Sep 29, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley (27) reacts after hitting a three run home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the eighth inning during game one of the Wildcard round for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
No one needed a clean slate more than Austin Riley.
In what has been a gradual fall-off since his three straight top-10 NL MVP finishes from 2021-23, the Braves third baseman bottomed out this season. Not only was the power still diminished —a third straight season with less than 20 homers after he hit a combined 108 over the prior three seasons — but the average took a nose dive to a career-worst .219, a 41-point decline from last season.
In year four of a 10-year, $212 million contract, Riley hit sixth (32 games), seventh (40) and eighth (35) comfortably more times than he hit fourth (22) in the Braves batting order.
His Statcast profile was, frankly, a mess.
But the months of frustration that Riley has drawn from the Braves fanbase may have evaporated in a matter of seconds during Atlanta’s postseason opener
Because if one swing can negate a season’s body of work, Riley accomplished that when he jumped on a 100-mph fastball from Jhoan Duran and took it over the right-center field fence at Truist Park to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s Game 1 NL wild-card series win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
“Man, it felt good, no doubt. Just trying to get something over the plate. Duran is a really good pitcher. He’s got some really good stuff,” Riley said after the game. “For me, it’s like, you try to just get something to push it out a little bit and I was able to and put a good swing on it. I felt really good.
“Everybody knows kind of how my season went, not the way I wanted it to. But that’s the beauty of the postseason. You kind of get a clean slate and go out there and try to do something for the boys and for this city. It’s definitely a good start.”
Chris Sale may have better summed up Braves Country’s reaction to the moment.
“I don’t think I’ve screamed that loud in a very long time,“ Sale quipped.
Braves manager Walt Weiss said he remained confident through Riley’s season-long struggles that he would find his form of old, when he was a rising star who seemed poised to be a face of the franchise for years to come.
It happened in moments but Riley never had a batting average better than .264 in any month.
“I think throughout the season, I always felt like virtually every time he got in the box, this is when it’s going to turn around,” Weiss said. “At times, it did. But he’s worked, obviously, all year for this moment, and good for him.”
Weiss raved about Riley’s character in his postgame press conference and spoke of how thrilled he was that, through the struggle that was Riley’s 2026 season, he still delivered probably the biggest moment of the campaign to date.
“I’ve seen him really good for a long time, and I see the work behind the scenes. I know the person. You bet on the person,” Weiss said. “Obviously a very talented guy. But you couldn’t tell this year if he was the leading MVP candidate in the National League or if he was struggling. I mean that. He’s the same guy every day. Stuff like this doesn’t happen if you ride that roller coaster of emotions as a player, this probably doesn’t end up happening. But he kept his head about him, kept doing the work, and has a great moment.”
“I think you try to be as even-keeled in this game as possible, never try to get too high, never try to get too low and just try to put one foot in front of the other and trust your work, trust your routines,” Riley added when asked about managing a season like this. “Once you get out there, when the game starts, everything, all your work and stuff is done, and you’ve just got to go out there and play the game.
“That mentality, that attitude of just trying to show up each and every day and try to get 1% better. Whether it was 0-for-4 or 4-for-4 the night before, whatever the case may be, you try to callous your mindset leading into the postseason.”
For whatever it’s worth, Riley’s postseason track record is strong. He now has six homers and 19 RBIs in 37 career postseason games.
And if the Braves get one more win in the next two days against the Phillies, he’ll have more chances to put his 2026 regular season in the rear-view mirror.
Fans arrive prior to the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Getty ImagesShohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers steps up to bat in the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. Getty Images
If the Cubs advance to the NL’s other best-of-five division series against the Milwaukee Brewers, then the Dodgers will play Game 1 of their NLDS at 6 p.m. local time on Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
If the Padres win, then the Dodgers’ NLDS opener will be at 1 p.m. local time that day.
MLB announced game times/TV info for first two Dodgers NLDS games
Game 1 (Sat)*: 1 pm, Fox … OR … 6 pm, FS1 Game 2 (Sun): 5 pm, FS1
*1 pm if the Padres advance, 6 pm if the Cubs advance
But this weekend, a heat wave is set to descend upon Los Angeles, which could see first-pitch temperatures of close to 100 degrees if the Dodgers were to get the earlier start time.
“It’s going to be a hot weekend,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And to play at night would certainly be more beneficial.”
San Diego Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth tags out Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez during the second inning at Dodger Stadium. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
That doesn’t mean Roberts and the Dodgers will be outright rooting for the Cubs in their wild-card series. In much the same way the Dodgers aren’t preoccupied about whether they face the Braves or Phillies in the NLDS, they aren’t getting hung up on Saturday’s to-be-decided start time.
Still, the uncertainty has already impacted them in at least one way.
Roberts said the club was not yet ready to name its starting rotation in the NLDS, citing not only the uncertainty of their opponent, but also the fact that they are “not sure about game times and things like that.”
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto uses a rosin bag before pitching. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
That alignment would allow Yamamoto to stay on his typical five-days-of-rest schedule between Game 1 and a potential Game 5, Snell to get extra time over the weekend to build up after his recent groin injury, and Glasnow to possibly be an option out of the bullpen earlier in the series (similar to how he was used last October).
For now, however, a final decision hasn’t been made.
The Dodgers still want to see who they are playing –– and when their potentially blistering playoff opener will begin.
Roman Anthony suffered a finger injury in late May that led to a long road back to the big leagues.
Just two at-bats into his postseason, he’s injured again.
Anthony, who batted leadoff as the designated hitter for Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Yankees in New York, was replaced by Andruw Monasterio for his third at-bat, after striking out twice on check swings earlier in the game.
After the game — which New York won 9-0 — manager Chad Tracy said that Anthony suffered an injury to the same hand that kept him out for three months this season.
“The hand,” Tracy said. “He took a check swing and then another swing, and his hand flared on him, and it got uncomfortable. So we had to make a move there.”
Anthony’s initial injury back in May also came on a check swing, with the Red Sox initially diagnosing it as a minor wrist injury. It ended up being a torn ligament at the base of his ring finger, something that prevented him from being able to swing a bat for most of the season.
