MLB Power Rankings Week 25: Wild-card teams on the move - ESPN

We have our first official playoff teams! The Brewers clinched the season's first postseason spot on Wednesday with a Cubs loss, and the Yankees followed suit later that night by beating the Mariners in extra innings to secure their trip to October. Now, with 11 days left in the regular season, we wait to see who's next.

It's just a matter of time before additional clubs lock up berths — such as the Phillies, Dodgers and Guardians — but others still have a lot to play for. In the past week, we've seen the Tigers go on a run that has brought them to just 1.5 games back of the final American League wild card. And in the National League, the Mets have continued their late-season surge, bumping the Braves out of the current playoff picture.

Some of these races will go down to the final days of the season — so, get ready for some exciting baseball!

Meanwhile, our expert panel has combined to rank every team based on a combination of what we've seen so far and what we already knew going into the 162-game marathon that is a full baseball season. We also asked ESPN MLB experts David Schoenfield, Bradford Doolittle, Jesse Rogers, Alden Gonzalez and Jorge Castillo to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.

Week 24 | Second-half preview | Preseason rankings

Record: 91-61
Previous ranking: 1

With the postseason around the corner, Zack Wheeler looks primed for another big October as he's pitching his best baseball of the season. He has a 1.98 ERA over his past eight starts with a .181 average and .518 OPS allowed. He has allowed more than two runs in a game just once since June 16. Wheeler leads all pitchers in WAR since 2020, but he appears destined to finish second in the Cy Young voting to Atlanta's Chris Sale. And who