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The 2026 season for the St. Louis Cardinals has come to a close. We were told this team wouldn’t prioritize “winning over everything” after jettisoning several veterans in the offseason. What came of that was a season in which we saw nearly an entire roster’s worth of players make MLB debuts, a new young core start to take shape, and an unexpected first half of winning that should set the foundation for seasons to come. Before the season began, our friend Dan Szymborski, over at Fangraphs, posted his annual zips projections for all the Cardinals players. Based on those projections and what actually took place, let’s take a quick run-through of the roster and hand out some season grades.

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Catchers

Ivan Herrera

Projection: .274/.362/.438, .349 wOBA, 127 wRC+, 1.9 fWAR

Production: .243/.353/.384, .330 wOBA, 110 wRC+, 1.4 fWAR

In a season in which Ivan Herrera was an Ironman and managed to avoid the IL all season long, and one where, metrically speaking, his defense behind the plate was mostly underwhelming, he found his way to a productive season with the bat even though it was with considerably less thump. His projected ISO coming into 2026 was .164 and only managed a .141, which is about league average. For a big-league catcher thats above average offensive production. For a primary DH, that is fairly mediocre. Given what we saw from 2025 in terms of impact and the significant step back in the slugging for Herrera this season, I’d say this season was average, if a little disappointing.

Grade: C-

Pedro Pages

Projection: .226/.278/.351, .275 wOBA, 76 wRC+, 1.6 fWAR

Production: .213/.265/.309, .256 wOBA, 60 wRC+, 0.4 fWAR

Coming into 2026, it seemed as though Pages and Herrera were going to be the two primary time-share catchers with Yohel Pozo rotating in from time to time and functioning as the primary RHH off the bench. That lasted all of about 8 weeks into the season, when Jimmy Crooks forced his way into the conversation and pushed Pages into the 3rd catcher role for roughly 2/3 of the season. Pages’ bat had fairly low expectations put on it coming into the season, and you combine that with pretty much no playing time, you get stat lines like this. Pages still delivered when it came to throwing out base stealers, and his reputation as a high-class game caller and leader in the clubhouse still remained, though players get very little credit for that, I know some will bluster about the passed balls and blocking, and some of that is very much on Pages to do a better job of getting in front of those, but I dont think it was as egregious as some fans perceive it to be, a lot of pitchers who were either young or featured poor command contributed to those numbers inflating. Overall, I think Pages is a quality backup catcher but should not be looked at as a primary backstop on a contending club. The ascension of young catchers will likely make Pages a roster casualty in one form or another this offseason.

Grade: D+

Jimmy Crooks

Projection: .241/.300/.369, .294 wOBA, 89 wRC+, 2.1 fWAR

Production: .179/.255/.336, .264 wOBA, 65 wRC+, 0.0 fWAR

Boy oh boy, what a roller coaster season of a year for Jimmy Crooks, from starting red hot in AAA and taking advantage of hitter-friendly environments, though he was still striking out and swinging and missing a ton, to a season at the big-league level where he was part of an interesting mix where Herrera wound up catching 3-5 days and Pages platooned with Crooks based on matchups the other 40% of the time. A large contingent of fans will argue he didn’t get the long, full run he should have; I would argue he didn’t make the most of his opportunities to force their hand to see more of him. Defensively, it was weird and really not up to par with what we had been sold on when it came to minor league evaluators’ scouting reports. Crooks also had a passed-ball problem which, given his and Page’s reputation, only further solidified my opinion that the optics of how poor it was were aided by erratic pitching. The swing-and-miss in his game is a huge issue; the loft-power style of his damage doesn’t play well in Busch, and his defensive display left a ton to be desired, and he’s been supplanted in the big leagues by Leo Bernal and is soon to be passed by Rainiel Rodriguez. I would argue Crooks is a change-of-scenery candidate, but perhaps the Cardinals won’t be too eager to pare back their catcher depth. This is one area of the roster STILL with a lot of options to sort through.

Grade: F

Leo Bernal

Projection: .230/.291/.344, .281 wOBA, 80 wRC+, 2.0 fWAR

Production: .280/.316/.441, .331 wOBA, 110 wRC+, 0.6 fWAR

Assuming Bernal performed at the pace he was on, roughly 0.5 fWAR per month, he would’ve finished as a 3-win catcher in 2026. Of the 111 qualified Catchers in 2026, only 6 posted an fWAR above 3, those being Adley Rutschman, William Contreras, Hunter Goodman, Carter Jensen, Dillon Dingler, and Gabriel Moreno. I realize and understand it’s a small sample size, but when you combine production with eye test, scouting information, and previous minor league performance, there are real reasons to buy into what Bernal did in September was not only real but also sustainable. Behind the dish, Bernal has a cannon for an arm; he has a reputation for working well with pitching staffs; he has shown adeptly that he can handle 1B on occasion; he is the total package of what you would want your starting catcher to be. No notes; go into 2027 as the guy and see how far he can go.

Grade: A+

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Infielders

Alec Burleson

Projection: .277/.333/.444, .336 wOBA, 118 wRC+, 1.9 fWAR

Production: .279/.343/.473, .353 wOBA, 125 wRC+, 3.2 fWAR

After a 2025 season in which Manager Oli Marmol said no other player took more advantage of the “runway season” (drink) than Alec Burleson did, he followed up with another stellar performance. The MLB leader in RBI was one of the most productive players in the sport and should be the frontrunner for another Silver Slugger. I think there is little question about who you want up in a big situation other than Burly. The defense at 1B in terms of OAA: doesn’t love him, but the new “scoops” metric thinks he’s the best in the league at digging balls out of the dirt and saving his infielders an E. I expect there to be serious conversations in the offseason between Burleson and the Cardinals about an extension. The pure hitting ability and year-over-year proof of consistency and improvement lead me to the conclusion that he should be a player who will remain productive into his early to mid 30’s thus, the hand-wringing over an extension is mostly nonsense to me. Take the bird in the hand.

Grade: A+

JJ Wetherholt

Projection: .254/.340/.367, .315 wOBA, 103 wRC+, 2.8 fWAR

Production: .242/.339/.365, .318 wOBA, 101 wRC+, 4.5 fWAR

Pretty impressive stuff here by Dan and his ZIPS projection model. What he and very few of us accounted for was just how elite JJ would be defensively from day 1 at 2B. In my eyes, the clear Gold Glover at 2B, JJ was off to a rocket start in his season, but was slowed by injury, reportedly in late July, that lead to decline in production before ultimately landing him on the IL and his overall stats took a hit as a result. Showing poise in the batter’s box and is a prototypical leadoff man with 20/20 potential. The Cardinals already locked up their young star and we should expect encouraging growth year over year of JJ’s career. For his Rookie season it was above already high expectations.

Grade: B+

Masyn Winn

Projection: .252/.311/.378, .302 wOBA, 95 wRC+, 3.3 fWAR

Production: .232/.308/.317, .283 wOBA, 78 wRC+, 2.3 fWAR

Masyn Winn got off to a really weird slow start to the season from an offensive perspective. Batting cleanup on opening day and early on never really made much sense to me. Thankfully, other offensive pieces like Jordan Walker, Joshua Baez, and Leo Bernal stepped up and stepped in over the course of the season, pushing Winn down in the order to a more ideal place in the lineup. The defense remained just as exciting and highlight-reel as ever. Without much consistent thump or presence to Winn’s game, he is starting to mirror more of an Andrelton Simmons skillset than a Dansby Swanson one (20/20, Gold Glover) that I believed he could be, still could, though that hasn’t come to fruition yet. Winn is also dealing with yet another injury-plagued season, and going forward it will be hard not to have some sort of Lars Nootbaar-esque concern about injury with a Masyn Winn. I think defensively it was an as-advertised season; offensively there is still a lot to be desired.

Grade: C-

Nolan Gorman

Projection: .225/.303/.425, .315 wOBA, 104 wRC+, 2.0 fWAR

Production: .187/.275/.313, .263 wOBA, 65 wRC+, -0.5 fWAR

It was yet another disappointing season from former 1st-round pick Nolan Gorman. Caught between trying to make more contact and not making enough impact contact, it would seem as though we have seen the last of Nolan Gorman in a Cardinals uniform. Another season that resulted in a midseason demotion, and while he made good on some of the changes the organization had asked of him while there, the AAA production proved that, when he returned to the big-league level, it was just as feckless as it was before his demotion. Defensively, Gorman showed that returning to his natural position was one that was welcomed; it will do very little for his value, though, unfortunately. I hope that Gorman gets another shot elsewhere to see if a new voice could help him unlock his big power.

Grade: F

Blaze Jordan

Projection: .243/.291/.373, .290 wOBA, 86 wRC+, 0.2 fWAR

Production: .247/.276/.382, .284 wOBA, 79 wRC+, 0.1 fWAR

After an offseason in which Blaze wasn’t added to the 40-man roster, he, like Crooks, came out of the gate swinging a scorching hot bat that led to his promotion in early June, and right away he became a breath of fresh air after watching 9 weeks of Nolan Gorman carry a 35+% K rate. His ability to get the bat on the ball is a skill, though he chases too many pitches out of the zone, and he doesn’t take his walks. There is still more to be proven from Blaze before we are to assume he’s a capable everyday type of bat. He did show well against LHP and could ultimately be a platoon CI player, and there is a role for that type of player long term. The defense was up and down. At first, Blaze surprised us all, making rangy plays all over the hot corner; as time went on, you started to see some of the cracks, and it started costing the Cardinals runs. Could it take a step forward? Yes. A lot of what Blaze showed was unclear about what he could be long-term; if I could give an incomplete, I would.

Grade: C-

Thomas Saggese

Projection: .248/.301/.367, .293 wOBA, 89 wRC+, 1.4 fWAR

Production: .234/.295/.354, .288 wOBA, 81 wRC+, 0.3 fWAR

It was a strange start for Saggese, who opted to play for Team Italy in the WBC, thus making his inclusion on the roster a shakier proposition. Italy didn’t play Saggese, which clearly affected his build-up to the season. After a less-than-stellar showing as a utility player, Saggese was sent to Memphis, where he benefited from everyday at-bats and seemingly found his offensive footing again. When given the opportunity in late August into early September, Saggese showed some real everyday chops and flashed some power we hadn’t really seen from him at the big league level yet. So much so that he gave the front office something to think about heading into the offseason about his viability as the potential 3rd basemen in 2027. Defensively, his versatility is a plus, and his ability to capably handle short will prove valuable as Masyn Winn seems destined to get injured every season. So, I would expect him to have some kind of role on the club going into next season.

Grade: C-

Jose Fermin

Projection: .235/.331/.342, .303 wOBA, 95 wRC+, 1.1 fWAR

Production: .251/.312/.359, .298 wOBA, 88 wRC+, 0.4 fWAR

Coming into 2026, most fans saw Fermin as fungible 40-man roster fodder. What he proved to be this season was a very valuable utilty player filling in at multiple spots and playing competitive outfield reps and looking like the passable bench bat he had long been thought to be. Nothing about Fermin’s game screams anything more than that, but a useful piece for a club that will utilize it’s bench to win games on the margins.

Grade C-

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Outfielders

Jordan Walker

Projection: .232/.296/.373, .293 wOBA, 89 wRC+, -0.2 fWAR

Production: .271/.329/.469, .346 wOBA, 120 wRC+, 2.8 fWAR

What a year for Jordan Walker, finally making good on all the hype and promise that came along with his prospect pedigree and draft selection. Most of you were thinking it was better for him to start in AAA, and I remember a lot of you pushing back against Manager Oli Marmol’s assertion that there was nothing he could tangibly do at AAA that would help him hit big-league pitching. That evaluation turned out to be correct. While there were still down periods, we saw more than our fair share of ups and flashes for Walker to tether himself to what success for him looks like, so when he gets out of sync he can correct it quicker. Defensively, he still has a cannon of an arm, and the OAA metric still doesn’t think he is all that great; at times, it can be a little clunky still. For the most part, using the eye test, he’s more than capable in RF and should only continue to improve with each game/rep. I dont know how any fan can look at 2026 for the reigning Home Run Derby champ as anything other than a tremendous success.

Grade: A+

Nathan Church

Projection: .252/.312/.353, .293 wOBA, 89 wRC+, 1.1 fWAR

Production: .249/.292/.367, .290 wOBA, 83 wRC+, 0.5 fWAR

The opening-day LF turned into the season-long starting CF after Victor Scott II couldn’t hold onto the job. It appears Church is penciled in as the expected starting CF heading into 2027, but there is nothing in that stat line that says you should accept that that spot is spoken for long term. The occasional pop and ability to do damage on breaking balls make Church a fine offensive contributor, more likely suited for a 4th outfielder role long term. Defensively, the arm is strong in CF, and he has the range and speed to track balls down in the gap and the athleticism to go up and take home runs away. Overall, I think it was a fairly underwhelming season for Church, even though he was just about as projected.

Grade: C-

Joshua Baez

Projection: .234/.308/.388, .305 wOBA, 97 wRC+, 1.5 fWAR

Production: .230/.278/.510, .335 wOBA, 113 wRC+, 0.2 fWAR

One of the most impressive power displays from a Cardinals minor leaguer in a few years, Joshua Baez arrival in St. Louis became quite inevitable by about June. The Cardinals opted to keep him down until the middle of August to retain his rookie eligibility and to continue working on his in-zone contact issues. What resulted was the greatest MLB debut in history and 4 weeks of impactful offense that the Cardinals lineup sorely lacked for most of the season. An Oblique injury ended Baez’s season prematurely, though there was little question about his viability going into next season regardless. A big athletic guy with raw defensive tools, Baez looked a little out of his element in a big league outfield at times. That will surely be cleaned up over time, and there’s very little concern over that long term. A successful season and one to build on as he looks to contend for ROTY in 2027.

Grade: B-

Bryan Torres

Projection: .278/.365/.357, .324 wOBA, 110 wRC+, 1.4 fWAR

Production: .229/.309/.331, .289 wOBA, 82 wRC+, 0.1 fWAR

Speaking of players who homered in their big-league debut. Bryan Torres was a useful bench bat for a majority of the season and was utilized as a contributor in pinch opportunities against RHP. A contact-oriented approach and the ability to take quality AB’s at 29 years old; there is very little projection involved in terms of role moving forward, but as a story grinding through the minor leagues and making his persevered debut. It was a welcome stabilizing addition to the roster. Capable of playing 2B and all 3 outfield spots. He doesn’t exactly have the arm for RF or 3B but can be useful in his limited spots. A capable bench piece.

