Playoff Baseball

I'm not a big fan of the new playoff format.  Don't like the one game wild card setup.  Don't like the five game first round.  Like it even less with the 2-3 format starting at the home park of the team with the worst record.

Having said that, fans were treated to some excellent and exciting baseball through the first rounds.  Far and away the best series matched the Yankees and Orioles, two powerhouse AL East rivals who were completely throttled by superior pitching, but managed to play five tight games before the Yankees advanced on the shoulders of C.C. Sabathia.  The Tigers also advanced largely on the strength of their ace Justin Verlander.

In the NL, the Giants topped the Reds.  There is little doubt that in a short series, pitching matters more than anything else, and the Giants have probably the deepest rotation in baseball right now.  The biggest blow to the Reds chances was losing Cueto in the first game.

The last series to be decided saw the Nationals produce an epic choke in the ninth inning of the deciding game.  They managed to blow a 6-0 lead in the last two innings.  Don't think I've seen a team disintegrate like that since the 2003 Cubs.  You have to put a lot of it on the closer Storen and Johnson's sticking with him through five batters trying to get the last out.  Storen and his catcher showed no confidence.  Once they got the Cardinals hitters down two strikes, they just started nibbling and pitching away from their own strengths.

The last game kind of points up my earlier opinions on the wild card setup.  Under the old rules, of course, the Cardinals would never have made the playoffs.  To my mind, it is a little off-putting to see a team that lost their division by 9 games advance.  As far as the Nats go, you have to wonder how much second-guessing there is going to be respecting the decision to shut down Stephen Strasburg with a month left in the season.  Strasburg would have had two starts in this series, one of which the Nats lost.

Something the Cubs should take note of in their pursuit of good enough pitching.  Good teams usually have ace pitchers, at least one, and nowhere is the value of the dominant starter more demonstrated than in playoff baseball.  Sooner or later the Cubs are going to have to develop or acquire such an arm through free agency.  I don't see anyone reaching free agency who fits that role in the coming off-season, but when there is one, the Cubs need to jump no matter where they are situated in the long-run plan.