All of the teams who cruised to 100+ wins in 2023 were bounced from the playoffs in short order. Now, you can believe that there are no excuses, but you have to have your head someone dark to believe that sitting out a week for the Wild Card Round has no effect. I don’t believe in excuses either, but there are reasons, and we would be foolish not to consider what they are.
At least part (if not most) of the reason the Dodgers, Braves, and Orioles (who all won 100+ games) were bounced from the playoffs has to be the week layoff they experienced before their playoff rounds started.