Francisco Lindor – SS
Juan Soto – LF
Bo Bichette – 3B
Mark Vientos – 1B
Carson Benge – RF
Marcus Semien – 2B
Francisco Alvarez – DH
A.J. Ewing – CF
Luis Torrens – C
SP: Sean Manaea – LHP
Wyatt Langford – LF
Corey Seager – SS
Josh Jung – 3B
Jake Burger – 1B
Brandon Nimmo – RF
Ezequiel Duran – CF
Justin Foscue – 2B
Elias Diaz – DH
Danny Jansen – C
SP: MacKenzie Gore – LHP
First pitch: 8:05 PM EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
Many NBA teams can look you in the eye and say they have talented bench units, and they’d be right. The Oklahoma City Thunder, with Ajay Mitchell, Jared McCain, and Jaylin Williams; the New York Knicks, with Deuce McBride, Landry Shamet, and Jose Alvarado; and the San Antonio Spurs, with Keldon Johnson and Dylan Harper, all have cases for boasting some of the deepest rosters in the league. But how many of them think they have six starters?
Steve Kerr used that term to describe the 2023-24 Golden State Warriors heading into the season after the team traded for Chris Paul. Paul was coming off a season in which he helped the Suns finish fourth in the West and ranked fifth in the NBA in assists per game. Despite their struggles on the road the season before, the Warriors had one of the best starting lineups in the league and were adding a player who had made his third straight All-Star appearance in 2021-22. While the Suns’ starting lineup during the 2025-26 campaign wasn’t as strong as the Warriors’ was before they added Paul, one major contributor to Phoenix’s surprising success last year is slated to start this season on the bench.
Collin Gillespie.
Gillespie started 70% of the team’s games last season and averaged career highs in nearly every statistical category. He’s now slated to be the Suns’ first man off the bench, with Jalen Green taking his place in the starting backcourt alongside Devin Booker. While the team had a better record when Gillespie didn’t start (Phoenix was 30-28 in his starts and 15-9 when he didn’t), he played an integral part in the team’s rotations and helped Phoenix reach the playoffs in a season expected to be marked by regression. The Suns also had a higher winning percentage when Gillespie started than when Green did, and their worst stretch of the season came while Green was starting.
Some of Gillespie’s best games of the 2025-26 season came in starts: his 28-point, eight-three-pointer game against the Lakers, his 30-point double-double against the Trail Blazers, and his 25-point outing against the Wizards. With Green out for most of the season, Gillespie took on many of his starting guard responsibilities and provided floor spacing and another ballhandler alongside Booker.
With Green playing a major role for the 2024-25 Houston Rockets, who finished second in the Western Conference with 52 wins, and averaging at least 17 points in four straight seasons, he has proven himself as a consistent scorer. While his efficiency remains a concern, his upside and experience as a starter helping teams develop put him firmly in the starting guard spot next to Booker. But this isn’t about comparing Green to Gillespie; it’s about whether Gillespie is a starting-level guard.
At the end of last season, Gillespie struggled mightily, averaging 7.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists on 34.1/28.1/85.7 shooting splits in his final 15 games of the regular season. But his body of work for the season is more important than how he ended it, considering the injuries Phoenix dealt with late in the season and the adjustment of reinserting Dillon Brooks and Booker into the starting lineup after their injuries.
The biggest difference for Collin Gillespie from last year to this year (outside of his paycheck) is that the team knows he’s capable of playing heavy minutes and contributing to winning. The question, however, is whether his performance a season ago showed he’s ready for a larger role and capable of consistently starting, rather than doing so out of necessity.
When it comes to the Lakers’ lineup rotation for 2026-27, it’ll look a lot different for the team and coach JJ Redick compared to when the 2025-26 season ended just a few months ago.
After an offseason roster reconstruction, over half of the players on the Lakers’ roster (nine players) will be new faces.
And that doesn’t include younger players looking to fight for more playing time, such as second-year forward Adou Thiero and third-year guard Bronny James.
While there are multiple players guaranteed to be featured in the Lakers’ rotation as long as they’re healthy and available, there are still several spots to fill.
In light of training camp starting next week, and preseason games kicking off in 1 ½ weeks, here is the California Post’s best projection for what the Lakers’ rotation will look like once the regular season tips off in a month:
Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler
Let’s get the easy decisions out of the way.
Doncic and Reaves are the Lakers’ star players, and were the league’s highest-scoring duo during the 2025-26 regular season.
In addition to sending the Jazz two unprotected first-round draft picks and two protected first–round picks, the Lakers are paying Kessler at least $30 million in each of the next few seasons after having interest in him the last few years.
They didn’t make that investment to bring him off of the bench.
Doncic, Reaves and Kessler are sharpied as starters.
Quentin Grimes, Jake LaRavia
From investment and skillset standpoints, the expectation is Grimes will be a Day 1 starter.
Grimes will be the Lakers’ fourth-highest paid player this season ($13.9 million salary) after signing a four-year, $60 million contract in July.
And his complementary skills as a shooter and point-of-attack defender fill the needs the team has around their three marquee players.
Not only is Grimes a lock for the rotation, but it’s a safe bet he’ll be a starter, too.
The choices for the Lakers’ fifth starting spot has been covered extensively, and LaRavia should be the player who slides that into slot.
He played in all 82 regular season games for the Lakers in 2025-26, but started nearly half of the season when one (or multiple) of the regular starters were sidelined. It’s clear he won the trust of the Lakers’ coaching staff. And at 25 years old, he has room to grow as a player. His familiarity with Doncic and Reaves helps, too.
Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle
The Lakers made a significant investment in Mamukelashvili, signing the 6-foot-9 big man to a four-year, $52 million contract. He’ll be the first or second option off of the bench for the power forward or small-ball center looks.
Sexton will be the Lakers’ top guard off of the bench.
Redick mentioned in May that the team needed to improve with dribbling, passing and shooting.
Outside of Doncic and Reaves, Sexton and Mamukelashvili provide the best combination of all three skills.
Williams, a lottery pick in 2021, has untapped potential entering his sixth season in the NBA.
Thybulle is the Lakers’ best perimeter defender, even if there are questions about his durability after playing a combined 45 regular season games the last two seasons.
The Lakers have used nine- and 10-men rotations under Redick.
If the plan is to have a 10-man rotation, there will be a fierce competition for the final spot.
Cameron Carr, Adou Thiero, Kevon Looney, Jarred Vanderbilt
Each player brings distinct strengths and weaknesses.
Vanderbilt is the best defender, but his lack of shooting can cramp the offensive spacing alongside a traditional big man.
Looney remains a high-level screener and rebounder, but he’s coming off of playing 21 regular season games for a Pelicans team that chose to have multiple big men ahead of him in the depth chart.
Carr is the best shooter of the group and provides vertical athleticism, but needs to get stronger to be a reliable defender on the wings.
Thiero is the best athlete but needs to refine his skills.
Mamukelashvili’s ability to be a floor-spacing center opens up an opportunity for Vanderbilt to be the swiss-army knife defender the Lakers would benefit from in the frontcourt next to Mamukelashvili.
Thiero may be the Lakers’ long-term focus, but Vanderbilt should be ready to contribute more to winning from Day 1 and be in the rotation to start the season.
There should be opportunities for Thiero and Carr to get minutes, but they’ll have to earn that playing time, starting with next week’s camp.
Playing out the string.
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Brandon Williamson gets the start on Tuesday night in Atlanta as the Cincinnati Reds begin their penultimate series of the season against the Braves.
JR Ritchie will start for Atlanta, and he’ll chuck out the game’s first pitch at 7:15 PM ET.
The Braves have already clinched the NL East and have the slimmest of chances to earn a 1st round bye, so this game is more likely than not nothing more than a footnote of history.
Here’s how both teams will line up to start, however:
Earlier this afternoon, we saw the blueprint for what an Aaron Judge-less postseason run will have to look like: Incredible performance from the starter, good defense, and just enough hitting to get by. The Yankees will look to repeat that in the nightcap of today’s doubleheader, with a crackling starting pitcher matchup.
Max Fried toes the slab in the Bronx, having an excellent season albeit one twice interrupted by injury. He’s rounding out the regular season with one of my favorite statistical quirks, an identical 2.63 ERA and FIP. Had he avoided the IL with a year like this, the Yankees would have two of the likely top three finishers in Cy Young voting, but all we can ask of Max tonight is that he delays the Rays’ champagne celebration at least one more day.
Opposing him is a starter who will get his share of Cy Young votes, although he won’t sniff the award itself. Across 29 starts Drew Rasmussen has posted a four-and-a-half win year by fWAR, and a stellar 4.5-percent walk rate. If you wanna get on against Drew, you have to hit your way aboard, and even then he runs a 44-percent groundball rate. The Yankees are going to have to rely on one big swing a game for a little while, and that’s going to have to be the way they beat Rasmussen.
The Yankees’ lineup features a familiar presence returning from the IL, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. is back from his brief absence and will man the keystone. Max Schuemann was demoted to make room for Jazz on the active roster. If the man has a hot stretch ready for the end of his bumpy walk year, now would be the time to kick it off.
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY
First pitch: 7:05 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES, Rays.TV, TBS (out-of-market only)
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | WDAE 95.7 FM, WQBN/1300AM (TB)
Streaming: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)
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Time/Place: 6:40 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site:Federal Baseball
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Drew Anderson (5-6, 3.62 ER) vs. LHP Jackson Kent (1-4, 6.40 ERA)
| Player | G | IP | K% | BB% | GB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson | 48 | 102.0 | 25.1 | 9.9 | 49.1 | 4.19 | 0.7 |
| Kent | 7 | 32.1 | 17.9 | 15.2 | 49.0 | 4.37 | 0.4 |
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Here’s the Guardians lineup:
Here’s the Red Sox lineup:
Let’s go, Guardians!
For the first time since getting traded by the Mets during the offseason, Brandon Nimmo gets a chance to play against his former team.
With New York in Texas for a three-game series against the Rangers, Nimmo was finally able to share his thoughts on playing for and leaving the Mets, what’s gone wrong for New York this season and recently, as well as the Pete Alonso situation at Citi Field that took the baseball world by storm last week.
To kick things off, though, Nimmo expressed excitement over playing his old club, a series that he circled early on after joining the Rangers and one that comes at a time when his team, at 78-78, is in first place in the AL West and leading the Houston Astros by one game.
“I obviously knew this series was coming up and it’s not like it surprised me or anything, so it’s gonna be fun to see those guys again and fun to play against them on the field,” Nimmo said. “It’s gonna be interesting.”
The Mets, of course, have already been eliminated from playoff contention after one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, but they’ll do their best to play spoiler against Nimmo and the Rangers and end the year on a high note.
In fact, New York has actually played much better since its fire sale at the trade deadline, which is something Nimmo has noticed and is not taking lightly.
“I think it’s been a tale of two stories,” he said. “I think that the team in the beginning, from what I’ve seen from the outside, is much different than the team that they are now. Not just because of the trade deadline, but they seem to be playing better baseball now and so I think it’s a real formidable team over there.
“For us, we’re looking to really go play some good baseball against them tonight because we know that they’re very dangerous. It was obviously not the way that they drew it up for things to start, but that’s baseball. You can’t predict the future.”
It’s true, at 71-85 on Sept. 22, this wasn’t where the Mets pictured themselves before the season started. After trading Nimmo and moving on from a core that wasn’t able to get it done over the last few years, including Alonso, who they let walk in free agency, David Stearns and the Mets still had a plan to compete in 2026.
That plan included a bunch of fresh faces, some old and some new like Carson Benge, who made the team out of spring training and has been a ROTY candidate, as well as A.J. Ewing, who emerged as the team’s everyday center fielder and added a spark when New York desperately needed one.
“Benge seems like the real deal. What a great player all around,” Nimmo said. “…Ewing, seems like he’s got a lot of tools and seems like a great player – obviously playing center field is a really hard thing to do and he’s doing a great job of that.
“From what I’ve seen from the young guys that they have over there, it seems like a really bright future, so I think that they definitely have that hammered down and seems like they’re doing great and good things to continue to come from them.”
From that aspect, moving on from Nimmo, who has four years remaining on his eight-year, $162 million contract, made sense and has worked out for the Mets.
Even Nimmo understands that.
“I honestly just think we weren’t thought of as the solution moving forward,” he said, referring to himself and Alonso. “I don’t think we were blamed for what happened in the past, I think we were just thought of as not the solution going forward. I tried not reading any more into that than that… For me, I didn’t look at it like ‘hey, we blame you guys’ that’s not how I looked at it.”
But while the Nimmo trade has been, for the most part, a clean break, the Alonso situation still looks like a bad breakup.
That was obviously on full display at Citi Field recently when Alonso and the Baltimore Orioles came to Queens for a three-game set which drew boisterous crowds all three nights and came to a head when Alonso hit his 300th career home run to tie the game in the ninth inning.
“There’s a lot of people that love Pete and there’s a lot of people that love what he did for that Mets organization,” Nimmo said about the circumstances. “…People are gonna go watch those franchise guys and root for them.”
Nimmo was also in awe of his former teammate’s performance during that series, but wasn’t surprised by it as he saw it time and time again with the Mets.
“I know Pete and he lives for those moments and there’s very, very, very few people that can live for those moments and come through in them and Pete’s one of them,” he said. “I think [the home run in] Milwaukee probably solidified that for most Mets fans, but I’ve seen it time and time again.”
He continued: “For me, I thought it was a really cool experience for them and the Mets fans and I just think it’s so Pete that like he would go back and do that and put on a show for the fans.”
Part of the reason why fans reacted the way they did during Alonso’s homecoming is because of Stearns' plan to replace him and the lack of production coming from first base this season. The other part was to show Alonso the love that they felt during his time with the Mets – the same love that they showed Nimmo, who spoke about what it’s like playing in New York.
“This is completely different,” he said, referring to the media and public scrutiny. “How much is looked into every single day and the exposure of every single day rather than kind of taking things in stride from month to month. [In New York], it’s like did you do it today or did you not? And you have to own up to that and it’s something that I learned really early on, way back in Brooklyn. I grew up in the system and I figured it out really early on, but when you come from other places and you go into it, it’s completely different.
“Playing in New York is a different animal and it’s good, it’s a really great thing and I think that the New York market is awesome and it’s a great place to win and I developed great relationships there, but it is not for everyone. That is for sure."
Just 6 games to go for the St. Louis Cardinals this season. Tuesday night, it’s the beginning of a 3-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Andre Pallante will get the start for the Cardinals while the Pirates will give the ball RHP Jared Jones. First pitch at PNC Park in Pittsburgh is scheduled for 5:40pm central time and the game broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.
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India have been accused of ‘bullying’ after a controversial decision to overturn a wide in the final over saw them defeat Japan in a men’s T20 international on Tuesday.
The San Diego Padres are here to stay. They only need one more win (and one Arizona Diamondbacks loss) to clinch the postseason on Tuesday night versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Friars throttled the Miami Marlins, sweeping the away team and outscoring them 22-11 in the series sweep.
The Friars got an incredible performance from Walker Buehler. The starter went 6 2/3 innings and was nearly perfect through the first six. The trouble came in the seventh when Buehler surrendered a three-run shot to Javier Sanoja. Thankfully, San Diego’s offense has been rolling lately. The lineup has scored a ridiculous 80 runs in their last 11 games, for an average of 7.3 runs per game. They’ll need that to continue to clinch versus the Dodgers.
It seems like L.A. is pitching a bullpen game tonight. Stewart was announced as the starter for the Dodgers, but will likely only cover the first 1-2 innings as an opener. The right-hander owns a 2.55 ERA across 24 2/3 innings pitched this season. It’s been tougher lately though, with Stewart surrendering three runs in his last seven appearances.
It seems likely that Justin Wrobleski will appear to cover the middle innings. He had a phenomenal start to the season, but has struggled since with a 4.40 ERA in his last 15 games and a dismal 7.62 ERA in his last 23 2/3 innings. Wrobleski hasn’t faced San Diego this season.
King has been the Padres’ ace this season. He’s stepped up in a major way after an injury-plagued 2025 campaign. The right-hander owns a 3.03 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP through 181 innings pitched. He’s been even better down the stretch, with a 2.73 ERA in his last 15 starts (89.0 IP) and a 2.01 ERA in his last seven (44.2 IP).
Not only that, but King has pitched quite well versus Los Angeles this season. The righty has surrendered six runs across 17 1/3 innings pitched against the Dodgers. Most of that damage came on June 28, with King surrendering four runs in 4 1/3 innings. In his other two starts, King pitched a seven-inning shutout and a six innings of two-run ball.
Jake Cronenworth has been more than due lately. He’s batting .229 on the season with a dismal .637 OPS. That said, he plays above-average defense all around the diamond and has been quite the utility player for San Diego. He became so much more than that on Sunday afternoon, putting together his first multihomer game of the season. Cronenworth is currently on a 10-game hitting streak and has batted .464/.516/.786 in his last seven games.
Machado has been DH-ing quite a bit lately. It’s possible that his hand is injured and the Padres are making sure their star third baseman will be ready come playoffs. He’s actively winced multiple times at the plate since seeming to injure it during San Diego’s recent road trip.
With Buehler pitching six pristine innings before collapsing in the seventh, only three relievers needed to be used. Kyle Hart got the final out of the seventh before Bradgley Rodriguez came in. He pitched a scoreless eighth and Mason Miller started warming up with the score at 5-3. That changed quickly when Cronenworth knocked in his second homer of the day, but Miller still came out to finish the game.
With the off day on Monday, the Padres will have their whole ‘pen available for their series opener in L.A. That said, those who will be readily available are Griffin Canning, Kyle Hart, Yuki Matsui, Adrian Morejon, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta and Randy Vásquez. King shouldn’t have too many troubles, but the Friars have options if their ace struggles.
Last night was not a competitive performance from the Nats. The offense did not show up and the pitching put them in a hole. Hopefully the boys can get back to playing like they have the past couple weeks. With only five games to go, this season is almost over. Why not finish strong.
Blake Butera is making a couple alterations to his lineup. The struggling Abi Ortiz is out of the lineup in favor of Andres Chaparro. Yohandy Morales plays DH, which means the outfield consists of Daylen Lile, Dylan Crews and James Wood. CJ Abrams will shift to second base as well. Keibert Ruiz will do the catching tonight. Riley Cornelio will open for Jackson Kent.
The Tigers are adding two exciting left handed rookies to this lineup. Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark are both in there tonight. Clark will play center, while McGonigle plays third base. Both Dillon Dingler and Riley Greene are on the bench tonight. Swingman Drew Anderson will get the start for Detroit tonight.
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Game Info:
Stadium: Comerica Park
Time: 6:40 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Hopefully the Nats can put up more of a fight in this one. They had been playing some solid baseball. We are getting very close to the end of the season and I do not have many more game threads to write for a while. I will miss this! Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats.
After falling on Saturday, the Vancouver Canucks return to action on Tuesday for Game 2 of the 2026 pre-season against the Calgary Flames. Vancouver will be travelling to Calgary, with game time scheduled for 6:00 pm PT. Here are five players to watch on Tuesday.
Where Arshdeep Bains plays this year will be an intriguing storyline to follow. The 25-year-old is most likely headed for the AHL, but would need to clear waivers to be assigned to the Abbotsford Canucks. Projected to play on a line with Aatu Räty and Matt Stienburg, Bains needs to stand out on Tuesday if he wants a shot at making the NHL roster.
Tuesday will be Kevin Lankinen's first start of the campaign. The 31-year-old did not have the strongest training camp, but it will be easier to judge his performance against an opposing NHL team. With Thatcher Demko's status still unknown, the Canucks will likely lean heavily on Lankinen again this year, as he is currently the team's projected night-one starter.
Victor Mancini is another player currently on the bubble to make the NHL team. The 24-year-old struggled on Saturday against the Seattle Kraken and is currently in a battle for the seventh defender slot. Mancini is expected to get plenty of ice time on Tuesday and will need to show he can be reliable in his own zone against NHL competition.
Tuesday is a big night for Räty as it will be his final game of the 2026 pre-season. Due to the new CBA rules, the 23-year-old will be ineligible to play any more games, as he has already hit his maximum of two. Projected to start the season as Vancouver's fourth-line center, Räty needs to show he can contribute at both ends of the ice.
Canucks Projected Lineup For Game 2 Of The 2026 Pre-Season Versus The Calgary FlamesThe Vancouver Canucks battle the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. One prospect to keep an eye on Tuesday is Brooks Rogowski. The 2026 second-round pick had a decent training camp and is now ready to show what he can do against NHL competition. Listed at 6'7", 235 lbs, it shouldn't be hard to tell when Rogowski hits the ice during his pre-season debut.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
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Chad Tracy told us not to look very much into the order of the rotation this week, but it’s hard not to note that Payton Tolle is starting tonight exactly one week before the Wild Card series begins, and Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez are set to go tomorrow and Thursday. That feels like a Game 1, Game 2, and Game 3 setup for New York, but again, we’ll still have to wait a few more days for official word.
Regardless of how the Sox choose to stack the deck, this will be Tolle’s final tune up before the showdown against the Yankees, so how he looks here will be even more important than the result of this game for the Red Sox.
On the contrary, this game means everything to Cleveland. Despite entering the night three games behind the Red Sox, they’re currently leading the AL Central by a game over the Chicago White Sox, and if the season ended today, they’d actually get a bye and wouldn’t even have to play in the Wild Card round.
To help them maintain control of that bye, they have their ace Parker Messick on the mound, who enters the evening with a 2.57 ERA and 186 strike outs on the season.
Switching gears to the Red Sox lineup, the biggest note is that Roman Anthony is again in left field and Jarren Duran starts the night on the bench. This is becoming the theme against left handed starts, which is obviously noteworthy for next week because Carlos Rodon and Max Fried are both left handed.
⚾️ First Pitch: 6:45pm — Fenway Park. Boston, MA
📺 TV: NESN
📻 Radio: WEEI
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