The MLB postseason is right around the corner with some new exciting changes to the format. We have the details to help you make sense of it all as well as what to expect as the postseason gets set to roll on October 7th.
More Teams!
Perhaps the biggest (non-pandemic) change since the number of teams was expanded in 2012 to include two wild card teams is the addition of one more playoff team in each league. This now brings the total teams to make the postseason from 10 to 12 (six from each league). As such each league will feature the three division winners plus three wild card teams which can be from any of the three divisions.
Seeding
The teams in each league are seeded from 1 to 6. The three division winners are automatically slotted into the top 3 seeds and ranked based on record. The wild card teams are the three teams with the best records of all non-division winning teams. The wild card teams are seeded 4 to 6 based on record even if they have better records than any division winners.
Now you may be asking what happens when teams have the same records, how are they seeded? In the past there were the always fun and dramatic play-in games or game 163+ used to break any ties in record. But now with two additional teams automatically resulting in added games, there is no longer a need to keep your fingers crossed for extra baseball at the end of the season, more games are now built in. As such, the MLB has created a series of tiebreakers to determine seeding of teams with the same record.
The tiebreakers are the following, any ties in the precedent moves to the next:
Head to head record - if there are more than two teams tied with overall record than the team with the higher winning percentage against all the tied teams wins this tiebreaker
Intradivision record - team with the best record within their division
Interdivision record - team with the best record against teams outside their division but within their league
Last half of intraleague games - team with best record during the last mathematical half of the season (not post all-star game) against teams within their league
Last half of intraleague games plus one, two, three... - basically keep adding one more game from the end of the first half of the season against teams within your league until you have a team with a better overall record
Also important to note, higher seeds will always get home field advantage, and in the World Series, the team with the best record has home field advantage, if they have the same then determined by the above tiebreakers.
Format
Now that we have all the teams seeded, we can set up the postseason bracket. There are still four rounds: Wild Card, Divisional, League Championship, and World Series. And the major changes are to the Wild Card round and how teams arrive to the Divisional round.
Wild Card round:
Top 2 seeds in each league get a bye and await their opponents in the divisional series
Best-of-three series to determine who advances to divisional round to play one of the top seeds
Top seed (#3 and #4) hosts ALL three potential games, all games played in three consecutive days to not give top seeds a long break
The divisional round is still a best-of-five with a 2-2-1 format, home field advantage going to the higher seed (host the first two games and potential game five). The top Seed #1 will always play the winner of the #4 vs #5 wild card matchup, while Seed #2 will always play the winner of the #3 vs #6 matchup. There is never any reseeding.
The League Championship and World Series are still a best-of-seven with a 2-3-2 format, home field advantage going to the higher seed in LCS or best record for World Series (hosts first two games and potential games six and seven).
2022 Postseason Schedule
Wild Card series (best of three): Oct. 7-Oct. 9
NLDS (best of five): Oct. 11, 12, 14, if necessary Oct. 15, 16
ALDS (best of five): Oct. 11, 13, 15, if necessary Oct. 16, 17
NLCS (best of seven): Oct. 18, 19, 21, 22, if necessary Oct. 23, 25
ALCS (best of seven): Oct. 19, 20, 22, 23, if necessary Oct. 24, 26
World Series (best of seven): Oct. 28, 29, 31, Nov. 1, if necessary Nov. 2, 4, 5
Current seedings
So now that we understand how it will all go down, with one week left in the regular season, here is what the current seeding looks like.
Seed | American League | National League |
|---|---|---|
1 | Houston Astros* | Los Angeles Dodgers* |
2 | New York Yankees* | New York Mets or Atlanta Braves |
3 | Cleveland Guardians* | St. Louis Cardinals* |
4 | Toronto Blue Jays (+3) | New York Mets or Atlanta Braves (+13) |
5 | Tampa Bay Rays (+1.5) | San Diego Padres (+2.5) |
6 | Seattle Mariners | Philadelphia Phillies |
OUT | Baltimore Orioles (-3.5) | Milwaukee Brewers (-1.5) |
* = team is locked into current seed
(+#) = number of games ahead of the final wild card spot (seed 6)
(-#) = number of games behind of the final wild card spot (seed 6)
There is only one division currently up for grabs, the NL East, as well as some competitive battles in the wild card both for seeding and to make the playoffs. The Orioles and Brewers are the only two teams on the outside with an actual shot of getting in as a wild card team. We will definitely have a dramatic down to the wire finish to the regular season.
Upcoming Series
With that excitement in mind, here are some of important series to watch and pay attention to down the stretch:
Cardinals vs Brewers (Sep 28) - Brewers need every win they can get to catch the Phillies for the last NL wild card spot
Dodgers vs Padres (Sep 28-29) - Dodgers are going for the franchise record for regular season wins while the Padres try to hold on in the NL wild card
Mets vs Braves (Sep 30-Oct 2) - Locked in a tight battle for the NL East crown and a coveted first round bye, this series may tell us who will reign supreme
Astros vs Phillies (Oct 3-5) - The 'Stros try to overtake the Dodgers for the top overall seed while the Fightin' Phils fight to hold onto to a final NL wild card spot
Blue Jays vs Orioles (Oct 3-5) - The Jays are in control for the top wild card seed (#4 seed overall) for the all important home field advantage in the wild card round, while the Orioles are currently on the outside looking and need a final push to sneak into the postseason
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