MLB Playoff Format Explained & Printable 2020 Postseason Bracket

After months without baseball, the MLB and the MLBPA finally agreed on a deal this Tuesday, June 23, that will bring a shortened regular season, kicking off either July 23 or 24.

Due to the unusual circumstances, this season won't be like what we're used to seeing. Both the owners and players made some concessions to reach a deal, and that means the 2020 season has received some big changes.

However, despite the 60-game regular season, the 2020 MLB Playoffs and postseason format will remain unchanged from what we saw in 2019.

Unlike other major professional leagues' postseason formats, such as the NFL and its 12 playoff berths or the NBA and its 16 playoff spots, the MLB only opens its postseason gates to 10 teams each fall – four (two from the American League and two from the National League) of which have to duel it out in single-elimination matchups in the Wild Card round.

MLB Playoff Format 2020

The MLB postseason features a bracket split between the AL and NL, and each league produces a total of five playoff teams. Among those five clubs from each league, the team with the best overall record receives the No. 1 seed and a matchup with the winner of the same league's respective Wild Card game. The Wild Card matchup features each league's top two teams by record that did not win their respective divisions. Lastly, the remaining two division winners face one another in the Division Series.

The winners of the Division Series, which is a best-of-five format, move onto the ALCS and NLCS. The Championship Series is a best-of-seven with those winners advancing to face one another in the World Series – also a best-of-seven series.

Printable 2020 MLB Playoff Bracket

While, of course, the 2020 MLB postseason bracket seeding won't be determined until the end of the regular season. Until then, for an on-paper representation of the 2020 MLB playoff format described above, you can view and print out the 2020 MLB Postseason bracket by clicking here.

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David Hayes is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David Hayes also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username DavidWHayes. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.