In each of the past two seasons, the Philadelphia Phillies have won in the Wild Card Round of the postseason, before upsetting the NL East Champion Atlanta Braves — who were on a bye during the NLWCS — in the NLDS.
Have the Braves been particularly, well, whiny about the effect having the time off has had on them in the postseason? Yes. The Houston Astros had the same bye in 2022 and won the World Series. But there’s no doubt that during the Monday-Friday that the Phillies have off next week, they have to strike a balance between catching their breaths but not getting rusty in the process.