PHOENIX, AZ - OCTOBER 31: Arizona Diamondbacks principal owner Ken Kendrick and president Derrick Hall talk on the field prior to Game 4 of the 2023 World Series between the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Tuesday, October 31, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Diamondbacks News
Ken Kendrick Announces Cuts to 2027 Payroll In entirely predictable fashion, Ken LKendrick is unhappy with the results of his investment in the 2026 team. The result of the situation is that the team should be expecting reduced investment in 2027. Some of that will come organically from contracts dropping off. Some of it will have to come from parting ways with some contracts, a task easier said than done.
Diamondbacks Executives Speak About Relationship with Ketel Marte The Ketel Marte saga just keeps going. This story simply will not go away until a year after he either comes correct regarding his behaviours or the team is a year moved on from having found a viable trade.
What is Marte’s Future with the Diamondbacks At the end of the day, Marte’s particular situation means he is almost entirely in control of the entire affair. HIs future is in his hands. Now it is time to see what he will do with it, since it is clear he no longer has people rushing to defend him.
NLDS Preview: Dodgers Versus Braves What ends up getting more coverage, Ohtani continuing to have work restricted in the playoffs, or the brutal heat expected to descend on the game?
Projected Arbitration Salaries for 2027 MLBTR has one of the very best arbitration estimators in the entire business. Here are their estimates for next season. Notably, the Diamondbacks have four arbitration eligible players. Only three are likely to be tendered. Player (service time): projected salary Lars Nootbaar (5.076): $6.3MM Pavin Smith (4.144): $2.5MM *(non-tender candidate) Gabriel Moreno (4.061): $6.1MM Ryne Nelson (4.020): $3.4MM
Boston, MA - September 22: Boston Red Sox designated hitter Mickey Gasper is congratulated in the dugout after his solo home run in the eighth inning. The Boston Red Sox played the Cleveland Guardians at Fenway Park on September 22, 2026. (Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | Boston Globe via Getty Images
The Red Sox season is over. But Red Sox injury news never stops! At least this is good-ish news: Mickey Gasper underwent successful “distal biceps tendon repair” surgery yesterday to fix his gnarly looking arm:
Mickey Gasper’s biceps tore off his tendon. He will have surgery in Boston Friday pic.twitter.com/0dPknfy3y4
It’s expected that it will take 4-6 months for Gasper to get back into game action, so it’s unclear whether he’ll be ready for Opening Day 2027. Of course it’s also unclear if baseball itself will be ready for Opening Day 2027… (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
But before we can look to the future, we must reckon with the past. In this case, we’re still done talking about the fact that Sonny Gray sure did seem pissed about being taken out of Game 2 after only 70 pitches. Is this something that’s going to cause long-term issues between players and management? According to one scribe, there were “traces of betrayal” in the visitor’s clubhouse following the game. “The failure to recognize and honor [Sonny Gray’s] ability in the middle of the biggest game of the year had to feel like a show of disrespect — not just to Gray, but also, many of his teammates.” (Sean McAdam, MassLive)
McAdam’s story is more unsourced speculation than anything else — I mean, what exactly does he mean by “traces of betrayal?” But he’s not the only one making similar insinuations. “I think a lot of their leadership stuff got masked because they went on that massive run,” former player and current broadcaster/podcaster Anthony Rizzo said. “I just feel like there’s so much kind of [expletive] that happened in Boston this year… and now that you don’t win, this is when it all comes out under the hood.” (Kayley Brown, Boston.com)
But these supposed issues don’t seem to be making ownership second-guess the decision to extend Craig Breslow. “Something we’ve been striving for is baseball operations continuity and stability. I know that sounds a little odd, given that we made a change with the manager and coaching staff. The hallmark of a good baseball organization is continuity, No. 1, at the ownership level. But with your baseball operation, we haven’t had that for some time. So we wanted to do that, we were proactive with that, and we informed him midseason that we were picking up the option. There was no contractual need to do it, no mechanism. There was nothing that had to be done. We wanted to do that as a demonstration of commitment to stability and continuity.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
The executives in the commissioner’s office are probably pretty happy about things right now, too. That’s because the Red Sox-Yankees series did some pretty good numbers. “Tuesday’s Game 1 averaged 7.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, making it the most-watched opener of an MLB Wild Card or Division Series since 2006,.” (Chris Spiering, ClutchPoints)
Tampa Tarpons shortstop Dax Kilby (3) stands on second base after hitting a double in the game between the Tampa Tarpons and the Lakeland Flying Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, on July 28, 2026. (Photo by Carl Rizzo/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images
The minor league season has officially concluded league-wide, with the Triple-A Championship Game on September 26th officially serving as the conclusion of the final game in Minor League Baseball in 2026. As thousands of players across all levels prepare for their offseason, there exists a handful in every organization who aren’t quite done with organized ball yet.
That is where we find the Arizona Fall League, which will be running for the 34th season since its founding in 1992 as an opportunity for an assortment of prospects to gain additional in-game experience. It’s often used by organizations to compensate for lost time due to injury, give experience to lower-minor prospects against stiffer competition, or to use it as an extra opportunity to tweak or introduce something in a low-stakes environment.
The Yankees have sent players of all shapes and sizes to this, from non-prospects deep into the organizational depth chart to highly touted prospects like Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, Jasson Domínguez, and Alfonso Soriano. Two years ago, current Boston rival Caleb Durbin got himself on the map with a huge performance, proving that this stage can positively impact prospect buzz.
For those unfamiliar with the format, the league’s 30 teams are divided into six AFL clubs, which have a 35-man roster and contain the contingents from five different organizations. It changes every year, so the one that the eight Yankees representatives will be going to is the Salt River Rafters, alongside prospects from the Twins, Rockies, Diamondbacks, and Nationals.
With the AFL officially kicking off today at 3:30 p.m. EDT in Glendale, let’s meet the eight-man Yankees contingent:
INF Dax Kilby
The prized prospect of the bunch, Dax Kilby will headline the group. The 2025 first-round pick stole headlines with an incredible 19-game cup of coffee in Single-A Tampa last August that vaulted him onto Top 100 lists and raised high expectations for his first full professional season at age 19, but such a season was doomed from the start.
A hamstring injury suffered early in spring held him out of the Spring Breakout game in March and delayed his season debut until May 28th, but there was still plenty of runway from there. Unfortunately, after taking just two at-bats, he suffered a setback that held him out an additional six weeks. He finally returned for good on July 17th, but was limited to just 36 total games in what was supposed to be a big season for him. It comes as no surprise, then, that he’s getting extra reps here in Arizona.
In his extremely limited time at Tampa this season, Kilby was effective, slashing .261/.448/.435 with a 143 wRC+ in 154 plate appearances. He boasts an extremely mature approach at the plate, walking in a quarter of his plate appearances, but has yet to really tap into the power. He’s above-average at pretty much everything, something you love to see from a 19-year-old, but you’re looking for the standout trait.
Dax Kilby with his 3rd HR on the season!
105.6 mph / 18 deg, pulled on a 3-0 cutter over the RF fences.
AVG: .281 OPS: .882
Dax has been swinging with a lot more intention since coming back from injury, appearing to sell some contact for some more power and the results have… pic.twitter.com/ueKBXSEiWg
Something to monitor in this, aside from how he performs against older pitching, will be his defense. He’s never been considered likely to stick at shortstop, but is a good enough athlete to feasibly play second base, third base, or even center field. We’ll see if he’s moved around or if one of the best prospects in all of the AFL will just get to man shortstop the entire time.
RHP Mack Estrada
Every year, you’ll see the Yankees send one or two guys to the AFL who don’t have much of a pro sample to go off of. This year’s version of that is Mack Estrada, the team’s 11th-round pick in 2024, who has just 4.1 professional innings through the first 2.5 seasons of his professional career.
Estrada is a guy that the Yanks invested a lot in, giving him a massive overslot of $640,340, the fifth-highest in the class, to get him out of a commit to go to Florida State out of junior college. He, like the rest of the team’s draft-year pitchers, was shut down to end the 2024 season, but went under the knife early in 2025 and missed the next season and a half due to Tommy John surgery.
He only got back to pitch in four games this summer with the FCL Yankees, where he struggled in a bunch of small, choppy outings. He’s spent the last two months in the complex, so we’ll see if he’s being utilized as a multi-inning guy in the AFL.
What can we expect from him? We don’t have data on how his stuff has looked post-TJS, but he’s more of a fastball/slider guy who was capable of getting it up to 96 on the heater in college. The Yankees love to tinker with young pitcher’s arsenals, so we’ll see if he has another offering or two.
FSU baseball picked up a JUCO commitment from RHP Mack Estrada. Estrada has a 2.66 ERA/1.25 WHIP in 44 IP at Northwest Florida State College. 57 K-20 BB. 6-foot-4, 220-pound frame. 91-94 MPH FB, nasty slider to pair it with.
A handful of the players in this year’s AFL contingent missed time in the last two years due to injury, but few were able to get back from those injuries with enough time to be as impactful as J.T. Etheridge was.
An undrafted free agent out of Louisiana in 2024, Etheridge started his pro career strong in the FCL in May 2025, but struggled after a promotion to Tampa late in the season. His 2026 started as more of the same, pitching to a 6.51 ERA deep into August. As a prospect without much invested in you, it’s a dangerous game to play going into an offseason with zero production above rookie ball at 25, which he’ll be in January.
The fact he’s here in Arizona, though, shows that he did make some progress. Something seemed to click in mid-August, when he suddenly became the unlikely ace of a Tampa team that came within a game of a Florida State League championship. In his last six starts, he allowed just one run in 27 innings with 38 strikeouts, including a pair of scoreless playoff outings. The decision to send him came before a few of these outings, so the belief might’ve been there even longer.
Allow me to introduce you to 2024 UDFA JT Etheridge, who is being sent to the AFL this season.
He made his game 1 playoff start tonight in Tampa and it was a beauty.
5.0 IP 1 H 0 ER 7 K – 0 BB
If you look purely results, you'd be confused why the Yankees would send Etheridge… pic.twitter.com/azWQ6b2sH6
He boasted an impressive 32.9 strikeout rate with great whiff rates. He sits at 94 on his four-seam fastball and has both a sweeper and a slider that grade well above average. The damage off him primarily comes from the curveball and sinker, which he throws a combined 23 percent of the time. Expect him to tinker with those this fall.
RHP Antonio Gomez
While Kilby is the much more important prospect for Yankees fans to monitor this fall, I’d argue that the guy I’m most excited to see get extra reps here is Antonio Gomez. You may remember that name from a couple of years ago as a defense-first catcher whose bat never quite caught up with him. Yes, that is that same kid.
Gomez was floundering at Double-A Somerset in June 2025 when he was placed on the Development List. While that is usually a death sentence for any prospect, Gomez was different. Instead of being in organizational limbo, he was switching professions, going from a catcher with an 80-grade arm to a flamethrowing reliever. He made his pitching debut a month later and lit up the radar guns, but underwent elbow surgery after just four outings.
He returned this August and has just been trying to get into a rhythm as a pitcher. He’s only tossed 8.1 total innings across 10 career outings, so any experience he can get here in Arizona is extremely valuable. The thing that tickles your fancy about him is his alien fastball, which sits in the upper 90s with over 20 inches of induced vertical break, something you pretty much never see in the bigs:
A late addition to the roster, Anthony Mena signed as an older international signing in 2024 at the age of 19 and didn’t make his stateside debut until 2026 after two solid years in the DSL. In 2025, he struck out 57 in 45.2 innings with a 3.11 ERA.
The results were pretty rough in his 16.2 innings in the FCL early this summer, but he got an aggressive promotion to Tampa midway through the season after a mountain of injuries completely destroyed their pitching depth. His stuff hasn’t quite caught up yet, but he did pretty well after the promotion, allowing just three runs in 16.1 innings across five multi-inning outings.
He leans on his low-90s sinker, throwing it 44 percent of the time, while supplementing it with a changeup, slider, and curveball, with the latter two generating the best results.
RHP Chris Veach
Our last pitcher of the bunch, Chris Veach, is the only one who isn’t extremely early in their development as a Single-A pitcher. A 2024 undrafted free agent out of South Carolina, Veach graduated from Tampa in 2025 after a terrific season, pitching to a 2.53 ERA with 75 strikeouts in 57 innings.
Among qualified MiLB pitchers that haven’t allowed a home run this year, Chris Veach leads the pack in K-BB% at 41.3%.
This year has been a much more difficult season for him, but not because of anything on the field. The 25-year-old missed nine weeks with an undisclosed injury in the summer, shortly after earning a promotion to Double-A Somerset in June. He was only able to get into 25 games and throw 29 innings, but he excelled while doing so, pitching to a 1.86 ERA with 39 strikeouts to 10 walks. He’ll be 26 in a month and a half, so the extra development will be very helpful for him.
We don’t have arsenal stats for High-A and Double-A, but a look at Veach’s repertoire shows he utilizes a heavy diet of changeups that is backed up by a trio of fastballs. Things might’ve changed in the last year, but he threw a breaking ball just 0.8 percent of the time last season. Could that be something they ask him to work on in the desert?
INF Core Jackson
Finally, to the position players. Core Jackson is the second-biggest name value prospect they’re sending to Arizona this fall. The 2025 fifth-round pick had a strong debut season in the system, splitting time between High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset.
Jackson, who turns 23 in eight days, slashed .262/.360/.459 with 41 stolen bases in 101 games across the two levels. He’s played an adequate shortstop, but has also gotten run at both second and third base. With Kilby on the roster, I can’t imagine he plays much shortstop this fall, even if both likely project as third basemen.
He was limited to just 101 games this year due to three very short stints on the injured list for minor ailments, which might be why he’s here. It could also be a big vote of confidence for an upper-minors infielder, who could be a good 2027 away from knocking on the door of the majors.
Core Jackson is a Yankees prospect to follow through the rest of the year.
Above-avg power (12 HR & .212 ISO) Solid K-avoidance (20.7% K%) .914 OPS vs. LHP 27 SB
Our last Yankee heading to the desert is another 2025 draftee, and someone who managed to be one of the more unlikely 20/20 players you’ll ever see. Drafted in the 13th round out of West Virginia last year, it was a difficult debut season for West, who exclusively plays first base.
He slashed .226/.300/.394 with 20 home runs, 76 RBI, and 20 stolen bases in 124 games with Hudson Valley and suffered from a consistency issue. He’d have strong weeks, but immediately trade it with rough weeks. This is a guy who slugged .600 in the Big 12 just 18 months ago and was drafted for his slugging ability. The conditions in the AFL usually benefit offense, especially with the altitude. This guy could hit some moonshots if he gets a hold of one.
Sep 29, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (13) is introduced before game one of the Wildcard round for the 2026 MLB Playoffs against the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Division Series begins today for both the American and National Leagues, which once again means all-day baseball. The AL has tomorrow off to start the staggering of schedules/avoid competing too much with the NFL, so get your fix today. This gives the AL teams three days off if a series goes five games, which is ridiculous.
The ALDS is a best-of-five series with games with the first two games at home for the higher seed, followed by two games at the lower seed, and game five back home for the higher seed.
Chicago White Sox @ Cleveland Guardians, 1:00
Where to watch: TBS / HBO Max
The AL Central matchup pits Hagen Smith of the White Sox against Parker Messick of the Guardians. Messick was an All-Star this year with a 2.56 ERA over 32 starts. Smith is a rookie who had a 1.29 ERA this season in 18 games. 17 of them, however, were out of the bullpen. Smith started against Houston in the Wild Card round and pitched three innings with two hits and no runs. He’s like a jumbo opener, I suppose.
I don’t have a strong rooting interest in this one. I’d be happy with the Guardians moving on, as they haven’t won the World Series since 1948. And I really like José Ramírez. As for the White Sox, they have two things going for them. One, they are coming off of a string of horrendous seasons and kind of came out of nowhere this year. And they play second fiddle to another team in their own city. That other team was already eliminated, of course.
Atlanta Braves @ Los Angeles Dodgers, 4:00
Where to watch: FOX / FOX One
As I write this, we are about 3.5 hours from game time and the Braves have not announced a starting pitcher. Bold. It’ll be Tarik Skubal for the Dodgers.
Obviously we are all rooting against the Dodgers in this one, right? They’ve won three World Series since 2020 including the last two seasons. Pass. The Braves are my rooting interest by default.
New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays, 6:30
Where to watch: TBS / HBO Max
The Rays were the best team in the American League this year and also the Orioles had an 8-5 record against them. That doesn’t mean anything, but it’s all I have. The pitching matchup is Gerrit Cole vs Drew Rasmussen.
Gotta root for the Rays here for several reasons. First, obviously you know why. Also, they’ve never won the World Series. And they have a handful of former Orioles including the delightful Cedric Mullins. Go get a ring, Ced!
San Diego Padres @ Milwaukee Brewers, 8:30
Where to watch: FS1 / FOX One
It’s a real shame this matchup isn’t a possibility for the NLCS, although at least we know one of them will be there. Neither of these teams has ever won the World Series. San Diego has Manny Machado, who is now an old man with 399 career home runs. Milwaukee has one of the most exciting young pitchers in baseball, who has thrown over 1,100 pitches over 100 mph this season.
That guy, Jacob Misiorowski, is starting tonight for the Brew Crew. It’ll be old friend Robbie Ray for the Padres. I haven’t seen Ray pitch lately; I assume his pants are still very tight.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 30: The Chicago White Sox pose on the field after defeating the Houston Astros in game two of the American League Wild Card Series at Daikin Park on September 30, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Wild Card round came and went, with three series sweeps and one series ending in a game three battle. Now it’s time to get into the meat of October with a weekend slate of NLDS and ALDS matchups.
The Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, and Los Angeles Dodgers will get into the action after starting the playoffs with a bye.
The Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, and New York Yankees pulled out the brooms against the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, and Boston Red Sox, respectively. The Philadelphia Phillies stole one from the Atlanta Braves before Atlanta closed things out.
Now, two pairs of division foes meet in the American League, alongside two intriguing matchups in the National League.
Here’s the schedule for Saturday’s games:
Chicago White Sox @ Cleveland Guardians on truTV, TBS, HBO Max at 11:00 am MDT
Atlanta Braves @ Los Angeles Dodgers on FOX at 2:00 pm MDT
New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays on truTV, TBS, HBO Max at 4:30 pm MDT
San Diego Padres @ Milwaukee Brewers on Fox Sports 1 at 6:30 pm MDT
We’ll add lineups as they become available.
Chicago White Sox (0-0) at Cleveland Guardians (0-0) — 11:00 am MDT
Pitching Matchup: Hagen Smith (3-3, 1.29 ERA) vs. Parker Messick (12-9, 2.56 ERA)
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 01: Signage in Truist Park during the Philadelphia Phillies versus the Atlanta Braves in game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series on October 1st, 2026 at Truist Park in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Eight MLB teams remain in the hunt for the 2026 World Series title as the playoffs move into the Division Series. The San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees all ousted their Wild Card round opponents in two games, while it took the Atlanta Braves three games to end the Philadelphia Phillies’ season.
In the American League (AL), both best-of-five series feature division rivals vying for a spot in the AL Championship Series. In the National League (NL), the Padres, Braves and Milwaukee Brewers will look to prevent the Los Angeles Dodgers from winning a third consecutive NL pennant.
White Sox at Cleveland Guardians (1:00 PM EDT)
The battle-tested Guardians barely eclipsed the upstart White Sox down the stretch for the American League Central title and first-round bye. Now these two Midwest rivals will duke it out for a semifinal spot.
