Category: Baseball

Red Sox pitcher Garrett Whitlock spent the final month of the 2026 season pitching through a broken leg without knowing the full extent of his injury.

The 30-year-old right-hander was diagnosed with a fractured right tibia after Boston’s elimination from the postseason at the hands of the Yankees, according to the Boston Globe.

Whitlock had been dealing with leg discomfort throughout September but continued pitching during the Red Sox’s playoff push, leading to their American League wild-card series appearance against the Yankees.

Further evaluation following Boston’s postseason exit revealed the fracture, which had not previously been diagnosed.

Despite the injury, Whitlock put together an impressive final month of the regular season.

He made eight appearances in September, allowing zero earned runs across 7 ⅓ innings while recording nine strikeouts and two walks.

Whitlock also allowed just six hits during that stretch, helping Boston secure a postseason berth.

Unfortunately, Whitlock was ineffective in the playoffs, allowing three earned runs in just 1 ⅓ innings, finishing the postseason with a 20.25 ERA.

The Red Sox were aware of his discomfort and reportedly worked with Whitlock to manage the pain, although the fracture itself remained undetected.

Fortunately for Whitlock, the fracture is not expected to require surgery, according to the Globe.

He will reportedly spend four to six weeks in a walking boot while the injury heals, with the expectation that he will be healthy enough to participate in spring training next year, assuming the season starts on time amid rumors of a potential lockout.

Whitlock finished the regular season with a career-best 1.72 ERA across 54 appearances, striking out 59 batters and walking just nine over 52 ⅓ innings.

He also recorded a career-high 26 holds while serving as one of Boston’s primary setup options ahead of closer Aroldis Chapman.

The injury adds to a season in which Whitlock already spent time on the injured list with a left knee injury and later elbow inflammation.

Whitlock remains under team control with club options for the 2027 and 2028 seasons.

The offseason is in full swing and teams will be looking ahead to the moves they want to make. There can’t be any action until after the World Series has concluded, but that doesn’t mean teams can’t have discussions with players about their futures ahead of the potential lockout that is looming in early December.

One of the possible futures is a contract extension.

We saw the Rockies extend Mickey Moniak earlier this season, but there are a few others who might be candidates: Hunter Goodman, Jake McCarthy, and/or Cole Carrigg.

Goodman is a two-time All-Star and became the first Rockie to hit 40+ home runs in a season since Nolan Arenado in 2019. He also set all sorts of records both for catchers, Rockies, and Rockies catchers.

McCarthy was traded for last offseason and immediately made an impact on the roster. He became a threat all over the basepaths and set a tone for what the Rockies are potentially looking for in players.

Carrigg is “Mr. Utility” and that was on display this year. The switch-hitting INF/OF’s “hair on fire” style of play was on full display in 2026. While he is merely a rookie, we’ve seen plenty of teams extend young players in their first or second year.

What do you think, Rowers? Which of these players are prime candidates for an extension, or might they all be? Let us know in the comments!

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

The Dodgers don’t believe the National League Championship Series rematch with the Brewers will be anything similar to what transpired in 2025.

LA swept the Brewers in four games on its quest to back-to-back World Series titles last year. Now, the Dodgers are looking to beat Milwaukee for a shot at a three-peat.

Mookie Betts said the Dodgers understand the Brewers are much improved team from last season.

“You got to keep them completely separate… they have more experience. They’re just better,” Betts said.

Betts is certainly accurate in his assessment of Milwaukee, who boasts the best record in baseball. Both the Dodgers and Brewers ended the regular season with a 100 wins, but it’s evident LA isn’t viewing the NLCS as a guaranteed win.

Both teams are incredibly deep in all facets so the series is bound to come down to the little things. Whichever team is nearest perfection will like be the group representing the NL in the 2026 Fall Classic.

The NLCS is not a David and Goliath situation. It’s two juggernaut baseball teams built completely differently, but both incredibly lethal.

Artificial Intelligence has already infiltrated Major League Baseball.

In a recent appearance on Foul Territory, Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy discussed how teams around the league are utilizing AI to their advantage.

“I think [AI] is becoming way more and more prevalent. I’ve heard of a couple of teams starting to use AI programs,” Muncy said.

“You plug in pitches and the AI program points differences on where the glove is and hand position. That’s what you have been beginning to see with first and third base coaches.”

The Dodgers don’t appear to be implementing AI into their game strategies, but as technology advances, it’s no surprise professional sports teams have begun to utilize new and improved methods.

Tipping pitches can be especially costly in the postseason, when a team’s season is on the line. The Brewers, who the Dodgers will face in the National League Championship Series starting Sunday, managed to deduce Mason Miller’s breaking ball in Game 2 of the NLDS.

Miller blew the save after Brewers’ Sal Frelick tapped his neck at second base before Jackson Chourio laid off a slider that would have resulted in a strikeout and a Padres win.

Did Milwaukee use AI? That’s the million dollar question.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

The White Sox have played only one max-series playoff game ever: The 6-4 loss to Oakland in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series in 2020. But there are at least three other do-or-die regular season games as well, all having a direct impact on the postseason.

As we head into a very rare beast in the White Sox universe — a do-or die game for the White Sox and their opponent as we’ll have in this year’s ALDS Game 5 — let’s look back on the others in club history.

October 6, 1908
Regular season finale
Detroit Tigers 7, Chicago White Sox 0
The White Sox entered their final series of the season back at home, trailing first-place Detroit by 2 ½ games. So on the White Sox side, this was three straight do-or-die games (and, technically, their 3-2 win at Cleveland in their final road game of the year was do-or-die for the Pale Hose as well).

A 3-1 win in the Sunday opener of the series saw the White Sox strike for three in the first inning, and starter Doc White did the rest, holding Detroit to five hits in the complete-game win. The South Siders in fact struck just two hits in the game, but with no play-by-play data it’s hard to figure out how and why runs scored. Left fielder Patsy Daughterty had one of the team’s two hits, one of the two RBIs, and three steals to torment the Tigers. Despite the 15,000 capacity of the West Side Grounds, 26,000 fans were counted as in attendance for the game.

On Monday, the White Sox offense was much more robust, pounding out 11 hits in a 6-1 win that would make the season finale a nail biter for both teams. The 5-7 spots in the order (second baseman George Davis, shortstop Freddy Parent, catcher Billy Sullivan,) all had two hits apiece and drove home four of the team’s six runs. The Pale Hose staked Big Ed Walsh to a 5-0 lead by the fifth and the Chicago ace did the rest, striking out nine against one walk and four hits en route to his 40th win of the season. The White Sox were now just a half-game from a pennant and closer to first place than any day since June 24, with the title boiling down to the season’s final day.

On Tuesday, White was selected to go on two days’ rest and could face just four batters, touched for three hits and two runs with just a K to his name; next in was Walsh on one day’s rest, and he fared little better: five hits and three runs in 3 2/3 innings. Coupled with that was the death of the Chicago bats, who mustered just two singles, and desiccation of its leather, piling up SIX errors in the game.

And yes, the Chicago Cubs had clinched the National League pennant, so the baseball world was one game from a second all-Chicago World Series in three years. Detroit went on to roll over to the Cubs in the Fall Classic in just five games.

September 30, 2008
Game 163 Tiebreaker
Chicago White Sox 1, Minnesota Twins 0
Nearly a century later on the dot came the second time the White Sox saw their postseason hopes come down to the final day of the season, and just like the club of 1oo years previous it took a succession of wins to even reach a do-or-die game.

The White Sox had spent the vast majority of the season in first place, although never by more than six games. Over the course of the season the rival Twins had caught them, and even passed, several times over the course of the year. But just as the White Sox were enjoying their longest stranglehold on first of the year, three weeks comprising almost all of September, the Pirhañas struck back one last time — and perhaps with a fatal blow: A 7-6 win in 10 innings at the Twinkiedome had put Minny back in first with just three games to play (the White Sox had four remaining). Making matters worse, the White Sox dropped their next two contests, at home, vs. Cleveland. In what was becoming a race to the bottom, the Twins had also lost their next two games, keeping their lead wafer-thin, at a half-game.

Minnesota had one game left to play, a Sunday finale hosting Kansas City, an easy 6-0 win. The White Sox countered with a 5-1 win over Cleveland behind Mark Buehrle, forcing a makeup of a rain-postponed game from September 13, hosting Detroit. Game 162 for the White Sox was a hairy one, as former hero Freddy García faced his former mates and largely shut them down on two hits and one walk over a scoreless five innings. But the White Sox opened the sixth with a walk and stolen base from DeWayne Wise, running García from the game. Armando Galarraga wild-pitched Wise to third, and then to home, slicing Detroit’s lead in half, at 2-1. Three straight walks had packed the sacks, and on the first pitch from reliever Gary Glover, Alexei Ramírez did this:

It was a rookie record fourth grand slam for Ramírez, who also tied Albert Belle for the most grand slams in a season by a White Sox player. It was a fatal blow for the Tigers, and the White Sox pocketed win No. 88 on the season, 8-2.

Minnesota, forced into a tiebreaker game by the pesky White Sox, came to Sox Park for a do-or-die game for both teams, and it was a classic — the very first Blackout Game. John Danks was masterful over eight innings, yielding two hits and helped by an all-time great White Sox moment, as Ken Griffey Jr. gunned down Michael Cuddyer at home plate to end the fifth inning a scoreless tie:

Two innings later, Jim Thome led off the seventh inning with one of the best combinations of high-leverage and long distance in White Sox history:

The 1-0 lead held up, and the White Sox were postseason-bound after becoming the first and only team in major league history to win three straight games against three different opponents, regardless of the time of season or circumstance.

Michael Kenny recounted the game in 2018 in his 2008 White Sox retrospective for South Side Sox. The Cheat had the in-the-moment coverage for us in 2008, but sadly those stories (written in html code boxes?) are now just comprised of a few photographs.

October 1, 2020
Game 3, AL Wild Card Series
Oakland A’s 6, Chicago White Sox 4
On the heels of a late collapse during the pandemic season that saw the White Sox drop from first place to a first-round road assignment in the space of five days thanks to four losses in five games, the White Sox had rebounded nicely with a 4-1 win in Game at Oakland thanks to Lucas Giolito going six perfect innings to start the game, and seven strong. The A’s jumped on Dallas Keuchel early in Game 2 and held on for a 5-3 win, which forced the only do-or-die playoff game for both teams over the first 120 years of White Sox baseball.

In a game that saw the White Sox use nine pitchers and Oakland eight, the A’s advanced, 6-4, rallying from down 3-0 in the third.

The resulting outrage over Renteria’s pitching deployment in the game, punctuated by his hunched posture in the dugout during the game, was said to be the cause of his firing; I have long suspected Renteria was dismissed because he wasn’t willing to be demoted to bench coach to allow Tony La Russa to cosplay as a big-league manager one more time.

Leigh Allan had our recap coverage, with Joe Kiang-Resis providing the Six Pack.

With only one postseason do-or-die in 126 years of White Sox baseball, a win on Saturday in Cleveland will even the ledger at 1-1. It’s a tall order, and the similarities to 2020 (relative collapse down the stretch, completely taxed arms) are daunting. But Game 5 will be played, and the game starts 0-0 and runs nine innings. Let’s see how it plays out.

The Dodgers entered the postseason with the best rotation of any team on paper, led by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who proved to be practically superhuman in the World Series last year.

However, with Blake Snell tweaking his right groin muscle in his penultimate regular-season start, Tyler Glasnow pitching better after a rough patch in early September and Tarik Skubal experiencing his first Dodgers playoff run, some questions remained unanswered.

Then the group gave up just four runs, one from each pitcher, during their National League Division Series win over the Atlanta Braves. Their collective 1.69 ERA was second in the postseason to only the Tampa Bay Rays (1.65 ERA), who swept the Yankees in the American League Division Series.

“We locked in and did a pretty good job,” Glasnow said Friday. “All of us together are so close. We root each other on, we help each other throughout the week.”

