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Getting to know this October’s playoff teams
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Photo credit: © Junfu Han - USA Today
Ryley Delaney
Oct 1, 2024, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 1, 2024, 14:42 EDT
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It’s playoff time, and sadly, the Toronto Blue Jays didn’t make it for the first time since 2021.
On Tuesday, the four Wild Card Series begin, with the Houston Astros hosting the Detroit Tigers, the Baltimore Orioles hosting the Kansas City Royals, the Milwaukee Brewers hosting the New York Mets, and the San Diego Padres hosting the Atlanta Braves.
Moreover, The New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Philadelphia Phillies all get a bye to the Divisional Series.
With all that being said, let’s take a look at the 12 teams heading to October baseball!

Detroit Tigers

Personally, the Detroit Tigers are the team I’ll be rooting for, because I’m a sucker for an underdog.
The last time the Tigers made the postseason was back in 2014, falling in three games to the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Divisional Series (ALDS). It looks as they’d miss the postseason again, as they were 55-63 on August 10 and 10 games back of the final Wild Card spot with 0.2% odds of making it (ironically, the same record as the Blue Jays).
Over their next 44 games, the Tigers went 31-13 to sneak into the final Wild Card spot. We’ve seen plenty of teams get hot at the right time to go on a deep postseason run (the Arizona Diamondbacks did that in the 2023 postseason, for example), and the Tigers very well could as well.

Kansas City Royals

Speaking of underdogs, the Kansas City Royals also had a lengthy postseason drought, last making it to the postseason in 2015 when they won the World Series.
In 2023, they finished with a 56-106 record, second-worst in the entire league. After spending big (bigger than usual at least), the Royals finished with an 86-76 record, finishing in the second Wild Card spot.
It wasn’t just the off-season acquisitions that helped the Royals, as Bobby Witt Jr. has become a superstar, slashing .332/.389/.588 with 32 home runs in 709 plate appearances for a 168 wRC+.
The only former Blue Jay on the Royals roster is Paul DeJong, who had a brief tenure with the team after the 2023 trade deadline before being designated for assignment. It’s hard to cheer for the Royals as I’m still not over 2015, but it’s a cool story nonetheless.

Houston Astros

For the sixth-time in seven seasons, the Houston Astros won the American League West division and are once again in the postseason.
Blue Jays fans may root for the Astros for one reason: Yusei Kikuchi. The Blue Jays traded him to the Astros for Will Wagner, Jake Bloss, and Joey Loperfido before the trade deadline, and Kikuchi has been nothing shy of terrific for the 2017 and 2022 World Series winners.
Since joining Houston, Kikuchi has a 2.70 ERA and a 3.07 FIP in 60 innings pitched (10 starts), along with a 31.8 K% and a 5.9 BB%. Kikuchi is set to become a free agent at the end of the season, please re-sign him Ross Atkins.

Cleveland Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians finished with a 76-86 record in 2023, but moved all the way up to the first-overall pick in the 2024 draft thanks to the newly implemented draft lottery.
It didn’t take long for the small market club to become competitive again, as the won the American League Central division thanks to a 92-69 record in what was a really competitive division (aside from the Chicago White Sox).
There are two former players on the roster that were in the Blue Jays organization at one point or another: Matt Boyd and Lane Thomas. Boyd was involved in the trade that brought David Price to Toronto in 2015, while Lane Thomas was traded in 2017 for international signing bonus pool money.

New York Yankees

Now we come to the two American League teams that Blue Jays fans shouldn’t root for, the two American League East teams that made the postseason.
Starting with the New York Yankees, they finished with a 94-68 record to win the AL East, mainly thanks to Aaron Judge’s MVP season and a Juan Soto season that is also MVP-calibre. Judge keeps on having career seasons, slashing .322/.458/.701 with 58 home runs in 704 plate appearances.
Future Blue Jay Juan Soto (hopefully) slashed .288/.419/.569 with 41 home runs in 713 plate appearances for a 180 wRC+ and an 8.1 fWAR, a career high. This was a contract year for the 25-year-old, so expect him to get paid.
The Yankees have a handful of pitchers on their roster who were once in the Blue Jays organization. Marcus Stroman was drafted by the Jays and was eventually traded in 2019, while Tim Mayza was the longest serving Blue Jay before he was designated for assignment earlier this season. Moreover, Mark Leiter Jr. spent time in the Blue Jays minor league system.

