The Cubs took two of three from the Pirates after getting swept in Milwaukee and entering Monday’s action hold the top wild card spot by virtue of their tiebreaker over the Phillies. The Cubs’ magic number to clinch any postseason spot is now 8.
Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.
Three up
Alex Bregman continues his hot second half
The Cubs third baseman batted .400/.520/.700 (8-for-20) over the six games with three doubles, a home run, three walks and only one strikeout. He began getting hot two games before the All-Star break and over that 55-game span is batting .312/.391/.638 (68-for-218) with 17 doubles, 18 home runs, 49 RBI and 45 runs scored.
Busch didn’t start the first game at Milwaukee and pinch-hit, going 0-for-1. In the five games since then: .353/.429/.588 (6-for-17) with a double, a home run, three walks, six RBI and five runs scored.
It would be great to have Busch’s bat in the postseason as hot as it was last October, when he hit four home runs in eight games.
Pedro Ramirez broke out of his slump
In last week’s edition of this feature I noted that Ramirez was in an 0-for-18 slump.
He broke out of that this week by batting .250/.286/.650 (5-for-20). Not much of a batting average — but two of the five hits were home runs. He added two doubles and seven runs scored.
I’m going to give a cautious hat tip to Daniel Palencia, whose outing on Sunday was his best since returning from the injured list. He hit 100 miles per hour for the first time and got five whiffs among 18 pitches thrown. A healthy, productive Palencia would be a huge boost to the bullpen.
Three down
Ian Happ is slumping again
After hitting pretty well most of August, Happ is in a September slide.
Over the six games, he batted .083/.389/.083 (1-for-12). The OBP looks good due to seven walks drawn over the week. But Happ also left one game early due to what was reported as a foot issue and didn’t start the first game of the week in Milwaukee.
As is the case for many Cubs, a healthy and productive Happ would be a huge help in October.
Kevin Gausman, woof
Gausman has had several very good starts for the Cubs. His last one, last Wednesday against the Brewers, was not one of those. He allowed seven runs (six earned) in four innings and got taken deep three times. It was a bit surprising, as he had held the same Brewers to one run in seven innings just six days earlier at Wrigley Field.
His next start comes up Tuesday against the Braves. He’s made three starts at Wrigley since joining the Cubs. The other two (against the White Sox and Diamondbacks) were shaky. Hopefully, this upcoming start will be better than that.
Pete Crow-Armstrong had a quiet week
The presumptive National League MVP hit his 41st home run last Monday in Milwaukee.
In the five games since then PCA is batting just .150/.227/.150 (3-for-20) with seven strikeouts.
He does seem to go through stretches like this from time to time. It would be good for him and the team if he’d come out of it starting Monday against Atlanta. He’s four stolen bases away from a 40/40 season, which would be the seventh such year ever and first for a Cub.
DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 01: Troy Johnston #20 of the Colorado Rockies throws the ball prior to the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Tuesday, September 1, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Ray Bahner/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Good morning, Purple Rowers!
As a reminder, we are doing some experimenting with our morning article lineups over the next few days. Earlier this morning, you read Scaling the Rocks, which features news and links from both the Rockies as well as around baseball.
This is the Rockpile, which will continue to be our daily feature story.
And finally, in two hours you will be able to read the daily Pebble Report, featuring all of the minor league action from the previous day.
You’ll still get the same information, but it’ll be broken into smaller chunks instead of one long thread.
This is not something we’ll run regularly at this time, as we’re still in the experimentation phase, but we just wanted to make you aware.
Troy Johnston made his long-awaited MLB debut last season on July 29 for the Miami Marlins at age 29. He was drafted in the 17th round of the 2019 draft (501st overall) after playing three years at Gonzaga University, and journeyed through the Marlins’ minor league system, including 3.5 seasons in Triple-A Jacksonville from 2022-2025.
Johnston played 44 games with the Marlins in 2025 before being placed on waivers at the end of the season and claimed by the Rockies. Despite a torrid spring training that saw him hit .375/.438/.589 through 23 games, Johnston almost didn’t make the Opening Day roster. An injury to Tyler Freeman opened up the spot, and he has not looked back. But Johnston is enjoying his first full MLB season, and finding success as a ‘veteran rookie.’
“It’s a dream come true,” Johnston said.
“It’s hard to complain when you’re in the big leagues. I think about all the times I wanted to quit and I’m sitting in Triple-A or Double-A and I’m like, ‘This sucks. I hate hit. I’m just going to keep grinding it out.‘ But to be here in this locker room and get to live my dream everyday, it’s all worth it.”
He is also finding the balance of being a 29-year-old player who only has one year of service time — both leaning on his veteran baseball experiences and his new MLB player experiences.
“It’s a weird, slippery slope,” he said.
“Sometimes, I’ll take things too far, and then I won’t take things far enough, and I’ll step in when I need to and then I’ll stay back when I don’t. It’s kind of a part of knowing where my role is and trying to do my best to kind of read the room.
“And whatever the team needs me to do, I’m willing to do,” he continued, “whether that’s take control and do certain things (or if) they want me to stay back. (If) they want me to enforce certain things. I’m willing to do whatever they want. And for me, yeah I’m older and yeah I do have a year of service time but I’ve been around baseball enough. I kind of know how people work and how this game works.”
Johnston has found some success in Colorado, hitting .280/.350/.395 with 29 doubles, one triple, four homers and 48 RBI in 121 games. Up until the All-Star break, he was hitting .301, but a challenging July dipped his average from .313 on July 1st to .283 on July 31st. He had a hot August, though, slashing .319/.407/.511 through 17 games, but has had a cold start to September. In just six games in September, Johnston has gone 3-for-18 (.167) with one double, one RBI, one walk and seven strikeouts.
But he credits his overall success to hitting coach Brett Pill, and his unique approach to coaching.
“Pill and I talk about (a lot). A lot of the way that my brain works is that I don’t like to live, breathe, eat and, like, be baseball. Baseball is what I do, it’s not who I am,” he said. “I have a lot of (heavy) interests outside of baseball, and I really focus on those, and that helps me be a better baseball player because I’m not overindulging in the sport and overindulging what’s going on. I try to leave baseball at the field. I never bring it home, even in the mornings. That’s been a real key to the success that I’ve had in the past.”
Specifically, Johnston and Pill talk about golf and the similarities between a golf swing and a baseball swing.
“We talk about the way that long drivers work and the way that golfers use their bodies,” he continued, “because if you look at professional golfers, it’s very similar to the way that baseball players use their bodies. The only difference is that we use a little bit of momentum, or a little bit of a timing mechanism, and we have a moving target. They don’t, but at impact and at swing, they’re very, very similar, and I understand that very well. So Pill will talk to me quite a bit about golf swings and different things like that, and that really helps me click.”
He also credits his success to the team’s to manager Warren Schaeffer.
“He’s unbelievable. What a leader!” Johnston exclaimed. “I have nothing but good things to say about him. What an absolute leader! He cares so much about his players and so much about winning. It’s fresh, it’s new, I love it.
“It’s one of the special things you get in this game because there’s so many people that really, honestly, are there to progress in their own career and progress as a coach and they’re going to do what they need to (in order) to do that,” he continued. “But Schaeffer’s at the highest level, and all he wants to do is win and make sure that (we) as players have as much success as possible. And so to have a manager like that and have a coach like that, it’s just absolutely fantastic to have him as a leader.”
Johnston had some really early success, hitting .318 through 24 games in April. That also included his favorite play of the season.
“I had the go-ahead two-run double against the Dodgers (on April 18) and we ended up winning,” Johnston said. “It was off Will Klein. I think that’s one of my favorite memories from this year.”
His other favorite moment was his first homer as a Rockie, which came on March 30th in Toronto.
“I was 0-for-2 and looking for a certain pitch,” he recalled. “[The Blue Jays] brought in another guy, and I was like, ‘Alright, I”m going to look for a curveball here and do my best. And all of a sudden, [Spencer Miles] threw me a curveball!
“I hit it out, we took the lead, and after that we scored, like, 10. So it was awesome to be a part of that and cement myself in at least that win that day. But to help the team and do what they need me to do and have so much fun, that’s awesome.”
But Johnston has had success on the pitcher’s mound in 2026, as well.
“One of my favorite things was that I did get to pitch a little bit, and it was so much fun because I throw this little ‘air cutter’ that just kind of goes across the plate,” he laughed. “I don’t throw it very hard — I don’t throw hard in general — and so it’s fun to be able to kind of mess around and do that.”
“I didn’t realize how hard it is,” he said. “The strike zone is very, very small. And credit to every pitcher out there that can throw strikes like that. It’s absolutely incredible because when you’re at the plate, everything looks like a strike. And there’s some thing that never look like a strike. But when you’re up on the mound and you’re looking down, you’re like, ‘I don’t even know where the strike zone is.’ And I’m throwing it and I’m not getting calls and I’m like, ‘That looks like a strike from up here!’
“But it’s very difficult,” he said. “So all the kudos to all the pitchers out there that can throw strikes like that. It’s very impressive.”
But the biggest adjustment Johnston made in 2026 that he’s most proud of is taking care of his mental health.
“My mental approach to the game has been better this year than it has in years past, and I think that’s allowed me to play very free. I think that’s the thing I’m most proud of,” he said. “Numbers are going to come, numbers are going to go. Successes and failures are all part of the game. But I think I’ve stayed pretty level-headed and I’ve tried my best to know my mental capacity can only take so much. And so trying to out there and just be an actual human being and then come to the field and be a baseball player. That’s what I’m most proud of.”
There are only 13 games left in the season, and Johnston will be a free agent at the end of it. It’s hard to say what the future holds for him, but if nothing else, we’ll miss Johnston’s personality and knack for keeping things light in the clubhouse. Who knows — maybe we’ll see him in the broadcast booth in the near future.
But for now, enjoy some of this year’s Troy Johnston personality highlights:
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 02: Max Clark #15 of the Detroit Tigers bats during a game between the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers on September 2, 2026 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
When Kevin McGonigle was promoted to the Detroit Tigers Opening Day roster late in spring training, there was plenty of excitement, and despite a failure of a season from a team perspective, the rookie has been as good as advertised and still leads AL Rookie of the Year polling. The follow up question from many was when would Max Clark, the Tigers second best prospect, join his buddy in the big leagues. It took time, but the Tigers decision to give Clark plenty of Triple-A time this season has been vindicated by his all-around strong showing since his promotion back on July 31.
The Clark situation was a bit tricky to explain in May when the Tigers were busy getting their faces rubbed into the mud by just about anyone they faced. Apart from McGonigle himself, Clark was the best pure hitting prospect the Tigers have had in decades. His swinging strike rates of 6.3 percent at Double-A Erie and 5.4 in Triple-A were even a bit better than McGonigle’s numbers. On the other hand, Clark was still working on improving against left-handed pitching, and his route running and base stealing abilities were still predicated more on pure speed rather than technique. These were the areas the Tigers wanted him to improve on with manager Gary Jones and the Mud Hens’ staff, and he certainly did so. The time to refine his game got the 21-year-old well prepared for the major leagues, and the proof is in the numbers already.
Clark has played 39 games and now has 154 plate appearances, so he’s got a quarter of a regular season under his belt. He’s already been worth 1.2 fWAR, putting him pretty close to a 5 WAR pace. He’s hitting .274/.355/.444 with a 124 wRC+, meaning he’s been 24 percent better than a league average hitter’s run production. Along with three homers, three triples, and eight doubles, Clark also has five stolen bases now, and as he’s gotten more comfortable, the level of aggression on the basepaths is increasing. He’s also dropped some good bunts down, showing the versatility in his game, and has had really good success against left-handed pitching, all elements the Tigers wanted to see him develop this season.
Here are Clark’s slash lines in his splits.
RHP: .230/.316/.368 for a .684 OPS
LHP: .356/.420/.600 for a 1.020 OPS
This isn’t going to last. The wide disparity in splits and some struggles against right-handed pitching are going to even out. Clark is unlikely to buck the heavy weight of platoon splits and actually be better against left-handed pitching, but this is something he focused on improving this season, and he’s being rewarded right now.
Results based hitting statistics are treacherous at this early stage. There will likely be some ups and downs in his age 22 season next year. Still, evidence that Clark is already thriving at the major league level is found a little deeper. His 93.4 percent in-zone contact rate is outstanding, as is his 6.8 percent swinging strike rate. He is chasing more, with a 29.6 outside the zone swing percentage compared with 20.7 percent at Triple-A, but that’s still a decent mark and should improve. Generally hitters chase more in the bigs, but not quite to this degree, especially in a player who doesn’t swing and miss much, so the odds are very good that as Clark gets acclimated, he’ll do an even better job being selective.
Physically, the tools are as advertised. Clark has good bat speed at 73.4 mph average and basically average swing length, placing him just inside the top 75 qualified hitters in baseball in that regard. His average sprint speed to first is 28.6 feet per second, which is good though not great. However, his top line marks this season have been just outside of elite territory just shy of 30 feet per second. He’s hit one ball 111.3 mph for his top exit velocity of the year in Triple-A, putting him into plus raw power territory, although he doesn’t sell out for big swings often enough for that to matter too much. As with McGonigle, it’s more just about barrelling up more balls in the air, especially to the pull side, but 20 home run seasons in his prime still seem like a reasonable expectation even if we don’t see that for another 2-3 years.
Defensively, Clark has already been worth four Outs Above Average, with only 16 players this season collecting more OAA in center field. That’s despite the fact that Clark has only played a quarter of a season. This is a center fielder who should eventually challenge top dogs like Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ceddane Rafaela for the title of best in baseball.
Perhaps the element of Max Clark that is most important to his future success, and finally getting its due, is his baseball intelligence and absolute love for the game, in contrast to the accusations of hot doggery and immaturity leveled against him briefly after dropping a pair of high fly balls in the notorious spring skies down in Lakeland.
As anyone who followed Clark closely in high school and through the minor league knows, Clark is one of the most baseball obsessed players around, ready to give you a detailed scouting report on every notable player he’s competed against from memory. He breaks down at-bats, the finer details of defense and base stealing, like a successful 10-year veteran with an eye toward a future managerial career, and he has the communication skills to match. His teammates are happy to let him do the talking, because he’s very good at it, and as a result, they don’t have to say anything. A team leader is under development.
You can see him calculating his way through at-bats, learning when to use his time out to recalibrate, and when to use it to freeze a pitcher who is fighting his control. As he’s settled in, the mind games Clark is capable of playing, like feigning bunt to draw in the infield, or setting up one way in the box for the opposing catcher to see, and then adjusting slightly just as a pitcher goes into his delivery, or simply being a pest at first base to draw attention and throws from the pitcher, have become more prominent. He’s only going to get more comfortable and able to put his speed to work as he gets to know the league and settle in further as a bona vide big leaguer next year.
It was clear early on in his pro career that Clark was going to be a valuable player just on the basis of his speed, defense, and pure contact hitter abilities. That gave him a strong floor as a prospect, but just about everything else we hoped for is coming to fruition. His refinements defensively and in his base running have been impressive to watch unfold, but he’s also added strength and bat speed and now represents a fairly significant power threat to go with the ability to put the ball in play a lot and run. All the tools are in place for Max Clark to be an All-Star caliber player for years to come.
However, the real kicker always comes back to his competitive intensity and baseball intelligence. For all the flash, and his nickname is “Spark” after all, Clark is a true team player and leader, who just wants to win baseball games by any legal means necessary.
One series of moments in the weekend series sweep of the Colorado Rockies really brought this home. In the bottom of the fifth inning in Friday’s 6-2 victory, Clark fouled off a first pitch cutter from right-hander Mason Adams, and then watched as Adams fished for the outer edge of the plate away with the next three pitches. Clark might have expected a fastball up or a breaking ball down in a 1-2 count, but instead, Adams came back in under his hands with a 93 mph fastball, and Clark was not surprised. Instead he got to it and launched a game tying solo shot over the right field wall.
An inning later, he was on first base after getting hit by a pitch after Riley Greene and Dillon Dingler had powered the Tigers to a 4-1 lead. Recognizing that pitcher Nick Frasso was really struggling to locate and wasn’t paying much attention to anything else, Clark quickly stole second base, and then took third and then home on two more wild pitches from Frasso. The young rookie could’ve been forgiven if he bounced exuberantly into the dugout, feeling himself and enjoying the moment. Instead, he scored, gave thanks for a brief moment, and then went directly to Zach McKinstry in the on-deck circle to pass on some intel on Frasso.
A small moment, but an instructive one. Clark is always alert and thinking out there, trying to find those extra edges that lead to victory. This is why it’s so easy to believe that, whatever struggles may come, and they come for every player, Max Clark is going to survive them and thrive. He has all the baseball ability you could ask for in a player physically, speed, power, insane hand-eye coordination, agility, but the asset that will ensure he gets everything out of his raw ability is that intelligence and obsessive love for the game in all its detail and nuance.
Clark continues to move up in A.J. Hinch’s lineup hierarchy, now batting sixth quite a bit, but we all know what we’re looking at here. Max Clark is perfectly suited to be the Tigers’ leadoff hitter in 2027, and it would be nice to see Hinch turn the job over to him over the final two weeks and just let him run with it.
Either way, Max Clark is here to stay and is off to a very fine start to his major league career. His buddy Kevin may always outshine him a bit, but the Tigers now have an extremely dynamic duo to lead this team over the next decade. Hopefully an extension offer is in the works. As frustrating and miserable as the 2026 season has been at times, the arrival of the best prospect duo since Tram and Lou makes it a lot easier to bear. This season marks the end of a decent little run for the franchise, but it’s just the beginning for a young, athletic Tigers team now taking shape.
MIAMI, FL - SEPTEMBER 11: Los Angeles Dodgers Josue De Paula (95) smiles in the dugout after an interaction with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) in the dgugtou during the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Miami Marrlins on Friday, September 11, 2026 at LoanDepot Park in Miamim, FL (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
It was a real week of ups and downs for the Dodgers, who ran their season-best win streak to eight games before dropping two games in Miami, with a brutal Sunday loss that prevented what would have been a stellar week.
The Dodgers finally pulled the plug on Shohei Ohtani, placing the superstar on the injured list Friday after he aggravated his right biceps in his lone game on Monday. They played Freddie Freeman and designated hitter on Tuesday, then sat on Wednesday and Friday while dealing with a right knee injury. On the field, Freeman is hitless in his last 16 at-bats and has one hit in his last 26 at-bats, and was moving gingerly at first base on Sunday before a bad toss to covering pitcher Tanner Scott in the fateful ninth inning.
But the Dodgers also saw top prospect Josue De Paula not only make his major league debut, but thrive in doing so, reaching base six times in 11 at-bats, including his first major league home run and a double on Sunday.
In all, the Dodgers won four out of six games, and can clinch a postseason berth as early as Monday.
Batter of the week
Teoscar Hernández continued his stellar September with seven hits in 16 at-bats, tied for the team lead with six RBI, hit a home run and a triple, and even stole a base.
The offense was for the most part humming this week, with De Paula, Hernández, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Will Smith, and Kyle Tucker all posting an OPS over 1.000.
Pitcher of the week
Emmet Sheehan bookended the week with stellar starts. He allowed a run in 5 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts to beat the Reds on Monday after getting called back up from Triple-A. Then Sheehan on Sunday pitched six scoreless innings on Sunday.
Week 25 results
4-2 record 36 runs scored (6.00 per game) 18 runs allowed (3.00 per game) .780 pythagorean win percentage
Year to date
90-59 record 741 runs scored (4.97 per game) 571 runs allowed (3.83 per game) .617 pythagorean win percentage (92-57)
Welcome aboard: Top prospect Josue De Paula was called up directly from Double-A on Friday, and started all three games in Miami — two at designated hitter, then Sunday in left field. In his first game, De Paula reached base once in his four trips to the plate in his first game with a walk, the third Dodgers player to make their major league debut in 2026. De Paula joined first baseman/outfielder Ryan Ward (2 for 5, RBI on April 19 at Colorado) and catcher Eliezer Alfonzo (0 for 2 on July 5 vs. San Diego) in the Dodgers’ first-timer club this season.
Go90: Friday’s victory in Miami gave the Dodgers 90 wins on the season, something they’ve done every full season since 2013, excepting only the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign in which the team was 43-17. The Dodgers are the first team in MLB history to win 90 games for 13 full seasons in a row.
Monday: Emmet Sheehan was recalled from Triple-A, with Bobby Miller optioned the day after pitching three innings in relief.
Tuesday: Center fielder Alek Thomas cleared waivers and was sent outright to Oklahoma City.
Friday: Shohei Ohtani was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Tuesday, which opened up a lane of playing time for Josue De Paula’s first major league call-up. Left-hander Eric Lauer was moved to the 60-day IL, ending his season.
The Dodgers run the Eddie Milner gauntlet, finishing up the road trip with a series against the Cincinnati Reds for the second week in a row, followed by the San Francisco Giants in Los Angeles next weekend. The pitching matchups for the latter half of the week are a guess, as the Dodgers have TBA listed for the final two games in Cincinnati.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - MARCH, 1956: Infielder Jerry Coleman, of the New York Yankees, poses for an action portrait during Spring Training in March, 1956 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by: Diamond Images/Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
“Jerry Coleman, who was banging out base hits all over the green sod at Yankee Stadium last spring, helped today to knock out a rail bridge about twenty-five miles south of Sariwon in his first combat mission in Korea as a Marine air captain.” – The New York Times, February 1, 1953.
