MLB's expanded playoffs are keeping more fans engaged as the regular season hits the final stretch

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — J.J. Picollo sat in the Kansas City dugout on an unseasonably warm autumn afternoon, waiting for the Royals to play the Detroit Tigers in a matchup of AL Central rivals that few thought would be fighting for the postseason this year.

Both had losing records last season, and the Royals had fallen so far from the halcyon days of their 2014 and '15 pennants that they were coming off a 106-loss campaign that was arguably the worst season in the history of the franchise.

Neither the Royals nor the Twins were fighting for the division title, though. Cleveland was busy putting that race to rest. But they were firmly in the mix for one of the three wild cards awarded to teams in each league, and giving Major League Baseball exactly what it wanted when it expanded its playoffs a couple of years ago.

“I like that more teams get in. I think it's made it more interesting for our fans,” said Picollo, the Royals' general manager. “There's more fans coming to the games — watching games — than there typically is. There's several teams on the fringes that could make a move. So the fan base is engaged, and I think that's awesome for the game.”

There are myriad reasons that baseball has become relevant again this season, from the pitch clock and rules changes that have shortened games to historic performances by the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge.

Yet the fact remains that many fans shut down once their team is out of contention — for the Royals, that's been about mid-May lately. The expanded playoffs means more fan bases are engaged deeper into the season; with just over a week to go, seven were still alive for the three AL wild cards and five were fighting for the three NL wild cards.

“I think it's done exactly what they wanted it to do, which is keep a lot of people interested, and a lot of teams in it,” said Atlanta manager Brian Snitker, whose team watched the Phillies run away with the NL East but were still alive for a wild card.

In fact, the Braves were battling another division rival — the Mets — for one of the available spots.

“You know who hates it? My mom,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, whose brother, Joey, happens to be the third-base coach for Detroit, meaning one of Iris Amaro's favorite teams could be making the playoffs at the expense of the other.

“Let's see who Iris is actually pulling for,” Cora said with a grin. “I think it's good for the sport, regardless.”

Major League Baseball has changed its playoff format several times. From 1969 until 1993, division winners went straight to the league championship series, and the winners met in the World Series. The wild card was instituted in 1994 along with a division realignment to give more teams a chance, and a second wild card in 2012 expanded the playoffs to 10 teams.

At that point, each league's wild cards played a one-game, winner-take-all showdown for a spot in the divisional round.

“I was involved in two wild cards where it was, ‘Win or go home,’” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, whose team began this week in the first AL wild-card spot. “That was like the Super Bowl, it felt like, that one night.”

Two years ago, a third wild card in each league expanded the playoffs to 12, and the play-in game was replaced by best-of-three series featuring those three teams and lowest-seeded division winner. And while it brought two more teams into the mix, it also forced a team that won its division after a 162-game slog to play an extra series just to reach the divisional round.

That particular element of the expanded playoffs doesn't sit well with everyone.

“If you win your division, you shouldn't have to play in a wild-card series,” Mets outfielder J.D. Martinez said. “I like the idea of a single-game wild card, not a three-game. I played in two of them and they were electric. They were unbelievable. They were some of my favorite experiences, those two wild-card games. There's just so much. It's like a Game 7.”

Even fans of the same team, still alive because of the expanded playoff format, have mixed feelings about it.

“I'm not a fan,” said Charlies Devries, a Braves fan from Atlanta. “There is no real reason for it. I like the old way of doing it. I like the one-game wild-card tiebreaker. It doesn't make it any more exciting in the last part of the season.”

“I kind of like the new format,” countered Jack Mixon, a Braves fan from Hall County, Georgia. “It's nice to see (the Braves) try to win another World Series. The end of the season is now really exciting because any mistake could cost us the playoffs.”

With just over a week left in the season, that was the case for a dozen teams still fighting for wild cards.

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AP Sports freelancers Sean Holohan, Ken Powtak and Ian Harrison contributed to this report.

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