There is only one day left in the 2022 Major League Baseball regular season, but the expanded 12-team playoff bracket is already finalized. The Phillies became the 12th and final team to earn a playoff berth on Monday, and the Braves clinched the NL East over the Mets on Tuesday. the 2022 mlb playoffs kick off friday with the best-of-three wild card series.
Now let’s move on to the standings, playoff matchups and postseason odds, and also remember that the structure of the postseason is different starting this year.
closed points
- dodgers: secured nl west, no. 1 seed in nl, home field throughout postseason
- stars: assured to the west, no. 1 seed in all
- mets: insured no. 4 seeds in nl
- bravos: secured nl this, no. 2 seeds in nl
- yankees: secured east, no. 2 seeds in total
- guardians: closed to central, no. 3 seeds in total
- cardinals: closed central nl, no. 3 seeds in nl
- tiles: secured no. 4 seeds in total
- sailors: insured no. 5 seeds in total
- hell: insured no. 6 seeds in total
- parents: insured no. 5 seeds in nl
- phillies: secured the no. 6 seeds in nl
- The postseason field grows from 10 teams to 12 teams with the addition of an extra wild card entrant in each league.
- The wild card game has been replaced by the best-of-three wild card series, which functions as the first round of play. the highest seed in each wild card series will host all games in that series, whether it be two or a maximum of three games.
- The top two division winners in each league, as determined by the best overall record during the regular season, earn a first-round bye. that means they advance directly to the best-of-five division series which doubles as the second round.
- The four wild-card round entrants in each league comprise the division winner with the worst record among division winners and the three non-division winners with the best records. that division winner is automatically the no. 3 regardless of whether one or all of the other wild card teams have a better record.
- To summarize, this is how the playoff standings will work in each league: no. 1 seed (goodbye to lds): best record in the league; No. 2 seed (bye-bye to lds): second-best record among division winners; No. 3 seed: third-best record among division winners; No. 4 seed: best record among wild card teams; No. 5 seed: second-best record among wild-card teams; No. 6 seeds: Third best record among wild card teams.
- goodbye: no. 1 stars and no. 2 Yankees
- wildcard string: no. 5 sailors at no. 4 Blue Jays (winner faces the #1 seed)
- wildcard string: no. 6 spokes at no. 3 Guardians (winner faces the #2 seed)
- goodbye: no. 1 dodgers and no. 2 brave
- wildcard string: no. 5 parents at no. 4 mets (winner faces the #1 seed)
- wildcard string: no. 6 phillies at no. 3 Cardinals (Winner faces No. 2 seed)
the new 12-team playoff format
During the recent negotiation of the new collective bargaining agreement, players and owners agreed to a new and expanded postseason structure going forward. that new structure starts with the current season, and here’s a reminder of how it will work.
The League Championship Series and the World Series remain best-of-seven series with home court advantage going to the team with the best record in each series. note that it does not re-seed after any round.
understood? now, that’s how things stand right now when it comes to racing for these spots and seeds.
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(postseason projections are from sportsline; expanded rankings can be viewed here)