Category: MLB

Well the list of potential new GM’s for the A’s got a little smaller on Saturday morning. Jeff Passan reports that Phillies General Manager Sam Fuld has turned down an offer by the A’s to take over the front office, opting to instead remain in Philadelphia where he’ll be second fiddle to Philly President Dave Dombrowski:

Sam Fuld was offered the A’s job as president of baseball operations but declined to take it and has withdrawn from consideration, sources tell ESPN. Fuld, who was previously GM of Philadelphia, will remain in his current role as president of business operations for the Phillies.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 10, 2026

Fuld was considered one of the stronger candidates to take over the A’s operations but evidently he’d prefer to stay put and wait for a different opportunity down the line. It’s never a good feeling to see your team rejected like this. The A’s apparently made not only the offer of General Manager, but offered the title of President of Baseball Operations. He would have been able to staff out an entire front office to his vision, but evidently the Athletics’ job was one that he did not want to take.

While Fuld is now out of contention, there’s a name that is gaining traction, again according to Passan. Red Sox AGM Taylor Smith may now be the option as of now:

Boston assistant general manager Taylor Smith remains a top candidate to take over as head of baseball operations for the A’s, sources tell ESPN. Cardinals assistant GM Rob Cerfolio, another finalist, is expected to remain with St. Louis.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 10, 2026

Smith began his career with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018 with their research and development team but was poached by the division-rival Red Sox in 2024, getting the title of assistant GM to Craig Breslow. Over the past couple of years he’s been in charge of their analytics department. That Tampa organization really does pump out staffers to other organizations at an incredible rate, and Smith was among those that was highly regarded and viewed as a future GM, even by the Red Sox. He has been one of several lieutenants for the former A’s reliever-turned-GM in their collaborative front office approach.

He wouldn’t have anyone else to report to if he does end up getting the A’s job since the Passan report indicates he’d be given the President title. That’d mean he’d have free reign to shape the team as he sees fit and hire who he wants to staff his front office. Presumably the first order of business will be to address the pitching, or lack thereof. That’ll be the top priority for whoever the A’s select but Smith seems like as good as any candidate to bring in fresh outside ideas into the organization, something the organization could certainly use. He’s a bit on the younger side in his early 30’s (there’s no public information on his exact age), and he doesn’t have the most experience, but if the A’s feel he’s their guy then what are we waiting for?

And one more tidbit from Passan is that St. Louis AGM Rob Cerfolio is likely to remain with the Cardinals. That’s not especially surprising considering what’s going on over there. Chaim Bloom is ascending to President, meaning that Cerfolio will get his own promotion to GM. He’ll still be the second-in-command but that was always expected.

The wait to find out who will be the next voice of the Athletics’ front office seems to be winding down. We should hopefully know the choice by the end of the weekend, or at the latest early next week. Who do you guys want to be the selection?

Veteran infielder Miguel Rojas took ground balls and hit in a few rounds of batting practice during the Dodgers workout at Dodger Stadium on Friday, still nursing back and hip pain suffered Tuesday in Atlanta, with the hope he could be ready to go for the start of the National League Championship Series on Sunday in Milwaukee.

“Today was encouraging. He had imaging, and a lot of it was stuff that he’s had prior history. We’ve still got a flight to get on, and we’ll see how he comes in [Saturday] for the workout there. So there’s nothing definitive, but I will say today was a step in the right direction,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on a Friday Zoom call. “That was good to see.”

Rojas left Game 3 of the NLDS in the middle of an at-bat in the eighth inning after feeling something on a swing while hitting a foul ball. He still felt sore on Wednesday and was not available for Game 4.

The veteran Rojas was one of the Dodgers’ most effective batters against left-handed pitchers this season, hitting .293/.340/.469 with a 121 wRC+. Rojas started twice in the NLDS, both against left-handed starting pitchers (Ray Kerr opened Game 2, followed by Chris Sale in Game 3).

The 37-year-old also led the team with 40 pinch-hit plate appearances, 15 more than any other player on the team. His presence among the reserves is felt, and the Dodgers will have a shorter bench in the NLCS, as the team plans to carry 13 pitchers in the best-of-7 NLCS after only using 12 pitchers in the Division Series, Roberts confirmed on Friday.

During the NLDS, the Dodgers bench included Rojas and Kiké Hernández, each of whom started twice during the series, plus backup catcher Hunter Feduccia, who did not play, rookie Josue De Paula, used twice as a pinch-hitter, and speedster Hyeseong Kim, who was used as a pinch-runner in Game 5 and played the final inning at second base.

Rojas spent the last few days getting treatment for his injury, and the Dodgers still have until Sunday morning to determine whether he’ll be on the NLCS roster.

“We’ve just got to be certain that if he do have him on [the NLCS roster], he can stay healthy, so you don’t lose him for the potential World Series,” Roberts said Friday. “We certainly have a couple other good options if it doesn’t happen, and he can’t post. But I’m encouraged with what I saw today.”

If the Dodgers were to put Rojas on the NLCS roster but need to replace him due to injury within the series, Rojas would then be ineligible for the next round, which in this case is the World Series.

The Dodgers have three options if Rojas isn’t available for the NLCS. They could keep the same rest of the bench as the NLDS, without Rojas: Hernández, Feduccia, De Paula, and Kim. Or they could replace Kim with Alex Freeland, a switch-hitting infielder who hits better from the left side. Outfielder Alex Call could be the choice over Kim, offering a right-handed hitter on the bench. Either way, the versatility of Hernández and Tommy Edman gives the Dodgers flexibility when making late-inning defensive replacements, moving around the infield or outfield as needed.

NLCS rosters are due Sunday morning.

Batting order alone doesn’t dictate a team’s fortune, but it does make a difference. This is especially so in short series, where even the tiniest edges and flaws are magnified. And no place in the lineup matters more than the top spot. Suffice it to say that Aaron Boone and the Yankees faced an extremely important decision when choosing the leadoff man for Game 3 with the season on the line.

So why in the world did they land on Trent Grisham? 

To state the obvious, Grisham did not have a good year in any shape or form. He had a .308 OBP. His wRC+ was 98. And these numbers are what he recorded before landing on the IL at the start of September with a strained hammy. To his credit, Grisham did record two hits during the party against the dregs of the Red Sox bullpen in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series, but he was a non-factor in Games 1 and 2 of the Division Series. This isn’t the resume of someone to whom you’d like to entrust the leadoff spot in an elimination game . And yet, that’s precisely what the Yankees did.

Of course, it’s easy as an armchair manager to fall into the trap of hindsight. It would be wrong of me to point to Grisham’s 0-for-5, three-strikeout night and say, “I told you so.” But that’s not what I’m going to argue. My point is that hitting Grisham first was the wrong call, even if it had worked out, because the decision-making process had a fatal flaw — one that explains so much about this current era of Yankees baseball. 

That flaw is this: the Yankees’ way of evaluating players has become far too rigid. Once they make up their mind about a player’s true talent, they will adhere to it adamantly, even if the on-field results suggest that something is wrong. It takes a mountain of evidence to pile up for them to consider recalibrating their view of that player, and by the time that happens, the damage has already been done.

Trent Grisham is but the latest example. When asked postgame whether he regretted placing Grisham in the leadoff spot, Aaron Boone had this to offer:  

“No. I mean, look, obviously, we really struggled to score runs in the first two games, and I was pretty convicted on trying to find a way to be able to get Benny a chance to come up with runners on or be in a position to do that more often tonight…it’s a decision I made to try and create a little bit of traffic, and obviously it didn’t work. But you’re going to live with that.”

I get wanting to give Ben Rice more chances to hit with men on base. But even if that made sense, Grisham was not the answer. The man isn’t a high-OBP guy. Not counting 2020, his career high over a full season is the .348 mark he posted last year; in all other years he’s failed to reach .330. He’s a high-walk guy, I’ll give him that, but his abysmal batting averages have generally dragged his OBP down to unremarkable levels. To wit: Grisham’s career walk rate is a robust 12.1 percent, but his career OBP is a pedestrian .319.

Boone’s reasoning only makes sense if you assume that Grisham’s superb 2025 represented a new baseline for him, and that version of him was still somewhere within him, despite his subpar 2026 numbers and his late-season injury. It seems, in short, that Boone and the Yankees were clinging to the best version of Grisham in their minds, a version detached from reality.

When viewed in this way, the Grisham decision turns from an isolated blunder to the latest case of a widespread issue. Recall how the Yankees kept running Austin Wells out until June, despite him hitting for a 26 wRC+ for the entire month of May. The team only took action when Wells went to them, suggesting that they might have been unaware that something was ailing Wells if he hadn’t.

I don’t think it’s too farfetched to theorize that they viewed Wells’ disastrous offensive performance as merely a bad slump, and that they were planning on simply running him out there until he experienced positive regression, without making any inquiries into his health. The Yankees had an idea of how Austin Wells was supposed to hit, and when the on-field results weren’t there, they assumed that their idea of Wells would eventually translate to reality, rather than readjusting their evaluation of Wells given recent results.

Wells’ case is reminiscent of how the Yankees handled Anthony Rizzo’s concussion in 2023. It took 46 games of Rizzo hitting .172/.271/.225 for the Yankees to do anything, and even then, Rizzo had to go to the team, not the other way around. And this goes beyond how the Yankees have mismanaged injuries; in 2024, we saw them keep trotting out Alex Verdugo in left field when it was clear by mid-July that it wasn’t working out. In 2025, they stubbornly kept on using Devin Williams in high-leverage situations, a crucial factor in them losing the division race. Then there’s the ongoing shortstop question, with the Yankees being stubborn at various points about both Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Anthony Volpe’s abilities. Time and time again, the Yankees of recent years have shown a reluctance to change their minds about their own players.

Admittedly, there is something to be said for not overreacting to small sample sizes. Even superstars can have bad weeks and months; look at how Pete Crow-Armstrong and Fernando Tatis Jr. started their respective years, compared to the numbers they finished with. Closer to home in 2024, Aaron Judge followed an awful April with a preposterous .352/.488/.777 triple slash with 52 homers in 127 games as he won MVP. Making rash, drastic changes based on the tiniest fluctuations in performance is not a winning formula by any means.

However, there needs to be a balance. Teams can, and should, try to constantly update their understanding of players’ abilities based on new data, while keeping in mind that small sample size caveats apply. Right now, the Yankees’ modus operandi appears as though it’s set in stone. If that’s due to a philosophical stance about trying not to be influenced by granular data points, then that stance needs to be relaxed. And if that’s due to complacency and hubris, then I’d like to remind them that it’s been 17 years since their last title. Something needs to change.

On Friday morning, a picture was posted to Instagram from Garrett Whitlock’s wife, Jordan, showing an offseason beach picture of Garrett, overlooking the beach, with the hashtag #thriving. Less than notable, living his best life. Except for, you know, the walking boot that Whitlock was wearing.

Garrett Whitlock with some type of boot on. Not the same leg as his knee injury from over the summer. Notable. pic.twitter.com/nEENu0nhMv

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) October 9, 2026

We learned later on Friday from Gabrielle Starr that Whitlock had been pitching with “a fractured right tibia that was not properly diagnosed until after the Red Sox were eliminated from the postseason last week, the 30-year-old reliever told the Herald on Friday.”

This season, we also had Garrett Crochet’s shoulder and lat soreness that lingered from late April into September. We had Roman Anthony’s hand/wrist injury which, as Matt Gross outlined in great detail, was a wrist sprain (day-to-day), and then a minimum IL stint, which was actually a ligament in his ring finger for a bit more than a minimum IL stint, which was also a sprained right hand/wrist progressing slower than expected, to not swinging a bat a month later, to getting sent to Fort Myers which may or may not have been to send a message, to missing nearly four months of MLB game action.

During Monday’s press conference, when asked about why Anthony did not get any additional imaging after early July, Breslow pushed back asking why they would need to do that if the player hadn’t asked for it.

Good for Garrett Whitlock pitching through his injury to the tune of a 0.00 ERA in September, but perhaps this team’s medical staff needs to be a little bit more proactive when it comes to identifying injuries and not just trusting the player that “they’re fine.”

Discuss this, and whatever else you have on your mind about baseball in October in the comments, and be good to each other.

The numbers from last year’s National League Championship Series speak for themselves.

Runs: Dodgers 15, Brewers 4

Hits: Dodgers 32, Brewers 14

Home runs: Dodgers 6, Brewers 1

Innings led: Dodgers 26, Brewers 1

Wins: Dodgers 4, Brewers 0

“They were utterly embarrassed last year,” a rival scout said of the Brewers this week while reflecting on the Dodgers’ pennant-sealing NLCS sweep last October. “They had the best record in the National League, and they just got their a– handed to them.”

Now, 12 months later, they will have a chance for redemption.

On Sunday, the Dodgers will travel to Milwaukee again to open a second straight NLCS between the teams.

In many ways, this year’s matchup is being played against a similar backdrop as a year ago.

The Brewers are the higher-seeded team and hold home-field advantage, coming off a 103-win campaign in which they maximized their low-payroll roster. 

The Dodgers, however, are the clear-cut favorites, with a high-priced and star-studded core trying to add to their modern-day dynasty.

Thus, this week, the California Post spoke to two rival NL scouts to ask if this year’s series could play out differently.

The short answer: Yes, with both evaluators seeing a pathway for the Brewers to pull off a payback-minded upset.

“It just feels like a different team [this year],” Scout 1 said.

“I think a big part of this entire season for them is the redemption factor,” Scout 2 added.

Ahead of Game 1 on Sunday night in Milwaukee, here are the factors that could decide who reaches the World Series:

The Miz-ing Piece

Jacob Misiorowski was part of the Brewers’ playoff push last year. He even threw five innings of tantalizing bulk relief in a nine-strikeout effort during Game 3.

This year, though, he represents that biggest difference between this Brewers squad and those of failed Octobers past.

The breakout 24-year-old star is the presumptive NL Cy Young Award winner. He is expected to start Game 1 opposite Tarik Skubal. And if Milwaukee is to challenge the Dodgers, it’s likely to begin with a couple strong outings from him.

“It’s elite stuff,” Scout 1 said, stating the obvious of a 6-foot-7 right-hander with a 105 mph fastball.

But …

“The Dodgers know how to take at-bats against elite pitching,” he added.

Indeed, the main question will be whether the Dodgers can do to Misiorowski what they did to Chris Sale in the NL Division Series, driving up his pitch count and pouncing on rare mistakes.

“They’re gonna step into that box and just say, ‘We probably aren’t going to beat this guy, but we just need to get him out of the ballgame as early as possible,’” Scout 2 said. “They could just wear him down, fouling pitches off, taking pitches.”

Misiorowski faced a similar grind in the NLDS, when he needed 88 pitches just to get through four innings of two-run ball against the Padres.

But, his track record against the Dodgers is nonetheless promising. In addition to last year’s NLCS appearance, he has a pair of six-inning, one-run starts against them in the last two regular seasons, combining for 18 strikeouts in those two wins.

“I absolutely wouldn’t be shocked if he pitched a two-hitter, struck out 11 and the Brewers win 3-1 that first game,” Scout 1 said. “But if he doesn’t get out of the third because he’s thrown 65 pitches, [I’m not] going to be shocked, [either].”

Another year wiser

The real question in this NLCS is whether the Brewers can hit Dodgers pitching, after they batted a stunning .118 in last year’s matchup.

This October, Milwaukee’s lineup is roughly the same but also notably different.

Jackson Chourio has graduated from young talent (who was also battling an injury last October) to bona fide star. Brice Turang and William Contreras are another year older and more experienced. And others like Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell have emerged as dependable complementary pieces. Even former MVP Christian Yelich, coming off a career-worst regular season, showed signs of renewed life in the NLDS.

To Scout 1, it has made the Brewers reminiscent of another current contender that had to grow from repeated playoff setbacks.

“I think that they’re like the Dodgers, when the Dodgers were a lot younger,” he said. “They grind out at-bats. They’re hard [to pitch to]. Obviously not as talented from one to nine … but they have the same kind of mentality.”

Indeed, the Brewers were best in MLB this season in batting average (.258), on-base-percentage (.341), walk rate (10.6%) and chase rate (a league-low 26.6%). Though they hit the second-fewest homers in the majors, they scored the second-most runs.

“To beat a team like the Dodgers, I think they’re going to have to work counts, [make] no easy outs,” Scout 1 added. “You might still not get a run off of Skubal, but if you can get him out of the game in the sixth inning, and you get to the bullpen, you’re in a tight game.”

The Brewers, of course, failed to do that last year. 

But, as Scout 2 noted, their pitching staff — which also includes standout rookie starter Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47 ERA) and a deep bullpen that ranked third in reliever ERA (3.40) — may be better positioned to put their own clamps down on what’s been a homer-reliant Dodgers offense.

“You need to be able to manufacture runs, so I would be more concerned about the [Dodgers’] approach, where you’re relying on the long ball,” Scout 2 said.

Echoed Scout 1, while referencing the Dodgers’ NLDS against the Braves: “The Braves kind of [kept games close]. They just didn’t get the big hit … So it’ll be the same kind of principle, but I think the Brewers are better at it than the Braves are. It just feels like they’ve been there.”

No Sho’ thing

One other key difference in this year’s NLCS: The reigning series MVP is nowhere near his normal self.

Unlike last year, Shohei Ohtani will not pitch for the Dodgers amid ongoing right arm and left knee injuries. But the bigger problem has been the four-time MVP’s slumping bat, with Ohtani having failed to hit a home run since Aug. 18 and coming off an underwhelming 2-for-13 showing in the NLDS.

The Dodgers were able to compensate for that in their defeat of the Braves. Other stars like Max Muncy (three home runs), Freddie Freeman (two home runs) and even the recently resurgent Kyle Tucker (5-for-15) helped pick up the slack.

Still, at some point, Ohtani’s lack of production could threaten to trip them up.

“If you don’t have your legs, then you look like he looks,” Scout 1 said. “There’s times when he’s healthy, you throw him a mistake and he’s fooled, but it’s in the zone and he can still hit it 400 feet because he’s healthy. But he’s not doing that right now. He can’t get his legs under him. He just doesn’t look healthy to me.”

Scout 2 concurred, noting the mechanical disconnect Ohtani’s injuries seem to be causing.

“He’s still producing bat speed,” Scout 2 said. “But the effort that it’s taking him right now to get there, that’s what’s holding him back.”

It was just one more reason why both scouts were bullish on the Brewers’ chances.

They thought Milwaukee’s lineup is better equipped to handle Dodgers pitching than last year. That the combination of Misiorowski, Henderson and a deep and talented bullpen could frustrate LA’s own offense. And that in a series likely to be full of tight, low-scoring games, the Brewers’ ability to do the little things could tip the scales.

“Would I be shocked if they got swept? No, because you’re, they’re going to face four Cy Young Award [contenders],” Scout 1 said. “But if the Brewers get one of those games at home to start the series, I think they win in six.”

“They got to win one of the first two games,” Scout 2 agreed. “Then they got to come to Dodger Stadium and they got to win a three-game series, which they’re more than capable of doing. So they win a three-game series at Dodger Stadium, they go back and they close it out in Game 6 at home.”

Baseball postseason, for all of its unpredictability, has brought us the meeting of the two best teams in the sport to determine the National League representative in the World Series. Ahead of last season’s NLCS, the angle of David versus Goliath was heavily played in virtually any analysis—it didn’t help the more centered angle that the Dodgers steamrolled the Brewers on their way to a sweep. This time around it might not be that simple.

The similarities are evident, with the Brewers, yet again, having home-field advantage as a team that better maximized its skill set in the regular season, all while the Dodgers remain the favorites to advance, as was the case last season. Having said that, foolish are those who project a similar imbalance to that of the previous NLCS—the expectation of a more tightly contested series goes through pitching.

It may appear like a small factor, but the fact that both teams won their Division Series in four games means that Pat Murphy and Dave Roberts can line up their pitching in the ideal way for this Championship Series. And pitching is the great equalizer here, as both teams are stacked in that department and neither offense is currently hot enough to the point of putting into question the likelihood of a series dominated by elite pitching.

For all the talent on the mound for the Dodgers, the odds-on favorite to win the NL Cy Young pitches on the other side in Jacob Misiorowski. He is joined by the rookie Logan Henderson at the front end of a pitching staff tied with the Dodgers for the second-highest ERA+ in baseball. Last year’s Brewers ace, Freddy Peralta, was good, not great, in the series against Los Angeles, and that applied to several key Brewers pitchers in order for the Dodgers to sweep the series in four without major offensive explosions.

With starting pitching on both sides able to dominate, the Dodgers have an advantage from last season’s team in that the bullpen brings a much greater sense of reliability, not only in depth but also in the backend. We probably get the sense most fans will watch Edwin Díaz and Tanner Scott, waiting for them to fail all the way until the hypothetical final out of the World Series—but they’ve done enough to earn Dave Roberts’ trust, and the plethora of options behind them ready for a high-leverage spot if things go south isn’t to be ignored.

Such emphasis on pitching is a must from the Brewers side because offensively, despite Jake Bauers’ breakout campaign at first, the Dodgers still retain a heavy advantage, one that might even be currently underplayed ahead of the series. With little to no action from some of its top hitters, the Dodgers weren’t brilliant, but they still got theirs in key spots against the feisty Braves. Last postseason, the Dodgers offense wasn’t bombastic against Milwaukee, but it did enough to capitalize on strong pitching, while the Brewers’ attack was nowhere to be found against elite Dodger starting pitching.

Second to last in regular-season homers and top five in stolen bases, the Brewers’ offense’s best course of action to put a dent in Dodger pitching is through generating action on the basepaths — putting the bat on the ball and pressuring a defense that has vulnerabilities (I won’t name any names — Teoscar Hernández, cough, cough). It’s nearly unfathomable to imagine Blake Snell or Tyler Glasnow escaping a five-walk outing with just one run against the Brewers like they did facing the Braves.

All season long, the National League has clearly proven to be the superior league. It’s only fitting that the winner of the NLCS, whoever that is, will enter the Fall Classic as the favorite to win it all — the Dodgers in pursuit of a threepeat and the Brewers in search of their first title.

The Colorado Rockies didn’t give us much to celebrate in 2026, and with October baseball happening elsewhere, I’ve been relegated to staring at Rockies players’ Baseball Savant pages and rewatching old game footage.

Since I’ve already spent an unreasonable amount of time doing exactly that, I figured we might as well hand out a few awards.

Statcast measures just about everything imaginable on a baseball field, from bat speed and exit velocity to sprint speed and pitch velocity. Those numbers don’t always tell the whole story, but they can reveal things about players that traditional statistics might miss.

These aren’t MVPs, Silver Sluggers, or Gold Gloves. Think less Cooperstown, more Dundies.

We’re simply recognizing some of the more interesting things Rockies players did in 2026. Only performances in a Colorado uniform count, with a minimum of 100 competitive swings for average bat speed and 100 tracked batted balls for average exit velocity. Take the measurements for what you will.

Without further ceremony to stand on, let’s dive in.

Batting

Fastest Bat: Sterlin Thompson (75.4 mph)

Thompson averaged 75.4 mph across 119 competitive swings in his brief major-league stint, narrowly beating Hunter Goodman (75.0) and Mickey Moniak (74.3). With MLB hitters averaging roughly 72 mph, Thompson brought some serious bat speed to the plate.

Highest Average Exit Velocity: Edouard Julien (90.8 mph)

Julien averaged 90.8 mph on 165 tracked batted balls, edging Goodman (89.8), Troy Johnston (89.7), and Moniak (89.7). That’s above the MLB average of roughly 89 mph, although the quality of his contact rarely translated into playable MLB production.

Hardest-Hit Ball: Hunter Goodman (116.2 mph)

On June 26 against Minnesota, Goodman crushed a two-run homer that traveled 451 feet. At 116.2 mph off the bat, it was the hardest-hit ball by a Rockie all season, reaching a level of exit velocity rarely seen even across MLB.

Six days earlier, Thompson had recorded an infield single with an exit velocity of just 32.6 mph, the softest non-bunt hit in our Statcast data.

That’s an 83.6-mph difference. One ball left the yard. The other barely left the infield.

Both counted as hits.

Lowest Chase Rate: Edouard Julien (18.6%)

Julien collects his second award after swinging at just 18.6% of pitches outside the strike zone, well below the MLB norm of roughly 28–30%.

Adael Amador (24.7%) and Kyle Karros (24.8%) also showed impressive restraint.

For all that discipline, Julien’s offensive results were very poor. He demonstrated an ability to avoid chasing bad pitches, but that alone wasn’t enough to make him a productive hitter.

Pitching

Fastest Pitch: Seth Halvorsen (101.9 mph)

On May 17 against Arizona, Halvorsen grabbed a strike against Geraldo Perdomo with a 100.7-mph fastball before upping the ante with a blistering 101.9-mph heater, the fastest pitch thrown by a Rockie all season.

Unfortunately for Halvorsen, Perdomo ripped it for a double.

Fastest Average Four-Seamer: Chase Dollander(98.9 mph)

Dollander averaged 98.9 mph across 280 four-seam fastballs, the highest mark among Rockies pitchers.

With the typical MLB four-seamer sitting around 94–95 mph, that’s serious velocity over a substantial number of pitches, not just one particularly hard throw.

How much of that velocity Dollander retains will be worth watching as he works toward a return from injury sometime in 2027.

Fielding

Strongest Arm: Cole Carrigg(96.9 mph)

Carrigg averaged 96.9 mph on his qualifying throws, ahead of Brenton Doyle (93.1) and Tyler Freeman (90.9). That’s exceptional arm strength even by major-league outfield standards, and nearly four mph harder than Doyle, who is known for a powerful arm.

His arm was capable of producing throws exceeding 100 mph, although getting the ball to its intended destination was another matter. On September 10 against the Yankees, Carrigg unleashed a throw that sailed over home plate.

But when he kept it on target, the results could be spectacular. On June 17 against the Cubs, Carrigg delivered a 99.8-mph throw to third base to complete a double play.

Two throws, two very different outcomes. The arm strength was never in question.

Most Outs Above Average: Ryan Ritter,TJ Rumfieldand Chad Stevens(+2 OAA)

Our first three-way tie!

All three finished with two Outs Above Average, a Statcast measurement of how many additional outs a defender converts compared with expectations.

Doyle or Ezequiel Tovar might have been the names you’d expect atop this category, but neither finished with the team lead. OAA is a cumulative measurement influenced by opportunities, and while +2 isn’t exactly Gold Glove territory, it’s only one part of the defensive picture.

Rumfield showed off his reactions on July 18 against Cincinnati, diving to stop a 100.8-mph grounder from Edwin Arroyo before recovering to record the out at first.

Stevens demonstrated a different kind of defensive ability on June 2 against the Angels, ranging into shallow center field to make a reaching catch on a fly ball from Sebastián Rivero.

The Rockies’ defense was poor overall in 2026, but there were still individual contributors and moments worth appreciating.

Running

Fastest Runner: Jake McCarthy (30.0 ft/sec)

McCarthy averaged 30.0 feet per second, putting him in the 98th percentile across MLB and reaching Statcast’s threshold for elite sprint speed.

Carrigg followed at 28.7, with Braxton Fulford third at 28.6.

Fulford didn’t see much playing time, but his speed was undeniable, especially for a catcher. In fact, he was the fastest catcher in baseball by this metric.

McCarthy also led Colorado with seven runs of baserunning value, including five from taking extra bases and two from basestealing.

And if you want to see what that kind of speed looks like, consider his July 12 trip around the bases against San Francisco. McCarthy drove a ball into the spacious right-center-field gap at Oracle Park and never stopped running.

It was McCarthy’s second leadoff inside-the-park home run of the season, the first coming against Paul Skenes on June 20. He became the first player to accomplish the feat twice in one year since Edd Roush in 1929.

What it all means

Absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. These numbers won’t change the Rockies’ record or tell us much about what 2027 might hold.

But they do offer a few reminders that even in a season we’d rather forget, there were individual performances worth appreciating.

Congratulations to our winners!

Your trophies are imaginary, but the numbers are real.

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A generation of Yankees fans have been spoiled. First, it was Mariano Rivera — when “Enter Sandman” began to echo through the halls of Yankee Stadium, the game was effectively over. David Robertson “the Houdini” and Andrew Miller “the Game Enderer” locked down the ninth inning so effectively in their one-year stints as the closer that nobody really noticed a difference. Aroldis Chapman exasperated fans, for, well, a lot of reasons, but he’s got a Hall of Fame resume for a reason, and there’s a non-zero chance he ends up there with a Yankee cap. Clay Holmes spent the better part of three seasons as the Yankee closer, making two All-Star appearances, and in his brief stint in the job in 2024, Luke Weaver was a big reason they made the World Series.

In truth, only one closer in the last 30 years has been an unmitigated disaster, and his performance prompted the Yankees to make a swing for his replacement — today’s birthday boy, David Bednar.

David Jeffrey Bednar
Born: October 10, 1994 (Pittsburgh, PA)
Yankees Tenure: 2025-present

Born in Pittsburgh and raised in the extremely small town of Mars (the Pennsylvania borough, a part of the greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area, has fewer than 1,500 inhabitants), Bednar played baseball for his local high school but — perhaps unsurprisingly, given the size of the school — went undrafted. From there, he went to Lafayette College in Easton, PA, and was en route to Massachusetts after his junior year to play in the Cape Cod Summer League. He never made it there, however, as the San Diego Padres instead made him the 1,044th pick of the 2016 MLB Draft — a pick that, since Rob Manfred shrunk the draft to 20 rounds, no longer exists.

According to the school newspaper, he was just the fourth player ever drafted out of Lafayette, and when he made his MLB debut as a 40-man roster call-up in 2019, he became just the second Lafayette alumnus to make The Show. Between that month and the abbreviated 2020 campaign, Bednar struggled in limited time with the Padres, allowing 13 runs in 17.1 innings across the two years. As such, the Padres had no problem including him as part of the seven-player deal that brought Joe Musgrove to Southern California.

Now with his hometown Pirates, Bednar spent the entire 2021 season in the Majors, and he established himself as one of the league’s most reliable relievers. He posted a 2.23 ERA in 61 games, striking out 77 en route to a down-ballot Rookie of the Year vote. He then took over the closer’s job on a permanent basis the following year, compiling 58 saves and a pair of All-Star nods across the 2022 and 2023 campaigns.

An awful start to 2024, however — he allowed 14 runs in 10 innings in April — prompted the Pirates to remove him from the closer’s role after a disastrous August (10.97 ERA), and when he struggled out of the gate in 2025, they wasted no time and optioned him to Triple-A in the first week of the season.

When he returned to the Majors in late April, though, Bednar recaptured his All-Star self. From April 19th through July 28th, he allowed just seven runs and struck out 50 batters in 37 innings. It was on the back of this dominant performance that the Yankees, eager to rebuild their bullpen, made Bednar a priority at the trade deadline, sending a package centered on catcher Rafael Flores to the Pirates to bring “Renegade” to the Bronx.

Bednar’s introduction to the Yankees was, like that of every player the Yankees acquired at the 2025 deadline, a disaster: called on to bail out fellow acquisition Jake Bird, he allowed two runs on four hits (including one home run) to hand the lead to the Miami Marlins. Fortunately, his second inning of work in that game, in which he struck out two while retiring the side in order, would be much more emblematic of the rest of his 2025 — he allowed just four runs in 23 innings across the final two months of the season, as he brought stability to a closer role that had seen Devin Williams and Luke Weaver struggle. He remained his dominant self that October, allowing a grand total of three hits across six innings, earning the final out in each of the two Wild Card wins as the 2025 Yankees became the first team since the new playoff format was introduced to advance to the ALDS after dropping Game 1 of the Wild Card.

