Category: Sports News

The Yankees gained an extra day of rest with a nor’easter canceling Game 162 against the Orioles on Sunday. It means they’ll have two days off before opening their 2026 playoff odyssey Tuesday night against the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Series. Boston has one less day of rest after losing to the Cubs, 6-2, on the final day of the regular season. Earlier today, my colleague Josh provided a preview of Boston’s top-of-the-class pitching staff, and now we’ll look at the offense.

The Red Sox were seemingly dead and buried on June 24th after dropping two of three to the last place Rockies. They sat in last place at 32-46, 15.5 games back of the first-place Rays, listless after the ground-shaking April 25th firing of longtime manager Alex Cora. But then a four game sweep of the Yankees at Fenway catalyzed one of the most stunning mid-season turnarounds in recent memory. They won an astonishing 27 of 30 games between July 3rd and August 7th to seriously threaten the Yankees’ position in second place. This owes a lot to, as Josh covered, a pitching staff that was fantastic all season long. However, the sudden emergence of impact hitters from the margins of the roster deserves as much of the praise for ultimately getting them into this playoff series against the Yankees.

Before we look at the individual players, we should recap how the offense in aggregate performed across the whole season. They finished middle of the pack in terms of OPS (.718), wRC+ (99), stolen bases (107), and fWAR (20.3). They hit the fifth-fewest home runs (162) in the league while striking out and walking at a roughly league-average clip. And as the Yankees deal with uncertainty over Aaron Judge’s availability, the Red Sox just got their own star slugger back just in time for this series.

Willson Contreras missed eight games after being struck on the hand by a pitch, but returned to the lineup in the final game of the regular season. The longtime Cardinal seemingly had a point to prove all season after getting traded to the Red Sox over the winter, and he was far and away Boston’s best hitter, slashing .276/.387/.518 with a team-high 27 home runs, 81 RBI and 4.1 fWAR, his 152 wRC+ third in baseball among hitters with at least 500 PAs. He thrives against fastballs and anything on the outer-half, his one weak spot up and in.

Roman Anthony appeared poised to step up as the league’s next superstar after a breakout rookie campaign, but a torn finger ligament limited him to just 54 games. He returned with two hits against the Yankees on August 30th and posted a 123 wRC+ in his final 24 games, though he finished with just five home runs in 240 plate appearances. Like Contreras, he loves to crush the fastball, but is certainly vulnerable to breaking balls from righties and changeups from lefties low and away.

Before the season started, the outfield was expected to carry the offense. Despite Anthony missing most of the season, the outfield still produced the bulk of the position player value. Ceddanne Rafaela posted his first above-average campaign by wRC+ (108) while maintaining Gold Glove defense in center but did deal with some right leg injuries in the final weeks of the season. Wilyer Abreu didn’t quite take the next step that many expected him to but still produced plenty of value by matching his career averages by batting .248/.327/.446 with 24 home runs, 76 RBI, and a 112 wRC+, though his defense regressed significantly from its usual sterling standard. The pair do the bulk of their damage against the breaking ball so expect a heavy diet of fastballs inside to Abreu and away to Rafaela.

All this being said, the story of the Red Sox season and in particular the turnaround in fortunes has been the transformation of other teams’ castoffs and their own borderline MLB players into impact contributors, not dissimilar from the Yankees’ next-man-up movement in 2019. Chief among them was Mickey Gasper, who was claimed off waivers over the winter and was optioned multiple times early before exploding for a 130 wRC+ in 67 games (though will miss this series with a biceps injury). One-time Yankee Jahmai Jones thrived in a platoon bench role, posting a 184 wRC+ in 179 plate appearances, almost exclusively against lefties.

Caleb Durbin was a sturdy three-win player who batted league average. Former Yankees first round pick Anthony Seigler was a revelation for 49 games at second posting a 102 wRC+, though his availability is threatened by a wrist injury. Nick Easton floundered in his first two big league seasons but was good for a 104 wRC+ in 65 games.

There are some softer landing spots in the lineup. Adley Rutschman never quite adjusted to life with the Red Sox with just a 77 wRC+ in 31 games after moving to Boston at the deadline and could yield playing time to Connor Wong behind the plate. Jarren Duran endured a miserable campaign at a 70 wRC+ in 150 games and likely played himself out of a starting role in the playoffs. Trevor Story could only a muster a 68 wRC+ in 63 games of another injury ravaged season.

For Boston, the question becomes whether this accumulation of injuries to position players leaves them blunted for this series. That being said, their main protagonists are all available just in time, Contreras, Anthony, Abreu, and Rafaela representing a potent threat at the top of the lineup. If the Yankees can limit the damage done by those four they’ll be in a good position to advance.

We did it, folks.

We made it through another 162 games of Rockies baseball.

While they limped to the end and ultimately finished 58-104, there were plenty of glimmers of hope for the future (as well as many reminders of why they finished with a fourth-consecutive 100-loss season).

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be running our “Ranking the Rockies” series as well as continue to bring you as many updates as we can about the team.

But in the meantime, here are some updates from a busy final weekend of the MLB regular season!

Rockies News & Links

• Goodman reaches 40-HR milestone, and Rockies want more | MLB.com — Hunter Goodman finished 2026 with 41 home runs, becoming the first Rockie since 2019 to accomplish the feat. Thomas Harding caught up with the slugging catcher after the milestone on Saturday night.
• Condon’s full season, new mindset crucial for ’26 development | MLB.com — Charlie Condon (No. 2 PuRP) finished 2026 by being named the PCL’s “Top MLB Prospect” and an All-Star. Thomas Harding caught up with the top prospect, as well as some of his Triple-A coaches, about his 2026 season.
• Coors Field employees, regulars pray MLB avoids lockout | Kevin’s take | Denver Gazette ($) — With an MLB lockout likely looming on the horizon, Kevin Henry checked in with some folks who will also be affected: Folks who work at Coors Field, including ushers, concessionaires, custodial staff, security staff and others.
• The Rockies are the fifth MLB team to lose 100 games in four straight seasons. Here’s a historical comparison. | Denver Post ($) — It was another down year for the Rockies, who made dubious history once again with a fourth-consecutive 100-loss season. Kyle Newman breaks down how this season fits in a historical context.

Around MLB

• Here are the Triple-A All-Stars and award winners for the 2026 season | MLB.com — As mentioned above, Condon was named an All-Star and “Top MLB Prospect” for the PCL. Alongside him, Zac Veen (No. 6 PuRP) took home the MVP award and Sterlin Thompson (No. 16 PuRP) was also named an All-Star. Veen became the first Rockies prospect to earn MVP honors since Joshua Fuentes in 2018.
• Tigers’ emotional Justin Verlander leaves final career start to hugs | ESPN — In case you weren’t watching the Tigers-Pirates game on Saturday, it marked Justin Verlander’s final MLB start. And just warning you now: Have tissues handy!
• Brewers buck tradition, name Christian Yelich first captain in club history | The Athletic ($) — Christian Yelich has been a stalwart for the Brewers since they traded for him during the 2017-2018 offseason. The Brew Crew rewarded him by naming him Captain, one of three active players to don the title (Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Salvador Perez of the Royals). If the Rockies decided to name a captain, who would it be?
• Dan Wilson will not return as Seattle Mariners manager | ESPN — The Seattle Mariners struggled mightily in 2026 after 2025 saw them nearly make the World Series. Unfortunately for Dan Wilson, that meant the end of his tenure. He was promoted to manager on August 22, 2024 and went 186-171 in 357 games at the helm.
• Alonso becomes first player to win RBI title in both leagues | MLB.com — After 10 years in the New York Mets organization (six in the Majors), Pete Alonso signed a five-year, $155 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles in the offseason. He had a productive year, slashing .267/.363/.522 with 43 homers (1st in the AL) in 161 games with the O’s and became the first player to win the RBI title in both the National and American Leagues.
• Here are the final stats leaders from the 2026 season | MLB.com — TJ Rumfield won the OBP crown in the National League (and MLB), but doesn’t get a mention in this particular article.

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

When Trey Gibson took the mound for the nightcap of the Orioles’ September 23 doubleheader against Toronto, there was little reason to expect much. The 24-year-old was only there because Baltimore’s rotation had run out of healthy arms: Kyle Bradish was sidelined with a sports hernia, and the Orioles needed an extra starter for the doubleheader. Gibson’s big-league résumé to that point did not inspire confidence: a 7.36 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP in seven tries. One fantasy site called him a “high-risk option.”

Then he threw 6⅔ scoreless innings against a Blue Jays team that had still harbored playoff aspirations that morning. The righty allowed three hits and two walks, and struck out seven. It was the best start of his young career by a country mile, and perhaps, looking ahead to next season, a statement that there could be more where this came from.

Obviously, one start isn’t a season. So what did the rest of Trey Gibson’s 2026 actually say?

Gibson came into this season a former dark horse who was already building a name for himself. An undrafted free agent, Gibson was pitching for the collegiate summer team the Chatham Anglers when the Orioles signed him to a minor league contract in 2023.

Then, over parts of three seasons, Gibson’s star began to rise, capped off by 2025, when his 166 strikeouts across three levels led every pitcher in the system, resulting in his being named the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Thus Trey Gibson had a head of steam entering this spring. But it turns out, MiLB is one thing, and the dance is another. After six starts at Triple-A Norfolk, the Orioles handed him the ball at Yankee Stadium on May 3. He went 4⅔ innings and gave up three runs, two of them on homers. May was respectable overall for him: a 3.65 ERA in three appearances, including 5⅔ innings of one-run ball against the Rays.

June, however, was not. Over five starts Gibson got walloped: a 9.58 ERA, with opposing hitters averaging nearly .300 against him. Sure, there were OK indicators, stuff-wise: he struck out 25 in 20 2/3 innings, including eight at Dodger Stadium. But it was still ugly. This stretch was capped off, in a manner of speaking, by a June 30 outing against the White Sox where he posted this line: 2⅔ innings, seven hits, six walks, eight runs. Ouch. Back to Norfolk went Gibson, and it wasn’t clear he’d be invited back to the big leagues at all this year.

Back at Triple-A, at a surface level, Gibson actually got worse as the summer went on. He had a 3.55 ERA from March through July and a 5.27 ERA in August and September. But if you look closer, you’ll also see a walk rate that got cut in half (4.3 BB/9 through July, and 2.0 in August and September) and an uptick in strikeouts (though this had never been a problem for the righty). Gibson, during his struggles this summer, had lived too much in the zone and allowed too many hits. But by cutting down the walks, he made himself a different pitcher.

I’m not saying the Orioles were onto this when he was called back up for one last big-league start this season; by all appearances it was purely a move of necessity, when Kyle Bradish went down with a hernia. But as you now know, Gibson’s scoreless outing was a revelation, and certainly a moment he demanded to be taken seriously as a starting pitcher candidate.

What does Gibson’s season tell us, as we close the book on a lost season for the team as a whole and look ahead to 2027? Obviously, cautious optimism has to be the right answer. One start in nine tries is not much to go on. Also it came against a Blue Jays team that had been already eliminated from postseason competition in Game One of the doubleheader that day. And it’s true, Gibson is striking out fewer hitters than he used to. In 2025, when he was the organization’s Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year, he was a strikeout machine, with 12.4 whiffs per nine innings across three levels. At Norfolk this year it was 8.0 early in the season, and slightly rebounded to 9.0 per nine over the last two months. In nine starts as a big leaguer, he averaged 8.4.

One more interesting thing about Gibson. A mounting complaint about the Mike Elias regime is the failure to draft pitchers. Gibson is, in a way, no rebuttal to this at all, because the Orioles signed him in August 2023 after he went undrafted! (This was just after a stretch in which, by BirdsWatcher’s count, Baltimore didn’t draft and sign a single pitcher in the first four rounds from 2019 through 2022.) On the other hand, Gibson provides strong evidence that the Orioles can develop pitching, alongside 14th-rounder Michael Forret and Luis De Leon, who signed for $30,000. That’s a point in the front office’s favor, at least.

Trey Gibson was signed as a relative unknown, and he still remains such. He has a 95-mph fastball, a great work ethic, an ability to miss MiLB bats, one great MLB start to his name, and that’s pretty much it. But if you’re looking for an interesting contender for a spot in the 2027 starting rotation, you can’t overlook Trey Gibson.

The 2026 season is officially over. Overall, I’d call the season a success, although it sure doesn’t feel that way. If the Cardinals had the same exact W-L total, but went 15-9 instead of 9-15 in September, I feel like the vibes would be much different. From ownership’s standpoint, they are probably happy it went the way it did, because the attendance barely took a hit and I feel like if the season started poorly, it would have taken a bigger hit.

The way to view the season – maybe any season really – is to think about where the team was at the beginning of the season. If you were given the rough details of what happened in that season, would you be happy with how the season went? It is absolutely not a universal yes – I’ve seen the comments lately – but I feel like most fans would have been happy with this season.

It’s not about the win-loss record. I mean sure, I think solely focusing on win-loss record would still produce quite a few yeses – Any betting market or projection system did not have the Cardinals with 77 wins and a few of them were a lot less wins. Granted, some of us – me included – called out the projection systems that saw 70 wins or less, but nonetheless I don’t think any foresaw 77 wins.

Here is one way to look at it: the Cardinals made entirely future focused moves last offseason – they traded their of their best players and Nolan Arenado. It’s ironic actually. The Cardinals have spent a few seasons trying to be just good enough to make the playoffs but not making the playoffs and when they finally pivot, there’s a pretty decent chance they would have made the playoffs if they didn’t trade their best players.

Of course it doesn’t work like that. Nolan Arenado had a resurgence because he got away from Busch Stadium. I don’t think it happens here. Third base was so bad though that he would have been an improvement no matter what. And Brendan Donovan probably has to be healthier for this playoff hypothetical to truly work. And Willson Contreras was also likely hurt by Busch Stadium – Fenway seems like a great park for him. I’m comfortable saying Sonny Gray could have had his season here though.

But at best, they’re where the Phillies are right now, and we’re kind of trying to get away from that. The whole argument against that strategy is not that it won’t sometimes work, it’s that you’re counting on a team with the flimsiest of odds to win a World Series when that’s the entire goal. We want to be the Brewers, not a team barely making the playoffs. This year was the first step to trying to make that happen.

This season was originally meant to be about individual players and the development they took. For the players not expected to be a part of the future, their value is primarily in what trading them will bring the Cardinals. For players expected to be part of the future or hoped to be part of the future, the goal was that you could pencil them in for whatever position they play and then move onto the next problem.

In that respect, the Cardinals had a few questions answered. They don’t need to look for a 2B. JJ Wetherholt is their long-term second baseman, solidified with the extension he signed. His defensive performance gives him a higher floor than we imagined and his offensive performance portends great things despite a not great 2nd half. He had a low BABIP but a high xwOBA, and his minor league BABIPs were all fairly high. He doesn’t strike me as a Matt Carpenter type where he will just underperform his xwOBA because he’s not really a warning track kind of hitter.

They also successfully replaced Willson Contreras and we’ll see if there’s an incoming extension, but possibly the 1B of the future in Alec Burleson. He was legitimately half a win better purely because he played first base competently and maybe even great instead of attempting to catch flyballs in left field. You know how bad you have to be defensively when moving to first base increases your WAR. There is also significant value in Burleson showing 2025 was not a fluke. And the underlying offensive numbers may suggest Burleson hasn’t reached his peak – he had more power, walked more, and had a higher xwOBA than 2025.

Also I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get to him, but Jordan Walker happened. Especially with my hypothetical posed at the beginning of this, I don’t think just about any of us expected his 2026 to happen. Remember when he had a terrible spring training? Yes, he has flaws in his game and superficially it looks like his defense has gotten better, but it really kind of hasn’t, but he finished his season with a 120 wRC+ and 2.8 fWAR. Whether you’re in the minority in wanting to trade him or think he’s the future, either way you have to call him a huge success – even if you want to trade him, he suddenly has a lot more trade value.

That’s three positions that are more clear than at the beginning of the season. I’ll throw in two more, albeit a bit more unproven: Leonardo Bernal is the catcher of the future and Joshua Baez is the LF of the future. These were uncertainties and I might argue Baez is still kind of an uncertainty thanks to his plate discipline numbers, but it’s hard to argue with 7 homers and 7 doubles in 29 games. If you told me that Joshua Baez would have a good enough 2026 that all of us would feel comfortable penciling him in for 150 games in 2027, I would have taken it in a heartbeat.

Bernal was a bigger surprise. Sort of. Given his offensive history, I would not have predicted that he’d have zero trouble adjusting to the majors. He was always crazy young at each level, so there was a reason his offense was merely a little above average, but it’s a guarantee those type of prospects will adjust to MLB pitching. Bernal looks more like the catcher of the future than I think even the Cardinals expected when they initially called him up. Bernal has in the short term answered an important question: who to trade? Answer: not Bernal and I’m way more comfortable trading both Jimmy Crooks, Pedro Pages, and even Ivan Herrera because of Bernal.

So five positions were answered thanks to this season. Two of them were pretty good bets (Burleson, Wetherholt), one of them was more of a matter of which player (catcher), but the other two positions were massive, huge question marks. We didn’t know if Joshua Baez was going to be another Moises Gomez. Minor leaguers have career seasons much the same as ones who make the big leagues. And getting anything out of Walker would have been considered a success, much less an All-Star appearance and a 20-20 season.

Starting pitching wise, it mostly went well, but there was no equivalent to “oh wow we have a Gold Glover at second base???” Just a moderately successful season, but no new ace appeared. Dustin May delivered two huge prospects at the deadline, which was the entire reason he was signed. Andre Pallante completely bounced back to such an extent that I think people will get very frustrated with me if I end up writing an article suggesting he should get traded, and I would have had very little pushback if I proposed that 5 months ago. Kyle Leahy actually looks like he can start now, which I viewed as very unlikely.

And now the bad stuff. If you want to put on the rose-colored glasses, third base gave us what we asked for. We got an answer. Nolan Gorman is not it. He hadn’t gotten a chance to play at the position the Cardinals drafted him at and to his credit, he proved significantly better on defense than expected. But he’s still lost without a paddle on offense. However, this was not a huge disappointment. He was coming off back-to-back 87 wRC+ seasons. I think I had reached a point where even a true Gorman bounceback would have me wanting to trade him – because I simply did not trust him to repeat it. Maybe I’m too burned by Tyler O’Neill.

They did not find the 3B of the future, but there are at least candidates in the system, none greater than Jesus Baez. Baez hit 41 homers this season if you include the minor league playoffs and while I’m sure the homers are inflated by whatever is going on with the ball down there, he hit 14 last year. You can’t just write off his season because of the ball. The 21-year-old Deniel Ortiz also had a very quiet good year. Both of them should be in Memphis next season. Blaze Jordan went from a player left off the 40 man roster to a player who forced his way into 58 games, prematurely ended by an injury. My point is only that if the MLB situation at 3B went as poorly as possible, at least the minor league portion went significantly better than expected.

I don’t have a lot of positive things to say about CF – call me the Nathan Church skeptic – but even then the minor league developments were extremely positive. Tai Peete looks like a very shrewd pickup in return for Donovan and Josiah Ragsdale just had a 145 wRC+ across two levels and will likely be in Memphis next season (Alexaner Frias is too far away for this type of post). Yes, what people hoped from Church is a significant departure from what they got and in that sense, one could call this the one position that looks to be in a worse position than at the beginning of the season – but I never fully bought into Church so I’m not sure that holds true for me.

And of course Matthew Liberatore. I mean the best you can say is that he actually did raise his strikeout rate and by quite a bit honestly. That is a fact. After that it entirely depends on how the Cardinals perceive that kind of improvement for his future. Either it means he can find swing-and-miss stuff, but can’t be a starting pitcher – certainly the majority opinion for the fanbase. Or he’s very close, but needs to clean stuff up. As a Liberatore apologist, I wouldn’t discount the second possibility – we literally just experienced this with Andre Pallante. But I don’t actually know where the Cardinals stand and if the bullpen is his future, I think it would improve the bullpen instantly.

As this is an overall positive post, I won’t spend too much time on the bullpen. I’m not going to put lipstick on a pig. But bullpen is a short-term problem. It is always a short term problem. You can’t trust it even if it’s good. In the context of looking forward, this happens to be a good thing coming off a very poor season. There’s nowhere to go but up. If your second baseman is below average one season, if you run with the same guy the next season, you can be pretty sure it won’t go well. If your bullpen is below average one season, you have no idea how they will perform the next season. The Cardinals will try different pitchers and the pitchers they have might see a random jump – maybe Cade Winquest is the closer next season. Amidst all the advanced analytics we have, bullpen is still as unpredictable as ever.

All in all, whatever doubts I have about how this upcoming offseason will go – they should absolutely capitalize on the excitement and goodwill they have and actually make moves to improve the 2027 team and not just future teams – at this very moment, I am happy with how the season went and the direction the Cardinals are going in.

The MLB playoff teams are in place, with the Astros and Phillies qualifying yesterday.

Here is the schedule for the first round of the playoffs. No baseball today, then a bunch of baseball tomorrow.

Zack Meisel wrote about Austin Hedges’ miraculous season as a hitter. Truly remarkable that he ended up an above average hitter.

Guardians fans have been thanking Hunter Goodman and the Rockies by donating to a Colorado charity for kids.

Welcome to week 27 (the final week!) of our 2026 NL Central Power Rankings — let’s rank some teams!

1. Milwaukee Brewers (103-59); 5-1 this week; Clinched NL Central

The Brewers capped off the best regular season in franchise history, as they went 5-1 against the Phillies and Cardinals to finish the year with 103 wins, easily surpassing the previous record of 97 wins set in 2025.

Brice Turang capped off a 20-homer, 100-RBI season with two homers and three doubles this week, driving in a team-high seven. Jackson Chourio added eight hits, including a homer, while driving in five, scoring seven runs, and swiping a pair of bases. Christian Yelich and Gary Sánchez also homered.

Jacob Misiorowski finished his historic season with another scoreless outing, striking out five over 5 1/3 innings to pick up his 16th win of the year. Logan Henderson turned in five innings of one-run ball, while Robert Gasser went six innings with one run allowed, striking out a team-high nine batters. Aaron Ashby, Trevor Megill, Antonio Senzatela, and Shane Drohan each picked up a save this week for the bullpen.

Milwaukee now enjoys a little bit of a break, as they’ll be closely watching the NL Wild Card Series between the Cubs and Padres. The winner of that best-of-three set will face the Brewers in the best-of-five NLDS beginning in Milwaukee on Saturday.

2. Chicago Cubs (89-73); 2-4 this week; Clinched NL Wild Card #2

Chicago limped to the finish line, finishing in the second Wild Card spot after dropping two of three to both the Marlins and Red Sox this week.

Alex Bregman, who exited last Sunday’s game after taking a foul ball off the face in the on-deck circle, returned with a bang, slugging two homers and a double as part of a four-hit weekend against Boston. Seiya Suzuki added the only other homer, while Pete Crow-Armstrong finished off a 40-homer, 40-steal season with three steals this week.

Matthew Boyd had the best start of the week, going seven innings with one run allowed and six strikeouts. David Peterson tossed five scoreless innings, striking out six, while Gavin Hollowell, Daniel Palencia, Colin Rea, Ryan Zeferjahn, and Jacob Webb combined for 9 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, striking out six.

The Cubs now travel to San Diego, where they’ll take on the Padres in a best-of-three NL Wild Card Series to determine who faces the Brewers in the NLDS.

3. Pittsburgh Pirates (82-80); 3-3 this week; Eliminated from Postseason

The Pirates ended their season on a high-ish note, as they officially clinched a winning season for the first time since 2018, going 3-3 against the Cardinals and Tigers.

Brandon Lowe slugged a pair of homers to lead the Bucs, while Konnor Griffin wrapped up a solid rookie campaign, picking up a team-high eight hits, including a homer. Rafael Flores and Jacob Gonzalez both added homers as their lone hits of the week.

Paul Skenes finished off another 200-strikeout campaign, going 6 1/3 innings with one run allowed and eight strikeouts. Jared Jones turned in a pair of solid outings, totaling 11 innings with no runs allowed and 14 strikeouts. Lake Bachar, Yohan Ramírez, Evan Sisk, Gregory Soto, Luke Weaver, and the retiring Kirby Yates combined for 15 scoreless innings, striking out 21.

4. St. Louis Cardinals (77-85); 1-5 this week; Eliminated from Postseason

The Cardinals continued their second-half freefall, dropping two of three to the Pirates before being swept by the Brewers, finishing the year eight games under .500.

Alec Burleson capped off a strong season with three homers this week, while Leo Bernal, Jordan Walker, and Iván Herrera added a homer each. JJ Wetherholt led the team with five hits on the week.

It wasn’t a great week on the mound for the Cards, but Matthew Liberatore turned in the best start, allowing one run and striking out six over 5 2/3 innings. Gordon Graceffo, Cooper Hjerpe, Brycen Mautz, Hancel Rincon, George Soriano, and Cade Winquest combined for 15 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 16.

5. Cincinnati Reds (75-87); 3-3 this week; Eliminated from Postseason

The Reds went 3-3 to end the season, winning two of three from the Braves before dropping two of three to the Blue Jays over the weekend.

Elly De La Cruz and Eugenio Suárez both slugged a pair of homers, while five others added a homer apiece. Carlos Jorge led the squad with seven hits, including a homer, and Héctor Rodríguez had six hits, including a homer, a double, and a triple, driving in five.

