Coming off Major League Baseball’s first-ever wild card weekend, the 2022 postseason enters the traditional (since 1995!) best-of-five division series starting Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Dodgers finished the regular season with 111 wins, the most of any team in baseball since 2001, but winning a second World Series title in three years won’t be a cakewalk.
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If the Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, they’ll likely face the defending champion Atlanta Braves, who the Dodgers have faced in the NLCS each of the past two years. The Houston Astros, who have reached the ALCS every year since 2017, are the favorites to get back to the World Series for the fourth time in six years.
Here’s how USA TODAY Sports’ baseball reporters and editors see the postseason playing out:
ALDS winners: Astros over Mariners, Yankees over Guardians
NLDS: Dodgers over Padres, Atlanta over Phillies
American League champion: Astros
National League champion: Atlanta
World Series: Atlanta over Houston in 6
ALDS: Astros, Yankees
NLDS: Dodgers, Braves
AL champ: Astros
NL champ: Dodgers
World Series: Dodgers over Astros in 6
ALDS: Astros, Guardians
NLDS: Dodgers, Braves
AL champ: Astros
NL champ: Dodgers
World Series: Dodgers over Astros in 7
ALDS: Yankees, Mariners
NLDS: Dodgers, Atlanta
AL champ: Mariners
NL champ: Dodgers
World Series: Dodgers in 5.
ALDS: Yankees, Mariners
NLDS: Dodgers, Braves
AL champ: Yankees
NL champ: Dodgers
World Series: Dodgers over Yankees in 6
ALDS: Astros, Guardians
NLDS: Dodgers, Braves
AL champ: Astros
NL champ: Braves
World Series: Astros over Braves in 7
ALDS: Astros, Guardians
NLDS: Padres, Braves
AL champ: Astros
NL champ: Padres
World Series: Padres over Astros in 7
