Author: MLB Baseball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

The League Championship Series round rolled on Thursday with a slightly modified schedule. MLB had to preemptively move the third game of the ALCS up from a 6 p.m. ET start time to 1 p.m. ET due to ominous weather in Northeast Ohio and that slightly tweaked the start time of the NLCS as well (though that remained a clear night game). It’s important for MLB to get these games in without messing with the offday schedule too much, and while it was unfortunate that some fans in Cleveland likely couldn’t go to the third game with the new time, it’s hard to count on weather for the rest of this week near Lake Erie, too.

Hopefully ALCS Game 4 goes off without a hitch tonight! I would definitely like to see that LCS continue as soon as possible. Here’s what went on yesterday though.

National League Championship Series Game 4

Milwaukee Brewers 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 4
(Brewers win series 4-0)

Man, I can’t believe that happened. I thought that despite the mismatch in people’s minds, the Brewers were a lot closer in talent level to the Dodgers in 2025 and simply played like dogs for a week while getting swept in a mostly uncompetitive series. And yet even I didn’t think that the Brew Crew had a vengeance sweep in ‘em.

Here we are.

RELENTLESS @Brewers

— CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) October 16, 2026

The Hall of Famer has it right. That’s the word to describe these Brewers: relentless. They played a tough series with the Padres to send them home in the Division Series, only to get matched up with a Dodgers team that is extremely similar to the one that dusted them in 2025.

Their response was to drop a hammer on ‘em and return the favor, even with the Dodgers throwing great starter after great starter at them. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal lost a 2-1 nailbiter in the opener. Already-established playoff legend Yoshinobu Yamamoto got grounded into submission, departing after recording just eight outs in Game 2, a 7-4 Milwaukee win. Back in LA on Wednesday, the Brewers shook off mostly excellent work from another two-time Cy in Blake Snell, blasting back-to-back homers against him in the seventh immediately after the Dodgers had taken a 2-1 lead. This damn team was resilient, and the 6-2 win had them up 3-0 in the series.

So why would the Brewers be intimidated in Game 4? Sure, Tyler Glasnow was sharp early on, and sure, Shohei Ohtani had at last broken out of his injury-affected slump to belt his first homer since August 18th, a 428-foot tank off former teammate Dustin May.

Milwaukee trailed, 4-0, and Dodger Stadium was in a frenzy. If they survived Game 4, then they could at least dare to dream with Skubal, Yamamoto, and Snell lined up for the next three and it at least being unlikely for all three to again falter.

The four-run lead looked safe … until it wasn’t. (Ask the 2024 Yankees about seemingly comfortable leads vanishing on the brink of elimination.) The Brewers began to chip away in the fourth, when Brice Turang’s one-out walk was followed by consecutive automatic doubles from William Contreras and Jake Bauers. Glasnow might have stranded Bauers by getting Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell to ground out, but the lead was sliced to 4-2.

Glasnow was then knocked out in the fifth following a manufactured run created by a Sal Frelick walk, a stolen base, and an RBI single by David Hamilton. Evan Phillips came in to walk the bases loaded, and when Alex Vesia tagged in, he didn’t have the plate either. Bauers battled him for a walk to bring home the tying run.

JoJo Romero relieved May with a scoreless fifth, and in the sixth, Dave Roberts turned to one of his high-leverage relievers early to keep the game knotted. Instead, Mitchell took Tanner Scott yard 409 feet away.

The Brewers were in front, and even with chances, LA was kept off the board. Kyle Tucker hit a one-out double in the sixth; Romero got Teoscar Hernández to ground out and fanned Max Muncy. Aaron Ashby took over in the seventh, allowed a leadoff double to Andy Pages, and stranded him. Kiké Hernández bunted Pages to third, Ohtani went down on three strikes, and Mookie Betts bounced to short.

The Dodgers had a third consecutive inning with a two-bagger in the eighth, courtesy of Will Smith. Ashby was nails, with Tucker lifting a shallow fly to center and Teoscar striking out. When Teoscar went down, it was truly the last gasp. Hamilton homered off Edwin Díaz in the ninth for an insurance run and Ashby polished off his three-inning save, getting Kiké to line out to Jackson Chourio to end it. He threw shutout ball in 5.2 innings across five days of the sweep.

With that, the Brewers have won their first National League pennant and first flag since winning the 1982 ALCS over the Angels with “Harvey’s Wallbangers.” The 2023 Yankees legend Bauers was named NLCS MVP for his excellent at-bats across the sweep, and Milwaukee will now be looking to end its drought as one of five franchises to never win it all. They’ve been around for nearly 60 years without a trophy and Milwaukee hasn’t seen a title since the Braves beat the Yankees in 1957 before moving to Atlanta.

Also hey, in addition to Bauers, old friend Gary Sánchez gets to take in the World Series stage! He’s the Brewers’ backup catcher and an occasional pinch-hitter. Good for El Gary, I still love that guy.

Maybe this year is finally the year for the Brew Crew. No matter what, with the Dodgers done and dusted, we’re guaranteed to either get a first-time champion (Milwaukee or Tampa Bay) or the end of the longest current championship drought (Cleveland, 78 years). Congrats to the Brewers, and bye-bye, Dodgers. They must reckon with an aging offense that hit a paltry .185/.270/.250 in the series, with Freeman, Betts, Smith, Teoscar, and Muncy combining to go 11-for-70 with no homers and 17 strikeouts (plus Ohtani dead quiet until Game 4). The three-peat dream is over, Skubal is a free agent, and they’ll just have to see what’s next.

American League Championship Series Game 3

Cleveland Guardians 3, Tampa Bay Rays 2
(Guardians lead series 2-1)

The Guardians got off to a fast start in the ALCS against the favored Rays by swiping home-field advantage away from Tampa Bay with a win in Game 1. After the Rays countered by taking Game 2 to split the first two at the Trop, the setting shifted to Progressive Field in Cleveland. I don’t know if I’d necessarily predict the Rays dropping three in a row to the Guardians, but by taking Game 1, Cleveland at least created the possibility of ending the series in front of their own fans with wins in Games 3, 4, and 5.

Outside of the Tampa Bay clubhouse, no one really wants to return to the Trop, and credit to the Guardos for getting that dream started on the right foot with a narrow 3-2 victory in Game 3. They entered with the pitching advantage of American League strikeout king Gavin Williams against Griffin Jax, so regardless of the outcome of the next two games in Cleveland, it was important for them to take this one.

Williams was heavily used in the ALDS against the White Sox with two starts and a relief appearance, so manager Stephen Vogt said that he would be using him carefully in Game 3. That proved to be the case, as while Williams looked sharp in five innings of two-hit ball with nine strikeouts and just one walk, his afternoon ended after just 70 pitches. It probably didn’t help that both of the hits he allowed came in the same inning, when he nearly worked around a leadoff double by Yandy Díaz. Williams fanned Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero; indeed, he struck out the side in that inning, but not before Victor Mesa Jr. walked and Chandler Simpson laced a two-run triple into the right-field corner.

Cleveland had taken a 1-0 lead in the second when Nathaniel Lowe doubled in Jo Adell after the latter’s leadoff walk, but the Simpson triple made it 2-1, Tampa Bay.

Although the Guardians had their chances against Jax, they went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, stranding Lowe in the second and José Ramírez in the third. The game changed, however, on one bad pitch from Jax. Patrick Bailey led off the fifth with a Baltimore chop for an infield single. Next up was the unheralded Petey Halpin, and on a 2-2 pitch, Jax threw a sinker that caught way too much of the zone:

Halpin didn’t miss the mistake, taking it 385 feet deep to right-center field for a go-ahead, two-run bomb.

The score was 3-2, Cleveland, and there it stayed thanks to dynamite work from the much-used Guardians bullpen. There was no margin for error and some dangerous hitters in Tampa Bay’s lineup who the Yankees unfortunately understand can take anyone out (OK maybe not Simpson, but he did his specific job yesterday anyway). Daniel Espino blew Caminero and company away in the sixth, Erik Sabrowski pitched a perfect seventh of his own, and while Hunter Gaddis allowed a double to Richie Palacios among the three batters he faced in the eighth, rubber-armed Cade Smith entered and struck out Díaz in a 10-pitch battle.

The Rays did Smith and Vogt a favor with a pretty uncompetitive final frame. The Canadian righty did less work in that inning than he needed in one at-bat against Díaz, retiring Aranda, Caminero, and Mesa on eight pitches. Game 4 is supposed to be tonight at 8 p.m. ET, but again, we’ll see how the weather cooperates. Nick Martinez is aiming to even up the series for Tampa Bay, while a possible bullpen game will try to put Cleveland a win away from its first Fall Classic in a decade.

Happy Friday, everyone! As we enter the weekend, we will soon know which team will join the Brewers in heading to the World Series. In the meantime, we look at how Shohei Ohtani busted his HR slump at the exact perfect time. We also look at how Jake Bauers pulled through for the Brewers with an incredible at-bat in a clutch moment.

We’re also starting to see some of the early moves of the postseason as the Astros part ways with Joe Espada, and other teams make additional moves to their managerial staff and teams start to make contracts with players.

Let’s get into it!

• Michael Baumann reflects on the NLCS Game Three and why it vindicated Kevin Cash for pulling Blake Snell early in 2020.
• Jay Jaffe assesses Jose Ramirez’s October turn for the Guardians.
• Jackson Chourio got an unusual good luck charm thanks to a praying mantis. Story by Scott Chiusano.
• Tom Verducci thinks the Brewers might be ushering in a new era of baseball.
• How Don Mattingly plans to make adjustments to the Phillies this offseason. (ESPN)
• Tim Britton assesses this season’s free agent class. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Hitting is only getting harder.

The league-wide batting average this postseason is .212. The average fastball is 96.2 mph. Hitting is hard. In the postseason, it's Sisyphean. To better understand why, we spoke with Joey Votto and Alex Bregman, two of the purest hitters of this generation, for their insight. pic.twitter.com/F47YD2dcU8

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 15, 2026

• Davy Andrews tries to determine just how mad Pat Murphy is.
• Keegan Matheson shares how it was the unlikeliest hero who turned things around for the Guardians.
• Tim Stebbins looks at the most epic bat flip of the postseason.
• Anthony Castrovince explains how one deadline move is really paying off for the Guardians in the postseason.
• Karl Rasmussen rounds up several snubs from the Gold Glove Award finalists.
• Oswaldo Cabrera and the Reds have agreed to a one-year, $1-million contract. (AP)
• It’s cool guys, the Rockies have figured it out.

The Rockies have fired pitching coach Alon Leichman, sources tell me and @keithlaw. Leichman lasted only one season.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 15, 2026

• Davy Andrews breaks down Jake Bauers’ 11-pitch game-changing at-bat.
• Max Ralph determines how the Dodgers’ pitching would stack up if they went on a 3-0 comeback tear.
• Karl Rasmussen looks at the unlikely weapons who are wearing the Dodgers down for the Brewers.
• Alden Gonzalez shares the breakthrough moment that Shohei Ohtani ended his HR drought.
• Sam Blum assesses how the Rays are being beaten at their own game. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Guess now we know why they were cool with him interviewing with the Mariners. (Here’s a direct link to the Bluesky post for those reading on Apple News)

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.

LOS ANGELES — They couldn’t move at first, almost in a state of shock, then looked around at one another, gasped and finally started making their way to the middle of the field.

It happened.

Really, it happened.

The Milwaukee Brewers, the Lil' Team that Could, pulled off one of the most stunning four-game sweeps in baseball history Thursday, ousting the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, and ending their title dynasty at Dodger Stadium with a 6-4 victory.

The Brewers, for the first time in 44 years, are going to the World Series, with Brewers play-by-play announcer Jeff Levering screaming over the air: "The Brewers win the pennant! OH MY God, the Brewers win the pennant! The World Series will go through Wisconsin."

"This still doesn’t feel real," said a dazed Jake Bauers, MVP of the National League Championship Series. "This definitely feels like a movie. I don’t even know where I’m at right now."

MORE: Brewers end agonizing World Series drought, halt Dodgers dynasty with NLCS sweep

Bauers was quitting baseball just two years ago, returning only to get health insurance coverage for his pregnant wife, and now he was the best player on a field littered with all-stars and future Hall of Famers in Dodgers uniforms.

Then, there was Brewers manager Pat Murphy, a collegiate coach at Arizona State and Notre Dame, who spent eight seasons as Brewers bench coach under Craig Counsell, only to be promoted when Counsell bolted for the Chicago Cubs’ riches. Now the two-time NL manager of the year, is standing on the stage holding the NLCS trophy, grabbing the mic and addressing the frenzied Brewers' fans.

"They have a bunch of Hall of Famers," Murphy said, “but we have a lot of gamers.

"And the gamers won."

Mic drop.

Oh, did they ever, beating the mighty Dodgers in every facet of the game, in front of 49,104 stunned fans at Dodger Stadium, the site where their season abruptly ended last year, a story made in the shadows of Hollywood.

"To do that at Dodger Stadium, against a team that good, that poised, that rooted in tradition, the Hall of Famers they have on the team, the types of people they have on the team," Murphy said, "that’s no easy task.

"But we just did."

Believe it, Milwaukee, for the first time since the days of the Harvey’s Wallbangers, you’re going to the World Series.

What do you think they’re doing in Milwaukee now, Bauers was asked, completely drenched from beer and champagne?

"I think they’re drinking," he said, laughing. "They’re drinking just like us. I kid you not. They’re drinking."

Hey, you better believe it, with all of Wisconsin celebrating as if the Green Bay Packers just won the Super Bowl, never believing this could actually be a reality.

Not against the mighty Dodgers, a team with more than twice the Brewers' payroll and enough hardware to fill a Milwaukee brewery.

"Let's be honest," Murphy said, "nobody had us coming in here doing it. Then, the fashion that we did it, got behind and won. You know that thing for me. That's that tells the character of a team."

The Dodgers were up 4-0 in the second inning when Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer, and Dodger Stadium was literally shaking, believing that Ohtani found his superman cape again, and would ignite a historic comeback from their three-games-to-none deficit.

"I thought, 'Oh my God, we just woke up a giant,' you know what I mean?" Murphy said. "You don’t wake the giant up, and we woke up the giant. I’m like, wow, we’re going to have our hands full. He’s one of the greatest players that ever lived.

"Most teams would lay down. But these guys wouldn’t be denied."

Not a soul on the Brewers bench panicked, knowing they had come back against the Dodgers all series, so why not again?

"There was never a doubt we were going to come back and win the game," said Bauers, who answered with a two-run double in the fourth inning. "Not a single one. We’ve been doing it all year."

Said DH Christian Yelich: "This place was going crazy, and we’re like, 'Hey, just stay together. Let’s chip away. This is going to be a great story when we win it.'"

While the Dodgers never scored another run the rest of the game, the Brewers got two runs in the fourth, two more in the fifth, a solo homer by Garrett Mitchell in the sixth inning – his second off a left-handed pitcher in two nights after hitting only two off lefties all season – and another solo by No. 9 hitter David Hamilton in the ninth.

Now, with the Brewers on the verge of completing the stunning sweep, the Dodger Stadium security informed Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, GM Matt Arnold and the rest of the front office staff to start making their way down to the field before the start of the ninth inning. Sorry, they weren’t about to jinx anything. They stayed put, watching 22-year-old Jackson Chourio catch the final out.

It was over, and the only sound at Dodger Stadium was the shrieks and celebration of thousands of Brewers’ fans, including one of their most famous alumni, outfielder Ryan Braun, a Brewers Hall of Famer.

"It was incredible to witness," Braun said. "I mean, we went against one of the greatest teams in history, right? Like, that is an incredibly talented team with arguably the best starting rotation ever assembled. They have countless Hall of Famers. Guys that are among the best players that have ever played the game. We have a lot of guys that nobody had probably ever heard of until they started watching our nationally-televised games this series.

"And to sweep that team, I don’t think anybody believed that it was a possibility. I’m thrilled for them, man. I couldn’t be more excited. I couldn’t be honored to have been a Brewer. Watching this team play, just brought me and all the former Brewers so much pride…

"This means so much."

Braun, who spent his entire 14-year career with the Brewers and went to the postseason five times, got to the NLCS twice (2011 and 2018). Milwaukee pushed the Dodgers to Game 7 in the 2018 NLCS, but it was L.A. that went to the World Series, while the Brewers stayed home. Again.

Now, here Braun was, watching history unfold before his eyes.

"I mean, 44 years of hope,," Braun said. "Forty-four years of heartbreak. Forty-four years of believing that we would have our moment. And that moment has arrived."

Former MLB commissioner Bud Selig, whose family owned the Brewers for 35 years before selling the franchise to Attanasio, and will throw out the ceremonial first pitch in Game 1 of the World Series, was ecstatic watching from his home in Milwaukee. Hall of Famer Robin Yount, who will also throw out the first pitch, was elated watching from his home in Phoenix, and will also throw out a Game 1 ceremonial first pitch. There were tens of thousands of Brewers fans celebrating on the streets and at watch parties.

But perhaps the night meant the most to Yelich, the Brewers’ team captain, who joined Milwaukee in 2018 and signed a franchise-record extension in 2020. Now here he was, watching all of his dreams and aspirations spectacularly arrive on one glorious night in his hometown.

He was the one, according to Murphy, who told this young team, filled with 15 players with three or fewer years of service, early this season: "You better start believin’, because you know we’re going to the World Series."

"I mean, Yeli changed the culture here," Bauers said. "This is the better part of 10 years of work for him to really change this organization. I’m sure this is surreal for him."

Yelich, who was being ushered from different TV sets with FOX and ESPN after the game, finally was alone with his family, soaking it all in and celebrating the greatest night of his career.

"We’ve had our season end here on this field a couple of times," Yelich said. "And we just knew coming into spring training that if we wanted to accomplish our ultimate goal, that we were going to have to play this series against this team. It didn’t catch us by surprise that we were here. We just didn’t wake up and find ourselves here. We were ready for it.

"Obviously, the regular season and the postseason are two different things, but we proved to ourselves all year that when we played our version of baseball, and played the way that we were capable of, we were a really hard team to beat and capable of making a deep postseason."

Now, the Brewers are bracing themselves for a glorious welcoming reception when they return to Milwaukee on Friday, with the city already in a frenzy, and the World Series starting a week later.

"I don’t know if you told me as a kid that this would be a thing that happened," Yelich said. "I don’t know if I’d believe you. It’s pretty crazy. It’s just an awesome moment. I haven’t even taken it all of the way in. It’ll be something that probably hits me later.

"But it’s cool to see the crowd, giving people memorable life moments. We understand who we’re playing for, what it means to the city, and know they’re going to be stoked. The atmosphere has just been amazing. We still got a ways to get to the ultimate goal, but man, it’s going to be awesome."

This is a story that will be told for generations in Wisconsin, with Brewers' fans celebrating this team’s accomplishments for years, just like Cubs fans with their 2016 team, Royals fans with their 2015 team, White Sox fans with their 2005 team and Dodgers' fans with this dynasty.

It’s a beautiful rags-to-riches story, but how in the world can you possibly explain it?

"You can’t," Murphy said. "You just can’t. People that are interested will look into it, and see it for themselves.

"Hopefully, they write about it, and get it right."

Follow Bob Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers had the stars. Brewers had the gamers. Now the gamers are World Series-bound

What we know: The Dodgers lost. Their season is no more. Their three-peat dream has been dashed. Their winter is upon us.

What we don’t know: What the future holds, in what could be a turbulent winter for the Dodgers and for all of Major League Baseball.

Here are four things we don’t know about the Dodgers, but well worth keeping an eye on:

Shohei Ohtani

Just three short months ago, we wondered whether Ohtani would win his fifth most valuable player award and his first Cy Young Award. Has the time come for the Dodgers to consider curtailing his pitching?

As the Dodgers trudged through the playoffs, we endured daily drama over where in the lineup Ohtani would bat (first, second, fourth, fifth or sixth) and what he could produce despite playing through multiple injuries.

We’ll soon get a better understanding of those injuries, and whether rest, rehabilitation and/or surgery might be recommended for each one. We’ll also get a better sense of what the future might hold for Ohtani as a two-way player, and for his potential to perform at an elite level on both sides of the ball.

Read more:Commentary: The Dodgers had everything needed to three-peat. This is why they failed

Ohtani said he plans to resume pitching next year. He is 32. He just completed his 14th professional season.

Ohtani has pitched more than 132 innings once since 2016, when he was 22 and playing for the Nippon Ham Fighters.

In his three seasons with the Dodgers, this was the first that did not involve rehabilitation from elbow surgery. He started 14 games before a knee injury prevented him from pitching any more this season.

Payroll

Major league owners are poised to shut down the sport this winter, in pursuit of a salary cap designed to restrain the Dodgers, since they won’t restrain themselves.

The owners’ initial proposal set a salary cap of $245 million next year. The Dodgers already have $347 million committed to 14 players next year, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Under a cap, the owners have promised a transition period to account for existing commitments, and an actual negotiated cap could be higher.

Even if the players do not agree to a cap — and they insist they won’t — whatever economic system that would emerge from collective bargaining would be almost certain to make it painful for the Dodgers to spend so freely.

Whatever the case, the Dodgers could face the kind of difficult roster choices they often have papered over with money this decade. Two closers for $141 million? Good luck with that.

And would they be able to fit soon-to-be free agent Tarik Skubal into their payroll? Skubal might well sign before the lockout is expected to start in December, but there is nothing agent Scott Boras loves more than pitching a marquee free agent to a new owner. The two other Southern California teams — the Angels and San Diego Padres — both have one.

Age

When Andrew Friedman made his name as the general manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, he did it in large part by taking advantage of one market inefficiency within the American League East: He beat up on the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees because they were stuck with rosters crowded with aging stars on big contracts. The Rays couldn’t have done that even if Friedman had wanted to.

He didn’t want to do it too much in Los Angeles, because it compromises roster flexibility. But, after seven National League West titles and no World Series championships, ownership went all in: Mookie Betts (12 years, $365 million), Freddie Freeman (six years, $162 million), Ohtani (10 years, $700 million), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12 years, $325 million), Tyler Glasnow (five years, $137 million), Blake Snell (five years, $182 million), Will Smith (10 years, $140 million) and Kyle Tucker (four years, $240 million).

It worked: three rings in six years. Now the bill comes due.

The Dodgers fielded the oldest group of position players in the major leagues this season. Ohtani and Betts are under contract through their age-39 seasons; Smith will be 38 when his deal’s up, Yamamoto and Max Muncy 37, Snell 36, Glasnow 35.

Something to watch this winter: Freeman is 37, signed through next year. He would like to play until 40 and finish his career here. That would take a two-year extension. Would the Dodgers say no?

Ownership

Mark Walter’s insurance empire is under investigation by federal authorities — and the subject of discussions with state regulators — over allegations the businesses he controls failed to properly follow laws designed to protect investors.

Walter’s company has denied wrongdoing, and neither Walter nor his businesses have been charged with a crime. He is, however, a defendant in multiple civil lawsuits in which insurance policyholders claim he and several of his companies committed fraud and breach of contract.

Walter may need more than $20 billion to satisfy regulators by recapitalizing insurance companies. He abruptly sold the Lakers in August, in a deal that valued the team — not just Walter’s controlling interest — at $12.5 billion. He and fellow Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly also sold a small stake in English soccer club Chelsea FC last month for about $1.27 billion, the Financial Times reported. It is uncertain how Walter would provide the rest of the money for recapitalization.

Read more:Dodgers' three-peat dream dies with Game 4 NLCS loss to 'relentless' Brewers

“Regarding the Los Angeles Dodgers, to be clear, the team is not being sold,” Walter’s holdings company said in a statement last month.

It is uncertain whether a resolution with insurance regulators would satisfy the Department of Justice, which reports to President Trump. In July, when the Dodgers visited the White House, Walter presented Trump with an official World Series championship ring with his name engraved on it. He also sold the Lakers to former Disney chief Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law.

Major League Baseball is monitoring the situation and could conduct its own review after the state and federal matters are concluded.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

“He was the prototype for what they wanted us to be…They showed us a video of him striking out 15 people in Akron…they’re like ‘this is what we want you guys pitching like’.” – Parker Messick

“He’s, like, one of the best people ever…I saw him in Spring Training of ‘22, and I was like this is the best pitcher I’ve ever seen.” – Tanner Bibee

Mason Horodyski of News 5 Clevelandhas been along for the ride with the Guardians this season, and within this season-long journey, he, along with many others, including the esteemed Zack Meisel, have helped capture the sights and sounds of the odyssey of Daniel Espino. Many of the quotes you will see are from Mason’s social media pages.

On April 23, 2022, Daniel Espino struck out 14 batters in five innings in Double-A Akron. Just six days later, Espino made what would be his final appearance of the season. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine he’d go over three years before doing that again. Espino hit the injured list, initially with patellar tendinitis, but a sore shoulder created a longer, more drawn out complication. On May 2, 2023, the meteoric rise of a former first rounder and baseball’s fastest rising pitching prospect was struck down in an instant. Espino underwent right shoulder anterior capsule surgery, and his life changed forever. Espino would undergo another surgery on the same pitching shoulder to the same capsule, as well as his labrum, the following May, and the once burgeoning future ace of Cleveland was staring down the barrel of his career possibly ending.

On September 20, 2025, after 1,241 days, multiple surgeries, and an intensive rehabilitation process, Daniel Espino took the mound in a game once again. Espino pitched two-thirds of an inning in Columbus, notching his first strikeout in over three years, and the tears were visible from the moment he walked off the mound.

An emotional Daniel Espino walks off the mound after his first live action since April 29, 2022. pic.twitter.com/XoC2OuCxGX

— Matt (@BelowAverageOPS) September 20, 2025

Coming into Spring Training, there was palpable hype surrounding Espino. It was the first time in four years that he’d be entering a Spring camp healthy, working on actual development rather than focusing on just rehabilitation. It culminated in a pair of outings, and his second outing generated a lot of buzz. Espino ran his esteemed fastball, once capable of touching 101, up to 98, striking out three Padres. That ended Espino’s Spring Training outings, but the sense of positivity and proximity stirred.

For much of the early portion of 2026, Espino was on a very strict workload. He never pitched more frequently than every third day in Columbus. When June came around, Espino was pitching well. His command was touch and go, largely due to the inconsistent workload his injury history had forced upon him, but Espino went from touching 98 mph in Spring Training to sitting 98 in Triple-A. On June 12, Codi Heuer was sent down to Triple-A, and the single most significant debut since Francisco Lindor was about to happen; Daniel Espino finally got his call. On June 17, Espino made his debut against the Brewers, relieving a struggling Gavin Williams. He faced Garrett Mitchell, and in five pitches, Espino struck him out with a fastball. 99.5 mph. Espino then faced Cooper Pratt, and Pratt met the same fate, also via the fastball. 100.3 mph. After getting David Hamilton to fly out and as Espino walked off the mound, the camera panned to Espino’s emotional mother, cheering for her son.

Espino was asked about his reaction to finding out about his promotion.

“Crying. I was crying a lot. It’s been…” Espino had to pause, noticeably choked up, “…it’s been emotional days.”

Espino lost his father, Danilo, in 2023 to prostate cancer, and if you ask Espino, every bit of positive attitude and perseverance he displayed during his battle back to the mound came from the heart and strength his father showed during his battle with cancer.

Espino’s first trip around the majors was mostly successful. The only blip came in Houston when he surrendered his first home run. It’s also notably the first time in his career he had pitched on just one day’s rest. Even still, Espino was still largely on a strict protocol as the Guardians continued to both preserve and track the health of that right shoulder. On July 3, Espino was sent back to Columbus in favor of fellow rookie Franco Aleman. Espino, now with a taste of MLB on his tongue, went back to Columbus and dominated. From July 5 to September 1, Espino posted a 2.00 ERA across 18 innings, and in August, he ran a 31.7% strikeout rate. On September 3, as rosters expanded, Espino was recalled, and immediately the workload thickened.

Espino was asked to go multiple innings in a couple of his outings, and he even opened a few times. In his first appearance back, Espino tossed two scoreless frames in the 7th and 8th innings against the Tigers in a game Cleveland won via walk-off from Travis Bazzana. Cleveland, now in the thick of a division chase, was calling on Espino in all kinds of roles. Stephen Vogt and co. wanted to see how Espino could handle the different situations, including opening for Joey Cantillo in a must-win game in Boston where the Guardians blanked the Red Sox, 1-0, and then turning around the next day and pitching in Kansas City, his first back-to-back ever. Espino passed both tests with flying colors. Of course he did, it’s Daniel Espino.

Cleveland’s medical and training staff are as good as it gets, and Espino will tell anyone who listens about just how important they were in his recovery. They, along with the hard work from Espino himself, something that his coaches and teammates will tell anyone who listens about, saw Espino make Cleveland’s ALDS roster against the White Sox. His role was unknown, but his success as an opener for Joey Cantillo made the decision for him to start Game 3, with Cleveland down 0-2, an easy one for Stephen Vogt.

“You bet on the person in times like this,” Vogt stated, “and obviously we’ve seen his stuff, but what Daniel’s been through, there’s nothing that’s gonna rattle him or shake him.”

Espino pitched in Game 1, relieving Parker Messick with a runner on in the 5th inning. Espino induced a crucial double play to keep the deficit at 2-0. Espino surrendered a run in his Game 3 opening, but the bats picked him up this time, and Cleveland went on to win the final three games of that series, advancing to the ALCS against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Enter Game 1 against Tampa Bay, and the bullpen trust tree of Stephen Vogt thus far this postseason consisted of getting the ball to Tim Herrin, Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis, and ultimately, Cade Smith. However, a looming seven game series meant Vogt had to extend a branch down from that tree for the sake of his best arms, and Daniel Espino grabbed on. After Foster Griffin surrendered two defense-aided runs in the 1st inning, he got through the next three frames strongly, but with the top of the Rays lineup looming, Vogt wasn’t going to let Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda, and Junior Caminero see Griffin again. Vogt brought in Espino for the 5th inning to face Tampa’s terrifying trio. This fireman role had largely belonged to Colin Holderman, but wrist surgery took Holderman out of Vogt’s dealing deck for the entirety of the Postseason, and someone had to step up.

Espino toed the rubber to face former Cleveland first baseman Yandy Diaz. First pitch fastball, 97.9 mph above the zone. Diaz swings and misses. Second pitch fastball, 98.3 mph up and in the zone, fouled off. Third pitch fastball, 99.1, swing and a miss, strike three. Aranda was up next, and he worked a 3-2 count, but a 90.1 mph slider from Espino had Aranda looking foolish, and he struck out as well. Then came Junior Caminero, the infamous former Guardians prospect, destined for a top-5 AL MVP finish. Espino wasn’t phased at all. A first pitch curveball missed badly, so Espino and catcher Patrick Bailey adjusted.

No changeup, no curveball…you know the rest.

Espino rifled off four fastballs, each one higher than the last, all 98+ mph, and Caminero stood no chance, striking out to end a pivotal inning. This was the first time that trio had struck out consecutively all season, and of course it was against Daniel Espino.

Stephen Vogt has a newfound fireman, and it happens to be the guy with the best fastball on the team. Espino, after years of uncertainty, finally made it to the big leagues, and after months of preservation and experimentation, has found his role and is thriving just in time for the biggest games of his life.

Game 3 found Espino in a familiar spot. After Petey freakin’ Halpin gave the Guardians a 3-2 lead with the bat flip heard ‘round the world, Vogt pulled Gavin Williams and went to Espino for the 6th inning, again for Diaz, Aranda, and Caminero. Espino induced a weak flyout from Diaz, touching 101 on the out pitch. He didn’t throw a fastball under 100 the rest of the inning. Espino overpowered Aranda into an 0-2 count and induced a foul pop-out. It was once again his time with Caminero. In three pitches, Espino announced himself firmly to the national stage, blowing fastballs of 100.6, 100.6, and 100.3 past Caminero, each fastball higher than the last, with Caminero striking out swinging at a ball by his eyes.

Espino mean mugged his way off the mound, bridging his scoreless frame into scoreless outings from Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis, and ultimately Cade Smith. The Guardians now have a 2-1 lead in an ALCS few people gave them a chance of winning, but that’s exactly how this team wants it, and those are the odds Daniel Espino has been proving wrong for four years now. Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis marvels at Espino, both as a pitcher and person.

“He’s a man that has a tremendous amount of faith,” said Willis to Horodyski. “…He’s stepped up to every challenge, and we’re seeing it evolve right now. It’s not only a blessing but it’s really exciting to watch, and hopefully we’ll be watching it for a number of years.”

Despite setback after setback, Daniel Espino has become exactly what every Guardians fan dreamed he could be: a valuable piece to this team’s future and in October. Parker Messick called him “the prototype”, and he will serve as that in every possible way for this organization. Espino’s recovery path has proven to be foundational for fellow multi-arm surgery prospects in Justin Campbell and Jacob Zibin, but the human being that Daniel Espino is and how he handled adversity will serve as the blueprint for his teammates, present and future. As Espino settles into his new role, the Guardians find themselves two wins away from where The Prototype’s big league career began: on a mound in Milwaukee.

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are no more. For the first time in three years, some other team is going to win the World Series.

The Brewers completed an emphatic four-game sweep of the two-time defending champions last night, rallying back from a 4-0 deficit to stun the Dodgers in L.A. one last time, a 6-4 decision that punched the Brewers’ ticket to the World Series for the first time since 1982.

The Brewers had been one of only three teams with a longer World Series drought than the Orioles (1983). Now that list is down to two: the Pirates, who last made it there in 1979, and the Mariners, who have never gotten to a World Series since the birth of the franchise in 1977.

Congratulations to the Brewers, a truly well-rounded team who had the best record in baseball during the regular season and have continued to prove their dominance in the playoffs. They can really hit, especially in the clutch. They play defense. They play good fundamental baseball. Their bullpen is sensational. And they’ve got the presumed NL Cy Young winner, Jacob Misiorowski, atop their rotation. It really feels like this year is the best chance they’ve ever had to finally win their first championship.

As for the Dodgers, I don’t think anyone will be shedding a tear over their elimination. Probably not even Dodgers fans. When you win two World Series in a row, you don’t get to complain when you can’t get a third. Although maybe I would feel differently if it were the Orioles in that situation. I’d love the opportunity to find out!

Meanwhile, in the ALCS, the pesky Cleveland Guardians took a 2-1 series lead over the favored Rays with another splendidly pitched effort. I will admit that I fully expected the Rays to run away with this series, considering the 13-game difference in their regular season records and the fact that Cleveland barely edged out a morass of mediocre teams in the final weeks of the season. But the Guardians got hot at the right time, going 9-2 in their final 11 games before rallying back from a 2-0 deficit against the White Sox in the Wild Card Series.

Can the Guardians pull off the upset? I wouldn’t hate that. I don’t have any particular disdain for the Rays (and their roster full of former Orioles), but those Cleveland fans have suffered for nearly 80 years without a championship, so it’d be nice if they can keep that dream alive for another round. Game 4 is scheduled for tonight at 8 PM ET, but the dicey weather forecast in Cleveland could put that in jeopardy.

Links

Povich undergoes elbow surgery, expected to be ready for spring training – School of Roch

For everyone clamoring to know what Cade Povich has been up to this offseason, you’ve got your answer.

A scout’s take: An evaluator with some interesting insights on Triple-A O’s players – Steve Melewski

In this case, all of the scout’s insights on O’s prospects are basically, “The Orioles screwed this guy up” and “This guy needs a change of scenery.” Not exactly encouraging!

What’s the biggest mistake the Orioles have made since 2024? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com

Kudos to Rich Dubroff for answering this succinctly in two paragraphs, as opposed to the novella-length response I would’ve had to this question.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Three former Orioles were born on this day: second baseman Jonathan Schoop (35), pinch-running specialist Mike Dimmel (72), and the late left-hander Don Hood (b. 1949, d. 2023).

Today marks the 43rd anniversary of the Orioles’ most recent World Series title. On this date in 1983, the O’s blanked the Phillies in Game 5 of the Fall Classic, 5-0, to win their third championship in franchise history. The Orioles had only five hits in the game — three by Eddie Murray and two by Rick Dempsey — but two of Eddie’s hits were dingers, as was one by Dempsey, the World Series MVP. Orioles starter Scott McGregor took care of the rest, tossing a five-hit shutout, which ended with Cal Ripken Jr. memorably squeezing Garry Maddox’s line drive to shortstop to kick off the celebration.

On this date in 1971, the Orioles stayed alive in the World Series with a dramatic, walkoff win in extras in Game 6 in Baltimore. Trailing 2-0 in the late innings, the O’s tied the game on a Don Buford solo homer in the sixth and a Davey Johnson RBI single in the seventh. After Dave McNally — pitching in relief — escaped a bases-loaded jam in the top of the 10th, the Orioles walked it off in the bottom half, as Frank Robinson walked, hustled to third on a single, and aggressively rushed home on a Brooks Robinson sac fly to win the game, tearing his hamstring in the process.

The Orioles also played World Series games on this date in 1969 and 1979. We don’t need to get into those.

Halfway to Halloween. Halfway to the World Series matchup being decided.

On to the links.

Phillies news

Don Mattingly wasn’t bothered by the Phillies’ overtures to Alex Cora. ($)
Trea Turner is still the Phillies’ shortstop. But if he doesn’t play up to expectations, a change could be made.

The Phillies talked to two franchise favorites about the manager job. ($)

And if you missed it, here’s TGP’s summary of Dave Dombrowski’s press conference.

MLB news

We’re on the verge of a Fall Classic between two small-market clubs. What does that mean for the future of the sport?

One curious stat from each franchise’s farm.

You may have heard of Teruaki Sato. He’s one of four Japanese stars who could be coming stateside soon.

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Rodney Scott, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1971 – In the World Series, Brooks Robinson drives in Frank Robinson in the 10th inning of Game 6 to give Baltimore a Series-tying 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pittsburgh’s Roberto Clemente does all he can to win the game single-handed. Stranded after his 1st-inning triple to the wall in left center, his 3rd-inning solo shot puts Pittsburgh up, 2-0. All of Clemente’s offensive contributions notwithstanding, the reason the game reaches extra innings is his defensive gem in the bottom of the ninth, a no-look, one-hop strike from Memorial Stadium‘s right field corner, 310 feet away, to catcher Manny Sanguillen, preventing the runner at first, running on contact on Don Buford‘s two-out double, from even attempting to score. By extending the game, Clemente’s throw will force Baltimore’s best player, Frank Robinson, to win this game with his legs, challenging the arm of centerfielder Vic Davalillo on two consecutive plays. In doing so, Robinson tears his left hamstring and aggravates an already damaged right Achilles tendon, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1909 – The Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series as rookie pitcher Babe Adams registers his third victory of the Series by beating the Detroit Tigers, 8-0, in Game 7.
• 1911 – In the World Series, pitchers Rube Marquard of the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Athletics’Eddie Plank are in command of a 1-1 game when Philadelphia’s Eddie Collins hits a RBI double in the sixth inning and Frank Baker bats a home run for a 3-1 victory. The Series is even after two games.
• 1912 – Fred Snodgrass drops a fly ball in the 10th inning that helps the Boston Red Sox score two runs and take the World Series from the New York Giants in eight games, including one tie.
• 1923 – Soon after Babe Ruth receives his World Series winner’s share of $6,160.46, insurance agent Harry Heilmann, who beat Ruth for the batting title by ten points, sells him a $50,000 life insurance policy. Beneficiaries are Mrs. Ruth and adopted daughter Dorothy.
• 1928 – Mickey Cochrane wins American League MVP honors, edging Heinie Manush by two points. Neither Babe Ruth nor Lou Gehrig is eligible, having won the award before.
• 1936 – Lou Gehrig, who hit .354 with 49 home runs, 167 runs, and 152 RBI, is voted American League MVP.
• 1962 – With the tying and winning runs in scoring position, Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants hits a hard line drive at second basemanBobby Richardson for the final out and the New York Yankees win Game 7, 1 – 0, for their 20th World Series title.
• 1969 – The New York Mets win their fourth straight game from the Baltimore Orioles with a 5-3 triumph behind pitcher Jerry Koosman, who throws a five-hitter, to take the World Series in five games. 
• 1974 – Pitcher Ken Holtzman, who hasn’t batted in the regular season because of the designated hitter rule, belts a third-inning home run off Andy Messersmith in Game 4 and gets the 5-2 victory. Rollie Fingers holds the Dodgers in relief and Oakland takes a 3-1 Series lead. Holtzman will remain the last pitcher in American League history to hit a home run at home until two-way playerShohei Ohtani rewrites the record book in the 2020s.
• 1975 – Tony Perez breaks an 0 for 15 slump with two home runs to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 5 of the World Series.
• 1976 – Pitchers Don Gullett and Pedro Borbon combine on a five-hitter as the Cincinnati Reds win the opening game of the World Series over the Yankees, 5-1. Three hits by Tony Perez and Joe Morgan with a home run supply the offense.
• 1977 – In the World Series, the Dodgers stay alive with a 10-4 victory in Game 5 against the Yankees. Steve Yeager and Reggie Smith hit home runs, and Don Sutton pitches a complete game.
• 1979 – Pittsburgh Pirates starter John Candelaria and closerKent Tekulve combine on a 4-0 shutout over the Baltimore Orioles as the Pirates send the World Series to its seventh game. Jim Palmer is the losing pitcher.
• 1983 – Eddie Murray hits two home runs and Scott McGregor pitches a five-hitter to give the Baltimore Orioles a 5-0 victory, its fourth straight over the Philadelphia Phillies, to give the Orioles the World Series championship in five games. Baltimore catcherRick Dempsey, who hit .385 with four doubles and a home run, is named the Series MVP.
• 1985 – Major League Baseball gets its first intrastate World Series since 1974, as the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals win their respective playoff series. Kansas City wins the ALCS with a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7, capping a comeback from a three games to one deficit. While at Dodger Stadium, Jack Clark hits a dramatic three-run home run off the Dodgers’Tom Niedenfuer with two outs in the top of the ninth inning and first base open, to give the Cardinals a 7-5 victory and a 4-2 Series victory.
• 1999 – The Boston Red Sox roll over the Yankees, 13-1, behind the strong pitching of Pedro Martinez. Nomar Garciaparra gets four hits for Boston, while John Valentin get five RBI. Garciaparra, Valentin and Brian Daubach all hit home runs for the Sox. The Yankees now lead the ALCS, two games to one.
• 2003 – The New York Yankees capture their 39th American Leaguepennant, beating the Red Sox, 6-5, thanks to Aaron Boone‘s 11th-inning home run off Tim Wakefield at Yankee Stadium. Boone becomes the fifth player to end a postseason series with a homer joining Bill Mazeroski (1960 WS), Chris Chambliss (1976 ALCS), Joe Carter (1993 WS) and Todd Pratt (1999 NLDS2).
• 2009 – The Yankees take Game 1 of the ALCS with a 4-1 win over the Angels at New Yankee Stadium. The Yanks take advantage of three Angels errors to score their runs, but the critical play is a two-out pop-up that falls untouched between 3B Chone Figgins and SS Erick Aybar in the first, allowing Johnny Damon to score the Yankees’ second run. CC Sabathia pitches eight innings for the win and Mariano Rivera gets the save.
• 2011 – The Cardinals complete their very unlikely run to the World Series by beating the Brewers, 12-6, in Game 6 of the NLCS at Miller Park. Series MVP David Freese opens the scoring with a three-run homer off Shaun Marcum in the 1st, but the Brewers once again manage to chase the Cards’ starter early, scoring four runs off Edwin Jackson in two innings. 
• 2014 – The San Francisco Giants win their third National Leaguepennant in five years by defeating the Cardinals, 6-3, in Game 5 of the NLCS.
• 2016 – The Dodgers even the NLCS at one win apiece with a 1-0 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Adrian Gonzalez accounts for all the offense with a solo homer off Kyle Hendricks* in the second inning, while Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen combine on a two-hitter.
• 2017 – The Yankees notch their first win in the ALCS by defeating the Astros, 8-1, in Game 3 at home. Three-run homers by Todd Frazier and Aaron Judge help New York build an 8-0 lead by the end of the fourth, and they cruise from there as CC Sabathia is the winner over Charlie Morton.

Cubs Birthdays:Kurt Seibert, Rodney Scott, Milo Allison. Also notable: Goose Goslin HOF.

Today in history:

• 1492 – Christopher Columbus‘ fleet anchors at “Fernandina” (Long Island, Bahamas).
• 1577 – Francis Drake sights land in the Philippines after crossing the Pacific Ocean aboard the “Golden Hind”.
• 1901 – Booker T. Washington and his family are invited to dine at the White House with Teddy and Edith Roosevelt, prompting condemnation from the South.
• 1909 – In his fourth title defense, Jack Johnson knocks out Stanley Ketchel in the 12th round at Mission Street Arena, Colma, California, to retain his heavyweight boxing crown.
• 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis begins as US President John F. Kennedy is shown photos confirming the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
• 1968 – Americans Tommie Smith (gold, 19.83, WR) and John Carlos (bronze) famously give the Black Power salute on the 200 m medal podium during the Mexico City Olympics to protest racism and injustice against African Americans.
• 1985 – Intel introduces the 32-bit 80386 microprocessor chip.
• 2023 – Model of a Star Wars X-wing Starfighter used in a “Star Wars” film sells for over $3 million from the collection of Hollywood model maker Greg Jein.

*pictured.

Greetings, Brew Crew Ball community. You can now call them, for the first time ever, your NL Champion Milwaukee Brewers! How about that series? We’ll have plenty of time to discuss things as we await an AL Champion, with the World Series set to begin in Milwaukee on Friday, October 23.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-baseball sports, the Brewers, you name it. As long as it’s appropriate and is allowed by our moderators, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread:

Well, it’s been a few weeks since games have ended and I think it’s time to be done debating about whether or not, or how, the Cardinal 2026 was, or was not, a success. Each will have their own point of view and each has had their say. Many various takes, for sure. One of the things I find myself most hopeful about is the apparent strength of the minor league pipeline. It made me curious about … when did it really start getting better? So, I went back to the 2023 trade deadline to see how recent transactions ended up impacting the longer-term view.