Tracy could not confirm whether or not the recent injury is on the same exact area, but indicated that Tuesday’s discomfort was a new situation for Anthony.
“He’s obviously coming off that [injury]. Like, you’ll get a zinger every once in a while where you feel something and then it’s fine and it goes away,” Tracy said. “But today was — obviously coming out of the game — today some stuff happened that was more serious and was uncomfortable.”
Anthony did seem to aggravate his hand on Sunday, when the Red Sox played the Cubs in Tampa in the regular-season finale, a game which he left in the fifth inning. If that was the source of this injury, Anthony would be the second Red Sox bat lost in that final regular-season series, after Mickey Gasper tore his biceps in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday.
Tracy didn’t rule out Anthony for Game 2, saying, “it’s hard to say right now,” given the information that was available postgame.
Over the last two months of the regular season, no team had a more productive bullpen than the Dodgers.
And come the start of their postseason trek on Saturday, the team might be adding another key arm back to the group.
General manager Brandon Gomes announced on Tuesday that the club expects to have hard-throwing right-handed reliever Edgardo Henriquez available for its National League Division Series, an encouraging development after Henriquez missed the final couple weeks of the regular season with a strain in his back.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Edgardo Henriquez, right, embraces catcher Will Smith after defeating the Miami Marlins. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
Prior to getting hurt, Henriquez was emerging as one of the top arms in the Dodgers’ resurgent relief corps (which led all MLB bullpens in August and September with 4.3 combined wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs, and ranked fourth in that stretch in combined ERA at 3.20).
A 24-year-old former prospect who has started to routinely eclipse 103 mph with his fastball, Henriquez ranked fourth among the team’s relievers (minimum 20 appearances) with a 2.85 ERA this season. He also struck out 70 batters in 60 total innings and converted each of the ninth-inning save opportunities he received.
Henriquez had hit his stride in August and early September, allowing just one run in a 17-game stretch that featured 25 strikeouts and only two walks and seven hits allowed.
Edgardo Henriquez of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after striking out CJ Abrams of the Washington Nationals. Getty Images
Luckily for the Dodgers, Henriquez’s status has improved since then. He resumed a throwing during the team’s final regular-season homestand. He recently completed a session of live batting practice without feeling any lingering discomfort. And while Gomes said “we still got a few steps to go” before Henriquez gets the green light to return, every indication is that he should be available for the club’s best-of-five NLDS.
“If that all goes well, then yeah, the expectation is he’ll be on the roster,” Gomes said.
“Given the body of work, what he’s done, the unique skill set, that could be huge for us,” manager Dave Roberts added, before correcting himself: “Will be huge for us.”
Indeed, Henriquez would figure to occupy a high-leverage spot in the Dodgers’ postseason bullpen. He gives them not only a trustworthy right-hander option –– along with Roki Sasaki, Evan Phillips, Brock Stewart and the recently resurgent Edwin Díaz –– but also one of the biggest fastballs in the game.
Henriquez’s 100.7 mph average fastball velocity ranked second among MLB pitchers this season, behind only star Padres closer Mason Miller. The team’s next-hardest thrower is Sasaki, whose heater averaged only 97.9 mph this year (though could increase in the playoffs as he shifts to a bullpen role).
Last October, Henriquez was a mixed bag in the playoffs. In two of his appearances (Game 1 of the wild card series and Game 5 of the World Series), he failed to record an out while allowing a hit and two walks in both outings. But in the other (Game 3 of the World Series), he pitched two scoreless frames in the team’s marathon 18-inning win, becoming an unsung hero in their Fall Classic triumph.
This time, Henriquez is set for a prominent role, assuming he gets through one more session of live batting practice OK.
“[He would make a] huge impact,” Roberts said. “I think he’s one of those guys that getting the bye has really benefited.”
After spending almost 40 minutes Tuesday answering for a finish that was the fourth worst in franchise history, manager Tony Vitello had to find one positive to hang his hat on.
He chose the grass.
“The shape that field was in was incredible all year long,” Vitello said. “We just need to play better on it.”
San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello speaks during the team’s media availability in San Francisco, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via APSan Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello speaks during the team’s media availability in San Francisco, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
The Giants have a long way to go to do just that after completing a 97-loss campaign in which the only reason to tune in for the last two months was to see whether they would set the all-time record for the most players used in a season. (They only tied the 2025 Braves for the embarrassing spot in history, with 71, but it would have been theirs alone had they treated Zach Morgan with any semblance of respect.)
They called up the 26-year-old who grew up about two hours east of Oracle Park twice to their taxi squad in an otherwise-meaningless final month but never allowed him to make his MLB debut — just one more family given every reason to call itself former fans after this season.
The Giants weren’t just bad. They were embarrassing. Until they sank even lower: irrelevant, which is the position they’ve occupied for the better part of the past three months.
Yet, there was Buster Posey behind a microphone in the bowels of Oracle Park, flanked on either side by his handpicked manager and second-in-command, Zack Minasian.
From left, San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello, president of baseball operations Buster Posey and general manager Zack Minasian are seen during the team’s media availability in San Francisco, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via APSan Francisco Giants president and chief executive officer Larry Baer arrives for the team’s media availability in San Francisco, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
The second-year president of baseball operations confirmed that the same leadership responsible for the disaster that was this season will get the chance to do it again next year.
“I don’t think there will be a ton of changes,” Posey said, besides the possibility of “a couple” on Vitello’s coaching staff that the front office plans to discuss this week.
The same leadership decided to fire Bob Melvin and make wholesale changes to its coaching staff after going 81-81, 16 games better than they finished this season. There wasn’t another MLB team that had a larger drop-off in its final record from the previous year.
And yet, somehow Posey came to a different conclusion.
The grand experiment to hire a coach straight from the college ranks was a gigantic failure in Year 1. So why not run it again and see if it produces a different result?
“If you’re asking if I think we can contend next year, I do,” Posey said.
