Category: MLB

We received injury news from the Braves ahead of Walt Weiss’s usual pregame press conference this afternoon. Ronnie’s fine, but Martín Pérez is not.

Martin Perez (lower back inflammation) is going on the IL.

— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) September 24, 2026

Perez only threw 79 pitches in his last start. There didn’t appear to be any signs of struggle, so perhaps this has been an issue for some time. Hey, at least it’s not the elbow. Martin Perez has thrown 142 innings of 3.04/4.31/4.52 ball this season, but his postseason appears in doubt and perhaps JR Ritchie may make the postseason roster after all.

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We got another bit of a stunner to start off the Walt Weiss’s pregame presser, as the team announced straight away that Martín Pérez would be heading to the IL with what was described as lower back inflammation. As ABsinceWayBack mentioned above, there wasn’t really too much of an indication that something was wrong with Pérez during his recent start. Unfortunately, it appears to be one of those things that just suddenly started acting up on the veteran hurler.

“He felt it during that last outing on Houston. He gutted through it,” explained Weiss when mark Bowman asked him about how it all happened. “You can imagine how frustrated he is. In his mind, he’s wanting to try to hurry up and get better and get back and he wants to be a part of it but we’re just running out of time here.”

“It’s tough for Martín. He’s obviously re-established himself after last year missing most of the year. He’s re-established himself with the year he’s had this year and we wouldn’t be where we are without him.”

Obviously, this has a pretty big effect on Atlanta’s plans for the Postseason as far as deploying their pitching staff. Pérez very likely would’ve been in line to make a start (or at least a bulk appearance out of the bullpen) if the Braves get past the Wild Card series. Pérez has had a bounce-back season as he’s made 30 appearances (26 starts) and produced an ERA of 3.04 (73 ERA-) and a FIP of 4.31 (104 FIP-), which is some of the best work that he’s done in years. It’s been a long road back to the big time for Pérez and it’s a bummer that this is how his regular season had to end.

As far as the pitching plans go, there aren’t any immediate changes to the rotation as they finish off this Cincinnati series and go dust off the regular season in Miami. However, you’d have to imagine that this could lead to a potential bullpen game if the Braves get into the Divisional Series since they’d have to roll right into the NLDS from the Wild Card Series if the opening round ends up going three games. At this point, a sweep would be huge for Atlanta’s chances at making a deep run in the Postseason — much easier said than done!

“For the remaining games, we have things mapped out,” explained Weiss when he was further asked about the plans. “Things can change. If we end up having to use more pitchers (for instance, tonight), then it’ll change what we do tomorrow. That’s always the case, really.”

Similarly to how they’ve had to sort of roll with the punches during the regular season, Weiss continued to explain how the Braves were going to “cross that road when we get there” when it comes to their starting situation. The Braves do have their fair share of options to start games, like Grant Holmes, AJ Smith-Shawver (who is currently in the plans to make a piggyback appearance once Tyler Mahle is done tonight) and JR Ritchie. They also have a deep and formidable bullpen as well, so it’s a situation that is still very much manageable at the moment.

With all of that being said, it’s certainly frustrating for the Braves to have lost Reynaldo López, Bryce Elder and now Martín Pérez right before the Postseason is set to kick off. Again, the Braves have options but you’d much rather prefer for those options to expand rather than constrict as the Postseason gets closer and closer. It’s also a nasty reminder of how things have gone for Atlanta’s pitching staff in so many Postseason appearances in recent memory — even in 2021 when Dylan Lee was called upon to make a “start” in the World Series.

Simply put, the Braves have just got to navigate things and it’s on Walt Weiss to figure out a way to do so in a tactically-effective way. Hopefully they’ll get deep enough in the Postseason in order to get those pitching options back and then they’ll have good problems to have in order to figure out who’s going to be on their pitching staff for each respective round. We’ll see what happens.

UPDATE [6:50 p.m. ET]: The Braves have made Pérez’s move to the IL official and have called up Elieser Hernández as the corresponding move.

The #Braves today selected RHP Elieser Hernández to the major league roster and placed LHP Martín Pérez on the 15-day injured list, backdated to September 21, due to low back inflammation. To make room on the 40-man roster, the club recalled RHP Hurston Waldrep to Atlanta and…

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 24, 2026

The Texas Rangers scored three runs while the New York Mets scored one run.

