Category: MLB

The Los Angeles Dodgers might have to borrow the blueprint for beating Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale from an unlikely source.

The lowly Los Angeles Angels.

The Angels finished the regular season with the second-worst record in baseball but also humbled Sale, the 10-time All-Star, at Anaheim Stadium April 6 in what remains Sale's worst outing of the 2026 season. It's what the Dodgers need as they prepare to face the 6-foot-6 left-hander in Game 3 of the best-of-five NLDS tied one game apiece with Atlanta Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The blueprint starts with aggression: April 6 at Anaheim Stadium, Angels shortstop Zach Neto hit the first pitch he saw, a 95-mph four-seam fastball, for a 400-foot home run.

The blueprint shifts to patience: Sale retired nine batters in a row heading into the bottom of the fourth when he hit Angels outfielder Jorge Soler. It was an opening, a piece of string from Sale’s ball of yarn beginning to unravel.

Then the Angels pulled that loose piece of yarn. With a base hit. Two consecutive walks. Another hit batter. When the inning ended, the Angels led 4-1.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Angels went back to aggression: Joe Adell jumped on a first-pitch fastball, blasting a 411-foot home run and giving the Angels a 6-1 lead. Suddenly Sale gave way to a reliever in a game the Angels won 6-2.

Joe Davis, the play-by-play voice of both the Los Angeles Dodgers' TV broadcasts and the lead voice on Fox Sports' Major League Baseball coverage, will miss Game 3 of the National League Division Series because of voice issues, The Athletic first reported.

Davis, 38, will be replaced by veteran broadcasting staple Kenny Albert for the Tuesday, Oct. 6 game.

The NLDS between the Dodgers and Braves is tied, 1-1, entering Game 3, with both teams' aces − Atlanta left-hander Chris Sale and Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto − scheduled to pitch. First pitch is at 6 p.m. ET. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday at Atlanta's Truist Park.

The struggles of the Cincinnati Reds offense as a whole during the 2026 regular season has been documented well – here, there, and everywhere. The top-heavy nature of the lineup featured a back-beat that was mostly non-existent for months at a time, and overall the latter outweighed the former by season’s end.

They ranked dead last in team wRC+ at 91, after all (and we’ll have more on that on Friday).

Along the way, though, they did manage to jump to the top of the team leaderboards in a rather unique way, whether by distinct coaching towards a particular test or by sheer luck. And given which other teams (and their potent bats) rank right next to them, it might be the one thing on which they can offensively hang their hat when looking back at this otherwise dismal year.

No team – not a single one – posted a higher collective launch angle than the Cincinnati Reds. Their 16.2 degree figure was the best in the sport, with the high-octane Chicago Cubs up in 3rd at 15.9 degrees and the mighty New York Yankees tied for 4th at 15.4 degrees. Innocence by association isn’t everything, obviously, but it’s hard not to notice when some of the best put-together lineups also excel at something the Reds did (and it’s worth pointing out the Los Angeles Dodgers ranked just past that tie for 4th in 7th at 15.1 degrees). Those team don’t operate on hunches, they actively seek to rank well where they end up ranking well, and in this particular category it was somehow the Reds ranking on top.

Launch angle is not an end-all, be-all metric, however. Sometimes it could reflect that you pop the ball up too much, and if you strike out so much that you don’t feature enough batted ball events it doesn’t matter that you do smack line drives when you actually make your one contact for the game. Batted Ball Events (BBE) is notable here particularly since no team in the sport had fewer than the Reds did, their 3,893 mark nearly 500 fewer than the league-leading Tampa Bay Rays. The Cubs, for reference, again ranked well here at 4th.

Launch Angle Sweet-Spot % tends to to help narrow the focus of all of this. It tracks how often players (or teams, in this instance) hit a ball between 8 degrees and 32 degrees, effectively reducing how often a pop-fly would help skew an overall launch angle. The Reds, to their credit, ranked 4th in the game here, trailing only the likes of the Detroit Tigers, Dodgers, and Coors-leaning Colorado Rockies. Pair that with ranking 4th in average exit velocity, and it’s clear the Reds did a better-than-expected job of hitting line drives and hitting them hard relative to their peers.

Again, though, these two stats come with their quirks. Strikeouts don’t factor into the denominator when calculating LA SwSp%, and the Reds struck out a lot. Average exit velocity doesn’t factor in the zero mph velocity of striking out, either, and if it did the Reds number would sink by a large margin.

The lone concern here – aside from the striking out profusely part – is that two of the Reds who ranked best in terms of launch angle and LA SwSp% were Tyler Stephenson and Eugenio Suarez, the latter of whom got hot just as the Reds were falling out of the race for good and actually finished is overall disappointing 2026 rather well. Both of them, of course, will almost certainly reach free agency within days of the end of this year’s World Series, taking their launch angle talents to another team that seeks them. JJ Bleday found the sweet spot pretty often while Matt McLain’s 20.7 degree launch angle ranked 14th among qualified batters, but a large chunk of the one decent stat where the Reds ranked well in 2026 is still about to walk to another team, with no clear launch angle darlings in the upper minors ready to step in and replace them.

And before you flush this topic down the toilet, it’s worth pointing out some of the names that rank among the Top 20 on these particular lists. Cal Raleigh, Isaac Paredes, Zach Neto, PCA, and Mickey Moniak all rank among the Top 10 in launch angle, with Byron Buxton (20th), Kyle Schwarber (21st), and Kevin McGonigle (23rd) and featuring prominently, too. Yordan Alvarez, and Riley Green sandwich Stephenson in the Top 10 in LA SwSp%, with Mookie Betts and Steven Kwan both in the Top 10, too. Two of the Brewers best hitters (Brice Turang and Jake Bauers) just missed the Top 20, as did Freddie Freeman (22nd) – Nick Kurtz of the A’s ranked 19th.

It didn’t all pan out in the end, of course. Too many holes in swings, too many streaks, too little overall contact. But at least there may be a methodology underlying all of this if the Reds could just find a few more bats competent enough to make it happen.

Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani took the news that he was hitting fifth in Game 3 of the National League Division Series so well that he responded with a joke.

As manager Dave Roberts tells it, when he laid out his thoughts on the lineup against Braves ace Chris Sale, Ohtani said, “In all honesty, I was going to come to you in September and say, why don’t you hit me seventh?”

Regardless of how poorly Ohtani has hit lately, the news came as a shock on Tuesday. And it reflected the aggressive read-and-react approach Roberts is going to take with the best-of-five series tied through two games.

Fifth is the lowest Ohtani has ever hit in the Dodgers’ starting lineup. He hasn’t hit fifth or lower in a starting lineup since 2020 with the Angels.

Read more:Dodgers vs. Braves Game 3 live updates: L.A. leads in eighth inning

For most of the season, through ups, downs and injuries, Ohtani has led off. When he returned from the injured list with five games left in the season, Roberts started batting him second against left-handed pitchers, with right-handed hitting Mookie Betts batting ahead of him.

But in eight postseason at-bats so far, Ohtani has recorded just two hits, both singles.

“This is just a Sale thing, and also who I feel is going to come out of the bullpen tonight,” Roberts said, making clear that he doesn’t plan to bat Ohtani fifth against all left-handed pitchers in the postseason. “So [Wednesday] versus [right-hander Tyler] Mahle, it will look different.”

Against Mahle, however, Roberts said Ohtani won’t necessarily lead off, citing Mahle’s neutral-to-reverse platoon splits. But Ohtani won’t hit fifth, Roberts said. Sale is a special case.

The last time the Dodgers faced Sale, he shut them out for nine innings. All time, Ohtani has a .517 OPS against Sale in the regular season, and he went one for seven against him this year.

“It might give him a different look, let the game come to him a little bit later,” Roberts said. “I don’t think it’s a pressure thing. I do think it’s something where he wants to do more. But in that same breath, I do think that there’s going to be a couple big spots today where he’s going to be at bat.”

In the Dodgers’ first two postseason games, Ohtani’s plate discipline has wavered, making it difficult to pinpoint the root of his struggles. Does it all come down to approach? Could his nagging left knee and right biceps problems be contributing to his poor performance?

The Dodgers aren’t looking for him to be the hero every game, and trying to do so could even exacerbate his problems at the plate. For the lineup to click, however, he does need to be more productive.

Read more:Fred Claire, former Dodgers GM whose team won the '88 World Series, dies

“He’s a very good self-evaluator, a very extremely high competitor and expects a lot from himself,” Roberts said. “I still think he’s very confident. But Sale’s a different monster. He’s tough, certainly against lefties.

“But I still think [Ohtani’s] confident. So now with that, just getting him back in the zone — and that’s easier said than done, I understand that.”

On Tuesday, Roberts also inserted right-handed hitting Kiké Hernández into the lineup, batting ninth and playing third base. And he kept right-handed hitter Miguel Rojas in the lineup, moving him from third to second and starting utility player Tommy Edman on the bench. Left-handed hitting third baseman Max Muncy will also be available off the bench.

“Tommy, he’s been going through it in the last couple of months, and it’s been a grind for him on both sides of the plate,” Roberts said. “Hasn’t had a whole lot of success against Sale — the heater up, the ball down below, with a flat swing. … Getting Kiké involved right now, I think it’s added intensity, urgency. I just think he’s going to put forth some good at-bats, and you’re not giving up anything on the defensive side.”

Today's #NLDS Game 3 Dodgers lineup at Braves: pic.twitter.com/aYZ2IfRsZV

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 6, 2026

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

ATLANTA — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wasn’t bluffing.

As he had hinted during the team’s off day on Monday, the Dodgers made significant lineup changes for Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Tuesday, reconfiguring their batting order and inserting a couple extra right-handed bats into their lineup ahead of a daunting matchup with Braves left-handed ace Chris Sale at Truist Park.

The biggest change: Two-way star Shohei Ohtani being dropped from the two-hole down to the No. 5 spot — the lowest he has hit since the 2020 season with the Angels.

“I had a good conversation with him last night, told him my thoughts,” Roberts said. “And he completely understood.”

Indeed, the move wasn’t unexpected, after the physically diminished slugger opened this series with just two singles in a two-game split back in Los Angeles.

By moving Ohtani down, the Dodgers were trying to limit the number of times he potentially faces Sale (who has held him to a 3-for-15 mark in their previous head-to-head matchups). The club is also hoping to see a better approach from the four-time MVP, after he struck out twice on Sunday while repeatedly chasing pitches outside the strike zone.

“He wants to do whatever will help the team,” Roberts said, noting that Ohtani joked he almost came to Roberts during his injury-hampered slump in September to say, “Why don’t you hit me seventh?”

That, of course, was tongue-in-cheek.

But Ohtani’s acceptance of Tuesday’s lineup move –– which Roberts emphasized was just a one-day adjustment to the matchup with Sale –– felt genuine to the veteran manager.

“I just feel this gives us the best chance to beat the Braves today,” Roberts said. “To combat Sale, to combat what they’re going to throw after Sale. And I feel good about it.”

The Dodgers took other measures for their showdown with Sale — who topped even his 2024 Cy Young Award-winning performance this season by going 14-9 with a 2.16 ERA, including a five-hit shutout of the Dodgers when he last faced them in August at Truist Park.

At third base, the left-handed-hitting Max Muncy was replaced for a second straight game by veteran Miguel Rojas, who was batting sixth.

At second base, slumping switch-hitter Tommy Edman was swapped out for veteran playoff performer Kiké Hernández, who will get his first start of this year’s postseason as the No. 9 hitter.

“Today, we know we’re in for a battle,” Rojas said. “We know what he’s going to feature. We know his stuff. It comes down to execution on the day … We are going to have to fight every pitch, every out. And that’s what we’re in for.”

Anthony Rizzo was a part of the analyst team during the AL Wild Card Series, and expressed that showing up to the stadium without a uniform stirred up a lot of feelings.

The former Yankee joined NBC Sports broadcast team as an “Inside the Pitch” analyst this season and shared his perspective from the booth as the Yankees swept the Red Sox in two games. He’s been back at Yankee Stadium for a few games during the season, but Rizzo explained that returning to the Bronx this time in late September felt a lot different.

“The drive to the stadium for the first game was a different feeling,” Rizzo told Pinstripe Alley. “I was like ‘Oh wow, I’m driving into a playoff game but I’m not playing.‘ I had a little bit of adrenaline going, but had to relax because I’m on the broadcast team now.”

However, after watching Payton Tolle ply his craft and Cam Schlittler throw consistently over 100 mph throughout the battle in Game 1, Rizzo admitted he was ultimately glad he wasn’t facing either. He also shared that the atmosphere in the Bronx during the playoffs is so uniquely intense that it makes a huge impact in every at bat.

“When the momentum is going it’s all sunshine and rainbows,” Rizzo said. “On the other end, when it’s not going well, that Yankee Stadium crowd can suffocate the home team. It’s really important as a player to get the crowd behind you in a good way, because we all know that Yankees fans are very passionate and will let you know how they’re feeling immediately. When the Bronx Zoo is Bronx Zooing, there’s no better place.”

Following the series sweep that sent the Yankees to face the Rays in the ALDS, Rizzo shared his key to get ahead of Tampa Bay as they look to advance to their first ALCS since Rizzo’s own playing days in pinstripes, back in 2024.

“If they can keep the Rays’ big three, Díaz, Aranda, and Caminero Jr. at bay, I think they have a great chance. At the end of the day, it’s all about timely hitting.”

Down 0-2 in the series following the 5-2 loss, the Yankees will look to stay alive as they return to the electric Bronx atmosphere for Game 3 on Wednesday night.

