One fatal flaw on each MLB contender that could derail long playoff run

Entering the last week of the Major League Baseball season, 13 teams are still alive for October, and not one of them would be considered a totally complete team.

The Milwaukee Brewers have the best record in baseball but just one starter behind its ace it can actually trust. The Tampa Bay Rays are on the verge of clinching the top seed in the American League but have a lineup that goes cold at the bottom of the order almost every night. And a few teams, like the New York Yankees, are staring down injuries that can make or break their October.

Last season proved how a fatal flaw can come back and bite a team in October.

The Brewers had the best record in baseball in 2025 then scored one run a game and hit .128 in a four-game National League Championship Series sweep by the Dodgers. It was the lowest batting average in a postseason series of at least three games in MLB history. Their power outage was not a fluke. Milwaukee finished the year in the bottom third of the majors in home runs, covering for it all season with contact and speed. The flaw was there…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/