What the MLB 12 Team Playoff means for the Cardinals & Cubs

Baseball is back! And there are new rules to consider like the DH in the National League, and also the new 12 team playoff format, so what does all this mean for the Cubs and the Cardinals?

Get our free mobile app

Baseball is back, and can I just say that makes me really happy, as a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan there is nothing I love more than watching day baseball live from Chicago on a random Tuesday in July, baseball is part of what makes summer amazing in this country. BUT the MLB won't look the same as it comes back, new to the National League is the DH or the designated hitter, we had a taste of this during the covid shortened year and this should be good for both the Cardinals and Cubs (and really all national league teams) they can focus on bringing in more power hitters to their rosters and don't have to worry at all about how good of a hitter their ace pitching prospect is.

More important than the DH (in my opinion) is the expansion of the playoffs, MLB has had a 10 team playoff (really 8 teams because 2 of the teams are eliminated after 1 ridiculous play in-game) since 2012 according to cbssports.com. So how does the new playoff work? According to cbssports.com, the top 2 seeds (division winners with the best records) get a first-round bye, and then you have the 3rd seed (the division winner with the worst record) playing the lowest of the 3 wild card teams, and the 1st place and second place wild card teams (wild card teams would be non-division winners with best records) playing each other in the first round. So last year for example the Cardinals would have played the Dodgers in a 3 game series as the 4 and 5 seeds.

Is the playoff expansion good for the Cubs and the Cardinals? YES without a doubt as a fan of either of these teams you should be excited about the expansion, first off no one loved losing a 1 game wildcard format, that sucked. This new option would give your team a chance in a 3 game series to advance, also getting a 1 or 2 seed and getting all that time to rest your starters is a big advantage after a long season. One other reason to love this as a Cubs or Cardinals fan is it gives us more opportunity for both clubs to face each other in the playoffs, imagine a Cubs vs Card 4 vs 5 three-game wildcard round this year? ELECTRIC!