San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey speaks during the team’s media availability in San Francisco, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via APSan Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello speaks during the team’s media availability in San Francisco, Tuesday, September 29, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
Posey said he saw Vitello grow from a coach into a manager over the course of the season (an adjustment period they maybe should have had the foresight to see coming). But when Vitello was asked if he felt he had command of the clubhouse, he said that he “still see[s] myself as a teammate.” That doesn’t bode well for his chances to earn their respect in Year 2.
Likewise, Vitello was only able to muster the same platitudes about better communication when posed a question about how to avoid another debacle like the Pride Night fiasco.
“Ultimately, I need to voice my opinion probably almost as loud as anybody,” Vitello said, “at least everybody that’s downstairs [in the clubhouse].”
Almost as loud? If Vitello isn’t comfortable being the loudest voice in a room of major-league ballplayers after a full season at helm, is there any chance he ever will?
The Giants played like a team built by an executive with no prior experience and run by a manager who had never spent a second in a professional dugout.
They were about as allergic to winning at the margins as they were to winning four games in a row (something they didn’t do once all season). They committed the most errors in the field and would have had many more than 108 if mental mistakes counted, too.
Even stuff as basic as knowing which plays to challenge from the dugout was too complex for Vitello’s staff, which only got 17 calls overturned in 46 tries, MLB’s lowest success rate.
Posey said “things just started to compound,” while Vitello suggested that the team’s confidence never rebounded from its season-opening sweep. They were nine games under .500 after only 37 games and didn’t finish a day with a winning record.
San Francisco Giants designated hitter Rafael Devers (16) watches the action from the dugout during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, Saturday, September 12, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
They stand no chance of building early momentum next year if Rafael Devers doesn’t find a way to thaw out of his ice-cold starts that have plagued him the past two seasons. By the time he started slugging like he was capable, the Giants had already dug too deep of a hole.
At least Devers eventually showed that he still had something left in him. That’s more than the Giants can say about the shortstop they still owe $130 million over the next five seasons.
And, yes, Posey confirmed, the Giants still view Willy Adames as a shortstop, even after a season of dismal defensive metrics and persistent back pain.
Not like there’s any history of back injuries being chronic issues or players’ production slowing down when they reach their 30s, as Adames and Matt Chapman have and Devers will next month.
Willy Adames of the San Francisco Giants watches a hit against the Boston Red Sox during a game at Fenway Park in Boston, Sunday, August 23, 2026. Getty Images
Still, Posey said the Giants have “a ton of belief” in their position players — even Harrison Bader, who Posey confirmed was still in their plans for next season after his first season in San Francisco went up in flames when he rode his scooter into the back of a firetruck.
Posey took accountability for the failure to build a bullpen, acknowledging that he “probably overestimated some of the guys that we had in the ‘pen.” He admitted that they need to adjust their offensive philosophy to draw more walks and for their pitchers to issue fewer of them.
“There is a lot of work to be done, for sure,” Posey said. “There’s deficiencies that we know we have to address or attempt to address.”
He said he wants his pitchers to “own the zone,” which sounds nice. But what was stopping them this year? In reality, it’s only going to be harder next season, with the Giants down four starters rehabbing from elbow surgeries and a bullpen that has to be rebuilt from scratch.
San Francisco Giants catcher Andrew Knizner (19) walks to the pitcher’s mound to meet with starting pitcher Logan Webb (62) during the first inning of a game against the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Posey was given multiple chances to answer how he planned to address the Giants pitching, only made more complicated by a lockout looming Dec. 1, but didn’t give any reason to believe it will be any different from last offseason, when they faced the same questions.
“It’s the normal avenues,” Posey sighed. “We’ll look at free agents, we’ll have trade discussions and we’ll weigh internal options.”
It was obvious from the bags under Vitello’s eyes to the tone Posey took in many of his answers that the way this season went off the rails didn’t sit well with anyone at Third and King. But it wasn’t so clear that the people in charge had any idea about how to fix it.
There’s at least one piece of good news about a sixth straight season without postseason baseball on the shores of McCovey Cove. The playing surface will stay in pristine shape.
No matter which way you look at it, Game 1 between the Red Sox and Yankees was about one person and one person only: Cam Schlittler.
The soon-to-be Cy Young winner was dominant, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out 10 Red Sox over 6.1 innings. He looked like a man amongst boys, and the Red Sox — who were dominated by Schlittler in last year’s playoffs and again in the regular season this year — had no answers.
Perhaps, then, it’s trivial to dissect and linger on anything else from the game. Wipe the slate, move on to a must-win Game 2, and see what happens.
But … that’s not how postseason baseball works. And the Red Sox didn’t make the playoffs by accepting defeat.
So it’s only fair to look back at a decision made by manager Chad Tracy in his first postseason game that immediately backfired.
It came in the bottom of the fifth, with starter Payton Tolle at just 83 pitches. Tolle had just retired Paul Goldschmidt on one pitch for the second out of the inning. He wasn’t dominating, but he was rolling, only allowing one run while working around five hits and a walk.
Tolle threw more than 83 pitches 20 times during the regular season. Yet Tracy decided on this night, in this spot, it was time to take out the man that he chose to be the Game 1 starter in the postseason.
It was a puzzling decision in the moment, one that you figured would at the very least come back to bite Boston later in the game when they had run out of their top bullpen arms early.
Yet as it turned out, it backfired immediately.
Tracy opted to replace the lefty Tolle with … the lefty Erik Miller, the Marcelo Mayer trade return who got off to a great start in Boston but fizzled significantly late in the year. Miller posted a 12.46 ERA and a 2.538 WHIP over his final five outings in the regular season, clearly losing whatever effectiveness he had when he first arrived in Boston.
And it only took three pitches for that to become clear, as Ben Rice — the man Tracy selected for Miller to erase in the fifth — clobbered a 97 mph fastball, sending a solo homer to straightaway center field.
The pitch was at the belt and split the plate in half.
It's ultimately going to feel like a moot point, but it would have been impossible for Erik Miller to have thrown a worse pitch to Ben Rice. pic.twitter.com/AciyjHw2mQ
The solo shot doubled the Yankees’ lead, and while Schlittler was in the midst of a special pitching performance, that extra cushion gave him an added margin for error in a game where the Red Sox really couldn’t afford to give him any more advantage than he already had.