Read more:'I just want chaos.' Don't expect Dodgers to sweep Brewers again in NLCS

In the Dodgers’ quest for a third straight World Series title, the rotation is going to have to serve as the backbone.

“It certainly makes life easier for the team, the bullpen, if the starters are good,” said manager Dave Roberts during a conference call. “I think we’ve got the best rotation top to bottom in baseball, and it’s nice to be able to reset the rotation and get these guys going. And obviously, it gives a chance to also minimize certain looks from our guys out of the ‘pen.”

Skubal is set to start Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. By ending the NLDS in four games, the Dodgers avoided having to pitch Skubal in a Game 5, making it simpler to line up the rotation. Skubal should be available for a potential Game 5, on regular rest.

The Dodgers were thinking about the NLCS when they decided to pitch Yamamoto in Game 3 against the Braves instead of Game 1. So, he’s lined up to pitch in Game 2 and 6 of the NLCS.

“From there, we’re just going to keep talking through it,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers have shown promising signs in other areas. They hit two home runs off Braves ace Chris Sale and forced him to hand the ball over after five innings in Game 3. The back end of the bullpen settled into a rhythm with Tanner Scott serving as the setup man and Edwin Díaz reestablishing himself as the closer.

The success, however, started with the rotation.

“They did what they had to do,” Kiké Hernández said. “They kept us in games when we weren’t scoring. Not surprised.”

The Dodgers lost Game 2 after Snell exited with two outs in the fourth inning. It was the shortest outing of any of the Dodgers’ starters, but he still held the Braves to one run.

Snell, however, was coming off a disjointed pitching schedule because of the injury. With his postseason experience, he could settle into a better rhythm as the playoffs continue.

Glasnow didn’t quite make it through the fifth inning in Game 4, exiting with two outs. But with runs at a premium, and more off days built into the postseason, shorter starts are common. Glasnow’s five walks drove up his pitch count, but he gave up only one hit.

In Game 1, Skubal gave the Dodgers exactly what they hoped for when they acquired him at the trade deadline. He limited the Braves to two hits over six innings.

“I’ve executed every pitch that I throw thousands of times,” Skubal said after his start. “So just trust that, trust the work that you put in. It sounds simple to try and live one pitch at a time, but I think it’s pretty difficult given [the] circumstances.”

Yamamoto raised the bar even higher: seven innings of one-run ball. His 10 strikeouts were a playoff career high.

Read more:Nine concerns the Dodgers should have about facing the Brewers in the NLCS

Yamamoto also made it clear that, like last year, he would be willing to pitch out of the bullpen or on short rest if needed.

“I’m going to get myself ready for any situation,” he said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda this week. “If they want me to go out, then I go out. But for me, just those are key things for me. Postseason is just focusing on the game right in front of me.”

The Dodgers, planning on a deep run, didn’t tax their starting pitchers heavily in their first round. That gives them the option to lean on the rotation even more against the Brewers.

“We’re all kind of in the prime of our careers, and we’re all evolving and continuing to get better and grow,” Snell said last weekend. “I think the coolest part about the whole group that no one gets to see is really how much we talk about pitching. It’s very unique. It doesn’t happen everywhere. For all of us to kind of be pushing for each other to be great, it’s a really cool starting staff to be a part of.”

Roster decision

The Dodgers plan to carry a roster of 13 pitchers and 13 position players in the NLCS, Roberts said, one more pitcher and one fewer position player than last round.

In the NLDS, the Dodgers left left-handed relievers Justin Wrobleski and Jack Dreyer off the roster. They carried rookie pinch-hitter Josue De Paula and pinch-runner/utility player Hyeseong Kim.

It remains to be seen if Miguel Rojas will be part of the roster. Rojas tweaked his back in Game 3 when his feet slid out from under him in the slick grass in shallow right field as he made an on-target throw to first base. He left the game in the middle of his next at-bat, aggravating the injury on a swing. He did not play in Game 4.

“Today was encouraging,” Roberts said. “He had imaging, and a lot of it was kind of stuff that he has had prior history. So, we’ve still got a flight to get on. See how he comes in tomorrow for the workout there. So there’s nothing definitive. But I will say today was a step in the right direction. He took ground balls and took a couple rounds of [batting practice]. So that was good to see.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Dodgers are planning to cut a position player from their playoff roster for their upcoming National League Championship Series against the Brewers.

For now, though, they are hopeful that injured veteran infielder Miguel Rojas won’t have to be the casualty.

Rojas remains questionable to be on the Dodgers’ NLCS roster, according to manager Dave Roberts, after he suffered a back injury in Game 3 of the NL Division Series this past week that left him unavailable for the team’s series-clinching victory in Game 4 over the Braves.

However, during a video conference with reporters on Friday, Roberts said Rojas is feeling better and took “a step in the right direction” during a team workout at Dodger Stadium.

“Today was encouraging,” Roberts said. “He took ground balls and took a couple rounds of BP. So that was good to see.”

Roberts emphasized that there is “nothing definitive” yet on Rojas’ status for the best-of-seven matchup against the Brewers, with the team waiting to see how he comes through another workout on Saturday after it travels to Milwaukee ahead of Game 1.

“We’ve just got to be certain that if we do have him on [the roster], he can stay healthy,” Roberts said, wary of the possibility of having to remove Rojas from the roster mid-series because of his injury, which would leave him ineligible for a potential World Series under MLB’s playoff roster rules.

But, Roberts also noted that an MRI revealed no new injury in Rojas’ back — just “stuff that he has had prior history” with — and reiterated that he was “encouraged, again, with what I saw today.”

If Rojas is good to go, then the Dodgers will have to trim another position player from their roster for the NLCS, with the team planning to carry 13 pitchers for the best-of-seven matchup instead of the 12 it had for the five-game divisional round.

The most likely candidate would be Hyeseong Kim, who was called up from Triple-A for the NLDS to serve as a pinch-running and defensive specialist. All the Dodgers’ other reserves (besides unused backup catcher Hunter Feduccia) made important contributions to their NLDS triumph — including rookie sensation Josue De Paula, who drew a pinch-hit walk during Wednesday’s go-ahead seventh-inning rally in Game 4. 

As for the extra pitcher the Dodgers could add: Justin Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan and Jack Dreyer would figure to be the foremost candidates.

“After we get off this call,” Roberts said Friday afternoon, “I’m gonna get with the guys and figure out what arm we’re going to add.”

Rojas initially got hurt while playing second base in Game 3 on Tuesday — in what was his second straight start for the two-time defending champions as an extra right-handed bat in their lineup against an opposing left-handed starter.

He said he tweaked his back while fielding a critical ground ball that got the Dodgers out of a fifth-inning jam, then felt continued discomfort after fouling a pitch off in an eighth-inning at-bat that ultimately forced him out of the game.

Rojas was initially optimistic the issue would be minor but woke up on the morning of Game 4 feeling “sore and uncomfortable,” preventing him from partaking in any baseball activities that day.

“Tomorrow we will know a little bit more about where my back is,” he said during the team’s clubhouse celebration on Wednesday night. “Looking forward to being able to play in the next series.”

Though Rojas would likely be back in primarily a bench role for the NLCS (the Brewers have just one left-hander in their playoff rotation), his presence is nonetheless important — as a trusted right-handed bat; a defensive option at second base, third base and shortstop; and a steadying veteran presence in his 13th and likely final big-league season.

“We still have a plane flight, there’s another workout, and there’s no deadline right now; we’re not up against it,” Roberts said. “So we have time to ultimately make that decision.”

Slow news day, eh?

The Atlanta Braves are out, the 2026 NLCS is set and the winner-take-all Game 5 in the ALDS between the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Guardians won’t be happening until tomorrow night, so we’re getting a sneak peek at what the offseason is going to feel like. It’s not fun, now is it?

Still, come on in and hang out. If you’ve got predictions for the ALDS, drop ‘em in the comments. If you’re hunkering down in the path of Hurricane Isaias, give us a thumbs up if you’re making it through. If you’re having something fun for dinner, let us know below.

Let’s have a chill evening, folks. Here’s a random clip for you as well:

When the Dodgers set their starting rotation for the National League Division Series, they did so with the NL Championship Series in mind.

And now that they’ve reached the NLCS, after eliminating the Braves in a four-game NLDS this past week, they have their pitching plans exactly where they want them.

For a second straight series, Tarik Skubal will once again be the team’s Game 1 starter against the Brewers on Sunday, manager Dave Roberts announced during a Friday video conference with reporters, setting up the reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner to square off with this year’s presumptive Cy Young winner in Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski.

After that, Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be bumped up for Game 2, representing a shift from the NLDS when Yamamoto didn’t start until Game 3.

The Dodgers had pushed back Yamamoto’s start in the NLDS to keep him on his normal once-per-week pitching schedule, sliding Blake Snell in as their Game 2 starter instead.

The move briefly seemed questionable, after Snell managed only 3 ⅔ innings in a five-walk, one-run start in the team’s Game 2 loss.

However, Yamamoto calmed the waters by outdueling Chris Sale in Game 3, producing a seven-inning, one-run gem that lowered his career postseason ERA to 2.14 (second-best in the last 100 years among pitchers with at least 10 playoff starts, behind only Madison Bumgarner).

Now, just as the team envisioned, Yamamoto will be able to start twice in the NLCS — set to go on five days of rest for Monday’s Game 2, then on five days of rest again for a potential Game 6.

Snell, meanwhile, seems likely to pitch in Game 3. Tyler Glasnow would be the logical Game 4 choice. Skubal could go on four days of rest for Game 5.

“I think we’ve got the best rotation top to bottom in baseball,” Roberts said. “And it’s nice to be able to reset the rotation and get these guys going.

Indeed, the Dodgers’ rotation figures to represent their biggest matchup advantage over the Brewers. In last year’s NLCS sweep against Milwaukee, a quartet of Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani combined to give up just two runs in 28 ⅔ innings while combining for 35 strikeouts against the Brewers’ overmatched lineup.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

One key to their success then: The Dodgers’ rotation peppered the Brewers’ contact-happy lineup with a heavy dose of off-speed and breaking pitches.

Snell spammed them with a flurry of changeups in a scoreless eight-inning masterpiece. Yamamoto leaned on his splitter and curveball in the first of his two complete-game performances last October. Glasnow abandoned his trademark four-seam/curveball combination for a mix of more sinkers and sliders in a 5 ⅔-inning start. Ohtani threw the kitchen sink at them with a seven-pitch arsenal in his iconic 10-strikeout, three-homer outburst in Game 4.

In those games, only Yamamoto didn’t significantly decrease his fastball usage compared to his regular-season average.

The plan worked, getting the Brewers to uncharacteristically chase more often and whiff on one-third of all their swings in the series.

Roberts was careful to note on Friday that this is a new year, and that the Brewers pose a different challenge than they did back then.

“They’ve got another year under their belt,” Roberts said. “They’re just a lot more confident.”

Still, the Dodgers will hope to replicate their pitching success once again, inserting the newly acquired Skubal in for the injury-hampered Ohtani in a starting rotation they hope can carry them to a third straight NL pennant.

Winning the National League Division Series in four games afforded the Dodgers the luxury of setting their starting rotation exactly the way they wanted for the next round. Tarik Skubal gets the ball in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Brewers, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 to cover the first two games of the series in Milwaukee, manager Dave Roberts said via Zoom on Friday.

Skubal struck out seven in six innings in his win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the NLDS. This will be the fourth Game 1 start for Skubal, who has a 1.97 ERA in seven career postseason starts, with 63 strikeouts and seven unintentional walks in 45 2/3 innings, and he’s lasted at least six innings in all seven starts.

Yamamoto added to his legend in Game 7 of last year’s World Series, getting the final eight outs of Game 7 one day after starting and pitching six innings in Game 6. He’s the only pitcher in postseason history to win five straight road appearances while allowing no more than one run in each game, a streak that began in Game 2 of last year’s NLCS, also in Milwaukee.

Ahead of his NLDS start, Yamamoto expressed willingness to start on short rest or pitch of out of the bullpen if needed when asked.

“I’m going to get myself ready for any situation. If they want me to go out, then I go out,” Yamamoto said, with interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “But for me, just those are key things for me. Postseason is just focusing on the game right in front of me.”

But this far, every one of Yamamoto’s 86 MLB starts — including 10 in the postseason — have come with at least five days rest, and Game 2 comes with five days rest after his 10 strikeouts in seven innings on Tuesday in Atlanta. And starting Yamamoto in Game 2 of a best-of-7 series would allow him to also start in Game 6 on five days rest, while Games 1 and 3 starters would start in Games 5 and 7 on four days rest.

“It’s more looking at how he’s gotten his rest this year, and what gives him the best chance to pitch potentially two games, Games 2 and 6,” Roberts said. “With the off days and the game schedule, that’s probably the best way to manage it.”

In a season full of swings, Anthony Volpe nearly saved his best for last. 

Alas, what initially looked like a game-tying, two-run homer in Game 3 of the ALDS could not be saved by the second coming of Jeffrey Maier, and a few innings later, the Yankees were swept by the Rays. 

But Volpe’s near-moment, after a season in which he was twice demoted to Triple-A after losing his job as the Yankees starting shortstop, was a reminder that he may still have a place in the future of the organization, namely as their second baseman next season. 

There is a long way to go between now and whenever (or if) baseball begins in 2027 — due to the looming lockout — but as the Yankees enter the offseason, Volpe has at least given himself a chance to find a home again in pinstripes, as George Lombard Jr.’s double-play partner. 

“If we were going to go win a World Series, we needed Anthony Volpe on the team,” Aaron Judge said late Wednesday night. “He’s an incredible player, not only the talent he has, but to handle that type of adversity — not only from the game, not playing your best and then hearing it from fans, hearing it from everybody, and then for him to go down to Triple-A, work on what he needed to and then come up here with a bang like he did, it speaks volumes to his character and the type of grit he has.” 

It was not long ago that Volpe was at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, looking like a player who might benefit from a change of scenery in a trade this offseason. It is not out of the question that the 25-year-old could still be dealt this winter, depending on how the Yankees offseason shakes out. But with Jazz Chisholm Jr. headed to free agency and unlikely to return (despite his wishes), Volpe at the very least looks like a placeholder at second base, if not something more. 

In the Yankees’ five playoff games, Volpe started over Chisholm twice. The first came against Red Sox lefty Payton Tolle in Game 1 of the AL wild-card series before Chisholm’s untrustworthiness led to Volpe starting again in Game 3 of the ALDS against Rays righty Nick Martinez with the season on the line. 

Aaron Boone even considered starting Volpe at third base, a position at which he has played just one career major league game, for Game 2 against the Rays before deciding not to risk his first game there on Tropicana Field’s turf coming in the playoffs (though the decision to stick with Ryan McMahon still ultimately burned the Yankees). 

That Volpe was at second base for Game 3 was an indictment of Chisholm, but it also spoke to how the club believes in Volpe’s makeup, which was reinforced with how he responded to the demotion to Triple-A when he was replaced by Lombard after the trade deadline. 

“Volpe, what he’s able to do, talk about facing adversity, and what’s it tell you about him and his character and his makeup and his ability?” Boone said. “The way he’s come back and the level of at-bats he’s throwing up there [in Game 3], getting off the mat.” 

While Volpe hit 3-for-7 with a double and two strikeouts in his two playoff games this year, it remains a question what the Yankees could get out of him offensively next season. The demotion to Triple-A gave him the time to make some adjustments in his swing — ones he couldn’t fully make last offseason, which he spent most of rehabbing shoulder surgery — most notably using a stepback with his back foot to get him in a better rhythm. 

In the 14 regular-season games he played after coming back up from Triple-A, he hit .265 with a .695 OPS, one home run and five steals. Whether there is more where that came from (meaning more than his career .661 OPS across four seasons) remains to be seen. 

Volpe did look comfortable at second base, where his arm plays better and gives him more time to not have to rush plays, and it might just be his ticket to staying in The Bronx next year after a turbulent season. 

“I just wanted to stay in the moment,” Volpe said late Wednesday night. “I haven’t really even gotten to think of what’s happened or what happened to me or this year, anything like that, or how to get better from it. I just always tried to stay in the moment and do what I could do every single day to make myself the best player I can be, the best teammate, the best Yankee, everything.”

One round of the playoffs down, two to go, and Shohei Ohtani still looks nothing like Shohei Ohtani.

The Dodgers have moved him around their lineup almost on a game-by-game basis, as if they’re looking for a place to hide him without embarrassing him. If they really believe that “it’s going to click for him” at some point, as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the other night, they have a strange way of showing it.

Statistically, Ohtani was in an even worse place last October, as he batted .121 over an eight-game stretch early in the postseason. The Dodgers kept Ohtani in his customary leadoff spot and he blasted three home runs in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. He went on to homer three more times in the World Series. Sticking by Ohtani was an easy decision then, as the Dodgers were certain his problems were mechanical and not physical.

As much as Friedman and others have claimed that’s also the case this year, how they have used him indicates they are exaggerating, if not downright lying, about how confident they are about the health of his right arm and left knee.

Ohtani could also be experiencing discomfort in other areas of his body.

Last month, before Ohtani was placed on the injured list, he was known to be dealing with discomfort in his hip and neck. This week, in his final at-bat in Game 3 of the NL Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, he grabbed his lower back after fouling off a pitch.

Heading into the NL Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Ohtani is 2 for 13 without any extra-base hits in this postseason.

So, what now? 

What do the Dodgers have to do with Ohtani?

The simple answer: Nothing different.

No need to drop him any further than fourth or fifth in the lineup. No need to replace him as the starting designated hitter. No need to shut him down. 

Keep running him out there – but not because manager Dave Roberts said that Ohtani is “going to come to life.” Ohtani last homered on Aug. 18, and it would be unrealistic to count on him to start launching balls into the stands again.

Here’s what Ohtani is doing: He’s reaching base.

He was on base at least once in every one of the four games of the NLDS. In 16 plate appearances, he walked twice and got on base a total of five times.

That’s an incredibly low bar for a four-time MVP, but that’s not how Ohtani should be judged right now. Rather, he has to be evaluated as one of the team’s 26 active players.

For a pitching-dependent team that isn’t expected to score runs in bunches – they averaged 3.5 runs per game in the NLDS – Ohtani is contributing enough offensively. He might be missing hittable pitches and reaching for too many that are outside of the strike zone, but opposing pitchers continue to treat him with a certain level of respect. That’s worth something, and it would be naive to think replacing him with Josue De Paula would represent an upgrade.

In the series-clinching win over the Braves on Wednesday, Ohtani drew a second-inning walk against starter Tyler Mahle, then stole second base. A resulting errant throw by Braves catcher Sean Murphy allowed Ohtani to advance to third base, from which he was able to score when shortstop Maurico Dubón dropped a popup by Max Muncy in shallow left field.

The run tied the game, 1-1. 

If Ohtani hadn’t scored, the game would have taken on an entirely different feel, as the Dodgers would have spent the night chasing the Braves instead of attempting to just wear them down.

In the game before that, Ohtani reached base on a catcher’s interference call to load the bases against Chris Sale. The Dodgers failed to score that inning, as Miguel Rojas lined out for the third out, but the plate appearance was nonetheless productive in that it elevated Sale’s pitch count and stressed the former Cy Young Award winner.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

Sale, who pitched a complete-game shutout against the Dodgers in late August, was removed from the game after just five innings.

So, there’s nothing wrong with Friedman’s insistence that Ohtani will continue playing in the upcoming NLCS against the Brewers.

Whether Ohtani is hitting or not, the best version of the Dodgers’ lineup has him in it. 

And while he might be incapable of being a consistent threat in these playoffs, who’s to say he won’t run into a pitch in a critical moment? 

At this point, his chances aren’t any worse than any of his potential replacements.