Category: Sports News

There was a lot of anticipation and intrigue when it came to AJ Smith-Shawver and his return from Tommy John Surgery for the Atlanta Braves in 2026. Considering how much flux the backend of Atlanta’s rotation went through in the previous season, there was a clear opportunity for anybody who wanted to grab onto that role.

AJ Smith-Shawver got that opportunity once he eventually returned in July. So how did that go for him? It’s time to find out.

How Acquired

The Braves selected Smith-Shawver with the 217th overall pick as their seventh-round draft choice in 2021. He skyrocketed through the system in 2023, speedrunning three minor league levels and eventually making his debut in June. Despite, or perhaps because of, his rapid ascent, Smith-Shawver has yet to throw over 45 big league innings in any given season.

What were the expectations?

One of the reasons why Smith-Shawver was unable to clear that 50-inning threshold was because he had Tommy John Surgery in June of 2025, which meant that he’d have to wait a full calendar year before even getting ready to make his return to the mound. As such, the hope was that Smith-Shawver could simply get healthy and hopefully improve upon a 2025 campaign where he showed some flashes of brilliance while still having the typical rollercoaster experience that most rookies and young pitchers experience upon breaking through to the big leagues.

We all know that recovery from this type of thing isn’t exactly a linear or easy process — just ask Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach about the elbow issues that they’ve both been dealing with for the past couple of seasons. Still, it wasn’t crazy to hope that AJ Smith-Shawver could eventually make a bounce back and become a valuable part of Atlanta’s rotation.

Performance-wise, Smith-Shawver had an 88/115/115 line in 74 career innings before the 2026 season. His 2023 and 2024 were comparatively rougher, but 2025 looked much better at 92/96/105. It was hard to know exactly what to expect given the long layoff and rehab from major surgery, but ZiPS saw him as an above-average-but-very-short-stint starter (about four innings a start, but 1.1 WAR in 80 innings) as its point estimate — basically a slight improvement over his small-sample 2025.

2026 Results

Smith-Shawver made about a month’s worth of official rehab starts, but once July 29 rolled around, he returned to the big league roster for a day as the Braves called him up as the 27th man for a doubleheader against the Mets. He turned in the sort of start that had folks across Braves Country clamoring for him to stick around — even though he was always bound to return to Gwinnett due to the 27th-man rule. Despite a somewhat underwhelming line of just 4 1/3 innings pitched with a 4/2 K/BB ratio, Shawver’s velocity (on his four-seamer, especially his four-seamer) looked impressive, his stuff was lively and he had also added a sinker and a cutter to his arsenal — giving him a very interesting tool box of six pitches to work with.

Smith-Shawver eventually got his chance to join the rotation for real once he got called up ahead of a start on August 19 against the Twins and while his stuff looked lively as usual, this time he was once again unable to make it through the fifth inning in an efficient manner. In fact, Smith-Shawver only ended up making two appearances where he pitched at least five complete innings — and one of those appearances was in long relief after Reynaldo López made (what turned out to be) his final start of the season.

That five-inning relief appearance on September 14 was Smith-Shawver’s first apperance out of the ‘pen and he proceeded to make three more appearances in relief during the final month of the season and eventually made an appearance in the NLDS. That NLDS appearance didn’t go well, as he wound up giving up a two-run dinger to Kyle Tucker and a solo shot to Max Muncy (both in the same inning) that basically gave the Dodgers enough breathing room to take the game on home.

Ultimately, Smith-Shawver finished with a 6.61 ERA (157 ERA-), a 6.00 FIP (145 FIP-), and a 5.17 xFIP (123 xFIP-) with a drop in strikeout rate (18.8 percent compared to 21.9 percent in 2025) and an increase in walk rate (from 10.9 percent in 2025 to 11.1 percent in 2026). He didn’t qualify for a bunch of the usual MLB Percentile Rankings that Baseball Savant provides but if he did, a lot of his categories would’ve been in the blue instead of the red. Needless to say, Smith-Shawver didn’t exactly hit the ground running upon his return to the bigs from Tommy John surgery, and “earned” -0.2 fWAR for his efforts.

What went right?

Well, his velocity is still good after returning from Tommy John surgery and that’s always a positive. His four-seam velocity was back at 96 mph and his sinker was clocked at an average of 95.1 mph. Again, the stuff that he had on display during his 2026 debut against the Mets was encouraging to see and it sure seemed like AJSS had something to really build upon as a starter based on that first impression back.

Also, if that five-inning relief appearance against the Cubs qualified as a start then this would’ve been Smith-Shawver’s best “start” of the season. The Braves were definitely in need of having any starter who could give them innings while only giving up around a couple of runs and the Braves gladly would’ve taken that had it been a start.

Meanwhile, his most encouraging appearance as a reliever came on September 20 against the Astros, which is when he faced seven batters over two innings and only gave up a hit while striking out four batters. It was a very solid appearance during the divisional-clinching win for the Braves in Houston and it was the type of outing that makes you think “Hey, maybe there’s something here with this guy as a reliever.” The Braves certainly thought so, but it was kind of a mixed bag in the end — his next relief outing was pretty bad, and he gave up a homer while striking out three of the five batters he faced in his final tune-up. And then, well, the one in the playoffs didn’t go very wellk.

His splitter was a pretty effective pitch, as he racked up a whiff rate of 31.3 percent and a Put Away percentage of 15.8 percent and 16 of his 27 strikeouts on the season came from that pitch alone. It was clearly his best pitch and it’s clearly the one that he should throw a bit more of going forward.

What went wrong?

AJ Smith-Shawver was just unable to get really deep into games as a starter. In every one of his six long appearances this season, he walked at least two batters and walked at least three in four of those appearances as well. If he walked a batter then that guy usually came around to score. It was either that or his propensity to give up the long ball. While his four-seamer only had a .209 Batting Average against it (along with a .216 xBA), whenever hitters did catch up to his heater, they usually didn’t make a mistake with it. He gave up seven homers all season and four of them were against his heater. Opposing batters slugged .512 against his four-seamer (with an xSLG of .500). He was unable to get a lot of whiffs with it, either. When the pitch you lean on that much is getting hit that hard, it’s difficult to have a lot of success.

Smith-Shawver’s start on September 8 against the Rays was the end of the road (at least in 2026) as a starter and it was basically a single-game example of everything that’s been ailing Smith-Shawver at the big league level right now. He was charged with five hits, he walked two batters, two of those five hits were dingers (against a Rays team that, while excellent on offense, didn’t hit for a ton of power in 2026) and he only lasted 3 1/3 innings. He was unable to get deep into a game, it was his shortest start of the season, and Smith-Shawver found himself heading to the clubhouse after having a largely inefficient night on the mound.

Overall, Smith-Shawver found it hard to rack up strikeouts, he walked a lot of batters, he got hit decently-hard when batters did catch up with his stuff and he got barreled-up on a semi-regular basis. Fundamentally, he posted an xFIP- north of 100 in four of his five starts (well north of 100 in three) — or five of six if you include the five-inning relief appearance. It wasn’t a case of being unlucky or anything, he just wasn’t doing the fundamental business of striking guys out and not walking them well at all. That’s not a recipe for success as a starter, which explains why the Braves decided that the best place for Smith-Shawver going forward towards the Postseason was the bullpen. They just couldn’t afford to have him try to figure it out as a starter while they were holding on to the lead in the NL East and against playoff-caliber lineups in the Postseason.

One additional cruel twist of fate: above, it was listed that his xFIP was below average in every longer-stint outing but one. That one where it wasn’t? It was his worst start by WPA of the year, as, despite the better pitching quality, the Nationals dumped four runs on him and the defense thanks to walks and seeing-eye singles in the second, and then added a homer in the third. Welp.

2027 Outlook

AJ Smith-Shawver will be 24 heading into next season and when you combine his young age with the lack of mileage (when it comes to innings, at least) on his arm, it sure feels like he could get another shot at starting for the Braves once Spring Training rolls around (whenever that may be). He’s got the velocity on his four-seamer that can play but he still has yet to develop it into a truly effective pitch. His splitter is there but everything else still needs a bit of work, as evidenced by the high walk rate and the lack of strikeouts that he was able to get on a consistent basis. Something kind of amusing is that Smith-Shawver didn’t directly struggle with either pitch shape or command — he largely threw his four-seamer and splitter to the same spots over and over. But, those spots just weren’t very good in practice, largely because his splitter tended to miss the zone on the low armside corner. If he fixes that and has that splitter actually fall in for a strike, and things get a lot more annoying for batters, but it was easy to wait him out in 2026.

Early projections aren’t quite so sanguine about Smith-Shawver as they were before he made his return. He’s now targeted as a below-average bulk guy or swingman, even falling short of the “assume everyone is a fourth starter until they show otherwise” heuristic. He’s got some work to do, basically.

Assuming the Braves don’t add to their rotation outside of the organization heading into next season, Smith-Shawver should get an opportunity to make the Opening Day roster as a starter. Maybe with a full (and potentially extended) offseason to figure things out, Smith-Shawver can come back and finally really get rolling with his career. Again, he’s young and it still feels like he’s a bit of a rookie since he hasn’t really had an extended stint in the bigs quite yet. Maybe we’ll see him get that chance and embrace it in 2027. We’ll see what happens.

The Yankees have a third base problem.

It wasn't long ago that they had Jazz Chisholm Jr. learn the position on the fly when they acquired him at the 2024 trade deadline. And since then, they've acquired Ryan McMahon, Amed Rosario and Jose Caballero over the years to help fill the hot corner, without any of them able to capture it.

McMahon has been the biggest disappointment. While his defense has still been above-average, his offensive struggles have helped create the black hole in the bottom part of the Yankees' lineup.

Rosario was a nice bench piece who can give a few starts at third, here and there, but he's now a free agent. And Caballero was exposed as a bench piece who occasionally starts, not an everyday player.

Here's a breakdown of the internal and external candidates to be the Yankees' 2027 third baseman. 

Platoon between McMahon and Caballero

There's no use separating McMahon and Caballero into talking points because, in reality, if the Yankees don't add someone from outside the organization, a platoon between the two is likely what we'll see when the 2027 season begins.

McMahon and Caballero complement each other, hitting from opposite sides, with neither having the track record as a Yankee to be that everyday player.

Caballero, while showing flashes in 2026 when Anthony Volpe was on the shelf, returned to his career mean, slashing .231/.290/.365 with an OPS of .655. While his 14 homers were a career high, it's unlikely he'll reach that power level again. This past season was the only one in which he reached double-digit long balls. 

And McMahon's offensive struggles are well-documented. Despite tinkering in the box, the third baseman hit offensive career lows -- in non-shortened seasons -- in home runs (11), doubles (14), hits (70) and average (.213). 

McMahon's defense also saw a slight regression. He was a zero in OAA, his lowest in a non-shortened season since 2019. With one more guaranteed season on McMahon's deal, the glove-first third baseman will likely be used in 2026, even if it's for late-game defensive purposes. 

Anthony Volpe

If Volpe is used at third base, there must have been a drastic change in the Yankees' roster. Whether it's an injury to McMahon or Caballero, or the Yankees make a deal to bring in an everyday second baseman. 

Since those are possibilities, we should dig into what Volpe at third base could look like in 2027.

First off, if McMahon is healthy, this would be a platoon -- at least to start. When Volpe was demoted in the middle of the season, he used his time in the minors to learn second base and a bit of third. When Aaron Boone and the Yankees were looking to adjust their lineup/roster to produce more offense and to give more flexibility, they actually had Volpe play a couple of major league games at the hot corner.

He made one start and didn't have any balls hit his way. If not for a rained out game that was never made up, Volpe would have had another try at third base before the postseason. Volpe did make an appearance at third in the postseason (for two innings) and converted on his single chance. 

The Yankees will likely have Volpe start his offseason program playing second and some third. While second base is the natural fit for Volpe, if his bat warrants him in the lineup, he could be an option at third.

Alec Bohm

It's crazy to think that Bohm might be the biggest free agent in the third base market this offseason, but that's where we are.

The 30-year-old is coming off an uneven 2026, where he bounced back from hitting below the Mendoza line through May 15 to ultimately slash .249/.315/.383 with an OPS of .735. His off-the-field issues -- filing a lawsuit against his own parents -- could have played a role in his slow start, and perhaps he's closer to the .274/.340/.433 player he was in the 120 games since May 9. 

While his career offensive numbers never jumped off the page, he posts every day, playing in at least 140 games in four of his last five seasons. He's also just one of only seven right-handed bats to drive in at least 85 runs in three of the past four seasons, including this past season. 

You would have to overlook the defense, however. 

Bohm had a -11 OAA playing both third base (-8) and first base (-3) in 2026. It was a big step back from 2025 (-2 OAA) and 2024 (5), so that's a red flag, especially for a Yankees team that seemingly falters on the defensive end in October. But Hal Steinbrenner blamed the offense for the team's lack of postseason success the last two seasons, so perhaps the organization will overlook it for Bohm.

And with McMahon on the roster, he can replace Bohm at third base in late-game situations when the Yankees are preserving a lead.

Bohm could also be a right-handed option at first base as a Paul Goldschmidt -- who is a free agent -- replacement. Again, the Yankees would have to overlook the defense, especially with Luis Garcia Jr. and Ben Rice as below-average defenders at the position -- though Garcia Jr. proved to be much better at the position than once thought. 

Eugenio Suarez

Another option where offense trumps defense, Suarez would, admittedly, be a reach for the Yankees.

Suarez only played 50 games at third base in 2026 and had a -7 OAA. His arm strength is also in the bottom 25 percent in the league, so if the Yankees do scoop up Suarez, it would have to be a pseudo-platoon with McMahon. 

There's more offensive upside for Suarez, but his 2026 was far from the 49-homer 2025 he enjoyed. Suarez still hit 26 bombs, but slashed .212/.307/.433 with an OPS of .740. But is 2026 an outlier for Suarez? It's worth the risk for the Yankees if the money is right to inject the position with some much-needed power. 

The Reds and Suarez have a mutual option for 2027, which Cincinnati would certainly decline. The market for Suarez could be sparse, as no team wanted the right-handed slugger when the Reds placed him on waivers late this past season. 

He signed with the Reds on a one-year, $15 million deal before the start of the season, so another one-year deal is likely for the 35-year-old. 

Longshot candidates

Let's talk about some candidates who are unlikely to be available. 

Bo Bichette has an option to return to the Mets, and while he bounced back from a slow start to the 2026 season, he would be leaving $42 million on the table if he opts out, a risk considering the upcoming labor negotiations. 

If he were to test free agency, the Yankees could take a flyer on the former Blue Jay.

There's also the Astros' Isaac Paredes. 

Houston has a club option to retain the 27-year-old for just $13.35 million, which they certainly will. Paredes slashed .262/.360/.447 with an OPS of .807 to go along with his 25 home runs on an objectively subpar Astros team. 

If the Yankees could figure out a trade package to Houston's liking, Paredes would be a great choice.

Make a move

The Yankees' third base situation is similar to second base in that the prudent decision would be to start the season with in-house options. A platoon of McMahon and Caballero is the likely outcome, but if there's a splash to be made, it's at third.

Of the free agent options, Bohm is the ideal candidate as he can be the everyday third baseman for years to come, especially once McMahon is off the books following the 2027 season. 

But spinning a trade for Paredes could potentially raise the ceiling of what the 2027 Yankees could be offensively. It would take a willing partner, but of all the potential trades Brian Cashman could make, he's the one I would eye. 

 

Game one is in the books and what a game it was.