What would have happened if Tolle had stayed in the game to at least get through the fifth and perhaps into the sixth (on a night when his counterpart set a career high with 117 pitches and made it into the seventh), nobody can say for sure. But the Red Sox certainly would not have been turning to career minor leaguer Alec Gamboa in the bottom of the seventh. (And the 29-year-old would have been spared from earning himself an ERA of infinity.)
In a season that was at times quite charmed, this decision by Tracy was distinctly the wrong one.
And in what is perhaps a perfect picture of how vastly things have changed in Boston, Tracy was asked nine questions before facing the obvious one: Why did you take Tolle out of the game?
“Not necessarily just the pitch count, but you’re trailing already, you’re moving through [the lineup for] the third time. [Ben] Rice had already hit a double in the gap off of him, and you have a nice lane there for for Miller. And obviously, he got him,” Tracy said. “So, just felt like it was a time to go.”
One of the main reasons Tolle was given the Game 1 start over Sonny Gray was his emotional disposition. Giving him the hook with nobody on and two outs in the fifth was deflating in and of itself. The homer that followed felt like a knockout blow.
Here’s everything we learned from the Yankees’ 9-0 win over the Red Sox in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series.
Roman Anthony got hurt
Despite an unimpressive and injury-plagued season, the Red Sox turned to Roman Anthony as the leadoff man for the playoffs. That postseason lasted all of two at-bats before he left due to injury.
Anthony struck out on a check swing in the first inning, and he struck out on another check swing in the third inning. He didn’t come out for his next at-bat, instead replaced by Andruw Monasterio.
Tracy confirmed postgame that Anthony got hurt on a check swing, injuring the same hand that kept him out of the lineup all summer. Anthony landed the injured list this year due to a check swing in Detroit in late May, tearing a ligament at the base of his ring finger that kept him out until Aug. 30.
Tracy said the hand “flared” on Anthony “and it got uncomfortable.” Tracy added that Anthony has felt occasional shots of pain in that injured hand but in this case, “some stuff happened that was more serious and was uncomfortable.”
He batted .245 with a .735 OPS in 55 regular-season games this year. Still, the Red Sox — who started Nick Sogard, Trevor Story and Jarren Duran in Game 1 — can’t afford to lose any bats, even if those bats are more about potential than production at this point in time.
Cam Schlittler used curveball to keep Red Sox guessing
Cam Schlittler is going to win the Cy Young this year, and it’s not because of his curveball usage. Schlittler primarily used his fastball, his cutter, and his sinker this season, using the curveball as his fourth pitch. It wasn’t all that successful either, with batters hitting .250 on the curveball. (They hit .162 on his fastball, by comparison.)
But in Game 1, Schlittler was using his curveball at an unheard of rate, and doing so with effectiveness. Schlittler threw his curveball 27 percent of the time in Game 1, compared to 10 percent on the regular season, with a 50 percent whiff rate when the Red Sox swung (8-for-16).
It was a wrinkle that allowed Schlittler to simply dominate Boston bats. The Red Sox mustered just two singled and a walk in 6.1 innings from Schlittler, who struck out 10 batters while setting a career high with 117 pitches.
Schlittler has owned the Red Sox since first facing them in the playoffs last year, and he utilized a secret weapon of sorts to keep that going in Game 1.
Caleb Durbin’s redemptive double play in fourth keeps game close
Through all of his ups and downs at the plate this season, Caleb Durbin has played an excellent defensive third base. It was peculiar, then, when he charged a George Lombard Jr. chopper in the fourth and whiffed. The ball took a dead hop off the dirt, and Lombard reached with a leadoff infield single.
Durbin got redemption later in the inning in a big way, though, when he caught a weird infield popup from Spencer Jones and then fired to second base to double up Lombard to end the inning.
The game was a bit shaky at that point, as Tolle walked Amed Rosario after the Lombard single. Erik Miller and Alec Gamboa both got to work in the bullpen, as the game was in danger of being broken open. Durbin’s play — aided by Lombard making a bad read on Jones’ contact — helped keep it a one-run game.
Later in the game, Nick Sogard started a spectacular 4-6-3, albeit when the game felt like it was already slipping away for the Red Sox.
Red Sox’ offensive woes are not Schlittler-specific.
Cam Schlittler shut the Boston bats down, of course, but that’s not necessarily a rare occurrence.
Over their final 21 games, the Red Sox averaged just 2.7 runs per game. They were shut out once, scored a single run five times, and scored two runs in four of those games.
So an offensive dud in this spot — against an elite pitcher or otherwise — certainly did not come out of nowhere.
The Red Sox managed to deliver just three hits in this one: A first-inning bloop single by Adley Rutschman, a seventh-inning single from Wilyer Abreu, and a double from Trevor Story with two outs in the eighth inning, the first and only time the Red Sox reached second base all game.
Brayan Bello had a chance to prove something; he did not
In what’s been a weird season for the Red Sox, nobody’s season has been weirder than Brayan Bello. He was an ineffective starter, he required an opener, he spent an extended time in Triple-A, and he was tremendously effective for a stretch.
When he entered a 4-0 game in the bottom of the eighth inning, the game was well in hand. Still, he had an opportunity to show he could be trusted to get outs in an adverse environment. He didn’t pass the test.
Bello entered the game with the bases loaded and one out, after Wyatt Olds loaded them up with a single and two walks. Needing to get a double-play ball to keep it close, Bello surrendered a sacrifice fly to No. 9 hitter Austin Wells.
A sacrifice fly wasn’t the end of the world, as the score was still somewhat manageable at 5-0. But Bello then walked Paul Goldschmidt before serving up a no-doubt-about-it grand slam to Ben Rice.
A once-competitive game turned into a laugher in a hurry, and Bello’s mystifying season added yet another sour chapter.
Speaking of Ben Rice …
Ben Rice killed the Red Sox in Game 1, going 4-for-5 with six RBIs.
He had three of the hardest-hit balls of the night, as he was all over just about everything he saw — right from the jump, too. His double in the first inning was the hardest-hit ball of the entire game at 110.3 mph. His grand slam had an exit velocity of 108.6 mph, and his solo homer was at 108.0 mph. Rice’s other hit — a single — had an exit velocity of 106.4, harder than all but one ball hit by the Red Sox all night.
So while Schlittler was the Red Sox’ biggest problem in Game 1, Rice was a very close second — and he’s someone the Red Sox will actually have to deal with in Game 2, when their season hangs in the balance.
Wilyer Abreu off the mark with second-inning throw to plate
What the Red Sox lack in offensive oomph they somewhat make up for in outfield defense, as Ceddanne Rafalea and Wilyer Abreu are two of the best outfielders in all of baseball.
Abreu, who will win the Gold Glove for a third straight year, flunked his first chance to show off his defensive prowess in the second inning. Austin Wells singled cleanly through the right side with Lombard on second base. Abreu was able to charge the ball, field it cleanly, and fire home. But his throw sailed up the third base line, allowing Lombard to score easily.
A great throw would have gotten Lombard easily. A good throw would have gotten him, too. Even a decent throw would have had a chance. Unfortunately for Abreu, he simply threw a bad one.
Payton Tolle carries quote from his late mother on glove
Payton Tolle lost his mother to colon cancer in 2024, and he honored her on Tuesday night with one of her quotes stitched into his glove: “You’re so pretty.”
That message is always on Tolle’s glove — it was a message his mother would say to him when he pitched in high school in order to keep him loose — but Tuesday’s start gave it some national attention.
History not on Red Sox’ side
As has been mentioned many times before, only once since the new Wild Card format was adopted in 2022 has the loser of Game 1 gone on to win the best-of-three series. The Red Sox know that history all too well, as they were the lone Game 1 winner to go on to lose the series a year ago in New York.
At the very least, though, they know that losing Game 1 is not a death sentence for the season. And the Sonny Gray-Max Fried matchup is a bit of a fairer fight than anyone vs. Cam Schlittler.
Fried pitched eight shutout innings with nine strikeouts against the Red Sox at Fenway in late April, but he allowed a run on three hits in 3.2 innings in his other start against the Red Sox in late August — his first start after spending time on the IL.
Gray faced the Yankees twice in June, allowing 3 runs in 6.1 innings at Yankee Stadium and pitching 7.1 shutout innings back at Fenway later that month.
Four Giants pitchers protested the team’s annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community on June 12. Months later, the team declined to answer whether it intends to continue sporting the rainbow-colored “SF” hats on Pride Night next season.
Ryan Walker of the San Francisco Giants pitches at Oracle Park on June 12, 2026. Getty Images
Sam Hentges chose to wear the Giants standard baseball cap, rather than the custom hat for the event. JT Brubaker, Landen Roupp and Ryan Walker added a Bible verse to the side of their rainbow-colored caps.
Giants president of baseball operations Bustery Posey speaks during the team’s press conference. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via APSan Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp with a Bible verse on his Pride Night hat. AP Photo/Scott Marshall
“MLB agreed to allow them to utilize the hats/uniforms with the emblems provided that no player or uniformed staff would be required to wear them, and that the team would speak to the players to make sure they were comfortable with the apparel,” Manfred wrote.
“Unfortunately, this year the Giants’ communication with players was inadequate and not clear. Some players apparently did not understand that they had the option to wear their normal uniform and elected to add messages to their hats bearing the pride logo as a result. The Giants players were allowed to wear the hats with the biblical references for the entire game. After the game had concluded, my office issued a routine oral warning about the uniform policy violation – unfortunately it was issued before we became aware of the Giants’ lapse in communication.
“The players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be.”
While Tolle has at least partially reverse splits, his dominant fastball might overwhelm Chisholm, who has gone from crushing fastballs a year ago to performing meekly against them this season. And former shortstop Anthony Volpe has been too effective down the stretch for Yankees manager Aaron Boone to roll with Chisholm.
Boone's perspective? It will take all 26 men to defeat the Red Sox in this best-of-three sprint.
"My expectation is he'll be ready to go and could play a crucial role as early as tonight," Boone said Tuesday to Yankees beat reporters before his nightly press conference.
Chisholm struck a confident tone a day earlier, telling reporters Monday in New Yor that he would be "ticked off" if he didn't start Game 1.
"Yeah, who wouldn't be?" he said. "As a competitor, who wouldn't be? It's the playoffs. You want to play."
Chisholm has a .170 batting average, three homers and a .607 OPS in 24 career playoff games. Volpe is at .252 with no homers and a .728 OPS in 21 career playoff games.
Eight teams will compete for an opportunity to advance to the Division Series. Wild Card teams facing each other in the American League include the Houston Astros against the Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red Sox taking on the New York Yankees.
The Wild Card round is a best-of-three. Winners go on to the next round in a best-of-five Division Series.
Here's a look at the MLB Playoffs Division Series schedule:
MLB Playoffs Division Series
See the full schedule for the Division Series during the MLB Playoffs including what-if scenarios for each Wild Card team.
* = if necessary
All times are Eastern Standard
Saturday, Oct. 3:
If the Cubs advance:
Chicago White Sox/Houston Astros winner at Cleveland Guardians, Game 1 at 1 p.m. (TBS/truTV/HBO Max)
SITE NOTE: NBC says the first pitch of this game should happen around 9:10 p.m. CT. The BCB “live” thread will post tonight at 8:30 p.m. CT.
Tuesday notes…
GAME 1: The Cubs were 27-26 this year in first games of series. On the road, they were 12-14. Two of the wins were on the West Coast, at Los Angeles and San Francisco, as were two of the losses, at San Diego and Seattle. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
ON THE ROAD: The Cubs won the first two games of seven road series, including at San Francisco. They won the first and lost the second of five, including at Los Angeles. They lost the first and won the second of eight, including at San Diego. They lost the first two of six, including at Seattle. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
PITCHING IS GETTING GOOD, PART 1: Cubs pitchers allowed a total of 12 runs in their last five games, with a high of four. That tied for the sixth-fewest runs in any five-game span of the season. They gave up 10 three times, the last of them April 18-22, and 11 runs twice, most recently July 29-Aug. 2. They yielded 12 runs in three earlier spans, the last July 31-Aug. 4. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
PITCHING IS GETTING GOOD, PART 2: In the first nine innings of games, the Cubs have given up only 17 runs in their last eight games. They surrendered six runs in the 12th inning of one of the eight. The 23 total runs in eight games tied for their seventh fewest of the season. They gave up 19 runs July 28-Aug. 4; 20, April 14-22; 21, July 27-Aug. 3; and 22 three times, all between July 24 and Aug. 6. They gave up 23 twice earlier, April 15-23 and July 27-Aug. 5. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Here is how important winning Game 1 of a Wild Card series is:
In the history of the best-of-three Wild Card Series, teams taking a 1-0 lead have gone on to win the series 21 of 24 times (88%), including 17 two-game sweeps. Home teams have won all nine series in which they have gone ahead 1-0, including eight sweeps.
He made two starts, then missed three weeks with a bicep injury. He came back and threw pretty well, then hurt his knee playing with his kids (nominee for Weird MLB Injury of the Year!) and missed about six weeks.
Most important for right now is that he’s thrown well over his last six starts: 3.28 ERA, 1.121 WHIP, only one home run in 35.2 innings — and that ERA is in part the victim of a bullpen that allowed some of his inherited runners to score.
Boyd allowed three runs in five innings to the Padres June 30 at Wrigley Field, including home runs by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. Hold those two guys down and this could be a good game for Boyd.
Perhaps of note: Boyd has a 1.66 ERA in seven postseason games (six starts) covering 21.2 innings. He has never allowed a postseason home run.
Michael King is the Padres’ best starter and by bWAR (4.3) this was his best MLB season, though his K rate was down a bit from last year.
In his three years and 77 starts with the Padres, though, he has never made a regular season start against the Cubs. His only appearance vs. the Cubs as a Padre was one inning of scoreless relief in Game 3 of last year’s Wild Card Series. He struck out Dansby Swanson, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matt Shaw.
In looking up various batter vs. pitcher matchups, small sample sizes are always caveats. I was, however, struck by the fact that Alex Bregman is 7-for-8 with two doubles and two walks against King. That’s not nothing. Perhaps it will mean something tonight.
Please visit our SB Nation Padres site Gaslamp Ball. If you do go there to interact with Padres fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.
You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.
The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.
You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.
Cam Schlittler, pitches in the fourth inning, Monday, May 4, 2026, at Yankee Stadium. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co
After the 162-game marathon that is the baseball regular season, we have now reached the sprint that is the baseball postseason. Tonight, the Yankees will begin their quest to add another championship to their illustrious history. As always, the road there will be tough, and there’s an added element to this year’s opening series.
For the second-straight season, the Yankees will host the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Series. Last year, the Yankees won the matchup in a decisive Game 3, thanks to a humungous effort from pitcher Cam Schlittler. This time around, they’ll be relying on him in Game 1.
After a season that has him as the favorite for the AL Cy Young Award, the Yankees will give the ball to Schlittler for Game 1. In last year’s aforementioned Game 3, he threw eight shutout innings, allowing just five hits as the Yankees advanced. One thing to note about Schlittler’s 2026 is that he has been worse at home — 2.98 ERA vs. 1.16 ERA on the road — but he has shown a knack for big moments over his young career.
Facing a lefty opposing starter, the Yankees have gone with their lefty-hitting lineup, including the likes of Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario while Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ryan McMahon go to the bench. There’s no Giancarlo Stanton or Trent Grisham in the lineup following their addition to the roster, while Anthony Volpe gets the nod at second base.
For Boston, they’ll give the ball to Payton Tolle. While not as dominant as Schlittler, Tolle has also been very good as a young pitcher, putting up a 3.03 ERA and a 3.04 FIP in 26 starts. He’ll likely be in the AL Rookie of the Year race. He was very good in his two starts against the Yankees this season, allowing just one run in 13 innings. While the Yankees are playing their lefty lineup, that’s been an issue they’ve had this season, exemplified by those two Tolle outings.
The big news in the rest of Boston’s lineup is that Willson Contreras is in there. Contreras missed a good chunk of the end of the regular season with a right hand injury, and only made a brief appearance in the final game of the regular season.
We hope that you’ll come join us in the game thread as we kick off another postseason matchup between these two historic rivals!
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY
First pitch: 8:00 p.m. ET
TV broadcast: NBC
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | WEEI 93.7, WCCM 1490 AM (SP), WESX 1230 AM (SP) (BOS) | ESPN Radio (national)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - SEPTEMBER 22: Payton Tolle #70 of the Boston Red Sox walks through the dugout before a game against the Cleveland Guardians on September 22, 2026 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Bregman, who began taking ground balls the past few days after suffering the injury Sept. 20 when a foul ball by teammate Michael Busch hit him in the face while standing near the on-deck circle, tried to convince Cubs manager Craig Counsell that he was good enough to play third base with the swelling in his face dramatically reduced.
Yet, Counsell said that Bregman’s bat is too valuable to take the risk of Bregman being back in the field.
“I played it safe, I'll be honest with you," Counsell said. “I just think this is a man seven days off of facial fractures, and I want his at-bat. I think his at-bats are the most critical thing for our team is that he gets his at-bats this series. That's what's most important.
“I feel like this is a better way to guarantee that he gets these at-bats. There's just more risk playing the field. Could it go fine? Yeah. Does he want to play the field? He does. This is just a safer way to go to make sure he gets all his at-bats."
Still, just the fact that Bregman is back in the lineup so quickly, his teammates say, is a huge boost for their morale, much less their lineup, where he’ll bat second.
“That fires you up,” Cubs MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “Knowing him and how wonderfully crazy he is, just about his work and how much he loves the game, it’s not really surprising. Not to put a damper on how cool it is that he’s coming back after facial fractures and whatnot, I’m just not that surprised.
“He lives for this kind of baseball. Most importantly, I’m glad he’s healthy enough to do what he loves. …Simply put, Alex Bregman makes our lineup better. So, it’s huge that he’s getting himself game ready.”
