Can we all agree that the damn wildcard round is ludicrous?? Why are we making the top 4 teams wait around a week and get out of their rhythm for a play in series?? Make it one game and done.
MLB playoffs
- Thread starter Deleted11512
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I’m not trying to sound like a salty Braves fan, especially after that epic comeback I just watched, but they have to do something different. It’s not right and clearly has an effect on teams. The top 4 teams in the playoffs (if the AZ/LA score holds) will have a combined 2-4 record against the wildcard teams. Sorry, but the layoff is making a difference. Not much of an advantage to get the bye.
Well, I can't say I'm fan of the 3 or 5 game series and I think they need to reseed after the wildcard round, but I don't think they will change a thing. Your point does have merit though you wouldn't think a few extra days rest would have that big of an effect especially as hot as the Braves were all season. The numbers lean that way though!
Even the day off in between games is stupid. They spend all year playing 162 games, with just a day off in between series, just to get to the playoffs and get a week off, then a day off in between the games.
That didn't make any sense to me. The AL didn't have a day off between game 1 and game 2. They played Sat/Sun. Why did the NL think a day off was needed?
No idea. My guess is so they could ensure they'd have baseball on TV for one week straight. Like every other sport, money and TV drive everything.
I think MLB needs to expand to 32. Then you have four, four-team divisions in each league, with the winners of the divisions advancing to the playoffs. Get rid of the wild card entirely.
Or, option 2, get rid of divisions entirely and just allow the top 4-6 teams in each league to make the playoffs, like a scaled down version of the NBA playoffs.
There is NO need for a sport with a 162 game regular season to have so many postseason teams. What's the point? It seems so far in this limited two year sample size of expanded playoffs that the system rewards regular season limited success while penalizing regular season success.
Or, option 2, get rid of divisions entirely and just allow the top 4-6 teams in each league to make the playoffs, like a scaled down version of the NBA playoffs.
There is NO need for a sport with a 162 game regular season to have so many postseason teams. What's the point? It seems so far in this limited two year sample size of expanded playoffs that the system rewards regular season limited success while penalizing regular season success.
I'm hoping this is addressed by someone after the season.
Didn't effect my team, but it messes up a game I like to watch.
Accurate depiction of me this morning. Between our pitching sucking and our 2 best in the lineup going a combined 1 for the series (that 1 being an infield single), I'm a bit irritated.
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Wild card is dumb enough. EXPANDING the wild card was flat-out absurd.
Just win. If they are truly top teams then they should have no problem handing these teams worse than them.
Don't waste your energy on the regular season, just make it to the wild card and then make your presence known.
I don't want to sound like sour grapes. Congrats to the Phillies. They simply outplayed us and were the better team. Their guys were up there taking HR derby cuts the whole series. Almost like they knew exactly what was coming. Just kind of crazy to me.
However, 3 teams won 100+ games, and went 1-9 in the first round of the playoffs. And that 1 happened bc of a late HR and miracle double play to end the game. We were really close to 0-10. Four NL MVP candidates (Acuna, Betts, Olson, and Freeman) went 6-43 (.139) with 0 HR in those 10 games. Those four combined for 163 HRs in the regular season. In the regular season they averaged a .992 OPS. In the playoff, it was .371. The Braves finished the regular season 14 games above the Phils, LA finished 16 above the Dbacks. Same thing happened last year, and the Braves finished 14 ahead of the Phils, LA finished 22 ahead of the Padres. I think if they're going to keep the Wild Card format and "give" the high seeds a "week off", then they need to go to all 7 game series like the NBA. The current format was introduced in 2022. So it's not like some long standing tradition. It's been in existence for 2 years, and in both years, the 2 teams that were clearly the best teams in the NL (over a 162 game season), have been knocked out the first year.
It may be somewhat entertaining for the average fan to see upsets, but this playoff lacks star power. And that's something the MLB has been struggling with for a while. The NBA and NFL market it's stars so much better then the MLB.
However, 3 teams won 100+ games, and went 1-9 in the first round of the playoffs. And that 1 happened bc of a late HR and miracle double play to end the game. We were really close to 0-10. Four NL MVP candidates (Acuna, Betts, Olson, and Freeman) went 6-43 (.139) with 0 HR in those 10 games. Those four combined for 163 HRs in the regular season. In the regular season they averaged a .992 OPS. In the playoff, it was .371. The Braves finished the regular season 14 games above the Phils, LA finished 16 above the Dbacks. Same thing happened last year, and the Braves finished 14 ahead of the Phils, LA finished 22 ahead of the Padres. I think if they're going to keep the Wild Card format and "give" the high seeds a "week off", then they need to go to all 7 game series like the NBA. The current format was introduced in 2022. So it's not like some long standing tradition. It's been in existence for 2 years, and in both years, the 2 teams that were clearly the best teams in the NL (over a 162 game season), have been knocked out the first year.
