So what do MLB teams wear in the playoffs? Mostly the classics. In October the home team almost always wears its home white (or its pinstripes, or its cream) and the road team wears its road gray. The alternates that fill up a September slate mostly go back in the closet. Mostly. Every October a few clubs break the pattern, and those are the jerseys people remember.
The 2026 postseason opens with the Wild Card Series on September 29. The Division Series runs October 3 to 10, the League Championship Series October 11 to 20, and the World Series starts October 23, with a Game 7, if needed, on Halloween night. Below is how the October uniform call actually works, whether City Connects are allowed, what the postseason patches look like, and what each likely playoff team has been wearing lately. We will log every postseason game, both teams and both jerseys, on our 2026 MLB uniform tracker.
The 2026 Wild Card Matchups and Expected Uniforms
The regular season ended on Sunday, September 27, and the twelve-team field is set. The Wild Card Series are best of three, every game at the higher seed's park, starting Tuesday, September 29 on NBC and Peacock. The top two seeds in each league have byes into the Division Series, which starts Saturday, October 3.
Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves (NL). Games 1 and 2 at 2:00 p.m. ET, Game 3 Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET. Atlanta is home all series, so the Braves should be in home whites and the Phillies in road gray. That takes the Phillies' Thursday powder blue off the table, because it is a home jersey. Game 1 (Tuesday), confirmed: Phillies in road gray, Braves in home white, red caps on both sides. Our grade: B. Atlanta won Game 1, 5-3. Game 2 (Wednesday, 2:00 p.m. ET), confirmed: the same look again, Phillies in road gray with the red cap, Braves in home white with the red-billed cap. Same look, same grade: B. The Phillies won Game 2, 4-3 in 10 innings, so the series goes to a Game 3 on Thursday. Game 3 (Thursday, 8:00 p.m. ET), confirmed: the Braves changed it up for the deciding game and came out in their red alternate jersey over home white pants with the red-billed cap, and the Phillies stayed in road gray with the red cap. Red against gray is the best look of the series, and our grade is an A-. The Braves won Game 3, 6-2, to take the series 2-1 and end the Phillies' season; Atlanta opens the Division Series at Los Angeles against the Dodgers on Saturday, October 3. Braves uniform schedule · Phillies uniform schedule
Chicago White Sox at Houston Astros (AL). Games at 5:00 p.m. ET. Home whites are the default for Houston, with the orange alternate the one we would watch for; the White Sox are in road gray. Game 1, confirmed: the White Sox went with the black "Sox" alternate jersey over road gray pants, the Astros in home whites. Our grade: B-. The White Sox won Game 1, 6-3. Game 2 (Wednesday, 5:00 p.m. ET), confirmed: both clubs in color, the White Sox back in the black "Sox" alternate over road gray pants and the Astros in their orange alternate. Our grade: B+. The White Sox won Game 2, 7-3, and swept the series 2-0; they open the Division Series at Cleveland on Saturday, October 3. Astros uniform schedule · White Sox uniform schedule
Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees (AL). Games at 8:00 p.m. ET. The easiest call of the round: pinstripes for the Yankees, road gray for Boston, the oldest rivalry in the sport in its oldest clothes. Game 1, confirmed: exactly that, Red Sox in road gray with the navy "B" cap, Yankees in the home pinstripes. Our grade: A-. The Yankees won Game 1, 9-0. Game 2 (Wednesday, 8:00 p.m. ET), confirmed: the same look as Game 1, Red Sox in road gray with the navy "B" cap, Yankees in the home pinstripes. Same matchup, same grade: A-. The Yankees won Game 2, 9-2, and swept the series 2-0; they open the Division Series at Tampa Bay on Saturday, October 3. Yankees uniform schedule · Red Sox uniform schedule
Chicago Cubs at San Diego Padres (NL). Games at 10:00 p.m. ET. San Diego's home whites with brown and gold against the Cubs' road gray, unless the Cubs go to the royal blue alternate. Padres uniform schedule · Cubs uniform schedule Game 1, confirmed: Cubs in road gray with the blue cap, Padres in the home pinstripes with the brown cap. Our grade: B-. The Padres won Game 1, 8-0. Game 2 (Wednesday, 10:00 p.m. ET), confirmed: the Cubs switched out of the Game 1 road gray and into the royal blue alternate over road gray pants with the blue cap, against the Padres in the home pinstripes with the brown cap. Blue against brown and white is a better look than the opener, and our grade is a B+. The Padres won Game 2, 4-1, and swept the series 2-0; they open the Division Series at Milwaukee on Saturday, October 3.
