As the postseason nears, the same question keeps coming back around: could this be the year a first-time World Series winner finally breaks through?
The Dodgers are trying to do something even bigger - a historic three-peat after back-to-back titles - but among the five clubs that still haven’t won it all, three are in this year’s playoff field: the Brewers, Padres and Rays. Each has been close before.
Each has lived through the disappointment. And each has enough going for it now to make a real run at ending the drought.
Milwaukee has waited the longest. The Brewers’ lone World Series trip came in 1982, when Robin Yount, Paul Molitor & Co. took the franchise within one win of the title before falling to the Cardinals in seven games.
They were close again in 2018, only to lose a seven-game NLCS to the Dodgers. This year’s club set a franchise record for wins, leaning on strong starting pitching and timely hitting - the kind of traits Milwaukee has built around for years while operating with a below-average payroll and without a roster full of headline names.
Entering Thursday, Brewers starters had a fifth-ranked 3.64 ERA, and the team led MLB with an .801 OPS with runners in scoring position.
That foundation looks even more dangerous now because Milwaukee has something October teams covet: a true ace. Jacob Misiorowski has been the most dominant pitcher in the league, and the NL Cy Young Award frontrunner enters the postseason leading MLB with a 1.86 ERA, a .159 opponents’ batting average and 247 strikeouts.
Logan Henderson has also given the rotation a real boost, posting a 2.47 ERA in his age-24 season. There are still questions deeper in the staff, especially after Kyle Harrison’s season went south, but having two starters this locked in can carry a lot of weight once the games tighten.
San Diego’s path looks different, but the appeal is just as clear. The Padres have been to the World Series twice before - losing to the Tigers in 1984 and being swept by the late-1990s Yankees in 1998 - and the closest they’ve come since was 2022, when they reached the NLCS and lost in five games to the Phillies.
What’s changed this year is the consistency. The Padres have now made the playoffs in 2020, ’22 and ’24, and this marks a franchise-best third straight October appearance.
After a stretch of uneven seasons in between their good years, they’ve finally put together another postseason run.
Their formula is built on two things: a bullpen that can slam the door and a lineup that’s heating up at exactly the right time. Mason Miller gives them a closer with triple-digit heat and a nasty slider, the kind of arm that can turn a late lead into a formality.
Adrian Morejon has been a workhorse in front of him, with a 2.80 ERA over 83 2/3 innings entering Thursday, and the rest of the relief group has been largely excellent. If San Diego grabs an early lead, it can make the game feel over quickly.
The bats have been just as important. The Padres led the Majors with a .823 team OPS in September, and Fernando Tatis Jr. has been at the center of the surge.
After going homerless through his first 55 games in 2026, he has already hit eight this month. If that power keeps showing up in October, San Diego has a real chance to keep this run going.
Tampa Bay’s case is a little quieter, but it’s still strong. The Rays have reached the World Series twice, losing to the Phillies in five games in 2008 and falling to the Dodgers in six games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
This year, they have an AL MVP candidate in Junior Caminero to anchor the offense, but the biggest reason they’re here is the rotation. Drew Rasmussen, Nick Martinez, Shane McClanahan and Freddy Peralta have helped make Tampa Bay one of the best starting staffs in baseball, with a collective 3.53 ERA entering Thursday - behind only the Yankees and Dodgers.
Three teams. Three different paths. And for all the history that still hangs over them, each one has enough firepower to make the first-time champion question feel very real this October.
In Other News...
Rays Rookies Have Forced Their Way Into A Real October Debate
Ty Johnson and Brody Hopkins have turned a late-season promotion into something more meaningful for the Rays, making immediate impressions with the kind of pitching that can change how a playoff staff is built. Both rookies were recently brought up to the majors and quickly showed enough for pitching coach Kyle Snyder to highlight Hopkins exceptional pitches and Johnsons effective delivery, a notable endorsement at a time when Tampa Bay is looking closely at every arm it can trust.
Kevin Cash said roster decisions remain preliminary, and there are still spots open as the club weighs the readiness of other pitchers working back from injury. Even so, the way Johnson and Hopkins have pitched has pushed them into the conversation for the American League Division Series, which is exactly the sort of October problem the Rays were hoping to have, even if the final call is still hanging in the balance. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Blow Four-Run Lead In A Frustrating Reminder Before October
Ian Seymour gave the Rays exactly what they wanted in a tune-up setting, carving through five scoreless innings while Tampa Bay spent the afternoon looking like a club with one eye already on October. With the AL East and top playoff seed secured, the Rays leaned on the game to rest key pitchers and sort through their playoff preparation, but the early cushion they built still made the eventual outcome sting a little more than a September exhibition ought to.
The trouble started once the bullpen took over, and a four-run lead entering the sixth inning unraveled into a 6-4 loss. The decisive blow came on a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth, turning a comfortable afternoon into the kind of reminder teams try to avoid right before the postseason, when every late-inning pitch gets a little more magnified. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Are Betting On One Bullpen Arm For October
Manuel Rodriguez is back on the Rays active roster after recovering from a low back strain, giving Tampa Bay another late-season bullpen option as the postseason arrives. To clear space, the club designated right-hander Jake Woodford for assignment, a move that underscores how tightly every roster spot is being managed with October in view.
Rodriguez is expected to be part of the bullpen mix in the playoffs, a boost the Rays will take with some other arms still unavailable for the ALDS. With Shane McClanahan among the injured pitchers, Tampa Bay is leaning on health and matchup value as it tries to line up the right relief help for the games that matter most. [Read more 🡒]