Category: MLB

I think it bears repeating as the Cubs split their season series with the Braves. The Cubs won the season series from seven teams, including the Dodgers, Phillies, Padres and Diamondbacks. They split the series with four teams, including, now, the Braves. They lost the season series to only the Cardinals and Brewers. Are the Dodgers definitely doing a thing where they coast through the regular season just trying to stay healthy for a postseason run? Absolutely. Were all of those other teams? Did any of those other teams think they had so much margin of error that they could just mail in their games with the Cubs? I don’t think so. The National League was the better league this year, by a decent margin. And the Cubs played better against the NL.

My point? This Cubs team is a flawed team. We’ve all seen that. We all know it. Heck, this was a pretty good game and it saw the Cubs bullpen allow three runs in three innings of work. And the three guys who threw have definitely been three of the better arms of late, regardless of what that says about the guys who didn’t throw in this one. So even in a nice win, we see the problem. And yet, when you have the presumptive NL MVP, a guy who is going to get a fair bit of downballot support for that same award and a deep cast of supporting characters, you do have a chance to be a pain in somebody’s butt. I see what you see. I know what has you nervous or disappointed about this team. I get it. But this team can play. They’re not going to shy away from anyone (even the Brewers who, yeah, maybe they should).

Oh and one more thing. You aren’t digging around the web and finding BCB and then finding what I write and then hanging around because you are a casual fan. You are looking for sports talk and getting in the weeds. You’re a smart baseball fan. Don’t be one of those people who’s still doom speaking and suggesting this team won’t even get into the playoffs. This team is going to be a playoff team. They’ll probably, but not definitely, be the first Wild Card. They’ll clinch a playoff spot early next week.

Can’t let Al have all of the fun. The big picture is fun, but what a fun game this was from the closeup view. This was pretty certainly the best combined game of the two best Cub hitters this year. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman each had three hits, all extra base hits. 20 total bases between the two of them. Seven runs driven in between the two of them. Four runs scored. With Bregman’s continued late push, he might finish in the top five in the NL in fWAR among position players.

PCA? He’s chasing Rogers Hornsby for the highest fWAR season in Cub history. With two more homers and a triple along with his usual excellent defense, he feels like a good bet to set that record. He’s already set new records for most homers and most extra base hits by a Cub left handed hitter. It is mind-boggling that if he doesn’t get a 40/40 season, it’s largely because he has too many homers. As if that’s such a thing. As if his season will be any less special at 44/37 (and counting). There are players in baseball history with 37 or more steals and 44 or more homers in a single season — PCA, Shohei Ohtani and Alfonso Soriano.

Simply remarkable. If we didn’t have PCA, we’d be talking a lot about the impressive season of Bregman. Pretty amusing for a guy who many suggested was a terrible signing for the first couple of months of the season, while he was working hard to work out a couple of issues. How many teammates do you think were paying attention when a savvy veteran with a couple of rings and an enormous contract was working his butt off trying to work out some issues? He could have just been satisfied and plodded along until he got things together. But we saw on Marquee several times early him going through the process of getting things worked out.

This has been the kind of season that makes you want to pull your hair out. But it has also been so much fun. I suspect we’re going to have a long offseason to digest all of the things that went wrong and try to figure out how to triage that and correct it in what will likely be a disrupted offseason. We know in some way or another there will be new economics going forward and the team will have to figure out how to navigate that new system while also trying to keep a talented team building while significantly upgrading the pitching staff. We know that they can’t solely depend on the returns of a number of guys who missed all or most of this year. But we also know that those guys might come back and have a lot to add too.

Let’s do our best to put the frustration aside and really enjoy these last few weeks of the season. I feel like there are probably some thrills still to be had before the ride comes to a full and complete stop. Do keep your hands inside the car until then. Wouldn’t want to lose anybody.

Three Positives:

• Perhaps the wildest thing in this game was a Tommy Hottovy mound visit for Shōta Imanaga with no clear reason. Imanaga was terrific in this one. Four hits, no walks, one run. He struck out eight over six. The Cubs got terrific work from their starters in this series. I have to wonder if the Marquee broadcast was correct and Imanaga was tipping pitches and the Cubs rather than the Braves picked up on it. He’s so often good other than when allowing homers, you don’t need a lot of tinfoil to wonder if he has a consistent ongoing problem with tipping his pitches.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong had two homers and a triple. If I heard right on the broadcast, this was his second such game. The all time record for such games is four by a couple of fellows named Ruth and Gehrig. Pete’s probably going to break that record eventually, too.
• Alex Bregman joined the club of guys who have gotten the three hardest parts of a cycle but didn’t finish it. Bummer for Alex not to finish it. That’s one thing he’s never done in his very successful career. He might join some fun groups this offseason. Things like Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, MVP top 5’s, etc.

Game 153, September 16: Cubs 8, Braves 4 (85-68)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Shōta Imanaga (.266). 6 IP, 22 BF, 4 H, 0 BB, 1 R, 8 K (W 11-10)
• Hero: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.210). 3-4, 2 HR, 3B, BB, 3 RBI, 3 R
• Sidekick: Alex Bregman (.199). 3-4, HR, 3B, 2B, 4 RBI, R

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Seiya Suzuki (-.083). 0-4, HBP, R, DP
• Goat: Michael Conforto (-.054). 1-3, BB, RBI
• Kid: Pedro Ramirez (-.056). 1-4

WPA Play of the Game: Pete Crow-Armstrong’s solo homer with one out in the third inning increased the Cub lead to two. (.103)

Braves Play of the Game: JR Ritchie got Seiya Suzuki to ground into a double play with a runner on first and no outs in the first inning. (.072)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 152 Winner: Kevin Gausman received 22 of 50 votes.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Pete Crow-Armstrong +26.5
• Alex Bregman +25
• Carson Kelly +16.5
• Shōta Imanaga +15
• Ben Brown +13.5
• Jameson Taillon -13
• Nico Hoerner -16
• Dansby Swanson -17
• Caleb Thielbar -17.5
• Seiya Suzuki -18

Note: For the second time this week we see four of the top six (Conforto drops to sixth in the overall standings) on the podium. And Suzuki drops back into the cellar as his slump continues.

Scoreboard Watching: Blake Snell left a start early for the Dodgers in their loss to the Reds. The Phillies won and remain half a game behind the Cubs (but the Cubs own the tiebreaker). The Padres won for the ninth time in 10 games (1.5 back of the Cubs but Cubs own the tiebreaker). The Diamondbacks lost another close one (five back of the Cubs and Cubs the own tiebreaker). So the Diamondbacks would have to make up six games on the Cubs over nine games played. With full understanding that the Cubs do own a 10-game losing streak this year, they are going to be in a Wild Card spot. It’s only a matter of which one. That D-backs loss was notable because Sandy Alcántara got his first career save in the game. A team using a starter out of the pen late in the season probably wouldn’t raise eyebrows. But Alcántara was Monday’s starter for the Marlins. Now that is a throwback performance.

Up Next: The Reds will host the Dodgers again on Thursday afternoon while the Cubs have an off day. The Cubs can rest their bullpen and all of the players have a day to recharge and they don’t have any crazy travel. Of course, the Reds are staying at home, so no travel for them either. I’m sure the Reds would love to win two or three games from the Cubs here and play spoiler, but they are in last place in the division and very much playing out the string at this point. Heading into play Thursday, they’ve lost seven of 10.

We just covered this team at the end of August. They are 24th in OPS. They don’t really walk but they hit a lot of homers. This series features the first and third place teams in baseball in homers hit (and first and fifth in homers allowed). The Reds are 28th in ERA and 28th in WHIP. Their bullpen is 25th in ERA and WHIP, just slightly better than their starters. Keep the ball in the park and the team is very beatable.

Fangraphs still has the Reds as favorites in the first two games of this series. They have the Cubs as favorites in just four of the final nine games. Coincidentally, the four games the Cubs would need to reach the playoffs even if the Diamondbacks win out and the other two teams do enough to pass the Cubs.

The Cubs haven’t announced starters. But Clay Holmes (6-7, 2.85) is due. Clay is 2-3 with a 3.46 as a Cub in seven starts. Last time out, he got no decision as he allowed two runs over 5.2 innings versus the Pirates. He’s not started against the Reds this year. The Reds did beat him in New York once last year. So there are several Red hitters familiar with him.

Chase Burns (15-3) is scheduled for the Reds. He beat the Cubs a few weeks ago, allowing two runs on six hits over 5.2 innings. The Reds have him significantly pitch limited. He’s thrown three innings in each of his last two starts (at the Dodgers and Brewers). He allowed two runs over six innings and threw 100 pitches total in the two starts. So it’s essentially a bullpen day, regardless of how well he pitches (he had three no hit innings against the Dodgers).

Survive the Burns start and then beat the bullpen. Stay hot. Go Cubs.

Coming off a series where the Braves mostly sewed up the NL East by taking two of three from the Phillies, they then departed on a road trip consisting of the final part of their September gauntlet. The first part of that road trip had them go up to Wrigley Field to face the Cubs, who are in the midst of maybe the weirdest season (by one measure) ever. With Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle not deployed pitching-wise against the league’s best offense, things didn’t go well for the Braves… except for the one game where they donned their homer-hitting shoes and pulled off a really fun comeback win.

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Monday, September 14

Cubs 7, Braves 3

The Braves gave the start to Reynaldo Lopez, and it went pretty poorly. The Cubs plated three in the second (with an inning extended due to a non-double play on a slow-enough grounder hit by the Cubs’ catcher), and then two more in the third. AJ Smith-Shawver came out of the bullpen and finished up the rest of the game, but was taken deep by presumptive NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong, who ended up going 4-for-5 and finishing a triple shy of the cycle in the game. For their part on offense, the Braves mostly just hit a bazillion grounders when they weren’t striking out against David Peterson. They plated three in the seventh, including two on a Mike Yastrzemski pinch-hit homer, but nothing else. There was a rally-killing double play in the eighth after the first two batters reached, and then Ronald Acuña Jr. hit into a game-ending double play while representing the tying run in the ninth.

• Braves: .318 wOBA, .293 xwOBA
• Cubs: .386 wOBA, .326 xwOBA

As expected, I guess. Cubs doing Cubs things.

Tuesday, September 15

Braves 6, Cubs 3

For a while, this game felt like it was going to be similar to the first one. The Cubs plated a run in second, but the big blow came in the fourth: with two on and no out, Pedro Ramirez hit a routine double play ball to Mauricio Dubon at short, but the latter inexplicably threw the ball nowhere near second base. By the time the inning ended, Martin Perez and the Braves trailed 3-0.

That’s where things stayed until top of the sixth, when the Braves finally got to old friend/frenemy Kevin Gausman, thanks to Acuña drilling a two-run shot to pull them within one. The tormenting of old friends wasn’t done there, though. In the top of the seventh, Ozzie Albies exorcised his latest slump demons by mashing another huge two-run homer, this time off Jacob Webb. That turned the game around, and after two perfect innings from Didier Fuentes, Drake Baldwin added a third two-run homer in the top of the ninth. Raisel Iglesias shut the door, and the Braves had a fun comeback win where they actually hit pulled fly balls in the air to good results, instead of not doing that (which has been a theme for about the last six weeks with this team).

Crow-Armstrong was kept in check here, going 0-for-5 with a strikeout. Martin Perez had a fairly brutal outing with a 2/4 K/BB ratio, but danced through the raindrops successful-y-ish, aside from Dubon throwing that ball away.

• Braves: .367 wOBA, .359 xwOBA
• Cubs: .201 wOBA, .300 xwOBA

Wow, the Cubs underhit their xwOBA massively. Go figure.

Wednesday, September 16

Cubs 8, Braves 4

The Braves gave JR Ritchie the ball in this one after he had a really good four-start run in Triple-A, and it went terribly. Meanwhile, Shota Imanaga, who’s been having a meh season due in large part to an incredible run of homers allowed since August, absolutely eviscerated the Braves.

Ritchie’s struggles were present from the get-go, with two walks and a run in the first. Crow-Armstrong tagged him for a homer on an 0-2 pitch in the third. Alex Bregman followed suit with a homer in the fourth, and the rout became apparent when the Braves left Ritchie in to face the lineup a third time, where it quickly became 6-0. Owen Murphy and Brent Suter mopped the game up, with the former giving up yet another homer to Crow-Armstrong. He finished 3-for-4 with two homers, a triple, and a walk in this one, while Bregman finished a single shy of the cycle. Combine that with Imanaga putting up an 8/0 K/BB in six innings, and the Braves didn’t really have a chance.

The Braves did score four runs in this game, through three game on RBI groundouts, which is a tough way to sustain a rally. Two of those runs came in the ninth, where the first three Braves batters reached, but the next three all made outs to end the game.

Ritchie finished with an awful 5/2 K/BB, two homers, one HBP in 4 2/3 line. Murphy was even worse with a 2/1 K/BB ratio and a homer allowed in 2 1/3. The Braves don’t need to do much to clinch the division, but this sort of stuff doesn’t help.

• Braves: .257 wOBA, .247 xwOBA
• Cubs: .513 wOBA, .400 xwOBA

I’m kind of surprised this game was only 8-4, to be honest.

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The great news for the Braves is that the Phillies went 1-1 against the Nationals while the Braves were going 1-2 against the Cubs. So, they lost only half a game, and are up 4.5 with nine to play (including holding the tiebreaker, which is kind of like being 5.5 up). They’re also more or less assured a playoff berth at this point, as it looks like just one more win or one more Diamondbacks loss will secure them a playoff berth. It’s fine for the Braves to be coasting at this point in terms of the big picture, but it does make the games somewhat less watchable. On the flip side, this team hasn’t had much offensive success for weeks now, whether facing the Cubs’ league-worst pitching or anyone else: they’re 20th in xwOBA and 26th in wRC+ since the start of August.

So, hopefully the three-homer game that led to a win was more of a sign of things to come than the other two games. We’ll see.

I am not a prospect hound. I don’t spend my time poring over scouting reports or watching tape. But that doesn’t mean that I am not interested in what’s happening on the Kansas City Royals farm. Those players playing in Omaha and Springfield and Davenport and Columbia have the potential to be future big leaguers, the potential to change the fortunes of the entire franchise.

So every year I like to peruse what I have access to: Minor League stats. And when I’m looking at those stats, I keep an eye out for guys with lines that interest me in one way or another. I have a system of sorts that I use, and though it’s basic I think it does pretty well. I look at four aspects of the stats:

• Performance. I get that tools are important. But tools are meant to accomplish things on the field, and I value players who are productive.
• Age. Until you get to the big leagues, you generally expect older players to dominate younger players. How often a player competes against older talent is an important indicator.
• Skillset. How is a player accomplishing their production? Some skillsets translate better to big league play than others, and some deficiencies can be exploited more than others. 
• The Double-A line. Lots of guys are good in A ball. The upper minors are a crucible that separates guys who have a potential big league future and those who have a potential Banana Ball future.

Is this approach perfect? No. But I’m not in search of perfect. I’m in search of players who intrigue me and who I might want to spend time learning about because they could be future Royals.

Back in February, I applied this framework to Carter Jensen’s 2025 campaign. I argued that people were sleeping on Jensen, and that his track record and skillset at his age suggested that chances were really high that he’d end up as an effective big leaguer. Sure enough, Jensen has cruised to a 3.3 WAR season per Fangraphs this year–an incredible achievement for a rookie catcher. He’ll end up in the top three of the American League Rookie of the Year vote. 

And now, I’m applying this framework to somebody a lot of Royals fans have no idea about: a 5’ 10” utility player from Wisconsin by the name of Luke Pelzer. What, you might be asking, is so interesting about a guy drafted in the 17th round from the University of Illinois Chicago? I’ll tell you what: dude just hits. 

A .374/.450/.515 career slash line as a pro. Is that good?

Watch our 30-second bio on @QCRiverBandits outfielder Luke Pelzer!#RaisingRoyals👑 pic.twitter.com/tAHzcR2y33

— Raising Royals (@KCRoyalsPD) May 14, 2026

Luke Pelzer has ANOTHER three-hit night! That's 6⃣ hits in his first TWO games! pic.twitter.com/Jmip6gzxKX

— Northwest Arkansas Naturals (@nwanaturals) July 23, 2026

Luke Pelzer's third hit of the night is a two-out triple that drives in Garcia!

Pelzer has a single, double, and a triple…. pic.twitter.com/KhC7e3VQMR

— Northwest Arkansas Naturals (@nwanaturals) August 15, 2026

4 for 4 last night, two doubles, walk, SB.

Luke Pelzer was our 17th round pick last summer out of @UIC_Baseball. Since then, he hasn’t stopped hitting.

MiLB ranks since 2025 (min. 500 PA):

🔹.357 average (2nd)
🔹.435 OBP (5th)#RaisingRoyals👑 pic.twitter.com/FATgmCyKQm

— Raising Royals (@KCRoyalsPD) September 9, 2026

After two full seasons in the minors with time in Columbia, Northwest Arkansas, and the Quad Cities, Pelzer has a robust .351/.429/.482 line. Oh, and this is coming off his senior year with the Flames where he hit .387/.455/.559. 

Normally, you could chalk this up to a guy just being on a heater for a while–after all, batting average is a notoriously luck-dependent stat. Normally, you could chalk it up to your average late-round, no-power guy and point to Pelzer only having four home runs in those 565 minor league innings. 

But I think there’s something there with Pelzer, for two key reasons. First: Pelzer’s swing is optimized to produce batted balls that result in hits. This year, Pelzer has posted a hilarious line drive rate of 27.5%. For context, there isn’t a single qualified hitter in Major League Baseball who has a line drive rate at 27% this season. Pelzer also limits fly balls, hitting them at a rate of 25.9% this year. And again, for context, only two of the 137 qualified MLB batters this year have hit fewer fly balls. Pelzer maximizes the types of batted ball events that could become hits and avoids the ones that become outs at a high rate. 

The other reason is Pelzer’s plate discipline. Luke has walked 10.4% of the time this year and hasn’t walked below 10% in any of his three stops so far. It is pretty rare for a player with a contact-oriented swing to also have the eye to be able to take walks at the same time.

How rare is it? I took a look at all Minor League seasons dating back a decade with these qualifications:

• Age 23 or younger season
• Minimum 450 PAs
• At least one plate appearance in Double-A
• Batting average at least .300
• Walk rate 10% or more
• Line drive rate 27% or higher

Pelzer is one of only nine guys who qualify, and he has the highest batting average of anybody. Take a look:

Year	Name	Team	Level	Age	PA	BB%	K%	AVG	OBP	SLG	wRC+
2026	Luke Pelzer	KCR	A+,AA	23	482	10.4%	20.7%	0.336	0.407	0.466	128
2024	Kristian Campbell	BOS	A+,AA,AAA	22	517	14.3%	19.9%	0.330	0.439	0.558	177
2023	Vaughn Grissom	ATL	AAA	22	468	12.0%	14.1%	0.330	0.419	0.501	138
2016	Chance Sisco	BAL	AA,AAA	21	497	12.3%	17.7%	0.317	0.403	0.430	130
2025	A.J. Ewing	NYM	A,A+,AA	20	564	12.1%	18.6%	0.315	0.401	0.429	147
2025	LuJames Groover	ARI	AA	23	547	11.5%	14.4%	0.309	0.399	0.434	120
2026	Murf Gray	PIT	A,A+,AA	22	558	11.8%	20.4%	0.305	0.402	0.567	146
2026	Josue De Paula	LAD	AA	21	588	13.8%	14.8%	0.303	0.401	0.547	145
2024	Nick Yorke	PIT	AA,AAA	22	541	11.1%	18.7%	0.303	0.385	0.449	127

Now, none of those guys are world-beaters, at least not yet. But you know what they are? Big league players. Kristian Campbell, Vaughn Grissom, Chance Sisco, AJ Ewing, LuJames Groover, Josue De Paula, and Nick Yorke have all debuted with an MLB team. Murf Gray is a Top 100 prospect who is setting up a 2027 debut.

And then there’s Pelzer. 

I want to be clear: I’m not saying that Pelzer is going to be the next Big Thing. The fact that he doesn’t hit for much power lowers his overall ceiling, and Pelzer is probably going to end up as a left fielder as opposed to a center fielder. That’s nice, but not a cornerstone defender or anything. 

But what I am saying is that I think Pelzer is going to be a big leaguer, and it could happen as soon as next year. Keep an eye on him, because players with his performance and skillset don’t come along very often.

As we enter the offseason, extensions will be a hot topic. Outside of Keibert Ruiz a few years ago the Nats have not really given out long term contracts to their young players. I hope that changes this offseason now that Paul Toboni has had a chance to evaluate everything. 

Obviously, we would all love to see CJ Abrams and James Wood extended. However, those deals seem pretty difficult to pull off. A more realistic target is Daylen Lile. While Lile is not a superstar, he has established himself as a solid regular who still has room to grow. He is a well-rounded player who has the capability to carry the offense when he is rolling.

I’d try extending Daylen Lile with all your might before Opening Day 2027.#Natitudepic.twitter.com/0pp04iwv3q

— SleeperNationals (@SleeperNats) September 16, 2026

At 23 years old, Lile is still a player on the rise. After winning NL player of the month in September last year, Lile’s offensive production has been less consistent than expected. However, he has taken massive strides defensively, which has made him a solid ball player. Even with a streaky offensive season, Lile has posted 1.8 fWAR and 2.0 bWAR. 

This just feels like the beginning for Lile as well. He has been more or less a league average hitter this season with a .251 average and .742 OPS. As he develops, I think he will be closer to a 120 wRC+ bat. If you can get that with his now above average defense, you have a very good starter.

Daylen Lile has 21 HR in his first full major league season. His OPS is up to .740.

He’s a nice third member of the core to Wood and Abrams. pic.twitter.com/VxhJYy0GFR

— Grant Paulsen (@GrantPaulsen) September 16, 2026

Nats fans know what Lile is all about as a player at this point. The real question is what would an extension look like? When I looked over some recent contract extensions, I found a comparable deal. Before the 2025 season, the A’s signed Lawrence Butler to a 7-year $65.5 million extension with a club option for an 8th year.

Like Lile, Butler was coming off his first full big league season at age 23. His 2024 season was better than Lile’s 2026, but Lile has a longer track record of success. Butler’s 2024 success was propelled by a monster second half, he has been unable to replicate before or since. With Lile, we have a longer track record of at least solid production. 

There are just so many similarities between the two. I think if you offered Lile that deal, he would have to seriously consider it. There is a chance that it could take a little bit more, but I think we are in the right range here. Jacob Wilson’s 7-year $70 million deal is another bench mark to look at too.

Getting an extension done this offseason would be a PR win for Paul Toboni and I think Lile is a good candidate. While it is unlikely that Lile explodes and becomes a mega-star, it is tough to see this deal just going off the rails.

Lile is not a Boras client and was drafted by the organization. All of these things make him such a logical extension candidate. I still think the ceiling is fairly high as well. If everything clicks, there still is a Michael Brantley type player in Lile.

One other thing I love about Lile is that he gets better as the season goes on. That has not been the case for a lot of the Nats key players. Lile can be a guy who can pick up the slack if James Wood goes into his customary August rut. 

Daylen Lile gets better as the season goes on. After finishing July with an OPS under 0.750 both seasons, his September OPS from the past two season is above 1.000.@GrantPaulsen@MarkZuckerman@federalbaseball@TalkNats@NationalsSourcepic.twitter.com/BsDGgjOn3I

— Noah Bair (@NoahBairCuse) September 16, 2026

With his bat to ball skills, power and athleticism, Lile is also a very fun player to watch. He can fly around the bases and loves pushing the envelope. The youngster already has 19 triples in his career, which is a testament to his speed.

Even in a year that could have been better for Lile, he has still put up impressive numbers. 21 homers, 15 steals and 85 RBI’s is a good jumping off point. I still truly believe the best is yet to come for Lile though.

This year seems to have taught him a lot. He is known to be tough on himself and can get into ruts because of that. However, he has kept pushing and is peaking at the right time. Lile has an .823 OPS since the All-Star break.

Daylen Lile will never be the face of the franchise, but he is one of those perfect complementary players. I can totally envision him being a force on a good team. He also feels like the type of player who would rise to the occasion in a big spot.

He is not the biggest name on the team, but I think Daylen Lile is a prime extension candidate. I would love to see the 23 year old locked up and spend his whole prime in DC. He is already a good young player, but he has so much more left in the tank.

So far this year the Rays as a team have produced just a 91 wRC+ against left-handed pitching heading into Wednesday’s game – ranking just 22nd in the league. After watching Martin Perez throw seven shutout innings against the Rays last week in Atlanta, I began wondering whether their struggles against left-handed pitching could become a problem in October. The short answer is no, and the current iteration of the roster suggests they should be better against lefties going forward.

First, that overall team wRC+ is skewed a bit. The problem is concentrated among the team’s left-handed hitters. They have combined for a 72 wRC+ against southpaws, while the team’s right-handed hitters have posted a 101 wRC+. Some left-handed hitters will still have to appear in a postseason lineup, but the Rays have enough alternatives that the weakest platoon bats do not all need to play.

Chandler Simpson should be in the lineup against lefty starters. He has transformed himself into an impact defender, and his skillset is platoon-neutral so there’s no reason his performance data should be as low as it has been against lefties. His contact rates are still near elite against them, but he does chase quite a bit more versus left-handed pitchers. Simpson’s underlying contact ability suggests there is room for improvement in his production against lefties, particularly if he can reduce the additional chase that has limited his results. It wasn’t an issue for Simpson in his minor league career as he maintained nearly identical chase rates against both righties and lefties, so I expect that to take shape in the majors with more time.

Jonathan Aranda is another player who could be in a lineup against left-handers. His approach is more passive against them; he gets his A-swing off about half the time compared to when he faces right-handers, but Aranda maintains similar contact rates against lefties. His results against southpaws have been roughly league average, and his batted-ball profile suggests he has leaned into contact toward left field and up-the-middle rather than trying to pull the ball. Here’s his spray heatmap against righties this year:

And then we can see how he’s going less pull-heavy when he faces a lefty:

That may not be enough to keep him in the lineup if Victor Mesa Jr. establishes himself as a viable everyday option.

Mesa looks like a potential everyday option for the Rays when healthy. He has similar contact and chase rates against both righties and lefties for his brief major-league career so far, and that trend extends back to his time in AAA since 2024. Mesa even gets to his best bat speeds when facing lefties, so he doesn’t appear to be overmatched by same-side matchups. I’m cautiously optimistic he could start and hold his own against lefties in a larger sample in the majors because of his underlying data. He plays near-elite defense in right field, so a configuration of Vilade at first base and Mesa in right field against lefties offers more impact on both sides of the ball compared to Aranda at first base and Vilade in right field.

Here’s how each position player on the current roster stacks up in the majors against righties and lefties from the start of 2024 through September 15th, 2026:

Player	Contact%(vs RHP and LHP)average ~77%	EV90(vs RHP and LHP)average is ~104mph	FB+LD% (vs RHP and LHP)average is ~48%
Yandy Diaz	85.8%, 88.6%	108.1mph, 108.2mph	39.5%, 47.4%
Jonathan Aranda	79.7%, 79.0%	105.9mph, 103.3mph	60.2%, 46.0%
Junior Caminero	76.4%, 78.4%	109.7mph, 110.2mph	43.0%, 43.2%
Liam Hicks	88.5%, 87.8%	101.1mph, 96.5mph	50.2%, 44.1%
Chandler Simpson	91.3%, 92.5%	96.7mph, 96.3mph	39.1%, 29.7%
Victor Mesa Jr.	77.3%, 84.7%	105.4mph, 98.0mph	60.3%, 45.8%
Cedric Mullins	80.2%, 81.6%	102.8mph, 100.9mph	53.4%, 49.0%
Richie Palacios	79.4%, 80.3%	101.4mph, 97.8mph	50.6%, 39.4%
Taylor Walls	79.3%, 79.9%	100.3mph, 98.0mph	51.5%, 46.1%
Ryan Vilade	78.6%, 79.9%	106.8mph, 106.9mph	41.0%, 53.2%
Nick Fortes	85.3%, 86.1%	102.6mph, 103.0mph	37.7%, 40.7%
Jonny DeLuca	79.9%,75.8%	102.7mph, 102.2mph	44.4%, 47.5%
Jake Fraley	78.8%, 82.2%	102.9mph, 97.0mph	52.7%, 42.4%
Jorge Mateo	72.1%, 75.1%	104.5mph, 104.0mph	44.9%, 55.0%
Nick Madrigal	89.9%, 92.5%	99.1mph, 97.7mph	38.1%, 35.7%
Ben Williamson	80.2%, 84.0%	102.9mph, 104.4mph	39.4%, 38.6%

Simpson’s underlying contact profile is nearly identical against both handedness groups, while Mesa’s contact and batted-ball data provide reason to believe he may be able to handle left-handed pitching better than his limited major-league results suggest. His Triple-A EV90 against lefties was 102.8 mph, suggesting the major-league split may have room to stabilize. Also, it’s likely that Mateo and Madrigal won’t be on the roster when Walls and Williamson get healthy. The left-handed hitters whose overall offensive production is weakest against southpaws are Aranda, Hicks, Mullins, Palacios, and Fraley.

With their current roster, the Rays have to use at least two left-handed hitters in a lineup against a left-handed starter. Here’s how I’d lineup against a left-handed starter with the current roster:

1. Yandy Diaz DH
2. Ryan Vilade 1B
3. Junior Caminero 3B
4. Jonny DeLuca CF
5. Chandler Simpson LF
6. Nick Madrigal 2B (or Ben Williamson when healthy)
7. Victor Mesa RF
8. Nick Fortes C
9. Jorge Mateo SS (or Taylor Walls when healthy)

This alignment prioritizes right-handed bats and defensive range while keeping the weakest left-handed platoon options on the bench. Cash could still use Aranda aggressively as a pinch hitter. Even if an opposing manager responds with a left-handed reliever, Aranda’s ability to shoot a single into left-center may be more valuable in a late-game matchup than in several early at-bats against a left-handed starter due to the difference in leverage.

While the lineup they can run against right-handed starters is more impactful, the drop-off against left-handed starters is not as severe as the Rays’ overall numbers might suggest. The combination of right-handed power, platoon-neutral contact skills, and strong defense gives them enough flexibility to build a competitive lineup against southpaws. If Mesa can establish himself as an everyday option, the Rays may have enough depth to handle left-handed starters without compromising their defensive identity.

Team News

D-backs’ postseason hopes narrowing after frustrating series loss to Marlinshttps://www.mlb.com/dbacks/news/d-backs-drop-in-wild-card-standings-in-loss-to-marlins

3 home runs not enough as Diamondbacks drop further back in wild cardhttps://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/mlb/diamondbacks/2026/09/16/diamondbacks-marlins-score-game-updates/91780111007/

Diamondbacks’ playoff hopes reach despair with 9 games to gohttps://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-marlins-loss-standings-wild-card

2001 Diamondbacks champions to reunite at Chase Field on Saturdayhttps://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/2001-diamondbacks-champions-to-reunite-at-chase-field-on-saturday

Diamondbacks DFA Veteran Reliever
https://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/diamondbacks-dfa-veteran-reliever

Ryne Nelson’s Return Adds Serious Firepower to Diamondbacks’ Bullpenhttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/ryne-nelson-return-firepower-diamondbacks-bullpen

Anything Goes

This day in history:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/september-17

This day in baseball:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/September_17

Gene Wilder ate wax in Willy Wonka.

For the tea time scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the “candy” flower cup that Gene Wilder chomped on was actually made of wax. Additionally, the chocolate river was made of actual water, chocolate, and cream that spoiled throughout shooting.

The smallest ocean is the Arctic ocean.

It is also the shallowest and the coldest ocean among the world’s five ocean basins. The Arctic ocean is about 1.5 times the size of the United States.

An episode of Peppa Pig was banned in Australia.

This was mainly due to the episode’s message that aimed to teach children not to fear spiders. For Australians, spiders found on the continent are much larger and deadlier compared to other parts of the world. This episode was banned in the country so that children would not harm themselves whenever a spider was around. 

Good morning everyone and happy Thursday!

The Mariners managed to secure a victory in the series finale against the Angels, winning 7-2. The team has an off-day today as they head to Denver for what is sure to be a high-scoring affair with the Rockies.

In Mariners news…

• Everett is in danger of losing the AquaSox with its stadium project hitting major hurdles. Neetish Basnet at Puget Sound Business Journal has more.
• Felnin Celesten is taking home some hardware following a breakout season with the AquaSox.

Around the league…

• Padres top prospect Ethan Salas became the youngest catcher to hit two homers in a single MLB game.
• Former Mariner Justin Turner was one of many MLB veterans who just won a Mexican League title with Los Toros de Tijuana.
• Congratulations to former Mariner Endy Chávez!

• The Baseball America gave handed out farm system grades for all 30 organizations. ($)
• Alden Gonzalez at ESPN explained why we haven’t seen a flood of two-way stars in the wake of Shohei Ohtani’s emergence.

Anders’ pick…

• LeBron James’ deal with the betting service Polymarket is worth $15 million annually. All of this really seems like it should be illegal.

Morning A’s fans!

The A’s have cast a growing net in their search for their next General Manager. Looking to replace their former long-time GM David Forst with someone capable of getting the A’s back to the playoffs, the first names to emerge were former GM’s James Click and Mike Rizzo, as well as current A’s assistant GM Billy Owens, who has been with the organization for the better part of three decades.

Well now we can add a couple more names to the list of potential new voices for the front office. Joe Doyle of OverSlotBaseball threw out a post a couple of days ago naming Red Sox assistant GM’s Mike Groopman and Taylor Smith as the newest candidates to lead the Athletics heading into Las Vegas:

The Athletics are casting a wide net in their search for their next general manager. According to multiple sources, they’ve had conversations with Boston Red Sox SVP/AGMs Mike Groopman and Taylor Smith about the role.

— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) September 15, 2026

The AGM’s have been speculatively connected to bigger jobs over the past couple of years, especially Mike Groopman. The 41-year-old originally worked under current Mets PBO David Stearns in Milwaukee in their international scouting and player development department before getting a promotion and joining the Red Sox in 2022. He’s done a bit of everything with Boston but was especially involved in roster building, and is largely credited within the Red Sox’s organization for pushing the Garrett Crochet trade over the top.

He originally was in charge of analytics under then-GM Chaim Bloom, who famously delegated different duties to his lieutenants. But he would eventually secede those responsibilities to the other name connected in Joe Doyle’s report, fellow assistant GM Taylor Smith. Smith is yet another graduate of the Rays’ organization, joining the AL East rivals in 2024 after being Tampa’s director of “predictive modeling”. Since he’s been with the Red Sox for a shorter amount of time it’d be fair to assume he’s lower on the totem pole within the Boston front office but many in the league think it’s just a matter of time until he gets to build his own team somewhere.

Both of these guys have had interviews for full GM spots before with Boston, though these might be their first for new organizations. Between the two, Groopman seems to have more hands-on experience while Smith might have more of an analytical mind. If the A’s want a first-time GM, and one who comes from outside of the organization, you could do a lot worse than starting with these two guys. Is that the direction the team wants to go though with Las Vegas now just a year away? We’ll have to wait and see but there’s rumors they might pick their man before the season is over.

Have a great Thursday everyone.

A’s Coverage:

• A’s Comeback Falls Short in 4-3 Loss to the Rays
• Paralyzed A’s prospect Lasko released from rehab facility to ovation from staff
• Rays Walk-off A’s, 2-1, in Series Opener
• Injuries Out Of Control, But Why?
• No. 2 prospect in baseball De Vries undergoes successful shoulder surgery
• 2027 Infield Landscape Ever Changing
• A’s Win Series, Beat Mariners 8-7
• A’s Walk Off Blue Jays 6-5
• “Fast Movers” Might Be Key To Contention
• What the A’s Hiring Mike Rizzo would Signal and the Questions it Would Raise
• Bi-Polar Performance Arcs Make Evaluation Difficult
• A’s Designate José Suarez For Assignment
• Q&A: Clarke determined to finish strong with A’s after long IL stint
• It’s Been a Bummer Summer in Sacramento
• The A’s valuation rises with sales of 2 MLB clubs as Las Vegas move looms
• Your 2026 Hacktastic A’s
• Athletics Considering James Click For GM Vacancy
• Daejon Love case brings back Eric Byrnes’ bizarre story of an A’s bat boy impersonation
• Get the best of Athletics Nation on the new SB Nation app

MLB News and Interest:

• Yankees activate Schmidt from 60-day IL, DFA Cabrera
• Phillies place Jesús Luzardo on IL with shoulder inflammation
• Jameson Taillon Seeking Additional Opinions On Elbow, Won’t Return This Season
• Twins’ shortstop Kaelen Culpepper to injured list with hamstring strain
• Cardinals activate rookie 2B JJ Wetherholt from injured list
• D-backs To Activate Ryne Nelson, Designate Derek Law For Assignment
• Will these 5 teams take the next step in 2027?
• Picking the best player at each position who wasn’t a 2026 All-Star
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Fantastic development for Ryan Lasko leaving the hospital!

22 strong, always 💚💛

Ryan is heading home today after spending time in a rehab facility and he received a special surprise clap out from everyone along the way! He will begin out patient therapy and continue his journey to recovery.

We’re with you every step of the way,… pic.twitter.com/qSWXQLUvdT

— Athletics (@Athletics) September 16, 2026

No Devin Taylor this Fall League. Instead Breyson Guedez getting extra work this offseason:

A's are sending OF Breyson Guedez, catchers Cole Conn & Davis Diaz and pitchers Kenya Huggins, Tucker Novotny, Jared Johnson, Jay Dill & Grant Richardson to the Arizona Fall League. Originally planned to send Devin Taylor instead of Guedez but decided to give Taylor a rest.

— Bill Moriarity – A's Farm (@AthleticsFarm) September 15, 2026

Time to start thinking about the prospects the A’s need to protect from the Rule 5 Draft this offseason:

Cole Conn homered tonight and is now batting .315 and a .909 OPS in triple-A. Should be added to the 40-man this winter.

He’s a switch-hitting catcher who could be a great replacement for Jonah Heim pic.twitter.com/9EzscZTZkz

— BK (@athleticBsK) September 16, 2026

Positive signs but definitely not enough to prevent the team from adding pitching this offseason:

“I said, ‘Look, if you get back here and get this opportunity, you need to take advantage, because you haven’t taken advantage yet.’ Tonight was a big step.”

Jack Perkins’ best start as a big leaguer Tuesday in Tampa could not have come at a better time. https://t.co/MxDwnwB94m

— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) September 16, 2026

The New York Mets (69-83) began their 2026 home schedule on MLB Opening Day by beating up on 2025 NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes, which filled fans with hope and excitement even beyond what we imagined was possible, for a team coming into the year with playoff expectations. The team will now conclude their home schedule with four games against the Philadelphia Phillies (84-68) after being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention and as a club just playing out rest of their schedule. For what little it’s worth, the Phillies lead the season series 5-4 and have won two of the three games at Citi Field.

The Mets are coming off one of the most surreal home series in recent memory, to say the least. Franchise Home Run Leader Pete Alonso took center stage in his return to Citi Field after leaving for Baltimore in the offseason, and the fan reaction sparked much lively debate on the radio waves, on podcasts, on social media, and everywhere else where sports discussion takes place. Mets fans, unsurprisingly, gave Alonso a hero’s welcome, but perhaps some, including the Mets’ players, did not expect just how resounding the applause would be. Alonso was cheered early and often, as his chase for 300 home runs seemed to be at the forefront of the fans’ mind.

In the end, he reached the feat at the most opportune time for his club, tying the game in the top of the ninth of Kodai Senga on Tuesday. The moment resulted in a standing ovation and a curtain call, which stunned many. For what it’s worth, I had very little problem with the Mets fans celebrating Alonso the way they did, and I thought it resulted in a nice moment with the fans who returned the ball, and that is the last we’ll say about that. Oh, and the Mets got swept, losing 2-1 on Monday, 7-5 in 11 innings on Tuesday, and 7-1 on Wednesday, which, at the very least, helped their tankathon odds. So it goes.

The Mets and their fans will go from celebrating and recognizing an icon who left the organization to two icons who remain within the organization during the final home weekend of the season. First, the club will recognize Carlos Beltran, who recently was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, by retiring his number and putting him in the Mets’ HOF on Saturday, September 19. On the following day, the team will appreciate long-time radio voice Howie Rose, who is retiring at the end of the season, with a special pregame ceremony on Sunday, September 20, which also represents the final Mets’ home game this year. The hopes are that, despite the bad record and despite being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention—this formality took place after Monday night’s loss to the Orioles—the Flushing Faithful will turn out to show their love for both Beltran and Rose, who each have a special place in Mets’ history.

The Phillies are in a completely different spot from the Mets, still fighting for their playoff lives but firmly in a spot at the moment. It’s a stark contrast between the two clubs, both of whom began the season pretty wretchedly. The two stories diverged when Philadelphia fired manager Rob Thomson on April 28, two full months before New York relieved Carlos Mendoza of his duties. The Phillies never looked back, and with Don Mattingly at the helm, they find themselves one game up in the Wild Card race. If the season were to end today, they would be the second NL Wild Card club, meaning they would travel to Wrigley Field for a date with the Cubs. However, both the red-hot Padres and the Diamondbacks, who sit on the outside looking in, are right behind them, so every game in this series is of the utmost importance to Philadelphia. The Phillies just split a two-game set with the Nationals.

Thursday, September 17: Nolan McLean vs. Aaron Nola, 7:15 PM EDT on FOX

McLean (2026): 166.2 IP, 184 K, 66 BB, 17 HR, 3.24 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 79 ERA-

For McLean to win NL Rookie of the Year, he basically had to end the year on a flawless run to make headway in the race. His chances took a big hit in his last start, as he allowed five earned runs on a career-worst 10 hits over five innings at Yankee Stadium. He only struck out five, which makes his quest for 200 Ks a bit challenging, as does his chance of reaching 180 innings. He likely has just one start left after this one against the Phillies, which means he’ll need to go 13 1/3 innings and strike out 16 across these two outings to reach two numbers that might make the voters take notice. In any event, he has been, by far, the best rookie hurler in the NL, though he still has a lot of things he can focus on fixing heading into his 2027 sophomore campaign, including his walks issued and his home runs surrendered.

Nola (2026): 161.1 IP, 165 K, 55 BB, 34 HR, 4.69 ERA, 4.85 FIP, 108 ERA-

It’s been a tale of two halves for Nola. In his first 21 starts of the year, he posted a 5.82 ERA and a 5.06 FIP in 108 1/3 innings. In nine starts since then, he’s posted a 2.38 ERA and a 4.44 FIP in 53 innings. Five of those nine outings have qualified as ‘quality starts’, and Nola has looked a little bit more like his old self. His last two starts have come against the Braves, and he went a combined 13 1/3 innings and allowed three earned runs on ten hits, with eight strikeouts and four walks. Despite the back-to-back quality starts, the Phillies lost both games, those Nola settled for a no decision in both. This is his third time facing the Mets this year and 33rd time in his career. He owns a 3.46 ERA with 230 strikeouts in his 32 appearances against New York.

Friday, September 18: Zach Thornton vs. Alan Rangel, 7:15 PM EDT on Apple TV+

Thornton (2026): 73.1 IP, 55 K, 16 BB, 12 HR, 3.44 ERA, 4.46 FIP, 83 ERA-

Thornton is coming off one of his most impressive major league start. In the hitter friendly Yankee Stadium, he limited the potent Yankees’ lineup to two earned runs on five hits. He struck out four, walked one, and tossed 75% of his 81 pitches for strikes. He peppered the strike zone all afternoon and kept the Yankees’ bats at bay, while the Mets’ offense did more than enough to get the left-hander his fourth career win. Thornton has two more outings left to showcase his stuff as he looks to improve his standing within the club in the hopes of securing a spot in the 2027 rotation.

Rangel (2026): 26.0 IP, 29 K, 13 BB, 4 HR, 5.88 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 135 ERA-

Rangel will step in for Luzardo, who hit the IL and will not pitch again in the regular season. He made three starts this year, all in July, with one of those outings coming against the Mets. New York treated him rather rudely, putting up five runs on seven hits in four innings to hand the right-hander a loss back on July 19. Overall, he’s given up eight earned runs on 13 hits over 11 1/3 innings as a starting pitcher in 2026.

Saturday, September 19: Christian Scott vs. Andrew Painter, 4:10 PM EDT on SNY

Scott(2026): 105.1 IP, 127 K, 46 BB, 12 HR, 3.76 ERA, 3.74 FIP, 91 ERA-

Scott was really impressive against the Yankees, completing six innings of work for just the third time since the All-Star break. He allowed two earned runs on three hits and struck out seven while allowing two walks. Unfortunately, two solo homers and a lack of offense against Cam Schlitter handed the right-hander his fifth loss of the season. Despite that, it was an encouraging outing for the right-hander, who looks to cement his spot in next season’s rotation with a strong finish to his first season coming off Tommy John Surgery.

Painter (2026): 115.1 IP, 100 K, 43 BB, 19 HR, 5.54 ERA, 4.76 FIP, 127 ERA-

The Phillies picked Painter in the first round (13th overall) in the 2021 MLB Draft, and he finally made his debut for the club this season. He’s had an up-and-down rookie campaign though has shown signs of promise as of late. He picked up a win in his first career start on March 31, as he held the Nats to one earned run on four hits with eight strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. From then on, he went 0-8 and posted a 7.06 ERA and a 5.53 FIP in 53 innings across 14 starts, which earned him a demotion to Triple-A. Since returning on July 31, he’s been much better, posting a 3.58 ERA and a 3.77 FIP over 50 1/3 innings in nine starts. His last time out, he held the Braves to one earned run on six hits over five innings as he settled for a no decision. This will be his first taste of the Mets-Phillies rivalry.

Sunday, September 20: Jonah Tong vs. Cristopher Sánchez, 1:10 PM EDT on WPIX

Tong(2026): 21.0 IP, 20 K, 9 BB, 2 HR, 3.43 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 83 ERA-

Tong is coming off arguably the most impressive start of his young career, for many reasons. For one thing, it was the first time going six innings while not allowing an earned run. For another thing, he had to deal with the unique situation of having Mets fans loudly cheer an opposing player, and he handled it about as well as could be expected without appearing rattled. In all, he finished the outing allowing just one unearned run on four hits, with six strikeouts and one Polar Bear-sized walk. With a strong finish, he could put himself in a place to earn a spot in the rotation coming into spring training.

Sánchez (2026): 193.2 IP, 215 K, 44 BB, 17 HR, 2.93 ERA, 2.79 FIP, 67 ERA-

Through the end of June, Sánchez seemed to be the NL Cy Young frontrunner. The left-hander had an 2.00 ERA and a 2.30 FIP, with 136 strikeouts in 117 innings heading into July, but after that, he’s been much more pedestrian, posting a 4.34 ERA and a 3.54 FIP, 79 strikeouts in 76 2/3 innings. His strikeout rate has dropped from 28.6% in March-June, to 23.9% in July-September, while his HR/9 has jumped from 0.62/9 to 1.06/9 during those same stretches. He is also walking more batters, going from a 4.8% BB% from March-June to a 6.4% BB% in July-September. His struggles have been front-and-center across his last two starts, where he’s allowed 11 earned runs on 18 hits across 12 1/3 innings, with eight strikeouts, two walks, and three home runs allowed. With Luzardo hurt, it is imperative for Philadelphia’s World Series chances that Sánchez gets back to pitching like he did in the first half of the regular season.

Wednesday ended up producing one of the more frustrating Yankees’ games of the season. Having rallied to tie the game after being down to their last out, the Yankees took leads in the 10th and 11th innings, and had the bases loaded and nobody out in the 12, but couldn’t put up a crooked number on any occasion. That allowed the Twins to continue answering and then eventually walk the game off in the 13th. While the Yankees had already won the first two games of the series, that was another very winnable one that they let slip away.

While that was a missed opportunity, just how much did it end up hurting the Yankees? Let’s check in on action from around the AL playoff races on Wednesday.

Tampa Bay Rays (92-59) 4, The Athletics (61-91) 3

Well, New York didn’t get any help in the race atop the AL East, as the Rays scored four early runs and withstood an A’s charge to hang on and gain a game on the Bombers. They’re 4.5 ahead of the Yanks and could boost it to a full five with another win over the A’s this afternoon.

Tampa Bay seemed like they were going to walk away with an easy one early. They picked up two runs in the first inning on Jonny DeLuca and Chandler Simpson RBI hits. They then opened up a 4-0 lead in the second after Nick Fortes and Ryan Vilade drove home runs with hits of their own.

However, the A’s kept Tampa Bay off the board after that and got back into the game. Tommy White and Henry Bolte each hit solo homers in the third, halving the Rays’ lead immediately. A Shea Langeliers RBI single in the sixth then had the A’s within one.

After that though, the Rays’ bullpen kept the Athletics in check. The A’s managed just one more hit over the final three innings, and it was a single that didn’t lead to much.

Other Games

• Cleveland Guardians (78-75) 6, Chicago White Sox (77-75) 3: The Guardians have taken over first place of the AL Central after rallying to defeat the White Sox. Petey Halpin’s three-run home run helped Cleveland put up four runs in the sixth, taking the lead for good. The Pale Hose had gotten their own key three-run homer from Tommy Pham, but they couldn’t hold onto their edge and have now dropped to second place for the first time since July 3rd. Chicago is half a game behind Cleveland now and also only a game up for the last Wild Card spot.

• Texas Rangers (76-76) 7, Boston Red Sox (82-70) 3: The Red Sox failed to take advantage of the Yankees’ loss, while the Rangers — aided by the game below — won to draw even for first in the AL West (yes, at .500). The game was tied going into the seventh, where Texas scored three runs via RBI hits from Brandon Nimmo and Ezequiel Duran. Nathan Eovaldi also gave them four good innings out of the bullpen, helping the Rangers to a key win.

AL Rock Fight

• Kansas City Royals (67-85) 5, Houston Astros (76-76) 2: Meanwhile, the Astros failed to beat the lowly Royals, resulting in the aforementioned tie atop the AL West. Houston couldn’t muster much against KC starter Daniel Lynch IV, who allowed just two hits in five innings. The Royals themselves only managed two runs off Cristian Javier, but they tacked on some insurances runs late on, allowing them to hang on for the win. Houston does have the tiebreaker over Texas, but this division struggle should go down to the wire.

• Toronto Blue Jays (76-77) 5, Detroit Tigers (72-80) 1: Max Scherzer turned back the clock, allowing just one run in his five innings to help the Blue Jays to a win. The Tigers scored first, picking up a run in the top of the first, but that was all they got. Seven Toronto position players recorded at least one hit as the Jays overtook Detroit in the fourth inning and held on from there. The Jays are a game and a half back of the White Sox for the final Wild Card.

• Baltimore Orioles (75-78) 7, New York Mets (69-83): Pete Alonso homered against his former team again as the Orioles picked up a necessary win for their slim playoff hopes. Mets’ starter Xzavion Curry was crushed to the tune of six runs in three innings, as the O’s went up big early and never looked back. Baltimore is still alive at two and a half games behind Chicago, but there’s no margin for error as they welcome the NL Central-winning Brewers to town tomorrow.

Ethan Salas had been mired in an 0-for-15 slump since he was called up to the MLB roster by the San Diego Padres before he logged his first hit in the form of a triple against the San Francisco Giants. That slump is just a thing of the past for the top prospect who hit his first big league home run and led the Padres to a 9-3 win over the Rockies at Coors Field on Wednesday.

Salas connected on a solo home run to center field to lead off the top of the second inning, which put San Diego ahead of Colorado, 3-1. Two is always better than one, so Salas hit his second career home run and second of the game in the top of the fifth inning when he hit a two-out, two-run home run just over the wall in right field which put the Padres ahead, 8-1.

Salas had a career day at the plate and that was in support of his battery mate Robbie Ray. The veteran left-hander cruised through much of the game, holding the Rockies to one run on one hit until he reached the bottom of the sixth inning. Ray allowed his second hit of the game with a leadoff double to Connor Norby. He then allowed a one-out, two-run home run to Kyle Karros before completing the inning and finishing his day. Ray walked off the mound after the sixth inning with a 9-3 lead.

The Padres offense continued to hit Rockies pitching, adding another 13 hits in the game, which give them 37 hits over the first three games of the series. The main statistic for San Diego in their six-run win on Wednesday was 4-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Jackson Merrill stayed hot and finished the day 3-for-5 at the plate with a run scored. Dustin Harris, Jake Cronenworth and Samad Taylor all finished with multiple hits in the game.

Ray was replaced on the mound by David Morgan in the seventh inning and he pitched two scoreless frames before handing the ninth inning over to Yuki Matsui to secure the win.

The Padres will try to win the series when they face the Rockies today at 12:10 p.m.

Padres News:

• With each day that passes the magic number for the Padres to clinch a postseason berth gets smaller and they may have a chance to clinch prior to the final series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

• A.J. Preller and his staff have had a successful year finding MLB talent on the cheap.

• Lake Elsinore got no-hit and suffered a disappointing playoff loss.

Baseball News:

• Pete Crow-Armstrong hit two home runs and led the Chicago Cubs to a win over the Atlanta Braves.

• Pete Alonso homered and helped the Baltimore Orioles keep their postseason hopes alive.

• The Cleveland Guardians took over the top spot in the AL Central with a win over the Chicago White Sox.

• The Philadelphia Phillies topped the Washington Nationals with a solid start from Zack Wheeler.

• Sandy Alcantara got his first career save and helped the Miami Marlins hold on to a 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Good morning! Last night, Jake Bennett was unable to hold the Rangers in check during the team’s 7-3 loss in Texas. Some of his numbers look good (seven strikeouts against just one walk), but he also surrendered eight hits in just 4.2 innings, which did in his evening.

With just ten games left in the season, the question now becomes how should the Sox use Bennett going forward? With some combination of Sonny Gray, Payton Tolle and Ranger Suarez likely to get lined up in a best of three Wild Card Series, do you just hold Bennett on the sidelines and hope he gets to come back into the fold as a fourth starter in the ALDS or even ALCS? Or do you start transitioning him to some sort of relief role?

It’s a bit of an awkward moment for Bennett. He’s been getting knocked around during his last two outings while Suarez is seemingly getting locked in. It almost certainly cuts him out of the Wild Card rotation, and if the Sox get some combination of Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck and Tyron Guerrero back to add to Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock and Erik Miller in the bullpen, Bennett largely gets squeezed out of relevance.

So how do you want him used? Do those six shutout innings Bennett threw against the Yankees back on August 29th make you want the Sox to find a role for him if they play New York? Do you think he’s just a young pitcher who looks out of gas and want to hide him until the team needs a fourth starter?

Use this space to talk about Bennett and the rest of the difficult upcoming pitching staff decisions, and, as always, be good to one another.

Rangers 7, Red Sox 3

• Your Texas Rangers are back to .500 for the first time since August 24.
• Your Texas Rangers are in first place, also for the first time since August 24.
• This is thanks to a come-from-behind win against the hated Red Sox of Boston, with MacKenzie Gore and Nathan Eovaldi contributing four innings apiece as part of a Jakob Junis sandwich.
• MacKenzie Gore didn’t look right from the outset, walking Roman Anthony on four pitches to start the game, the first three of which were not close. Anthony came around to score when Willson Contreras pulverized a poorly located slider, with the ball ultimately coming down in the seats for a two run homer.
• Gore settled down for the next few innings, though his velocity was down, and Robby Ahlstrom was warming early, in apparent anticipation of having to come into the game.
• It turned out that Gore was dealing with back and shoulder spasms throughout the outing. Though he was able to navigate the second, third and fourth innings, a walk and a hard hit single off the glove of Josh Jung to start the fifth resulted in Jakob Junis coming into the game.
• With runners on first and third and no outs and the score tied at 2, Junis got a strikeout, a groundout, and a strikeout. Unfortunately, he also had the ball slip out of his glove while standing on the rubber, resulting in a balk which brought home a run to make it 3-2 Boston.
• All that did is make the game more the thrilling for those of us rooting for the home team, though.
• Nathan Eovaldi, summoned to pitch the sixth after the Rangers tied up the game in the bottom of the fifth, gave up a single to the first batter he faced, then hit the third batter he faced. Not an auspicious start.
• Eovaldi then retired the final 11 batters he faced, reminding us all of why we got his face tattooed on our backs that one time.
• Nailbiting though much of the game was, a three run rally in the bottom of the seventh allowed sphincters to finally relax a bit, with Corey Seager adding an insurance run in the eighth.
• It would have been fun if the Rangers had taken the lead with Junis in the game, and thus Eovaldi could have gotten a four inning save, but I’m sure he’s fine with the win.
• The Rangers were 7 for 16 with runners in scoring position. That seems like a lot of at bats with runners in scoring position, a lot of hits with runners in scoring position, and a very good success rate with runners in scoring position.
• In fact, I’m wondering how the Rangers didn’t score more runs, given that.
• Everybody in the starting lineup got a hit, which is fun. The Nicky Lopez fans out there — and I know that you are legion — got to see their hero enter the game as a pinch runner, which had to have been thrilling.
• The Rangers are now 9-6 in their last 15 games. They’ve been playing of late like, well, like we’ve thought they are capable of playing, and that they haven’t been doing much of this season.
• So now the Rangers are in first place in the American League West again, tied with the Houston Astros, after the Astros lost at home to the Royals. And yes, the Astros have the tiebreaker advantage, but I’m not going to worry about that right now, I’m just going to enjoy seeing the Rangers with a “—” next to their name in the games back column.
• Texas is a game back in the Wild Card standings, but because the Guardians beat the White Sox, the Rangers are a game back of Chicago rather than Cleveland, which is bad because the Rangers have the tiebreaker advantage over Cleveland but not Chicago.
• Toronto is a half game back of Texas and Houston the Wild Card race, and Texas has the tiebreaker over Toronto, and is also playing Toronto this weekend in a three game set which should likely be meaningful.
• Oh, and Baltimore, despite being sellers, are still just a game and a half behind Texas and Houston, and a game behind Toronto, for the Wild Card Three spot.
• Exciting, scoreboard-watching September baseball! Woo hoo!!!
• MacKenzie Gore touched 95.9 mph on his fastball, averaging 94.0 mph. Jakob Junis threw one fastball that was 93.0 mph. Nathan Eovaldi’s fastball topped out at 93.7 mph.
• Jake Burger had a 110.2 mph double. Brandon Nimmo had a 105.3 mph double. Justin Foscue had a 103.5 mph single. Josh Jung had a 101.6 mph single and a 100.3 mph double.
• Let us see a sweep in the finale, Rangers.

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees travel to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks in a three-game series starting Friday...

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5 things to watch

Latest on Judge

In the series finale against the Twins on Wednesday, Aaron Judge exited early with lower leg tightness.

While the Yankees and Judge himself are keeping things close to the vest, his status for the weekend series and the rest of the regular season is in question. The off day Thursday helps Judge and the Yankees potentially prevent an IL stint, but we have to wait until Friday to learn more about Judge's fate.

The Yankees do have Monday off, so New York could use the weekend to give Judge extra rest before the four-game series with the Rays when they return home Tuesday. 

AL East race

Speaking of the Rays, the Yankees will enter Thursday 4.5 games behind Tampa for the AL East crown. While the Yankees' chances of stealing the division away are slim, they'll need to continue stacking wins against Arizona to have a shot when the two AL East foes clash next week.

It won't be easy, though. The Diamondbacks are fighting for a Wild Card spot and will send three of their best starters (Bradon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez and Corbin Burnes) to the mound.

Can Cole rebound?

Gerrit Cole has struggled recently. He's allowed seven home runs over his last two starts, and after his loss to the Mets last weekend, he was left searching for answers. 

Cole has had a good season considering he's returning from Tommy John surgery, posting a 3.67 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP in 20 starts, but the Yankees will need the former Cy Young winner to make a deep playoff run. 

Perhaps Cole can figure out what the issue is against the Diamondbacks. He said it wasn't physical, so it could be pitch-tipping or something more. 

In six career starts against Arizona, he's posted a 3-2 record and an ERA of 1.96. However, all of those starts have been with the Pirates and Astros. His last start (May 28, 2018) saw him pitch a complete-game one-hitter with Houston. 

Progressing Schmidt 

Clarke Schmidt made his return to the Yankees on Wednesday, allowing two hits while striking out both batters he faced against the Twins. 

Getting Schmidt back is a boon for the Yankees bullpen, but they'll need to get him rolling in the regular season before they can trust him in the postseason. He'll likely get an opportunity or two this weekend. We'll see how he does. 

Outfield production

If Judge misses time, the rest of the outfielders will need to step up. Aside from Cody Bellinger, who has been killing it at the plate, Spencer Jones -- who has seen the bulk of the CF playing time with Trent Grisham out -- will need to continue producing.

Jones is 9-for-30 (.300) with a home run and six RBI in his last seven games, and that's with the 0-for-6, five-strikeout game on Wednesday. 

Heliot Ramos will get the starts in right field if Judge is down, and the trade deadline acquisition will need to step it up. Although he's produced somewhat (5-for-18 with a home run) in limited playing time over the last seven games, he's looked more comfortable with his new team.

How these three produce this weekend could tell how much the Yankees need Judge the final week of the season.

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Cody Bellinger

Bellinger continues his hot stretch this weekend. He's 13-for-28 (.464) with three home runs in his last seven games.

Which Yankees pitcher will have the best start?

Cam Schlittler

Schlittler's Cy Young campaign continues with another strong start.

Which D-backs player will be a thorn in the Yankees' side?

Corbin Carroll

The outfielder has been clutch for Arizona this season.

Tonight, commemorating the great White Sox career of Tim Anderson upon his retirement on August 10, the White Sox are cracking out their original City Connect uniform “the Southside” as well as honoring the shortstop with a special pregame ceremony.

Over 10 years in the big leagues, Anderson established himself as a White Sox franchise icon, one of the game’s most unique offensive players and a true original on the field.

Immediately upon the news that Anderson was retiring and that the White Sox would be honoring his contribution to the franchise, we at South Side Sox felt compelled to honor him. What follows are the special remembrances from several on staff.

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Dante Jones
Tim Anderson is part of why I still love baseball. We are currently in an era featuring fewer black players than we’re accustomed to, and during his time in the spotlight Anderson was unapologetically himself, which meant unapologetically BLACK. You can see it in the black and Afro Latino players in the game today, with a freedom of expression that so many who came before weren’t allowed.

Anderson was also a damn good White Sox player.

“It’s just BABIP luck,” was the excuse for Anderson’s excellence — until he was too good to be denied his due. There were batting titles and cornfield walk-offs, and tosses of the bat after racists got mad; you’re not stopping Tim from playing the game his way. He was the face of a White Sox era that some will be happy to forget, but real fans know how important it was.

Plus, Tim was the only player who really looked cool in the Southside jerseys.

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Melissa Sage-Bollenbach
Tim Anderson deserves a tribute night, and I’m glad he’s getting his due. Bringing back the original Southside uniforms for the occasion is just icing on the cake. No one wore that uniform better than No. 7.

Anderson brought an energy and swagger that helped define an era of White Sox baseball. From 2016-21, as the Sox went from rebuilding to contending, TA was at the center of it all. He was the straw that stirred the drink, and after such an impressive start to his career, it seemed like he was destined to be a fixture on the South Side for a long time.

For me, though, my fondest memory of Tim will always be the Field of Dreams game in 2021. I was lucky enough to be there in person and watch Anderson walk off the Yankees, with one swing into the Iowa corn. The entire night already felt like a dream, and somehow TA found a way to write the Hollywood ending.

Tim Anderson never apologized for who he was or how he played the game. He brought joy, emotion and personality to the ballpark.

He WAS a South Sider. And for all the unforgettable moments along the way, thanks for the memories, TA.

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Nello Rubio
I will never forget how kind, fun and all-around great player and person Tim Anderson was. I got a chance to interview him at SoxFest in 2017, talking to him about how much his role would change as he evolved into a leader in his first full year in the big leagues. His awareness, and attention to detail in his answers, was something I found interesting. In fact, when I met again a day or two later, he remembered me. His sharp attention to detail is one of the things that made him such a truly remarkable player, and person.

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Brett Ballantini
His actions on the field spoke loudly enough: By WAR the 38th-best position player in White Sox history, buried deep on the rich list of franchise shortstops but the talent to watch on the White Sox as the teens segued into the 20s. Tim Anderson was one of the rare players in Chicago, and relatively rare players across MLB, who you tuned in to watch. What he would do in a game was most important, but how he would do it was nearly more so.

I only ever got to know Tim a little bit, and most of that via a Zoom screen in pandemic times, but what came through to me and what will always make him a personal favorite, was his humanity. His care for teammates, personality on the field, incredible skills that both played to type and stretched in unexpected directions. H

And, of course, his heart. TA was the motor who propelled the White Sox.

Right along with that was Tim’s sense of fun. Did he love baseball? Sure, although his first love was basketball. Did he love the challenge of the game? Of course, because he rose to meet those challenges over several starring seasons. But Tim just loved to be out there, playing the game his way: Jawing at opponents, joking with teammates. Somehow, one of the most soft-spoken people you’ll ever meet transformed into a master of ceremonies at the plate or lolling about shortstop.

And for as much as he was loved by teammates and was an irritant to foes, Tim was just, well, FUN. And as much as he could give it out, he could take it, too:

Of all the players you know over your lifetime as a fan, the math works out where there can’t be too many you truly love. And as you get older, that bar becomes even harder to cross — for one, all the players become younger than you, at some point. But Tim inspired pride in us as White Sox fans, in a package that both entertained and impressed. Undoubtedly, I love Tim Anderson.

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Year of the Hamster
Tim Anderson’s ascendance with the White Sox and in the majors coincided with my introduction to sportswriting, which just happened to be … here, at South Side Sox. So for me, TA was sort of my guide into the White Sox, and even to baseball itself. He was a character to latch on to, as well as an star to be wowed by and proud of.

So now, forgive the fact that what I most hold dear about Tim has nothing to do with baseball itself, because that is what really made me admire him. TA never really played it up, and seemed to tread cautiously, understandably, around social issues. And some, including our editor here, thought Tim should do even more with his platform for social causes — his flip attitude toward honoring the Negro Leagues at least in the purview of one question in one press gaggle, got under Brett’s skin and in fact lit a match on one of the few disagreements we’ve had about coverage here.

But the man as a whole, for some of his visible and perhaps even embarrassing faults, stood tall. And I first and foremost was impressed when he stood tall … by kneeling.

This was one of the sweetest, or at least most bittersweet, moments I have witnessed in my time covering this team. A pained Anderson, his own best friend a victim of violence, kneeling in support of Black Lives Matter on July 25, 2000, Opening Night of the pandemic season. And flanking him, in contact with Tim as family, manager Ricky Renteria and left-side infield partner Yoán Moncada.

Tim was not comfortable with such shows and stands, although he made them often. Sure enough, when Brett asked him postgame whether he would continue to honor the movement by kneeling during the National Anthem, a self-conscious Tim wanted the spotlight turned off.

In multiple ways not only restricted to the grander fortunes of the White Sox on the field, it’s a shame Tim’s career fell so far, so fast. He seemed to have more to give on the field, and definitely had more to give off of it. His first Roberto Clemente Award came in 2019, and there were multiple more such citations to come.

Almost assuredly, there were untapped aspects of Anderson, a leadership gear he barely got a chance to flash, as well as continued community efforts both in Chicago and back home in Alabama.

Tim represented all of the rest of us, who did not look like the typical baseball player, by gender or color or even orientation. Over the years under Brett at South Side Sox, we’ve had many such people on staff. I daresay he is every bit the hero to them as he is to me.

All the best in retirement, Tim. Thank you for always being you.

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Joe Kiang-Resis
Many will point to the Field of Dreams walk-off, and rightfully so, as that the iconic moment of Tim Anderson’s career. For me, though, his debut on June 10, 2016 captured my attention. The Sox had stumbled from 23-10 down to 30-30, and the vibes were dead. Then, TA stepped in for his first MLB plate appearance, fell behind 1-2, then sliced a tough pitch into the left-field corner for a double. He finished 2-for-3 in a win, and fans could feel the entire energy of the team shift immediately.

That debut was the ultimate preview of what was to come: an AL batting title, two All-Star selections, and three straight seasons with an .800+ OPS at shortstop. Even when the team was struggling, TA had a unique way of changing the momentum with sharp contact and pure fire. It was an absolute pleasure to root for him, and I will always look back on his time on the South Side fondly.

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Although they are no longer actively contributing with us here, there are additional memories to share from former staff.

Janice Valenzuela covered SoxFest for us in 2020, and from what I recall, TA was her first, or most significant, interview there. Whether reassuring her as a first-time player interviewer or swapping hoops stories as two former players, Anderson made her feel at ease and transition in real time from skilled newbie to seasoned pro.

Hannah LaMotta was a Paul Konerko girlie as a very young fan, but put together this Tim Anderson tribute when he left the White Sox.

Artist and writer Mitch Ransdell piloted our “Player of the Week” series for several seasons, contributing both art and essays. Anderson was the featured star on several occasions, and Mitch always had a unique take on a game scene.

Tom Borowski was with us for a brief time, but his artwork was absolutely delightful, including his take on the iconic “Stick Talk” moment against the Royals.

And speaking of Stick Talk, well, here’s the most popular T-shirt we ever sold in partnership with Breaking T. This came back at a time where we were more actively collaborating with the company, contributing edits or suggestions to their designs.

We sent some to the White Sox clubhouse, and what ho, Lucas Giolito was proud to show his off:

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But hey, this isn’t just about us!

Please share your Tim Anderson memories below.