In early July, when the purpose was to succeed on the opening day, major league clubs went to the education camp, convinced that an asterisk would not accompany a championship. The normal season would be a flash of 60 games, not a routine of 162 games, however, common cases made winning the World Series an exclusive challenge. The 60 games would be more important. It was special in another way. Anyway, things would go back to the general in October with the same playoff format as usual.
Then, a few hours before the first games of the season, MLB and the players’ union announced that they had agreed to expand the playoffs. Participants would double from 8 to 16 with 8 league groups. The No. 1 seed would play no. 8, the No. 2 seed would play No. 7, and so on in the first round. All first-round matchups would be a best-of-three series. The update has put the emphasis on all of this: making money.
“We’re going to move on to the playoffs,” Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi said on MLB Network Radio on July 28.
Format substitution has particularly reduced the importance of the 2020 normal season. And that’s before the coronavirus shoots gave the impression between the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals, threatening the chances that those groups would bet 60 games.
The update provided groups that slowly started a safety net, but removed any praise appearances for the most sensitive groups during the normal season. And that made the MLB playoffs, which were already a game of chance before the adjustments, plus a game of chance.
“From a broader perspective, I understand,” said Andrew Friedman, president of Dodgers Baseball Operations. “As for the fan interest in the game and the expansion of the number of groups that qualify for the playoffs. From our point of view, we feel that we are one of the most productive groups in the league and I don’t think that’s necessarily helping us. »
The Dodgers have won seven consecutive National League West titles. In five of the seven years, they were rewarded with local merit in a five-game National League departmental series. It was 4-3 in total.
This year, they are the consensual team in the National League. They came here on Saturday with the record in the majors at 20-8. They had a differential of over 70 problems: 36 more runs than the next total. They had a 93% chance of winning the department and more than a 99% chance of reaching the playoffs, according to the FiveThirtyEight website.
And if their ranking position stands, they would play a series of three games at Dodger Stadium without fans. When MLB announced the playoff format, the biggest replenishment in FiveThirtyEight’s projections, the Dodgers’ chances of winning the World Series dropped 2.8 percentage points to 18.9%, even the highest of the majors.
The odds would minimize extra if they played postseason matches at an impartial location if MLB followed his plans to organize the playoffs into a bubble. There is a chance of a bubble popping up with Dodger Stadium and the other two Southern California ball fields. Otherwise, all rewards for their normal season functionality would be impartialized.
The lack of merit from the most sensitive groups during a normal season was most sensitive in the NBA this week when the Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, the league’s two most sensitive playoff seeds, lost their first games to their eighth seed to neutral. Orlando site. In baseball, the effects of the playoffs are not so predictable. The teams are hot and typhoon a championship. Ask the Dodgers about the Washington Nationals last season.
“[I feel] a major difference between the most sensible first seed and the eighth in the NFL and nba,” said Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling. “But there’s not a big difference in baseball. Anything can happen in baseball, especially in only 3 games.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has a concept to get the groups to win the normal season: ask the most sensible seed in each league to choose their opponent. This load layer would allow groups to decide based on matches and potential. This would raise the theater (MLB could even turn the options into a one-hour special on your network to increase interest) and marker curtains for the decided groups.
“If you look at baseball, especially in a short series,” Roberts said, “it’s anybody’s game.”
Roberts’ plan will not materialize in 2020. If MLB can prevent coronavirus from tearing its season, the most productive groups might not see a genuine praise for its functionality in an unprecedented normal season. It was reduced for a dice game. But the cash on tv will be good.