Category: MLB

The game of baseball is always changing and evolving. This season we got a big rule change in the form of the ABS challenge system. Giving players the ability to challenge the umpire’s ruling is a game changer. This season, 5,686 calls were overturned around the league.

I wanted to take a look at how successful the Nats were when it came to using the challenge system. In the first year of ABS, there is no true guide on how to effectively use it. That means different teams will take different approaches. With a year of data, I think teams will have a better idea of how to use the system most effectively.

On the season, the Nats were mediocre at best when it came to challenging. Nats hitters were 45% on challenges this season, which ranked 23rd in baseball. Meanwhile, Nationals were 54%, which ranks 22nd in the league. Overall, the Nats were not horrible at using the ABS challenge system, but left plenty to be desired.

In the beginning of the season, the Nats struggled to adjust to the new system. For the first month of play, the Nats were the worst challenging team in baseball. I remember one game against the Phillies during the first week of the season where the Nats ran out of challenges in the second inning.

Hitters were having a hard time picking the right spots to challenge. Keibert Ruiz and Drew Millas were also struggling behind the plate. Millas continued to struggle, with a 43% win rate on the season. That was actually the worst mark of any catcher with at least 50 challenges. 

After a tough start, Keibert Ruiz turned into a decent challenger. On the season, Ruiz went 56% on ABS challenges. That is slightly below the 58% average for catchers. Harry Ford was actually the best Nats catcher at using the ABS system, with a 60% win rate.

Ford being the best at using ABS actually makes sense. The ABS challenge system has been in place at the AAA level for a little while now, which makes Ford the most familiar with the procedure. With his experience, Ford had a better feel for when to tap the helmet.

On the hitting side, CJ Abrams was actually one of the game’s best challengers. He challenged 14 times and won 12 of them. Abrams was actually the best hitter in baseball in terms of overturns vs expected, a stat on Baseball Savant. However, it was a mixed bag at best for the rest of the team.

Jorbit Vivas and Nasim Nunez were the worst challengers on the team, going 3 for 11 and 3 for 12 respectively. Maybe they should not have challenging privileges going into next season. James Wood also struggled, going 8 for 23 on the year.

Overall, I thought the Nats got better at challenging as the year went on but still have plenty of room to improve. It was very interesting to watch this new system for the first time. ABS provides a new element when it comes to accuracy and strategy. I am excited to see how the Nats adapt to the system as the years go on. It is a fun subplot to follow around the game.

Game 1 of the National League Division Series is slated to be a hot one, literally.

First pitch between the Dodgers and Phillies or Braves (depending on who wins Game 3 of the wild-card series Thursday) is set for 1 p.m. Saturday. Temperatures at Dodger Stadium are expected to reach upward of 98 degrees.

While there certainly won’t be an autumn breeze for October baseball in Los Angeles, Dodgers fans can purchase tickets at a reasonable price for Game 1 of the NLDS.

Tickets have gone lower than $100, meaning fans can watch the back-to-back World Series champions for a price that likely matches the 90-degree weather.

For those wondering about the early start time for a Dodgers playoff game, the wild-card series between the Padres and Cubs determined whether LA would get the 1 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. slot.

Since the Padres beat Chicago, the Dodgers were pushed to the 1 p.m. start time and San Diego received the evening slot to avoid any overlap between the two NLDS matchups.

While the Padres already know their NLDS opponent in the Brewers, the Dodgers still are waiting.

Regardless of who they face, the Dodgers are set for a heated Game 1.

There were consistent statements made by the Cincinnati Reds ownership group during the collapse in 2026 that the front office and baseball decision-makers were not going to be replaced this offseason. It was telling that despite their precipitous fall down the standings after a surprising (and statistically unsustainable) win streak in March they stuck with Nick Krall and Brad Meador during the MLB Draft process mid-summer.

Letting a front office on the outs make that kind of ten-figure investment in the future of the franchise wouldn’t have made much sense, would it?

So, from a reading the tea leaves perspective today’s news conference featuring Phil Castellini endorsing the current front office for another year should have caused zero surprises; the surprise was months ago when all signs pointed directly to that being the case.

“We need baseball guys to make baseball decisions,” said Phil.

What Phil did not say, though, was “we need expert baseball guys to make expert baseball decisions.”

Charlie Goldsmith was on hand to document the presser, and to Krall’s credit he owned a number of his own mistakes. There was genuine lament that they – he – had thrown so many millions of dollars at 3B only to have it blow up in the Reds faces each and every time, and how that was an exhaustive way of using the otherwise limited resources that this team has at its disposal.

