The New Jersey Devils begin a three-game road trip with a mission. It’s a get-right stretch, one where they hope to return to the brand of hockey that made them a juggernaut. This is particularly the message after the recent game against the St. Louis Blues, where they blew a 4-1 lead in the third period yet recovered and won 5-4 in overtime.
“Just get back to our game and keep playing a good brand of hockey,” Luke Hughes stated after the game as the team turns the page. The Devils were overconfident against the Blues and tried making highlight plays that almost cost them in the end. “That has been the furthest thing from our mind when we've been playing here of late. So that's the lesson,” head coach Sheldon Keefe added.
Keefe wants the Devils to play a disciplined and structured brand of hockey, especially when they have a late-game lead. A road trip is a good time to focus on that brand and for the Devils to win the way they have been doing so all season.
This road trip is a unique one. The Devils face the New York Islanders on Saturday night and then play the second of a back-to-back against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. Then they wrap it up on Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets. It’s three different opponents that will test the Devils and dare them to win in multiple ways.
Is Hellebuyck Ready To Outduel An Elite Goaltender?
Hellebuyck reinvigorated the Devils, the fanbase, and the energy around the team. However, he hasn’t had any lights-out starts yet despite a 4-0 record. He has a .891 save percentage and a 2.44 goals-against average on 92 shots, with 0.1 goals saved above average.
It’s understandable for Hellebuyck to have a shaky start to the season considering he missed training camp and is adjusting to a new team. With each start, he’s slowly acclimating to the action and the workload, and the recent game was his toughest test as the Blues generated 32 shots.
Hellebuyck has faced some great offenses but has yet to face an elite goaltender on the other end. Ilya Sorokin was a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2022-23 and 2025-26. He’s one of the few goaltenders in the NHL who can take over games with a dominant start.
The Devils might end up in a low-scoring game with the Islanders, especially if Sorokin is sharp from the opening puck drop. It will challenge Hellebuyck to outduel Sorokin, something he’ll want to prove he can do.
The Devils Offense Looks To Go Toe-To-Toe With The Maple Leafs Firepower
After a disappointing 2025-26 season, the Maple Leafs have bounced back, at least offensively. They average 3.65 goals per game, the fifth-most in the NHL. Auston Matthews and William Nylander are the star players leading the way, while Easton Cowan and Gavin McKenna have injected youth and an exciting flair into the offense.
The Devils have already been tested by high-octane offenses. They faced the Colorado Avalanche twice and the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. The Devils not only handled both offenses but outdueled them.
The Maple Leafs are led by a great offense but have also struggled on defense, allowing 3.24 goals per game. It sets them up to make games high-scoring and match them goal for goal. The Devils have the offense to do that and hope their high-end skill can once again deliver.
The Jets Will Provide The Devils & Hellebuyck With A Test Unlike Any They’ve Seen
The atmosphere in Winnipeg on Nov. 10 will be one of a kind. Hellebuyck makes his much-anticipated return, and the Jets fans will be ready with boos, chants, jeers, and everything in between.
What will make it unique is that Hellebuyck is a goaltender. The Islanders fans booed John Tavares in his return game every time he took the ice. Likewise, Brady Tkachuk was met with booing and chirping with every shift in his return game against the Ottawa Senators. A skater allows fans to stop and go, but what about a goaltender?
Needless to say, the fans will come prepared. They will likely boo Hellebuyck the moment he takes the ice for warmups, and if the Jets score, the fans will erupt much like they would for a goal in the playoffs.
This is a challenge for Hellebuyck and something the Devils must handle as well. The players must handle the intensity. Likewise, the Jets will feed off the energy from the crowd and give the Devils all they can handle. Even in a rough season for the Jets, this is one game they certainly won’t want to lose. It’s not a playoff game, but the players handling this environment will speak volumes about their ability to play under pressure.
Sunday’s hosts need to stop looking for excuses and focus on what they can control to kick off the Nations Championsip against battle-hardened Australia
Several things are increasingly guaranteed from an English rugby perspective around this time of year. Bang on cue the injury news and the weather both start to worsen. Cracks in the relationship between the players and their head coach, in this case Steve Borthwick, begin to surface. And as the crowds stream up from Twickenham railway station past the biltong and burger stalls, no one has much idea what to expect.
This year it has been the same old story. Particularly on the injury front. If Tom Curry, Alex Mitchell and Archie McParland had not all been hurt on the Bagshot training pitch, all three would probably be in England’s matchday 23. With Guy Pepper, Benhard van Rensburg, Sam Underhill, Kepu Tuipulotu and Chandler Cunningham-South also out of the running, the squad is not quite as fizzing with energy and dynamism as it might be.
Just under a quarter of the way through the 2026-27 season, the Philadelphia Flyers have won only four of their first 18 games, and the way they continue to find ways to lose games is impressively bad.
Overall, the Flyers actually played a solid game against the Metropolitan Division rival New York Rangers on Thursday night. The Rangers held a narrow 28-25 advantage in shots on goal, while 5-on-5 shot attempts, according to Natural Stat Trick, were an even 48-48.
In the expected goals battle, the Flyers eked out a 2.67 to 2.65 advantage.
By the numbers, it was an extremely even game, but one the Flyers should have won.
Thanks to unlikely goal contributions from Simon Benoit, who scored his first goal since March 10, 2025, and Noel Acciari, the Flyers went into the third period on Thursday night nursing a 2-1 lead. And they played like it.
The Rangers, of course, pushed, out-shooting the Flyers 10-8, and out-attempting the Flyers 17-11 at 5-on-5.
Midway through the third period, a chintzy slashing penalty on Denver Barkey put the Flyers on the penalty kill, and Pavel Dorofeyev cashed in to tie the game at 2-2.
The Flyers continued to sit back and play conservatively, and a routine offensive zone dump-and-chase was quickly thrown back the other way, with Rangers forward Ty Kartye finding an inexplicable amount of open space for a breakaway, which he scored on to give the Blueshirts an insurmountable 3-2 lead.
On Kartye's goal, Travis Sanheim was pinched up in the neutral zone on his man, Jamie Drysdale was far off to the left of the ice, and Sean Couturier was at the red line. In the end, nobody cut off the middle and right side of the ice, and regardless of whose mistake it was in coverage, it was made by someone who should know better.
"I'm not sure. I was up on my check in the neutral zone, and I haven't watched it yet, so I'm not sure what happened," Sanheim said bluntly of the goal after the game.
In the end, nobody on the Flyers knows, or wants to say, what the issue is that's causing this team to turtle and throw games away.
"I think we were trying to defend a lead rather than just play the game and kind of do what made us successful during the other period," Acciari offered. "I don't know what it was, but needed to keep the foot on the gas and keep doing what got us there."
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet, who bears the responsibility for this fairly or unfairly, is out of answers, too.
"I don't know the answer. When the pressure hits, you want to embrace it. You want the puck. You want to be in situations that, 'I want to be the difference.' Whether it's a wall play, a blocked shot, a good back check. Those are the moments that we need people to consistently give," Tocchet said.
As for players who weren't as involved in the collapse, Matvei Michkov played just three shifts inside the final 10 minutes of the third period, including the 6-on-5 with the extra attacker at the very end of the game.
For Porter Martone, he played just two, was left off the 6-on-5 entirely, and finished the night with just 11:51 of ice time.
First-year pro Cole Knuble played just two shifts in the final 10 minutes, too: once immediately before the Barkey penalty, and once for the faceoff after the Kartye goal. That was it.
It's become abundantly clear that the Flyers are trying to grasp at wins, playing not to lose instead of playing to win at a point in the season where every point in the standings matters. That's what happens when you light the first nine games of an 84-game season on fire.
Now, the Flyers are 0-4-3 against divisional opponents this season and cruising along in their race to the bottom of the NHL.
Two of the Vancouver Canucks’ most intriguing prospects will now be playing on the same OHL team.
After speculation that he would be traded by his former team, the London Knights, Canucks prospect Aleksei Medvedev has been dealt to the Peterborough Petes in the OHL. This move will unite him with fellow Canucks prospect Adam Novotný, who has been with Petersborough since the 2025–26 season.
2026–27 is Medvedev’s third season in the OHL and was his third with the Knights. After putting together a strong 22–8–2 record with London in 2024–25, as well as a 2.79 GAA and .912 SV%, the goaltender was selected 47th-overall by the Canucks in the 2025 NHL Draft. His play has faltered since being drafted, with his numbers dropping to a 3.26 GAA and .891 SV% in 2025–26. Medvedev was traded to the Petes for a 2028 second-round pick, 2027 third-round pick, and 2030 fifth-round pick.
Novotný has been a star for the Petes since the start of the 2026–27 season. After putting up 34 goals and 31 assists in 58 games in his first OHL season, the forward was selected 24th-overall by the Canucks in 2026. He put together a strong Development Camp and Training Camp effort but was sent back down to the OHL, where he has since scored 10 goals and 12 assists in 16 games. Novotný currently leads the Petes in points with 22.
Despite Novotný’s strong individual play, the Petes are currently at the bottom of the East Division with eight wins and 10 losses. That said, they currently sit at sixth in the Eastern Conference and have won five of their last eight games.
Peterborough will play their next game on November 8 at 11:05 am PCT, hosting the Niagara IceDogs.
Photo Credit: Kaja Antic-THN
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Back-to-back Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is a free agent this winter and will likely fetch the richest contract for a pitcher in Major League Baseball history, a mark currently held by the Los Angeles Dodgers' $325 million pact with Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Skubal, who turns 30 on Nov. 20, won the 2024 and 2025 AL Cy Young Awards with the Detroit Tigers and was traded to the Dodgers this summer with the Tigers anticipating they wouldn't be able to afford their homegrown lefty come winter.
