MLB Playoffs

The MLB regular season has come to a close, leaving some intriguing questions going into the postseason.

Is Gerrit Cole ready to guide the Pittsburgh Pirates on a deep run? Will Jake Arrieta be able to match his current form in the playoffs?

Watch as Stephen Nelson joins MLB on TBS analysts Dusty Baker, Gary Sheffield and Pedro Martinez to review the burning questions about baseball's postseason in the video above.

The Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates have been two of the best teams in baseball all season, and they'll wage one more battle this year in order to determine who owns the wild-card spot in the National League.

Grantland's Rany Jazayerli argued this year's wild-card matchup is further evidence in support of the current playoff structure:

It took to the final outs of the season, but the 2015 MLB playoff field is set. Sunday's regular-season finales settled the remaining dust of the AL West and decided home-field advantage for the NL Wild Card Game, which were the two lingering questions heading into Game 162.    

The AL West was by far the most interesting storyline, with the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels all unsure about where they would be heading.

Somehow a five-month, 162-game MLB season always boils down to the final day.

With all 30 teams simultaneously playing games ripe with playoff implications, Sunday will close the season in beautiful pandemonium. Keep track of the madness here for live updates across the league.

Playoff Picture 

American League

Wild Card: Houston Astros at New York Yankees

A long and treacherous MLB season finally is beginning to take shape, with almost all of the spots filled for what promises to be a scintillating 2015 postseason on the road to the World Series.

When Monday rolls around, 20 disappointed MLB teams will head home to watch their adversaries fight for a championship.  

While the National League contestants are all set, three American League spots remain up for grabs. The final weekend's drama will largely reside in the American League West, where a comfortable Houston Astros advantage has decayed into a three-team race.

Just four days remain in the 2015 MLB regular season, and there is still an awful lot to be sorted out between now and the start of the playoffs.

In the National League, all five playoff teams have been decided, but only the St. Louis Cardinals are locked in as the No. 1 overall seed.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets are still battling it out for home-field advantage in their division series matchup, while the Pittsburgh Pirates are trying to hold off the Chicago Cubs for the right to host the Wild Card Game.

Buckle up, fans of the New York Mets. Your team is about to take you on a World Series ride.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Not this year. Not this group. Not this manager. Anybody who tells you that he predicted back in March that the 2015 Mets would win the National League East is probably lying to your face. Even supposed Mets “homers” weren't allowing themselves to get caught up in any hype at the end of last winter.

With just days remaining in MLB's regular season, the American League playoff race is getting down to the nitty-gritty with only eight teams in the running to grab one of five postseason spots.

October is almost upon us, meaning Major League Baseball's best action is just around the corner.

Playoff teams don't make the postseason without good play when it counts, and this list recognizes 12 players who have made a considerable difference in September, looking to do the same in the playoffs.

There are no rankings on this list; everyone on it is pretty much equal in terms of importance to their respective teams during the last month.

With that being said, here are two simple criteria to help you understand how the following dozen ballplayers made this list: