Under MLB's new playoff format, a little rest isn't always best

Shohei Ohtani has mashed 100 mph fastballs for homers, stolen bases against some of the game's best catchers and recently wrapped up one of the best regular seasons in Major League Baseball history.

Now the Japanese superstar and his Los Angeles Dodgers have to face something that's arguably even more daunting.

A five-day break.

Since MLB’s most recent 12-team playoff format took effect in 2022, five of the eight top seeds have lost in the Division Series, unable to capitalize on the supposed reward of earning a bye through the Wild Card Series.

This year, the Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies have the top two seeds in the National League, while the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians are in the same position in the American League. That's given all of them five days to prepare for the best-of-five Division Series that begins Saturday.

Sure, a few days to heal bumps and bruises while other teams fight it out is nice. But there's also a downside.

“It’s not a vacation,” Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott said following a workout earlier this week.

Maybe more than any other professional sport, baseball is one that relies on rhythm and routine. MLB squeezes 162 regular-season games into 187 days over six months, meaning teams are playing games almost daily from April to September. Other than the All-Star break in July, there are never two scheduled days off in a row.

Five days is a relative eternity. And it hasn't always been a good thing.

“It’s a trade off,” said Chris Antonetti, Cleveland's president of baseball operations. “The benefit is you get time off. The downside is you’re not in the major league environment facing live major league pitching in the normal cadence that you would be during the season.

"But on balance, I think I’d still take the tradeoff and want the bye.”

The Guardians have played simulated games the past three days to keep fresh. On Wednesday, they played in an empty Progressive Field with crowd noise piped in, giving it the same aura as the pandemic-marred 2020 season.

“What we’ve tried to do is be really deliberate this week about the environments we’re creating to keep our guys ready and ready to compete on Saturday,” Antonetti said.

The Yankees are one of the teams that have had success under the current playoff format, winning their 2022 Division Series against the Guardians following a five-day layoff. Manager Aaron Boone said last week that part of his plan was to bring some of the organization's minor leaguers to New York so there were fresh arms for hitters to face while they wait for Saturday.

“We'll do our best to prioritize taking advantage of the rest, which I'm sure several guys at this time of the year will benefit from,” Boone said. “But we're also trying to make sure we keep that mental edge and keep guys as sharp as we possibly can with live looks.”

The Dodgers are the poster child for what can go wrong following a long break in October. They were the top NL seed in 2022 but lost in four games to the San Diego Padres. Last season, they also earned a bye before getting drilled by the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game sweep.

Now Los Angeles is back in the same position. The Dodgers are in a good spot in many ways — they've got one of the game's best offensive lineups with Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, and have clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs thanks to a 98-64 record in the regular season.

They've also tweaked their routine during the five-day break compared to the previous two years, getting some swings against high-velocity pitching machines that mimic MLB pitchers. A few of the team's players have also organized watch parties for the wild-card games in an effort to keep up camaraderie.

But one thing they won't have on Saturday is momentum.

They'll have to create it fast.

“I see some more hunger, I see some more edge. I like that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Not to say that guys weren’t prepared or trying or cared, but there’s a different level of intensity.”