Yamamoto's 12-year deal with the Dodgers upon his arrival from Japan broke the record set by Gerrit Cole, who agreed to a nine-year, $324 million contract with the New York Yankees prior to the 2020 season. Cole's deal was signed just days after Stephen Strasburg's $245 million contract temporarily was the largest in baseball history.
The biggest contract for a left-handed pitcher belongs to the New York Yankees' Max Fried, who signed an eight-year deal with the Yankees after the 2024 season.
With Skubal set to make history, here's a look at the biggest contracts for pitchers through the years:
Biggest MLB contracts for pitchers
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers — $325 million (12 years, 2024-2035)
Gerrit Cole, Yankees – $324 million (9 years, 2020-2028)
Stephen Strasburg, Nationals – $245 million (7 years, 2020-2026)
Max Fried, Yankees – $218 million (8 years, 2025-2032)
David Price, Red Sox – $217 million (7 years, 2016-2022)
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers – $215 million (7 years, 2014-2020 extension)
Corbin Burnes, Diamondbacks – $210 million (6 years, 2025-2030)
Dylan Cease, Blue Jays – $210 million (7 years, 2026-2032)
Max Scherzer, Nationals – $210 million (7 years, 2015-2021)
Zack Greinke, Diamondbacks – $206.5 million (6 years, 2016-2021)
Jacob DeGrom, Rangers – $185 million (5 years, 2023-2027)
Blake Snell, Dodgers – $182 million (5 years, 2025-2029)
Justin Verlander, Tigers – $180 million (7 years, 2013-2019 extension)
Felix Hernandez, Mariners – $175 million (7 years, 2013-2019 extension)
Stephen Strasburg, Nationals – $175 million (7 years, 2017-2023 extension ... *** opted out after 2019)
Aaron Nola, Phillies – $172 million (7 years, 2024-2031)
Garrett Crochet, Red Sox – $170 million (6 years, 2026-2031 extension)
Carlos Rodon, Yankees – $162 million (6 years, 2023-2028)
Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees – $155 million (7 years, 2014-2020)
Jon Lester, Cubs – $155 million (6 years, 2015-2020
BINGHAMTON, NY - MAY 26: Franklin Arias #50 of the Portland Sea Dogs celebrates with teammates after defeating the Binghamton Rumble Ponies at Mirabito Stadium on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 in Binghamton, New York. (Photo by Kylie Richelle/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
As Matt laid out yesterday, there sure are a lot of rumors involving the Red Sox and shortstops, despite the fact that Franklin Arias is a shortstop with nothing left to prove in AAA. So what does that say about how the Sox view Arias? Maybe it doesn’t say anything than that they’re doing their due diligence. But here’s what the current dean of the Red Sox beat says about it in his offseason preview piece: “Some in the organization view Arias as almost untouchable. In a poor positional free agent class, however, the Sox are unlikely to keep Arias off-limits in trade talks, but they’d only consider dealing him for a star with multiple years of control.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
Meanwhile, another Red Sox beat reporter thinks a big trade isn’t that likely this offseason. “Breslow has gone down the trade road a lot in his three previous offseasons as chief baseball officer. With the prospect haul that was sent to the Orioles for Adley Rutschman, this could be the year free agency is the option Breslow explores the most. Randy Arozarena, to me, would be the perfect fit in the middle of the batting order.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)
Amidst the relatively disappointing start of the “Big Three Era” (remember when it was briefly the “Big Four”?) it’s understandable that many fans harbor some scepticism about prospects like Arias. But it’s hardly time to close the book on Roman Anthony, who, through all the injuries, still showed plenty of signs of future stardom in 2026. (Brian Murphy, MLB.com)
Hopefully a full offseason of rest is enough for Anthony to put his wrist injuries behind him. If so, maybe he’ll appear on the list of Silver Slugger finalists next year. As it stands the Sox landed two players on that list: Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu, neither of whom has won the award before. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
But will Anthony, Contreras, and Abreu get any help in the lineup? Here’s a look at a few free agent names who might be a good fit for the Sox, starting with Seiya Suzuki. (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)
The Sox did actually make a significant signing yesterday, though not of the player personnel variety. Shelley Duncan, who, like Chad Tracy, has spent years as a AAA manager, has been added to Tracy’s big league coaching staff. (Sean McAdam, Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
During a TikTok stream where the pair were playing NBA 2K, New York Knicks guards Tyler Kolek and Miles “Deuce” McBride were asked a question: who was the 'fakest' celebrity fan they encountered during the Knicks’ championship run? Kolek didn't hesitate to name a major celebrity.
Kolek promptly named pop superstar Taylor Swift, who made headlines for her courtside appearance at Game 4 of the Knicks’ series against the San Antonio Spurs on June 10, 2026, at Madison Square Garden. Swift was spotted in a custom blue-and-orange T-shirt with the pun “Stevie Knicks,” accompanied by her longtime friends Mariska Hargitay, Alana Haim, and Este Haim.
