With only one more wild-card series to wrap up, Major League Baseball's division series is starting to come into focus.
Four division winners secured spots by earning byes as their league's top-two seed, and three teams have since joined them by wining in the wild-card round. Only one spot remains to finish out the full bracket of the division series, which is a best-of-five series that begins Saturday, Oct. 3.
Here's a look at the teams that have clinched division series berths, the clubs still fighting to advance and the latest 2026 MLB playoff bracket.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 29: A general exterior view of Citi Field signage before the game between the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 29, 2024 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Meet the Mets
Jared Young is recuperating at home from his scary collision with Nolan McLean, but he is hoping to put that all behind him and get ready for next year.
After Hunter Goodman and the Rockies defeated the White Sox, which allowed the Guardians to clinch the division, Cleveland fans have donated more than $20,000 to Goodman’s charity of choice Clothes to Kids Denver.
That's how the 2026 MLB wild card round has played out. Now, all the cards are on the table as the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves face off one more time to determine the final team to advance to the division series.
Each of the first two matchups was decided by a game-winning home run − Atlanta winning the opener on Austin Riley's three-run shot in the bottom of the eighth, and Philadelphia prevailing in Game 2 on Alec Bohm's 10th-inning solo blast.
Who will be the hero in the deciding game between these two NL East division rivals? We'll find out tonight.
Phillies vs Braves predictions
Bob Nightengale: Phillies 5, Atlanta 3 – The stars saved the Phillies’ season in Game 2. They’ll do it again, with Aaron Nola on the mound and Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber providing the fire power.
Gabe Lacques: Braves 7, Phillies 6 – One more bullpen pratfall does in the Phillies for good.
Steve Gardner: Phillies 5, Braves 3 – Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola (or both) keep the Braves bats quiet just long enough for the Phillies to eke out the win.
Jesse Yomtov: Phillies 6, Braves 2 – Phils build a big enough lead early that their bullpen can't blow it and hang on to win their first playoff series since 2023.
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ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 27: Los Angeles infielders Enrique Hernandez (8), Mookie Betts (50), Freddie Freeman (5), and Miguel Rojas (72) talk during a pitching change during the MLB game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves on August 27th, 2026 at Truist Park in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
As the Los Angeles Dodgers await the outcome of the final game between the Philadelphia Philles and Atlanta Braves to see who they will face in the NLDS, the team is busy working on keeping their bats and arms fresh and ready for the road to a three-peat that lies ahead.
As Bill Plunkett of the OC Register notes, the last two championship wins were won mainly on the backs of the pitchers – the bullpen in 2024, and key starters in 2025. Could this finally be the year that the Dodgers win it by having their offense outslug the other teams?
“It would be nice to slug our way to a World Series one of these years,” third baseman Max Muncy joked on the eve of another postseason run. “We can’t keep letting the pitchers take all the credit, right?”
The offense has looked better in the month of September, and they hope to continue that and have those that weren’t hitting join those that are. Plunkett has more thoughts from the players on how they’re looking to perform in the playoffs here.
As Bill Shakin of the L.A. Times notes, the last two World Series runs have had signature moments from Freddie Freeman, and ponders if this playoff run will have the same.
“My body feels good,” Freeman said. “I think that’s the main thing. I feel like it’s in a good spot to be able to do the work and hopefully fix my swing and everything that’s been going on the last couple months.”
Shakin goes on to cover Freeman’s lackluster second half, and has more quotes from the man himself here.
As the team moves into its newest playoff era, one player is contemplating the end of his own. Miguel Rojas announced at the beginning of the season that he would be retiring at the end of this season. Now, he’s not quite so sure. Maddie Chen of the L.A.Times talks about how Rojas is facing the possible end of his career.
“From this moment on, it will be kind of like a day-to-day thing,” he said. “And you might get to know that I’m stepping away from the game in an Instagram post, or from me just saying goodbye on a video. I don’t know. I don’t know how it’s going to be, but at this moment, I’m not 100% [certain].”
SAN DIEGO — There was San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., with sunglasses on his face and a cigar in his mouth, dancing in the middle of the clubhouse with Padres new co-owner Kwanza Jones.
There was former All-Star center fielder and San Diego native Adam Jones, flying in from Barcelona, Spain, to hang out with shirtless former teammate Manny Machado in the middle of the champagne-soaked, music-blaring, cigar-scented party.
There was Padres starter Walker Buehler with a beer bong, taking turns drinking from it and pouring it on the heads of his teammates.
The Padres, believing this is the best team they’ve built for October in perhaps three decades, danced, partied and sprayed champagne Wednesday night into the wee hours after winning 4-1 to sweep the Chicago Cubs in the best-of-three wild card series.
The Padres talked about their domination of the Cubs, suffocating their high-powered offense to such an extent that the Cubs produced only one extra-base hit in 18 innings. The Cubs became only the third team in the last 100 years to lead MLB in runs scored and then be limited to one or no runs over a two-game span in the postseason, joining the 1983 Baltimore Orioles and the 1940 Cincinnati Reds.
They whispered about this being one step closer to facing their menacing neighbors to the north, knowing the World Series goes through Los Angeles, where the Dodgers have won the last two titles.
And they spoke in reverence about the team they now need to beat to get where they want to go for the first time in their 58-year history: The Milwaukee Brewers, that lovable little team in the Midwest, who just so happened to have won more games than any team in baseball the past two years, 97 games in 2025 and a franchise-record 103 games this season.
Yes, even though the Padres are the hottest team in baseball – winning 19 of their last 22 games and having just swept the Brewers at San Diego's Petco Park in August – the Brewers are going to pose a problem.
Potentially a big one.
"They’re a huge challenge, they’re the best team in baseball," A.J. Preller, Padres president of baseball operations, told USA TODAY Sports. "You look at their record, year in and year out. They’ve got the two-time manager of the year (Pat Murphy), who’s a force in the dugout. They’ve got the No. 1 pitcher in the game (Jacob Misiorowski). Their roster is loaded.
"They’re the best team in baseball for a reason, and it’s going to be a big challenge for us, for sure."
The Brewers, just like the Padres, have yet to win a World Series title in their franchise history, too. They’ve won the NL Central title four consecutive years, five of the last six years, and have reached the postseason seven times since 2018. But they haven’t reached the World Series since 1982.
Now, it will be a matchup of two of the greatest small-market success stories in baseball, beginning Saturday, Oct. 3, in Milwaukee, with the winner awarded a date in the NL championship series against either the Dodgers or the winner of the Philadelphia-Atlanta wild card series.
The Padres, after thoroughly embarrassing the Cubs, now want to make sure the Brewers have a lone postseason series, too, on their road to a brown and gold October.
"Milwaukee has been the best team all year," Padres manager Craig Stammen said. "They just win. That’s what they do. And they do it a little bit different than everybody else. They don’t hit home runs, but they’ve got a lot of speed, a lot of athleticism, and have got a great pitching staff.
"We're going to have to play our best, just like we did against the Cubs, to knock them out."
Certainly, the Padres, with a payroll about $80 million higher than the Brewers, have the bigger and richer stars, living in million-dollar homes on Coronado Island and driving Bentleys, while the Brewers are the blue-collar grinders driving pickup trucks, with their luxury items being a deer stand in the woods.
The Padres have five players on their roster who are earning at least $20 million a year, with three – Tatis, Machado and Xander Bogaerts – having contracts worth at least $280 million. The Brewers have only two players earning $20 million – Christian Yelich and Brandon Woodruff – and Woodruff is injured. Yelich is the only player on the team with a contract guaranteed for more than $95 million.
Yet, year after year, the Brewers are in the postseason, only to be knocked out when the stakes are the highest.
"Obviously, the Brewers are a No. 1 seed for a reason," said Padres DH Gavin Sheets, who hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the fourth inning to break open the game. "They're a great team. They've got great arms. We've played them strong all year, and we know what they offer. Obviously, you've got Misiorowski in Game 1, who's a great pitcher.
"Top to bottom, they're a solid, solid team."
The Brewers don’t have the big-time stars, they don’t hit home runs, they won’t dazzle you, but, oh, can they ever play baseball.
"They play a different brand of baseball than most teams we’re used to facing," Padres veteran pitcher Joe Musgrove said. "You know, they move guys over. They play small ball. They play hard. It’s going to be a tough task in front of us because we got a good group in here, and we’re every bit as confident as they are."
The key, says Ruben Niebla, Padres pitching coach and associate manager, is keeping their leadoff hitters off base. Pete Crow-Armstrong, who’ll likely be the unanimous NL MVP winner, reached base only once the entire series, on a walk. Alex Bregman never reached base at all.
Now, it’s up to the Padres’ vaunted pitching staff to make sure they shut down the Brewers’ leadoff hitters, too, before they create havoc on the bases.
"They’re a dangerous team," Niebla said. "It’s their athleticism. The way they play the game, the ability to run, the way they bunt, the hit and run, the way they play defense. The pressure they put on the pitcher.
"We have to control the running game, control the counts, control the leadoff hitter. That’s important, because once their leadoff hitter is on, they’re much more dangerous."
But, of course, what the Padres have more than the Brewers is a world of momentum, playing their best baseball since July 24, going 41-18 to not only win a wild-card berth, but the home-field advantage in the first round as the top wild-card seed.
"Momentum’s the biggest thing in baseball," Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill said. "It doesn’t matter whether it’s a regular-season game or a postseason game. Momentum is everything. We know they’re a good baseball team. They play the game to win. But you know what? We’re a pretty good baseball team, too.
"We know they won a lot of games, but the record doesn’t translate to the postseason, so we’re both going in clean."
The Padres have played with urgency throughout September, fighting just to get into the playoffs, and now with a brief two-day break, they believe they’ll still have all of the momentum on their side.
"We're going to start in Milwaukee, it's going to be just like here," Sheets said, "it's going to be rocking. But I think there's some momentum that gets built when you play these two games. I think you gain a lot of momentum from a series like this."
Besides, the way the Padres are playing these days, anything less than a World Series berth would be a gut-wrenching disappointment. They believe they can beat anyone, at any time, and yes, even those bullies up the I-5 Freeway.
"We’re not done!"’ Padres third baseman Machado said. "We’re not done! We’re going to continue to fight to bring a championship to the city of San Diego."
The Padres' only regret is that Peter Seidler, their beloved late owner who passed away in 2023, is not around to see this.
"He’d be really proud what this team continues to do," Preller said. "He used to always talk about one day the baseball gods will smile upon us. Hopefully, we’re getting closer to that moment."
CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 26: Hunter Goodman #15 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates after hitting a home run in the third inning during the game between the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on Saturday, September 26, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Lawrence Brown/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Good morning!
For fans of teams that missed the playoffs, this week is the time for reviewing the 2026 season, a time to look to the future outlook of each organization and dream of what steps each team could take to one day eventually play October baseball again.
Over the course of the week, almost every Rockies-specific news site has published their own form of 2026 review or offseason preview piece. There are plenty of opinions on what the Rockies need to do moving forward, and you have the opportunity to read them all!
If you’d rather stay connected to the present, however, playoff baseball has begun! Outside the Rockies-specific media ecosystem, analysis of the Wild Card round has begun. Even if the Rockies aren’t a part of the field again this year, there’s nothing better than engrossing yourself in the theater of playoff baseball.
Rockies News & Links
Questions facing the Colorado Rockies after fourth 100-loss season | Mile High Sports — As the Rockies finish up 2026 and begin looking to the 2027 season, Drew Creasman lays out the major questions the franchise will need to answer moving forward. Creasman goes over everything from the uncertainty the new ownership rumors have brought to what it will take for fans to come back to the ballpark. It’s a useful initial primer on the state of the franchise.
Rockies 2026 postmortem: Until Colorado figures out starting pitching, losing will continue | The Denver Post ($) — In Kyle Newman’s look forward at the current state of the team, he identifies pitching as the key component that the team will need to focus it’s efforts on improving. Credit is given to the start of a productive lineup that began forming in 2026 but makes it clear that that will not be enough on its own to turn the organization’s fortunes around.
How Rockies reach MLB playoffs in not-so-distant future | Kevin’s take | The Devner Gazette ($) — Kevin Henry has a more optimistic view of the Rockies current outlook than some. Henry compares where the Rockies are with how the Chicago White Sox were able to reach the playoffs just two seasons after a historic 121 loss season in 2024 and sees a potential blueprint for the Rockies to follow. Even with the precedent of possibility having been set, Henry acknowledges the challenges ahead in terms of improving the teams pitching staff to be playoff caliber.
The 2027 Free Agent Tracker Is Here! | Fangraphs — While the playoffs are underway for the best teams, the rest of the league is able to start looking ahead to the possibilities for next season. Every year Jason Martinez and the team over at Fangraphs maintain an incredibly useful reference tool showcasing all available free agents. Take a look and start dreaming of next year.
How 2026 MLB Playoff Rosters Were Built | Baseball America ($) — Now that the playoff field is set, J.J. Cooper does a comparison of how the players on each roster were acquired by their organization. It’s a fun piece that shows winning teams can be constructed in all sorts of different ways without any specific avenue of player acquisition being the prevailing best path.
Astros players blast their own fans for booing, not showing up to playoff loss | The Athletic ($) — The Houston Astros managed to just barely earn a trip to the playoffs with a .500 record which happened to be good enough to win the American League West. Their recent history of dominance had set their fans up to have higher expectations and so began booing the team during their game one loss to the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. The Astros players were not pleased with this believing that they’d just played their hearts out attempting to get to where they were. A fascinating situation that Chandler Rome breaks down with a multitude of quotes from those involved.
Everybody Except the Yankees Is Doing Wild Card Roster Construction Wrong | Fangraphs — The optimal way to construct a roster is a complicated topic with a multitude of factors to consider. Michael Baumann argues that the way the New York Yankees have chosen to trim their pitching staff heading into the Wild Card round is not only different from the rest of the field but an advantage based on the dynamics of a short series.
Okay. The appearance of San Diego native Joe Musgrove in the ninth inning, to the screams of a chanting crowd, was pretty cool.
And that was the only enjoyable part of Game 1 of the Wild Card game versus the Padres. “Enjoyable” because by that point, Cub fans that were still watching were like any other neutral observers.
The gameplan was obvious for the Padres: Swing at everything that Matthew Boyd threw. Ten of Boyd’s first 11 pitches were swung at, very productively. They were just looking for the right changeup to flutter by. From the mound, the Padres plan was pound, pound, pound sweepers at the Cub hitters.
The result: Two first-inning home runs, an RBI-double and a third home run for a 4-0 Cub deficit. Then to start the fifth inning, unexpectedly, Javier Assad put himself in an immediate jam, loading the bases with two outs. Ryan Rolison allowed those three inherited runners to score. At 7-0 and still needing the third out, the game was beyond being over.
I hate Sunday Morning Quarterbacking, but at the moment the second home run was hit, it occurred to me, “Craig Counsell went with the pitcher he knew best, not necessarily the best pitcher to put out there.” I’m sure that he would vehemently deny this, and I could be as far off as possible, but it was a thought I had.
Michael King was extremely effective with his sweeper early, then with his mix of pitches, went into the seventh inning without allowing a hit. It was an impressive performance.
The only possible offensive leader was Nico Hoerner. He beat out a infield single to end the no-hit bid in the seventh, then singled to load the bases in the ninth. The Cubs managed three hits in the game and were given four walks, but struck out 11 times.
Since this will be posted after Game 2, there’s not much for me to say in a rah-rah fashion. I just hope I have two Cubs wins to write about for Saturday’s article.
I appreciate your reading.
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Randy Holt (North Side Baseball): Chicago Cubs’ Game 1 Loss Revealed the Playbook Against Their Top Hitters. “The Cubs found themselves losing just about everywhere in the box score against the Padres in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series. Worse, the Padres emerged with a clear plan to stifle the team’s top two hitters—unless the duo can adjust right away.”
Vinnie Duber (Chicago Sun-Times): Facing elimination, Cubs starting playoff-tested Kevin Gausman in Game 2 vs. Padres. “With their season on the line, the Cubs will turn to the headlining piece of their trade-deadline haul, giving the ball to Gausman, who made six playoff appearances a year ago, including two in the World Series.”
William Rory Gallagher (2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as “Ireland’s first rock star”, he is known for his virtuosic style of guitar playing and live performances. He has sometimes been referred to as “the greatest guitarist you’ve never heard of”.
Gallagher gained international recognition in the late 1960s as the frontman and lead guitarist of the blues rock power trio Taste. Following the band’s break-up in 1970, he launched a solo career and was voted Guitarist of the Year by Melody Maker magazine in 1972. Gallagher played over 2,000 concerts worldwide throughout his career, including many in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. He had global record sales exceeding 30 million.
During the 1980s, Gallagher continued to tour and record new music, but his popularity declined due to shifting trends in the music industry. His health also began to deteriorate, resulting in a liver transplant in March 1995 at King’s College Hospital in London. Following the operation, he contracted a staphylococcal infection (MRSA) and died three months later at the age of 47.
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SPRINGFIELD, MO - APRIL 08: Liam Doyle #19 of the Springfield Cardinals pitches during the game between the Tulsa Drillers and the Springfield Cardinals at Hammons Field on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 in Springfield, Missouri. (Photo by Kaylee Vaughan/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
Sadly, we have reached the last minor league update of the 2026 season. These are a bit time-consuming, so I suppose it’s not that sad for me, but it’s just another reminder that there’s no more baseball to follow. Technically, the AFL is there, but it doesn’t scratch the same itch. At least this year there’s some interesting prospects to follow.
Cijntje played his first game at Memphis on July 19th and a day later was my first half update for pitchers. He had better stats at Memphis than Springfield, so score one for the scouting department on knowing when to promote him.
We all knew he had good AAA stats when the Cardinals decided to promote him to the big leagues. So instead of the full season stats, why not share how he did in September in response to getting demoted? Better than Nolan Gorman, that’s for sure.
Tink Hence, RHP – 24 (#10 VEB prospect)
Didn’t pitch after July 19th, was very bad when he did pitch. Had surgery of some sort. Not even Jeff Jones knew what surgery he had, so your guess is as good as mine.
Ixan Henderson, LHP – 24 (#16 VEB prospect)
Only ended up pitching in one game at Memphis after a monthlong rehab process. He walked four and struck out none, although he didn’t allow a run. He was shut down after that one start however.
Once again, his Springfield stats predated my halftime update, so I don’t feel the need to share those stats as well. It was only a 106 wRC+, but did come with a somewhat low BABIP. He also got hurt in his last game at AA, missed some time, played rehab games in the lower levels and when he was deemed ready, was sent to AAA.
At some point, I’m sure I’ll cover a player who wasn’t promoted midseason. Easier on me not to have to transcribe stats for two different levels though. He didn’t really pitch better in Memphis, but it would be accurate to say he didn’t miss a step.
This 17th rounder adapted fairly well to his midseason promotion to Memphis – of course – with the exception of a really high BABIP. Whether unlucky or not, his pro career started in 2025, so hard to complain about a 17th rounder with mediocre stats in AAA.
Ledbetter’s season started extremely slow, but he recovered in the 2nd half. His xwOBA was just .299 (actual wOBA .343), so safe to say the batted ball metrics aren’t supportive of him.
I will repeat it is amazing how long it took the Cardinals to send down Fernandez last season, but once they did, he became persona non grata. He was okay in Memphis, better in St. Louis, but I never really got the impression the Cardinals ever wanted to use him.
Sandro Santana, LHP – 21 (Traded in a package for Lars Nootbaar)
Well, the Mason Molina part of the Phil Maton trade is working out really well at least. Not so much this part of the trade. But it was for 2 months of Maton so feels like found money either way.
Does not include his two postseason appearances. Pitched 3.2 IP with 8 Ks and 5 BBs with one earned run and then later 5 IP with 6 Ks and 2 BBs and no earned runs. Kind of surprised, even with the playoff innings, that he didn’t throw more innings. Followed up a 95.2 IP college season with 111.2 IP.
I should have posted his stats in the last update, because he only actually pitched in one game in Springfield. It was a very good 4 inning appearance with seven strikeouts and one walk and no runs allowed.
Franklin also threw 6.1 IP in the playoffs with 9 strikeouts and one walk. I do not know why they don’t just include playoff stats in their overall stats, I get it for the majors, but not the minors.
He didn’t really pitch better in Springfield – he wasn’t great in his two postseason starts, although he did strike out 7 in one of them. But he certainly pitched well overall as a 19-year-old in AA, which is crazy.
Daniel Eagen, RHP – 23 (Traded in a package for Lars Nootbaar)
Eagen also pitched 9 innings with 12 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 2 earned runs in the playoffs. Pitched noticeably better overall in his five starts (and seven appearances) as a Cardinal.
I’m in a pickle, because I can’t say anything in the vicinity of negativity in these posts, so I will just say factually speaking, he had a 92 wRC+ in High A and his 3.9 BB% would not rank very highly on the MLB leaderboards.
Josiah Ragsdale, OF – 22 (traded in a package for Dustin May)
In the first half, he had a near identical hitting line in High A, but he actually had a much better BABIP than in Springfield. Because he struck out less and had more power in AA.
He made 14 starts in High A, which featured a much higher strikeout rate, but also a higher walk rate. Hunter Dobbins and Fajardo were also in the trade for Contreras, so think of Aita as a bonus.
Honeyman seems to have gotten injured on July 21st, played in a week’s worth of rehab games a Low A a month later, appeared in precisely one game at Springfield at the beginning of September and then missed the rest of the season.
I should have listed him in the lower level section, but he did actually get promoted to AA for the last 10 games of the year (and the playoffs). He must have been on a hot streak, because he absolutely killed it in Springfield with three homers in 10 games for a 177 wRC+.
He rose from the dead in High A, delivering unexpected power, so power to him for being average at AA. He also seems quite good defensively from the few games I watched.
He spent the first half of the season in High A and all you need to know is that he wasn’t really that good – he had a considerably lower strikeout rate. Hopefully, something clicked.
He proved too good for High A almost immediately, but AA proved to be more of a challenge. In the context of the run environment, these are closer to mediocre numbers than they might appear.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA - MARCH 20, 2026: Joseph Dzierwa #67 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches during the seventh inning of a Spring Breakout game against the Boston Red Sox at Ed Smith Stadium on March 20, 2026 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
Disappointment is the usual thing for Orioles fans when it comes to starting pitching prospects. This long predates Mike Elias’s tenure as general manager of the team, or even his predecessor Dan Duquette. Sometimes people come up with names for groups of them like the much-ballyhooed “cavalry” of Dave Trembley’s time. Call them what you will, so frequently these guys have just ended up getting hurt or not being as good as evaluators thought, or some of both.
I mention all of this before saying one word about Joseph Dzierwa because all of that was on my mind before we were all introduced to him by the Orioles bringing him into some spring training games early this year. It’s true that Dzierwa is the highest-drafted pitcher taken by Elias yet, a second-round pick from the 2025 draft taken out of Michigan State, and that was worth noting all on its own. Yet at times in recent years it has seemed like as soon as people take notice of an unheralded Orioles starting pitching prospect, he implodes. This happened last year to Keeler Morfe, and this year to Esteban Mejia.
After impressing in those spring training games, Dzierwa smoothly carried that over into the regular season. The team assigned him straight to High-A Frederick for his first real pro action; he didn’t debut after being drafted last season, an increasingly-common decision teams make with their pitchers.
Within about two games, it was clear that I was going to have to quickly absorb how to spell and pronounce Dzierwa to do my job of writing and talking about the Orioles. (Per the Keys media guide, the pronunciation is JER-va.) Dzierwa introduced himself to the minor league world by striking out nine batters over a six inning start – with only 79 pitches thrown! – against Texas’s High-A affiliate. He went seven innings the next time out, and by the middle of May, he’d recorded three different games where he struck out nine opposing batters.
It wasn’t just the strikeouts. People weren’t doing much of anything when facing Dzierwa. He walked one or fewer batters in seven of his eight starts with Frederick, and he was sitting on a 2.21 ERA and 0.811 WHIP when the Orioles decided it was time to challenge Dzierwa with Double-A. That’s a decently aggressive move for a guy who just got drafted last year. Dzierwa went on to pitch 18 games for Chesapeake after that promotion and he posted a nearly-as-good 2.29 ERA at that higher level.
Under the hood, this was a bit less impressive than the High-A totals. While still striking out more than a batter per inning, Dzierwa’s strikeout rate did decline against more advanced hitters, and the batting average of his opponents improved. Still, these were great results, so much so that I’m surprised the Orioles left him at Double-A rather than giving him a few Triple-A starts to close out his season.
Dzierwa was a deserving selection to the All-Star Futures Game roster for the 2026 season. Future Orioles acquisition Anthony Eyanson was one of Dzierwa’s teammates for that game. They were reunited at Chesapeake for Eyanson’s final six starts of the season.
Prospect outlets took notice of the 6’8” lefty as the season went along, some more than others. The end-of-season MLB Pipeline prospect list has Dzierwa checking in at #86, the third-highest of five Orioles on that outlet’s top 100. The report sounds nice:
Dzierwa showed real ability to limit walks in college and can pinpoint his entire arsenal wherever he wants, pounding the strike zone and also working the edges well. … His foundation of size, two potentially plus pitches and command gives him one of the highest floors in the Orioles system as an almost surefire starter, with the development of a reliable breaking pitch determining whether that’s in the middle or the back-end of a big league rotation.
I am taking note that even an often-optimistic outlet like the MLB-owned Pipeline is not projecting out from Dzierwa’s minor league numbers that this is a future ace in the making. When you start to hear about a “high floor” that probably also doesn’t mean “high ceiling,” and in this case, Dzierwa doesn’t have the kind of fastball velocity that’s just going to blow away hitters, nor are they confident in his breaking arsenal enabling him to get such elite results against higher-end hitters.
This assessment is shared across other reports. At FanGraphs, where Dzierwa was the #12 player on their preseason-but-posted-in-May list, the main thing they take from him is that he is a lefty with good changeup command, a type of player who tends to be a good big leaguer. They’re not as big on his potential to go higher in a rotation, either, describing him as a “quick-moving no. 4/5 starter.” That kind of player doesn’t hit the top 100 there, where upside gets greater weight.
Among some of the warts that hold his ranking back for the FG evaluation are – like Pipeline – questions about the breaking pitch development, as well as thinking that Dzierwa doesn’t use his height to generate elite extension towards home, which would help his fastball velocity play higher than it actually is.
Talking about a no. 4/5 starter means you’re saying a guy who’s going to be as good as Dean Kremer. That doesn’t launch many prospect rockets into space. Dzierwa may start to look more like that as he faces Triple-A hitters and eventually MLB ones, but in the meantime… man. Batters facing Dzierwa this season batted a combined .186/.246/.289.
That’s dominant. You can’t hope for much better from any 22-year-old pitcher in his first full pro season, no matter what round he was drafted. Many teams are probably now wishing they had been paying closer attention to that 2025 Michigan State team. If you get a solid back-end-of-the-rotation guy with a second round pick, you’ve done very well for yourself. That’s why it was frustrating for many years when Elias wasn’t even trying to get pitching prospects in higher rounds.
Dzierwa is making a good case for why that should be done more often. Things could hardly have gone better for him this season. Hopefully, he has the opportunity to continue to show that quality by opening up at Triple-A in 2027.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 16: Petey Halpin #0 of the Cleveland Guardians hits a three-run home run to right center field in the sixth inning to give Cleveland a 5-3 lead against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field on September 16, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Russell Lee Verlinger/Cleveland Guardians/Getty Images) | Getty Images
This Saturday at 1PM the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox will be facing off in Game 1 of the ALDS. It will be the first ever postseason match up between the two clubs. The game is sold out, but for those who have tickets, the team is asking for another post season “red out”. So be sure to don your favorite red jersey, perhaps the free Austin Hedges jersey to bring the ultimate vibes to game 1.
As of the time of writing, the starter has not been announced for Cleveland and likely will be announced later today or tomorrow.
To prepare for the ALDS with the week off, the Guards had a light workout day yesterday and will workout and take BP today and tomorrow. Stephen Vogt and some of the players also spoke with the press today.
"When it comes playoff time, they pack the house"
"Definitely a home advantage when we have Progressive at full force."#Guardians Stephen Vogt and Steven Kwan on having a home field advantage here in Cleveland for the ALDS#GuardsBall@WEWSpic.twitter.com/ur2PB27TGg
After Hunter Goodman had a two home run game to secure the loss for the White Sox, helping the Guardians win the division, a Guardians fan on Twitter led the charge in donating to Hunter Goodman’s preferred charity. This one tweet quickly snowballed into over $22,000 donated from Cleveland fans to a wonderful organization in Denver that provides clothing to children.
A losing season didn't stop the Rockies from changing lives. When Hunter Goodman's two homers helped Cleveland clinch its division, fans responded by flooding a Denver charity with $22,000 in donations — and the timing couldn't be better:https://t.co/Zzpz5VXlAfpic.twitter.com/UE56e7gASg
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 12: Ben Rice #22 and Cam Schlittler #31 of the New York Yankees high five during the game against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium on August 12, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Game 1 of the AL Wild Card series between the Yankees and Red Sox was, at one point, much closer than the final 9-0 score suggests. It wasn’t until the seventh inning that New York was able to build a three-run lead over their archrivals. Turns out that given how dominant starting pitcher Cam Schlittler was, they didn’t even need that many runs.
As Jack Curry stated, Schlittler literally and figuratively threw Boston a curveball by adding more hooks to the mix and throwing off their game prep and rhythm at the plate. He wrapped up his night by tossing 6.1 dominant, scoreless innings with just two hits and a walk, striking out 10. Schlittler, however, wasn’t the only star of the Bronx night. Fellow homegrown players Ben Rice, Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe, George Lombard Jr., and Spencer Jones were all over the box score and the action, too.
You can very well say that the Yankees’ homegrown talent can make or break their postseason run. They will certainly represent the backbone of it, particularly if they advance and they can add three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge to that group.
Rice put on the fireworks by going 4-for-5 with a double, two homers, two runs, and six RBI. That’s 11 total bases and a triple shy of the cycle for those counting at home. Most of his hits were clutch, too: his first-inning two-bagger put a runner in scoring position with one out, his solo blast in the fifth doubled the Yankees’ lead, his seventh-inning single drove in Spencer Jones and made it a 3-0 ballgame, and his eighth-inning grand slam put it out of reach for Boston. Not bad for a night’s work.
But there’s more. George Lombard Jr. went 3-for-4 with two runs scored for the Yankees, too, injecting some life into the middle of the lineup. He was also sure-handed defensively, boosting his confidence ahead of what’s coming.
Anthony Volpe started at second base and had some very well-hit batted balls, going 1-for-3 on Tuesday night. He also put down a perfect sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the eighth to move runners to second and third base when the game was 4-0, and the team was looking for insurance runs. Whether or not you agree with the strategy of giving away an out, the execution was perfect.
Then, you have the eighth- and ninth-hole hitters, both homegrown, too: Spencer Jones and Austin Wells. They combined to go 3-for-6 with three runs, two RBI, and a walk. The outfielder went 1-for-3 and crossed home plate twice with one base on balls in a start against a lefty, and the backstop went 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI. Wells actually drove in the first run of the game, and Jones scored the third one in the bottom of the seventh on Rice’s single.
The homegrown stars played a flawless game. No fielding errors, steady defensive play, and a bunch of timely hits. If they keep playing like this while getting enough support from the rest of the roster, the Yankees will be very hard to beat. Of course, there is — hopefully at least — a lot of baseball to be played, and one game doesn’t tell the whole story. It did tell us, however, that these guys mean business, and that they are prepared to leave it all on the field.
Now that we know the Yankees’ postseason run advances past the Red Sox, the hope is that fellow homegrown players Judge and Will Warren play a big role, too, in addition to the aforementioned names. The talent that the Yankees have drafted and developed in-house can, evidently, be very impactful in the outcome of short postseason series.
Here is a decent recap of things that were said at the Royals end of year press conference yesterday. Also, shoutout to my former classmate and friend Maddie Hartley for writing this story.
Royals general manager J.J. Picollo didn’t shy away from his assessment of their 2026 season.
“I think it goes without being said, it’s kind of disappointing sitting here today without being in the playoffs as we expected,” Picollo said in Wednesday’s end-of-season press conference at Kauffman Stadium. “It was something we certainly felt was attainable coming into our season.”
The Royals finished with a 69-93 record — the club’s first losing season since a 106-loss 2023 — landed at the bottom of the AL Central and missed the postseason for the second straight year.
“We’ve got to figure out how to get this current roster playing to its abilities and put ourselves in a better position in 2027,” Picollo said. “But it’s not just about ‘27, it’s about long-term success.”
The Royals are overhauling their training staff as well.
On Wednesday, Royals general manager J.J. Picollo announced that head athletic trainer Kyle Turner, assistant athletic trainer Chris DeLucia and major league rehab coordinator Jeff Blum will not return.
My fellow writers here at Royals Review, have put out great work here the last couple of days, so I’m going to link some of their stories below.
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 11: The Atlanta Braves honor the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks before the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Truist Park on September 11, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jack Casey/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, baseball fans!
The 2026 MLB Playoffs continue today with Game 3 of the National and American League Wild Card series.
As usual, I am writing this before all of yesterday’s games have been played. So I don’t yet know the outcomes, which means I don’t yet know which games will actually have a third game. Fun!
Also, all games that do happen will have national radio coverage on ESPN Radio.
First up, we know for sure that the Philadelphia Phillies will take on the Atlanta Braves at 11:00 a.m. PT and the game will be broadcast on NBC/Peacock.
If necessary, the Chicago White Sox will play the Houston Astros at 2:00 p.m. PT, airing on Peacock/NBC Sports Network.
If necessary, the Boston Red Sox will play the New York Yankees at 5:00 p.m. PT, airing on NBC/Peacock.
And finally, if necessary, the Chicago Cubs will play the San Diego Padres at 7:00 p.m. PT, airing on Peacock/NBC Sports Network.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - SEPTEMBER 26: Cody Freeman #39 and Jake Burger #21 of the Texas Rangers celebrate the win against the Minnesota Twins after the game at Target Field on September 26, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Rangers defeated the Twins 6-2. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Morning, all!
The Houston Astros have been swept from the playoffs, marking a need to enter the offseason with a need to rebuild.
Chris Young is also entering the offseason using rebuild coded words, like ““address the makeup of this team.”
The problem is that the team doesn’t really have much salary coming off the books and have double the number of arbitration eligible players, so there likely isn’t a lot of money to address the team’s many problems.
Sep 30, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter (24), designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12), catcher J.T. Realmuto (10) and outfielder Brandon Marsh (16) celebrate after a win against the Atlanta Braves in game two of the Wildcard round for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
After a rollercoaster of a ballgame yesterday, the Phillies lived to fight another day, forcing this series with the Braves to a decisive Game 3. Not enough can be said about the performance of 23-year-old Andrew Painter who threw three scoreless innings in relief to win the game. That’s the kind of stuff that makes everyone forget his early season struggles and can grant a young rookie a boatload of confidence. No matter what happens today, Painter answered the call when the team needed him most.
