MLB News

MLB playoff picture: Standings, projections, bracket, format explained as Braves take NL East lead

MLB playoff picture: Standings, projections, bracket, format explained as Braves take NL East lead


The 2022 Major League Baseball season is winding down, and the expanded, 12-team playoff field is nearly set. Ten teams (Dodgers, Astros, Mets, BravesYankees, Guardians, Cardinals, Blue Jays, RaysMariners) have clinched playoff berths, and three teams are fighting for the final two spots with just four days left in the season. The NL East is the only divisional race that is coming down to the wire. 

The Braves and Mets are battling for the division and Atlanta pulled ahead thanks to back-to-back wins over New York on Friday and Saturday. The Braves and Mets meet for one final time Sunday night, and the winner of that game will be in the driver’s seat to win the division.

As for the NL wild-card race, the last two spots are undecided. The Padres are inching closer to clinching a postseason berth while the fading Phillies are trying to hold off the Brewers. The three AL wild-card teams are known, though they are still battling for seeding. The top wild-card team gets home field advantage throughout the Wild Card Series.

Friday night the Mariners clinched their first postseason berth since Ichiro’s rookie year in 2001. The longest postseason drought in the fourth major North American sports is over. The Phillies now have the longest drought (since 2011), and if they make it this year, the Angels and Tigers will have the longest drought (since 2014).

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 postseason
  • Astros: Clinched AL West, first-round bye, home field through ALCS
  • Mets: Clinched playoff berth
  • Braves: Clinched playoff berth
  • Yankees: Clinched AL East, first-round bye, home field through ALDS
  • Guardians: Clinched AL Central
  • Cardinals: Clinched NL Central
  • Blue Jays: Clinched AL wild-card spot
  • Mariners: Clinched AL wild-card spot
  • Rays: Clinched AL wild-card spot

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…

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CBSSports.com Headlines…