With just over three weeks left in the season, the playoff picture is starting to take shape. The Tigers are up by double digits in the AL Central, poised to coast to their first division title since 2014. In the NL, the Wild Card race is likely sewn up, with each of that league’s divisions offering up a bonus postseason inclusion. It’s the type of foregone conclusion that many, myself included, feared when MLB switched to a new playoff format in 2022. With 12 of 30 teams making the playoffs, including three Wild Card teams from each league, could we still expect the kind of September drama which has always been such a staple of the game, from the Giants’ mad dash to catch the Dodgers for the NL pennant in 1951 through to Evan Longoria’s playoff clinching walk-off to conclude the 2011 regu

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