One of those games where a matter of inches was the difference between victory and defeat and you just have to tip your cap and move on to the next one.

So tonight the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers will move on to game two of the 2026 World Series with Milwaukee holding a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series.

Tampa Bay will be sending its ace to the hill with 31-year old Drew Rasmussen taking the mound as he faced the team that made him a 6th round pick in the 2018 draft. Rasmussen was among the best pitchers in all of baseball over the second half of the 2026 season and thus far has been the top pitcher of the postseason. Over three starts in the playoffs, Rasmussen has compiled a 1.29 ERA | 2.58 FIP with a 30.3 K% and 3.9 BB% over 21 innings pitched. Rasmussen’s last outing came on the 18th in game five against Cleveland where he allowed 1 run on 4 hits over 7 innings pitched en route to a 3-1 victory.

Opposing Rasmussen on the mound is 24-year old Logan Henderson, whom the Brewers selected in the 4th round of the 2021 draft out of McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. Henderson has soldified his place in the Brewers rotation despite injury woes the past two years. When Henderson does the take the mound, he has proven himself a capable strikethrower, capable of racking up strikeouts thanks to a plus change-up while limiting walks. Among 155 pitchers with at least 90 innings pitched, Henderson ranked 6th in K-BB%.

Overall over the course of the 2026 season, Henderson compiled a 2.47 ERA | 3.32 FIP with a 29.6 K% & 5.1 BB% over 98.1 IP. Thus far in the postseason, Henderson has a 3.00 ERA | 3.77 FIP with a 15.0 K% and 12.5 BB%. It has been nearly two weeks since Henderson last pitched, when he took the mound on the 12th for game two against the Los Angeles Dodgers; Henderson allowed four runs — two earned — on three hits while he walked two and struck out two over four innings of work.

Henderson and the Rays present an interesting matchup as the Rays make more contact than any other team in baseball, while Henderson ranks 2nd among pitchers with at least 90 IP in Zone%. Despite being in the zone 47.4% of the time, opponents make contact on those pitches just 81.2% of the time, which is in the 97th percentile.

The game is tonight at 8:00pm

As we all know, the Nationals bullpen was bad in 2026. The unit set the all time record for blown saves and imploded in spectacular fashion many times. There is no denying that the Nats bullpen needs outside help. However, I do think there are some internal options with a lot of upside.

The three pitchers I will talk about today all have elite stuff, but have yet to put it all together yet. I would be surprised if all three of these pitchers were good in 2027, but I think at least one will have a breakout year. Riley Cornelio, Yovanny Cruz and Luis Perales are the three pitchers I will be breaking down today.

Cornelio will be the first pitcher I talk about because he was the most effective in 2026. In 36.2 MLB innings this season, Cornelio showed that he can generate whiffs at a high level. He struck out 25% of hitters as a rookie this season and generated whiffs at a 34.5% clip. The headliner of his arsenal is a filthy 85 MPH slider which hitters swung and missed at over half the time.

That slider gives him a truly elite pitch to build around. When he came to the big leagues, Cornelio only threw a fastball and slider. However, he introduced a cutter that he really started to lean on in September. During the last month of the season, Cornelio threw his cutter nearly 30% of the time. 

Riley "The Great" Cornelio, Nasty 90mph Cutter. ✂️ pic.twitter.com/86825hB1Em

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 9, 2026

The cutter proved to be a good bridge between his fastball and slider. With his new cutter, his filthy slider and a fastball that averages 96.5 MPH, Cornelio has the arsenal to dominate. However, control remains a big question mark here. Cornelio walked 18.1% of hitters, which is simply too high. Whenever he was put in higher leverage spots, the control would make him quite unreliable. 

Even in September, when he posted a 1.62 ERA, his walk rate was still over 14%. For Cornelio to truly break out, I need to see that number in the 10-12% region. That was actually where his walk rate was throughout his minor league career, so I have some faith. In 2026, Cornelio posted a 3.68 ERA with a 4.00 FIP, but that could be so much better if he can control the walks. 

All three of these pitchers are flamethrowers, but Yovanny Cruz has the biggest velocity of the group. This season, Cruz averaged 99.8 MPH on his 4-seamer and 100 on his sinker. Even in this era of velocity, averaging 100 is rare. That heat makes the 27 year old Cruz stand out.

It is a big reason why the Nats acquired him as part of the return for Luis Garcia. Cruz showed flashes this season, but there is still a lot of room for growth. On the year, Cruz posted a 5.06 ERA in 17 outings, with that number spiking to 6.75 once he got to DC. 

However, I am still excited about his stuff. His fastball may light up the radar gun, but I think his slider is his best pitch. He throws it 49% of the time and with a 118 stuff+ rating, it has all the ingredients to be an elite slider. Cruz throws the pitch in the low-90’s but still gets true slider movement.

This Yovanny Cruz slider is the kind of weapon banned in the Geneva Convention pic.twitter.com/I1LwjYkQ0g

— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) August 8, 2026

When he arrived in DC, the fastball was actually Cruz’s biggest issue. Despite the velocity, his fastball shape is not good. With hitters seeing 100 more and more, a flat triple digit fastball is not that big of a challenge. After being sent down to AAA, Cruz came back with a new look sinker. I think the sinker will be his primary heater moving forward because of the nasty movement. It will also help him generate more ground balls.

