The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Minnesota Wild in preseason game three, 4-1, at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.
Frank Nazar scored the first two goals of the game to give the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead. In the end, he deposited one in the empty net as well, giving him the preseason hat trick.
The one non-Frank Nazar goal scored by the Blackhawks came off the stick of Ryan Donato. He took advantage of a beautiful cross-ice feed by Connor Bedard, who looks as special as ever so far this exhibition season.
Frank Nazar picked a good game to have a hat trick, despite it being the preseason. Wild GM Bill Guerin is also the General Manager of Team USA, who is in the process of selecting the Olympic team. There will be plenty of chances for Guerin to watch Nazar, but this was a great opportunity for the player in that regard.
Alex Vlasic left the game with an injury and did not return. It is unclear what happened, but Jeff Blashill and the coaching staff are sure to have an answer soon enough. That would be a tough loss for Chicago if he misses any time, but it could also just be precautionary.
Drew Commesso played the whole game for the Blackhawks in net, and he was magnificent. He made 28 saves on 29 shots. The Wild had plenty of veterans and players desperate to make the roster in their lineup, so it can be chalked up as an impressive performance for Commesso as he faced strong competition.
With Spencer Knight locked in as the starter, there are two great options for backup goaltending in Drew Commesso and Arvid Soderblom. They prove it night in and night out.
The road portion of the preseason is over for Chicago. Now, they have three left, and they are all at the United Center. That starts on Tuesday with preseason number game four against the Detroit Red Wings.
At Friday’s media day, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse highlighted the team’s ability to play a variety of guard combinations, including three-guard units and “maybe a four-guard rotation at times.”
Some waiting will be required before Nurse can test all of his guard experiments.
For now, Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe are both working to gel and competing against each other at practice. Following Sunday’s session, the two were part of a small group that played 1-on-1 with a five-second limit. In the brief period open to reporters, Edgecombe fared well.
“For the most part, we’re going to have them together, but there is a good 40 percent of practice where they’re going at it,” Nurse said. “And they like to go at it after practice. … That’s good to see, too.”
Back in January, Maxey talked about his comfort in three-guard lineups with Kyle Lowry and Reggie Jackson, citing his college days alongside Immanuel Quickley and Ashton Hagans. The Sixers’ three-guard units this season project to be much more youthful.
“I think the biggest thing is you’ve got to be unselfish,” Maxey said Friday, “and you’ve got to have an open mind. …That just really helps, especially when you have dynamic shooting, dynamic playmaking, guys that can play off the catch, play off closeouts, attack the paint. … It makes you more dangerous.”
Of course, lineups loaded with guards usually have vulnerabilities. Nurse has said defensive rebounding will need to be a “collective effort” that the Sixers purposefully drill and game plan. The team struggled on the defensive glass the past two seasons.
With that said, no team is excellent in all areas. For instance, the defending champion Thunder ranked 21st last year in defensive rebounding rate, per Cleaning the Glass.
Nurse wants to identify the Sixers’ strengths and make the most of them.
“I always try to look at the positives,” he said Sunday. “You’ve got to always keep thinking of, ‘What’s our advantage here?’ … Are we faster, are we quicker? Are we better shooters? Do we have more handlers out there? Keep reminding yourself that there are advantages.
“And then you’re saying, ‘Oh my God, how are we going to guard the low post when we switch the 1-4 pick-and-roll, or the 2-3 pick-and-roll, or the 2-4 pick-and-roll?’ So yeah, we know we’ve got to work. We’ve got to drill guarding bigger people on the low block or drill schemes on the low block. … The rebounding, we’ve got to drill it and we’ve got to scheme it.
“… But I’ve always got to keep reminding myself that yeah, that’s going to be tough to guard on the low block. And yes, it’s going to be tough to rebound against size. But can we pull ‘em away and get more space? Can we get more threes because they’re too slow for us? Can we go around them and offensive rebound? … Mostly, I think it’s just making sure we put some thought into those two areas — guarding the low block and defensive rebounding.”
Believe it or not, the Buffalo Sabres and their players are not inherently terrible. Sure, there are Buffalo players you may believe to be flawed, and sure, the Sabres have been consistently sub-par for the past 14 seasons -- none of which have ended with Stanley Cup playoff games being played in Western New York. But if you look at some of Buffalo's former players, you see that they have some value across the league, even though they have a stint with the Sabres on their resume.
One former Sabre who was prominent this week was former Buffalo goalie James Reimer, who agreed to a professional tryout contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It's true Reimer would at best be Toronto's third goalie, but with the absence of veteran Joseph Woll, Reimer could become the Leafs' No. 2 option. And given that Reimer had won the Sabres' starting job at the end of this past season, you know Toronto management had to be convinced Reimer had something left to extend him this olive branch.
Meanwhile, former Buffalo winger J.J. Peterka obviously had value to other teams. The Utah Mammoth gave up a lot of trade capital to acquire Peterka this summer, but he enters the season as Utah's top left winger on a Mammoth team that many believe will take a major step forward this season. So the Sabres haven't been bereft of talent.
The problem here is clearly the chemistry and depth for Buffalo, and Sabres GM Kevyn Adams is tasked with changing the mix for his team. If he can't do that, Buffalo's streak of seasons without a playoff appearance will extend to an even more-painful 15 years.
This is also why the pressure is squarely on Sabres coach Lindy Ruff right now. No one can take away from Ruff's longevity as an NHL bench boss. He's had some serious success over the years, but nothing short of a playoff berth will save Ruff's job this year, and so he's going to have to do what all great coaches learn to do -- namely, adapt their approach to how they do business.
That doesn't necessarily mean coaches have to be drastically different in how they approach their duties, but it does mean being flexible and learning how to modify their performance to suit the needs of the players they're responsible for.
So we're not going to tell you the Sabres were 100 percent wrong to keep most of their team together this summer. That may prove to be demonstrably true, but teams have tweaked their lineup from a losing bunch one year to a playoff team the next. Adams is betting on his core, and that could ultimately be the best decision he's made in the role.
Seeing players like Peterka and Reimer be potentially big parts of a winning team should reassure Sabres fans the team isn't comically inept when it comes to identifying NHL-level talent. But the fact that many former Sabres have found success elsewhere is in its own way an indictment of Buffalo management, past and present. That's what has to change above all else.
This organization has to figure out a way to get its ducks in a row and come up with a legitimate playoff team. Because if they can't do that this year, there will be a new management group with the same goal next summer.
And Sabres fans will be all the more livid that this franchise just can't get it right.
The NHL saw several players be placed on waivers on Sep. 28. One of them was a former New Jersey Devils defenseman, as the Tampa Bay Lightning have placed blueliner Steven Santini on waivers.
Santini is currently entering his second season with the Lightning organization in 2025-26. He spent the majority of this past campaign at the American Hockey League (AHL) level with the Syracuse Crunch. In 58 games with the AHL squad in 2024-25, he posted six goals, 11 assists, 17 points, and a plus-10 rating. He also appeared in three playoff games for the Crunch this spring, recording one assist and an even plus/minus rating.
Santini also played in one game for the Lightning during the 2024-25 season, where he was held off the scoresheet.
Santini was selected by the Devils with the 42nd overall pick of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. From there, he played his first four NHL seasons with the Metropolitan Division club. In 114 games with the Devils over that span, the right-shot defenseman recorded five goals, 16 assists, 21 points, 153 blocks, 276 hits, and a minus-10 rating.
Santini's time with the Devils ended during the 2019 NHL off-season when he was traded to the Nashville Predators in the deal that sent P.K. Subban to New Jersey.
Mets right-hander Kodai Senga's third MLB season is officially over with Sunday's 4-0 loss at the Miami Marlins, a result that kept New York out of the playoffs and ended any speculation over whether or not the 32-year-old would be on the team's postseason roster.
His 2025 season ends with him going 7-6 and posting a 3.02 ERA in 22 starts for New York, plagued by the second half.
"I think it comes down to my body," Senga said through an interpreter. "I wasn't able to control my body the way I wanted to after that injury and, unfortunately, that showed up in the results on the field, too, and very disappointing that I wasn't able to contribute in that last month or so."
The Mets placed Senga on the 15-day injured list on June 13 with a right hamstring strain. He returned to New York on July 11 but was never the same, going 0-3 with a 5.90 ERA in his final nine starts through Aug. 31.
"I want to rebuild from Step 1," Senga said. "My body's changed after this injury and after various things. My body's changed, so not reflecting back on, 'My body used to do this or used to do that,' it's Step 1 again, head into the offseason, come back strong next year."
Senga elaborated on what he meant by his body changing.
"When you get injured and after you come back from injury, you're not the exact same as you were before -- that's just what that means," Senga said.
Injuries limited Senga to one start in 2024. He went 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA in 2023, his first season with the Mets.
"For example, last year, where I kind of ended the season off an injury, still kind of had to do a similar thing," he said. "But if I can make the most of the time that I have in the offseason, I can come back strong."
Senga enters the fourth season of a five-year contract that he signed in December 2022.
"That latter half of the season, it was disappointing that I wasn't able to perform out there," Senga said. "Ultimately, the decision came down to we think that somebody else pitching instead of me is going to help the team win. So, that's what it kind of comes down to."
The Ottawa Senators improved their preseason record to 2–1 on Sunday afternoon with a 2–0 victory over a New Jersey Devils split-squad at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City.
With the game still scoreless, the breakthrough finally came on a Sens power play with 4:26 left in regulation. Tim Stützle carried the puck to the high slot before losing it on a poke check, but the puck behaved like a perfect drop pass, right onto the stick of rookie Stephen Halliday.
Halliday one-timed a high snap shot over the left shoulder of Devils goaltender Georgi Romanov. For Stutzle, it was a spot of good luck in a game where he missed on a penalty shot and also rang one off the iron from in close.
For the second straight game, Ottawa faced an opponent icing what amounted to a “B” lineup. Most of the Devils' opening night lineup remained in Newark, where they fell 3–2 in a shootout to the Washington Capitals. Still, the Senators made the most of the opportunity, taking control late and closing out a tidy win.
Free-agent signing Olle Lycksell, the former Philadelphia Flyer, added insurance less than three minutes later. After a careless New Jersey drop pass at the blue line, Lycksell poked the puck away from defenseman Calen Addison, then skated in alone and slid the puck into an empty net to secure the win.
Goaltender Linus Ullmark was rarely tested but sharp when needed, turning aside all 14 shots he faced for his first shutout of the preseason. It was a welcome bounce-back after he allowed three goals in Ottawa’s exhibition opener.
On special teams, the Senators went 1-for-3 with the man advantage and were perfect on three penalty kills. Romanov was the busier of the two goaltenders, stopping 30 shots to keep the Devils in it until the late stages. That included a penalty shot where he didn't buy any of Stutzle's fancy stickhandling, turning him away effortlessly.
Both Halliday and Lycksell strengthened their cases for roster spots in Ottawa, particularly with current injuries to Drake Batherson and Lars Eller. Their availability for opening night remains possible but uncertain, leaving even more room for competition on the forward lines.
The Senators will continue their Quebec City showcase on Tuesday night, when they host the Montreal Canadiens at the Videotron Centre. The game might serve as a measuring stick as to whether winning over fans in Quebec City is truly possible, or if Montreal, despite the heated rivalry from long ago, has already taken the territory over.
One personal note before we start dispensing information: Mets fans deserved better this year. You gave so much of yourselves.
Steve Cohen asked you to show up, and you did. You were loud. Your energy rocked Citi Field nearly every night. You made Queens the center of New York baseball, even as the collapse worsened. It’s such a waste that the team didn’t give you a playoff run.
David Wright once told me that while the 2007 Mets choked, the 2008 Mets were just not quite good enough, especially in the bullpen once Billy Wagner went down. This year felt far more like ‘08 than ‘07. The Mets were short on pitching and defense, period. There isn’t a stat for choking on Baseball Savant, so my point isn’t provable — but I didn’t see a lot of what looked like a choke job. I saw guys playing hard and going about their business (full disclosure, I wasn’t in Miami).
In the end, the team simply failed to prevent runs well enough. They didn’t have enough pitching, or even close. And they might have squeaked into the postseason with better defensive personnel.
So how will that improve?
On the pitching side, don’t be surprised if the Mets are aggressive off this debacle in trying to acquire an ace.
David Stearns does not believe in using free agency to overpay top starting pitchers. But what if Paul Skenes or Sandy Alcantara can be pried from their teams? If there is a way to land one of those two without trading Nolan McLean, why wouldn’t the Mets be aggressive?
Stearns will also need to reflect on the flawed process that led to wasting money on Frankie Montas. It’s easy from my seat to cherry-pick moves that did not work, but this one stuck out as a possible example of weighing data over an overwhelming human argument against the player.
Stearns wants to be great here, running the team he has loved since childhood. He is intelligent and ambitious enough to take a long look at how he and his group arrived at certain decisions that smart folks around the industry — not just the closed-minded haters — didn’t understand.
The Mets’ young pitching depth continues to be a reason for significant optimism regarding next year’s team.
As for the defense, that will improve over the years that Stearns is running the Mets. Look at the versatile and athletic Milwaukee Brewers. Stearns mostly inherited this position player group. He will gradually bring in better defenders.
Will the manager survive?
According to sources with direct knowledge, the Mets have no plans to fire Carlos Mendoza. A change would require a series of events that was not at all in motion as the Mets finished off their collapse on Sunday evening.
You should, however, expect notable and perhaps widespread changes to the coaching staff. This feels like the biggest news to watch in the immediate aftermath.
What will happen with Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz and other stars?
It is entirely possible that both stars with opt outs played their final game at a Met on Sunday. These situations could go either way.
Obviously, there are Mets officials who would make an internal case to spread their money around on players other than a thirty-something first baseman and closer. Buckle up for more Alonso free agent uncertainty.
And would the Mets go so far as to explore a trade market for stalwarts Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo? You can rest assured that the team’s leadership will reflect as deeply as possible on how to keep the Mets pointed in the right direction.
With the Toronto Blue Jays winning the AL East title, New York (94-68) earned the top wild-card spot and will host the Boston Red Sox (89-73) in the AL Wild Card Series. All games will be played at Yankee Stadium.
Game 1 of the best-of-three set will be on Tuesday, September 30 at 6:08 p.m. on ESPN.
Game 2 will be on Wednesday, October 1 (time TBD) and, if needed, Game 3 will be on Thursday, October 2.
New York and Boston are tied 12-12 in all-time postseason matchups, with the Red Sox winning the past three playoff series between the bitter rivals (2004 ALCS, 2018 ALDS, and 2021 Wild Card Game).
The Yankees last postseason series win over the Red Sox came in the 2003 ALCS.
"It's hard to describe," Mendoza said. "I just got done addressing the team and there's no word to describe what we're going through. It's pain, it's frustration — you name it. Came in with a lot of expectations and here we are, going home.
