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Fantasy Baseball Forecaster for Week 26: Playoffs Week 4, Sept. 22-28
2hTristan H. Cockcroft
Commanders' Daniels out; Mariota to start vs. LV
Washington Commanders
6mJohn Keim
Heat's Herro to miss start of season after surgery
Miami Heat
1hShams Charania and Ohm Youngmisuk
Rampage's son, Raja, arrested on assault charge
1hAndreas Hale
Agent: Kuminga prepared to take qualifying offer
Golden State Warriors
51mAnthony Slater
Lyles wins 200 again; Jefferson-Wooden sweeps
7m
U.S. hurdler wins worlds gold as DQ overturned
17m
Source: Ole Miss QB Simmons unlikely to play
Ole Miss Rebels
47m
Witness in 2006 Miami murder case found alive
Miami Hurricanes
17hPaula Lavigne and Dan Arruda
Our first look at the NFL trade deadline: Candidates to move, plus teams that could be active
San Francisco 49ers
6hDan Graziano
WWE Wrestlepalooza preview: Cena-Lesnar to kick off ESPN's first PLE
18hGreg Wyshynski
How Seth Rollins pulled off the biggest injury ruse in WWE history
1dAndreas Hale
Satou Sabally dug deep to push Mercury to Game 3 vs. Liberty
New York Liberty
6hKatie Barnes
WNBA semifinals preview and predictions: Can Fever topple Aces and pull another upset?
Indiana Fever
10hMichael Voepel and Alexa Philippou
Sign my jersey! Everyone wants a Clayton Kershaw souvenir -- including his opponents
Los Angeles Dodgers
6hAlden Gonzalez
The 34 college football games you need to keep an eye on this weekend
UNLV Rebels
6hBill Connelly
Week 4 preview: Key matchups, quarterbacks who aren't meeting their preseason hype and more
1dESPN
Buzz: Lots of mouths to feed in Bills' "everybody eats" offense
Buffalo Bills
3hESPN Fantasy
Don't be surprised if Chase remains the top fantasy player, Dobbins runs for 1,000 yards
6hEric Karabell
The Playbook: Lineup locks, Shadow Reports for Week 3
6hMike Clay
What Luka Doncic's dominant summer could mean for Lakers -- and the rest of the NBA
Los Angeles Lakers
5hDave McMenamin
WNBA playoff schedule: Indiana, Las Vegas advance to semifinals
Indiana Fever
13hESPN
A deep dive into the mysterious Platypus Trophy of the Oregon-Oregon State rivalry
Oregon State Beavers
6hRyan McGee
Champions League Matchday 1 overreactions: Arsenal only PL team to have deep run
6hBill Connelly
Should Man United keep Ruben Amorim or let him go? The case for, against him
9hMark Ogden and Rob Dawson
How Thompson, Bedard, Keller, others are using 4 Nations snubs as Olympic motivation
Chicago Blackhawks
6hGreg Wyshynski
Dalvin Cook meets Caleb Williams? How Tyriq Withers brought Cameron Cade to life
Chicago Bears
4hBrianna Williams
'State your source': Trae Young responds to Patrick Beverley with nearly 12-minute video
Atlanta Hawks
12hAnthony Gharib
Barnwell ranks 0-2 NFL teams from alive to already eliminated: Which of the 10 still have playoff hope?
Chicago Bears
1dBill Barnwell
A'ja Wilson vs. Napheesa Collier: The moments that reshaped the WNBA MVP race
Las Vegas Aces
4hMichael Voepel
Why the champs and four other teams control the future of the NBA draft
Washington Wizards
1dBobby Marks and Jeremy Woo
Will Raleigh finish strong? Can Astros score without Alvarez? 5 things that will decide the AL West race
Houston Astros
6hDavid Schoenfield
MLB Power Rankings: Top playoff contenders on the move ahead of October
Cleveland Guardians
1dESPN
Fantasy baseball news: Late-season soreness plagues Jackson Holliday
2hESPN Fantasy
![Fantasy Baseball Week 26 Playoffs Breakdown: 2025 NL & AL Contenders, Lineup Strategies [ESPN] (2)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw== "Fantasy Baseball Week 26 Playoffs Breakdown: 2025 NL & AL Contenders, Lineup Strategies [ESPN] (2)")
Tristan H. Cockcroft
Sep 19, 2025, 10:40 PM
The 2025 fantasy baseball season reaches its final act in Week 26.
Every team plays exactly six games -- 24 teams have Monday off and the other six have Thursday off -- and, as has become tradition in recent years, every game on Sunday begins between 3:05 p.m. ET and 3:20 p.m. ET. For fantasy managers, that heightens the excitement of league championship races, with titles potentially hinging upon a single pitch thrown on the final Sunday.
The final week often sees teams locked into playoff positioning resting players and/or shuffling pitching rotations in preparation of the Wild Card Series, which begin on Tuesday, Sept. 30. At publishing time, the Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs had already clinched postseason berths, with the Phillies already securing the National League East title, while the Brewers have a realistic chance at securing the NL Central title and the San Diego Padres a playoff spot before Week 26 begins. Every other playoff-hopeful team has a magic number of at least six, so most teams will be playing meaningful baseball at least during the early stages of the week.
Playoff-motivated teams are the ones you'll most want to draw from for your fantasy lineups. Among teams within two games in the standings of either a division title, wild-card spot or playoff positioning involving home-field advantage at publishing time are the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Houston Astros, New York Mets, New York Yankees (leading in the American League wild-card race, where the top wild-card team hosts the Wild Card Series) and Seattle Mariners. Expanding that group to teams within three games brings the Detroit Tigers (leading for the AL's No. 2 seed, which brings with it a first-round playoff bye), Los Angeles Dodgers, Brewers (leading for the NL's No. 1 seed), Phillies (trailing the Brewers for the No. 1 seed), Padres, San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays.
In an interesting twist in the standings, the Guardians, 12 ½ games back of the Tigers in the AL Central as recently as the morning of Aug. 26, have won 17 of 22 games since to narrow their standings gap to 3 ½ games. Assuming that gap doesn't expand during the Sept. 19-21 weekend, the two teams meet for a critical three-game series from Tuesday through Thursday at Cleveland's Progressive Field.
The Diamondbacks and Red Sox, both of whom are fighting for wild-card spots, face nothing but opponents who have at least 96% odds of advancing to the postseason in Week 26. The Guardians, Tigers, Dodgers, Brewers and Padres all also face opponents with realistic chances to at least qualify as wild-card teams (minimum 4.7% playoff odds at publishing time). The Astros and Yankees are the only two (realistically) playoff-contending teams who play nothing but mathematically eliminated opponents.
![Fantasy Baseball Week 26 Playoffs Breakdown: 2025 NL & AL Contenders, Lineup Strategies [ESPN] (2025)](data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mP8/h8AAvMB+NzmkbcAAAAASUVORK5CYII=)