The 82-Game MLB Season Could Provide an Interesting Playoff Lineup for the 2020 Season

SI's Tom Verducci shares how the 82-game could influence MLB playoffs

Tom Verducci | May 26, 2020

If all goes well and the MLB does move forward with an 82-game season, MLB playoffs could feature some teams you may not expect. SI's Tom Verducci shares how an 82-game 2020 MLB season presents a unique scenario for both players and fans.

Video Transcript:

Former Baltimore manager Buck Showalter liked to say that in a 162-game season, there are no Cinderellas. This is a different story. If we get an 82-game season, Cinderella is all dressed up and ready to dance. The finish could be crazy. I went back and looked at the last three years and where teams stood after 82 games. I also applied the proposed playoff format. Seven teams in each league. On average, 19 of the 30 teams stood within two games of a playoff spot after 82 games last year. The Rangers and the Padres would be dancing in an 82 game season. They'd be playoff teams.

Now, you would also have multiple ties because baseball would see teams one through seven. Except they're doing away with playing tiebreaker games. So whatever formula is used to break ties becomes super important. We'll take any season that we can get with Major League Baseball. But a 82-game season, that just might be wild.

Published May 26, 2020

TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.