Is your favorite MLB wild-card contender headed to the playoffs? Here’s what you need to know

09/13/2021

Joined ESPN in 2016 to cover the Los Angeles Rams
Previously covered the Angels for MLB.com

Ten teams, three spots.

Major League Baseball’s 2021 regular season is down to its final three weeks, and intrigue abounds even though most of the divisions have essentially been settled.

The Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers each hold at least a 98.6% chance of winning their respective divisions, according to FanGraphs. The Atlanta Braves, who have gone from 4.5 games back to 4.5 up since the start of August, sit at 88.2% in the National League East. The San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers are still relatively close in the NL West, but both will be in the playoffs, with one of their seasons coming down to a single-elimination game.

Then we have the rest: Three wide-open wild-card spots (one in the National League, two in the American League) and 10 teams (five in each league) fighting over these next 21 days to claim them, all within three games of one another.

Below is a look at each of those teams heading into the final stretch — with stats to know, players to watch and reasons for optimism and pessimism.

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