List of National League Wild Card winners

This article is about National League teams that qualified for the postseason as wild cards. For Wild Card Game and Series results, see Wild Card Series.

The wild card was established for Major League Baseball's playoffs in 1994 with the intention of helping the best teams that did not win their division to still have a chance to win the World Series.^[1] The restructuring of both the American League and National League from two to three divisions each made it necessary to either give one team a bye in the first round of playoffs, or create the wild card for the best second-place team. In addition, the wild card guaranteed that the team with the second-best record in each league would qualify for the playoffs, even if they were in the same division with the team having the best record. As the 1994 postseason was canceled due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, 1995 was the first postseason with a wild card team.

National League Wild Card
Sport	Major League Baseball
League	National League
Established	1994 (1 team)
Expanded	2012 (2 teams) 2022 (3 teams)
Most times	5: Colorado Rockies
Most recent	2024: Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, San Diego Padres

Beginning in 2012, a second wild card team was added to each league.^[2] The two wild card teams in each league face each other in a one-game playoff, the Wild Card Game, with the winner advancing to meet the number one seed in the Division Series.

For the 2020 postseason only, the field expanded to include three second-place teams per division, followed by the wild card teams represented by the next two best records from each league.^[3] All eight teams played in a best-of-three Wild Card Series.^[3]

Starting in 2022, a third wild card team was added to each league. The lowest-seeded wild card team (#6 seed) would then face the lowest-seeded division winner (#3 seed) in the best-of-three Wild Card round, with the remaining two Wild Card teams (#4 and #5 seed) squaring off in the other bracket. The Division Series will then have the top-seed play the fourth-fifth winner, while the runner-up plays the third-sixth winner. The brackets remain fixed, with no re-seeding. ^[4]

NL Wild Card qualifiers by year

Through the 2022 postseason, every National League team has qualified as a wild card at least once, with the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres the last teams to do so. (However, the Padres did win the postseason wild card round in 2020, under MLB's modified playoff format that year, though not having the best record in the NL West.) The Colorado Rockies have been a wild card qualifier an NL record five times, followed by the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals with four each.

Through the 2022 postseason, five NL wild card teams have gone on to win the World Series (Florida in 1997 and 2003, St. Louis in 2011, San Francisco in 2014 and Washington in 2019). Five teams won the NL pennant but lost the World Series (New York in 2000, San Francisco in 2002, Houston in 2005, Colorado in 2007, and Philadelphia in 2022). Five other teams won a division series but lost the championship series, most recently San Diego in 2022 (against Philadelphia – another wild card team).

Year	Winner	Record	%	Playoff Results
Original Format
1995	Colorado Rockies	77–67	.535	Lost NLDS (Braves) 3–1
1996	Los Angeles Dodgers	90–72	.556	Lost NLDS (Braves) 3–0
1997	Florida Marlins	92–70	.568	Won NLDS (Giants) 3–0 Won NLCS (Braves) 4–2 Won World Series (Indians) 4–3
1998	Chicago Cubs	90–73	.552	Lost NLDS (Braves) 3–0
1999	New York Mets	97–66	.595	Won NLDS (Diamondbacks) 3–1 Lost NLCS (Braves) 4–2
2000	New York Mets	94–68	.580	Won NLDS (Giants) 3–1 Won NLCS (Cardinals) 4–1 Lost World Series (Yankees) 4–1
2001	St. Louis Cardinals	93–69	.574	Lost NLDS (Diamondbacks) 3–2
2002	San Francisco Giants	95–66	.590	Won NLDS (Braves) 3–2 Won NLCS (Cardinals) 4–1 Lost World Series (Angels) 4–3
2003	Florida Marlins	91–71	.562	Won NLDS (Giants) 3–1 Won NLCS (Cubs) 4–3 Won World Series (Yankees) 4–2
2004	Houston Astros	92–70	.568	Won NLDS (Braves) 3–2 Lost NLCS (Cardinals) 4–3
2005	Houston Astros	89–73	.549	Won NLDS (Braves) 3–1 Won NLCS (Cardinals) 4–2 Lost World Series (White Sox) 4–0
2006	Los Angeles Dodgers	88–74	.543	Lost NLDS (Mets) 3–0
2007	Colorado Rockies	90–73*	.552	Won NLDS (Phillies) 3–0 Won NLCS (Diamondbacks) 4–0 Lost World Series (Red Sox) 4–0
2008	Milwaukee Brewers	90–72	.556	Lost NLDS (Phillies) 3–1
2009	Colorado Rockies	92–70	.568	Lost NLDS (Phillies) 3–1
2010	Atlanta Braves	91–71	.562	Lost NLDS (Giants) 3–1
2011	St. Louis Cardinals	90–72	.556	Won NLDS (Phillies) 3–2 Won NLCS (Brewers) 4–2 Won World Series (Rangers) 4–3
Expanded Format
2012	Atlanta Braves	94–68	.580	Lost NLWC (Cardinals)
	St. Louis Cardinals	88–74	.543	Won NLWC (Braves) Won NLDS (Nationals) 3–2 Lost NLCS (Giants) 4–3
2013	Pittsburgh Pirates	94–68	.580	Won NLWC (Reds) Lost NLDS (Cardinals) 3–2
	Cincinnati Reds	90–72	.556	Lost NLWC (Pirates)
2014	Pittsburgh Pirates	88–74	.543	Lost NLWC (Giants)
	San Francisco Giants	88–74	.543	Won NLWC (Pirates) Won NLDS (Nationals) 3–1 Won NLCS (Cardinals) 4–1 Won World Series (Royals) 4–3
2015	Pittsburgh Pirates	98–64	.605	Lost NLWC (Cubs)
	Chicago Cubs	97–65	.599	Won NLWC (Pirates) Won NLDS (Cardinals) 3–1 Lost NLCS (Mets) 4–0
2016	New York Mets	87–75	.537	Lost NLWC (Giants)
	San Francisco Giants	87–75	.537	Won NLWC (Mets) Lost NLDS (Cubs) 3–1
2017	Arizona Diamondbacks	93–69	.574	Won NLWC (Rockies) Lost NLDS (Dodgers) 3–0
	Colorado Rockies	87–75	.537	Lost NLWC (Diamondbacks)
2018	Chicago Cubs	95–68	.583	Lost NLWC (Rockies)
	Colorado Rockies	91–72	.558	Won NLWC (Cubs) Lost NLDS (Brewers) 3–0
2019	Washington Nationals	93–69	.574	Won NLWC (Brewers) Won NLDS (Dodgers) 3–2 Won NLCS (Cardinals) 4–0 Won World Series (Astros) 4–3
	Milwaukee Brewers	89–73	.549	Lost NLWC (Nationals)
2020	Cincinnati Reds	31–29	.517	Lost NLWC (Braves) 2–0
	Milwaukee Brewers	29–31	.483	Lost NLWC (Dodgers) 2–0
2021	Los Angeles Dodgers	106–56	.654	Won NLWC (Cardinals) Won NLDS (Giants) 3–2 Lost NLCS (Braves) 4–2
	St. Louis Cardinals	90–72	.556	Lost NLWC (Dodgers)
2022	New York Mets	101–61	.623	Lost NLWC (Padres) 2–1
	San Diego Padres	89–73	.549	Won NLWC (Mets) 2–1 Won NLDS (Dodgers) 3–1 Lost NLCS (Phillies) 4–1
	Philadelphia Phillies	87–75	.537	Won NLWC (Cardinals) 2–0 Won NLDS (Braves) 3–1 Won NLCS (Padres) 4–1 Lost World Series (Astros) 4–2
2023	Philadelphia Phillies	90–72	.556	Won NLWC (Marlins) 2–0 Won NLDS (Braves) 3–1 Lost NLCS (Diamondbacks) 4–3
	Miami Marlins	84–78	.519	Lost NLWC (Phillies) 2–0
	Arizona Diamondbacks	84–78	.519	Won NLWC (Brewers) 2–0 Won NLDS (Dodgers) 3–0 Won NLCS (Phillies) 4–3 Lost World Series (Rangers) 4–1
2024	San Diego Padres	93–69	.574	Won NLWC (Braves) 2–0 Lost NLDS (Dodgers) 3–2
	Atlanta Braves	89–73	.549	Lost NLWC (Padres) 2–0
	New York Mets	89–73	.549	Won NLWC (Brewers) 2–1 Won NLDS (Phillies) 3–1 Lost NLCS (Dodgers) 4–2

Most NL Wild Card appearances

Rank	Team	Total	Year(s)
T-1	Colorado Rockies	5	1995, 2007, 2009, 2017–2018
T-1	New York Mets	5	1999–2000, 2016, 2022, 2024
3	St. Louis Cardinals	4	2001, 2011–2012, 2021
T-4	Atlanta Braves	3	2010, 2012, 2024
T-4	Chicago Cubs	3	1998, 2015, 2018
T-4	Los Angeles Dodgers	3	1996, 2006, 2021
T-4	Miami Marlins	3	1997, 2003, 2023
T-4	Milwaukee Brewers	3	2008, 2019–2020
T-4	Pittsburgh Pirates	3	2013–2015
T-4	San Francisco Giants	3	2002, 2014, 2016
T-11	Arizona Diamondbacks	2	2017, 2023
T-11	Cincinnati Reds	2	2013, 2020
T-11	Houston Astros	2	2004–2005
T-11	Philadelphia Phillies	2	2022–2023
T-11	San Diego Padres	2	2022, 2024
16	Washington Nationals	1	2019

Notes:

• The Houston Astros have competed in the American League since 2013.
• The Miami Marlins were known as the Florida Marlins before 2012.

See also

• Baseball portal

• National League Division Series
• List of American League Wild Card winners
• Major League Baseball division winners
• Wild card (sports)#Major League Baseball
• Wild card (sports)#Record disparities

References

1. Jayson Stark (March 2, 2012). "The new MLB postseason". ESPN.com.
2. "Year In Review : 2012 American League". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
3. "MLB expands playoffs to 16 teams for shortened 2020 season, adds best-of-three Wild Card Series". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
4. "Everything you need to know about '22 season". MLB.com. Retrieved 2022-03-10.