Category: Baseball

Whoa, last night was fun, no? This playoff series win was at least five years in the making, which is exactly the last time the Braves won a playoff series. The Phillies have excelled at beating the Braves in October in recent years, but didn’t have a lot of luck with anyone else. I felt very confident in the 50-50 nature of this particular encounter, and felt Atlanta could pull this off if they don’t blow it. However that’s been the rub, nay a calloused blister formed over 35 years of (mostly) playoff disappointment. But Michael Harris and crew pushed through years of angst and pain into the next playoff round.

The Braves will have to refocus on the red-eye flight this morning and prepare for a much different encounter tomorrow. The Dodgers will be rested and preparing to kick off their run toward a third World Series title. This is not a team like the Phillies, who needed to scratch and claw to advance and brought a jumbled and rest-deprived starting rotation. Let’s have a look at that Dodgers rotation and what will greet the Braves.

Starting Rotation

The Dodgers healthy starting pitching options look like this: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell, Justin Wrobleski, and Emmet Sheehan. Is that all they have and no Shohei Ohtani, huh Dodgers? They aren’t the Evil Empire 2.0 for nothing, folks. The best option to start Game 1 will be Yoshinobu Yamamoto. After him the Dodgers can run three left-hand starting pitchers at Drake Baldwin, Matt Olson and Michael Harris II. Let’s walk through Yamamoto first.

Those are some menacing red bars there. The other menacing part is the arsenal, which includes a 96 MPH fastball, split-finger, cutter, curveball, sinker, and slider. The four-season fastball usage has gone down season, and so have the strikeouts. But he has back-to-back 4.6+ WAR seasons, so it’s a pick-your-poison type of encounter.

I would expect the Yoshinobu to dial up the fastball some more in Game 1. There’s no reason to ration the fastballs or the MPH. He will enter Game 1 after 10 days of rest. The rested bullpen will be able to pick him up later in the game. If you’re looking for green shoots, Michael Harris is 2-6 lifetime versus Yamamoto. Drake Baldwin has a home in 3 plate appearances. All of NLWCS starters have hits off him except Matt Olson and Mauricio Dubon. But combined they’re 8-44 with 1 home run and a .182/.250/.333 line.

Next up will be the two lefties: Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell. Let’s grudgingly look at these lefty options.

If you don’t know Tarik Skubal, you may wish that you haven’t. He was the prize trade deadline target this July, and of course the Dodgers with their army of talent were able to get his services. He’s a back-to-back Cy Young award winner. He’s accumulated 1075 strikeouts in his age 29 season and 24.7 WAR. There’s no telling what it would take to sign him in the offseason. But right now, he’s bearing down on the Braves.

His fastball touches 100, works a devastating changeup off it, a sinker, slider, and why not a curveball as well. He’s also never faced the Braves as a team. Neat. For Game 3, Blake Snell has 28.3 career WAR, but has been limited to 104 innings over the last few years. He exited a game on September 16th after 1 inning with a groin issue. But it’s apparently okay now.

Tyler Glasnow might be waiting in Game 4. He’s been back after a back injury that warranted a 60-day Injured List stint. He’s put up a 4.46/2.14/2.88 line since. He struck out 7 Braves in five innings in a game that the Braves would eventually win on August 25th.

Dodgers Heavy Hitters

The Dodgers are second in position player WAR at 26.9 WAR and feature nine hitters with at least 10 home runs. Shohei Ohtani will not be pitching, but he brings a team-high 30 HRs and 139 wRC+. Mookie Betts has a .780 OPS at short. Max Muncy has 29 home runs and a .830 OPS. Old friend Freddie Freeman has been merely pretty good with a 120 wRC+. Then there’s Andy Pages and Will Smith as well, and Teoscar Hernandez with his torture devices. It’s a deep lineup, everybody.

Dodgers bullpen

Lefty Tanner Scott brings a 100 MPH fastball and 25 saves into this series. However the Braves victimize him for two losses to August. Those would be the Ha-Seong Kim game and another featuring Ozzie Alibes with an 8th-inning RBI single.

I’m deeply concerned about Game 1

Yesterday these guys were dumping champaign on each other deep into the night. Since June, the Braves are 5-10 in the first game of a road series when they don’t get a travel day. They appear to arrive in new cities rather flat. This time they will have Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Tarik Skubal waiting on them. Now, they do get a travel day this time. But they will also arrive with their starting rotation in a mess.

Chris Sale bookended the previous series. Starting him on Sunday for Game 2 would keep him in line to pitch Game 5, or perhaps be the fireman in a Game 4. But what does Walt Weiss do for Game 1? It’s too early for Tyler Mahle, Grant Holmes just pitched almost 1 turn through the order. No one knows yet if Bryce Elder will be available (at time of writing, at least). Martin Perez won’t be eligible to return until Game 3. And hero Ray Kerr just picked up 10 outs. So what can Walt Weiss do?

There’s Didier Fuentes, Brent Suter, Dylan Dodd and Robert Suarez as multi-inning options. JR Ritchie and AJ Smith-Shawver are also available. Weiss has limited options here. They might not have a starter and they may not score.

Are the Dodgers going to pitch to Ronald?

Ronald Acuña Jr went 1 for 9 in the NL Wild Card Series. However, he needed to be super patient. There were 4 walks, with one of those intentional in a Game 2 big spot. Overall, he had a very good .385 OBP versus the top end of the Philadelphia pitching staff. But it won’t fit The Narrative^TM and only the 1 for 9 will be remembered. However, look what he was served.

This is a classic Don Mattingly approach, especially as the Marlins manager. A heavy dose of inside pitches, and no fastballs in the healthy part of the zone. They dotted the upper inside corner, which is thankfully better than in his ear as in previous seasons. The walks definitely hurt the Phillies last night, mainly because of what Michael Harris would contribute. I’m not sure how the Dodgers will approach Ronald. But with some strong left handed pitching, they may not have to challenge him. Postseason games hinge on home runs, and they may elect to not give him that opportunity.

What happened to the outfield defense?

This was funny, but the play in right field overall in the Wild Card Series was bad, shambolic even. Even Michael Harris had trouble in the first inning of the series. But there’s a throughline between Ronald Acuña Jr and Bryce. Both have had numerous lower body injuries. Harper has been ailing since June. When Ronald would finally get comfortable at the plate this season, an injury would knock him off track.

While Harper has the offseason now to rest and perhaps consider options for his knee. The Braves will play again on Saturday afternoon. Designated hitter is an option for Acuña, but it’s also a position that Drake Baldwin needs while not behind the plate. Lane Thomas is returning, but I don’t know if this helps this particular situation. The Dodger Stadium’s right field has some nuance, so Ronnie will have to be on his toes.

So now, Ronald will be in a position where he may not have as many opportunities for power. And he may be hobbled in right field. Atlanta media is going to Atlanta media, and the national ones may pile on as well. So it’s essential for the Braves that Ronald make the most of this series. And it will save us a full offseason of hot takes.

Ray Kerr is not a playoff one-off

Kerr was acquired by the Atlanta Braves in exchange for the Braves assuming 4 million of Matt Carpenter’s contract over the 2023 offseason. I remember being very excited about this move. I saw a lefty with a 96 MPH fastball, 3 option years, and a 38/13 K/BB ratio. I thought at the very least that the Braves would have a bullpen arm in the prime of his playing years that they could bring up and down as needed. So upside would be 2024 Dylan Lee, and baseline a helpful arm. With Bryce Elder and Martin Perez possibly unavailable, he may be employed as a multiple inning option again this series.

Projected Pitching Matchups

Fangraphs is guessing Didier Fuentes versus Tarik Skubal in Game 1. They give the Dodgers a 62% chance to win. I think Brent Suter is more likely, though we may see both. And we may see Yamamoto first, because Suter versus Skubal feels like overkill.

Game 2 will feature Chris Sale versus Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Again, the Dodgers might flip the first too. But Fangraphs gives the Dodgers a 56% chance in this matchup.

Game 3 will be a battle of Tylers. Glasnow for the Dodgers will meet Mahle for the Braves. Fangraphs puts 56% Dodgers again.

I don’t feel comfortable guessing any deeper for this series. And I would argue with Fangraphs’ odds, but honestly those numbers feel slightly favorable. The Braves did win 5 of 6 matchups this season. So maybe these are okay.

Dodgers in 4?

In any other regular season scenario, I wouldn’t be worried about Los Angeles. The Braves tended to play up for good teams this year more than any other year. They have the second best winning percentage versus over-.500 teams. However, they will enter this round with depleted starting pitching, a sagging offense, and perhaps a metaphorical (not physical, please) hangover. But we might as well win now that we’re past the first round.

Well, that was not the Wild Card round we wanted. This Cubs team provided the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in 2026. We’ll think of this as the year of the walkoff, brought to you in no small part by a pitching staff that was decimated by injuries. Pete Crow-Armstrong notching the first 40-40 season in the history of the franchise is clearly the defining highlight of the season, and we’ll all celebrate his MVP award when it’s official. But at the end of the day this team hit one of their down stretches towards the end of September and really just never turned it around. It’s disappointing, but baseball is gonna baseball.

Without the Cubs cheering interest in the Division Series this guide will return to its original vibe: a slightly snarky, but hopefully informative, look at all of the divisional action that kicks off tomorrow in Cleveland. Most of the former Cubs in the field were eliminated in the Wild Card round. So unless you’re really pulling for Cody Bellinger and the Yankees for some unfathomable reason, might I propose jumping on the bandwagon of the world’s most famous Chicagoan: Pope Leo XIV and cheering for the White Sox?

White Sox vs. Guardians: The choices of Master Samwise

To cheer for Chicago or to cheer against Chicago? That is a deep question many Cubs fans face today. As a Cubs fan who grew up far away and moved to Chicago in 2015, I’ve just really never had the animosity for the Sox that many native Chicagoans profess. Cheering for Cleveland, Tampa Bay or San Diego over the Sox really just feels ridiculous. There is no world where I’m taking Atlanta or Milwaukee over a team from Chicago and don’t make me laugh by suggesting I cheer for either coastal Death Star, have we met?

The Sox won their first playoff series since 2005 taking out the Astros in Houston. They’ll return to Chicago with a flawed, but scrappy team. Manager Will Venable will send Hagen Smith, the Game 1 opener from the Wild Card round, to the mound for Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series. Hey, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it [VIDEO].

To advance to the American League Championship Series, the Sox will need to thwart the Guardians. The Guardians have won the AL Central for the last three seasons, although they’ve only posted 90+ wins one time in that period. They’ll send Parker Messick, Gavin Williams and (likely) Foster Griffin to the mound.

On the position side Cleveland is still led by José Ramírez, although the future Hall of Famer had a down year this season only slashing .235/.320/.368 with 12 home runs with a wRC+ of 92 in 544 plate appearances. To put that in perspective, his 2025 slashline was .283/.360/.503 with 30 home runs and a wRC+ of 133 in 673 plate appearances. Savvy readers will note that 130 plate appearance difference, it seems pretty clear J-Ram was dealing with injuries this year. It’s worth keeping an eye on whether the drive all players destined for Cooperstown have will kick in in October transcending whatever issues hamstrung him in 2026. It’s worth noting he seemed to tap into that for his 1,000th RBI, which came on this solo home run in September [VIDEO].

The bullpens are closer in raw talent than you might think, with the Guardians rostering one of the best closers in the game in Cade Smith and the White Sox countering with Grant Taylor (who I discussed at length in the Wild Card Series guide). The Guardians relievers put up a 3.54 ERA off a 3.70 FIP with 46 saves in 63 opportunities this season. By fWAR their bullpen ranked second in the American League behind Boston. Meanwhile the White Sox relievers put up a 3.70 ERA off a 4.10 FIP with 41 saves in 71 opportunities. They ranked fifth by fWAR in the AL.

The regular season between these two teams was about as even as it gets with the White Sox holding a 7-6 edge over the course of the season.

Braves vs. Dodgers: Out of the frying pan into the fryer

The Phillies gave the Braves a real run for their money coming back to win Game 2 of the Wild Card round before ultimately succumbing in Game 3. The Braves won handily, and probably feel a bit of swagger heading to LA. They’ll need every ounce of that swagger to take on the defending World Series Champion Dodgers.

There are not probable pitchers announced for either team beyond the Dodgers Game 1 hurler, Tarik Skubal. FanGraphs Roster Resource currently projects Game 1 as a bullpen game for the Braves followed by Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow following Skubal for the Dodgers [VIDEO].

Starting pitching seems like a definitive edge to the Dodgers, if only because L.A. will line up three aces and Atlanta will counter with a future Hall of Fame ace, a solid guy and their bullpen. It’s a similar story on the offensive side of the equation where the Braves are led by first baseman Matt Olson who hit 41 home runs in 2026 plus catcher Drake Baldwin, former MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. and Cubs killer Ozzie Albies. But the Dodgers are sporting the second best offense in MLB behind the Chicago Cubs. It turns out even relatively down years from guys like Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman is still utterly dominant relative to the rest of the league [VIDEO].

Even the bullpen, which had given the Dodgers some trouble down the stretch, shows a large edge for LA. While some of their relievers struggled at times this season, they righted the ship in the final two weeks of the season. Closer Tanner Scott had a 2.69 ERA off a 2.10 FIP with 26 saves in 63.2 innings. Braves closer Raisel Iglesias compares favorably to Scott head-to-head with a 2.55 ERA off a 3.17 FIP and 34 saves in 60 innings, however the remainder of Atlanta’s pen just isn’t in the same league as the Dodgers [VIDEO].

For what it’s worth, despite all of the statistical indicators pointing in the direction of the Dodgers, Atlanta won this series handily in 2026 taking five of six meetings between the two teams.

Yankees vs. Rays: The steward and the king

All due apologies to the Tampa Bay Rays with the title here, but until the sabermetrically inclined little front office who could can hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy they are going to have to live with looking like the underdog against the Yankees. Yes, that’s even true when the Rays won 98 games to their division rival’s 93. Yes, even when you’ve narrowly beaten the Yankees head-to-head in seven of 13 games.

Admittedly, the Rays will likely get a shot at the king playing without their best hitter. Aaron Judge was left off the Wild Card roster due to a calf strain that has kept him from fulling engaging in baseball activities. As of Friday afternoon, it seems probable he’ll be left off the Division Series roster as well. Ben Rice did an excellent job filling Judge’s size 17 shoes. The Yankees first baseman went five for ten with two home runs and six RBI in the Wild Card round. Meanwhile, the Rays best hitter is absolutely 23-year-old Junior Caminero who hit .276/.360/.524 with 42 home runs and a wRC+ of 142 in 702 plate appearances. Caminero is in the PCA tier of outstanding young MLB talent as evidenced by the fact that it was the second 40-home run campaign of his young career [VIDEO].

The Rays were actually ahead of the Yankees offensively this season, pacing the American League in position player fWAR with the Yankees 2.6 fWAR behind (admittedly, in one fewer game).

The Yankees hold the edge in pitching, however, and you don’t need to look further than Cam Schlittler’s performance against the Red Sox to see why. While both the Rays and the Yankees have excellent starting and relief pitching the Yankees just edge out the Rays in both categories. While the Rays will send Drew Rasmussen and his 2.67 ERA off a 2.82 FIP in 172 innings to the mound in Game 1 followed by Freddy Peralta and Nick Martinez, the Yankees will counter with Gerrit Cole, followed by Wild Card hero Schlittler and (probably) Max Fried. You can marvel over what a weapon Schlittler can be reliving his 10 strikeouts against the Red Sox below [VIDEO].

Padres vs. Brewers: Fire and water

The day before the Cubs began their unceremonial march to being swept out of the Wild Card round by the Padres I wrote about my concerns regarding the way they were limping into the Postseason on the back of a difficult schedule. Part of my concern was also how hot the Padres were finishing the season with a 16-2 mark in their last 18 games. Well, now make that an 18-2 mark in their last 20 games as they head into Milwaukee to take on the team who posted the best record in baseball this season: The Brewers.

To be clear, the Brewers aren’t exactly limping into the playoffs. They won their last five games and went 15-5 in their last 20. This is truly two teams at their peak colliding. It should be an incredible series for baseball fans.

The Brewers will hand the baseball to likely NL Cy Young award winner Jacob Misiorowski while the Padres will counter with veteran Robbie Ray. Baseball is prone to the strangest outcomes, so it is entirely possible that Ray will outduel Misiorowski just because, however it’s hard to fathom they guy who’s thrown more than 1,000 pitches over 100 MPH as a starter flopping in early October [VIDEO]:

In game two, Logan Henderson will take on Michael King in a matchup that is sure to give Cubs fans flashbacks to unhittability, and while things are unannounced for Game 3, it certainly seems like a Brewers bullpen situation led by some combination of Dustin May, Shane Drohan and Robert Gasser going toe-to-toe with Nick Pivetta.

The Padres should hold the advantage offensively if they can figure out the Brewers elite pitching. Fair warning, Cubs fans may not like the next video, but I really don’t know a better way to show how much damage Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado can do early in the game with the bat than this [VIDEO].

The bullpens are probably comparable with maybe a slight edge to the Padres? The question mark is deliberate, it’s hard to know how it will play out in reality but the San Diego bullpen can basically shut a game down after the sixth inning with some combination of Mason Miller, Bradgley Rodriguez, Adrian Morejon, Yuki Matsui and Jason Adam. Frankly, that list is deep enough you can imagine it shutting down two games played on back-to-back nights with that crew [VIDEO].

That’s no shade to an excellent bullpen in Milwaukee. Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby are a fierce trio at the end of games, but you’d absolutely rather be the team wielding the five-headed monster than the three-headed monster to close out games in October.

It’s probably more important that both of these teams are the hottest versions of themselves than anything that came before. That said, it is worth noting that the Padres won the season series four games to two.

The Yankees made headlines with an unusual roster construction in the Wild Card. Confident in their starting rotation and recognizing the team’s extreme lefty/right splits, New York carried a Major League record 16 position players, carrying just ten pitchers for the three-game set with the Boston Red Sox. While the team did not, in the end, need that entire bench — only 14 players actually got in the games, with Giancarlo Stanton and Ali Sánchez riding the bench — the decision drew quite a bit of attention: the NBC broadcast routinely stressed the wide variety of buttons that Aaron Boone had at his disposal, while Michael Baumann of FanGraphs published an article on Wednesday titled, “Everybody Except the Yankees Is Doing Wild Card Roster Construction Wrong.”