Andrew Abbott and Rhett Lowder both turned in strong starts, as Abbott went seven frames with two runs allowed and six strikeouts, and Lowder went six scoreless, striking out two. Tejay Antone, Graham Ashcraft, Brock Burke, Pierce Johnson, and Emilio Pagán totaled 12 scoreless innings for the bullpen, striking out 11.

Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! The 2026 regular season has ended. And for the Orioles, the end of the season was a literal washout. Yesterday’s game between the Orioles and Yankees was technically delayed for about three hours yesterday, but I think we all knew the game wasn’t going to be played. The weather in New York was too severe and for the duration of the delay, the Yankees never even submitted a lineup.

But they had to pretend the game might be played, because MLB had just sent the Red Sox down to Tampa to play a game against the Cubs due to the same storm. So now the Yankees have an extra day off ahead of the Wild Card series in New York. I’m not saying it was a conspiracy. But I’m not saying it’s not a conspiracy.

Going into yesterday, there were two playoff spots yet to be finalized. The AL West had to be determined, as did the final spot on the NL Wild Card race. The Astros won and head to the playoffs with an 81-81 record. And the Phillies, who had almost frittered away their playoff spot, won to keep it at the last minute.

There is no baseball today. The Wild Card round kicks off tomorrow with four games.

But not for the Orioles. For the Orioles, the off-season begins today. And they have a lot of things to work on. If I were going to pick one thing I am looking to see improve, I am going with defense. The most disheartening part of this season was seeing plays that should have been made not be made. And on a regular basis.

Here at Camden Chat, we’re jumping right into the offseason. We have already started prospect reviews. Player reviews are coming, along with looks ahead at the 2027 season. Of course, a lot of that depends on if and when the 2027 season begins.

Links

Orioles season ends one game short thanks to nor’easter – The Baltimore Banner
If you were sitting around yesterday waiting to watch the Orioles, you were disappointed

Henderson on Orioles’ season: ‘A failed year for us’ – Baltimore Baseball
This is a few days old, but shockingly, there isn’t a lot of news right after an 82-loss team gets rained out of a meaningless game. Rich Dubroff has the transcript of Gunnar Henderson’s interview with press a few days ago.

Birthdays and History

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have three Orioles birthday buddies. Grant Jackson (b. 1942, d. 2021) had an 18-year career, five-plus of which were spent with the Orioles. He pitched in 209 games for the Orioles from 1971-76 before the Orioles traded him to the Yankees in that big nine-player trade in June 1976.

Also born on this day in history are former Orioles Mike DeJean (56) and Todd Frohwirth (b. 1962, d. 2017).

On this day in 1953, the American League owners agreed to move the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore. Good day for us!

In 1958, Gus Triandos stole the only base of his Major League career.

In 1971, the Orioles swept a doubleheader with the Red Sox to give them 100 wins for the third straight season.

In 2011, the Orioles played the most exciting game you’ll ever see from a 93-loss team. Down 3-2 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, three straight his from Chris Davis, Nolan Reimold, and Robert Andino gave the Orioles a 4-3 walkoff victory. Moments after the Orioles won, the Rays walked off the Yankees in Tampa. The combination of games knocked the Red Sox out of the playoffs. The Red Sox had been two games up in the AL East on August 27th before going 7-20 in September.

In 2023, the Orioles beat the Red Sox again. But this time it was their 100th win of the season. Much preferable.

And one year ago today, the Orioles finished the season with a 3-2 loss to the Yankees. Kyle Bradish allowed two runs in four innings. Rico Garcia took the loss. Jordan Westburg and Gunnar Henderson hit back-to-back home runs.

Now we can breathe a sigh of relief. Taking a much needed win to make the playoffs, the Phillies are waking up today in Atlanta to prepare for the wild card round against the Braves. It should at least be entertaining.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• It got hairy, but the Phillies were able to avoid the company of the 2007 Mets and the 1964 Phillies by winning yesterday ($).
• The stars were actually out to play for the Phillies yesterday. Can they continue to do it against the Braves?
• Jesus Luzardo was activated for yesterday’s game and should be in play to be the game one starter on Tuesday.

MLB news:

• The playoffs are now set with the Astros somehow winning the AL West yet again. Maybe this will be the end of their reign.
• MLB has talked with the Trump administration about playing a game in a national park. Please don’t do this.
• Max Scherzer pitched into the eighth inning yesterday for the Blue Jays. Will that be his final MLB start? I’d say no.
• Dan Wilson will not be coming back to manage the Mariners next year. Not a big surprise with how that team collapsed this year.

