The 2026 MLB playoff field was nearly cut in half on Wednesday night. The Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and San Diego Padres were all eliminated in the wipeout. The Cleveland Guardians were the only team that trailed in its game and still survived to play another day.
The race for the next World Series champion keeps moving closer, but some fans may feel it is not moving fast enough. To get a head start on the answer, we can look at the latest expert predictions and oddsmakers’ lines.
A First-Time Title in Milwaukee?
Five MLB franchises have never won a World Series title, and a few experts at ESPN think the Milwaukee Brewers could soon leave that group.
In a recent set of bold playoff predictions, three of ESPN’s experts built their forecasts around the Brewers winning it all. Tristan Cockcroft called for Milwaukee’s breakout star, Jackson Chourio, to “become the 10th player to win LCS and World Series MVPs.” Eric Karabell predicted a combined no-hitter from Jacob Misiorowski, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill in Game 1 of the World Series. AJ Mass predicted that the Brewers would “trail in every playoff game en route to a championship,” though Milwaukee already broke that forecast because it never trailed in Wednesday’s win.
That is a lot of support for a team that has never won a championship, and the praise is not hard to justify. The Brewers won an MLB-best and franchise-record 103 games this season. This postseason, they have the highest OPS (.688) and the second-lowest ERA (1.80).
Two-Time Defending Champs Aren’t the Favorites?
Before the postseason began, The Athletic asked “more than 20” of its MLB experts to make World Series predictions. The Los Angeles Dodgers, winners of the past two World Series, were not the most popular pick.
The Brewers led the poll with 56 percent of the vote. The Tampa Bay Rays finished second with 24 percent, while the Dodgers received just 16 percent. The Brewers and Rays are both reasonable choices, but that is still less support than you would expect for a club with this much star power and this level of recent dominance.
“No team carries as much October hype as Los Angeles,” Katie Woo wrote. “There are rightful concerns over the drop-off in production from Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, but their rotation of aces should carry them through any qualms on the offense. It’s the Dodgers’ title to lose, and they know it.”
Oddsmakers agree with that assessment. If most of Woo’s colleagues are right, however, this year’s title will not return to Los Angeles.
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