The 2022 Major League Baseball season is winding down, and quite a bit still hangs in the balance as teams try to secure their spots in the postseason. Seven teams (the Dodgers, Astros, Mets, Braves, Yankees, Guardians and Cardinals) have clinched playoff berths in the 12-team field, and seven teams are fighting for the final five spots with less than one week remaining. The NL East is the only divisional race that is coming down to the wire. The Mets have a one-game lead over the Braves for first place with a crucial head-to-head series coming up this weekend.
Two NL wild-card spots are still up in the air, with the Padres getting closer to clinching one of them, while the Phillies and Brewers vie for the third and final playoff spot. In the AL wild-card race, the Blue Jays and Rays have a cushion with the Mariners trying to hold off the upstart Orioles for the last spot. The Mariners (21 years) and Phillies (11 years) have the two longest postseason droughts in Major League Baseball.
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 advantage in NLAstros: Clinched AL West, first-round byeMets: Clinched playoff berthBraves: Clinched playoff berthYankees: Clinched AL East, first-round byeGuardians: Clinched AL CentralCardinals: Clinched NL CentralThe 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grows from 10 teams to 12 teams with the addition of an extra wild-card entrant in each league.The Wild Card Game has been replaced by the best-of-three Wild Card Series, which functions as the first round of play.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 Rays at No. 4 Blue Jays (winner faces No. 1 seed) Wild Card Series: No. 6 Mariners at No. 3 Guardians (winner faces No. 2 seed)National League
Byes: No. 1 Dodgers and No. 2 MetsWild Card Series: No. 5 Padres at No. 4 Braves (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)9659—100.0%Toronto87699.5100.0%Tampa Bay857011.0100.0%Baltimore807516.0<1.0%Boston (eliminated)748122.00.0%Cleveland (clinched AL Central)8768—100.0%Chi. White Sox767911.00.0%Minnesota767911.00.0%Kansas City (eliminated)639224.00.0%Detroit (eliminated)629224.50.0%Houston (clinched AL West)10254—100.0%Seattle847017.0100.0%L.A. Angels (eliminated)698632.50.0%Texas (eliminated)668835.00.0%Oakland (eliminated)569945.50.0%N.Y. Mets (clinched playoff berth)9858—100.0%Atlanta (clinched playoff berth)
97591.0100.0%Philadelphia837114.059.6%Miami (eliminated)649133.50.0%Washington (eliminated)5410143.50.0%St. Louis (clinched NL Central)9066—100%Milwaukee83726.542.6%Chi. Cubs (eliminated)698620.50.0%Cincinnati (eliminated)609630.00.0%Pittsburgh (eliminated)599731.00.0%L.A. Dodgers (clinched NL West)10748—100.0%San Diego866921.097.8%San Francisco777830.00.0%Arizona (eliminated)
728435.50.0%Colorado (eliminated)659042.00.0%
