Category: MLB

Hello, friends.

The Orioles are diving into an unfilled pool as the 2026 season moves towards its end. They really had a chance as this month began. It’s important not to lose sight of that. It really happened. They held a wild card spot as the calendars turned to September. Very little has gone right since then, and now they’ve just gotten shut out in consecutive games while getting swept by the Brewers. A much better team, to be certain, but still: The Orioles, even with their current roster and all its problems, could have done better than this, and they didn’t. So, here we are.

Now, the Orioles must run the table and sweep their final two series just to have a .500 record for the season. Otherwise, this will be back-to-back losing seasons. It’s a failure of a season. This cannot be overstated. They failed for the second year in a row. We put up with the 2019 and 2020 and 2021 Orioles and what we got was fun baseball from June 2022 through June 2024 and that’s it. The guys who were supposed to get them to good places are not doing that.

Mike Elias should be fired. It appears he won’t be fired, unless David Rubenstein is just letting Elias go around and make changes while still planning to fire him. These do seem to be real and necessary changes. Something has gone wrong with player development, and there will be a new head of player development next year. Something seems to have gone wrong with the team’s use of analytics, and there will be a new person in charge of that next year too.

Will it be enough? I don’t know. I’m not optimistic. I never am optimistic about the Orioles. We should have been seeing decisions like this a year ago. If I was the billionaire owner of the Orioles, I’d have wanted to see different things done after one flop of a season. He and I are motivated by different goals. Instead, the Orioles wasted another year of having Gunnar Henderson on the team, in part because they apparently can’t figure out how to have their amazing superstar player continue to play at a high level. They played so badly that they “had to” trade Adley Rutschman (who, to be sure, is still hitting quite poorly for Boston).

The Orioles still aren’t mathematically eliminated, even after getting swept by the Brewers. It is only a matter of time. They are five back of the White Sox with six to play, with the Astros and Blue Jays also to pass. You could have sketched out thin hopes if the Orioles had won two of three here in this series, but, again, they were swept. It’s over. It won’t be mathematically over today, because the White Sox have the day off. It could be over by Tuesday.

What a disappointment. There are so few Orioles to feel good about heading into next year as the season winds down. They’re going to have their work cut out for them this offseason. I don’t know that Elias is going to be up to the task.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Bautista on return: “It feels incredibly satisfying” (School of Roch)
He got to pitch in a game yesterday. It could have gone better. The Orioles didn’t push him too hard, so he left after 19 pitches and two-thirds of an inning pitched, with one run allowed. The command wasn’t there, nor was the old velocity. We won’t know until next year if either returns.

Not the best time for the Orioles to announce Albernaz is returning (Baltimore Baseball)
The Orioles didn’t quite pull a “lose 30-3 right after the interim manager is named full-time manager” on Albernaz, but that was a bad weekend by the team and Albernaz was involved in some of what was bad.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1971, Dave McNally pitched a complete game shutout as the Orioles beat the Yankees, 5-0. This was the 20th win of the season for McNally, marking the fourth straight year where he won at least 20 games. There hasn’t been a 20-game winner in the whole of MLB since Spencer Strider did so in the 2023 season.

In 1984, Jim Traber sang the Star-Spangled Banner before making his MLB debut as the day’s designated hitter. The Orioles lost the game to the Red Sox, 8-0. Traber himself had one hit in four at-bats.

One lone former Oriole has a birthday today. Happy 40th to 2011-12 reliever Zach Phillips.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: author H. G. Wells (1866), composer Gustav Holst (1874), animator Chuck Jones (1912), movie maker Jerry Bruckheimer (1943), actor Bill Murray (1950), and musician Lindsay Stirling (1986).

On this day in history…

In 1435, the Kingdom of France and the Duchy of Burgundy signed the Treaty of Arras after an attempt at a larger treaty with England fell through. One result of the treaty is that Burgundy switched sides in the Hundred Years’ War, leading to English decline of its French possessions. Joan of Arc might have wished for Burgundy to switch four years sooner.

In 1780, infamous early American traitor Benedict Arnold delivered the plans for West Point to the British military.

In 1937, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien had its first publication. “Hobbit Day” in celebration of the book is typically held a day later, however, as September 22 is the birthday for both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.

In 1981, after a unanimous approval by the Senate, Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on September 21. Have a safe Monday. Go O’s!

Last Week’s Results:

• Tuesday: Brewers 5, Pirates 1
• Wednesday: Brewers 5, Pirates 4
• Thursday: Pirates 7, Brewers 4
• Friday: Brewers 6, Orioles 5
• Saturday: Brewers 1, Orioles 0
• Sunday: Brewers 3, Orioles 0

Division Standings:

• Brewers 98-58
• Cubs 87-69 (11 GB)
• Pirates 79-77 (19 GB)
• Cardinals 76-80 (22 GB)
• Reds 72-84 (26 GB)

Last Week:

• Brewers 5-1
• Cubs 4-2
• Pirates 4-2
• Cardinals 2-4
• Reds 2-5

Top Pitching Performance of the Week

Yes, Jacob Misiorowski did throw eight scoreless innings while striking out 11 and walking just one to bolster his Cy Young case. But at a time when it feels like the Brewers’ starting pitching rotation is falling apart, one player has fought against late-season fatigue and is pitching better now than he has at any point in the season: Robert Gasser.

Even without his strikeout stuff, Gasser twirled a gem on Saturday night as the Brewers beat the Orioles 1-0. In seven innings, Gasser allowed only three hits, and while he had more walks (three) than strikeouts (two), he did what he needed to do to get outs. Gasser has now allowed just five earned runs over his last five starts (26 1/3 innings, giving him a 1.71 ERA in that span) and will almost surely be starting in the postseason for the Brewers in a couple of weeks.