The historic move worked out pretty much perfectly. The Bombers sent out two very different lineups in each of the two games against Boston, with only five position players — designated hitter Ben Rice, left fielder Cody Bellinger, shortstop George Lombard Jr., outfielder Spencer Jones, and catcher Austin Wells — slotted into the lineup both nights; furthermore, in each game, the team went to the bench early and often: Luis García Jr. and Paul Goldschmidt pinch hit in the games they didn’t start, and Ryan McMahon, Trent Grisham, and José Caballero came in for defense. While these moves were not, obviously, the reason the Yankees won the series (holding the Boston lineup to just two runs on seven hits across 18 innings gets top billing), this flexibility off the bench was a weapon that Boston manager Chad Tracy had to contend with.

Despite its success, though, conventional wisdom dictates that the Yankees surrender this advantage against the Rays in the ALDS. They carried 12 pitchers last year, 11 in 2024, and 12 in 2022: fewer than the standard 13 they carry during the regular season, but nonetheless more than the 10 they carried this week. The thing is, though…how often do teams actually need more than 10 pitchers in the Divisional Series? Can the Bombers avoid the position player roster crunch — or rather, even more of one than they’re going to have when Aaron Judge returns from injury?

To see just how far the Yankees can realistically push the oversized bench in the ALDS, I went back to every Divisional Series from 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 (i.e., every year since the most recent CBA, when the Wild Card Game was expanded into the Wild Card Series) and counted how many pitchers each team actually used over the course of the series. I also documented how many different pitchers got the start, to see if that had any effect on the total (I did not record how many starting pitchers were used out of the bullpen, at least in this preliminary analysis).

Of these 32 teams, seven teams only used 10 pitchers, while one team — the 2022 Yankees, whose series went five games against Cleveland — used just nine. A full quarter of the time, teams were able to get away with the number of pitchers the Yankees had in the Wild Card Series, and while that’s much smaller than the 42 percent who used 12 or 13 pitchers, it suggests that entering the series with a skeleton bullpen is not exactly an impossible ask.

Since eight pitching staffs are a much more reasonable sample size, I then decided to take a deep dive into these staffs, looking into how many starting pitchers they used in relief.

The raw numbers don’t tell the whole story, of course — one of the five relievers on the 2022 Yankees was Clarke Schmidt, who did make a handful of starts that year between Triple-A and the Majors, and one on the 2024 Kansas City Royals was Kris Bubic, a starting pitcher who worked out of the bullpen while recovering from Tommy John surgery; both pitchers were capable of going multiple innings if needed. Even so, though, these numbers give some reasons both for and against the Yankees’ ability to carry just 10 pitchers.

The biggest reason not to carry a short bullpen is the fact that the Yankees are lined up to use four starters during the ALDS, with Cam Schlittler, Max Fried, Gerrit Cole, and Carlos Rodón likely to get the ball against Tampa Bay. Of these eight squads, only two were able to get by with 10 pitchers while using four starters — and in truth, only one had a “traditional” pitching staff, as the 2024 Detroit Tigers employed “pitching chaos” behind ace Tarik Skubal. In a five-game set, it’s already harder to keep the circle of trust completely closed without burning out the bullpen, and even more so when you’re only squeaking by with the bare minimum number of starting pitchers to begin with.

The Bombers, though, do have one trick up their sleeve: the number of starting pitchers and multi-inning relievers available out of the bullpen. Will Warren has already made his first postseason appearance of the season, coming on in relief of Fried on Wednesday night. Paul Blackburn has gone more than one inning in 32 of his 62 appearances. Long reliever Ryan Yarbrough and starter Ryan Weathers should be able to provide multiple innings, and it’s likely at least one (if not both) will make the roster. Brent Headrick, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to need much rest at all, having pitched in 81 games this season — a full half the season. And, if the rotation is lined up as I expect it will, with Schlittler getting Games 2 and 5, and Fried Game 3, either Cole or Rodón will get the ball in Game 4; given the amount of rest they’ve had, it wouldn’t surprise me to see whoever doesn’t get the Game 1 start come out of the bullpen in that game if the situation arises.

It might be theoretically possible, then, for the Yankees to get by with just 10 pitchers. In all likelihood, though, I doubt it’s going to be something they’re actually going to try: even with the extensive amount of rest built into the schedule (the Yankees have off-days scheduled between Games 1 and 2, 2 and 3, and 4 and 5, only playing on back-to-back days once — and at home), the fact that the team lines up best with four starters makes it unlikely we’ll see them risk rolling with just a six-man ‘pen. Even so, I’d expect Aaron Boone to keep the circle of trust small and keep only 11 pitchers; assuming Judge doesn’t return from the IL (I will personally be surprised if he returns before the ALCS), that would mean the Yankees would only need to drop one position player, and thus can employ the deep and flexible bench they used so well against Boston.

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers will have a familiar face and voice on the field before Saturday’s opener of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium, as Keith Williams Jr. is slated to sing the national anthem before Game 1 against the Atlanta Braves.

It’s the 14th postseason national anthem at Dodger Stadium dating back to 2016 for Williams, who also sang before Game 1 of the 2025 wild card round and for Game 3 of the 2025 NLCS. Williams also performed the national anthem before opening day this regular season on March 26.

Saxophonist Mike Phillips will perform the national anthem ahead of Game 2 on Sunday evening.

For other pregame ceremonies, Adrián González will throw out the first pitch before Game 1 and Reggie Smith will do the honors before Game 2. Both will also say “It’s time for Dodger baseball” ahead of their games.

González played in four NL Division Series with the Dodgers (2013-16), and hit .260/.299/.438 with four home runs and 14 RBI in 18 games. Smith played in one NLDS with the Dodgers, after the strike-shortened 1981 season, and had one hit in two at-bats plus a sacrifice fly and two RBI in three games against the Houston Astros. Smith was inducted into the Legends of Dodger Baseball in August.

If the NLDS goes the distance, the Dodgers will have Manny Mota and José Mota involved in the ceremonial first pitch before Game 5 next Friday, October 9, with Amber Blue singing the anthem.

As the instructional leagues wrap up and the MLB moves closer to the World Series, it’s time to turn our attention to the next event on the minor league calendar: the Arizona Fall League.

According to the AFL website, “The roots of the Arizona Fall League go back three decades, when the Major Leagues wanted to create an easily accessed offseason league. With the Arizona Fall League, managers, coaches, scouts and league officials can be under direct guidance of league and club personnel in league-affiliated ballparks and premier training facilities. The AFL is designed to serve as the ‘finishing school’ of the minor leagues for players, coaches, umpires and aspiring employees.”

Prospects from all 30 teams are split up into six “super teams” across the Phoenix metro area and play games from October 3-November 14. You can see the full schedule here.

The Colorado Rockies will be represented by eight prospects and two pitching coaches this season, alongside prospects and coaches from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins, Washington Nationals and New York Yankees.

Here is a preview of each player, as well as comments from Rockies director of player development Chris Forbes.

LHP Konner Eaton

Eaton (No. 28 PuRP) was drafted in the sixth round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of George Mason University. The left-hander made nine appearances out of the bullpen during his first season — eight in Low-A Fresno and one in High-A Spokane. He returned to Spokane in 2025, starting 23 games and posting a 5-8 record with a 3.56 ERA. Eaton was promoted to Double-A Hartford, where he made four starts and posted a 1-1 record with a 5.30 ERA.

He repeated in Hartford in 2026, making 23 starts once again and posting a 5-3 record with a 4.46 ERA.

“There’s a command plan for him,” Forbes said. “We need just a little bit more time with him.”

LHP Stu Flesland III

Stu Flesland III was drafted in the 11th round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Washington. He’s rocketed up the system, making appearances in Spokane, Hartford and Albuquerque this year. He started the year by repeating in Spokane, but was promoted after five appearances (one start) where he posted a 2-1 record and 3.63 ERA. Flesland made 18 appearances for the Yard Goats (12 starts) and posted a 5-1 record and 1.88 ERA before a late-season, four-inning cameo with the Isotopes. On August 10, he was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week.

Across all three levels in 2026, Flesland posted a 7-2 record, a 2.85 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.

“They’ve got this velocity thing they’re trying to do with him,” Forbes said of Flesland’s AFL plan, “and they’re going to do that and then try to get him to try it in a game.”

RHP Hunter Mann

Hunter Mann was drafted in a few rounds after Flesland in the 14th round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Tennessee Tech. Forbes described him as a player “who’s emerged this year as a two-plus guy.”

Mann was promoted to Low-A Fresno halfway through the 2024 season, and then spent all of 2025 at High-A Spokane. In 38 appearances in 2025, Mann posted a 6.61 ERA and 1.71 WHIP across 49 innings. He began 2026 back in Spokane, but was promoted to Hartford towards the end of the season.

In 31 appearances in Spokane, he posted a 4.06 ERA and 1.13 WHIP across 57.2 innings. While in Hartford, Mann made 10 appearances with a 5.54 ERA and 1.46 WHIP.

LHP Sean Sullivan

Sean Sullivan (No. 21 PuRP) made his MLB debut in 2026, three years after being drafted 46th overall in the 2023 . The Wake Forest product made five starts in the bigs, earning an 0-3 record and 8.87 ERA. In Albuquerque, Sullivan only made 14 starts after spending two separate stints on the injured list.

“He missed quite a few starts, so I think we’re hoping to get his innings up, and I’m hoping this ends up being a blessing in the sense that once we got him down here, as were kind of letting that calm down, he was able to kind of get to, ‘OK, we’re going to focus on strength. Let’s get the strength back up,’” Forbes said.

He also shed light on the Rockies’ plans for Sullivan in the Fall League.

“He’s one of those guys that, during the year, just has trouble maintaining weight. He can come in at 205 (pounds), and now he’s pitching at 187 or something at some point. So you’re hoping with him that he’s able to get some innings back in and get some feel back, and then ultimately make a better decision on how does he play in next year’s club. Does he come out of the bullpen as a length guy? Is he doing a spot start? I don’t know. But that’s the plan with Sean. I’m just looking at five healthy starts and going into the offseason feeling really good about it.”

RHP Fidel Ulloa

Fidel Ulloa was drafted in the seventh round of the 2024 Draft out of LSU. He started immediately in Fresno where he posted a 4.50 ERA across 11 appearances (12 innings). In 2025, he split time between Fresno and Spokane (with a brief rehab stint in the ACL after an injury in June). Across all levels, Ulloa posted a 1.46 ERA and 1.06 WHIP across 41 appearances.

“It’s a good reward for a kid that’s been pretty steady,” said Forbes.

C Jack O’Dowd

Jack O’Dowd (HM PuRP) was signed as an undrafted free agent ahead of the 2026 season, and took the Rockies farm system by storm. The former Texas Longhorn started in Fresno, but was promoted after slashing .345/.385/.702 with seven home runs in 22 games. In Spokane, he kept going, slashing .359/.451/.664 with nine home runs in 34 games. O’Dowd finished the season in Hartford, where he hit a cool .254/.333/.434 with seven home runs in 51 games.

“They needed another catcher,” Forbes said, “and it was great to be able to give [Cole] Messina a blow and reward Jack O’Dowd, and then also play some first and then be able to hit a little bit more.”

INF Andy Perez

Andy Perez (No. 25 PuRP) was signed by the Rockies during the 2021 International Signing Period. He spent two years in the Dominical Summer League before making his stateside debut in 2023. In 119 games in 2023, Perez hit .245/.280/.316 with 24 extra-base hits. He repeated Fresno to start 2024, and was promoted right at the end for 16 games in Spokane. Jump ahead to 2026, and Perez hit .285/.321/.403 with 41 extra-base hits across 128 games in Double-A Hartford.

“Andy Perez is a guy that I don’t think people talk about near enough,” Forbes said. “He’s got a real shot at this thing, and he’s Cuban, so I can’t just send him to the Dominican to play in winter ball. So I think it’s an opportunity for him and his wife to just be steady and safe. Plus he’s a really good player.”

OF Jared Thomas

Jared Thomas (No. 8 PuRP) was one of the headlining prospects of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Texas. He absolutely tore through Spokane in 2025, hitting .330/.427/.495 in 73 games. He also had 25 extra-base hits (11 homers) and 22 stolen bases. He cooled off a little in Hartford, but still had a good enough season to be selected to last year’s Fall League.

However, it turned out he was playing through a hamate injury that set him back six months. Thomas didn’t play in 2026 until July 6th — five days after his 23rd birthday. He played just 32 games in 2026, which led to him getting a repeat call to the desert.

“Jared Thomas needs the at-bats desperately,” Forbes said, “and I know it’s kind of a relapse back into that league, but we just asked him, ‘Do you want to go to Puerto Rico? Do you want to go to the DR or Mexico? Or do you want to stay here?’ Because he really wants to lock in with our strength coaches, too, and we’re hosting on our side, so I think that’s huge.”

Closing Thoughts

AFL games start tomorrow! Which Rockies prospect are you most excited to watch? Are there any other prospects from other teams you’re excited to watch?

Let us know in the comments!

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Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

The idiot that said, “Harper is coming” asks:Was that fun or what? Share some of your feelings about the absolute destruction of the Boston Red Sox in historic fashion.

The Wild Card Series ended up being a rout, and while I definitely favored the Yankees over the Red Sox I wouldn’t have guessed the final tally would see New York put up 18 runs to Boston’s two. The games were definitely tense for a good bit before they became stomps, as Boston’s starters were doing well to keep pace with the Yankees’ until they were both pulled to disastrous effects. I think that the gap in managerial experience in this series was abundant, as now-no-longer-interim manager Chad Tracy didn’t have much of a feel for when he should’ve trusted his starters. The more egregious case was Sonny Gray, who was only at 70 pitches and as he stated his own case in the post-game was an extremely effective pitcher going through the order a third time, whereas Payton Tolle was at least a little deeper into his pitch count. Meanwhile, Boone and company were ahead of the game in constructing their Wild Card Series roster and the Yankee skipper got to pull out all the stops in playing to his matchups with great success. I imagine the ALDS roster will be a little more balanced in the number of pitchers versus position players making Boone’s choices in this regard a little more difficult to make going forward, but this team has had to make the most of their platoons throughout the year and I think that can be a real strength for them now in the Postseason.

As for the damage they did once they got to that Boston bullpen… my goodness. It felt like an entire summer’s worth of frustration unleashed into near-perfect execution. We’ll get into the specifics of their turnaround in a minute, but a Ben Rice masterpiece followed by a team-wide throttling was absolutely thrilling to watch. Everybody got involved, from the most downtrodden names in the middle of the year to the stars they were counting on, and it felt like a resounding answer to the question looming over everyone’s head about how far this team could go if Aaron Judge isn’t going to be available.

The absolute cherry on top of this performance was watching the pitching staff pour it on as the tide started to turn in the Yankees’ favor. Cam Schlittler continues to haunt the Red Sox, turning in another fantastic outing and showing that he’s got plenty in the tank should the team need it, tossing 117 pitches in a 10 strikeout performance going 6.1 strong without a single run allowed. When the Yankees saw Luis Severino break out in 2017 and lead into 2018, I thought I wouldn’t witness a homegrown Yankee pitcher deal like that for a long time, but Schlittler has managed to go above and beyond even the best of Sevy’s reign. He’s the full-fledged ace of the best staff this franchise has formed in decades, and even though there are some incredibly strong teams in the field having a staff like that gives me the confidence that the Yankees could truly go out and compete with anyone. Max Fried’s efforts can’t be ignored, as he’s been an underrated Red Sox killer now in his career as well. His outing wasn’t as flashy as Schlittler’s, but he was extremely effective in preventing the Sox from ever getting a rally going and served as an elite 1B to Schlittler’s 1A. Their efforts combined with the later run support also made it a light series for the bullpen, who will now be nice and rested heading into St. Pete with all hands on deck. They truly couldn’t have drawn this series up any better, and now it’s onto the real test against the Rays.

BetweenThePinstripes asks:The Yankee offense has picked up the pace for well over a month now. What do you attribute this uptick to?

There’s a number of names in the lineup that have quietly turned in significantly better performances in the second half of the season that led them to where they could demolish Boston like they did. It starts with the bottom of the order, which was an absolute black hole for the Yankees for a good stretch. Austin Wells’ job security was hanging on by a thread, his excellent management of the pitching staff from behind the plate being his only saving grace as he couldn’t string together a pair of hits for his life. His 41 wRC+ through the first half of the season was truly dreadful, but he was also dealing with a cervical headache issue that eventually saw him hit the IL in early June. Ever since he returned he’s been a different man at the plate, and over the second half the numbers agree: he posted a 124 wRC+ to close out the year.

Wells has been the biggest turnaround, but it doesn’t stop there. Jazz Chisholm Jr. had a much-maligned season, but he found his groove in August and rode that into September, posting a 122 wRC+ in the final month. Jazz’s slow start was mostly fueled by a complete lack of power, but his dip in the summer was the product of him losing the strike zone completely, walking at just a 7.1 percent rate compared to a 38.1 percent strikeout rate in July. With that smoothed out, he’s once again a solid contributor down in the lineup, and then you throw in Spencer Jones finding himself after a couple of stints with the Major League team. Jones ran a trial by fire in his first couple of stays, getting called up as the team couldn’t keep a set of three outfielders healthy for any extended period of time. His strikeout rates may still be a bit gruesome, but they’re nowhere near the stratospheric 41.5 percent Jones was striking out at in the first half, and he’s displayed a surprising burst of speed to go along with his prodigious power. His strikeout converted into a free base was a crucial turning point in Game 2 of the ALWCS, and he’s provided some flexibility now as they work Trent Grisham back into the fold.

Of course, the table setters for this offense still have to make their mark, and the Yankees’ top two hitters are entering this Postseason at their hottest points in months. Cody Bellinger’s season was rapidly declining from an elite May into a downright bad summer, but after a stay on the IL he’s back to looking like his old self at just the right time. Ben Rice struggled for a good portion of this season after the weight of being The Guy in the lineup was thrust upon him with Judge’s injury, but after the Captain’s return became only a brief cameo it was imperative that he could be the big threat in a playoff game and he proved that he’s up to the task with a godly 195 wRC+ in September before going ballistic in Game 1. With just a little bit of protection around him Rice can be a nightmare for opposing pitchers, and now that the rest of the ensemble has gotten their act together he might just have a very special run in him.

All in all, the season stat lines on the Yankees’ offense may not wow you but they’ve got a significant portion of their lineup peaking exactly when you want them to. Would I have liked to see some of them be more consistent throughout the year considering their talent on paper and the fact that their lethargic offense was what held them back from running down the Rays for the division? Sure, but the season is defined by what you do in October and I can easily forgive the frustrations of the summer if it’s met with champagne bottles popping throughout the fall.

Two young Pirates pitchers closed out the season better than anyone in the National League.

Jared Jones and Mason Montgomery entered the season on different paths, but ended with the same recognition.

Jones was awarded National League Pitcher of the Month for September earlier this week. Montgomery earned NL Reliever of the Month after a dominant stretch as Pirates closer. 

In five starts, Jones delivered a 3-0 record with a 0.93 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 29 innings. Jones only allowed three earned runs and opponents hit .133 off the 25-year-old righty.

He recovered well from internal brace surgery to post the best month of his career. 

Dealt & Dominated.

Congrats to Jared Jones on being named the NL Pitcher of the Month for September. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Clh1spbPmF

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 29, 2026

Montgomery further solidified himself as the Pirates’ closer of the future with an impressive close to the season.

The flamethrowing righty recorded 16 strikeouts in 13 games. Montgomery earned a 2.08 ERA, allowing three runs in one outing against the Tigers on September 26 but not allowing any runs in his other 12.1 innings pitched. 

Pittsburgh won 11 games with Montgomery earning the save. Opponents hit .174 off him in September and it equated to a 0.92 WHIP. 

The 26-year-old finished with a 2.88 ERA in 68.2 innings during his first season with the Pirates. Montgomery struck out 105 batters, a rarity for relievers to exceed 100 strikeouts in the modern game. 

Monty Month. ☄️

Mason Montgomery is your NL Reliever of the Month for September. pic.twitter.com/GcFliPyT14

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 29, 2026

Jones and Montgomery will be anchors of the Pirates’ rotation and bullpen in 2027. Ben Cherington and Don Kelly’s coaching staff are likely to return.

Pittsburgh finished the season 82-80 for its first winning campaign since 2018. 

Ten years ago today, we said goodbye to Vin Scully, who gave his swan song at what was then known as AT&T Park. From children’s letters to reflecting on the lodestar of our fandom who was always going to leave, but the magnitude of that loss would not be truly felt until much later, we remember here at True Blue LA.

There will be far grander farewells and remembrances from those on the scene that day. I will happily defer to those folks who worked with, loved, and knew Scully for those. As for me, back then, I wasn’t a writer or even a lawyer yet.

Ten Years Ago

I will always remember this game, because thanks to user Scully’s Tie, it was my first visit to the Giants’ home ballpark ever. I am not one for carrying signs, but Scully’s group had one, and I played along, back in the days when I would wear khaki pants to the ballpark.

I am not sure what I was expecting. As we have previously covered, Oracle Park, as it is now known, is pretty good. Part of Scully’s call was simulcast on both home and away feeds, as well as ESPN. The Giants dedicated a plaque in the visiting broadcasting booth.

The Giants also handed out dual-sided cheer cards before the game, with the contents of the plaque on one side and a message thanking Vin on the other. I made a point to save multiples of the card for later. They have been framed in my apartment for going on ten years now.

For those of us at the ballpark, we had to wait a bit to hear Scully’s final send-off, which still manages to bring a tear to my eye every time I hear it.

The game itself was nothing special. LA lost 7-1, as Kenta Maeda was figuratively slapped around early and often.

Needless to say, there is an interesting bit of symmetry with the recent retirement of longtime Giants’ announcer Mike Krukow, as the Dodgers won an otherwise forgettable game that will fade into history.

Ten Years Later

It is impossible to replace a legend, so you do what you can. Joe Davis has charted his own course with Orel Hershiser over this past decade. The initial anecdote that Davis inadvertently screened Scully twice upon getting the Dodgers’ job is a story worth listening to.

.@Joe_Davis shares the story of his first interaction with the legendary Vin Scully. pic.twitter.com/Mih4u47yq1

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) August 3, 2022

While it is tempting to try and use artificial intelligence to graft Scully’s voice onto the highlights of this era, while well-meaning, it misses the point and arguably lessens Scully’s legacy. If nothing else, one can honor the past while not being beholden to it. If the Dodgers have done anything right in this past decade, apart from signing Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, it’s embracing this mindset in their broadcasting team.

Each era should have its own soundtrack, its own voice. Scully was not one for ego or monument. At some point, one must turn the page to this new era, which has lasted for ten years now.

Yes, Scully was a legend and an institution. Cracking wise with Stephen Nelson and Dontrelle Willis by definition cannot measure up, but in that same vein, it doesn’t have to. Time marches on, and the way we consume baseball has changed accordingly.

Scully enjoyed his retirement with his family for six years, popping up on occasion, most notably Game 2 of the 2017 World Series, as the age and era moved on.

On August 2, 2022, while the Dodgers were playing the Giants at Oracle Park, Scully passed away at the age of 94. Tributes poured in, as the baseball world joined Dodger fans in both grief and honoring Scully’s memory. While a lot has changed in baseball and in our lives in these past ten years, I often go back to the words from Scully’s Swan Song when I need hope and encouragement.

“Don’t be sad that it’s over,” he said. “Smile because it happened.”

Here’s to ten years gone, Mr. Scully, wherever you may be.

LOS ANGELES — Major League Baseball on Friday announced the umpires for the Divisional Series round. For the Dodgers vs. Braves NLDS, the umpire crew will be led by crew chief James Hoye.

This is the 18th career postseason series for Hoye, who has been umpiring in the majors since 2003. He was an umpire for three different Dodgers trips to the NLCS — 2020 and 2021 against the Braves, and 2025 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

For the postseason, umpiring crews expand from four to six umpires, with folks in left field and right field augmenting the standard four in the infield. Here are the umpiring assignments for Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles:

Home plate: Roberto Ortiz
First base: Chris Guccione
Second base: Hoye
Third base: Tripp Gibson
Left field: Jim Wolf
Right field: Mike Estabrook

Umpires rotate positions throughout the series, such that five different umpires will work behind home plate should Dodgers vs. Braves last the full five games. The lone umpire without a potential home plate assignment is Mike Estabrook, who is in right field for Game 1.

Division Series replay officials in New York for all four Division Series are Marvin Hudson, Dan Iassogna, Malachi Moore, and Mike Muchlinski.

Position	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Home plate	Ortiz	Guccione	Hoye	Gibson	Wolf
First base	Guccione	Hoye	Gibson	Wolf	Estabrook
Second base	Hoye	Gibson	Wolf	Estabrook	Ortiz
Third base	Gibson	Wolf	Estabrook	Ortiz	Guccione
Left field	Wolf	Estabrook	Ortiz	Guccione	Hoye
Right field	Estabrook	Ortiz	Guccione	Hoye	Gibson

You know how you felt about this year’s Chicago Cubs.

They had a great offense, tops in many categories in Major League Baseball.

They had a great defense, leading MLB in almost every category

The pitching, yikes, it was pretty bad. I’ll have more to say tomorrow when I post my final 2026 Cubs pitcher grades.

Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer had his season-ending news conference Friday afternoon and basically echoed all those thoughts. The quote in the headline from Hoyer, I think, sums up what every one of us felt about this year. He added, “Fans deserve playoff games. Fans deserved a long run and we let it slip away.”

Then Hoyer addressed the pitching staff. He noted that some of the issues this year were due to injuries, some to poor performance and some to “poor acquisitions,” which is a heck of a thing for a baseball executive to admit publicly. Props to Hoyer for acknowledging what all of us saw.

He noted that the team ranked 12th in the league in runs allowed, while noting that most of that is due to good defense, and so the quality of pitching has to improve. Hoyer noted what we all know: they’re going to have to look at “swing and miss,” as the team gave up far too many home runs this year. “You can’t catch homers.”, he quipped.

But he followed that by noting that Brewers pitching is “exceptionally good” and “We have to double down on that,” also noting the excellence of the Padres bullpen.

About the Cubs bullpen, Hoyer said: “I did a poor job on the bullpen this year, full stop.”

It was good to hear him say that. That’s a “the buck stops here” statement, no excuses. Now go do better for 2027.

Again, these are things that all of us have noticed all along. It’s a good thing that management understands this and has to take a hard look at what they’ve been doing pitching-wise. No one asked Hoyer about pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and the pitching infrastructure, but clearly that’s something that has to be re-evaluated.

He cited losing Cade Horton, Justin Steele and Ben Brown to injuries as one of the biggest issues of the year and said that the team has to also focus on pitcher health.

Hoyer was asked about Edward Cabrera. His response: “Cabrera is a really good big league pitcher, we have to look at ourselves, what did we not do to get the most out of him. He has talent and really cares.”

That’s all well and good, and yes, Cabrera has had success previously at the big-league level. If he can get back to that… well, that’s the job of the pitching infrastructure.

Regarding Clay Holmes and Kevin Gausman, Hoyer said they were not “optimized” going into the postseason. I suppose that’s why Holmes did not pitch, though Hoyer gave no details. Gausman, as you know, suffered a minor injury to his non-pitching shoulder in his last regular-season start. It’s not clear if that affected him in his Wild Card Series start.

Then the topic of free agency was broached. Here’s what Hoyer said:

“We have a lot of good players who are free agents and we are not going to be able to bring back all of them. We will talk to a lot of them, don’t know where that’s going to go. We will talk to them between now and December 1. But the team will look and feel different next year. If there are contracts that make sense regardless of the structure, we will make those deals regardless.”

That was followed up by a question about Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ and whether that door was closed. Hoyer’s response:

“Is that door closed? No, everything’s on the table. I’ll sit down with Happ in the next couple weeks. Homegrown player who has embraced what it is to be a Cub in a special way. I respect the way he plays baseball, the way he prepares to play. I have nothing but great thoughts about Ian.”

You’ll notice there were no comments made here about Suzuki. I’d really love to see him back. Hopefully the “everything’s on the table” remark applies to him as well.

Hoyer was reminded of the contract signed five years ago with Marcus Stroman and was asked whether something like that might happen this time. He noted that the period before the lockout will be “active,” and said, “If deals make sense they are going to get done. That might be a blueprint for how this goes again.”

About Craig Counsell, Hoyer said, “Craig had a great year, players love playing for him, we are incredibly well prepared. Craig sets a standard for that, handles the bullpen really well.”

I concur with that. Without Counsell’s handling of the bullpen the way he did, the Cubs might have lost several more games and missed the postseason completely.

He praisdAlex Bregman and said Bregman’s season is a “reminder of how long the season is, his eomeback is a testament to how strong a person he is” and added: “We felt his absence the last week. We had home field and gave it up.”

Hoyer’s conclusion, which I am sure you will agree with:

“There were a lot of exceptional things that happened this year, but we had a lot of injuries and a pitching staff that wasn’t as good as the hitting side, and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”

It will be a busy offseason for the Cubs President of Baseball Operations, and he might have only two months to complete his task before the likely owners’ lockout hits. As always, we await developments.

So… we meet again.

It isn’t my favorite set-up to have two years in a row the Guardians overcome a significant deficit to win the AL Central, only to meet their division rival in the playoffs a week later. But, here we are. Let’s hope the results are more to Cleveland’s favor this time around.

The White Sox won the season series 7-6, with 11 of those games decided by three or fewer runs and six by only one run. Two games went into extra innings. Expect this series to be hard-fought and likely go five games.

For the season, the White Sox were 5th in MLB at 104 wRC+, the Guardians were 20th in MLB at 97 wRC+, the White Sox were 20th in MLB at -4.1 baserunning runs above average, the Guardians were eighth in baserunning runs above average at 5.2, the White Sox were 14th in Defense at -14.3, the Guardians were eighth in Defense at -7.3, the White Sox were 26th in starting pitchee ERA at 4.60 ERA (4.41 FIP), the Guardians were 9th in starting pitcher ERA at 3.93 (3.89 FIP), the White Sox had the eighth best bullpen ERA at 3.70 (4.10 FIP), and the Guardians had the sixth best bullpen ERA at 3.54 ERA (3.70 FIP).

From these overall numbers, I think it’s clear that if the Guardians can keep White Sox hitters remotely in check, they should have an advantage. But, that is, of course, a big “if” and a big “should.” Anything can happen in a short playoff series, especially one against a division rival with whom you are very familiar.

The Guardians will start Parker Messick in game one and Gavin Williams in game two. This will line Messick up to start in game four and Williams in game five. I suspect tbe team will go with Cantillo and an opener in game three, but we will have to wait and see. The White Sox will start reliever Hagen Smith and likely go to Davis Martin as the bulk guy after 2-3 innings in game one, then start Sean Burke in game two, and Anthony Kay in game three (they are fond of openers so there may be one for each game). It will be key for the Guardians to get to the White Sox starters/bulk guys for some runs because the Chicago bullpen is formidable.

BigQuestions for the Series:

Rest or Reps?
The White Sox come into the series rolling after demolishing the Astros. Of course, doing so required them to put even more innings on their bullpen arms. Grant Taylor’s 86 innings are almost twice the number of innings he threw in 2024-2025 combined, Sean Newcomb threw 92 innings total last season and is now at 92 with the next out he gets and hadn’t thrown anywhere near that amount since 2018… there are reasons to think this wear and tear will eventually come to bear on a good Sox pen. Sean Burke’s 176 innings are by far a career high for him (as is also the case for Parker Messick, of course). Meanwhile, Cleveland has to be concerned about how they will have maintained their sharpness with 5-6 days off, as is always the case with MLB teams that secure the bye through the wildcard.

Who Fills Out the Circle of Trust?
This year has not been Hunter Gaddis’s best year and Tim Herrin has often struggled mightily to throw strikes. This leaves some significant questions in the back end of the Guardians’ bullpen. You have to feel good about Cade Smith and Erik Sabrowski, but you also need to be aware of overextending either pitcher/giving the White Sox too many looks at them in a short amount of time. Hunter Gaddis’s ability to rediscover the pitcher he has been from 2024-2025 and through the first half of September will be key for this team’s ability to survive the days ahead. Will Vogt be willing to give some high leverage reps to Daniel Espino, Foster Griffin, Slade Cecconi and even Tanner Bibee? Should he be willing? I think this is the biggest question mark for our Guards.

How Long Do You Ride Your Horses?
To go along with the previous question, already, much has been made of managers’ penchants for removing starters before they get to the “third-time-through-the-order-penalty.” TTTOP is a real thing and I think managers receive too much pushback for going to relievers when starters begin to lose their top-end stuff in a short playoff series… but because the Guardians’ bullpen is thin, I hope Vogt does everything in his power to allow Messick and Williams, if they are pitching well, to get through six innings. Even if they get tagged, fans should prepare to forgive Vogt because there is a decent possibility that Messick and Williams facing TTTOP is going to be preferable to Vogt’s fifth-sixth inning options out of the pen. Once we get to the seventh, however, Vogt should be willing to deploy Sabrowski and Smith with no hesitation (which one dependent on where they are in the White Sox batting order).

How Quickly Do You Seek the Platoon Advantage?
This question is already facing Vogt with the news that the White Sox are still, as expected, leaning on openers. Does Vogt respond by putting David Fry and potentially Rhys Hoskins in the lineup? Does he then lift both if Davis Martin comes in by the third inning and run the risk of exposing Nathaniel Lowe to some tough lefties late in the game with no bench help behind him? Vogt received a lot of criticism for early pinch-hitting against Detroit last playoffs, but, in my view, he had the opportunity to go for a knockout punch and decided to take the risk to get a lead. I think that’s always a justifiable decision… but import needs to rest on making sure your best hitters stay in the lineup as long as possible.

Which Team’s Young Players Are Ready for the Playoff Spotlight?
In what should set us up for some fun years ahead as AL Central fans (once MLB sorts their labor problems out), the Guardians are the tenth youngest team in MLB and the White Sox are the 15th youngest, with both teams being carried by the performances of rookies/2nd year players. That first taste of postseason baseball can be a shock to the system. How much does it help folks like Brayan Rocchio, Chase DeLauter and Angel Martinez to have some of that experience under their belts? How much does it help the players on the White Sox to have the Wildcard games behind them and the jitters that may have accompanied those contests?

Key Matchups:

Sean Burke vs. the Guardians’ hitters: Burke has a 1.04 ERA in 17 innings against Cleveland this season. Should that continue, then you’d expect the White Sox to steal game two in Cleveland, given that the off-days will allow Burke to start that day. The Guardians will have to find a way to steal a run or two off of Burke to give Gavin Williams a chance at finding them a win.
Cade Smith vs. the White Sox hitters: Smith has a 4.32 ERA/5.04 FIP against Chicago this season. It’s probably small sample size but I’m here to tell you that if anything like that continues to be a trend, the Guardians will be headed home in short order.
Jose Ramirez bounceback vs. Munetaka Murakami bounceback: Both Ramirez and Murakami had lengthy absences with injuries this season, through which their respective teams persevered. Both returned diminished versions of themselves… Jose put up a 111 wRC+ prior to his injury (with much better expected stats) and Murakami put up a 158 wRC+ prior to his injury. Upon their returns, Ramirez had a 66 wRC+ and Murakami had a 107 wRC+. If either one of them find themselves with some of that early season magic returning after some break/off-days, that could be a huge factor in their respective team advancing.
Ramirez, Chase DeLauter, Jo Adell, Angel Martinez, David Fry and Austin Hedges vs. the White Sox Lefties: Adell has a 206 wRC+ vs. LHP with the Guardians, DeLauter 138, Martinez 129, Jose 128, Fry 120 since August 1st, and Hedges 114 overall. The White Sox are going to throw a lot of good lefties at the Guardians to attack their left-handed-hitting heavy roster. If these six show something like what they’ve done in 2026 against southpaws, I like Cleveland’s chances to head to the ALCS.
Randal Grichuk vs. Guardians’ LHP: Grichuk put up a 204 wRC+ vs. Guardians’ left-handed pitchers this season. To which my response is… “That low?” The Guardians seemingly chose to keep Stuart Fairchild over going out and getting Grichuk when he was available in-season. Will that decision come back to haunt them in the playoffs as it did during the regular season? If so, the White Sox will get their revenge.

The Guardians will win this series if…

Messick and Williams are the best versions of themselves, Gaddis and Herrin are not disasters, and Chase DeLauter, Steven Kwan and Angel Martinez remain three of the best hitters in MLB as they have been for the second half of the 2026 season. For once, I don’t think the Guardians HAVE to have the best version of Jose to advance… which is nice… but good Jose would also go a long way to help.

The White Sox will win this series if...

Burke and their relief pitching hold up to their tremendous usage rates and they continue to find magical moments from folks like Randal Grichuk, Tristan Peters (18-pitch-AB against Gavin Williams, yo), and Chase Meidroth.

The Schedule for the ALDS between the Guardians and White Sox (TBS/TruTV and HBOMax):

Saturday, October 3rd – 1PM ET

Monday, October 5th – 5PM ET

Wednesday, October 7th – 4PM ET

Thursday, October 8th – 5PM ET (if the only game that day it will be moved to 8pm) *if necessary

Saturday, October 10th – 5PM ET (if the only game that day it will be moved to 8pm) *if necessary

Glossary: Remember that wRC+ is a comprehensive measure of run production in which 100 is league average. Defense is FanGraphs’ calculation of wins above replacement level at defensive predictions.
FIP is ERA if you remove the effects of the defense behind a pitcher.

What are we thinking, Guardians fans? How do you see this series shaking out and what are your keys for a Cleveland victory?

There was a whole lot of roster shuffling on the pitching side in the final couple of weeks and a lot of injuries that occurred with not many games left to play. That said, most of the Mets’ young pitchers ended their seasons on a high note and the return of Devin Williams plus the continued success of some of the pitchers who were given an opportunity in the bullpen in the second half provide reasons for optimism in 2027.

Player	Last week	This week
Xzavion Curry, RHP	—
Daniel Duarte, RHP
Justin Hagenman, RHP
Nate Lavender, LHP
Sean Manaea, LHP
Nolan McLean, RHP
Tobias Myers, RHP
Dedniel Núñez, RHP
Cionel Pérez, LHP
Jonathan Pintaro, RHP
Christian Scott, RHP
Kodai Senga, RHP
Robert Stock, RHP
Zac Thonton, LHP
Jonah Tong, RHP
Austin Warren, RHP
Jack Weisenburger, RHP
Devin Williams, RHP
Jefry Yan, LHP

The first major pitching injury to emerge was when Robert Stock was placed on the injured list on September 16 with numbness in his fingers—not an encouraging sign as he made his way back from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. Xzavion Curry was forced into last minute service and started in Stock’s place against the Orioles. Unfortunately it did not go well for him. He was knocked around for six runs on six hits—four of them home runs. It was, put simply, a clunker. Curry was immediately sent back down to Triple-A after the game and eventually designated for assignment and outrighted to the FCL Mets.

Both Jefry Yan and Jack Weisenburger lifted heavy loads in that game, pitching three innings apiece in relief in the lopsided loss. Both of them did their jobs; Yan pitched three hitless innings with three strikeouts and Weisenburger gave up a run and struck out five. Weisenburger appeared in two other games—once in the Phillies series and once in the Rangers series—and was not scored upon in either appearance. Yan was much more heavily used to mixed results. He earned the win on Beltran Day with 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Christian Scott, who made his final start of the season in that game before hitting the injured list himself with knee inflammation. Scott fell just short of being the pitcher of record, giving up three runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts. Yan allowed an RBI single to Alec Bohn in the fifth and that run was charged to Scott, but Yan stopped the bleeding there and the Mets took the lead in the bottom of the frame. Yan came right back out the next day and pitched a scoreless inning—following Weisenburger’s 1 1/3 scoreless frames—in the Mets’ 7-2 loss to the Phillies in the series finale. Yan’s final two appearances were unfortunately not as successful. He gave up a solo homer in the sixth to Corey Seager in the series finale against the Rangers and allowed two more baserunners after that, necessitating being bailed out of the jam before completing an inning. He then served as the opener in the very messy bullpen game in Washington DC and was charged with two runs on three hits in 1 2/3 innings of work.

At the same time that Stock was placed on the IL, Daniel Duarte was as well due to a hamstring strain, which unfortunately brought his 2026 season—which was a pleasant surprise—to an end. Yan was promoted in Duarte’s stead. It seemed like Yan’s season was over when he was optioned back down to the minors after being the first in line of the bullpen disaster in the series opener in DC, but he ended the season on the big league roster because Jonathan Pintaro was placed on the injured list on the season’s final day with an illness and Yan replaced him. Pintaro’s designation being changed to the red cross at the 11th hour makes the meter look a little better because he struggled in the season’s final stretch, especially in the final series against the Nationals. But perhaps the illness played a role in that poor performance. Pintaro appeared twice in the Orioles series on back-to-back days and though he had a scoreless outing in his first appearance, he took the loss in the infamous second game of that series for giving up the inside the park home run in the eleventh.

Preceding that, Kodai Senga—in what was likely his low point in serving as a relief pitcher this year—gave up a game-tying home run to Pete Alon so in the 9th inning that also happened to be his milestone 300th career home run. Senga’s performance overall in the last two weeks of the season was uneven. The day before in the series opener, Senga pitched a scoreless ninth inning after the Mets fell behind by a run to keep them within striking distance, giving up two hits, but striking out three batters. Following the infamous Pete Alonso moment, Senga had another disastrous outing against the Phillies in which he was charged with three runs in just 1/3 of an inning, which allowed that game to get away. He did end his season on a high note, earning the save in the series opener against Texas with a 1-2-3 ninth inning complete with two strikeouts.

Dedniel Núñez immediately preceded Senga on two occasions. He took the loss in the narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Orioles when he gave up a go-ahead solo homer to Gunnar Henderson in the eighth. But he didn’t give up any more hits in the four appearances that followed that one. In the 6-3 victory over the Phillies in the second game of that four-game set, Núñez earned his first save of the season with 1 1/3 scoreless innings to finish out the game. He followed that with a hold (his fourth of the season) the next day with a scoreless eighth in another Mets victory. In the aforementioned game against the Rangers that Senga saved, Núñez served as the setup man for him with a 1-2-3 eighth inning with two strikeouts, earning another hold. Núñez pitched a scoreless sixth inning in the second game of the final series in Washington DC and ended up earning the win after the Mets took the lead in the seventh and retained it.

That performance by Núñez came in relief of Jonah Tong who had one of the best starts of his young care in that penultimate game against the Nationals. Tong yielded just one run on three hits in five innings of work, striking out a career-high nine batters and walking only one. It is only a shame that the Mets waited until the later innings to start scoring so that he could not earn the victory to finish his season. Of Tong’s final three starts overall, two of them were good and one of them was not so good. Tong delivered a quality start in the series opener against the Orioles, which Núñez ultimately spoiled, but made up for it in his next appearance in relief of Tong in DC. Tong struck out six Orioles hitters over six innings of work and gave up only one run, which was unearned. Unfortunately, Tong took the loss in the series finale against the Phillies, in which he gave up four runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings, striking out five batters and walking four. The Mets were still within striking distance of that game, but things got out of hand in the eighth with Senga’s rough outing.

Austin Warren came in the game after Senga’s implosion and cleaned up the mess thanks to a double play grounder off the bat of Bryce Harper that ended the inning. Warren went on to pitch a scoreless ninth as well in what was at that point a lopsided game. Warren made five appearances in total in the final two weeks of the season and was only scored upon in one of them. Warren pitched a scoreless ninth inning in the series opener against Philadelphia in which the Mets were shut out by Aaron Nola. In the extra-inning loss to the Orioles, Warren delivered the final two outs of the sixth inning and the first out of the seventh inning while the Mets were still ahead in that game. Warren also pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in a close game in the finale against the Rangers. Warren’s season ended with allowing an insurance run to the Nationals on the final day of the season thanks to a walk and back-to-back singles.

Sean Manaea started that final game of the season and it was the worst start of his three outings in the final two weeks. He gave up five runs on seven hits, including two solo homers in six innings of work, striking out three batters and walking one. He took the loss to finalize his record at 6-8 on the season. His other two starts were better, however. He earned the win in the series opener in Texas, posting a quality start by giving up three runs—only two of them earned—on three hits in six innings of work. He struck out nine Rangers hitters and walked only two. Manaea was also the starter in the extra-inning loss to the Orioles and pitched well, but that game was ultimately blown by the bullpen. Manaea gave up two runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings of work, striking out six batters and walking none. The two runs came on two solo homers—Manaea’s bugaboo in 2026.

Nate Lavender appeared in relief of Manaea both against the Orioles and in Texas. He followed Warren by pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings to earn his tenth hold of the season and was proceeded by Senga, who coughed up the lead. Lavender earned another hold in Texas for a scoreless seventh inning in relief of Manaea with two strikeouts. Sandwiched between those two outings was the only run Lavender gave up in his final five appearances of the season, but ultimately it did not cost the Mets as they had built sufficient cushion at that point. Lavender gave up a solo homer to Derek Hill in the seventh that brought the Phillies within three, but otherwise recorded five outs without incident. Lavender also appeared twice in the Nationals series on back-to-back days. In the messy series opener, Lavender was in fact the only Mets pitcher to not be scored upon; he pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning with a strikeout. The next day, Lavender earned his twelfth and final hold of the season with a scoreless seventh inning.

Lavender was followed in the season’s penultimate game by Devin Williams, who was activated from the injured list on September 22 when Scott was placed on the IL. Williams pitched a scoreless eighth inning to protect the lead for Jonah Tong. Williams also pitched the eighth inning in the second game of the Rangers series, earning a hold for a 1-2-3 frame complete with a strikeout. Though it was only two appearances in meaningless games for the Mets, it was at least a nice demonstration that Williams is healthy heading into next season.

That appearance by Williams in Texas came in relief of Nolan McLean, who along with teammate Carson Benge was making his own case for Rookie of the Year votes. McLean earned the win in that game in Texas—his twelfth of the season. He gave up just two runs on three hits over seven innings of work, striking out five and walking one. McLean unfortunately took the loss in his other start against the Phillies, but that was through no fault of his own; the Mets were shut out that day, so him giving up one run was enough for him to be handed the unlucky L in deGromian fashion. In that outing, he did give up seven hits, but limited the damage to just the one run in six innings of work. He struck out five batters and walked three in that outing.

Tobias Myers pitched two innings in relief of McLean against the Phillies and allowed two insurance runs. Only one of those two runs was earned, but ultimately both were meaningless as the Mets failed to score at all. Myers’ return to the big leagues in the final stretch of the season has been a pleasant surprise. That outing against the Phillies was Myers’ only bump in the road in the final two weeks. He turned around and pitched a scoreless ninth inning to close out the victory against those same Phillies two days later and then finished his season with a scoreless ninth to tie a bow on the Saturday win over the Nationals.

In addition to Williams, Cionel Pérez was activated from the injured list after dealing with a forearm strain. He replaced Cameron Weston on the roster, who does not appear on the meter because he did not get into a game. Pérez earned a hold for recording two outs in the victory over the Phillies on Beltran Day in his first outing back. He then pitched a scoreless ninth inning following McLean and Williams to polish off the Mets’ 7-2 victory over the Rangers in Arlington. He then appeared in the opening game of the Nationals series and again in the final game of the season. Like pretty much everybody else, he allowed a run in the bullpen game against the Nationals, but bounced back with a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts on Sunday to finish off the season.

Justin Hagenman was the bulk guy in that ill-fated bullpen game to open the series in DC and though his line wasn’t perfect, he pitched well. He gave up just one run on five hits in four innings of work with two strikeouts. The one run came in the form of a solo homer off of the bat of Dylan Crews. Hagenman is another guy who earned a moral victory in September by proving he is now healthy and can be an option for the Mets as they evaluate their pitching staff in 2027.

Speaking of guys who have solidified themselves as an option for the 2027 Mets, Zac Thornton finished his rookie season with a strong 3.42 ERA in 84 1/3 total innings of work across 15 starts. He pitched well in his final two starts of the year, putting up a quality start against the Phillies in a Mets victory to even his record to 5-5 on the year. In that outing, he yielded two runs on five hits in six innings of work, striking out four batters and walking one. He took a tough luck loss to fall one game under .500 for the season in his final start of the year, but that was more due to lack of run support than anything else. Thornton gave up two runs on four hits in five innings of work against the Rangers, striking out four batters and walking one. A go-ahead, two-run homer to Josh Jung in the bottom of the first inning was Thornton’s one mistake and unfortunately he paid for it as the Mets were blanked from the first inning onward.

That’s a wrap on the pitchers for 2026—another record-breaking year for number of pitchers used in a season, making the meters quite a whirlwind. As always, I appreciate the community taking the time to read and engage with these fun meter posts every season!

In our Wild Card prediction thread, two people got three of the four series correct: Ritzkiss and Rancy. In the ‘how many games will the series go, Rancy was off by just two games, so he’s the winner. I’d like to say there is a prize, but you have my congratulations Rancy. That and $2.95 will get you a coffee at Starbucks. Not a fancy coffee, but a coffee.

If you are wondering about the picture above, I’m just absolutely amazed that anyone would celebrate anything with Budweiser beer.

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Tomorrow the Division Series start, they are a best of five. There are four games tomorrow:

• White Sox @ Guardians: 1:00 Eastern start time. White Sox list TBD. Guardians have Parker Messick (12-9, 2.56 ERA).
• Braves @ Dodgers: 4:00 Eastern. Both teams list TBD.
• Yankees @ Rays: 6:30 Eastern. Gerrit Cole (10-9m 3.61) vs.Drew Rasmussen (16-5, 2.68).
• Padres @ Brewers: 8:30 Eastern. TBD vs. Jacob Misiorowski (16-5, 1.80).

Sunday we have the NLDS games at 4:00 Eastern (Padres @ Brewers) and 8:00 Eastern (Braves @ Dodgers).

Monday it is the ALDS games. 5:00 Eastern (White Sox @ Brewers) and 8:00 Eastern (Yankees @ Rays).

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So make your predictions. Let’s just do winner and number of games.

I’ll take the White Sox in 5 games, because it is hard to beat a team backed by the Pope.

Dodgers in four. I’ll be cheering for the Braves, but shutting off the sound when that chant starts.

Yankees in five. I’ll cheer for the Rays.

Brewers in five.

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers set their trade deadline sights on one big target and landed him in Tarik Skubal. The two-time Cy Young Award winner will get the call to start Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday at Dodger Stadium against the Atlanta Braves.

Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic was first to report Skubal getting the call in Game 1.

Skubal started two Games 1 with the Detroit Tigers, and in six postseason starts over 2024-25 has a 2.04 ERA with 56 strikeouts against five unintentional walks in 39 2/3 innings, and has lasted at least six innings in all six starts.

When the Dodgers acquired Skubal from the Tigers on August 2, president of baseball operations noted the team’s singular focus at this year’s trade deadline.

“We were of the mind to be aggressive for one player, and fortunately we were able to line up,” Friedman said at the time. “As we’ve talked about a lot, whenever there’s a star-level player available who can really shift championship odds, those are the moments we’ll be more aggressive.”

Yoshinobu Yamamoto started Game 1 of the 2024 NLDS, and is coming off one of the best postseasons in MLB history, 5-1 with a 1.45 ERA in 37 1/3 innings. That included consecutive complete games in the NLCS and World Series, and he won all three of his appearances in the Fall Classic, including getting the final eight outs of Game 7 one day after starting and pitching six innings to win Game 6.

Blake Snell has five career starts in Game 1, including twice for the Dodgers last year in the wild card round and NLCS. Tyler Glasnow, with four career Game 1 starts, rounds out the rotation.

“To be honest, we can kind of really put all four guys in a hat, and run them out there,” manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday.

“Our pitching staff is pretty special, in my opinion,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “We got four number ones rolling out there, with Yama, Snell, Skubs, and Glasnow.”

Skubal has been just about everything the Dodgers could have wanted when they traded for the two-time Cy Young Award winner on August 2. In 10 starts with Los Angeles, the left-hander had a 2.61 ERA and 2.84 xERA with 70 strikeouts and 13 walks in 62 innings.

By the time you’re reading this, the Atlanta Braves will either be on the plane to Los Angeles to face off against the Dodgers in the NLDS or already touched down in the City of Angels to meet their opponents in the Divisional Series. Either way, it’s certainly been a whirlwind 24-hour period for the Braves where they essentially had to lock back in after a night of rapturous celebrations following their big victory in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Despite the quick turnaround, the Braves are still feeling upbeat and positive and are looking forward to what awaits them in LA. In a press conference call earlier today, asked manager Walt Weiss about what he’s looking forward to when it comes to challenging the two-time defending World Series champions and he continued to reiterate just how good this team has been in 2026 when the odds are stacked up against them.

“You can call it David and Goliath and all that stuff, but you’ve got to go through the Dodgers if you want to get to the top of the mountain. You’ve got to go through them at some point. So it’s going to be a great challenge for us,” said Weiss. “Like I said all along, our guys have responded really well to some really tough challenges this year. This will just be another one. I’m expecting our guys are going to step up again.”

The catching duo of Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy also took questions in the conference call and they both appeared to be focused on the task at hand. “Having some success against them early is always nice. We’ve seen some of their pitchers, seen some of their arms, and gone up against a good team. So I think it’s just kind of going out there and playing our game and knowing that, if we play our game, that we can compete with them and beat them,” responded Baldwin when he was asked about what the focus needed to be on ahead of this series.

Murphy was also pretty confident as well — he stated that his confidence level is a “10” when he was asked about it and when he was asked about what he respected most about the Dodgers, he kept his response respectful while still expressing confidence in himself and his surrounding squad.

“I think they pitch pretty well. Obviously they have some phenomenal hitters in their lineup, but I would say we have the same strengths,” stated Murphy. “At the end of the day, it’s baseball. We’ve got to win 3 games out of 5, and I’ll take us over everybody.”

Meanwhile, we did get some updates about various Braves players who are currently missing due to injury and when we can expect them to come back. I asked Weiss about Bryce Elder’s status after throwing the Live BP and while Elder won’t be eligible for the NLDS roster, Weiss appears bullish on Elder’s chances of being available for the NLCS if the Braves can get past the Dodgers. “We’re hoping, if we advance, that Bryce is in that conversation,” explained Weiss. “He looks really good. It’s pretty amazing how far along he is after his surgery. We’re hoping to get through this round, and then that’ll be a topic of discussion.”

The same goes for Martín Pérez, who Weiss also stated that they’re hoping that they can get him back for the NLDS. Meanwhile, Lane Thomas was seen taking BP before both Game 2 and Game 3 of the Wild Card Series and the good news there is that Thomas could potentially be in line to return for the Dodgers series as a valuable right-handed hitting option.

“There’s a chance for Lane. He’s responded very well to treatment. We’ve upped his workload, and he’s passed all the tests,” said Weiss when he was asked about Lane’s chances of getting onto the NLDS roster. “He’s certainly in the conversation for this next round, which would be great because he’s a threat against left-handed pitching, and the Dodgers are loaded with left-handed pitching in the rotation and in the bullpen.”

There was also some good news concerning Tyler Mahle after he had what turned out to be a pretty big injury scare before Game 2 of the Wild Card Series. Apparently his abdominal is feeling good and he should be fine for the NLDS.

“Tyler’s doing well. The fact that he felt that thing in the first inning and ended up throwing seven innings that day and seven really, really good innings makes me feel good about the abdominal thing that he felt,” stated Weiss. “Getting treatment for it and all that stuff, but we feel pretty good about Tyler.”

The Braves still have some work to do in order to formulate a pitching plan that could once again neutralize the Dodgers lineup but as you can imagine, the team as a whole is feeling prety confident about their chances to not just do that but to perform at an all-around high level. The next step of the Postseason is here and while the Braves have a massive challenge ahead of them, Sean Murphy is right when he says that this team can hang with anybody.