Category: MLB

Good morning! As I wrote last night, yesterday’s win against the Royals was subtly important for the Sox. I was looking at things in the context of the team’s recent sluggish play heading into a tough roadtrip. But it was important in another sense: it was their 82nd win, meaning the Red Sox will finish the 2026 season over .500.

Prior to last year’s 89-win campaign, the Sox had failed to reach that mark for three seasons in row, a level of historical ineptitude they had not previously hit in 31 years. Had the Sox not turned around their season in historic fashion after an ugly start to this campaign, this season would have marked 5 sub-.500 seasons in 7 years, which would’ve been as bad a stretch of baseball that the club has had since before the Impossible Dream season of 1967. In light of the fact that 1967 is sort of looked at as the beginning of the modern period of Red Sox baseball around these parts, that would’ve been unacceptable.

This isn’t exactly cause for popping Champagne (though I’m hardly one to discourage you from livening up your Monday any way you can) but it’s nice to have mathematical confirmation that the dark days are behind us.

Use this space to talk about whatever you want and, as always, be good to one another.

When the San Diego Padres jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the San Francisco Giants and their ace pitcher Logan Webb in the first two innings, it appeared they were on their way to an easy win on getaway day at Oracle Park. Like the first two games of the series, that proved not to be the case as the Padres held on for a dramatic 6-4 win to complete the three-game sweep of the Giants.

Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon AND Bradgley Rodriguez were all out for the final game of the series due to recent heavy workloads. That meant that if the Padres found themselves in a tight game, they would need to finish the game with the like of the lower leverage and long-relief arms in the bullpen. Despite a fast start which saw San Diego jump out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning of the game, the Padres needed those remaining arms in the ‘pen to secure a two-run win.

Nick Pivetta started for San Diego and allowed two runs over four innings with five hits and five strikeouts. He was up to 69 pitches after four innings and due to the fact that this was just his second start since returning from injury he did not return to the mound in the fifth inning. That task was given to Kyle Hart who allowed two runs in one inning of work. Hart allowed a single and a stolen base to Christian Koss to open the bottom of the fifth and then issued a walk to Drew Gilbert. A double steal allowed Koss and Gilbert to move into second and third. Hart then got Jung Hoo Lee to pop out and Bryce Eldridge grounded out, which allowed a run to score. The Padres were able to get out of the inning with a 6-3 lead.

Hart started the sixth inning but after allowing a single to Scott Bandura who was making his MLB debut and advanced to second on an error by Xander Boagaerts, Hart was replaced by David Morgan. The right-hander got a groundout before issuing a walk to Drew Cavanaugh to put two runners on, Morgan then got Turner Hill to strikeout, but allowed an RBI-single to Koss to make the score 6-4. Morgan got the second out of the inning but was then replaced by Wandy Peralta.

Peralta got the final out of the sixth and worked a scoreless seventh before Randy Vasquez was called on for the eighth inning. Vasquez allowed two walks in the inning but kept the Giants off the board. Yuki Matsui got the call in the bottom of the ninth inning and kept it interesting, but was ultimately able to get three outs and earn his first save of the 2026 season.

The San Diego lineup jumped all over Webb from the start of the game, although he would settle in as he is known to do. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off the game with a single and was followed by Dustin Harris who singled to put runners at the corners just seven pitches into the game. Harris then stole second before Manny Machado walked and the Padres had the bases loaded with no outs in the top of the first inning. Luis Campusano popped out to shortstop for the first out of the inning, but Jackson Merrill took advantage of the opportunity when he lined a double to left field to give the Padres a 2-0 lead. A pop out and a strikeout ended the inning, but it was a sign of things to come.

Samad Taylor singled to start the second for San Diego and stole second base. Ethan Salas, who would notch his first MLB hit (a triple) later in the game, struck out. Tatis recorded his second of three hits in the game and that allowed Taylor to score to give the Padres a 3-0 lead. Harris grounded out for the second out of the inning, but Machado crushed a two-out, two-run home run to put San Diego up 5-0 after two innings.The Padres tacked on a run in the top of the fourth, which made the score 6-2 at the time.

Tatis was the offensive leader for San Diego, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBI and a strikeout. Machado had the two run-home run and Merrill had the two-run double.

The Padres return to action tonight when they open a road series against the Colorado Rockies at 5:40 p.m.

Padres News:

• Xander Bogaerts has steadily declined on offense since signing with the Padres and Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball says he needs to be better.

• Ramon Laureano is still in the process of recovery from a surgery earlier in the season, is not ruling out an October return should the Padres reach the postseason.

