Playoff Positioning and Contenders Become Clear In the Wake of MLP Kansas City

Major League Pickleball Kansas City is in the books after an atypical Monday finish.

There was plenty of Premier Level action, with 10 teams playing a total of 16 matches. In Challenger, five teams played a total of 10 matches.

Results from MLP Kansas City

Premier Level

Challenger Level

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Top takeaways

Clear separation in Premier

We have now played 59 percent of Premier Level matches and there is a clear separation in two key areas.

First, there's a playoff separation. As a refresher, the top six teams make the playoffs in November.

Here are the Points Per Match and where teams stand after MLP Kansas City, courtesy of Real Clear Stats:

The difference in points per game from first through sixth is 0.28 ppm. The difference between sixth and seventh place is 0.66 ppm. LA fell further behind this weekend with a bad showing, going 0-3.

Are LA, Orlando, or Carolina going to be able to push for that sixth and final playoff spot? They have a lot of work to do.

Secondly, being a top-two seed is MASSIVE according to MLP rules. In the playoffs, the top seeds get to choose everything – they choose which gender doubles team to send out first, they get to react in mixed doubles, AND they get to react in a Dreambreaker. Being a top-two seed is critical.

The Shock and the Flash right now are the top two seeds, and they are the only teams above 2 ppm. With the 5s still with 14 matches and the Hustlers with 10, anyone in the top six could push for those top two spots.

The battle may come down to MLP Miami in late November, which would create some great drama.

The Shock make a comeback in Kansas City

The Shock didn’t have a terrible MLP Salt Lake City – at 1.83 points per match in their six matches – but they finished tied for third in that event, dropping them out of the top spot, temporarily.

Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin went out to change that in Kansas City and went a combined 13-3, with a point differential of +62 in six matches. The Shock won two matches in regulation and two more matches in a Dreambreaker. 

The biggest issue with the Shock right now is the Tardio/Fahey mixed doubles partnership. They are 2-16 in their mixed doubles matches, which is an 11 percent win percentage. The only other mixed doubles partnership struggling like this one is Zane Navratil/Mari Humberg, who are 1-8 in their nine matches. 

St. Louis is still in great shape because the Shock usually win men’s (72 percent win), women’s (78 percent win), and usually Anna and Hayden win (78 percent win).

This formula gives them a good chance of winning a match outright or going to a Dreambreaker, where they are also very good.

D.C. Rohr’s in Kansas City

Rachel Rohrabacher was lights out in Kansas City, as she was the only player to win all of their matches. Rohrabacher went 6-0 with a combined point differential of 151-128, for a point win percentage of 54.12 percent. 

Prior to MLP KC, D.C. was sitting at 1.66 ppm. They moved up 0.17 to 1.83 ppm. 

On the other hand, the Mad Drops started MLP KC at 1.56 ppm and dropped to 1.17. The gap between the Mad Drops and D.C. increased by 0.56 points per match. 

The D.C. Pickleball Team won two in regulation and lost in a Dreambreaker, giving them points in their three matches. The trade for Vivian Glozman seems to be paying big dividends for D.C., especially with Allyce Jones really struggling in Challenger for the Bay Area Breakers in the last two events.

Here are the Real Clear Stats Challenger Level standings after MLP Kansas City:

SoCal taking over in Challenger

The last time the SoCal Hard Eights lost? The quarterfinals of the Mid-Season Tournament. 

Since then, they won three matches in the loser’s bracket to finish the tournament in third. Then the Hard Eights went to SLC and won three matches in regulation. This past weekend, they won one match in regulation and three in a Dreambreaker.

Two things have led to their rise over the last month of Major League Pickleball:

• Yana Newell is a big upgrade over Christine Maddox – Newell could be playing Premier Level. She has really helped solidify not only women’s, but mixed doubles with Erik Lange.
• Erik Lange was BAD in Dreambreakers early in the year and took that to heart and has put in the work to get better. He went from a 26 percent win percentage in Dreambreakers in Atlanta to a 59 percent win percentage in Kansas City. He doesn’t need to be great, he just needs to stay even with the second man in the Dreambreaker lineup. Max Manthou is winning 56 percent of his Dreambreaker points.

The fight for promotion and playoffs in Challenger Level is much tighter than Premier. The Hard Eights have had a really good run recently, moving them all the way up to second. I like their chances of making the playoffs and getting promoted in 2025.

Chicago sliced up the competition

The Slice had only played three matches prior to MLP Kansas City and were in last place in Challenger. 

To add salt to a wound, they were also without the second overall pick Jack Munro this past weekend (excused absence). Thankfully Martin Emmrich was able to step in – both players are lefties and fit into the team very well.

The Slice won two matches in regulation, won a Dreambreaker and lost a Dreambreaker. Earning nine points in four matches helped the Slice move up four spots in the standings. They are now in the conversation for promotion and playoffs.

Emmrich and Megan Fudge both went 6-2 on the weekend with a combined point differential of +27. This team will be good moving forward with Fudge and Munro leading the way.

I'd be very surprised if Martin Emmrich isn't picked up in the Waiver Wire No. 2 later this week.

Bay Area continues downward spiral

The Breakers were in first place prior to the first Waiver Wire period, with 2 ppm after playing six matches and 12 points. Since then, Bay Area traded Vivian Glozman to D.C. for Allyce Jones and $100k. They also dropped Rachel Rettger for Jill Braverman and Patrick Kawka for DJ Young.

The Breakers have gone 1-6 in SLC and KC combined, earning five points in seven matches. The Breakers are now in eighth place at 1.31 ppm and don’t look particularly good.

Allyce Jones went 4-4 in Kansas City, Braverman was 3-5, and Young was 2-6. Young even looked like he didn’t want to be playing on Saturday vs. the SoCal Hard Eights, especially in men’s doubles.

Hopefully this team can find a way to turn their momentum around. With 10 matches left to play, they are on the outside looking in, both in terms of playoffs and promotion.