It was also made clear that Derek Johnson, who’d been the head of pitching at every single inch of the franchise since 2019, would officially depart from said duties. He’d been on a leave of absence since June anyway, and now the front office will be tasked with regrouping with another voice there – even though it’ll be the very same front office getting to make those personnel decisions despite the foibles they’ve encountered elsewhere.

Beyond that, it’s telling that the front office will remain intact at the same time that so many of their players are entering winters when their trade value could not possibly be any lower. Nick Lodolo and Andrew Abbott took terrible steps backwards during the 2026 season while also seeing their precious team control dwindle towards empty. Spencer Steer needed wrist surgery, while Matt McLain was one of the single worst hitters against RHP in the sport at the highest level. Even JJ Bleday, who emerged as a legitimate lineup staple against RHP, spent the final four months of the season showing why he’d been non-tendered the year prior. Hunter Greene, of course, just had his elbow replaced.

So, a front office that has hammered home how this will be a slow build and will feature them trusting the process with the guys they’d assembled now a) gets an endorsement from the owners to continue on that path and b) enters the offseason armed with almost zero shiny trade chips from which to make deals.

There will be some money available after the likes of Brady Singer, Eugenio Suarez, TJ Friedl, and Tyler Stephenson came off the books. But that’s precisely the area where this front office has collapsed in delirium for the entirety of its establishment, meaning the guys will once again have to eschew their growing reputation and hit on some gems in a winter where there aren’t a ton of perfect-fit options out there on the open market.

Terrified of what it would actually take to overhaul a franchise that has sputtered for generations, the Reds are going to take the easy route once again. We all know how well those stories usually play out.

All hands will be on deck Thursday night as the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies have the stage to themselves in the final game of MLB's wild card playoff round.

Tied 1-1 in the best-of-three series after a pair of nail-biting finishes, the winner of the third and deciding game in suburban Atlanta will advance to the National League division series against the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Phillies will have right-hander Aaron Nola (7-12, 4.67 ERA) on the mound, while the Braves will counter with an opener in left-handed reliever Ray Kerr (0-0, 1.47 ERA).

USA TODAY Sports will chronicle all the action and provide instant analysis on the game.

I love the film Moneyball for a lot of reasons, but one part of the film really resonates now.

If you recall, Billy Beane’s life was baseball — once as a player and, as the movie starts, as the general manager for the Athletics.

But he doesn’t watch the games. At first pitch, he might be working out in the gym. He might go for a drive. But sit in the stadium and watch every excruciating pitch? No way.

Well, I never played baseball and nothing in my personal life depends on the outcome of the Rays postseason and yet….when the postseason starts I feel so stressed that I can barely watch.

When it’s a series against a rival like the Yankees I’m nearly comatose with anxiety. The pain of losing to THOSE guys – with their air of entitlement, the sense that the world begins and ends with them. Their stupid minor league stadium dimensions (and then their fans griping if an opponent actually beats them shooting “home runs” to the short porch); their acting like they are better than the rest of us but then using a b-tier electronics store jingle ad to signify a strikeout. The thousands of New Yorkers who flee their region to enjoy OUR weather and OUR low taxes while continuing to root for the Yankees, and who then boast that they outnumber the Rays fans (which they don’t by the way, they are just very loud and obnoxious) when in fact they have priced long time Floridians out of the region.

Oh and by the way did I mention, I’m from New York City? So I really am entitled to call these folks out.

Anyway!

I thought baseball was the thing I did to escape the difficult parts of life. Work can be stressful, family can be complicated, there are fires and floods everywhere, so of course we turn to baseball, that traditional, pastoral sport for escape.

When we get to the postseason, however, it’s the baseball part that seems stressful.

In 2023 I decided to address this by going all in on participation. I bought tickets for all the Wild Card games (of which just two were played), got a new postseason shirt, cleared my work schedule and immersed myself in the game. And I was rewarded with the two worst Rays games I’ve ever seen, and I was around for the Devil Rays.

This year I’ve decided to stay home (clearly I was the bad luck charm) and I’m looking for ways to get into the right mindset to actually, you know, enjoy baseball. Ice cream? Meditation, with my new mantra: “Any October baseball is good. Any October baseball is good.”

Or maybe alcohol. I’ve created a drinking game where I take a shot every time someone — baseball folks, random fans on social media — says some variation of “who are these guys?” Double shots if a ball hits a catwalk. I invite you to join me, or if you aren’t a drinker substitute your substance of choice.

I also line up all my Rays swag and bobbleheads around my TV and light a few candles. That should surely help.

And if things get tense, well, I’ll go to the store.