Like Cornelio, Cruz also has some control issues, though his 12.9% walk rate is not as high. Yovanny Cruz has all the tools on paper to be an elite reliever. Now, it will be about putting it all together. Despite his nasty stuff, he only struck out 21.4% of hitters. With a more trustworthy fastball at his disposal, I think we could see a major step in the right direction for Cruz.

The last pitcher to discuss is Luis Perales. Honestly, I still have a lot of doubts here, but he has the raw stuff to succeed in the bullpen. To be blunt, Perales was awful when he got his MLB opportunity. He gave up 14 earned runs in 11 innings, which amounts to an 11.45 ERA. Walks and homers doomed the right hander, with Perales allowing 5 homers and issuing 13 walks.

Despite looking terrible in the show, you could still see brief glimpses of his nasty stuff. Perales’ fastball averaged over 99 MPH and his overall whiff rate was very good at 33.6%. However, there is more to pitching than just missing bats. When he wasn’t missing bats, Perales was either walking people or giving up hard contact.

The only pitch that proved to be effective was his splitter. Batters only hit .063 on the split with a 48.9% whiff rate. That offering has insane downward action and Perales sells it well with his arm action. It is the one pitch that is big league caliber at the moment.

Luis Perales first MLB strikeout pic.twitter.com/E2mTDcq9s5

— Kev (@klwoodjr) August 27, 2026

However, the split is best as a chase pitch. That means he will need to find weapons to set up the splitter. In the big leagues, Perales’ fastball and cutter were lit up. His fastball command was not even close to good enough. The heater was either uncompetitive or right down the middle. Perales can consistently throw strikes with the cutter, but that is the one pitch in his arsenal that does not stand out from a stuff perspective. 

Perales still has a long way to go, but he will get another shot at some point. With 13 strikeouts in 11 innings, he showed he can generate whiffs. However, he still has a lot of work to do. His 3.64 ERA in AAA gives you some hope, but he looked raw as sushi in the big leagues. Despite that, I would not give up on such an electric arm so quickly. I don’t think he will stick as a starter, but he has the stuff to be a very good reliever.

All three of these arms have major flaws, but they have big time stuff as well. I think at least one of these three will be an established high leverage arm this time next year. Out of Cornelio, Cruz and Perales, who do you think will take the next step in 2027?

How will this year's World Series play out? Using the Dynasty League Baseball online simulation, USA TODAY Sports' Steve Gardner and DLB designer Mike Cieslinski will pre-play each game to provide some insight into the key matchups and strategy fans can expect to see in the Fall Classic.

Perhaps the most intriguing question in sports is ... "what if?"

Fans love to second-guess managers' and coaches' decisions. And that's exactly what we have in USA TODAY Sports' annual Simulated World Series. Playing these games beforehand, we don't always have the benefit of knowing what's going through the minds of skippers Kevin Cash and Pat Murphy.

In this instance, is Cash making a mistake by not putting his best pitchers at the front of the rotation?

In our version of reality, Drew Rasmussen pitched the Tampa Bay Rays to victory in Game 1 and Freddy Peralta took the mound for Game 2 in Milwaukee. Both decisions look pretty smart in hindsight as the Rays stymied the Brewers' bats once again in a 5-2 Rays win.

Here's how they took a 2-0 lead in our Sim Series:

Rays vs Brewers World Series Game 2 simulation

The virtual version of Peralta didn't have any reason to be jittery as he returned to the ballpark he called home for his first eight major league seasons. But maybe he was ...

After the Rays got on the board first with a 439-foot leadoff homer from Yandy Diaz, Peralta gave the lead right back − and more. After giving up a single to Jackson Chourio, Peralta served up a letter-high fastball that Brewers second baseman Brice Turang yanked down the right field line for a two-run homer.

But with that out of the way, Peralta settled down and kept Milwaukee from doing anything else in his six innings of work.

Meanwhile, the Rays' bats went to work on Brewers starter Logan Henderson. In the second, Victor Mesa Jr. reached on a dribbler that Henderson threw away for a two-base error. A two-out single from Game 1 hero Jonny DeLuca brought Mesa home to tie things at 2.

In the bottom of the fourth, Diaz put the Rays on top with an RBI single. Richie Palacios added a solo homer off Aaron Ashby in the sixth to give the Rays a 4-2 lead.

The Brewers had two golden opportunities to get back in the game, loading the bases in the sixth before Peralta retired Cooper Pratt and Garrett Mitchell on harmless fly balls. After lefty Cam Booser came on for the Rays in the seventh, No. 9 hitter David Hamilton reached on a bunt single with one out and the top of the order coming up.

Chourio crushed a pitch to deep center field for a potential go-ahead two-run homer, but it died at the warning track into DeLuca's glove. Booser retired lefties Turang and Jake Bauers to end the threat.

An RBI double from DeLuca made it 5-2 in the top of the eighth, and Bryan Baker came on for a six-out save to seal the deal.

BOX SCORE:  Rays 5, Brewers 2

FULL PLAY-BY-PLAY: Peralta, bullpen keep Brewers bats silent

What to watch in (the real) Game 2

▶ Pitching changes. When Rays manager Kevin Cash opted to start Nick Martinez in Game 1, it pushed Peralta back to the scheduled starter in Game 3. How would Peralta have done pitching in Milwaukee? We could find out for real in Game 7 ...

