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We have our field of 12 Major League Baseball playoff teams for the 2025 battle for the World Series trophy. If the regular season was any indication, we're in for an incredibly chaotic postseason, one which hopefully includes our first World Series Game 7 since 2019. First things first, though, we need to dive in and rank the 12 pitching staffs because ranking things is fun. Keep in mind that teams' regular season five-man rotations won't be intact for the playoffs, and some of those starters will be pitching out of the bullpen. Others won't make the roster at all. Also, there's so much variance in here that we could jumble them up and it wouldn't even seem bad.

12. Toronto Blue Jays

The rotation has the potential to be a major weakness here. Kevin Gausman looked great for a stretch but then was bad in his last two outings. Shane Bieber has been pretty good but certainly not dominant or even great. Max Scherzer has fallen apart. José Berríos probably isn't to be trusted. Is the rookie Trey Yesavage ready? 

They have a shaky bullpen, too. 

11. Detroit Tigers

Tarik Skubal does a lot of heavy lifting here, but he's only one man. Even with the AL ERA leader on staff, the Tigers ranked 16th in ERA this season. Jack Flaherty isn't anywhere close to a safe bet. Injuries to Jackson Jobe and Reese Olson crushed their depth and Casey Mize ha a 5.54 ERA in his last 13 starts (though he was a bit better in September). The bullpen was bad in June, terrible in July, pretty good in August and bad in September. That doesn't inspire much confidence moving toward October.

10. New York Yankees

The Yankees have had so many bullpen issues this season that we cannot expect them all to go away for the playoffs. I do think that you could squint your way to a prediction that some combination of David Bednar, Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, Fernando Cruz and Camilo Doval will have a dominant postseason and it could well come to fruition. They could also totally fall apart. 

The rotation should be good. Max Fried is back on track and Carlos Rodón had a very good year. Luis Gil and Cam Schlittler have shown enough to make me believe they could be a nice No. 3 and 4, too. 

There have just been far too many bullpen issues.

9. Cincinnati Reds

There's a case to be made that the Reds could ride dominant starts from Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo to an unlikely, deep playoff run. Lodolo is inconsistent and might have a groin injury while Abbott was subpar in three of his last five starts. The back end of the bullpen is really good with Emilio Pagán and Tony Santillan, but depth isn't as good and is worrisome. Still, it's possible I have the Reds underranked and my concerns with Lodolo and Abbott will prove to be misguided. 

8. Chicago Cubs

The Cade Horton injury is very concerning. The rookie had catapulted himself into position to be the postseason ace. Maybe he'll be back by the NLCS, if the Cubs even make it there. Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga and Jameson Taillon could prove to be a very nice three-man rotation for the Wild Card Series, but there are questions. Boyd might've hit a wall in the second half, posting a 5.51 ERA in his last nine starts. Imanaga gives up so many fly balls that if he's in an environment conducive to home runs (if the wind is blowing out in Wrigley, for example), he runs into trouble. The bullpen has been very hot-and-cold this season, though it seems like Craig Counsell has settled into a good formula late in the game with Brad Keller and Andrew Kittredge leading the way. Like so many teams on this list, it isn't difficult to envision an excellent or awful postseason from this group. 

7. Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers had the second-best ERA in baseball this season and the best mark among playoff teams. They've run into issues, though. The injuries to José Quintana and Brandon Woodruff hurt the rotation and rookie Jacob Misiorowski had a 6.06 ERA in his last eight outings, which are becoming shorter and shorter. The bullpen is excellent and will likely continue to be, but the rotation after ace Freddy Peralta is full of questions. 

6. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers ranked 17th in staff ERA this season. Moving to a postseason rotation actually looks pretty promising for them though. They have six starting pitchers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan). They can use three or four of them in their playoff rotation and send the rest to the bullpen, which is where the Dodgers were burned so frequently this season. 

We cannot, though, be certain that some of these starters will be great in relief. It's an unknown. There's potential for everything to click and the Dodgers to have the best pitching staff in the postseason, but those bullpen warts cannot be ignored. 

5. Boston Red Sox

Garrett Crochet is an elite-tier ace while Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito are capable of being very good mid-rotation guys. How good does rookie lefty Connelly Early look? X-factor? He has that feel. 

In the bullpen, 37-year-old closer Aroldis Chapman had a career year. Garrett Whitlock is one of the best setup men in baseball and there's good depth. The Red Sox had the second-best bullpen ERA in all of baseball this season and that takes on heightened importance in the playoffs.

4. Seattle Mariners

Again, the range of variance is large here. Bryan Woo is reliable, but Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert have all been inconsistent this season. Gilbert had a 2.52 ERA in his last seven starts, Castillo was great in his last four and Kirby was great in his last three. If this foursome pitches to its ceiling, the Mariners will probably win the World Series. There's an awful lot of them not pitching to their potential this season, though, so will the good times run out? 

The bullpen isn't as deep as you'd like, but Matt Brash, Eduard Bazardo and closer Andrés Muñoz form a great back-end trio.

3. Philadelphia Phillies

I'd likely have the Phillies first here if Zack Wheeler didn't go down with a season-ending injury. Still, it's a quality group. Cristopher Sánchez is going to finish second in NL Cy Young voting. Ranger Suárez was rocky to finish the season, but he's capable of being one of the best No. 2 starters in the playoffs. Jesús Luzardo struck out 216 this season. Walker Buehler's been great since joining the Phillies. Did Aaron Nola finally find himself in his last start? One of these five can help the bullpen.

Jhoan Duran is a beast at closer with Matt Strahm being a great setup man. The depth isn't great, but in the playoffs that isn't as much of a concern as the regular season.

2. San Diego Padres

Though they've lost Jason Adam to injury, the Padres have a stellar bullpen. Robert Suarez and Mason Miller at the back end is a deadly combo while Adrian Morejon is also amazing and Jeremiah Estrada is a mega bat-misser (108 K in 73 IP). 

The rotation has big upside now with Michael King back from injury, Nick Pivetta having his career year and Dylan Cease's monster potential. Cease had an off year for the most part, but he did pitch to a 3.12 ERA in his last five starts, so he's trending in the right direction.

1. Cleveland Guardians

The team with the worst offense in the playoffs also has the best pitching staff despite having traded away Bieber and having lost Emmanuel Clase to a gambling investigation. The Guardians have posted a sparkling 2.61 ERA in September with Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee and rookie Parker Messick throwing like a trio of aces down the stretch. Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski have really locked things down at the back end of the bullpen, too.