Category: Baseball

Happy Wednesday, everyone! We are enjoying a little unexpected winning streak, and I, for one, would like to see it go as long as possible, because winning baseball games is the most fun. We’ve got some little news bites to get you through your day, including looking at who the successes and disappointments of the Tigers’ season are (not a lot of surprises there) and Justin Verlander is the Tigers’ Roberto Clemente Award candidate for his work with veterans.

We also look at some controversial topics like whether now is the time the Braves should sell, and whether or not Shohei Ohtani should give up pitching for good.

So let’s just get into it!

Detroit Tigers News:

• ESPN released a list breaking down the biggest successes and disappointments on each MLB team. For the Tigers, the results are unsurprising. Writer Bradford Doolittle singled out Kevin McGonigle as the biggest success of the season, and there aren’t many who would argue that the rookie’s breakout year has been magical to watch. He said:

McGonigle [has surpassed] the six-win mark on the way to a probable AL Rookie of the Year award. An even better race: Can McGonigle walk more than he strikes out as a 21-year-old rookie? He’s at 88 walks and 89 strikeouts, so it’s going to be close.

In terms of the biggest disappointment? The trade of Tarik Skubal. While most of us looked at the trade as inevitable, Doolittle pointed out how one-run games in particular—the extra-winnable games of the season—really went against the Tigers and could have given them a better opportunity to win, and as a result, potentially keep Skubal on their roster.

Given the circumstances, the Tigers did the right thing in trading Tarik Skubal. Still, it’s disappointing that Detroit’s struggles in close games left the team in that position. While you can point to pitching injuries and other factors for the Tigers’ disappointing record, it all still might have worked out if Detroit wasn’t a surreal 26 games under .500 in games decided by one or two runs.

• The Tigers celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

• Learn more about why Justin Verlander is the Tigers’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award.

MLB News:

• Is Gavin Williams a legit ace?
• How Noah Cameron’s worst pitch actually made him better.
• Is it time for Shohei Ohtani to give up pitching for good?
• Chatting pitching with Sean Doolittle.
• Checking in on the likely leaders for Cy Young Award voting.
• And according to this poll, the likely winners might very well be unanimous selections. (Because MLB voters are notorious for voting for the most deserving candidate, right?)
• Why height actually matters a lot when it comes to baseball.
• The San Francisco Firebells are dominating the WPBL postseason.
• Arizona Fall League rosters have been revealed.
• Garrett Crochet could be on his way back, what could his return mean for the Red Sox?
• The Dodgers just clinched their 14th straight postseason berth, tying an MLB record.
• The wild story of a banned minor leaguer who changed his name to sneak back into the majors.
• Gerrit Cole needs to stop blaming the ABS for his pitching woes.
• Aaron Judge helped the Yankees clinch a postseason berth with his first home run after coming back from the IL.
• Some milestones we could see achieved in the final weeks of the season.
• Why are so few Puerto Rican players represented in the majors?
• Pete Alonso was moved by the warm welcome he received in his return to Citi Field.
• Why does one Braves’ investor think now is the ideal time to sell the team? ($)
• Major sports franchises need to do more to protect their players from the threats of angry bettors as sports betting increases.
• Terry Francona was relieved by reports that the Reds wouldn’t be doing any major shakeups in their front office.
• Jim Bowden offers the perspective of a former MLB exec when it comes to labor negotiations. ($)
• Yasiel Puig has been convicted, so why hasn’t he been sentenced? (S)
• What a wild at-bat

• Here are the 2026 Roberto Clemente Award Nominees.

• A good reminder on Roberto Clemente Day.

• MLB owners are being tight-lipped about the looming offseason drama.

Rangers 4, Red Sox 2

• And that’s three in a row.
• Oh damn…just realized that this has gotten us to the much feared and hated one-game-under-.500 spot again.
• That’s been a bit of a stumbling block this season, hasn’t it?
• But that is the next game’s problem, not this game’s problem.
• This game featured some gritty gutty work from Jacob deGrom, who was originally scheduled to make his next start on Wednesday. But with the urgency of the Rangers’ current situation and Monday’s off day, the Rangers could move deGrom up a day and still have him start on regular rest.
• Doing so also means that deGrom would be slated to start in the Sunday series finale against the Blue Jays.
• Despite an ongoing groin issue which deGrom had to manage, he gave the Rangers five strong innings, with the blip being a two run Nick Sogard homer in the third inning.
• deGrom has now allowed just nine hits in his last four starts, and just 16 hits in his last six starts.
• Oh, and he struck out eight batters in the game, allowing him to pass Aaron Nola on the all time strikeout list.
• deGrom is now tied with Dazzy Vance for 86th on the all-time K list.
• There’s been not enough people named Dazzy in the world in recent years. Someone needs to look into that.
• Rangers hitters didn’t do a lot in the game, but they did enough, putting up a four run inning in the second, with all the runs coming with two outs, and with the broadcast feed not working, so none of us watching at home were able to see what was happening.
• I bet it was exciting, though.
• Also exciting? A bases loaded situation in the fifth, an inning that started with deGrom’s first hit by pitch of the season, and was followed by a catcher’s interference. With two outs and the bases full, a seven pitch Adley Rutschman at bat ended with a 3-2 ground out, and also ended deGrom’s night at 92 pitches.
• Meanwhile, in the eighth, an infield single, a fly out and a walk was followed by Robert Garcia being lifted for Jacob Latz, who was asked to get the final five outs. After a groundout moved the runners to second and third, Trevor Story was intentionally walked, leading to another lengthy at bat, this time by pinch hitter Andruw Monasterio, finally ending in a 3-2 swinging K.
• I can say now that those bases loaded jams were exciting because things turned out okay. I’d use a different adjective if things had turned out poorly.
• Corey Seager’s bloop single brought home the final two runs of the second inning for the Rangers. He was 2 for 4 in the game. Since returning from the injured list the first time in early June, he is slashing .280/.359/.511 in 206 plate appearances.
• That’s pretty good, I think.
• Cleveland won, so the Rangers are still a game and half back in the Wild Card race, and the Astros won so the Rangers are still a game back in the A.L. West. Toronto, however, lost, so the Rangers moved ahead of the Jays in the Wild Card chase, and now have no one between them and Cleveland.
• Oh, and Martin Perez won his 100th career game. That’s neat.
• Jacob deGrom topped out at 98.8 mph with his fastball, averaging 97.0 mph. Chase Silseth hit 97.3 mph with his fastball. Tyler Alexander touched 92.7 mph with his fastball. Robert Garcia’s fastball reached 92.1 mph. Jacob Latz maxed out at 97.5 mph with his fastball.
• Corey Seager had a 108.8 mph single. Brandon Nimmo had a 106.3 mph single. Ezequiel Duran had a 105.3 mph single. Danny Jansen had a 103.9 mph single. Jake Burger had a 101.9 mph groundout. Wyatt Langford had a 101.9 mph fly out.
• Eleven games to go.

Meet the Mets

The Mets lost to the Orioles 7-5 in the eleventh inning. The game winning runs were scored when Coby Mayo hit a ball just out of A.J. Ewing’s reach, which turned into a three-run inside-the-park home run.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, New York Daily News, New York Post, The Athletic

Pete Alonso’s return to Citi Field not only inspired rosy nostalgia, but caused the season-long anger some fans have held to bubble over.

While the end of the contract might still go poorly, the return of Alonso illuminates the difficulty of replacing Alonso in the present.

The Arizona Fall League rosters have been released, and eight Mets prospects will be playing in the autumn.

The Mets claimed infielder Christian Cairo from the Phillies, optioning him to Triple-A Syracuse.

Around the National League East

An investor in the Atlanta Braves believes now is the time to sell the team.

Jesús Luzardo has landed on the injured list in a big blow to the Phillies rotation in the midst of a playoff push.

Luzardo’s injury at such a critical point in the Phillies season has many possible ramifications.

The Phillies fell to the Nationals 6-3. Cristopher Sánchez had an uncharacteristically rough start, giving up fine runs in 6.1 innings, allowing eight hits and two walks while striking out five.

The Braves beat the Cubs 6-3 in Chicago. Ronald Acuña Jr., Drake Baldwin, and Ozzie Albies all drove in two runs each.

The Marlins beat the DIamondbacks 4-2 in eleven innings. Esteury Ruiz drove in the inning runs with a three run double in the top of the elventh inning.

Around Major League Baseball

MLB and the MLBPA have joined forces with multiple other major leagues to crack down on betting related harassment of players, coaches, and families and urged regulators to combat such harassment.

Pete Crow-Armstrong has joined an elite group in baseball history, with his season WAR passing 10.0.

It was Roberto Clemente Day yesterday, and the celebration has overshadowed MLB’s shrinking Puerto Rican player representation, with the number being just 27 this year, half of what it was 25 years ago.

Carlos Correa won’t be rejoining the Astros this season after his ankle surgery in May.

Reds manager Terry Francona was encouraged by the reports of the front office leaders being expected to stay put in Cincinnati.

The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their fourth straight National League Central title behind another great Jacob Misiorowski start.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

A Pod of Their Own released another episode.

Steve Sypa published the 25th edition of Mets Minor League Players of the Week for 2026.

This Date in Mets History

September 16th is a date with multiple Mets 20-count milestones, both for pitchers and hitters.

History was in jeopardy for a bit when the Twins came into the Bronx earlier in the season and won a series against the Yankees, but the timeline course-corrected as the team has traveled up to Minnesota and won the first two games of the rematch. The Bombers’ perpetual punching bag have fallen out of the still-bloated race for the third Wild Card spot and that point’s been driven home by the Yankees taking a second-consecutive win with eight runs scored, this time only allowing a single run in exchange and getting their offense going much earlier than the eighth inning.

With their business handled, New York’s eyes drifted across the league to see what their rivals managed to do on Tuesday. The Rays and Red Sox were both in action, and there was a battle going on between the two top teams in the Central to check in on.

Tampa Bays Rays (91-59) 2, Athletics (61-90) 1

After taking consecutive series against Atlanta and Houston, the temporarily-relocated Athletics weren’t expected to put up much of a challenge to Tampa. However, after allowing an unearned run in the second inning on a passed ball the A’s buckled down and prevented the Rays from extending their lead, Jack Perkins going 6.2 innings without any more runs crossing home plate under his watch. Meanwhile, the A’s offense wasn’t managing much against Griffin Jax but Kevin Cash pulled him after just 67 pitches despite it being his third start back from the IL. The Athletics took advantage and pounced on the new pitcher Ty Johnson in the sixth, stringing a pair of singles before scoring the lead runner on a wild pitch to tie the game.

The Rays couldn’t be stifled forever though, and in the ninth inning they finally broke through. Elvis Alverado was brought on to start the frame facing Junior Caminero, and after getting a generous high strike to get ahead in the count Alverado threw two pitches middle-middle. Caminero fouled off the first one, but he wouldn’t get cheated on the second and drove it 345 feet for the walk-off homer. The big hit prevents the Yankees from gaining any ground once more, as they remain 3.5 games behind Tampa with 11 games left to play.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (82-69) 2, Texas Rangers (75-76) 4: The Rangers blitzed Patrick Sandoval in the second inning for all four of their runs, Elias Díaz and Corey Seager getting the RBI base-knocks with a double and single, respectively. Nick Sogard got two of those runs back in the third, but that’s all they could manage against Jacob deGrom as he struck out eight over five innings and ended his night by performing a Houdini act to prevent any runs from scoring after letting the first two runners aboard in the fifth. The Rangers’ bullpen held serve with Boston’s, working themselves out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth to secure the win and move to within a game of .500. The Sox now fall to six games behind the Yankees for the top Wild Card seed, and with New York owning the tiebreaker it’s looking all but guaranteed that the Yankees will have home field advantage for whatever their opening round of the playoffs are.

Cleveland Guardians (77-75) 7, Chicago White Sox (77-74) 6: Chicago’s opener strategy backfired as Chris Murphy gave up three runs on a pair of homers in the first inning, only recording two outs before getting pulled. The White Sox clawed a couple of those runs back before charging out into a lead of their own in the sixth inning as they plated four. Travis Bazzana got one of those back immediately with his second homer of the night, but Cleveland entered the ninth inning down a run and in need of a rally. Nathaniel Lowe started it with a single to lead off, and Kyle Teel walked to put the winning run on two batters later. A groundout brought Cleveland down to their last out, but Brayan Rocchio stepped up and delivered a double just out of the leaping Sam Antonacci’s reach to walk it off. The Guardians erased the previous night’s loss and move to within a half-game of Chicago again for first place, setting up a critical rubber match later today.

AL Wild Card Rock Fight

Toronto Blue Jays (75-77) 1, Detroit Tigers (72-79) 10: The Tigers punished the Jays for running a bullpen game, dropping five runs on Michael Lorenzen before adding at least one more run against each of the next three Jays pitchers. Toronto’s only offense came in the eighth when Kyle Finnegan entered and promptly gave up several hits with Alejandro Kirk getting the RBI single, but he quickly exited and the outs resumed without further incident.

Houston Astros (76-75) 4, Kansas City Royals (66-85) 2: Two hitters did it all for Houston, Jeremy Peña hitting a pair of solo shots to put the Astros up early before Yordan Alvarez launched his 39th homer of the year for a two-run shot that wound up as the game-winning runs. Hunter Brown struck out 10 over six innings with just one run allowed to earn the win, and Josh Hader continued his sub-1 ERA run with another clean inning for his 26th save.

Baltimore Orioles (74-78) 7, New York Mets (69-82) 5 (11 innings): Down 3-2 in the ninth inning, Pete Alonso hit his 300th career home run against his former team to tie things up and force extra innings. The O’s got one across in the 10th on a wild pitch but could muster no more and got matched by a Marcus Semien RBI double, but they exploded for three runs in the 11th as Coby Mayo hit an inside-the park three-run homer that he initially stopped to admire before actually running the bases. Fortunately for him A.J. Ewing wasn’t able to turn around in time to come up with the grab near the wall and the ball caromed into no-man’s land deep in center field allowing him to race home easily.

The Atlanta Braves evened the series against the Chicago Cubs after Tuesday night’s 6-3 win.  Martín Pérez got the start, lasting six innings and allowing three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out four. Though a bit of a shaky start, Pérez ultimately got the win, the 100th of his career.

The Braves got some much needed insurance in the ninth, courtesy of Drake Baldwin’s two-run blast. Pérez kept the Braves in the game, the offense came through, and the magic number dwindled to 5.

More Braves News:

Right-hander Reynaldo López was placed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation. Fellow righty JR Ritchie was recalled as a result.

Tate Southisene headlines the list of the eight Braves prospects headed to the Arizona Fall League.

The 2026 season has come to an end for the Columbus Clingstones, and here is a recap of the 64-68 season for the Double-A affiliate.

MLB News:

The Philadelphia Phillies placed left-hander Jesús Luzardo on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation. The move is retroactive to September 12.

Joc Pederson of the Texas Rangers is dealing with a small fracture in his left hand but is attempting to play through it. 

The Athletics placed left-hander Gage Jump on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement. The move is retroactive to September 13.

From the Feed:

Cast your vote for Braves Player of the Game here.

The Dodgers’ winning ways in September were briefly interrupted for two games against the Miami Marlins, but they have picked back up against the Cincinnati Reds, taking the first two games of a four-game set.

After Tarik Skubal shut down Cincinnati over seven innings on Monday, Yoshinobu Yamamoto continued the trend of marvelous results from the rotation with a seven-inning scoreless gem on Tuesday, working through a pair of lead-off walks while allowing just one hit while striking out seven. Yamamoto has amazed in his two most recent starts— both against the Reds— allowing just one run over 14 innings while racking up 17 strikeouts compared to just three walks.

Yamamoto held the Reds to just a 1-21 clip after walking his first two hitters of the game on Tuesday, and the right-hander managed to take a page out of Skubal’s playbook for his dominating efforts, notes Sonja Chen of MLB.com.

Yamamoto was able to learn from how the Reds approached Skubal the night before, and Snell was no doubt gathering similar information on Tuesday.

“That kind of encouraged me to be aggressive and attack the hitters,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda.

The pitching has managed to hold their end of the bargain against Cincinnati this week, and Blake Snell looks to keep that trajectory in motion. On the offensive side of the ball, Teoscar Hernández has fortified the offense at Great American Ball Park, as the right-hander has crushed a pair of two-run home runs that put both games out of reach.

Hernández has once again found his stride that fans saw during spring training this year, and the Dodger outfielder’s recent success is the brainchild of hitting coach Aaron Bates, allowing Hernández to have a “twister tap” in his stride to the ball, per Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times.

“It was a great meeting we had,” Bates said. “We all talked about it, and then he felt comfortable enough to do it, and then the rest is to his credit. He’s just been who he is.”

“When Teo’s hips are loose that way, and his front leg looks like an Elvis knee, it’s a good sign for us,” Bates said. “Because that means that he can open and close it without his upper body going with it.”

Update on Shohei Ohtani

It’s an unusual feeling watching the Dodgers without Shohei Ohtani in the everyday lineup. So far, rookie Josue De Paula has filled in at DH to a small degree of success in limited time (.143/.368/.429, 19 PA) while the reigning two-time NL MVP recovers from multiple nagging issues.

Jack Harris of the California Post notes that Ohtani was able to take batting practice on Monday, and the team is optimistic that he can potentially return from the injured list before the end of the regular season.

“Today was positive,” Roberts said, “and hopefully we can just keep building towards that.”

Tuesday was Roberto Clemente Day in MLB, celebrating one of the most outstanding humans to ever play baseball, and annually it is used as an opportunity to honor both Latin players and also the humanitarian and charitable efforts of players on every team by nominating a candidate for the season’s Roberto Clemente Award. It’s a good day to remember all the good that Clemente did, but also all the good he continues to inspire.

We will also look at some more controversial topics, like whether or not it’s time for the Braves to consider selling the team, or if it’s time for Shohei Ohtani to give up pitching for good. Plus, is Gerrit Cole putting too much blame on the ABS system for his pitching woes?

There’s all that and more below, so let’s get right into it!

• Dan Szymborski wonders if Gavin Williams is a legit ace.
• Arizona Fall League rosters have been revealed. (MLB)
• A look at some other players who have managed to have a 10 WAR season. (MLB)
• Ryan Phillips thinks it’s time that Shohei Ohtani give up pitching for good.
• Evan Drellich explains why one Braves’ investor thinks now is the time to sell the team. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• On Roberto Clemente Day, Jorge Castillo takes a deep dive into the declining numbers of Puerto Rican players in MLB.
• Aaron Judge got his first home run after his return from the IL, and helped the Yankees clinch a postseason berth. (AP)
• Jim Bowden assesses what is and isn’t fair in the CBA negotiations from the perspective of a former exec. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• This is a crazy at-bat.

• David Laurila talks to the delightful Sean Doolittle about pitching.
• Does height really matter? In baseball it sure does, and Davy Andrews explains why.
• With 14 straight, the Dodgers have tied the record for consecutive playoff clinches. Story by Sonja Chen.
• Andy Demetra shares the story of a banned minor leaguer who changed his name to sneak back into the majors.
• Terry Francona seemed relieved by reports that there would be no major changes in the Reds’ front office. (AP)
• Tom Verducci explains why Gerrit Cole can’t blame the ABS for his pitching woes.
• Pete Alonso was touched by the crowd’s welcome in his return to Citi Field. (AP)
• Tyler Kepner bemoans the Mets’ loss of Alonso and their inability to replace him. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Your 2026 Roberto Clemente Award nominees.

• Jay Jaffe checks in on the Cy Young races and the leading candidates for both leagues.
• Jared Greenspan also checks in on the likely (and possibly unanimous) Cy Young winners.
• Ben Clemens talks to Noah Cameron about how his worst pitch actually made him better.
• Kiri Oler checks in on how the San Francisco Firebells are dominating the WPBL postseason.
• Ian Browne looks at what the return of Garrett Crochet could mean for the Red Sox.
• Karl Rasmussen rounds up some milestones that could be set in the final weeks of the season.
• David Purdum looks at the rising threat of angry bettors as sports betting continues to grow.
• The biggest success and disappointment on each MLB team. Story by Bradford Doolittle.
• Sam Blum revisits Yasiel Puig’s conviction and wonders why he has yet to be sentenced. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• A good reminder on Roberto Clemente Day.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.

The San Francisco Giants wrap up this three-game road series against the St. Louis Cardinals later this morning.

As of the time this is being written, the Giants are once again going with the element of surprise (aka haven’t announced a starting pitcher yet.) But you can check down in the comments for more up to date information.

Whoever it ends up being will face off against Cardinals left-hander Matthew Liberatore, who enters this morning’s game with a 5.53 ERA, 4.71 FIP with 146 strikeouts to 52 walks in 143.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Cardinals’ 7-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday, in which he allowed two runs on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks in four and a third innings.

Game #153

Who: San Francisco Giants vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

When: 10:15 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

Congratulations to the Quad Cities River Bandits on an undefeated postseason run, ending woth a 2026 Midwest League Championship!

Blake Mitchell had the go-ahead blast for Quad Cities, giving them the lead late against the Dayton Dragons.

Royals President of Business Operations Brooks Sherman talked about some of the public’s concerns regarding funding for a downtown baseball and mixed-use development.

“Whether there is a vote or not for us, for this Royals stadium, that’s not up to us,” Sherman said. “We’re following the city’s process for an economic development project.”

Sherman pointed to elected leaders who have voted in favor of the project.

“We do have elected leaders who have overwhelmingly voted in favor of this project,” he said.

When asked whether a public vote would change the Royals’ position or its approach to the deal, Sherman again said the decision was not up to the team.

ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle named the biggest success and disappointment for all 30 MLB teams, and both facets for the Kansas City Royals should be familiar to fans.

Biggest success: The Royals aren’t far away from having a contention-level lineup in place. It starts with the progress made by young hitters Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen. Caglianone has become of the game’s more dangerous hitters even as he still has plenty of room to refine his pitch recognition. Jensen, a year from now, might be viewed as the AL’s best catcher. The Royals can reasonably bank on 2027 bounce-backs from injury-plagued Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino, who had a down season after driving in 113 runs in 2025. Bobby Witt Jr. is the linchpin and the cornerstone player of the franchise. It didn’t quite come together in 2026, but the Royals’ offense isn’t far away.

Biggest disappointment: Even if the rotation had stayed healthy and the offense had come together, this season would have come apart because of a yawning chasm of a bullpen. On paper, it shouldn’t have been so bad. Then closer Carlos Estevez was hurt in spring training and got into just one regular-season game. Matt Strahm was a proven leverage lefty who collapsed this season. Lucas Erceg wound up in the minors. The group finishing the season in the Kansas City bullpen is completely different — and better — than the one that began it. Some of these things were hard to foresee, but if there is one area for the front office to examine, it’s here. Was there enough depth? Were the Royals too slow to cycle through different pitchers in different options? Building bullpens is tough, but things should never get as bad as they were for the Royals as they fell out of contention during the first half.

FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens looks at how the cutter has revitalized Royals pitcher Noah Cameron’s arsenal in 2026.

It seems to me that Cameron is instead creating deception with his changeup via horizontal separation. He pounds the low-away corner against righties, where the unexpected amount of horizontal movement plays at its best. Instead of making batters pick high vs. low, which they expect to do against someone with his release point (and against someone with the rest of his arsenal, which is very vertical), he makes them pick inside vs. outside the zone horizontally. He furthers the bind by tossing a ton of cutters to righties. If you’ll recall from earlier, his cutter and changeup live on a similar east/west plane; the low-away changeup and inside-edge cutter look very similar out of his hand. His changeup has accounted for 93 whiffs against righties this year; his cutter is the only other offering to hit even half of that amount.

As Corbin Young noted earlier this year, this increased focus on sliders, cutters, and changeups is an all-year trend for Cameron. He’s set a new monthly high in cutter usage in each of the past three months. Meanwhile, he’s down to around 20% four-seamers in the second half of the season, by far a career low. The cutter/slider and cutter/changeup pairings are ascendant, and they’re working so well for him that he’s cutting down on so-so fastballs to fit in more of the bendy stuff.

The Royals are once again in the bottom five of The Athletic’s latest power ranking, but there is no denying Johnny Flores Jr.‘s pick for the team’s best thing to happen this season.

A mid-season call-up in 2025, Caglianone had one of the worst debuts you could imagine, posting minus-1.6 fWAR in just 62 games. Of the 1,470 players to qualify, Caglianone had the second-worst season in 2025.

However, from the World Baseball Classic in March through the 2026 campaign, Caglianone has turned the conversation around. He’s posted 2.3 fWAR, with a 125 wRC+. Though strikeouts and swing-and-miss continue to be a concern, Caglianone’s batted-ball data ranks at or near the top in nearly every category — the hallmark of a slugger that can help extend a lineup alongside Bobby Witt Jr.

While it’s been a lost season in Kansas City, it’s been everything but that for the former No. 6 pick.

Baseball America’s Josh Norris breaks down the Surprise Saguaros’ roster for the fall, with plenty of Royals prospect power.

The clear highlight of Surprise’s roster is Zion Rose, the sixth overall pick from the 2026 draft who joins Jac Caglianone as recent Royals first-rounders who’ve spent part of their first pro seasons in the AFL. The Louisville slugger spent all of his official minor league time at High-A Quad Cities, where he hit his first professional home run and posted a .727 OPS over 19 games. Ranked by BA as the No. 23 prospect available in the 2026 class, Rose has a chance to be an above-average hitter with average defense and plus speed.

Rose’s fellow Royals on the Saguaros include righthander Justin Lamkin, who was on an upward trajectory this summer before an injury shelved him for the rest of the year. If he can show the same form from the regular year, he’ll jump right back into the Top 100 conversation this winter. Infielder Austin Charles is another rejuvenated Royal. After a tough 2025, he showed signs of life this season at High-A Quad Cities, where he smacked seven home runs in 45 games while striking out less than 20% of the time. 

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden analyzes the current labor proposals ahead of MLB’s upcoming CBA expiration.

The current CBA works best for the owners, the biggest-market teams who have smart front offices, the highest-paid players and the agents who represent them. However, it really doesn’t work well for the teams in the bottom half of the league in revenue, first-year players and other players who are not-yet-arbitration (or free-agent) eligible, players who reach free agency in their 30s, and the bullpen and bench depth players who get shuttled back and forth to the minors all season.

MLB would argue they’re trying to remedy these issues, starting with the proposal of a salary floor and cap. Under a floor-and-cap system, small-market teams would be forced to carry a minimum payroll, which would bring them closer to the biggest spending teams, who would be capped on what they can spend. The NBA, NHL and NFL currently have floor-and-cap systems.

Sports Illustrated’s Brian Sparks checks the stock for Royals players heading into the Houston Astros series.

Outfielder Jac Caglianone is one of the premium players to hunt for in the 2026 Topps Update, dropping Oct. 14.

MLB Trade Rumors updates its Super Two cutoff estimate as the 2026 season winds down.

One of the Atlanta Braves’ largest shareholders believes the franchise should be sold after a pair of record-setting team sales on the West Coast.

The New York Mets packed Citi Field Monday not for the home team, but for the one that got away, Baltimore Orioles’ Pete Alonso.

ESPN’s Jorge Castillo marks Roberto Clemente Day by looking at the dwindling number of Puerto Rican-born major leaguers.

From domination to dormancy, Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Edwin Diaz is in danger of not making the team’s postseason roster.

Former MLB slugger Yasiel Puig is still awaiting sentencing after a jury found him guilty of obstruction of justice and making false statements to investigators in February.

The Cincinnati Reds are expected to retain their front office leadership following a down 2026 season, and that brings comfort to veteran manager Terry Francona.

Former MLB closer and now Washington Nationals assistant pitching coach Sean Doolittle chats with FanGraphs about pitching and the organization.

NFL players prefer playing on grass compared to turf. In other news, fork found in kitchen.

Seth Keysor analyzes a dominant team debut for Kansas City Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III.

NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, and NHL and their respective player associations sent a letter to gambling regulators regarding “protections for players and staff who face threats and harassment from sports bettors.”

Coming back to the PGA Tour is going to be hard for many LIV golfers after the latter filed for bankruptcy last week.

The Chicago Blackhawks make 21-year-old Connor Bedard their second-youngest captain in franchise history.

Here is where a $16.4 million infusion into Kansas City’s Housing Trust Fund is going to.

The Park at Forest Green neighborhood used homeowner association funds to save their ash trees from a devastating pest.

Today’s song of the day is I’m in a Hurry by Alabama.

As the calendar turns to September, every Major League Baseball team deals with fatigue. Pitchers are pushing past their workload caps, arms are heavy, and the grueling 162-game slate takes its toll. But in Colorado, the September decline is hitting differently.

There isn’t just one simple thing to point the finger at for the team’s struggles over the last few weeks. Hitting has cratered in the clutch, and the defense hasn’t been up to standard. One of the constant question marks for the Rockies has been the approach to pitching this season. It’s still a mystery to understand exactly what they are trying to build on the mound, but the performance has been inconsistent at best throughout the season.

Rockies’ pitching has run into a proverbial brick wall of late and has been a significant factor as to why 100 losses have become an unescapable reality. Over the past few weeks, the pitching staff hasn’t just shown signs of fatigue—the bottom has completely fallen out. What was already a thin, heavily-taxed unit has cratered down the stretch, turning late-season games into painful endurance tests for the bullpen and starting rotation alike.

The Rockies, unsurprisingly, have the highest team ERA in the league this season at 5.59, just ahead of the Athletics, who play in a Triple-A ballpark and spent a horrid week in Las Vegas early in the season. The team has a 6.13 ERA from the starting pitchers, worst in baseball, while the bullpen has been solid for most of the season, albeit with an inflated 4.97 ERA, which is the fourth-highest in the league.

As the season winds down, let’s take a look at where things stand and why the Rockies are struggling so badly on the mound.

The starters

Let’s start with the starting rotation.

The rotation has been a struggle for the Rockies all season between injuries and lackluster performances. After a promising start to the year with a 4.60 ERA in April, the Rockies haven’t posted a rotation ERA under five since, including four months with an ERA over six.

September has been brutal, to the tune of a 6.47 ERA, which is the third-highest in baseball. There isn’t anything new as to why the rotation is struggling. They have allowed the sixth-most runs (43) on the third-most hits (71) while ranking 18th in strikeouts (51). They have also thrown the 10th-fewest innings (57.0).

Pitches fill up the strike zone, but the Rockies are generally in the middle of the pack when it comes to contact rates. It’s often death by a thousand cuts as the team deals with an abundance of traffic, foul balls, and elevated pitch counts.

The first time through the order, the Rockies’ rotation has a 5.56 ERA in September. Digging down further, the Rockies have a 3.75 ERA in the first inning that inflates to a 10.50 ERA in the second inning and a 9.00 ERA in the third. Despite an excellent ERA in the fourth, the team struggles in the fifth inning as well.

Rockies starter constantly laboring through four or five innings while digging a hole the team has a hard time getting out of isn’t a recipe for success. Two solid innings mean nothing when the surrounding ones are so catastrophic. Opposing teams are slashing .305/.355/.502 against the rotation in September and have faced just 256 total batters, one of the lower totals across the league. That would be a positive number by itself it wasn’t coupled with the other stats.

Aside from Mason Adams, the Rockies rotation hasn’t had much to celebrate this month and has to be one of the major points of focus in the offseason, heading into 2027.

The bullpen

Throughout the season, the bullpen has been one of the strong points for the Rockies. Tasked with taking on a heavy workload because of the failings of the rotation, they have thrown 609 total innings, the sixth-most in baseball.

They haven’t been without their bumps in the road; May and June were rough as the bullpen had an ERA over six those two months, but they have otherwise been solid overall.

Well, until September happened.

September has been the worst month for the bullpen by far.

Holding a 7.66 ERA, the Rockies’ arm barn trails only a historically bad Washington Nationals bullpen this month. They have thrown just 47 innings this month, good for 17th in the league, while allowing the most runs (42).

The inability to prevent runs has been most detrimental for the Rockies as a whole. It seems at time that the starting pitchers and offense at least keep the game close, or even work with a lead, only to see the bullpen immediately give things away.

In Detroit, Adams had a strong start through five innings, leaving the game with a 1-1 tie. The Rockies bullpen proceeded to give up four runs in the sixth inning and the team went on to lose 6-2. On Monday, the Rockies battled back and forth with the San Diego Padres, but ultimately fell 8-7 after the bullpen gave up runs in the seventh and eighth to put the game just out of reach 8-7.

A major issue for the pen has been the surge in walks as the Rockies have issued 30, third-most in baseball. Meanwhile, they have 41 strikeouts and opponents are .278/.378/.492 with eight home runs and 12 doubles. The abundance of traffic given up by the bullpen has led to devastating mistakes that have put too many games out of reach. The bleeding hasn’t been stopped, or they simply open up the wound.

Perhaps fatigue could be the reason for the bullpen’s struggles. Perhaps it could be overexposure. Perhaps it could be a lack of talent. Or perhaps, it’s all of the above. Either way, the way the bullpen has fallen flat in the final month of the season has been a major disappointment after everything they had accomplished this season.

Going forward

I hope that the new pitching minds at 20th and Blake have learned some valuable lessons this season about pitching in Colorado. It’s definitely frustrating to see everything collapse at once down the final stretch, but good teams have to be able to compete for all 162 games. There is plenty of talent and potential along with promising developments, but the Rockies have to find a way to win in the margins of pitching and take the next step forward to being a competent and competitive team.

September has proven the team still has a long way to go in that department.

On the Farm

Triple-A: Salt Lake Bees 7, Albuquerque Isotopes 5 (F/10)

The Albuquerque Isotopes took an early 4-1 lead in the second inning, but ended up falling 7-5 in extra-innings of the opener of their final series of the year. Edouard Julien hit a two-run double in the bottom of the second inning, followed by a two-run home run by Chad Stevens to take the lead. However, the offense couldn’t add on until Charlie Condon contributed an RBI single in the seventh inning. Unfortunately, due to costly errors, Parker Mushinski ended up giving up four runs on the top of the eighth to tie the game 5-5. Evan Shawver eventually took over the 10th inning, giving up a double and a triple to put the Bees up by two. The Isotopes threatened in the bottom half of the inning, but couldn’t score any more runs.

Double-A:Reading Fightin Phils 21, Hartford Yard Goats 4

It was a forgettable night for the Hartford Yard Goats as they kicked off their playoff series with a devastating 21-4 loss. Connor Staine made the start and threw a scoreless first inning, and the Yard Goats then took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second. Unfortunately, things went downhill after that; Staine gave up six runs on six hits without recording an out in the second inning.

He was replaced by Bryson Hammer, who recorded two outs but gave up another six runs on three hits with three walks. Fisher Jameson then tossed 2.1 innings, but allowed another four runs on six hits. After a few scoreless outings from other relievers, Nathan Blasick was tagged for another five runs, three earned, in the seventh inning. The pitching staff gave up 16 hits while walking 12 and striking out six. Oddly enough, they only gave up one home run.

Offensively, Cole Messina led the way with two hits, but Braylen Wimmer’s double was the only extra-base hit. The Yard Goats drew seven walks against 10 strikeouts, but went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Rockies Reacts Survey: How many walks will TJ Rumfield take by the end of 2026?

Affected by Altitude Episode 225: The Proverbial Wall | Rocky Mountain Rooftop

This week, Evan Lang and I discuss the struggles of the Rockies’ offense and defense over the last week. We then talk about the excellent play of Adael Amador since his call-up.

Here are the 2026 Arizona Fall League rosters | MLB.com

The Rockies will be represented by eight players and two staff members on the Salt River Rafters squad in the Arizona Fall League.

The prospects behind Double-A Hartford’s playoff run | MLB.com

Thomas Harding gives a rundown of the prospects that helped propel the Yard Goats to the playoffs.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

In his 11 years in the big leagues, Sean Manaea has never experienced a scene like the one that unfolded at Citi Field on Tuesday night.

The home team, in this case Manaea’s Mets, nursed a one-run lead in the ninth.

An opponent, ex-Met fan favorite and current Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso, tied the game with a solo home run, in this case the 300th of his career.

And the home faithful cheered as if Alonso still donned the blue and orange, seemingly not caring one bit about what that hit meant for their favorite team.

“I’ve got nothing but respect for him, I love him to death, but as a team, as the 2026 Mets, I know we have definitely underperformed. But the guys in here work their ass off every single day. To have that kind of reaction to an opposing player — it could be anybody — is crazy to me,” Manaea said after the Mets’ 7-5 loss in 11 innings. “I’ve got nothing but respect for Pete, but I’ve never seen anything like that before. I know the guys in here, we are grinding our butts off and stuff like that happens. I’ve never seen anything like that, kinda crazy.”

Former fan favorites usually receive warm welcomes when they return to their former locale but Alonso’s return has deviated quite far from the norm.

Mets fans have cheered Alonso wildly like he’s the only thing that mattered, home team be damned.

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Perhaps some of it is pent-up frustration that the Mets did not retain him, although they did make offers he rejected over the years.

Some of the emotions certainly tie to the team missing the playoffs in back-to-back years despite lofty ambitions and huge payrolls, and there are certainly those who are letting out their frustration with beleaguered president of baseball operations David Stearns after his attempt to replace Alonso with Jorge Polanco completely backfired.

It’s created — as Manaea said — a “crazy” environment at Citi Field that will conclude Wednesday night in the series finale.

In Monday’s 2-1 loss, Mets fans booed when young starter Jonah Tong walked Alonso in the third inning.

Plenty of patrons also headed for the exits after Alonso’s final at-bat in the eighth inning — despite it being a one-run game.

On Tuesday, the crowd roared — and we do mean roared — when Kodai Senga hung an 82-mph forkball and Alonso absolutely crushed it into the left-field stands to tie the game at 3-3.

The long ball marked the 124th of Alonso’s at Citi Field, and even one broadcaster noted how “that’s what the fans came to see.”

Fans chanted “Pete Alonso” and he even received a curtain call, which, ya know, is usually reserved for when the home stars perform something magical.

Those chants later turned into rounds of “Fire Stearns.”

“Pete’s not here,” said Manaea, who exited with with a lead after throwing 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball but ultimately received a no-decision thanks to Alonso. “The powers that be — whatever that may be — he’s just not here. I know everybody loves him. He’s the man. But he’s not here. 

“To see the reaction from the fans like that, I don’t know — it’s just different.” 

Alonso appreciated the positive reaction he received from Mets fans while achieving the personal milestone.

“Everyone in the dugout was saying, ‘Go out there,’ and they were right,” Alonso said of his curtain call.

“I appreciate all the support. Especially all the years I’ve been here, all the life I’ve lived here. Obviously appreciate that, and it’s a two-way street.” 

While Manaea made it clear that the fan reaction is a bit bothersome, he stressed that in no way did his views on the subject reflect on the Polar Bear himself.

“I played with Pete for a couple of years. I know how much he means to this organization, to this city. He’s an exceptional player and I love him as a player, as a teammate, he’s one of the greats,” Manaea said.

“And unfortunately he’s not on the Mets anymore and congrats to him, 300 home runs, super happy for him. It’s just crazy how things kinda unfolded.

the St Louis Cardinals are 20th in total pitching productivity by fWAR. Right around where the Diamondbacks are at. Overall, the Cardinals pitching staff has a .299 BABIP against. So they’re not just hapless and unlucky. They might be hapless though. I’m looking at you, bullpen.

Yes, the Cardinals bullpen has been among the worst in 2026. Surprise, surprise. They are 26th in MLB with .3 fWAR. The worst bullpen of the bullpens that are not negative WAR. Of which, there are only 4 teams that have dumpster fire bullpens. The Cardinals is looking like a dumpster dive, by WAR at least.

You can’t really mince words, the bullpen has been that bad this year. FIP and xFIP like the bullpen best, but as far as ERA and xERA go, it’s kind of unacceptable. While you cannot really blame the poor performance on overusage completely, the bullpen has been used quite a bit this season.

567.2 IP at the time of this writing means the 12th most used bullpen. Not bad, but they needed to be good this year if that’s the responsibility level. Maybe they didn’t need the most lights out bullpen *which only can be attempted to be predicted by the richest teams* but the team needed a good ‘pen at least.

They did not get a good bullpen. Nope. Not really.

What are the main weaknesses of this bullpen? They don’t leave men on base. The bullpen has the 3rd worst LOB% in MLB. So if our starters leave guys on, or other relievers, they have a much better chance of scoring than almost every other team. Why is that? The Cardinals bullpen is at 4.22 BB/9 on the season. The bullpen is 5th worst by xERA, and 7th worst in MLB by ERA. I don’t like these types of bullpen situations. The sabermetric stats aren’t much better. The bullpen just walks too many batters and isn’t too adept at getting out of it, or at limiting damage.

Five relievers make up the core of the 2026 bullpen. We have leaned on these arms the most and you have seen them pitch many times by now. Between these five arms, 328.2 innings were pitched.

• Gordon Graceffo 73 IP 2.71 ERA / 4.02 FIP | 6.53/4.07 K/BB ratio (1.6)
• Justin Bruihl 72.2 IP 3.59 ERA / 3.96 FIP | 6.44/3.34 K/BB ratio (1.92)
• George Soriano 64 IP 4.36 ERA / 4.90 FIP | 8.86/4.78 K/BB ratio (1.85)
• Riley O’Brien 60 IP 4.20 ERA / 3.82 FIP | 9/4.05 K/BB ratio (2.22)
• Ryne Stanek 59 IP 4.27 ERA / 4.56 FIP | 9.46/4.42 K/BB ratio (2.14)

At the end of the day, our best reliever was indeed Riley O’Brien. Ryne Stanek wasn’t completely awful. Justin Bruihl walked fewer batters than our other guys and was perhaps our most underrated reliever. Graceffo shouldered most of the load despite being a fringe candidate for the team, starting the season at AAA.

In case you were wondering, Graceffo and Bruihl are among the top 15 most used relievers in MLB in 2026. Thank you for your service, gentlemen.

Questionable usage totals: Soriano and Stanek have combined for -.5 fWAR. Surely we could’ve done better, somehow.

Something to ponder: Quinn Mathews has already surpassed Hunter Dobbins, Gordon Graceffo, and Riley O’Brien in WAR value! That is a positive takeaway on the season. Those three were all .4 fWAR guys in different ways arrive at the same total. What is Quinn doing well? Limiting the walks with a K percentage north of 20% in over 30 IP.

Ugly xFIPs: Mautz, Bruihl, Svanson, Graceffo, Soriano, Mathews… all prime candidates for future home run victims, maybe. I could see it, except perhaps Bruihl and Mathews being able to get away with giving up only a few home runs. I hope! Probably too early to quote Mathews xFIP, but it’s perhaps something to mention while we praise his success. To be fair.

Probably better than his statline: Luis Gastelum has a high BABIP against at .307, which considering his stuff seems a little high, especially when bringing in his 3.22 xFIP. He will be fine.

Unsung bullpen heroes? Ryan Fernandez and JoJo Romero were pretty good this season. Hjerpe and Winquest seem fine. Svanson, as bad as he seemed, was replacement level, not one of the negative WAR players. Hunter Dobbins was the bridge between the bullpen and the rotation. Best wishes on a full recovery and return.

Perhaps what stands out the most about the 2026 bullpen is that there is no lynchpin reliever. No one is locking down the bullpen with 1+ WAR performance or anything even close to that. The 2025 bullpen was quite good and effective with over 5 WAR. Kyle Leahy, Matt Svanson, and Phil Maton were are very good last season. In 2024 we had 2.3 fWAR Helsley. 2023 had Helsley and Romero over 1 fWAR. The 2026 bullpen doesn’t really have an anchor outside of Riley O’Brien’s save total.

MLB teams giving playing time to below league average hitters

Another subject to talk about is how many players in this new era are below average hitters getting ample playing time. The Blue Jays have several hitters in their lineup that are below league average. The Yankees are fielding some below average hitters too, getting lots of playing time. Zach McKinstry, third baseman of the Tigers, makes Masyn Winn look like a good hitter. The Angels have a few guys that can’t hit for league average playing every day. Cam Smith of the Astros has played 140 games at 89 wRC+ with mediocre defense. Full time Rangers outfielder Evan Carter bats at 78 wRC+ providing more value on defense than on offense.

The Braves Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley are below league average hitters playing full time on a winning team. The Phillies play a few below league average hitters every day and are going to the playoffs. Ildemaro Vargas is a full time player for the Diamondbacks and is barely above replacement level. I have plenty more examples of this.

Is it just me, or does it seem pretty normal for MLB teams to be fielding below average hitters full time? There are just not enough good hitters to go around I guess. This should assuage some of the concerns about our lineup.

1996 Heavy Metal Edition

I have 1997 (non-metal) almost ready for next week, but I cannot skip over my passion for heavy metal. It began with a box of Columbia House CDs, Metal Maniacs magazine, Headbangers Ball, and plenty of friends into heavy metal when I was growing up. The box of CDs and my friends were my intro, Headbangers Ball brought it to the mainstream, and Metal Maniacs was my connection to the underground despite living in the country at the time.

I only picked 10 albums for 1995, but heavy metal had a resurgence in the underground in ‘96 which I would like to write about. So, if you love heavy metal, you might want to check this list out! Jump into my time machine set for 1996.

• Acid Bath – ‘Paegan Terrorism Tactics’ eclectically heavy alterna-metal with that New Orleans sludge sound, genre hopping similar to Mr. Bungle/Faith No More (but more metal focused), and both soulful clean vocals and heavy metal screams to bring words and a human voice to the story. Cover art provided by 90s phenom Dr Jack Kevorkian. You might like this one even if you don’t like metal. It’s heavy stuff though. Those riffs… (New Orleans)
• Fu Manchu – ‘In Search Of’ speaking of riffs, this album has them in bulk. And that tone! Completely fuzzed out. Think Black Sabbath channeled through the spirit of skate punk mixed with a dash of southern California desert magic. (southwest)
• eyehategod – ‘Dopesick’ more Sabbath (and let’s be honest, melvins) worship but through the lens of post-hardcore punk and drenched in the heat of the deep south and poverty. More ultra heavy music from New Orleans circa 1996! I linked to the remastered version because I couldn’t find the whole album on youtube. Anyways, don’t listen to this it is filled with disturbing feedback, tar-black riffs, and suffocating insanity. (NOLA)
• Today is the Day – ‘self-titled’ perhaps the closest thing to Today Is The Day making an industrial album, as they introduced keyboards for a couple albums. This is nothing peculiar for the band, as they were more of an Amphetamine Reptile noise rock band before this, and more of a heavy metal band after. In reality this is probably more of a sludge album with a keyboard. It’s heavy af. And disturbing as hell. (Nashville)
• Neurosis – ‘Through Silver In Blood’ speaking of heavy, this might be the heaviest album on the whole damn list for 1996! What an absolutely stacked year for heavy music. Neurosis used to bring a guy with a film projector to their shows, who would play grainy films of unexplainable atrocities through an old projector. Mixed with the bands ultra-dark heaviness and propensity to start jamming out tribal drum style when they were done playing guitar for a while… you just had to be there, but this album does a really good job of capturing the insane vibe. Very very disturbing. (Oakland)
• Immolation – ‘Here In After’ there is no way to describe this band other than they are most definitely death metal, maybe with some black metal overtones, I guess? They’ve always dialed in their own version of extreme metal, very atonal, very wrong, yet totally controlled chaos. More uneasy listening from another legendary band still going strong today. (NY)
• Red Harvest – ‘Hybreed’ and now we arrive at our industrial metal segment for a couple albums. This band Red Harvest was a cool find! I had no idea this existed, but it’s quite excellent! If you like Ministry, you’ll like this! This album is not quite as extreme as the others, but it’s interesting…. besides industrial metal, you’ll hear some elements of goth rock, nu-metal, soundtrack, and grunge. (Norway)
• Godflesh – ‘Songs of Love and Hate’ maybe the most underrated Godflesh album? If post-hardcore punk, industrial, hiphop, and heavy metal gave birth to an album, this is the blueprint. Sure, Godflesh’s prior album ‘Pure’ had a lot of hip-hop beats, but not to this level. (UK)
• Type O Negative – ‘October Rust’ industrial goth metal mavens released fan favorite October Rust in 1996, their discography is so stacked you cannot really go wrong but a lot of people really love this one. Think of a band fronted by what a vampire would sound like and get ready for Halloween. Dark material, but with a lot of wry humor thrown in to make it all the more fun. (NYC)
• Adremalech – ‘Psychostasia’: you won’t find an underground extreme metal album produced better than this. The mix is perfect, the vocals aren’t as distracting as those of most other death metal bands, and the music is highly advanced both melodically and technically. If you haven’t heard of these guys, they come very highly recommended. I found out about Adramelech years ago through VEB’r Heavy Metal, ironically enough. (Finland)
• Iniquity – ‘Serenadium’ more ultra-heavy sounds of ‘96! Another perfectly mixed death metal album. Not too sterile, but clear enough to hear all the instruments really well. If you are a fan of Gorguts, you need to check these guys out! A new classic for my collection, a hidden gem I had never heard before. (Denmark)
• Sacramentory Abolishment – ‘River of Corticone’ enormous avant-garde death metal riffs, creative and unique drumming, and a singer that sounds like a cross between Donald Duck and Gollum, giving it a cartoony black metal layer. Is that even possible? I have just discovered this album and am extremely impressed, even though it’s really weird even by my standards. What is that name, even? (Canada)
• Angelcorpse – ‘Hammer of Gods’ ludicrously fast, diabolically put together, for once it sounds like the drummer trying to catch up to the guitarist! Phenomenal guitar solos. How have I never heard this before now. Thank you metal gods. This is an all-time classic aggressive underground metal album. \m/ (KC)
• Pan-thy-monium – ‘Khaooohs & Kon-Fus-Ion’ speaking of really weird heavy metal that is actually mixed well, Pan-thy-monium more than qualifies! Apparently, I have been missing out over the years on all these top notch avant garde metal releases hiding in 1996. I could only buy a few CDs here and there back then! Words cannot describe what this band sounds like, but it’s utterly unhinged genius, I can say that. And it riffs. (Sweden)
• The Chasm – ‘From the Lost Years’ classic blackened death metal from Mexico, one of their best albums among a stacked discography… they have always been one of my favorite death metal bands. (Mexico City)
• Cryptopsy – ‘None So Vile’ no list of heavy metal from 1996 would be complete without None So Vile. Wicked brutal technical death metal. My favorite release of theirs. The vocals are just omfg lol. Insane. (Quebec)
• One Eyed God Prophecy – ‘self titled’ perhaps the most obscure, underground sounding album on the list, it is also a pretty good example of a heavy metal/hardcore punk crossover band, bringing in some doom and black metal influence too. Something struck me about the wall of sound guitars, guy screaming like from out of a car trunk, and overall raw vibe of the recording, and the songs are pretty good too. (Quebec)
• Monstrosity – ‘Millennium’ and I leave you with perhaps the most crazy, polished, technically accomplished heavy metal album on the list, represented by crystal clear production and a perfect mix from 1996. Technical death metal at its best. That album cover is something else though! I sure did find a lot of interesting, really good heavy metal albums this week. And realized how good 1996 was among heavy albums I’ve owned for decades.

Tune in next week when I finally get to writing about 1997! I will be talking about albums by bands like Amon Tobin, Squarepusher, Autechre, Company Flow, Cornelius, Portishead, godspeed you black emperor, and KARP!

I honestly expected this meter to be worse, but the Mets concentrated most of their poor pitching performance into a couple of games—particularly the series finale against the Marlins, which they ended up winning by the skin of their teeth anyway. The past couple of weeks have also seen some shuffling of personnel—notably the return of Jonah Tong to the big leagues and Robert Stock shifting to the bullpen.

Player	Last week	This week
Chris Devenski, RHP
Daniel Duarte, RHP
Justin Hagenman, RHP
Nate Lavender, LHP
Sean Manaea, LHP
Nolan McLean, RHP
Tobias Myers, RHP	—
Dedniel Núñez, RHP
Jonathan Pintaro, RHP
Dylan Ross, RHP	—
Christian Scott, RHP
Kodai Senga, RHP
Robert Stock, RHP
Zac Thonton, LHP
Jonah Tong, RHP	—
Austin Warren, RHP
Jack Weisenburger, RHP
Jefry Yan, LHP

Nolan McLean’s run of dominance unfortunately came to an end at the hands of the Bronx Bombers on Friday night, who lived up to their namesake by taking him deep twice. McLean was shaky right from the jump in that outing, loading the bases in the first inning with nobody out and managing to escape with just one run on the board. But he didn’t get so lucky in the second when Cody Bellinger hit a three-run homer to put the Yankees back in front, ultimately for good. All told, McLean gave up five runs on ten hits in five innings of work and took the loss to drop his record to 11-9. Jack Weisenburger, freshly recalled from Triple-A, soaked up the final three innings of that game in relief of Mclean and allowed one insurance run over the three frames. He struck out two, walked none, and gave up three hits. McLean avoids a bad grade though because he delivered a quality start in his first outing of the month against the Giants in which he earned the win. In that outing, he gave up just two runs on six hits in six innings of work, striking out seven batters and walking four and throwing a career-high 105 pitches.

