MLB Playoffs Picture: Guardians bury Twins
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Manuel Gómez, East Coast Contributor & Podcast Director
- September 12, 2022
Looking at the teams in the hunt for the 2022 MLB Playoff picture
Chances are, the Minnesota Twins will miss the MLB Playoffs again this year. After winning just one of seven games in the last week, they have dropped from 1 to 4 1/2 games – five in the loss column – behind the Cleveland Guardians.
The Guardians played a big role in this collapse too. They swept the Twins this weekend after the Twins lost three of four games against the New York Yankees.
Now, Minnesota sits in third place in the American League Central with a chance of making the MLB Playoffs in the single digits, according to ESPN‘s calculations.
This isn’t how the Twins expected the season to go at the beginning. They pulled off a heist in a trade with the Yankees, swapping Josh Donaldson, his remaining salary, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela.
Then, they took the money they would have owed Donaldson to sign Carlos Correa, one of the most highly touted free agents.
It appears it was all for naught. The Twins will have to wait yet another year to make a serious run for the postseason.
A Few Changes to the MLB Playoffs
The MLB playoffs start on Oct. 7.
To prepare for October and November baseball, here’s a comprehensive look at the MLB playoff picture.
Here, you will see exactly which teams are in the postseason, including their seeding, and which teams on the outside looking in are in the hunt.
The pool of teams has been expanded from 10 to 12 (six teams in each league). Division leaders will determine the top three seeds. The bottom three seeds will go to teams with the next best record.
The top two division leaders will receive byes in the first round. The other teams will play in four best-of-three series (two in each league).
The remaining division leader will 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
The MLB Postseason Picture
Here’s a look at the MLB Postseason bracket of the regular season ended today.
American League
- Houston Astros (91-50)
- New York Yankees (85-56)
- Cleveland Guardians (74-65)
- Seattle Mariners (79-61)
- Toronto Blue Jays (79-61)
- Tampa Bay Rays (78-61)
National League
- Los Angeles Dodgers (96-43)
- New York Mets (89-52)
- St. Louis Cardinals (83-58)
- Atlanta Braves (87-53)
- Philadelphia Phillies (78-62)
- San Diego Padres (77-64)
Still in the MLB Playoff Hunt
Baltimore Orioles (5 ½ games behind a playoff spot). With less than a month of the regular season remaining, the bringers of chaos are still in the hunt for October baseball.
The Orioles have 73 wins through 140 games (.521 W-L%). That’s 27 more wins then they had through 140 games in 2021 (.328 W-L%).
Even though the O’s are 5 1/2 games behind – 6 in the loss column – for a playoff spot, we keep them in the mix because they have a more favorable schedule than both the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays.
Milwaukee Brewers (2 games behind a playoff spot). The Brewers played a little better last week, winning five of eight games against three sub-500 teams.
They face a difficult challenge over the next three series. They are set to face three division leaders in the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, and New York Mets.
If they can remain within two games during that stretch, they have a good shot at a postseason berth. The rest of their schedule is favorable.
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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