POSTSEASON · 2026

2026 MLB Postseason: Schedule, Bracket & Japanese Players

The postseason opens on Wed, Sep 30 (Japan time). 2 teams with Japanese players have clinched and 5 are still in the race.

Dates (Japan time)

Wed, Sep 30 – Sun, Nov 1

World Series

Starts Sat, Oct 24

Teams with Japanese players

2 in · 5 racing

Every game from the Wild Card Series to the World Series in Japan time, plus where each Japanese player’s team stands, probable starters and postseason stats — in one place. Data comes from the official MLB Stats API and refreshes every hour.

Postseason Status of Japanese Players’ Teams (2026)

Whether each team with a Japanese player has clinched, is still in the race, or has been eliminated, based on the official MLB standings. Updated hourly through the final day of the regular season.

Los Angeles DodgersDivision champion

Boston Red SoxClinched

Masataka Yoshida

Chicago CubsIn the race

87-70 · Wild Card No. 1

San Diego PadresIn the race

87-70 · Wild Card No. 3

Toronto Blue JaysIn the race

77-80 · 4.0 GB of a Wild Card spot

Kazuma Okamoto

Chicago White SoxIn the race

81-76 · Wild Card No. 3

Munetaka Murakami

Houston AstrosIn the race

78-79 · Division leader

Tatsuya Imai

Los Angeles AngelsMissed the postseason

Yusei Kikuchi

New York MetsMissed the postseason

Kodai Senga

Colorado RockiesMissed the postseason

Tomoyuki Sugano

Regular-Season Standings

Team	Wild Card	W-L	PCT	Division
Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani・Yoshinobu Yamamoto・Roki Sasaki	Division lead	97-60W5	.618	#1
Chicago Cubs Seiya Suzuki・Shota Imanaga	WC #1 +0.0	87-70L1	.554	#211.0 GB
San Diego Padres Yu Darvish・Yuki Matsui	WC #3 +0.0	87-70L1	.554	#210.0 GB
Boston Red Sox Masataka Yoshida	WC #2 +3.0	84-73L3	.535	#312.0 GB
Chicago White Sox Munetaka Murakami	WC #3 +0.0	81-76W3	.516	#21.0 GB
Houston Astros Tatsuya Imai	Division lead	78-79W1	.497	#1
Toronto Blue Jays Kazuma Okamoto	WC #5 4.0 GB	77-80L1	.490	#419.0 GB
New York Mets Kodai Senga	WC #10 15.0 GB	72-85W1	.459	#520.0 GB
Los Angeles Angels Yusei Kikuchi	WC #12 21.0 GB	60-97L2	.382	#518.0 GB
Colorado Rockies Tomoyuki Sugano	WC #12 30.0 GB	57-100L2	.363	#540.0 GB

In playoff positionOut, within 3.0 gamesOut of contention

Next Games & Probable Starters

Games involving teams with Japanese players, in Japan time. Probable starters follow MLB’s announcements and show as TBD until then.

Games will appear here once the matchups are set (the postseason opens on Wed, Sep 30, Japan time).

TV and streaming schedule (Calendar) →

2026 Postseason Bracket

Six teams per league (three division winners and three Wild Cards) qualify. The top two seeds skip the Wild Card Series and start in the Division Series. Undecided slots show seeds and switch to team names automatically. A gold line marks series with a Japanese player’s team.

