Category: Sports News

Brett Baty exited Friday's crucial series opener against the Marlins with right side soreness.

The young Mets infielder took an at-bat in the top of the first and grounded to second baseman Xavier Edwards for the third out of the inning. During the at-bat, he swung and missed on a pitch and visibly grimaced and tugged at his side. Despite that, he played the field in the bottom half of the frame and made an across-the-body throw to first base on a slow grounder to end the inning.

In between innings, the SNY broadcast caught Baty speaking to trainers in the dugout before he went down into the clubhouse and didn't return. He was replaced in the field by Ronny Mauricio.

"It’s the oblique area, the right side," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. "Felt it on that swing. We saw it. He waved me off and then when he made that play, that throw, you could see it. So we got to wait and see tomorrow how he wakes up and if he’s able to do anything."

Mendoza was asked if the injury could end Baty's season and the skipper said there's a possibility.

"It’s too early, but just watching the faces he was making, that area right there is tricky," he said. "Again, we have to wait till tomorrow and see what the severity [is]."

Baty spoke to the media shortly after Mendoza and said his oblique felt good but wants to see how he feels on Saturday.

If the oblique is injured, the Mets will likely place Baty on the IL. With just two regular season games remaining, it would eliminate him from those contests and likely the Wild Card round if New York gets to the postseason.

The 25-year-old infielder has had a breakout season with the Mets. He's slashing .254/.313/.435 with an OPS of .748 with 18 home runs and 50 RBI. All of those are career-highs for the infielder. Baty has also excelled at his natural position at third base and at second, giving him more versatility for Mendoza to use.

Brett Baty went down the tunnel after grimacing following a swing and a throw from third base in the first inning pic.twitter.com/2oB0Qdsh5f

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 26, 2025

The question surprised me at first. To say the least.

“Why,” a scout from a contending National League team asked in late July, “are the Yankees making Bellinger available?”

Huh?

And why, the scout went on to ask, were they making it known that they would talk about Devin Williams, Luke Weaver and Trent Grisham, all free-agents-to-be?

When we dug into this with our Yankees sources, it proved true. With the team playing poorly and Aaron Judge facing possible Tommy John surgery, Brian Cashman and staff were in the preliminary stages of considering pivoting to a sale.

I don’t want to overstate this. It never got as far as in 2016, when the Yankees were fully prepared to both buy and sell before choosing the latter. This was more of a thought about selling, followed by the decision to buy in a purposeful but measured way.

Now the Yankees are as confident as anyone heading into the postseason and still fighting to win the American League East. It’s worth remembering how far they traveled to get here -- and how they achieved it by threading the extremely tricky needle of adding to the roster without sacrificing top prospects. It might go down as one of Cashman’s best tricks.

Deadline season began with a more traditional all-in mentality. On July 9, with the team 50-41, Cashman said, "We're going to go to town. We're going to do everything we possibly can to improve ourselves and try to match up.”

For most of the month, the Yankees treaded water at around ten games over .500, but played sloppily and lost too many games to good teams. Leadership was no longer convinced that this was a roster worth the sacrifice in prospects.

Then came the Judge scare. During a period of a few days that ended on July 26, the superstar underwent testing on his right elbow. The Yankees feared that he would need season-ending UCL surgery. Had that occurred, the Yankees might indeed have sold, sources say. They certainly would not have added in an aggressive way.

When Judge learned that he had a flexor strain and would return, Cashman and Co. landed in a middle ground.

They didn’t see it as an all-in year in the way that, say, the team’s only season with Juan Soto did. In that scenario, you focus almost exclusively on the present.

Still, the Yankees knew that their remaining schedule was relatively soft, and their team talented. They began to think of ways to improve the current club without damaging the future too much.

That included concepts that would have moved one big leaguer for another. One example, according to league sources, was a discussion with the Mets about dealing Trent Grishman for Brett Baty. The Mets needed a rental center fielder, while the Yankees sought a controllable third baseman and liked Baty’s lefty swing.

Obviously, that one never progressed. The Yankees addressed third base by acquiring Ryan McMahon from Colorado and continued to eye reasonably priced upgrades, with a particular interest in relievers and right-handed bench players.

On the day before the deadline, the Mets gave the Yankees a scare by paying more than the Yankees were willing for Tyler Rogers and Ryan Helsley. The Yanks had spoken to the Giants and Cardinals, respectively, about those players, and were not comfortable with the prices.

Once the Mets went there, the Yankees thought that bullpen help might not be attainable this year. But on deadline day itself, prices became more reasonable.

The Yankees were able to acquire closer David Bednar (a home run), Camilo Doval (a project with upside) and Jake Bird (since optioned to Triple-A), in addition to McMahon and bench pieces Jose Cabellero, Amed Rosario and Austin Slater. Not all of these players have helped, but taken together, those lifted the team’s floor.

Plus -- and this might be the most impressive part going forward -- the Yanks did not have to trade Cam Schlittler or top prospects like Spencer Jones, Carlos Legrange, Bryce Cunningham, Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz or Ben Hess. The desirability of that group also represents a player development success.

As a result, the Yankees find themselves competing for a championship this year, and anticipating a pitching staff in 2026 stuffed at various junctures with the likes of Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Schlittler, Lagrange, and Luis Gil, with the others knocking at the door.

Not a bad deadline for a front office that, just days earlier, didn’t know which way it should go. The next month will determine if it goes down in Yankee history. Come to think of it, the next few years will, too.

The regular season is only continuing to get closer for the New York Rangers. With this, the Blueshirts undoubtedly have some players to watch incredibly closely. 

Among the most notable Rangers who fans should be watching is prospect Brennan Othmann. 

Othmann is currently aiming to earn a spot on the Rangers' opening night roster and has plenty of competition to do so. Because of this, the 22-year-old forward will be looking to stand out with each chance he gets from the Rangers as the preseason continues. 

Othmann certainly stood out during the Rangers' Sep. 25 preseason matchup against the New York Islanders, as he scored a nice goal on the power play. After receiving a nice feed from Rangers defenseman Scott Morrow, Othmann beat Islanders goaltender David Rittich with an excellent snapshot. 

Scoring a goal like this is certainly a good step in the right direction for Othmann, and he will be aiming to build off it from here. Whether he starts the season with the Rangers or in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack, Othmann's goal will be to continue to improve his all-around game. If he does, he could become a nice part of the Rangers' roster in the near future. 

Willy Adames' focus remains on ensuring Giants bounce back in 2026 MLB season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — By just about any measure, this was one of the most memorable nights of Willy Adames’ career. 

The Giants shortstop won the Willie Mac Award before the game, and there was no hiding what that meant to him. For the first time all year, he seemed nervous as he accepted the award and gave a speech. Adames then caught ceremonial first pitches from his parents, and when all of the festivities were over, he hit a first-inning homer that got him within one of ending a notorious drought at Oracle Park. 

WILLY ADAMES BLASTS HIS 29TH HOMER OF THE SEASON

JUST ONE AWAY FROM BREAKING THE STREAK 👀 pic.twitter.com/K0T4I5UoCn

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 27, 2025

It was a good night for Adames, but right now, it’s hard for him to fully celebrate anything. He came to San Francisco to get the team back to October, and by that measure, this season was a failure. 

“For me, obviously (30) is a big deal, but I’m just trying to win, man,” Adames said Friday night. “I don’t really care about hitting 30. Obviously I want to do it, but it’s not something that I’m like, ‘Oh, if I don’t do it …’ No, if I don’t do it this year, I’ll do it next year. Rafi is going to do it for sure, and Chappy, if they stay healthy.

“For me, it was all about winning. (Getting to 30) was not my main focus.”

Adames thought he would spend this weekend preparing for a postseason series hitting in front of Rafael Devers and Matt Chapman. Instead, the Giants are left to figure out how they can avoid another second half slide next season. Part of that will fall on Adames. 

When he signed the biggest free agent contract in franchise history, Adames was given a leadership role. That’s what he wanted, and from the start, the keys were handed to him, Chapman and Logan Webb. 

This has not been an easy stretch for any of them, and Adames said he already has given plenty of thought to what went wrong. He made reference Friday to his slow start to the season, but also to the lack of energy from the entire team at points of the second half. 

“I feel like we kind of lost that. It’s tough,” he said. “We’ve got to continue to, when the second half hits, just continue the same mentality that we had in the first half. I feel like we lost it after the All-Star Game and we need to be better next year.” 

Like Webb did on Tuesday, Adames mentioned how much talent is already on the roster and how much he trusts president of baseball operations Buster Posey to make the necessary adjustments. Posey is expected to be active, but still, there’s only so much he can do. He already committed huge portions of the future payroll by signing Adames and trading for Devers. 

A lot of this has to come from within, and Adames knows that. He said he already has started to think about what needs to change. 

“It’s something that we need to address,” he said. “The core of the guys that are here, we need to maybe have some dinners throughout the offseason and figure out a way that we can keep the clubhouse together and (have) the same energy throughout the year. We need to figure out something to keep that energy that we had in the first half this year. Whatever it takes for next year, we’ve got to do it.”

The offseason work might be relatively simple. Most of the team’s leaders have homes in the Phoenix area, and the majority of the young players plan to either move there or arrive in January for early workouts. 

There will be time to build cohesion before pitchers and catchers report, and to figure out how to be better on and off the field in 2026. Until then, all the Giants can do is try to win out and leave with some positive vibes. 

Adames figures to get about nine or 10 more chances this weekend to hit No. 30, and while it’s not front of mind, it certainly would be a nice end-of-season reward for a fan base that has shown up this year. On Friday, with the historically-bad Colorado Rockies in town, the Giants sold out Oracle Park. The crowd was lively throughout a 6-3 win, and in Adames final four plate appearances there was plenty of anticipation. 

Adames thanked those fans in his speech and again after the win. He also thanked his teammates, who rewarded him for keeping his energy and smile throughout an up-and-down season that he found personally disappointing. 

"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

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 27, 2025

There were plenty of days in the first half when Adames looked up and saw a batting average that started with a one, but whenever a teammate homered, he was the first one there to remove the helmet. After every big win, he was there with a splash of water or Powerade. Even in a lost year, that wasn’t overlooked in the clubhouse.

“Obviously getting that award is the biggest award you can win as a Giant,” Adames said. “It’s an honor. It’s truly special for me.”

See you in October: Red Sox clinch playoff spot on Rafaela's walk-off triple originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

For the first time in four years, the Boston Red Sox will play postseason baseball.

The Red Sox punched their ticket in dramatic fashion Friday night when Ceddanne Rafaela launched a triple to dead center field in the ninth inning off Detroit Tigers reliever Tommy Kahnle. Romy Gonzalez scored from first base to give Boston a walk-off 4-3 victory, which secured its spot in the playoffs.

Friday’s dramatic win helped end a three-year playoff drought for the franchise, which last made the postseason in 2021. That run included a win in the AL Wild Card Game over the Yankees and a 3-1 series win over the Rays in the American League Division Series. The Red Sox jumped out to a 2-1 series lead over the Astros in the American League Championship Series but lost three straight games to lose the series in six games. The Astros outscored the Red Sox 23-3 over those final three games.

The Red Sox will look considerably different this postseason, as Garrett Whitlock is the only member of the active roster who played in that ALCS against Houston. (Tanner Houck, who made five appearances that postseason, remains on the Boston roster but went on the IL in May.) The 2021 season was manager Alex Cora’s first season back with the Red Sox after he served his season-long suspension from MLB in 2020.

Though the ultimate story of the 2025 Red Sox will depend on what happens in the playoffs, making the playoffs at all was widely considered an impossibility as late as June, when the Red Sox traded superstar third baseman Rafael Devers and flip-flopped around the .500 mark for the entire month.

They entered June in fourth place, 8.5 games out of first place in the AL East and 3.5 games out of a wild-card spot, and they finished the month in almost the same spot: seven games back in the East, three games out of the wild card.

Yet a season-long 10-game winning streak before the All-Star break put the team above .500 for good. And though they emerged from that break to go 2-5, they’d win their next four series to firmly establish their place in the postseason picture.

That footing was once again questioned in early September, when rookie sensation Roman Anthony suffered an oblique strain that ended his regular season and could keep him out of the entire postseason. A 5-8 stretch followed the Anthony injury but the Red Sox, at risk of falling out of the playoff picture, won consecutive road series in Tampa and Toronto to reestablish their spot, then punched their postseason ticket with their MLB-leading 10th walk-off win on Friday night.

The Red Sox became the fourth team in the American League (and third in the AL East) to clinch a playoff spot, joining the Blue Jays, Mariners and Yankees. Their opponent is yet to be determined, but they’re almost certain to begin their postseason journey on the road for Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

They could be heading to New York, Detroit, Toronto or Cleveland, depending on how the weekend’s games play out across the league.

The Mets have made one decision regarding their starters this weekend.

Manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed before Friday's series opener against the Marlins that Clay Holmes will take the mound Saturday. The news comes just a few days after Holmes pitched an inning out of the bullpen in Chicago. 

When asked what their plans for Sean Manaea are, and whether he can pitch out of the bullpen or even start Sunday's regular season finale, the Mets skipper was non-committal and is only thinking about Friday's game.

"We’ll see, we got to get through today and we’ll go from there," he said. "The only thing we know is Clay will start and we’ll go from there."