"I don't know if I've seen her at any other games… It's a little performative," Kolek said during the live stream.
McBride, laughing, agreed with Kolek's assessment but was quick to warn his teammate: "I would agree. The Swifties aren’t going to like that answer."
Saving himself from the potential backlash, Kolek quickly clarified his remarks. He suggested that her busy schedule might simply prevent her from attending more often.
McBride teased Kolek for trying to backtrack and from the wrath of Swift’s loyal fanbase.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 07: Jacob Young #30 of the Washington Nationals looks on before the game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on September 07, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The offseason just started, but the Nats are already busy inking players to extensions. After extending Cade Cavalli at the end of the season, Paul Toboni gave Jacob Young a 4-year $23 million deal that has an option for a 5th year. The Nats center fielder took a big leap offensively, and now they are betting on Young to maintain that level.
Terms: Jacob Young and the Nationals reached an agreement on a four-year, $23 million contract extension that includes an $8 million option for a fifth season, according to a source familiar with the deal.
Before 2026, Young was a defensive specialist, who offered little to no value with the bat. In 2025, he posted an OPS of just .583 and hit just two homers. Young was an elite defender, but that can only take you so far. We are seeing that now with Nasim Nunez. You have to be at least a respectable offensive player.
After 2025, Young knew that he needed to change things. He went to Driveline and worked on changing his swing path. Young was hitting ground balls at a 56.5% clip in 2024 and 2025. Even with his elite speed, you cannot make a living on infield hits unless you are Chandler Simpson.
Young was a very different hitter in 2026 though. He hit .252 with a .708 OPS and socked a career high 10 homers. Those offensive numbers will not knock your socks off, but for a defense first player, those stats are more than good enough. The power was the biggest surprise for most people. Young hitting homers was a novelty before this year, but in 2026, he got to double digits.
You have to give Young a ton of credit for putting in the work, but you also have to credit the Nats hitting coaches and the folks at Driveline. That ground ball rate went from 56.5% to 39.4%, which is a drastic decrease. His batted ball profile totally changed, and it made him a much better hitter.
To the extension itself, the deal is structured a lot like the one that was given out to Cade Cavalli. The Nats are buying out all of Young’s arbitration years and one of his free agent years. There is also an option to buy out a further free agent year at the end of the deal. That was the exact same structure as the Cavalli deal.
Similar type of concept as the Cavalli deal. Buys out a free agent year with an option for another one. Congrats to JY https://t.co/2OgIRgKTuA
Credit to Talk Nats for being on this first and Andrew Lang for getting the structure of the deal. Clearly, this is an extension strategy Paul Toboni likes to use. It makes a lot of sense as well, as it is good for the player and the team. For the player, it gives them security and a chance to get back on the free agent market at a reasonable age.
Meanwhile, the team locks up the player for what should be their best years at a reasonable rate. Usually, a player’s best seasons are those arbitration years and their first couple free agent years. This structure allows the Nats to control the player for those years while not committing to them deep into their 30’s.
I wonder if there are other players who would be interested in that kind of deal. Daylen Lile is further away from free agency than Cavalli or Young, but I can see the Nats approaching him with a similar concept. For stars like James Wood and CJ Abrams, both sides would probably prefer a longer term and bigger money deal though.
Getting this done early sends a message that Young is part of the team’s plans and will not be traded. Young may get traded during the lifespan of this deal, but it will not be anytime soon. That makes things interesting for a guy like Dylan Crews.
We will dive into this further, but after this move, I wonder about his future. I am sure teams will start calling the Nats to sniff around on him. Overall, this is a solid deal for the player and the team. It makes sense for both sides. Jacob Young gets to secure generational wealth, while the team locks him up for the prime of his career.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is one-of-one. He doesn't play in the style of other superstars, which makes coaching the NBA champion and two-time MVP a particular challenge.
Doc Rivers, the former Bucks coach turned NBC Sports studio host for NBA broadcasts, pulled no punches when talking about how he found it difficult to coach Antetokounmpo in an appearance on the Bill Simmons podcast.
Doc Rivers tells Bill Simmons it was so hard for him to coach Giannis Antetokounmpo during his tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks:
“He’s not easy. He plays at this crazy downhill pace. He’s really a difficult guy. He has this great passing ability, but he doesn’t have a super-high…
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod (@big_business_) November 6, 2026
"I liked Giannis a lot. I liked him more as a dude. He's interesting. He's not easy. He's not easy because he plays at this crazy downhill pace. He's really a difficult guy....
"He has this great passing ability, but he doesn't necessarily have this super IQ at the same time. It's really a strange thing, and he really has one way: downhill, force, force. Every play, he wants to force it. I wish he learned how to execute better. He's one of those guys... that have never needed to execute because they can do it on their own. But that doesn't help the team. And I told Giannis this, the thing he needs to still learn is the value of execution. How important it is when you're in practice and shoot-arounds to lock in on execution. And now he has a coach [Erik Spoelstra] who is as good as there is in execution."