Grade: D+

Victor Scott II

Projection: .224/.301/.319, .279 wOBA, 79 wRC+, 1.7 fWAR

Production: .193/.270/.253, .243 wOBA, 51 wRC+, -0.3 fWAR

Coming into 2026, the Cardinals internally had high expectations for what a Victor Scott season could look like. There was a big vocal push to pump him up, and unfortunately he wound up being more of a flat tire. It’s never seemed like Scott has been able to find his consistent footing at the big-league level despite a large sample of opportunity. Next to Nolan Gorman, Victor Scott II appears to be the next likeliest roster casualty this upcoming offseason, and perhaps a new organization will help him unlock a more consistent approach to find success. His time in St. Louis, based on his utilization, has come to an end.

Grade: F

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Starting Rotation

Michael McGreevy

Projection: 154 IP, 3.92 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 17.2 K%, 1.9 fWAR

Production: 168.2 IP, 3.95 ERA, 4.23 FIP, 16.4 K%, 1.9 fWAR

In his first full season with the Birds on the Bat, Michael McGreevy has established himself as a legit big-league starter. On a contending team, he likely slots in somewhere near the back, but a guy who will reliably eat innings, give you a chance to win, and hover around a 4 ERA. When you talk about a steady, dependable back-end rotation piece in the dictionary, it’s a picture of Michael McGreevy.

Grade: C

Andre Pallante

Projection: 135.2 IP, 4.24 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 16.5 K%, 1.5 fWAR

Production: 157 IP, 3.61 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 16.2 K%, 2.7 fWAR

After a disastrous 2nd half of 2025, a lot of fans came into the season wondering what type of performance they would receive out of Andre Pallante, and the Cardinals’ patience was rewarded with an effective bounce-back season. Performing like a solid 3-4 starter in a contending rotation. Pallante’s outlier ability to get ground balls and use his gold-glove defenders behind him allows him to work efficiently and give the team a chance to win on a consistent basis. As Pallante wades deeper into the arbitration waters, his price tag will continue to go up. It may not be a cost-prohibitive number going into 2027 for the value he provides, but he may be a trade chip in the near future as more and more of the Cardinals’ young starters continue to ascend up the minor league system.

Grade: B+

Kyle Leahy
Projection: 86.2 IP, 4.05 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 20.9 K%, 0.7 fWAR

Production: 140 IP, 3.66 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 22.1 K%, 2.6 fWAR

I am eating virtual crow on this one. I did not think Kyle Leahy was going to be able to shift into another gear in his role as a starting pitcher, and I wrote about that in mid June. Facing the Padres at home, Kyle Leahy seemed to figure something out, and from that point to the end of the season, he pitched like the Cardinals’ best starting pitcher. Posting numbers comparable to a 3-4 starter, he looks the part after some trial and error in the first 2 months of the season. I’ll be fascinated to see if the Cardinals wind up having to decide between Leahy and Pallante over the next 12 months as they continue to promote young guys to the big leagues. Between the first 3 starters mentioned, the Cardinals are in a solid spot with the bridge rotation that will lead to their contending arms.

Grade: A-

Quinn Matthews

Projection: 101.1 IP, 4.35 ERA, 4.46 FIP, 22.4 K%, 0.8 fWAR

Production: 49.1 IP, 3.83 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 21.8 K%, 0.8 fWAR

Since the end of 2024, Quinn Matthews had been stuck at the AAA level trying to break through due to injury and poor command; he had to wait almost 2 full calendar years before getting his shot in a big-league rotation. After the trade of Dustin May and the injury to Hunter Dobbins, the every 5th day opportunity opened up, and Quinn certainly seemed to find his groove down the stretch and show why he was the 2024 minor league pitcher of the year. Quinn would certainly be someone who is penciled into the 2027 rotation with the ability to pitch in a mid-rotation capacity at his ceiling. A positive ending to Quinn’s 2026.

Grade: B-

Hunter Dobbins

Projection: 78.2 IP, 4.57 ERA, 4.52 FIP, 15.8 K%, 0.6 fWAR

Production: 40 IP, 3.83 ERA, 4.55 FIP, 22.0 K%, 0.3 fWAR

It was a tough 2026 season for Dobbins, bookended by a major injury. After suffering a torn ACL in 2025, Dobbins came into the season as the de facto 6th starter. Making occasional spot starts, much like McGreevy did in 2025, before what was expected to be Dustin May’s spot in the rotation for him to take in the 2nd half and finish the season with. Unfortunately, a torn UCL this time around will cost Dobbins pretty much all of 2027. In the brief appearance we were able to see of Dobbins, he flashed some real upside that should guarantee him a role on the big-league staff upon his return; in what capacity, that’s TBD.

Grade: C

Matthew Liberatore

Projection: 132 IP, 4.02 ERA, 3.93 FIP, 20.4 K%, 1.7 fWAR

Production: 155 IP, 5.23 ERA, 4.62 FIP, 22.8 K%, 1.1 fWAR

It was a forgettable and challenging season for Matthew Libteratore, who won the opening day job over Dustin May and seemed primed to come into 2026 ready to take a step forward as a big-league starter. However, we learned that it was just a continuation of what we saw in the 2nd half of the 2025 season. This season was the big test for Libby to prove he could start, and he did not do enough to put his name in pencil for the 2027 rotation. In all likelihood, we will hear about Libby coming to camp stretched out to be a starter. That means nothing, only that it’s easier for guys to come in built up ready for a starter’s workload rather than having to do it on the fly in season. I’m sure the Cardinals will point to Pallante and his success this season and how Libby could turn it around just like Andre did. Matthew Liberatore will face some pretty fierce in-house competition for that rotation spot, however. The return of Richard Fitts, Cooper Hjerpe, Mason Molina, Jurrangelo Cintje, and potentially an outside-the-org acquisition could all push Liberatore to a bullpen role, where he has had success in the past and would allow his fastball to play up. It will be an intriguing offseason to monitor from the Matthew Liberatore perspective for sure.

Grade: D-

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Bullpen

Riley O’Brien

Projection: 55.2 IP, 3.88 ERA, 3.96 FIP, 24.2 K%, 0.1 fWAR, 13 Saves

Production: 64 IP, 4.08 ERA, 3.95 FIP, 23.2 K%, 0.3 fWAR, 38 Saves

Watching Riley O’Brien at times this season was either really fun or like getting on a roller coaster; you had to strap yourself in, pull down the safety bar, and hold on for dear life. Such is the life of a closer. I realize he blew several saves during the season and it wasn’t always pretty, but when you consider he finished the season tied with Mason Miller for the most saves in the NL, it’s pretty hard to call that a disappointment. When you look at his projections, he’s right in line with pre-season expectations; his failures are amplified because of the role and intensity in which he has to perform. Removing the emotion of some tough late-season losses, it was still a very productive season for Riley O’Brien overall.

Grade: B-

Ryne Stanek

Projection: 48.1 IP, 4.10 ERA, 4.00 FIP, 23.3 K%, 0.2 fWAR

Production: 62.2 IP, 4.02 ERA, 4.52 FIP, 24.3 K%, 0.0 fWAR

The token veteran reliever of this season was Ryne Stanek, and his role was to help young guys learn how to prepare, grow, and handle adversity, while offering important innings out of the bullpen. It’s hard to say exactly what the human impact Stanek had by the numbers, but by all accounts from those who play with him praise his leadership and ability to be a good teammate. The on-field production was solid if unspectacular as a whole. The ability to post all season long and get important outs throughout the season were positives. Yes, he had blow-ups and could be incredibly erratic at times. I’d call it a mediocre season.

