Hours before the first pitch of the 2020 MLB season, it was announced that MLB will expand the postseason for this year--most likely to make up for a number of the games lost due to the pandemic. Since 2012, 10 teams qualified for the postseason (three division winners and two Wild Cards per league). This year, it will be a sweet 16, and the guidelines are as follows:
Obviously, the division winners would be seeded 1-3 in order of record. The second place teams in each division would receive automatic bids and be seeded 4-6. Seeds 7-8 would be the actual Wild Cards and would be determined by best win percentage, regardless of division. This means there's a chance that two of the three divisions in each league would each have three postseason teams, or one of the three could have four while the other two have two each.
Much like the last nine seasons, the postseason will have four rounds, but instead of the one-and-done Wild Card Game, the opening round will be a best-of-three Wild Card Series. Of course, the matchups are 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, and 4 vs 5. The higher seeded team will host all three games, a true home field advantage. There was original talk of the three division winners choosing their opponents, but thankfully they did away with that.
The traditional best-of-five Division Series follows, and teams will not be re-ranked: one matchup will feature the 1-8 winner vs the 4-5 winner, and the other will feature the 2-7 winner vs the 3-6 winner. As always, it'll be played under the 2-2-1 format, with the higher seed hosting Games One, Two, and Five. The LCS and World Series will follow; both best-of-seven and played under the 2-3-2 format.
No tiebreaker games will be played this season; all ties in the standings will be determined internally and mathematically. The 2020 MLB Postseason is set for a September 29 start, with the World Series beginning on October 23 and ending as late as October 31.
_________________
Avatar Credit: MP-Source.net Signature Credit: Divas-Heaven.com
|