MLB 2023 Playoffs: Schedule, Bracket for Wild Card Round

October has arrived, meaning playoff baseball has too, as the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs begin Tuesday with the Wild Card round.

Twelve MLB teams are one step closer to their World Series dreams. Eight of them— four each in the American and National Leagues—will compete in the first round of the playoffs with spots in the Division Series on the line. Last year, the Philadelphia Phillies reached the Fall Classic as a Wild Card team. Can the Phillies, or any other team, replicate that success this time around?

Here's what fans need to know ahead of MLB's Wild Card round of the playoffs.

Full MLB Postseason Bracket

This is the second year of MLB's 12-team playoff format. The league's bracket-style postseason involves 12 teams (six from each league), an increase from 10 teams under the prior layout.

Three division winners and three Wild Card teams make the playoffs from both leagues.

The No. 1 seed in both the AL and NL goes to the team with the best record in its respective league. The No. 2 seed goes to the team with the second-best record among division winners, while the No. 3 seed is the remaining division champion. The Wild Card slots go to the best three teams in each league that did not win their division, ordered in terms of best record to worst.

The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in both leagues receive first-round byes and advance directly to the Division Series. In the Wild Card round, the No. 3 seed faces the No. 6 seed, while the No. 4 seed faces the No. 5 seed.

Here's a look at the full playoff bracket, which was shared by the MLB on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday morning.

Is Wild Card Best of Three? Explaining Format

The days of a single-elimination Wild Card Game are gone.

That format was used from 2012-19 and again in 2021, but has since been replaced by a best-of-three Wild Card series. Each Wild Card game will be played at the home park of the team with the higher seed. The games will be played from Tuesday through Thursday this week, with the third game in each series only necessary if teams split the first two.

Teams that advance from the Wild Card Round are not reseeded moving forward. That means the No. 1 seed will face the winner of the series between Nos. 4 and 5 seeds, while the No. 2 seed will face whoever comes out on top between Nos. 3 and 6. Other than the Wild Card becoming a best-of-three series, there are no other structural changes to MLB's previous playoff format.

MLB Wild Card Schedule, TV Channels

Tuesday, October 3
Game 1: Texas Rangers (90-72) at Tampa Bay Rays (99-63), 3:08 p.m. ET, ABC
Game 1: Toronto Blue Jays (89-73) at Minnesota Twins (87-75), 4:38 p.m. ET, ESPN
Game 1: Arizona Diamondbacks (84-78) at Milwaukee Brewers (92-70), 7:08 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Game 1: Miami Marlins (84-78) at Philadelphia Phillies (90-72), 8:08 p.m. ET, ESPN

Wednesday, October 4
Game 2: Rangers at Rays, 3:08 p.m. ET, ABC
Game 2: Blue Jays at Twins, 4:38 p.m. ET, ESPN
Game 2: Diamondbacks at Brewers, 7:08 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Game 2: Marlins at Phillies, 8:08 p.m. ET, ESPN

Thursday, October 5 (games only if necessary)
Game 3: Rangers at Rays, 3:08 p.m. ET, ABC
Game 3: Blue Jays at Twins, 4:38 p.m. ET, ESPN
Game 3: Diamondbacks at Brewers, 7:08 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Game 3: Marlins at Phillies, 8:08 p.m. ET, ESPN

The Division Round is scheduled to start on October 7. League Championship Series' will begin a week later on October 15, followed by Game 1 of the World Series on October 27.

World Series Odds Entering Playoffs

The 104-win, NL top-seeded Atlanta Braves are the favorites to win the World Series title ahead of the postseason's first pitch, at least as far as Vegas is concerned.

DraftKings Sportsbook gives the Braves +310 odds to win it all as of Monday afternoon. The Houston Astros, who won their second World Series since 2017 last year, are tied for the second-best odds at +450 along with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The AL's top-seeded Baltimore Orioles are right behind at +700.

The Marlins, fifth seed in the NL, have the worst odds of any team (+3500), per DraftKings.