Expanded postseason could add drama
Twelve-team format begins with new best-of-three wild-card series
Major League Baseball’s postseason has a little more heft this season.
The playoffs are rapidly approaching, with the final regular season games set for Oct. 5. The postseason begins two days later with a field of 12 teams — up from last year’s 10 — and includes a best-of-three format for the opening wild-card round.
An expanded postseason could lead to some spicy early postseason matchups. San Diego’s newly acquired slugger Juan Soto against the defending World Series champion Braves? Ageless star Albert Pujols and the Cardinals against Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and the Phillies?
MLB’s new wild-card format is similar to the one currently used in college baseball for the NCAA Super Regional round: The three games will be scheduled on three consecutive days from Oct. 7-9 at the higher seed’s field. The first team that gets two wins advances.
The division series will be best-of-five, while the league championship series and World Series will be best-ofseven.
What’s new in the wild card round?
The best- of- three wild card format is a change from the sudden death one-game format that’s been in place since 2012.
Six teams each from the American League and National League will qualify for the postseason, including the three division winners in each league. The wildcard teams will be the teams with the best record that didn’t win their division.
The top two teams with the best records in each league will get a bye in the wild-card round. Right now, that would be the Astros and Yankees in the American League and the Dodgers and Mets in the National League.
The wild-card round will feature four series: The No. 6 seed will play at the No. 3 seed in both the AL and NL. The No. 5 seed will play at the No. 4 seed.
Why is the postseason starting late?
October’s postseason festivities will bleed into November before a champion is crowned.
That’s mostly because of the sport’s labor strife that resulted in a work stoppage over the winter. It delayed the beginning of spring training and pushed the regular season back about a week. Baseball players and owners salvaged the usual 162-game season, but to do that, they had to move opening day from March 31 to April 7.
Some of the games originally scheduled for the first week of the season were moved to the end, meaning a season that was originally scheduled to end Oct. 2 instead ends Oct. 5.
What happened to tiebreaker games?
Game No. 163 is one that lives in baseball lore. Bucky Dent’s homer for the Yankees in 1978. Matt Holliday’s game-winning run in the 13th inning for the Rockies in 2007. Those days are gone.
If there’s a tie for one of the playoff spots, mathematical tiebreakers will be used instead of an extra game. The first will be the head-tohead record between the two teams involved.
If that can’t handle the stalemate, the team with the best intra-divisional record will win the tiebreaker. If that doesn’t work, the process continues with more and more convoluted solutions until a resolution is reached.
Who are the playoff favorites?
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been dominant all season with a lineup that includes Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman. They could top 110 wins this season.
In the American League, the Houston Astros have already topped 100 wins, as well. They’ve got a loaded lineup that includes Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez, along with potential AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander.