We are completely through all but one Major League Baseball postseason division series and have plenty to take away from all four series and all eight participants.
Five teams in this year’s round were completely absent from the postseason a year ago, and those clubs have demonstrated how their systems have developed and acquired talent. They all have the potential to be legitimate threats to future World Series championships.
This round gave us three Game 5s in a best-of-five format, and rules that were unenforced, ignored or unknown played critical roles in each league’s 2015 narrative. This is a postseason that will affect how the sport is played and governed for years to come.
From Chase Utley’s slide to Russell Martin’s throw to Kyle Schwarber’s moonshot to Jose Bautista’s wood chuck, this division series round has been entirely memorable and impactful—and we still have one game left to play Thursday night.