"Not only we fell short, we didn't even get into October. And this is a team that is built not only to get to October but to play deep into October. And again — pissed, sad, frustrated, you name it."
The Cincinnati Reds' 4-2 loss Sunday at the Milwaukee Brewers meant that, with a win, the Mets (83-79) could have still found a way in. However, Mendoza's team did not do itself any favors while getting blanked by Miami (79-83).
"That's a question that we're going to have to answer here because, the whole year, I kept saying, 'We've got the talent, we've got the talent,' and here we are — we're going home," Mendoza said of why the Mets' talent could not get the results.
"I take responsibility. I'm the manager. It starts with me, and I've got to take a long look here — how I need to get better. That was a message to the whole team as well. This is unacceptable."
Mendoza, 45, led the 2024 Mets to an 89-73 record as the third wild card and reached last year's NLCS in his first year as New York's manager. He was asked if he had "any concerns at all about" his "own future, potentially, in the organization." SNY MLB Insider Andy Martino reported Sunday after the Mets' loss that the team has "absolutely no plans" to fire him.
"Since Day 1, when you're in this chair, you're on the hot seat — as simple as that," Mendoza said. "When you're managing a team that has a lot of expectations and you go home, questions like this are going to come up and that's part of it. That's it. I'm responsible, and I have to be better — as simple as that."
Barcelona secured a 2-1 comeback win against Real Sociedad on Sunday that sent them top of the La Liga standings after they turned the match around with goals from Jules Koundé and Robert Lewandowski either side of half-time.
Barcelona’s sixth win in seven matches moved the champions on to 19 points, one point above Real Madrid, as Real Sociedad remained on five points after their fourth defeat of the campaign.
New York had the incentive of knowing the Cincinnati Reds were losing in Milwaukee, and then lost to the Brewers, meaning they could earn the third wild-card spot by winning their game.
Yet they went quietly, finishing the season as the only team in the majors that lost every game in which it was trailing after eight innings.
Here are the takeaways...
-- The Marlins gave the Mets plenty of opportunities, allowing seven walks, in addition to five hits, but Carlos Mendoza’s team went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, a fitting ending of sorts for a team that was so inconsistent offensively all season, especially in RISP situations.
Their last gasp came in the eighth inning when they put runners at first and second with two outs against reliever Calvin Faucher, as both Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez struck out chasing pitches out of the strike zone.
In Alvarez’s case, on a 3-2 pitch he chased a slider outside that would have been ball four, loading the bases. He then snapped his bat in half over his knee in anger.
Marlins starter Edward Cabrera held the Mets to two hits over five innings, but also walked five hitters.
-- The Mets’ pitching plan became clear early when Mendoza pulled Sean Manaea in the second inning, after two walks put runners on first and second with two outs. He brought in Huascar Brazoban, who got out of the inning, and from there he tried to piece nine innings together by his high-leverage relievers in the early innings.
Brazoban and Brooks Raley got the game through three innings with the game scoreless, but the plan -- and the game -- unraveled in the fourth inning.
The two primary culprits were Ryne Stanek and Tyler Rogers. With a runner on first, Stanek paid for hanging a couple of sliders that Eric Wagaman and Brian Navarreto hit to the wall in left-center for RBI doubles to give the Marlins a 2-0 lead.
Rogers then came in and gave up two hard-hit balls, a triple to left-center by No. 9 hitter Javier Sanoja and a line single to center by Xavier Edwards for a 4-0 lead.
-- Doing anything to keep the game close, Mendoza went to Edwin Diaz in the fifth inning, and the Mets’ closer delivered two scoreless innings as the game stayed at 4-0.
Ryan Helsley and then Gregory Soto each pitched a scoreless inning.
-- The Mets had their best chance in the fifth inning. Trailing 4-0, they loaded the bases against Cabrera on three walks, to Ronny Mauricio, Francisco Lindor, and Juan Soto.
With two outs, Pete Alonso hit a laser toward left-center at 115.9 mph off the bat. At that exit velocity, and launch angle, the expected batting average on such a ball was .780. Yet, the speedy left fielder Sanoja sprinted to his left and made the catch on the run, as Alonso stopped in the first base line and stared, seemingly in disbelief.
Two innings earlier, with the game still scoreless, the Mets had another opportunity when Tyrone Taylor reached on an infield single to deep short, and Lindor walked.
With one out, Soto hit a ground ball up the middle, and with shortstop Otto Lopez playing him that way, it turned into an easy 6-6-3 double play to end the inning.
Game MVP: Edward Cabrera
The Marlins’ right-hander shut down the Mets over the first five innings, giving his team time to build a 4-0 lead that held up.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw waves his cap as he leaves during the sixth inning against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. (John Froschauer / Associated Press)
It was one last batter. One last strikeout. One last ovation for a future Hall of Famer.
And it ended, fittingly, on a helplessly empty swing.
In the top of the sixth inning on Sunday afternoon, in the final regular-season outing of his illustrious 18-year career, Clayton Kershaw snapped off a trademark slider that ducked below the zone. Eugenio Suárez waved at it for a strikeout like so many countless others before him.