Baseball News:

• Vladamir Guerrero Jr. hit his first home run at his home field in the 2026 season to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a win over the Baltimore Orioles.

• Josue De Paula hit his first home run since being called up for the Los Angeles Dodgers but it was not enough to help them top the Miami Marlins.

• The Arizona Diamondbacks came up one run short in their loss to the Texas Rangers.

If the Orioles were trying on purpose to dismantle all of the hard work they did in July and August of clawing their way out of a disappointing start to the season, the result would not look a whole lot different than what they’ve actually done in the month of September. The just-concluded weekend series against the Blue Jays pretty much settles things: It’s over, unless they run the table and win every game from now on.

In this week’s episode, before getting into the frustration and sadness about the state of the team, I offer a salute and congratulations to the High-A Frederick Keys, whose season came to an end with a playoff loss last week. A number of interesting prospects were part of Frederick’s season, both guys who started there and played their way up a level, and guys who started below and played their way up to Frederick. This really is an exciting thing for down the road for the Orioles. It’s just that the payoff probably won’t start in 2027, or at least certainly not on the Opening Day roster.

Then, the frustration. A listener started an email with so much rage that he didn’t even realize he sent the thing before finishing, then he followed up with the full message. This month’s play, particularly the presence of Red Sox uniform Rutschman at Camden Yards in a series where the Orioles were mopped, was just too much. I don’t think this person is the only one who’s turned to football season in frustration.

Last, I recount the grim toll of September so far for the Orioles, where as is typically the case there are many problems, but it’s hard not to be the most disappointment at an offense that is completely fizzling, with key players who were supposed to be better than this in massive slumps that are even worse than their already-disappointing season totals.

Listen to this week’s episode here:

If the above player isn’t displaying, view this article in Incognito Mode or check it out on the show’s page.

This is my weekly podcast about whatever is going on lately with the Orioles. If you enjoyed this episode, please make sure to subscribe. You can get the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you prefer to access your podcasts.

How are you feeling about the way things are going with the Orioles right now? Answers could make it into the mailbag section of a future episode of the podcast.

Good morning.

Evan Grant writes that the Texas Rangers are bruised and battered but they return home still vying for the playoffs somehow.

Kennedi Landry writes that Corey Seager led the way for the Rangers as they took a series on the road for the first time in two and a half months.

Grant writes that bigger names have made their way back but Robert Garcia has been an under-the-radar returnee who has helped to stabilize the bullpen.

MLB dot com’s Jared Greenspan checks out the playoff picture with two weeks left in the season where the Rangers, despite everything, remain in the race.

Grant notes that the Rangers don’t know yet when Joc Pederson will be available again after getting hit by a pitch to the hand on Saturday.

And, in the regular season finale for Frisco, Rangers top prospect Sebastian Walcott returned to the field to play shortstop for the first time this year.

Have a nice day!

Pete Alonso returns to Citi Field on Monday night as a member of the Orioles, when he'll suit up in Queens as an ex-Met for the first time.

When Alonso has his first place appearance in front of tens of thousands of Mets fans, many of whom spent parts of June chanting his name when he was hundreds of miles away, he'll almost certainly receive a thunderous ovation that makes clear how beloved he was during his time in Flushing. 

In the months since frustrated fans chanted Alonso's name, in what felt like a combination of longing for what was no longer there and disgust over the Mets' play at the time, things have changed -- though not enough to rescue New York's season.

The Mets are 29-23 since the All-Star Break, and have actually played .500 ball (59-59) since May 1, which was shortly after an agonizing 12-game losing streak that derailed their year.

Most of the losses during that streak came because New York's offense didn't have enough punch, as it mustered two runs or fewer in nine of those defeats.

And when you dissect why the Mets' season went haywire, one thing that comes to mind is that there was perhaps too much risk and too much change -- something owner Steve Cohen discussed last month.

Of all that change, which impacted both the roster and the coaching staff, some moves stand out as clear missteps, while others were sound.

For one, it would be absurd to blame president of baseball operations David Stearns for the failures of Freddy Peralta, whose FIP since being traded to the Rays (4.25) is right around where it was during his brief time in New York (4.46). 

Stearns choosing to move on from fan favorite Brandon Nimmo has been panned by many because of the struggles of Marcus Semien. But getting out of the final two years of Nimmo's contract was shrewd, and moving on before the season has allowed the Mets to have both Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing in the outfield with Juan Soto.

While Nimmo is still a slightly above average offensive player (his OPS+ entering play on Monday was 115), he has continued to regress defensively.

The Mets letting Edwin Diaz go, which seemed highly questionable at the time, looks different now. Diaz has missed most of the season due to multiple injuries, and has been ineffective while displaying diminished velocity in the 13.2 innings he has pitched -- with an unsightly 11.85 ERA and 2.56 WHIP.

The move that was the most puzzling at the time and remains perplexing now wasn't simply letting Alonso go. It was that the Mets did not properly replace him.

Even if you disagreed with the decision (as I did) to not retain Alonso (while not really making any effort to do so), you could kind of see the front office's logic.

Alonso was entering his age-31 season, did not play a position that was terribly valuable, and would likely regress offensively (perhaps in a major way) before the five-year, $155 million contract he signed with Baltimore ended.

But it can be argued that the Mets were too calculating. That they didn't properly appreciate Alonso's value beyond his bat -- his connection to the fans, his ability to play nearly every game nearly every season, and his understanding of what it took to play and deal with the scrutiny in New York.

While aiming to reshape the offense after Alonso's departure, the Mets brought in Jorge Polanco (22 OPS+ in 37 games before undergoing season-ending ankle surgery), Luis Robert Jr. (96 OPS+ in an injury-riddled tenure before being waived), and Bo Bichette (who has been tremendous over the last four months after acclimating).

As far as Alonso, he's been himself.

Entering play on Monday, Alonso was slashing .269/.363/.499. with 35 home runs, 24 doubles, an AL-leading 100 RBI, and 89 runs scored.

Alonso's OPS (.863) and OPS+ (143) this season are both better than they were during his seven-year tenure with the Mets (.857 and 135, respectively).

And unsurprisingly, Alonso had played in all 150 games.

This offseason, the Mets will again attempt to fill the void left by Alonso's departure.

Jared Young has done a solid job as the somewhat unexpected primary first baseman this season, but he has hit just nine home runs and does hit well against left-handed pitching -- making him an unlikely fit as an everyday player on a contending team.

The free agent market doesn't have too many intriguing names, though star Japanese slugger Teruaki Sato could be one to keep an eye on.

That will all come later, though.

For now, the focus is on Alonso's return to Queens, which coincidentally comes with both he and Francisco Lindor on the cusp of reaching 300 career home runs, as both of them enter play on Monday sitting on 299.

What a fun ride it would've been if they were chasing 300 together on the Mets. But it was not in the cards. And as Alonso receives cheers this week, the Mets will start preparing to replace him -- again.

Hat tip to AG88 for pointing this out.

Right now, there’s a four-way race for top batting line on the Braves:

• Matt Olson leads in wRC+ with 124. He has a .354 wOBA and a .355 xwOBA. However, he’s really struggled in September, yesterday’s homer aside, and you have to go back to the start of August for him to have a then-on xwOBA of .350.
• Next is Drake Baldwin, with a 121 wRC+ and an xwOBA underperformance (.351 wOBA, .362 xwOBA). Baldwin has also struggled a bit in September, and has honestly been pretty meh (league average-ish in both wOBA and xwOBA) since he was on fire in July (after struggling mightily in his return from the Injured List).
• Ronald Acuña Jr. has the same xwOBA as Baldwin, but is underperforming it just a tiny bit more, for a 120 wRC+. He’s been on fire so far in September (189 wRC+), though that’s come with a big xwOBA overperformance in about two weeks’ worth of games: .453 wOBA, .367 xwOBA. Still, that xwOBA is better than what his teammates on this list are managing.
• And then there’s Michael Harris II, who leads the position players in fWAR, with a 119 wRC+ and a .347 wOBA that’s slightly higher than his .340 xwOBA. Harris has been terrible in September (60 wRC+, .259 wOBA, .301 xwOBA), and has honestly been pretty bad inputs-wise from July-0nward. It’s just been hard to tell because he was underhitting his inputs a lot while hitting really well early in the season, and getting lucky while struggling at the plate since. While it’s probably not going to be Harris because he neither has inputs better than the other guys, nor is it his to lose outputs-wise, he could easily run a heater for two weeks anyway.

Acuña’s recent relative performance uptick suggests it could be him. But, it’s not his to lose right now. It really might come to the wire for this quartet. What do you think?

Happy Monday, everyone. The Tigers are riding the high of their weekend series sweep against the Rockies, and hoping to take those good vibes into the week ahead. We’ve got plenty of little news bites to keep you busy on a Monday, with some highlights including the Tigers’ hopes of seeing Justin Verlander make at least one last start before his retirement; a touching letter from Keider Montero who has just hit the paternity list; and a look at some of the players who have made the biggest differences (for better or worse) for their teams this season.

All that and more below, so let’s just jump right into it.

Detroit Tigers News

• Justin Verlander may be on the path to making at least one final start this season before he retires at the end of the year. Verlander threw off the mound on Saturday, throwing harder than he has all season. Manager A.J. Hinch is hopeful that Verlander will be ready to start over his celebratory retirement weekend at the end of September. Hinch said, “We’re aiming for that weekend, which we know will be an emotional and important weekend for him.” To help him further prepare, he will likely throw a bullpen session or simulated game over the coming weeks. While nothing is certain yet, the Tigers and Verlander seem ready to do whatever it takes to have him make one last start before he walks off the field one last time. To read more of the AP article, click here.)
• A really lovely message from Keider Montero.

And congrats to Keider, who has welcomed a new family member.

• Some Fiesta Tigres highlights.

• Former Detroit Tiger Jonathan Schoop has been sentenced to 30 months for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

MLB News:

• A look at Pete Crow-Armstrong and his push for NL MVP.
• The revival of Teoscar Hernandez couldn’t come at a better time for the Dodgers.
• A roundup of the baseball stories that stood out to Ben Clemens at FanGraphs this week.
• What does the decline of starting innings mean for baseball?
• The positives and negatives of being a dad while also being a professional baseball player. ($)
• Mike Shirley, scouting director for the Chicago White Sox, has resigned amid verbal harassment allegations. ($)
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally got his first home run at home for the season.
• The teams that have defied expectations this season, for better or worse.
• The DBacks have DFA’d Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
• The Red Sox have activated Willson Contreras from the IL.
• Why Walt Weiss deserves to be manager of the year. ($)
• A look at some of the most disappointing players of 2026.
• And, conversely, the 10 players who made the biggest positive difference for their teams.
• How the Yankees honored the memory of 9/11 during the Subway Series. ($)
• Revisiting the trade deadline five weeks later.
• Rafael Devers’ season is over due to a core muscle injury.
• Byron Buxton will undergo season-ending hip surgery. ($)
• Love things like this.

• This worked out well.

• Sometimes, there is definitely crying in baseball.

The Phillies offense is not playing particularly well right now. There are multiple hitters mired in if not exactly slumps, then at least not hitting well. Personnel changes aren’t really going to happen at this point in the season, so the only real solutions that they might have are lineup changes.

Mixing things up isn’t really an M.O. of this Phillies roster, but were you the manager, which lineup changes would you consider?

Moving Trea Turner down in the lineup, maybe moving Bryson Stott up? Moving Luis Arraez down, Alec Bohm up? There are a myriad of things they could do if they weren’t so ironclad in their ways.

With the Orioles all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, an autopsy on the season that was can begin sooner rather than later. At a bare minimum that analysis should include a deep dive into the plethora of homegrown hitters that failed to meet their expectations coming into the season. Samuel Basallo’s immense struggles in the second half of the season should be at the very top of list.

Basallo’s extension signing last summer felt like a significant point for this era of Orioles baseball. The club had finally managed to ink one of their homegrown prospects to a long-term deal, something the fanbase had been wanting for years. That player was a product of the organization’s renewed interest in Latin America, which had been almost nonexistent prior to 2018. And he was also a catcher, the same position that at the time was manned by Adley Rutschman, an all-star that had become the face of the team’s turnaround in the 2020s.

We all know what has happened since.

The Orioles have gone through yet another disappointing season and appear set to miss the playoffs for a second straight year. Rutschman, despite injuries, regained his all-star form in the first half, but was unable to lift the team along with him. He was dealt to the division rival Red Sox in early August. Meanwhile, Basallo found himself a nice rhythm in the early portion of the season, but has also missed time with injury, and is now in the midst of a deep slump as the Orioles spiral out of contention.

Let’s look into that difference in performance a bit more.

Basallo’s IL stint for right shoulder inflammation began on July 22. From the beginning of the season through that date, he was hitting .241/.305/.450 with a 110 wRC+, 16 home runs, a 26.4% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. Pretty good, especially for a rookie that is still just 22 years old.

He returned to the active roster on August 19. Since then, he is batting .150/.250/.217 with a 39 wRC+, one home run, a 26.5% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. So it’s not as if he has seen wildly different strikeout and walk rates. But when he puts the ball in play, his results have been far worse than the earlier portion of the year.

We can see exit velocity is down as well. Pre-IL he was hitting the ball 91.3 mph on average, fourth on the team behind Pete Alonso, Coby Mayo, and Blaze Alexander. Since then, he’s averaging 86.2 mph on contact, on par with Jackson Holliday, who has similarly struggled in the second half, though that is worth its own blog.

Basallo’s line drive rate has been cut in half. Through July he had an 18.3% line drive rate. Since the start of August it is down to 9.5%. That has coincided with where on the field he is hitting the ball. Early on he pulled 46% of pitches. Now he is pulling just 38.1%. The difference in the two numbers has almost entirely shifted to opposite field contact.

At the same time it’s not as if Basallo is being treated all that different than he was early in the season. Opposing pitchers have maintained pretty consistent rates at which they have thrown fastballs compared to breaking pitches and off-speed offerings. Of course, that can look different against different pitchers, but day-to-day the young catcher has been getting similar looks all summer.

What has undoutedly changed, however, is Basallo’s ability to get his bat going. As mentioned earlier, he is not hitting the ball as hard as he was, and he isn’t pulling it as often. That starts to make even more sense when you see the continual downward trend in his overall bat speed. That has gone from 75 mph back in April and seen monthly deteriorations to a season-low 73.1 mph so far in September.

This feels like the right time to point out that Basallo’s IL stint was the not the first visible injury he sustained this season. He was scratched from a game against the Yankees on May 11 with left knee discomfort. He had an awkward swing on May 30 against the Blue Jays that left him grabbing at his left shoulder/pec. A few days later he was said to be dealing with a “bony growth” in his left wrist. Then there was the IL stint, and finally at the end of August he briefly dealt with a hand injury.

The way in Basallo handles his injuries was a point of contention for the Orioles back in mid-June. At the time, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz made a comment about how the emerging slugger needed to work on “knowing how to play through some pain and not being 100% all the time.” The next day, Basallo himself pushed back, explaining that players “are not robots.” Awkward, and based on everything we have seen maybe the catcher was right to slow down a bit.

Basallo’s continually deteriorating play would seem to indicate that he has not been at 100% for at least half the season. His exit velocities have been down since June. His bat speed has not recovered since April. And his statistical outcomes have all gotten progressively worse.

His month by month OPS this season has gone like this: .754, .974, .584, .694, .481, .444. Those last two are August and September, the two months since he was deemed “healthy” enough to come off the IL after two rehab games.

Look, it’s not as if Basallo is going anywhere. He is signed through 2033 at least with a team option for ‘34. And there was plenty of good news in his first two or three months of this rookie season to suggest he will become a staple in the middle of the Orioles lineup for a long time. But clearly the team needs to figure out what has changed since then.

Maybe they should have taken his discomfort earlier in the season more seriously. Maybe he needs to catch less frequently. If the bat is as good as the Orioles hope it will be, they will do whatever it takes to keep him in the lineup as often as possible, even if that may not align with what Albernaz or the organization expects from their backstop.

Meet the Mets

The Mets dropped the final game of the 2026 Subway Series, but they ended up with a series split for the year and nobody is infected with legionnaires disease, yet.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, Newsday, New York Daily News, New York Post

The Baltimore Orioles are coming to Citi Field tonight and you know what that means, don’t you? Pete Alonso is coming with them for his return to Queens.

If you’re looking for bright spots in Sunday’s game, you won’t find a ton, but Brett Baty’s good afternoon and Christian Scott having a competent battle with the future Cy Young are two of them.

When the World Series ends, the most important clock starts for the Mets as Bo Bichette will officially be in decision time on his opt-out.

Prior to his final game at Yankee Stadium, the Yankee Stadium kitchen baked a cake and dozens of cupcakes for Howie Rose and the rest of the media.

Mitch Voit and Jonathan Santucci were crowned the Mets Minor League Hitter and Pitcher of the Year.

Around the National League East

In the rare position of making a late comeback of their own against someone’s weak bullpen, the Nationals scored four times in the eighth inning and handed the Angels a 6-5 loss.

The second late-game clobbering in the NL East on Sunday, the Phillies scored seven times against the Braves bullpen in the eighth inning of a 9-4 win and got back to within five games of Atlanta and first place.

You like late comebacks? Well, we got one more if you’re feeling really spicy. The Marlins rallied for four runs in their bottom of the ninth inning against Tanner Scott and Brock Stewart, giving Miami a 6-4 victory and assuring the first home run of Josue De Paula’s career will never be shown on Dodgers Classics.

Before their big comeback, the Marlins inducted Dontrelle Willis into their team Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony.

Around Major League Baseball

After Sunday’s Subway Series game ended, New York City health officials revealed that Yankee Stadium’s cooling tower tested positive for Legionella bacteria.

Josh Hader, Mason Miller, and Jacob Misiorowski all have some of the fastest fastballs in the sport, but their ultimate sneaky weapon is an infrequently used change-up.

With his start against the Mets in the books, Cam Schlittler tied Jacob Misiorowski for the lowest ERA in Major League Baseball at 1.95.

His Cy Young case is good, but as far as Cam Schlittler winning the MVP goes, Aaron Judge isn’t in his corner on that one.

Peyton Tolle pitched an immaculate first inning for the Red Sox and even took the time to smile into the camera before throwing his ninth consecutive strike.

The Detroit Tigers and Justin Verlander are hoping that the future Hall of Famer can end his career with one final start at Comerica Park before the season wraps up.

Rafael Devers’ 2026 will end on a three-game home run streak as a core muscle injury and the upcoming surgery to correct it have closed the book on his season.

It only took until the 75th home game of the Blue Jays’ season, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally hit his first home run at home on the year.

Missing the first two games of the weekend and watching his triple crown get further away, Yordan Alvarez returned to the Astros’ lineup on Sunday for a quick appearance.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 2020, the Wilpon family agreed to sell the Mets to Steve Cohen.

After wrapping up the Subway Series against the Mets, it’s now time for the Yankees to head back out on the road. Starting tonight, the Yankees will be in Minnesota to take on an old friend in the Twins. The Yankees’ dominance over the Twins over the years has been well documented, and the team could use that again as they try to track down the AL East title.

Meanwhile, at one point, the Twins were in the playoff hunt in the weak AL Wild Card race. Technically, they’re still somewhat within shouting distance of the final spot, but they’re running out of time. After a Trade Deadline where they made some moves, the Twins put up a 10-17 August and will now need to catch fire down the stretch. They’re 4-7 in September and have lost Byron Buxton for the season, so a playoff berth is now rather unlikely.

With the two teams set to take the field tonight, let’s take a look at the expected pitching matchups for the next couple days.

Monday: Will Warren vs. Dean Kremer (7:40 pm ET)

With the rotation crunch of the playoffs coming up, Warren has gotten some bullpen days in addition to starts, but he’s been pretty good in his recent starts. Dating back to August 19th — which does include 2.1 scoreless bullpen innings — Warren has a 2.22 ERA and 3.84 FIP, striking out nearly a batter per inning. He’s still the obvious choice to move to the bullpen once the rotation goes to four pitchers for the postseason, but he’s been pretty excellent as far as fifth starters go.

The former Oriole Kremer was traded to Minnesota at the deadline this year. He was very poor in Baltimore this season, and has only been slightly better since the trade. In seven starts as a Twin, Kremer has a 4.79 ERA and a 4.00 FIP, issuing 3.5 BB/9.

Tuesday: Max Fried vs. Bailey Ober (7:40 pm ET)

Although he should be nearing it in this start, Fried hasn’t been fully stretched out in terms of pitch count since returning from the IL. That proved an issue in his last outing, as he went only 3.1 innings against the Rockies while struggling with control. His IL stints and things like that have led to a very weird stat: Fried hasn’t been the winning pitcher of record since April 27th.

With a 98 ERA+ on the season, Ober has been, well, pretty much average. That’s been a step up from a down 2025, but a step below the early years of his career. Even though he has been around for a couple years now, the Yankees have only faced him once, scoring three runs in five innings in a game in 2024.

Wednesday: Carlos Rodón vs. Zebby Matthews (1:40 pm ET)

While like Fried he needed some time to get stretched back out, Rodón has been on a nice little run since coming off the IL. In the five games since then, he has a 2.25 ERA and a 3.81 FIP. The best of those games probably came over the weekend against the Mets, as he struck out eight, allowing just one earned run in 6.1 innings. He always has the tendency to nibble a little bit and drive up his pitch count, but he still has yet to allow more than three runs in a start all season, and you’ll always take that.

The delightfully named Zebby Matthews is in his third season in the big leagues, having once been rated as a top 100 prospect. However, his MLB career has not been great to this point. He has the ability to strike batters out, but a 5.45 ERA isn’t great. This has been the best year of his career to this point, but he still has a 4.98 ERA and a 4.98 FIP

Though the Braves did take care of business over the weekend, the Braves were unable to earn the sweep as the Phillies won Sunday’s game. But while this one game was disappointing, the Braves have to be pleased with the spot they are in to earn another NL East division title. They are now up five games (essentially 6 with the tie-breaker) with 12 games left. If Atlanta can get a split or better on this week’s tough road trip, they should be able to win the division with games to spare and prepare for the playoffs.

Braves News

Robert Suarez continues to make positive and notable progress in his return from injury. He is now in the midst of completing live bullpen sessions, and likely will complete another this week. That could allow for him to reasonably target a return to action before the regular season ends.

Luke Sinnard led the charge in another 15-K effort for a Braves minor league staff over the weekend.

MLB News

The long wait is over. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally hit a home run for the first time all season in Toronto.

Cam Schlitter continues to look like the AL’s best pitcher every time he takes the mound.

The Giants placed Rafael Devers on the 60-day IL.

A few stories to start your Monday morning, as the Dodgers shift their road trip from Miami to Cincinnati.

Josue De Paula played his first three major league games over the weekend, but before stepping into the box for the first time on Friday was already displaying controlled confidence. From Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:

“Nothing I feel I really have to change especially on the offensive side. Just do what I know how to do,” he said, acknowledging that he doesn’t think making a bid for a spot on the postseason roster is out of the question.

“Yeah. I mean, that’s always in the back of your head too. But I don’t want to get too ahead of myself now. I’m trying to focus on the now and having fun while I’m here.”

De Paula walked at least once in all three games, then lowered the boom on Sunday with a three-run home run for his first major league hit, then added a double.

“I’ll never forget it,” De Paula said of his home run on Sunday. “It was awesome.”

Even with De Paula graduated to the majors, the Dodgers still have a slew of exceptional outfield prospects in the minors, including Eduardo Quintero and Charles Davalan. Jesse Borek wrote about the High-A Great Lakes prospect trio of Quintero, Davalan, and shortstop Emil Morales, and the great seasons they had.

Mookie Betts on Saturday hit the 10,000th home run in Los Angeles Dodgers history. Dodgers historian Mark Langill last week wrote about infielder Dick Gray, who hit the first LA Dodgers homer back in 1958.

Hannah Fry at the Los Angeles Times on Sunday wrote about the two weeks of turbulence for Los Angeles-area sports owners, including Dodgers owner Mark Walter selling the Lakers less than a year after buying them (amid ongoing federal investigations), Rams owner Stan Kroenke buying the Angels, and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer getting suspended by the NBA for salary cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard.

I missed this a few weeks ago, but Brady and Trey Ebel, first-round picks of the Milwaukee Brewers in the last two years had a connected moment in the minors. Brady and Trey, the sons of Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel, were fixtures at Dodger Stadium during summers when they were at Corona High School, often practicing on the field.

Brady Ebel started the season in Class-A Wilson in North Carolina, and on July 19 started at shortstop and was hit by a pitch and scored in a six-run first inning. The game was suspended by rain with two outs in the top of the first inning and a 2-0 count on Brady, batting for a second time in the game already. Play wasn’t resumed until August 25, and by then, Brady was promoted to High-A Wisconsin. So Wilson put Trey Ebel in for Brady to complete the plate appearance, and he took two more balls to work a full-count walk, which was credited to Trey.

From MiLB.com:

“I was in the cage this morning, and when they sent out what we’re gonna do for the game, I was like, ‘No way! This is crazy,'” Trey said after the game. “How cool is that? I don’t know if that’s been done before, having the younger brother finish [an older brother’s] at-bat. I’m super stoked.”

This March, I was struggling to get that new-season thrill for the Tampa Bay Rays. The last two seasons were slogs, and frankly I didn’t see a lot suggesting this year would be better. Maybe Shane McClanahan would be healthy. Maybe Yandy could continue to be a league leading hitter even as he aged. The off season acquisitions didn’t have me picturing October baseball either. Nick Martinez? Ben Williamson? Ryan Vilade? These guys were going to going to get us the 10 + additional wins needed to make the post-season?

The one thing I was sure about, with all my years of baseball wisdom, is that a team playing Chandler Simpson every day was a team headed nowhere. No shade on Chandler as a human being. He seems like a lovely young man! I love his enthusiasm and his work ethic! His speed is otherwordly!

But you can’t be a major leaguer with speed as your only tool, and we saw that last year. Simpson was pretty terrible in the outfield. This was clear from the eye test — his speed may have disguised just how bad he was at finding the ball — and defensive stats like Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) which had him at -4 for the 2025 season.