After a couple of elsewise embarrassing defeats to the National League’s New York squad to begin this crucial series, and with the threat of a crippling sweep, the Rangers decided to buckle down and give the hometown fans one last victory for the road in the final scheduled game at The Shed during this long, weird season.

To accomplish their victory, the Rangers turned to two of their biggest, most necessary catalysts at the plate and a cobbled together pitching staff working through things one pitch at a time.

Things started on an inauspicious note with today’s starter Kumar Rocker allowing a first inning run that had to have had the faithful thinking, “the Rangers are really going to bookend the home slate with series sweeps at the hands of NL squads?”

Indeed, the first home series of the season for Texas was a sweep by the Cincinnati Reds and down 1-0 immediately, it was looking like the Mets had claimed favorable odds for pulling off a final ignominious sweep of Texas in their building even with the division still hanging in the balance.

Leave it to the guy who has been carrying the load since he returned to action to dissuade that notion as Josh Jung followed New York’s first inning run with a two-run dinger in the bottom of the inning to put the Rangers up early. And, as we’ve learned over a whole summer and 80 home games, the Rangers having an early lead is perhaps the predominant key to their success.

To Rocker’s credit, with the Rangers using the entire supply of duct tape in the state of Texas to try to hold their pitching staff together at the moment, the young right-hander stepped up and pitched five innings with the first inning run being his only blemish.

Overall Rocker went his five frames allowing the run on three hits and two walks while striking out four Mets. After Rocker left, the beleaguered bullpen was tasked with needing to wade through four innings in a one-run game. Texas got those four innings out of Robert Garcia, Tyler Alexander, Chase Silseth, and Jordan Montgomery with only Alexander allowing a base runner. Kudos to the ‘pen. They stepped up today.

It didn’t remain a one-run game either as Corey Seager finally came through after a rough series and gave the arms a bit of insurance with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth. Eventually that allowed Montgomery to pick up the save with Jacob Latz unavailable. It was just the second save of Montgomery’s career but it was a nice time to get it as Texas held on for the win.

With any luck, today’s game won’t actually be the final game played at The Shed this season but as far as the regular season goes, the Rangers are finished in Arlington. At 79-80, 14th best in baseball, the Rangers hold a half game lead over Houston for the American League West crown.

Player of the Game: We’ve taken to dubbing Jung “the straw” of late for being the straw that stirs the drink for what is a complicated offense that has been prone to disappear without him.

Today, without him, the Rangers and Met would presumably still be playing as his two-run home run in the bottom of the first to erase a 1-0 Mets lead proved the difference for a player who is proving to be a difference maker down the stretch.

Overall Jung went 3-for-3 with a walk to reach in each of his PAs today. Josh Jung wants some of that postseason action.

Up Next: The final series of the regular season begins for Texas as they travel up to Minnesota to take on a Twins squad that they have not beaten this year, as they were swept by them in Arlington back in June.

As the Rangers don’t really have any starters left a starter has not been named for the opener. Meanwhile, Minnesota will opt for RHP Joe Ryan in the opener.

The Friday evening first pitch from Target Field is scheduled for 7:10 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery tied the MLB single-season strikeout record on Thursday, Sept. 24, whiffing for the 223rd time this season to equal Mark Reynolds' mark set in 2009.

Montgomery struck out in his first at-bat of the game then flew out twice to avoid breaking the record in the White Sox's postseason clincher, but there are three games remaining with Chicago hosting the Colorado Rockies for the final weekend.

The Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber has also had his eye on the dubious record, and entered Thursday's game on 218 strikeouts. Both players had 216 through Sunday but Montgomery struck out three times on Tuesday and three again on Wednesday in Kansas City to pull ahead in the "race."

Montgomery is hitting .200 in 150 games with 31 home runs and 87 RBIs this season, his second year in the majors.

Others have come close to the 223 mark in recent years and the top 15 seasons have all occurred since 2009. The Washington Nationals' James Wood came close in 2025, finishing with 221 strikeouts.

Most strikeouts in a season

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

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago White Sox shortstop ties infamous MLB record

For the second straight season, the Chicago Cubs are going to the playoffs.