Manaea piggybacking off of Holmes' start on Saturday is on the table. It worked against the Padres in mid-September but was less effective against the Nationals when the Mets swapped their order last week. Both pitchers came out of the bullpen on Wednesday against the Cubs and had mixed results but Mendoza pointed to how they "bounced back" from that outing as the reason for Holmes starting over Manaea.

The questions for Mendoza were directed toward Sunday's game. Again, the team has yet to name a starter and the options are plentiful, but Mendoza remains focused on Friday's game.

"We’re not thinking about Sunday. We got to take care of business today and then take care of business tomorrow and see where we’re at," he said. "We’re not planning ahead. This is literally one day at a time here. We know Clay is going to start tomorrow and then we’ll see who‘s available. We got to get through today’s game and how many bullpen arms are going to be available after today’s game. There’s a lot of moving pieces here."

David Peterson, who would be pitching on normal rest if he got the ball for the regular season finale, is an option to start, but Mendoza didn't rule out Peterson coming out of the bullpen. 

"We’ll get through today and see if we need him out of the bullpen tomorrow, or we’ll need him to start the next day. It’s literally one day at a time," he said."

Kodai Senga update

Senga's status for the rest of the regular season/postseason is still unknown. Mendoza confirmed the right-hander is still in Port St. Lucie and threw another bullpen. When asked if the team is considering shutting down Senga, Mendoza said, "We haven’t got there yet." 

Earlier this week, Senga threw a live BP that produced some concerning results. Senga's velocity was noticeably down, but the weather was affecting him, so the team is unsure what to do with their third-year pitcher.

What we learned as Trevor McDonald impresses again in Giants' win over Rockies originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO — As a team, there’s not much for the Giants to play for this weekend. Sure, they’d like to finish strong, and a .500 record is certainly better than finishing with a losing season, but they were eliminated from postseason contention on Tuesday and can’t even play spoiler.

But there’s a lot on the line individually during the final series of the year, both in terms of milestones and impressing the front office. In that respect, it was a good night for quite a few Giants. 

Willy Adames got closer to breaking the 30-homer curse, Heliot Ramos hit a loud three-run shot, and Trevor McDonald continued his September surge as the Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 6-3. They’ll send Justin Verlander and Logan Webb to the mound the next two days in hopes of sweeping the Rockies and finishing the year at 81-81.

Here are some of the boxes that were checked in Game 160: 

One He Won’t Forget

This was always going to be a memorable night for Adames, who was honored before the game after winning the Willie Mac Award. In that speech, Adames noted that it was a special honor because it was voted on by teammates, and he later caught ceremonial first pitches from his parents. 

A few minutes later, Adames blasted a two-run shot to left, ending a run of 14 games without a homer. The shortstop is now at 29 and has roughly nine or 10 at-bats against a bad pitching staff to try and become the first Giant since 2004 to hit 30 homers. 

WILLY ADAMES BLASTS HIS 29TH HOMER OF THE SEASON

JUST ONE AWAY FROM BREAKING THE STREAK 👀 pic.twitter.com/K0T4I5UoCn

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 27, 2025

The 29th of his first year in San Francisco left the bat at 110.2 mph, making it his hardest-hit ball of the year. Adames flew out, got hit by a pitch, struck out and walked in his next four plate appearances. 

Milestone Night

With a single in the bottom of the fifth, Matt Chapman reached 1,000 hits in the big leagues. He had 509 in Oakland, 245 in Toronto, and now 246 in San Francisco. Chapman also made one of his better plays of the year …

A five-time Gold Glove Award winner, Chapman might have a hard time defending his NL crown, in part because he missed 32 games with hand injuries. He is third among NL third basemen in Outs Above Average, but at four OAA, he is well behind Ke’Bryan Hayes, who has 21 and was the 2023 NL Gold Glove Award winner at third. The SABR Defensive Index, which accounts for roughly 25 percent of voting, also ranked Chapman well behind Hayes in the most recent public update. 

Remember The Name

McDonald has been on the 40-man roster all year, but he didn’t get called up until last week. There might not be anyone in orange and black who has done more recently to improve their standing heading into next spring. 

Five days after he opened eyes with a strong start at Dodger Stadium, McDonald struck out 10 and walked none over seven innings. The lone blemish came in the fifth, when he gave up a couple of singles and then hung a curveball that Ezequiel Tovar lined over the center field wall. McDonald got 18 swinging strikes, which is tied for the eighth-most by a Giants starter this season. 

The Giants are likely to seek multiple rotation additions in free agency, but McDonald has certainly passed a few other young starters on the organization’s overall depth chart. At the very least, he should get a chance to follow the 2024 Landen Roupp path and win a bullpen job. 

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast