The 2022 Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason gets underway Friday, October 7th with a brand new format in place leading up to the World Series. This year’s playoffs will feature 12 teams with the defending champion Atlanta Braves being one of them.
MLB’s new expanded format is the first playoff change since 2012 and it features six teams from each of the American League and National League. The top two seeds in each league receive a bye in the first round and will enter the postseason in the Division Series. The division winners with the worst record in each league are seeded third.
In addition, three wild card teams from each league have made the playoffs and they are seeded fourth to sixth. The third-seeded team in each league hosts the sixth-seeded club in a two-out-of-three Wild Card Series while the fourth seeded squad hosts the fifth-seeded side in a similar Wild Card Series. The highest-seeded team will play all Wild Card games at their home park.
The following are the seeded teams for each league:
American League
1 – Houston Astros – West Division Champions (bye in first round)
2 – New York Yankees – East Division Champions (bye in first round)
3 – Cleveland Guardians – Central Division Champions
4 – Toronto Blue Jays
5 – Seattle Mariners
6 – Tampa Bay Rays
National League
1 – Los Angeles Dodgers – West Division Champions (bye in first round)
2 – Atlanta Braves – East Division Champions (bye in first round)
3 – St. Louis Cardinals – Central Division Champions
4 – New York Mets
5 – San Diego Padres
6 – Philadelphia Phillies
The Los Angeles Dodgers earned home-field advantage for each series of the playoffs for finishing with the best record in MLB in 2022.
The American League Wild Card Series will see the Toronto Blue Jays host the Seattle Mariners with the Cleveland Guardians hosting the Tampa Bay Rays. The winner of the Tampa vs Seattle series will then face the top-seeded Houston Astros in a three-out-of-five Division Series while the winner of the Tampa vs Cleveland series will play the New York Yankees in the other AL Division Series.
The National League Wild Card Series features the San Diego Padres visiting the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies paying a visit to the St. Louis Cardinals. The winner of the San Diego vs New York tilt will then face the Los Angeles Dodgers in one of the three-out-of-five Division Series while the winner of the Philadelphia vs St. Louis showdown will meet Atlanta in the other Division series.
The winners of each league’s Division Series then move on to the four-out-of-seven League Championship Series to determine the winner of each league. The American League Champions then face the National League winners in the World Series.
In the American League, the Houston Astros and New York Yankees will be playing in the postseason for the seventh time in the last eight years while the Cleveland Guardians will be appearing for the fifth time in the past seven seasons. The Toronto Blue Jays will be playing for the second time in the last three seasons while the Tampa Bay Rays are playing for the fourth straight year. For the Seattle Mariners, it’s their first playoff appearance since 2001.
In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers will be making their 10th consecutive playoff appearance while the New York Mets will be playing for the third time in the past eight seasons and for the first time since 2016. The Atlanta Braves are making their fifth straight appearance while the St. Louis Cardinals are playing for the fourth straight year. The San Diego Padres are appearing for the second time in the past three years while the Philadelphia Phillies are playing for the first time since 2011.
Concerning the World Series, the New York Yankees have won the title 27 times and lost 13 while the St. Louis has won 11 and lost 8. The Dodgers franchise has won 7 and lost 14. The Braves franchise has won 4 and lost 6. Philadelphia has won 2 and lost 5, Cleveland has won 2 and lost 4, the New York Mets have won 2 and lost 3, Toronto has gone 2-0, Houston has 1 win and 3 losses while San Diego and Tampa Bay are both 0-2 and Seattle has never reached the World Series.
As far as the bet365 oddsmakers are concerned, the Dodgers are the favorites to win the World Series heading into the playoffs at +300. They’re followed by the Astros at +375, the Yankees at +450, the Braves at +500, the Mets at +750, the Blue Jays at +1300, the Cardinals at +1600, the Padres and Guardians both at +2200, the Mariners at +2500 and the Rays and Phillies both at +3000.
Of course, you can also enjoy live wagering and betting on each individual MLB playoff game at bet365.