I’m highly skeptical that any ball player has had a cooler one-paragraph article in the NYT about them. But Coleman was a pretty fascinating guy with a rather cool history. When he wasn’t racking up World Series titles with the Yankees, he was flying combat in Korea. When his playing days ended, he ended up becoming one of the most famous and beloved broadcasters in the sport. Oh, doctor!
Name: Jerry Coleman Born: September 14, 1924 (San Jose, CA) Died: January 5, 2014 (La Jolla, CA) Yankees Tenure: 1949-1957
Two things happened in early 1942 that changed Jerry Coleman’s life. First, he attended a presentation about the US Navy’s flight training program and instantly decided he wanted to become a fighter pilot. Second, the Yankees offered him $2,800 to sign with the organization. Not yet 18 and therefore unable to join the Navy, Coleman signed on the dotted line and joined the Yankees.
Coleman eventually ended up flying in the Pacific theater, transferring stateside in summer of 1945 to train for an invasion of the Japanese islands. Japan, however, surrendered shortly after and Coleman was discharged in early 1946, allowing him to play baseball.
He made the Yankees out of spring training in 1949 and quickly inherited the second base job due to injury. From there, he was a mainstay in the Yankee lineup. And on the final day of the season, with the Red Sox and Yankees tied and playing for the pennant, the diminutive Coleman had a signature Yankee moment.
With New York up 2-0 on Boston in the home eighth, Coleman came to the plate with the bases loaded, facing Red Sox hurler Tex Hughson. Coleman swung at the first pitch and muscled a pop fly where neither the second baseman nor the right fielder could get it. He couldn’t have run the ball out there and placed it any better. All three runners scored, extending the Yankee lead to five. And those runs were huge, as the Red Sox scored three in the ninth before the Yanks put them away to clinch the pennant.
In that year’s World Series, the Yankees knocked off the Dodgers in five. Coleman, for his part, drove in four runs on the five hits, picking up the first of four World Series rings he’d win as a player. It was the first of three consecutive titles for Coleman, and the first of five straight for the ‘50s Yankees dynasty. Coleman was also recognized as the Associated Press choice for American League Rookie of the Year.
The next season was Coleman’s finest. He made the All-Star Game, the lone time he did that in his career. And in the World Series against Philadelphia, he drove in three of the Yankees’ 11 total runs, reached base six times in four games, and was named winner of the Babe Ruth Award, a still-active honor but the only such award in the days before the World Series MVP. Coleman walked off Game 3 with a single against Russ Meyer, plating Gene Woodling with the run that put the Yankees ahead 3-0 in a series they’d sweep.
The Korean War interrupted Coleman’s playing days as he was off to serve his country again. During that conflict, he flew 63 combat missions, in the process becoming the only major leaguer to have experienced aerial combat in two different wars. Coleman provided close air support and flew interdiction/strike missions. Though he returned to the Yankees for the 1955 season, he remained with the Marine Corps reserves until 1964, when he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Back in baseball, Coleman played three more seasons, ultimately retiring after the 1957 campaign. The effects of his wartime service, and injuries on the diamond, took their toll and Coleman was never the same player he’d been before heading to Korea.
But baseball was not done with him. The third and final act of his baseball career would be the longest, and the one for which he is best known. In 1960, he started broadcasting baseball games. From 1963-1970, he called Yankee games, though that ended when his wife expressed a desire to move to the West Coast. Coleman was, however, on the call when old friend Mickey Mantle clubbed the 500th homer of his Hall of Fame career.
From 1972 until his death in 2014 (with the exception of 1980 when he served as the Padres’ manager), Coleman broadcast San Diego games, where his signature lines “Hang a star on that one, baby!” and “Oh, doctor!” became well-known to baseball fans.
In the process, Coleman became one of the most beloved figures in baseball. In 2005, he was honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award for his achievements in broadcasting.
Coleman died in January 2014 at the age of 89, after suffering a fall. I’ll leave summing up his extraordinary life and career to C. Paul Rogers III, Coleman’s SABR biographer:
“He became a bona-fide war hero in two wars, had a baseball playing career that earned him Rookie of the Year and World Series MVP honors, and then transitioned into a Hall of Fame broadcasting career. Through it all, he remained a very humble man with a great sense of humor and an appreciation for his good fortune in surviving two wars and for his ability to play Major League Baseball. Jerry Coleman was not only a San Diego treasure, but an American treasure.”
Happy birthday, Jerry Coleman.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
Franklin Arias of the Portland Sea Dogs is present during a Minor League Baseball game at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, United States, on May 1, 2026. (Photo by Dan Squicciarini/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images
I’ve used the word “penultimate” seemingly endless times in the last month or so, so here’s one more. The WooSox capped off their finale in Lehigh Valley (Phillies AAA), finishing the PENULTIMATE series of 2026 in dramatic fashion despite outplaying the IronPigs for most of the game. Gage Ziehl had a gritty if not spectacular performance, pitching into the sixth and coming back from being taken yard in the fourth without his confidence shaken. All told, the 23-year-old righty struck out eight to bring his total to 126 in 116 innings pitched (96/85, respectively, of those being in Portland) and is really shaping up into someone to watch in 2027. The pitching staff as a whole issued zero walks despite being taken for nine hits, but the game never looked out of control save for when Noah Song came in to let two runs up in the sixth.
Luckily, though, the WooSox offense had a home run derby, sending five over the fence, including two from Allan Castro. That second one hoisted the WooSox from a deficit to a lead that Sam McWilliams wouldn’t give up. Arias also hit his 24th home run of the season (and his 5th in Triple-A.)
Portland: Cancelled (rain), end of season
Rain cancelled the last game of the season against Binghamton (Mets AA) in an anticlimactic fashion. But what a season it was for the Sea Dogs.
The season began with interested eyes watching Franklin Arias become an absolute hitting machine in the spring, along with Anthony Eyannson dealing, only for the former to be promoted to Triple-A and the latter dealt to Baltimore (or rather, Chesapeake) in the Adley Rutschman deal. Still, Brooks Brannon raked, the team had 8 walk-off wins and generally found ways to come up on top. The pitching staff headed by Hayden Mullins, in his own right a guy to watch, pitched a combined no hitter in April (but not a shutout). And Justin Gonzales looks formidable as an everyday outfielder a few years in the future. Overall, the cupboard is not as fully stocked as some teams, but there’s some players to feel good about starting to make their mark in the mid-levels of the farm.
Baseball: Toronto Blue Jays Tony Fernandez (1) in action, making tag vs Baltimore Orioles Alan Wiggins (2). Baltimore, MD 6/12/1987 CREDIT: Jerry Wachter (Photo by Jerry Wachter /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X34961 TK1 )
39 Years Ago
The Blue Jays defeated the Orioles 18-3, powered by an incredible ten home runs. Ernie Whitt accounted for three of those blasts. I was always a fan of Whitt—his left-handed, all-out pull swing was a thing of beauty. He often finished with his left knee on the ground, a move I tried to imitate without success. I still wonder how he managed to track the ball with his head dropping like that, but somehow, Ernie made it work.
The Jays scored:
Five runs in the second inning: Whitt led off with a home run. Jesse Barfield doubled, and Rance Mulliniks followed with another homer. After Fred McGriff struck out and Willie Upshaw grounded out, Nelson Liriano walked, and Lloyd Moseby capped the inning with a two-run homer.
Two more came in the third when George Bell and Rance Mulliniks each hit solo home runs.
In the fourth, Liriano walked, advanced to second on a Moseby groundout, and scored on a Tony Fernandez single.
In the fifth, Whitt led off with another home run.
In the sixth, Bell hit his 45th home run of the season—he would finish the year with 47 homers, 134 RBI, and the AL MVP award.
The Jays exploded for seven runs in the seventh: Barfield singled but was erased on a Kelly Gruber double play. McGriff walked, Upshaw singled, and Liriano drove in a run with an RBI single. Rob Ducey followed with a three-run homer—one of just 31 in his career. Manuel Lee and Lou Thornton each singled, with Thornton collecting one of his 22 career hits. Whitt then capped the inning with his third home run of the game, another three-run blast (his 17th of the season).
In the eighth, McGriff led off with a solo home run.
That team featured plenty of great players, including a future Hall of Famer.
On the pitching side, Jim Clancy got the start. He finished the season 15-11 with a 3.54 ERA across 37 starts, throwing 241.1 innings and recording five complete games (74 in his career). This was his last standout year as a starter at age 31—those innings eventually took their toll. Clancy later signed with the Astros as a free agent before the 1989 season and transitioned to the bullpen.
Interestingly, Mark Eichhorn and Tom Henke pitched the eighth and ninth innings. Henke hadn’t pitched in five days, while Eichhorn had worked the previous day.
The win brought the Jays to 86-57, tying them with the Tigers for first place in the AL East. As for how the season ended—let’s just leave that unsaid.
Four Years Ago
Vladimir Guerrero hit his 100th home run. The Jays won the game, 5-1 over the Mariners. The win put the Jays a half game up on Mariners and a game and a half up on the Rays. All three would end up in a Wild Card spot.
Eli Willits of the Wilmington Blue Rocks reacts during a Minor League Baseball game at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, United States, on July 19, 2026. (Photo by Dan Squicciarini/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images
Eli Willits has made his primary goal crystal clear ever since he joined the Nationals organization. He wants to be a big leaguer by the time he is 20 years old. For most players, that is a pipe dream. However, Eli Willits is not most players and he made that very obvious this season.
The 18 year old just finished his first professional season in style. Willits got promoted to Double-A for the last week of the season. While he only got to play three games, the last one was legendary. Willits had a four hit game which included his first AA home run and two stolen bases. It was an amazing final act to a wonderful season.
With Willits finishing the season in AA, he is putting himself in position to make a debut late in 2027. Despite being such a young player, Willits is remarkably polished. This comes from being the son of a big leaguer and being obsessed with the game ever since he could walk.
When I talked to Willits earlier this season, it was very clear that three things truly mattered to him. Eli Willits is all about family, faith and baseball. You will be hard pressed to find a more business-like 18 year old out there. As Willits put it, he grew up in an MLB clubhouse and it is easy to see that.
That baseball IQ manifests itself on the field. When I watched Willits for the first time in Low-A, the thing that stuck out to me most was how natural he looked. Willits looked like a big league caliber defender at shortstop already. While many young shortstops, even the defensively gifted ones make a lot of errors, Willits is already so secure. He only made 8 errors all season as an 18 year old.
Those instincts also show up on the bases, where Willits is an absolute mad man. He absolutely loves to steal bases and creates havoc out there. For the season, Willits stole a jaw dropping 62 bases across three levels. He did get caught 15 times, but with a success rate around 80%, his aggressiveness was worth it.
When the Nats drafted Willits first overall, we knew that speed and defense were part of his game. Those have been there and are even better than expected. We also expected Willits to have a great hit tool, and that has mostly been the case as well. His contact rates were more solid than spectacular, but you have to account for just how young he is.
With his hit tool being good rather than elite, Willits needed to show more power and plate discipline. This season, the plate discipline has been absolutely elite. Even when he was facing big league arms in Spring Training, you could see how outstanding his approach was. That held up throughout the season.
In 114 games, Willits walked 95 times. His walk rate of 17.7% is absolutely phenomenal, especially for such a young hitter. Willits rarely chased while also swinging at pitches in the zone when he saw them. Plate discipline will be Willits’ best offensive trait in my opinion.
Entering the season, Willits’ biggest concern was his power. He was not known for his pop as an amateur and he did not show much thump in his brief 2025 debut. However, he looked noticeably stronger this year and that showed up with a big power surge. Willits hit 14 homers on the season, including a no-doubter in his last game of the season.
MLB's No. 4 prospect Eli Willits launched his first Double-A home run 💪
The Nationals prospect has 14 HR and 62 SB across three Minor League levels this season! pic.twitter.com/uNHxMA37YK
Seeing power develop this quickly for Willits is a great sign. If he can be a 15-20 home run guy at the big league level, he will be one of the most well-rounded players in the sport. The glove at shortstop is elite, his speed is outstanding and he knows how to hit. Power was supposed to be the final piece, but it is coming.
It is worth noting that power was way up across the board in the minors this year and folks are theorizing that the ball was juiced. That may have turned a 10 homer season into a 14 homer campaign. However, even a 10 homer season would be a big step in the right direction for Willits. He also had 27 doubles and 8 triples. In the long run, I think Willits will be a player who racks up a ton of those.
For the season, Eli Willits hit .265 with a .406 OBP and .869 OPS across three levels. He looked like a number 1 pick and has established himself as a top 10 prospect in the sport. At the time, some suggested that Willits was a reach and a money saver as a first overall pick. This season he sure looked like a blue chip prospect.
The way he ended his season was also special. With a 4 hit game in AA, he joined some special company. Fernando Tatis Jr., Jesus Made and Bryce Harper are among the exclusive group of 18 year olds to have a 4 hit game in AA. You have to be a special talent to be successful in Double-A at such a young age.
Fernando Tatis Jr., Jesús Made, Leo De Vries … Eli Willits.
It is even more special for an American born player to do this because of how the draft works. Willits and Harper are the only Americans to do this. Latin American players sign at 16, so you will see some of the elite ones get to AA at 18. However, it is much more rare to see a US born player accomplish this.
Harper and Willits were both special talents who reclassified and were drafted as 17 year olds. That combination of rare talent and circumstance puts Willits in this group. You just don’t see many 18 year olds in AA, especially ones who are in their first full year as a pro.
Eli Willits is different though. You can see that when watching him play and I got to experience it when talking to him in Wilmington. This is just a gifted and driven individual who is obsessed with baseball. He is a quiet young man, but he is supremely confident.
He said he wanted to be in the big leagues by the time he turned 20 because he knew it was possible. For most professional baseball players that is not a realistic goal. However, Eli Willits is not most professional baseball players and we saw that in his first full year as a pro.