Where are you on the anxiety-to-joy continuum? What is your strategy for dealing with the many Yankee fans certain to cast a dark shadow over the Trop this week?

So far, what we know is that it is a two-year deal, which means he is staying in the dessert through at least 2028. Of course, plenty can change before then, but this seems the most likely outcome, especially given all the uncertainty regarding the sport as a whole. The looming lockout is nothing to be trifled with. This move saves the club from having to find a new management team in the short period of time they will have before the lockout starts or in the even shorter window after the lockout is over and games begin.

Stay glued to the Pit for updates once the team holds the announcement presser.

New York Post may be compensated and/or receive an affiliate commission if you click or buy through our links. Featured pricing is subject to change.

In 1969, the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers — who were the Seattle Pilots for one season — were founded as MLB expansion teams.

Now, 58 short years later, the perennial National League contenders are meeting in the postseason for the first time.

On Saturday, Oct. 3, the best-of-five NLDS will get underway at Milwaukee’s American Family Field with the Brewers’ ace and Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski (16-5, 1.80 ERA) on the hill.

Following a two-game stint in the Cream City, the series will move to SoCal for a pair of contests at San Diego’s PETCO Park. They’re slated to take place:

Game 3Tuesday, Oct. 6

Game 4Wednesday, Oct. 7

If you’d like to be there, tickets are available for both high-stakes hypothetical San Diego showdowns.

At the time of publication, the lowest price we could find on tickets for either game was $121 including fees on Vivid Seats.

Prices start at $99 including fees for the three potential meetings in Milwaukee.

Before this series, the Padres got revenge against the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card round, sweeping MVP hopeful Pete Crow-Armstrong’s club at home after losing to them in three games to open the playoffs last year.

“They’re playing great baseball right now,” San Diego manager Craig Stammen said about his club.

Next up, they have a tall task taking on MLB’s winningest team in 2026.

Oddsmakers project the Brewers are -180 favorites going into the NLDS.

Yet, it should be factored in that San Diego took four of their six meetings over the course of the regular season including a clutch 4-3, eleven-inning victory on Aug. 12.

Is this the year that one of these two clubs finally gets over the hump and returns to the World Series?

While we can’t say for certain we do know that their first-ever postseason meeting with some of the game’s hardest flamethrowers in Misiorowski and Mason Miller should be downright electric.

Don’t miss this one. We just might have an instant classic on our hands.

For more information, our team has everything you need to know and more about the Padres vs. Brewers 2026 NLDS below.

What do tickets cost to see the Padres at home in the 2026 NLDS?

All hypothetical Padres home game dates at PETCO Park and links to the cheapest tickets available are listed here:

How much are tickets for Brewers 2026 NLDS games in Milwaukee?

A complete calendar of all potential Brewers home games at American Family Field and the lowest-priced tickets can be found below.

Are Padres tickets available for later rounds?

Starry-eyed fans looking to get ahead of themselves can procure potential NLCS and World Series tickets before the NLDS even begins.

To grab seats for the game of your choosing, all hypothetical Padres playoff tickets can be found here.

How to watch the Padres in the 2026 playoffs

Fans that prefer to watch on the tube, you can catch Padres playoff contests on FOX, which can be found on DIRECTV.

Huge 2026-27 San Diego shows

The Yankees aren’t the only huge attraction in America’s Finest City these next few months.

Here are just five of the biggest acts headed to San Diego in the near future.

• Metallica

• Don Omar

• Gorillaz

• Los Tigres del Norte

• Teddy Swims

Who else is out and about? Take a look at this list of all the biggest artists coming to the Pechanga Arena these next few months to find the show for you.

Why you should trust ‘Post Wanted’ by the New York Post

This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change.

In a year where the (not particularly inspiring) tagline for playoff baseball is “No Time Like October”, only one out of four Wild Card series made it to today, the actual first day of the month. Aren’t we so lucky that it was Braves vs. Phillies? /s

Two games into the postseason and three sweeps later, the Padres, Yankees, and papally-blessed White Sox have punched their tickets to the next round. The swift eliminations of the Cubs, Red Sox, and Astros means the singular scenario for a night game at Truist Park has come to fruition.

Tonight’s winner-take-all game will decide which NL East team will board the plane to Los Angeles for the weekend to play in the National League Division Series, aiming to deny the two-time defending World Series champions their shot at a three-peat.

Doesn’t it feel like it was always destined to come down to this? A pair of divisonal rivals, with fanbases that passionately hate each other, both trying to dispel a miasma of past playoff failures. Apparently, this makes for tremendous baseball for those without a specific rooting interest or stake in it.

Unfortunately, we here at Battery Power are rooting very hard for the home team. And we would do pretty much anything to trade exciting and entertaining baseball for easy and comfortable victories. But if you’ve been following the team this season, you know they like to do things the hard way. So here we are.

The Atlanta Braves will send Ray Kerr to the mound to start for Game 3. Kerr returned to the majors on August 16 after missing two years due to Tommy John surgery and long rehab process. The lanky lefty is capable of multiple innings and had a 1.47 ERA and .600 WHIP in nine games.

Kerr faced the Phillies for a solid third of his 18.1 innings pitched in the regular season. His two outings were as follows:

• September 5: 3.1 innings of one-hit ball (a single by Kyle Schwarber) and one strikeout
• September 13: 3.0 innings of one-hit ball (a double by Bryce Harper) and four strikeouts

In the latter game, Kerr relieved starter Grant Holmes. The roles will reverse today; we can expect Holmes to follow for the bulk of the innings. A Braves bullpen unit that has been so strong all year faltered yesterday afternoon, but it is likely that all hands will be on deck to get all 27 outs tonight.

The Phillies are in the same mode and will counter with right-hander Aaron Nola. He is their most-rested option, but Zack Wheeler, Game 1’s starter Jesús Luzardo, and yesterday’s winning pitcher Andrew Painter are all also on the table. Closer Jhoan Duran was unavailable yesterday, and his status for tonight is not yet known.

The Braves are very familiar with Nola, of course. He has a 4.50 ERA in three starts against the team in 2026. He last pitched in Saturday for the pentultimate game of the regular season on short rest, lasting one inning after allowing three runs on four hits on 21 pitches.

It would be great to see the team in the home uniforms be the ones to Let It Fly – the leaders in home runs off Nola are Austin Riley with 7, Matt Olson with 5, and Ronald Acuña Jr. with 4.

Welcome to October. Who will shine brightest under the Truist Park lights?

Game Info

Game Time: Thursday, October 1, 8:00 pm EDT

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

Watch: NBC/Peacock

Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM, ESPN Radio

Although the box score doesn’t reflect an intensely competitive game, tempers flared in the stands at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night.

A big fight broke out in the upper deck during the Yankees’ 9-2 Game 2 win over the Red Sox, which swept Boston out of the playoffs.

A viral video of the brawl captured a Yankees fan wearing black shirt throwing punches left and right on a Red Sox fan, who was wearing a yellow Boston jersey.

Another Red Sox fan, wearing a red jersey and who appeared to be with the fan in the yellow jersey, ended up getting in a blow to the Yankees fan’s head.

It knocked the fan backwards into the stairs of the section and gave the Red Sox fan in the yellow jersey enough time to gather himself and retaliate.

The fan got in a few punches before the Yankees fan stood back up and began fighting back again.

As the chaos went on, many fans around the fight didn’t take action.

Instead, many watched and recorded the incident on their phones.

The Red Sox fan in the red jersey eventually pushed the Yankee fan away, towards the exit, but he didn’t go quietly.

The fan said “F–k you” toward the Boston supporters while flipping them the bird before putting their Yankee hat back on and leaving.

Since, the Yankees knocked out biggest rivals for the second consecutive season in the wild-card round, there was bound to be some tension and outbursts during the series.

The upper deck battle wasn’t the only notable altercation of the night in The Bronx.

Before the game, Spike Lee found himself in the middle of an intense scene with a fan, who asked the famous director for a selfie and requested that he say “F–k Palestine” while inside the Legends Suite.

An angry Lee immediately stood up and sought out security. The unidentified fan was kicked out of the suite.

Boston was alarmingly outscored 18-2 overall throughout the two games.

The Yankees hit the road to take on the Rays in Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday, with Game 2 in St. Petersburg on Monday.

Games 3 and 4 will be in The Bronx and Game 5 would be back in Florida.

The Phillies are turning to a starter with a 5.14 ERA in his last 50 starts.

The Braves are opening with a reliever who has pitched nine times since the end of the 2024 season.

Welcome to Desperationville.

The only wild-card series to go the distance will feature the Phillies starting veteran Aaron Nola over ace Zack Wheeler on short rest, per The Athletic, and the Braves countering with southpaw reliever Ray Kerr, who went 26 months between major-league appearances before his Aug. 17 season debut.

Neither NL East squad has to be loving its current situation, with the Phillies surely kicking themselves for stumbling late in the year and the Braves’ lack of pitching depth looming large.

In an ideal world, the Phillies would have had Wheeler available for a start in this series but they had to burn him Sunday against the Rays to secure their playoff spot.

Rather than turn to Wheeler on three days rest, they will be going with Nola on regular rest.

Nola had a chance to ensure Wheeler could start in this series when he faced the Rays last Saturday, but he lasted one inning and allowed three runs on four hits.

He finished the regular season with a 7-12 record and a 4.67 ERA.

The Athletic noted that Wheeler could serve as a reliever, along with Game 1 starter Jesus Luzardo, but he’s made just one relief appearance out of 323 career MLB outings, including the postseason.

Wheeler tossed 1 ⅔ innings in relief in the 2023 NLCS in a 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks.

The Braves, meanwhile, are likely using Kerr to limit how many times Grant Holmes — a starter — has to face the Phillies’ lineup, per The Athletic.

Holmes allowed an .886 OPS to opposing batters when facing them a second time, compared to a .590 OPS the first time through.

Kerr, meanwhile, only joined the team in August after last pitching for the franchise in 2024.

He only made his major-league debut at 27 in 2022 after previously working at 7-Eleven.

“It’s really surprising to just see him go from 7-Eleven and us working together at IMAX theater,” Kerr’s brother Richard Kerr told The Athletic for a piece published in September.

“Him furthering his career was such an eye-opener for a lot of people.”

The Yankees are on their way to Tampa after making quick work of the Red Sox in the Wild Card Series. It’s only fitting that their next hurdle takes the form of the team that edged them for the division title—just like last year. The Tampa Bay Rays own the Junior Circuit’s top regular season record and likely represent the Yankees’ most significant hurdle for returning to the World Series.

Unsurprisingly, the Yankees fed off terrific starting pitching to sweep Boston. Cam Schlittler continued his superlative season (and his ownership of their arch rival) in Game 1, then Max Fried followed with an understated yet still stellar six innings of his own. But Aaron Boone’s club didn’t need to rely solely on the starters. In both games, the Yankee offense exploded in the latter half of the game to make the late innings as comfortable as a California King after a long day on the road.

With all that in mind, the Yankees are entering this tilt with the Rays looking like a well-oiled machine. They’ll need to keep it up to handle a pesky, modular, and cerebral Tampa Bay team that thrives on the margins.

On offense, this year’s Rays are not unlike the Blue Jays who ended the Bombers’ season in 2025, marking a departure from more power-focused, high-whiff lineups of past iterations. Like that Toronto team, they are extremely difficult to strike out—both their K rate and whiff rate were lowest in the league. They have plenty of contact-oriented bats: Yandy Díaz led the AL with 180 hits, and Chandler Simpson is the ultimate throwback, hitting over .300 with 46 steals and zero homers. Jonathan Aranda blends contact skills and pull power to right field. But they also have their own equivalent to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the heart of the order: All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero, whose 42 homers match the total Ben Rice put up this year. Their 104 team wRC+ was tied for fifth in MLB with the ALDS-bound White Sox.

As ever, the Rays’ pitching staff is loaded for bear—one of the few staffs that can compete with the Yankees. They throw tons of different looks at you, from the relentless top-down attack of ace Drew Rasmussen to the bouncy, crafty stylings of veteran Nick Martinez. Trade deadline addition Freddy Peralta is pitching like Freddy Peralta again, and they’ve got Griffin Jax and Ian Seymour as additional options.

For a five-game series, I anticipate Rasmussen (already listed as the Game 1 starter), Martinez, and Peralta in a three-man rotation, with Seymour as their designated long man out of the bullpen. Jax, who converted to starter this year after a fruitful stint in Minnesota’s bullpen, took a comebacker off his back in the penultimate game of the season. Indications from the team are that he’ll be good to go and could potentially reprise his late-inning role or be a “leverage guy.” Manager Kevin Cash demurred when asked for more details on his strategy—no surprise for a team that likes to keep their cards close to the chest.

Then there’s the bullpen, which could add Jax or Seymour to an already talented crew. Closer Bryan Baker, once an inconsistent middle-inning arm for Baltimore, has blossomed into an intimidating closer with triple-digit heat and a nasty changeup. Kevin Kelly has been among the league’s best setup men with a 2.44 ERA in 73.2 innings. Reports indicate that the Rays could welcome back Tyler Wells and Garrett Cleavinger, both of whom have missed time with injury. Add lefty Cam Booser to the mix, and you have a good idea of some of the arms the Yankees will see in the later innings.

The fruits of dispatching Boston early are borne in how the Yankees can set up their staff for this series. Gerrit Cole was the presumptive Game 3 starter for New York—he’ll likely start Game 1. There will then be a day between Game 1 and Game 2, giving an additional day of rest for Schlittler and Fried, who I expect to be deployed afterward. Since there will be a full four days between Game 1 and a hypothetical Game 4, the Yankees could start Cole again if they so choose and reserve Carlos Rodón for a piggyback role in case a starter can’t go deep.

The staggered scheduling of games promises to redound to the benefit of both pitching staffs, who likely won’t run their bullpens ragged with the first three games taking place across five days. As such, the focus in the series to me will be the lineups. Which team can snatch the initiative and give their pitchers a lead with which to work? Who can put up a crooked number—like the ones the Yankees pasted onto Boston—to dent opposing morale?

It’s with that question that we address the Aaron Judge of it all. Judge was vocal about his desire to play in the Wild Card Series, but ultimately was left off the roster. Instead, Giancarlo Stanton was given a spot, though he went unused. The full nature of Judge’s quad strain is still a little iffy, but bringing him back was wishful thinking against Boston, and I believe will be wishful thinking against Tampa, too. At any rate, this lineup has been clicking—which gives Boone every excuse to wait until they’re confident Judge can be his fully healthy self, rather than the limited version which probably couldn’t play the outfield as it stands. I expect the Yankees will not bring Judge onto the ALDS roster—and if they do, he will see limited playing time, if any.

For the best-of-three series with Boston, the Yankees got aggressive with their roster, constructing a super-bench and bringing only ten pitchers. With a best-of-five series on the horizon, the Yankees will probably add another arm or two, but I expect them to continue to carry a deep bench, especially if Judge remains sidelined. Boone was able to roll out two very different-looking lineups against Boston, and both produced. Just as the Rays thrive on changing things up and preventing their opponent from getting comfortable, the Yankees can and should continue to weaponize their depth in the same way.

Whose lineup is better? On paper, you can make a compelling argument for either side. One thing I’ll note, though, is the relative inexperience in the postseason for Tampa Bay as compared to the Yankees, who feature plenty of guys who have become postseason mainstays. Caminero has two postseason plate appearances in his career—Aranda has one. Richie Palacios and Victor Mesa Jr., two toolsy bats whom the Rays have relied upon for much of the latter half of the year, are playing October ball for the first time. Cedric Mullins appeared on two Orioles teams that combined to win zero postseason games.

The only hitter with an extensive October resumé is Díaz—who has a .561 OPS in 26 career playoff games. Past results don’t predict future outcomes, but we have seen plenty of teams with minimal collective postseason appearances flame out quickly. There will be lots of pressure on Tampa to prove they can hang.

One last thing: the last time New York faced Tampa in the postseason, they did so during the pandemic, in an absolutely vacant Petco Park in San Diego. This year, the series starts in Tropicana Field, where a healthy contingent of Yankee fans has always made their presence felt. This could undercut the Rays’ home-field advantage and give the Bombers an important energy source to siphon in the first two games. The Trop is not a beloved building in these pages, but if the Yankees can make it a second home field, the Rays will need to be that much more perfect.

For those reasons, I believe the Yankees will win this ALDS in four games. I think it could stand as another example of how participating in the Wild Card Series can help a team more than a first-round bye—provided they ace the test, which the Yankees did. From my perspective, New York’s pitching staff has more talent, and their lineup more experience. I think these factors will prevent us from seeing the complacent, often sluggish Yankees who bowed out early last October and were vanquished by the Dodgers in the previous Fall Classic. So long as they continue to cash in on their opportunities and mitigate mistakes, they’ll be able to unseat the AL’s top seed.

But you know what they say: you have to play the games. Game 1 of the Divsion Series is slated for Saturday, with coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. EST.

Welcome to the 2026 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2026. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.

No. 52, Edouard Julien (-1.0 rWAR)

The modus operandi for the new front office of the Colorado Rockies entering the 2026 season was to raise the talent level and improve contact abilities. The free-swinging nature of the Rockies’ lineups of the past was an issue that the new leaders were hoping to rectify.

The Rockies made two trades near the end of January that seemed to focus on this goal and then some. One of those trades brought over TJ Rumfield from the New York Yankees, while the other brought back pitcher Pierson Ohl and infielder Edouard Julien from the Minnesota Twins. Ohl ended up as a non-factor in 2026 because of Tommy John surgery, but Julien spent significant time with the big-league club.

A strong start but a sharp decline

Julien’s time in Minnesota was disappointing. After a strong rookie campaign in 2023, Julien’s production declined rapidly over the next two seasons at the plate. Sure, he played well enough in Triple-A, but with other rising talent options for the Twins and his lack of minor league options, he became expendable for the Twins.

The Rockies hoped Julien’s elite contact and on-base skills could rebound and translate to a change of scenery, while providing defensive versatility at two open positions: first base and second base. The 27-year-old made a strong first impression in spring training, slashing .300/.417/.533 in 30 at-bats with 10 strikeouts and six walks over 11 games. It was certainly better than his .158/.304/.211 slash line during the World Baseball Classic with Team Canada, where he still drew four walks against eight strikeouts.

The trade appeared to be even more of a steal as Julien took off in April. By the end of the first month of the season, he was slashing .304/.396/.443 with two home runs and 12 RBI in 91 plate appearances over 27 games. Notably, Julien was doing quite well out of the leadoff spot, and it looked like the Rockies had found a quality option to get on base and get the offense started.

Then the wheels fell off.

Julien hit just .083 in May, going 5-for-61 while making 16 starts. He endured a 12-game hitless streak from May 10 to May 27, going 0-for-34 with 12 strikeouts and two walks. As he struggled, he was moved toward the bottom of the lineup as Jake McCarthy started to really take off.

He rebounded nicely in June, however, slashing .288/.422/.365 and showing off the plate discipline that made him intriguing in the first place. In 64 plate appearances, he drew 12 walks while striking out just 15 times. Unfortunately, he declined sharply again in July, going 5-for-38 across 14 games.

He played just three games in August, going hitless and drawing four walks, before he was designated for assignment and outrighted to Triple-A Albuquerque, where he finished out the season batting .263/.394/.375 with 20 strikeouts against 16 walks in 99 plate appearances. As for his line with the Rockies, Julien batted .208/.322/.292 in 88 games.

The good and the bad at the plate

Up until getting sent to Triple-A, Julien was a regular piece for the Rockies. He and Willi Castro split the majority of the time at second base as Castro bounced around the diamond at multiple positions.

The reason that Julien got so much playing time was that the on-base factor was so important for the Rockies. His 14.1% walk rate was the highest it had been since the 15.7% he recorded in 2023, and his 25.7% strikeout rate was the lowest of his career. Despite playing in just 88 games, Julien’s 39 walks were the fifth-most on the team this season.

He was also making more contact than he ever had before, at a rate of 78.0%. On pitches inside the strike zone, Julien had an 86.3% contact rate on a 62.5% swing rate. However, it also meant that he was making a lot of contact on pitches outside of the strike zone, with a 49.5% contact rate on an 18.6% swing rate. The ability to control the zone and exhibit elite discipline is what the Rockies hoped he could do on the regular, and they saw the impact it could have in two separate months. Unfortunately, the wild swings in the opposite direction showed that the contact didn’t always yield results.

Julien has been a groundball machine during his career with a 48.6% groundball rate. In 2026, Julien posted a career-high 50.3% groundball rate. Despite a career-high hard-hit rate of 49.7%, Julien just wasn’t finding results. See, he was elite at making contact on a lot of pitches, but that accounted for a lot of foul balls and weak balls put into play. When he would smoke a ball, it was on the ground half the time and playable for opposing defenses.

He also didn’t benefit much from the platoon system facing right-handed pitching, batting .214/.324/.307 in 84 games.

Julien definitely has the potential for more power in his bat; he hit 16 home runs during his rookie campaign, after all, but he couldn’t tap into that with the Rockies. Of the 49 hits he had this season, he had just nine doubles, a triple, and three home runs.

Offensively, the potential was there for Julien to thrive, especially looking at his Baseball Savant batting metrics, but the reality is that he just couldn’t take his game to the next level like a lot of other players were able to do this season at the plate. It feels as though his offensive stats are hollow outside of being able to draw walks and sometimes get a groundball single.

Defensive woes

As for the defensive side of things, that’s where Julien’s struggles really came to light. Initially, it was believed he would be a main option to man first base before Rumfield made that position his own. The Rockies were also committed to using Castro everywhere they could, particularly at third base and shortstop, to spot struggling players. That left second base primed for Julien to play the majority of his time there.

Unfortunately, it was not a pretty sight most of the time.

There were concerns about Julien’s defense in Minnesota and that is why he got bumped from spots multiple times. He didn’t do much to dispel those concerns in Colorado. In 467.1 innings at second base, Julien recorded -7 Defensive Runs Saved and was worth -4 Outs Above Average and -3 Fielding Run Value.

He could still throw out some highlight-reel plays here and there, but Julien’s defensive tenure at second base was not a pretty sight. His range and arm were not good, and there was a reason that his defensive playing time diminished as Kyle Karros solidified third base, allowing Castro to play at second base more regularly, and Julien served as the designated hitter and pinch hitter more often.

Au revoir?

