Baseball fans, do you find it unfair that the teams with the best records get to rest up for the opening round of the playoffs? If you do, consider changing your stance. Some key members of the Atlanta Braves don’t agree with you.
Ahead of the 2022 season, MLB added an additional Wild Card team while making the round a best-of-three instead of a single-game affair. Upsets in the playoffs were not invented on the spot with the format tweak but the extent to which upsets have happened since the change has some fans and analysts proclaiming that the top seeds have it too hard, even though they still have home-field advantage (and, supposedly, better rosters).
As has now become a tradition when the top seeds get upset, a narrative has emerged that the MLB playoff format is unfair to the best teams. For some reason, having more days to rest your pitching rotation and reset it while keeping players away from the risk of injury is bad. Five whole days of rest has become a mountain that professional baseball players just cannot conquer, apparently.
The Braves had MLB's best record and a historically great offense but lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS again. The second-seed Los Angeles Dodgers got swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks and the American League's top team, the Baltimore Orioles, got swept by the Texas Rangers. Could it be that they lost because the opposing lineups hit too many home runs and their own star-studded lineups failed to come through? Perhaps any managerial decisions gone wrong or weaknesses in the roster that were exposed?
Spencer Strider takes blame for Braves' NLDS loss to Phillies
Spencer Strider took two losses to the Phillies in the NLDS but is not looking to any external factor as a reason why. The Braves' ace starting pitcher explained that teams have to make the proper adjustments and that the failure to do so is indicative of their own shortcomings, according to Jayson Stark of The Athletic.
“I think that the people (who are) trying to use the playoff format to make an excuse for the results they don’t like are not confronting the real issue,” Strider said, via The Athletic. “You’re in control of your focus, your competitiveness, your energy. And if having five days off (means) you can’t make that adjustment, you’ve got nobody to blame but yourself.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker pointed to the success of the Houston Astros as a reason why the bye cannot be used as an excuse for losing, according to David Brandt of the Associated Press. Houston, which has had a bye in the last two postseasons, has now won both of their ALDS series in the new format.
“It’s not ideal,” Snitker said, via AP. “I’m not going to say that’s an excuse for us. I look at the Astros. It didn’t bother them. They kind of kept hitting on all cylinders. I never liked two days off as a team or whatever. I think one day is plenty,” he added. “But you know what? It’s what it is, and we’ve got to figure it out.”
While (some of) the Braves and their fans still did plenty of absurd whining after a loud outburst in the clubhouse in front of reporters was indeed reported on, it's very nice to see the team's manager and ace refuse to feed into the ridiculous idea that having a better-rested team is a disadvantage.
Those who still weep about the format should consider that the Braves and Dodgers have histories of playoff failures that predate the new format. Although they each have their own World Series run — Los Angeles' 2020 title looks more and more illegitimate by the day, though — it's not the format that forces them to lose.
The Orioles, meanwhile, are a very young team that lacks playoff experience, making their flop in the playoffs more understandable. The Rangers' roster is filled with veterans who have played in the postseason, including in the World Series, on other teams. And the Astros are…oh, yeah, they actually won their series. The New York Yankees won their 2022 ALDS series after the prolonged bye, too.
Rest serves as a pitiful excuse considering the fact that these series require at least three games and will take place in two different stadiums. A team may be rested more than usual for Game 1, sure, but what about the rest of the series, which features breaks of only one day, if that, between games? Losing 162 games of momentum and the ability to execute in a handful of days is purely a skill issue and/or the failure of the front office for not making enough good moves.
The beauty of sports is its unpredictability. Professional athletes are paid to perform in high-stakes situations and maintain their bodies. Sometimes, the expected outcomes don’t happen. It's why they still play the games — and why getting bent out of shape on behalf of teams and players who lose prematurely in the playoffs is laughable.
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