MLB: Things to know before 2022 Opening Day

2022 MLB’s Opening Day arrives on Thursday, and a genuine and very much welcomed sense of normalcy arrives with it. There are 162 games on the schedule, there will be fans in the seats from the outset, the labor talks are in the rearview and the focus is right where it belongs, on the field

Format and Rule changes

1. First and foremost, the postseason field has been expanded from 10 teams to 12 (three division winners and three Wild Card clubs per league).
   • Rather than a one-game play-in between the two Wild Card clubs in each league, the postseason’s first round will feature a total of four best-of-three series.
   • In each league, the two “traditional” Wild Card clubs will face each other, and the division winner with the worst record of the three will face the additional Wild Card club.
   • The winners of those series will advance to the best-of-five Division Series against the other two division winners, followed by the best-of-seven League Championship Series and World Series, per usual.
2. As a result of the postseason expansion, there will not be any tiebreaker games. Math will be used to settle any ties so that the first-round series can begin promptly after the conclusion of the regular season.
3. And as a result of the lockout, which delayed Opening Day by a week, a bunch of doubleheaders has been sprinkled into the schedule, which was also extended a few days to squeeze in a makeup series for every team.
4. The Trade Deadline has changed, too. Rather than the traditional July 31 (which falls on a Sunday this year), it will be Tuesday, Aug. 2, at 6 p.m. ET. So set those timers.
5. By far the biggest rule change is the resolution of an argument that has spanned generations. Yes, the designated hitter is finally, officially (some would say mercifully) in both leagues.
6. But wait, what about Shohei Ohtani? Don’t worry, he’ll still hit. MLB has tweaked its rules because of a single player. On days he starts for the Angels, Ohtani can leave the mound as a pitcher and yet remain in the lineup as a DH.
7. The automatic runner at second base in extra innings is back again in the 2022 season.
8. But seven-inning doubleheaders are now officially a part of our pandemic-altered past. All those makeup doubleheader games will be nine-inning affairs.
9. The only other rule change is that rosters are expanded from 26 to 28 players until May 2, due to the shortened Spring Training coming out of the lockout. Rosters will be expanded again to 28 in September. During the 26-player period, teams may not carry more than 13 pitchers.
10. You should also be aware of PitchCom. It’s a device catchers can wear on their forearm to send signals to the pitcher, who wears a receiver in his cap, in lieu of the traditional finger-wagging. The system is aimed at preventing sign-stealing and speeding up the pace of play. After a Spring Training trial, it has been approved for use in the 2022 season.
11. During the CBA negotiation period, some potential rule changes that were broached, including the automatic ball-strike system (aka “robot umps”), the pitch clock, limits on defensive shifts, bigger bases, etc. MLB will continue to experiment with those and other ideas at the Minor League level this year, and any of them could be considered for use in the big leagues as soon as 2023.
12.  The CBA set the minimum salary at $700,000, up from $570,200 last season.
13. Teams that promote a prospect to the Opening Day roster and keep him up for a full season will be eligible to receive up to three Draft picks if that player finishes in the top three in his league’s Rookie of the Year voting or top five in the MVP or Cy Young voting before he is eligible for arbitration.
14. The team with the worst record will no longer be guaranteed the top pick in next year’s Draft. Rather, the first six picks of the 2023 MLB Draft will be decided by a lottery featuring all 18 non-postseason clubs.

Major Injuries to note

1. Baseball fans have to wait a while to see that prominent pairing of Scherzer and deGrom. Though Scherzer’s late-camp hamstring issue is not considered a big deal, deGrom’s stress reaction in his shoulder will prevent him from throwing for at least another few weeks, meaning he’s not expected to rejoin the Mets’ rotation before June.
2. Fernando Tatis Jr. will not be available for the Padres at least a couple of months. Tatis fractured his left wrist in the offseason and is expected to miss about three months.
3. Chris Sale is out of the Boston rotation for at least two months because of a stress fracture in his rib cage. The Red Sox pushed themselves back into the postseason picture without Sale in the first half of 2021 and will have to absorb the absence of their ace again.
4. The defending AL Central champion White Sox will have to account for the early season absence of starter Lance Lynn, who had knee surgery, and the full season absence of reliever Garrett Crochet, who had Tommy John surgery.
5. The Cardinals are similarly compromised in their pitching staff as ace Jack Flaherty and reliever Alex Reyes are both nursing labrum tears.
6.  A Reds roster already raided by trades is also entering the season without ace Luis Castillo, who is nursing a shoulder injury. He could be back before the end of April, and the trade rumors are sure to follow.
7. The 107-win Giants must move forward without Evan Longoria, who will miss approximately six weeks following finger surgery.