Last week Major League Baseball announced its schedule for the 2022 postseason.
This year’s playoffs will look quite a bit different from postseasons in years past.
Through the new collective bargaining agreement that was reached last spring, Major League Baseball and its Players Association agreed to expand the postseason field from 10 teams to 12. It was MLB’s first postseason expansion since 2012. For the last ten years, five teams in each league have made the playoffs. Each league’s East, Central and West division champions and the winner of a play-in Wild Card game punched a ticket to the League Division Series.
Wild Card games are no more. They’ve been replaced with a full Wild Card round of the playoffs.
Now, there are three wild card teams in each league. Six teams — the three division champions and three wild card teams — will make the postseason in each league, for a brand new 12-team fall tournament.
The 12-team playoff format won’t look wildly different from the National Football League’s playoff format fans had grown accustomed to over the past 20 years, before expanding its postseason two years ago.
In each league, the two division champions that finish the season with the best record will receive a bye from the Wild Card Series.
The division champion with the weakest record in each league and the league’s three wild card teams will slug it out for the right to face the top two division champions in the League Division Series.
Prior to 2022, every division champion was safe from the wild card round of the playoffs. That is no longer the case. The division champion with the worst record is no longer safe.
Similarly wild card teams cannot claim a first-round bye. In 2021, the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers — two National League West teams — had the top two records in the National League. If a situation like this were to repeat itself, the team with the second-best record would indeed play in the Wild Card Series.
The third-best division champion in each league will be the 3-seed in the playoffs, and face off in a best-of-three series against the 6-seed, the wild card team with the worst record.
The top two wild card teams in each league will play each other in a best-of-three series.
In each series, all three games will take place at the same ballpark. The high seed will be home for all three games.
All four Wild Card Series will take place on three consecutive days between October 7 and October 9. October 10 will be an off-day for the clubs remaining in the postseason. In order for a team to start their Wild Card Series game 1 starting pitcher for game 1 of the Division Series, the pitcher would need to start on three days rest. This new format puts a premium on not only winning a division, but also finishing the season with either the best or second-best league record. Fail to finish in the top two, and your team will tax its pitching staff before getting to the Division Series, facing a team that has the luxury of resting and lining up their rotation however they like for the Division Series.
The MLB playoffs will not be reseeded. The winner of the 3-6 matchup will face the 2-seed, and the 1-seed will square off with the winner of the 4-5 matchup. If a 6-seed moves to the League Division Series, the 2-seed will play them.
After the Wild Card Series, the playoffs will look more like something fans are used to.
All four Division Series (best-of-five) will begin Tuesday, October 11. National League teams will play October 12 and American League teams will have the day off. On October 13, National League teams will have a day off and American League teams will return to action for game 2. The ALDS will pause again Friday, October 14. The NL will play its game 4’s (if necessary) Saturday, October 15, while the AL plays its game 3’s. The Division Series will run through Monday, October 17, if necessary.
The 2022 League Championship Series (best-of-seven) will see a significant change from years past. There will be just one off-day in each series. After each series runs through game 2, there will be a day off between games 2 and game 3. From that point on, the remainder of the Series’ will be played on consecutive days, with no more days off.
The NLCS begins Tuesday, October 18 and ALCS begins Wednesday, October 19. The Championship Series will run through Wednesday, October 26, at the latest.
The World Series (best-of-seven) begins Friday, October 28 and will run through Saturday, November 5, with days off on Sunday, October 30 and Thursday, November 3.
Below is the full schedule, complete with television networks. Start times are to be announced.
Wild Card Series (best-of-three)
Friday, October 7: National League Wild Card A, Game 1 (ESPN)
National League Wild Card B, Game 1 (ESPN)
American League Wild Card A, Game 1 (ESPN)
American League Wild Card B, Game 1 (ESPN)
Saturday, October 8: NL Wild Card A, Game 2 (ESPN)
NL Wild Card B, Game 2 (ESPN)
AL Wild Card A, Game 2 (ESPN)
AL Wild Card B, Game 2 (ESPN)
Sunday, October 9: National League Wild Card A, Game 3 (if necessary) (ESPN)
NL Wild Card B, Game 3 (if necessary) (ESPN)
AL Wild Card A, Game 3 (if necessary) (ESPN)
AL Wild Card B, Game 3 (if necessary) (ESPN)
League Division Series (best-of-five)
Tuesday, October 11: National League Division Series A, Game 1 (Fox or FS1)
National League Division Series B, Game 1 (Fox or FS1)
American League Division Series A, Game 1 (TBS)
American League Division Series B, Game 1 (TBS)
Wednesday, October 12: NLDS A, Game 2 (Fox or FS1)
NLDS B, Game 2 (Fox or FS1)
Thursday, October 13: ALDS A, Game 2 (TBS)
ALDS B, Game 2 (TBS)
Friday, October 14: NLDS A, Game 3 (FS1)
NLDS B, Game 3 (FS1)
Saturday, October 15: NLDS A, Game 4 (if necessary) (FS1)
NLDS B, Game 4 (if necessary) (FS1)
ALDS A, Game 3 (TBS)
ALDS B, Game 3 (TBS)
Sunday, October 16: ALDS A, Game 4 (if necessary) TBS
ALDS B, Game 4 (if necessary) (TBS)
NLDS A, Game 5 (if necessary) (FS1)
NLDS B Game 5 (if necessary) (FS1)
Monday, October 17: ALDS A, Game 5 (if necessary) (TBS)
ALDS B, Game 5 (if necessary) (TBS)
League Championship Series (best-of-seven)
Tuesday, October 18: NLCS, Game 1 (Fox or FS1)
Wednesday, October 19: NLCS, Game 2 (Fox or FS1)
ALCS, Game 1 (TBS)
Thursday, October 20: ALCS, Game 2 (TBS)
Friday, October 21: NLCS, Game 3 (FS1)
Saturday, October 22: NLCS, Game 4 (Fox or FS1)
ALCS, Game 3 (TBS)
Sunday, October 23: NLCS, Game 5 (if necessary) (FS1)
ALCS, Game 4 (TBS)
Monday, October 24: NLCS, Game 6 (if necessary) (FS1)
ALCS, Game 5 (if necessary) (TBS)
Tuesday, October 25: NLCS, Game 7 (if necessary) (Fox and FS1)
ALCS, Game 6 (if necessary) (TBS)
Wednesday, October 26: ALCS, Game 7 (if necessary) (TBS)
World Series (best-of-seven)
Friday, October 28: Game 1 (Fox)
Saturday, October 29: Game 2 (Fox)
Sunday, October 30: Travel Day
Monday, October 31: Game 3 (Fox)
Tuesday, November 1: Game 4 (Fox)
Wednesday, November 2: Game 5 (if necessary) (Fox)
Thursday, November 3: Travel Day
Friday, November 4: Game 6 (if necessary) (Fox)
Saturday, November 5: Game 7 (if necessary) (Fox)
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