Chicago locked up a spot in the National League field with a 2-1 over the Miami Marlins on Thursday, Sept. 24, locking up a National League wild card spot after fumbling clinching opportunities by losing the first two games of the series.

It capped a months-long fight for playoff position that had Chicago tangled with the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies for the league's wild card spots into the season's last full week. The Milwaukee Brewers locked up the NL Central last week and the Cubs were never really within reach.

How the Cubs got here

Chicago's calling card all year was the lineup. The pitching staff was something the Cubs had to survive. The Cubs led the majors in runs scored, powered by an MVP-caliber season from center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. He paired 40-plus home runs and speed on the bases with elite defense, and by Seiya Suzuki's steady production in the middle of the order. Alex Bregman gave the lineup another middle-of-the-order threat, but that was before he suffered multiple facial fractures after being hit in the face with a foul ball.

The pitching staff was the bigger question mark, and the front office spent the summer trying to answer it. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins added Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes at the trade deadline to bolster a rotation and bullpen that had leaked home runs but in Holmes' case, that plan had blown up in September after a hot start. Manager Craig Counsell spent the stretch run mixing and matching to cover for it, leaning on the lineup to outscore Chicago's mistakes.

Chicago's last trip to October ended at Milwaukee's hands, a five-game NL Division Series loss to the Brewers last season, and that series hangs over this Cubs team every time the two clubs meet.

What's next for the Cubs?

Because Chicago finished as a wild card team rather than a division winner, it opens the postseason in a best-of-three Wild Card Series. It could potentially host that series if it finishes as the top wild card team.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago Cubs punch ticket to MLB playoffs, clinch NL wild card spot

Injuries continue to plague the Yankees as they head into the final few games of the regular season, and this time the bullpen takes a hit.

The Yankees announced that reliever Clarke Schmidt was sent to the 15-day injured list with bicep neuritis, which means he will likely be left out of the postseason roster and unavailable for the upcoming Wild Card Series. They called up righty reliever Bradley Hanner from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take his place for the time being.

This situation puts the bullpen in a tighter spot and raises more questions about who will be shuffled around to take on a relief role in the postseason. Will Warren is expected to be a healthy weapon who can make an impact, and Carlos Rodón has a lot of potential if he doesn’t end up in a starting role, so the outlook isn’t as bad as it seems. Ryan Weathers is still up in the air as an option; it would’ve been nice to see him get some reps before the postseason officially begins.

After recovering from Tommy John surgery that kept him on the IL for most of the regular season, Schmidt made his return against the Twins, striking out two batters and allowing two hits. He was initially poised to make his second appearance on Sunday against the Diamondbacks, but halted his warmup from the bullpen due to bicep soreness. It seems that his injury is lingering longer than both Schmidt and the Yankees anticipated.

The Yankees postseason begins next week with the Wild Card Series, and hopefully, despite missing Schmidt, the bullpen will provide enough assurance to shut down Boston.

It’s finally over. The chance of the Orioles reaching the postseason for the 2026 campaign is officially zero. They were done in not through any last failure of their own that occurred today, instead getting eliminated on an off day because their miracle path involved the White Sox losing their final four games against the Royals and then Rockies.

The Chicago club put that to bed on Thursday, blowing out the Royals in Kansas City to win their 82nd game. The Orioles cannot possibly win 82. That’s it. The party ended when some guy named John Rave grounded out, second base to the pitcher covering first. The White Sox are guaranteed at least a wild card spot. They might even win the Central division. That’s to be settled over the season’s final weekend.

There is no way to view this season as anything other than a disappointment. After the team flopped to a 75-87 record last season, largely resulting from a horrible April and May that got then-manager Brandon Hyde fired, we got a lot of noise from Mike Elias on down about how it would be different this year. The players who did not live up to expectations last year would be stronger for the adversity, they were going to do everything in their power to assess what went wrong and what they can do to fix it, and other such platitudes.

The front office did try to fix one of last year’s weaknesses – the lack of home run power – by trading for Taylor Ward and eventually signing Pete Alonso to a big contract. Alonso delivered many dingers here. Ward did not. They tried to stabilize the rotation in a way that wasn’t done last year with one-year signings of Zach Eflin and Chris Bassitt. Eflin went down with a torn elbow ligament in the middle of his first start. Bassitt was not very good, got back surgery, came back, and was fine enough.

