MLB playoff picture: Standings, current bracket, projections, new baseball postseason format explained

Now that the 2022 Major League Baseball season has advanced well into September, the focus is on the race for playoff berths. While the stretch drive in our midst may not be the most gripping we've ever witnessed, quite a bit still hangs in the balance. The league-leading Dodgers are set to become the first team to clinch a playoff berth (and they originally were incorrectly told they clinched on Sept. 11), as L.A. needs just one more win to secure a postseason spot. Los Angeles has won eight of the previous nine NL West titles.

The Astros are likely to be the next team to clinch a postseason berth, followed by the Mets and Yankees. The NL East and AL Central are still hotly contested, and in the NL the Padres, Phillies, and Brewers are jousting for the final two wild-card spots. As well, the Rays and Blue Jays remain alive in the AL East, which the Yankees lead at the moment. That's to say nothing of the daily jockeying for playoff seeding.

Now let's jump into the detailed standings, current playoff matchups, and postseason odds, and let's also recall that the structure of the postseason is different starting this year.

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 moving forward. That new structure begins with the current season, and here's a reminder of how it will work.

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grows from 10 teams to 12 teams with the addition of an extra wild-card entrant in each league.The Wild Card Game has been replaced by the best-of-three Wild Card Series, which functions as the first round of play.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 higher seed in each Wild Card Series will host all the games of that series, be it two or the maximum three games.The top two division winners in each league, as determined by best overall record during the regular season, get a first-round bye. That means they advance straight to the best-of-five Division Series that functions as the second round.The four wild-card round participants 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 seed regardless of whether one or all of the other wild-card teams has a better record.To summarize, here's how the playoff seeding will work in each league — No. 1 seed (bye to LDS): Best record in league; No. 2 seed (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 seed: Third-best record among wild-card teams.

The League Championship Series and World Series remain best-of-seven series with home-field advantage going to the team with the best record in each series. Note that there's no re-seeding after any round.

Got it? Now here's where things stand right now when it comes to the races for these berths and seeds.

If the season ended today...

American League

Byes: No. 1 Astros and No. 2 YankeesWild Card Series: No. 5 Mariners at No. 4 Rays (winner faces No. 1 seed) Wild Card Series: No. 6 Blue Jays at No. 3 Guardians (winner faces No. 2 seed)

National League

Byes: No. 1 Dodgers and No. 2 MetsWild Card Series: No. 5 Phillies at No. 4 Braves (winner faces No. 1 seed) Wild Card Series: No. 6 Padres at No. 3 Cardinals (winner faces No. 2 seed)