Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
The Major League Baseball playoffs are approaching and a matchup between Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge in the World Series looks like an attractive possibility in October.
But first, the National League needs to get its saturated mess of a playoff race out of the way.
While the rooting interests of baseball fans vary greatly, there’s little doubt that MLB and television executives are buzzing over the potential matchup between two of this generation’s top sluggers. Ohtani recently became the first player to have 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in one season while Judge hit 58 homers.
Furthermore, Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Judge (New York Yankees) play in the nation’s top two media markets for two of the sport’s most storied franchises.
Of course, 10 other teams will try to block those teams from the Fall Classic. Last season, the Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4 games to 1 for their first title in franchise history.
Here’s a look at what’s to come:
Who is in the MLB playoffs? Who is still fighting?
The Diamondbacks are going to be big fans of the New York Mets or Atlanta Braves for a few hours on Monday afternoon.
They’re just not sure which.
The National League playoff race comes to a doubleheader between the Mets and Braves on Monday. Both games were moved to the day after the scheduled end of the regular season due to Hurricane Helene, which took two games out of last week’s crucial Mets-Braves series.
The Mets (88-72) and Braves (88-72) will both make the playoffs if they split the doubleheader. But if there is a sweep, the Diamondbacks (89-73) will sneak into the bracket as the No. 6 seed while the swept team is eliminated.
Once the first game is over, the D backs will know who they are backing. They will go through a light workout at Chase Field on Monday in case their season continues.
The Dodgers, Phillies, Brewers and Padres have already clinched four of the six NL playoff spots. The Brewers and Padres will host a Wild Card Series starting Tuesday while the Dodgers and Phillies earn some rest by claiming the top seeds.
The American League bracket has been set. The No. 6 Tigers travel to face the No. 3 Astros while the No. 5 Royals are on the road against the No. 4 Orioles in both Wild Card Series starting Tuesday. The Yankees and the Guardians are the top seeds.
How does baseball’s wild card round work?
The best-of-three wild card format is in its third season. The format was changed in 2022 from the one game sudden death format that had been in place since 2012 except for the 2020 season which was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Six teams each from the American League and the National League qualify for the postseason, including the three division winners in each league. The three wild card teams in each league are the teams with the best record that did not win their division.
The winners of the top two divisions with the best records in each league get a bye and do not have to play in the wild card round. Those four teams get a few days of rest. Those teams are the Yankees and Rangers in the American League and the Phillies and Dodgers in the National League.
The wild card round will consist of four series: The No. 6 seed will play the No. 3 seed in the AL and the NL. The No. 5 seed will play the No. 4 seed.
One big advantage for the higher seed in those wild card series is that they get to host all three games.
Rule changes
Many of baseball’s recent rule changes are still in effect during the postseason, including the pitch clock, a ban on extreme outfield shifts and a limit on how many times a pitcher can disengage from the rubber. The pitch clock has been a huge change to the sport and is widely celebrated, cutting match times by around half an hour.
There is one rule that does not make the postseason cut: the so-called “ghost runner” in extra innings.
During the MLB regular season, if a game goes into extra innings, a runner is placed at second base to start the 10th inning when each team bats. That won’t happen in the postseason. An extra innings will be played exactly like the previous nine.
Betting favourites
The Dodgers are the current betting favorites to win the World Series at +325, followed by the Yankees (+450) and Phillies (+450), according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
How to watch
The wild card rounds will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. The later rounds will be split between FS1, TruTV, TBS and Fox.
Postseason schedule
Wild card series: October 1-3
Series of sections: October 5-12
League Championship Series: October 13-22
World Series: Oct. 25-Nov. 2
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MLB AP:
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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