The Brewers have been mathematically eliminated from the MLB playoffs

An exciting part of September baseball is watching teams clinch their berths in the postseason and seeing the stories of the playoffs begin to form throughout the month.

But for cynical people who enjoy watching fan bases suffer and franchises fall short of their goals, there are also the teams that won’t make it to the postseason at all. More and more of which are revealing themselves as days pass on the final march to October.

Teams approach their Elimination Number and when they pass it, they’re out. It’s that simple (yay math!). You can track that all for yourself here. Now that the MLB playoff field has been set, here are the 20 teams that have been mathematically eliminated and therefore won’t be playing postseason baseball this year. Better luck next year to the following teams and fanbases.

Team: Brewers
Date Eliminated: Sept. 30

Milwaukee was one of the great stories of the season, bucking the conventional wisdom that they weren’t supposed to contend in 2017, taking a 5-game division lead into the All-Star break. The defending champion Cubs eventually took over and won the NL Central, but the Brewers fought and clawed until the penultimate day of the regular season. Milwaukee was eliminated on Saturday, blowing a 6-0 lead in a 7-6 loss to the Cardinals, but it was ultimately their 9-18 stretch coming out of the break that sank their postseason chances.

Milwaukee’s loss clinched the second NL Wild Card spot for the Rockies.

Team: Cardinals
Date Eliminated: Sept. 28

One night after watching the rival Cubs clinch the NL Central on their field, the Cardinals lost again to Chicago in 11 innings in the series finale on Thursday night. That was the 77th loss of the season for St. Louis, now unable to catch the 86-win Rockies for the second NL Wild Card spot. The Cardinals are left to play spoiler, finishing off their regular season with three home games against the Brewers, who are still alive in the Wild Card race, for now.

Team: Angels
Date Eliminated: Sept. 27

Things were looking up for the Angels for a little while there, and everyone knows it would have been great to have Mike Trout in the playoffs, this year it was not to be. A loss for them means a Wild Card clinch for the Twins, and with that the AL Wild Card race is locked up. Without the Angels being a part of it. The good news is that they’ll be back for another shot next season. The bad news is that Albert Pujols will still be getting at bats for them next year.

Team: Royals
Date Eliminated: Sept. 26

The Royals beat beat the Tigers 2-1 on Tuesday but with the Twins victorious as well it didn’t make a difference for their playoff chances. With Minnesota’s win they were out of it, and will have to endure a season of saying goodbye to many longtime favorites on the roster before giving things another crack next season.

Team: Rangers
Date Eliminated: Sept. 26

The Rangers had to at least win their game against the Astros to stay in the hunt for the AL Wild Card and hope that Minnesota didn’t come out on top in their game against Cleveland, and the latter failed to happen before Texas could even win or lose on their own. So they’re officially eliminated from the playoff hunt. As the Twins came closer to clinch the second Wild Card spot, it was already looking bleak for Texas the door is officially shut on any shot they had. At the time of the Twins win, the Rangers were down 14-2 to the Astros so it probably wouldn’t have mattered either way.

Team: Rays
Date Eliminated: Sept. 26

With the Yankees and Red Sox both ahead of them in the division, the Rays didn’t have much of a chance to make the postseason this year. As of the date of their elimination they were 15 games back in the division, and a loss to New York sealed the deal on their year. In order to compete with their fellow division competitors, especially two teams that have the youth and talent to stay on top for years to come, they’ll have to make some decisions in the offseason. We’ll see next year if they help.

Team: Mariners
Date Eliminated: Sept. 24

Seattle used a franchise-record 40 different pitchers in 2017, eight more than they have used in any other season. A loss at home to Cleveland on Sunday dropped the Mariners to 75-81, no longer able to catch the 82-win Twins, currently in second Wild Card position in the American League. Seattle has lost 18 of its last 27 games.

Team: Orioles
Date Eliminated: Sept. 23

Baltimore lost to the Rays 9-6 on Saturday, giving the Orioles 82 losses. Coupled with the Twins winning their 80th game, the O’s were eliminated on Saturday. Baltimore is just 6-16 in September.

Team: Blue Jays
Date Eliminated: Sept. 23

After back-to-back trips to the ALCS, Toronto suffered a downturn in 2017. Their 5-1 loss at home to the Yankees on Saturday not only clinched a playoff berth for the Yankees but also spelled doom for the Blue Jays. Saturday marked the 83rd loss of the season for Toronto, and with Minnesota currently sitting in second Wild Card position with 80 wins, it is not mathematically possibly for the Jays to make the playoffs this year.

