100 regular season games (or 99 for Gary SouthShore and Kane County) are in the books. Records have been shattered, an expansion team has been awarded, rumors of two teams leaving have run rampant, and offense has exploded to record levels.

But it’s not quite over yet! Playoff baseball is here and the season will continue for eight teams who will be chasing the Miles Wolff Cup starting tonight.

Skip ahead:
Playoff schedule
Meet the teams
Predictions

Playoff Schedule

East First Round — September 9-12 (Best of 3)

Date	Matchup	Away Starter	Home Starter
9/9/26	Milwaukee at Cleburne (in Milwaukee)	TBA	TBA
9/11/26	Cleburne at Milwaukee	TBA	TBA
9/12/26	Cleburne at Milwaukee (if necessary)	TBA	TBA

East First Round — September 9-12 (Best of 3)

Date	Matchup	Away Starter	Home Starter
9/9/26	Lake Country at Kane County	RHP M. Davis	RHP K. Ash
9/11/26	Kane County at Lake Country	TBA	TBA
9/12/26	Kane County at Lake Country (if necessary)	TBA	TBA

West First Round — September 9-12 (Best of 3)

Date	Matchup	Away Starter	Home Starter
9/9/26	Kansas City at Sioux Falls	RHP G. Urbaez	LHP T. Dorminy
9/11/26	Sioux Falls at Kansas City	RHP N. Arbach	RHP J. Endersby
9/12/26	Sioux Falls at Kansas City (if necessary)	TBA	LHP S. Allen

West First Round — September 9-12 (Best of 3)

Date	Matchup	Away Starter	Home Starter
9/9/26	Winnipeg at Fargo-Moorhead	RHP L. Bourassa	RHP K. Crigger
9/11/26	Fargo-Moorhead at Winnipeg	LHP P. Harm	LHP K. Vaupel
9/12/26	Fargo-Moorhead at Winnipeg (if necessary)	LHP P. Wicklander	TBA

East Finals — September 14-19 (Best of 5)

Date	Matchup
9/14/26	CLE/MIL vs. LCO/KCO
9/15/26	CLE/MIL vs. LCO/KCO
9/17/26	LCO/KCO vs. CLE/MIL
9/18/26	LCO/KCO vs. CLE/MIL (if necessary)
9/19/26	LCO/KCO vs. CLE/MIL (if necessary)

West Finals — September 14-19 (Best of 5)

Date	Matchup
9/14/26	KC/SF vs. WIN/FM
9/15/26	KC/SF vs. WIN/FM
9/17/26	WIN/FM vs. KC/SF
9/18/26	WIN/FM vs. KC/SF (if necessary)
9/19/26	WIN/FM vs. KC/SF (if necessary)

Miles Wolff Cup Finals — September 21-26 (Best of 5)

Date	Matchup
9/21/26	East vs. West
9/22/26	East vs. West
9/24/26	West vs. East
9/25/26	West vs. East (if necessary)
9/26/26	West vs. East (if necessary)

2026 Playoff Teams

East #1: Milwaukee Milkmen

Record: 58-42
Did Well: Pitching, Defense, Making me look stupid
Struggled With: Offense, Beating left-handers, Finishing the season
X-Factor: Can they keep winning close games?

The Milkmen scored the third-fewest runs in the league, but allowed the fewest runs, finishing second in ERA (4.60), and had the stingiest defense in the league. They out-performed their +59 run differential and just managed to get it done, no matter where or who they’re playing. They posted the exact same 29-21 record both at home and on the road and were a league-best 31-22 against teams over .500.

In the process, they made me look like an idiot (I picked them last because I didn’t know what to think about their pitching. Oops) and won the division. Being a lower-scoring team, they need to win close games and that will be the case in the postseason.

They will have a unique situation in the first round, with Cleburne coming to Franklin for all three games. Get through that and they get either the league’s most prolific offense ever .

