The 2026 MLB playoff field was nearly cut in half Wednesday night. Amid the carnage, the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and San Diego Padres were all eliminated. The Cleveland Guardians were the only team that had trailed in its series and still survived to play another day.
The race to crown the next World Series champion keeps moving forward, but some fans may want an answer sooner. To get a head start, 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. A few experts at ESPN think the Milwaukee Brewers could soon remove themselves from that group.
In a recent batch of bold playoff predictions, three of ESPN’s experts built their forecasts around the Brewers winning it all. Tristan Cockcroft predicted that Milwaukee’s breakout star, Jackson Chourio, would “become the 10th player to win LCS and World Series MVPs.” Eric Karabell forecast a combined no-hitter in Game 1 of the World Series from Jacob Misiorowski, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill. AJ Mass predicted that the Brewers would “trail in every playoff game en route to a championship.” Milwaukee has already broken that prediction, though, 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 backing is not hard to understand. The Brewers won an MLB-best and franchise-record 103 games this season. This postseason, they own the highest OPS (.688) and the second-lowest ERA (1.80).
Two-Time Defending Champs Aren’t the Favorites?
Before the postseason, The Athletic asked “more than 20” of its MLB experts to make World Series picks. The group did not choose the Los Angeles Dodgers, the winners of the past two World Series, as the most popular pick.
The Brewers led the poll with 56 percent of the vote. The Tampa Bay Rays finished second with 24 percent, and the Dodgers received just 16 percent. The Brewers and Rays are both reasonable picks, but that is still less support than a club with this much star power and recent dominance might draw.
“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 Woo’s assessment. However, if most of her colleagues are right, this year’s championship won’t return to Los Angeles.