In any event, the veteran was outstanding in his six innings here, working out of trouble on several occasions − especially the bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth.

▶ Clutch hitting tips scales. With two excellent pitching staffs in the series, there won't be too many scoring opportunities, so the team that capitalizes best in those situations is likely to win.

The Rays got two-out RBI hits from Diaz in the fourth to go ahead and from DeLuca in the eighth to pad their lead.

Meanwhile, the Brewers went 2-for-11 with two outs and runners in scoring position for the game, but neither of those hits plated a run.

▶ Big-time bullpen. As they did in the Sim Series opener, the Rays followed their pitching plan to perfection. Peralta provided six strong innings before he had to leave with some shoulder stiffness. (He should be fine to take his next turn in the rotation.)

Cam Booser (.123/.157/.231 vs. left-handed batters in 2026) once again kept the Brewers scoreless, but gave way to Baker in the eighth when righty slugger Andrew Vaughn pinch-hit for Christian Yelich. No worries! Baker (1.44 ERA, 41-for-44 in save chances) retired all six batters he faced to earn his second consecutive save.

The question for the Rays later in the series: Who's going to get the Brewers' lefty hitters out if the starters don't pitch into the seventh inning − as Rasmussen and now Peralta have done?

Meanwhile, the Brewers have yet to use their closer, Trevor Megill, in this series.

▶ Another injury. After the Brewers had third baseman Joey Ortiz exit due to injury in Game 1, the Rays lost starting catcher Liam Hicks for five days when he was hit by a foul tip in the bottom of the fifth inning in Game 2. Backup Nick Fortes isn't as good offensively or defensively, so the Rays will have to accept the downgrade until Hicks can return if and when the series goes back to Milwaukee for Game 6.

Previous 2026 Sim Series results

Game 1:Rays 3, Brewers 0

Simulate your own World Series. Get a FREE one-month subscription to Dynasty League Baseball online by going to DynastyLeagueBaseball.com, selecting the monthly option and entering code USA2 at checkout.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Simulated World Series 2026: Rays rise to the occasion in Game 2 vs. Brewers

The best pitcher in baseball led the best team to victory over the second-best team? Weird.

A World Series that makes the logical feel novel began on Friday as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 in Game 1. Of course the Brewers, with their MLB-topping 103 regular-season victories, should be facing the 98-win Rays on the grandest stage. But of course, since these are two of the smallest and lowest-budget franchises in the sport, they shouldn’t.

That this best-of-seven title decider is at once a shocking cold shower and a comforting warm bath is largely explained by the absence of the two-time defending champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were swept 4-0 by the Brewers in the National League Championship Series.

Schedule

Best-of-seven series. All times US Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

Fri 23 Oct Game 1: Milwaukee 3, Tampa Bay 2

Sat 24 Oct Game 2: Tampa Bay at Milwaukee, 8pm (Fox)

Mon 26 Oct Game 3: Milwaukee at Tampa Bay, 8pm (Fox)

Tue 27 Oct Game 4: Milwaukee at Tampa Bay, 8pm (Fox)

Wed 28 Oct Game 5: Milwaukee at Tampa Bay, 8pm* (Fox)

Fri 30 Oct Game 6: Tampa Bay at Milwaukee, 8pm* (Fox)

Sat 31 Oct Game 7: Tampa Bay at Milwaukee, 8pm* (Fox)

*-if necessary

How to watch

In the US, all World Series games will air on Fox and Fox Deportes, with streaming available through Fox One. In the UK, the series will be carried by TNT Sports. In Australia, fans can watch on ESPN, with streaming available through Disney+ and Kayo Sports.

That was a philosophical battle with a drop-mic ending: the revenge of the nerds. Analytics over affluence, a triumph for the teams who scrimp and strategize rather than simply lobbing money at the best free agents each offseason.

The Dodgers have parlayed financial dominance into winning the National League West division in 13 of the past 14 years. At the start of this season there was every reason to expect they would win their third World Series in succession. But instead of spending this title fight lamenting the Dodgers’ dominance and fretting that money has made baseball dull and dynastic, we have the first match-up in 46 years – and second since 1920 – between two teams that have never won a World Series.

A country where the world’s richest person has reportedly made political donations in excess of $442m in this election cycle is culturally conditioned to believe that wealth wins. Yet baseball is, after all, still a sport where the won-lost standings and the salary tracker are not fully interchangeable.

Here are successful teams, boasting talents as luminous as Rays third baseman Junior Caminero and Brewers catcher William Contreras, with payrolls less than half the size of the most lavish spenders. Milwaukee’s annual outlay ($146m according to Spotrac) ranks 19th in the 30-team league with Tampa Bay ($96m) in 28th position. And the Rays reached this point by beating the Cleveland Guardians, who have MLB’s smallest payroll, in the American League Championship Series.

Only the Dodgers, Brewers, Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees have more regular-season wins in the 2020s than the Rays, who are in their third World Series. Tampa Bay, founded as an expansion franchise in 1998, reached the final in 2008 (where they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies) and in the Covid-wracked 2020 season, losing to the Dodgers at the makeshift site of Globe Life Field in Texas.

