NEW YORK (AP) — Rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler struck out 12 as he shut down Boston with 100 mph heat, and the New York Yankees took advantage of a pair misplays in a four-run fourth inning to beat the Red Sox 4-0 on Thursday night for a 2-1 AL Wild Card Series win and a Division Series matchup against Toronto.
New York became the first team to lose the opener and advance from the expanded first round, which began in 2022. The Yankees start the best-of-five Division Series on Saturday at the AL East champion Blue Jays.
A 24-year-old right-hander who debuted July 9, Schlitter grew up a Red Sox fan in Walpole, Massachusetts, but said he wanted to play for the Yankees. He had pitched against the Red Sox only once before — as a freshman at Northeastern in a 2020 spring training exhibition game.
He outpitched Connelly Early, a 23-year-old left-hander who debuted on Sept. 9 and became Boston’s youngest postseason starting pitcher since 21-year-old Babe Ruth in 1916.
Schlittler struck out two more than any other Yankees pitcher had in his postseason debut, allowing five singles in eight innings and walking none. He threw 11 pitches of 100 mph or higher — including six in the first inning, one more than all Yankees pitchers had combined before previously since pitch tracking started in 2008.
Schlittler threw 75 of 107 pitches for strikes, starting 22 of 29 batters with strikes and topping out at 100.8 mph. David Bednar worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth as the Red Sox failed to advance a runner past second.
Bucky Dent threw out the ceremonial first pitch on the 47th anniversary of his go-ahead, three-run homer for the Yankees at Fenway Park in an AL East tiebreaker game, and the Yankees went on to dominate their longtime rival the way they used to.
New York won its second straight after losing eight of nine postseason meetings with Boston dating to 2004 and edged ahead 14-13 in postseason games between the teams. The Red Sox cost themselves with a defense that committed a big league-high 116 errors during the regular season.
New York’s rally began when Bellinger hit a soft fly into the triangle among center fielder Ceddane Rafaela, right fielder Wilyer Abreu and second baseman Romy González. The ball fell just in front of Rafaela, 234 feet from the plate, as Bellinger hustled into second with a double.
Giancarlo Stanton walked on a full count and with one out Amed Rosario grounded a single into left, just past diving shortstop Trevor Story, to drive in Bellinger with the go-ahead run.
Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s single loaded the bases, and Anthony Volpe hit an 86 mph grounder just past Abreu, who had been shifted toward second, and into right for a RBI single and a 2-0 lead.
After a catcher’s interference call on Omar Narváez was overturned on a video review, Austin Wells hit a potential double-play grounder that first baseman Nathaniel Lowe tried to backhand on an in-between hop. The ball glanced off his glove and into shallow right field as two runs scored.
Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon made the defensive play of the game when he caught Jarren Duran’s eighth-inning foul pop and somersaulted into Boston’s dugout, then emerged smiling and apparently unhurt.
Up Next
RHP Luis Gil (4-1, 3.32 ERA) or RHP Will Warren (9-8, 4.44) likely starts the Division Series opener Saturday against Toronto, expected to go with RHP Kevin Gausman (10-11, 3.59) or RHP Shane Bieber (4-2, 3.57).
Cam Schlittler blasted into Yankee postseason lore Thursday night with a spectacular start in the Yankees’ 4-0 victory over the Red Sox in the deciding game of their AL Wild Card series.
Schlittler threw eight scintillating shutout innings, allowing only five hits and no walks, and set a record for strikeouts by a Yankee rookie in a playoff game (12) all while making throwing 100 miles per hour look easy.
The series victory means the Yankees advance to a best-of-five AL Division Series against the Blue Jays, which begins Saturday in Toronto. The Red Sox had beaten the Yankees the last three times they had met in the playoffs -- 2004, 2018 and 2021.
The Yankees also made a slice of Wild Card history: They are the first team under the new playoff format (since 2022) to lose the first game of a Wild Card series and go on to win. The team that had won the opening game had been 15-0 in series until the Yanks’ victory.
Here are the takeaways...
- Schlittler was never in real trouble all night -- the Red Sox had one at-bat against him with a runner in scoring position and Schlittler struck out Jarren Duran in that at-bat to end the fifth inning. That was also the only frame in which the Red Sox had more than one runner on base against him. Hard to have a big inning that way. Schlittler threw his 100th pitch of the night to get out of the seventh inning but was cruising, so Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave him the eighth, too. Schlittler threw only seven pitches to rocket through the eighth inning. Boone used David Bednar, pitching for the third straight day, to close.
- Schlittler was already a great storyline entering the game. He is a native of Walpole, Mass. – Red Sox territory – grew up rooting for them and pitched in college at Northeastern, which is located in Boston. He was a seventh-round pick by the Yankees in the 2022 draft and says his pro career has essentially converted his whole family to Yankee fans. Schlittler was the fourth rookie pitcher in Yankee history to start a winner-take-all Postseason game, joining Spec Shea in Game 7 of the 1947 World Series, Mel Stottlemyre in Game 7 of the 1964 World Series and Iván Nova in Game 5 of the 2011 ALDS.
- Poor Red Sox fundamentals helped the Yankees in their four-run fourth inning, which was more than enough offense to command the game with the way Schlittler was dealing. Cody Bellinger led off with a bloop into center field that three fielders pursued, but none caught. Bellinger, to his credit, kept running and whirled into second with a lucky double. Giancarlo Stanton followed with a walk and, one out later, Amed Rosario hit an RBI single through the left side. After Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled, Anthony Volpe swatted an RBI hit through the right side when Boston was playing him to pull. Then things got weird. Austin Wells followed and was initially going to be awarded first base on catcher’s interference, but a replay review revealed Carlos Narváez’s mitt never touched Wells’ bat. Wells remained at bat and, on a 3-2 pitch, hit a hard grounder toward first that could’ve been an inning-ending double play, but the ball glanced off Nathaniel Lowe’s glove and two runs scored. It’s worth noting here that the Red Sox made the most errors in the Major Leagues this season and an outfield blunder had cost them dearly in Game 2 when Duran bungled a catchable ball in left.
- Rosario, in the lineup against a lefty for the second time in the series, started at third base. He’s always been good against left-handers -- this year, he hit .302 with a .491 slugging percentage against left-handed pitchers, a smidge better than his very-good career numbers.
- Red Sox starter Connelly Early, a 23-year-old lefty who started the season in Double-A, had only 19.1 innings of big-league experience entering Game 3, but had fashioned a 2.33 ERA over four starts while fanning 29 batters. He was quite sharp early on, though his outing crumbled in the fourth. He had struck out five and allowed only two hits through the first three frames, but ended up giving up four runs (three earned) and six hits in 3.2 innings. Lucas Giolito probably would’ve started Game 3 for Boston, but he’s got an elbow issue, which knocked him out of the postseason.
- Early, who is 23 years, 182 days old, was the youngest pitcher to start a Postseason game for the Red Sox since – get ready for this – 21-year-old Babe Ruth in Game 2 of the 1916 World Series. In that tilt, Ruth threw a 14-inning complete game in a 2-1 Boston victory over the Brooklyn Robins. Yes, it was a much different era. Ruth also had an RBI in the game.
- Ryan McMahon, who entered the game for Rosario in the sixth inning for defense, made a spectacular catch of a foul pop by Duran in the eighth inning, flopping over the railing of the Red Sox dugout to snare the ball for the second out. He popped back up and went back to his spot at third base.
- Maybe the Yankees got some good karma going early by bringing Bucky Dent to the Stadium to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. The timing was certainly right -- it was an elimination game against the Red Sox and Thursday was the 47th anniversary of Dent’s famous homer in the one-game playoff between the two teams to decide the AL East title in 1978. Dent’s home run was a key blast in the Yanks’ victory then.
Game MVP: Cam Schlittler
Schlittler, obviously. It continued a great run of pitching for the Yankee youngster. He finished the regular season with a 2.23 ERA over his final nine starts and a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts overall. Not bad for someone who started the season at the Double-A level.
Highlights
Cam Schlittler finishes off Alex Bregman with 100 to cap off a 1-2-3 first inning 🔥 pic.twitter.com/zFzkHVnVUh
CHICAGO — Pete Crow-Armstrong hit an RBI single off a shaky Yu Darvish, and the Chicago Cubs shut down Fernando Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres for a clinching 3-1 victory in Game 3 of their NL Wild Card Series on Thursday.
Backed by a raucous crowd of 40,895 at Wrigley Field, Chicago used its stellar defense to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2017. Michael Busch hit a solo homer, and Jameson Taillon pitched four shutout innings before manager Craig Counsell used five relievers to close it out.
After Brad Keller faltered in the ninth — allowing Jackson Merrill’s leadoff homer and hitting two batters with pitches — Andrew Kittredge earned the save by retiring Jake Cronenworth on a bouncer to third and Freddy Fermin on a flyball to center field.
Next up for Chicago is a matchup with the NL Central champion Brewers in a compelling Division Series, beginning with Game 1 on Saturday in Milwaukee.
Counsell managed the Brewers for nine years before he was hired by the Cubs in November 2023, and he has been lustily booed in Milwaukee ever since he departed.
It was a disappointing finish for San Diego after it made the postseason for the fourth time in six years. The Padres forced a decisive Game 3 with a 3-0 victory on Wednesday, but their biggest stars flopped in the series finale.
Tatis went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, including a flyball to right that stranded runners on second and third in the fifth. Machado, who hit a two-run homer in Game 2, bounced to shortstop Dansby Swanson for the final out of the eighth, leaving a runner at third.
Darvish also struggled against his former team. The Japanese right-hander was pulled after the first four Cubs batters reached in the second inning, capped by the first of Crow-Armstrong’s three hits.
Jeremiah Estrada came in and issued a bases-loaded walk to Swanson, handing the Cubs a 2-0 lead. Estrada limited the damage by striking out Matt Shaw before Busch bounced into an inning-ending double play.
Taillon allowed two hits and struck out four. Caleb Thielbar got two outs before Daniel Palencia wiggled out of a fifth-inning jam while earning his second win of the series. Drew Pomeranz handled the seventh before Keller worked the eighth.
The Cubs supported their bullpen with another solid day in the field. Swanson made a slick play on Luis Arraez’s leadoff grounder in the sixth, and then turned an inning-ending double play following a walk to Machado.
Crow-Armstrong, who went 0 for 6 with five strikeouts in the first two games of the series, robbed Machado of a hit with a sliding catch in center in the first.
Up next
Chicago went 7-6 against Milwaukee this season, outscoring the Brewers 60-56. The NL Central rivals last played in August, when the Cubs won three times in a five-game series.
To be as clear as humanly possible, the Red Sox could have won the Wild Card Series over the Yankees. To be blunt, they should have won the series, as the miscues in a winnable Game 2 — a dropped liner in left, a popped-up bunt, a base-running blunder — were plays that Major League Baseball players have to make.
They could have won. They should have won. But they didn’t. They lost Game 3 at Yankee Stadium, losing 4-0 and getting just one single baserunner as far as second base, and now it’s off to a long, cold winter for the Red Sox.
Still, at no point in this brief postseason run did any reasonable person believe the Red Sox had the roster to really make a run to the World Series. The presence of Connelly Early — who looks like a high schooler and made his MLB debut 23 days ago — on the mound in a do-or-die Game 3 displayed that reality better than any words ever could.
This was a team that overachieved, and their eight-win improvement from a year ago provides plenty of reason to celebrate Alex Cora and the players who made that happen. But this was not a team built for a deep October run.
And that has to be the takeaway from every decision-maker with the Red Sox, from Alex Cora up to Craig Breslow up to Sam Kennedy up to the owner in John Henry. This team came this far with a lineup that included Masataka Yoshida and Romy Gonzalez as cleanup hitters in the playoffs and also had career minor leaguers Nick Sogard and Nate Eaton for the first two games of the series.
It’s a team that tried to patch holes with Nathaniel Lowe (DFA’d by the last-place Nationals) and Dustin May (let go by the reining-champion Dodgers amid another World Series run) while leaning entirely on a 21-year-old rookie in Roman Anthony to carry their offense.
The Red Sox, quite simply, were not good enough.
That has to be the takeaway for the front office if this team is to make something of this year’s step forward. But it’s not a given that they feel that way.