Certainly, he proved in the Cubs’ season-finale that his bat is just fine, going 4-for-4 with two home runs.
“I’ll do whatever it takes,’’ said Bregman, who finished his first year with the Cubs hitting .265 with 28 homers, 93 RBI, and an .819 OPS in 155 games. He had a sensation second half, producing a 1.010 OPS compared to a .696 OPS before the All-Star break.
Now, he becomes the 11th player in MLB history to play in 10 consecutive postseasons with the advent of the wild-card.
“He's the man, to be honest,’’ Cubs reliever Jaco Webb said. “That's tough to do. That's really cool and shows the kind of character that he has going through such a crazy injury.
“I mean, you're putting your career on the line at that point, but he knows what he's doing. The biggest thing is he wants to be here. He wants to win."
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 29: Austin Riley #27 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates with manager Walt Weiss #22 after winning Game One of the National League Wild Card Series presented by AbbVie between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Tuesday, September 29, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
How’s that for a curtain-raiser on this Postseason run for the Atlanta Braves? The best way that I can describe how that first game went down is to paraphrase a quote from my favorite professional wrestler of all time. The only thing that’s for sure about the Postseason is that nothing’s for sure.
That’s the only proper way to explain what happened with the two biggest hits of this game from both sides. J.T. Realmuto coming through with a go-ahead triple for the Phillies in the seventh inning, despite having finished the final month of the regular season with a wRC+ of 8 (eight) across his final 21 games and 79 plate appearances. Austin Riley delivering a go-ahead, opposite-field homer after the wretched game and rough series that he had been having.
It’s the Postseason, folks. You’ve just got to expect the unexpected!
“That’s how it usually goes when these two teams play each other,” explained Weiss when he started off the press conference. “Just goes to show you that when the playoffs start, everything starts at zero. Nothing that happened in the regular season really matters and it’s a clean slate. Austin Riley has been a great player in the Postseason play.”
Obviously, the star of the show on this particular day was Riley, himself — though Chris Sale did draw a laugh out of the presser by playfully lamenting that he’d been asked the majority of the questions (and Riley fist pumped in response). When I asked Riley about what he was looking for in that particular moment against Jhoan Duran (especially with the shadows in play), he figured that he just needed to be ready for any potential mistakes and as it turned out, he got one (100-mph heat notwithstanding) right in the middle of the plate.
“You just try to push him out and push him up,” explained Riley. “You’re not going to get very many mistakes against those back-end guys. It was definitely tricky. You typically only get one [mistake] an at-bat and you can’t miss it and I was fortunate enough to put a good swing on it.”
This was yet another example of the Braves coming through in a late-game, high-leverage scenario at the plate. They’ve done it a ton of times this season (especially at home) and the fact that the Braves were able to come through in late in the contest was perhaps the least surprising development. I asked Walt Weiss a bit of a follow-up question to Matt Olson’s remarks on Workout Day about how the team has woven the late-game heroics “into their DNA” and Weiss agreed with Olson’s sentiments.
“I’ve said this before: I feel like when the stakes are highest and the challenges are the toughest, that’s when we’ve been at our best,” explained Weiss. “It’s been that way all year long. Whether it’s looking like we’re going to give away the division and then going on a run again, facing a rough road trip, coming back home and having to play the Dodgers and sweep ‘em, even going into Philly with the division on the line, we played well in those two series late in the season.”
“Our guys just rise to the occasion,” continued Weiss. “It’s a good group — I’ve been talking about the group all year. It’s a great room and this is what you get when you have that kind of heart and that kind of culture.”
Had the Braves not come through with some more heroics, the big talking point likely would’ve been Chris Sale being taken out in the seventh inning with one out and runners on the corners in favor of Didier Fuentes. When he was asked about it by the media, Weiss defended the decision.
“I thought Sale was outstanding,” started Weiss. “There in the seventh inning, I felt like [Sale’s] tank was emptying there and we had our best reliever [Fuentes] ready to go so I went and got Chris. [Fuentes] ended up giving up the two runs but I take [Didier] in that spot every time.”
When he was further pressed on what he saw during Sale’s final inning, Weiss continued to defend the decision. “I saw the stuff start to tick down a little bit,” explained Weiss. “The near-home run from [Bryce] Harper, the knock from [Bryson] Stott, the velocity was down and we had our best reliever ready to go for the bottom of their lineup.”
“I take [Didier] 99 times out of 100. Believe me: I give the longest leash for good reason. I’ve let him go this year and usually to the point where he’s got to give up the runs before I take him out but I just saw with my eyes that the stuff was ticking down and that the tank was empty.”
For what it’s worth, Chris Sale was totally behind the decision that his manager made in that moment. “We have faith and trust in each other,” explained Sale when he was asked by the media about being taken out for Fuentes. “Didier’s the right guy for that situation. I don’t think there’s anybody that’s watched our team play a single game this year that wouldn’t agree with that.”
“He felt bad about [giving up the run] and I said ‘Hey man, sometimes we need help too. That’s why this is a team game.’ That’s why you never feel out of it and you never point fingers. He’s saved this team countless times and when he gave up that run he was like ‘Man, my bad.’ I just said ‘Listen man, this is baseball, this is the Postseason, this is sports. Sometimes we need some help too.’
Sale himself was busy finding some serious heat while he was on the mound, as he once again reached 100-mph on the radar gun during this contest. It’s incredible to see him reach that mark during this season like he’s been doing recently — which is funny because all the way back in March, he stated that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d thrown that hard. I asked him about how it felt to be able to reach abck and find that at this stage in his career and as usual, Sale was effusive towards his personal supporting cast.
“I pride myself on my work ethic and determination,” started Sale. “I’ve said countless times and I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face: This isn’t me on my own. I have an incredible team in my corner. From the guys in the weight room to our training staff, the pitching coaches, the catchers — it takes a lot for that to happen. I’m just thankful to be in that position to be able to do that but again, there’s a lot of people propping me up to be able to accomplish that.”