The intentions behind the acquisition of Edouard Julien were well placed by the Rockies this season. Having a player capable of controlling the strike zone and drawing walks is something that will work for the crew at 20th and Blake. For brief moments, Julien did a great job showcasing that idea.

Unfortunately, his entire batting profile and lack of a defensive home made it more difficult to justify him staying around as the season entered the final stretch. Rumfield also ended up exhibiting the approach so much better over the course of the season as well.

In all likelihood, Julien will be made a free agent when the offseason begins. There is a world where you keep him on as a minor league depth piece, but ultimately he doesn’t bring enough to the table to justify keeping him around. Hopefully he can find an opportunity elsewhere, because there is some sort of potential, but the best thing he did for Colorado was show what a disciplined approach can do for a ball club.

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Kate Upton has seen enough.

She will be giving up America’s pastime and admitted as much while on the “Today” show on Wednesday just days after husband Justin Verlander retired from his 21-year MLB career.

“I’m so excited. I’m never watching another baseball game again,” the 34-year-old model admitted while sitting next to Verlander when asked about her feelings about his retirement by co-anchor Savannah Guthrie.

“It was tears of joy for me,” Upton added as laughs filled the room.

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Verlander, 43, was honored at Comerica Park on Friday night before taking the mound for the last time on Saturday against the Pirates in what was a 4-3 win for Detroit.

Before his last start, the three-time Cy Young winner and two-time World Series champion also caught the first pitch thrown by his 7-year-old daughter, Genevieve, who threw a strike and then gave her dad a big hug in what was adorable moment.

“It’s been awesome. We’ve been practicing,” Verlander told reporters before the game. “She’s all pumped up about it. We actually came out here to the field and practiced off the mound one day. I asked her, ‘Where do you want to go? You want to go to the mound? And she’s like, ‘The mound.’ I’m like, that’s my girl.”

Another emotional moment came when Verlander was pulled in the top of the sixth inning.

He began to shake with tears as Genevieve, who was wearing her dad’s Tiger jersey, sprinted out to give him a hug following his last MLB pitch. Verlander gave his daughter the ball and said goodbye to his teammates before walking off the diamond to a standing ovation while holding Genevieve’s hand.

Upton, dressed in an orange sweater and Tigers hat, was watching with their 1-year-old son, Bellamy. The family of four hugged before leaving through the team’s dugout.

Verlander gave up five hits and two runs with six strikeouts. He finished the season with a 7.00 ERA.

His 266 career wins rank 36th all-time — tied with Bob Feller and Eppa Rixey — while a total of 3,560 strikeouts are the eighth-most ever.

“There’s no script,” he said afterwards. “I want to go as long as I can. I skipped about a month’s worth of rehab to be able to do this, but I also don’t want to just go out there and throw 20 pitches. I think everybody feels comfortable with 20 pitches, and then after that, we’re kind of in a who-knows zone.”

Verlander and Upton met while filming a commercial for “Major League Baseball 2K12” in 2013. The two became an official couple in 2014 and Upton posted a photo of her with the major leaguer at Fenway Park.

The two got engaged in 2016 and tied the knot in 2017 in Tuscany, Italy just days after Verlander won the World Series with the Astros.

It was always inevitable that Cam Schlittler would continue his feud with Red Sox fans and Boston-based media outlets.

Following the blowout 9-2 win on Wednesday night that clinched the Yankees’ slot in the ALDS, Schlittler was easy to find in the comments on the Yankees’ celebratory social media post. The Walpole, Massachusetts native had some choice words in response to some earlier comments made about his career stats against the Red Sox.

Schlittler’s comment, “Wat the 4’s gotta say now,” is a clapback at some personalities from New England sports media personality Jared Carrabis’ podcast ‘Section 10.’

To provide a bit more context, Rusey, one of the personalities on the podcast, previously called Schlittler ugly and essentially useless, even after dominating Boston in the final rivalry matchup of the regular season. He could’ve taken the high road in celebratory fashion on Wednesday night, but he seemingly found that choice too boring and let the fans stay mad.

Schlittler had an outstanding performance to completely shut down Boston in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday night. Pitching through six and a third scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, the Yankees’ ace has accumulated a 0.47 ERA in his first six career starts against the Red Sox. He’s the fourth pitcher in MLB postseason history with two 10-strikeout games before turning 26.

The Yankees’ postseason run hasn’t seen the last of Schlittler, as he will likely take the mound for the second game of the best-of-five Division Series against Tampa Bay, with a chance to start in Game 5 as well should it go the distance. Securing the Wild Card Series in two games allows for an extra day of rest before the Yankees travel down to face the Rays.

Coverage for Game 1 of the ALDS begins Saturday at 6:30 p.m. EST.