One of the hottest debates in Baseball every October: A first-round playoff bye is a golden ticket or a curse? Some say the long layoff kills their rhythm and momentum, while others welcome the chance to rest and heal for the battles ahead. But Phillies superstar Bryce Harper has a much different, and much blunter, opinion on the matter.

This whole debate started back in 2022 when MLB changed its postseason structure and expanded the playoff field from ten teams to twelve total. They replaced the old one-game Wild Card with a new best-of-three series, and six teams from both leagues would get a shot at the title. In this new system, the top two teams in each league get a huge advantage as they receive a first-round bye and advance directly to the Division Series and get nearly a full week off to prepare.

Now, with the Phillies cruising toward another bye, Harper was asked if Philadelphia had learned anything from last year’s early exit after a bye. The question had teeth, considering the division leader, the Phillies, collapsed against the 89-game winning Mets in 2024. But maintaining the cool, Harper acknowledged that while some teams have complained about the format, his team would not be one of them. “I mean, it’s worked for some teams, obviously, and there’s other teams that have complained about it and things like that, but I don’t think we’re going to be one of those teams. We weren’t last year,” Harper stated. But he wasn’t done.

He sees the time off as an obvious advantage for his club. “I would love a couple days off.” And then he clarified that he thinks it’s a weak excuse for a team that failed to perform when it mattered. “I don’t think it matters if you have a bye or not… I can’t stand the stance of teams taking, ‘Oh, well, if we would have played (in the Wild Card round).’ I think it’s all nonsense.”

So, what next?

How the Phillies plan to use the bye: The entire league is not on the same page as Harper

Bryce Harper’s desire for a bye is extremely practical this year, considering the Philadelphia Phillies need every single day of rest they can get for star shortstop Trea Turner.

Turner is recovering from a right hamstring strain. He is currently running at only 60% speed, as per manager Rob Thompson. So, this extra week of rest is a crucial window for him to heal. It will give the Phillies the best possible chance to have one of their most important players near full strength for the Division Series.

Meanwhile, Harper’s ‘no excuses’ mentality stands in stark contrast to other teams like the Atlanta Braves.

After winning over 100 games in both 2022 and 2023, the Braves were eliminated by Harper’s Phillies after the bye. And Braves manager Brian Snitker directly blamed the layoff for his team’s struggles. “It’s hard to hit velocity when you haven’t seen anything in five days. That’s my biggest thing. We had a team that set all these records and everything offensively, and we didn’t hit much in the postseason. I don’t know that it’s approach, I think it’s just a matter of, I don’t like the system quite honestly,” exclaimed Snitker.

But it’s not a point of being right or wrong in the debate, as both views have their own arguments. You can see this by comparing the Braves’ and Phillies’ losses.

Atlanta’s historic offense scored just eight runs in their 2023 series loss when they blamed the playoff format. But when the Phillies lost in 2024, the analysis was different. Records point to their bullpen collapse and their mediocre .500 record in the second half of the season. And no one seriously blamed the bye for their struggles.

But for now, the debate will continue as MLB has not announced any plans to change the current 12-team format. If the Phillies play well in October, Harper’s POV will be praised. And if they flop, no one can say Harper didn’t set the tone. Either way, the playoff bye isn’t going away anytime soon, at least.

Which side are you on, by the way?