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles will be good for seasons to come and in 2024, they finished with a 91-71 record, second in the AL East and in the top Wild Card spot.
Despite winning the AL East in 2023, the Orioles were swept by the eventual World Series champions, the Texas Rangers. The last time they won a postseason game was in 2014 when they swept the Tigers in the ALDS. They were promptly swept by the Royals in the ALCS.
Hopefully, the Royals defeat the Toronto Blue Jays’ rival in the Wild Card Series.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Of any team in the postseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers are tied for the most players who were formerly in the Blue Jays’ organization.
Reliever Anthony Banda briefly pitched for the Jays in 2022, while fellow reliever Daniel Hudson pitched for the team in 2019 before being traded to the World Series winning Washington Nationals. 
Moreover, both Teoscar Hernández and Kevin Kiermaier have played postseason games for the Jays in the past. Hernández was traded to the Seattle Mariners after the 2022 season and should’ve been signed in the most recent off-season by the Jays. Kiermaier was traded to the Dodgers at the trade deadline for Ryan Yarbrough and is set to retire at the end of the series.
It’d be nice to see Hernández and Kiermaier lift a World Series title.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies have two former Blue Jays on their roster, Jeff Hoffamn and Taijuan Walker.
Hoffman was traded to the Colorado Rockies in 2015 for Troy Tulowitzki, while the Blue Jays acquired Walker before the 2020 trade deadline to help improve the rotation. Sadly, Walker never pitched in the postseason for the Jays.
The Phillies look to reach the World Series for the second time in three seasons, and their 95-67 record gives them a bye for the Wild Card series.

Milwaukee Brewers

Maybe it’s because of the weak division, but the Milwaukee Brewers always seem to make the postseason. However, 2024 was a good season for the National League Central team, as they finished the year with a 93-69 record, 10 games ahead of the next best team in their division.
Since the 2018 season, the only time they failed to make the postseason was back in 2022. However, the furthest in that time they’ve made it was in that 2018 postseason, falling in seven games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Since joining the league in 1969, the Brewers have only played in one World Series back in 1982.
Funnily enough, the nine times that the Brewers have made the postseason, the team that defeated them has at the very least, made it to the World Series. Reliever Joel Payamps is the only former Blue Jay on the Brewers’ roster.

San Diego Padres

Despite trading Juan Soto to the New York Yankees last off-season, the San Diego Padres have once again made the postseason, the third time in the past five seasons. This season, they finished with a 93-69 record to finish in the first Wild Card spot.
Early in the season, the Padres acquired Luis Arráez, who led the National League in hits with 200. Moreover, his .314 batting average was the highest in the NL as well.
As for former players that were once in the Jays’ organization, reliever Jason Adam pitched for the Jays in the 2019 season, while Joe Musgrove was involved in the big deal with the Miami Marlins in 2013.

Atlanta Braves

Like the Dodgers, the Atlanta Braves have four former Blue Jay players on their active roster. Reliever Jesse Chavez, catcher Travis d’Arnaud, and infielders Whit Merrifield and Gio Urshela. Moreover, the 2021 World Series champions have Alex Anthopoulos serving as the general manager and president of baseball operations.
It came down to the final game of the season for the Braves to clinch their berth to October baseball. Facing the New York Mets in a doubleheader, the mission was simple: win a game, and they’re in. They lost the first game in a wild one, but defeated the Mets 3-0 in the second game to knock out the Arizona Diamondbacks and clinch a berth.
They’ll face the San Diego Padres in the three-game Wild Card series. It’s also worth noting they’ll be without Triple Crown pitcher Chris Sale for this series.

New York Mets

The Mets faced the same situation as the Braves, needing at least one win in Monday’s doubleheader to make the postseason.
Heading into the top of the eighth, the Mets were down 3-0, but managed to put up a six spot on the Braves. However, Atlanta scored four runs in the bottom half of the eighth to regain the lead. There was even more scoring in the top of the ninth, as the Mets scored the game-tying and game-winning run to clinch their spot in the postseason.
They could have screwed over their NL East rival with a win in game two, which would’ve sent the Arizona Diamondbacks to postseason, but they played it safe to avoid injuries and fell 3-0. The Mets will face the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card series.
It’s worth noting as well that the Mets don’t have any former Blue Jay players, but they’re an underdog team that you can root for.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

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