Last year, the Yankees lost Gerrit Cole, in what was probably the last true year of his prime. A loss like that would reverberate throughout a team’s entire season, usually. Instead, the Yankees more or less recreated Cole in the form of Cam Schlittler, now the favorite for the AL Cy Young and starting Game 1 of the Wild Card Series this week.

Garrett Crochet is Boston’s version of Cole: the ace, the guy you work day and night to land, and then pay him handsomely to start the big games. He has not thrown a pitch in anger since April 25th, and yet the Sox boast the third-best pitching staff in baseball, with only the Dodgers and Phillies notching more fWAR as a total unit. We start at the top, where Payton Tolle, Ranger Suarez, and Sonny Gray will likely take the ball in the three Wild Card games against the Yankees (in a yet-to-be-announced order).

Wild Card Series Game 1: Tuesday, September 29, 8pm EST
Wild Card Series Game 2: Wednesday, September 30, 8pm EST
Wild Card Series Game 3: Thursday, October 1, 8pm EST (if necessary)

Tolle has built a solid case for AL Rookie of the Year, and while he probably won’t take the award home, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him as one of the finalists. The lefty features six pitches but like Schlittler, will offer a fastball of some variety about two-thirds of the time. He has faced the Yankees twice, allowing just a single run across 13 innings in those two outings. This will be his first postseason start, though he did retire the only batter he faced in a relief appearance last October in the Bronx (Trent Grisham with the bases loaded).

Suarez has been everything the Sox could hope for when they inked him to that five-year, $130 million contract last winter. A four-win season as the No. 2 man in the rotation, I could probably copy and paste what I said above about Tolle here, just with more postseason experience on Suarez’s time from his Phillies days. The same six pitches, the same fastball-heavy approach. The first two games of this series will see the Yankees facing a bunch of heaters in the zone — they’ll need to be ready to swing. During his October tenure in Philly, Suarez had a superb 1.48 ERA across eight starts and three relief outings from 2022-25.

Former Yankees righty Sonny Gray rounds out the trio, continuing to defy the aging curve with another 3.5 win season at 36 years old. He offers a different look than the two southpaws and will be making his first playoff appearance since 2023 with the Twins.

The rotation is formidable, but what really worries me is the strength of the bullpen, as well as a couple injections the unit is getting. We’ve seen the Yankees win a lot of games this year by being iced out by the starter and breaking out late against relievers, but that’ll be a tough out with the Red Sox, whose relief corps has the best ERA and FIP in the sport. Aroldis Chapman, for all his personal faults, is putting the finishing touches on what is a Hall of Fame resume, with 35 saves and a 33-percent strikeout rate holding down the ninth inning.

But before you even get to the ninth, there’s a series of very hard-throwing hurdles to clear. Garrett Whitlock elevated his game this season with a cripplingly low walk rate, deciding to just not throw balls anymore. Brayan Bello is only a reliever in name, following an opener much of the year; he’ll also be an option should the Red Sox need a guy that can deliver more than three outs. (Tyron Guerrero also came out of baseball irrelevance to re-establish himself as one of Chad Tracy’s favorite weapons, though a lat strain will sideline him for this sseries.)

Jake Bennett made the most of his May 1st call-up from Pawtucket, putting up 2.5 wins in 113.1 innings, but like Carlos Rodón, he’ll be shifted to a reliever role as well, at least for this series. The man chiefly tasked with replacing Crochet has faced the Yankees twice this year, facing 44 batters and allowing just eight of them to reach base. And then, of course…

I’m writing this at 1pm Pacific time on Sunday, and I gotta admit. I feel more confident that Crochet will be on the Red Sox Wild Card roster than Aaron Judge will be on the Yankees’. I don’t imagine the club will push their ace very far in a bullpen role, surely one inning at a time only, but we’ve seen what the southpaw’s stuff looks like, and if it plays up in relief like many guys find, that’s as devastating a one-two southpaw punch between him and Chapman as you’ll ever see.

This is not going to be an easy series. The Yankees have a lot to contend with when it comes to the octopus of Red Sox pitching, and the lineup doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Maybe they’ll surprise us all, but the pressure has to be on New York’s own collection of arms to hold serve given what Boston has at its disposal.