Bednar began 2026 by joining Team USA for this year’s World Baseball Classic, and while the United States squad embarrassed itself in pool play against Italy and ultimately lost in the championship to Venezuela, none of that was his fault: he provided four scoreless innings in middle relief as part of a stacked bullpen, allowing just six baserunners and striking out eight. Unfortunately, following the tournament, he got off to a shaky start to the season, culminating in a disastrous blown save against the Mets on May 17th in which he allowed three runs.

After that day, though, Bednar became lights-out, surrendering just 11 runs (eight earned) in his final 44 appearances of the season, with just two blown saves in that stretch. While his early slow struggles kept him from making his third career All-Star appearance, he ended the season tied for fifth in saves (35) and 14th among relievers in fWAR (1.9). Sure, he needed his emotional support baserunners far too often for my liking, but at the end of the day, few relievers were as reliable as he was in 2026.

At the end of this season, Bednar hits free agency, and at this point, it’s not clear whether the Yankees will look to retain their closer — after all, they haven’t really signed a reliever to a big long-term deal in half a decade, and on top of that, Bednar is on the wrong side of 30. (That’s a discussion for another day.) Whether he stays or goes, though, he was one of the bright spots in the Yankee bullpen over the last two seasons.

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See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

This season, the Nationals had a lot of hitters emerge. However, you could make a strong argument that Andres Chaparro was the best of the bunch after the All-Star Break. After struggling to get things going as a part time player in the first half, Chappy burst on to the scene down the stretch.

In the first half, I wondered why Chaparro was even on the team. The 27 year old seemed like the ultimate Quad-A player who could dominate in AAA but couldn’t replicate that success against big league pitching. With a .586 OPS in the first half, and big league struggles in the past, it just seemed like Chappy was not that guy. 

Things changed in the second half though, and I think you can point to one swing as the turning point. The Nats were playing in Sacramento when Chaparro absolutely unloaded on a Jose Suarez fastball. He sent the pitch 467 feet, hitting the ball over everything.

ANDRÉS CHAPARRO 467 FEET OH MY 🤯 pic.twitter.com/9SnsDp407s

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 18, 2026

That swing unlocked a new version of Chaparro. During that first road trip after the break, Chaparro hit 3 homers and gained a ton of confidence. Before that swing, Chaparro was just trying to show he belonged. However, that monster blast proved to him that he could compete and thrive at this level.

There were more big swings to come from the Nats hulking slugger. Chaparro hit .299 with a .998 OPS in the second half. He also crushed 12 homers, including two on the final day of the season. It was a shocking and awesome reversal of fortunes.

One of my favorite things about Chaparro is just how majestic his home runs are. When he gets a hold of one, you usually know it is gone. With his steeper bat path, his homers tend to hang in the air longer than most. The best example of that is his first homer on the last day of the season. I was at that game, and it felt like time stopped as we waited for that home run ball to reach the seats.

CHAPPY INTO THE STRATOSPHERE 🫪 pic.twitter.com/geAMsVMYei

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 27, 2026

It is really tough not to be blown away by what Chaparro did in the second half. That generational run gave him great season totals. For the year, Chappy hit .263 with a .360 OBP, an .885 OPS and 13 homers in just 83 games. He only had 198 AB’s, though it felt like it was more than that. His impact in that smaller sample was very loud. Chaparro’s 141 wRC+ is an elite number. 

Heading into next season, I would like to see Chaparro get a shot at every day playing time, or at least something close to that. Despite his reputation as a lefty masher, Chaparro had very even splits. He had an .888 OPS against lefties and an .880 mark against righties. 

The Nats showed they are willing to turn platoon guys into everyday players if it is earned. We saw that with Curtis Mead, and I think Chaparro could be another example of that. He was facing more right handed pitching at the end of the year, and I hope that carries over. We actually wrote about how he could be more than a platoon guy during his monster run.

Like Curtis Mead before him, Andres Chaparro is transitioning from a platoon bat to an everyday guy. With his success, Chappy is gaining confidence by the minute https://t.co/PzV3SIq9f9

— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) August 28, 2026

Right now, Chaparro’s primary competition for at bats against RHP is Abimelec Ortiz, who struggled mightily down the stretch. Even though Ortiz is left handed, I think Chaparro is the better option against righties. That could change as we get into the 2027 season, but right now, Chaparro is much more proven.

The biggest drawback for Chaparro is his poor defense. Ideally, Chaparro would be a DH who plays first base occasionally. This season, Chaparro mainly played at first base, where he did not look great. He also got a few games at third, where I do not think he can play.

However, if he hits like he did this season, you simply have to get his bat into the lineup. Chaparro demolished fastballs, does a great job pulling the ball in the air and takes his walks. He is not a contact hitter by any means, but a 23.2% K rate is totally manageable. 

With his big finish to the season, Andres Chaparro positioned himself nicely heading into next season. I think he deserves a shot at everyday playing time. It took him a while to establish himself, but like so many other Nats hitters, he took a major step forward this season.

Season Grade: A-

We’re setting the BCB “Wayback Machine” pretty far back today, all the way back to one of the Cubs’ World Series wins in the early 20th Century.

That win might not have been possible without the team’s tremendous rally in the top of the ninth inning in Game 1 in 1908.

The Cubs had quite a rough road to even get to the 1908 World Series. They had to win the makeup for the famous “Merkle Game,” played in New York in September and declared a tie after the final play descended into chaos at the Polo Grounds. That game was played Oct. 8 in New York and Mordecai Brown outdueled Christy Mathewson. The Cubs’ 4-2 win put them in the World Series against the Tigers, who also had to win their final regular season game to take the AL pennant.

But the Tigers had done that Oct. 6, so they had three days to get ready for Game 1 of the World Series in Detroit. The Cubs, meanwhile, had to take a train from New York to Detroit and had only one day off. Ed Reulbach was given the start for Game 1.

I.E. Sanborn of the Chicago Tribune noted that the entire game was played in a constant steady rain:

The battle took place under the most wretched conditions imaginable, as it was started in the early stages of a rain storm which never ceased and it was finished on a field so soggy that footing was insecure and the base lines almost two inches deep in mud.

Reulbach allowed the Tigers a run in the first inning, and in the top of the third, the Cubs responded with four of their own, adding a run in the seventh to lead 5-1 with just nine outs to go.

When Reunlach allowed Detroit three runs in the seventh, Orval Overall was summoned to put out the rally, but when he issued a leadoff walk in the eighth, Cubs manager Frank Chance called on Brown on one day’s rest. It did not work. Brown began by throwing a wild pitch and after an error put runners on first and third, gave up a single that scored the tying run. Another Cubs error gave Detroit a 6-5 lead, so they needed just three outs to win Game 1.

Here’s how Sanborn wrote up the Cubs’ ninth-inning rally.

When Rossman cut off Evers’ grounder to start the ninth and succeeded in retiring the Trojan without help the roars of the crowd increased as apparently victory became assured. But a frightfully rude awakening was in store for them. Schulte rapped a bounder to O’Leary, who cut it off in deep short, but was unable to throw the fleet footed Dutchman out.

Chance turned the tide of defeat back right there with a ringing single to center. That put the Tigers in the hole and sent their rooters’ hearts into their throats, for a one run lead looked small enough with Cubs on second and first with one out.

Here came Steinfeldt and completed the despair of the crowd by smashing a single into left. McIntyre came in on it and his good throw held Schulte on third. Still Detroit had a lead of a run, but the sacks were full and some determined Cubs were coming to bat. Hofman settled the verdict with a liner into left on which Schulte and Chance both rode home in safety. McIntyre made a desperate throw to the plate trying to stop the winning run, but the ball shot past Schmidt behind Chance as he flashed across the pan.

Steinfeldt went to third on the play to the plate and Tinker scored him with a bunt which did not go twenty feet from the plate, but which completed the utter rout of the Tigers. Schmidt tried to chase the bunt and cover the plate at the same time, as Summers made no move to help him do either. But it was a useless effort. While Steiny scored, Tinker reached first and Hofman second. Then Artie and Joe got together and showed the Tigers up still further by ringing in a double steal in the mud. Kling scored them both with a single into center, which made the fifth run in the inning. Brown bunted, but Sheckard’s fly closed the session.

They don’t write ‘em like that anymore, that’s for sure. The Cubs led by four, and Brown put two Tigers on base with one out by a walk and a single in the bottom of the ninth, then retired Sam Crawford on a fly ball and Ty Cobb on a comebacker and the Cubs won Game 1 of the 1908 World Series 10-6. They would go on to win three of the next four, two by shutout, and take their second straight World Series title.

This rain-soaked rally happened 118 years ago today, Saturday, Oct. 10, 1908.

Good morning, LSB.

The Rangers offered updates on Corey Seager and Josh Jung, et al.

Sebastian Walcott is settled in Arizona and feeling blessed to be healthy.

And Fangraphs ranks the best Division Series of all time. You’re not gonna like it.

That’s all for this morning. Have a great weekend and Boomer.

Hello everyone and welcome to the weekend!

Yesterday was an off-day for the lone remaining Division Series. The Guardians and White Sox will face off in a do-or-die Game 5 tonight with first pitch slated for 5pm PT.

Here’s what else is happening across baseball.

In Mariners news…

• Lucy Bloom at Defector thinks a large portion of Mariners fandom has the wrong idea about Jerry Dipoto.

Around the league…

• Rangers shortstop Corey Seager underwent surgery to repair a bone spur in his right elbow.
• 37-year-old right-hander Sonny Gray plans to play in 2027.
• Actor Nick Offerman has claimed Red Sox left-hander Payton Tolle as his baseball “son.”
• Boston right-hander Garrett Whitlock unknowingly pitched through a fractured tibia this season and will require surgery in the offseason.
• Matthew Roberson at Fangraphs ranked the 10 greatest Division Series of all time. You’ll never guess (you will) which one he put at #1.
• Katelyn Burns interviewed Gwen Howerton of the Houston Chronicle to talk about the growing trend of “Trans Girl Baseball.”

As the major league postseason churns on, a handful of Braves farmhands are making an impact in the Arizona Fall League. Let’s dive into Friday’s action.

(1-5) Glendale River Dogs 9, (5-1) Salt River Rafters 13

• Owen Carey, RF: 2-3, RBI, R, BB
• Isaiah Drake, DH: 1-2, R
• Briggs McKenzie, SP: 2.2 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
• Tyler LaPorte, RP: IP, 2 K

Box Score

Briggs McKenzie made his second start of the postseason, but it unfortunately did not go all that well for the lefthander. 

While his first start a week ago was fairly solid despite a few command issues, McKenzie was tagged for eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits and a pair of walks before being pulled with two gone in the third inning. 

On the one hand, the baseline numbers weren’t great Friday. On the other hand, the underlying metrics were still impressive for McKenzie. 

Overall, he registered seven whiffs on the night, while his fastball generated four of those, which was good for a 33.3% clip. 

The biggest issue for McKenzie was the fact he left a good number of changeups and sliders up in the zone, which doesn’t bode well for a guy who needs the upper part of the zone for his fastball to be effective. 

It’s probably just a blip on his resume given the fact he hasn’t pitched since late June, and it’ll be interesting to see how his next start goes. 

On another pitching note, reliever Tyler LaPorte came on to toss the final inning for Glendale and pitched a scoreless frame while striking out a pair. Overall, LaPorte has yet to allow a run during his AFL stint. 

At the plate, Owen Carey came through with an RBI by lacing a two-out single into right centerfield to tie things up at 1-1 in the top of the second.

On the season, albeit a short stint, Carey is hitting an even .300 with a .762 OPS. 

Later in the game, Isaiah Drake came on as a pinch hitter and managed to register an infield single as well. 

I usually write serious articles. This is not one of them.

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No team deserves to be trash-talked like the team that ruined baseball.

Last year, I wrote a series of satirical articles poking fun at each of the NL Central teams, including the Brewers. Then the Brewers broke the franchise record for wins in two straight seasons, and it felt like bad taste to keep kicking division rivals who were already down. So I retired the series… until now, because Milwaukee is facing the New Evil Empire in the NLCS for the third time in eight years.

The guiding principle behind the original series still applies; as a baseball fan, you probably talk at least a little trash. Even the most mild-mannered Brewers fan has said something less than kind about an umpire, or Jesse Winker, or Manny Machado. I know it’s always better to take the high road, and I encourage you, reader, to take it as often as possible.

However, if you’re going to talk trash, do it well.

This guide is for every Brewers fan who’s had to hear that the Dodgers “earned” their titles, and for anyone whose buddy from college moved to LA and bought an Ohtani jersey but can’t name five other players. Next time someone tells you the Dodgers are “just a well-run organization,” come back and find this article. I promise it’ll inspire you.

And to the impartial baseball fan: read this, then tell me you want the Dodgers to win.

This is the Haters’ Guide to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Owner:

The Dodgers’ current dynasty is, indirectly, thanks to former owner Frank McCourt. McCourt fired his wife from the Dodgers, kicking off what Business Insider — an outlet known for its dramatic, sensationalized headlines — called “The Nastiest Billionaire Divorce Ever.” The ensuing legal battle led to allegations of fraud, embezzlement, and tax evasion, and eventually a reported $130 million divorce settlement. In 2011, then-commissioner Bud Selig stepped in and took control of the team, and McCourt responded by filing for bankruptcy.

McCourt eventually sold the team to a group led by Mark Walter, who acts like the Dodgers are still bankrupt. Walter has built this current dynasty largely on IOUs, deferring over a billion dollars in guaranteed money to players in what is essentially a super-Bobby Bonilla situation. The Dodgers will be paying star players like Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Edwin Díaz through the 2040s. In both 2038 and 2039, they’ll owe $102.3 million in deferred payments. Seems super sustainable. When the payments end in 2047, Walter will be 87, so he probably doesn’t care.

So, how did Walter get the money to buy the Dodgers? That’s a great question, one that federal investigators also want to know; Walter and his companies are under investigation for potential fraud by federal prosecutors and the SEC, even having his phone and computer seized by the FBI.

Investigators are looking into whether Walter’s insurance companies invested large amounts in Walter’s own businesses through private loans and failed to label them as “related-party” deals, transactions between entities with shared ownership that require extra disclosure and scrutiny. Delaware Life, one of those insurers, originally said about 3% of its investments were tied to Walter-linked companies. After it was subpoenaed, that number turned out to be roughly 39%, or about $17 billion.

In layman’s terms, the feds want to know whether he’s been using his insurance customers’ money as his personal piggy bank. That’s a big deal because, according to the Wall Street Journal, that insurance-funded investment strategy is what gave Walter the financial firepower to buy the Dodgers in the first place. Everything here seems totally above board. Where’s Pablo Torrewhen you need him?

Walter also sold the naming rights to the field at historic Dodger Stadium, which is now confusingly known as “UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium.” This might be the most unforgivable thing he’s ever done. Someday, maybe I’ll get to go to a game at Banana Republic Field at Fenway Park.

The President of Baseball Ops:

Andrew Friedman, who’s been in the position since October 2014. Before baseball, Friedman was an analyst at Bear Stearns, which collapsed in the 2008 financial crisis. So, to recap: the Dodgers’ baseball operations are run by a Bear Stearns alum, and the owner’s finances are under federal investigation. The jokes literally write themselves.

The highlights: Friedman traded for Mookie Betts and signed both Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. But to be fair, getting paid egregious amounts of money to live in Los Angeles kind of sells itself. I could have signed those guys.

The lowlights: Friedman let 2023 World Series MVP Corey Seager walk in 2021 and non-tendered 2023 Comeback Player of the Year Cody Bellinger in 2022. He also signed Trevor Bauer, kept Julio Urías around after his first arrest, and — again — worked for Bear Stearns, so it’s not like his judgment is infallible.

The Manager:

Dave Roberts, who wants to “really ruin baseball.”

Roberts is the only person worse at bullpen management than Craig Counsell. That’s why the Dodgers carry roughly 12 All-Stars on the pitching staff. It’s the only way to Roberts-proof a bullpen.

Position Players Worth Mentioning:

The Dodgers’ catcher is named Will Smith (not that Will Smith though). At least actor Will Smith has a heart; what kind of monster leaves Randy Arozarena hanging?

Smith is due to make $50 million in deferred money from 2034 to 2043, so he’ll probably out-earn post-Oscars Will Smith just sitting on his couch. Good for him, I guess.

Their backup catcher for most of the season was Dalton Rushing, who didn’t even make the playoff roster. Still, he’s earned a spot here thanks to the long list of controversies he racked up in his sophomore season. In the span of two months, Rushing:

• Fat-shamed Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya.
• Made me defend a Cub.
• Allegedly said “F— him” in reference to Jung Hoo Lee while Lee lay on the ground writhing in agony.
• Said the video of him saying “F— him” was taken out of context.
• Did his best Manny Machado impression sliding into Jared Triolo.
• Also Manny Machado’ed my beloved Willy Adames.
• Baselessly implied the Rockies were cheating, because that’s apparently the only way the Rockies could beat the Dodgers in a random April game.
• Gave a whole speech about how he’s misunderstood to The Athletic: “I think guys have started to like, give me the label of (villain)… I just think that’s me competing at the highest level and not allowing any outside source to kind of get in my way.”

Andy Pages, the only affordable player on the roster, put up 6.0 bWAR this season, making him one of the Dodgers’ best players. Can’t imagine how much it sucks to be better than your coworkers at your job, but all of your coworkers make $20 million a year. On the opposite end of the spectrum is prized offseason acquisition Kyle Tucker, who the Dodgers are paying $55 million this year to provide exactly 0.7 bWAR.

Shohei Ohtani didn’t notice his interpreter and best friend stealing roughly $17 million from his bank account. I hate when I lose track of $17 million. Ohtani posted a .666 OPS over his last 29 regular-season games while dealing with biceps and knee injuries, so hopefully that’s a sign that his deal with the devil is finally up.

Mookie Betts hit .257 with an OPS of .780 this year. Joey Ortiz hit .270 with a .730 OPS. Mookie Betts made north of $20 million dollars this year. Joey Ortiz made $790,400 this year. Mookie Betts is certainly not 25x better than Joey Ortiz. At this point in his career, he might be a better bowler than a baseball player.

Top prospect Josue DePaula wasn’t on the 40-man roster on September 1, but he’s on the playoff roster anyway because the Dodgers need all the help they can get.

Enrique “Kiké” Hernández, otherwise known as the Butthole Whisperer, once posted a fan’s address on his Instagram.

Miguel Rojas, the oldest player in the oldest lineup in baseball, missed the last game of the NLDS with back pain. Again, the jokes write themselves. I feel you, Miggy.

Pitchers Worth Mentioning:

Shohei Ohtani (total contract value; $700 million) isn’t pitching this postseason, but it doesn’t really matter because the Dodgers already went and got the best starter in the American League, Tarik Skubal.

Skubal, who’s making $32 million this year, bought his former team, the Tigers, a really nice coffee machine. Then, when he was traded to the Dodgers, he took it with him. When the news broke and Skubal faced (understandable) backlash, he blamed it on his wife:

Per Skubal, his wife, Jessica, made him do it.

“That was my wife,” Skubal said Friday, per The Athletic. “I wanted to leave it and get a new one, but she wouldn’t let me. My wife was like, ‘That was too expensive to just run the charge back.'”

Even if your wife did make you, Tarik, you don’t ever actually blame your wife, you just own it and wipe your tears with your millions of dollars. Super classy.

Skubal might not even be the best pitcher on his new team; that’s not a knock on the back-to-back AL Cy Young winner, but a comment on the fact that the Dodgers have assembled the pitching Avengers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto ($325 million) is the only player on the Dodgers who I can’t hate on, simply because all he does is show up and pitch till his arm falls off.

Blake Snell ($182 million) also won two Cy Young Awards, then the Dodgers signed him to the best deal in sports. From March to August, Snell hangs out on the IL and works full-time as a Twitch streamer. He comes back in September to warm up, dominates in October, then heads back to the IL until the next postseason.

Former Ray Tyler Glasnow ($136 million) left Florida, but the Florida never left him. Glasnow has a longer IL history than Snell, but he’s usually healthy in October for some reason. And they say the Brewers are the team with devil magic on their side.

Another player the Dodgers have added since last year is Edwin Díaz ($69 million), who famously tore his patellar tendon celebrating at the WBC. Díaz is back and ready to ardently participate in all of his favorite pastimes, like blowing saves against the Brewers and cockfighting. Yeah, you read that right. You know how baseball is America’s pastime? Well, according to Díaz, cockfighting is Puerto Rico’s:

“It’s a pastime I’ve followed since I was a child,” Díaz told El Nuevo Día in March. “It’s legal in Puerto Rico, thank God.” Cockfighting is, in fact, illegal under federal law in Puerto Rico.

Back in 2018, Díaz also compared his pitching to his roosters’ fighting abilities: “My rooster went down dead and got up to fight, doing what my roosters know how to do: finish fights. He did what I do when I come in to pitch in the ninth: to close out the game.” If this season was any indication, he’s almost out of roosters.

Roki Sasaki throws 100 mph with a filthy splitter; he’s the Dodgers’ third-best Nippon Professional Baseball star, and he isn’t even in the rotation. Los Angeles will probably extend him anyway since they can just defer his salary until 2060.

The Manny Machado “Former Dodgers Worth Mentioning” Section:

There’s nobody Brewers fans hate like Manny Machado. Well, maybe Jesse Winker. I considered giving him his own section, but that felt like giving him more respect than he deserves. Here’s a complete timeline of why we hate him so much:

The Orioles Years:

• Threw his bat at Oakland A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson.
• Instead of denying he did it, said he “let his emotions get the best of him.”
• Was suspended five games.
• Charged Yordano Ventura (RIP) after Ventura hit him because, in the words of the Kansas City broadcast team, “apparently it’s Ventura’s job to just throw it right down the middle.”
• Ruined Dustin Pedroia’s career with one of the most egregious dirty slides I’ve ever seen. The slide caused persistent structural damage in Pedroia’s left knee, leading to multiple surgeries and, eventually, a partial knee replacement.

The Dodgers Years:

• Didn’t run out a grounder in the 2018 NLCS. When asked about it by the media, responded with this gem: “Obviously I’m not going to change, I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle,’ and run down the line and slide to first base… That’s just not my personality, that’s not my cup of tea.”
• Spiked Brewers first baseman Jesús Aguilar’s foot while, for once, running out a routine grounder. Can’t blame him for this one; he hadn’t run out a grounder since high school, so he probably just forgot where the bag was.
• When asked about it, Machado said “If that’s dirty, that’s dirty.” Correct.
• In that same series, tried to cup-check Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia on a late slide. At least buy him a drink first, Manny.

The Padres Years:

• Got suspended for making physical contact with umpire Bill Welke after an ejection.
• Threw a ball at the Dodgers’ dugout during the 2024 NLDS, which Dave Roberts took as aimed at him.
• Pretended to toss a ball to a Dodgers fan, but flipped him off instead and kept the ball.
• Railed against analytics, saying, and I quote, that there’s “too many numbers” in baseball. He was hitting .175 with a .617 OPS at the time. Bet he wouldn’t have said that back when he was an MVP candidate.

At least Machado doesn’t use steroids, unlike the other Manny.

Machado isn’t the only former Dodger who understood the value of a good old ridiculously dangerous slide into second base. As bad as the Aguilar and Pedroia incidents were, neither qualifies as the dirtiest play by a former Dodger in recent history. That honor goes to Chase Utley, who broke Rubén Tejada’s leg in the 2015 NLDS with a slide so dirty it led to the implementation of the “Utley Rule.”