Surely, everyone can recall the 2021 postseason run, when the Red Sox made it to a sixth game of the ALCS. They did lose that series — getting outscored 23-3 by the Astros over the final three games — but hearing Henry and Kennedy speak at that infamous “Winter Weekend” event in front of booing fans, you wouldn’t know it. The powers that be used that postseason run as a shield, evidence that their plans were working, that they knew best, that the angry mob was wrong.
Yet clearly, with a couple of last-place finishes after the ALCS run and then an 81-81 record in 2024, the Red Sox were not actually built to contend — not in the short or long term. Everyone on the outside had known that for years.
On the inside? There seemed to be a bit of misplaced confidence in the direction of the club after the ill-fated Mookie Betts trade. There was a level of smugness that reared its head once again in the wake of the Rafael Devers trade.
Had the Red Sox advanced past the Yankees, perhaps there’d be some more self-assuredness. Cutting Devers loose while getting almost nothing in return was objectively a bad move, but a run to the ALDS and perhaps beyond could have emboldened them into believing whatever they wanted to believe.
Yet after scoring six runs in three games and getting bullied in Game 3 in Yankee Stadium, will the decision-makers feel the urgency in the months ahead? There are no cutting corners on the path to true contention, and a don’t-you-remember-we-made-the-ALCS-in-2021 refrain can’t be used a shield for any mismanagement that lies ahead.
This lineup is not built to contend, and the rotation needs serious investment. The Red Sox aren’t miles away, and with the proper attention, they can be in contention as soon as next year. They just need to remember that they’re the Boston Red Sox and then act — and spend — accordingly.
As for this one, let’s check in with some of what we learned in the disappointing season finale.
Defense was a problem again
After Jarren Duran butchered a shallow pop in Game 2, you’d think he’d be entering Game 3 with a renewed focus. Instead, he stood by idly as Giancarlo Stanton’s moonshot … hit the base of the wall in left-center field. Stanton should have had an all-time blooper moment by getting gunned down at second after standing and admiring his wall ball, but Duran took so long to get to the ball and got absolutely nothing on his throw into the infield, giving second base to Stanton.
Stanton didn’t score, but Connelly Early had to throw 18 high-leverage pitches with the runner in scoring position after the missed opportunity by Duran.
The much costlier mistake came form an unlikely source in Ceddanne Rafaela. He is, without question, one of the best center fielders in baseball at tracking and closing in on everything hit anywhere in the outfield. Yet in the fourth inning, he took a puzzling, slow route to a shallow fly, missing on his diving attempt and giving Cody Bellinger a double. The ball had a 90 percent catch probability for Rafaela off the bat.
Prior to that misplay, Rafaela had seemingly backed away from a couple of balls in the right-center field gap, leaving plenty of space for Wilyer Abreu to make two catches. You’ll recall that Abreu nearly freight-trained Rafaela in Game 1. Alex Cora was asked before Game 2 if he needed to impart any wisdom on how his outfielders can communicate, and the manager largely pooh-poohed the suggestion.
“No, no, it’s two guys trying to make a play. Obviously communication has to be better, and they know it,” Cora said. “We got an out. A lot of people in the dugout are kind of like, ‘Oh!’ I’m like, ‘Wait, we got an out. Let’s go. Move on.’ But they know. … They know what they have to do. They are big leaguers, and they understand sometimes, you know, like mistakes like that, what am I going tell them? Communicate better? They know it.”
It didn’t seem like they did in Game 3, and it was costly, as the bloop double kick-started a four-run fourth inning — the only frame of the ballgame when runs crossed the plate.
Nathaniel Lowe also kicked away what could have been an inning-ending double play ball, which would have stopped the bleeding at two runs. That wasn’t an easy play, per se, but this is the big leagues. It’s one that should be made more often than not.
This might be unfair, but this photo of Ryan McMahon flipping into the Red Sox dugout to make a catch with his team up 4-0 in the late innings kind of presents the proper perspective on the defensive effort levels on display in Game 3.
Ryan McMahon flips into the Boston Red Sox dugout after making a in the eighth inning during Game 3 of the Wild Card Round at Yankee Stadium. Photo: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Cam Schlittler was nasty
While five hits and no runs is a miserable night of offense for the Red Sox, you do have to give credit where it’s due. Cam Schlittler was unbelievable. Elite velocity, total control, complete dominance.
This wasn’t, say, Jon Lieber silencing the Boston bats in the 2004 ALCS. The Yankees have themselves a good one in Schlittler.
Designated hitter Masataka Yoshida batted .571 in the series. That’s good, right?
Sort of.
He did drive in the key runs in Game 1, but he also had four singles. One of which stayed in the infield. Which is fine, but the Red Sox need a cleanup hitter. And a DH.
Trevor Story (.385/.385/.615, HR, 3 RBIs) had a good series at the plate. Alex Bregman was 3-for-10 with a double, an RBI and two talks. But that was it.
The quintet of Ceddanne Rafaela, Carlos Narvaez, Romy Gonzalez, Rob Refsnyder and Wilyer Abreu were a combined 1-for-37. Jarren Duran was 1-for-11. Nathaniel Lowe was 1-for-7. Nick Sogard and Nate Eaton, guys who weren’t even supposed to be on the team, accounted for 21 percent of the team’s hits and two of their three doubles.
Ultimately, the offensive concerns from the regular season caught up to them in the brief series.
Connelly Early was a bright spot
There wasn’t too much to like on Thursday night, but Connelly Early’s temperament would have to make the list. The kid wasn’t afraid of the moment, and if Rafaela had simply made a play that he needs to make, it’s anyone’s guess what Early’s final line would have looked like.
Early obviously doesn’t have the raw power that his counterpart, Schlittler, had. But he mixed his pitches to keep batters off balance, showed off his big sweeper, and looked like a young player who should have a spot in the rotation at the start of the 2026 season.
Payton Tolle was the rookie who had the most electric debut, but Early is the one with the best finish.
CLEVELAND — Dillon Dingler hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning, Wenceel Pérez drove in a pair of runs in a four-run seventh and the Detroit Tigers defeated the Cleveland Guardians 6-3 on Thursday in the deciding Game 3 of their AL Wild Card Series.