Coming in hot after sweeping the American League West champion Houston Astros, the White Sox will look to continue their Cinderella season. However, the rested Guardians will pose a tougher test than the Astros.
Chicago will employ the same pitching strategy that worked in the series opener in Houston. Rookie left-hander Hagen Smith will serve as the opener again. Cleveland will counter with rookie left-hander Parker Messick (12-9, 2.56 ERA), who was among the top rookie pitchers in baseball this season.
In pursuit of a three-peat, the superstar-laden Dodgers aren’t messing around. Left-hander Tarik Skubal (12-7, 2.72 ERA), the biggest name traded at this season’s trade deadline, will start Los Angeles’ postseason opener.
Braves ace left-hander Chris Sale entered in relief to record the final outs of the Wild Card Series, making him unlikely to pitch until Game 2 or 3 of this series. Atlanta will instead roll with a bullpen game today.
This series is truly a David vs. Goliath matchup, as the Yankees have historically experienced more success and operated with a higher payroll. However, the small-market Rays punched above their weight by winning the most games in the AL and capturing the division title.
Tampa Bay’s pitching staff played a significant role in the team’s successful 2026 campaign. This could be a low-scoring series, as New York’s pitching staff is also stellar at run prevention. The Yankees will also be without Aaron Judge for a second straight postseason series.
Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole will make his 23rd career postseason start. He will be opposed by Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen, who has considerably less postseason experience.
This matchup between the Padres and the Brewers could result in a classic Division Series, given the number of quality players each of these teams has.
The Padres will face a rested Brewers squad that won an MLB-high 103 games this season. Left-hander Robbie Ray, acquired from the San Francisco Giants at the trade deadline, will make his first postseason appearance with San Diego.
Flame-throwing phenom Jacob Misiorowski will start for the Brewers. The 24-year-old right-hander is favored to win the NL Cy Young Award after finishing the season with a 16-5 record, a 1.80 ERA, a 0.80 WHIP and 252 strikeouts over 174 2/3 innings.
The Padres, Brewers and Rays have yet to win a World Series. Will one of these teams make history this fall, or will their drought continue?
It’s time to begin the Division Series round of the 2026 postseason. There will be two threads for the four games today. This one is for the two afternoon games. The night game thread will post at 5 p.m. CT.
At the time of this post, the Braves had not yet listed a starting pitcher.
12 noon CT: White Sox at Guardians
TV: TBS, truTV, HBO Max. Announcers: Alex Faust, Ron Darling and Lauren Jbara.
KANSAS CITY, MO - SEPTEMBER 27: Jo Adell #7 of the Cleveland Guardians rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning during the game between the Cleveland Guardians and the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday, September 27, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Tanner Gatlin/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 29: A general view during the national anthem before the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies in game one of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park on September 29, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Edward M. Pio Roda/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Both the American League Divisional Series and the National League Divisional Series kick off today.
In the early game, the White Sox go to Cleveland for a noon start in a game on TBS and TruTV.
The Dodgers host the Braves in a 3 p.m. game on Fox.
The Rays and the Yankees square off in Tampa in a 5:30 p.m. game on TBS and TruTV.
And the late game has Padres playing in Milwaukee on FS1 at 7:30 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JUNE 7: A fan holds a baseball waiting to get it autographed before a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago White Sox at Citizens Bank Park on June 7, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 9-5. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) | Getty Images
There are four baseball games today that will determine who plays for the pennants in the Championship Series.
HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 30: Munetaka Murakami #5 of the Chicago White Sox celebrates in the clubhouse after defeating the Houston Astros in Game Two of the American League Wild Card Series presented by AbbVie between the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on Wednesday, September 30, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Welcome to the divisional round! There’s a full slate of four games to be played today.
Starting at noon, we have White Sox at Guardians. The White Sox will use Hagen Smith (1.29 regular season ERA) as an opener for a bullpen game and the Guardians will counter with their rookie ace, Parker Messick (2.56 regular season ERA). The game can be seen on TBS and HBO Max.
At 3 PM, Atlanta will take on the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Atlanta has not yet declared their intended starter, the Dodgers will go with deadline acquisition Tarik Skubal (2.72 regular season ERA). That game can be seen on FOX.
At 5:30, the Yankees will venture to St. Petersburg to take on the Rays. Gerrit Cole (3.61 regular season ERA) will face Drew Rasmussen (2.67 regular season ERA) in the opener. This game can be seen on TBS and HBO Max.
The final game of the night, at 7:30, will see the Padres face the Brewers in a battle of brown teams. Robbie Ray (3.59 regular season ERA) will face presumptive NL Cy Young winner Jacob “The Mis” Misiorowski (1.80 regular season ERA).
