You’ll probably read this in another article after all the playoffs are done, but the pearl-clutching that happened when news broke that the playoffs were expanding to 16 teams has been, shall we say, unfounded this year.
The NLCS matchup features nothing but the two best teams in the entire National League: the #1 seed Los Angeles Dodgers and the #2 seed Atlanta Braves. Neither team has lost a game in the playoffs and come into today’s matchup at a combined 10-0. Meanwhile, throughout the rest of the NL bracket, the #5 seed lost in the Wild Card round and the #6 seed was swept in the Divisional round (to say nothing of the #7 and #8 seeds, who obviously were swept in the Wild Card round.