National League

NL Wild Card Series

WC · Best of 3From Wed, Sep 30

NL Wild Card #2

NL Wild Card #1

WC · Best of 3From Wed, Sep 30

NL Wild Card #3

NL #3 Seed

NL Division Series

DS · Best of 5From Sun, Oct 4

NL 4/5 Winner

NL #1 Seed

DS · Best of 5From Sun, Oct 4

NL 3/6 Winner

NL #2 Seed

NL Championship Series

CS · Best of 7From Mon, Oct 12

NL Lower Seed

NL Higher Seed

American League

AL Wild Card Series

WC · Best of 3From Wed, Sep 30

AL Wild Card #2

Yankees

WC · Best of 3From Wed, Sep 30

AL Wild Card #3

AL #3 Seed

AL Division Series

DS · Best of 5From Sun, Oct 4

AL 4/5 Winner

Rays

DS · Best of 5From Sun, Oct 4

AL 3/6 Winner

AL #2 Seed

AL Championship Series

CS · Best of 7From Tue, Oct 13

AL Lower Seed

AL Higher Seed

World Series

WS · Best of 7From Sat, Oct 24

Lower Seed League Champion

Higher Seed League Champion

2026 Postseason Schedule (Japan Time)

Every game in Japan time. “If necessary” games are played only when the series is still undecided.