With that, Kershaw had his seventh strikeout of the day and the 3,052nd of his career. He had completed 5 ⅓ scoreless innings, lowering his career ERA to 2.53 — the best among any starting pitcher with 1,000 career innings in the live ball era (since 1920).
In the dugout, manager Dave Roberts motioned to fellow veteran Freddie Freeman, sending the first baseman out to the mound to remove Kershaw from his last career start.
When he got there, the two exchanged an embrace, Kershaw hugged the rest of his infield teammates, and then he acknowledged a cheering T-Mobile Park crowd as he walked back to the dugout.
He donned his cap, waved his arm and disappeared down the stairs — for perhaps the very last time.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw embraces his teammates as he gets lifted from Sunday's game against the Seattle Mariners. (John Froschauer / Associated Press)
If Kershaw is to take the mound again before retirement this winter, the Dodgers will have to advance through the first round of the playoffs.
Ahead of his scoreless 5 ⅓ inning start in the Dodgers’ 6-1 win against the Seattle Mariners in Sunday’s regular-season finale, Roberts said Kershaw would not be on the team’s roster for next week’s best-of-three wild card series against the Cincinnati Reds.
The decision isn’t shocking. Kershaw was not going to feature in the starting rotation for the series. And though he could have been an option in the bullpen, the Dodgers already have an abundance of left-handed relievers.
Thus, the Dodgers (who finished the season 93-69) will have to reach at least the National League Division Series for Kershaw to pitch in a major league game again. Roberts noted that, if the team does advance, Kershaw could be an option in any capacity.
“You just don’t know how things are gonna play out,” Roberts said. “I can see him starting a game. I can see him coming in for a short burst. I can see him in long relief. I can see him in a lot of ways. I don’t think anyone can predict how that’s gonna play out. We gotta get through the wild card series, and see who’s standing after that.”
If this is the end of the line for Kershaw, he is going out on his own terms.
After being limited by injuries for much of the past three seasons — including missing all of last year’s World Series run with toe and knee injuries that ultimately required offseason surgery — the 37-year-old decided to return to the Dodgers this season for one last crack at a championship chase.
He wound up turning in one of his most impactful performances.
Though Kershaw’s 11-2 record and 3.36 ERA are no career highs, his ability to consistently produce over 23 outings this season (including a ninth-inning appearance as a reliever last week) proved to be invaluable for the Dodgers. He was a steady veteran presence early in the year, when the team was battling a wave of rotation injuries. He was a losing-skid stopper on multiple occasions over the second half, when the team nearly squandered a division lead that once was nine games.
“I don’t think we’d have won the division,” Roberts said, when asked where the team would have been without Kershaw this season.
“He delivered 10 times over for us.”
Roberts acknowledged that Kershaw exceeded all of his expectations for the aging pitcher this season. He relished watching the all-time Dodgers icon write one last memorable chapter to his legendary, record-setting MLB career.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and catcher Ben Rortvedt, center left, walk to the dugout after working the fifth inning against the Seattle Mariners. (John Froschauer / Associated Press)
“He doesn’t want handouts, he doesn’t want freebies, he doesn’t want to be a token,” Roberts said. “He was a big part of what we accomplished this year.”
And, if the Dodgers can get through this week’s wild-card series, he still might be at some point in the playoffs as well.
Ohtani sets career, club HR mark
A year after breaking the Dodgers’ single-season home run record with a career-high 54 long balls last season, Shohei Ohtani reset the high mark once again Sunday.
After two-run home runs from Hyeseong Kim and Freeman early in the game, Ohtani extended the Dodgers' lead with a solo blast to center field in the seventh. It was his 55th homer of the year, leaving him one shy of Kyle Schwarber for most in the NL.
Reds outfielder Gavin Lux celebrates after hitting a double against the Dodgers in a game at Dodger Stadium last month. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he would be scoreboard watching on Sunday afternoon.
But he insisted he didn’t care how things played out.
His team, of course, had already been locked in as the National League’s No. 3 seed, set to host a best-of-three wild card series starting Tuesday.
What wasn’t clear until the end of play on Sunday, however, was whether the Dodgers would be facing the Cincinnati Reds or New York Mets to open the postseason.
“I honestly don’t really care, I really don’t,” Roberts said. “I think the way we’re playing right now, it doesn’t matter who we play.”
In a photo finish for the NL’s final wild card berth, all the Reds needed was a win against the Milwaukee Brewers, or a Mets loss. The Mets needed a win and a Cincinnati defeat.
Turned out, the Reds got a Mets loss as the Marlins knocked off the Mets, 4-0, in Miami after Cincinnati dropped its finale to the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2.
Thus, it will be the Reds coming to Chavez Ravine this week.
Here are nine things to know about the Reds ahead of Game 1 at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday at 6:08 p.m. (ESPN):
Tito magic
On Sept. 5, the Reds appeared left for dead. They were a game under .500. They were trailing the New York Mets by six games for the final NL wild card spot. They had two other teams to catapult in the standings.