The Brewers’ only other World Series appearance was a loss to the St Louis Cardinals in 1982. Though there are suspicions that national television audiences will be meager for a series between small-market teams lacking superstars, the games in Milwaukee are some of the hottest tickets in World Series history. On one resale site the asking price for standing-room only tickets to Saturday’s Game 2 in Milwaukee was north of $3,000.

The first clash held moderate value for the neutral spectator. It was a night with a fast start, a false finish and some messy, unmemorable baseball in the middle. Where ordinary pitchers throw fastballs, Jacob Misiorowski, MLB’s strikeout leader in the regular season, hurls fireballs. Pitching on 11 days’ rest, the 24-year-old started his night with the quickest pitch ever recorded in a World Series, a 103.5mph screamer to leadoff hitter Yandy Díaz.

Misiorowski surrendered one run in five innings’ of work. “Not perfect, but good enough to get a win,” he said. Milwaukee led 3-1 after the seventh but Tampa Bay mounted a late rally, scoring a run in the ninth to induce a tense, if gauche, finish. The visitors loaded the bases but catcher Liam Hicks appeared to hit into a game-ending double play. The Brewers celebrated but the fireworks and high-fives were premature.

The Rays challenged the decision, which was overturned on review. This confirmed that shortstop Cooper Pratt had taken his foot off second base too early as he threw to first, and also that Milwaukee fans can boo almost as loudly as they cheer.

Still, there was more than enough air left in the lungs of the fans at American Family Field to reboot the celebrations after the teams returned to the field and closer Trevor Megill struck out outfielder Jonny DeLuca for the win, for real. “It’s a big credit to Trev for locking back in right there and making some huge pitches after. You know, you kind of have that emotional dump and then you have to get back on it.” Brewers slugger Christian Yelich told Fox Sports. It was perhaps early evidence that in a series that is likely to be decided by fine margins, Milwaukee’s formidable bullpen might ultimately make the difference.

Pat Murphy, the Brewers manager and Bruce Springsteen superfan who was FaceTimed by The Boss in midweek, declared Contreras the “player of the game” after he drove in a run and threw out two attempted base-stealers, neutralizing a key strategy for Kevin Cash’s aggressive Rays.

“Money isn’t everything” is a nice narrative as far as the action goes, but the peculiar genius of American sports is how they generally preserve parity and uncertainty on the field while embracing rapacious capitalism.

Three years ago, the Brewers, who are owned by Mark Attansio, a Los Angeles-based investor who also controls Norwich City FC and has an estimated net worth of $2bn, managed to squeeze $500m out of lawmakers in taxpayer-funded upgrades for a 25-year-old ballpark that cost less than $400m to build in the first place.

A high-stakes financial duel engulfing the entire league played out to gaggles of reporters before the game as two power-brokers dug in to entrenched positions near the first-base dug-out. Bruce Meyer, the interim head of the players’ union, called the owners’ proposal of a salary cap a “nuclear bomb” and - more reasonably - argued that the presence of two small-market clubs in this year’s World Series proves that competitive balance is possible without a cap. Meanwhile, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred broadened the context as he made the case for a limit: “It’s been 40 years since we’re here. Once every 40 years is not enough. It’s not that no small market can win, it’s just that it’s pretty rare.”

Milwaukee has a retractable roof, and Tampa Bay an indoor dome, but storm clouds are gathering above all the same. The owners are virtually certain to lock out the players on 1 December in a row over money that will threaten the start of the 2027 season. So this is a sport freighted with growing anxiety about the future, even during its showpiece event. Perhaps this, as well as the novelty factor of the match-up, is amplifying the party atmosphere of the last spectacle before the stoppage.

Diamondbacks News

Grading Every Diamondbacks Position Group After 2026 Season
No extra points for guessing where the worst grade landed.

3 Lessons Diamondbacks Should Learn from Brewers-Rays World Series
Arizona is not set up well to take advantage of these pointers.

One Former Diamondback Set to Become World Series Champion – Regardless of Winner
Jake Woodford is in a rather unique position, having suited up for both the Brewers and Rays this year.

Other Baseball News

Brewers Take Game 1 Behind Miz, Contreras
Jacob Misiorowski pitched like an ace and William Contreras turned in a Player of the Game performance to lead the Brewers to a tightly contested victory in Game 1 of the World Series.

Todd Benzinger Passes Away
The former World Series champion, switch-hitting first baseman and outfielder has passed away at age 63.

Cleveland Guardians 2026 Post-Mortem: Guard Ball at a Crossroads
The Cleveland Guardians once again fell apart in rapid fashion after pushing the Rays to the edge in Tampa in the ALCS.

Continuing around the Phillies’ roster and looking for ways to change things up, we focus on a place that is starting come under more and more scrutiny: the infield.

How to improve the Phillies: Catcher

Parting ways with several key members of organizations past in Alec Bohm and infield coach Bobby Dickerson, there will be some new people manning new spots. It’s going to be interesting how it unfolds, starting with who will be in charge of making sure they are improving defensively and ending with who will actually be putting their cleats on the Citizens Bank Park dirt.

Who they have

You know the players by now. Bryce Harper is presumably moving back to first base following his midseason outfield jaunt, Bryson Stott likely takes back his spot at second base and Trea Turner is….well, he’s there. He is capable of playing shortstop, but there is much scuttlebutt about his changing positions. The best spot for him is probably in the outfield, but as Dave Dombrowski has already stated, he’s the starting shortstop.