Waiting in the Division Series: the Tampa Bay Rays (vs. the Yankees, who swept Boston; Game 1 Saturday, October 3 at 6:30 p.m. ET) and Cleveland Guardians (vs. the White Sox, who swept Houston; Game 1 Saturday, October 3 at 1:00 p.m. ET) in the AL, and the Los Angeles Dodgers (vs. the Braves, who beat the Phillies 2-1; Game 1 Saturday, October 3 at 4:00 p.m. ET) and Milwaukee Brewers (vs. the Padres, who swept the Cubs; Game 1 Saturday, October 3 at 8:30 p.m. ET) in the NL. What all four top seeds wear at home and on the road is in our ALDS and NLDS uniforms guide.
We log every playoff game, both teams and both jerseys, the same night on our 2026 MLB uniform tracker.
Who Picks the Jersey
The home team picks first. Baseball's rulebook lets a league require white at home and a different color on the road, and that is the old default that October still leans on. The home club chooses its jersey, and the visitors pick something that contrasts with it. If the home team goes white, the road team has the whole wardrobe to choose from: gray, a color alternate, even a powder blue. If the home team goes dark, the visitors stay light.
Inside the clubhouse, the call usually comes from the manager and the players, with the equipment staff carrying it out. Superstition drives a lot of it. A team that wins in a jersey tends to keep wearing it, and a team that is losing looks for a reset.
The league also has a say. When the Phillies fell behind the Dodgers 2-0 in the 2025 NLDS, the players asked to wear their powder blues on the road for Game 3 in Los Angeles. Manager Rob Thomson told reporters the club had to go through "a bunch of hoops" with MLB to get it approved. So picking an October alternate is not quite as simple as pulling it off the rack. The club makes the request and the league signs off.
Are City Connect Jerseys Allowed in the Postseason?
Yes, they are allowed. This one comes up every fall, and the answer has been the same for years. In 2021, with the Red Sox on a five-game win streak in their yellow City Connect, WEEI's Rob Bradford reported that MLB would let Boston wear it in the playoffs if the club chose to. In 2024, a source told On Pattison that the Phillies' City Connect was also eligible for October.
Allowed is not the same as worn, though. We have not found a single postseason game in which a team actually wore its City Connect. Most clubs treat the City Connect as a Friday night regular season look, and when October arrives they go back to the uniforms their history is built on. We would not bet on a City Connect in the 2026 playoffs either, but if one shows up, it will be the first entry on the tracker we highlight.
The Postseason Patch
The October uniform changes are small, and most of them sit on the cap.
- The postseason cap patch. Every playoff team wears New Era's on-field postseason cap, which adds a patch with that year's MLB Postseason logo on the right side of the cap. The front stays the same team logo fans already know.
- The World Series patch. The two pennant winners add the World Series logo. The cap patch has been part of the Fall Classic since 1996, and it moved from the left side to the right side of the cap in 2016 to make room for the New Era flag. The jersey patch dates to 1987. Since 2023, when MLB started selling sleeve advertising, the World Series jersey patch has been a much smaller mark high on the chest instead of on the sleeve.
- The sponsor. Capital One is the World Series presenting sponsor, and its logo has been built into the World Series mark itself since 2022, which means it rides along on the patch. We are not fans of that, and we explain why in our World Series logo history.
The one thing you will not see is gold. The gold-trimmed uniforms belong to the defending champion, and they come out for Opening Day and ring night, not for October. The Dodgers, the champs the last two years, already did their gold for 2026, and we compared all three of their sets in our Dodgers World Series gold uniform breakdown.
The October Alternates People Remember
Because almost everyone plays it straight, the exceptions stick.
