The 2022 Main League Baseball postseason? It looms! This 12 months’s playoffs mark the debut of the brand new format that was negotiated as a part of the semi-new collective bargaining settlement. The sector expands from 10 groups to 12, and the bygone Wild Card Recreation has been changed with the best-of-three Wild Card Sequence, which doubles because the opening spherical. To be able to get from 10 groups to 12, every league has added one wild-card entrant. However that is not the solely wrinkle, as we’re about to element.
The format
The 2 division winners with the very best information in every league are rewarded with a first-round bye. For the Nationwide League this 12 months, which means the Los Angeles Dodgers and the eventual winner of the NL East (the New York Mets or Atlanta Braves) will bypass the Wild Card Spherical and go straight to the best-of-five Division Sequence. Within the American League, the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees have earned the identical privilege.
The remaining division winner in every league mechanically will get the No. 3 seed, which suggests they’re going to be pitted in opposition to the underside wild-card crew within the opening spherical. Within the NL, which means the NL Central-champion St. Louis Cardinals will face the No. 6 seed (possible the Philadelphia Phillies, however the Milwaukee Brewers are nonetheless alive) within the Wild Card Sequence, whereas the highest wild-card crew/No. 4 seed, the Braves or Mets, will get matched up in opposition to the second wild-card crew/No. 5 seed, which is the San Diego Padres at this writing.
Within the AL, it is in fact the identical format utilized to a distinct suite of groups. As famous, the Astros and Yankees can have byes. That leaves the No. 3 seed Cleveland Guardians, winners of the American League Central, to face the final wild-card entrant/No. 6 seed. That is virtually actually going to be the Seattle Mariners. That leaves the highest wild-card crew/No. 4 seed – the Toronto Blue Jays proper now – to face the second wild-card crew/No. 5 seed (the Tampa Bay Rays in the meanwhile).
Of notice is that the upper seed in every of the best-of-three Wild Card Sequence will host all of the video games of that collection. As issues stand now, which means the Cardinals, Braves, Guardians, and Blue Jays will host all of these first-round video games even when their respective collection goes the complete three video games. On the opposite aspect of issues, the Phillies, Padres, Mariners, and Rays – once more, as issues stand going into Friday’s slate – might see their 2022 postseason runs finish with out having fun with a playoff residence recreation.
There is not any re-seeding after every playoff spherical, however ideally that is a wrinkle that can be added in some unspecified time in the future sooner or later.
The schedule
The owner-implemented lockout in the course of the spring pushed again the beginning of the common season and resulted in a considerably cramped calendar – the common season would not finish till Oct. 5. That plus the additional playoff video games ensuing from enlargement means postseason off days will not be as frequent this time round. This is what’s value figuring out about all that:
The most effective-of-three Wild Card Sequence can be performed on three consecutive days, which suggests there isn’t any off-day inside any of the opening-round collection. There are additionally no off days between Video games 4 and 5 of the Division Sequence, or between Video games 5 and 6 of the League Championship Sequence. Journey might be very difficult ought to groups on reverse coasts meet (like, say, Dodgers vs. the NL East champs within the NLCS). The World Sequence follows the standard 2-3-2 format with off-days between Video games 2 and three and Video games 5 and 6. Nonetheless, if the 2022 World Sequence goes the complete seven video games, then it will not finish till the evening of Nov. 5.
You possibly can go right here to take a look at the complete postseason schedule for 2022.
The principles
It is value recalling that the handful of structural changes in place for the common season won’t all be a part of the playoff rule e-book. Particularly and most notably, there can be no computerized runner on second base ought to any playoff recreation attain further innings, a rule that has been in place for the previous handful of normal seasons with the intention to minimize down on marathon extra-inning video games and to chop down on pitcher workloads that outcome from mentioned marathon extra-inning video games. Within the playoffs, nevertheless, the sport will proceed within the common method till one crew wins within the common method. As for the common designated hitter rule, which implies that the American League and Nationwide League now use the DH, it is a everlasting presence in MLB now, and all of it even be part of the postseason.
As for postseason rosters, they may include 26 gamers, simply because the regular-season rosters did till they (modestly) expanded for September.
Simply to eradicate any confusion, the main modifications in line for the 2023 season and past won’t be a part of the 2022 postseason panorama. These modifications are the implementation of a pitch clock, the banning of infield shifts, and using bigger bases. Once more, these new wrinkles will start subsequent season and won’t be a part of the upcoming playoffs.
