The Los Angeles Dodgers have not
missed the postseason since 2012 and have won three National League pennants and a World Series in that time frame. Conversely, the Seattle Mariners are fighting to avoid missing the playoffs for the 20th consecutive season. What about some of the other franchises yearning for October baseball?
Let s take a look at some of the longest playoff droughts in MLB and when they might end. These timelines were devised through an assessment of current MLB rosters and players under club control, as well as the expected arrival and development of top minor leaguers.
For clarity s sake, no team on this list has made the playoffs since 2016. Easy enough, right? Well, maybe not for the following clubs.
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How much contact does Bobby Witt Jr. need to make to be a star? Even with a raucous 2021 spring performance on his ledger, there are reasonable concerns among pro scouts who saw him about how often he’s going to swing and miss. None of this is new. Witt swung and missed a lot during his showcase summer but his subsequent fall and spring were strong enough to make him the second overall pick of the 2019 draft class, and he’s the type of talent who’d be a threat to go first in most drafts.
His skillset compares quite closely to Trevor Story‘s. There are going to be some strikeouts here because Witt’s swing path makes it hard for him to get to pitches down and in, but his combination of defensive fit and game power make him a likely impact player anyway. He’s is a big, athletic young guy who moves so well that he makes the field look small when he’s running the bases or ranging for a grounder, and he is very likely to not only stay at shortstop but be quite good ther