Apr 19, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Baltimore Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso (25) walks to the dugout after striking out during the fourth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The New York Mets (69-80) welcome the Baltimore Orioles (72-78) to Citi Field for a three-game series starting this evening. The Mets are coming off a 1-2 Subway Series with the Yankees, which saw two relatively competitive games go the Yankees’ way, and an absolute rout of a dub for the Mets.
The Yankees are a playoff team and they have the likely American League Cy Young winner as their ace, so it isn’t exactly a shocker that the Mets dropped two of three, but it was the way they dropped them that was bothersome. On Friday night, Nolan McLean had a tough outing, Juan Soto let what should’ve been a fairly easy fly ball drop in front of him leading to a run scoring, and the entire game was a frustrating mix of mini-comebacks and poor moments that seemed avoidable.
Losing 2-0 to Cam Schlittler isn’t anything to be ashamed of, but it was the absolute lack of any offense against the Yankees bullpen that was so frustrating, especially because the Mets had done so well against them in the first two games. I know their bullpen overall has been excellent this year, but for a team that has been clicking offensively to get three hit with no real scoring opportunities was frustrating.
Speaking of frustrating, get ready for three straight days of arguments about Pete Alonso. It’s hard to have an Alonso take that is unique at this point, and it seems just as rare to have one that doesn’t get shouted at folks who disagree with you. My take is fairly simple: while I do think his skillset ages more poorly than others, he meant enough for the Mets that they should’ve tried harder to retain him. I miss rooting for Alonso each night, and his bat would certainly have helped during the offensively challenged periods earlier this season.
Alonso and Francisco Lindor are both one home run away from career #300, and it would very cool to see them do it in the same game, and it would be nice for Pete to be able to celebrate the milestone with the fans who were there for the majority of those home runs.
As for the rest of his Orioles teammates, they’re in a bit of a rough spot. They’re in last place in the AL East, but only four games out of a Wild Card spot, but there are two teams between them and the final spot, currently occupied by the Guardians. They’re 3-7 over their last ten games, and every team ahead of them in the WC standings has been at least .500 over that stretch. They simply need to be playing better to have any chance at a playoff push, and while they’re not exactly running into a juggernaut, the Mets have been solid in the second half and might not be the pushovers that Baltimore hopes they’ll be.
Monday, September 14: Jonah Tong vs Brandon Young, 7:10pm EDT on SNY
In Tong’s sole start since his most recent call up, he went five innings, giving up four earned runs on four hits and one walk, while striking out seven. He had a very rough second inning where he gave up a a single, a walk, a triple, and a home run, but in every other inning he gave up just one hit and generally kept Miami off-balance. While his stock has fallen since his debut last season, Tong is starting to look more like a pitcher who can work around some adversity and keep his team in the game.
This season is going much, much better for Young than his rookie campaign did. He’s been hovering around a 3.5 ERA for the better part of the year, and he’s averaging decent length in his starts. However, his last start was a really messy one; he didn’t make it out of the fourht inning, gave up six runs on eight hits and two walks in a loss to Cleveland.
Tuesday, September 15: Sean Manaea vs Shane Baz, 7:10pm EDT on SNY
It has been a weird year for Manaea, who started the year looking like a candidate to be designated for assignment, then looked like he belonged here, and is now maybe looking like a DFA candidate again. Over his last five starts, he’s given up at least four earned runs and he only made it into the seventh inning once. It’s hard to tell exactly what is left in Manaea’s tank at this point in the season, and this point in his career.
Baz had his worst start of the second half last week against the Guardians, where he couldn’t finish the sixth inning, gave up two home runs en route to giving up five earned runs. But overall, he’s been solid, if unspectacular, for Baltimore this season. He’s had just three starts where he hasn’t gone five innings and his walk and home run rates are both down from his career norms. He’s striking out fewer batters than you’d like, but with the other metrics in consideration, it’s hard to be too upset about his performance.
Wednesday, September 16: Robert Stock vs Chris Bassitt, 7:10pm EDT on SNY
The Bob Stock feel-good story is still going, despite all evidence suggesting that this was never a good idea. Aside from his one disaster appearance against the Brewers, Stock has been reliably solid, even if he’s not going deep or doing a ton to impress in terms of actual stuff. But he’s making the absolute most of what he’s left with at this point in his career, and what more could we ask for?
Old friend Chris Bassitt had one of his best ever seasons with the Mets in 2022, but he’s coming back to Queens a very different pitcher. Bassitt is older, wilder, less effective, and generally just not the player he was last season, let alone four years ago. It is hard to say because I really enjoyed watching Bassitt pitch, but this might be a very, very ugly game to watch on both sides.
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JUNE 29: JJ Picollo General Manager of the Kansas City Royals talks with John Sherman Chairman and CEO of the Kansas City Royals prior to a game Kauffman Stadium on June 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) | Getty Images
This season has not gone as the Royals had hoped. After back-to-back winning seasons, the front office was hoping to return to the formula that led them to a postseason appearances in 2024. But the offense started off cold, the bullpen blew many early leads, and injuries buried any hope the team could climb out of their hole.
There will be a lot of pressure for the Royals to turn their fortunes around next year. Fans are upset this season turned out so badly, and the organization is facing additional backlash for trying to circumvent a public vote on their downtown baseball project. Looming over this offseason is the possibility of a work stoppage that could result in missed games. And if things are resolved, the financial state of the game could look much differently, with owners adamant about implementing a salary cap.
Royals payrolls since 2020, the pandemic-shortened season, have increased under the Sherman ownership team, aside from in 2023 when spending remained flat.
So what does the salary situation look like for 2027? The Royals have already parted ways with Kris Bubic, Lane Thomas, Starling Marte, Matt Strahm, and John Schreiber, all of whom were impending free agents this upcoming offseason. Jonathan India and Craig Kimbrel are also free agents, and the Royals seem very likely to decline the $13 million club option on Carlos Estévez and pay his $2 million buyout after he missed nearly the entire season with an injury.
Salvador Perez will be under the last year of the two-year, $25 million contract extension he signed after the 2025 season. The deal pays him a $9 million salary in 2027, although $2.5 million of it is deferred until 2032. Spotrac has his 2027 number at $12.5 million, reflecting the contract’s $12.5 million average annual value for Luxury Tax purposes. In terms of actual cash paid in 2027, however, the Royals will owe Perez just $6.5 million of his salary, with the remaining $2.5 million coming later, plus a deferred $7 million signing bonus that isn’t paid until 2030.
So here are the amounts the Royals will pay players under contract for next year.
Seth Lugo $21.5 million
Bobby Witt Jr. $20.111 million
Michael Wacha $14 million
Cole Ragans $7.583 million
Maikel Garcia $7.26 million
Vinnie Pasquantino $6.9 million
Salvador Perez $6.5 million
Those seven players total $85.854 million in salary, plus the $2 million buyout for Estévez. The team has a $6 million club option on Randy Dobnak with a $1 million buyout. With his emergence this year and their need for pitching depth, it seems likely that would get picked up. The Royals also have a $2.5 million club option on Tony Gonsolin which is likely to get picked up. That puts us at $96.3 million.
The Royals have eight players eligible for salary arbitration under the current rules (which may be changed in the next collective bargaining agreement): Lucas Erceg, Kyle Isbel, Alex Lange, Daniel Lynch IV, James McArthur, Nick Mears, Alec Marsh, and Michael Massey.
