MLB 2025 Wild Card Playoff Game 1 Biggest Takeaways

The MLB Playoffs are getting ready to go into their second games. Here are our takeaways from Game 1s across the MLB.

1. The Dodgers look unstoppable

You can say "It's just the Reds," but the Dodgers squashed them like a kaiju strolling through downtown L.A. For six innings, anyway. A 10-5 victory at Dodger Stadium was the only one-sided game of Wild Card day one. Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs, and so did Teoscar Hernández. Left-hander Blake Snell completed at least six innings in a postseason start for the first time in 11 career attempts.

2. Tarik Skubal also looks unstoppable

The Detroit Tigers ace is giving off major Madison Bumgarner in '14 vibes right now after striking out 14 in a 2-1 victory against the Guardians on Tuesday. Skubal's career postseason results: 2.03 ERA, 34 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings over four appearances. Bumgarner struck out 45 with a 1.03 ERA in 52 2/3 postseason innings in '14. Remember the possibly apocryphal story about Bumgarner dating a girl in high school also named Madison Bumgarner? Skubal probably doesn't have a story like that.

3. Garrett Crochet is unstoppable against the Yankees

This is literally true in 2025, with the Boston Red Sox improving to 5-0 in games Crochet started against the Yankees after beating them 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. In his playoff debut as a starter, Crochet struck out 11 in 7 2/3 innings, keeping the Yankees off the board aside from a solo home run by Anthony Volpe in the second inning.

4. The Cubs lead the Padres in a playoff series and nothing can go wrong when that's the case

Everybody thinks the Cubs reaching the World Series in 2016 ended the whole goat curse narrative but bahhh! It won't truly be vanquished until the Cubs make good on blowing a 2-0 series lead to the Padres in the '84 NLCS.

5. There's no way the Dodgers can win the World Series with this bullpen

Wait a second -- weren't the Dodgers unstoppable a few paragraphs ago? That was before the bullpen came in, and relievers Alex Vesia, Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer helped to bring the Cincinnati Reds closer in an otherwise one-sided affair. Relief has been their biggest Achilles' heel all season.

6. The Cubs are using an opener in Game 2 and it is an outrage

It's not the biggest leverage play in postseason history for an opener, because the Dodgers used one in the World Series a year ago and it helped them win a championship. Granted, the Cubs just lost Cade Horton a few days ago, but for a team to resort to this tactic in the second game of the postseason... Do you think MLB has a crisis of not having enough starting pitching? It's an outrage!

7. Aaron Boone cost the Yankees the game and maybe the season by pulling Max Fried

Fried had a shutout going, no action on the bases, and 102 pitches thrown when Boone went to the bullpen in the seventh inning. Turns out that was a big mistake, with the Red Sox striking against Luke Weaver to take the lead. New York's offense only mustered one run on the night, it's true, but squeezing another two-thirds or more from Fried was the proper thing in the moment. This wasn't some random game from June. The time for saving bullets is over.

8. Stephen Vogt should have let someone else make out the lineup card

We know the Guardians dabble in the dark arts and that's why they win, because they're an actual division champion that can't even field an entire lineup of major leaguers. With the best pitcher in the American League opposing them, the Guardians had Jhonkensy Noel playing first base and Johnathan Rodríguez in right field. Neither can hit, and both made huge mistakes in the field that cost the Guardians runs and handed two leads to the Tigers.

9. Aaron Judge is costing the Yankees a ton

By playing the field. Judge had a major breakdown in right field on Nick Sogard's hit in the seventh. With Sogard hustling, Judge appeared tentative on his approach and made an understandably weak throw (given his elbow injury) to second base as the Red Sox conjured a rally. The Yankees don't have great options because Giancarlo Stanton would be an even bigger liability in the field than Judge.