Wild Card SeriesWed, Sep 30 – Fri, Oct 212 games

Wed, Sep 30

Time TBD

AL Wild Card SeriesGame 1

AL Wild Card #3@AL #3 Seed

Wed, Sep 30

Time TBD

AL Wild Card SeriesGame 1

AL Wild Card #2@Yankees

Wed, Sep 30

Time TBD

NL Wild Card SeriesGame 1

NL Wild Card #3@NL #3 Seed

Wed, Sep 30

Time TBD

NL Wild Card SeriesGame 1

NL Wild Card #2@NL Wild Card #1

Thu, Oct 1

Time TBD

AL Wild Card SeriesGame 2

AL Wild Card #3@AL #3 Seed

Thu, Oct 1

Time TBD

AL Wild Card SeriesGame 2

AL Wild Card #2@Yankees

Thu, Oct 1

Time TBD

NL Wild Card SeriesGame 2

NL Wild Card #3@NL #3 Seed

Thu, Oct 1

Time TBD

NL Wild Card SeriesGame 2

NL Wild Card #2@NL Wild Card #1

Fri, Oct 2

Time TBD

AL Wild Card SeriesGame 3If necessary

AL Wild Card #3@AL #3 Seed

Fri, Oct 2

Time TBD

AL Wild Card SeriesGame 3If necessary

AL Wild Card #2@Yankees

Fri, Oct 2

Time TBD

NL Wild Card SeriesGame 3If necessary

NL Wild Card #3@NL #3 Seed

Fri, Oct 2

Time TBD

NL Wild Card SeriesGame 3If necessary

NL Wild Card #2@NL Wild Card #1

Division SeriesSun, Oct 4 – Sun, Oct 1120 games

Sun, Oct 4

Time TBD

AL Division SeriesGame 1

AL 4/5 Winner@Rays

Sun, Oct 4

Time TBD

AL Division SeriesGame 1

AL 3/6 Winner@AL #2 Seed

Sun, Oct 4

Time TBD

NL Division SeriesGame 1

NL 4/5 Winner@NL #1 Seed

Sun, Oct 4

Time TBD

NL Division SeriesGame 1

NL 3/6 Winner@NL #2 Seed

Mon, Oct 5

Time TBD

NL Division SeriesGame 2

NL 4/5 Winner@NL #1 Seed

Mon, Oct 5

Time TBD

NL Division SeriesGame 2

NL 3/6 Winner@NL #2 Seed

Tue, Oct 6

Time TBD

AL Division SeriesGame 2

AL 4/5 Winner@Rays

Tue, Oct 6

Time TBD

AL Division SeriesGame 2

AL 3/6 Winner@AL #2 Seed

Wed, Oct 7

Time TBD

NL Division SeriesGame 3

NL #1 Seed@NL 4/5 Winner

Wed, Oct 7

Time TBD

NL Division SeriesGame 3

NL #2 Seed@NL 3/6 Winner

Thu, Oct 8

Time TBD

AL Division SeriesGame 3

Rays@AL 4/5 Winner

Thu, Oct 8

Time TBD

AL Division SeriesGame 3

AL #2 Seed@AL 3/6 Winner

Thu, Oct 8

Time TBD

NL Division SeriesGame 4If necessary

NL #1 Seed@NL 4/5 Winner

Thu, Oct 8

Time TBD

NL Division SeriesGame 4If necessary

NL #2 Seed@NL 3/6 Winner

Fri, Oct 9

Time TBD

AL Division SeriesGame 4If necessary

Rays@AL 4/5 Winner

Fri, Oct 9

Time TBD

AL Division SeriesGame 4If necessary

AL #2 Seed@AL 3/6 Winner

Sat, Oct 10

Time TBD

NL Division SeriesGame 5If necessary

NL 4/5 Winner@NL #1 Seed

Sat, Oct 10

Time TBD

NL Division SeriesGame 5If necessary

NL 3/6 Winner@NL #2 Seed

Sun, Oct 11

Time TBD

AL Division SeriesGame 5If necessary

AL 4/5 Winner@Rays

Sun, Oct 11

Time TBD

AL Division SeriesGame 5If necessary

AL 3/6 Winner@AL #2 Seed

Championship SeriesMon, Oct 12 – Wed, Oct 2114 games

Mon, Oct 12

Time TBD

NL Championship SeriesGame 1

NL Lower Seed@NL Higher Seed

Tue, Oct 13

Time TBD

AL Championship SeriesGame 1

AL Lower Seed@AL Higher Seed

Tue, Oct 13

Time TBD

NL Championship SeriesGame 2

NL Lower Seed@NL Higher Seed

Wed, Oct 14

Time TBD

AL Championship SeriesGame 2

AL Lower Seed@AL Higher Seed

Thu, Oct 15

Time TBD

NL Championship SeriesGame 3

NL Higher Seed@NL Lower Seed

Fri, Oct 16

Time TBD

AL Championship SeriesGame 3

AL Higher Seed@AL Lower Seed

Fri, Oct 16

Time TBD

NL Championship SeriesGame 4

NL Higher Seed@NL Lower Seed

Sat, Oct 17

Time TBD

AL Championship SeriesGame 4

AL Higher Seed@AL Lower Seed

Sat, Oct 17

Time TBD

NL Championship SeriesGame 5If necessary

NL Higher Seed@NL Lower Seed

Sun, Oct 18

Time TBD

AL Championship SeriesGame 5If necessary

AL Higher Seed@AL Lower Seed

Mon, Oct 19

Time TBD

NL Championship SeriesGame 6If necessary

NL Lower Seed@NL Higher Seed

Tue, Oct 20

Time TBD

AL Championship SeriesGame 6If necessary

AL Lower Seed@AL Higher Seed

Tue, Oct 20

Time TBD

NL Championship SeriesGame 7If necessary

NL Lower Seed@NL Higher Seed

Wed, Oct 21

Time TBD

AL Championship SeriesGame 7If necessary

AL Lower Seed@AL Higher Seed

World SeriesSat, Oct 24 – Sun, Nov 17 games

Sat, Oct 24

Time TBD

World SeriesGame 1

Lower Seed League Champion@Higher Seed League Champion

Sun, Oct 25

Time TBD

World SeriesGame 2

Lower Seed League Champion@Higher Seed League Champion

Tue, Oct 27

Time TBD

World SeriesGame 3

Higher Seed League Champion@Lower Seed League Champion

Wed, Oct 28

Time TBD

World SeriesGame 4

Higher Seed League Champion@Lower Seed League Champion

Thu, Oct 29

Time TBD

World SeriesGame 5If necessary

Higher Seed League Champion@Lower Seed League Champion

Sat, Oct 31

Time TBD

World SeriesGame 6If necessary

Lower Seed League Champion@Higher Seed League Champion

Sun, Nov 1

Time TBD

World SeriesGame 7If necessary

Lower Seed League Champion@Higher Seed League Champion

Times are Japan time. TBD start times update automatically once MLB announces them. Dodgers games link to the game page; other Japanese players’ games link to their player pages.

