This could be the “Big Market” Wild Card Round…and it may impact the Cubs’ timeslot

We are in out last 11 days of the MLB regular season, and the teams have 9 or 10 games left. So several things could change. But as things stand, this could be a huge Wild Card round for big market teams.

Imagine a Wild Card Round with 2 New York Teams, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Boston, with San Diego and Seattle being the smallest cities involved. It will be a boon to ESPN, who will be televising all the games, but it could also have a major impact on when the Cubs would play. So let’s speculate on which TV timeslot the Cubs

First, some bold assumptions:

• The Cubs will not overtake the Brewers in the NL Central
• The Brewers and Phillies will have byes in the NL
• The Blue Jays and Tigers will have byes in the AL
• The Cubs will host the Padres and Dodgers will host the Mets in the NL Wild Card round
• The Yankees will host the Mariners and the Astros will host the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card round. This is the most subject to change, with a very tight race in the AL East, AL West and AL Wild card

Here are the 2024 time slots for the Wild Card Games in ET: 2:32 PM, 4:08 PM, 5:32 PM, 8:38 PM. If we assume the same time slots in 2025, and look at the current projected matchups, here’s what I would project as the start times. Obviously, Game 3 start times could change based on 2-games sweeps.

• 2:32 PM – Red Sox at Astros.
• 4:08 PM – Padres at Cubs
• 5:32 PM – Mariners at Yankees
• 8:38 PM – Mets at Dodgers

However, there are still several slots yet to be decided. I’ll focus on scenarios with a difference of fewer than 5 games:

• If the Mariners win the AL West (0.5 GB), they would not have them start at 11:30 PT, so that series would be moved to the 2nd slot, potentially moving the Cubs to the early slot.
• If the Padres overtake the Dodgers for the NL West title (2.0 GB), it would most likely be Dodgers vs Cubs in the 4th time slot.
• If the Yankees overtake the Blue Jays for a bye (4 GB), the Cubs might get the 3rd slot.
• If the Red Sox jump over the Yankees (2 GB), their series against the AL West loser, would be the first shown (if the Astros) or the 2nd shown (if the Mariners).
• If the AL West winner jumps over Detroit for the bye (1.5 or 2.0 GB) the Detroit series would be the first slot against the AL West loser or the Red Sox, and the 3rd against the Yankees.

The bottom line is that I think the Dodgers are locked into the final timeslot, and the Yankees in the 3rd timeslot, if both are in the Wild Card round. That would leave the 1st or 2nd slot for the Cubs, depending on who wins the AL West. So, I hope Cubs fans out there can afford to take the time off from work.