A New-Look Postseason

Ever since they announced that they'd be moving one of the series postponed by the lockout to the end of the season, I've wondered what the MLB postseason schedule would look like.  I tried to figure it out on my own a few times, and every time I did it, I realized it would be impossible for them to have the World Series start on Tuesday, as it has for the past few years.  So I was curious how they'd end up actually doing it.

The postseason schedule finally came out on Monday, and, I must admit, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting.  Just as I figured, the World Series did get pushed back.  But I never in a million years would've thought Game 1 would be set for a Friday and Game 7 for a Saturday, with no World Series games scheduled on Sunday for, I think, the first time in history.

By going with the Friday-Saturday, Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, Friday-Saturday schedule, they avoided both of the NFL's two big nights.  Of course, they didn't need to avoid Thursday Night Football since it's not on FOX anymore and is only available on Amazon Prime, but FOX has the WWE every Thursday night, so I'd imagine that's the reason why.  Not playing on Sunday night, though.  That's one big concession to the fact that's been obvious for years--the NFL is king.

With the exception of 1990 (another season affected by a lockout), Game 7 of the World Series was scheduled for a Sunday night every year from 1985-2006.  During a lot of those years, the NFL wouldn't schedule a Sunday night game during that first weekend of the World Series, so Game 2 would face no NFL competition.  In 2007, they moved the World Series to a midweek start, meaning there'd only be one NFL Sunday to contend with.  Then, when FOX got Thursday Night Football and they had to move the World Series to a Tuesday start, it was possible the World Series would be over on Saturday night if it was a four-game sweep (which never happened).

I'm curious what went into the decision to not play on Sunday during the World Series, thus avoiding the NFL entirely.  (Yes, Game 3 on Halloween night will go against the Bengals-Browns Monday night game, but that matchup on ESPN won't draw nearly as many eyeballs as the Packers-Bills Sunday night game on NBC.)  And was the move made just for this year, when they had to adjust the postseason schedule because of the lockout?  Or will this be the schedule moving forward?

Conceding that the World Series won't compete against Sunday Night Football isn't MLB waving the white flag.  In fact, it's just the opposite.  In a way, it might actually help World Series ratings not having to go directly against the NFL...especially on Sunday night.  I'm sure the critics are already ready to pounce on the record-low ratings that will result from playing Game 1 on a Friday night, the least-watched night of TV every week.  I guess they'll see what the ratings look like and decide from there.

Although, I'd be willing to bet MLB and FOX wouldn't be too upset if the World Series ends in six.  Because, should it go the distance, Game 7 will be up against another football game on NBC that will likely draw plenty of eyeballs--Notre Dame vs. Clemson.  Game 2 will obviously go up against Saturday night college football, too, but that marquee matchup opposite Game 7 would definitely leave quite a few fans torn.

While that Friday night World Series opener is what immediately draws your attention, there are several other details about the postseason schedule that can't go unnoticed.  The first is the most obvious.  This is the first year with the single Wild Card Game being replaced by the best-of-three Wild Card Series.  There's no travel involved there, so it makes sense that those games are scheduled for three consecutive days.  What's weird, though, is that they aren't staggered.  All four are scheduled for Friday-Sunday.

That also means the Division Series won't start until Tuesday, which is six days after the regular season ends.  That will obviously give the top two seeds in each league the opportunity to set their pitching, but is that too much of a break?  Especially since their aces probably won't pitch the last game of the regular season, so they'll end up getting more than a week between starts.

Also, for some reason, they're playing Game 1 of all four Division Series on Tuesday, then the AL gets a day off before Game 2, so the Astros and Yankees (assuming they stop sucking at some point) will literally play one game in a week, have a day off, play another game, then have another day off.  That sounds great from a bullpen management perspective, until you see there's no travel day between Games 4 and 5, which means you won't be able to get away with using only three starters.

Of course, that's not entirely unprecedented.  In that crazy 2020 postseason, they had the LCS scheduled over seven consecutive days with no off days.  But there was also no travel in the 2020 postseason.  Still, these guys are used to traveling after a game and playing in another city the next night, so that's not at all unusual.  It was probably expected, too, since everyone knew they'd have to take away some postseason off days to make up for the regular season being delayed and extended.

There won't be an off day between Games 5 and 6 of the LCS, either.  That's where things get really interesting.  Because, if the series goes seven, they'll end up playing five days in a row.  Which means you'll need all five of your starters in the LCS.  Unless you can work it out that your No. 1 guy starts Game 3, then comes back on three-days' rest in Game 7. 

In 2020, the argument in favor of playing every day was "you need five starters during the season," which is true.  What's different about 2022, though, is that the schedule is so backloaded after those top two teams sit around for a week before even starting their postseason.  Will it be an advantage or not?

Some of the quirky things about this year's postseason schedule are a direct result of the lockout.  Next season, when things are back to normal, the Wild Card Series will, presumably, start on Tuesday and the Division Series over the weekend.  But I bet some of these changes may be permanent.  Because, while it seemed crazy at first, MLB may be on to something with the no Sunday World Series games.