After six months of competition, the season is down to just three games. What started as tension will soon blissfully transform into relief.

This weekend will likely determine Major League Baseball’s playoff landscape.

Kansas City Royals pitcher Seth Lugo shared, “After a couple of wins in recent days, you could sense the excitement among us. On the bus ride back, it felt like we were on the brink—let’s clinch it and celebrate.”

“We can almost taste it.”

The Royals head into their final series against the Atlanta Braves with a magic number of one, meaning a single victory or a loss by Minnesota in any of their three games against Baltimore will send them to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.

As teams settle in for one last series, four playoff slots and some seeding positions remain uncertain. Moreover, several star players have milestones within reach before the season officially ends and their stats become permanent.

YSL News Sports breaks down what’s still at stake as we head into the season’s final weekend:

AL Wild Card

What seemed like a complicated scenario became clearer on Thursday with crucial wins for the Royals and Detroit Tigers, eliminating the Seattle Mariners. The Minnesota Twins are still in the race, having come back from a four-run deficit against the Miami Marlins, only to lose in a grueling 13-inning game.

Baltimore (88-71) can secure the No. 1 wild card position and a home series with just one win this weekend against Minnesota, or a single loss by Detroit.

Kansas City (85-74) has a magic number of one over the Twins for a playoff spot. The Royals will be playing in Atlanta and hold the tiebreaker over Detroit, with a magic number of three against them. They cannot qualify higher than the No. 2 seed.

Detroit (85-74) needs just one more win over the Chicago White Sox to secure a playoff spot, having the same magic number of one over the Twins. With the right outcomes, they could clinch the No. 1 wild card and host a wild-card series.

Minnesota (82-77) must sweep Baltimore and hope for a sweep of either Detroit or Kansas City to stay in contention, holding the tiebreaker over both teams.

AL Seeding

The New York Yankees (93-66), winners of the East, need just two wins against the Pittsburgh Pirates to secure the No. 1 seed, holding a tiebreaker over the Central champion Cleveland Guardians (92-67), who will also enjoy a first-round bye.

The Houston Astros (86-73), champions of the West, are confirmed as the No. 3 seed and will face the wild-card team with the worst record in the best-of-three series, which will determine who advances to the Division Series.

NL Seeding

The Los Angeles Dodgers (95-64), champions of the West, need to win at least one more game than the East champion Philadelphia Phillies (94-65) to claim the top overall seed in the National League. The Dodgers will finish their season against Colorado, while the Phillies are set to play the Washington Nationals.

The Milwaukee Brewers (91-68), as the Central champions, will secure the No. 3 seed and face the wild-card team with the worst record in a best-of-three series.

NL Wild Card

Now, let’s dive into the most complicated situation.

The San Diego Padres (91-68) have already secured a wild card spot and can clinch the top wild card seed with a win against Arizona and a combination of three wins and losses from the New York Mets.

Competing for the remaining two wild card slots are the Mets (87-70), Arizona Diamondbacks (88-71), and Atlanta Braves (86-71). The Mets and Braves have an advantage with five games left due to a doubleheader scheduled for Monday if necessary.

As the Braves play Kansas City, the Mets travel to face Milwaukee, and Arizona hosts the Padres this weekend, the race tightens.

In terms of tiebreakers, the Mets and Braves have the edge over the Diamondbacks, as the Braves lead their season series against the Mets 6-5. They will secure a tiebreaker advantage with just one win in their matchup against the Mets.

This weekend holds key moments, especially for the Diamondbacks, who could find themselves shut out in tiebreakers. Winning two of three against the Padres would ensure their spot if the Braves lose twice to Kansas City or once against either the Royals or Mets.

In this case, if the Mets secure two wins against a Milwaukee team that is not in contention, they could eliminate the Braves by winning the first game of the doubleheader, making the second game irrelevant.

Consider this difficult scenario for Arizona at 90-72: if the Mets sweep Milwaukee, the Braves win a couple against Kansas City and sweep a pair against a Mets team with nothing to gain, we could see a situation where all three finish at 90-72 and Arizona goes home.

Remember, this is just one possible outcome. The best strategy? Stay tuned!

Shohei Ohtani: Could He Achieve 60-60?

We might be getting a bit ahead of ourselves.

Ohtani has surged past the incredible milestone of 50 steals and 50 home runs after an impressive performance against a team currently at the bottom of the standings. This weekend, he’ll play three games against another team in last place, all in a higher altitude setting.

As he heads into the Dodgers’ last three matches at Colorado’s Coors Field, he has racked up 53 home runs and 56 stolen bases. With the way Ohtani is getting on base and making fast breaks, reaching 60 steals seems very likely.

Is it possible for him to hit seven home runs across three games?

That largely hinges on several factors, particularly whether the Dodgers are still in contention for playoff positioning as they approach the NLCS and World Series. Additionally, they’ll need to consider how much they want to maintain their competitiveness given a potential five-day break before facing off in the NL Division Series.

So, the chances are slim. However, it’s worth noting that Ohtani plans to return to pitching in 2025, which may prevent him from reaching these extraordinary heights again. It will be intriguing to see what final numbers he achieves.

Aaron Judge: A Chance at Maris – or Himself?

It’s never a good idea to underestimate Judge.

Nonetheless, with so much spotlight on Ohtani, it’s easier to overlook the towering slugger in the Bronx. Judge has homered in five straight games, bringing his season total to 58.

He has three games left to hit two more home runs and join legends Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa as the only players to achieve multiple seasons with 60 or more homers. If he connects for three more, he’ll tie Roger Maris for the second spot on the AL’s single-season home run chart.

Four additional home runs would see him equal his record-breaking 62 home runs from 2022. If he manages five more? He’ll be up against the Pirates – although Pittsburgh plans to start their rookie ace, Paul Skenes, on Saturday.

Jose Ramirez: Aiming for 40-40?

Ah, the allure of the 40-40 milestone.

It’s been easy to forget what used to be an exceptional mix of power and speed, especially given today’s inflated stolen base statistics due to new rules.

Yet, Ramirez continues to be an overlooked superstar – he only needs two more home runs to enter the elite 40-40 club.

He boasts impressive consistency, with his .867 OPS this year closely matching his remarkable .856 career average. However, Ramirez is on track for his sixth top-six finish for AL MVP, with no awards to show for it.

This time, he faces stiff competition in Judge, Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr., and Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson, who are drawing attention away from him. Still, the achievement of 40-40 should stand alone, not compared to others.