In our "2022 Postseason Predictions" article, I broke down the MLB season and came out with the 12 teams most likely to make the playoffs in the new expanded postseason format.
If the best teams on paper won each series in baseball, it would be a very boring sport. Some advantages seem insurmountable, yet even then, we have the unlikeliest of champions emerge from the smoke after a long October.
Here's the SportsLeaf predictions for how the postseason will play out.
American League
Houston (z)
Toronto (z)
Minnesota (y)
Tampa (x)
Los Angeles A (x)
New York Y (x)
It's hard to argue the Astros aren't (still) the best team in the AL, hated as they may be. Toronto makes a big leap and takes the AL East, but the Rays and Yankees still squeak in to the expanded playoffs. Minnesota edges out the White Sox for a division title and gosh darn it the Angels get Mike Trout to the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
The best two records in the AL (Houston and Toronto) are awarded a first-round bye, so the two three-game Wild Card series will played between New York/Minnesota and Tampa/Los Angeles. The divisional round series are five games, and the league championship series (ALCS/NLCS) remains seven games, as with the World Series.
Wild Card Round
New York Yankees/ Minnesota Twins
Los Angeles Angels/ Tampa Bay Rays
Divisional Round
New York Yankees/ Houston Astros
Tampa Bay Rays/ Toronto Blue Jays
ALCS
Toronto Blue Jays / Houston Astros
We have the Blue Jays winning the ALCS, and representing the American League in the 2022 World Series.
National League
Los Angeles D (z)
New York M (z)
Milwaukee (y)
Atlanta (x)
San Francisco (x)
San Diego (x)
The Dodgers will cruise through the regular season once again behind a strong rotation and elite batting order. I have the Mets shaking it up and seeing a return on all their hefty investments by taking the NL East, and Milwaukee sneaks the Central title away from St. Louis in a close race. Atlanta headlines the wild cards, with the Giants and the Padres overcoming some early struggles to surge down the stretch and secure a spot in the postseason.
Wild Card Round
SD Padres/Milwaukee Brewers
San Francisco Giants/Atlanta Braves
Divisional Round
Atlanta Braves/Los Angeles Dodgers
Milwaukee Brewers/New York Mets
NLCS
New York Mets/Los Angeles Dodgers
It's the Met's winning the NLCS and heading to the 2022 World Series form the National League.
World Series
Pitting the New York Mets against the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2022 World Series is a pretty fun pick, right? Anyone excited for a Houston/LA Dodger championship? No? Well, on paper it should be the Astros and the Dodgers every year seemingly, yet we manage to avoid that routinely. These predictions are based on the unrealistic expectation that all rosters stay healthy, so needless to say things can go off the rails pretty quickly if say, Scherzer misses time and de Grom doesn't return in a timely fashion from his "arm issues". This prediction is also counting on an MVP-level season from Toronto's Vlad Guerrero Jr, so his health would also be paramount here.
Champion:
Toronto Blue Jays in 6
Toronto emerges out of the AL East and cruises through the AL postseason eventually meeting the New York Mets in the World Series, where they secure a series victory. The Mets do win two games in the series, but can't overcome the sheer volume of runs the Blue Jays are able to produce.
Futures Betting
So how do we capitalize on this newfound knowledge? By betting money on it, of course.
World Series Champion
LA Dodgers +450
Toronto +850
Chicago White Sox +950
Houston +1000
Atlanta +1200
Milwaukee +1200
New York Yankees +1300
Tampa Bay Rays +1500
New York Mets +1500
We will keep an eye on these predictions as the season progresses.
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