MLB postseason schedule: Wild card, NLDS, NLCS & World Series dates

Major League Baseball unveiled the 2023 postseason schedule on Tuesday, with the wild card round kicking things off on Tuesday, October 3 and both leagues’ division series beginning on Saturday, October 7.

Game 1 of the World Series is Friday, October 27, with Game 7 scheduled for Saturday, November 4, if necessary.

The ESPN cadre of networks will televise all four wild card series, each best-of-three, which are bunched together over three days, from October 3-5, with all (potentially) three games in the ballpark of the higher seed.

Under the old single-game wild card format, the American League and National League would play the wild card games on different days, and the division series would start two days later, such that both the division series and league championship series were staggered, limiting (in as much as possible) the days with no baseball in October.

But with the wild card series in both leagues played in the same three days, that staggering comes in the first weekend of the division series. Both NLDS have off days between Games 1 and 2, in addition to the potentially two travel off days.

Last year, because of the three extra days added to the back end of the regular season after the lockout, the division series was truncated, with no travel day between Games 4 and 5. The Dodgers got around this problem by having several off days after Game 4 of the NLDS in San Diego.

TBS has the National League Division Series and NL Championship Series this year, with Fox and FS1 broadcasting the American League. The NLCS starts on Monday, October 16, and if it goes the distance would end with Game 7 on Tuesday, October 24.

Fox will televise the World Series, with Joe Davis set for his second Fall Classic behind the mic, along with John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal and the rest of the Fox crew. The World Series begins on Friday, October 27, with the potential for three November games, culminating in Game 7 on Saturday, November 4.