Here's what's at stake on the final day of the season

The final day of the 2026 regular season is here, and there is still much to be determined. While 10 teams have clinched playoff spots, two playoff berths are still up for grabs. And from an individual perspective, there are awards that could be determined on Sunday. Here’s what is at stake on the final day of the season. Postseason Guide • Current bracket, tiebreakers and more • Clinch scenarios: AL West | Final NL WC • Every team that's clinched so far • Postseason schedule • FAQ: Tiebreaker rules | Postseason format Who wins the AL West? The Guardians secured the AL Central division with a win on Saturday, while the White Sox took the final AL Wild Card spot. Now, all eyes will be on the Rangers and Astros on Sunday. Both Houston and Texas enter the final day with an 80-81 record. The Astros hold the pivotal tiebreaker over the Rangers, which means Texas has to win on Sunday to even have a chance. If Houston wins, they’re winners of the AL West. The only path for the Rangers winning the division is a win and an Astros loss. Do the Phillies or D-backs win the final NL Wild Card spot? On Sept. 1, the Phillies had the top NL Wild Card spot and had a whopping 6 1/2-game lead over the D-backs, who were a half-game back of the final Wild Card position. Since then, the Phillies were leapfrogged by the Padres and Cubs and, miraculously, they only have a one-game lead over the D-backs entering the final day. Arizona's comeback has been astonishing -- the club was five games back of a playoff spot on Sept. 18 and now finds itself in a position to punch a ticket to the postseason. Crucially, Arizona holds the tiebreaker over Philadelphia, meaning a D-backs win and a Phillies loss would give Arizona the final spot. If the Phillies win, they’re in. Who wins the NL batting title? In 2024, Luis Arraez became the first player in the Modern Era to win a batting title with three different teams: the Twins in 2022, the Marlins in ’23 and the Padres (after a trade) in ’24. Arraez now has a shot to make it four batting crowns for four different teams. Now with the Phillies, Arraez is second in the NL with a .310 average, a hair behind D-backs catcher Gabriel Moreno (.311). Arraez will have to watch from the sidelines to see if he can capture the batting title: He suffered a left ankle sprain on Thursday and will be out at least the remainder of the regular season. If Moreno holds on to the lead, he'd join Buster Posey (2012) and Joe Mauer (2006, 2008-09) as the only primary catchers (minimum 50% of games played at the position) to win the batting title in the Expansion Era (since 1961). Will Misiorowski win the ERA title? It's been a remarkable season for Jacob Misiorowski, who has a 1.86 ERA and 247 strikeouts after last Sunday's outing against the Orioles. Even if it's abbreviated like his three-inning outing in Baltimore, Misiorowski's final start -- scheduled for Sunday against the Cardinals -- puts him in line to join some impressive company. If he can hold his ERA edge over Cam Schlittler's 1.95 mark, he'd join 2021 Corbin Burnes (2.43 ERA in 2021) as the only Brewers to win an ERA title. If Misiorowski keeps his ERA under 2 and gets to 250 strikeouts, there's some other fun company he'll join. He'd be just the 13th pitcher (15th instance) since earned runs became official in 1913 to finish a season with a sub-2 ERA and 250-plus strikeouts. The last to do so was Jacob deGrom in 2018. Will Schwarber or PCA lead the Majors in home runs? Kyle Schwarber led the National League with 56 home runs last year. As hard as it is to believe, though, Schwarber has never led the Majors in home runs. That could change this year, as the Phillies slugger is tied for the MLB lead with 45 homers. The last Phillie to pull that off was Ryan Howard in 2008, when he hit 48 homers and helped lead Philly to a World Series title. Schwarber, though, has Pete Crow-Armstrong tied with him at the top. The surefire NL MVP has completely taken off this season with 45 homers, 41 stolen bases, a .941 OPS and his usual excellent center-field defense, which has led to an MLB-best 10.7 WAR, per FanGraphs. If PCA surpasses Schwarber, he’d be the first Cub to lead the NL in homers since Sammy Sosa’s 49 homers in 2002 and the first to lead the Majors in long balls since Sosa hit 50 in 2000. After 40-40, where will PCA wind up? Crow-Armstrong is making all sorts of history this season. Reaching 10 WAR puts PCA in rarefied territory, and it seems very likely that the Cubs superstar center fielder will be a unanimous MVP winner, something no Cub has ever achieved. Crow-Armstrong, who became the seventh player (and first Cub) with a 40-40 campaign, has one more game to rack up additional homers and stolen bases and pad his season totals. At 10.7 FanGraphs WAR, he could become just the 28th player to reach 11 fWAR, a total last reached by Aaron Judge in 2024. Will this be Scherzer's final career start? Longtime rotation mate Justin Verlander made his final MLB start on Saturday in Detroit: could Max Scherzer be in the same boat on Sunday? The 42-year-old Scherzer said he will make his decision on retirement this offseason, making his situation slightly different than Verlander's, but his start on Sunday could very well be his last in the Majors. The likely Hall of Famer could continue adding to his career strikeout total -- he's ninth on the all-time list with 3,550 Ks -- only adding to his decorated career.