East #2: Lake Country DockHounds

Record: 56-44
Did Well: Score, score, and score some more
Struggled With: Starting rotation, Consistency, Last three months
X-Factor: Stringing together good starts

The DockHounds had an awesome offense, obliterating the league record for runs (771), OBP (.401), slugging (.519), OPS (1.020), and several other categories. Joshua Mears set AA records with 38 homers and 112 RBI to offset Ryan Hernandez’s early season departure to Mexico. They also ran off a 14-game winning streak early in the year. Despite that, though, they went 38-39 after the streak ended on June 9. That’s over three-quarters of the schedule being a sub-.500 team, which is definitely not nothing.

The main culprit? A shaky, constantly shuffling rotation that had only three starters make double-digit starts, had 15 hurlers make a start, and had no one qualify for the ERA title (80 innings). With that said, Marc Davis (3.73 ERA in 13 starts), A.J. Block (4.80 ERA in 15 starts), and Sebastian Rodriguez (4.61 ERA in 9 starts) is a viable trio for the playoffs. If they pitch well, it will be hard to keep the Hounds’ bats down.

With that said, they get the two-time defending champion Kane County Cougars right out of the gate. They battered Cougar pitching to the point that Kane County logged a woeful 8.82 ERA in their 12 regular-season meetings…but the Hounds struggled enough on the mound that they only went 7-5 head-to-head.

East #3: Kane County Cougars

Record: 54-45
Did Well: Bullpen, Lineup balance
Struggled With: Getting hot, Hitting for power
X-Factor: Can the rotation hand off leads to the bullpen?

Kane County has frequently been held back in the regular season by below-average offenses and this year was no different, finishing ninth in runs. However, the Cougars have a lineup without the clear gaping holes often seen in recent years. They don’t have much firepower, though, with only two double-digit home run hitters and the fewest homers in the league.

Pitching-wise, the Cougars were fourth in ERA with ace Konnor Ash (3.50 ERA in 118.1 innings) leading the way, though it was shaky after that. Jake Gilbert (3.99 ERA, 13.9 K/9 in 47.1 innings) came on late, but it’s iffy after that, especially with Reese Sharp tailing off in the second half. Even Ash allowed at least four earned runs in four of his last five starts.

The Kane County bullpen is one of the league’s best, with rock-solid Logan Nissen and Art Warren setting up league saves leader Jake Gozzo. However, it won’t matter much if the starters can’t give them leads to protect. With Lake Country’s record-setting offense looming, it will be a tall task.

Then again, this team won the whole thing last year after going 49-51, so all bets are off.

East #4: Cleburne Railroaders

Record: 49-51
Did Well: Starting pitching, Speed
Struggled With: Offensive depth, Overall consistency
X-Factor: The pendulum swinging upward at the right time.

The Railroaders had an odd year, especially compared to their normal standards. Cleburne had seven and eight-game winning streaks…but also five skids of four or more games, leading to the sub-.500 finish.

The Railroaders usually have a heavy-hitting offense with a bunch of wallbangers and a pitching staff that’s a big ol’ shrug emoji. Not so this year. Cleburne was in the middle nearly everywhere offensively—except stolen bases (second with 198). The lineup never quite felt complete, which wasn’t helped by the immensely disappointing return of Carter Aldrete, whose OPS cratered by nearly 300 points from his excellent 2024 season, while both his power and speed disappeared.

Meanwhile, in a big surprise, the Railroaders were third in ERA (4.94). A stable rotation sure helped, as five starters made at least 14 starts (and kept their ERAs below 6.00), plus late-season trade pickup Austin Krob turned in a sub-4.00 ERA in four starts.

The Railroaders went 6-6 against Milwaukee this year, including a sweep in Franklin in late June. The pitching is good enough to give them a fighting chance of pulling off an upset, especially against Milwaukee’s ho-hum offense. But does Cleburne have enough firepower against the Milkmen’s even stingier staff?

West #1: Kansas City Monarchs

Record: 59-41
Did Well: Finding enough arms, Hitting for power
Struggled With: Offensive balance
X-Factor: Winning without the longball, or hitting enough homers that they won’t have to

The Monarchs posted the league’s best record and it was an impressive effort from manager Joe Calfapietra this year. There was a lot of shuffling, especially on the pitching side, but in a year where nobody seemed to have enough arms, Kansas City kept finding them.

Losing Dakota Hudson (2.09 ERA in seven starts), Ryan Garcia (3.10 ERA in 11 starts), and Grant Gambrell (2.12 ERA in three starts) midseason would’ve sank most pitching staffs, but Jimmy Endersby, Geison Urbaez, and Sawyer Allen picked up the slack, along with the sturdy duo of Tyler Myrick and Durbin Feltman splitting the back end duties. The end result? a league-best 4.57 ERA.

The offense, meanwhile, was extremely one-dimensional, though things perked up later in the season. Despite spending most of the season in the bottom three in batting average, KC finished third in runs (631) thanks to a league-high 159 home runs, second-most in AA history. Luken Baker played only 62 games, but was an absolute terror (27 HR, 78 RBI, league-record .753 SLUG and 1.197 OPS) after arriving on the last day of June.

Kansas City struck out the second-most times and did finish last in steals, but gained some juice and athleticism late in Tyler Gentry and Jose Torres, helping to diversify the lineup further. If that keeps up in September, anyone in their way will have their hands full.

West #2: Winnipeg Goldeyes

Record: 54-46
Did Well: The second half, Improving the offense, Holding leads
Struggled With: Starting rotation
X-Factor: Starting pitching

In 2025, the Goldeye offense held them back tremendously, but that was remedied this year, finishing fourth in runs (618) and third in hits (974) despite the third-fewest homers. An injection of new blood plus big steps forward from holdovers Keyshawn Lynch (.309 AVG, 59 RBI), Ramon Bramasco (.425 OBP), and especially Ray Patrick Didder (.951 OPS, 22 HR) led to the Fish having a really nice balanced offense that could flat-out hit, plus make life difficult on the bases (fourth with 169 steals).

That’s a really good thing…because the pitching staff went the wrong direction. Landen Bourassa was strong (3.86 ERA), but only made nine starts around a stint in Mexico, while Aidan Newton (3.28 ERA in 35.2 IP) was a strong late add, but mainstay Luke Boyd took a big step back, Mitch Lambson was terrible before being moved to the bullpen and James Bradwell just couldn’t get anyone out.

When they could get a lead to the bullpen, Eli Saul and Derrick Cherry (3.49 ERA, 18 SV) were really good and Sage Ferguson was phenomenal after arriving in July. James Colyer also settled in after a rocky start, helping the Goldeyes finish 27-15 after a 27-31 start, including a franchise-record 13-game winning streak. They also closed the year a league-best 34-17 at home, which is something to watch.

Winnipeg did slow down at the end, but if they can patch together some decent starts, there’s a chance of making noise in the postseason, though Fargo-Moorhead’s similarly dangerous offense looms right out of the gate.

West #3: Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

Record: 53-47
Did Well: Pile up runs
Struggled With: Pitching, Defense
X-Factor: Can they get enough guys out?

Jose Sermo posted franchise records with 33 homers and 104 RBI and five regulars (plus Eric Filia) hit over .300 as the RedHawks scored 654 runs, second-most in the league. They could beat you with the long ball and single and double you to death as well, even though they didn’t have much pop outside of Sermo and Dillon Thomas (18 HR, 80 RBI).

The pitching staff, though, was a major disappointment. After having the league’s top staff in ’25, Jake Dykhoff and Garrett Alexander both were gone in the first week of the season, which set an ominous tone for the year. Kyle Crigger took a step back while it took Patrick Wicklander a long time to settle in somewhat. Eric Chalus was a nice find, though, turning in a 3.97 ERA over 68.0 innings after a midseason trade, though he was placed on the IL yesterday, which is a notable blow.

Further adding stress to the pitching is the fact that the RedHawks made the league’s most errors (98) and fielded at a .973 clip (second worst). The bullpen was also an adventure for most of the season, though the emergence of Jon Beymer and late arrival Justin Lopez helped smooth the runway for Tyler Jeans (2.95 ERA, 17 SV) later on in the year.

The 2019 Washington Nationals won a World Series with essentially six pitchers. If the RedHawks can cobble together something similar, maybe they can make a run. First things first, it’s rival Winnipeg and their similarly stout offense.

