Finally, the Major League Baseball (MLB) post-season is here! The playoff tournament starts with the Wild Card Series, where hopeful teams face off to determine who will compete against the two Division Series winners. From there, victors move on to the League Championship Series, and, eventually, the coveted World Series. Don’t miss out on this classic American pastime just because you’ve cut the cord. There are plenty of options to watch all the action of the MLB Playoffs without cable.
How to Watch the 2023 MLB Playoffs Without Cable
If you are one of the growing number of households without a cable subscription, there are still plenty of options to watch your favorite live sports. Streaming services offer more affordable and flexible options for sports fans that don’t come with the price tag of premium cable packages. If you are an MLB superfan and don’t want to miss a single game, here’s a complete list of everywhere you can watch MLB playoff games without cable.
The Wild Card Series kicking off the 2024 MLB playoffs will be shown on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC, with some championship games broadcasting on TBS. You’ll be able to find the games on any streaming service where you can find those channels. Our detailed breakdown of which network will broadcast which game can be found below.
Here are all the ways you can watch the ceremony:
2023 MLB Playoffs Schedule
The regular MLB season just finished on Sunday, Oct. 1, with the Astros winning No. 2 seed in the American League. The teams that have made it to the MLB postseason are divided into Seeds 1-3, the division winners, and Seeds 4-6, the wild card teams. There are two leagues in the playoffs, the American League, currently ranked in order as the Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros, and Baltimore Orioles; and the National League, in the order of the Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Atlanta Braves.
The times and matchups for the Wild Card Series have already been announced. The times and matchups for the following divisions will be announced based on the winners. Here is the full schedule of the upcoming matches:
Wild Card Series
|
Date/ Game |
Time (ET) and Channel |
|---|---|
| Rays vs. Rangers Game 1 Oct 3 |
3:08 p.m. ET on ABC |
|
Twins vs. Blue Jays Game 1 Oct 3 |
4:38 p.m. ET on ESPN |
| Brewers vs. Diamondbacks Game 1 Oct 3 |
7:08 p.m. ET on ESPN2 |
|
Phillies vs. Marlins Game 1 Oct 3 |
8:08 p.m. ET on ESPN |
| Rays vs. Rangers Game 2 Oct 4 |
3:08 p.m. ET on ABC |
|
Twins vs. Blue Jays Game 2 Oct 4 |
4:38 p.m. ET on ESPN |
| Brewers vs. Diamondbacks Game 2 Oct 4 |
7:08 p.m. ET on ESPN2 |
|
Phillies vs. Marlins Game 2 Oct 4 |
8:08 p.m. ET on ESPN |
| Rays vs. Rangers Game 3 (if necessary) Oct 5 |
3:08 p.m. ET on ABC |
|
Twins vs. Blue Jays Game 3 (if necessary) Oct 5 |
4:38 p.m. ET on ESPN |
| Brewers vs. Diamondbacks Game 3 (if necessary) Oct 5 |
7:08 p.m. ET on ESPN2 |
| Phillies vs. Marlins Game 3 (if necessary) Oct 5 |
8:08 p.m. ET on ESPN |
Rays vs. Rangers
MLB betting odds favor the Rays, though neither team is considered a front-runner in the latest World Series odds. With both teams’ starting rotations disrupted by injuries, fans are looking to star Jordan Montgomery as the steadying force for the Ranger’s playoff push. Without a strong turnout in Game 1, however, it will be a major challenge for them to win over the Rays.
Twins vs. Blue Jays
The Twins, as the AL Central winners, will host every game this series, giving them a major advantage over the wild-card team, the Blue Jays. Although Minnesota spent 176 days in first place this season, the Blue Jays had the better record by two wins. The home-turf advantage is still major, however, making the Twins the favorite to win this series.
Brewers vs. Diamondbacks
Wrapping up their regular season with several consecutive wins, The Brewers already knew that they would be the No. 3 seed in the National League field. When the Diamondbacks suffered their fourth straight loss to the Houston Astros on Sunday by a score of 8-1, it pushed them into the third Wild Card slot and determined the matchup. With the difference in the two teams' recent trajectories fresh in fans’ minds, the Brewers are the predicted winners of all three games in their Wild Card Series.
Phillies vs. Marlins
The Marlins have given the Phillies plenty of trouble in the past, winning two out of three games they played in Philadelphia during the season series. However, with the Phillies coming off their first 90-win season since 2011 and having the home-field advantage, they are still considered the favorite to win out in this matchup.
Divisional Round
| Date/ Game | Channel |
|---|---|
| Orioles vs. Rangers Game 1 Oct 7 | Fox or FS1 |
| Astros vs. Twins Game 1 Oct 7 | Fox or FS1 |
| Braves vs. Phillies Game 1 Oct 7 | TBS |
| Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks Game 1 Oct 7 | TBS |
| Orioles vs. Rangers Game 2 Oct 8 | Fox or FS1 |
| Astros vs. Twins Game 2 Oct 8 | Fox or FS1 |
| Braves vs. Phillies Game 2 Oct 9 | TBS |
| Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks Game 2 Oct 9 | TBS |
| Rangers vs. Orioles Game 3 Oct 10 | Fox or FS1 |
| Twins vs. Astros Game 3 Oct 10 | Fox or FS1 |
| Phillies vs. Braves Game 3 Oct 11 | TBS |
| Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers Game 3 Oct 11 | TBS |
| Rangers vs. Orioles Game 4 (if necessary) Oct 11 | Fox or FS1 |
| Twins vs. Astros Game 4 (if necessary) Oct 11 | Fox or FS1 |
| Phillies vs. Braves Game 4 (if necessary) Oct 12 | TBS |
| Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers Game 4 (if necessary) Oct 12 | TBS |
| Orioles vs. Rangers Game 5 (if necessary) Oct 13 | Fox or FS1 |
| Astros vs. Twins Game 5 (if necessary) Oct 13 | Fox or FS1 |
| Braves vs. Phillies Game 5 (if necessary) Oct 14 | TBS |
| Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks Game 5 (if necessary) Oct 14 | TBS |
League Championship Series
| Game and Date | Channel |
|---|---|
| ALCS Game 1: Astros vs. Rangers Oct 15 | Fox or FS1 |
| NLCS Game 1: Phillies vs. Diamondbacks Oct 16 | TBS |
| ALCS Game 2: Astros vs. Rangers Oct 16 | Fox or FS1 |
| NLCS Game 2: Phillies vs. Diamondbacks Oct 17 | TBS |
| ALCS Game 3: Rangers vs. Astros Oct 18 | Fox or FS1 |
| NLCS Game 3: Diamondbacks vs. Phillies Oct 19 | TBS |
| ALCS Game 4: Rangers vs. Astros Oct 19 | Fox or FS1 |
| NLCS Game 4: Diamondbacks vs. Phillies Oct 20 | TBS |
| ALCS Game 5 (if necessary): Rangers vs. Astros Oct 20 | Fox or FS1 |
| NLCS Game 5 (if necessary): Diamondbacks vs. Phillies Oct 21 | TBS |
| ALCS Game 6 (if necessary): Astros vs. Rangers Oct 22 | Fox or FS1 |
| NLCS Game 6 (if necessary): Phillies vs. Diamondbacks Oct 23 | TBS |
| ALCS Game 7 (if necessary): Astros vs. Rangers Oct 23 | Fox or FS1 |
| NLCS Game 7 (if necessary): Phillies vs. Diamondbacks Oct 24 | TBS |
World Series
| Game and Date | Channel |
|---|---|
| World Series Game 1 Oct 27 | Fox |
| World Series Game 2 Oct 28 | Fox |
| World Series Game 3 Oct 30 | Fox |
| World Series Game 4 Oct 31 | Fox |
| World Series Game 5 (if necessary) Nov 1 | Fox |
| World Series Game 6 (if necessary) Nov 3 | Fox |
| World Series Game 7 (if necessary) Nov 4 | Fox |
Can I Watch the 2023 MLB Playoffs on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, or Chromecast?
The MLB postseason is good at playing ball with streaming devices and platforms, so you can watch all the matchups on your big-screen TV. Streaming devices you can use to access MLB postseason content are Roku , Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, iOS, Android, and your normal web browser.
More to Watch for MLB Fans
There’s plenty for baseball fans to look forward to over the next couple months with all the action leading up to the World Series. After the games are over, however, sports fans still won’t go short on content with streaming services like fuboTV and skinny bundles that include plenty of sports channels.
Sports fans have the 2024 NFL season to look forward to for the rest of the year. If you are looking for even more sports to watch with great new teams and athletes to rally behind, check out our guides to watching the NHL without cable, upcoming WWE events, and your favorite soccer content.
FuboTV does not carry TBS – I just asked them and they confirmed that it was not a channel they can provide. Since most of the National League games are on TBS, this is not a good choice.
Sling is blacking out local games, so it is no good if your home team is in the playoffs.
Thanks for sharing such a piece of wonderful information about the MLB. Keep up the great work!
Great Blog. Keep it up.
Do you not know how time zones work? Pacific time is not 3 hours *ahead* of Eastern, everything is backwards here.
FuboTV should not be a suggested option. They don’t carry Turner channels, including TBS. It’s ironic since they brand themselves as being a sports-centric streaming service, but as a current FuboTV subscriber I would absolutely NOT recommend them if you’re looking to watch postseason baseball. Or regular season NBA basketball. Or the NCAA tournament. You know, some of the biggest sports events there are.
After watching baseball on fubo.tv all season, now I find out that I cannot watch the AL playoffs? They are only carrying NL teams? Not only am I done with fubo, I’m done with baseball as a sport. This is a nightmare. A pox on both your houses.
So basically, MLB still doesn’t actually want any fans to watch their sport.
They are crazy to imagine that we are going to sign up for 3 or 4 (or even one!) pay-to-stream services just to watch the postseason.
This charade is why they continue to lose fans. The games are simply inaccessible to law-abiding cord cutters without paying a king’s ransom. Good luck with that business model.
WHY is national league post season baseball on free network tv but american league is not?
For poor rural alcs fans where cable is not available, what can we do?
Is American League baseball just for the privileged now?
I gave MLB a chance again after over a 5 year hiatus. After what I thought was a good study of MLB TV, I was under the impression the playoffs were in the package. I lived without MLB once I will live without it again.