Still, we did not get a lot of evidence as the season went along that much had been done to fix some of the other issues. The core players who were supposed to be fueling the multi-year period of great Orioles baseball spent substantial parts of the season riding the struggle bus. Elias’s big trade for Shane Baz brought back a pitcher who has been exactly league average; he gave up at least one prospect who seems like a huge loss and others who may yet hurt. A bullpen that was only lightly reinforced went through difficult patches as guys who are unproven tried to go from that to “proven to be good” rather than “proven to be bad.”

All of this built up to the developments ahead of the trade deadline, when a variety of players, some we were invested in more than others, were moved at a time when it seemed clear the team was not going to be in the race. Indeed, two of the trades they made, Ward to the Mariners and Dean Kremer to the Twins, reinforced teams against whom, at that point, the Orioles were notionally competing in the wild card race. As things have turned out, the Orioles will finish ahead of those teams.

There was, of course, the ultimate indignity of a recognizable Orioles star being traded to the Red Sox. Adley Rutschman getting dealt to Boston still hurts. More than one of the players who came back in that trade went on to make a nice first impression in the organization, but still: It’s the Red Sox, and the Orioles gave up on a season where they weren’t that far out of the picture by sending a player who was the face of the rebuild off when he still had this year and next year left with team control.

Despite all of the season’s problems, and despite that trade deadline decision seeming like the front office was giving up on the season, the Orioles played their way through August to finish the month in a wild card position. Colton Cowser’s walkoff home run robbery in Colorado did it. They finally reached .500 again and with a good September, they could sneak in to the playoffs.

Instead, the Orioles lost the next six games, including four in a row at home to those same Red Sox. That made the eventual elimination start to feel inevitable; later being swept by the Brewers at home made it extra inevitable. They kept their chances alive a lot longer than I expected in April, in July, or even on Labor Day. At last, it’s over. Maybe next year.

Good things happened this year! Pete Alonso will finish with no fewer than 41 home runs and 110 RBI in the first year of his five-year contract. He should win a Gold Glove. That signing has gone better than anybody could have imagined, and after seeing it in action, all of the stuff about Alonso being a great person and a good leader does seem to actually have something to it.

Alonso’s season combined with the unexpected rotation emergence of Brandon Young is probably what kept this Orioles campaign from being a truly irredeemable slog. You can certainly find other fun stories, like Blaze Alexander blossoming into an intriguingly good player, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand coming off the reclamation project scrap heap to look like he deserves to be a part of next year’s Opening Day roster picture.

It sure was a slog at times. Inexplicably bad defense, weird lineup decisions, bizarre pinch hitting decisions, reliever choices that seemed to be based more on hope than on reality, all of these things contributed to a variety of stupid losses for the season. New manager Craig Albernaz threw players under the bus in postgame pressers on more than one occasion. For long parts of the season, the vibes around this team were not far off from the 100+ loss disasters of the early Elias years. In the end, they will lose no more than 84.

That’s not good. It’s not terrible either. Fix the defense and shore up a few spots on the roster in the offseason instead of July or August and this Orioles team could be right back in it. Maybe. Its chief architect and its disappointing dugout leader are both coming back, so it’s fair to wonder how much things will really change. Those are problems for next year. For this year, it’s over.

This will be remembered as the Chicago White Sox team that made history for all the right reasons.

Two years after losing a Major League Baseball-record 121 games and one year after their third consecutive 100-loss season, the White Sox are going to the playoffs. Their startling resurgence was completed Thursday, Sept. 24 when they defeated the Kansas City Royals 9-1 at Kauffman Stadium to clinch at least an American League wild-card berth.

The South Siders are still playing for a bigger prize. They pulled within a half-game of the Cleveland Guardiansin the AL Central with the victory. The Guardians were scheduled to play at Boston later Thursday and close the season with three games against the Royals. The White Sox finish with three games against the Colorado Rockies, who were set to lose their 102nd game Thursday. The White Sox hold the tiebreaker against the Guardians.

Chicago has held first place for 82 games this year and most of the second half, until the Guardians took over Sept. 17. But the White Sox erased no doubt Thursday that they'd nail down a playoff spot.

They scored six runs in the first two innings, thanks to a pair of hits and two RBIs from Miguel Vargas, and after Kyle Teel's fourth-inning homer the rout was on, as right-hander David Sandlin held the Royals to one run over six innings.

Chicago's 82 wins are the most for a team coming off three 100-loss seasons, and second-most after just one 100-loss season. The White Sox also clinched a winning record for the first time since 2021, when they won 93 games and qualified most recently for the playoffs.

Those White Sox were beat in four games by the Houston Astros in the AL division series. These White Sox have a chance to win the division and receive a bye into the ALDS, where they'd face the winner of the AL West champion and No. 3 wild card.

They got here on the strength of several breakout performances and one MVP-caliber level-up from Vargas. Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-team deal that also included the St. Louis Cardinals and sent Tommy Edman to the eventual World Series champions, Vargas put it all together this season, hitting 33 home runs, driving in 92 and posting an .842 OPS. He's also stolen 21 bases and needs just two walks to reach 100.

Rookies Tristan Peters and Sam Antonacci are hitting well above league average, with Peters providing 3.9 WAR thanks to excellent defense in center field. And with Teel returning from injuries, the return haul in the trade of Garrett Crochet to Boston is popping, with second baseman Chase Meidroth posting a .763 OPS and 4.3 WAR and Braden Montgomery part of a platoon in right field.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No longer defined by 121 losses, White Sox punch ticket to MLB postseason

Devin Fitz-Gerald is one of the more fascinating prospects in the Nationals system. The switch hitting infielder is the 5th ranked prospect in the system according to MLB Pipeline and 4th according to Baseball America. Out of the 5 prospects the Nats received in the MacKenzie Gore trade, Fitz-Gerald looks like the best one at the moment.

However, there is more to Devin Fitz-Gerald than just the baseball player. This has been a difficult year for the Fitz-Gerald family. Devin’s mother, Colleen was diagnosed with a brain tumor and told she has about 18 months to live. This layer of personal tragedy has hung over the 21 year old’s season.

As Devin Fitz-Gerald became a top-100 prospect, his mom was diagnosed with brain cancer and told she had ~18 months to live.

Dad is searching for a way to pay for treatment. Mom is stuck at home. And Devin?

“I’m trying to play for her.” https://t.co/2yk8Z0IKlKpic.twitter.com/3ji87Zd3Nd

— Spencer Nusbaum (@spencernusbaum_) July 10, 2026

Fitz-Gerald, also known as DFG, has said he is playing for his mother this year and forever. To have this going on while also going through a professional baseball season is a major challenge for anyone, let alone a player in a new organization. For those curious, the Fitz-Gerald family has set up a Go Fund Me. 

Now that we have discussed this very important context, I wanted to dive into Fitz-Gerald’s season on the field. It was an up and down year for DFG, who had a great start and great finish to the season. However, he faced some bumps along the way in the middle.

Fitz-Gerald is a second baseman who can do a little bit of everything. He is not the biggest, strongest or fastest, but DFG gets the most out of his tools. A big reason for that is because of his baseball IQ. That high level of on field intelligence comes from being the son of a high level high school baseball coach. His dad coaches at Stoneman Douglas High School, which has produced several big leaguers such as Roman Anthony, Coby Mayo and Jesus Luzardo.

Now the son of the coach is looking to be next in line. Despite not having jaw dropping raw power, Fitz-Gerald still found a way to put up 20 home runs this season between High-A and Double-A. He does a great job consistently elevating the ball and that allows him to outslug his average raw power.

THIRD-straight game with a homer for devin fitz-gerald 🙂‍↕️

the seventh nats minor leaguer to reach 20 home runs this season !!! pic.twitter.com/D8isIrZpKY

— Nationals Player Development (@Nats_PlayerDev) September 13, 2026

DFG also has a very solid hit tool to go with that power. On the season, he struck out just under 22% of the time. He struggled with strikeouts early in his AA stint, but he gradually improved, as did his overall play.

In the beginning of the season, DFG took the prospect world by storm. In April and May, he was lighting it up with Wilmington. There was a stretch where Fitz-Gerald homered on a near daily basis. In that insane May, DFG homered 9 times.

However, when the calendar turned to June and the youngster got promoted to Harrisburg, he went ice cold. Fitz-Gerald struggled on the baseball field in a way I doubt he ever had before in his life. He went 10 for 88 in 22 games that month. Between the off field tragedy and struggling on the field, that must have been a very difficult time for him. 

