Shohei Ohtani launched 100 mph fastballs to home runs, stole bases against some of the game’s best catchers and recently finished one of the best regular season Best in Major League Baseball history. Now, the Japanese superstar and his Los Angeles Dodgers face an arguably even scarier problem. Since MLB’s most recent 12-team playoff format went into effect in 2022, five of the top eight seeds have lost in the Division Series, unable to take advantage of the supposed bonus of winning a spot. exempt from participating in the Wild Card Series.

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This year, the Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies have the top two seeds in the National League, while the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians also have the same spot in the American League. That gives them all five days to prepare for the best Division Series of the year. Perhaps more than any other professional sport, baseball is a sport that relies on rhythm and routine. MLB crams 162 regular-season games into 187 days over six months, meaning teams play almost every day from April to September. Except for the All-Star break in July, there’s never a two-day break. consecutive schedule.

The Guardians have been playing simulation games for the past three days to stay fresh. On Wednesday, they played in an empty Progressive Stadium with crowd noise piped in, giving it the same aura as the pandemic-marred 2020 season. The Yankees are one of the teams that has had success under the current playoff format, winning the 2022 Division I over the Guardians on five days off. Last week, coach Aaron Boone said part of his plan was to bring some of the organization’s lower-ranked players to New York for additional offensive players.