Both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Chicago White Sox took big steps toward wrapping up their ALDS series early as they won on Monday to take 2-0 leads over the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians. The Yankees just fell apart defensively behind their ace, probably AL Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler. The Rays don’t strike out much, and their mix of contact and speed, a mix the Tigers are finally working towards themselves, just had the Yankees flummoxed all game long while Freddy Peralta threw a good game for them.

Meanwhile, the Guardians just aren’t hitting much at all, and with Jose Ramirez a non-factor, it’s hard to see that changing too much under the pressure of needing to win three straight games now to advance. The White Sox just seem to have the vibes, and after dismissing them for about 15 years everytime they put together a solid roster, and being correct, I am no longer feeling that way. That’s a hungry young team playing loose and getting it done right now. We’ll see if they can put the series away on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, it will be the National League back in action, while the American League teams take a travel day to the lower seeds’ parks for Game 3 and 4, if necessary. The Brewers can knock out the Padres in Petco Park, while the Dodgers head to Truist Park in Atlanta tied 1-1 with the Braves.

Here are today’s matchups.

Dodgers at Braves: Truist Park, 6:00 p.m. ET on FS1

RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (14-9, 2.53 ERA) takes on LHP Chris Sale (14-9, 2.16 ERA).

Brewers at Padres: Petco Park, 9:30 p.m. ET on FS1

RHP Dustin May (7-9, 4.70 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Pivetta (3-2, 2.86 ERA)

The Dodgers have a tall task against a rested Chris Sale in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, after scoring three runs in 16 innings against the ace left-hander during the regular season. They also will have Shohei Ohtani batting fifth, his lowest spot in a starting lineup since 2020 with the Angels.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday he was considering moving Ohtani down in the order amid a slump, both before and after Ohtani’s September stint on the injured list.

“I think moving him from 1 to 2 — but going further than that? I’m open to it,” Roberts said Monday. “And it’s something that if I do, I would obviously have the conversation with Shohei to explain why.”

The Dodgers are also looking for their first hit with a runner in scoring position in the series, with a related problem that they only have 10 plate appearances in those situations through two games. For what it’s worth, the Braves only have 14 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, and have just one single in 10 at-bats.

Scoring has been very hard to come by in this series, other than when hitting a ball over the wall — none of which have come with more than a runner on first base.

With the left-hander Sale on the mound, the Dodgers once again have Miguel Rojas starting, after the veteran batted .293/.340/.469 with a 121 wRC+ against lefties this season.

Rojas got one at-bat in Game 2 against southpaw opener Ray Kerr, and doubled, before Max Muncy pinch-hit for him in the fourth inning. He has two singles in 13 career at-bats against Sale, including one of the Dodgers’ five hits in Sale’s shutout win on August 27.

Rojas plays second for Tommy Edman and bats sixth, and Kiké Hernández is starting at third base in place of Muncy and batting ninth.

“You’ve got Kiké, you’ve got Miggy Ro, you’ve got Muncy. We’ve got good options. I don’t see Josue De Paula being an option. I don’t see myself sitting Will Smith,” Roberts said Monday. “At the end of the day, our guys are our guys. And, yeah, I can tweak a lineup. I can kind of insert, take out a player or two. But at the end of the day we still have got to go out there and play and execute and take good at-bats.”

The switch-hitting Edman usually hits lefties well — 113 wRC+ this year, 118 wRC+ career — but hasn’t done much of anything for the last two months or so, hitting .201/.294/.329 over his last 46 games, including five hitless at-bats plus a walk in the NLDS. Edman started against Sale in Atlanta on August 27, but struck out in all three at-bats against him.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made some major changes to his lineup for Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Tuesday, Oct. 6 against the Atlanta Braves.

Postseason specialist Enrique Hernandez will step in for Tommy Edman at second base and Roberts dramatically shook up the batting order.

Battling injuries late in the season, Shohei Ohtani is facing questions about his effectiveness at the plate and was moved down to hit fifth in Game 3. Ohtani went 2-for-8 (two singles) in the first two games of the series and struck out twice in the Game 2 loss on Sunday.

With the Dodgers facing a left-handed starter for the third game in a row. $240 million man Kyle Tucker, who homered in Game 1, was dropped down to eighth in the order.

Los Angeles sends last year's World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the mound for Game 3 at Truist Park. Yamamoto had a 2.53 ERA in 28 starts during the regular season and has posted a 2.25 ERA in 56 career postseason innings.

Here's the Dodgers' starting lineup for Game 3 in Georgia:

Dodgers lineup today

1. Mookie Betts (R) SS
2. Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
3. Teoscar Hernández (R) LF
4. Will Smith (R) C
5. Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
6. Miguel Rojas (R) 2B
7. Andy Pages (R) CF
8. Kyle Tucker (L) RF
9. Enrique Hernández (R) 3B

Fred Claire, the general manager of the World Series-winning Dodgers in 1988 and a longtime public relations executive with the team, died at his home in Pasadena on Monday night, his 91st birthday.

Claire’s time as Dodgers general manager was bookended by sudden upheaval. First in 1987, after Al Campanis was fired for his racist remarks about Black players and managers in baseball on the ABC show Nightline, Claire was plucked by owner Peter O’Malley to take over as GM after 18 seasons in the PR department. Then in 1998, Claire was ousted along with manager Bill Russell once the team’s sale to Fox was finalized.

In between, the Dodgers made the playoffs three times in Claire’s 10 full seasons as general manager, including winning the World Series in 1988.

The Dodgers after winning the National League West in 1985 lost 89 games in consecutive years, and Claire was a busy man in his first offseason as general manager after the 1987 season. The Dodgers were in talks to trade Pedro Guerrero to the Detroit Tigers for Kirk Gibson, but there was also the pending decision in MLB’s collusion case that would eventually make Gibson a free agent later that winter. The Dodgers in December signed Gibson, who won National League MVP and authored one of the most famous home runs in baseball history, hitting a walk-off home run off Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.

The Dodgers in December also signed outfielder Mike Davis, who averaged 22 home runs in each of the previous three seasons in Oakland. Davis was very bad in his time with the Dodgers, but did draw a pinch-hit walk ahead of Gibson’s home run in the World Series, and also homered in the Game 5 clincher in Oakland.

At the winter meetings, Claire was in simultaneous talks with the Toronto Blue Jays (for shortstop Manuel Lee), New York Mets, and Oakland A’s. After an all-night session of talks, the Dodgers on December 11 made a three-team deal that sent pitchers Bob Welch and Matt Young to Oakland, and Jack Savage to New York, with shortstop Alfredo Griffin plus relievers Jay Howell and Jesse Orosco going to the Dodgers.

“I knew that we had to do several things to improve,” Fred Claire told True Blue LA in 2017. “We went into those meetings with three things that had to be accomplished. We had to have a shortstop to stabilize our infield. We needed a closer and we needed a left-handed relief pitcher. It’s one thing to target one player or one position, but we had three needs.”

As luck would have it, the Dodgers would play the 100-win Mets in the National League Championship Series and the 104-win A’s in the World Series that year. They beat them both.

“Fred brought many victories and Dodger legends to our franchise, as well as the 1988 World Series title, and we are forever grateful for his leadership during such a memorable era,” Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said Tuesday. “Our hearts go out to his wife Sheryl and his family.”

The Dodgers under Claire also made the playoffs in 1995 as NL West champions and in 1996 as a wild card team. In 1994, after contract talks to retain Jody Reed stalled, so Claire traded for another infielder, getting Delino DeShields from the Montreal Expos. Going the other way was undersized 22-year-old right-hander Pedro Martínez, who would later win three Cy Young Awards, make eight All-Star teams, and sail into the Hall of Fame.

“The facts have to be the facts, and those facts are, I traded Pedro,” Claire told Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times in 2017.

Claire was born in Ohio but moved with his family to California as a teenager and graduated from Torrance High School before earning a journalism degree from San Jose State in 1957.

He worked at the Whittier Daily News before moving to the Pomona Progress-Bulletin, where he was sports editor for seven of his nine and a half years at the newspaper. In 1968, Claire moved to the Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram to cover the Angels, and moved to the Dodgers beat in 1969, before getting hired by the team in July 1969 in public relations, becoming a vice president in that department in 1975.

Claire in 2016 was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in his jaw, and underwent strenuous treatment. In the last decade has raised money for City Of Hope, including riding in the Rose Parade in Pasadena on New Year’s Day in 2018.

When he was hired from the PR department as general manager in April 1987, Claire was aware of the criticisms coming his way for lack of experience, and speculation that his GM tenure might be a short-term affair.

“It’s now. I accept t on that, whether it’s one day or two days or three days,” Claire told Ken Gurnick of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. “I do know every day that’s there, I’ll devote what I can.”

Claire lasted in the general manager’s chair for over 11 years.

Note: The following is from a lineup that is now out of date. More information on the updated lineup can be found below.

The Atlanta Braves have a chance to take a series lead in the NLDS against the Dodgers at home these evening behind Chris Sale.

The pitching is what has been given a lot of love by the media and fans alike for good reason for the Braves, but the offense has been the unsung hero. Sure, the offense has not set the world on fire, but there have been quite a few small things that has really stuck out.

During the regular season the Braves were so bad at drawing walks, that only two teams in MLB has worse walk rates. In the postseason, the Braves are first in walks. A key player in that has been Ozzie Albies.

The Braves also lead in HRs, 2Bs, and TBs. If they keep getting runners on, it will eventually lead to more runs than what we are seeing. That is easier said than done against this Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but it is a good sign. Yamamoto has only surrendered one earned run against the Braves in 16.1 innings.

So far in the postseason the question about the lineup has been which player Walt Weiss is going to put in the DH slot.

The biggest change from last game is the Ha-Seong Kim will be playing SS with Mauricio Dubón shifting back to LF. Of course, this means Lane Thomas will not be getting the start. Murphy is staying at DH, apparently due to Weiss liking him to be available pinch hit for him easily whenever he wants.

This strategy does hold some weight, but a lot of Murphy’s value is in his defense. You could also shift Baldwin catcher mid-game if you prefer to have Murphy catcher when a pinch hitter comes in for Murphy. The assumption would be that Weiss does not like to swap catchers mid-game.

One would have thought that the Dodgers would be deploying a similar lineup like the one they had against Chris Sale since he and Kerr are both lefties, but there have been some major changes where certain starters will be fitting in the lineup.

Surprisingly Ohtani will be hitting fifth and Tucker is dropping all the way down to eighth. Rojas will be at 2B today instead of 3B and move of to hitting sixth while Kiké Hernández will be playing 3B and Edman will not be starting.

First pitch is at 6:00 pm EDT.

[UPDATE 4:37 p.m. ET]: Apparently, we have some late shuffling and scratching going on with Atlanta’s lineup. After being originally slated to play in the outfield, Ronald Acuña Jr. has been moved to DH for this contest. As a result, Sean Murphy is now out of the lineup. Here’s a look at the new lineup:

Mark Bowman reported on social media that the reasoning for this change was that apparently Acuña’s been dealing with a sore knee since sliding during Game 2 of the NLDS. A knock on effect here is that Lane Thomas is now in the lineup and batting seventh.

Outside of that, the lineup remains the same. Nothing like a little bit of lineup drama right before the start of a massive Postseason game, right?

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From 1991-2005, the Atlanta Braves made the playoffs every year and set an MLB record for most consecutive postseason appearances.

After the dust settled on the 2026 regular season, the Los Angeles Dodgers tied that unprecedented mark.

And, now, ironically enough, they’re tied once again after two close NLCS games.

Next up, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Chris Sale’s elite National League clubs meet in a crucial third NLCS game this afternoon at Atlanta’s Truist Park that determines who takes a decisive 2-1 lead in this cutthroat best-of-five series.

“Both offenses are carrying their fair shares of frozen bats: Freddie Freeman entered Sunday hitting .167 over his final 18 regular-season games before homering, while Andy Pages is 0-for-7 this postseason and Tommy Edman is 0-for-5,” The Post noted.

“Ronald Acuña Jr. is 3-for-18 without an extra-base hit this postseason, while Matt Olson is 3-for-19 with seven strikeouts.”

Simply put, expect a pitcher’s duel (that won’t end in a tie). Yamamoto and Sale are built for this kind of big game.

Here’s how to tune in to the Game 3 of the NLDS without cable.

Dodgers vs. Braves time

Game 3 of the Dodgers vs. Braves NLDS is scheduled to begin today, Oct. 6, at 3 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. ET.

How to watch Dodgers vs. Braves NLDS Game 3 for free

If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream Dodgers vs. Braves NLDS games for free.

DIRECTV is our favorite service for trying live TV for free. Right now, you can take advantage of a five-day free trial before saving $30 on your first month. We recommend the Choice plan, which includes FS1 as part of its 125+ channel options.

Dodgers vs. Braves NLDS schedule

• Game 1: Dodgers 5, Braves 3
• Game 2: Braves 3, Dodgers 2
• Game 3: Oct. 6, 3 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. ET (FS1)
• Game 4: Oct. 7, 3 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. ET (FS1)
• Game 5: Oct. 8, 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET (FOX)*

*if necessary

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.

Its a Tuesday afternoon, and LDS games don’t start for a few more hours.

I could write something about the Rangers, but I don’t feel like it. So instead, I am offering up a trivia question.

Once again, a couple of rules…

1 — Put a spoiler over your answer in the comments.

2 — Don’t go digging around on baseball sites to try to discover the answer. This is a trivia question, not a scavenger hunt.

Here is an alphabetical list of former major league Texas Rangers position players:

Doug Davis (the catcher, not the pitcher)

Greg Golson

Mark Parent

Luis Pujols

Ryan Roberts

Rob Sasser

These players all have something in common, and this is a complete list of every former Ranger baseball player who has this commonality (so, for example, the answer can’t be “Rangers players who have never been in my kitchen,” because Carlos Tocci and Mason Tobin and Keith Smith, among others, also haven’t been in your kitchen).

Can you guess what all these players have in common?

I will update later today with the answer.

Historically, who played first base for the Diamondbacks?

Only seven players had 120-game seasons at first base for the Diamondbacks.  The first five only reached that level for one season each.  Following that, Paul Goldschmidt reached that level in 6 of 8 seasons.  More recently, Christian Walker reached that level in 4 out of 6 seasons.  In the last two seasons, no player reached 120 games.

This season, Ildemaro Vargas had the most games at first base (74 games).   This season, he seemed to mostly share the position:

• April/May, shared with Jose Fernandez
• June, shared with Pavin Smith
• July/August, shared with Tim Tawa and Tyler Locklear
• September, shared with Tim Tawa and Pavin Smith

This season, the team Wins Above Average (WAA) at first base was negative 2.4, which was comparable to last season’s WAA of negative 2.2.  For more details about how bad things looked in July, see this AZ Snake Pit article.

And the offense was not much better. The following table shows, for first base, the team OBP and SLG (as well as the main players at first base).

Players who might play first base next season.

Current Diamondbacks.

Tim Tawa.  In his second season in the Majors, Tim Tawa is no longer a dark horse.  At 27 years old, he has not yet reached his peak performance.

“In 2026, his OPS improved every month [through August]. His OPS in August was better than league average. His defense was above average, especially at left field and first base.”

“Tim Tawa was one of four batters [in MLB] who were better than average on all five fundamental measures per Ben Clemens’ pocket guide (albeit he is basically an average batter).”

“He knows the mental imperative of expecting success while knowing it won’t always happen. He prepares for games with the mental skills staff and the hitting staff.”

“Tim Tawa is close to achieving everyday player status, which would exceed preseason expectations.” — Makakilo

Pavin Smith.  After sharing first base playing time in June, Pavin Smith was designated for assignment in July.  To my surprise, on 15 September he was back playing first base for the Diamondbacks.  Upon his return, his 1.144 OPS was impressive (24 PAs).  He is 30 years old.  His salary is $2.25 Million.  Next season will be his final in arbitration.

Current Diamondbacks who became FA at end of this season.

Ildemaro Vargas.  His salary is roughly $1.4 Million.  He is 35 years old.

At the end of last season, the Diamondbacks outrighted him off the roster.  In December, they signed him to a minor league contract.  On 23 March, they informed him that he will be on the active roster. 

This season, his 27-game hit streak was the longest streak by a Diamondback in 27 years.

This season, in a series against the Athletics, he did something impressive and unusual.

“Ildemaro Vargas had a walk-off hit in Tuesday’s game during that series, and then ended up closing out (if not closing) Wednesday’s game from the mound, being called on to pitch with a 12-run lead.” — Jim McLennan

Current Diamondbacks in AAA, or who made their MLB debut this season.

Manuel Pena.

“Minor League Baseball today announced that Amarillo Sod Poodles infielder Manuel Pena has been named a Texas League All-Star at Third Base. The slugging infielder had a remarkable Double-A campaign that began on 0pening day with the Soddies until his promotion to Triple-A Reno on June 16.” – Amarillo Sod Poodles

“…, a promising player in AAA who could have a future at first base is Manuel Pena. He is 22.6 years old. Recently, he impressed two writers, in May and July.”  — Makakilo  

Jose Fernandez.  He is 23 years old.   This season, his MLB debut, he played half his games at third base and half his games at first base.  He showed he can hit MLB caliber fast balls. 

“…There’s little reason for a pitcher to risk the relative unknown placement of an offspeed or breaking pitch if he can simply power a pitch by the batter. Fernandez has definitively passed that test as he has walloped fastballs to the tune of a .364 BA and .500 SLG while still seeing them nearly 53% of the time….” — Ben Seigel

Current Diamondbacks who may need a defensive shift.

Ketel Marte.  He is 32 years old.  In 2026, his OPS+ fell from 147 to 107.  Perhaps if he moved to a less demanding position, his batting would improve. 

“Top prospect Demetrio Crisantes is knocking on the door after reaching Triple-A in July. With incumbent second baseman Ketel Marte signed through 2030, a defensive shift is likely coming at some point. The alternative to shifting Marte to first base would be to make him the full-time DH, but that creates a logjam in the outfield.” —  Joel Reuter, 10 September, 2026

Possible Trade Acquisitions.  Assuming the Diamondbacks pitching looks good for 2027, the Diamondbacks may look to acquire a first baseman.  Avoiding the free agent market, I looked to acquire via trade (which is a strength of the Diamondbacks).  I found two candidates.