Rivers came in at the end of Antetokounmpo's time in Milwaukee, taking over in the middle of the 2023-24 season, and the team never found a consistent identity under Rivers' leadership. Part of that was the personnel around Antetokounmpo at the time: Jrue Holiday was gone, Kris Middleton was battling injuries and not the same player as his peak, and Damian Lillard was supposed to be the "fix."
Rivers also was there for Antetokounmpo's exit from Milwaukee, and he talked about that as well with Simmons.
"Giannis wanted out, but he was a Buck. And he didn't want to be the bad guy. He wanted [GM Jon Horst and owner Wes Edens] and those guys to say, 'We're trading you,' instead of him asking for a trade. To me, that was the game that was being played."
That take is not controversial, that's how pretty much everyone saw Antetokounmpo's exit from Milwaukee.
His comments on Antetokounmpo's play are going to draw pushback out of Miami.
The Scuderia are hopeful of being in the world championship mix next season but risk puncturing their chances if they can’t corral their men in the cockpits
Going into this weekend’s São Paulo Grand Prix, all indications are that the status quo at Ferrari will no longer suffice for Lewis Hamilton if the Scuderia’s ambition to return their first drivers’ Formula One championship since 2007 is to be taken seriously.
This year’s drivers’ title is already decided with Kimi Antonelli triumphant at the last round in Mexico and Ferrari are already looking towards next season where they are hopeful of genuinely being in the mix against the Italian and Mercedes.
ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 1: Dominic Smith #8 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates after hitting a home run in the fourth inning during the game against the Washington Nationals at Truist Park on August 1, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
For a couple of months there, it seemed like the Atlanta Braves had pulled off a coup of a deal, with Dominic Smith seeming primed to put up one of his best seasons since the pandemic. It didn’t turn out that way, but Smith still ended up finding himself right in the thick of it when it came to Atlanta and the Postseason.
So let’s get right into how things went for Dominic Smith here in Atlanta during the 2026 season. How did he go from being one of the hottest hitters on the team to essentially being planted on the bench to suddenly being in the lineup in a win-or-go-home situation? Let’s get into it.
How Acquired
The Braves and Dominic Smith initially agreed on a minor league deal back in February of 2026. Once it became clear that Smith had done enough in Spring Training to make the ballclub on the Opening Day roster, the Braves signed both him and Kyle Farmer to split contracts for the 2026 season. Smith’s version of the split deal paid him $1.25 million in the majors, and the majors were where he spent his entire season.
What were the expectations?
As a non-roster invite to spring training, the expectations were pretty low. Even when he made the roster, it was clear that he was here as a bench option that could do some work as the DH, potentially get some time in the outfield and serve as the “Break Glass in Case of Emergency” option to play first base if Matt Olson either got hurt or replaced by a clone who believed that it was time for a day off.
With that being said, there was some hope that Smith could provide some production off the bench. He did finish with a .325 wOBA and 111 wRC+ over 225 plate appearances and 63 games with the San Francisco Giants in 2025, so it wasn’t like his bat was just completely gone. Atlanta was hoping that he’d be able to tap into that vein of form while wearing a Braves uniform.
Still, even that decent-ish performance was undercut by a much worse xwOBA (.306), as well as the fact that Smith hadn’t hit at all since the shortened 2020 season. To wit, he had a .300 wOBA, .316 xwOBA, and -0.6 fWAR in over 1,760 PAs from 2021-2025. He was projected to be barely above replacement level in 2026, which made it kind of a concern that the Braves were heading into the 2026 season with Smith holding a roster spot. Those concerns were immediately allayed, and then un-allayed over the long arc of the season.
2026 Results
At the end of the day, this ended up being a bit of an underwhelming season for Dominic Smith. He played in 108 games (his most since 2023) and reached 300 plate appearances for the first time since 2024. He ended up with a slash line of .253/.311/.383 with a .304 wOBA (that was very close to his .301 xwOBA), .130 Isolated Power, 9 home runs and 91 wRC+.
Smith did get plenty of reps as the DH throughout the season, but that came to a halt once September rolled around. He (famously) received only 13 plate appearances during the month of September before not just making the NL Wild Card Series roster, but actually starting in the deciding game as well. Despite the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments concerning Walt Weiss’s decision to give Smith a start in the decisive Game 3 of the series (despite him ending Game 2 by leaving his bat on his shoulders), Smith ended up delivering a couple of hits in the series clincher in order to validate the decision on a what-ended-up-happening basis.
Outside of that performance in the Wild Card Series and early on in the season (which we will get into), this was by no means a spectacular season for Dominic Smith. It was certainly fun at times but there’s a reason why he ended up finishing the season underwater in fWAR at -0.5.
He didn’t strike out a ton, he didn’t whiff a ton either, though when he did hit the ball, decent contact was far from a given with a career-worst xwOBACON. Unfortunately, the big impact from Dominic’s bat was hard to find throughout the course of the season and those big moments that we all wanted to see (and got a little used to) during the early portion of the season were few and far in between.
Probably the biggest indictment of his season from a big picture perspective is that after he started slumping, the Braves had no alternatives other than to keep playing him, which is how they committed a half-season to a guy notably below replacement.
What went right?
Hoo boy, those first two months from Dominic Smith were fantastic and chockfull of some vintage Big Dominic Smith Moments at the plate. Up until May 31, Smith hit .325/.356/.496 with a wOBA of .367, an xwOBA of .369, 133 wRC+, five homers and 25 RBI. A 133 wRC+ for the whole season would’ve made Smith one of the top six DHs in all of baseball according to that metric in particular, and it would’ve made for a career year for Smith. Things were even crazier in April, as he managed a wOBA and xwOBA near .400 in his first 70ish PAs of the year.
He got off to just about as good (and dramatic) of a start as you could get in the 2026 season, as he hit a walk-off grand slam on March 28 against the Royals in order to complete a come-from-behind victory where Atlanta went into that frame down 2-0. Absolutely wild stuff — especially when you consider that this was his debut for the Braves!
Smith then came up with another big hit on April 14 against the Marlins, which is when he turned a 5-3 deficit in the bottom of the eighth inning into a 6-5 lead with one swing of the bat on a bases-clearing double. That wasn’t the biggest hit of the year for the Braves, but it definitely was for Smith, and it placed into the top-five teamwide.
He had a three-hit game on April 10 against Cleveland, the aforementioned April 14 game was of the three-hit variety as well, he racked up four knocks on May 12 against the Cubs and then he capped off his two-month heater with three hits against the Reds on May 29. That time when it felt like Smith was rarely missing the chances he took was a really wonderful time, wasn’t it?
How did Smith do it? It wasn’t anything all that strange or unusual. He was hitting the ball hard in the air. Smith has always been somewhat of an oddity — a big guy with prodigious raw power who employs a slow, slap-oriented swing, but he leaned into that somewhat less during the first two months. It was still a slow swing oriented to contact most of the time, and he actually swung hard more often after May ended, but he just so happened to connect on his powerful swings in a helpful way over those two months. Part of it, though, was that similar to his teammates, Smith was much more in swing mode, especially early in the count, in April and May. He then got very passive, and it seemed like his ability to do damage went right along with it.
What went wrong?
When June rolled around, the entire Atlanta offense got frigid-cold at the plate, and this included Dom Smith. In fact, Smith never really recovered from that team-wide dip in form during June — from June 1 until the end of the regular season, Smith hit .192/.275/.288 with a .254 wOBA (.248 xwOBA), an Isolated Power number of just .096, four homers and 57 wRC+. The magic was well and truly gone and it got to a point where Smith was basically benched for much of the final month of the season.
Remember how I mentioned all of those multi-hit games for Dominic Smith early on in the season? Well, from August 1 until the regular season concluded, Dom had a grand total of six (6) hits. Five of those hits occurred during the month of August and the sixth one came after the Braves had clinched the division. The fact that he did come up with those two hits in Game 3 of the Wild Card series was a bit miraculous considering how little game action he was getting up until that point.
As noted above, Smith actually started swinging noticeably harder after his early success. But, he became so passive it was almost a joke — he swung at over 70 percent of strikes in April and May, and that rate just kept declining, such that by September, he was barely swinging at 50 percent of the strikes he saw. Combine that with the fact that despite him swinging harder, his contact was much poorer, and you have “how to ruin a great start in four months.”
Credit to Smith for continuing to do the work behind the scenes, but also when you take his level of production from June onwards into consideration along with the team itself starting to get its full complement of players back from injury, it makes sense why Smith didn’t get too much action down the stretch.
Smith’s worst game of the year was… unique… which is fitting for his season as a whole. On July 5, well after he had shed any semblance of offensive competence, the Braves hosted his old team, the Mets. Smith hit into a double play to stifle a Braves rally (they had already scored three runs) in the first, and then made a couple of outs later in the game as the Braves trailed by a couple of runs. But then, the ninth happened, and things got wild for Smith and company. The Braves were getting blown out, 10-3, at the start of the frame, thanks to Carlos Carrasco being allowed to turn a 5-3 deficit into a 10-3 nightmare. But, Smith singled as the second batter in the bottom of the inning, and a Drake Baldwin grand slam and a bunch of other stuff later, the Braves were down 10-9, with both the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, with Smith coming up for the second time in the inning. He got ahead 2-0. He took a strike. He tried to capitalize on a fastball above the zone, but couldn’t catch up to it. Devin Williams followed with a changeup around shin-high, and Smith missed that, too. Game over. It feels like April-May Smith would’ve transformed that into another Big Dom Smith Moment, but alas, he did not.
As a minor note: Smith had a bizarre 5 PA-based line in the playoffs. His slash line was .400/.400/.400, because he struck out three times and managed two weak singles. It’s hard to know what the Braves were expecting, but in a weird way, that feels about right.
2027 Outlook
Well, Smith is a free agent and as of right now, it doesn’t seem likely that there will be a reunion in the cards. Again, he rarely saw the field towards the end of the season and that’s not the type of thing that would indicate that a team would be interested in keeping a relationship going. Surely there will be more Big Dominic Smith Moments in the future, but they likely won’t come with the Braves.
Still, Smith’s a left-handed bat and he’s got two months of proof that he could very well perform at a high level if he can figure out a way to harness it long-term. Maybe not deciding to watch half the strikes you see go by is a starting point in that endeavor. That should be enough to ensure that an organization will give him a shot in spring Training, so we definitely haven’t seen the last of Dominic Smith in the big leagues. It just appears likely that he’ll be an “old friend” rather than a returning player.
All that said, he’s projected to be replacement level or just barely above it at this point (and given 2026, it makes sense), so if a team does add him and use him, it’ll be for vibes and/or a lack of other options, kind of like the Braves in 2026.
It wasn’t long ago that Giannis Antetokounmpo was one of the NBA’s best defenders. He joined Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the third player ever to be named NBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season during the 2019-2020 campaign, and he was consistently a major part of some great units in Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo was always at his best as a ‘roamer’ who could run around and make plays next to Brook Lopez’s reliable rim protection in drop coverage.
Antetokounmpo went viral on Thursday for an ugly clip of chasing the ball defensively with absolutely zero purpose. Giannis looked like a big golden retriever out there following the ball wherever it went without actually positioning himself to help make a defensive stop. Watch the clip here:
Giannis looks tired as hell in this clip, and that’s understandable. He’s the only real offensive creator on the Heat right now, and he’s not working with the type of spacing he enjoyed during his heyday with the Bucks. He’s putting up a 32.8% usage rate right now, and it’s probably too much to ask to carry that level of offensive burden while also being a great defender.
Sharp observers have noticed Giannis’ defense starting to decline the last couple seasons. The Heat’s best pathway to success this season was being an elite defensive team, and I’m just not sure if they can get there. Miami fell to 3-6 after the loss to the Warriors, and they’re lucky to even be that good, because they needed an overtime buzzer-beater to defeat a terrible Los Angeles Clippers team in their previous game.
There’s a lot of basketball left to be played, but the Giannis trade feels like a lose-lose for Milwaukee and Miami so far.
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 05: Alex Call #12 and Andy Pages #44 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate after the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on April 5, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) | Getty Images
One of the expected casualties of the upcoming lockout is the certainty of the timing of the salary arbitration process heading into the 2027 season.
But for players who exchanged salaries in March, their arbitration hearings were set for June, during the season. How it worked was a player would be paid at the salary the team filed (the lower number) to start the season, and if a hearing was won by the player they’d get back pay to make up the difference for the first few months.
Service time is is years and days, such that 5.093 is 5 years, 93 days
We’ll dig deeper into each individual player in January, but this is a broad overview for now. A lot can happen between now and then, either through trades or the November 20 tender deadline.
Jake Cousins still has an option year remaining, but hasn’t pitched in the majors since June 2025 Tommy John surgery. Brock Stewart is out of options with a lengthy injury history, having been sidelined for 95 of the 162 regular season games last year on his three different IL stints, but he’s been quite effective in the months he’s been healthy.
Andy Pages is eligible for salary arbitration for the first time as a Super Two player, among the top 22 percent in service time among players with at least two but not yet three years of major league service time. He’s coming off an All-Star season and was among the top three finishers for a National League Gold Glove in center field, and is projected to make some real money.
We’ll dig deeper into Pages in January, including a potential contract extension outlook with four arbitration-eligible years coming. But for now, here are a few comparable Super Two players from the last two offseasons at roughly his salary level, thanks to the folks atMLB Trade Rumors and Cot’s Contracts.
James Reimer's latest NHL opportunity didn’t go nearly as well as his time with the Senators last season. The veteran goaltender was placed on waivers by the New York Rangers after just one period of action .
For Senators fans, it's a sharp contrast to how things went for Reimer last season when he effectively stepped in to give the club solid support when it needed help between the pipes.
Drak Batherson talks about playing on a line with Shane Pinto and Philip Tomasino (Senators on YouTube).
He was never expected to be a long-term solution here, but when Linus Ullmark stepped away on a personal leave of absence for mental health, and backup Leevi Merilainen struggled, Reimer provided some timely saves in a supporting role.
His brief time with the Rangers has been a different story.
Reimer signed a one-year, $850,000 contract with the Blueshirts on October 25, as the Rangers scrambled to deal with injuries.
With Igor Shesterkin sidelined for the season following a knee injury and former Senators goalie Joonas Korpisalo also out, the Rangers were looking for someone who could take some of the workload off their starter for the moment, Dylan Garand.
Reimer got his opportunity the following night against the Los Angeles Kings, but it didn't last long. He gave up three goals on eight shots in the opening period and was pulled after 20 minutes.
The Rangers went on to lose 6-3. Reimer hasn't played since.
On Thursday, just 11 days after signing him, the Rangers placed him on waivers.
It's a disappointing development for a goalie who had given the Senators some much-needed stability earlier in this calendar year.
In 14 appearances with the Senators, Reimer posted a 7-4-2 record, a 2.42 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage, along with one shutout. He stabilized the position and generally made the saves he was supposed to make, giving the Senators a chance to win on most nights.
His final start with the Senators came on April 15, when he made 19 stops in a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The timing of Thursday's waiver move suggests the Rangers are preparing for Korpisalo's return. If Reimer goes unclaimed, the Rangers can assign him to the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, where he'll still make his full NHL salary.
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 1: Tyler Kolek #13 and Miles McBride #2 of the New York Knicks high five during the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on December 1, 2024 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
When you’re the defending champions, there are not many holistic things to complain about.
Sure, the Knicks started 0-3 with a very unsettling offense, but all they needed was their medicine (the Nets and Bulls) to get back to .500?
Worried about losing to Philadelphia twice in October? Joel Embiid’s plantar fasciitis has already acted up; calm down.
Any “problems” this early in the season are either short-term, regarding the looming extension talks, or good problems, which are more conundrums than actual problems.
The biggest of those conundrums has to do with the Knicks’ rotation, specifically with their copious amounts of guard depth.
Jalen Brunson is the head of the snake, but after him? There are a lot of players with minutes who could fluctuate on any given night.
Tyler Kolek and Jose Alvarado duel over backup ball-handler minutes. Jordan Clarkson and Deuce McBride grapple over bench two-guard minutes. Landry Shamet’s strong play is actively pushing starters Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart over their minutes with the three entrenched parts of the team’s nucleus.
It does qualify as a good problem to have, as injuries will undoubtedly give each of these guys ample opportunity over the course of 82 games, but when they’re all healthy, like they are right now? It probably gives Mike Brown a bigger headache than watching Andre Drummond attempt layups.
All of these guys provide something that the Knicks could use more of, but have warts that can limit their playing time.
Kolek is the best true playmaker, but he’s a poor defender, and his jump shot has been consistent throughout his young NBA career. This basically also describes Alvarado, but the defense is better from the New York native.
McBride has stretches where he’s the team’s best rate shooter and is a tremendously pesky point-of-attack defender… but is that not what the team is getting out of a taller two-guard in Shamet?
Clarkson has been a sparkplug every game he’s played this year, but the 35-year-old showed his maddening inconsistency in his first year in New York.
It’s created an extremely volatile rotation, which isn’t surprising when you have a coach who opened the year saying only five players on this team have minutes that are secured.
Mike Brown took the Knicks' starting five aside, looked at his bench players today at practice and said:
"Everybody else in this gym, you're fighting – either to make the team or for minutes" pic.twitter.com/GweTAITsOT
Despite zero Knicks players averaging more than 33 minutes a game except Brunson (who’s at 34.1), only Shamet is averaging more than 18 minutes a game off the bench.
McBride is at 17.5, Kolek is at 12.2, Alvarado is at 11.3, and Clarkson is at 9.9, but even these are deceiving.
Kolek has played steady rotation minutes, but didn’t play at all in the first two games before Alvarado’s ankle injury. Alvarado played 16 and 11 minutes, got hurt, got benched after nine minutes on Monday, and was on track to be a DNP-CD against the Bulls on Wednesday.
Clarkson’s gone from playing three, five, or eight minutes to his spurts of 15 and 17 in the two games against the Bulls and his 11 to spark the incredible fourth quarter against Brooklyn.
McBride, who’s served as the Knicks’ sixth man for over two years now, has topped 17 minutes just twice. He played a season-low 11 minutes on Wednesday and hasn’t had a clear role.
To get these guys more minutes, it would mean cutting minutes from Hart or Bridges. While both have their warts, and the latter continues to look somehow less involved than he was during his lowest moments last season, some of the Knicks’ best lineups are coming with them on the court… just separated.
We’ve seen Brown deploy line changes significantly more in the early going, opting to sub in three or four players at a time to deploy uniform units, but that’s not helping how erratic this all feels.
The depth is making players redundant on the court, especially with how unwise it is to run four-guard lineups in an NBA that’s prioritizing size and length more and more.
And with the Knicks’ extremely shallow forward and center depth? This glut might have to be sorted out at the trade deadline. As much as McBride has shown his tremendous value to the Knicks over the course of his contract, if he isn’t going to play more, is it even a net positive to keep him for the playoff run?
For now, it’s merely a conundrum that Coach Brown will be scratching his head over every game.
By the time we hit February? Things better be sorting themselves out.
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