MLB League Standings

2021 Major League Baseball Magic Numbers

Update to how "No Control" numbers are presented

We've previously shown the letters "NC" if a team has no control of their own destiny for a seed. We've had some user feedback that suggested we try showing the number anyway, even if the team needs help to secure that seed.

We'll be testing this out on the MLB & NHL standings pages. You'll now see a teams Magic Number, faded out and surrounded by brackets, when they have no control of their own destiny, but can still achieve a seed with help from the other teams.

Let us know what you think via email or Twitter.

American League

AL GP/R W L W% GB WCGB
TAM 147/15 91 56 .619 – –   12 9 8 7 7 5 4 ← ← ← ← ← ← ←
HOU 146/16 86 60 .589 4.5 – [21]   14 13 12 12 10 9 4 3 ← ← ← ← ←
CWS 146/16 83 63 .568 7.5 – [24] [20]   16 15 15 13 12 7 6 3 ← ← ← ←
TOR 146/16 82 64 .561 8.5 – [25] [21] [18]   16 16 14 13 8 7 4 — ← ← ←
BOS 148/14 83 65 .560 8.5 – [24] [20] [17] [16]   15 13 12 7 6 3 ← ← ← ←
NYY 147/15 82 65 .557 9 .5 [25] [21] [18] [17] 16   14 13 8 7 4 — ← ← ←
OAK 146/16 79 67 .541 11.5 3 [28] [24] [21] [20] [19] [19]   16 11 10 7 4 — ← ←
SEA 146/16 78 68 .534 12.5 4 [29] [25] [22] [21] [20] [20] [18]   12 11 8 5 2 ← ←
CLE 144/18 71 73 .493 18.5 10 • [32] [29] [28] [27] [27] [25] [24]   18 15 12 9 ← ←
LAA 146/16 72 74 .493 18.5 10 • [31] [28] [27] [26] [26] [24] [23] [18]   14 11 8 ← ←
DET 147/15 70 77 .476 21 12.5 • • [30] [29] [28] [28] [26] [25] [20] [19]   13 10 — ←
KAN 146/16 66 80 .452 24.5 16 • • • [33] • [32] [30] [29] [24] [23] [20]   14 5 ←
MIN 147/15 64 83 .435 27 18.5 • • • • • • [32] [31] [26] [25] [22] [19]   7 ←
TEX 146/16 54 92 .369 36.5 28 • • • • • • • • • • [32] [29] [26]   10
BAL 146/16 47 99 .321 43.5 35 • • • • • • • • • • • • • [24]  

National League

NL GP/R W L W% GB WCGB
SFO 147/15 95 52 .646 – –   11 ← 15 ← ← ← ← ← ← ← ← ← ← ←
MIL 146/16 89 57 .609 5.5 – [22]   6 [21] 5 4 3 2 ← ← ← ← ← ← ←
ATL 144/18 76 68 .527 17.5 – • [30]   [34] 18 17 16 15 12 9 6 3 — ← ←
LAD 147/15 94 53 .639 1 – [17] 12 —   ← ← ← ← ← ← ← ← ← ← ←
STL 145/17 76 69 .524 18 – • [30] [19] •   17 16 15 12 9 6 3 — ← ←
SDG 146/16 76 70 .520 18.5 .5 • [30] [19] • [18]   16 15 12 9 6 3 — ← ←
CIN 147/15 76 71 .517 19 1 • [30] [19] • [18] [17]   15 12 9 6 3 — ← ←
PHI 146/16 74 72 .506 20.5 2.5 • [32] [21] • [20] [19] [18]   14 11 8 5 3 ← ←
NYM 147/15 72 75 .489 23 5 • • [23] • [22] [21] [20] [19]   13 10 7 5 ← ←
COL 146/16 68 78 .465 26.5 8.5 • • [27] • [26] [25] [24] [23] [20]   14 11 9 3 ←
CHC 147/15 66 81 .449 29 11 • • [29] • [28] [27] [26] [25] [22] [19]   13 11 5 ←
MIA 146/16 62 84 .424 32.5 14.5 • • [33] • [32] [31] [30] [29] [26] [23] [20]   15 9 2
WAS 146/16 60 86 .411 34.5 16.5 • • [35] • [34] [33] [32] [31] [28] [25] [22] [19]   11 4
PIT 146/16 54 92 .369 40.5 22.5 • • • • • • • • • [31] [28] [25] [23]   10
ARI 146/16 47 99 .321 47.5 29.5 • • • • • • • • • • • [32] [30] [24]  

Five teams from each league qualify for the playoffs:

  • The three division winners, who are ranked 1-3 regardless of their records
  • Two wild card teams, who play a single Wild Card game to determine who moves onto the Division round
Clinched division
Clinched wild-card berth
Eliminated from the playoffs

Two-way tie for the division or wildcard

  1. A one game tie-breaker is played between the two teams, winner take all.

Two-way tie between division winners

  1. The team with the best record in head to head play.
  2. The team with the best overall record in intra-division games.
  3. The team with the best record in the final 81 games of the season, ignoring inter-league play.
  4. The team with the best record in the final 82 games of the season, extending backward until the tie is broken.

Three-way tie for the division or wildcard

  1. The team with the best intra-division record is determined as Team C. If intra-division records are tied, refer to above tie-breakers to determine team C.
  2. The other two teams, A and B, play one game.
  3. The winner of this game plays team C in one game.
  4. The winner of this second game is the winner of the tie-breaker.

Tiebreaking procedures from mlb.com

Updated: September 17, 2021 8:00pm ET