The New York Yankees released third baseman Josh Donaldson on Aug. 29. But while the Yankees’ 2023 season ended on Sunday with an 82-80 record, Donaldson heads into the Major League Baseball playoffs with the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday.

The Brewers and the Arizona Diamondbacks will meet in Milwaukee for a best-of-three wild-card series in the National League.

The National League’s other wild-card series matches the Miami Marlins and the Phillies in Philadelphia.

In the American League, the wild-card series starting on Tuesday feature the Texas Rangers at the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays at the Minnesota Twins.

The 2015 American League MVP and a three-time all-star, Donaldson had 10 home runs in 120 trips to the plate this season when he was released. But he had only five other hits and was batting .142 in an injury-filled season.

A hamstring injury kept Donaldson off the field for almost two months early in the season, and he hadn’t played since July 15 because of a calf injury when he was released.

Milwaukee signed Donaldson on Aug. 31, just in time to make him eligible for their postseason roster. Donaldson warmed up with five games for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds and has been a regular at third base for the Brewers since Sept. 11.

Donaldson (Faith Academy, Auburn) will be playing in the MLB postseason for the ninth time this week. So will a pair of veteran relievers with Alabama baseball roots – Craig Kimbrel (Lee-Huntsville, Wallace State) of the Phillies and David Robertson (Paul Bryant, Alabama) of the Marlins.

Robertson was traded into the playoffs. The New York Mets sent Robertson to Miami on July 28 and went on to post a 74-87 record – 10 games worse than the Marlins.

Two other wild-card players with Alabama baseball roots will be in the postseason for the first time.

Braxton Garrett (Florence) will get the ball for the Marlins to start Game 2 against the Phillies on Wednesday.

Garrett went 9-7 with a 3.66 earned-run average this season. The Marlins won six of the left-hander’s 10 starts in August and September, and he posted a 2.85 ERA in those games.

Twins second baseman Edouard Julien (Auburn) started the season with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints. But he played 109 games for Minnesota in his debut season. Julien had a .263 batting average, .381 on-base average and .459 slugging percentage for the Twins.

In this week’s wild-card series:

· The Rangers and Rays play at 2:08 p.m. CDT Tuesday, Wednesday and, if necessary, Thursday in the American League. ABC will televise the series.

· The Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins play at 3:38 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and, if necessary, Thursday in the American League. ESPN will televise the series.

· The Diamondbacks and Brewers play at 6:08 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and, if necessary, Thursday in the National League. ESPN2 will televise the series.

· The Marlins and Phillies play at 7:08 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and, if necessary, Thursday in the National League. ESPN will televise the series.

Waiting to start the playoffs are the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Orioles will play the Tampa Bay-Texas winner, the Astros will play the Toronto-Minnesota winner, the Braves will play the Philadelphia-Miami winner and the Dodgers will play the Arizona-Milwaukee winner in best-of-five series.

The American League Division Series will feature two more players with Alabama baseball roots.

Kendall Graveman (Benjamin Russell) is back for another World Series run in the Astros’ bullpen. Graveman pitched in three World Series games for Houston in 2021, left for the Chicago White Sox as a free agent in 2022 and rejoined the Astros in a trade on July 28.

Infielder Gunnar Henderson (Morgan Academy) won Baltimore’s Most Valuable Player Award for the 2023 campaign in his first full MLB season. Henderson hit 28 home runs and scored 100 runs for the Orioles this season.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.