It is the second straight season the Tigers have won a Wild Card Series on the road. Detroit heads to Seattle for the first two games of a best-of-five Division Series, with Game 1 on Saturday.
It was also a little bit of sweet revenge for the Tigers after their season ended in Cleveland last year with a loss in Game 5 of the ALDS.
“I don’t think it needs to be any sweeter than what it feels like right now because you have to earn these wins,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “You have to earn the opportunity to play in October. You’ve got to earn a full-series win over a good team, a hot team, a team that we know well.”
The AL West champion Mariners, the second seed, took four of six regular-season meetings with the Tigers, who are the third AL wild card.
José Ramírez drove in Cleveland’s first run with a single. The AL Central champion Guardians were 15 1/2 games back in early July before completing the biggest comeback in division or league play in baseball history.
However, they ran out of steam in the playoffs as Detroit turned the page after posting the second-worst record in the majors in September (7-17).
“It stinks for it to end that way. I couldn’t be more proud of them, of what we accomplished,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “It’s not enough. We want more. And I think that’s really the message, is let this sting. We’re close. We are really close. We’re not quite there yet.”
The game was tied 1-all with two outs in the sixth when Dingler got an elevated changeup from Joey Cantillo on a 1-1 count and drove it 401 feet into the bleachers in left-center to put the Tigers on top.
It was also the first postseason hit and RBI for the Tigers catcher.
“I was able to get a pitch to hit and do a little damage,” Dingler said. “I feel like the momentum in the series was the biggest thing. The team with the biggest momentum or the most momentum was the one that was going to carry on.”
Detroit then broke it open in the seventh by sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring four times to make it 6-1.
With one out and the bases loaded, Pérez lined a base hit to right off Erik Sabrowski to drive in Javier Báez and Parker Meadows. Hunter Gaddis came in and gave up RBI singles to Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene, which brought in Kerry Carpenter and Pérez.
Kyle Finnegan got the win, retiring all four batters he faced in relief. Cantillo took the loss.
“When Wenceel got the hit — I don’t know why, in baseball, it seems like one good thing happens and then two, three, four, five at-bats in a row were exceptional,” Hinch said. “We wanted to get even more greedy and do more. But it was nice to separate and breathe a little bit. But knowing they weren’t going to give in.”
The Tigers opened the scoring in the third. With one out and runners on the corners, Carpenter hit a grounder down the first-base line that deflected off C.J. Kayfus’ glove when he tried to backhand it. The ball rolled into foul territory near the stands as Meadows scored. Carpenter went to second and Gleyber Torres advanced to third on what the official scorer ruled a double
The Guardians tied it in the fourth. George Valera led off with a double to the right-field corner and scored on Ramírez’s base hit on a knuckle curve by starter Jack Flaherty on a full count.
The single was the 40th hit of Ramírez’s postseason career, making him the fifth player in franchise history to reach that mark.
In the eighth inning, Detroit reliever Will Vest dropped a throw while covering first base on Ramírez’s grounder for an error that allowed Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan to score. Vest quickly recovered the ball near the dugout, however, and threw out Ramírez trying to reach second on the play.
And to no surprise, Rice was indeed in there, batting fifth and playing first base when the starting nine officially dropped a few hours later.
Boone said it was a tough decision, but Rice’s hot bat swung things his way.
“The way Benny is going right now,” the skipper said. “The impact he’s having, the ability to change the game, the presence in the box right now and really over the last few weeks -- and understanding not how they are going to deploy everything.
“Having that true balance in the lineup and then I wanted [Austin] Wells in the game behind the plate, where I feel like he’s been really good and swinging the bat well, and it gives you a real weapon with Goldy on the bench to use in a big spot or for defense late.”
Rice is hitting just .189 against southpaws this season, but he has gone deep three times over his last two games.
Confidence in Cam
Boone asked Thursday's starter, Cam Schlittler, if he was really to roll as he walked out the door.
The rookie’s response: “Oh yeah.”
The Yanks have seen that exact confidence from Schlittler throughout his rookie campaign, and they aren’t expecting anything less with the season on the line.
Sep 27, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler (31) walks off the mound after retiring the side in the fourth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
“He expects to go out there and pitch well,” Boone said. “I saw him right before he left and he said he's ready -- whatever result comes I know the moment won’t be too big, I have a ton of confidence in Cam.”
Schlittler posted a 2.96 ERA over his first 15 big-league outings.
Stanton not off by much
Giancarlo Stanton was a monster for the Yanks last year in the playoffs.
The slugger has been very quiet over the first two games of this series, though, going hitless across eight at-bats.
Still, Boone likes what he’s seen from Stanton and he expects him to come through in the win-or-go-home contest.
“He looks like G,” he said. “I don’t feel like he’s been off by much at all -- there’s been three or four pitches the past two days that he’s just missed flipping, so I expect him to have an impactful at-bat for us tonight.”
LOS ANGELES — Roki Sasaki dazzled in his postseason pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers, closing out their sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with a perfect ninth inning in the NL Wild Card Series.
The youthful looking rookie from Japan celebrated with a beer in his hand and goggles on in the team’s batting cage after their 8-4 victory advanced the Dodgers to the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Dodgers partied in the cage, lit up like a surgery center, rather than their remodeled clubhouse featuring high-tech screens that could be ruined by sprays of beer and Champagne.
Sasaki got Spencer Steer and former Dodger Gavin Lux on swinging strikeouts — with 100-mph pitches — before retiring Austin Hays on a lineout to shortstop that started the celebration.
The Dodgers went without a designated closer during the regular season. Did the 23-year-old from Japan earn the role for the postseason?
“I trust him, and he’s going to be pitching in leverage,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So the more you pitch guys and play guys, you learn more. I don’t think the moment’s going to be too big for Roki.”
It appeared to be too big for Sasaki early in the season. He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in January, receiving a $6.5 million signing bonus because he was under age 25 and subject to international signing bonus pool rules. Sasaki spent the last four seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball League
Expectations were high for the pitcher who’s been a dominant force at every other stop in his fast-rising career.
Sasaki made his major league debut with the Dodgers against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo, where he walked five in three innings while throwing just 25 strikes among 56 pitches.
His Dodger Stadium debut on March 29 ended in the second inning he again struggled with his control. He issued four walks and got only five outs while throwing 61 pitches to just 12 batters.