But then, they reeled off 13 wins in their next 21 games, including an 8-3 run to end the year. They clinched a playoff spot on the final day of the season, their first in a full campaign since 2013.
And they did it, first and foremost, by following the lead of their veteran manager.
At 66 years old, two-time World Series champion and three-time manager of the year Terry Francona came out of what appeared to be his managerial retirement to take another crack at contention with upstart Cincinnati.
His first season wasn’t easy, with a young pitching staff and a patchwork offense struggling to find consistency for much of the year. But over the last month, the Reds hit their stride while the Mets quickly collapsed. Now, Francona is back in the postseason for the 12th time in his 24-year career. His 44 career playoff wins are seventh-most all-time, one spot behind Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
Electric Elly
The Reds do not have an overpowering offense. They rank just 15th in scoring, 20th in batting average and 21st in home runs and slugging percentage. They have just two qualified batters with an above-league-average mark in OPS+.
One of them, however, is Elly De La Cruz.
And even at just 23 years old, he has become the biggest threat in their lineup.
In just his third MLB, De La Cruz earned his second All-Star selection while batting .264 with 21 home runs, 85 RBIs, a .774 OPS, and 37 stolen bases. In each of the last four categories, he leads the team.
A 6-foot-5, 200-pound switch-hitter, De La Cruz is prone to strikeouts (he has 178 this season) and is not hitting the ball as hard as he did last year. But he is also one of the game’s most intriguing and exciting up-and-coming talents, and will now get his first crack on a postseason stage.
Now in his sixth MLB season, Lux has still not realized the top-prospect potential he came up with in Los Angeles a half-decade ago. While he has hit a team-best .269 during his first season in Cincinnati, he has just five home runs, a .725 OPS, and a negative mark in wins-above-replacement according to Baseball Reference.
What Lux has provided to his new club, however, is some World Series-winning experience. He has gone from a young role player on the Dodgers, to something of a veteran leader with the Reds.
Lux, whom the Dodgers traded away after signing Hyeseong Kim in January, has served in a utility role this year, getting starts at second base, left field and as the designated hitter. He didn’t have a great postseason with the Dodgers last year, when he hit just .176 during the team’s title run. But now, he has a chance to help upset the team that dealt him coming into the season.
Hunter Greene homecoming
Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Hunter Greene works against the Dodgers in a game last month at Dodger Stadium. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Associated Press)
Eight years ago, the Reds drafted right-handed pitcher Hunter Greene second overall out of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks.
Now, after being a key part of their rebuild, the 25-year-old will get the chance to make his postseason debut at Dodger Stadium.
The strength of the Reds is their starting rotation, which ranks seventh in the majors in ERA this season and fourth during their surge since Sept. 6. Greene has been a key piece of the puzzle, going 7-4 with a 2.76 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 19 starts despite missing more than two months in the middle of the year with a groin strain.
Greene is one of the hardest-throwing starters in the majors, with a fastball that averages 99.5 mph and a slider that clocks in at almost 90 mph. He’s one of the sport’s best at getting chase, whiff and strikeouts, ranking fifth among pitchers with 100 innings with a 31.4% K-rate.
Greene will also be lined up for a potential Game 1 start, having not pitched since Wednesday. The start before that was perhaps the best of his career: A one-hit, nine-strikeout shutout of the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 18.
The rest of the rotation
Greene might be the most gifted Reds’ starter, but others in their rotation have been even more productive this season.
Andrew Abbott, a 26-year-old left-hander who excels at limiting hard contact, is 9-7 with a 2.80 ERA in 28 starts. Nick Lodolo, another left-hander with an excellent curveball/changeup combination, is 9-8 with a 3.30 ERA, also in 28 starts.
The team’s wins and strikeout leader is Brady Singer, a lengthy 6-foot-5 right-hander who went 14-11 with a 3.95 ERA. Zack Littell is the other member of the Cincinnati rotation, though the trade deadline acquisition hasn’t been as good with the Reds (4.39 ERA) as he was with the Tampa Bay Rays earlier this season (3.58 ERA).
The real question for next week is which of those arms are available. Abbott and Singer pitched on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, to help the Reds clinch their playoff berth. Lodolo and Littell last threw the two days before that.
Red(s)-hot closer
Emilio Pagán was no stranger to the ninth inning before this year, having recorded 33 saves in his first eight MLB campaigns.
But this year, the veteran righty has been among the most dependable closers in the majors, as one of just six relievers with at least 30 saves (he has 31) and a sub-3.00 ERA (his is 2.93).
With his fastball/splitter/cutter mix, Pagán has been especially good down the stretch, having converted five consecutive save opportunities and thrown nine consecutive scoreless innings since Sept. 8.
The Reds’ talent might pale in comparison to the Dodgers at most spots on the roster. But the reliability of their closer is one place where they have a clear edge.
Ohtani killers?
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Graham Ashcraft reacts after striking out Pittsburgh Pirates' Joey Bart during a game on Thursday. (Jeff Dean / Associated Press)
The Reds finished the season with just one left-handed pitcher, Brent Suter, in their bullpen.
But when it comes to matching up with Shohei Ohtani, they do have a couple righties with successful personal histories against him.
Set-up man Graham Ashcraft and multi-inning swingman Nick Martinez have both faced Ohtani 10 times in their careers. The soon-to-be four-time MVP is 0-for-nine in both matchups, having drawn only one walk against each.
For reference: There are only seven other pitchers against whom Ohtani is at least 0-for-nine in his career (one of them, coincidentally, is a current teammate: Clayton Kershaw).
A deep bullpen
The Reds have two other relievers to know — and they might be the best two on the team.
Right-hander Tony Santillan not only led the majors with 80 appearances this season, but did so while posting a 2.44 ERA and allowing hitters to bat only .200 against him.
Another right-hander, 24-year-old Connor Phillips, has only been a full-time fixture on the Reds’ big-league roster since mid-August. But in that time, he has allowed only three runs in 18 ⅔ innings while striking out 26 batters and giving up five total hits.
Wild-card wackiness
The Reds will be the lower-seeded underdog in next week’s series. But recent history suggests that could work to their benefit.
In three postseasons since MLB expanded its playoff field in 2022, road teams have won in eight of the 12 best-of-three wild card series — a reminder that with such a small sample size, anything is possible in the crapshoot of October.
This year will be the Dodgers’ first time playing in the new wild card round, after they secured byes to the division series in each of the past three seasons.
Angels owner Arte Moreno, on the field before a home game in 2023, has seen his team go through 10 consecutive losing seasons. (Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
The standings spoke for themselves, but the Angels’ management wanted you to know they had comprehended the lesson.
“Obviously, we’re not doing it the right way,” team president John Carpino told reporters five years ago. “We’re not winning games. So something is not right in our organization.”
That was after the 2020 season, and after five consecutive losing seasons. The Angels since have endured another five consecutive losing seasons.
The general managers have changed, and so have the managers. The only constants in this run: Carpino and owner Arte Moreno.
I wanted to ask both men to share with fans what the Angels have determined about what was not right in their organization and how they have been going about trying to fix it. Neither man was available for an interview, a team spokesman said.
The standings continue to speak for themselves. The Angels finished in last place last season, with the worst record in team history. They sank into last place again this season, the first time in 50 years the Angels finished in last place in consecutive years.
Moreno, 79, explored selling the team three years ago but is not expected to do so this winter, according to people familiar with his thinking but not authorized to speak publicly.
He might be better served, some of those people said, to wait out the collective bargaining negotiations set to start next year and see if owners can push through a salary cap, which league executives believe would increase franchise values — that is, sale prices.
When Carpino spoke about “something is not right in our organization,” he did so in discussing the dismissal of Billy Eppler as general manager. In Eppler’s five years, the Angels posted a .469 winning percentage and finished a combined 110 games out of first place.
“It was a business decision,” Carpino said of Eppler’s firing. “And we’re in the business of winning baseball games, and we just didn’t win enough over the five-year period.”
In the five years under current general manager Perry Minasian, the Angels have posted a .442 winning percentage and finished a combined 111 games out of first place.
Moreno is expected to determine this week whether to retain Minasian and manager Ron Washington, who underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery in June but would like to return. Minasian has one guaranteed year and an option year left in his contract. Washington, 73, has an option that the Angels had leaned toward picking up before he fell ill and went on medical leave.
Angeles general manager Perry Minasian, right, introduces Angels new manager Ron Washington, left, during a news conference at Angel Stadium in Nov. 2023. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
It is unlikely Moreno could lure an established general manager to replace Minasian or a current manager to replace Washington. The likes of Andrew Friedman and Dave Dombrowski have declined overtures in past years from the Angels, who never have hired a president of baseball operations to work in concert with a general manager. (Minasian’s brother, Zack, is the San Francisco Giants’ general manager, working under president of baseball operations Buster Posey.)
The Angels absolutely need to tighten up their fundamentals, including sloppy defense and baserunning that has alarmed people who advise Moreno. That is Washington’s calling card. The Angels went 36-38 under Washington and 36-52 under interim manager Ray Montgomery.
The other finalist Moreno selected when he hired Washington, Buck Showalter, is available. So is longtime Orange County resident Skip Schumaker, the 2023 National League manager of the year for the Miami Marlins.
Torii Hunter, the former Angels star and current special assistant, is interested in managing and could command a clubhouse with the kind of relentless positivity Dave Roberts brings to the Dodgers. Darin Erstad, another former Angels star, has experience teaching young players as a college coach and would be a stickler for fundamentals and accountability. Albert Pujols would like to manage; Moreno already employs him under a personal services contract.
But this all comes down to players, of course. For two years now, the Angels have talked about nurturing a quality core of young players while running out the clock on Anthony Rendon’s $245-million contract, with the idea that Moreno might then reopen his checkbook to add the final free-agent pieces to a budding contender. Rendon’s contract runs out next year.
Yet the Angels so far have developed just two young players who would unmistakably fit onto a championship roster: shortstop Zach Neto and pitcher José Soriano.
