2022 Division Series Preview

I do love the Division Series, which once served as the opening round of the MLB Postseason. The League Division Series (LDS) officially debuted in the 1995 season, and has been played under a best-of-five format ever since. From 1995 until 2011, the Division Series marked the beginning of the postseason, with three wins advancing the two winners in each league to the League Championship Series (LCS). Since 2012, the LDS is the second round after the Wild Card Game (now the Wild Card Series), and the LDS means, as Jim Ross often says, "Business is about to pick up."

The 2022 postseason is down to the Elite Eight, with the four teams who earned byes now making their official start to their quest to the World Series. The Division Series is week-long chapter in that quest, and the series are as follows:

American League

Astros vs Mariners: The Seattle Mariners have been the top story of this year's postseason, as they ended a 21-year drought--the longest in pro sports. The fact that they made it was amazing enough, but the Mariners decided to do one better: they won a postseason series. The Mariners faced off against the Toronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card Series; they were the road team, but that wasn't a deterrent. They shut down the Jays in Game One, while Game Two saw the Mariners trail 8-1, yet win 10-9--winning their first postseason series since the 2001 ALDS against the then-named Cleveland Indians.

The Mariners now have a tall task ahead of them: the Houston Astros. The Astros have been on a mission to remove the cloud of doubt that they themselves created when they cheated to win the World Series in 2017. The Astros are coming off their third World Series appearance in the last five seasons, and they are looking to get back there again. The Astros entered the postseason with the best record in the junior circuit, and regarding the season series, Houston won 12-7 over Seattle. This is the first ever postseason meeting between the two clubs.

Yankees vs Guardians: Oh man, where do I start with this? It's always fun when the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians get together, especially in the postseason. Cleveland's name may have changed (as it should), but one thing remains the same: the intensity between the Guardians and the Yankees when they face off. The Guardians won a very interesting Wild Card Series against the Tampa Bay Rays; a series that saw a grand total of four runs scored and three home runs hit. Ironically, the Guardians (who are second to last in home runs) out-slugged the Rays, and it was enough for them to advance to the ALDS.

Then, we have the Yankees. Aaron Judge's historic and successful quest for 62 home runs became the centerpiece of the Yankees' season, but the goal is there for the Bronx Bombers: #28. It's been 13 years since the Yankees even reached a World Series, and from what I've been watching, the 2022 iteration appears to be very focused. Leading the league in home runs this season, the pitching is healthy for the first time in forever, and the flaws this team had in the last two years appear to be a thing of the past. Regarding the teams' postseason history, this is the sixth postseason meeting between the Yankees and Guardians, with the last one taking place in the 2020 Wild Card Series. The Yankees won the season series, 5-1.

National League

Dodgers vs Padres: This season, Dave Roberts, the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, guaranteed that his team would win the World Series this year. The Dodgers won it all in 2020, but their quest to repeat fell short, as they were defeated in the NLCS by the eventual (and defending) World Champions, the Atlanta Braves. So how did the Dodgers respond in 2022? All they did was win 111 games, a franchise record. That's all. I mean, very few teams won more than that. The way they did it was just amazing; even more so due to the fact that their hallowed pitching rotation wasn't fully healthy for the most part--in fact, they are still without Walker Buehler.

The San Diego Padres, however, had to be on a redemption tour this season. 2021 was supposed to be their big year; those who didn't have the Dodgers winning the NL West, had the Padres doing so. Instead, the San Francisco Giants took the division, the Dodgers were a Wild Card, and the Padres were an afterthought. Even this year, they were plagued by the suspension of star player Fernando Tatis, Jr., but they would bounce back via the trade deadline. Josh Bell, Juan Soto, and Josh Hader joining the team via trades. The Padres became a playoff team and would win a three-game Wild Card Series. The Dodgers and Padres last met in the 2020 Division Series, which LA won as part of their championship quest. Los Angeles won the season series, 14-5, over San Diego.

Braves vs Phillies: Ever since the Philadelphia Phillies hired Joe Girardi as their manager, I said they should fire him. The reason was simple: Girardi is a terrible manager. As usual, I was proven right. Despite having a loaded lineup, led by Bryce Harper, the team never made the postseason. Then they fired Girardi in the summer, and what do you know? The Phillies made the postseason. Even better than that, they won a postseason series over the St. Louis Cardinals; making history as the first #6 seed to actually advance in the postseason. With that, the Phillies earned the right to face off against the defending champion Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.

The Braves faced a lot of pressure this season, which is normal for a team who just won the whole thing. Similar to last year, the Braves got off to a slow start and dealt with injuries; this time to players like Ozzie Albies and Marcell Ozuna. Somehow, they survived; coming back in grand fashing to take the National League East over the New York Mets, placing themselves in prime position to begin their defense of their title. The Braves won the season series, 11-8, over the Phillies.

Regarding TV rights, this is the 16th season that Fox and TBS will rotate their coverage of the middle two rounds of the postseason. This is an even-numbered year, so it will be TBS airing the ALDS, while Fox and Fox Sports 1 (FS1) will air the NLDS. The rotation used to include MLB Network, but that changed starting this year. The Wild Card Series was a nice weekend sprint, but now it's time to get serious in this road to the Fall Classic!