How Pitchers Are Lasting Deeper Into Games This Postseason
If there’s anything that Mike Piazza, Jeff Reardon, and Justin Verlander can agree on, it’s the idea that, at some point throughout the course of the 162 games, they should begin to wonder. That’s right, they ought to wonder what the playoffs mean, and what the future will hold for them. They should consider, for a moment, if there’s any chance at all that they will be there, or if they’re still there once this 162-game marathon is over.
This is the year that it’s possible one of those “if” questions can be resolved for all three pitchers. They’re all well aware of the upcoming postseason, and even though this is the last year they’ll be on the same team, they’re already making plans for what this future could hold for them and their teams.
The question of what it means to be a part of the postseason is a very difficult topic to discuss. How do you define the “league playoffs”? Who gets in and who doesn’t? The end result of a playoff series is usually determined by a best-of-seven matchup. Do you have a seven-game series for the NL East? A six-game series for the AL Central? A three-game series for the wild-card? And what about the postseason in the WBC and Division II playoffs which are still being decided?
Most organizations in any sport that are successful are those that define themselves as part of the “league playoffs.” What makes those playoffs? Why are we all here if the postseason is defined by teams that have nothing to do with the National League, or the National Football League? What are we really here for if, at the end of the 162-game marathon, we’re going to be divided into three divisions by one’s opinion of who won the World Series last October?
And, as it turns out, the answer to all of these questions is exactly what the pitchers will be thinking about.
“When they start thinking, my stomach drops
