Six things I want to see in October

A season is over. A season is about to begin. The postseason is inherently different than the regular season — both pressurized and compressed, a psychological thriller staged in a cramped airplane. Everything is viewed close up. Situations you breezed past twice a day in June become heart-pounding occasions for intrigue.

Today’s newsletter is about those moments, the little things that may or may not — but definitely could! — happen this month, the ones I’m most interested to watch with the level of high-def breathlessness only October can truly provide.

That starts with the Wild Card Series, best-of-three affairs held in three straight days (at most) at the higher seed’s home park, like a sudden death transition from regular season schedules to the stretchy playoff slate. Here’s the schedule setup, for easy reference. This first round will be broadcast on NBC, NBCSN or Peacock:

Phillies at Braves, 2pm Tuesday and Wednesday, Game 3 TBD

White Sox at Astros, 5pm Tuesday and Wednesday, Game 3 TBD

Red Sox at Yankees, 8pm Tuesday and Wednesday, Game 3 TBD

Cubs at Padres, 10pm Tuesday and Wednesday, Game 3 TBD

The Division Series matchups set up like this:

• Brewers vs. Cubs/Padres
• Dodgers vs. Phillies/Braves
• Rays vs. Red Sox/Yankees
• Guardians vs. White Sox/Astros

Once we move on to the Division Series and beyond, the AL games will be on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max, while the NL games will be on FOX or FS1. The World Series will be on FOX. Adjust your streaming services accordingly.

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Before we dive in, wanted to mention the Bandwagon postseason programming plan:

• Friday, ahead of the Division Series, I’ll drop my annual Who’s That Guy? list, a rundown of potentially important, but relatively anonymous players who might become big names in the spotlight of the playoffs.
• Throughout October, you’re going to get more frequent newsletters with quick ruminations/takes/analysis on the biggest or most interesting moments.
• I can’t cover every series comprehensively, and won’t pretend to, but this is the apex month for great baseball writing, so I will be sure to aggregate as much of the good stuff for you as possible.

If you enjoy the work here, please consider making a monthly or yearly pledge. For less than $0.70 an issue, or in an amount of your choosing, you can help sustain the project and raise its ambitions.

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Jacob Misiorowski vs. the forces of history

Narratively, the postseason’s most powerful effect is galvanizing or complicating our understanding of the game’s most brilliant pitchers. Summer performances chisel them onto stone pedestals, autumnal exploits determine whether they are depicted as conquering warriors to celebrate or tragic heroes to consider under furrowed brows.

Misiorowski has mined a season out of the deepest depths of the mythological caves: A buoyant Terminator with a baby face, stickman limbs and a Pokemon collection, the Brewers’ ace just threw down a 1.80 ERA and unthinkable levels of sustained velocity. Since the Year of the Pitcher in 1968, only two starting pitchers have registered more impressive full seasons of run prevention, by era-adjusted ERA-: Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux, who each posted two that beat Misiorowski’s 43 ERA- mark.

Now he will face a new monster, as the Brewers look to him to be the tip of the spear. This Brewers franchise, or at least the fanbase, seems to be developing a superiority complex about its dominant regular season performances in lieu of glistening October affirmation. The common refrain about the Brewers has been that they lack the star power at the top of the roster when push comes to shove against teams like, well, the Dodgers.

The Miz makes that generalization less true. There are still some Brewers tendencies that might spark skepticism about a postseason run — they hit the second-fewest homers the majors — but with their excellence escalating in a 103-win tour de force, they should be able to fight valiantly, and maybe even win, against anybody.

Improv in the infield