The MLB wild card games are fun to watch, as they bring the intensity similar to a game 7 in the World Series. This year was no different as the games brought their own excitement and moments.
For those teams that don’t win their respective Divisions, they get to play in the Wild Card Game. As it stands there are two wild card teams in each league that play in a winner take all game. The winner gets to move onto the division series.
The Wild Card game can certainly be rewarding but the winner take all aspect creates a sense of urgency that both teams feel. It can make for some pretty fun games because anything can happen and everything counts in these games.
Every pitch, every play, and every hit are important to the momentum of the game. Both teams have to play their best game if they want to move forward, a lot is on the line. Since 2012 there have been 14 wild card games with several memorable moments. Madison Bumgarner pitched shutouts in 2014 and 2016.
In 2017 the Diamondbacks beat the Rockies in an 11-8 shoot out thriller, the highest-scoring wild card game ever. It was like one team would score then the other one would come back and match them. Another moment is when Tony Wolters drove in the winning run to help the Rockies beat the Cubs in the 13th inning.
The Wild card helps to encourage teams to be competitive in the regular season because they have a chance at a postseason spot. When MLB expand to two wild card teams in each league, it helped create more chances.
In the last few years, we have seen some lower market teams in the postseason like the Rockies and Diamondbacks. It’s nice to see some different teams. There have been talks about making changes but the Wild Card format should stay the same for now.
