MLB Playoffs Predictions: Dodgers, Astros rematch
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Manuel Gómez, East Coast Contributor & Podcast Director
- October 7, 2022
Which MLB team will reign supreme as we embark in October baseball?
The MLB playoffs are finally here, and the best two teams in the regular season appear destined for rematch of the 2017 World Series.
Can you imagine the storylines if the Fall Classic is between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros? At least that is how our panel of experts see it.
To prepare you for October and November baseball, here’s a comprehensive look at the new postseason format. Below, you will see exactly which teams are in the postseason, including their seeding.
The pool of teams has been expanded from 10 to 12 (six teams in each league). Division leaders determined the top three seeds. The bottom three seeds went to teams with the next best records.
Dodgers and Astros look strong again
In the American League, eight-time All-Star Jose Altuve helped the Astros get in the MLB Playoffs again for the sixth consecutive year. Houston is trying to reach the World Series for the fourth time since 2017. Jose Ramirez’s Cleveland Guardians won the Central, and Yankees won the East. The Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners earned wild cards.
Julio Urias, who closed out the 2020 World Series title for the Dodgers, helped Los Angeles finish with the best record in baseball. In the National League, the Dodgers won the West, the Braves won the East and the Cardinals won the Central. The Mets, Padres and Phillies earned wild cards.
The top two division leaders (Dodgers and Braves in the NL, and Astros and Yankees in the AL) receive byes in the first round. The other teams will play best-of-three series (two in each league).
The remaining division leaders (Cardinals and Guardians) enter the Wild Card Series and face the 6 seed.
Each Wild Card Series will determine who faces the 1 and 2 seed in the Division Series
Our Esquina MLB Playoffs Predictions
At the start of the season, our Editor-in-chief Jesus Ortiz picked the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series. After the Dodgers won 111 games in the regular season, Ortiz is sticking to his guns.
He predicts Los Angeles will get their revenge against the Houston Astros in a rematch of 2017.
Our Esquina Sports business columnist, Juan Lozano looks to redeem himself after a picking the Chicago White Sox to win the World Series at the start of the regular season.
In Lozano’s scenario, the Braves defeat the Astros for the second consecutive title. It would be the Braves’ fifth championship in their history.
East Coast Bureau Chief, Manuel Gomez picked the Dodgers at the start of the season, and he’s sticking with them
He believes Los Angeles will settle the score from 2017, when the trash-banging Astros defeated them in seven games.
Former MLB All-Star Russ Ortiz is doubling down on his preseason prediction that the New York Yankees will win the World Series.
Russ Ortiz predicts a rematch more than 40-years in the making between two powerhouses. This time the Yankees defeat the Dodgers. He even thinks the Series ends in six!
Our MLB Playoff Picks conclude with our New York Bureau Chief, Anthony Solis, who predicts the Yankees to face off against the Braves for the third time since 1996 in the World Series.
Like in previous matchups, the Yankees reign supreme and prepare for a parade down the Canyon of Heroes.
Our Esquina Intern Sydney Ortiz rounds out our picks with the Dodgers defeating the Astros in the World Series.
She is the third staffer to pick Los Angeles, making them Our Esquina’s World Series pick for the 2022 season.
Manuel Gómez
East Coast Contributor & Podcast Director
Manuel Gómez is a former Special Education teacher. He is a devout podcaster and baseball writer with strong Dominican roots.
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