If I might be allowed to editorialize for a moment, I think three of the four games promise to be especially good. I’m not convinced Atlanta has what it takes to battle with the Dodgers, but the Brewers and Padres have each shown me enough to think they could give them a run for their money in LCS. The White Sox haven’t pitched well but the Guardians haven’t hit well, and though the Guardians won the division, the White Sox won more head-to-head matchups, so that series figures to be a bloodbath of one kind or another.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - SEPTEMBER 26: Kyle Harrison #52 of the Milwaukee Brewers looks on against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth inning at American Family Field on September 26, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Brewers’ postseason is finally here, and with it, we’ve got our first look at a playoff roster. Given the relative health of the team at the end of the season (with only some restorative absences from Joey Ortiz and Andrew Vaughn in the season’s last week), there wasn’t a ton to be decided, though the question of whether they’d carry 12 or 13 pitchers — and the position player who might take that extra spot, if it existed — remained.
We have our answer! The Brewers did, indeed, carry 13 pitchers, and the inclusion that we may have all been wondering about was that of Kyle Harrison, who did make the cut. Other than that, there are no real surprises. Here’s the rundown:
Catchers (2): William Contreras, Gary Sánchez
Infielders (6): Jake Bauers, David Hamilton, Joey Ortiz, Cooper Pratt, Brice Turang, Andrew Vaughn
Outfielders/DH (5): Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, Luis Lara, Garrett Mitchell, Christian Yelich
Pitchers (13): Aaron Ashby, Shane Drohan, Robert Gasser, DL Hall, Kyle Harrison, Logan Henderson, Dustin May, Trevor Megill, Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, JoJo Romero, Antonio Senzatela, Abner Uribe
This pitcher breakdown gives the Brewers six lefties (Ashby, Drohan, Gasser, Hall, Harrison, Romero), five of which could conceivably pitch multiple innings. San Diego does feature a righty-heavy lineup, so that’s not going to be quite as big an advantage as the Brewers may have had against a team like the Dodgers or Cubs, but it’s interesting nonetheless. If Gasser is indeed the choice to start Game 3 and a bullpen game is in store for Game 4, then expect to see some combination of Drohan, Hall, Harrison, May, and Patrick as guys who cover a lot of innings in those two games.
There are no surprises on the position player side; in order to make it interesting, the Brewers would’ve had to carry 12 pitchers, and they would’ve had to opt against including Bo Naylor as an extra catcher. This means that Brandon Lockridge didn’t make the roster, and neither did a major wildcard inclusion along the lines of Andrew Fischer. Ortiz and Vaughn were both expected to make the roster, but it’s encouraging to see them both nonetheless, given that they were dealing with minor issues (injury and/or health) at the end of the season.
It’s a strong group, and we’ll hope they play up to their ability level. We’ll see you back here at 7:30 p.m. tonight for the game, and we’ll also have a general Division Series thread up during the day. Happy baseball.
UPDATE: The Padres have also announced their NLDS roster. No changes to their squad from the NL Wild Card Series, as they’ll stick with 11 pitchers and 15 position players.
Catchers (3): Luis Campusano, Freddy Fermin, Ethan Salas
Infielders (6): Miguel Andujar, Xander Bogaerts, Jake Cronenworth, Ty France, Manny Machado, Gavin Sheets
Outfielders (6): Jase Bowen, Dustin Harris, Austin Hays, Jackson Merrill, Fernando Tatis Jr., Samad Taylor
Pitchers (11): Jason Adam, Walker Buehler, Michael King, Yuki Matsui, Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, David Morgan, Joe Musgrove, Nick Pivetta, Robbie Ray, Bradgley Rodriguez
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 26: Pitcher Blake Snell #7 of the Los Angeles Dodgers leaves the dugout before the game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on September 26, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) | Getty Images
LOS ANGELES — After naming Tarik Skubal the Game 1 starter of the NLDS earlier on Friday, the Dodgers on Saturday announced that Blake Snell would start Game 2 on Sunday, pushing Yoshinobu Yamamoto to Game 3 on Tuesday in Atlanta.
“We have such talented starters. I think you can roll out any of us in any situation and you’re going to be in a really good spot,” Skubal said Friday of Dodgers rotation depth, echoing comments made this week by Freddie Freeman, Dave Roberts, general manager Brandon Gomes, and others. “I don’t make any of those decisions. I don’t really think about that. They tell me when I’m going, and I’m ready to go that day. That’s kind of how I approach it.”
“I thought in the moment I was going to be able to finish the game, and he’s like get ready for Game 1,” Skubal said. “That’s how I was told, and obviously excited and fired up and ready to go.”
Skubal’s the most likely starter to pitch on four days rest if needed, and Snell and Tyler Glasnow have a history of pitching on four days rest as well. Yamamoto has never started in the majors on fewer than five days rest, with the one notable asterisk his eight-out relief appearance to close out Game 7 of the 2025 World Series. Yamamoto was the rock of the Dodgers rotation each of the last two seasons, the only starter to remain healthy all season in each of 2025 and 2026. Now he’s pushed to Game 3 of the Dodgers’ opening series, but there is method to the madness.
Now they’ll face two lefties to start the first two games of the NLDS in Skubal and Snell. But the matchup wasn’t the only consideration.
