The Major League Pickleball postseason begins Friday with day 1 of the Toray MLP Playoffs, where Premier and Challenger level teams will compete in play-in (Premier) and quarterfinal (Challenger) rounds at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, CA.

Here are the four play-in matchups:

• Premier: Miami Pickleball Club (10) v. Texas Ranchers (7)
• Premier: Utah Black Diamonds (9) v. Orlando Squeeze (8)
• Challenger: Florida Smash (6) v. California Black Bears (3)
• Challenger: Bay Area Breakers (5) v. D.C. Pickleball Team (4)

The winners of the two Premier play-in matchups will also play the opening match of their quarterfinal series against either the St. Louis Shock or Dallas Flash later Friday afternoon.

Now, let’s get into what to watch for:

• In perhaps the biggest news of the day, Grayson Goldin is taking Dylan Frazier’s starting spot for Orlando. Frazier appeared to injure his right hamstring in his men’s singles quarterfinal loss to Noe Khlif at last week’s Veolia Bristol Open and then lost early in both mixed doubles and men’s doubles on the following days. As a result of Frazier’s injury, Goldin will make his second consecutive start for the Squeeze. He went 2-0 in the final match of the regular season against the New Jersey 5s, picking up wins with Federico Staksrud and Alli Phillips in men’s doubles and mixed doubles, respectively. He will again play with Staksrud in men’s and play with Lacy Schneemann in mixed on Friday in Orlando’s winner-take-all bout against the Utah Black Diamonds.

• Christian Alshon is returning to the starting lineup for the Texas Ranchers after not traveling with the team to MLP Salt Lake City a few weeks ago. Wyatt Stone performed admirably in his absence and helped the team nearly overtake the Los Angeles Mad Drops for the No. 6 seed in the standings, but Alshon—the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 draft—is back for the playoffs. He will play men’s doubles with Eric Oncins and mixed doubles with Kaitlyn Christian against the Miami Pickleball Club, an opponent who Texas went 3-0 against during the regular season.

• In Challenger, Jonathan Truong is taking Sam Querrey’s spot on the Bay Area Breakers for the second event this season. Querrey was acquired via trade in July but has not yet played a match for the Breakers, and it doesn’t look like he will in San Diego, either. Truong also filled in for Bay Area earlier this season at MLP St. Louis, posting a 5-5 record alongside DJ Young and his sister Alix Truong. The 18-year-old will play with those same partners on Friday as Bay Area looks to defeat the D.C. Pickleball Team.

Action begins at 10am PT on Pickleballtv.