Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
Congratulations: You’ve made it to the final weekend of the regular season. But there’s still plenty left to figure out, with playoff spots, important stat lines and more still up in the air. Here’s a primer on what to watch for:
Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports; John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports
How much chaos will we get in the AL wild-card race?
There’s no longer any hope of an unprecedented five-way tie for two wild-card spots.