Lessons Learned from the 2024 MLB Postseason

The Value of Starting Pitching

The closest thing to Curt Schilling on display this MLB postseason was Gerrit Cole, but on average, we have been witnessing the descent of starting pitching and all of its glamor this past decade-plus. The old days of selling tickets based on starting pitching matchups and expecting 6+ innings from both guys are in the rearview mirror. After the pandemic, the average innings pitched by starting pitchers has remained stubbornly below six innings per start. Their collective workload has gone down, but injuries have only increased. Pitchers are throwing as hard as ever, yet fastball usage rates have decreased.

Against this dire backdrop, I give you the 2024 MLB Postseason. I couldn’t help but watch this October and shed a tear of joy after Gerrit Cole reemerged from the Yankee dugout in the sixth inning of the World Series following a collective meltdown from every last player in pinstripes the inning before. More to come on this later, but seeing a manager return to his starter at that moment was invigorating. I couldn’t help but think about how I missed when this would happen more often.

Front offices have been increasingly reluctant to have a pitcher face an order more than two times through, but how does this impact relievers in the playoffs? It’s hard to believe it doesn’t. Certainly, in a seven-game series, reliever exposure is just as critical as starting pitcher exposure. However, all three of the seven-game series ended in five games, perhaps masking the potential downsides of an overreliance on the bullpen. Despite this, we don’t need to look too far back to see relievers such as Emmanuel Clase being relegated to Instagram flexing after allowing back-to-back home runs in as early as Game 3 of the ALCS. Many relief pitchers need to rely on their plus stuff and infrequent appearances to get through the order one time alone. As pitching development continues to accelerate, hitters have proven adaptable. While starting pitchers will likely continue to play a marginalized role in the playoffs, I am curious to see how relievers fare when they are subject to three or four appearances throughout a series and just how valuable that makes workhorses like Gerrit Cole and Zack Wheeler.

We are, in fact, talking about practice.

As the little league dad would quickly tell you, practice makes perfect. When we watch baseball on TV, it’s easy to think, “These guys are big leaguers. They must practice, right?” While players take their batting practice and go through their daily fielding routines, their schedules look nothing like your little league teams did throughout the season, and understandably so. However, it still may shock some that the real fundamentals of team baseball: cuts and relays, PFPs, rundowns, situational drills, bunt plays, etc, are primarily reserved for Spring Training. For some teams, this isn’t much of an issue. After all, managers can still have discretion on how they focus on these basics in meetings or out on the field throughout the year. Many players have also been playing baseball for a long time, and these things can become second nature. Not to pick on them, but the New York Yankees would beg to differ.

It’s not a great sign as a World Series contender when your opponent’s scouting report for you is to literally make you play baseball. This is exactly what the Dodgers intended to make the Yankees do, and they were rewarded with a World Series title. No amount of talent will prevail in an MLB postseason if your team can’t make simple plays to chip away at those daunting 27 outs. Whether the Yankees’ shortcomings were more indicative of a personnel issue or Aaron Boone’s “player-friendly” managerial style, re-signing Juan Soto will not be the only hurdle to overcome ahead of next April. This postseason revealed the nasty effects of a lack of team practice throughout the long MLB season and how some clubs adapt less than others.

Managing star power with balanced roster construction

Baseball is the only sport where star players can be uniquely invisible in the playoffs. Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge went a combined six for 37 (.162), with Ohtani notably battling a shoulder injury. It wasn’t the likely MVPs who stepped up for their teams; role players such as Enrique Hernández and Tommy Edman consistently delivered throughout the postseason. For the teams (the Dodgers) who have perfected the balance of internal player development, top-of-the-line free-agent signings, and trade deadline acquisitions, World Series contention will continue to be within their grasp. The reality is that Shohei Ohtani and his $700 million price tag are not involved in every play (until he’s pitching again, of course).

Of course, star power and position depth have always been held at a premium. The increasing role of the bullpen, injury rates, and the expanded playoff further exacerbate this reality. The name of the game in baseball is adjustment, and the postseason tends to weed out the teams who run out of versatility deep into October. For the Dodgers, Mookie Betts is set to change primary positions again this upcoming season, underscoring his value as a superstar all over the field, not just in one position.

Look to see teams continue to build on this front over the offseason. Despite names such as Juan Soto, Willy Adames, and Corbin Burns being likely to command big free agency paychecks as fruit for their labor, teams have been hesitant to hand out burdensome, long-term deals as of late. Scott Boras struck out last year (he’s better at puns than me; check out his most recent crop here), and players such as Blake Snell were victims of front-office strategies, such as the Mets, who brought in cheaper players on short-term deals to fill up the depth chart such as Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, and Harrison Bader. Turned out ok for them, but please back up a Mack truck full of cash for Soto Uncle Steve.

So yeah, these are some of my thoughts on the MLB Postseason. Also, it’s worth mentioning that the large market appeal of a Yankees-Dodgers match-up saw this World Series as the most-watched series since the 2017 seven-game WS. Don’t let people tell you that baseball is dying. It’s not. Additionally, please don’t see my failure to include more analysis on the earlier rounds of the playoffs as small-market bias but rather a product of short memory and a driving interest in what makes a championship team. Thank you, and Let’s Go Mets!