MLB Teams Whose Playoff Dreams Have Made It Into September

The most compelling part of the National League wild card race involves wondering if enough teams will fall apart for the Miami Marlins to squeak into contention.

Which admittedly is better than the American League wild card race, where everyone in contention is either falling apart or has already picked up the pieces after falling apart — sometimes more than once.

Parity fever, catch it! Even if you don’t want it. Here’s our look at the fringe playoff contenders who still harbor some postseason hopes as September looms.

MIAMI MARLINS

At 68-68, the Marlins are the epitome of mediocrity. And they enter today closer to the Washington Nationals (four games ahead after losing consecutive games to Washington) and fourth place in the NL East than the final wild card (4 1/2 games behind).

But the three teams most seriously vying for the last two wild card spots — the Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres — have all been beset by dysfunction at some point this season.

The Phillies, who fired manager Rob Thomson after starting 9-19, have a superstar (Bryce Harper) and a general manager (Dave Dombrowski) who get along about as well as family members feuding over politics at the Thanksgiving table.

The Diamondbacks are dealing with the fallout after Ketel Marte went AWOL again earlier this month. And the Padres, an enticing mix of superstars who often look as if they’ve never run a fundamental drill in their lives, are always one dropped match away from a five-alarm blaze.

Can at least two of these teams stumble enough for the Marlins to get back into the race? Probably not. But if a pair of contenders begin falling apart again, they’ve got the pitching staff to make things interesting, Thanks largely to a rotation fronted by Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez. Miami has allowed four runs or fewer 18 times in 25 games this month.

ALMOST THE ENTIRE AMERICAN LEAGUE

Let’s be clear: Nobody deserves the final two AL playoff berths, which are currently held down in a most precarious manner by the AL West-leading Houston Astros and the third wild card Cleveland Guardians, each of whom are a Marlins-like 68-68.

But there’s a better chance of Rob Manfred deciding not to lock the players out than Manfred declaring only four playoff teams can advance in the AL. So the dream is still alive for the sub-.500 Baltimore Orioles (67-69), Toronto Blue Jays (67-70), Texas Rangers (66-70), Seattle Mariners (64-72), Minnesota Twins (64-72), Detroit Tigers (63-72) and Kansas City Royals (62-75).

Yeesh, that’s a gaggle of mediocrity.

The only team amongst the nine teams stumbling over one another for the last two spots with a positive run differential is the Tigers, who are somehow at plus-70. But Detroit traded Tarik Skubal at the deadline and is 2-8 in its last 10 games, so its hopes are likely extinguished.

It’s also tough to see a path to a playoff spot for the Twins and Mariners, who are 17-29 since they both added at the deadline. The Rangers have lost four straight — their fourth losing streak of at least four games since July 29. That’s not going to do it.

Maybe the defending AL champion Blue Jays can tap into some of their pennant muscle memory, albeit without Bo Bichette and Kevin Gausman. The Orioles are in the midst of a season-ending 31-game stretch in which they play 18 games against teams that are currently under .500 — including a three-game series against the New York Mets from Sept. 13-15, which means the funniest possible outcome is in play: Pete Alonso hitting a dozen homers in the sweep that turns out to vault Baltimore into the playoffs.

As delicious as that would be, it’s unlikely. So too is the Royals making the playoffs. But hey, they’re an AL-best 16-8 since the deadline, including 12-1 since Aug. 16 — a span in which they’ve cut an 11-game wild card deficit to 6 1/2 games. If these trends continue…they probably won’t, but the Royals actually getting back into this thing would be the most appropriate outcome possible for the 2026 AL playoff race.