Only three days remain in the 2022 Major League Baseball season and the expanded, 12-team playoff field is nearly set. Eleven teams (Dodgers, Astros, Mets, Braves, Yankees, Guardians, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Rays, Mariners, Padres) have clinched playoff berths, and the Phillies could join them as soon as Monday. Five of the six division titles have been claimed and, thanks to their weekend sweep of the Mets , the Braves are in control of the NL East race.
The Braves will clinch their fifth straight division title with their next win or the next Mets loss. New York held a 10 1/2-game lead on June 1. It will be one of the largest blown division leads in baseball history.
As for the NL wild-card race, the Phillies can clinch their first postseason berth since 2011 with their next win or the next Brewers loss. Milwaukee pulled into a tie with the Phillies last week, then dropped three of four to the Marlins at home to fall back in the race. If Philadelphia clinches, the Angels and Tigers will have the longest postseason droughts (since 2014).
All that's on the line other than the NL East title and the third NL wild-card spot is seeding. The various wild-card teams are still jockeying for position, with the top wild-card team in each league getting home field advantage in the best-of-three Wild Card Series. The earliest the postseason bracket can be finalized is Tuesday.
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.
Clinched spots
Dodgers: Clinched NL West, first-round bye, home field throughout postseasonAstros: Clinched AL West, first-round bye, home field through ALCSMets: Clinched playoff berthBraves: Clinched playoff berthYankees: Clinched AL East, first-round bye, home field through ALDSGuardians: Clinched AL CentralCardinals: Clinched NL CentralBlue Jays: Clinched AL wild-card spotMariners: Clinched AL wild-card spotRays: Clinched AL wild-card spotPadres: Clinched NL Wild-card spotThe 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grows from 10 teams to 12 teams with the addition of an extra wild-card entrant in each league.The Wild Card Game has been replaced by the best-of-three Wild Card Series, which functions as the first round of play.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 Blue Jays (winner faces No. 1 seed) Wild Card Series: No. 6 Rays at No. 3 Guardians (winner faces No. 2 seed)National League
Byes: No. 1 Dodgers and No. 2 BravesWild Card Series: No. 5 Padres at No. 4 Mets (winner faces No. 1 seed) Wild Card Series: No. 6 Phillies at No. 3 Cardinals (winner faces No. 2 seed)MLB standings
(Postseason projections are from SportsLine; expanded standings can be viewed here)
N.Y. Yankees (clinched AL East)9761—100.0%Toronto (clinched WC spot)90697.5100.0%Tampa Bay (clinched WC Spot)867311.5100.0%Baltimore (eliminated)827715.50.0%Boston (eliminated)758422.50.0%Cleveland (clinched AL Central)9069—100.0%Chi. White Sox (eliminated)798011.00.0%Minnesota (eliminated)778213.00.0%Detroit (eliminated)659324.50.0%Kansas City (eliminated)649526.00.0%Houston (clinched AL West)10455—100.0%Seattle (clinched WC spot)877116.5100.0%L.A. Angels (eliminated)738631.00.0%Texas (eliminated)669237.50.0%Oakland (eliminated)5710247.00.0%Atlanta (clinched playoff berth)10059—100.0%N.Y. Mets (clinched playoff berth)
98612.0100.0%Philadelphia867314.096.1%Miami (eliminated)679233.00.0%Washington (eliminated)5510445.00.0%St. Louis (clinched NL Central)9267—100%Milwaukee84758.04.0%Chi. Cubs (eliminated)738619.00.0%Cincinnati (eliminated)609932.00.0%Pittsburgh (eliminated)609932.00.0%L.A. Dodgers (clinched NL West)11048—100.0%San Diego (clinched playoff berth)877223.0100.0%San Francisco (eliminated)807930.00.0%Arizona (eliminated)
738637.00.0%Colorado (eliminated)669344.00.0%
