MLB Wild Card

The MLB Wild Card is a playoff opportunity for teams that didn't win their division but performed well in the regular season. Introduced in 1995, one Wild Card team from each league initially entered the postseason. In 2012, a second Wild Card team was added per league, leading to a one-game playoff between the two Wild Card teams.

In 2022, MLB expanded to three Wild Card teams per league. The top two division winners receive byes, and the remaining division winner and three Wild Card teams compete in a best-of-three Wild Card Series. Winners advance to the Division Series, providing more teams with postseason chances and maintaining excitement in the playoff format.

MLB Wild Card History

MLB Wild Card system started in the year 1995 before this only division winners were allowed to advance to the World Series Championship. This gave a team who has not won their division still be able to participate in the World Series. The expansion to three divisions in 1994, delayed to 1995 due to a players' strike, introduced the Wild Card, allowing the best non-division-winning team to join the playoffs. They also introduced a new round of games called the Division Series in 1995. From 1998 onwards, the best team usually played against the Wild Card team, and the other two top teams played each other. In 2012, they added a second Wild Card, leading to a quick one-game playoff. In 2022, they made another change, adding a third Wild Card team per league and a new round called the Wild Card Series with the top two teams getting a break. These changes show that MLB keeps trying to make things fair and let more teams have a shot at the playoffs.

MLB Wild Card Series Format

The current Wild Series format was established in the year 2022. There are a total of twelve teams that are able to compete in the postseason World Series. There are two leagues in Major League Baseball, the American League and the National League. Each league has three divisions in it which are the West, East, and Central. For the World Series championship, the teams are chosen by being the division champions. Each division from each league is chosen to make it a total of nine teams that get chosen. Each division winner is seeded from #1 to #3 in each of the leagues. The team with the best winning percentage is seeded at #1, the team with the second-best winning percentage is seeded at #2 and the team with the worst winning percentage is seeded at #3. In the Division Series, the first-round byes are given to the top two winners in each league's division, and the remaining teams get seeded from No. 3 to No. 6.

The Wild Cards are the teams that did not win in their respective divisions and have the best winning percentage among the divisions in each league. These teams are seeded at #4 to #6. Now the Wild Card has a total of three teams that get chosen. The Wild Card teams face off in a one-game playoff to determine which team advances to the Division Series. This is also known as the Wild Card Game. From there, the Division Series has a best of five teams that competes against each other. Finally, the Best of Seven teams compete in the World Series Championship with three Wild Card teams being part of the Best of Seven teams.

One Wild Card Per League (1994–2011)

From 1969 to 1993, Major League Baseball (MLB) division leaders in each league advanced to the League Championship Series, leading to a World Series matchup. As the number of MLB teams increased, making the playoffs became more difficult. In 1994, MLB expanded from two to three divisions per league, implementing a new system in 1995 due to a players' strike that was happening. In the new structure, each league had four playoff teams from three division winners and the division runner-up with the best record earning a wild card spot, ensuring the second-best team in the league qualified for the postseason.

This expansion introduced the Division Series as a third postseason round. From 1995 to 1997, matchups were determined by a yearly rotation, and the wild card team could not face its own division's champion. Starting in 1998, the team with the best record typically played the wild card team, while the other two division winners faced each other. The second-best division winner had the home-field advantage unless the division winner with the best record and the wild card team were from the same division, in which case the wild card team played the second-best division winner.

Two Wild Cards Prer League (2012–2019, 2021)

MLB decided that it would add two wild card teams to the postseason. This was declared in November 2017, but it wasn't implemented that year. In this arrangement, the two wild card teams within each league competed in a single-game playoff. The team emerging victorious in the Wild Card Game proceeded to challenge the division winner with the highest ranking in the Division Series. This modified playoff structure was implemented starting from the 2012 season. The only season where it wasn't implemented since the 2012 season was in 2020 when Covid-19 pandemic struck the world.

Three Wild Cards Per League (2022–present)

In 2022, MLB introduced a third wild card team for each league. In the newly established Wild Card Series, the top two division winners in each league enjoy a bye to the Division Series, while the lowest-seeded division winner and three wild card teams partake in this initial round. This round consists of a best-of-three series, with the higher seed hosting all three games. The expansion of the postseason in 2022 led to the elimination of the regular season tie-breaker game format. The victor of the matchup between the 4th and 5th seeds confronts the top-seeded division winner in the Division Series, while the winner of the 3rd and 6th seeds matchup faces the second-seeded division winner in the other Division Series, without any reseeding occurring between rounds.

Wild Card Winners to World Series

Here’s a list of MLB Wild Card Winners that made it to the World Series:

List of American League Wild Card Winners

Given below is a list depicting a list of American League Wild Cards Winners:

Most AL Wild Card Appearances

The American League team that has made the most appearances in the Wild Card competition is held by two teams; the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees.

Given below is a table depicting the American League team appearances in the Wild Card games:

List of National League Wild Card Winners

Given below is a list depicting a list of National League Wild Cards Winners:

Most NL Wild Card Appearances

The National League team that has made the most appearances in the Wild Card competition is the St. Louis Cardinals. The team has made a total of 4 appearances in the games and has won once and lost 3 times. The team appeared in the Wild Card games in the seasons 2012, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Given below is a table depicting the National League team appearances in the Wild Card games:

MLB Wild Card Series Games Results by Team

Shown below is a table depicting MLB Wild Series Games Results by Team: