He suffered the non-contact injury during Thursday’s training camp practice at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale.
Joining the show this week to discuss the fallout from the Barkov injury was Panthers studio host Jessica Blaylock.
In addition to the discussion about Barkov, which included listing players who could step up in his absence and how the forward lines could shake out, they also chatted with Jess about how the Atlantic Division could shake out, whether Alexander Ovechkin is still a Top 50 player in the NHL and which sports movies she watched as a youngster that helped shape her career in sports journalism.
This week’s wins and fails included some new old uniforms in Minnesota, an OHL coach being showered with broken glass, someone showing up for a Dallas Stars game dressed in full goalie gear, a gorgeous new goalie mask in South Florida and a ridiculous fail by the San Jose Sharks that ended up in the rafters of their home arena.
You can check out the full show and interview with Jessica in the videos below:
Ryan Greene is one of the many Chicago Blackhawks prospects who have the potential to blossom into impactful NHL players in the near future. Because of this, there is no question that the 21-year-old forward is a Blackhawks prospect to watch with the 2025-26 season almost here.
Greene got his first taste of NHL action this past season after signing his entry-level contract with the Blackhawks in April. In two games with the Blackhawks following this, he recorded one shot and three blocks. Overall, while the 2022 second-round pick did not get on the board offensively, he showed promise with his two-way play.
When looking at Greene's play at Boston University, there is no question that he has good potential. In 118 games over three seasons with the school, he recorded 34 goals, 71 assists, and 105 points. He also ended his collegiate career by having his best season, setting career highs with 13 goals, 25 assists, and 38 points in 40 games. With this, he has certainly been trending in the right direction with his development.
Now, Greene is gearing up for his first full professional season in 2025-26. Whether he starts the year with the Blackhawks or in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs, he is undoubtedly a player to keep a very close eye on this campaign.
CHICAGO — Pete Crow-Armstrong hit his 30th homer Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals, making the speedy Chicago Cubs center fielder the first player in franchise history to go deep 30 times in a season along with stealing 30 bases and hitting 30 doubles.
The 23-year-old Crow-Armstrong also joined Sammy Sosa as the second Cub to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases. Sosa did it in 1993 and 1995.
The left-handed hitting All-Star smacked a high curve from Miles Mikolas 396 feet into the right-center bleachers for a two-run shot that gave Chicago a 3-0 lead with two outs in the fourth. The drive was Crow-Amstrong’s second homer in his last 29 games.
Crow-Armstrong is batting .245 in his third major league season. He has 35 stolen bases and 37 doubles.
NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani topped Major League Baseball’s jersey sales for the third straight year heading into the end of the regular season as Paul Skenes and Cal Raleigh entered the top 20.
MLB’s top seven remained unchanged from its listing at the All-Star break. Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way star, was followed by New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman and shortstop Mookie Betts, New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and outfielder Juan Soto, and San Francisco third baseman Rafael Devers.
Ohtani is just the fourth player to lead in three consecutive years after Derek Jeter (2010-12), Judge (2017-19) and Betts (2020-22). MLB started keeping track of sales in 2010.
Skenes, set to win the NL ERA title in his second season with Pittsburgh, was 18th. Raleigh, a Seattle catcher who entered Friday leading the major leagues with 60 home runs, was 20th. Both failed to make the top 20 list at the All-Star break.
Also finishing among the top 20 for the first time were Boston outfielder Jarren Duran at 13th and Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong at 16th.
Philadelphia first baseman Bryce Harper moved up two slots to eighth, dropping Houston second baseman Jose Altuve and San Diego outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. each down one.
Atlanta outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. was 11th, followed by Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who plans to retire after the postseason and finished among the top 20 for the 12th time.
Cincinnati shortstop Elly De La Cruz was 14th, Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 15th, New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso 17th and San Diego third baseman Manny Machado 19th.
MLB’s list tracked sales on Fanatics’ sites, including MLBShop.com, since opening day.
In the week leading up to the AFL grand final, official footy media has been united in polite admiration. Geelong may not be the finalist that most excites the narrative, but there is mutually agreed praise for the fact that they are here again, contending again, another year defying the AFL cycle driven by salary caps and draft picks that sifts teams down to the bottom half of the competition after a season or five near the top. Deeper into the crevices of the internet, politeness fades, with diehards of other footy allegiance more likely to say that they are sick of the bloody Cats who should piss off and give someone else a turn.
On pure statistics, this is fair. As a fully disclosed Geelong person claiming no objectivity while anxious for another win, I might be accused of gluttony at the buffet. In truth, though, in 2025 I want this one bad. It doesn’t feel like one more inevitable year in an era of unbridled success. Let me explain before you put a foot through your screen. The numbers are admittedly awesome in the last 22 seasons: 19 finals series, 14 prelims, seven grand finals, four premierships and hunting a fifth. Rich pickings, especially to supporters of teams that have finished most of those seasons outside the top eight.
Revisiting how Winnipeg Jets fans invented the “Whiteout” in the 1980s, uniting the city with an all-white playoff tradition that was revived in 2011.
The Winnipeg Jets’ iconic “Whiteout” tradition, where fans dress in all-white during playoff games, has become synonymous with the city’s passion for hockey. Rooted in the original Jets era of the 1980s, this fan-driven spectacle was resurrected with the NHL’s return to Winnipeg in 2011 and has since grown into a defining part of the team’s playoff identity.
The tradition started in the spring of 1987 during the original Winnipeg Jets’ first playoff series at Winnipeg Arena against the Calgary Flames. Jets fans, inspired by the Flames’ sea of red in Calgary, decided to paint the arena white.
When the original Jets left Winnipeg for Phoenix in 1996, the Whiteout tradition was left behind. Although the Coyotes occasionally attempted to emulate it, the spirit never quite matched Winnipeg’s original fervor.
With the NHL’s return to Winnipeg in 2011 after the Atlanta Thrashers relocated, the Whiteout tradition was immediately embraced again. Jets’ CEO Mark Chipman told TSN in 2015, “The fans never forgot the Whiteout. When we made the playoffs that year, the city and the fans took it and made it their own right away.”
The Whiteout soon grew beyond the arena walls. During the Jets’ 2018 playoff run to the Western Conference Final, the city held outdoor Whiteout street parties that attracted tens of thousands of fans. The City of Winnipeg estimated over 100,000 people gathered downtown for those celebrations. Mayor Brian Bowman remarked to the Winnipeg Free Press, “The Whiteout has become a unifying force in our city, bringing together people from all walks of life in a shared celebration of our team and community.”
Recently, the Jets organization has worked to evolve the tradition to reflect broader community values. In 2024, the team launched initiatives promoting sustainability during Whiteout games, encouraging recycling and reducing waste.
The team has also partnered with local Indigenous groups to integrate cultural ceremonies during playoff games, making the Whiteout a more inclusive celebration.
Head Coach Rick Bowness said during a 2023 press conference, “The energy from the Whiteout is unlike anything else. It’s a special part of playing in Winnipeg, and it inspires our team every playoff season.”
CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — There was a time when Marc-Andre Fleury would take days like Friday for granted. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, too.
Days when the four players most closely associated with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ run of excellence 2008-17 — an era in which they played for the Stanley Cup four times and raised it above their head in triumph three — would spend an hour competing against each other during training camp, gather for a picture afterward for whomever might stop by and think nothing of it.
Not this time. Not when it was the last time.
And it is, the second-winningest goalie in NHL history stressed, the last time.
Wearing a specially-made mask featuring various symbols of his 21-year career and the No. 29 jersey that may someday soon find itself hanging in the rafters at PPG Paints Arena, Fleury made it a point to drink in every last moment of his final practice as a professional ahead of a one-period cameo during the Penguins’ preseason game against Columbus on Saturday.
Skating onto the ice in front of several hundred fans who chanted his name and carried signs like “We Came All The Way From Canada To See You Come Home,” Fleury did what he did nearly every day of his two-plus decade stay in the NHL: he leaned into it.
There he was, theatrically flopping his signature yellow pads in an attempt to stop a Crosby deflection. There he was, laughing after robbing Letang with a glove save. There he was, making Malkin shake his head after turning the Russian star away from in close.
“That might be what I love the most (about hockey), just to be on the ice and have a lot of shots, see the guys a bunch (and) be able to chirp a little bit,” Fleury said afterward while sitting in his familiar corner stall inside the club’s dressing room. “Yeah, it’s a lot of fun for me.”
The 40-year-old officially retired from the NHL as a member of the Minnesota Wild in the spring but signed a professional tryout contract with the Penguins earlier this month after being approached by Pittsburgh general manager Kyle Dubas, who wanted the future Hall of Famer to take one final bow in the city where he remains beloved nearly a decade since leaving in the 2017 expansion draft.
While the pathologically upbeat Fleury joked afterward he wished he had more stamina, for about 90 minutes there were flashes of the form — and the style — that helped the Penguins morph from the worst team in the league when he arrived as the top overall pick in the 2003 draft to two-time defending Stanley Cup champions when he left.
“It’s just the enthusiasm,” Crosby said. “I think the energy that he brings, it’s really unique.”
The franchise relied on that energy, particularly early on in Fleury’s 13-year stay. Wins were hard to come by in the early days as the Penguins poured the foundation of what came as close to a dynasty as the NHL allows in the salary-cap era.
Yet the losing and the pressure never seemed to get to Fleury. He simply kept moving forward. Six years after he arrived, the player universally known as “Flower” sealed the franchise’s third championship by making a diving stop of Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom in the waning seconds of Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup finals.
The save — an athletically unorthodox act of desperation that encapsulated his talent — cemented Fleury’s spot in Penguins history. And while he went on to have great success elsewhere, including guiding the expansion Vegas Golden Knights to the Cup finals in 2018 and winning the Vezina Trophy as the game’s top goalie in 2021, Pittsburgh was never too far from his mind. Or his heart.
Every return trip to the city where he came of age over the last eight years felt a little strange. Not just for Fleury but for a crowd thrilled to see him while simultaneously hoping he’d lose.
Those mixed emotions for all involved are gone now and his unexpected (if brief) return represents a full-circle moment not just for Fleury, but the Penguins.
While Crosby remains a force at 38, Pittsburgh is no longer a playoff fixture. Dubas is overseeing a youth movement that includes young goaltenders like Sergei Murashov, who wasn’t even born when Fleury made his NHL debut. Fleury spent a portion of practice kneeling alongside the 21-year-old Russian, listening and offering a little bit of advice.
Asked what that advice might be, one of the league’s notorious practical jokers just laughed.
“‘You better try hard, I’m coming to take your spot,’” Fleury said.
Only, he’s not. Though he thinks his wife Veronique is “tired of him already,” Fleury has not had any second thoughts about stepping away from the game he played so passionately and so well for so long.
“I’ve found out there’s nothing else I can do. There’s nothing else I can do that will fulfill that hole, right, of playing hockey,” Fleury said. “But at the same time, I’m older, slower, more hurt, you know, a little more sore, and less flexible, less fast, maybe.
They're still looking for their first win after dropping their first two preseason games against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday. They fell to the Canadiens in a shootout before losing to the Blue Jackets in regulation.
Both of those games featured a good mix of young and veteran players for the Penguins, and Friday's will be no different. There will be plenty of both in this contest, including Filip Hallander, Tommy Novak, Blake Lizotte, Philip Tomasino, Connor Dewar, Valtteri Puustinen, Aidan McDonough, Aaron Huglen, and Sam Poulin.
Tristan Jarry and Arturs Silovs will split Friday's game in net for the Penguins.
Pittsburgh native John Gibson will start in goal for the Red Wings after they acquired him from the Anaheim Ducks in the offseason. Gibson will play the first half of the game before Michal Postava takes over for the second half.
On Thursday night, Joshua Roy was given a great opportunity
by Martin St-Louis. Not only was he dressed for a second game in a row, but he
was also on the first power play unit with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj
Slafkovsky, and Mike Matheson. Furthermore, the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t even
dress any of their best players; it was Roy’s opportunity to make a statement.
Much like the rest of Martin St-Louis’ men, he missed that
opportunity. The Montreal Canadiens gave a subpar effort in a 7-2 loss to the
Leafs’ B or C team, and you could count on one hand the players who looked
good. In his post-game conference, the coach identified Matheson and Filip
Mesar as two players who performed well.
Roy was even given some reps on the penalty kill, a sign
that the organization is willing to give him opportunities to find a spot. On
that, St-Louis said:
Of course, there are roles that we need to fill; we need to
find players who can execute penalties effectively. It’s by giving
opportunities that you can evaluate.
Asked if he found Roy’s performance in the role convincing,
the coach replied he would have to look at it, that’s part of his lengthy to-do
list in the video room following Thursday night’s debacle.
From a statistical standpoint, Roy didn’t make much of an
impact. He saw 17:45 of action, including 5:34 on the power play and 2:20 on
the penalty kill. He has one shot on net and another that was blocked while
also landing three hits.
Those hits didn’t stand out to me from the press gallery’s
bird’s eye view. What I saw was a player who didn’t battle very hard on the
boards and was sometimes in a hurry to pass the puck to avoid getting hit. On
the power play, he managed to launch a one-time from the bumper position, which
was his highlight of the night. For the rest of the game, he wasn’t really a
threat. Although he may not be used to playing the bumper position, considering
how important the game was for him, I would have liked to see more effort and
attempts to get in space.
Granted, Roy worked hard in the gym this offseason, but what
we’re seeing on the ice right now is not a player who’s NHL-ready and who could
play the kind of game Martin St-Louis needs from the player who will skate
alongside Alex Newhook and Zack Bolduc.
Time is running out for the fifth-round pick who’s playing
the last year of his entry-level contract. For me, his place is with the Laval
Rocket this season, whichever way you look at it. Oliver Kapanen, Owen Beck,
and Florian Xhekaj have all made a bigger impact.
Despite his recent firing, Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy will continue to rep Cowboy colors in the cheeky, three-week-old ad campaign for Consumer Cellular. Earlier this month, Gundy, who was fired by OSU Tuesday after 21 seasons, first appeared in an ad for the Arizona-based mobile phone service provider, spoofing the now-infamous tirade he …
Scoot Henderson showed the kind of development in the second half of last season that had the Trail Blazers and their fans optimistic about the leap the guard could make in his third year. With Anfernee Simons gone via trade, it looked as if Henderson would get his chance to start at the point, plus Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday are in Portland as mentors. Everything seemed to be falling into place.
Now all that is on hold after Henderson tore his left hamstring in a team workout and hopes to start on-court rehabilitation in 4-8 weeks.
Scoot Henderson sustained a left hamstring tear during an off-season workout this week.
Notice that the Trail Blazers' release says Henderson is "expected to return to basketball activities in 4-8 weeks," not return to play. Hamstrings are fickle and can be slow to heal, and you can be sure the Trail Blazers will be cautious and not look to rush him back and risk re-injury. The Blazers' timeline suggests that Henderson will start working out toward a return in November and possibly return to the court before or around Thanksgiving.
It seems most likely now that Holiday will start at the point next to Shaedon Sharpe in the backcourt. The Trail Blazers were already a little shorthanded in the backcourt, with Damian Lillard on the roster but not playing this season due to a torn Achilles.
After the All-Star break last season, Henderson averaged 13.4 points, 4.6 assists and three rebounds a game. For the season he shot 35.4% from 3-point range.
SAN FRANCISCO — The Willie Mac Award was created by former Giants owner Bob Lurie, who was horrified that McCovey was playing across the bay in Oakland and vowed to bring McCovey home. Three years after he returned, the Giants gave out the award for the first time, and there have been 44 winners over the past four-plus decades.
For the first time, the Willie Mac Award winner is an actual Willy.
Willy Adames is the 2025 winner of the award, given annually to the most inspirational Giant, as voted on by teammates, coaches, support staff and fans. Adames, a clubhouse leader through thick and thin, won in his first year with the Giants.
The smile never left Adames’ face this season and he never stopped splashing teammates with Powerade or removing their helmets after homers, even when he was going through his own struggles. Adames was hitting under .200 through the season’s first month and had just five homers over his first 65 games as a Giant, but he kept the energy up throughout and eventually turned his own campaign around.
“I’m truly honored to receive this Willie Mac Award. This means so much to me because it comes from my teammates, coaches and our fans,” Adames said in his speech. “I’m proud to wear this uniform for all of the years I’m going to be here.”
