Good morning, Athletics Nation!
The Oakland A’s have 10 games left in the regular season, and then it will be time for the playoffs, beginning Sept. 29. Of course, this year the postseason will be different than ever before, with 16 teams competing in a full four-round tournament. It begins with a three-game Wild Card Round and then proceeds as normal from there.
This change was supposed to be for 2020 only, which made sense. The season was already going to be extremely unusual due to coronavirus, chiefly due to its shorter duration, so why not spice up the playoffs while also ensuring that a legitimate contender wouldn’t get unjustly left out due to a two-week slump?