Sasaki came off the 60-day injured list on Sept. 24 and made his first career relief appearance against Arizona. It was his first appearance in the majors since May 9 because of a shoulder injury. All eight of his previous MLB outings were starts, though he did make a few relief appearances during his stint at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
NEW YORK — Left out of the starting lineup for the New York Yankees’ playoff opener, Jazz Chisholm Jr. was understandably unhappy.
Any accomplished player would be. Chisholm just has a different way of blowing off steam.
“I played `MLB: The Show’ and mercy-ruled someone,” he said. “That’s how I get my stress off.”
Back at second base, Chisholm played a huge part in saving the Yankees’ season as they beat the rival Boston Red Sox 4-3 in Game 2 of their AL Wild Card Series.
And this one was no video game.
“Anything to help us win,” Chisholm said. “All that was clear before I came to the field today. After I left the field yesterday, it is win the next game. It is win or go home for us. It is all about winning.”
The dynamic Chisholm raced all the way home from first base on Austin Wells’ tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and made a couple of critical defensive plays that helped the Yankees push the best-of-three playoff to a decisive Game 3.
“It’s what you expect. He’s a game-changer. He showed his maturity,” New York captain Aaron Judge said. “He showed up at the park today and had the biggest plays for us.”
Afterward, manager Aaron Boone said Chisholm will start Game 3 against rookie left-hander Connelly Early.
A left-handed hitter, Chisholm began Game 1 on the bench with the Yankees facing ace lefty Garrett Crochet. The two-time All-Star entered on defense in the eighth and flied out against left-handed closer Aroldis Chapman with the bases loaded for the second out of the ninth, failing to drive in a run.
That was Chisholm’s only plate appearance in a 3-1 loss that left New York on the brink of elimination.
After the game, Chisholm seemed upset about not starting. His back was turned to reporters while he answered several questions at his locker. Chisholm said Boone texted him to let him know he wouldn’t be in the Game 1 lineup.
“I did see that,” Boone said. “Every player is not going to agree with every decision that I make. I try and help make them understand my thought process and what I am thinking. I did that with Jazz. He is a guy that wears his emotions on his sleeve. So, wasn’t necessarily how I handled it, but I don’t need him to put a happy face on. I need him to go out and play his butt off for us tonight. That’s what I expect to happen.”
Boone said the two had a conversation the day before about the potential move, and he thinks Chisholm understood.
“Jazz and I are good. No concerns that he was going to go out there and get it done,” Boone said after Game 2. “He loves to play. He feels a responsibility to us, his teammates. And, you know, he and I have always been good. Despite what you may think happened yesterday, like, yeah, he’s a gamer, and he likes the stage.”
Amed Rosario played second base in Chisholm’s place and batted fifth. A right-handed hitter, Rosario was 6 for 9 with a home run and a double in his career against Crochet before going 0 for 3 in the playoff opener.
Chisholm is 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and a walk against Crochet.
“There is never a problem between me and Aaron Boone. He’s been my manager all year, and I’ve stood behind him all year,” Chisholm said after the Game 2 win. “We always have disagreements. I mean, I played third base this year, and we had a little bit of a disagreement in that."
“But at the end of the day, I always stand with Booney because he always understands where I come from. He knows I am a passionate player. He knows I wear my feelings on my sleeve. He knows I am there to compete.”
New York also put two other dangerous left-handed hitters on the bench against Crochet in Ben Rice and Ryan McMahon. Neither got in the game.
With right-hander Brayan Bello on the mound Wednesday night for the Red Sox, Chisholm was back at second base and batting sixth. Rice was at first base and hit a two-run homer on the first postseason pitch he saw. McMahon played third and went 1 for 3 with a walk.
With the score tied in the seventh, Chisholm saved at least one run with a diving stop to his right of an infield single by pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida. Chisholm also made a tough play to start an inning-ending double play with two on in the third.
There were two outs in the eighth when he worked the count full and drew a walk. Chisholm was running on another 3-2 pitch when Wells pulled a line drive that landed just inside the right-field line and caromed off the low retaining wall in foul territory.
Right fielder Nate Eaton made a strong, accurate throw to the plate, but the speedy Chisholm barely beat it with a headfirst slide.
“He’s a special player. He’s one of the best players in the game. Exciting. One of the best athletes I’ve ever seen,” Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz said. “I knew he was scoring no matter what.”
In the wake of a failed season, Mets fans want change to the team’s core 00 and understandably so. But the consensus among scouts and evaluators I spoke to this week is that important changes are coming organically, via the farm system. As such, there’s no need to overreact, at least on the position-player side.
That is, with one rather huge exception.
"Kyle Schwarber would solve a lot of their problems," is the way one scout put it. "I don’t know if it’s possible, but if Steve Cohen wants to flex again this winter, he should pay whatever it would take to get Schwarber to leave the Phillies."
By "a lot of their problems," the scout was referring mainly to Pete Alonso’s free agency. Everyone I spoke to acknowledges that while Alonso’s bat is vital to the Mets’ offense, his defense, and specifically his throwing, has become too much of an issue to ignore.
"That high throw to (Kodai) Senga changed their whole season," another scout said, speaking of the play that resulted in Senga’s hamstring injury on June 12. "And I can remember a bunch more where he put his pitchers in harm’s way. Also, his throws to second, throws to the plate. If you’re the Mets, you’re holding your breath every time he has to make a throw."
Schwarber, of course, is a DH, the best one in baseball after hitting 56 home runs this season and racking up an MLB-leading 132 RBI. He’s also a folk hero of sorts in Philadelphia, with a big-spending owner in John Middleton, who is expected to go the extra mile to bring Schwarber back -- especially if the alternative would be losing him to the rival Mets.
"The fans here would never forgive (Middleton) if Schwarber signed with the Mets," one Philly media person told me. "And honestly Schwarber is so much the heart and soul of that team -- and he takes that role seriously -- that it’s hard to see him taking the money to go to such a big rival. But you never know; everybody has their price.
"And I’ll say this: if Cohen really does decide to go after him the way he went after (Juan) Soto, it would scare the hell out of Philly fans."