Jefry Yan appeared twice in that Giants series—once in relief of McLean in the series opener and again the following day. Yan was scored upon in all three of his September appearances. He was unable to navigate his way through a clean seventh in relief of McLean, but luckily the Mets held on to win despite some shaky bullpen work. The next day he gave up a two-run homer in the eighth inning to put the game further out of reach. In Tampa Bay he did the same, yielding an insurance run in the eighth on three hits. Yan was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse after the Giants series.

The roster carousel has been moving when it comes to the pitching staff this month. When rosters expanded, the Mets briefly recalled Dylan Ross from Triple-A. Ross pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning in the 6-2 loss to the Rays and was immediately sent back down in favor of Justin Hagenman, who had spent all season on the injured list recovering from a fractured rib he suffered in spring training. Hagenman took the spot start in the series finale against Tampa to give Christian Scott an extra day of rest. Hagenman pitched well, giving up just one run on two hits in three innings of work. He pitched again in last Saturday’s loss to the Giants and gave up a solo homer, but the game was already well out of reach at that point. Chris Devenski also appeared in both games Hagenman pitched in and nearly spoiled Hagenman’s strong start by getting tagged with three runs in just 2/3 of an inning in relief, but luckily the Mets had their hitting shoes on and Andy Green gave Devenski the hook before the game could get away. Devenski was better last Saturday, pitching two scoreless innings of relief. He followed that up with a scoreless seventh inning in the series opener in Miami, but then was the primary culprit in the first of two times the Marlins clawed their way back from a massive deficit in the absolutely insane series finale. All told, Devenski was charged with five runs in just 1/3 of an inning in that game, after which he was designated for assignment and then outrighted to Triple-A.

Christian Scott clearly benefitted from the extra day of rest because he has been the most consistent performer in the rotation of late. In the series finale against the Giants, which ended in a comeback victory for the Mets, he gave up two runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. Impressively, he struck out seven batters and walked none in that outing. He followed that up with arguably an even more impressive performance against the Yankees, but unfortunately the Mets were blanked by Cam Schlittler and Scott took the loss despite delivering a quality start. Scott gave up just two runs on three hits in six innings of work, striking out seven batters and walking two. Both runs he gave up came on a pair of solo homers to Ben Rice and Austin Wells.

Nate Lavender pitched in relief of Scott in both of his starts and did his job in both of those outings. He was called upon in Scott’s start against the Giants to pitch to Rafael Devers with the bases loaded and got a huge strikeout to keep the Giants off the board and helping to set things up for the comeback that was to come. Lavender pitched a scoreless seventh inning in relief of Scott on Sunday, but unfortunately the Mets did not have a comeback in them on that day. The aberration on Lavender’s otherwise spotless record is—you guessed it—the 15-14 game in Miami in which he participated in the collective bullpen nuclear meltdown. He was charged with three runs in just 1/3 of an inning in that game, blowing up what would have been a good grade otherwise because he also pitched a scoreless seventh inning and earned a hold in Tuesday’s win in Miami and earned a hold in the series opener in Tampa as well.

Sean Manaea started that game on Tuesday in Miami and earned the win despite a somewhat mediocre final line of four runs on five hits in five innings of work. He struck out four and walked none in the outing. But the Mets had their hitting shoes on against the Marlins and were able to out-hit the bad pitching all series long. The same cannot be said for Manaea’s other September outing, which took place in Tampa. He was roughed up for five runs on eleven hits in 5 2/3 innings of work and took the loss.

Kodai Senga earned the save in Miami on Tuesday despite a shaky outing. Luckily, Senga had some breathing room to work with and navigated his way through the inning with the lead still intact. That was Senga’s only earned run allowed across four outings covered by this meter in which he’s been a perfect 3-for-3 in save opportunities. One of his other saves came in relief of Scott in the series finale against the Giants in which he pitched a 1-2-3 ninth complete with a strikeout to successfully protect a two-run lead after the Mets put up a four spot in the bottom of the eighth. The other came in the series opener against the Rays. Senga also appeared in a non-save situation in the series opener against the Giants to cap off that victory in relief of McLean.

Robert Stock also came out of the bullpen for the first time this season in that game, coming to Austin Warren’s rescue after Warren gave up a three-run homer to Rafael Devers in the eighth that put the game in jeopardy. Stock recorded a key final out of the inning to bridge the gap to Senga. Stock started the series opener against the Rays on the last day of August and had his best outing yet. He pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts and no walks and earned the victory in that game. He then started again in last Wednesday’s infamous victory, pitching the first four innings of that game before things got really silly. He was charged with three runs on five hits in four innings of work, striking out four batters and walking two. Warren bounced back from his poor outing against the Giants with two good ones in Miami, including a scoreless fifth in relief of Stock on Wednesday that I suppose one could describe as the calm before the storm. Warren pitched a scoreless ninth inning complete with two strikeouts in the series opener in Miami as well and a scoreless ninth inning in Sunday’s loss.

The series opener in Miami was Jonah Tong’s 2026 debut and he pitched better than his final line indicates. Luckily the Mets were able to give him enough run support to earn the win, thanks in part to some poor defense by the Marlins. Tong struck out the side in the bottom of the first inning and had one tough inning in the second in which the Marlins dropped a four spot on him. But he was able to recover and bounce back to make his way through five innings and make himself the pitcher of record. He struck out seven batters in total and walked only one. It was surely a debut to build upon and yesterday’s outing against the Orioles will be covered in the next meter.

The bullpen was spotless in relief of Tong, including Dedniel Núñez, who has had a solid couple of weeks. Núñez worked around a couple of hits to pitch a scoreless sixth inning in relief of Tong in the series opener in Miami. He followed that up with a scoreless eighth inning the following day in relief of Manaea as part of a solid all around bullpen effort that day. Núñez also appeared twice in the Rays series—once in the opener and once in the finale. In the series opener, he earned a hold with a 1-2-3 seventh inning complete with a strikeout. He then earned the win in the series finale for calming things down and recording the final out of the fourth inning after Devenski failed to get through the inning. He went on to pitch a scoreless fifth as well.

Jonathan Pintaro pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to cap off the rubber game victory against the Rays. Pintaro followed that up with a fantastic outing against the Giants in that closely-contested series finale in which he delievered two hitless innings of work in relief of Christian Scott, striking out a batter in the process. Like Lavender and Núñez, Pintaro earned a hold in relief of Manaea with a scoreless sixth inning in the second game of the Marlins series, but like much of the rest of the bullpen, his record was besmirched by Wednesday’s disaster. He was charged with two runs on three hits in that game.

An unlikely hero earned the save to finally put the series finale against the Marlins to a merciful end: Tobias Myers, called up before the series finale at Citi Field against the Giants when Yan was optioned. With the Mets’ lead somehow once again cut to just a skinny run, Myers came in the game to replace Lavender with the tying run on first base. He allowed a single to Javier Sanoja and suddenly the tying run was in scoring position, but he bounced back to strike out Owen Caissie and get Graham Pauley to pop out to miraculously end the game with the Mets hanging on to win. Myers has been great since his return to the big leagues after nearly two months in the minors. Myers earned the win in the series finale against the Giants in his very first outing back with a scoreless eighth inning, after which the Mets put up four runs to take the lead. Myers also pitched the final two innings of Saturday’s raucous slugfest victory against the Yankees.

Those two scoreless innings from Myers came in relief of Zac Thornton, who earned the win with seven brilliant innings against the Mets’ crosstown rivals. Thornton was amped on Saturday, throwing six pitches at 95+ mph and needing only 81 pitches to get through those seven innings, over which he struck out four batters and walked one. He worked his way out of a jam in the seventh by inducing an inning-ending double play, after which he pumped his fist and yelled in triumph as he walked off the mound—deservedly so. That was a performance worthy of a high grade, but unfortunately Thornton’s other September outing thus far was a clunker. The Giants took him deep four times and he took the loss, charged with six runs in five innings of work, over which he struck out six batters and walked one.

If Daniel Duarte’s only shaky outing was in the wild series finale against the Marlins, I may have been lenient, but he nearly spoiled Robert Stock’s strong start against the Rays in the series opener in Tampa. He gave up two runs in the eighth to bring the Rays within a run before Chris Devenski got the final out of the inning to keep the Mets in front. His next two outings were positive; he pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in the series finale victory in Tampa and then a scoreless eighth inning in Tong’s debut in the series opener in Miami. But he caught whatever disease the rest of the bullpen was infected with on Wednesday. He came in the game in the sixth with one out and Devenski struggling and walked the first man he faced to force in a run and then allowed a game-tying single—those runs all charged to Devenski. Hilariously, Duarte was tagged with the blown save in that game, but then also earned the win because the Mets took another big lead in the seventh which they managed to just barely protect. Duarte came back out for the bottom of the seventh and allowed a solo homer that added an earned run to his ledger.

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Vito Valentinetti, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1992 – The Cubs blow out the Phils, 14-9, to give Greg Maddux his 18th win. Led by Andre Dawson‘s four hits, the first four hitters collect 11 hits and 11 RBI for the Cubs. Dave Hollins homers for the Phils, while Dawson, Ryne Sandberg and Rick Wilkins go deep for Chicago. Mark Grace makes an error, ending his streak of 102 errorless games at 1B; his streak began after two errors on May 18th vs. the Dodgers, and 2014 – The Cubs’ Jake Arrieta* throws a one-hitter in shutting out the Reds, 7-0. Brandon Phillips‘ two-out double in the eighth is the only blemish as Arrieta strikes out 13, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1904 – The Giants sweep two from Brooklyn as Christy Mathewson wins the opener, 2-1, allowing just four hits. Two of the hits, a triple and homer, are by rookie Emil Batch. Joe McGinnity wins the nightcap, 5-3.
• 1922 – Pennant fever rages in St. Louis, as the Yankees come to town with a half-game lead. Bob Shawkey outpitches Urban Shocker, 2-1, as George Sisler ties Ty Cobb‘s 1911 record by hitting in his 40th straight game. 
• 1951 – At Yankee Stadium, Joe DiMaggio‘s long triple off Bob Feller scores two runs in the 5th and Allie Reynolds holds on for a 5-1 New York win.
• 1960 – At the age of 39, Warren Spahn pitches a no-hitter, beating the Phillies, 4-0. The crafty lefty sets an all-time Braves record with 15 strikeouts.
• 1966 – The Mets (5) and Giants (3) tie a major-league record by using eight pinch hitters in the ninth inning as the Mets win, 5-4. Willie McCovey hits a 500-foot home run, judged the longest ever at Candlestick Park.
• 1975 – Rennie Stennett ties a major league mark established in 1892 going 7 for 7 in a nine-inning game. The Pirates’ second baseman gets two hits in one inning twice (in the 1st and 5th innings), helping make the game the most one-sided shutout since 1900, as the Bucs crush the Cubs at Wrigley Field, 22-0.
• 1993 – At the age of 41, the Twins’ Dave Winfield becomes the 19th major leaguer to collect 3000 hits as he singles to left off A’s ace Dennis Eckersley in a 5-1 home victory over Oakland.
• 1996 – A 5th-inning triple off Royals pitcher Jose Rosado gives the Twins’ Paul Molitor 3000 hits. He will become the first major leaguer to accomplish this milestone in a season in which he collects 200 hits. It is the first time a three-bagger is a career 3000th hit.
• 1996 – Backed by two three-run homers from Tim Raines, celebrating his 37th birthday, Jimmy Key stops the Blue Jays, 10-0. Raines’ second home run, a 457-foot blast to center field, is the longest hit by a Yankee this year.
• 2007 – Jim Thome hits his 500th home run, a two-run walk-off shot off Dustin Moseley that gives the White Sox a 9-7 victory over the Angels. 
• 2025 – Cal Raleigh keeps on setting records. By hitting two more homers in a 12-5 win by Seattle over Kansas City, he has now hit 56 this season, setting a new all-time mark for a switch-hitter (Mickey Mantle was the previous record holder with 54) and ties the Mariners record for most in a season (Ken Griffey Jr. had hit 56 twice).

Today in Cubs history:

• 1909 – President Taft attends a Cubs–Giants game in Chicago and players are introduced to him before the game. Giants ace Christy Mathewson then outdeals Chicago ace Three Finger Brown, 2-1, with each allowing seven hits. Taft downs popcorn and lemonade during the match, according to the Chicago Tribune.
• 1912 – The Cubs riddle Christy Mathewson for ten hits to beat the Giants, 4-3. Jimmy Archer‘s solo homer is the game winner.
• 1923 – The Cubs lose, 10-6, to the Giants in Chicago, despite the hitting of Hack Miller who collects three doubles and a triple. A riot occurs in the eighth inning when umpire Charlie Moran makes an out call at second base on Sparky Adams, Moran is pelted by hundreds of pop bottles. Judge Landis, in attendance at the game, shakes his cane at the angry mob, and play is held up for 15 minutes. John McGraw and the umpires need a police escort at the conclusion.
• 1935 – In the opener of a critical four-game series in Chicago, the Giants lose, 8-3, to Lon Warneke. The Cubs have now won 12 straight.
• 1971 – At New York, lefty Juan Pizarro of the Cubs shuts out the Mets and Tom Seaver, 1-0. Pizarro does it all, clubbing a solo homer to win his own game. It’s Pizarro’s second shutout in a row and Seaver’s first loss after seven straight wins. Tom’s last loss was August 1st, also to Pizarro.
• 1972 – In an 18-5 victory over the Mets, Cub infielder Glenn Beckert goes 0 for 6 and sets a record by leaving 12 men on base.
• 1997 – At Wrigley Field, Kevin Tapani pitches a one-hitter for his first National League shutout and Sammy Sosa breaks a scoreless tie with a two-run, 6th-inning homer as Chicago beats Cincinnati, 5-0.
• 1998 – Sammy Sosa‘s grand slam in the 8th inning, his 63rd home run of the year, leads the Cubs to a 6-3 win over San Diego. He now has 154 RBIs for the season.
• 2000 – Cub outfielder Sammy Sosa joins Mark McGwire (1997-1999) as the only major leaguer to hit 50 home runs three consecutive seasons.

Cubs Birthdays:Mark Parent, Mel Hall, Mike Garman, Gary Ross, Héctor Torres, Vito Valentinetti*, George McConnell, Gus McGinnis. Also notable, Tim Raines HOF. Robin Yount HOF.

Today in history:

• 1620 – The Mayflower departs Plymouth, England, with 102 Pilgrims and about 30 crew for the New World.
• 1830 – Oliver Wendell Holmes writes poem “Old Ironsides” as tribute to the 18th-century USS Constitution.
• 1893 – Cherokee Strip, Oklahoma, opens white settlement homesteaders.
• 1908 – Carriage maker William C. Durant founds General Motors in Flint, Michigan.
• 1920 – The “Wall Street bombing” occurs at 12:01 when a horse-drawn wagon explodes on Wall Street, New York, killing 38 and injuring 143.
• 1960 – Amos Alonzo Stagg retires as a football coach at 98 years old after a 70-year career that included his final coaching role as the kicking coach at Stockton Junior College.
• 1965 – British singer Davie Jones changes his stage name to “David Bowie” to avoid confusion with the Monkee of similar name.
• 1977 – Sire Records releases “Talking Heads: 77,” the debut studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads, featuring the single “Psycho Killer”.
• 1978 – American rockers the Grateful Dead perform last of three-night stand at the Giza Sound and Light Theater beside the Sphinx at the foot of the Great Pyramid in Egypt.
• 2023 – A massive rockslide in Greenland creates a tsunami wave in the Dickson Fjord that shakes the earth for nine days

*pictured.

The Detroit Tigers have been on a roll of late, notching their sixth straight win on Tuesday night against the Toronto Blue Jays with a 10-1 triumph at the Rogers Center. If this keeps up, perhaps AJ Hinch and Co. might just sneak into the playoffs — but do not get your hopes too high just yet.

In the final game of the series for the Motor City Kitties, right-hander Keider Montero will make his 25th start of the season looking to keep the streak alive. However, the 26-year-old has failed to get past the four-frame mark in his last two starts and got shelled in one, surrendering six runs over four innings to the Guardians in Cleveland, resulting in a 7-6 loss on Sept. 4 in the first game of a doubleheader.

Montero bounced back the next game against the Minnesota Twins in Detroit, allowing just a pair of runs — both on solo homers — over four innings in what turned out to be a 7-2 victory for the Olde English D.

Sound the old friend alert! Fellow righty Max Scherzer will take the mound for the Blue Jays in what should be the final season of his illustrious Hall of Fame career. The heterochromatic former Tiger had his best game of the season three starts ago against the Seattle Mariners at home, tossing seven frames of one-hit, shutout ball along with 10 strikeouts for his second win of the season.

The 42-year-old’s brown eye took back over in his last two appearances, resulting in a 7.59 ERA and 5.45 FIP across 10 2/3 innings on 12 hits (two home runs) and a pair of walks while striking out five, hitting a batter and getting called for a balk.

Take a look at how the two pitchers match up as Detroit goes for its second-straight sweep and seventh-straight win.

Detroit Tigers (72-79) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (75-77)

Time (ET): 3:07 p.m.
Place: Rogers Center, Toronto, Ontario
SB Nation Site:Bluebird Banter
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 152: RHP Keider Montero (9-8, 3.55 ERA) vs. RHP Max Scherzer (2-8, 6.38 ERA)

MONTERO

SCHERZER