Outfielder Jo Adell could, if his 37-homer season — his first career season as a league-average hitter — is for real. Pitcher Reid Detmers could, at least as a reliever.
First baseman Nolan Schanuel and center fielder Bryce Teodosio could, if the Angels can find enough big bats to keep them in the lower half of the lineup. Catcher Logan O’Hoppe could, if his offensive and defensive regression can be corrected. Second baseman Christian Moore could, if his bat is as advertised.
That’s a lot of ifs, and even then the Angels still would have holes at third base, in the outfield, and throughout their pitching staff.
The Angels’ hitters this year led the majors in strikeouts and ranked in the bottom three in on-base percentage. The Angels’ pitchers had the highest earned-run average in the American League — as a starting corps, as a relief corps, and as a staff as a whole. The Angels’ defense, by one measure, was the worst in the AL.
The Angels can say they won nine more games this season than last — mostly thanks to better health. Five pitchers each started more than 20 games for the Angels this season; two did last season. Even still, the team’s run differential was the worst in the AL.
National analysts continue to rank their farm system as one of baseball’s thinnest; the Angels scoff and say they like their prospects. In July, however, they demoted their No. 5 starter to the minors without a minor league starter ready to fill in.
In an 11-day span, they twice used an infielder throwing 34 mph lobs to mop up a major league game, then ran out of pitchers in a triple-A game and used an infielder in a save situation (and lost the game). The lineups in recent weeks too often resembled those used on split-squad days in spring training.
I asked a high-ranking National League official whether the responsibility for persistently weak depth should properly fall upon Minasian. Sure, the official said, but then he reminded me that bidding wars are not always at the major league level, for millions of dollars. The best minor league free agents look for the best deal too, and that often is not found in Anaheim.
That is really the issue. The Angels are a major-market team operating for now as a mid-market team.
Remember last winter, when the Athletics lured pitcher Luis Severino to Sacramento for $67 million and everyone in baseball pointed out the A’s never had signed anyone for that much money?
Under Minasian, you know how many players Moreno has signed for that much money? Zero. Moreno understandably shied away from the big bucks after the Rendon and Josh Hamilton disasters, but Minasian’s record contract is $63 million, for pitcher Yusei Kikuchi.
The Angels’ major league player payroll, while in the $200-million range, ranks among the middle third of teams — and a third of that is payable to Rendon and Mike Trout. Their attendance, up slightly from last year but down about 25% from its peak, ranks among the middle third of teams. Their television revenue is down significantly from last year, after the parent company of what was then called Bally Sports emerged from bankruptcy.
All of that is why it is important for fans to hear from Moreno and Carpino what they determined was not right in their organization and how they have been going about trying to fix it. It is not evident in the standings, or to the fans deciding whether to buy tickets, or to pay to watch from home.
And then fans can decide whether to continue to appreciate affordable baseball, staffed by friendly people, in aging but comfortable Angel Stadium, or instead to enjoy championship-caliber baseball at Dodger Stadium or Petco Park.
The 2025 Mets' playoff hopes have officially ended -- along with their season.
A year that started with such high expectations coming off an NLCS appearance and big offseason ends in massive disappointment, as Sunday's 4-0 loss to the Miami Marlins officially sends the club home early.
If New York had won -- with the Cincinnati Reds (83-79) losing their final game of the season, 4-2, at the Milwaukee Brewers (97-65) -- the team would've been in.
It looked as if the Mets (83-79) were going to soar their way to the postseason after getting off to an MLB-best 45-24 start.
The only thing left to question was whether they'd win the NL East or make it in as a wild card.
However, things slowly but surely took a turn for the worse in mid-June, as Carlos Mendoza's squad went on to post a bottom-three record in baseball the rest of the way, which ultimately left it short.
Despite the ups and downs of the 2025 campaign, the Mets entered the final weekend of the regular season in control of their playoff destiny. However, Friday's 6-2 loss to the Marlins allowed the Reds to pull even in the wild-card standings with Cincinnati holding the tiebreaker.
There's plenty of finger-pointing to go around for the reasoning behind this dip.
The MLB-best rotation took a massive decline as they lost Griffin Canning, Frankie Montas, and Tylor Megill to injuries, Clay Holmes hit his career-high in innings, David Peterson was unable to maintain his All-Star form, and both Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea struggled upon returning from the IL.
Youngsters Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, and Jonah Tong provided a late-season boost, but it wasn't enough.
The offense certainly has to shoulder some of the blame as well -- they were an extremely inconsistent group despite receiving another phenomenal showing from their sluggers at the top -- Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, and Brandon Nimmo, among others.
This lineup showed the ability to do damage against anyone, but it also endured way too many extended stretches where it was among the most anemic in the league -- particularly during their numerous large skids.
Defensively, they also made way too many physical and mental errors, which quickly cost them.
And even the trade deadline reinforcements came around to backfire on David Stearns.Cedric Mullins never found his footing in the Big Apple, Ryan Helsley was a nightmare before settling into a groove, and Gregory Soto was inconsistent down the stretch.
In the end, it's just an unfortunate result for a $340 million team that got off to a terrific start.