May 17, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen sits in the dugout after batting practice before a game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
If the Mets were somehow to pull it off, that would give Stearns and Cohen a free pass of sorts to move on from Alonso. Fans love the idea of the homegrown Polar Bear as a career Met after he became the team’s all-time home run leader and, perhaps more importantly, had an outstanding season offensively. But I think most would be fine with essentially slotting Schwarber into the lineup for Alonso.
Even Cohen wouldn’t sign both, especially with Edwin Diaz likely opting out and the Mets absolutely needing to sign at least one top free agent pitcher from the likes of Framber Valdez, Michael King, Dylan Cease, or Ranger Suarez.
Instead, Stearns surely would look for a right-handed-hitting first baseman with a good glove. The free agent market doesn’t offer an obvious fit, though Paul Goldschmidt had a solid season in the Bronx and put up big numbers against left-handed pitching. So it might be on the president of baseball operations to find one via trade.
Left-handed hitting prospect Ryan Clifford looms as a potential long-term answer at first base, but he’s only 22 and scouts think he needs more time in the minors. In truth, the lineup would be more balanced if the Mets could convince Alonso to re-sign as at least a part-time DH as part of, say, a four-year deal, but it would make for a tricky negotiation, especially if another team assured him of being a full-time first baseman.
In any case, the Schwarber scenario aside, it’s the Mets’ farm system that may dictate the core stays mostly intact entering next season. Specifically, Carson Benge and Jett Williams, ranked 20th and 29th among all minor league prospects by MLBPipeline.com, loom as answers at second base and center field at least at some point next season, if not the start.
"They both could be impact players," one scout said. "Benge is coming fast: he has a very advanced approach and a lot of natural ability as a hitter, and Williams has been slowed by injuries but he’s still young, with good plate discipline and a knack for getting the barrel to the ball.
"They both stalled a little after getting to Triple-A (in August) but if you’re the Mets, you’re probably not going to sign anyone this winter who would block their paths."
In that case, perhaps it makes sense to bring back Jeff McNeil, even as badly as he finished the season, as a placeholder of sorts for Williams at second base in the final year of his contract. Unless you want to start the season with Luisangel Acuña, whose bat remains a big question mark, even while he offers value with his speed and defense.
As for center field, Tyrone Taylor doesn’t hit enough to be an everyday player, but the Mets missed his sparkling defense in September when he was out with a hamstring injury. Perhaps they could find a left-handed-hitting platoon partner not named Cedric Mullins until Benge is ready.
/ SNY
To that end, Trent Grisham would be an intriguing option, after he hit a whopping 34 home runs for the Yankees this season, but it would almost certainly take a multiyear contract to sign him, and his lack of a track record plus Benge’s presence would seem to work against that happening.
As for other positions, Brandon Nimmo could be a trade candidate for the sake of shaking up the core, but his contract -- with five more years for $102.5 million, means the Mets would likely have to eat significant money and still probably not get the value they’d want. Nimmo also has a full no-trade clause.
Meanwhile, if Brett Baty’s last couple of months were a sign that he’s finally over the hump offensively, he could be a solid answer at third base.
Likewise, if Francisco Alvarez’s improvements as a hitter following his demotion to Syracuse (.921 OPS) are a sign of things to come, he should give the offense considerably more thump.
Finally, it’s hard to give up on Ronny Mauricio’s potential, as flawed a hitter as he appears to be, although it does feel like the Mets should trade Mark Vientos, even selling low, unless he winds up being their best option as the full-time DH.
Add it all up and it may not be the winter of new names a lot of Mets fans would like to see on the position-player side, unless Stearns gets creative with trades.
Signing Schwarber, of course, would change all of that. Is it realistic? Perhaps only if Cohen throws crazy money at him.
Otherwise, the Alonso decision will be front and center. And while it would be awfully hard to re-sign him and still stay true to the run prevention that Stearns indicated he would prioritize, his bat is vital to the Mets’ run production.
"If I’m Cohen and I can’t get Schwarber," one scout said, "I sit down with Alonso and find out how much money it would take to convince him to DH at least most of the time. Even if it’s millions more, it’d be worth it."
If that’s what ultimately happens, it’s possible that the core doesn’t change much at all. And yet the Mets could still be significantly better, upgrading the pitching staff, benefiting from Baty and Alvarez continuing to grow, and waiting on the likes of Benge and Williams to blossom.
At this hour an army of scientists, dressed in white lab coats, are hunkered in the Yankee Stadium offices, pouring over biomechanical data regarding Ben Rice’s swing path, and endeavoring a deep dive into Paul Goldschmidt’s REM sleep over the past nine days.
They are preparing Aaron Boone’s orders for tonight’s lineup, delivered with the usual threat to follow their numbers … or else.
Just kidding.
Boone and bench coach Brad Ausmus, two humans, discussed and wrote the lineup before leaving the ballpark last night, as they always do. In case you haven’t yet heard, this is how the Yankees make decisions.
I haven’t seen tonight’s lineup, but amid all the chatter about first base and catcher, I fully expect the Yankees to start Rice at first in Game 3, Austin Wells at catcher and use Goldschmidt off the bench.
In Game 1, Boone opted for a righty-heavy lineup against Boston’s lefty ace Garrett Crochet. In a few cases, the manager actually went against what the team’s analytics department wanted. That’s a fact.
A game plan against Crochet is different from a game plan against another pitcher, regardless of handedness.
With their season on the line tonight, the Yankees are facing rookie left-hander Connelly Early. After Game 2 Boone would only reveal that he will start Jazz Chisholm Jr. against Early. He left first base and catcher open (why tell Alex Cora before he needs to know, right?).
But he said this:
“It's not just, it's a lefty. It's, what lefty? Is that guy going to be out there for six or seven innings? I want to leverage a spot for whoever my bench guys are to have a good matchup, not three bad matchups that I can guarantee. All of these things factor into it.”
An argument for starting Rice against Early tonight — in addition to the fact that he’s been smoking balls all over Yankee Stadium — is that the Red Sox have five left-handers in their bullpen. And that’s assuming that Crochet won’t give them an inning. It might be six lefties.
This means that if Boone starts Goldschmidt with the intent to swap in Rice after Early leaves (which could be … early), he might be waiting all night. Cora can counter with one lefty reliever after another. Might as well just start Rice.
