three series, especially given the starting pitchers the Reds can put on the mound.” — Andrew Simon, national content director
Coming off last year’s heartbreaking NLDS loss to the Dodgers in five games, the Padres are back in the postseason for the fourth time in six seasons. They’ll face the Cubs — making their first trip to the playoffs since 2020 — in a best-of-three at Wrigley Field for the right to play the top-seeded Brewers in the NLDS.
With Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado in the lineup and a stacked relief corps, the Padres were our voters’ clear pick to advance. But don’t count out the Cubs, who possess one of the best lineups in the Majors and have lefty starters Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga set to pitch. If Chicago had rookie Cade Horton (rib fracture) healthy, the results of our poll might have been quite different.
“Two of the Cubs’ most important bats — Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong — are heating up at the perfect time, and that will prove to be the difference-maker in what’ll surely be a loud few days at the Friendly Confines.” — Casey Drottar, producer