- Astros orange, 2017. Houston won Game 7 of the 2017 World Series at Dodger Stadium in the orange alternate tops, and the orange has carried a lucky-charm reputation in Houston ever since.
- Phillies powder blue, 2022. A rainout pushed Game 5 of the 2022 World Series to a Thursday, and Thursday at Citizens Bank Park means powder blue. The Phillies wore it in a World Series for the first time since 1983 and lost 3-2 to the Astros.
- Phillies powder blue, 2025. Down 2-0 to the Dodgers, the Phillies wore the powder blues on the road for NLDS Games 3 and 4, their first postseason road game in them since the 1983 World Series. They won Game 3 and then lost Game 4, 2-1 in 11 innings, to end their season.
What the 2026 Contenders Wear
All twelve of these teams made the field. The notes below were written on September 16 from our tracker and still describe how each club has dressed down the stretch. Here is what each likely October team has been wearing on our tracker over the last two weeks and what we expect once the postseason starts.
American League
Tampa Bay Rays (91-59, AL East leader, clinched). The Rays mix things up more than almost anyone. Over the last two weeks they wore home whites against Houston and the Athletics, the white Devil Rays throwback on a Friday, and the navy alternate for a full three-game series in Atlanta. They carried no gray road jersey from 2023 until September 2026, which would have made a Rays road game in October a colour jersey no matter what. That changed on September 21, when the club revealed a new gray road uniform that debuts the next night in game 2 at the Yankees, so October is now genuinely open. Rays uniform schedule.
New York Yankees (88-63, clinched). The easiest call in baseball. Pinstripes at home, gray on the road, and that is how they have looked all month, including pinstripes for the Subway Series and gray this week in Minnesota. The Yankees do have a navy road alternate in the closet for 2026 that they have not worn in a regular season game. An October debut would be a shock. Yankees uniform schedule.
Cleveland Guardians (78-75, AL Central leader). Cleveland has been rotating hard. Home whites against the White Sox this week after the red alternate in the series opener, navy and gray in Minnesota, and navy in Baltimore. The red and navy tops are real options for a home playoff game. Guardians uniform schedule.
Houston Astros (76-75, AL West leader). Houston wore home whites on Tuesday, and on the road it has leaned on the orange alternate, at Philadelphia and again at Tampa Bay. With the 2017 history, orange is the Astros jersey we most expect to see in October. Astros uniform schedule.
Boston Red Sox (82-69, wild card). Boston has worn home whites at Fenway, both City Connects (the yellow and the Fenway Green) on the same weekend, and the road gray at Texas this week. MLB cleared the yellow for October back in 2021, and we have never seen Boston use it in a playoff game. Red Sox uniform schedule.
Chicago White Sox (77-75, holding the last wild card). The White Sox only lead the Rangers by a game and a half and the Blue Jays by two, so this spot is far from settled. Lately they have worn the pinstriped home whites at home, road gray on most road nights, and the black alternate three times on the road, including Wednesday in Cleveland. Black is the White Sox look, and we would not be surprised to see it in October. White Sox uniform schedule.
National League
Milwaukee Brewers (103-59, NL Central champion). The best record in baseball, and a new look for October. The Brewers retired their road grays for 2026 and replaced them with a powder blue road set, so expect powder blue for Brewers road playoff games, as in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, with the navy alternate as the other road option. At home they have mixed the home pinstripes, the cream and the City Connect. Brewers uniform schedule.
Los Angeles Dodgers (92-59, NL West leader, clinched). Home whites at Dodger Stadium, road grays with the Dodgers script on the road. That is the Dodgers' default, and it has been most of September, though they did take the blue road alternate to Cincinnati on Tuesday. We expect the whites and grays in October. Dodgers uniform schedule.
Atlanta Braves (89-63, NL East leader). Road gray at Wrigley this week, home whites against Tampa Bay, and the red alternate and the powder blue City Connect on back-to-back nights against the Phillies. Home white and road gray are the safe bets. Braves uniform schedule.