To walk back a little bit in time, here was Baseball America’s top 15 prospects for the Cardinals coming into 2023:

• Jordan Walker
• TinkHence
• Masyn Winn
• Mathewe Liberatore
• Cooper Hjerpe
• Alec Burleson
• Ivan Herrera
• Michael McGreevy
• Jonaten Mejia
• Zach Thompson
• Leo Baez
• Brycen Mautz
• Pete Hansen

Interesting. Not a bad group. By and large, they were right on with 11 of them. Not so much Mejia, Thompson or Hansen. Hence and Thompson are injury related and Hansen really is the start of the rest of the list of guys that haven’t (and mostly won’t) make it. Fangraphs had the overall system ranking middling at #15. I can’t find BA’s rank that year or I’d use it.

The 2023 Trades

2023, if you haven’t blocked that nightmare out, was a shocking reversal of fortunes for the Cardinals. They went from pretty good in 2022 to awful in 2023. Many things went wrong. Little went right. That year’s trade deadline was the first capitulation we’d seen from long-term GM/POBO John Mozeliak. Mo’s stated goal was to bolster the farm system. Let’s look at how that turned out.

• Jordan Hicks was traded for Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein.
• Paul DeJong was traded for Matt Svanson.
• Genesis Cabrera was traded for Sammy Hernandez.
• Jack Flaherty was traded for Cesar Prieto, Drew Rom, Zack Showalter.
• Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton for Thomas Saggese, Tekoah Roby and John King.

Rather than pick apart any one player, let’s see how that played out organization wide. First, FA’s post-deadline update reduced the Cardinal’s farm system rank from 15 to 17. Part of this is the result of Walker, Burleson and Liberatore graduating the list, but the net-net is the trades weren’t viewed as bolstering the system as much just partially offsetting losses, but otherwise continuing a pattern of slow decline.

Now, three (plus) years later, only one of those acquired players remains a Cardinal prospect – TK Roby. Saggese and Prieto have graduated from the prospect list but not found footing in MLB. King was a useful low leverage lefty before being moved on. Rom, Kloffenstein, Thompson and Robberse all fell under the sorcerer’s spell and succumbed to injury. Svanson had a remarkably good year in 2025 and a remarkably bad year in 2026, so appears to be a fungible reliever, until proven otherwise. What is Hernandez?

The 2024 Trades

Unlike 2023, the 2024 trade deadline offered the Cardinals the siren song of a potential wild card birth and so they moved pieces off and on the major league roster for a final run for a team that ultimately finished with 83 wins. They really did nothing to improve their longer-term organizational outlook. Actually it did. It made the outlook worse.

• In a three-team trade, the Cardinals sent away Tommy Edman and prospect Oliver Gonzalez (who, still at 19 years old, carries a 20 grade for command and a 70 grade for FB), receiving back Tommy Pham and Erik Fedde. Other players were involved from the White Sox and Dodgers side, but no impact to the Cardinals (other than facilitating a trade that did not work out well at all).
• In a more traditional deal, Dylan Carlson was dealt to Tampa for Shawn Armstrong.

Fangraphs took a dim view of this and re-ranked the overall Cardinal system down from 17th to 21st in MLB. The pattern of slow decline accelerated as they moved toward the bottom. The Cardinals didn’t have a ton of promotions from AAA that year, so I take from this re-rank that FG had a very dim view of the 2024 Cardinal draft, as well. This isn’t a draft recap, but in retrospect, it appears that only one player from that draft may be impactful (a guy named Wetherholt). Reminder that they did not have a second-round draft pick due to a free agent signing.

The 2025 trades

In looking at this, what I realize is that the first meaningful moves toward rebuilding the prospect pipeline began to happen in July, 2025. Along with the 2025 draft (too soon to evaluate):

• Ryan Helseley was traded for Jesus Baez, Nate Dohn and Frank Ellisalt.
• Steven Matz was traded to Boston for Blaze Jordan.
• Phil Maton was traded to Texas for Mason Molina.

In some combination of draft, IFA and trade acquisitions, the 2025 changes resulted in Fangraphs re-ranking the Cardinal MiLB pipeline from 21st the year prior to 2nd in late 2025. Quite a jump. Then we had the 2025-2026 off-season which saw:

• Sonny Gray traded to Boston for Brandon Clarke and Richard Fitts.
• Willson Contreras was traded to Boston for Hunter Dobbins, Blake Aita, Yoiker Fajardo
• Nolan Arenado was traded to Arizona for Jack Martinez.
• In a 3-way trade, Brendan Donovan was sent to Seattle and the Cardinals received Jurrangelo Cijntje, Tai Peete, Colton Ledbetter and a Comp-B pick in the 2026 draft (which became Andrew Williamson).

The 2026 trades

2026 ended up being a fairly quiet year for in-season trades, but was a return to the 2023 priority of enhancing the prospect base.

• Dustin May and JoJo Romero were dealt to Milwaukee for Josiah Ragsdale and Alexander Frias.
• Lars Nootbaar was dealt to Arizona for Daniel Eagen, Sandro Santana and ultimately (PTBNL) Brian Curley.

The net of these last transactions and graduations (of which there were many) has moved the Cardinals from #2 to #4 on the Fangraphs system rankings, which isn’t concerning given that JJ Wetherholt was among the players falling off the prospect list. What this tells me is that even though a player like Wetherholt fell off, the Cardinals were able to acquire enough new talent via trades and draft to maintain a place among the elite systems, even with Wetherholt graduating.

What can we take from all this?

What can we learn from this series of deals? Well, I suppose one could conclude that Boston and Arizona liked the Cardinals MLB roster better than StL did, and StL liked the Red Sox and Dbacks farm systems better than Boston and Arizona did.

We can observe that the vast majority of talent acquired was of the pitching variety. The later trades (particular this trade deadline) we start to see a shift towards acquiring position players such as Arias and Ragsdale. We can also observe that most of acquired players do not require 40-man protection yet. These are not random outcomes. It was planned this way.

For the most part, I take this whole sequence of trades as confirmation that the talent portion of the rebuild didn’t really begin until the middle of 2025 and gained steam with the POBO transition that occurred later that year. Certainly, the rebuild of the front office, particularly the player develop org began a year or so earlier. But not the talent. My own personal assessment is that the Cardinals have really only accomplished rebuilding the pitching side of the roster and have yet to fully address the position player side. They aren’t without talent or prospects, but I’m not sure they have enough.

Hence, all the questions around Catcher, Thirdbase, Centerfield, etc. I think it possible that they believe the young group of position players they already have, plus the few that are coming might be enough, but I tend to doubt it. Along with teams can’t have enough pitching, they also can’t have enough position players who can hit and they don’t yet have that abundance like they appear to possess on the pitching side. The current situation leaves them too vulnerable to one or two key position prospects flaming out and ruining the whole transition. I believe they will want more and suspect they will have to deal off the MLB roster to get there, as they did on the pitching side.

When this might happen is another question.

Two things can be true: The Dodgers’ season ended prematurely and, for Shohei Ohtani, the offseason couldn’t come soon enough.

Thursday’s elimination — a no-doubt-about-it sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers, who vanquished the Dodgers in the same fashion Ohtani and Co. had summarily eliminated them last season — was apparently the only way to get the two-way superstar out of the lineup.

Now he can get some much-needed rest and recovery, a reality check and, possibly, some surgical procedures to repair the knee and biceps injuries that plagued him this season.

Ohtani didn’t rule anything out in his postgame scrum, several rows deep, in front of his locker after the Dodgers’ 6-4 defeat in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

“Hard to tell at this point,” the 32-year-old Ohtani said in Japanese, via interpreter Will Ireton. “It’s something that’s going to be analyzed, discussed over the offseason, and see if that’s a viable thing to do.”

Read more:Plaschke: The Dodgers had everything needed to three-peat. This is why they failed

Hopefully, for the Dodgers’ sake and for baseball’s, Ohtani and his team will see their way to a reasonable load management plan. Hopefully they’ll find a viable injury management strategy.

Especially if he continues to pitch, as Ohtani said he plans to: “Yes, definitely, and looking forward to having a better season.”

Hopefully this bumpy season — his first as a Dodger to end short of the championship following the 2024 and 2025 title runs — will make Ohtani better. Wiser. More willing to listen to his body and to communicate what it’s telling him with the ball club that relies on him so much.

“I’ll always trust Shohei,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s the best player on the planet, and he’s not completely healthy. But I just give him a lot of respect for not running from it, still wanting to participate, still wanting to play when he’s not 100%.”

But hopefully when Ohtani’s knee barks next time, he won’t pitch through it. Hopefully when his right arm tightens up, he’ll step out of the box. Even — or especially — if it takes longer than a 15-day IL stint to make him right.

Hopefully he’s learned that irrespective of a sense of duty or pride or a selfish streak, the cold-hitting fact is that a compromised version of Ohtani leaves the Dodgers’ whole team — a $400 million investment — compromised, as it was this postseason.

“I don’t really want to take it for granted for the opportunity to be able to play with these guys,” Ohtani said. “But honestly, I think I’m just very disappointed.”

In eight playoff games against the Atlanta Braves and Brewers, Ohtani hit .192 (five for 26). He struck out 10 times. He didn’t get an extra-base hit or drive in a run until Thursday, in the season finale, which reminded us of Ohtani’s power — he walloped his first home run since Aug. 18, a three-run missile in the second inning that traveled 428 feet — and his pain.

Roberts looked, for a moment, like a genius for continuing to keep Ohtani in the lineup — and to pencil him in as the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter after batting him sixth on Wednesday.

For that one shining moment.

But Ohtani also struck out three times Thursday — made to look foolish in a much-too-familiar way.

The Dodgers needed a healthy Ohtani to deal with a young, hungry ballclub like the Brewers.

To have a chance against a team that was, as Dodgers utility man Kiké Hernández said, “almost playing perfect baseball,” they needed him dialed in and not tinkering, not staying late searching.

They need the version of him that delivered the perfect game a year ago, his three-home-run, 10-strikeout masterpiece that sent Milwaukee home in Game 4 of the NLCS.

“Ohtani is arguably the best player in the world,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

“He’s proven that to us. He had the greatest game I’ve ever seen played by an individual player last year against us.”

The Dodgers need that guy striking fear into opponents. Not him striking out, or getting stranded helplessly on base.

And they got a glimpse of that guy Thursday with that second-inning home run, a shot that had him throwing his arms up and screaming toward his dugout, as emotive as we’ve seen him, relieved and exulting after giving the Dodgers a 4-0 lead — and a fleeting expectation that they’d play a Game 5 on Friday.

“It was a lot of pent-up anger, frustration,” Roberts said. “It was the best ball he hit in probably two, three months, and it was a big hit.”

“It was like,” Max Muncy said, “that’s the swing we’ve been waiting for.”

Now we all wait for baseball to return — and then to learn what this season taught Ohtani, one of the most unique athletes in the history of the game.

“Not quite satisfied with how things shaped up on the pitching side at the end of the year,” Ohtani said. “... I haven’t been able to really come to grips in terms of what I’ve learned overall. It’s something that I’m going to kind of go back to the drawing board in terms of treatment, training program, and see what I can come up with for next season.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Dodgers’ offseason began at 8:07 Thursday night. Heavily favored to win a third straight World Series, they were swept into winter by the Milwaukee Brewers.

The final score doesn’t really matter, but for the record it was 6-4 Brewers. It wasn’t really that close.

The Dodgers led in every game of the National League Championship Series. They didn’t win any of them. No team has ever done that while getting swept in a best-of-seven series. So while the Dodgers didn’t three-peat, they made history just the same.

“They were relentless with everything that they did,” Dodgers infielder Max Muncy said of the Brewers. “They just strung together good at-bat after good at-bat. That’s usually what we do.

“We didn’t do it this series and they did.”

Read more:Plaschke: The Dodgers had everything needed to three-peat. This is why they failed

The Dodgers’ starting rotation, the most expensive in history, gave up 16 hits and 13 runs in 18 innings for a 6.50 earned-run average. The bullpen was nearly as bad, posting a 4.50 ERA in 16 innings.

The Brewers’ relievers, on the other hand, were spectacular. Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy went to his bullpen 14 times and just twice did a reliever give up a run. All four victories against the Dodgers and all seven Brewers wins this postseason have gone to a reliever, with the bullpen posting a 1.33 ERA in 40⅔ innings.

“Pitcher after pitcher came in and executed,” Muncy said. “When one of their pitchers faltered, the next guy came in and picked up the slack.”

And each time the Dodgers took a lead, the Brewers waited no more than two innings to cut into the deficit. Milwaukee trailed 4-0 after two innings Thursday. By the top of the fifth, the score was tied. An inning later, the Brewers went ahead to stay, becoming the first team ever with six comeback wins in their first eight postseason games.

“They respond,” Murphy said of his players. “We’ve talked about it all year long. You have a bad week, you have a bad game, you have a bad at-bat, you bounce back.”

“I love the Dodgers. I love their players. They’ve got legendary players,” he continued. “But we came in with a group that would not be denied. They were hungry, very hungry.”

The two-time defending champion Dodgers, meanwhile, appeared to be full. They hit with runners in scoring position as often as they hit into double plays, going four for 27 and stranding 24.

“We had our opportunities. We just didn’t get the job done,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “We won two [titles]. We came up short on the third.

“There’s a lot of hurt at the end of the season. Sometimes you just get beat. That’s just kind of how it goes. You have to give credit to the Brewers. They played really good baseball.”

A year ago the Dodgers swept the Brewers in the NLCS. This fall the results were reversed.

“The sadness is we just didn’t accomplish our goal,” Muncy said. “The goal every year is to be the last team standing. This year we had a chance to do something historic, and we didn’t accomplish it. And every single time you’re not the last team standing, it’s heartbreak and it’s failure and it’s not what you’re looking for.”

The Dodgers’ clubhouse was closed for more than 35 minutes after the game, partly to process that heartbreak but also to give manager Dave Roberts and veteran infielder Miguel Rojas, who announced his retirement, a chance to address the team. When the doors finally opened, nearly every player was sitting in front of his locker, most still in uniform, waiting to explain what seemed to be inexplicable.

Read more:Dodgers' three-peat dream dies with Game 4 NLCS loss to 'relentless' Brewers

How did the greatest team money can buy wind up so flat when the stakes were so high?

“We’ve been grinding all season long,” said right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who retired the first 10 Brewers in order, but lasted just one more inning. “No one slacked off at all. Everyone just came in and worked hard. They just played a lot better than us. They were hitting on everything. It wasn’t our year.”

“Not every time it’s gonna be us,” left fielder Teoscar Hernández added through a forced smile. “It’s not fair for us to be doing the same thing over and over every year. Teams are going to learn from their losses the same way we’re gonna learn from this one.

“So hopefully we come back next year stronger.”

Speaking of next year, no one would.

Half the players on the Dodgers 26-man NLCS roster are on expiring contracts. The core of the team — Mookie Betts, Freeman, Muncy, Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández along with pitchers Blake Snell and Glasnow — are 33 or older. The Dodgers could look very different when spring training starts — if spring training starts — in February.

“There’ll come a time when we think about next year,” Muncy said. “But that’s not right at this moment.”

The Dodgers have an extra-long winter to get through first.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

This wasn’t supposed to be how the Dodgers’ 2026 season ended.

There was supposed to be more champagne, a trophy to raise, and the first World Series three-peat by a National League team to jot down in the history books.

Instead, the Dodgers ran into the team with the best regular-season record. And the Milwaukee Brewers proved they weren’t just some plucky underdog anymore, as they felled a giant on their way to the World Series.

“This is a special group,” veteran third baseman Max Muncy said Thursday night in a solemn clubhouse. “It’s kind of hard to put into words how much this hurts right now. We all know what we did out there; we didn’t play well. But for three years straight, we left it all out there. The train finally ran out of steam, I guess. It just sucks.”

Read more:Plaschke: The Dodgers had everything needed to three-peat. This is why they failed

An autopsy of the ousted Dodgers, taken down in a four-game sweep in the National League Championship Series, would reveal several weaknesses — aging stars, Shohei Ohtani’s nagging ailments, an offense that never quite clicked against the Brewers’ overwhelming pitching staff.

Maybe, however, it’s simpler than all that.

Maybe, as Muncy said, the Dodgers just ran out of steam.

“We’ve seen how difficult it is to repeat,” said Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, when they clinched the NL West title. “It’s even more difficult to do it three in a row. We know everyone is coming for us, and we get that. So for us it’s about putting our heads down and doing everything we can to win — hopefully it’s 11 games in October.”

They won three.

“I personally told our guys that there’s no apologies, there’s no sorries,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We gave it everything we had, and it wasn’t good enough. That’s part of life.”

A major aspect of the challenge is simply workload. The Dodgers not only have played more games than any other team the last two years, but their schedule has included grueling travel.

The Dodgers started both the 2024 and 2025 seasons early and overseas, playing in the Seoul Series and Tokyo Series in consecutive years. And both years ended with coast-to-coast travel for the World Series, as the Dodgers won titles over the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays.

The team’s collective age — the Dodgers carried the oldest lineup in the majors this year, according to Baseball Reference, weighted by at-bats and games played — may not have helped. But the roster was deep enough for the Dodgers to absorb injuries in the regular season and still win 100 games.

The Dodgers had mostly returned to health by the postseason, when experience was expected to be an advantage.

“This group, we’ve been through a lot together,” veteran first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Been all over the world together. Done some really, really cool things in this game together. But we came up short on the three-peat.

“But we’ll keep our heads high, knowing we accomplished some cool stuff and get back at it.”

While Freeman seemed to overcome the knee tendinitis that flared in September, with treatment and a little extra rest, Ohtani still didn’t look like himself entering the playoffs.

The Dodgers tend to be proactive in their approach to injuries in the regular season. But as Ohtani battled nagging pain in his left knee and a recurring problem with his right biceps, the team didn’t shut down his attempts to return to pitching until the end of August. And they didn’t put him on the injured list until early September.

The two sides appeared to still be ironing out their lines of communication through the process. Should Ohtani have been more transparent about what he was feeling? Should the Dodgers have taken the decision of whether to keep playing out of his hands?

The lack of clarity on the root of his ailments complicated the balancing act on both sides. And regardless of who should take more of the blame, the result was the same: a compromised version of Ohtani entered the postseason.

It’s not fair to blame the Dodgers’ offensive woes on one player, but his struggles transformed the lineup, even as Roberts dropped him in the batting order to mitigate the effects — up until the last game, when he batted leadoff and hit his first home run in nearly two months.

The Dodgers’ trade deadline acquisition of two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal covered the loss of Ohtani in the rotation. But there was no replacing him on offense.

“I haven’t been able to really come to grip in terms of what I’ve learned overall this season,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “It’s something that I’m going to kind of go back to the drawing board in terms of treatment, training program. and see what I can come up with for next season.”

With Ohtani struggling, the juggernaut Dodgers looked beatable. And the Brewers rebounded from being swept last year by the Dodgers in the NLCS, to put together a more complete team that not only could win 103 games in the regular season, but also sustain a deep postseason run.

“I’ve watched all their interviews,” Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell said earlier this week. “I’ve noticed how they talk. A lot of one-on-one competition is like a key for them. Even the way that Pat [Murphy] talks and how he talks to the team is way different than last year.”

The underdog schtick from the year before had faded. This time, the Brewers played like they expected to win.

“They played much better than we did,” infielder Miguel Rojas said in Spanish. “It’s a team that has been consistent throughout the year. They deserve it. Congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers, to that entire organization. They deserve to be in this position. They’re a team that has been special throughout the entire year.”

Read more:Dodgers' three-peat dream dies with Game 4 NLCS loss to 'relentless' Brewers

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The 1990s Yankees can rest a little easier after last night, as the two-time defending champion Dodgers were officially eliminated by the Milwaukee Brewers in a convincing sweep. It was a complete reversal of last year’s NLCS, as the Brew Crew exacted revenge for getting swept back then while making history in the process. Now that there will be no more attempt at a three-peat, the dynasty Yankees remain the only team in MLB history to have accomplished this feat in the last half-century, and the chances of their run ending any time soon grow incredibly small considering how long it took for a repeat champion to even emerge.

We’ve got a full schedule ahead of us for today, starting with Andrew going over all the ups and downs of that thrilling conclusion to the NLCS alongside the Guardians picking up the win in the ALCS. John goes over some of the most egregious errors the Yankees made defensively this season, Jonathan takes us back to the days of Tim McCarver on his birthday, Josh ponders the Yankees’ impending free agent class, Jeremy relives the biggest surprises of the season, and Andres evaluates Brian Cashman’s work in 2026 to close out the afternoon slate.

Today’s Playoff Matchups:

American League Championship Series Game 4
(Cleveland leads, 2-1)

Cleveland Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays
(TBD vs. RHP Nick Martinez)

Time: 8:00 p.m. EST

TV: TBS/HBO Max/truTV

Venue: Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH

Questions/Prompts:

1. With the news that the Yankees reportedly aren’t going to offer Jazz Chisholm Jr. the qualifying offer, is that curtains on his time in the Bronx? Is there any chance he re-signs in free agency?

2. Now that the Brewers have made it back to the World Series for the first time since 1982, how good are their odds to win it all against Tampa or Cleveland?

LSU is back for week 2 of fall baseball with another set of scrimmages on deck. Day 1 was on Thursday evening and there was plenty of important info to take from the 6 innings.

Before we get going, I’ll list off the lineups for each team and who pitched. We’ll then transition to some bullet point notes.

Lineups

Gold (visitors)

1.) 2B – Malachi Washington

2.) RF – Angel Laya

3.) C – Omar Serna

4.) DH – Lucas Nawrocki

5.) 1B – Mason Braun

6.) 3B – John Pearson

7.) LF – Jack Ruckert

8.) SS – Parker Loew

9.) CF – William Patrick

SP – William Schmidt

RP – Zion Theophilus

RP – Bradyn Cupit

Purple (home)

1.) DH – Jason Wachs

2.) 3B – Dawson Park

3.) LF – Dominic Santarelli

4.) C – Cade Arrambide

5.) SS – Steven Milam

6.) 2B – Cade Kurland

7.) CF – Nate Davis-Cleary

8.) RF – Eddie Yamin

9.) 1B – Dylan Minnatee

SP – Cooper Sides

RP – Jonah Aase

RP – Jordan Martinez

RP – Ethan Plog

Scrimmage notes

• Both starting pitchers were great. Threw a ton of strikes and looked untouchable outside of one swing.
• Cooper Sides final line: 3.0 IP / 1 H / 4 K / 1 BB / 35 pitches (25 strikes, 71%)
• Sides once again flashed a 3-pitch mix including a fastball up to 96, along with a slider in the mid-80s and a curveball in the mid-70s. It looked like he started to wear down in his third inning, walking William Patrick on only 5 pitches, but he locked back in to battle through. His fastball velocity was down around 94 by the end, but that’s two phenomenal performances through the first two weeks of fall ball for the incoming freshman. It’s easy to see why folks made such a big deal about him passing on the MLB draft to come to LSU.
• William Schmidt final line: 2.0 IP / 0 H / 4 K / 0 BB / 27 pitches (19 strikes, 70%)
• Schmidt struck out the side looking in his first inning of work. Also showed a 3, possibly even a 4-pitch mix. Fastball was up as high as 97, but the intriguing pitch was an 89-90 mph cutter/slider. We saw him throw a hard slider in the mid 80s last year and a curveball even slower than that, so I’m not exactly sure what it is. It looks good, though, and could take his growth to the next level. Through two performances, though extremely early, he looks as if he can challenge for the Friday night role.
• Lucas Nawrocki had a great night and has been the only player to get a solid barrel on Sides through the first two weeks. He blasted a near 400 foot homerun in to the Diamond Deck in right field on a slider. The freshman has true two-way capabilities according to Jay Johnson and we got to see the hitting side on Thursday night.
• Nate Davis-Cleary’s speed was on full display once again. He laid down a sacrifice bunt with runners on 1st and 2nd that was perfectly placed between the 3rd base line and the grass of the infield. His speed forced a rushed throw from John Pearson that was off target, allowing a run to score. On the very first pitch of the next at-bat, he stole 2nd without a throw. His speed is a weapon.
• Zion Theophilus continued to look improved. He was up to 94 with a filthy slider. It looks like it has potential as one of the best pitches on the staff if he can present it well. His first inning of work was one of the innings that they placed two runners on base to start the inning and after both moved up to 2nd and 3rd, he struck out the side to prevent a single run from scoring. Command slipped in his second inning, but otherwise looked pretty good.
• After a super impressive 3-inning performance in his first mound time in 2 years, Jonah Aase came back to earth a little. He was falling behind hitters in his first inning of work, while throwing a lot of offspeed. His second inning was much better, though. The command issues are to be expected for a guy coming back from elbow surgery and not having thrown for so long. Expect more up and down performances as he continues to shake off the rust.
• Dawson Park at 3rd base is a luxury. He has all of the talent and ability to start at shortstop, but will likely be at 3rd due to Steven Milam.
• Dominic Santarelli is faster than you may think. While he’s massive, he’s athletic and can move. He turned a routine single in to right-center field in to a double with his hustle.
• Angel Laya got jammed on a fastball and still hit it just short of the warning track in center field. I’m excited to see more of his power potential. He started in RF, but later moved to CF and that’s when he crashed in to the wall very hard in left-center trying to chase down a ball that hit off of the wall. The thud was very loud and he stayed on the ground for about a minute, sending Head Trainer Isaac Trujillo out to check on him. He got up, walked it off, and stayed in for the rest of the inning, but stayed out of the game for the final inning. He looks like a tough kid.
• Malachi Washington has a cannon. He, again, moved to 3rd base after playing the first 4 innings at 2nd. He fielded a slower grounder that called for a stronger throw and he gunned it over right in to John Pearson’s chest, who was then at 1st. He added a hard hit opposite field single later.
• Dylan Minnatee is the one who hit the ball that sent Laya in to the wall. It was a rope to the opposite gap and he turned it in to a triple. While his path to the field may be tough during his freshman season, he’s an intriguing player that was one of the lesser-talked about incoming freshman.
• John Pearson hit a ball that still may not have landed. He teed off and hit a bomb that just missed to the left of the scoreboard. If it had been about 10 feet to the right, it would have hit the top of the scoreboard. It was a 3-run blast, giving him 4 RBIs on the night.
• Jordan Martinez got beat up pretty good tonight. He is another two-way player, reaching up to 94 mph with his fastball. He both pitched and hit last week, so I’d expect him to swing a bat on Friday. His talent is noticeable, though.
• Jack Ruckert played much of the night in the outfield, which I find very interesting. With the large influx of infielders, we’ll have to keep an eye out on if this is just temporary to get him on the field for scrimmages or if it’s something they’re testing as a possibility to find more ways to get him on the field in 2027. He’s been swinging a hot bat through the first two weeks and had a great battle with Martinez tonight. Ruckert fouled off 4 straight 3-2 pitches before earning a walk.
• Parker Loew and William Patrick both executed perfect hit-and-runs with line drives through gaps on the infield. Loew’s was much-needed after he made an error on a routine groundball at shortstop that allowed a run to score.
• Bradyn Cupit worked 2 innings and while he allowed 2 runs in his first inning, he was much improved in his second. He went straight at Cade Arrambide, Steven Milam, and Cade Kurland for a 1-2-3 inning.
• Ethan Plog came in for the 7th and after striking out Davis-Cleary, things went a little awry. He gave up the single to Washington, then walked Serna and hit Nawrocki, which is when Johnson called the game.

Defensive movements

Yamin LF to C

Minnatee 1B to LF

Santarellig LF to 1B

Washington 2B to 3B to CF

Davis-Cleary CF to RF

Ruckert LF to 2B to RF

Pearson 3B to 1B

Braun 1B to LF

Laya RF to CF

Player of the night

Lucas Nawrocki finished 2-2 with the 2-run HR, a single, a walk, and a hit by pitch. The homerun was even more impressive considering how good Cooper Sides has been through two appearances.

Next up

LSU will play two more scrimmages this weekend. Friday at 6 pm and Sunday at 4 pm. As always, entry and parking are free to the public. Entry is at gate 2 behind home plate, which opens 15 minutes before first pitch. I will be back out there on Friday for more play by play. Follow me on X @DCBilliotJr to keep up with the action!