Astros: Postseason format could make things difficult

MLB’s postseason format for 2020 isn’t doing the Houston Astros any favors.

Major League Baseball announced its postseason schedule on Tuesday, and it’s certainly different from what fans are used to. There are more teams involved, of course, but we already knew that. What we know now is when and where the games will be played, and the Houston Astros probably aren’t celebrating it.

For one, they won’t be playing any postseason games at Minute Maid Park. Instead, the league is instituting a “playoff bubble,” so to speak, and in doing so, they’re ensuring no team has home field advantage. Depending on seeding, the Astros would go to either Los Angeles or San Diego if they make the playoffs.

Minute Maid Park will host some playoff games this year, but they’ll be for National League teams. A pair of NL Wild Card series, along with the ensuing NL Division Series, will take place in Houston. The NLCS and World Series will both be in Arlington to showcase the Rangers’ new stadium, and the ALCS will be in San Diego.

Format and Schedule

The first round (referred to as the Wild Card Round) will be a best-of-three. The division series will be best-of-five as they typically are, and the LCS and World Series will all be best-of-seven as usual. But there’s a big difference that teams will have to deal with — there will be no off days during each series, with the exception of the World Series.

Teams usually enjoy a couple of off days in each series to accommodate for travel, but since there will be no travel in these bubbles, the league has eliminated the days off. There will be at least one off day, if not more, between each series, but there will not be any days off during a series until the World Series itself.