MLB Adds Second Wild Card: How This Came One Year Too Late for the Phillies

When the Phillies swept the Atlanta Braves to finish off the 2011 regular season, it eliminated the Braves from the postseason and opened the door for the St. Louis Cardinals.  Of course the Cards ended up defeating the Phillies in five games in the NLDS, the Milwaukee Brewers in six games in the NLCS and then the Texas Rangers in seven games to win the World Series.

Major League Baseball is expected to announce they will be adding a second Wild Card playoff team to each league.  This will definitely help out teams in the American League East, who year after year go up against the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Before this change, teams like the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles were practically done before it started.  It was the same for the Tampa Bay Rays for years until all of their top minor league talent developed and they bumped off the Yankees in 2008 and the Red Sox in 2011.

Still, life has been made easier for small-to-mid-market teams looking for a chance to play in the postseason.

Now back to 2011 and the heartbreak of the Phillies.  If this announcement was made in February of 2011, the Phillies more than likely would have had their second parade down Broad Street in four years and here’s how:

The Phillies still would have had the No. 1 seed in the NL, with the Brewers No. 2 and the Diamondbacks claiming No. 3.  However, instead of the Cardinals travelling to Philadelphia for the NLDS, they would have had to play a one-game playoff versus the Braves in St. Louis.

The Braves could have tossed a fresh Tim Hudson while another fresh starter, Brandon Beachy, would have been available out of the pen against the Cards, who would have thrown Chris Carpenter.  Carpenter, as you recall, pitched the final game of the season and shut out the Houston Astros.

There is no way Tony LaRussa would have used Carpenter in that finale vs. the Houston Astros since it would have been meaningless under the format announced today.  Instead, both teams would have played a meaningless game No. 162 and rested their regulars and bullpen arms for the one-game playoff.

It would have been the Braves (Hudson) in St. Louis (Carpenter).  Both aces would have been used up for the short five-game series vs. the Phillies.

More than likely, the Phillies would have easily moved on, as they were dominant against the Braves the entire season, and LaRussa would have only been able to toss Carpenter once, probably in Game 3.

Yes, I know the Phillies knocked Carpenter around in Game 2 last year, but it was Carpenter and Carpenter alone who enabled the Cardinals to defeat the Phillies in that 1-0 shutout in Game 5.

So, the addition of another wild card team to the MLB playoff field came one season too late for last year’s franchise-record 102-win Philadelphia Phillies.  Let’s see if things play out more in their favor in 2012.

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