MLB Playoff Predictions 2022: Rounding Up Experts' Picks for World Series Bracket
Major League Baseball kicks off the 2022 playoffs Friday afternoon with wild-card action, and top experts from CBS and Fox Sports have made their picks for those games, as well as the entire World Series bracket.
Can the seemingly insurmountable Los Angeles Dodgers pay off a historic season by winning their second World Series title in three years, or will the Atlanta Braves eliminate them from the competition in the National League bracket for the second consecutive year?
On the American League side of things, will Aaron Judge pay off an unforgettable slugging season with the Yankees' first title since 2009, or should fans expect Houston to finally take home the championship as the top seed?
Find out with these pre-playoff picks.
Bracket and Wild-Card Game 1 Schedule
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Wild-card Bracket
AL: No. 6 Tampa Bay Rays vs. No. 3 Cleveland Guardians (Friday, 12:07 p.m., ESPN)
NL: No. 6 Philadelphia Phillies vs. No. 3 St. Louis Cardinals (Friday, 2:07 p.m., ABC)
AL: No. 5 Seattle Mariners vs. No. 4 Toronto Blue Jays (Friday, 4:07 p.m., ESPN)
NL: No. 5 San Diego Padres vs. No. 4 New York Mets (Friday, 8:07 p.m., ESPN)
Divisional Bracket
AL: CLE/TB vs. No. 2 New York Yankees
AL: SEA/TOR vs. No. 1 Houston Astros
NL: PHI/STL vs. No. 2 Atlanta Braves
NL: SD/NYM vs. No. 1 Los Angeles Dodgers
Championship Bracket
AL: CLE/TB/NY vs. SEA/TOR/HOU
NL: PHI/STL/ATL vs. SD/NYM/LA
World Series
AL Champions vs. NL Champions
World Series Bracket Expert Picks
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R.J. Anderson (CBS Sports)
AL Wildcard: Cleveland, Seattle; NL Wildcard: Philadelphia, Mets
AL Divisional: Yankees, Houston; NL Divisional: Atlanta, Los Angeles
AL Champions: Houston; NL Champions: Los Angeles
World Series Champions: Los Angeles
Kate Feldman (CBS Sports)
AL Wildcard: Cleveland, Toronto; NL Wildcard: St. Louis, Mets
AL Divisional: Yankees, Houston; NL Divisional: Atlanta, Los Angeles
AL Champions: Houston; NL Champions: Los Angeles
World Series Champions: Los Angeles
Rowan Kavner (Fox Sports)
AL Wildcard: Cleveland, Toronto; NL Wildcard: St. Louis, San Diego
AL Divisional: Yankees, Toronto; NL Divisional: Atlanta, Los Angeles
AL Champions: Toronto; NL Champions: Los Angeles
World Series Champions: Los Angeles
Alex Rodriguez (Fox Sports)
AL Wildcard: Tampa Bay, Toronto; NL Wildcard: St. Louis, Mets
AL Divisional: Yankees, Houston; NL Divisional: Atlanta, Los Angeles
AL Champions: Houston; NL Champions: Los Angeles
World Series Champions: Los Angeles
Matt Snyder (CBS Sports)
AL Wildcard: Tampa Bay, Toronto; NL Wildcard: St. Louis, San Diego
AL Divisional: Yankees, Toronto; NL Divisional: Atlanta, Los Angeles
AL Champions: Toronto; NL Champions: Los Angeles
World Series Champions: Los Angeles
Ben Verlander (Fox Sports)
AL Wildcard: Tampa Bay, Toronto; NL Wildcard: St. Louis, Mets
AL Divisional: Yankees, Houston; NL Divisional: Atlanta, Los Angeles
AL Champions: Houston; NL Champions: Atlanta
World Series Champions: Houston
Underdog Blue Jays
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Somewhat surprisingly, two of six experts picked the Toronto Blue Jays to get past the New York Yankees to be named AL Champions, whereas four had the Houston Astros to represent the American League in the World Series.
The Blue Jays have a dynamic offensive unit fueled by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, better-than-expected depth with Whit Merrifield, George Springer and Jackie Bradley Jr., and solid starting pitching from Kevin Hausman, Jose Berrios and Alek Manoah.
The ability to score with anyone and turn any pitcher's day into a bad one makes them a threat to beat any team. Guerrero may not be putting up numbers to the extent he did a year ago, when he was an MVP candidate, but the team is better as a whole and more than capable of stunning the world and scoring a few series upsets this fall.
First up is Seattle, which has been a great story all season and is making its first postseason appearance since 2001. Julio Rodriguez appears to be a future star, and as he goes, so will the team. They are simply outmatched by a better opponent that will end their playoff run early, maybe even in a sweep.
From there, all bets are off.
This Toronto team was assembled especially for a postseason run such as this one. The organization will find out where it is in the grand scheme of things, and according to a couple of experts, the answer is world championship contenders.
Dominant Dodgers
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The Los Angeles Dodgers set a record for most wins in franchise history (111-51) in 2022 and looked absolutely dominant in doing so.
They lead the majors in OPS and on-base percentage and are in the top 10 in every major offensive category. They outscored opponents by a total of 329 runs, the fifth-best run differential in MLB since 1900, according to Eric Stephen of SB Nation.
Defensively, they allowed just 513 runs, the lowest by any team since 1972.
"Dodgers pitchers led baseball by allowing a paltry .2728 on-base percentage this season. That’s the second-lowest OBP against in major league history, trailing only the 2020 Dodgers (.2724)," Stephen continued.
The team is seemingly unstoppable, setting a bar incredibly high for another team to eclipse.
So much so that the only team that appears even remotely close to knocking them out of contention appears to be the defending champions, the Atlanta Braves, and it can be argued that this year's team is not as good as the team that prevented Los Angeles from making it two-in-a-row a year ago.
It is no wonder that five-of-six experts selected Los Angeles to win this year's World Series.
The real surprise will be if anyone can keep it close with them.
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