2025 MLB playoff predictions: Expert picks for entire postseason bracket, including World Series champion
The 2025 MLB postseason gets started Tuesday. Who's winning it all this year?
By
CBS Sports Staff
•
4 min read
The 2025 MLB playoff field is set and all that's left is all the glory. The Wild Card Series begin Tuesday afternoon with four best-of-three matchups. From there, those four winners will move onto the League Division Series, where the top two teams in each league will join the mix after a first-round bye.
The winners of the best-of-five Division Series move on to the best-of-seven League Championship Series, and, of course, the best-of-seven World Series. (You can check out the full playoff bracket and schedule.)
By the end of the day on Nov. 1, we'll have a World Series winner and plans for a parade. Here's a look at how the playoffs are laid out:
American League
First-round byes
No. 1 Blue Jays, No. 2 Mariners
Wild Card Series
No. 3 Guardians vs. No. 6 Tigers
No. 4 Yankees vs. No. 5 Red Sox
National League
First-round byes
No. 1 Brewers, No. 2 Phillies
Wild Card Series
No. 3 Dodgers vs. No. 6 Reds
No. 4 Cubs vs. No. 5 Padres
And now here are our staff picks for the 2025 postseason from CBS Sports MLB writers. We're predicting every round of the bracket from the Wild Card Series through the World Series.
R.J. Anderson's bracket
World Series pick: Dodgers over Yankees
Explanation: A lot of chalk here. The only real upsets, I think, are the Tigers over the Guardians (it's a coin flip) and the Padres over the Cubs (weird things happen in short series against teams with good, deep bullpens). Otherwise? I apologize for repeating last year's World Series matchup. If it's any consolation, the biggest wild cards are the Yankees and Dodgers bullpens. More power to you if you think you can accurately predict what this or that reliever is going to do over their next few weeks of work, but I don't share your confidence in that ability. I think the Dodgers' regular season numbers -- and mind you, they finished with the third-best run differential in the NL -- understate how good this team is now that they have a healthy stable of starting pitchers.
Mike Axisa's bracket
World Series pick: Phillies over Mariners
Explanation: The Mariners strike me as a team that will be very dangerous in October. They can actually hit -- this isn't one of those no-offense Mariners teams -- and once they shrink their pitching staff down to their eight or nine most trusted arms, they'll be a handful. I could see any of the three AL East teams making noise. I just like Seattle a little more right now. If Zack Wheeler were healthy, I would feel better about the Phillies, but I still love the power in the lineup and the depth of their rotation. They'll figure out the bullpen along the way. Going with the Cubs despite losing Cade Horton through at least the NLDS is my "surprise" pick. They are a pretty complete team, especially with Kyle Tucker back. It feels like the Dodgers' series will come down to Dave Roberts trusting Tanner Scott in a situation he's not really qualified to pitch in right now.
Julian McWilliams' bracket
World Series pick: Phillies over Mariners
Explanation: The Guardians are on a roll, and while Detroit snuck into the Wild Card Series, they look flat. Outside of Riley Greene and Tarik Skubal, there's not much to fear. The playoffs are a different beast, and the Red Sox starters beyond Garrett Crochet look gassed. Boston had a promising season, but I believe it ends in New York. The American League is wide open -- unless we're talking about the Mariners. Top to bottom, Seattle is the best team in the league. They'll handle the Yankees in the ALCS.
Short series are always dangerous, and Hunter Greene on the mound for the Reds is no exception. But the Dodgers are the Dodgers. The Padres will make it out of the Wild Card Series, but beyond that, they're questionable. I still don't trust them to do the little things right, and the Brewers, built on fundamentals, will feast on that. Despite the injury to Zack Wheeler, this feels like the Phillies' year. They'll win the National League.
Dayn Perry's bracket
World Series pick: Phillies over Mariners
Explanation: I think the front-heavy Reds rotation makes them dangerous in a best-of-three, and it says here the reigning champs will learn that the hard way. Elsewhere, the Phillies' rotation remains a pronounced strength even without Zack Wheeler, and the first-round bye will be a boon to Trea Turner's health at the top of the lineup. That uncommonly balanced Brewers lineup will carry them to a series win and should put real heat on the Phillies in the NLCS. On the American League side, it feels even more wide open, and you can squint and see any team other than the Guardians and their negative run differential coming out of the AL bracket. I lean Mariners thanks to the strength of their offense, the deep rotation, and of course the benefits of that bye. In the World Series, the Phils will break through thanks to that rotation and the Kyle Schwarber-Bryce Harper combo against that all-righty Seattle rotation.
Matt Snyder's bracket
World Series pick: Phillies over Mariners
Explanation: This is a total crapshoot and it feels even more unpredictable this season given how many ups and downs every contending team has had. Absolutely nothing here would surprise me. I'm going with the Phillies to win it all because they feel like the strongest, top to bottom, in terms of how they're built for the postseason. I went with the Mariners due to how strong they looked down the stretch, but the Yankees closed pretty strong as well. It's a toss up for me there. Keep in mind, the Mariners are the only team to have never played in a World Series and it's possible that swayed me internally. After all, it's a crapshoot.