Ryan O’Hearn.  He is 33 years old, and under team control through the 2027 season.  Although in 2026 his OPS+ fell from 127 to 108, he is a bounce-back possibility because his BABIP was down. 

Andrew Vaughn.  He is 28 years old, and under team control through the 2027 season.  In 2026, his OPS+ rose from 99 to 130.  His plate discipline broke out with career best 10.6 BB%, and 16.0 K%.  While his squared-up percentage rose to a career high 33.9%, his hard-hit percentage fell to 43.5%.

How can these players be compared?

Let’s compare their OPS (with split against right-handed pitchers and left-handed pitchers) and let’s compare their defense on three metrics:

• Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). 
• Outs Above Average (OAA).
• Defensive Fielding Run Value.

The following table compares the OPS of the candidates in 2026.

The following table compares the defense at first base of the candidates.

My View.

The best everyday player (no platoon) would be Andrew Vaughn.

Best spot player to be called up when needed would be Jose Fernandez (or Manuel Pena).

The best platoon players would be:

Vs RHP:  Tim Tawa (or Ryan O’Hearn).

Vs LHP:  Ildemaro Vargas (or Ketel Marte when his defense at second base declines).

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. 49, Brenton Doyle (-0.4 rWAR)

For a while, it looked like the Colorado Rockies’ two-time Gold Glove center fielder would become the face of the franchise, especially after a 2024 season in which his bat caught up to his stellar defensive work.

However, 2025 was a mixed message that saw Doyle struggling in the first half while finishing strong in the second.

The 2026 season was critical: It was his chance to show who he was as a player, that he could put both sides of his game together while staying healthy.

Instead, 2026 kicked off with more of the same. On May 19, in a game against the Rangers, Doyle injured himself making a diving play in the outfield.

Prior to getting hurt, Doyle had again struggled at the plate. In 43 games, he slashed .207/.279/.270 with one home run.

In late June, he started a rehab assignment, but that was short lived due to a groin injury. Eventually, however, Doyle was ready to return to action. Over the course of two separate rehab stints with Triple-A Albuquerque, he appeared in 11 games and batted .395/.447/.651, an indication that he was perhaps back on track.

Finally on July 31, just days before the MLB trade deadline, Doyle returned to the Rockies.

“It was probably the longest injury stint I’ve ever experienced in my baseball career,” Doyle said.

However, things had changed in the Rockies outfield during his absence. Most notably, top prospect Cole Carrigg assumed Doyle’s place in center field. While Carrigg lacked Doyle’s defensive chops, he brought a versatility that Doyle lacked in addition to being a switch hitter.

Still, Doyle looked solid during his return. In seven plate appearances, he had two hits, including a double and an RBI.

But, it turns out, the Rockies had already decided on their new centerfielder. A few days later, Doyle was traded to the AL Wild Card-winning Chicago White Sox.

Worth noting, the White Sox have primarily used Doyle in a platoon role and as a defensive specialist. His OPS with the Rockies was .569 (51 OPS+) in 129 plate appearances. With the White Sox, those numbers improved to .720 OPS+ (98 OPS+) in 94 plate appearances. Those changes were surely the result of several factors: getting healthy; being used in a platoon role that gave him a better chance to succeed; and leaving the demands of baseball at elevation.

Still, for Rockies fans, the end of the #DoyleRules Era is bittersweet. Doyle spent his time on some miserable Rockies teams, but his defensive gems were always a highlight for fans.

When asked what his secret was to playing Gold-Glove defense in the most-challenging ballpark in MLB, Doyle said, “It’s no secret, really. It’s just a lot of hard work. I don’t take practice out there very lightly when I’m trying to shag balls and get reads. I actually look at it as an advantage, being able to play at Coors Field for every single home game, just because it, honestly, makes other fields and other stadiums seem even smaller and allows me to cover more ground.”

The hard work showed.

However, Doyle lacked offensive consistency, and between the 2025-2026 seasons, he’d begun to lose playing time to injuries. Surely Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes considered those factors before deciding to cast their lot with Carrigg.

That said, those Gold Glove and defensive highlight reels aren’t going anywhere, and they will love long in the memories of Rockies fans.

Here’s wishing Doyle a healthy and productive career with the White Sox.

It doesn’t appear that he needs Rockies fans to raise a glass in his honor since he’s raising plenty for himself these days.

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