This year’s National League playoff field exemplifies why the postseason expanded to 12 teams.
First, there are the Phillies (87–75), who under the former 10-team format would have fallen just short of a wild-card berth. Instead, they earned the No. 6 seed and returned to the postseason for the first time since 2011. The Mets, winners of 101 games this season, still had to settle for a wild-card matchup, but unlike in previous years, the fate of their remarkable campaign won’t depend on one winner-take-all game at the start of the playoffs.
But just because both teams benefit from the new system doesn’t mean they’ll be the ones moving on to the NLDS next week. The Mets host a talented Padres club with a starting rotation that rivals their own, and the Phillies need to get through a Cardinals team motivated to win another ring for Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina in their final season.