Grade: C

Justin Bruihl

Projection: 50.2 IP, 4.26 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 20.7 K%, 0.1 fWAR

Production: 75.2 IP, 3.81 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 15.6 K%, 0.3 fWAR

Coming into 2026, one of the unheralded acquisitions came in the form of Justin Bruihl to be the 2nd lefty out of the pen alongside JoJo Romero after cutting bait with John King. The first couple of months were an adventure. Bruihl himself admitted he was trying too hard to get to more velo; he focused on control and command in the latter 2/3 of the season and really let his pitch movement do the work. He was a really solid, reliable option from the left side, and his perfectly suited for the low-leverage middle-inning lefty lanes. Look for youngster Sandro Santana to step into the leverage lefty role next season to allow Bruihl to slide back to the role he’s built for, and this pen will look that much more competitive.

Grade: B

Gordon Graceffo

Projection: 97.1 IP, 4.25 ERA, 4.05 FIP, 18.8 K%, 0.9 fWAR

Production: 78 IP, 2.77 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 18.6 K%, 0.4 fWAR

To think that Gordon Graceffo was the final roster cut before the season, and then an early injury to Matt Pushard allowed him to basically spend the full season with the big-league team, really was a motivating factor for Gordon, and he took full advantage of his opportunities. Leading all Cardinals relievers in fWAR, the projection is a little misleading due to ZIPS projecting him as a starter still. The FIP is also misleading, as it reflects more of his 1st half performance. Graceffo admitted to a grip change on his slider that he began utilizing on July 9th against Milwaukee. After that point, Graceffo posted a 2.13 ERA and a 2.52 FIP and struck out 27% of batters in 38 IP. Look for Graceffo to get high-leverage opportunities out of the pen early next season.

Grade: A-

Luis Gastelum

Projection: 56.2 IP, 3.97 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 23.6 K%, 0.3 fWAR

Production: 36.2 IP, 4.42 ERA, 3.98 FIP, 28.9 K%, 0.1 fWAR

It was a tough start to Gastelum’s big-league career, but after identifying a pitch-tipping issue, he really started to show why so many prospect evaluators were high on him. The changeup is a legit weapon out of the pen, and he mixes it in well with his fastball and sweeper. Gastelum is another guy I’d keep an eye on for high-leverage innings in 2027.

Grade: B-

George Soriano

Projection: 70.1 IP, 4.48 ERA, 4.33 FIP, 21.7 K%, 0.0 fWAR

Production: 66 IP, 4.23 ERA, 4.80 FIP, 22.8 K%, -0.3 fWAR

It really was a tale of two halves for George Soriano, almost a complete inverse of the Justin Bruihl season, where the first 4 were really good, and the last 2+ were a disaster. The stuff is real, the changeup is nasty, but you could tell Manager Oli Marmol rode Soriano hard this season, especially after the loss of JoJo Romero. Credit to Soriano for taking the ball as often as he did, but you could tell by late August he was gassed. I think first half Soriano is the real one, and I would expect to see him return in 2027 and find his effectiveness again with adequate rest and recovery.

Grade: C-

Matt Svanson

Projection: 71.2 IP, 3.77 ERA, 4.00 FIP, 21.7 K%, 0.3 fWAR

Production: 42.1 IP, 7.44 ERA, 4.38 FIP, 19.7 K%, 0.0 fWAR

After Chris Roycroft was sent to Tampa Bay, the new “King of negative BABIP” became Matt Svanson. The 4.38 FIP is why he still has a spot on the 40-man roster, and his 2025 is why he will be allowed to come back and try something different in 2027 during spring training to try and recapture that form. It was just an ugly season from the jump for Svanson and he, like Roycroft, couldn’t seem to figure out how to stop the snowball once it started. A truly disappointing season from a reliever many had high hopes he could be a factor in the closer role coming into 2026.

Grade: F

Ryan Fernandez

Projection: 58.2 IP, 4.14 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 24.9 K%, 0.3 fWAR

Production: 23 IP, 3.52 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 28 K%, 0.2 fWAR

I thought Ryan Fernandez was solid in his relief opportunities as he rebounded from a tough 2025. Maybe a little bit more surprised he wasn’t given more opportunities down the stretch, but I wonder if the Cardinals will tender him a contract going into next season. There wasn’t really a consistent Memphis shuttle this season, given the lack of flexibility on the roster and in the bullpen.

Grade: C+

So much of 2026 was about finally getting answers on guys who have been in the organization for years. Some positives emerged, like Jordan Walker, Kyle Leahy, Gordon Graceffo, JJ Wetherholt, and Leo Bernal. Some answers were also revealed in the inverse: Nolan Gorman and Victor Scott II, specifically. Overall it was a succesful season when it came to getting answers as the club moves forward with its build and knowing whats yet to come from the upper levels, and beyond, it really is an exciting time to be a Cardinals fan, even if it is another October missed, the rest of the league should be on notice that this organization that resembled a stale saltine cracker has been revitalized with young talent who will make an impact over a full 162 that, or as close of one as we get in 2027, that should have the Cardinals in the hunt or even a return to red October.

-Thanks for reading

Are you ready for some playoff baseball!

Phillies News:

• Big Time Trade Deadline Acquisition, Luis Arraez, is ruled out of the Wild Card Series
• Big Time All-Star, Jesus Luzardo, is going to start Game 1 of the Wild Card Series
• A Position-by-Position breakdown in the upcoming Phillies-Braves Series

MLB News:

• WC Playoff Predictions from The Athletic ($$)
• Ranking the pitching staff of all 12 playoff teams
• Time to vote for your 2026 All-MLB Team, who do you got?
• Yes, MLB game time was up nearly 4 minutes this season

End of season press conferences are by definition lacking in substance. Nothing Scott Harris or AJ Hinch was going to say would change anything for the 2026 season now past, and they aren’t going to address the impending offseason with any specifics. Questions about extensions for Riley Greene and Max Clark were rebuffed, as it’s Harris’ policy not to talk about potential contract issues or talks. Like all front offices, their policy is to talk about what they want to talk about. Scott Harris probably deserves a bit of credit for even doing one of these considering how many front offices around the league hide entirely and leave things up to the manager to explain. Watching the Seattle Mariners front office send manager Dan Wilson out for a press conference to announce his own firing was a good example of the shady conduct that goes on when the blame game begins.

Largely, these conferences are an exercise in trying to control the context of the questions, refusing specifics except where they favor the front office, and otherwise filling the air with a lot of general answers that muddy the water more than really clarifying anything. That’s not even a criticism. It’s just how these things go.

Harris spent a lot of the opening of the presser doing that annoying thing he does where he very pointedly lays out the obvious issues and mistakes during the season like he’s delivering a lecture. Of course, the point is to assert his own narratives, not to tell us anything we don’t already know. He said that the thing he’s struggling with the most is that the team was actually very good for much of the season, posting one of the best run differentials in the game. He pinned a lot of the season’s issues to the 6-22 record in May, which is certainly accurate. He blamed himself for not building enough depth into a roster whose flaws were laid bare entirely in that month-long collapse, saying repeatedly that he has to do better. And then he went on sounding like he wasn’t going to do much this offseason because there is so much young talent on this team and they need the opportunity to play.

There’s a middle ground there that does make sense, because having a lot more young, optionable players makes it a lot easier to shore up holes and swap in hotter hitters when one of the others is struggling. The lack of talented, optionable players on the pitching side has been a crucial problem we’ve highlighted the last two years as the Tigers have tried to patch the pen with guys like Tommy Kahnle, Kyle Finnegan, and Kenley Jansen. Unfortunately, unlike the positional side of things, the Tigers are still a year or two away from graduating a whole slew of pitching talent.

This is a problem that is really hard to resolve through free agency, but the best teams in the game consistently resolve it with trades for pitchers, and by converting starters to relief and otherwise developing internal options. Four years into Harris’ tenure they finally graduated their first Harris drafted arm in Andrew Sears in September. There remains little to nothing of note at the Triple-A and Double-A levels behind Sears other than an interesting starting pitching prospect in RHP Lucas Elissalt, and a few lively arms like Yilber Diaz, Moises Rodriguez, and Yoniel Curet, none of whom have refined their command enough yet to break out. The situation is infinitely brighter in the A-ball levels, it’s true, but those guys may still be 2-3 years away from really impacting the major league roster, especially if the Tigers continue to keep everyone as a starter as long as possible.

Harris repeatedly emphasized all the rookie talent the team added through the system this season, expressing optimism that there’s another strong wave of talent coming next year, and another big wave building beyond that group as well. On that point I don’t disagree on the position player side of things. The farm system is still in very good shape overall. Still, the lack of upper level pitching, which is what they need the most to build a homegrown bullpen, remains the glaring weakness. Harris obliquely addressed that in pointing out the pitching talent they were able to add at the trade deadline and in the draft. River Ryan, first rounder Cameron Flukey, Brady Smith, along with lefties Kash Mayfield and Jackson Wolf, was certainly a nice haul of pitching talent, while the emergence of A-ballers like Ben Jacobs, Cale Wetwiska, Charlie Christensen, Kelvis Salcedo, and others does lend hope a few years down the road.

Harris did circle back to say that none of that was meant to bury the lede, which is this failure of a season. He pointed out their lack of depth up the middle to start the year, and the lack of good high leverage relief options, particularly once Will Vest’s injury issues cropped up, as the major reasons behind their collapse in May. Still he remains optimistic that if they learn from some mistakes this year, they’ll ultimately get it right and achieve their goals of legitimately contending year in and year out. Hey, at least we have a dominant Drew Sommers to work with, I suppose. Here’s hoping Will Vest, drafted way back in 2019, can return healthy to save them next year.

A key point Harris made about the young talent emerging was that the way the Tigers play is going to change, with less pinch-hitting and matchups required, because they have a deeper group of good, two-way players who can affect the game with defense and speed as well as with their bats. The Tigers focus on up-the-middle athletic hitters in the draft over the last four years should play a big role in that change to the roster. This should allow them to be less reliant on very specific role players. Jahmai Jones was the unnamed subtext of most of this section of Harris’ comments.

In regard to their ever lengthening track record of bad, if small scale, signings, Harris argued that every offseason is “filled with land mines” and that every organization has a spotty track in free agency. He views that as the nature of the beast. In all senses, he refuted the idea that his front office has done poorly in free agency. He also reiterated that the organization is focused on building through development and always will be, arguing that free agency is just supplemental and largely guesswork. Ok then.

He pointed to Michael Lorenzen and Jack Flaherty as wins in free agency because of the prospects they acquired through trading them. He pointed to the fact that he wants to keep lanes open for young players and has largely looked for cheap, short-term help as the reason for their free agent track record, as opposed to pro scouting being poor. He later pointed out how many top 100 prospects they have already in the major leagues, and that they have more top 100 type players coming, saying that unless there’s a free agent that really stands out more than their internal options, they’re going to remain pretty low key in free agency.

On the topic of Framber Valdez’s first season in Detroit, Harris pointed to the huge volume of first inning runs, saying that they needed to get him off to better starts. He also pointed to defensive weaknesses earlier in the year hurting the extreme ground ball pitcher and extending innings. Hinch expounded on all this, talking about the adjustments Valdez made to get his curveball going and develop his slider, and some changes in approach they made to make him more unpredictable early in games. It’s pretty debatable whether Valdez actually pitched any better down the stretch, but certainly putting a better group of fielders behind him later in the year helped. At least Valdez’s stuff and durability are intact, and really he’s one of the least of the Tigers’ worries.

Rogelio Castillo of Tigers Minor League Report, and friend of the site, asked pointedly about the lack of obvious future Tigers relievers at the Double and Triple-A levels. Harris talked about the growing crop of starting pitchers in the minors, noting LHP Ben Jacobs and RHP Brady Smith as two pitchers with strikeout rates near the top of the entire minor leagues, name-checking RHP Lucas Elissalt and LHP Andrew Sears as starters who might start out helping out of the bullpen. saying that the plan is to continue to focus on acquiring as much starting pitching as possible over the next 3-5 years, and let that depth spill over into the bullpen to give them more high leverage relief options.

Everyone was no doubt thrilled to hear that four years in, we’re 3-5 years away from building a reliably excellent pitching pipeline. That’s not what he meant exactly, but it sure didn’t sound great, and he didn’t season it with thoughts on how the Tigers were going to build a much better bullpen immediately, as in next season, other than hoping to build up enough starting pitching to use the “overflow” in the bullpen. They still seem entirely obsessed with the starting rotation, with the bullpen an afterthought.

If you wondered if Harris or Hinch felt like they were on the hot seat next season, it absolutely did not feel like that at all. Instead, without going line by line through the entire hour-long press conference, we’ll just cut to the chase. This all sounded like staying the course.

Step A. Continue to draft and develop well.

Step B. Don’t worry about it.

Step C. Achieve those ALCS and World Series appearances we want to see.

As I have asserted since Al Avila first tore the team down in 2017, getting to the point the Tigers have reached the past few years is the easy part. A competent POBO or GM has all the advantages as a losing team to rebuild a farm system, acquire some filler talent around the margins of the roster, and become a respectable team again. The hard part is building a World Series contender from that point, and so far, my fears are all coming true. The Tigers got back to respectability, but failed to make the moves to get themselves to the next level. Now we’re spinning our wheels. A bad season in 2022 gave Harris and his staff the opportunity to land high end talent in the 2023 draft, and they did a great job on that front. But, even with an AL Rookie of the Year added, the team performed worse overall despite all the prospect talent that reached the major leagues this season. And the only answer from the front office remains building from within, refuting any criticism of their work in free agency or the trade market.

This just doesn’t add up. Without some great trades and signings, no one wins the World Series no matter how good a development pipeline they have going. Hopefully the Tarik Skubal trade turns out to be a great one, but Harris had a window to contend with Skubal, Riley Greene, and the rest, and failed to do much to build a winning roster out of the fairly stacked cupboard Al Avila left him.

Now his own draft picks are reaching the league, and on that side of things they’ve done a really good job. There’s plenty of talent on the Detroit Tigers, but unless they add to it through smart trades and opportunistic free agent signings, we’re probably going to see more of the same, with some postseason appearances and some down years, but never the kind of team that produces a dominant championship winning era.

The 2026 Detroit Tigers certainly had more than their share of bad luck. That must be acknowledged. Apart from May they were again a solid, wild card level team capable of getting really hot. Bullpens are fungible, and a similar group could return next season and do a lot better job holding leads. But no one wants to hear that we’re going to run it back and things will just work out differently. After the collapse down the stretch in 2025, Harris said that the team would remain much the same, but they would play better. Here we are again.

Fans would like to see some urgency, and to feel like team leadership is under pressure, but none of that comes across from Harris’ comments. He spent a lot of time talking about everything they’d added from the farm and in trade this year, but he didn’t really talk about what they’ve lost or squandered. Skubal is gone. Players like Dillon Dingler and Kerry Carpenter are closing in on 30 years old while Riley Greene closes in on free agency in two years. While you’re welcoming talented young players through the front door, talent is constantly leaving out the back door as well. Fresh waves of talent will keep the Tigers afloat for a long time to come, but four years in there’s nothing to suggest that Harris can build one of those waves up into the best team in baseball for a year or two, nor any sense that they really feel a need to adjust their thinking either.

Maybe they’ll be proven right. Kevin McGonigle at least, and probably Max Clark as well, are a different breed of prospect than even highly ranked prior prospects like Greene, Spencer Torkelson, and Riley Greene. The Tigers are rapidly becoming a faster, younger, and more well rounded team. They do have a deep pool of athletic, versatile prospects with power all throughout the minor leagues, though there are no more top shelf, truly elite prospects to follow McGonigle and Clark right at the moment. They have the makings of a pretty good starting rotation heading into 2027. Just get the bullpen right and we’ll take our chances. But until that happens, skepticism of Harris and AJ Hinch’s leadership is only going to continue to grow.

The 2026 Major League Baseball regular season is fully in the rear view mirror and the playoffs begin today. Four games are on deck, starting with Braves and Phillies reigniting their postseasonrivalry in Atlanta at 2pm ET. Next up is the .500 AL West champion Astros hosting the most surprising playoff team, the just-recently-doormat White Sox at 5pm ET. If you’re a Yankees fan and reading this, you already know about Yankees/Red Sox at 8pm ET, and the late game at 10pm ET has the Padres welcoming in the Cubs for a 2025 Wild Card Series rematch, this time at Petco Park.

So now that we’ve all had a day to take in the field, it’s time for some predictions. We asked the staff for their thoughts! Here’s how the Wild Card Series should go:

Look, we’re not going to apologize for unanimously thinking that the Yankees will get past the Red Sox in the first round. Do we all likely have varying forms of uncertainty about the Yankees and at least a partial fear of them bouncing theemselves? Sure. But the Yanks are the favorites here for a reason.

Most of the staff thinks the Braves will take care of business with a Phillies team that almost backed into October, though Jake, Dan, and Kento think there’s still some of that 2022-23 Philly magic left. They may be right! As for the other two series, the margins are very close, but consensus has the White Sox trouncing the Astros for their first playoff series victory in 21 years and the Padres capitalizing on home-field advantage to get vengeance on the Cubs.

Next up, the Division Series:

Although it may be a more cautious optimism, we think that unlike in 2025, the Yankees will dispatch the team that beat them out for the AL East. If they can, it will certainly help to have a better starter than 2025 Luis Gil in Game 1.

Most are envisioning a Dodgers/Brewers NLCS rematch with Milwaukee hoping that at minimum it’s far more competitive than the four-game sweep last October. (Shouts to Dan for believing in the Phillies quite a bit.) In the other ALDS, it’s a dead heat between the Guardians and White Sox to advance. Once again, it is very silly that at best an 85-win team is locked into an ALCS spot. So it goes.

The majority are keeping the faith with a Yankees return trip to the World Series after a mere one-year hiatus, with future Cy Young Award winner Cam Schlittler earning ALCS MVP honors, perhaps à la 2009 CC Sabathia. In the Senior Circuit, the Dodgers and Brewers each received seven votes. Maybe it’s wishful thinking for a Brew Crew revenge given all the star power that the Dodgers have at their disposal, but the subset believes in Da Miz and co.

Plan the parade, pals, and pick your own heroes. That being said, while the Yankees were the common championship pick, they only earned the pluraility. The oh-so-slight majority (9-8) is taking the field.

That’s how we foresee October and beyond. Tell us what your playoff bracket looks like though, and don’t forget to vote in our Feed poll on your specific Wild Card Series prediction!

Baseball's greatest rivalry gets renewed in the postseason with the New York Yankees hosting the Boston Red Sox for the best-of-three wild card series beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

"I don't like to give that way more attention than it needs, but I won't shy away from it - two historic franchises, big rivalry, well aware of that," Red Sox manager Chad Tracy told reporters on Monday.

It's the second year in a row the longtime AL East foes are meeting at this stage, with the Yankees winning last fall's matchup in three games as then-rookie Cam Schlittler dominated with 12 strikeouts. The likely Cy Young winner will start Game 1 in the Bronx on Tuesday.

"It's special," Schlittler said. "Being able to get that experience last year in Game 3, it's a good feeling to go out there and get the first one."

Where to watch Yankees vs Red Sox today

• Time: 8 p.m. ET
• TV channel: NBC
• Streaming: Peacock

Watch MLB playoffs on Peacock

What time is Yankees vs Red Sox game?

First pitch in the Bronx is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.

Yankees vs Red Sox predictions

• Bob Nightengale: Yankees in 3
• Gabe Lacques: Yankees in 2
• Kristie Ackert: Yankees in 3
• Jesse Yomtov: Yankees in 3

Yankees vs Red Sox schedule

Wild card series at Yankee Stadium. Game 3 time subject to change.

• Game 1: Tuesday, Sept. 29 – 8 p.m. ET – buy tickets, NBC & Peacock
• Game 2: Wednesday – 8 p.m. – buy tickets, NBC & Peacock
• Game 3*: Thursday – 8 p.m. – buy tickets, NBC & Peacock

Yankees vs Red Sox schedule

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where to watch Yankees vs Red Sox today: Game time, TV channel for MLB playoffs

Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.

In its first year of implementation at the major league level, the Automatic Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System seems to have been an overwhelming success.

Players, managers and fans have all responded favorably to the two-challenge format that has been in effect for the 2026 season. Players have learned to use their challenges judiciously.

Managers don't need to ride the umpires to try and influence their calls. And fans get the immediate satisfaction of seeing almost instantly whether or not a borderline pitch was actually a ball or a strike.

So why mess with a good thing when playoff time rolls around?

ABS rules for MLB playoffs

While the number of replay challenges available for each manager increases from one to two in the playoffs, the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System will remain exactly the same as it was during the regular season.

Each team begins the game with two challenges and keeps any challenges that are successful. If the game goes to extra innings, teams receive an additional challenge if they don't have any left at the start of an inning.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What are ABS challenge system rules for MLB playoffs?

The Cincinnati Reds didn’t make the playoffs, but they did lead baseball in at least one category: winning more games than was otherwise expected.

The Reds won 75 games this season, which is 9.8 games above their expected total, based on their Pythagorean expectation. The Pythagorean expectation is a model developed by sabermetrics pioneer Bill James that estimates the number of games a team should be expected to win based on their runs scored and runs allowed. Because a team scores and allows far more runs than it plays games, run totals can give a steadier picture of team strength.

USA TODAY computed the Pythagorean wins for all 30 MLB teams for the 2026 season and compared that result to each team’s actual wins to determine which teams over- and underperformed the most this year.

Following the Reds in beating their expectation are three teams that did make the playoffs: the Tampa Bay Rays, the San Diego Padres and the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Rays notably won the American League East by 4.5 games over the New York Yankees, who got just 66 games out of superstar Aaron Judge. If both teams had better matched their Pythagorean expectation, the Yankees would’ve won the division by more than five games — in reality, Tampa Bay beat its expectation by 7.8 games while New York fell 2.5 games shy.

On the opposite side of things, we can also look at the teams that didn’t reach expectations.

Leading that race is the Detroit Tigers, who sputtered to a 76-86 record, nine games out of the AL Central lead and eight out of a Wild Card spot. The Tigers missed their win expectation by 12.6 games, far more than anyone else. Had Detroit reached its expect wins total, it could be in the playoff discussion. The midseason trade of Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal played a role, but the Tigers had been underachieving even with the ace lefty.

The next underperformer is the Los Angeles Angels, one of two teams with 100 losses this season. The Angels finished 8.8 games below their expectation amid a change in ownership.

Fellow underperformers include the San Francisco Giants, the Colorado Rockies (the other 100-loss club) and the Chicago Cubs — who managed to still make the playoffs via a Wild Card despite underperforming by 5.9 games.

Does any of this matter in October? It turns out that the Pythagorean expectation has done narrowly better than straight win-loss records in terms of predicting postseason success, based on data USA TODAY analyzed from 2000 to 2025.

In the Wild Card round, which was added in 2012, the team with the better Pythagorean expectation won 55.9% of the time compared to the team with the better actual record, which won 44.8% of the time.

In the Division Series, the team with more expected wins won 58% of the time, while the team with the better record won 49.5% of the time. Meanwhile, in the League Championship Series, actual wins have done a better job at predicting the winner, 56.2% to 56.0%.

However, the biggest gap is in the World Series, where the team with the better Pythagorean expectation won at a 64% clip. Actual records do no better than a coin flip at predicting the winner of the World Series.

It is worth noting, though, that the World Series comparison is only 25 series’ worth of data, so it's a less reliable result than the Division Series (100) or LCS (50).

Across all 209 series analyzed between 2000 and 2025, the team with the better expected record won 121, or 57.9%. Out of the 198 series with a difference in actual records, the better record won 100, or 50.5%.

Among this year's playoff teams, the Milwaukee Brewers posted the highest total in the National League at 102.5 expected wins. The Yankees reigned atop the AL, but were still below the Brewers, with 95.5 expected wins.

In the Wild Card round, there is one series where expected wins and actual records disagree. The Padres (91-71) hold a better record than the Cubs (89-73), while the Cubs have more expected wins (94.9 to 85.3).

There are also a couple of potential ALDS matchups with disagreements including the already discussed Rays and Yankees, while the Cleveland Guardians (85-77) could play the Chicago White Sox (84-78) — Chicago holds the expected wins edge 86.5 to 82.2 in that possible battle between AL Central foes.

Methodology: USA TODAY compiled each team’s wins, losses, runs scored and runs allowed from the official MLB website. Each team’s Pythagorean expectation was then calculated from that, using the formula used by Baseball Reference.

Additional notes:

• The New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles only played 161 games this season after their Sept. 27 game was canceled due to inclement weather.
• For the historical data, USA TODAY pulled regular-season run totals to compute Pythagorean win expectations and playoff results from the MLB Stats API from 2000 to 2025.
• The 60-game 2020 season was excluded.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB playoffs 2026: Which teams are better than their records say?

Despite finishing with an 81-81 record, the Houston Astros won the American League West and host the Chicago White Sox for the best-of-three AL wild card series at Daikin Park beginning Tuesday, Sept. 29.

"I've been here for almost a decade, and just how this team just rallies around adversity – they don't run from it. They actually run to it," Houston manager Joe Espada told reporters.

The White Sox are making their first playoff appearance since 2021 and are just two years removed from a 121-loss 2024 season, the worst record in baseball history.

Houston's Jose Altuve enters the series with 27 career postseason home runs, second only to Manny Ramirez's 29 in MLB history. The Astros have made the playoffs 10 times in 12 years and won World Series titles in 2017 and 2022. The White Sox's last World Series title came in 2005.

Where to watch Astros vs White Sox today

• Time: 5 p.m. ET
• TV channel: NBCSN
• Live stream: Peacock

Watch MLB playoffs on Peacock

What time is Astros vs White Sox game?

First pitch in Houston is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Astros vs White Sox schedule

Game 3 time subject to change

• Game 1, Tuesday: White Sox at Astros – buy tickets  – 5 p.m. ET, NBCSN & Peacock
• Game 2, Wednesday: White Sox at Astros – buy tickets  – 5 p.m. ET, NBCSN & Peacock
• Game 3*, Thursday: White Sox at Astros – buy tickets – 5 p.m. ET, NBCSN & Peacock

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where to watch Astros vs White Sox today: Game time, TV channel for AL Game 1

Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.

The pitch clock rules introduced in 2023 to speed up Major League Baseball games have dramatically improved the pace of most nine-inning games.

The year before the rule was implemented, there were 232 nine-inning games that lasted more than three hours and 30 minutes, and it was also the last season that the average game lasted that long. In 2023, there were only nine such games.

The time spent on the field also dropped, with the 2025 season averaging two hours and 38 minutes per game. Figures for 2026 have not been released yet, but expect an uptick in time as a result of the first season under the ABS challenge system.

The pitch clock rules that applied to the regular season will remain in effect for the Major League Baseball postseason, which begins on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

MLB pitch clock rules

• Bases empty: Pitchers have 15 seconds to start their delivery
• Runners on base: Pitchers have 18 seconds to start their delivery; With runners on base, the timer resets if the pitcher attempts a pickoff or steps off the rubber
• Batters: Hitters must be in the box, alert to the pitcher, and ready by the 8-second mark on the pitch clock
• Penalties: A violation by the pitcher results in an automatic ball; a violation by the batter results in an automatic strike
• Pitchers are limited to two disengagements (pickoff attempts or step-offs) per plate appearance and resets if runners advance during a plate appearance
• Umpires may provide extra time if warranted by special circumstances

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is there a pitch clock in MLB playoffs?

This might be hyperbole, but we feel safe to say that the potential World Series matchups have never been so politically loaded.

With an industry-shuttering lockout just 62 days away and a nuclear winter to follow – with only the degree of radiation in question – the lasting image of Major League Baseball will be provided by the two World Series participants and how they got there.

Narratives both valid and tired will dominate the run-up and linger for so long as baseball goes dark. No pressure, eh?

With that, let’s break down the nine most delicious World Series matchups based on narrative, geography and, dare we say, ball itself:

9. Brewers-White Sox

It’d be easy enough to dub this the I-94 Series, what with online maps’ highly complicated directions between ballparks:

Get on I-90 W/I-94 W. Follow I-94 W to your destination in Milwaukee.

Ninety minutes on I-94. It's that easy. But we could also call this the To Hell With The Cubs Series, pitting two franchises eternally playing second fiddle to the Bleacher Bummin’ behemoth lodged in between them.

Brewers and White Sox fans alike have had to endure invasive Cub fans for three decades now, a twice- or thrice-yearly phenomenon for Milwaukee since its move to the National League. Sure, both teams would be starved to win the World Series, especially Brewer fans seeking their very first.

Yet it would be kind of cool to see two fan bases close in proximity yet fused by something far stronger: Solidarity.

8. Guardians-Braves

If only to make fans and viewers squirm as they acknowledge the lingering question: Why is it that the Guardians changed their name with such ease, yet Atlanta clings to its decidedly insensitive nickname and downright offensive chant?

Cleveland shifted from its Native American name and imagery after the 2021 season and contrary to some sentiment, the sky did not fall nor the river ignite in Cuyahoga County. The Guardians won the AL Central in 2022, swept the Rays in the wild-card series and won the division in four of their first five seasons.

Nor did ditching Chief Wahoo for good harm the #brand in any fashion: In 2024, the Guardians drew 2.06 million, 1 million more than their 2016 World Series season and about 10,000 more than their 2017 season, when gains from pennant-winning years are truly felt.

This year, they cracked the 2 million mark for the third consecutive year, which they hadn’t done since the glory days of Jacobs Field produced eight straight seasons of 2 to 3 million fans from 1995-2002.

The Braves? They ignored the opportunity for a fresh start that a move to the suburbs and SunTrust/Truist Park offered. Instead, they more or less doubled down on their outdated motif, dubbing a restaurant in right field the “Chop House,” in case anyone forgot.

7. Yankees-Phillies

A rematch of a pretty great 2009 World Series that saw A-Rod win his only championship, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera their last and the Phillies mini-dynasty fall just short of a repeat.

Best part about it, though? Amtrak.

It’s just a hop and a jump from Manhattan’s Penn Station to 30^th Street in Philly, an 88-minute jaunt – quicker if you take the Acela. Lock your price in now: The cheapest round-trip fares are $40. Forty bucks! With fuel prices these days, you probably couldn’t get from Paramus to Drexel Hill, say, so cheaply.

No tolls, no traffic and a fresh new fan base for Cam Schlittler to incite. Wins all around.  

6. Padres-Rays

Shirtsleeves and Cuban sandwiches. Shorts and fish tacos. A team hellbent on spending enough money to win vs. a team smart enough to do so, year after year.

No, the aesthetics of this series would be off the charts - can't wait for the drone shots over St. Pete and Coronado - and there’s zero chance of a rain delay. Not at practically peerless Petco Park and charmingly underrated Tropicana Field.

And this series would be a bold statement debunking so many modern industry tropes.

Need a new stadium to win a World Series?

Well, this would be the third Fall Classic the Rays participated in in the past 18 years (two at Tropicana Field, one in the pandemic bubble in Texas). That’s three more World Series than Target Field, Marlins Park, PNC Park, Great American Ballpark and T-Mobile Park – all constructed in the early 2000s ballpark boom - have ever seen.

Smaller-market clubs can’t spend money and win like the big boys?

The Padres have six players toting nine-figure contracts, and while they may regret the back end of some of those deals, the departing Seidler family surely didn’t: They just sold the club for $3.9 billion. Not bad for a city that ranks 30th, wedged between Baltimore and San Antonio, in Nielsen’s designated market areas.

5. Cubs-White Sox

Pity the Catholic Cubs fan.

Chicago would be an absolute party for 10 days – hopefully not too violent in the Rate and Wrigley field bleachers – while the globe got behind the White Sox and their No. 1 fan, the damn pope. What’s a devout Cubbie to do against that kind of tide?

On the real, though, this would be a fantastic baseball showcase – PCA on this stage would be appointment viewing – as well as a wonderful celebration of arguably the USA’s greatest city. With the White Sox the greenest team in the field and the Cubs’ iffy starting pitching, is there a chance such a matchup could occur?

Let us pray.

4. Astros-Dodgers

Simply to see Dodgers fans get mad at the Astros for….something?

Sure, maybe supporters of the back-to-back champions have adopted a never forget mantra when it comes to 2017, but there’s now officially just one man remaining from the sign-stealing crew – future Hall of Famer Jose Altuve.

The Astros are on their fourth general manager (counting interim situations) and second manager since their shameful racket was exposed. They’ve won another World Series since, ostensibly in a classy fashion. Booing Cam Smith won’t make any of those rockets off Clayton Kershaw in 2017 Game 5 find gloves.

And for fans without a dog in the fight, it’d be funny to see them wrestle with swallowing a Dodgers threepeat or supporting a franchise they’ve considered something of a pariah for the past decade.

3. Red Sox-Cubs

The Theo Bowl.

If nothing else, it’d be an interesting psychological evaluation to probe how fans of these once-tortured franchises feel now that being “cursed” or “lovable losers” is no longer their whole thing. Red Sox fans have been particularly spoiled, with their four championships this century, still more than any franchise.

And Cubs fans can’t be blamed if they’ve felt a bit disillusioned since their 2016 crown, what with owner Tom Ricketts seemingly more concerned with corporatizing Wrigleyville than, say, retaining future Hall of Fame sluggers. Attendance dropped from 3.2 million in 2016 to 2.6 million by 2022.

Yet the Cubs are back in the winning business, for the most part, and Alex Bregman – who signed a $175 million deal in January - would be facing his teammates from just one year ago should this matchup coalesce.

2. Yankees-Dodgers

A matchup that could certainly bifurcate the owners’ interests as the lockout looms.

On one hand, they could sit back and smugly hold this World Series up as Exhibit A for all that’s wrong with baseball, what with this bicoastal battle occurring for the second time in three seasons.

On the other, they might look at the boffo ratings and wonder, why are we complaining about all this money we’re making while just two years away from taking our entire TV inventory to market again?

Naturally, a lot of that would hinge on the health of Aaron Judge, both to help the Yankees get this far and to provide the skyscraper-filling superstar promos Fox loves so much. But his calf might not cooperate.

Even still, the Judge-less Yankees beating the odds would still make for great October theater. Tough to argue with those gray and black road jersey tops on a warm autumn night in Chavez Ravine.

1. Brewers-Rays

Oh, hell yeah.

First off, this would be a ball enthusiast’s dream, whether from the old or new school. Not only are both teams perennially the “smartest” in the game (mild rolling of the eyes), they also absolutely Play The Game The Right Way.

Put the ball in play. Throw strikes. Run the bases smart and aggressively. Win 103 and 98 games, respectively, even while ranking 28 TH and 22 ND in home runs.

That last bit may come back to haunt the Brewers in Rays come October, since hitting the ball over the fence can camouflage a lot of problems with lineups going cold facing elite arms night after night.

Alas, that’s a problem for another week. And the notion of two alleged poverty franchises reaching the Fall Classic would be unbelievable fodder as labor and management sit down to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement.

And you could book it now: This World Series would set a new low in TV ratings, underperforming the Arizona-Texas tilt of 2023, which featured relatively large markets. No, for as much as fans claim to love variety, many would sadly deem this battle unwatchable.

And once those ratings come in, and owners ponder the impact on future revenues, perhaps a few of them would be inspired to ask the unthinkable:

“Can’t we make it easier for the Dodgers to get in every year?”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB's worst nightmare tops list of best potential World Series matchups