That tough month made him show resilience though. The turnaround did not happen overnight. In July, Fitz-Gerald was better, but still only hit .250 with a .639 OPS. By the time August and September rolled around, Fitz-Gerald had figured out his new level and was rolling. Seeing that growth after being dominated early on in AA was very encouraging to see.

Devin Fitz-Gerald’s month by month progression at Double A has been a joy to witness. Outside shot of making his debut in late 2027 at this rate, and a good chance at becoming a regular by 2028 pic.twitter.com/bzKnm08eJ7

— Paul Cubbage (@PaulCubbage23) September 14, 2026

By September, DFG was back in his flow state. He homered 4 times in 9 games to end his season. Even while going through an extended slump, Fitz-Gerald still put up solid numbers in his first year in the Nationals organization. He hit .251 with a .780 OPS and hit 20 homers while stealing 15 bases. 

I still think the best is yet to come for Fitz-Gerald. The 21 year old will likely start next season in AA, but if he gets off to a fast start, I could see him getting promoted to AAA quite quickly. We will see if he can reach the big leagues in 2027, but I do not think it is impossible.

However, I think the most likely outcome is an early 2028 debut. Once Fitz-Gerald arrives, I think he has a good chance of making second base his long term home. I do not see super star potential, but he can be one of those players who quietly hits 15-20 homers, hits about .260 and plays solid defense. That is not a flashy profile, but it can get you to 3 WAR pretty easily. 

Chase Meidroth of the White Sox is a player who I think profiles pretty similarly and he has 4.4 fWAR this season. Overall, Fitz-Gerald is a quality ball player and seems like a quality young man as well. Given his story, I will always be rooting for DFG.

Here are the lineups for the final game against Milwaukee. Let’s discuss!

For the Phillies:

One more in the powder blues#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/4qP3KvW7Zk

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 24, 2026

For the Brewers:

Rubber match in Philly

📺: https://t.co/vfk4xUdTIA
📻: WTMJ#ThisIsMyCrew x @NicoletLawpic.twitter.com/lt9cXK0rrS

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 24, 2026

Keep those fingers crossed, but it looks like we may have dodged the worst case scenario in the Ceddanne Rafaela injury department. Ceddy spoke after the game last night and downplayed the severity of the incident, saying the he only experienced a little cramping, possibly due to dehydration. “Every time I get pulled out of the game, I’m not happy,” Rafaela said. “But hopefully it’s just something minor.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)

Rafaela did undergo an MRI today, but everything must have come back clean, as he’s already back in the lineup:

Tonight’s lineup for Guardians @ Red Sox:

1. Nick Sogard 1B
2. Mickey Gasper DH
3. Adley Rutschman C
4. Wilyer Abreu RF
5 Caleb Durbin 3B
6. Ceddanne Rafaela CF
7. Jarren Duran LF
8. Trevor Story SS
9 IKF 2B

Daniel Espino vs. Ranger Suarez. 6:45 first pitch on NESN. pic.twitter.com/aSBuBCADTC

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) September 24, 2026

Speaking of injury scares, Aroldis Chapman returned to the mound last night for the first time in 10 days, as he’s been battling a sore lat. It took him only 12 pitches to end the game, so it looks like he’s all good. “I felt good,” said Chapman through a translator. “I was happy to be able to go out there. I felt like my pitches and my stuff were very good today, so I’m happy to be back.” (Sean McAdam, MassLive)

There was speculation that, with a doubleheader scheduled for tomorrow, the Sox may attempt to use their extra roster spot to get Garrett Crochet into a game before the playoffs start. That’s not going to happen, but he is going to throw another bullpen session this weekend before the team decides what to do with him. “What is he able to give you?” Chad Tracy said. “Can he give you two games? Can he give you multiple innings? Can he go back to back? All those questions have to be answered, not only for his own health, but for our team and what puts us in the best position.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

Crochet might not make it back to the mound. But that’s not stopping one ESPN insider from picking them to win the AL pennant. (Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez, Buster Olney, Jeff Passan, Jesse Rogers, ESPN)