As for hitting: Simpson has always shown great contact skills, and he seldom strikes out (although he also doesn’t often walk). But he has no power. I mean none. Usually when we say a guy doesn’t have power we mean, say, Taylor Walls, who will still manage to run into 3-4 home runs and a handful of hard hit doubles in any given season. But Simpson has never hit a ball out of a major league park, and even his doubles and triples tend to be grounders hit to just the right outfield corner.

I figured this skill set — bad defense, slap hit singles and stolen bases — didn’t add up to a starting outfielder.

But now the Rays are a playoff team and Simpson is their everyday left fielder. What is striking is what has changed, but also what has not changed.

Simpson reportedly worked hard this off season to improve his defense. Now we always hear these stories of players striving to address weaknesses, but all too often the effort doesn’t much matter. This time, however, it did. This year Simpson is rated at 8 Defensive Runs Saved. Statcast gives him high ratings (93 out of 100) for his range, although his arm remain a weak spot. Those of us who watch him daily no longer think of his routes to fly balls as Oregon Trail like adventures. His becoming an average or better defender has given this outfield a completely different look.

I have also been thinking that Simpson’s offensive skills have shown improvement, but then I checked the numbers and his line this year is similar to last. With half a month to go his batting average and OBP are slightly higher than at the end of last season, but not dramatically higher. Counting stats like total hits or stolen bases are higher this year, but since he spent parts of 2025 in the minors he’s simply had more at bats. He still has no power, he still neither walks nor does he strike out.

One improved metric does stand out: he has nine sac bunts this year compared to three last season. This difference, I think, helps us build a narrative about Simpson’s key offensive role this year. His game hasn’t changed, but the team’s offensive approach has changed around him, making his skills more central to many of those small ball wins. When the Rays score three on a few singles, a couple of stolen bases and a sac bunt you know that Chandler was in that mix.

I don’t know what kind of career Simpson will have. A pure speed player is always one hammy pull away from losing his edge. I’m also not sure whether a team can afford to have a corner outfielder with absolutely no power over the long run. But in 2026, this is clearly Chandler Simpson’s team, one built to take advantage of the speed, energy and discipline he brings to the field.

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope you had a great weekend. Some players might not be feeling so good this week, as they are seeing their seasons end early as the need for rest or surgery has forced them into an early offseason. As we’ll read below, both Byron Buxton and Rafael Devers are out for the remainder of their seasons due to injury. We’ve also recently seen superstar Shohei Ohtani hit the bench to hopefully recover so he can help the Dodgers in the postseason. This is not a general statement on the grind of baseball, or how players are pushing themselves too hard, but it is always interesting to see players wait until their teams are out of postseason contention before allowing themselves to be taken off the roster for much-needed recovery or surgery.

We look at that and more below, including how one injured player — Justin Verlander — is hoping to come back in time to pitch one last time before he retires.

So let’s get into today’s links!

• Jay Jaffe looks at the timely revival of Teoscar Hernandez.
• Keegan Matheson shares that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has finally gotten his first home run at home for the season. It just took until September.
• Molly Burkhardt reports that Willson Contreras has been activated from the IL by the Red Sox.
• David Schoenfield looks at the 10 players who made the biggest positive difference for their team.
• Dan Hayes reports that Byron Buxton will undergo season-ending hip surgery. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Love to see things like this.

• Former MLB player Jonathan Schoop has been sentenced to 30 months for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. (Curaçao Chronicle)
• Five things Ben Clemens liked (or didn’t like) this past week.
• Brent Maguire shares the six teams who most defied expectations this season… for better or worse.
• Karl Rasmussen looks at which players have been the most disappointing this season.
• Rafael Devers’ season is over due to a core muscle injury. (AP)
• Tyler Kepner assesses why Walt Weiss deserves to be manager of the year. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• I don’t think he intended for this to work so well.

• White Sox scouting director Mike Shirley has resigned amid verbal harassment allegations. Story by Brittany Ghiroli and Keith Law. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• David Laurila talks to several starting pitchers about the decline in starting innnings and what it means for baseball.
• Max Ralph shares that the Diamondbacks have designated Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for assignment.
• Stephen J. Nesbitt talks to MLB players about the positives and negatives of being a father while also being a professional ballplayer. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Ryan Phillips revisits the trade deadline five weeks later.
• Tigers’ starter Justin Verlander is on the path to make at least one final start before he retires. (AP)
• Brendan Kuty looks at how the Yankees honored 9/11 during the Subway Series. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• A really touching moment.

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