Brewers' path to World Series finalized after 2025 MLB Playoff Bracket revealed

One of the best parts about the final day of the MLB regular season is that all 30 teams are in action at the same time. While it's suboptimal for those trying to watch multiple games at once, it makes for an electric afternoon of baseball, after which all of the upcoming postseason matchups are officially finalized.

Entering play on Sunday afternoon, 11 of the 12 playoff participants were set. Seeding in the American League had yet to be decided, but other than the final Wild Card spot in the National League, each of the teams headed to this year's playoffs knew they would be doing so before play began on the final day of the regular season.

Two teams were vying for the final postseason spot in the National League: the New York Mets, who have experienced a colossal collapse during the second half of the season, and the Cincinnati Reds, whom the Milwaukee Brewers had a date with on Sunday afternoon. The Reds needed either a win or a Mets loss to sneak into the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 pandemic-shortened season.

With the Brew Crew taking the season finale over the Reds by a score of 4-2, it was up to the Miami Marlins to take down the Mets and send Terry Francona's squad to the postseason.

The Mets didn't even score a run. With a chance to go to the playoffs on the line, New York was shutout by the scrappy Marlins, who have quietly been a very solid team during the second half of the season.

With the Reds officially the final Wild Card team in the National League, the postseason is now finalized, and the Brewers' path to their first World Series championship in franchise history is set.

Brewers path through the postseason finalized after Reds snag final NL Wild Card spot

Milwaukee's postseason journey will begin with five days off. That much hasn't changed since the Brewers clinched a first-round bye when they won their third straight NL Central division title and one of the top two seeds on the same night back on September 21. The Brewers have since earned the top overall seed, meaning their first postseason series will be an NLDS matchup with either the #4 or #5 seed in the NL.

With the Chicago Cubs earning the top Wild Card seed and the #4 overall seed in the NL, they will host the #5 seed San Diego Padres in a best-of-three Wild Card series matchup beginning on Tuesday afternoon. The two teams will face off on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (if necessary) before an off-day on Friday and the beginning of the NLDS on Saturday.

The Brew Crew will play either the Cubs or Padres in a best-of-five series beginning on Saturday, October 4, with games one and two, the second of which will be on Monday, being played at American Family Field. The Brewers will travel either to Wrigley Field or Petco Park for games three (Wednesday) and four (Thursday), if needed. A potential game five matchup would be back in Milwaukee on Saturday, October 11.

Should the Brewers advance past the NLDS for the first time since 2018, they will meet one of three teams in the NLCS: the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, or Cincinnati Reds. A date with the Phillies would be a battle of the top two seeds in the NL, a Dodgers-Brewers NLCS would be a re-run of the 2018 championship series, and facing off with the Reds would be the first all-NL Central NLCS since 2011, when the Crew squared off with the St. Louis Cardinals. The NLCS will start on Monday, October 13, and could last all the way until the 21st if all seven games are needed.

If the Brewers secure their first NL pennant in franchise history (the team competed in the American League when they reached the World Series in 1982), the World Series is set to begin on Friday, October 24, and could last as late as November 1.

It's bound to be an exciting month for the Milwaukee faithful that hopefully ends in the Brewers' first World Series championship in franchise history. One step at a time though, and that first step involves getting healthy and staying sharp over the next five days. After that, it's pure cinema as postseason baseball always is.