Fantasy Baseball Forecaster Playoff Round 2, Week 2: Sept. 21-27

          The Yankees and Rays will battle it out four times in three days during the final week of the baseball season. Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
          • Tristan H. CockcroftSep 18, 2026, 09:20 AM ET
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              Tristan H. Cockcroft is senior writer for fantasy baseball and football at ESPN. Tristan is a member of the FSWA Hall of Fame. He is also two-time LABR and four-time Tout Wars champion.
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          This is it! The final week of the 2026 fantasy baseball season has arrived. If you've made it this far, congratulations! The final seven days should be a wild race to the finish line, both in the real game and in our own leagues.

          Week 25 is one of the more balanced weeks on the schedule, with one exception: The Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees begin their week-opening series with a Tuesday doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. One of those games makes up their May 23 postponement. The extra game gives both teams a seven-game final week.

          All of the other 28 teams play exactly six games -- and 14 of those 28 split those six games evenly between home and the road. This is a "quality over quantity" week when it comes to matchups analysis. Additionally, most teams begin their weeks on Tuesday, as there are only three games scheduled for Monday.

          Remember that MLB schedules all games on its final day, Sunday, Sept. 27, to start within a 15 minute window of one another (between 3:05 p.m. and 3:20 p.m. ET). This is by design to try and heighten the drama of real-life playoff races, but it also creates many mad, 3-4 hour dashes to the finish line in fantasy baseball leagues.

          Get your popcorn -- I mean, your peanuts and Cracker Jack -- ready!

          Lineup lock times

          Scheduling quirks

          Starting pitcher ranks

          Hitter ratings

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