During union negotiations last offseason, MLB decided, in conjunction with the players, to add a sixth playoff team per league.
This year, however, this does not give the expected result in terms of races in the playoffs since two weeks before the playoffs, we already know quite a bit who will be part of the fall dance.
Perhaps the format will be more optimal in 2023, but at the moment, let’s say that we have already seen better as a race for the series.
But it doesn’t matter since the races we want to follow are individual. Aaron Judge and Albert Pujols, who are each two home runs away from history, are rocking baseball. They don’t do it at the same pace as the 1998 stars since it’s not a class between the two, but it’s fun to follow, nonetheless.
And let’s remember that the 2022 season could very well have been cut short… imagine the impact of a 154-game season, for example, on the stars of the Yankees and Cardinals.
Because right now, every time guys show up at bat, the planet stops spinning. Everyone wants to see what happens and games elsewhere in MLB are pretty much put on hold to possibly see the longball stars go.
Both men failed to hit the long ball yesterday. Pujols shattered a Padres run-and-hit-less game with a single, but no more.
And in New York, Yankees fans saw the Judge hit two doubles, but no more. At the end of the match, he notably received a goal on balls and let’s say that his supporters did not appreciate.
And therein lies the problem: the other teams are afraid of the two stars (and with good reason), which means that they don’t always have good shots to put in their mouths.
But never mind, I believe that the Judge will pronounce his 62nd sentence within two weeks and that the Machine will have enough gas to go there with its 700th long ball.
- 500 walks for Juan Soto.
- The Rays hold their breath.
- 200 strikeouts for Robbie Ray.