Top Hitting Performance of the Week

The Brewers’ bats did finally cool off a bit after they were scorching hot for the first two weeks of September. The team still played great, though, and the Brewers ripped off a second consecutive 5-1 week despite less impressive offensive play. While there were still a few standouts, I’m going to go with Cooper Pratt in this spot. Pratt hit .400 (6-for-15) with a couple of walks (.471 OBP), and while all of his hits were singles, he was timely and knocked in three runs, including two RBI knocks in Sunday’s 3-0 victory over the Orioles. Pratt was also active on the basepaths and stole four bases in five attempts, making him 17-for-20 on the season. Pratt is now hitting .282/.350/.371 on the season, basically right at league average in terms of OPS.

A couple of other shoutouts: Jake Bauers led the regulars in OPS this week — he had only three hits, but two of them were doubles, and he also walked five times, giving him a .500 OBP in 16 plate appearances. Let’s also hear it for Bo Naylor, who popped his first homer as a Brewer when he went 1-for-3 with a dinger and a walk on Thursday.

Injury Notes & Roster Moves

• Bryse Wilson and Grant Anderson, who are both on the injured list at the moment, began rehab assignments at Triple-A Nashville this week, Wilson on Tuesday and Anderson on Wednesday.
• Rob Zastryzny, who has spent most of the season either injured or attempting (and mostly failing) to come back from injury, was designated for assignment on Thursday. He cleared waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Nashville on Saturday.
• Colton Gordon, who the Brewers picked up in “the Lance McCullers Jr.” trade in mid-July, was recalled from Triple-A Nashville on Friday, while righty Garrett Stallings was sent in the opposite direction. Gordon has not pitched yet for the Brewers.
• Brandon Woodruff has been throwing at 105 feet. Further evaluations are coming. I don’t think this is happening, but stranger things have happened, right?

On Deck:

• Monday: Off Day
• Tuesday: @ Phillies (5:40 p.m.)
• Wednesday: @ Phillies (5:40 p.m.)
• Thursday: @ Phillies (5:05 p.m.)
• Friday: vs. Cardinals (6:40 p.m.)
• Saturday: vs. Cardinals (6:10 p.m.)
• Sunday: vs. Cardinals (2:10 p.m.)

When Chief Editor Patrick Creighton approached me in March about contacting former Astros greats for a “Legends Series”, I originally thought we’d feature a player per homestand. However, what materialized was an avalanche of activity. By the time the dust had settled, 35 men spanning every era joined us exclusively at The Crawfish Boxes to tell their unique stories. With the regular season winding down we highlight some of the more memorable quotes. Enjoy.

Danny Darwin on being called “Dr. Death”:

“Oh My God! Nolan always called me that. If someone hit a home run off me, I would really stare them down and I didn’t even realize that I was doing it.”

Enos Campbell on toughest pitcher he ever faced:

“I hit the s**t out of Steve Carlton and he knew it too! The toughest guy for me was Steve Rogers up in Montreal.  Steve broke all of my bats. The guys would be laughing because I always took 6 bats for him.”

Ty Gainey on Day 1:

“Yogi Berra was a funny guy. On my first day at the dome, he told me that they put the grass down before they put the top on. I just looked at him. He was funny.”

Nolan Ryan on what would happen if a manager attempted to place him on a pitch count:

“Well, I would have to visit with him and see why he thought that and why that was best for the team.”

Casey Candaele on Jeff Bagwell’s greatness:

“Jeff Bagwell never missed a 3-0 pitch. He knew where he wanted his pitches and he’d only swing at pitches that he knew he could handle.”

Steve Finley upon learning the news of being dealt to Houston:

“I was playing basketball at Cal Ripken Jr’s house in his gym when I learned of the trade. I was in a little bit of shock. I had bought a place downtown because I knew that Camden Yards was coming. The Astros opportunity was the best thing that happened in my career.”

Trever Miller on his favorite teammate:

“I came up with Jose Lima in Detroit. We had a guy that would serve soup in the Fall League. One day the man pours the soup into our bowls, Lima says something the man doesn’t like and he takes the giant soup spoon and hits him right over the head with it.”

Bill Dawley on pitching in the Dome:

“One night the count is 2-0 on Dale Murphy, and I just thought because the Dome was so massive that I’d throw him a fastball on the outer half. Dale hits it over the fence. That was the first run I ever gave up.”

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (38-37/43-31)

LEHIGH VALLEY 5, SYRACUSE 3 / 11 (BOX)

What a situation we had coming into this one. On the last day of the season, Syracuse found themselves a half-game behind the Rochester Red Wings, having surged late in the season and won five in a row and eight of their last ten; with a win, combined with a Rochester loss, Syracuse would improbably have their postseason ticket punched.

The two teams played concurrently, certainly scoreboard watching. Early on, things looked in Syracuse’s favor, with Jose Ramos launching a two-run homer in the second to give Syracuse a quick 2-0 lead and the Buffalo plating three runs of their own to take a 3-0 lead. By mid-innings, things changed; The IronPigs tied the game up at two apiece and Rochester took a commanding 12-6 lead.

The Syracuse game ended up going into extra innings and the Mets ended up losing this one 5-4 in the eleventh after leaving bases loaded in the tenth, but it ultimately didn’t matter, as Rochester wrapped things up with a 15-7 victory over the Herd, ending the second half with the best record in the International League in the second half and a date with the Memphis Red Birds in the International League Championship Series.

And with that, the 2026 season has come to an end. It’s been a tumultuous season, with a lot more downs than ups, but we’re Mets fans and that kind of par the course, right? There is light at the end of the tunnel, don’t get me wrong, and maybe it’s closer than we think. Or maybe it’s not. Either way, the journey is the fun part, right?

As always, I thank everyone who reads and is a part of our daily Mets Daily Prospect Report discussions. The massive amount of work I put into our minor league content wouldn’t be worth it if I didn’t know that everyone out there was reading. We have plenty more lined up in the next few weeks, from season reviews to weekly Arizona Fall League updates, with everything culminating in the 2027 Top Prospect list in January. Until then: #LoveTheMets #LoveTheMets

·  CF D’Andre Smith: 0-5, RBI, BB, SB (11)

·  3B Jefferson Rojas: 0-6, 2 K

·  RF MJ Melendez: 1-4, 2B, BB, K

·  DH Eric Wagaman: 0-4, BB, 2 K

·  1B Billy Amick: 1-5, R, 2B, 2 K

·  LF Jose Ramos: 2-4, 3 R, HR (4), 2 RBI, K, HBP

·  C Hayden Senger: 0-3, 2 K

·  PH Kevin Parada: 0-1

·  SS Zack Short: 1-4, BB, K

·  2B Christian Cairo: 2-4, RBI, BB

·  RHP Xzavion Curry: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

·  RHP Saul Garcia: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

·  RHP Kevin Herget: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

·  RHP Dylan Ross: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

·  RHP Cameron Weston: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, BS (2)

·  RHP Brian Metoyer: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, L (5-2)

·  RHP Tyler McLoughlin: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (27-42/34-34)

NO GAME (SEASON OVER)

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (25-40/32-34)

NO GAME (SEASON OVER)

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (33-33/25-39)

NO GAME (SEASON OVER)

Rookie: FCL Mets (24-33)

NO GAME (SEASON OVER)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Jose Ramos

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

The fact that the baseball minor league baseball season is over

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Jeremy Jeffress*, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1934 – The Deans shut out the Dodgers. After Dizzy gives up just three hits in a 13 – 0 victory, allowing no hits until the 8th, Paul wins a no-hitter, 3-0. Diz says: “If’n Paul had told me he was gonna pitch a no-hitter, I’d of throwed one, too,” and 1997 – The Cubs beat the Phils, 11-3, but Curt Schilling racks up eight strikeouts to match J.R. Richard for the most Ks by a National League righty (313). He’ll finish with 319 strikeouts. Ryne Sandberg, in his final game at Wrigley Field, is 2 for 3 before leaving for a pinch runner in the fifth. He makes a curtain call in the seventh when Harry Caray sings “Take Me Out to the Ball Game“, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1901 – Tom Hughes of Chicago and Boston Beaneater Bill Dinneen pitch 16 scoreless innings before the Orphans score in the 17th on an error, hit batter, force out, and a single by Clarence Childs. Each pitcher gives up eight singles. This will stand as the longest shutout ever by a Cub pitcher. Hughes fans 13 in 17 frames.
• 1903 – Christy Mathewson, pitching for the third time in four games, keeps the Giants in second place by beating Chicago’s Clarence Currie, 8-3. For Matty, it is his 30th win of the year.
• 1916 – Tris Speaker goes 4 for 6 and drives in a run as Cleveland edges Washington and Walter Johnson, 3-2.
• 1928 – At St. Louis, Boston’s Red Ruffing smashes a three-run homer in the seventh and pitches the Red Sox to a 5-3 win over the Browns.
• 1966 – The players almost outnumber the fans at Wrigley Field, as the Cubs draw just 440 for a game with the Reds. Chicago wins, 9-3, behind Ken Holtzman, with Sammy Ellis taking the loss.
• 1973 – At Los Angeles, Tony Perez has five hits to lead the Reds to a 4-1 win over the Dodgers. Tony’s last hit is a three-run homer in the 10th.
• 1981 – Steve Carlton fans 12 Expos in ten innings to break Bob Gibson‘s National League strikeout record (Carlton now has 3,128), but the Phillies lose to the Expos, 1-0 in 17 innings.
• 1985 – In a Boston 7-6 win over Detroit, Wade Boggs ties Tris Speaker‘s club mark of 222 hits with a single in the second inning. His fifth-inning single, his 185th, sets a new American League record for singles, breaking the mark set by Willie Wilson in 1980. Wade will end with 187, a mark that will stand until 2001.
• 1992 – Oakland P Dennis Eckersley becomes the second pitcher in history to record 50 saves in a season as he preserves the Athletics’ 6-5 win over Chicago. The White Sox’ Bobby Thigpen had 57 saves in 1990.
• 1999 – The Red Sox defeat the Blue Jays, 3-0, as Pedro Martinez fans 12 for his 22nd win. He joins Randy Johnson as the only pitchers to strike out at least 300 in both leagues, and breaks Roger Clemens‘ club mark of 291 strikeouts.
• 2000 – In a 10-3 victory over the Marlins, Expo right fielder Vladimir Guerrero establishes a franchise single-season home run record by hitting his 43rd round tripper.
• 2001 – A crowd of 41,235 at Shea Stadium witness the return of baseball to New York City for the first time since the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Mike Piazza‘s eighth-inning home run gives the Mets a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Braves.

Cubs Birthdays:Jeremy Jeffress*, Doug Davis, Jim Todd.

Today in history:

• 1780 – Benedict Arnold gives British Major John André plans to West Point.
• 1915 – Cecil Chubb buys the prehistoric monument Stonehenge for £6,600 and later donates it to the British nation.
• 1955 – In his last fight, undefeated world heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano KOs light heavyweight Archie Moore in the ninth round at Yankee Stadium, NYC.
• 1970 – “Monday Night Football” created by Roone Arledge, premieres on ABC. Final score: Browns 31, Jets 21.
• 1976 – Asylum Records releases “Small Change”, the fourth studio album by singer-songwriter Tom Waits; his best-selling album until 1999, features the songs “Tom Traubert’s Blue” and “The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)”.
• 1985 – Michael Spinks beats Larry Holmes in 15 to become Heavyweight Boxing Champion.
• 1993 – Melissa Etheridge releases her breakthrough second album “Yes I Am”, featuring the single “I’m the Only One”.
• 2004 – Green Day releases their album “American Idiot” in the US.
• 2017 – Discovery of the first brainless animal that sleeps, the jellyfish Cassiopea, with research published in “Current Biology” by Caltech scientists.