West #4: Sioux Falls Canaries

Record: 50-50
Did Well: Score runs, Find a freaking way
Struggled With: *Gestures towards pitching staff*
X-Factor: Playing with nothing to lose

Somehow, someway, the Birds did it. On paper, this is a much worse team than Sioux City, but they went 9-3 against the X’s to edge them by a game and squeaked into the postseason with a .500 record, despite allowing over 700 runs and posting a minus 97 run differential that was only better than 69-loss Chicago. Sioux Falls shouldn’t have been anywhere near the postseason.

But they hit enough to make it happen, overcoming a lot of key losses from ’25 to finish sixth in runs (609) and third in homers (109). Mainstay Josh Rehwaldt (1.034 OPS, 22 HR) had another huge year, grizzled vets Mike Hart and Jabari Henry kept producing, and newcomers Michael Curialle (.920 OPS, 52 XBH) and Anthony Hall were excellent additions that helped overcome a bottom third of the lineup that was and still is a persistent problem. Henry hit the IL for the postseason, though, which is not helpful by any means.

The pitching was a disaster, plain and simple, as illustrated by 706 runs allowed and a 6.75 ERA (both ahead of only Chicago). Spencer Bauer (3.31 in 35.1 IP) is the only actual pitcher with an ERA below 4.99. Three of the top four starters have ERAs north of 6.00. Even longtime closer Charlie Hasty had a really bad second half and finished with a 6.00 ERA. There’s very little in the way of reliable arms to turn to.

Sioux Falls draws Kansas City in the first round. The Monarchs completely ripped apart the Birds this year, outscoring them 100-37 and winning the season series 11-1 (average score: 8-3, Kansas City). Outside of their head-to-head matchups, Sioux Falls actually performed better this year, but make no mistake, this is easily the most lopsided postseason matchup this year on paper. But the Birds know this one; they were 5-1 against Kane County last year, then fell to an inferior team in the Miles Wolff Cup Finals. Hey, there’s a reason they play the games.

Predicting the Postseason

EAST FIRST ROUND

Milwaukee over Cleburne 2-1
This one is tricky because I don’t have pitching matchups but I’m sure Jhordany Mezquita is starting Game 1 for the Milkmen (and I think he’ll win it). Cleburne squeaks out Game 2, but Milwaukee wins the rubber match.

Lake Country over Kane County 2-1
The Cougars’ two-year run at the top (and their American Association tenure) comes to an end as the DockHounds earn their first-ever postseason series win. Konnor Ash wins a lower-scoring Game 1 in Geneva, but the Hounds bludgeon the Cougars in Oconomowoc over the final two games to steal the series.

WEST FIRST ROUND

Kansas City over Sioux Falls 2-0
The Monarchs outclassed the Canaries all season and I don’t think it’s any different here. Kansas City sweeps this series with a combined score that’s something like 20-8.

Winnipeg over Fargo-Moorhead 2-1
The Goldeyes steal the opener in Fargo with the pitching edge, but the RedHawks even the score in an offense-heavy Game 2. However, Winnipeg had the league’s top home record (34-17) and they won’t lose a second in a row north of the border, taking game three.

EAST FINALS

Lake Country over Milwaukee 3-2
In the regular season, the DockHounds won the head-to-head matchup 7-6 and controlled the Milwaukee offense. Right after getting their first playoff series win in club history, the DockHounds win a pair in Franklin to get their second.

WEST FINALS

Kansas City over Winnipeg 3-1
These two teams each won three-of-four against each other at home in the final two weeks of the season. It plays out a little different here, where the better-rested Monarchs steal a game in Winnipeg, then win twice in Kansas City to move on.

MILES WOLFF CUP FINALS

Kansas City over Lake Country 3-2
These teams split their season series 3-3, with each winning a series on their home field. A lot of runs are scored, but the Monarchs again have a few more bullets available from a better-rested pitching staff and it makes enough of a difference to win Game 5 at Legends Field and hoist their unprecedented fourth Miles Wolff Cup.

So that’s my take on the 2026 American Association postseason. This could happen, or maybe Sioux Falls beats Cleburne instead. Or anything else in between. Regardless, I’m looking forward to how things unfold.

Let the games begin!

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