Column: MLB’s playoff format is penalizing top seeds with all that time off
1 year, 2 months ago

Column: MLB’s playoff format is penalizing top seeds with all that time off

Associated Press  

The Baltimore Orioles won an AL-leading 101 games during the regular season. Tossing in the 104-win Atlanta Braves and the defending World Series champion Houston Astros, baseball’s four top seeds went a combined 2-6 on their home fields to start the best-of-five division round. MLB’s relatively new playoff format — comprised of six division winners and six wild-card teams, with the top two teams in each league advancing straight to the second round while the others play best-of-three series — actually seems to penalize the best clubs by giving them five days off. “I don’t know if it’s a disadvantage, but it puts you in a different routine than you are during regular season and what you’re used to.” A season ago — the first with the current format — top AL seeds Houston and the New York Yankees both won their division series after the bye. Also, it would subject the top two seeds in each league to best-of-three series against teams that likely finished far behind them during the regular season.

Games Seeds Houston Season Round Win Dodgers Series Mlb Division Braves Regular Format Each League Playoff Teams Top Seeds  playoff  teams  round  season  win  format  seeds  division  mlbs  penalizing  regular  column  games  series  days

History of this topic

NL playoff matchups pending Mets-Braves makeups on Monday. AL set with Astros-Tigers and O’s-Royals
2 months, 3 weeks ago

NL playoff matchups pending Mets-Braves makeups on Monday. AL set with Astros-Tigers and O’s-Royals

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — The baseball season is going extra innings. The Astros-Tigers winner faces AL Central champion Cleveland in a best-of-five Division Series beginning Saturday, and the Orioles-Royals winner plays the AL East champion New York Yankees. The NL is still uncertain because of two rainouts last week caused by Hurricane Helene, with the New York Mets, Arizona and Atlanta …

Baltimore Orioles clinch playoff berth for 2nd straight season
2 months, 4 weeks ago

Baltimore Orioles clinch playoff berth for 2nd straight season

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — Still 2 1/2 months shy of his 21st birthday and the legal drinking age, Jackson Holliday was given his own brand of bubbly in the jubilant Baltimore Orioles clubhouse: a bottle labeled “Baby Bird Bath Water” left in a bucket with his No. 7 jersey and a sign: “BABY’S FIRST CLINCHMAS 2024.” “It’s a little bit more …

News Analysis: Is MLB’s new playoff format too harsh on division winners? The debate continues
1 year, 1 month ago

News Analysis: Is MLB’s new playoff format too harsh on division winners? The debate continues

LA Times  

The Dodgers aren’t playing in the World Series, but their connections to the teams in it have been impossible to ignore. It was a strange development considering what happened here less than three weeks earlier: The 100-win Dodgers’ season coming to a shocking conclusion against the 84-win Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series. “If the die was cast, meaning, …

MLB playoff format not to blame for Dodgers playoff fiasco
1 year, 2 months ago

MLB playoff format not to blame for Dodgers playoff fiasco

LA Times  

Dodgers pitcher Lance Lynn reacts during a 4-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 3 of the NLDS at Chase Field on Wednesday. They played better, and this happened.” VIDEO | 03:44 Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts on Dodgers’ NLDS loss Chris Taylor said the extended break may have played a factor in the series. If it did affect …

2023 MLB playoffs: Schedules, start times, how to watch, odds and off days
1 year, 2 months ago

2023 MLB playoffs: Schedules, start times, how to watch, odds and off days

LA Times  

The Dodgers began their quest for their first World Series championship in a full-length season since 1988 by taking five days off. They did so last year as well, and the rest was less restorative than rust-causing when the San Diego Padres upset them in the National League Division Series. The long break for the two top-seeded teams is a …

MLB playoff tracker: Dodgers to play either the Brewers or Diamondbacks in the NLDS
1 year, 3 months ago

MLB playoff tracker: Dodgers to play either the Brewers or Diamondbacks in the NLDS

LA Times  

Mookie Betts, right, celebrates with teammates after the Dodgers clinched their 10th National League West title in 11 years with a 6-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Sept. 16. The World Series team with the better regular-season record plays host to Games 1 and 2, and Games 6 and 7 if necessary, making the home-field advantage particularly consequential in …

Rosenthal: This year’s races demonstrate the potential issues MLB would face if the playoffs were expanded to 14 teams
3 years, 3 months ago

Rosenthal: This year’s races demonstrate the potential issues MLB would face if the playoffs were expanded to 14 teams

New York Times  

With all due respect to fans of the Phillies, Reds and Padres, do any of those teams objectively deserve a postseason berth? Yet, under Major League Baseball’s original plan for expanding the playoffs from 10 to 14 teams, two of those three clubs would qualify for wild cards. The team with the best record in each league would gain more …

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