With the 2022 MLB Wild Card matchups officially being set, baseball fans around the world are getting excited to see playoff baseball. By making the playoffs, 2 teams ended some long playoff droughts; The Seattle Mariners ended their drought of 21 years, and the hometown Philadelphia Phillies ended their 11-year drought. 

The playoffs began with the Wild Card series on Friday, October 7. The Wild Card round is for the teams in each conference that finished between the 3rd and 6th seed (There are 15 teams in each conference). It is the first of 4 rounds in the postseason. In the Wild Card round, the 3 seed plays the 6 seed, the 4 seed plays the 5 seed, and the first and second seeds get a bye. 

Pictured above: The Philadelphia Phillies celebrate after clinching the postseason for the first time in 11 years. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

In the Wild Card round, the results were:

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

St. Louis Cardinals (3 seed) vs Philadelphia Phillies (6 seed) – Philadelphia won the series 2-0

New York Mets (4 seed) vs San Diego Padres (5 seed) – San Diego won the series 2-1

The San Diego Padres (5 seed) will play the Los Angeles Dodgers (1 seed), and Philadelphia (6 seed) will play the Atlanta Braves (2 seed) in the Divisional Series round.

AMERICAN LEAGUE:

Cleveland Guardians (3 seed) vs Tampa Bay Rays (6 seed) – Cleveland won the series 2-0

Toronto Blue Jays (4 seed) vs Seattle Mariners (5 seed) – Seattle won the series 2-0

The Seattle Mariners (5 seed) will play the Houston Astros (1 seed), and Cleveland Guardians (3 seed) will play the New York Yankees (2 seed) in the Divisional Series 

Pictured above: Visual of the MLB playoff bracket (CBS Sports)

The divisional round is a best-of-5 series, so whoever wins 3 games out of 5 moves on to the American League Championship Series (ALCS) or National League Championship Series (NLCS). The championship series and the World Series are both best of 7 series’. 

FoxSports.com makes a yearly MLB playoff winner odds, and their list goes as follows:

12. Cleveland Guardians (3 seed, American League)
13. Philadelphia Phillies (6 seed, National League) 
14. San Diego Padres (5 seed, National League)
15. Seattle Mariners (5 seed, American League)
16. Tampa Bay Rays (6 seed, American League) *Eliminated in the Wild Card round
17. Toronto Blue Jays (4 seed, American League) *Eliminated in the Wild Card round
18. St. Louis Cardinals (3 seed, National League) *Eliminated in the Wild Card round
19. New York Mets (4 seed, National League) *Eliminated in the Wild Card round
20. Houston Astros (1 seed, American League)
21. Los Angeles Dodgers (1 seed, National League)
22. Atlanta Braves (2 seed, National League)
23. New York Yankees (2 seed, American League)

Let’s talk about the top 3 teams with the best odds to win the World Series.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers (1 seed, National League)

The Dodgers finished this season with a 111-51 record, making them statistically the best team in the league. Last year, the Dodgers were eliminated in the Conference Series, losing to the Atlanta Braves, who ended up being the 2021 champions, the Atlanta Braves. Their Run differential is a whopping +334, almost 100 more than the Yankees, who had the 2nd most. 

2. Atlanta Braves (2 seed, National League)

The Atlanta Braves were the 2021 World Series Champions. Hopeful to win back-to-back championships, they are coming into the 2022 postseason with a 101-61 record.  They got the 2nd seed in the National League this season, meaning they advanced right to the Divisional Series. This was an improvement from last year, as they finished as the 3 seed last postseason.

1. New York Yankees (2 seed, American League)

Last postseason, the Yankees lost in the Wild Card round to the Boston Red Sox. This season, they hope to make a deep playoff run and win it all. They set themselves up well this year by securing a Wild Card bye, meaning they get to skip the Wild Card series and advance straight to the Divisional Series. They finished this regular season with a 99-63 record, with the 2nd best Run differential of +240. The Yankees had an extremely strong start to this season and looked to be the clear champions. That was, until they began to get into a slump later in the season. They eventually got back on track and started to look like themselves again. It’ll be interesting what they will do when it’s their time to shine in the ALDS (American League Divisional Series).

It should be a very exciting end to the MLB playoffs this year, and it’ll be interesting to see who ends up on top winning the 2022 World Series.