"I'm proud to wear this uniform."
Willy Adames expresses his gratitude for Giants fans after winning the 2025 Willie Mac Award 🥹 pic.twitter.com/WlmwmuczeO
Adames has 28 homers entering the season’s final weekend, giving him a real shot to become the first Giant in 21 years to reach 30 in orange and black. His .733 OPS is lower than he and the Giants hoped, but is a number that would have been hard to imagine in April and May. Adames has also turned his defense around after a shaky start.
Adames said in July that this season was difficult on him, but he tried his best to continue to be a team leader during his own down times. The energy never wavered.
“Obviously when you’re not performing well it’s tough to keep yourself together, but that’s the one thing I can control,” Adames said in July. “I told Buster (Posey), that’s the only thing that’s never going to change: My attitude and my work ethic and my willingness to try to be better. My energy is going to be the same every day, no matter if I’m doing good or bad.
“In the beginning when we were winning a lot of games, that helped. And then when we were struggling, it was tough for me to keep myself together because we weren’t winning and I had to step up and do my thing. We have a really good group in here that was like, ‘You’re going to be alright, you’re going to be alright.’ Everybody had my back and I feel like that’s what makes teams great.”
Adames became the first shortstop to win the award since Brandon Crawford in 2016. He joined Matt Chapman and Wilmer Flores as current Giants who have won.
“I’m very impressed with Willy,” he said. “He’s the same person every day. He’s not trying to fake it, he’s just trying to be the same person every day.”
They didn’t dogpile on the mound. They were animated but relatively reserved in an abbreviated clubhouse champagne shower.
It was no doubt a celebratory moment for the Dodgers, capturing their 12th division title in the last 13 years with an 8-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
But it was accompanied by moments of internal reflection, as well. About a regular season that has posed challenges at every turn. About a six-month slog in which frustration and adversity were around every corner.
“This has been a tough year,” third baseman Max Muncy said.
Dodgers Roki Sasaki, left; Shohei Ohtani, left center; Hyeseong Kim, right center; and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, right, celebrate after clinching the National League West title against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Thursday. (Darryl Webb / Associated Press)
“Not the smoothest of rides to get here,” first baseman Freddie Feeman added.
The reasons why are numerous, from early-season injuries in the rotation to an extended second-half slump from the lineup to a string of bullpen collapses that made the division race unexpectedly close.
Through it all, however, ran one common thread.
While there is no universal consensus over the veracity of a so-called “World Series hangover,” some team members have acknowledged the unique obstacles that have come with trying to repeat as champions.
There is the physical toll. The mental exhaustion. The threat of complacency and stagnant satisfaction.
In their bid to win a second consecutive World Series this year — something no team has accomplished since the New York Yankees’ three-peat from 1998-2000 — the Dodgers at various times seemed to battle each one.
“Baseball is different than any other sport,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The psyche part of it, the battle of attrition, all that stuff kind of matters. There's probably many reasons why [repeating as World Series champions] hasn't been done since the Yankees did it [from 1998-2000]. But that's something we're trying to do. We have an opportunity to make history. It hasn't been easy. But that's part of it."
The question now: Have the obstacles of the regular season steeled them for another championship run? Or will this prove to be a campaign that in some ways was ill-fated from the start?
“This was as tough a path as we’ve been through,” Roberts said, amid Thursday’s clubhouse celebration. “But the old adage — iron sharpens iron. I do think we’re better for the adversity ... I'm excited for what's to come."
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts addresses the team in the locker room after defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-0 to clinch the National League West title at Chase Field on Thursday. (Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
The “World Series hangover” conversation has followed the Dodgers since they reported for spring training. It slowly revealed itself in ways that were both obvious and small.
Start with the bullpen, where every impact reliever who returned from last year’s title-winning team either regressed in their performance, spent time sidelined with an injury, or in several cases endured both after the heavy workload they shouldered in last year's playoffs.
“I think it would be probably trying to fool ourselves if we said it didn't have anything to do with it,” right-hander Michael Kopech, who has been limited to just 14 appearances this year and will begin the playoffs on the injured list with a knee problem, said last month. “But at the same time, that's what we all sign up for. Any team that was in the position that we were last year would have done the same.”
