MLB The Show 20 Players League Playoff Standings, Bracket Matchups Revealed
As of Wednesday night, just two games were left for the MLB The Show 20 Players League regular season. Those two contests were a special elimination doubleheader to help determine the final standings and playoff picture. Here are the latest results and which players will be competing for the postseason.
MLB The Show 20 Players League doubleheader opens with McCullers vs. Kahnle
The MLB The Show 20 Players League regular season started back on April 10, and now it was down to two games. Robert Flores was hosting and on commentary for ESPN2. It was a doubleheader to help determine who the final two players were in the playoffs.
The first game featured New York Yankees relief pitcher Tommy Kahnle against Lance McCullers Jr. of the Houston Astros. Kahnle used Masahiro Tanaka on the mound for the Yankees to start it off.
McCullers jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly early in the first. He’d score on a deep single to make it 2-0 as Kahnle told the story of his first time donning the pinstripes. Eventually, he’d get a final out. However, Kahnle didn’t fare too well at the plate, going three and out. Kahnle had a nice double play in the top of the second and then got a final out on a long hit to centerfield.
McCullers added another run in the third to go up 3-0. Kahnle finally escaped that but needed to find a way to score. In the bottom of the third, McCullers was facing Aaron Judge with two outs and two men on so he brought in Ryan Pressly to try to close it. McCullers got the win, 3-0. That means Kahnle is out of the playoff picture and Chicago’s Lucas Giolito gets a spot.
Lucas Giolito vs. Amir Garrett in Game 2
Giolito would take on Amir Garrett of the Cincinnati Reds in Game 2 of ESPN 2’s doubleheader. If Giolito could pick up a win, he’d move from the No. 8 spot to No. 7 in the playoff standings. Garrett wanted the win to get into the playoffs over league organizer Trevor May.
Giolito hit a leadoff home run off Luis Castillo with Tim Anderson to go up 1-0. He’d hit a second homer right away with Yoan Moncada to make it 2-0. Despite Garrett bringing in Strop to pitch, Giolito, hit another homer with Mazara made it 5-0 in the top of the first.
Giolito had Dallas Keuchel on the mound and got three easy outs to close out the first. Yet another home run in the second made it 6-0 White Sox. Amir Garrett was in agony as he realized he just wasn’t coming back against Keuchel in this one. He got a run on the board to make it 6-1 but a double-play finished him in the second.
Amir started making a game of it by scoring another two runs in the third. It was 6-3 and Giolito got a strikeout to make it two outs in the bottom of the third. Amir had Mike Moustakis at bat with a man on base. Aaron Bummer came in for the save and recorded the final out for the win. Lucas Giolito takes this one, 6-3.
MLB The Show League playoff standings, bracket, and matchups
The top eight players in terms of records would make the MLB The Show 20 Players League playoffs. Leading all players was Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell with a 24-5 record. The Rangers’ Joey Gallo was second at 23-6, followed by Bo Bichette (Blue Jays) 21-8 and Jeff McNeil (Mets) 21-8.
Due to Giolito’s big win over Garrett, he was able to claim the No. 6 spot in the playoff seeding. Meanwhile, in a tiebreaker situation, Gavin Lux scored one fewer run than Ian Happ. That means Happ gets the No. 7 spot and Lux is No. 8 overall.
Here’s a look at the eight players who made the Show league’s postseason:
- Blake Snell (Tampa Bay Rays) 24-5
- Joey Gallo (Texas Rangers) 23-6
- Bo Bichette (Toronto Blue Jays) 21-8
- Jeff McNeil (New York Mets) 21-8
- Dwight Smith Jr. (Baltimore Orioles)
- Lucas Giolito (Chicago White Sox) 19-10
- Ian Happ (Chicago Cubs) 19-10
- Gavin Lux (Los Angeles Dodgers) 19-10
The official playoff bracket was also revealed on ESPN 2 as show below:
- 1 Blake Snell vs. 8 Gavin Lux
- 2 Joey Gallo vs. 7 Ian Happ
- 3 Bo Bichette vs. 6 Lucas Giolito
- 4 Jeff McNeil vs. 5 Dwight Smith Jr.
For the playoff format, these will be a best-of-three games for the quarterfinals. The semifinals will also be a best-of-three, while the championship game is a best-of-five series.
The first quarterfinals doubleheader arrives on Friday, May 1 on FS1 at 10 p.m. ET. Another quarterfinal doubleheader comes at 3 p.m. EST on ESPN 2 on Saturday, May 2. It should be interesting to see if one of the odds-on-favorite to win it all takes the title of the best player in the MLB The Show 20 Players League!
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