Team: Marlins
Date Eliminated: Sept. 22

Powered by the prodigious power of giant human Giancarlo Stanton, Miami vaulted back into Wild Card contention after the break. Stanton hit 25 games in a 40-game span just after the All-Star break, and Miami climbed to three games over .500 on Aug. 27, just 4½ games out of a playoff spot. But with a Rockies win on Friday night over the Padres, the Marlins are out of it. They delayed the inevitable for almost a week with a stretch of success, but they couldn’t hold out forever. They’ll be back next year, with new ownership and new hopes.

Team: A’s
Date Eliminated: Sept. 22

It’s been fun watching Matt Olson tear up opposing pitchers during his exciting hot streak the last few months, and if he keeps it up there’s nothing to indicate that it will be any less enjoyable. Unfortunately, the A’s have been officially eliminated from the playoffs after a Twins win over the Tigers on Friday night. Similar to fellow-eliminated team the Phillies, the A’s gave fans some fun moments and reasons to watch down the stretch — and a few definite reasons to be excited about the team’s future. But their (slim) chance at a postseason bid is gone for this year.

Team: Braves
Date Eliminated: Sept. 17

Atlanta lost on Sunday at home to the Mets, suffering their 81st loss of the season, ensuring they won’t catch the 82-win Rockies, currently in second Wild Card position in the National League. This wasn’t supposed to be a contending season for the rebuilding Braves, but they were at .500 as late as July 16 (45-45). Since then, Atlanta has lost 36 of 58 games.

Team: Pirates
Date Eliminated: Sept. 16

Pittsburgh was on the periphery of contention in early August, and were .500 (58-58) as late as Aug. 11. But on Saturday, the Pirates lost in Cincinnati to the Reds, dropping their fourth straight and ninth loss in their last 10 games. That gave the Pirates 81 losses, and when Colorado — in second NL Wild Card position — won on Saturday night, the Rockies secured their 82nd win, ensuring that the Pirates will be on the outside looking in this October. Losing 23 of their last 33 games will do that.

Team: Padres
Date Eliminated: Sept. 15

To hold on to their (slim) playoff hopes, the Padres had to win and the Rockies had to lose their game on September 15th. Unfortunately for San Diego and fortunately for Colorado the two teams were playing each other, so when the Rockies won it was automatically over. The Padres are done, and they’ll now be hoping for a better situation next season.

Team: Tigers
Date Eliminated: Sept. 14

When the Twins beat the Blue Jays in extra innings on Thursday, it was all over for Detroit. The Tigers lost earlier in the day as well, so it was really just a slow and steady march to elimination for them throughout the day. While the season didn’t start off with tanking aims, after the trade deadline and Justin Verlander being sent out of town in August, their playoff hopes were pretty much over.

Team: Mets
Date Eliminated: Sept. 14

Suffice to say that this season for the Mets isn’t what anybody expected or hoped for when the year began. Everyone was injured, their pitching was either out of commission or straight up bad, and in a season where people assumed they would be buyers at the deadline, they were once again in a position to hold a fire sale in July and August.

To add insult to injury, former Met Jay Bruce sealed a win for the Indians on the same night they were eliminated. Ouch. The Mets might not have the same leadership in place or the same optimism entering next year, but their luck couldn’t possibly be worse when the 2018 season starts.

Team: Reds
Date Eliminated: Sept. 12

A loss to the possibly surging (and thus scary to everyone) Cardinals did the Reds in, and despite sandwiching that loss with a win against the Mets and one against St. Louis — that’s all folks! At least they got another great year of Joey Votto doing Joey Votto things. Hopefully next year more people will be able to appreciate his talent if they make it back to the postseason.

Team: White Sox
Date Eliminated: Sept. 12

The White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals on Monday night and held on to their (technical) playoff eligibility, but a 4-3 loss the next day means they are officially mathematically out of things. Of course, this was never meant to be a year for Chicago to make the playoffs, and it’ll come out of the season with a slew of prospects acquired throughout the year — plus a full season of Yoan Moncada to look forward to — so this is not only expected but fine.

Team: Phillies
Date Eliminated: Sept. 8
Besides the joy of Rhys Hoskins and the team calling up favored prospect J.P. Crawford, Philadelphia’s season was more or less a wash. The Phillies were eliminated officially by the Nationals a week into September and will hope the young, promising talents they discovered this year continue to help boost the team next year and end the season with a better outcome.

Team: San Francisco Giants
Date Eliminated: Sept. 7

Less than a week after people breathlessly ended recounting their Labor Day Weekend plans to friends, the Giants were out of it. Their season wasn’t a success by many measures, but at least they got eliminated efficiently and everyone in San Francisco can turn their attention to next year when things might be...better?