*pictured.

The Detroit Tigers wrapped up their seven-game road trip with an 8-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field, dropping the four-game series to the home team, three games to one. The end of the regular season is mercifully near as the Olde English D returns home to wrap things up.

Next up, the Motor City Kitties head home to welcome the Washington Nationals to Comerica Park for the penultimate series of the summer starting on Monday. The three-game set is one of two in which the Tigers will host National League opponents — a strange way to end the schedule.

Making his Detroit debut in the opener is right-hander River Ryan, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tarik Skubal trade at the deadline. In the 28-year-old’s two appearances for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, he posted a solid 3.86 ERA but a disturbingly high 1.71 WHIP over just 4 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits (one home run) and a walk while striking out four of the 20 batters he faced.

For the Nats, left-hander DJ Herz will be making his 2026 debut after missing two years recovering from Tommy John surgery. Since the 25-year-old returned to action last month from a June setback, he has a 4.24 ERA over 17 innings in six minor league starts, getting up to 65 pitches in his final appearance; he should be good for about four innings of work.

Take a look below at how these two pitchers performed back in 2024 — the last time either saw major league action.

Detroit Tigers (73-83) vs. Washington Nationals (73-83)

Time (ET): 6:40 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:Federal Baseball
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 157: RHP River Ryan (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP DJ Herz (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Ryan (2024)	4	20.1	22.2	11.1	50.0	3.36	0.4
Herz (2024)	19	88.2	27.7	9.4	36.4	3.71	1.7

RYAN

HERZ

No games today means the Phillies can’t break my heart once again. With only three games on the schedule for MLB in total today, a lot of teams are getting set before the final sprint to the end of the season. Luckily, the Phillies will be stress free all week!!!

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• It’s totally in the realm of possibility for the Phillies that Jesus Luzardo returns to the team for the playoffs as a reliever ($).
• Orion Kerkering was sent to Lehigh Valley after his latest brutal outing. Funnily enough, Lehigh Valley’s season is over.

MLB news:

• Laz Diaz did his final game of his umpiring career on Sunday. Know what he won’t miss? Umpiring baseball games.
• A few teams clinched things yesterday. The Braves took the NL East while the Red Sox grabbed a playoff spot.
• Speaking of the Red Sox, two of their assistant GMs interviewed for the job with the Sacramento A’s.
• Alex Bregman had to leave the Cubs game yesterday after being hit in the face by a foul ball while in the on deck circle.

BALTIMORE — Jason Benetti’s 26-week road show was coming to a close in a couple hours, and as he held forth in his broadcast booth at Camden Yards, Orioles analyst Ben McDonald and Milwaukee Brewers color man Tim Dillard sat a few feet away from him, cramming for NBC’s final Sunday Night Baseball broadcast this season.

Preparation is the backbone of broadcasting, yet the relatively daring format for Sunday Night Baseball is forged on plunging into the unknown.

Rather than a fixed two- or three-person booth, NBC charged back into baseball by tabbing Benetti as their play-by-play man and paired him with announcers from each team, placing the glue guy in between a pair of expert voices.

Every week, there’d be no guarantee of chemistry. No chance to develop continuity. And plenty of chances for unfamiliarity to send the broadcast off track.

McDonald and Dillard might not have known it, but this is Benetti’s kind of thrill ride.

“I have to bring it not knowing what they’re going to bring and see how it coalesces. It’s like the job of a lifetime in so many ways,” Benetti tells USA TODAY Sports. “You get so many perspectives. I don’t know how many people watched all 26 of our Sunday nights.

“But if you put the range of that 26 up against any other series, it’s such a dazzling array of information and prisms through which you can see the game.”

Yet Benetti is the final medium through which those thoughts will pass. And it’s hard to consider this grand experiment anything but a rousing success.

NBC’s takeover of Sunday Night Baseball from ESPN resulted in a 62% increase in ratings, according to the network. While audience metrics have shifted over time, the series produced five games of at least 3 million viewers, the most for Sunday Night Baseball since 2010; a Yankees-Red Sox matchup drew 4 million viewers, the most-watched SNB game since August 2011.

The un-measurables might be more impressive.

NBC tabbed Benetti, 43, the TV voice of the Detroit Tigers, to carry this franchise. And told him to go out and vibe with a roving cadre of 31 color analysts, ranging from Hall of Famers (Andruw Jones) to former MVPs and Cy Young Award winners (Albert Pujols, Orel Hershiser, Roger Clemens) to utility players and spot starters (Lou Merloni, Mike Bacsik) to irreverent voices (Hunter Pence, John Kruk).

They did provide him some pieces of furniture, such as All-Star first basemen Joey Votto and Anthony Rizzo, giving Benetti the task of integrating broadcast newbies into a highly-watched fixture in NBC’s canon of Sunday night sports offerings.

“When you’re at a higher level than everyone you’re talking to – and Jason is more prepared than anyone, knows about what’s going on with the game right this very second – he can say less and figure out where he fits in and leave things to the other people he’s working with,” Votto tells USA TODAY Sports. “That, to me, is why he delivers such good results when he’s doing his work.

“To be able to be flexible enough to handle a couple former pitchers, transition to a couple position players, transition to a couple guys who never played the game, and be able to adapt, fit in, it’s not easy to do. But Jason does it quite well.”

In a sense, it’s a gig he’s been training for most of his life.

Live, from New York

Ask Benetti which broadcasters shaped his worldview as a youth growing up near Chicago, and he cites ESPN’s freewheeling NFL Primetime with Chris Berman and Tom Jackson and the many Chicago Bulls games that landed on NBC during Michael Jordan’s heyday.

“It seemed like Marv (Albert) did every Bulls game,” says Benetti of his fellow Syracuse grad.

But before Boomer and Marv, Benetti mentions a far greater cultural influence: Saturday Night Live.

“I’d sit there and watch it with my parents and memorize skits,” he says of growing up in Homewood, Illinois. “That was the thing we had to watch together.”

Nowadays, cultural touchstones are harder to come by. With streaming and social media constant competitors, and Big Football overshadowing every other sport, establishing a fixed beachhead for a sport like baseball is a massive challenge.

Taking a chance or two certainly can’t hurt.

“That’s how Saturday Night Live made its mark on the culture. It just became a thing,” says Benetti. “You hear ‘Live from New York,’ and everyone knows how to finish the sentence.

“We don’t have writers. But we do have guest stars every week. And it’s about putting them in the best position.”

That showtime element probably broke through best on Aug. 30, when a Reds-Cubs matchup put the cheery Rizzo in the booth alongside Jeff Brantley, the salty 63-year-old Reds analyst who goes by “Cowboy.”

Votto lurked by the Reds dugout. The byplay was constant, an energy often missing from any sports telecast, with Votto’s oddball confession he’d never eaten nachos causing a moderate hubbub on social media.

“I felt like Brantley-Votto-Rizzo was just one instance of like, the Peyton Manning (Saturday Night Live) United Way commercial. You don’t know until it happens,” says Benetti. “I hope, over the course of time, however long we have this and have everybody rotating in here, which I love dearly, I hope people will realize it’s a place you go where we don’t have writers, but you know you’re going to get something different.

“And there will be Easter eggs over the course of time.”

Votto says he’s constantly impressed by the pointed and thoughtful questions Benetti poses to managers in pregame production meetings, while processing the information in a manner that informs.

“He loves the sport. He’s an excellent listener,” says Votto. “And he knows how to take those strong skills and turn it in-game: ‘We’re coming into your house. You’re going to get to know me. And we’re going to have a good time together.

“‘But we’re going to make sure we stay on point with the game.’”

Enjoying 'the human experience'

That’s where Benetti’s broadcasting come-up helps. He called college basketball for ESPN and Fox Sports for more than a decade, putting him alongside the late, great Bill Walton and the still-rambunctious, 86-year-old Bill Raftery, among many others.

Walton, he says, taught him the art of letting the wheels wobble a little bit, yet never stray off the road.

“Bill was the kind of guy who was, ‘Just go. Go. The only way is forward.’ There was so much expertise and creativity in his mind,” says Benetti. “You’re not going to make factory-built parts with Bill Walton. And this show, to me, is the same way. You’re going to get something custom-built. In some way. I don’t know what it is. But it’s going to be that night, and it’s probably not going to be replicated.

“Because when are you going to get Ben McDonald, Tim Dillard, Joey Votto all in the same place together? Probably never. So, you might as well let ‘er rip. Do this game in front of you with these people around you.

“And enjoy the heck out of the human experience.”

The strange bedfellows can create spontaneity. Rangers broadcaster Mike Bacsik and Tigers analyst Dan Petry discovered, on the air, that they had a mutual friend. The combos can cross eras and baseball generations, and, Benetti says, conjure “thoughts they would have never expressed if the other person had not stoked that fire in their mind.”

“You discard the pretense of ‘broadcasting.’ You’re just doing this game and it’s not going to be the regulation thing people expect, with two people in a booth, this regular cadence. The best moments are the ones I never would have dreamed.”

The show isn’t quite over for NBC, which will broadcast the four, best-of-three wild card series beginning Sept. 27. It’s highly likely Benetti and the A crew will be on the Yankees-Red Sox series, with a second series on NBC and two more on Peacock.

It’s the first of NBC’s three-year contract to air Sunday Night Baseball, before Major League Baseball takes all of its broadcast rights to market after the 2028 season. Labor conditions willing, Benetti already has his eye on Act II.

“As we hit the finish line, Season 2 is right in my mind, right now,” says Benetti. “What is the evolution going to be? Because that’s how you have to see it. Everything is competition for everything else.

“But entertainment’s entertainment.”

Votto certainly understands that. The likely Hall of Famer has, as Benetti puts it, “has a little Andy Kaufman in him, in a good way. Because he’s always so immersed in the topic he’s doing.”

Yet it was Benetti who smoothed the transition for Votto, along with nearly three dozen parachuting analysts, creating compelling broadcasts more often than not.

“He’s easy to be around,” says Votto. “Sarcastic. Sharp. I feel challenged by him. I think that’s why it works for me.

“And I couldn’t imagine working with someone better.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 26 weeks, 31 analysts, one rock: How NBC 'Sunday Night Baseball' stayed on point

In a season where the American League is redefining "quality," it's only appropriate that a team exemplifying "mid" is going on a little warm streak at just the right time.

In short: The Texas Rangers are probably going to the playoffs.

They have never been more than three games above or six games below .500. Their greatest player – Corey Seager – has not yet played in 100 games. Yet by winning a series against the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend, the Rangers largely control their own playoff destiny, with two routes to get in – the AL West title or the last wild card.

And their productive and timely spurt pushed them up four spots to No. 14 in USA TODAY Sports' power rankings.

The Rangers more or less eliminated the Blue Jays this weekend and now face a tricky but not untenable final week: Three games against the improved New York Mets and three more vs. the Minnesota Twins. They'll take a one-game AL West lead over the Houston Astros into this final lap, and therein lies the danger: The Houston Astros finish with four games against the Athletics in Yolo County and own the tiebreaker over Texas.

Yet they're also just two games behind the Chicago White Sox for the final wild-card spot. Texas – now 76-76 – needs to just win, baby, even if doing so consistently has been a challenge this season.

A look at our updated rankings:

1. Milwaukee Brewers (-)

• One hundred wins? It will probably happen this week.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers (-)

• Teo, Tucker and Mookie are heating up and Ohtani is gearing up. Yeah, don't waste your time worrying about these guys.

3. Tampa Bay Rays (-)

• Three walk-off wins put a death grip on the division.

4. Atlanta Braves (-)

• Ronald Acuña Jr. has seven homers and a 1.096 OPS this month and looks like he could carry these guys a while next month.

5. New York Yankees (-)

• Still not wise to sleep on these guys, even sans Aaron Judge.

6. Chicago Cubs (-)

• Finishing strong down the stretch, kind of like their third baseman's horse.

7. San Diego Padres (+2)

• On a 13-1 heater. But are they the team "no one wants to face" come playoff time?

8. Boston Red Sox (-1)

• Trevor Story has a .343/.361/.486 line since coming off the IL.

9. Philadelphia Phillies (-2)

• The lineup is flaccid, the bullpen practically nonexistent, the rotation down its best starter. We miss anything?

10. Arizona Diamondbacks (-)

• Hanging on for dear life – playoff hopes and manager, both.

11. Cleveland Guardians (+1)

• Jose Ramírez has passed 1,000 RBIs – and just three away from 300 homers.

12. Chicago White Sox (-1)

• They've reached the "watching your child ride a tricycle across four lanes of traffic" stage of the season.

13. Pittsburgh Pirates (+4)

• With one start remaining, Paul Skenes' adjusted ERA has been cut almost exactly in half (226 to 114) from his Cy Young season.

14. Texas Rangers (+4)

• They were four games under .500 a little more than a week ago. They'll begin the final week of the season in first place.

15. Houston Astros (-1)

• Too often, Yordan Alvarez bats with no one on base. That's no way to win a Triple Crown.

16. Miami Marlins (-1)

• The Sandy Alcantara save was pretty cool but also a little weird?

17. Toronto Blue Jays (-4)

• With season on line, came up very small against Tigers, Rangers.

18. St. Louis Cardinals (-2)

• Playoff drought stretches to four years, longest under current ownership.

19. Baltimore Orioles (-)

• Weekly ritual: Pete Alonso does something cool, everyone else looks confused.

20. Detroit Tigers (+2)

Their +75 run differential is better than five likely playoff teams.

21. Washington Nationals (+2)

• Cade Cavalli contract extension shows ownership has a pulse, if nothing else.

22. Seattle Mariners (+2)

• In half a century, they've reached the playoffs in consecutive seasons just once (2001-2002).

23. New York Mets (+2)

• September window dressing, or is their serviceable play indicative things are turning around?

24. Minnesota Twins (-4)

• Byron Buxton's hip surgery has estimated recovery time of six months.

25. Cincinnati Reds (-4)

• Acquisition of Oswaldo Cabrera likely means end of TJ Friedl's career in Cincinnati.

26. Kansas City Royals (-)

• Carter Jensen sets both team rookie home run (25) and extra-base hits (60) records.

27. San Francisco Giants (-)

• They've used 67 players this season, 18 for eight games or less.

28. Los Angeles Angels (+1)

• Grayson Rodriguez went two years between quality starts. Now he has three in the past six weeks.

29. Athletics (-1)

• Penultimate season in Yolo County will conclude with four games against Astros, chance to play spoiler.

30. Colorado Rockies (-)

• Progress? Team ERA down to 5.62 from 5.97; home runs allowed drops from 251 to 215.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB power rankings: Remember the Rangers? Texas has playoff bid in reach

Expectations were fairly in check for the Yankees during this last regular season road trip of 2026, and they still didn’t meet them. They started it off well enough but then dropped three of four—including two maddening walk-off losses—to finish it at 3-3. If they were just treading water until October, they’d be fine enough, but they talked a big game about aiming to chase down the Rays in the AL East, with this upcoming four-game homestand a chance for them to take command. That ain’t happening because now they’re six back. Even acknowledging the loss of Aaron Judge to the IL again on this trip, that’s tough stuff.

The Yankees will try to win out of pride, but the Rays will almost certainly clinch the AL East in the Yankees’ own ballpark — just as the Blue Jays did when they dispatched the Yanks in the 2025 ALDS, just as the Dodgers did when the Yanks utterly fell on their asses in 2024 World Series Game 5, and just as the Astros did when they swept ’em out of the ALCS after Judge’s 62-homer season. (Add the 2018 Red Sox and 2015 Astros to the roll call if you want more unpleasant memories.)

The difference here is at least that the Yankees will have a shot at revenge on Tampa Bay in the ALDS … but it’s a conditional shot. They’ll need to get by the Red Sox in the Wild Card Series again, just as they did last year. Your mileage may very on their odds, but we’ll have the next full week to ponder it.

Today on the site, we skip the minors recap because Scranton was rained out to end the Yankees’ minor-league season (stay tuned for Arizona Fall League action soon!) and go straight into Kevin on the Rivalry Roundup. Andrés will prouce a guide a what to watch for around the league during the final week of regular season play, Jeremy will celebrate the 63rd birthday of a beloved 1996 Yankees World Series champion, and Madison will post the mailbag prompt.

Today’s Matchup:

Offday

Questions/Prompts:

1. This may well be a daily question at this point, but hey, ‘tis the season: Who gets the last AL Wild Card spot?

2. With all due respect to the Diamondbacks taking two of three from the Yankees, it seems like the NL Wild Card teams are locked in with the Padres, Phillies, and Cubs. Who gets the top spot and hosts the NL Wild Card Series?

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Braxton Ashcraft was placed on the 15-day injured list on September 10, 2026, due to right arm discomfort and fatigue. He has been shut down for the rest of the season.

Ashcraft met with reporters at PNC Park on Saturday and made one thing abundantly clear and that is his arm is not seriously injured. The Pirates right-hander described the issue that ended his season as fatigue and general discomfort, not anything structural, and he expressed confidence that he would have been available had Pittsburgh reached the postseason.

He traveled to Arlington to be evaluated, and the consensus among the medical professionals he saw was that there is no long-term concern provided he stays diligent about recovery.

That is very good news that this injury has no structural damage. Ashcraft is one of the top pitchers for the Pirates and has had a fantastic season. The All-Star went 14-6 this season with a 3.65 ERA with 28 games started. 

Ashcraft admitted he tried to talk the training staff into letting him pitch through it, but he understands the decision to shut him down. He emphasized the importance of transparency with the medical staff and front office.  

Ashcraft said he wanted to return for two starts in the final week but acknowledged it doesn’t make sense now that the Pirates are out of playoff contention. It doesn’t make sense to have him go back out there to pitch when the games just don’t matter anymore. The last thing you want to do is to put him back on the diamond and have the injury get worse and have long term damage. 

These statements made from Ashcraft are good news. Even though he will miss the rest of the season, it is great news that this is not a major injury and that it is expected that Ashcraft will be ready for the start of next season.    

Philadelphia Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber and Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery are nearing some dubious baseball history.

Schwarber and Montgomery each have 216 strikeouts entering the final week of the season, endangering Mark Reynolds’ all-time record of 223 strikeouts set in 2009.

Yet, it hardly bothers them.

“Guys who strike out a lot," Montgomery told reporters, “you see them, but what do they also do? They hit a lot of homers and drive a lot of guys in.”

More: MLB manager knows he's done if team misses playoffs | Nightengale's Notebook

Montgomery has 31 homers and 87 RBIs. Schwarber has 45 homers and 95 RBIs.

It's Montgomery's first 200-strikeout season but the third for Schwarber – who broke his career high of 215, set in 2023.

Both sluggers' teams have everything to play for in the days to come with the Phillies fighting for positioning in the NL wild card and the White Sox trading blows with the Cleveland Guardians for the AL Central crown, meaning they'll both see a regular number of at-bats.

Most strikeouts in a season

• 1.Mark Reynolds (2009) – 223 SO
• 2.Adam Dunn (2012) – 222 SO
• 3.James Wood (2025) – 221 SO
• 4.Chris Davis (2016) – 219 SO
• 5.Elly De La Cruz (2024) – 218 SO
• 6.Yoán Moncada (2018) – 217 SO
• 7.Kyle Schwarber (2026) – 216 SO
• –Colson Montgomery (2026) – 216 SO
• 9.Kyle Schwarber (2023) – 215 SO
• 10.Eugenio Suárez (2023) – 214 SO
• 11.Joey Gallo (2021) – 213 SO
• 12.Chris Carter (2013) – 212 SO
• 13.Teoscar Hernández (2023) – 211 SO
• –Mark Reynolds (2010) – 211 SO
• –Giancarlo Stanton (2018) – 211 SO

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: These MLB sluggers are chasing an ugly record. Will history be made this week?

New York Post | Greg Joyce On September 4th, Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham suffered what was later deemed a Grade 2 right hamstring strain. He was placed on the injured list the following day and was considered unlikely to return before the end of the regular season. That remains the case, both because he isn’t quite ready and because it’s logistically difficult to bring him back before the playoffs.

“I know he’s trending to be close, but the activation might be a little complicated,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday morning at Chase Field. To bring Grisham back, they have to option or DFA someone, and if they do that, that player wouldn’t be eligible to be recalled for 10 days (15 if it’s a pitcher), virtually eliminating whoever it is from consideration for the Wild Card Series and possibly beyond.

Spencer Jones has been filling in for Grisham in center field and should continue to do so while Grisham is out. For all we know, the latter might not be ready in time for the Wild Card round, but he does seem to be trending in the right direction. At some point, the Yankees will need to make a decision — though sticking Grisham into a situation where he’s playing in a postseason games when he hasn’t taken an at-bat in nearly a month could certainly be a questionable bit of business.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Clarke Schmidt, who was activated from the injured list last week, was warming up to enter Sunday’s game against the D-backs but experienced soreness/cramping in his right biceps. He and the Yankees decided he wouldn’t pitch in the game. Per Joyce, “He’ll see the doc when they get home, but Schmidt and the Yankees are hoping it’s not a big deal.”

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips With the Yankees falling to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday and the Tampa Bay Rays winning again, the latter have a six-game cushion in the AL East heading into the last week. There’s a four-game set between the two powerhouses scheduled for next week, but Boone acknowledged they may need to sweep to even have a chance at the division crown. And even if that happens, it’s a “tall task,” he said. From the outside, the race feels done and dusted with a Wild Card Series rematch with Boston probably on deck.

New York Post | Charles Gasparino: The previously reported $2.6-billion financing deal between the Yankees and Apollo Global Management has more details out now. The Steinbrenners will give up a 16-percent stake in the most successful franchise in baseball and one of the biggest in professional sports (MLB rules do not seem to allow private equity to hold more than 15 percent, so this is puzzling if true and would have to involve loopholes in some way). According to the terms of the agreement, the firm will now hold the largest share in the Yankees after the Steinbrenner family.

Inside ‘Team Blessed,' the Phillies trio always staying ready together originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

QUEENS, N.Y. — While a Phillies game is unfolding a few feet away, Derek Hill and Bryan De La Cruz are often playing one of their own.

They head into the batting cage during the game and turn their work into a competition.

Three innings. Three outs.

They decide whether each ball in play is a single, double or home run. Edmundo Sosa serves as the umpire.

He does not make it easy on them.

“I’m pretty hard on them,” Sosa said through the club’s interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “The game is tough on you, so I try to be as tough as I can on the guys. That way, when we go out there, maybe the game seems easier.”

The game inside the game has become part of how three Phillies reserves stay ready for opportunities that can arrive without much warning.

It has also become part of something they call Team Blessed.

The name began not long after the Phillies acquired Hill from the White Sox on June 11.

When Hill was asked exactly when Team Blessed started, he turned toward outfield coach Paco Figueroa, a clubhouse favorite who happened to be nearby.

Figueroa remembered saying something simple to Hill one day.