“A lot of it this series, the possibility of usage, as well as, as we look out, who’s best lined up,” Roberts said Friday. “I think it’s a good process, appreciating that the most important thing is this series right now. But if you have talented arms at your disposal, it’s prudent to kind of map out potentially how they could line up, and that’s just doing your due diligence.”
Should the Dodgers advance to beat the Braves — not a given, obviously — Yamamoto is the ideal Game 2 starter in a seven-game series, because it allows him to pitch the latter on five days rest, while starting in Game 1 or Game 3 would mean needing to be available to start in Game 5 or 7 on four days rest. And Yamamoto starting in Game 3 of the Division Series on Tuesday would line him up perfectly to potentially start Game 2 of the NLCS on Monday, October 12 on five days rest.
And if Skubal is needed again in the NLDS in Game 5 against the Braves, having Snell at the ready to potentially start Game 1 is a nice fallback option to have. Snell started three Games 1 last postseason for the Dodgers, and won two of them, part of an overall 3.18 ERA in 34 innings, and set a Dodgers franchise postseason record with 41 strikeouts.
There’s also the matter that Yamamoto had a 1.77 ERA and 2.93 FIP on in 12 road starts this season, compared to a 3.13 ERA and 3.65 FIP at home, and 14 of Yamamoto’s 20 home runs allowed were hit at Dodger Stadium. Plus starting him in Game 3 gives Yamamoto his first extended rest of the season, having last started on September 23 with only Wednesday night’s closed scrimmage at Dodger Stadium in between.
“If you’re fortunate enough to keep moving on, things start to get more unpredictable,” Roberts said. “So I think that at the outset, if you can kind of line it up in such a way to giving guys ample rest, it just puts you in a better position for more options down the road. That’s kind of some of the math we had.”
White Sox MVP (Most Venerated Pontiff)? | AFP via Getty Images
It’s showdown at high noon (Central), as two teams that played as even a regular season series as can be match up in an American League Division Series.
The White Sox won the season series, 7-6, with seven of the games being determined by one run, and only one by more than three. The teams were so close in talent that the Sox scored 58 runs and the Guardians 57 over the course of the season. Of course, the old cliché about throwing out the record books pops up now, but sometimes a peek at the books gives a pretty good hint at what’s to come.
What’s to come today is Hagen Smith throwing for the White Sox, just as he started the Wild Card series. He went a scoreless three innings on just 38 pitches in that one, giving up two hits and no walks and getting one strikeout. He faced Cleveland three times during the regular season and they hit just .105 against him, albeit with a .320 OBP due to Smith walking six of 25 batters.
The Sox are quiet about who will follow in a quasi-bullpen game, but against Houston it went Jordan Hicks, Sean Newcomb, David Sandlin and Grant Taylor. It may be mostly southpaws today, given the Guardians lefty-heavy lineup.
There’s no bullpen game for Cleveland, that’s for sure. With the advantage of a first-round bye, the Guardians are marching out their ace, lefty Parker Messick. Messick went 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA and 193 strikeouts in 186 innings in his official rookie season. In four starts against the Sox he was 2-1 with a 2.81 ERA, giving up a .198/.245/.385 slash line.
Last time out against them he gave up three runs in six innings, all of them scoring on a Tommy Pham homer, so it’s no surprise that Pham is in the starting lineup again today, in the 5-slot.
Smith and friends face a Cleveland lineup that came alive in September, enough so to take the AL Central title from the Sox. Will the long break thanks to the opening-round bye give them needed rest, especially for José Ramirez’s hand, or will they be rusty? Only The Shadow knows.
First pitch is scheduled right at noon Central on a perfect fall day — mostly sunny, mid-60s and light wind in from right. Tube coverage is on TBS, truTV, Univision/TUDN and HBO Max, while ESPN 1000 has the radio side.
Tommy Tanous, Amir Mamdani, Brian Jones, and Ian Levin at Rockies Fest 2026 | Kyle Cooper
Last Saturday, Tommy Tanous, the Colorado Rockies Assistant General Manager – Player Development & Scouting, spoke with Purple Row about his first season with the organization.
As a reminder, the Rockies hired Tanous during the offseason as part of their front office rebuild. He is responsible for the organization’s player development and scouting operations. Prior to joining the Rockies, Tanous spent 15 years with the New York Mets.
Below are a few takeaways from that conversation, which has been lightly edited for clarity.
On joining the Rockies
(It’s been) exciting, fun, great people. That that was probably the nicest surprise. The quality of people that I got to meet and work with here. So overall, it’s been an A-plus experience.
Paul (DePodesta) was my boss with the New York Mets, so I knew him quite well (laughs), and Paul is probably the number one reason why I left a really good situation. I probably wouldn’t have done that for anyone else, but enjoyed working with him so much and just appreciate the work environment he provided. So it was kind of a no-brainer when I got a chance.
On what his of scouting and player development job entails
It depends on the season, depends on the time of year. Going from January to really March, it’s a little player development and a little bit of the draft, and then from March to July, it’s mostly the draft — I’d say probably 80% is looking at players, looking at video, helping the staff, the amateur staff. And then after the draft, it’s mostly player development, going to the affiliates, helping write player plans, and now it’s a little mixture of both in the in the fall, both player development and trying to do some scouting.