“There probably is some mental fatigue and some physical [carry] over,” fellow right-hander Blake Treinen echoed. “But to say it's an effect on the whole year, I don't know. I think getting caught up on excuses and reasons is a dangerous thing.”
The bullpen has pointed elsewhere in explaining its season-long struggles. As Treinen noted, “at the end of the day, we get paid to handle” the burdens of bouncing back from whatever happened the previous fall.
The Dodgers also tried to mitigate such factors, bolstering the group with the veteran offseason signings of Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates. But as they flopped, the unit as a whole suffered one calamity after another. The more they spiraled, the harder it became for speculation about the after-effects of last October to be blocked out.
“You don’t try to lean on the what-ifs and maybes and this could be and that couldn’t be,” Treinen said. “We just have a job, and it’s been weird [this year].”
On the other side of the ball, the Dodgers dealt with a different dynamic in the wake of last year’s triumph. For an offense usually predicated on a disciplined daily approach and ability to work quality at-bats, there were long stretches of the season in which that edge would seemingly soften. When consistent execution at the plate looked like a puzzlingly difficult task.
“This is not an excuse, but we started the year last year really early, we played until November, and then this year we started early again,” infielder Miguel Rojas said, citing not only the Dodgers’ grind to get through last postseason but also their two international trips to Japan and South Korea over the last 18 months.
“We're human beings. And sometimes you get tired, especially mentally. You got a lot of things going on in your life, and your year. It's not easy to be locked in every single time.”
That was especially evident during the team’s second-half slide, when a common contrast could be drawn between the Dodgers and their upset-minded opponents.
“When you're the defending champions … we definitely got everyone's best shot this year,” Muncy said.
Dodgers third base Max Muncy is injured while tagging out Chicago White Sox outfielder Michael A. Taylor, who tried to steal third, on July 2 at Dodger Stadium. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
And, too often, the Dodgers struggled to conjure the intensity to match.
“That's part of what we signed up for, but it takes a tax,” Roberts said. “It's tough every day to bring your best when you know that other teams are bringing their best … You try to put forth every game is the same, April is just as important as September and October. That in theory is great. But it’s hard to do that in practice.”
Add in the fact that “when you make deep playoff runs every year, it takes a toll on guys' bodies. And this year, I think you saw it more than ever," noted Muncy, who missed time with knee and oblique injuries.
Despite all that, of course, the Dodgers still rang in what has become a nearly annual tradition on Thursday night. They sprayed bottles and smoked cigars in a division-clinching clubhouse celebration. They doused Shohei Ohtani with all manner of liquid and “MVP” chants. They turned the booze-soaked plastic lining on the floor into a slip-and-slide for members of their training and support staff.
“This never feels old,” Freeman said from behind champagne-drenched ski goggles.
“It's still the best feeling in the world,” a shirtless Clayton Kershaw added.
Amid the scene, however, was also a business-like understanding.
Winning the division was what the Dodgers always expected to accomplish.
Repeating as World Series champions, and overcoming all the hangover effects that have followed them to this point, remains the ultimate challenge.
“We've been battle-tested,” Muncy said, framing the ups and downs of this year as building blocks to lean on in the postseason.
“The thing that I think is pretty telling is, [with] all that we've gone through, this team stayed connected,” Roberts similarly declared.
The path ahead still isn’t simple. The team will have to take the long route through October — starting with a best-of-three wild card round next week, rather than a bye to the division series.
But lately, they’ve seen signs that their hangover might be subsiding, winning 12 of 17 games behind a more consistent offense, a dominant surge from the starting rotation, and a bullpen that is getting new reinforcements from the likes of Kershaw, Roki Sasaki and (likely starting in the playoffs) Emmet Sheehan.
“Yeah, we won the division," Roberts said. "But on top of that, more important, we’re playing good baseball.”
The goal now is to maintain that momentum, embrace the lessons this regular season provided, and avoid any further pitfalls that have tripped up so many previous defending champions before them.
After all, winning consecutive World Series might not be easy. But next year, they'd love to give it yet another try.
“It’s more about playing for each other, trusting each other,” Roberts said. "The rest of it will take care of itself.”