“Bless up.”

Hill liked it.

The phrase stuck.

“We’re blessed to be here every single day,” Hill said. “When an opportunity presents itself, it’s a blessing to be able to go out there and perform.”

From there, Team Blessed began to take shape around the club’s main reserves, Hill, De La Cruz and Sosa.

There is faith behind the name, but also perspective.

None of the three is guaranteed to start. They can spend most of a night watching before suddenly being asked to pinch-hit, pinch-run or enter defensively in a spot that could decide a game.

They have to prepare as though the opportunity is coming, even if it never does.

“I think it’s just something fun that people can kind of keep their perspective with,” Hill said. “I think it’s cool to be able to show up every day and attack the day with the same attitude, the same drive.

“No matter if you’re starting that day, not starting that day, if you’re getting put into a high-leverage situation or a blowout game, it doesn’t matter. Just be happy that you’re at the field and realize that it is a gift that you are here.”

Hill has moved between eight different organizations during his career. He knows how quickly a player’s circumstances can change.

“It doesn’t matter if you have 15 years or 15 days,” he said. “It’s a gift to be in the big leagues.”

And since Hill arrived, that group of Phillies reserves has done much more than simply stay ready.

Players entering games off Philadelphia’s bench since June 11 have combined to hit .284, the highest average in baseball over that span. Their .453 slugging percentage ranks third.

Hill, De La Cruz and Sosa have been even better, even when the lights get brighter.

In games they entered off the bench, the trio has combined to hit .394 with four homers and a 1.200 OPS in 34 plate appearances from the eighth inning on.

Hill has hit three of those homers.

Those opportunities have produced some of the Phillies’ more memorable late-game moments during a season that has them days away from potentially securing a fifth consecutive postseason berth, matching the longest streak in franchise history from 2007 through 2011.

The stars will draw most of the attention if they get there.

But postseason games have a way of turning on one swing from somebody who spent the first six or seven innings waiting.

The trio are trying to make sure that wait doesn’t leave them unprepared.

That is where their game in the cage comes in.

Hill and De La Cruz work through their progression while the actual game continues outside. They use a smaller bat, move into side toss and front toss, then compete against each other.

“We do the same routine now,” Sosa said. “We’re trying to keep it as simple as we can and not be too mechanical about it. When you think too much about your mechanics, that’s when things get tougher.”

The competition gives them something to focus on while they wait.

It also gives three players with similar responsibilities a shared routine.

“We’ve been working in a way that we enjoy it,” Sosa said. “We’ve been working to continue to be happy playing the game of baseball and enjoying it.

“We just started calling it Team Blessed one day, and it stuck.”

Sosa said De La Cruz, who was promoted to the Phillies on July 21 from Triple-A, has brought another meaningful element to the group.

“He’s been trying to change his life in such a positive way recently,” Sosa said. “He’s been more of a believer in God. He uses that to motivate us, and his energy is contagious.”

That energy is not limited to whichever member of the trio gets the opportunity that night.

When one enters, the others are invested.

“It doesn’t matter who it is that’s stepping up to the plate or going onto the field,” Sosa said. “We’re just going to support and show our energy to the next man up.

“We want him to do well. Any positive outcome that comes from anyone who goes in, we’re going to celebrate it.”

That support is crucial in roles defined by uncertainty.

A reserve can deliver a game-winning hit one night and never leave the bench the next. Several days can pass between meaningful at-bats. When the call finally comes, there isn’t much room for rust.

Hill believes their shared faith and circumstances have brought the group closer.

“One hundred percent,” he said. “This is a long journey, the baseball season and a baseball career, and you definitely can’t do it [all by] yourself.

“If you try, you’re going to fail, and you’re going to figure out that there’s not only a higher calling, but there’s a lot that you can tap into when you do go through those moments.”

Hill did not need long to feel comfortable after joining the Phillies.

“I’ve been in a lot of clubhouses, and this has been easily the most welcoming,” he said. “Obviously, we have a lot of big personalities and a lot of big talent in this clubhouse, but you wouldn’t know.

“Nobody has any egos in here. It’s just all about winning baseball games.”

Team Blessed grew within that environment.

Other players know about the group. Some have apparently expressed interest in joining.

Hill warned that membership is not automatic.

“It’s a tough application fee,” he said. “A lot of people want to jump on board, but it’s a rigorous process to get into it.”

There is no real application.

There is no official uniform, either, although the group has discussed the possibility of creating Team Blessed merchandise.

For now, the three have their in-game routine, their competition, their handshake.

And their faith, too.

“I think that’s more than enough,” Sosa said.

PHOENIX — Add another concern to the Yankees’ already hefty list of them heading into the final week of the regular season.

Clarke Schmidt, who returned from Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, was warming up Sunday to make his second appearance before experiencing cramping in his right biceps, which ultimately kept him out of the Yankees’ 8-4 loss to the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

“Nothing structural, it was more precautionary,” Schmidt said. “Obviously given the circumstance, coming back from surgery, I don’t want to push through anything. All the testing was fine, nothing with the shoulder, nothing with the elbow. It was more a cramping-type feeling. I had nothing in catch play earlier today and in the previous days I’ve been feeling very strong. So just very, very minor, just precautionary.”

Schmidt was expected to see the Yankees’ team doctor when they returned home, but no tests were planned as of Sunday.

Even if Schmidt checks out fine, it is a reminder of the tightrope the Yankees are walking in hoping the former starter can be part of their playoff bullpen just 14 months removed from major surgery.

After making his season debut on Wednesday, Schmidt warmed up in Saturday night’s game before Aaron Boone went to Michael Fulmer, who served up a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Schmidt was then warming in the bullpen again in the top of the sixth Sunday before the biceps issue popped up, leading to Tim Hill throwing the bottom of the frame instead.

“I’m hoping it’s not a big deal, but enough to have him not go into the game,” Boone said. “We’ll see what we have there.”