Japanese Players’ 2025 Postseason Stats

The 2026 postseason has not started yet, so this shows last year’s (2025) stats. It switches to 2026 once the postseason begins.

Batting

Player	G	AB	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OPS
Shohei Ohtani Los Angeles Dodgers	17	68	18	8	14	.265	1.096
Seiya Suzuki Chicago Cubs	8	31	7	3	5	.226	.863
Masataka Yoshida Boston Red Sox	3	7	4	0	2	.571	1.142

Pitching

Player	G	GS	W-L	SV	IP	SO	ERA	WHIP
Yoshinobu Yamamoto Los Angeles Dodgers	6	5	5-1	0	37.1	33	1.45	0.78
Shohei Ohtani Los Angeles Dodgers	4	4	2-1	0	20.1	28	4.43	1.13
Roki Sasaki Los Angeles Dodgers	9	0	0-0	3	10.2	6	0.84	1.03
Shota Imanaga Chicago Cubs	2	1	0-1	0	6.2	6	8.10	1.50
Yu Darvish San Diego Padres	1	1	0-1	0	1.0	1	18.00	4.00

Source: MLB Stats API (postseason totals). Current MLB Japanese players only. Hitters with a plate appearance and pitchers with an appearance are shown.

TV & Streaming

Postseason TV and streaming schedule is on the CalendarNHK, commercial TV and streaming schedules are listed game by game on the Calendar page, including the channels for Japanese players’ games.See the broadcast schedule →

Japanese Players in Postseason History

Postseason records of the 36 Japanese players who have appeared in the MLB postseason, from official MLB data (through 2025; this year’s stats are in the table above).

Japanese players

World Series champions

Most postseasons

Yu Darvish (7)

Japanese Players Who Won the World Series

2005Tadahito Iguchi（Chicago White Sox）

2006So Taguchi（St. Louis Cardinals）

2007Daisuke Matsuzaka（Boston Red Sox）

2007Hideki Okajima（Boston Red Sox）

2009Hideki Matsui（New York Yankees）

2013Junichi Tazawa（Boston Red Sox）

2013Koji Uehara（Boston Red Sox）

2024Shohei Ohtani（Los Angeles Dodgers）

2024Yoshinobu Yamamoto（Los Angeles Dodgers）

2025Roki Sasaki（Los Angeles Dodgers）

2025Shohei Ohtani（Los Angeles Dodgers）

2025Yoshinobu Yamamoto（Los Angeles Dodgers）

Career Postseason Batting (Japanese Players)

Player	G	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OPS	Postseasons
Hideki Matsui	56	64	10	39	.312	.932	2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 (champion)
Shohei Ohtani	33	32	11	24	.248	.940	2024 (champion), 2025 (champion)
So Taguchi	30	7	2	5	.219	.680	2004, 2005, 2006 (champion), 2008
Ichiro Suzuki	19	27	1	8	.346	.836	2001, 2012
Akinori Iwamura	16	18	1	5	.273	.751	2008
Tadahito Iguchi	15	9	1	5	.188	.562	2005 (champion), 2007
Norichika Aoki	14	8	0	3	.195	.487	2014
Kazuo Matsui	11	14	1	8	.304	.847	2007
Seiya Suzuki	8	7	3	5	.226	.863	2025
Yoshi Tsutsugo	8	2	0	0	.125	.250	2020
Tsuyoshi Shinjo	4	1	0	0	.143	.286	2002
Masataka Yoshida	3	4	0	2	.571	1.142	2025
Kosuke Fukudome	3	1	0	0	.100	.200	2008
Shogo Akiyama	2	0	0	0	.000	.000	2020

Career Postseason Pitching (Japanese Players)

Player	G	GS	W-L	SV	IP	SO	ERA	Postseasons
Kenta Maeda	27	4	2-1	0	41.2	48	3.24	2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023
Koji Uehara	19	0	1-1	7	18.0	21	3.00	2011, 2012, 2013 (champion), 2016
Hideki Okajima	17	0	0-0	0	21.1	16	2.11	2007 (champion), 2008, 2009
Yu Darvish	14	14	5-8	0	72.2	62	3.96	2012, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2024, 2025
Junichi Tazawa	13	0	1-0	0	7.1	6	1.23	2013 (champion)
Yoshinobu Yamamoto	10	9	7-1	0	56.0	48	2.25	2024 (champion), 2025 (champion)
Masahiro Tanaka	10	10	5-4	0	54.0	44	3.33	2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Takashi Saito	10	0	1-0	0	10.2	9	1.69	2006, 2008, 2009, 2011
Roki Sasaki	9	0	0-0	3	10.2	6	0.84	2025 (champion)
Kazuhiro Sasaki	8	0	0-1	4	8.0	13	2.25	2000, 2001
Daisuke Matsuzaka	7	7	3-1	0	35.2	33	4.79	2007 (champion), 2008
Hiroki Kuroda	5	5	2-2	0	29.2	22	3.94	2008, 2009, 2012
Shohei Ohtani	4	4	2-1	0	20.1	28	4.43	2024 (champion), 2025 (champion)
Masato Yoshii	3	3	0-1	0	13.0	7	5.54	1999
Kodai Senga	3	2	0-1	0	5.0	4	12.60	2024
Akinori Otsuka	3	0	0-0	0	3.0	0	0.00	2005
Hirokazu Sawamura	3	0	0-0	0	2.0	2	4.50	2021
Hideo Nomo	2	2	0-2	0	8.2	9	10.38	1995, 1996
Shota Imanaga	2	1	0-1	0	6.2	6	8.10	2025
Hideki Irabu	1	0	0-0	0	4.2	3	13.50	1999
Yusei Kikuchi	1	0	0-0	0	1.2	0	5.40	2023
Yuki Matsui	1	0	0-0	0	1.0	1	0.00	2024
Yoshinori Tateyama	1	0	0-0	0	0.2	0	0.00	2011

Source: MLB Stats API (postseason totals through 2025). Players born in Japan. “Champion” marks seasons in which the player appeared in and won the World Series.

How the Postseason Works

Twelve teams — six from each league — reach the MLB postseason: the three division winners and the three non-division winners with the best records (Wild Cards). They are seeded 1 to 6 by record, with the division winners as seeds 1–3.

Wild Card Series (best of three): No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5, all games at the higher seed’s park. Seeds 1 and 2 get a bye.

Division Series (best of five): Seeds 1 and 2 face the Wild Card Series winners.

League Championship Series (best of seven): The Division Series winners meet to decide each pennant.

World Series (best of seven): The AL and NL champions play for the title.

Baseball stats glossary →

FAQ

Q. When does the 2026 postseason start in Japan time?

In 2026, the Wild Card Series opens on Wed, Sep 30 (Japan time). The Division Series starts Sun, Oct 4, the Championship Series Mon, Oct 12, and the World Series Sat, Oct 24 (running through Sun, Nov 1 if it goes seven games).

Q. Which Japanese players are in the postseason?

Teams with Japanese players that reached (or clinched) the postseason: Los Angeles Dodgers（Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki）; Boston Red Sox（Masataka Yoshida）. Each club announces its roster before every series.

Q. Where can I watch the postseason (TV / streaming)?

Broadcast and streaming schedules are listed game by game on this site’s Calendar page, including NHK, commercial TV, BS and streaming services.

Q. How does the postseason work? How many teams qualify?

Twelve teams (six per league) qualify and advance through the Wild Card Series (best of three), Division Series (best of five), Championship Series (best of seven) and World Series (best of seven). The top two seeds in each league skip the Wild Card Series.

Q. Which Japanese players have won the World Series?

10 Japanese players have won the World Series: Hideki Matsui, So Taguchi, Tadahito Iguchi, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima, Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki.