Category: Baseball

Good morning Birdland,

The Orioles had a golden opportunity on Friday night to gain ground in the AL wild card race. The fading White Sox lost again, which meant an O’s win would have gotten them within two games of that final playoff spot. Instead, they lost 6-5 in extra innings to the Brewers.

It’s the latest loss in what has obviously been a frustrating season for the Orioles. The team has simply lost too many games like it did on Friday. The talent is there. They are capable, on a day-to-day basis anyway, of competing with the best team’s in the sport. But far too often they get tight in the biggest moments, and their execution falls apart.

That was most evident in the seventh inning, when Samuel Basallo failed to lay down a bunt that would have put two runners in scoring position with one out. Basallo probably hasn’t bunted much in his life, and maybe never against a lefty with DL Hall’s repertoire. So it should have surprised no one when he ended up striking out. Might as well have swung away, or perhaps it would have made sense to pitch hit for Basallo given his struggles since coming off of the IL.

There was good news in the loss. Gunnar Henderson and Coby Mayo combined to go 6-for-9 with two runs scored. All three of Mayo’s hits were doubles, and his season OPS is up to .771. Pete Alonso hit another home run, a clutch round-tripper that tied the game at 3-3. As the math of a postseason berth this year starts to look worse, the Orioles will need to turn their focus towards 2027. The trio of Henderson, Mayo, and Alonso could very well be the heart of the lineup moving forward, so giving them any sort of momentum into the offseason would be a silver lining.

There are now eight games left on the schedule, and the Orioles are still three games out of the playoffs. Baseball Reference puts their chances of making the playoffs at 2.9%.

The Orioles and Brewers square off in game two of their series at 4:05. It’s a matchup between Trevor Rogers (10-10, 4.22 ERA) and lefty Robert Gasser (4-5, 4.30 ERA). Other games to keep an eye on: Tigers at White Sox (2:10 p.m.), Athletics at Guardians (6:10 p.m.), Blue Jays at Rangers (7:05 p.m.), and Braves at Astros (7:10 p.m.)

Links

Sig Mejdal changing roles in Orioles front office, will no longer oversee analytics | The Baltimore Banner
Anyone hoping that Mike Elias’ time at the helm of the Orioles is coming to an end this winter, may be disappointed. The recent news of Matt Blood leaving the organization and now Mejdal changing roles seems like an effort from the front office to show that they are willing to adapt without needing to clean house. Will ownership be on board? That remains to be seen.

Because You Asked – Doomsday | Roch Kubatko
Kubatko mentions here that “Elias is expected to stay.” That’s another pretty clear indication of where things are headed this winter. That should also mean 2027 is make-or-break for him, but who knows.

Basallo saw extra O’s gear lying around, and D.R. kids were top of mind | Orioles.com
It is very sweet of Basallo think of kids back in his hometown. If someone can enjoy these giveaways instead of them sitting in a closet somewhere, it makes sense to make that happen. It’s also very funny to think of kids down in the Dominican Republic owning beach towels with a big “Ocean City, Maryland” advertisement across the bottom of it.

Orioles injury update on Bautista, Helsley, Holliday, Bradish, Alexander, Baz; O’s-Brewers lineups | Baltimore Baseball
It sounds like Félix Bautista might get into a big league game before the season’s over. The same might not be true for Ryan Helsley, who hasn’t pitched in a rehab game in a week. Shane Baz is good to go for his next start, and Blaze Alexander is probably getting re-activated before the season is over. Kyle Bradish might need sports hernia surgery, and Jackson Holliday is meeting with a doctor about his wrist inflammation this weekend. That sums it up!

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• DL Hall turns 28 today. The lefty was one of the Orioles top prospects from the day he was drafted in 2017 until the day he was traded to the Brewers prior to the 2024 season. He worked two innings and earned to the win over his old club in last night’s series opener.
• Danny Valencia is 42 years old. He had two brief stints in Baltimore, first in 2013 and then again in 2018. Valencia was known for his ability to hit left-handed pitching (.864 career OPS vs. LHP), which he flaunted with the Orioles.
• Nick Johnson turns 48. The first baseman wrapped up his decade in MLB with a 38-game cameo on the 2012 Orioles
• Randy Myers is 64 years old. The southpaw was a crucial member of the Orioles bullpen from 1996-97, collecting a 2.51 ERA over 123 total games.
• The late Bob Turley (b. 1930, d. 2013) was born on this day. He came with the organization when it moved from St. Louis as the staff ace. In his lone season in Baltimore (1954), Turley had a 3.46 ERA and led the league in both strikeouts and walks. He was traded to the Yankees after the season.

This day in O’s history

1963 – The Orioles and Angels play a game in front of just 476 fans at Chavez Ravine, the smallest recorded attendance at the stadium excluding the 2020 season.

2017 – The Orioles fall 1-0 to the Red Sox. The only run of the game scores in the 11th inning when Brad Brach uncorks a wild pitch with the bases loaded, allowing Jackson Bradley Jr. to score from third base.

The Detroit Tigers scored a huge comeback victory on Friday night, scoring five in the eighth inning to tie their four-game weekend series with the Chicago White Sox, 11-8. It was a bullpen day for the good guys — which surrendered just two earned runs — while home runs by Hao-Yu Lee and Riley Greene powered the late-inning offense to triumph.

Getting the start for the Olde English D in Game 3 is right-hander Jackson Jobe, who is coming off his best outing of the 2026 campaign. Last time out against the Colorado Rockies at Comerica Park, the 24-year-old cracked the six-inning mark and recorded his first quality start with 6 1/3 frames of one-run ball on three hits — including a solo homer — and a walk while striking out eight and hitting a batter for his second win of the season in an 8-1 final.

Jobe saw the ChiSox earlier this summer in his second game back from the injured list and turned in his worst performance of the season, coughing up six runs on nine hits (two home runs) and a walk while striking out four and hitting a pair of batters.

For the White Sox, fellow righty Sean Burke will toe the rubber on Saturday night looking to improve upon his last start, in which he lasted just 1 1/3 innings after surrendering seven runs at home to the Pittsburgh Pirates on eight hits and two walks while striking out a pair along with a wild pitch. The 26-year-old did bounce back in relief in his most recent appearance, holding the Guardians to an unearned run over five frames on four hits and two walks while striking out four in Cleveland to earn his ninth win.

Burke has faced the Tigers twice this year with mixed results, tossing 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball on three hits and two walks while striking out six in Chicago for a no-decision in a 2-1 win. The second matchup came in Detroit, where he allowed four runs on five hits (one home run) and three walks while striking out two over 4 1/3 innings in another team win that he failed to figure in the decision, 7-5.

Take a look at how these two hurlers match up in the third game of the weekend series.

Detroit Tigers (73-81) vs. Chicago White Sox (78-76)

Time (ET): 7:10 p.m.
Place: Rate Field, Chicago, Illinois
SB Nation Site:South Side Sox
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 155: RHP Jackson Jobe (2-2, 3.89 ERA) vs. RHP Sean Burke (9-7, 3.47 ERA)

JOBE

BURKE

PHOENIX — Just in case anyone thought the New York Yankees would simply fade away into the night, their season drifting out to sea with the news that Aaron Judge may be done for the season, the Bronx Bombers delivered a subtle message Friday night that reverberated around the baseball world.

The Yankees, with Gerrit Cole looking more like the 2023 Cy Young winner than the pitcher who looked like he was throwing batting practice earlier this month, smacked around the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-2 Friday, and acted afterwards as if it was simply business as usual.

There was Cole, who had given up seven homers in his last two starts pitching his best game in a month, yielding four hits and two runs in six innings.

There was DH Ben Rice, looking like a top-5 MVP candidate by hitting his 39th home run of the season − just as Yankees manager Aaron Boone predicted in spring training − to go along with 94 RBI.

There was rookie shortstop George Lombard, hitting a homer and playing flawless defense.

And there were the Yankees, talking as if they plan to be playing deep into October, whether Judge is in uniform or on their bench as a cheerleader. Judge is going on the injured list with a strained calf and the Yankees have no idea whether he’ll return.

“I mean, it’s a tough blow for us to take,’’ Rice said. “Obviously, we were missing him for a long time there (three months), so this one is especially hard to swallow, just being back for a brief period and already gone.

“But we got no choice but to just keep playing hard, keeping doing our thing.’’

Well, that starts on the mound, and with Cole dominating Friday, with Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler scheduled Saturday, and Max Fried and Carlos Rodon pitching well, there may not be a more formidable starting rotation in the postseason.

Hm, Jonathan Bowlan has an issue with his groin, but not so bad that he needs an IL stint. But not so good that he can throw right now.

God bless the Phillies and their approach to injuries. Never change, guys.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• The bullpen lost another arm this weekend. Maybe Don Mattingly ain’t all that grand as a manager?
• Luzardo lost for the season? Time for those bats that are getting paid a lot to start making up for it ($).

MLB news:

• Aaron Judge is headed back to the injured list with a calf strain. His playoffs are in peril now it would seem.
• Cade Cavalli has emerged as one of Washington’s cornerstones of the roster, so the team has decided to reward him for that.
• “Don’t make the first or third out at third base” is something we have all grown up knowing. Does it hold up to mathematical scrutiny though?

The Dodgers are all in, going for a three-peat.

And they might not have an extra ace up their sleeve anymore, but when the postseason begins, they’ll still hope to play their quad of aces — four of a kind that will beat almost every other hand.

But do the Dodgers have four aces? Or three? Or just a pair, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal?

Could the left groin tightness that chased Blake Snell from his last start after an inning linger into the postseason? Snell isn’t the sturdiest of starters, having missed most of the season because of shoulder fatigue and loose bodies in his left elbow. But the Dodgers suggest he’s going to be OK; Snell is slated for one last regular-season start.

And what about Tyler Glasnow?

Read more:Dodgers surge late to beat Giants as they work to get healthy for playoffs

Can the Dodgers trust the 6-foot-8 right-hander who missed three months because of back spasms?

Should they put their belief in the 11th-year pitcher who likely would be the odd man out in the postseason if Shohei Ohtani still were available to deal on the mound?

They’re going to have to trust Glasnow. And he’s going to have to trust himself.

“He’s a guy that you can’t put too much thought into him, or it starts getting in his own head,” said catcher Dalton Rushing, who is injured but enjoyed watching Glasnow find his footing in Friday’s 8-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

“It was a lot of fun to watch tonight,” Rushing said. “Looked like himself.”

After three suboptimal innings, Glasnow settled down in a trust-building exercise of an outing against the Giants and their triple A-caliber lineup.

He wasn’t the most efficient, the most pristine, the sharpest — but he was fit to throw 98 pitches and six innings.

To fight through after laboring with 59 pitches in the first three innings, to earn his second win since April and to help the Dodgers maintain their four-game buffer over the Atlanta Braves as they play to secure a first-round bye with eight games left.

There was no champagne hangover for Glasnow on Friday — he flew directly back to L.A. from Miami, skipping Thursday’s clubhouse party in Cincinnati, where the Dodgers celebrated clinching the National League West Division for the 13th time in 14 years — but how about a toast to good health?

Cheers to giving up just two runs, one each in the second and third innings. To walking only two batters and striking out 10. To giving up only three hard hits and producing 15 whiffs.

To feeling and pitching better.

“After that third inning, I just stopped trying to be quick,” Glasnow said. “Just go out and be athletic, and I think it started to feel a little bit more timed up.”

Glasnow came into Friday’s game — one of his final two regular-season starts — having given up eight runs on 11 hits and seven walks in his previous two starts, looking less than comfortable in both. Out of rhythm, out of sync.

“This is an important start, and he knows it,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “It’s certainly not do or die, but ... just to kind of get back feeling good.”

Afterward, Roberts wasn’t thrilled with how Glasnow started, but liked how he finished.

“You could see him fighting himself a little bit,” Roberts said. “The fastball command wasn’t great early. Got a lot of strikeouts. Curveball wasn’t sharp. But I thought he did a good job of making pitches when he needed to. The slider got better, fastball command got better as the game went on. Good to see him get through six innings.”

It’ll be better yet for the Dodgers’ odds if Glasnow can carry Friday’s progress into his next start — and then into the playoffs, where he proved himself as a Dodger last season after an elbow sprain sidelined him for the 2024 postseason.

Read more:Plaschke: No more bubbly. NL West champion Dodgers appear headed for early fall

In the Dodgers’ 2025 World Series run, Glasnow made six appearances, three of them starts. He had a 1.69 ERA and averaged 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings. The stuff of aces.

“Today was a step in the right direction,” said Glasnow, the formerHart High School star, before leaving the clubhouse in flip-flops. “I’d rather kind of feel it, work through some stuff, and have a good one right before playoffs.

“I think I’m in a good spot right now.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:W, 8-5 vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp — mathematically still alive, per the Scranton Times-Tribune, but not by much; they would need to win their last two games while Indianapolis and Rochester both drop their final two (before tiebreakers factor in)

DH Jarred Kelenic 1-5, 2 K, 1 SB
RF Jasson Domínguez 0-5, 2 K
C J.C. Escarra 1-5, 1 R, 2 K
2B Marco Luciano 3-3, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB
1B Yanquiel Fernández 1-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K
3B Tyler Hardman 1-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R, 2 K — three-run homer in the fifth put them up for good
CF Duke Ellis 2-4, 1 R, 2 SB — one shy of 60 stolen bags
LF Kenedy Corona 1-4, 1 R, 3 K, 1 SB
SS Connor McGinnis 1-2, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB — first hit in Triple-A

Xavier Rivas 3 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K, pickoff error — Triple-A has been a rough go for Rivas, with a 10.73 ERA
Adam Kloffenstein 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K (win) — yeoman’s work taking a piggy-back start and giving six strong

Double-A Somerset Patriots: Season over

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades: Season over

Low-A Tampa Tarpons: Season over

Florida Complex League Yankees: Season over

Dominican Summer League Yankees: Season over

Dominican Summer League Bombers: Season over

In 2002, Dan Evans’ first season as the Dodgers’ general manager, the team won 93 games. This sounds preposterous today, but the Dodgers had not won more games since 1988, the Kirk Gibson year.

In 2003, the Dodgers won 85 games, with a minor league system on the rise and a front office Evans had staffed with Logan White, the scouting guru who drafted Clayton Kershaw, and future general managers Kim Ng and A.J. Preller.

For Evans, that was the end in Los Angeles. Frank McCourt bought the team before the 2004 season and brought in his own people, as a new owner often does. The new general manager was Paul DePodesta, immortalized in “Moneyball” and promptly tagged by Times columnist T.J. Simers as “Google Boy.”

Evans figured he would get a second chance as a general manager. After 22 years, he is getting that chance, but with a twist: The team might never exist.

Read more:Dodgers clinch 13th NL West division title in 14 years: 'Something I know we can build on'

In the same year Evans left the Dodgers, the Expos left Montreal, traveling south to emerge as the Washington Nationals. If the guy trying to revive the Expos as an expansion team succeeds, Evans is his choice for president of baseball operations.

“I love the idea of trying to put together something from the beginning,” said Evans, 66. “I just think it would be a really wonderful place to call my final spot in baseball, to make a difference and bring a team back and set up a franchise for the next 20 years.”

After major league owners and players reach a new collective bargaining agreement, probably sometime next year, baseball is expected to invite bids for two expansion teams.

In Montreal, the civic leaders most likely to lead bid groups distanced themselves from baseball after the 2022 collapse of a shameful effort by the Tampa Bay Rays to secure a new Florida ballpark by pitching a team-share concept between Montreal and St. Petersburg, Fla. When the leverage play failed, major league owners ditched the two-city notion.

Into the breach stepped Ashkan Karbasfrooshan, a Montreal technology entrepreneur and founder of Watch Mojo, a pop culture brand with 26 million subscribers on YouTube. His net worth — he posted it on social media — is $250 million.

That’s nowhere close to what one would need to buy an expansion team, but it’s enough to start a conversation. And the sentiment in Montreal is much the same as it is in Los Angeles: Public funds should not be used to build professional sports venues.

Read more:Plaschke: No more bubbly. NL West champion Dodgers appear headed for early fall

“If we go out there and say we need a billion from taxpayers, it’s not going to go anywhere,” Karbasfrooshan said.

The average value of an MLB team today: $4 billion, according to CNBC. The projected fee for the coming NBA expansion team in Las Vegas: $7 billion to $10 billion. As baseball owners prepare for a lockout, in a push for the salary cap that would drive franchise values higher, insiders anticipate the MLB expansion fee could settle around or even above the $4 billion range.

Then, say, another $2.5 billion for a ballpark with a retractable roof, and billions more for the surrounding development: not just the usual restaurants and shops but also, according to a vision Karbasfooshan posted online, an immersive technology pavilion, an entrepreneurship academy, even a “live beer-making process tied to Montreal’s brewing heritage.”

So Karbasfrooshan has started the conversations, with old money and new money in Montreal, with corporations there and elsewhere, with private equity funds from all over — and with sports industry veterans who can tell him what he doesn’t know. He might end up with a small stake in the team, or none at all.

“I’m not coming at this like some kind of social dilettante billionaire who thinks he’s God’s gift,” he said. “I’m just a guy.

“I’m a nobody in many ways, but I’m a guy who built a world-class company and executes and fundraises and all that.”

Karbasfrooshan is optimistic he has generated enough interest to pull all that capital together, but he spoke this week with a sports investment banker in the hope of “turning that interest into commitments.” He has a former NFL executive interested in becoming president of business operations and has spoken with a former MLB executive about running stadium operations.

Read more:Dodgers co-owners Mark Walter, Todd Boehly sell Chelsea shares

He has Evans too, although the person proposed to run baseball operations is pretty low on the list of priorities for MLB.

“They wouldn’t care if the capital wasn’t there,” Karbasfrooshan said. “But, if all factors are equal — if Salt Lake has capital and we have capital; if Raleigh has a stadium and we have a stadium — you can then show you have these people committed. In a way, it’s doing a bit of their due diligence.

“They’re going to maybe take you a little more seriously than if you’re just a guy making noise.”

For now, MLB is keeping an eye on him. Without billions in funding and a stadium site, the rest is flowery prose, but there is no sense in dismissing any potential bidder a year or two before the bidding opens.

Montreal boasts the largest market of any of the projected expansion contenders, with a rich history of baseball even beyond the Expos. After Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to break the color barrier, he dispatched Robinson to the Dodgers’ triple-A team in Montreal.

The oft-cited lack of fan support for the Expos is largely a myth. It was the same playbook the Athletics ran in Oakland: trade away your best players and tell fans the ballpark is terrible, and then shrug and say the fans aren’t showing up. Montreal is a great sports town, with room to embrace a good ballclub.

Maybe Montreal does not get a team, or maybe Karbasfrooshan lands a billionaire who has someone else in mind to run baseball operations. Even if Evans does not get an opportunity to construct Version 2.0 of the Expos, life has been good since McCourt sent him packing.

For the next five years, Evans scouted for the Seattle Mariners.

“It kind of control-alt-deleted me and put me in a really good place,” he said.

Since then, lots of really good places: player agent; mentor in a sports management training program; Toronto Blue Jays front office; president of the board of directors of the Society for American Baseball Research; chief operating officer of the company that turned the Field of Dreams site from a movie set to a year-round tourist attraction.

“When your day is evaluated by thousands of people coming through on a daily basis, from all over the world, and they just want to enjoy it and play catch, it really improves your quality of life,” he said.

“It’s not winning and losing anymore, which was a bit of a shock to the system. But I actually won every day.”

That’s what the Dodgers do these days, just about every day of every year. They just tied the major league record for consecutive postseason appearances with 14.

In every one of those years, save for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, they have won at least 90 games. They have come a long way from the days of McCourt, who took the team into bankruptcy.

“It’s remarkable,” Evans said. “For a lot of people, they don’t remember that Dodger franchise, because they see today’s. You and I know what it looked like, and it was embarrassing. What he did was ransack the team.”

Read more:Blake Snell exits Dodgers' loss early because of injury

Harsh, but the league said the same. In a bankruptcy court filing, MLB accused McCourt of “looting” $189 million in team revenue. (McCourt denied the allegations and said the league had approved the organizational restructuring that facilitated that accounting.)

Evans chuckles at the suggestion that today’s Dodgers are bad for the sport.

“Now, for a lot of people, the franchise is the scourge of baseball,” he said. “And, folks, if you only had a little memory.”

In Montreal, Major League Baseball is only a memory. Nos amours, the good people of Montreal called their team. Our loves.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Before we dive into the chaos and unpredictability of the weather, let’s start with what we know about the schedule. After 24 of MLB’s 30 teams have an off day on Monday, the Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies are all scheduled to play at home, everyday, from Tuesday, September 22nd through the final day of the regular season on Sunday, September 27th. Here are the details:

• The Red Sox will host the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago Cubs (three games each).
• The Yankees will host the Rays for four games (double header on Tuesday), and the Orioles for three games.
• The Phillies will host the Brewers for three games, and then the Rays for three games.

Do you see the potential problem here? All of these games will either definitely have to be played, or there’s a pretty solid chance they’ll have to be played. And once the sun rises on Tuesday, there are no off-days to make them up without spilling into the Monday before the Wild Card series, which is supposed to start September 29th.

Looking at the standings, the Rays find themselves four games up on the Yankees, and will hold the tiebreaker on them as long as they don’t get swept in New York. Or to put it another way, they can’t clinch the tiebreaker over the Yankees unless they win a game in New York next week. Well, what if not enough games are played for them to grab a win by Thursday night? They might have to come back to New York on Monday the 28th to wrap up the division.

Meanwhile, in Boston, the Red Sox should find themselves locked into the second Wild Card spot by the time any potential chaos ensues, but it’s a very different story for their opponents. The Guardians are one game up on the White Sox for the AL Central division and just two games up on the first team that could knock them completely out of the playoffs, and the Cubs find themselves in a three-way, 85-69 tie with the Phillies and Padres for all three Wild Card spots in the NL. So yeah, those games are probably going to have to be played.

And speaking of the Phillies, both of their opponents also might need every last game counted as the Brewers are just two games up on the Dodgers for the No. 1 seed in the NL, and the aforementioned Rays could end up close enough to the Yankees with any stumble that they also get swept up in the storm.

So with all of those details on the table, let’s take a look at what last night’s GFS model is showing in a loop that runs from Tuesday morning through Friday night:

Rob Manfred probably just had a stroke watching that play out. Maybe something from the European family of models has better news? Here’s that loop from last night’s run, only this time we run it from Tuesday morning all the way through Sunday night.

Notice how it’s completely different but just as problematic? Well, that kind of sums up what we’re facing here. There’s a very strong probability of rainouts next week (I can say that with confidence), but the details of where and when those will occur remain murky.

How does a dynamic like that happen? Because in this situation we’re not really tracking a low pressure storm center. Instead, we’re tracking a gigantic high pressure over southeast Canada that’s going to block up everything and lock our rainy pattern in place. Let’s take a much broader view of a run from these two models again, but in this loop, just keep your eyes on Canada from Quebec to the Maritimes

Same loop, only this time with the other model:

See the problem here? At this point, we can confidently say we’re going to have an enormous blocking pattern in place next week. That colossal high is going to play the role of a brick wall any way you slice it. But the exact size, strength, spread, speed, position, intensity and orientation of that high are all up for grabs, and until those details are ironed out, the models will keep spitting out wildly different results regarding which games get rained out.

In general though, a blocking high and a developing low will work together to create a persistent onshore flow over the northeast, I-95 corridor for several days next week, and there’s very few ways that doesn’t end up translating into a large, slow moving storm by the time we’re trying to wrap up the regular season.

Does that mean rain in just Boston and the Red Sox and Cubs have to play into Monday the 28th to determine the Cubs’ Wild Card position? Maybe. Does that mean a retrograding low where both Tampa and Yankees lose their games and can’t get the division decided? It’s possible.

All I know for sure right now is two things:

1) The Red Sox can add even more chaos to this equation if they beat the Rays again today and drag them a little closer to New York in the standings.

2) I’ll be keeping you updated here at Over The Monster as the situation evolves in the coming days.

Friday did not start off great for the Yankees, as news broke that Aaron Judge would indeed be going on the IL for a calf strain he suffered in the middle of Wednesday’s finale against the Twins. Judge was pulled from that game in the sixth inning and at the time it was unclear if he would need just a couple days off or if it was something more, but the team later got confirmation and will now be unable to activate their superstar until game No. 162 against the Orioles. With no minor league rehab available from that point and Judge’s immediate return without one following a lengthy layoff perhaps being the cause of said calf strain, it leaves a lot of doubt as to whether he’ll be able to contribute in the postseason. The Yankees will face a tall task going far without their captain, but to be fair to the rest of the team they’ve gotten themselves here largely without him this year.

The team at least responded to the news by immediately putting up a five-spot on the Diamondbacks to open up their latest series en route to a victory, a much-needed one as the end of the regular season draws ever closer. Before they go for the series victory tonight, we’ve got some things prepared starting with Peter going over the Rivalry Roundup featuring a critical Tampa loss to Boston giving a bit of room for the Yankees to inch closer ahead of their bout in the Bronx. Nick then shows some love to Bob Turley on what would’ve been his 96th birthday, and John gives his thoughts on the open forums that baseball analytics have provided the sport in light of some controversy over in the NFL with the opaqueness of their data.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees at Arizona Diamondbacks

Time: 8:10 p.m. EST

TV: YES Network, DBacks.tv

Venue: Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ

Questions/Prompts:

1. How much faith do you have in Aaron Judge jumping back cold into the lineup for the postseason? How far can the offense take them if he can’t?

2. After Dylan Cease had a short start last night, can Cam Schlittler put a bow on the Cy Young race with his start tonight?

MLB Trade Rumors | Darragh McDonald: Well, it was nice while it lasted. The Yankees announced yesterday evening that they will be placing right fielder Aaron Judge on the ten-day injured list with a calf strain today; Max Schuemann is expected to be the corresponding move. Since it will be backdated to the 16th, Judge will be eligible to come off the IL for the final day of the season; however, given the nature of calf strains, it is entirely possible that we have seen the last of No. 99 for 2026.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Arguably the biggest surprise of the 2026 season — beyond the fact that the Yankees somehow managed to keep their heads above water despite Aaron Judge missing three months, of course — has been the breakout of outfielder Spencer Jones. The former top prospect has managed to position himself as “a key cog in the Yankees’ lineup,” taking advantage of opportunities offered by injuries to Judge, Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton. In particular, his performance against southpaws, which had long been a weakness throughout his minor league career, has been a pleasant surprise. That being said, it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses: Jones has yet to flash the leather in the way many have expected him to. Even so, however, it seems likely that Jones will be a critical part of the team’s postseason run, whether as the starting center fielder or a key reserve.

MLB.com | Mike Lupica: For all the attention that the Yankees’ veteran stars — Judge, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, and Giancarlo Stanton — receive, the 2026 season has been a veritable youth movement. Key to that has been the development, of course, of first baseman/designated hitter Ben Rice and AL Cy Young frontrunner Cam Schlittler. The two youngsters from Massachusetts, never highly rated as prospects, have turned themselves into veritable forces at the plate and on the mound, and without their contributions, the injury-riddled 2026 Yankees would almost certainly be spending the final few days of the season playing out the string, not attempting to make a last-ditch run at the AL East while lining up the rotation for a matchup with the Red Sox in the Wild Card round.

MLB Trade Rumors | Darragh McDonald: Yesterday afternoon, the Yankees announced that Oswaldo Cabrera, the popular utilityman who has been with the organization since 2015, had been claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds. He had been designated for assignment earlier in the week, in order to make room on the 40-man roster for Clarke Schmidt.

Playbill | Logan Culwell-Block: Earlier this summer, former Mets infielder José Iglesias made the jump from the ballfield to the stage, joining the Broadway production of Buena Vista Social Club. Now, a Yankee great will be joining him: yesterday, Bernie Williams announced that he will be joining the show’s pit band for a limited run, from October 22nd through November 29th.

MLB Trade Rumors | Darragh McDonald: Well, it was nice while it lasted. The Yankees announced yesterday evening that they will be placing right fielder Aaron Judge on the ten-day injured list with a calf strain today; Max Schuemann is expected to be the corresponding move. Since it will be backdated to the 16th, Judge will be eligible to come off the IL for the final day of the season; however, given the nature of calf strains, it is entirely possible that we have seen the last of No. 99 for 2026.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Arguably the biggest surprise of the 2026 season — beyond the fact that the Yankees somehow managed to keep their heads above water despite Aaron Judge missing three months, of course — has been the breakout of outfielder Spencer Jones. The former top prospect has managed to position himself as “a key cog in the Yankees’ lineup,” taking advantage of opportunities offered by injuries to Judge, Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton. In particular, his performance against southpaws, which had long been a weakness throughout his minor league career, has been a pleasant surprise. That being said, it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses: Jones has yet to flash the leather in the way many have expected him to. Even so, however, it seems likely that Jones will be a critical part of the team’s postseason run, whether as the starting center fielder or a key reserve.

MLB.com | Mike Lupica: For all the attention that the Yankees’ veteran stars — Judge, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, and Giancarlo Stanton — receive, the 2026 season has been a veritable youth movement. Key to that has been the development, of course, of first baseman/designated hitter Ben Rice and AL Cy Young frontrunner Cam Schlittler. The two youngsters from Massachusetts, never highly rated as prospects, have turned themselves into veritable forces at the plate and on the mound, and without their contributions, the injury-riddled 2026 Yankees would almost certainly be spending the final few days of the season playing out the string, not attempting to make a last-ditch run at the AL East while lining up the rotation for a matchup with the Red Sox in the Wild Card round.

MLB Trade Rumors | Darragh McDonald: Yesterday afternoon, the Yankees announced that Oswaldo Cabrera, the popular utilityman who has been with the organization since 2015, had been claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds. He had been designated for assignment earlier in the week, in order to make room on the 40-man roster for Clarke Schmidt.

Playbill | Logan Culwell-Block: Earlier this summer, former Mets infielder José Iglesias made the jump from the ballfield to the stage, joining the Broadway production of Buena Vista Social Club. Now, a Yankee great will be joining him: yesterday, Bernie Williams announced that he will be joining the show’s pit band for a limited run, from October 22nd through November 29th.

A week ago, Tyler Glasnow was beginning to turn back into a question mark.

So, the Dodgers sent him home and hoped he would reset.

Last Saturday, the All-Star pitcher looked all out of sorts in a four-inning, four-run and frankly foreboding start during the team’s visit to Miami.

He was battling his mechanics. He was stretching out his long-bothersome back. And, most concerningly, he was losing the confident demeanor the Dodgers had seen when he first returned from his latest extended stint on the injured list last month.

Thus, instead of accompanying the team on the second leg of its road trip this week in Cincinnati, Glasnow traveled immediately back to Los Angeles the day after his clunker against the Marlins.

No extra flight. No added time on the road. Just a week where he could focus on his delivery and try to keep his season from once again slipping off track.

“He got back on Pacific Standard Time, in his own bed, one leg of travel versus the two,” manager Dave Roberts said Friday afternoon. “He threw his bullpen a few days ago. That went great. So he’s dialed in.”

In a six-inning, two-run, 10-strikeout start in Friday’s 8-2 win over the San Francisco Giants, there was still more dialing in left for Glasnow to do.

He hung a curveball in the second inning that Jung Hoo Lee belted for a home run.

He lost his feel pitching from the stretch after a leadoff single in the third, giving up another run that briefly put the Dodgers behind before they stormed back with five home runs –– including four in the eighth inning alone –– from their recently resurgent offense.

The important thing, though, was that Glasnow felt better.

With his health. With his throw. With his ability to get completely synced up in time for the playoffs.

“I think I feel relatively consistent. It’s just a matter of, sometimes I’m not going to feel good, sometimes I will,” Glasnow said. “Today, I think it was a step in the right direction. I think it’s better than feeling really good for a long time before [the playoffs]. I’d rather kind of feel it, work through some stuff and have a good one right before playoffs. So I think I’m in a good spot right now.”

That might sound counter-intuitive for a pitcher who could be crucial to the Dodgers’ postseason plans. It might be rationalization from an 11-year veteran who has never made it through a full regular season healthy.

Then again, it’s a blueprint that worked well enough for Glasnow last year, when he only felt his mechanics click in the last few weeks before the start of the playoffs yet went on to post a 1.69 ERA in six October outings.

“It is just making sure he’s feeling good, he’s healthy, which he is,” Roberts said. “So now it’s just letting him go do what he does and bet on the talent to perform. That’s where I think we all feel good, especially Tyler right now, just knowing the health and where the head’s at, all that stuff. We’re in a good spot.”

Roberts struck a decidedly different tone after Glasnow’s start last week, saying then that the right-hander “didn’t feel great coming into the game as far as kind of overall body.”

That revelation raised alarm bells regarding the oft-injured 33-year-old –– who had already missed more than three months this season with a back spasms problem that lasted far longer than initially anticipated.

His absence in Cincinnati was also conspicuous, turning Friday’s outing into something of a late-season litmus test.

“This is an important start,” Roberts said beforehand. “He knows it.”

The manager’s evaluation afterward?

“I thought he did a good job of making pitches when he needed to,” Roberts said, encouraged by Glasnow’s ability to get swing-and-miss, as well as the way he retired 10 of his final 11 batters in a 98-pitch performance.

For his part, Glasnow downplayed whatever concerns had been lingering about his health of late.

He acknowledged he felt “not great” last week. He cited the cross-country flight as perhaps getting him out of whack. But he also noted that, “in the course of a season, you’re not always going to feel good.”

“It wasn’t anything crazy,” he added. “But I definitely feel better now than I did then.”

At this point, that will have to be enough for the Dodgers. Come the start of the postseason, they will be counting on him to be an effective member of their rotation.

“Right now, I feel pretty good,” Glasnow said. “We worked on some stuff after that last start. Just tried to keep for this start, take it in the next start. And then hopefully everything is feeling good for playoffs.”

PHOENIX — Aaron Judge is on the injured list again, but the Yankees could get two key pieces back off of it by next week.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. should be activated on the upcoming homestand that begins Tuesday, Aaron Boone said Friday, after the second baseman landed on the IL last week with a right thumb sprain.

Friday marked his fourth day of hitting in a row after being shut down from baseball activities for about a week, while he has also been throwing the last couple of days.

“He’s getting very close,” Boone said before the Yankees’ 9-2 win over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

Trent Grisham, meanwhile, is “pretty far into his running progression” from a right hamstring strain and “doing well,” Boone said, putting him in position to be in play at the end of the regular season.

Before Judge’s calf strain, it was questionable whether there would be a lane for Grisham to get playing time if and when he returned.

But now it is possible he could return to center field at least against righties, bumping Spencer Jones to right field.

As for Ryan Weathers, the other Yankee trying to make it back in time for the playoffs (from a left forearm flexor strain), Boone acknowledged the lefty is “unlikely to get into a game before the end of the season.”

Weathers is set to throw a second bullpen session on Saturday, after which he could advance to facing hitters in live batting practice.

Whether that will give him enough time to show he should be part of the bullpen for the first round of the playoffs remains to be seen.

“We’ll see what our needs are and how he looks and if we feel like he’s ready to come in and be a contributor,” Boone said.

Anthony Volpe, who was back at second base, hit .348 with a .965 OPS and four steals in his first seven games since being called back up from Triple-A as an injury replacement for Chisholm.

He was 0-for-4 in Friday night’s win.

That's one way to start off the last homestand of the regular season.

Forget the fact that it was against the lowly San Francisco Giants and their lineup featuring a who's who of ... "Who?" Forget the fact that five of the Los Angeles Dodgers' runs in their dominant 8-2 win on Friday night came off the relatively unknown Philip Abner. The Dodgers' lineup, without Shohei Ohtani, showed exactly what they're capable of offensively.

This is the version of the team Andrew Friedman envisioned when he signed Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million contract and Edwin Díaz to a three-year, $69 million deal last winter.

"The talent," manager Dave Roberts said. "It's a high-floor talent level. I just like the way we're taking better team at-bats and making up for not having Shohei in there. Obviously, we're a better team with him, but it is nice to see there hasn't been a drop-off with him not in the lineup."

Here's a look at three winners from the Dodgers' victory over the Giants:

The Dodgers lineup is just fine

Mookie Betts started things off when he jumped on a low-90s fastball that San Francisco starter Cesar Perdomo left middle-middle and sent it over the fence in left center field for his 33rd leadoff home run as a Dodger. The bats went quiet briefly from there until the bottom of the fifth when Teoscar Hernández singled home Josue De Paula from third on a sharp liner to right field to tie the game at 2-2.

The rookie De Paula later drove in the go-ahead run on an RBI double in the sixth before a monster five-run eighth inning in which Max Muncy, Tucker, Betts and Will Smith all went yard to put the game out of reach.

Max Muncy and Kyle Tucker hit back-to-back blasts! pic.twitter.com/18ODGjrTwI

— MLB (@MLB) September 19, 2026

"I think that's the beauty in it," Betts said. "We just keep giving ourselves opportunities and eventually, something will crack. It did tonight, so we just have to keep getting guys on base and giving ourselves the chances and the hits will follow."

Edwin Díaz looked good in return from IL

That set the stage for the trumpets to once again blare over the Dodger Stadium loudspeakers. Roberts said he wouldn't have put Díaz in if it wasn't for the six-run lead as he wanted to give Díaz some leeway in his first outing back from an IL stint after health and poor performance have plagued his season.

But Díaz took the opportunity and ran with it. In his first big league appearance since Aug. 17, he got two quick outs before giving up a base hit up the middle. Rather than let that snowball like it has many times in 2026, however, Díaz was able to buckle down and strike out Brett Harris on three pitches to seal a Dodgers win.