Considering their injury histories, McArthur and Marsh each seem like a good bet to be non-tendered, although I would expect the Royals to make an effort to retain them on minor league deals. Alex Lange had mixed results, Nick Mears was largely hurt, and Lucas Erceg ended up being demoted so there should be a decision to be made on each of them. But the cost for each of them likely won’t be high and the Royals are not in a position to shed bullpen depth. I would not expect more than $1.6 million as a salary for any of them should they be retained.
Lynch will be tendered a deal for his second year of arbitration, which should earn him a salary around $2 million. Michael Massey will be eligible for the second time, and is probably looking at a deal close to $3 million, while Kyle Isbel could earn $4 to $4.5 million in his final year of arbitration.
The Royals tend to hang onto “close call” arbitration cases, so let’s say these players are all retained for just under $15 million combined. That puts them at just under $111 million in contractual obligations for 15 players.
The remaining 11 players on the roster at near the league minimum will collectively earn around $9 million, so that’s $120 million.
“We’re freeing up some money that I think we can invest,” he said in an interview in August. “We have our payroll that I think is probably at the highest sustained level as the Royals maybe ever have had, right? And it didn’t work out this year, and that’s frustrating. But it doesn’t take away from what we want to accomplish here. We want to win. We want to win now. We think that our division is still there for the taking.”
That would give roughly $20 million for Picollo to match this year’s payroll, potentially more if they continue to increase payroll as they have in each of the last three seasons. The Royals need major upgrades to the bullpen, although Sherman dismissed the thought of spending a lot in that area, suggesting they could “cobble” together a solution.
This winter’s free agent class is very heavy on starting pitching, not an area the Royals particularly need to address. There are some bats the team could pursue like Gleyber Torres, Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Randy Arozarena, Taylor Ward, Luis Arraez, or Brandon Lowe, although the depth falls off pretty quickly. The Royals could also wait out the market and pivot to scoop up bargains late, as they did in February of 2025 when they signed Estévez after failing to land a bat.
How would you address this offseason? Can the Royals make the changes needed to get this team back to contention?
Note: The original article omitted Randy Dobnak, Tony Gonsolin, and Craig Kimbrel. The article has been revised to include them.
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 13: J.T. Realmuto #10 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates hitting a two-run home run in the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on September 13, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jack Casey/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
A 3-4 week for the Phillies isn’t horrible considering the competition they had, but the general tenor that is surrounding the team right now isn’t that great. They should have done more against both the Astros and Braves, yet several blown games really has left a sour taste.
Three up
J.T. Realmuto – Yes, the team still needs him to play less. This has been his worst season of his career, maybe because he’s wearing down, maybe he’s just not that good anymore, maybe he’s just an older catcher seeing Father Time get closer in the rearview mirror. His week this reminded us that when he was right, Realmuto was the best catcher in baseball and it really wasn’t close for a time.
Jesus Luzardo – A complete game shutout? In this baseball economy? Sure, the shoulder pain he’s having right now is probably a result of his pushing to get that shutout, but Luzardo has truly elevated himself to be discussed among the top starting pitchers in the game right now. We’ll all hold our breath to make sure he’s actually alright for the final two weeks, but let’s just pause and appreciate the game he pitched this past week. He really is an ace now.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ – I really wanted to give the third spot here to Justin Crawford since his overall numbers for the week were pretty good, but do you really remember him being that good? I thought about Trea Turner, but his feeble attempt at an at bat during the extra innings loss to Atlanta has stuck with me these past few days. Kyle Schwarber had a grand slam, but he has largely stunk of late. Some of the bullpen guys have actually been pretty good, but three innings deserves a spot here? Eh. Let’s just leave it as an “I don’t know” for now.
Three down
Luis Arraez – It seems that whatever bloom was on the Arraez rose trade has officially fallen off. This wasn’t a good week for the second baseman (.222/.276/.259 over 29 PA), but it was more about the lack of clutchness that he was exuding more than anything. He’s simply not a cleanup hitter, no matter what the lineup card may say. He has not truly demonstrated the ability to drive runs in on a consistent basis and his being miscast as someone who does is costing the Phillies runs. They don’t really have someone that can do the job in the classic sense of the term, so this is basically what they’re going with for now. A change may need to be made.
Brandon Marsh – You could point to this week as an example of his not being that good, but it’s the splits that truly tell the story.
1st half: .301/.339/.490 in 363 PA
2nd half: .184/.244/.247 in 173 PA
He’s just been all around bad, this week a classic example of that.
Brooks Raley – You know when people are actually fine with Tanner Banks being back as a left handed option out of the bullpen, things have taken a turn. Raley has generally disappointed since his trade from the Mets. This week, he had multiple shots to redeem himself, yet struggled on Friday and Saturday evening, giving up crucial runs when the team needed a stop. One has to wonder if he’s on a (potential) playoff roster.
With 12 games left in the season, Jacob Milham and Jeremy Greco are counting down the games until the Kansas City Royals’ season ends amid a much-needed offseason overhaul.
Carter Jensen is the centerpiece of the on-field conversation after tying the Royals rookie home run record and climbing historic rookie leaderboards in extra-base hits, doubles, RBI, walks, and caught-stealing rate. He may not win AL Rookie of the Year, but Jacob and Jeremy make a real case for him as a catcher Silver Slugger contender. Bobby Witt Jr.’s pursuit of a 20-40 season keeps the MVP conversation alive, and a quick thought experiment considers whether a Padres roster crunch could open the door to a Freddie Fermin reunion.
The bullpen evaluation dominates the back half of the episode, with the hosts sorting the current arms into keep, depth, or move-on buckets. Steven Cruz and Nate Pearson both earn real support as 2027 pieces based on improved strikeout-minus-walk profiles, while Craig Kimbrel, Alex Lange, Anthony Gose, Jose Cuas, and Easton McGee are all scrutinized as possible non-tender or depth-only candidates. Connor Thomas and Nolan Hoffman emerge as pleasant surprises, drawing praise for strike-throwing and ground-ball rates.
The rotation discussion turns urgent quickly. Noah Cameron looks like the likely Opening Day starter, while Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Randy Dobnak, and Daniel Lynch IV are sorted into very different tiers of trust. Jacob and Jeremy stress that the Royals need multiple starting pitchers before a likely December lockout compresses the free-agent market, and the front office may have no choice but to move fast and overpay this winter.
On the farm, Quad Cities and standout left-hander Kendricho draw praise, LP Longavin’s strikeout totals are turning heads as a future Northwest Arkansas arm, and Carson Roccaforte is putting together a 30-30 season in Omaha.
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PHOENIX, ARIZONA - SEPTEMBER 13: Corey Seager #5 of the Texas Rangers celebrates with Justin Foscue #14 after hitting a two run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Chase Field on September 13, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On September 14, 2026, the Texas Rangers begin the day a game back of the Houston Astros in the American League West, two games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the battle for the third Wild Card spot, and a game behind the Toronto Blue Jays. Texas had played 150 games, and had 12 games left over the final two weeks to determine whether they will make the playoffs. Fangraphs gave the Rangers a 30.3% chance of making the playoffs.
