The first National League playoff game of the 2010s was a nine-inning no-hitter by a Hall of Fame ace. Brian Anderson, the lead television broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers, called the game on TBS and relished it — Roy Halladay, the stalwart Philadelphia Phillies’ ace, dominating from first pitch to last.

Now, at the end of the decade, the playoffs arrive again with a much different pitching plan en vogue. While aces still abound, teams like the Brewers increasingly spread their innings among several pitchers in shorter bursts. Even traditionalists concede it has merits.

“I’m kind of into it now, I am,” Anderson said. “I wasn’t a few years ago, but now I’ve seen it, and everybody’s engaged, everybody plays. In a National League setting, everybody’s involved in the game. It’s a true team concept.

“There are alpha dogs, but it’s not the gap that there’s always been in baseball. It’s now about bringing in depth and developing depth, which the Brewers can do — and any small-market team can do.”