Major League Baseball's playoffs are just hours away from kicking off with the four Wild Card Series. These best-of-three matchups, featuring two division winners and four wild card entrees, will determine who moves on to the more-traditional divisional round.

As is always the case at CBS Sports, the start of a new round of the playoffs means that I'm here to break down one X-factor that could swing each series. What is an X-factor, you might ask? To that, dear reader, I would say that it's a term best defined not by what it is but by what it allows: creative license. In this case, I've put that to use by digging in and highlighting some granular matters.

In keeping with tradition, I'm obligated to note that baseball -- and postseason baseball especially -- is a feral beast that is tough

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