As for catcher, that does not seem in question, and it has little to do with Wells’ game-winning hit last night. Wells is a superior game-caller, and that’s hugely important in the playoffs, not to mention when working with a rookie in Cam Schlittler.
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani will make his postseason pitching debut when he starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
The Dodgers open the best-of-five series on Saturday in Philadelphia.
“Very talented ballclub. It’s going to be a fun environment,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think we match up really well with those guys. They’re going to run a bunch of left-handers at us. Talented, all throughout the lineup.”
Roberts confirmed Ohtani as the starter after the Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-4 to complete a sweep in the NL Wild Card Series on Wednesday night. The Dodgers had planned to start Ohtani if the Wild Card had gone to a deciding third game.
Ohtani (1-1, 2.87 ERA) didn’t pitch for the Dodgers last season while recovering from a second elbow surgery that he had in September 2023. He became the first player in major league history with at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases as the Dodgers won the World Series over the New York Yankees.
The two-way superstar never made the playoffs during six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.
At the plate, Ohtani revived himself in September, hitting .312 with 10 home runs and a 1.165 OPS. He finished the regular season with a career-high 55 homers, one more than last season.
Against the Reds in Game 1, he hit two homers. He was 1 for 4 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI in the closeout win Wednesday.
LOS ANGELES — The starting pitching is terrific. The offense is clicking. The Los Angeles Dodgers have opened the postseason on a roll in defense of their World Series title.
If their bullpen can stop blowing up, they might just be the first team since the New York Yankees 25 years ago to win back-to-back championships.
“I think we can win it all. I think we’re equipped to do that,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We certainly have the pedigree. We certainly have the hunger. We’re playing great baseball. And in all honesty, I don’t care who we play. I just want to be the last team standing.”
After a second straight shaky eighth inning by the relief corps, the Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-4 on Wednesday night to sweep their NL Wild Card Series.
The Dodgers advanced to their 20th NL Division Series appearance — 13th in a row — in franchise history and will face the Phillies starting Saturday in Philadelphia. The teams last met in the postseason in 2009, when the Phillies beat the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series for the second straight year.
Shohei Ohtani will make his postseason pitching debut in Game 1. The two-way superstar never got to the playoffs during his six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and he didn’t pitch in his first season with the Dodgers after having a second elbow surgery in September 2023.
The team has carefully managed his mound outings this season, with his first coming in mid-June. Ohtani’s longest was six innings at Arizona on Sept. 23. He was 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 14 appearances during the regular season.
The Dodgers’ Japanese contingent of Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and rookie Roki Sasaki figure to gather steam as the postseason progresses. At the plate, Ohtani homered twice in the Dodgers’ 10-5 Game 1 win over the Reds. Yamamoto struck out a playoff-high nine while allowing two runs in 6 2/3 innings in Game 2 and Sasaki made his postseason debut out of the bullpen with a 1-2-3 ninth Wednesday.
“I’d probably say he’s No. 1 on the growth chart,” Roberts said about Yamamoto. “Considering coming over here and trying to get his feet wet, trying to learn the culture, the game, the hitters, create a routine for himself, to then be a really big-game pitcher.”
The Dodgers essentially outscored their bullpen in sweeping the Reds.
Relievers Alex Vesia, Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer combined to issue four walks as the Reds scored three runs and pulled to 10-5. The trio needed 59 pitches to get three outs on Tuesday.
“I thought it was a good lesson for them, more so for Henriquez and Jack, but I’m still evaluating,” Roberts said. “You learn a lot from that inning.”
Former starter Emmet Sheehan and Vesia worked the eighth on Wednesday. Sheehan gave up two runs before the Reds brought the potential tying run to the plate against Vesia. The duo made a combined 41 pitches before the flamethrowing Sasaki mowed down the Reds in the ninth.
“It’s sort of a daily kind of conversation with the pitching coaches, the front office and most importantly, what I see,” Roberts said. “In the postseason, you have to go with ultimately who you feel best in that one spot.”
After illness and offensive struggles during the regular season, Mookie Betts is rounding into form. He went 6 for 9 with a run, three doubles, three RBIs and a walk.
“We had a lot of struggles really all year. But I think we all view that as just a test to see how we would respond,” he said. “Now we’re starting to use those tests that we went through earlier to respond now and be ready now. And anything that comes our way, it can’t be worse than what we’ve already went through. Just keeping a positive mindset and just keep going.”
The Dodgers had a combined 28 hits against the Reds, the first time they’ve had 13 or more in consecutive postseason games since 1978.
“We’ll be sharp going into the next series,” Roberts said.
Can we get Derrick White to Yankee Stadium on Thursday night?
The Boston Red Sox’ season is on the line in the Bronx as they face the New York Yankees in a winner-take-all Game 3 of their American League Wild Card series. And while White likely has other plans — his Boston Celtics just kicked off training camp — recent history suggests the Red Sox would benefit from the veteran guard being in the building.
Here’s why: White has been to three games at Fenway Park since the start of the 2024 season that have ended in Red Sox walk-off victories. Here’s the list:
June 24, 2024: Walk-off win over the Toronto Blue Jays
“Yeah, I’ve picked good games,” White deadpanned to Celtics Insider Chris Forsberg at Media Day when asked about his remarkable luck at Fenway Park. “… It’s been kind of crazy.”
White had some company at that first walk-off win in June 2024, as the entire Celtics team was honored at Fenway Park shortly after winning the 2025 NBA title. Jarren Duran did the honors that night with the walk-off single that sent White and his Celtics teammates into a frenzy.
White was back at Fenway on April 10 of this season to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, then witnessed Trevor Story hit a dribbler to second base that allowed David Hamilton to score the winning run against Toronto.
White’s most recent trip to Fenway was by far the most memorable, however, as the Celtics guard was in the house for Ceddanne Rafaela’s dramatic walk-off triple against the Detroit Tigers that clinched Boston’s spot in the playoffs.
For White, the fun didn’t end with the final out; he actually wandered onto the field to watch the Red Sox celebrate their playoff berth, then managed to take a selfie with the Wally the Green Monster head costume that Boston players wear after hitting home runs.