As Sale mentioned earlier, it’s all about the team and it’s clear that this team is pulling in the same direction from all corners of the squad. Weiss mentioned during his press conference when he was asked about Riley’s makeup behind-the-scenes that “you couldn’t tell if he was the leading MVP candidate in the National League or if he was struggling. He’s the same guy everyday.” That’s the type of mentality that you need to succeed in such a mental marathon of a sport as baseball and clearly, it was Austin Riley’s turn to make a strong kick towards the finish line in this particular game.
There’s still one more win that the Braves need to nail down before they can start packing their bags for Los Angeles but at least they now have two more chances to do it — and to do so in front of their home crowd, no less. We’ll see what twists and turns pop up during Game 2 but for the time being, the Braves can rest easy on this particular even in knowing that they managed to snatch the upper hand out of nowhere. You never know who’s going to be a Postseason hero and it’ll be exciting to see who comes up big for Atlanta going forward during this playoff run.
Only one of these two still holds a big-league job and it’s not the one on the right | Getty Images
Yesterday brought sweeping changes to the Mariners coaching staff on the heels of a disappointing 2026 season. Jerry Dipoto, in meeting with the media, described the need for a “culture reset” in the organization, noting specifically the sense that the big-league club had gotten away from organizational principles preached in the minor leagues.
“The performance on the field this year has made us question a lot of the things that we are doing at the major league level, and I will say multiple of our major league players who came through our system have referenced what they learned in player development that that got abandoned in the big leagues this year. And not just the players who came up for the first time, but we have a host of players who’ve come through our system, and they saw a difference. We need to get back to to what we believe is a Mariners baseball process.”
Dipoto expressed particular consternation about the defense – with reason, as the Mariners were the worst defensive team in baseball from wire to wire, never improving – not just as violating the vision of “crisp, efficient Mariners baseball” but also because of the additional strain the poor defense put on the pitching.
“A starting pitching staff who attacks the strike zone and has the ball put in play is harmed by by the lack of range and positioning of our team,“ said Dipoto.
Perhaps this is why the pitching coaching staff escaped the ax that fell on many of the other coaches, as the organization cleaned house so the new manager will be able to install a hand-picked staff. Pitching coaches Pete Woodworth and Trent Blank will both return, despite a pitching staff that also underachieved this year – as the offense started to turn things around late in the season, the rotation fell apart, posting the worst WAR in baseball down the stretch. But despite the setback, Dipoto still believes in the Mariners pitching philosophy and in Woodworth and Blank’s ability to enact that vision with the big-league club. In answering a question about why those two remained on staff, Dipoto cited past performance, specifically their “goodness over time” and the “unquestionably awesome” nature of the quality of the pitching programs which has allowed all 13 members of their pitching staff at any given time to succeed.
“From 2021 until mid-season of 2026, we’re one of the three or four best pitching staffs, one through 13, in MLB. We don’t want to take three months and and use that as the criteria to ruin a program that has been the backbone of what we’ve done for for a decade.”
The key to the pitching core’s success, beyond programs that work, is their communication with players. Dipoto spoke extensively about communication issues in the organization, from the breakdown in expectation of standards in the front office to how it was borne out in the clubhouse and on the field. Personally, Dipoto took responsibility for his own breakdown in communication with the pitchers regarding how the “piggyback” strategy was implemented – while pointing out it was actually a success on the field, he spoke with regret about the failure of how it was communicated to the players, and how that breakdown in communication was indicative of a larger organizational failure.
“The way [the piggyback strategy] was communicated, the way it was received, and the drama around it was part of what I think was a bag that we were carrying around with us all year and couldn’t shed, and the piggyback is one piece of that. I could come up with 10 other things that were contributing factors, but we need to communicate more clearly. And we talked about this with the players during that piggyback period, that we handled the kickoff of that as poorly as you possibly could from a leadership standpoint.”
One exception to that organization-wide communication issue is and has been the pitching staff, which is why the piggyback drama stood out so starkly. But Dipoto reasserted his full-throated support behind Blank and Woodworth as messengers.
“Those guys communicate incredibly well,” said Dipoto. “Our pitchers love them for what they what they provide. Trent has all the TLC in the world and the ability to keep guys healthy and moving forward. And Woody is as good a messenger as exists in that clubhouse space.”
That doesn’t mean there isn’t work to do to get the pitchers back on track, however. Cal Raleigh, in his season postmortem, talked about how Mariners pitching might have gotten too predictable, noting how aggressive he saw teams – even ones that aren’t usually aggressive – in attacking the first pitch, and saying pitchers have to do a better job of executing strike one and less thinking about throwing strike one.
“It’s not not necessarily all the time about winning your 0-0s, your 1-1s. It’s about executing a pitch and how can we get this guy out,” said Cal.
For Dipoto, the problem wasn’t necessarily with strike one, but with strike three. Over the course of the season, Mariners pitching took a moderate step back in strikeout percentage and strike-to-walk ratio this year, but if you isolate it to just the last two months of the season, Mariners pitching fell to middle of the pack in K% percentage and 28th in average allowed – only the A’s and Rockies were worse.
“We’ve had a culture of relentless filling of the strike zone. That’s what we do. We get ahead, we stay ahead, we work ahead,” said Dipoto. “Where we struggled this year was we struggled in our two-strike execution, particularly in the second half of the season. It’s something our pitchers are aware of. All of them have talked about it openly in private discussion, and we know that’s an area we need to focus on moving forward.”
But Dipoto views this as a fixable problem, not a systemic one, echoing almost exactly what Cal Raleigh said about an over-focus on winning the counts and losing the bigger picture.
“It’s something that kind of happened over time. We got so focused on winning our 0-0s and winning our 1-1s that we forgot that was only a proxy for the greater goal, which was finishing the at-bat. Our prompt became the goal at times, and and that’s not what we were ever intending. And again, we let it get away from us. And perhaps you know, new eyes, new voice, new thoughts can stop that from happening the next time.”
So it sounds like the new manager will also have the job of working with a pitching staff already steeped in the organizational culture and help them refocus. Add it to a long list of tasks for whoever that person might be.
