MLB 2016 Postseason Schedule Announced

The 2016 postseason schedule was announced by Major League Baseball on Tuesday. The postseason will begin with the American League Wild Card game on Oct. 4 and could stretch until Nov. 2 if the World Series goes to seven games.

What’s notable from the announced schedule is the reminder of just how different the playoffs are from the regular season when it comes to baseball schedules. During the regular season, teams average three off days per month (with the exception of the all-star game’s lengthier break). During the postseason, no team will play more than three games without an off-day and even a wild-card team that plays every possible game through Game 7 of the World Series would have 10 off-days.

The standard format of the postseason is two games on, one day off. Using the same example of a wild card team playing every possible game finds even that team would only play back-to-back-to-back games twice throughout the playoffs.

That schedule explains why teams spent so much effort to improve their bullpens at the trade deadline. Back in the days of four-man rotations, the extra off days gave teams a chance to give their ace three starts in an LCS or World Series if the schedule lined up, but those days are long gone. The last pitcher to start Games 1, 4 and 7 of a playoff series was the Diamondbacks’ Curt Schilling in 2001. The Yankees’ C.C. Sabathia in 2009 was the last starter to even make an attempt at the trifecta–he started Games 1 and 4 of the League Championship Series and the World Series but neither series went seven games.

So most starters are going to get two starts in a postseason series with the chance for a third relief appearance in the most dire of circumstances.

But relievers can be called on in virtually every close postseason game without being overused. The Cubs can go into the postseason planning to use Aroldis Chapman in every game that doesn’t get out of hand and the Indians can rely heavily on Andrew Miller with the comfort that they aren’t going to throw them significantly more than they would in a normal month of the regular season.

As an example, Kelvin Herrera pitched in 11 of the Royals’ 15 postseason games in 2014 and 11 of their 16 games in 2015. He did so without ever really being overworked. Last postseason, Herrera never threw on three days in a row. He had back-to-back days off twice and three days off in a row twice. His workload was not really any different than the 15 2/3 innings and 14 appearances he made last July during the regular season.

Wade Davis is an even more dramatic example. In 2014, Davis pitched in 12 of the Royals’ 15 postseason games. He pitched in 10 of the Royals’ 11 postseason wins that year. If the game was not out of hand in the early innings, Davis pitched. But at the end of the postseason, Davis’ workload was not significantly different than a normal regular season month for him. He threw 15 innings in 12 appearances after throwing 14 innings in 14 appearances in August and 12 innings in 13 appearances in September. And because the Royals’ finished off the Angels and Orioles quickly, Davis had a six-day break before the World Series. He didn’t throw on three consecutive days during the postseason and he only threw on back-to-back days three times that October.

So if you have a dominant reliever in the postseason, use them early and use them often. The schedule ensures that it’s almost impossible to overuse a reliever come October.