The next leg of the World Series journey begins Friday, when the 2022 Major League Baseball postseason kicks off with four playoff matchups.
The new expanded playoff format features 12 teams, with eight playing in the wild-card round for the opportunity to advance to the Division Series, where the top two seeds from both the American League and the National League await.
Each wild-card matchup is a best-of-three series, with all games played in the higher seed's ballpark. The winning teams that advance from the wild-card round will not reseed before the Division Series (best of five). As such, the No. 1 seed in the American League will face the winner of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 series, while the No. 2 seed will face the winner of the No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup. Same goes for the National League.
The Houston Astros and New York Yankees own the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, in the American League. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves hold the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, in the National League.
So, the Astros will face the winner of the Toronto Blue Jays (No. 4) vs. Seattle Mariners (No. 5) series, while the Yankees will face the winner of the Cleveland Guardians (No. 3) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (No. 6) series. And the Dodgers will face the winner of the New York Mets (No. 4) vs. San Diego Padres (No. 5) series, whereas the Braves will face the winner of the St. Louis Cardinals (No. 3) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (No. 4) series.
From there, of course, teams will advance to the League Championship Series (best of seven) and then eventually to the World Series (best of seven), which the Braves won last year in six games against the Astros.
The full MLB playoff bracket is below:
Now, here's the full MLB playoff schedule:
Tampa Bay Rays (No. 6) vs. Cleveland Guardians (No. 3) -- AL Wild Card
-- Rays at Guardians, Game 1 - Oct. 7, 12:07 p.m. ET
-- Rays at Guardians, Game 2 - Oct. 8, 12:07 p.m. ET
-- Rays at Guardians, Game 3 (if necessary) - Oct. 9, 4:07 p.m. ET
Seattle Mariners (No. 5) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (No. 4) -- AL Wild Card
-- Mariners at Blue Jays, Game 1 - Oct. 7, 4:07 p.m. ET
-- Mariners at Blue Jays, Game 2 - Oct. 8, 4:07 p.m. ET
-- Mariners at Blue Jays, Game 3 (if necessary) - Oct. 9, 2:07 p.m. ET
Philadelphia Phillies (No. 6) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (No. 3) -- NL Wild Card
-- Phillies at Cardinals, Game 1 - Oct. 7, 2:07 p.m. ET
-- Phillies at Cardinals, Game 2 - Oct. 8, 8:37 p.m. ET
-- Phillies at Cardinals, Game 3 (if necessary) - Oct. 9, 8:37 p.m. ET
San Diego Padres (No. 5) vs. New York Mets (No. 4) -- NL Wild Card
-- Padres at Mets, Game 1 - Oct. 7, 8:07 p.m. ET
-- Padres at Mets, Game 2 - Oct. 8, 7:37 p.m. ET
-- Padres at Mets, Game 3 (if necessary) - Oct. 9, 7:37 p.m. ET
Houston Astros (No. 1) vs. Blue Jays/Mariners (No. 4/5) -- ALDS
-- Blue Jays/Mariners at Astros, Game 1 - Oct. 11, TBD
-- Blue Jays/Mariners at Astros, Game 2 - Oct. 13, TBD
-- Astros at Blue Jays/Mariners, Game 3 - Oct. 15, TBD
-- Astros at Blue Jays/Mariners, Game 4 (if necessary) - Oct. 16, TBD
-- Blue Jays/Mariners at Astros, Game 5 (if necessary) - Oct. 17, TBD
New York Yankees (No. 2) vs. Guardians/Rays (No. 3/6) -- ALDS
-- Guardians/Rays at Yankees, Game 1 - Oct. 11, TBD
-- Guardians/Rays at Yankees, Game 2 - Oct. 13, TBD
-- Yankees at Guardians/Rays, Game 3 - Oct. 15, TBD
-- Yankees at Guardians/Rays, Game 4 (if necessary) - Oct. 16, TBD
-- Guardians/Rays at Yankees, Game 5 (if necessary) - Oct. 17, TBD
Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 1) vs. Mets/Padres (No. 4/5) -- NLDS
-- Mets/Padres at Dodgers, Game 1 - Oct. 11, TBD
-- Mets/Padres at Dodgers, Game 2 - Oct. 12, TBD
-- Dodgers at Mets/Padres, Game 3 - Oct. 14, TBD
-- Dodgers at Mets/Padres, Game 4 (if necessary) - Oct. 15, TBD
-- Mets/Padres at Dodgers, Game 5 (if necessary) - Oct. 16, TBD
Atlanta Braves (No. 2) vs. Cardinals/Phillies (No. 3/6) -- NLDS
-- Cardinals/Phillies at Braves, Game 1 - Oct. 11, TBD
-- Cardinals/Phillies at Braves, Game 2 - Oct. 12, TBD
-- Braves at Cardinals/Phillies, Game 3 - Oct. 14, TBD
-- Braves at Cardinals/Phillies, Game 4 (if necessary) - Oct. 15, TBD
-- Cardinals/Phillies at Braves, Game 5 (if necessary) - Oct. 16, TBD
ALCS
-- Game 1 - Oct. 19, TBD
-- Game 2 - Oct. 20, TBD
-- Game 3 - Oct. 22, TBD
-- Game 4 - Oct. 23, TBD
-- Game 5 (if necessary) - Oct. 24, TBD
-- Game 6 (if necessary) - Oct. 25, TBD
-- Game 7 (if necessary) - Oct. 26, TBD
NLCS
-- Game 1 - Oct. 18, TBD
-- Game 2 - Oct. 19, TBD
-- Game 3 - Oct. 21, TBD
-- Game 4 - Oct. 22, TBD
-- Game 5 (if necessary) - Oct. 23, TBD
-- Game 6 (if necessary) - Oct. 24, TBD
-- Game 7 (if necessary) - Oct. 25, TBD
World Series
-- Game 1 - Oct. 28, TBD
-- Game 2 - Oct. 29, TBD
-- Game 3 - Oct. 31, TBD
-- Game 4 - Nov. 1, TBD
-- Game 5 (if necessary) - Nov. 2, TBD
-- Game 6 (if necessary) - Nov. 4, TBD
-- Game 7 (if necessary) - Nov. 5, TBD
