Here we go! After an awesome regular season, highlighted by Aaron Judge hitting his 62nd home run of the year, it’s time for the postseason to arrive. Things are coming in a few days, and baseball fans couldn’t be more excited about this. In this piece, we have MLB picks for the 2022 Wild Card Weekend, which includes the highly-anticipated series between the Blue Jays and Mariners. Which team will move on?
While it has been a fun story for the Mariners this campaign, Toronto should take care of business vs. Seattle. These two American League teams are all set to get their Wild Card Series going on Friday, with the best-of-three format providing plenty of intrigues. Both teams have plenty of talent for hitting and pitching, which will only make things more interesting.
Starting with Seattle, the Mariners have been a great story for the 2022 season. Entering the campaign, this team hadn’t been to the playoffs in 21 years – since the record-breaking year back in 2001. Fans had suffered long enough. This year’s emergence of rookie slugger Julio Rodriguez made it even better for them. He’s been great to watch.
| MLB Wild Card |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Jays to win | -174 | -174 | -174 | -174 |
| Mariners to win | +148 | +148 | +148 | +148 |
| Mets to win | -194 | -194 | -194 | -194 |
| Padres to win | +164 | +164 | +164 | +164 |
Meanwhile, for the Blue Jays, this team is loaded with young talent, no question highlighted by guys like Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. Don’t forget about George Springer, either, though. What’s going to help Toronto in this one is that they’ll be playing all the games in Toronto. They’ll have home-field advantage, which could prove to be crucial.
According to the best-rated sportsbooks, which includes the reliable Bovada review, the Blue Jays hold -174 MLB betting odds to move on to the Divisional Series, with the Houston Astros waiting. The Mariners hold +148 odds. From our chair, we think Toronto will prove too much for the Mariners in this one. Because of this, we’re going with Toronto as our pick to win this AL Wild Card series.
Over in the National League, the Mets vs. Padres will be a fun Wild Card Series for fans to enjoy. New York enters the postseason with a sour taste in their mouths, as the Mets quite literally blew the NL East title away. They were forced to see the Braves win it once again following the late-season struggles for the squad from Flushing. Fans still can’t believe it.
Regardless, New York is still quite the ball club, and they’re ready to silence their haters in the MLB playoffs. It will be on guys like Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Max Scherzer, and others to step up for this team. Things won’t be easy going up against San Diego either, so it will be crucial for this team to get back on the right track in this three-game series.
With the Padres, they’re going to be ready to try and surprise a lot of folks. This team had World Series aspirations after they pulled off the blockbuster trade for Juan Soto. However, their World Series betting odds took a nosedive after it was announced that Fernando Tatis Jr. was suspended for the rest of the season after testing positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs.
Leading up to the Wild Card Series, the Mets are favorites with their -194 odds. As for the Padres, they’ve been set at +164. This one could go either way, as these two teams are a lot of fun to watch. However, the Mets will have the home-field advantage, and the fans inside of Citi Field will be amped for this one from start to finish. We’re going with the Mets.
In another exciting matchup, the Cleveland Guardians should take down the Tampa Bay Rays when they meet this weekend. Cleveland is a heavy favorite, and understandably so. It hasn’t been the year people thought it would be in Tampa Bay. Fans thought they’d push for an AL East title, but the New York Yankees were able to be the top dogs in that department.
Meanwhile for the Guardians, this squad will be ready to make noise, especially after they were able to win the AL Central this season. Jose Ramirez has quietly had a fantastic season, and he’ll be ready to ball out against Tampa Bay. The Guardians hold -120 odds to take down the Rays in their Wild Card Series.
Don’t forget that the winner of this series will go on to face the Yankees in the Divisional Series. Cleveland is ready to make a splash in the Wild Card and presumably in the next round by going up against the Bronx Bombers. Before we get to that, the Guardians will need to take care of business vs. the Rays. We think they’ll do just that. Cleveland is our pick.
