The American League saw historic collapses and improbable comebacks. MVP frontrunners Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh led their teams to the postseason. The chase for the AL pennant begins as all six teams start from zero and look to rewrite its seasons.
The Detroit Tigers made the postseason as the sixth seed after relinquishing a 15 1/2 game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central that dates back to July 9. Detroit finished with an 87-75 record and barely found themselves in the postseason.
The Tigers look to reset and lean on ace, Tarik Skubal, and the team leader in home runs and on-base plus slugging, Riley Greene. As a team, the Tigers rank the highest amongst postseason teams in strikeout percentage and will need more than Skubal as the pitching staff collectively has a 3.97 ERA.
The Cleveland Guardians closed the gap on Detroit, finished September with a 20-7 record, the season with an 88-74 record and won the AL Central.
Backed by its pitching staff, since July 9, Cleveland led MLB with a team ERA of 3.34. While the bullpen is holding it all together with an ERA of 2.63 in September.
On the weaker end, the Cleveland bats ranked 28th out of 30 teams for the season in weighted runs created plus.
Led by Jose Ramirez who has quietly put together another 30-home run, 40-stolen base season, Cleveland looks to shock the world yet again.
The Red Sox acquired Alex Bregman in free agency before the season to bolster its lineup, lost first baseman Triston Casas due to injury and shipped superstar Rafael Devers who was the team’s best hitter from Boston to San Francisco.
Boston managed an 89-73 and claimed the second Wild Card spot in the AL. Boston prospect, Roman Anthony, left his impact before getting injured, as it still finished the season top 10 in on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
Boston’s pitching staff ranks fifth in ERA, supported by ace Garrett Crochet and relief pitchers Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock. There is a lack of depth in the rotation that could prove to be a problem in a longer series and they lead MLB in errors committed, but Boston owns the second best run differential in the AL.
The New York Yankees’ have the best run differential in the AL, but it wasn’t enough as they finished second in the AL East. It claimed the first Wild Card spot in the postseason. Finishing with a 94-68 record, the Yankees led MLB with a .455 slugging percentage.
Judge is the driving force for the Yankees, but Giancarlo Stanton is still as much of a threat at the plate as ever and a 30-home run, 30-stolen base season from Jazz Chisolm Jr. prove the Yankees offense is as potent as ever.
After Max Fried, the starting pitching rotation could leave much to be desired and the bullpen could prove to be its biggest weakness as there are still question marks from its trade deadline acquisitions.
Led by a record-breaking season from MVP frontrunner Raleigh, the Seattle Mariners won its first division title since 2001 with a record of 90-72.
The strength of Seattle in recent years has been its starting rotation, but the 2025 rotation finished with a near four ERA. But they could be the team to watch as the rotation has turned it around in September.
A newly improved offense with trade deadline acquisitions Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez along with staples to the lineup in Julio Rodriguez and Jorge Polanco helped Seattle finish top 10 in slugging percentage.
The Toronto Blue Jays finished the season with a 94-68 record and a four-game sweep of the Yankees in early July helped Toronto claim the tiebreaker and win the AL East division.
Toronto’s lineup led MLB in batting average, on-base percentage and finished seventh in slugging percentage. Its struggles come from the pitching staff which has a 4.19 team ERA. Toronto will still need contributions from its starting pitchers. The bullpen has also struggled since the All-Star break.
The Wild Card round is set to begin Sept. 30 as Cleveland will host Detroit and the rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees will see action in New York. Toronto and Seattle will await its opponents for the division series.
