2022 MLB Playoffs predictions

The Miami Marlins are not going to the playoffs this season. We can pursue some improvements for next season and it looks as if there’s a plan for that. In the meantime, it’s fun to watch the playoffs and predict who might win. Remember the playoffs aren’t that rabdom, and usually the best team wins as research shows. The new rules can be a bit confusing but you can see an explanation here. Who will win the World Series? How will the 2022 MLB playoffs go?

How will the 2022 MLB playoffs go and who will win the World Series?

Let’s start with the AL Wild Card playoffs…

AL WILD CARD PLAYOFFS

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS 2

TAMPA BAY RAYS 0

Cleveland is the better team this season and Tampa has been crashing on a losing streak. Cleveland is also the hotter team and will be hosting the games.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS 2

SEATTLE MARINERS 1

Toronto has home field advantage and is the hotter team. Seattle’s offense is also just not good enough, though their bullpen can make this close.

NL WILD CARD PLAYOFFS

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES  2

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS  1

They faced each other the last time that Philly was in the playoffs, and St. Louis won (3-2 in the 2011 NLDS). Philly has better starting pitching and are really motivated being in the playoffs after a decade, I think that they’ll win this series.

NEW YORK METS  2

SAN DIEGO PADRES  0

The New York Mets are significantly better and have home field advantage.

AL DIVISION SERIES

NEW YORK YANKEES  3

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS  1

I just think that the Bronx Bombers are a significantly better team, and will be more motivated to win the series based on New York expectations. They also have home field advantage.

HOUSTON ASTROS  3

TORONTO BLUE JAYS  1

Houdtin is significantly better and has home field advantage.

NL DIVISION SERIES

ATLANTA BRAVES  3

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES  1

The Atlanta Braves are significantly better and are red hot, hard to see them eliminated here. Philly’s starting pitching will give them a chance, but I doubt that it will be enough.

NEW YORK METS 3

LOS ANGELES DODGERS 2

LA reminds me of the late 1990’s-early 2000’s Atlanta Braves, great regular season records but underwhelming playoff performances. The New York Mets have better pitching and LA doesn’t even have a closer at the moment (while the Mets have the best one in the game). The lineups aren’t that far apart either, it will be close but I could even see the series ending in 4 games.

AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

NEW YORK YANKEES  4

HOUSTON ASTROS  2

It comes down to “who wants it more?” for me.  Both teams have identical Pythagorean W-L records (106-56). A healthy Bronx Bombers are as even as it gets with Houston, but the three biggest factors are the fact that the Yankees don’t want to keep losing to Houston, have a healthy Aaron Judge unlike in their 2019 series and Dusty Baker has a habit of blowing series for his teams.

AL CHAMPIONS: NEW YORK YANKEES

NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

ATLANTA BRAVES  4

NEW YORK METS  3

This is going to be close, but the more experienced and hotter Atlanta has home field advantage and they keep beating the Mets. It can go either way but I’m going with the defending champs.

NL CHAMPIONS: ATLANTA BRAVES

WORLD SERIES

NEW YORK YANKEES  4

ATLANTA BRAVES  3

The playoffs aren’t as random as some people think, but this may be a series where luck plays the biggest part. Either team could win, but based on motivation and the difficulty of winning 2 straight World Series, I’m going with New York.

WORLD CHAMPIONS: NEW YORK YANKEES

What do you think? How will the MLB playoffs go?