It may be somewhat entertaining for the average fan to see upsets, but this playoff lacks star power. And that's something the MLB has been struggling with for a while. The NBA and NFL market it's stars so much better then the MLB.
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That does NOTHING for the MLB brand. They need to be able to showcase their top players/teams. MLB is praying Ohtani goes to a contender. They have an identity problem and seeing all the top players in the NL go down in the first round isn't helping.
I don't think anyone is saying don't let them in, but it's not a positive thing to have time off in MLB. It's only a value to get your pitching rotation in order, but most coaches will tell you they'd rather their hitters stay hot and not have time off....which is exactly what we just saw.
Reminds me a lot of March Madness.
Sometimes the big dogs make it, sometimes they don't.
Remember a run by a certain team which brought excitement to the MM playoff and the state of SC while back.
That's different, and might change a little with NIL. You will never have more people watching MLB/MLB/NFL playoff with a bunch of Cinderellas. As fun as it is to think about, the ratings when those Cinderellas make a FF tank. Nobody really wants to watch it outside of fans of those teams. People want to watch big time stars. More in pro sports than college. A Dbacks/Rangers WS would be an epic ratings disaster for MLB.
I guess it depends on whether you want to watch big time stars playing so badly their teams fail to advance or watch up and coming stars playing great baseball with a chance to show their stuff and do something they have never done before. Everyone has their own preference. But if the storyline is intriguing enough, people will tune in to watch.
Right now the underdogs have the advantage. That’s the problem. Give them a chance, but you have to reward regular season success or you risk losing the sport.
And the 21 Braves were a mash unit. It makes no sense how the team got better the last 2 years but we’re awful in the postseason.
Braves and LA got better, but flamed out at the same time....at the same time the wildcard changed. I'm not saying that's the entire reason. But it is a very strange coincidence for it to happen to both programs.
MLB Comish says ''Give it some time''.
www.espn.com
Manfred in no rush to change postseason format
While some are calling for a change to baseball's postseason, which has seen some of the league's best teams in the regular season fade out quickly in October, commissioner Rob Manfred said he prefers to be patient. "It's only Year 2," he said.
www.espn.com
I was happy Houston got the week. It aligned the pitching order, their bats were still good enough.
Nothing will explain the Dodgers and Braves epic offense failure. One week off cannot shut down prolific offenses like Braves had. Dodgers same....
No offense to Houston fan, but they did get the winner of the worst division in MLB. The Twins just aren't that good.
Just win guys. Did you hear that? This dude has cracked the code. Forget the fact that the top 3 teams in baseball went a combined 1-9 in their playoff games. But of course it was all just a fluke that all 3 had the best records in baseball.
This is about the most ridiculous post I’ve seen today. If that’s the attitude, then what is even the point of the 162 game regular season? With such a large sample size in the regular season the MLB, more so than any other league in any sport in the world, knows exactly who the top teams truly are by the time the playoffs roll around without question.
I could understand if it was just the Braves who flopped. But the indisputable top 3 teams ALL were noticeably different from their regular season forms. Truthfully noticeable is an extreme understatement. If you actually watched the games and thought the layoff had no effect on those teams then I have no idea what to tell you.
And to say “just win” as you sit on your couch eating a whole tube of pringles like it’s just that easy guys. They’re pros. They should be able to just show up and do what they always do right? Not like time off from games can have any effect. That’s an absurd idea. I cannot believe you just said that.
More crying from the “regular season champs”.
You say that like it supposed to be an insult.
Twins pitching staff ERA ranked 6 in MLB.
Astro's took care of business. Something the Braves and Dodgers failed to do.
Baseball can be weird to predict, I get that. All the so called experts had a Braves/Orioles, Tampa WS. You just never know.
I still fail to understand how both Braves and Dodgers looked so bad. I really thought the Braves would win WS.
I did watch the games when Houston wasn't playing at same time. Baseball can be strange to predict. Best of 7 for all series is not automatically a fix for failures.
I will say I don't understand the schedule, game 1 then day off for game 2 in NL. That definitely benefited Philly.
Following that logic, we might as well not show up at WB tomorrow following the 13-day layoff we've had since Sept. 30th. No way we can perform well enough to win.
Here’s the thing. I am not surprised at all that the Braves lost. That’s the nature of the MLB playoffs. Even the best teams lose. I am not even afraid to say that, in a short series, the Phillies truly could be a better team. I’m ok with all of that because of the parity in baseball.
What I’m not ok with feeling like the teams and fans got cheated by not being able to see not just the best team in baseball (purely from a record standpoint), but the best THREE teams in baseball at their very best when it mattered most. I HATE the Dodgers, but I still want to see them at their very best, especially in the playoffs. I mean isn’t that what makes sports so great? When the little guy conquers the giant? The problem is, given some outside factor (and I have no idea what else could be the contributing factor for all three top teams other than the week long break), there were no giants. For that, as fans I feel like we’re getting cheated across the board. We did not see all teams at their best because of something out of their control, plain and simple.