The regular season is wonderful. But let’s not kid ourselves: Ultimately, you’ve got to get yourself into the playoffs. That’s where the action happens, and where everyone is remembered. A year ago, the Dodgers won 111 games, one of the best regular seasons of all time. A little over a week later, the Padres had eliminated them in the NLDS and no one remembered. October is what it’s all about.

But you’ve got to get in. No team has clinched a playoff spot, but using FanGraphs Playoff Odds, there are four teams that are currently given a 97 percent chance or more of making the postseason: the Braves (the only team at 100 percent), the Dodgers (99.4 percent), the Orioles (97.2 percent) and the Rays (97 percent). Which means there are eight spots open for, by my estimation, 17 teams: the Angels, Astros, Blue Jays, Brewers, Cubs, D-backs, Giants, Guardians, Mariners, Marlins, Padres, Phillies, Rangers, Reds, Red Sox, Twins, and Yankees.

That means nine of these teams aren’t going to make it. And a lot of these teams really need to make the playoffs. Thus, with less than two months left, we take a look at the Playoff Urgency Rankings, weighing just how much these 17 teams need to make the postseason this year. How much will it break fans' hearts to fall short? How much of a disappointment would it be? And conversely, how much would it mean for them to get in? Here’s a ranking of the 17.

1. Angels
Current Playoff Chances: 1.7 percent

After their soul-pulverizing six-run-ninth-inning loss to the Giants on Monday night, the Angels were suffering through a seven-game losing streak at the worst possible time. But when the Angels made the decision not only to keep Shohei Ohtani at the Deadline but to also drain their farm system to add short-term talent around him, they made it clear that 2023 was of the utmost priority. So now they are seven games out of the AL Wild Card with one of the toughest schedules in baseball moving forward. Given their current playoff odds, it seems generous to even include them here, but it would also feel odd not to.

2. Rangers
Current Playoff Chances: 91.5 percent

The Rangers made it clear that they want to be back in October with their recent aggressiveness in free agency. And they were one of the most aggressive teams at the Deadline, bringing in Max Scherzer, Jordan Montgomery and Austin Hedges. They haven’t made the postseason since 2016, and that drought looks poised to end.

3. Blue Jays
Current Playoff Chances: 72.7 percent

Remember when the Blue Jays were the team best positioned for a run atop this division for the next half-decade? The Jays certainly haven’t been bad the last few years, but you can certainly argue the Orioles have passed them as the AL East Team of the Future. For all the young talent on this club, missing the playoffs would lead to some serious questions for this franchise.

4. Padres
Current Playoff Chances: 35.3 percent

They finally beat the Dodgers in the postseason last year and looked primed to finally establish themselves as the team in the NL West. But not only do they find themselves behind the Dodgers in the standings … they’re behind the Giants and the D-backs, too. Remember, they have only one more year of Juan Soto after this one, and a large part of the point of trading for him last year is that they'd have three bites of the postseason apple. Now four games under .500, the Padres are in danger of missing one of those bites entirely.

5. Yankees
Current Playoff Chances: 12.4 percent

For all the recent postseason frustrations the Yankees have had, they have at least made the postseason. Their six-year run of October appearances is in serious danger, and the most worrisome part about it is that it makes sense: This is a team that looks like it might be about to enter a fallow period, and the Yankees are never supposed to enter a fallow period.

6. Phillies
Current Playoff Chances: 81.5 percent

The Phillies barely got in the playoffs last year but turned into barnstormers once they did, charging all the way to the World Series. They took that as an invitation to load up in the offseason, most notably bringing in Trea Turner, who seemed like such a perfect fit that the 2023 postseason felt like a lock. But Turner has been off all year, and the Phils haven’t fully clicked. But like a veteran NBA team that figures it out for the playoffs, the Phillies are a scary out in October, particularly if Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler can revert to form.

7. Marlins
Current Playoff Chances: 33.1 percent

Other than the COVID season of 2020 -- a year in which they did win a series and reach the NLDS -- the Marlins haven’t made the playoffs since winning the World Series in 2003. The Marlins have thus carried themselves this year with considerable urgency, bringing in David Robertson, Josh Bell and Jake Burger at the Deadline, trying to claw and scrape their way into the tournament. They’ve been buoyed by a 24-10 record in one-run games, which suggests some good “luck,” but luck only matters if you take advantage of it. They best reap luck’s rewards while they can.

8. Mariners
Current Playoff Chances: 31.2 percent

The breakthrough that happened last year was supposed to augur a new era of Mariners baseball, but for much of this year, the Mariners have felt stuck in neutral. In retrospect, expecting a small step backward this year probably shouldn’t have been unreasonable, but it would be a major bummer to end a 21-year drought only to start a new drought the next year. The Mariners are only this low on this list because, even if they miss the playoffs this year, this doesn’t look like an abyss: This is still a team on the upswing in the years to come.

9. Cubs
Current Playoff Chances: 53.8 percent

After the selloff of the last vestiges (Kyle Hendricks aside) of the 2016 World Series champions, the Cubs would have had a hard time justifying another selloff at the Deadline, and the team has rewarded that faith: Chicago is one of the hottest teams in baseball and, all told, look like they might be the team in the NL Central with the fewest holes. It wouldn’t be a disaster if they missed the playoffs this season; they weren’t that all-in. But they’ve come this far, and honestly, after the last few years, they owe their fans one.

10. Giants
Current Playoff Chances: 76.2 percent

Was 2021 a fluke? The 107 wins the Giants put on the board two years ago feels more and more like a surreal number the farther away we get from it, and it felt particularly out-of-step when the Giants missed the playoffs last year. But despite quite famously missing out on some big-time free agents over the offseason, the Giants are right back in the playoff chase this year, thanks to a lot of the same things they had going for them in 2021: Veterans having career years, smart platoon deployment, consistent and surprising pitching performances.

11. Twins
Current Playoff Chances: 91.1 percent

To be clear: The Twins don’t have this high of playoff odds because they’re some sort of juggernaut all of a sudden. They’re this high because the Guardians have faded and the rest of the division is rebuilding. This is a relief for Twins fans, who were understandably excited after re-signing Carlos Correa this offseason. Correa has had a tough time getting it together this year -- though there are signs of life on that front -- but it hasn’t really mattered: The Twins look very primed to make the postseason.

12. Astros
Current Playoff Chances: 87.4 percent

This year hasn’t had the zip of some of the last few Astros seasons, but that championship they won 10 months ago makes any frustration lose some of its zing. It would be a massive bummer to fall apart in the final weeks after trading for their old pal Justin Verlander, but: A) that’s highly unlikely to happen; and B) seriously, did you see what happened last October? They won the freaking World Series!

13. Red Sox
Current Playoff Chances: 10.1 percent

You can argue the Red Sox should make the playoffs darn near every year. But this season had real implosion potential, particularly in this gauntlet of a division. The Red Sox did not implode. And they might just be better next year. This year, the playoffs might almost feel like a bonus?

14. Brewers
Current Playoff Chances: 71.6 percent

The Brewers deserve a ton of credit for simply keeping the wheels on the car for the first half of the season, considering how many injuries and how much underperformance they were dealing with. Despite a depleted roster, the Brewers just hung around, not letting the NL Central get away from them. And they’ve been rewarded with a team that, in the second half, is starting to look like it was supposed to all along: A terrific rotation with horses at the top, a lockdown bullpen and an offense that does just enough.

15. D-backs
Current Playoff Chances: 23.1 percent

It wasn’t that long ago that the D-backs were in first place and you were hearing Corbin Carroll for NL Rookie of the Year and MVP buzz. That was probably the D-backs out over their skis a little bit, and they’ve come down to Earth of late. They still look like upstarts in this division, and this year’s success is a sort of proof of concept for what they’re building. But even with the Padres’ stumbles, this still feels like maybe a year early.

16. Reds
Current Playoff Chances: 23.7 percent

This season has been so fun in Cincinnati, and so unexpected, that you can understand Reds fans lamenting missing out on the playoffs. But perhaps what’s most exciting about this Reds team is that it’s just the start. This team is loaded with young talent, with more on the way, and if the Reds don’t break through to the postseason this year, it is certainly around the corner for them.

17. Guardians
Current Playoff Chances: 8.3 percent

You can make an argument for trading Aaron Civale, their best and most consistent pitcher this year, at the Deadline. But you certainly can’t act surprised or disappointed if you miss the playoffs because of it. For what it’s worth: There’s still a chance the Tigers catch them.