If the Sox do make it to the World Series, Sonny Gray will have played a big part in it. And, in doing so, he’ll have proved a lot of people who thought he couldn’t hack it in Boston wrong. “When I left New York in 2018, I told myself that I’m going to go back to a big market at some point in my career. Especially after learning what I learned and having the experiences that I had [in New York], I knew I could [succeed] anywhere after that. So I always told myself that I was going to [pitch again in a large market].” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

Ronald Acuña Jr. is back in the Braves lineup and ultimately missed just one game after fouling a baseball off his knee during night’s contest against the Cincinnati Reds. Acuña is batting second in the order — sandwiched between Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson — and is playing in right field, an even more encouraging sign that he is feeling better after receiving treatment on his knee the last 36 hours. Here’s hoping Ronald continues to mash baseballs the way he was before exiting Tuesday’s game.

As for the rest of Atlanta’s lineup, Baldwin is serving as the DH with Sean Murphy set to catch Tyler Mahle. Mike Yastrzemski is back in there after sitting the past few nights against left-handed starters. Austin Riley finds himself batting eighth as he continues to battle his strikeout issues.

Here’s the full lineup:

Series finale!#BravesCountrypic.twitter.com/QatUxcdr7N

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 24, 2026

The Reds will send their usual cast of characters out there on Thursday night:

Series finale with the Braves.

Powered by @PNCBankpic.twitter.com/8R5XRwd2t8

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) September 24, 2026

First pitch from Truist Park is set for 7:15 p.m. ET.

The final series of the season for the Seattle Mariners will be without one of their rookie utilitymen. INF Brock Rodden was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to September 23rd, with left patella tendon inflammation. Correspondingly, Seattle activated INF Leo Rivas to fill the role for the final weekend of the regular season.

The move concludes what’s been a difficult debut for Rodden. After a spark of hot initial play on Seattle’s brutal August road trip, the diminutive switch-hitter cooled at the plate and struggled to compensate defensively. Despite impressive power in the minors, Rodden didn’t manage to get the barrel to the ball consistently in Seattle. His year concluded with a .197/.306/.279 line, a 77 wRC+ and -0.4 fWAR in 72 plate appearances and 30 games. Good plate discipline and switch-hitting helped him run a healthy walk rate, but he’ll enter his age 27 season in 2027 trying to find better timing against big league arms.

Much of what’s been said of Rodden could apply to the 28 year old Rivas in 2026. A good showing in Seattle a season ago did not translate forward, with the M’s sorely needing depth he struggled to provide early in the year. Losing favor to several debuting youngsters, Rivas was more competent in his return to the bigs back in August, but will likely receive sporadic play at most in the final few games of the regular season.

Cross Clarke Schmidt off the list of potential bullpen options for the Yankees, at least for the early part of the playoffs.

The right-hander was placed on the 15-day IL Thursday with right bicep neuritis. The move is retroactive to Monday.

Schmidt came back from last year’s Tommy John surgery, but appeared in just one game.

The Yankees had hoped he’d be a valuable arm in the postseason as a reliever, along with lefty Ryan Weathers.

Weathers (left forearm flexor) could still make it back. He’s expected to throw live Friday.

Without Schmidt, the Yankees will have to look elsewhere to fill out their playoff bullpen.

Aaron Boone said Wednesday that hard-throwing righty Carlos Lagrange is “in the conversation for something,” even though he hasn’t pitched in the majors. He’s coming back from a sprained right shoulder.

To take Schmidt’s spot on the roster, right-hander Bradley Hanner was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The Yankees in all likelihood will face the Red Sox starting Tuesday in The Bronx in a best-of-three series.

The Yankees will be operating without Clarke Schmidt again. 

New York placed Schmidt back on the IL with right bicep neuritis before Thursday's game. 

Because of the IL stint, the right-hander will not be a bullpen option for the Yanks for at least the upcoming Wild Card series. 

Schmidt had been warming up to enter Sunday afternoon's series finale against the Diamondbacks when he first started experiencing bicep soreness. 

He underwent testing earlier this week, and the team felt he was in a "pretty good spot." 

The 30-year-old was set to play catch at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday to determine his availability, but he was unable to do so and now officially lands back on the IL. 

Schmidt made just one big league appearance in his return from Tommy John surgery, striking out two of the four batters he faced last Wednesday against the Twins. 

In his place, Bradley Hanner has been recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.