You have a schedule. You touch each department a little bit each day, knowing the majority of the time is going to be in player development, but I still want to stay up on the amateurs. So your day is a mix of both, keeping your hand in both, and you have good people that help you, like we do on the amateur side and the PD side. It makes it easier.
On preparing for the draft and drafting specifically for the Rockies
Absolutely it’s taken into account — what we feel like will work here, what’s a little easier to adjust to. All of that’s taken into the evaluations, and Paul and Josh Byrnes have done, and Ian Levin, I should say, too, have done extensive work on that, and it’s been really helpful.
Going into the draft, (I was) very sick. I somehow caught some sort of virus, so for the majority of the draft, I was coughing and hacking, and people were sitting as far away from me as possible. But the draft is just about gaining as much information on players as possible. So constantly busy, constantly talking to the staff, finding out more information, using our analytics department to break down players, using our scouts to break down tools and makeup on these players. So it’s quite busy. It’s a lot of meetings, and it’s a lot of prep for basically a few days of the draft, but what I think are the most important days for the organization.
I ran the amateur department and made suggestions to both Josh and Paul on who our selections would be, but no one person runs a draft. You might have whatever title. It is a total team commitment from our area scouts to the to the cross checkers to the front office. But my day-to-day was to run the draft.
On initial impressions of the Rockies 2026 draft class
So far, so good. Obviously, we took Tyler Bell (No. 4 PuRP) knowing that he was not going to play for us this summer, and Daniel Jackson (No. 12 PuRP) just had a phenomenal start, and Jack Natili (No. 20 PuRP) really really played well. All of the prospects really hit all the benchmarks that we were looking for. Look, time will tell on all drafts. But (we’re) off to a really good start.
I was a junior college kid, and then I coached in junior college, so I just couldn’t seem to get enough of junior college. But how it formed me — I really think you don’t get the benefit of a lot of things that Division I teams get the perks. You have to really want to work in baseball if you’re coaching in a junior college or playing in a junior college. The game needs everything. So that part helped me I think in a lot of ways.
And also the ability to meet other people, as far as there were really smart people in this game, and coming from my background, I always felt a little bit inferior on an intellectual standpoint, and then realized, Wow, I can kind of talk to these people on a baseball level. And then it also provided me with the humbleness of, Wow, there’s a lot more I need to learn.
So I think that’s one of my bigger strengths: I’m not necessarily the smartest person in the room, so I need to listen to a lot of different voices.
On what he wishes people understood about scouting
Just how hard it is to make predictions because that’s what you really are (doing). You’re trying to predict the future, and you’re trying to do it with human beings, and it’s incredibly hard to do. And there’s a lot of failure in it, and you need to learn from that failure. And I think really good scouts learn from mistakes and become better each year and grow almost like an AI machine. That’s really what we’re doing. Why didn’t this work out? Why didn’t this player become what we thought they would be?
So I think you need tremendous resilience. Failure is going to happen. And what are you going to do the next year? And how are you going to get better? I think people think of it as fun. You get to go to games, and they don’t necessarily see the heartbreak in it all the time.
On how the player-development side of his job works
One of the major things in Paul and Josh’s vision is having more of a handoff. Once we draft the player. We just don’t send him to player development, and they’re shocked to learn like, “Oh, we have this player. What are his tools?” That should all be done prior to the draft. So we include player development while we’re drafting.
Nic Wilson, Matt Daniels — our hitting and pitching (coordinators) — they were involved in all our drafts. So when we drafted a player, they had already scouted that player. Part of my job is to make that transition a lot easier into professional baseball, and then working with Jesse (Stender) and Chris Forbes, try to make sure that these players are given every opportunity to really get better at their weaknesses and their strengths, and put together drill packages that are going to emphasize that. They’re pros, so I feel a ton of confidence in our play development.
On his favorite and least favorite parts of his job
Favorite part of my job? I tell you what it’s not. It’s not writing reports. That’s not my favorite.
I think once you get to the game and settle in, and the unraveling of a player and trying to discover what that player is going to be is probably the most enjoyable. Like you’re a detective, and you’re trying to peel this onion back. That’s probably my favorite part.
(My least favorite part is) travel. As I get older, it is hard to put up with delays on planes, rental car shuttles that don’t come. It is by far. I love the job. I’ll never not want to be at a baseball game or be involved in it. But getting there is a real pain in the neck.
On what he likes about working for the Rockies
The fans, how good they are to come out to games by far. I’ve worked in situations where if the team wasn’t playing particularly well, nobody came to the ballpark. So when you go there and you see the support, it’s really kind of special in professional sports what they have there.
Closing thoughts
I especially appreciated Tanous’ comments about drafting players and trying to predict what would and might not work for the Rockies.
Also, as a community college teacher, I really appreciated his comments on what he learned from studying at and coaching for a community college. Tanous is surrounded by Ivy Leaguers, and I respect how he respects what his background brings to his perspective.
