MLB Playoffs

It's tough to say just how valuable postseason experience can be when the MLB playoffs roll around, and for rookies it's a whole new ballgame.

One of the biggest storylines of the 2015 MLB season has been the influx of high-end rookie talent, and that story should continue to play on into October with more than a few first-year players poised to make a significant impact for their respective teams.

The injury bug often rears its mighty head at the most inopportune times in Major League Baseball. The optimism of a team can quickly disappear when a key player goes down. And when the injury warrants a lengthy recovering time—sometimes—that optimism is crushed completely.

With the 2015 MLB playoffs right around the corner, postseason contenders will have their fingers crossed that injuries will be avoided from here on out.

Crunch time in the 2015 MLB season has arrived, as teams have just a couple more weeks to make a final push for a postseason spot.

The National League playoff picture looks to be set, at least as far as which five teams will earn a spot, but the NL Central standings are still far from decided.

Meanwhile, the American League picture is a bit more crowded with a tight race for the AL West crown and as many as five teams in the mix for the second wild-card spot.

There's nothing quite like September baseball, when it involves teams contending for a spot to play in the MLB postseason.

Some teams are slowly separating themselves from the pack, while others look to find themselves in a dogfight from here on out.

From sorting out the Matt Harvey drama in New York to wondering if the Texas Rangers can complete their season turnaround, many questions remain to be answered in the MLB's final month. 

For many teams, uncertainty looms as they get ready for the postseason—whether they actually make the playoffs, what their roster will look like come October and who needs to player better by then. 

With the 2015 MLB season slowly winding down, Bleacher Report is making some playoff predictions. 

Which teams do we think will be in the playoffs? Which teams do we think will win each division?

As the hunt for October begins to gain steam, it's time to take a look at some of the problems still facing MLB postseason contenders.

Now, some of the problems might be minor ones, but in a one-game playoff or five-game series, anything can happen in baseball. We saw what happened last season when two wild-card teams made it all the way to the World Series. All it takes is for a team to get hot at the right time and the dreams of a Fall Classic can quickly slip away.

Throughout much of the MLB season, two teams have dominated the competition in their respective leagues. The St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals may be heading into the final month of the regular season as the hottest clubs in baseball, but there's much to be sorted out in the divisional and wild-card races before the postseason gets underway in October. 

In predicting how the postseason picture will shape up with a month to go, three primary factors were taken into consideration: 

The Major League Baseball season is coming down to the stretch run, and many fans are already thinking about the playoffs.

What are some dream matchups that fans want to see?

Bleacher Report's Scott Miller joins Stephen Nelson to offer some series matchups he would love to see in October.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

As the August 31 waiver trade deadline fast approaches, it will force some movement of talent in the MLB in the coming week. 

Contenders are looking to improve their playoff-bound rosters, while other clubs simply want to unload contracts of players they don't feel are key pieces of the future.

It's a two-way street, and teams that hope to compete deep into October desperately want to snag those one or two players who could spell the difference between a first-round exit and a World Series title.