On September 14, 2025, the Texas Rangers ended the day three games back of the Seattle Mariners in the American League West, and two games back of the Houston Astros for the third Wild Card spot, a half-game up on the Cleveland Guardians for that spot. Texas has played 105 games, and has 12 games left over the final two weeks to determine whether they will make the playoffs. Fangraphs gives the Rangers a 31.3% chance of making the playoffs.
So much has changed. And yet, so much is still the same.
In 2025, the Rangers started the penultimate week of the season with a three game set in Houston, having just taken two of three in New York against the Mets to raise their record to 79-71. It was part of an improbable run after the team had been wracked with injuries and left for dead in mid-August.
In 2026, the Rangers return home for nine straight games at the Shed, beginning with three against the Boston Red Sox, having spent the last month or two generally hovering a game or two under .500.
The 2026 Texas Rangers have a worse record than last year’s version, but unlike the 2025 team, they aren’t running with a patchwork, duct-taped roster. Here’s the starting lineup the Rangers rolled with in their opener in Houston last year:
Smith — SS
Langford — CF
Pederson — DH
Burger — 1B
Garcia — RF
Osuna — LF
Jung — 3B
Heim — C
Moore — 2B
Cody Freeman, Kyle Higashioka, Michael Helman, Rowdy Tellez, and Ezequiel Duran entered the game off the bench. Jack Leiter started, with Jacob Webb and Carl Edwards, Jr. appearing out of the pen.
The Rangers, as you may recall, were swept by the Astros, then were swept at home by the Miami Marlins, pretty much putting a stake into their playoff hopes.
And here we are a year later, with the Rangers back in much the same place, fighting to stay in the playoff hunt, trying to keep their hopes afloat down the home stretch, facing a Boston team that has pretty much clinched a playoff spot, followed by a Toronto team they are battling in the playoff race.
History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes. Hopefully this time around, it results in a better outcome.
BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 13: Pitcher Payton Tolle #70 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates the final out of the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park on September 13, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Poor Baltimore. The only AL East team to lose Sunday and it was in no small part because they were playing a divisional foe. The rest of the division, led of course by Cam Schlittler’s gem for the Yankees, all put notches in the win column.
Meanwhile, the rest of the AL continues to gravitate to the mushy middle. With the White Sox’s loss Sunday, they drop a mere three games above .500 leading the AL Central. The Astros, despite getting swept this weekend in Tampa, hold down the top spot in the West with a perfectly cromulent .500 record.
Tampa Bay Rays (90-59) 14, Houston Astros (75-75) 4
Sigh. The Houston Astros can’t do anything right. After losing Friday and Saturday to Tampa in nail biters, Houston evidently decided to take the suspense out of it and let the Rays put two touchdowns on them in honor of opening Sunday of NFL season. Tampa attacked early and often, scoring in four of the first five frames, giving themselves an 11-0 lead before the Astros got off the schneid.
It was a very balanced attack from the Rays Sunday as well. Every starter either scored or drove in a run, with six of the nine ending the day with at least one ribbie and eight of nine stepping on home plate at least once. Former Yankee farmhand Hayden Wesneski was on the receiving end of the onslaught, giving up seven runs (four unearned thanks to an error) in just three innings of work.
Other Games
Boston Red Sox (82-68) 4, Kansas City Royals (66-84) 1: It’s a good thing the AL East is representing these days, because the rest of the Junior Circuit… woof. The Red Sox sit third in the division, 14 games over .500. Only two AL teams outside the East are above .500 at all. Sunday, Roman Anthony broke a 1-1 tie with a single in the seventh. Trevor Story provided the insurance in the eighth with a two-run single of his own and Boston held on to take down an AL also-ran.
Chicago White Sox (76-73) 1, St. Louis Cardinals (74-76) 3: Imagine getting called up from Triple-A, taking a perfect game into the sixth, and… losing. Such was David Sandlin’s fate for Chicago today. Sandlin was perfect through 5.1 innings. Then, a pair of singles and an error loaded the bases for Alec Burleson. His 36th double of the season cleared them all and gave the Cards a lead they never surrendered.
Cleveland Guardians (76-74) 9, Minnesota Twins (70-79) 2: And while Chicago was losing, Cleveland was notching a win to move within half a game in the AL Central. Power powered the Guardians for a change, as they clubbed three dingers Sunday. And in a small miracle, Tanner Bibee was on the hill for a win for a change. Sunday’s outing gives him six to go with his 15 losses.
Toronto Blue Jays (75-75) 8, Baltimore Orioles (72-78) 1: Canada’s long national nightmare has ended. The $500 million man, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. has finally homered this season at home. Incredibly, it took 149+ games for the franchise player to put one in the seats in Toronto. Also of note, Dylan Cease put together another solid start as he continues to at least make the AL Cy Young Award race a conversation.
Texas Rangers (74-76) 7, Arizona Diamondbacks (79-71) 6: The Rangers took advantage of Houston’s loss Sunday. They scored five runs in the middle innings, just enough for the win, as Arizona scored twice in the ninth to get within one and brought the winning run to the plate. Corey Seager led the way for Texas, launching a majestic 458-foot bomb.
HOOVER, AL - MAY 20:Missouri infielder Kam Durnin (27) hits a home run during the SEC Baseball Tournament game between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Missouri Tigers on May 20, 2026, at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama.(Photo by Jason Homan/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below. Check out the previous day’s recap here.
AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (72-71) won 5-0 (BOX SCORE)
Weiss started for Sugar Land and pitched well tossing 5 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts. The offense got on the board in the 6th inning scoring 5 runs on a Spence RBI single, Schiavone hit by pitch, Delgado walk and Ferreras 2 run single. The pen was really good tossing 4 scoreless innings as they closed out the 5-0 win for Sugar Land.
Ryan Weiss, RHP: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Nic Swanson, RHP: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
Logan VanWey, RHP: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Kai-Wei Teng, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Roddery Munoz, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (62-76) lost 6-5 (BOX SCORE)
The Hooks got on the board in the 2nd inning scoring 4 runs on a Moss 2 run double and Bush 2 run single. They got another run in the 5th inning on a Whitaker RBI double. Dombroski got the start and pitched well tossing 6 scoreless innings allowing just one hit. Marrero struggled in relief allowing 6 runs and the offense was unable to respond as the Hooks fell 6-5.
Railin Perez, RHP: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, o ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Ramsey David, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
A+: Asheville Tourists (43-87) SEASON OVER
A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (1-0) won 14-4 (BOX SCORE)
The Woodpeckers got on the board in the first inning scoring a run on a wild pitch. In the 2nd inning, the offense blew the game open scoring 10 runs on a Tryon solo home run, Flores RBI double, Piasecki RBI single, Alvarez 2 run single, Luciano sac fly, Galloway walk, Flores sac fly, Piasecki RBI single and Hughes RBI single. Weber started for the Woodpeckers and went 4.2 innings allowing 2 runs. The offense added 3 more runs in the 6th inning on a Piasecki RBI double and Durnin 2 run home run. The pen allowed 2 runs late but held on as the Woodpeckers won game one 14-4.
Note: Woodpeckers are one win away from a Carolina League Championship!