Philadelphia Phillies (83-68, wild card). The Phillies run the most predictable schedule in baseball: pinstripes at home, cream for day games, powder blue on Thursdays, gray on the road. They wore the powder blues against Houston last Thursday. The Phillies open the Wild Card Series on the road in Atlanta, so the powder blue, a home jersey, would have to wait for a home game in a later round. After 2022 and 2025, powder blue in October is no longer a surprise. Phillies uniform schedule.
Chicago Cubs (84-68, wild card). Home pinstripes for the whole homestand against the Pirates and Braves, and the royal blue alternate on the road in Milwaukee. The Cubs retired their City Connect after 2024, so the October choice is pinstripes at Wrigley and gray or royal blue away. Cubs uniform schedule.
San Diego Padres (82-69, holding the last wild card). The Diamondbacks sit two and a half games back. The Padres have worn the sand-colored road set everywhere lately, in San Francisco and in Denver, home whites against Washington, and the camouflage on a Sunday home game. The brown and gold closet is one of the deepest in baseball, so the Padres are a club to watch for a color jersey at home. Padres uniform schedule.
For every other club, the full MLB uniform schedule has all 30 closets.
The Bottom Line
October is when baseball dresses like baseball. The home team picks, the visitors contrast, and most clubs go back to home whites and road grays. City Connects are allowed, and we have not found one ever worn in a playoff game. The real October changes are a postseason patch on the cap and, for the last two teams standing, a small World Series patch on the chest. The fun is in the exceptions: Houston's orange, Philadelphia's powder blue and, in 2026, Milwaukee's new powder blue road set. We will log every postseason game on the MLB uniform tracker, from the first Wild Card game on September 29 to the last out of the World Series.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 2026 MLB Wild Card matchups?
In the American League, the Chicago White Sox play at the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox play at the New York Yankees. In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies play at the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs play at the San Diego Padres. All four best-of-three series start Tuesday, September 29 or Wednesday, September 30.
What will the Phillies wear against the Braves in the Wild Card Series?
Road gray, in all three games. Every game of the series is in Atlanta, so the Phillies' powder blue, a home jersey, was not in play. The Braves wore home white in Games 1 and 2 and switched to their red alternate for Game 3, which Atlanta won 6-2 to take the series 2-1.
Which teams have a bye in the 2026 MLB playoffs?
The Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians in the American League, and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers in the National League. They start in the Division Series on Saturday, October 3.
What do MLB teams wear in the playoffs?
Most teams wear their traditional uniforms in the postseason: home white, pinstripes or cream at home and road gray on the road. Alternates show up less often in October than in the regular season, though some clubs, like the Astros with their orange tops and the Phillies with their powder blues, have worn them in big postseason games.
Who decides what jersey an MLB team wears in the postseason?
The home team picks first, and the road team chooses a jersey that contrasts with it. Inside each club the manager and players have a big say, and MLB signs off on the choices. In 2025 the Phillies had to get league approval before wearing their powder blues on the road in the NLDS.
Can MLB teams wear City Connect jerseys in the playoffs?
Yes. MLB allowed the Red Sox to wear their yellow City Connect in the 2021 postseason, and the Phillies' City Connect was reported eligible in 2024. We have not found a postseason game where a team actually wore one.
What patch do MLB teams wear in the postseason?
Every playoff team wears a cap with that year's MLB Postseason logo patch on the right side. The two World Series teams add the World Series logo to the cap and a small World Series patch on the chest of the jersey, where it has been since 2023.
Do the Phillies wear powder blue in the playoffs?
Sometimes. The Phillies wore their powder blues at home in Game 5 of the 2022 World Series and on the road in Games 3 and 4 of the 2025 NLDS. They normally wear them for Thursday home games, but Game 3 of the 2026 Wild Card Series on Thursday, October 1 was in Atlanta, so they wore road gray.
When do the 2026 MLB playoffs start?
The Wild Card Series starts September 29, 2026. The Division Series runs October 3 to 10, the League Championship Series October 11 to 20, and the World Series October 23 to 31.
Standings via MLB as of September 16, 2026. Recent uniforms from the ColorWay Sports MLB uniform tracker.