Edwin Diaz and the trumpets are back at Uniqlo Field. @SportingTribpic.twitter.com/5t5vPJj5iE

— Fredo Cervantes (@FredoCervantes) September 19, 2026

"I liked everything," Roberts said. "I liked his intensity; I liked the fastball velocity. The slider was good. It was just really good to get him back in the mix and that's something to build on."

Josue De Paula is different

The through line for the offense on Friday night was the 21-year-old De Paula. The No. 6 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline finished the night 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs and an RBI, but it was the timing of each of those that made his Dodger Stadium debut so special.

De Paula led off the bottom of the fifth with a base hit, which Betts followed up with one of his own before he eventually scored the tying run on Hernández's RBI single. Two innings later, De Paula scored Tucker from first on a double that he put on a rope at 107 mph deep into the right field gap. As he reached second, De Paula pounded his chest and flexed.

Go ahead, Josue. 😤 pic.twitter.com/KCKOB2SSwU

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 19, 2026

Then, in that huge eighth inning, it was De Paula who kept it alive by working a four-pitch walk with two outs, his seventh in a week in the big leagues. Five pitches later, Betts blew the game open with a two-run homer.

"I just love his at-bats," Roberts said. "It's one of those things that we knew coming up to the big leagues, he wasn't going to get overwhelmed, and it just helps when you control the strike zone. He takes his walks, when the ball is in the hitting zone, he can slug you but he also knows how to get a base hit. It's been very professional."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Edwin Díaz makes successful return, rookie Josue De Paula strong for Dodgers in win

That's one way to start off the last homestand of the regular season.

Forget the fact that it was against the lowly San Francisco Giants and their lineup featuring a who's who of ... "Who?" Forget the fact that five of the Los Angeles Dodgers' runs in their dominant 8-2 win on Friday night came off the relatively unknown Philip Abner. The Dodgers' lineup, without Shohei Ohtani, showed exactly what they're capable of offensively.

This is the version of the team Andrew Friedman envisioned when he signed Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million contract and Edwin Díaz to a three-year, $69 million deal last winter.

"The talent," manager Dave Roberts said. "It's a high-floor talent level. I just like the way we're taking better team at-bats and making up for not having Shohei in there. Obviously, we're a better team with him, but it is nice to see there hasn't been a drop-off with him not in the lineup."

Here's a look at three winners from the Dodgers' victory over the Giants:

The Dodgers lineup is just fine

Mookie Betts started things off when he jumped on a low-90s fastball that San Francisco starter Cesar Perdomo left middle-middle and sent it over the fence in left center field for his 33rd leadoff home run as a Dodger. The bats went quiet briefly from there until the bottom of the fifth when Teoscar Hernández singled home Josue De Paula from third on a sharp liner to right field to tie the game at 2-2.

The rookie De Paula later drove in the go-ahead run on an RBI double in the sixth before a monster five-run eighth inning in which Max Muncy, Tucker, Betts and Will Smith all went yard to put the game out of reach.

Max Muncy and Kyle Tucker hit back-to-back blasts! pic.twitter.com/18ODGjrTwI

— MLB (@MLB) September 19, 2026

"I think that's the beauty in it," Betts said. "We just keep giving ourselves opportunities and eventually, something will crack. It did tonight, so we just have to keep getting guys on base and giving ourselves the chances and the hits will follow."

Edwin Díaz looked good in return from IL

That set the stage for the trumpets to once again blare over the Dodger Stadium loudspeakers. Roberts said he wouldn't have put Díaz in if it wasn't for the six-run lead as he wanted to give Díaz some leeway in his first outing back from an IL stint after health and poor performance have plagued his season.

But Díaz took the opportunity and ran with it. In his first big league appearance since Aug. 17, he got two quick outs before giving up a base hit up the middle. Rather than let that snowball like it has many times in 2026, however, Díaz was able to buckle down and strike out Brett Harris on three pitches to seal a Dodgers win.

Edwin Diaz and the trumpets are back at Uniqlo Field. @SportingTribpic.twitter.com/5t5vPJj5iE

— Fredo Cervantes (@FredoCervantes) September 19, 2026

"I liked everything," Roberts said. "I liked his intensity; I liked the fastball velocity. The slider was good. It was just really good to get him back in the mix and that's something to build on."

Josue De Paula is different

The through line for the offense on Friday night was the 21-year-old De Paula. The No. 6 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline finished the night 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs and an RBI, but it was the timing of each of those that made his Dodger Stadium debut so special.

De Paula led off the bottom of the fifth with a base hit, which Betts followed up with one of his own before he eventually scored the tying run on Hernández's RBI single. Two innings later, De Paula scored Tucker from first on a double that he put on a rope at 107 mph deep into the right field gap. As he reached second, De Paula pounded his chest and flexed.

Go ahead, Josue. 😤 pic.twitter.com/KCKOB2SSwU

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 19, 2026

Then, in that huge eighth inning, it was De Paula who kept it alive by working a four-pitch walk with two outs, his seventh in a week in the big leagues. Five pitches later, Betts blew the game open with a two-run homer.

"I just love his at-bats," Roberts said. "It's one of those things that we knew coming up to the big leagues, he wasn't going to get overwhelmed, and it just helps when you control the strike zone. He takes his walks, when the ball is in the hitting zone, he can slug you but he also knows how to get a base hit. It's been very professional."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Edwin Díaz makes successful return, rookie Josue De Paula strong for Dodgers in win