“They were like, ‘We’re going to take you through the field’ so I could get to my car, and the celebration was going on, so I was kind of just staying out there, kind of enjoying it,” White explained to Forsberg. “Then I had to use the bathroom, and then outside of it I saw (the Wally head), so I took a selfie, really for my dad. And I thought it was funny.”
White’s father, Richard White, is a die-hard Red Sox fan who grew up in the Boston area, so he deserves a hat tip for inspiring some of White’s fandom. And while we’d imagine White isn’t heading to New York on Thursday night, perhaps he’d make an appearance at Fenway next week if the Red Sox are able to punch their ticket to the American League Division series with a win Thursday night.
If that happens, history suggests there will be drama.
As the Mets' 2025 season spiraled out of control, with the team falling from 45-24 in the middle of June to 83-79 and out of the playoff field, there were lots of things that went wrong.
But the main culprit was a starting rotation that didn't have enough depth to withstand the injuries that hit it, had most of its members underperform down the stretch, and wasn't seriously bolstered externally at any point during the season.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns spoke the day after the season ended about run prevention (both pitching and defense) being a big reason for the team's downfall and a huge point of emphasis this offseason.
"From a roster construction perspective, on the run prevention side of the ball, we didn't do a good enough job of fortifying our team when we had injuries midseason," Stearns said. "Clearly, that was a point in our season where on the run prevention side of things we went from a very good team to a team that wasn't good enough to maintain a sizable lead -- not only in the division, but in the playoff chase."
Stearns added:
"I think holistically as I look at our pitching staff, we needed to do more over the course of the season. That is very clear. What we were faced with at at the deadline? I think our fanbase would be perhaps even more upset if we had made some of those moves. But the entirety of our run prevention unit was not good enough this year."
While Stearns is well aware of what needs to change ahead of 2026, the Mets are in a tricky spot when it comes to maneuverability.
In other words, with so many starting pitchers already under team control for next season, how will New York make big changes while also incorporating some of their homegrown pitchers and adding help via trade and/or free agency?
David Stearns / USA TODAY Sports/SNY Treated Image
As things currently stand, here are the starting pitching options who are under team control for 2026:
Sean Manaea ($25 million owed in 2026, under contract through 2027) Kodai Senga ($15.4 million owed in 2026, under contract through 2027) Clay Holmes ($13 million owed in 2026, under contract through 2027) David Peterson (arbitration-eligible for the final time) Nolan McLean Brandon Sproat Jonah Tong Christian Scott
Frankie Montas will earn $17 million in 2026 in what is the second and final year of the deal he signed last offseason, but is expected to miss the year due to Tommy John surgery. Tylor Megill is arbitration-eligible for the second time, but -- like Montas -- is expected to be out for the season because of Tommy John surgery.
Of the veterans above, all but Holmes struggled badly this season. And aside from Holmes, they all have huge question marks attached to them.
Manaea missed the first half of the season and pitched the second half with loose bodies in his elbow. The results were ugly, as he posted a 5.64 ERA and was eventually removed from the rotation.
Senga was fantastic until hurting his hamstring in June. After he came back, he struggled so badly that he was sent to the minors. Once there, he was unable to get his mechanics right, and did not pitch again in the majors over the final few weeks of the year. Stearns said after the season that it would be "foolish" to count on Senga for 30 starts in 2026 given what's happened the last two seasons.
Peterson had a first half that got him an All-Star nod, but fell off in a big way late. From Aug. 6 through the end of the season, Peterson had an 8.42 ERA, though the 3.88 FIP he had during that span suggests he also got pretty unlucky on balls that were put in play.
As far as McLean, Sproat, and Tong, one of them -- at least for now -- is unlike the others.
McLean was mostly dominant in 48.0 innings over eight big league starts, posting a 2.06 ERA (2.97 FIP) and 1.04 WHIP while striking out 57 batters -- a rate of 10.7 per nine. His stuff was filthy, and his poise and mound presence was off the charts.
Aug 27, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Nolan McLean (26) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. / Vincent Carchietta - Imagn Images
Sproat and Tong both showed flashes, but it will be a surprise if either one enters spring training as a favorite for a rotation spot. In Tong's case, it seems likely he'll start the year with Triple-A Syracuse since he made just two starts there before his promotion to the bigs.
Scott, who should be healthy and ready to go after having Tommy John surgery during the 2024 season, is a nice depth option to have.
After dissecting all of that, it's easy to envision this kind of scenario:
Holmes (who stretched out to 165.2 innings and excelled while transitioning from reliever to starter), Manaea (who flashed serious potential in 2024 and had an uneven 2025), and McLean (who looks like a possible frontline starter) are earmarked to open the 2026 season in the rotation, with the two other members to be added via trade and/or free agency.
That would mean a decision on Senga, who is coming off two lost seasons and is under contract through 2027. It would also mean a decision on Peterson, who is out of minor league options and has shown the ability to excel in the bullpen.
Regarding who the Mets could target for those empty spots?
It can be argued that they should be looking for one frontline level starter and another who can pitch in the middle of the rotation.
Looking at the free agent market, there are some intriguing top of the rotation options, including Ranger Suarez, Michael King, and Framber Valdez. But all of them are on the wrong side of 30, and only Valdez has had a real extended run of success pitching at an ace level. Dylan Cease is an interesting option and has an enticing arsenal, but he's had two down years out of the last three.
There's also the fact that Stearns has suggested he doesn't love making huge free agent commitments to starting pitchers.
So perhaps the Mets sign a middle of the rotation option and turn to the trade market for the top of the rotation guy.
With one of the best farm systems in baseball, the Mets should theoretically be able to trade for pretty much any starting pitcher who becomes available. And it's possible a bunch of really interesting ones are out there this winter.
That includes Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins, Joe Ryan of the Twins, and possibly Tarik Skubal of the Tigers. Skubal is set for free agency after the 2026 season, and if Detroit determines that he's likely to walk after the year, they'll have an enormous decision on their hands this offseason -- and the ability to get a huge haul back for someone who will be coming off back-to-back Cy Young seasons.
In the event the Mets do add a frontline starter and a middle of the rotation arm to a group that also includes Holmes, Manaea, and McLean, the question becomes what they do when some of their young talent is ready to contribute. The answer, as the Mets found out this season, is that you can never have enough pitching.