Machado also might not even be the worst human to play for the Dodgers. That honor could also go to Trevor Bauer, whom Friedman signed to a $102 million contract in early 2021. Yeah, you read that right: $102 million committed to what turned out to be half a season of Trevor Bauer. No wonder they have to defer all their contracts now.

I’m leaving the sexual assault allegations out of this, because they aren’t a joke. Luckily for this column, Bauer gave us plenty of other material.

In 2018, while with Cleveland, Bauer hinted on Twitter that Astros pitchers were using sticky substances to boost spin rates. His first tweet was 36 thinking-face emojis, then a sarcastic follow-up about wishing there were a quick way to increase spin rate. He also said sticky stuff gave pitchers a “bigger advantage than steroids.” Alex Bregman, then an Astro, weighed in by calling him Tyler.

Then, his own spin rate jumped 300+ RPM in 2020. In his second start as a Dodger, in April 2021, umpires pulled several of his baseballs for having visible marks and being sticky and sent them to MLB for inspection. He responded by mocking “national gossip bloggers” on Twitter.

Last year, Bauer put up a 4.51 ERA in Japan; I don’t think even sticky stuff can save him now.

Other notable Bauer incidents include:

• Before his start in the 2016 ALCS, he cut his finger playing with a drone. Said finger started bleeding on the mound during the first inning and Terry Francona had to pull him. It’s probably the only time a foreign substance on Bauer’s hand wasn’t his fault.
• In 2019, Francona came out to take him out of the game. Bauer responded by launching the ball over the center field fence. Not a great way to respond when your manager tells you you can’t throw strikes. Cleveland immediately traded him.

Another player involved in that trade was Yasiel Puig, who ended the Brewers’ season in 2018 and was as annoying as humanly possible about it. Since I’m nearing my word limit, here’s the CliffsNotes on Puig:

• Shoved catcher Nick Hundley, starting a brawl that he was later suspended for.
• Bat-flipped singles, and doubles, and triples.
• Used to lick his bat before important at-bats, ostensibly for luck.
• Used his interpreter to pick up women.
• Unlike Ohtani, didn’t need an interpreter to rack up gambling debt. Funnily enough, Puig’s defense team blamed… the interpreter.

Clayton Kershaw, one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, spent his entire illustrious career with the Dodgers. For much of that career, he was also known as a playoff choker. He retired having allowed Brandon Woodruff, a pitcher, to hit .500 against him in the playoffs, including a homer.

Since Rafael Furcal also played for the Dodgers, I get to reuse this one from the Cardinals article:

Rafael Furcal just got arrested on a felony charge for “throwing a missile” at someone in a Publix parking lot. Yes, this happened in Florida. The guy Furcal assaulted allegedly beat him up afterwards, proving that — like most Dodgers fans — he doesn’t stand a chance in a fair fight.

The Ballpark:

Now known as UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium. Very Dodgers to sell the naming rights to the grass and dirt but keep the stadium name. Selling out halfway is kind of their thing — just ask all the fans who leave before the game ends.

UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium (I just wanted to say it again) is the third oldest stadium in baseball. I went to college in LA, so I’ve been to a few games there, and it’s honestly a great ballpark. What takes the fun out of the experience is getting there.

I lived 15 minutes away without traffic. That means I lived an hour away. If you want to Uber, be prepared to spend $60 each way. If you want to drive, you have to spend $60 to park roughly two miles away and walk up a bunch of hills.

Dodger dogs are overrated.

The Fans:

Leave before the game ends. Half the stadium thinks a “walk-off” is when you leave in the seventh to beat traffic. Dodgers fans can name every celebrity at the game but think the infield fly rule is a Delta policy.

True story: I have a buddy from LA, a self-proclaimed lifelong Dodgers fan, who asked me when I thought Kershaw would pitch against the Braves. In the 2026 NLDS. Kershaw retired last year.

The only relievers he could name were Tanner Scott and Edwin Díaz. Which is weird, because Dave Roberts uses his entire bullpen every night.

The City:

There’s a reason everyone wants to live in LA. It has the best weather in the country, except for San Diego. That’s it; that’s the reason.

Unlike in San Diego, most people live nowhere near the beach. Unlike in San Diego, you have to spend an hour in the car if you want to leave your neighborhood. At least if you’re Ohtani-level rich, you can just hire a driver — just make sure he doesn’t have your bank password and a crippling gambling addiction.

Just like in San Diego, you can’t buy a coffee for under $8 or rent an apartment for under $2,000 a month. And just like in San Diego, the fans expect to win the World Series every year. The difference is the Dodgers fans are usually right, which is so much worse.

Brendan Gawlowski of FanGraphs has a scouting report on Angeibel Gomez and other Royals prospects in Arizona.

We’ll start with the guy people will ask about first. Gomez is a tapered 6-foot-2. While he isn’t a freaky athlete in the Elly De La Cruz mold, he’s limber and has a fast bat for a kid his age. Facing some of the best stuff of his life, his feel for hitting stood out. Gomez is athletic in the box, and he was able to fight off above-average velo on the hands, turn around 97 above the belt, and flatten the bat and hit a line drive on a hard fastball up, all while holding his own versus spin. He fouled off a couple tough sliders and took one just beneath the zone. He wasn’t perfect — he expanded the zone a few times and chased a curve in the dirt — but it was a really impressive showing in context.

Where does this go from here? To my eye, Gomez doesn’t look like an early-mature guy, but he also isn’t someone who screams “physical projection” in the way that, say, Sebastian Walcott did at his age. Gomez already has average measurable power, and while there’s room for him to grow into more, my projection leans closer to “comfortably plus” than “80.”

Andres Chavez at Royals Keep writes about what went right for the Royals this year.

Recently named in MLB Pipeline’s All-Rookie first team, Jensen showed the world that he could be a dominant hitter over the course of a full season. He had posted some impressive numbers in a brief 20-game cameo in 2025, with a .300/.391/.550 line and a 152 wRC+ in 69 trips to the plate.

Well, he hit a solid .239/.323/.467 with 27 home runs, 80 runs, 81 RBI, a 116 wRC+, and 3.7 fWAR while splitting time behind the plate and at the DH spot. Oh, he also contributed 35 doubles and two triples, and ranked 15th in the majors with 64 extra-base hits. Not bad for a catcher, huh?

Celisa Calacal at KCUR sums up what was approved this week to pave the way for a downtown ballpark.

One ordinance, approved unanimously on Thursday, rezones 68 acres of the stadium development area, a key step for the $2 billion project to move forward.

The second ordinance authorizes more than $615 million in bonds, $537 million of which will pay for the construction of the ballpark, team offices and infrastructure improvements.

The third ordinance approves a tax increment financing plan that creates a so-called “stadium impact area” that stretches from Interstate 670 and the state line to 31st and Campbell streets. The law uses the taxes collected from that area in 2025 as a baseline, and redirects much of any revenue above that amount for the next 30 years to help pay the stadium construction debt.

Raytown is preparing for life without the sports teams nearby.

Gavin Williams will start the pivotal Game 5 of the ALDS for Cleveland.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. wants to stay with the Yankees.

Rangers shortstop Corey Seager undergoes elbow surgery.

Shohei Ohtani’s bat has gone quiet for the Dodgers.

Paul DePodesta talks about the Rockies’ struggles to develop pitching.

Will Japanese Triple Crown winner Teruaki Sato come to MLB?

The Marlins fire their TV broadcast team.

Ranking the best Divisional Series of all time.

The pros and cons to a 154-game schedule and the big roadblock.

A look at the young Athletics hitters.

A Wrigleyville rooftop owners is fighting the Cubs for blocking his view.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County sues Kansas over the Chiefs stadium deal.

The international tree climbing competition comes to St. Louis.

Tech execs are becoming the go-to movie villain.

The secret to a good night’s rest is to let your dog sleep with you.

Oregon runners participate in an ultramarathon that requires eating Taco Bell.

Your song of the day is The Clash with Complete Control.