2022 MLB Postseason Predictions
The 2022 MLB season is now over leaving fans with lots of memories to cherish forever. Throughout the year, fans were treated to watching Aaron Judge chase the AL home run record and Albert Pujols chase 700 home runs. The Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners put an end to their playoff droughts. The Braves and Mets gave fans a division race that will be remembered for years and the Dodgers put forth the fourth most impressive win total in MLB history with 111 wins. There are so many more things to list like Shohei Ohtani becoming the first player in history to qualify for the league leader stats as a pitcher and a hitter. With one of the best seasons in recent memory now in the rearview, we turn the page to the MLB Postseason, the ultimate decider of MLB dominance. Here are my predictions for who will make and win this year’s Fall Classic, The World Series.
Wild Card Round (Best of 3)
American League
(4) Toronto Blue Jays vs. (5) Seattle Mariners
The combination of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and George Springer will be too much for the Mariners pitchers not named Luis Castillo. The Blue Jays have led all of MLB with a .264 team batting average, .034 points higher than the Mariners team batting average. Luis Castillo has been one of the best trade deadline pick-ups of the year with a 2.99 ERA for the season. The Blue Jays' pitching staff was ranked eleventh by Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com, however, aside from Julio Rodriguez, the Mariners don’t have a player whose bat strikes fear in the heart of opponents.
Blue Jays in 3
(3) Cleveland Guardians vs. (6) Tampa Bay Rays
The Guardians have been the surprise team of the season, winning the mediocre AL Central division by eleven games after being forecasted to be on the couch for the postseason. Between their pitching led by Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, and Emmanuel Clase, and their .254 team batting average led by Steven Kwan and José Ramírez, the Guardians have more than enough to sweep the slumping Rays.
Guardians in 2
National League
(4) New York Mets vs. (5) San Diego Padres
The Juan Soto Sweepstakes haven’t panned out the way the Padres had hoped, with the Fernando Tatis suspension playing a huge part in the Padres' underwhelming season. The Padres still have excellent players like MVP Candidate Manny Machado, Yu Darvish, Juan Soto, and Josh Hader who has looked more like his dominant self of late. However, the New York Mets have won 101 games led by Max Scherzer, Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, the best closer in baseball Edwin Diaz, and one of the deepest teams in baseball. If the Padres can force the hand of Mets skipper Buck Showalter and make Jacob DeGrom appear in this series, it should be considered a win for the Padres.
Mets in 2
(3) St. Louis Cardinals vs. (6) Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies ended their decade-long playoff drought led by Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. The watering of their playoff tree should be enough for them to claim 2022 as a successful season. The St. Louis Cardinals are simply the deeper of the two teams with Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt leading the charge and Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and Adam Wainwright determined for their last dance to continue past the Wild Card round.
Cardinals in 2
Divisional Round (Best of 5)
American League
(1} Houston Astros vs. (4) Toronto Blue Jays
Between the New York Yankees' hot start to the season and Aaron Judge breaking Roger Maris’ AL home run record, it seems the Astros have been flying under the radar all year. As the only team in the AL with 100+ wins, the Astros will look to make another run to the World Series as they’re led by one of the best pitching staffs in baseball (ranked the best according to Castrovince) and an offense that can keep up with anyone. To describe this matchup in a sentence: The Blue Jays and Astros feature high-powered offenses, but the pitching of the Blue Jays is nowhere close to where the Astros’ pitching staff is.
Astros in 4
(2) New York Yankees vs. (3) Cleveland Guardians
The New York Yankees seem to have played three seasons in one. They started the season looking like the best team in baseball by far, then they got bit by the injury bug and the sky fell before they finished the season becoming increasingly healthier and in rhythm. The Yankees have been as hot as a New York summer and as frigid as a New York Winter. The Yankees’ big bats of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Anthony Rizzo should be enough for the Yankees to compete against anybody, the question looms with the pitching staff with Gerritt Cole, Aroldis Chapman, and Clay Holmes not having the full trust of the Bleacher Creatures and questions about the long-term endurance of Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino. Ultimately, what they have should be enough to get past a young Guardians team with no problem.
Yankees in 3
National League
{1) Los Angeles Dodgers vs. (4) New York Mets
The Big 3 of Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, and Freddie Freeman is enough for the Dodgers to be seen as contenders. When you add in their supporting cast of Will Smith, Chris Taylor, Trayce Thompson, Max Muncy, and the sensational pitching staff headlined by Julio Urías and Clayton Kershaw, this team looks destined to win the World Series this year. However, they’ll have one of the toughest roads to winning the World Series as they will face three of the top five teams in baseball, starting with the New York Mets. The Mets have enough to make the Dodgers sweat, however, sweating is all this Death Star of a baseball team will do in this series.
Dodgers in 5
(2) Atlanta Braves vs. (3) St. Louis Cardinals
The defending World Series Champion Atlanta Braves look to start their title defense off right with a win in the Division Series. Behind their starting pitching of Max Fried, Charlie Morton, and hopefully Spencer Strider and their high-powered offense that smacked an MLB second-best 243 baseballs over the fence, this team looks poised to make a championship run. The experience of the Cardinals isn’t something to ignore, however, I’m forecasting this will be the end of the road for Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and Adam Wainwright. Next stop for this trio: Cooperstown.
Braves in 4
Championship Round (Best of 7)
American League
(1] Houston Astros vs. (2) New York Yankees
It seems the Houston Astros have always beaten the New York Yankees in games that have value. The Yankees have a lot of question marks coming into this postseason, mainly due to their “closer by committee” approach and injuries to Matt Carpenter, Andrew Benintendi, Wandy Peralta, and Ron Marinaccio. For the Astros, the difference in this series could be the number of home runs their pitching allows. During the season they were the second best at keeping the ball in the ballpark only allowing 134 home runs, a stat that would render the high-powered offense of the Yankees obsolete. This may be the one prediction I’m making with my heart, but I predict the Yankees will advance to the World Series.
Yankees in 6
National League
(1} Los Angeles Dodgers vs. (2) Atlanta Braves
The second of the three top-five teams the Los Angeles Dodgers will face in these playoffs will be the Atlanta Braves. A rematch of last year’s NLCS with one huge difference, Freddie Freeman is now a Dodger. Once again, the Atlanta Braves have enough to make the Los Angeles Dodgers sweat, however, this is simply a case of anything you can do I can do better in favor of the Los Angeles Death Star. Congratulations to back-to-back NLCS winner Freddie Freeman.
Dodgers in 7
World Series (Best of 7)
(1] Los Angeles Dodgers vs. (2) New York Yankees
The Los Angeles Dodgers end their journey to the 2022 World Series by facing another top-five team in baseball, the New York Yankees. The Yankees and Dodgers are quite similar with both teams possessing high-powered offenses, good starting pitching, and questions in their bullpen. The key decider in this series will be which team’s depth shows up. The depth of the Dodgers has been one of the most consistent features of their ball club aside from their excellent pitching and big 3. Congratulations to the 2022 World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Dodgers in 6