That means they need a third baseman.

And maybe someone to play as the backup to all three non first base spots if they don’t want to pay Edmundo Sosa what he is probably going to want in free agency.

It’s maybe more of a needy spot that the Phillies have holes at than maybe one might think of at first glance. Stott has shown that he can handle third base if needed, so maybe they can grab a second baseman instead.

In the minors, there is the looming shadow of Aidan Miller and how his timeline changes the equations around the infield. Multiple questions need to be answered before they decide his ultimate fate.

• Is he healthy?
• What position does he play?
• Does he ultimately supplant Turner in 2027?

The answers to these questions are likely to determine what the team does to figure out which players are going to be playing the infield next season.

Free agent options

Things are bleak. Free agent options are few and far between where it comes to adding a player that will have a good sized impact on the team. After all, adding impact is the most important thing a team could do in free agency. However, the players that are available don’t exactly scream “impact” when considering them. These three are probably the ones that offer the most potential to provide the things the Phillies need in their lineup and on the dirt.

Jazz Chisholm, Jr. – Imagine Chisholm on the Phillies for a moment. Forget about the fanbase and how they would probably love him, but with the roster as it is. They welcomed Luis Arraez this past trade deadline, even if it looked weird when a player showed actual emotion on the field after getting a big hit. Adding Chisholm to this lineup would be taking that emotion and amping up by 20, but at least he can back it up with actual talent on the field. It was a down year for him, “only” hitting 19 home runs and posting a 98 wRC+, the first time that number has been under 100 since 2021, numbers that still make him an upgrade over some of what the Phillies had last year. He’s still a solid glove at second base, probably his best position right now. He has posted walk rates above 10% each of the past two seasons, so his would be a solid bat to add to the lineup. Does it matter that it would be coming from the left handed side? Maybe. Maybe they want to add someone that balances the lineup a bit, also taking into consideration the platoon splits Chisholm has. But there really is no denying that if they wanted to make a splash in free agency, adding Chisholm to this lineup would do so.

Mauricio Dubon – Dubon is a player that has a lot of qualities that the Phillies could use. He can play shortstop at least capably if the need should arise, he can be pushed to the outfield if need be and won’t embarrass himself at the plate. The biggest issue is that using that term “embarrass” might be a bit strong. His best season just happened with the Braves this past year, where he hit 12 home runs, drove in 73 runs and stole ten bases to boot. The RBI total is probably a bit of an illusion thanks to being in a better than average lineup. But everything else, the stuff that teams actually look at these days? Yeah, it wasn’t good. A gander at his Baseball Savant page reveals a lot of blue in places where a team wouldn’t want to invest in. He doesn’t hit the ball hard, doesn’t walk much and doesn’t have much batted ball luck. A career year led to a 99 wRC+. Is that what the team would want to hand a starting spot to? So long as they weren’t making him start regularly at a spot, instead scooting around to different positions to give players a breather, it makes some sense.

Teruaki Sato – The term “infielder” is probably loosely applied to Sato, who is looked as more of an outfielder. We’ll talk more about him once we get to the outfield portion of this series.

Now, if we’re talking about options the team has that could be in more of a backup role, things can expand a bit more.

Jorge Mateo – A capable defender at the six, Mateo is another that is going to command, at best, a minor league deal. The team could use someone like this though. Not truly on the major league roster per se, but adding a player like Mateo to Lehigh Valley can help create at least some depth with a particular role carved out for him should his services be needed at the big league level. Those services aren’t really of the “hitting” variety, but more of a “he won’t embarrass himself if needed for a week or two” kind.

Kike Hernandez – Looking for someone that can play just about anywhere? Hernandez could be your guy. Again, not much with the bat (he hasn’t posted a wRC+ over 100 since 2021), he can use his versatility to help boost a bench that didn’t have much there beyond what could Edmundo Sosa do for them lately. He’d like also be a lot cheaper than Sosa.

Gleyber Torres – This is where things get at least mildly interesting. Adding Torres is not really adding any kind of a power bat. Long thought of as someone that could be that as he was coming up as a prospect, Torres has settled into more of a “gets on base a lot” type of hitter that does offer at least sneaky power. Planting him at second base and shifting Stott to the hot corner might be of some interest to the Phillies. Torres’ 13.6% walk rate would look a lot better in a lineup that really did have some issues getting on base towards the end of the season. He’s no great shakes defensively, but he’s also not a butcher. Torres is probably going to lose his job to the younger, cheaper Hao Yu-Lee in Detroit, so he’ll be looking for someone else to latch on to. So long as he’s not expected to be an integral part of an offense, there are worse ways to give out a one-year deal.

J.P Crawford – Could you imagine if baseball life for Crawford came full circle?

Trade options

The trade market becomes slightly more open, only because there might be some options teams are not interested in either because they are making a bit too much money and/or they have a prospect coming up at their position that the team would rather see getting the playing time. These are mostly leaps, but some options could include:

Otto Lopez/Xavier Edwards – The Marlins are smart and know when to sell players on the trade market. They took Edward Cabrera’s good stuff and team control, sold high and ended up with a solid core piece in Owen Cassie. Cabrera barely made starts with the Cubs and is probably a reliever. So when rumors started that they were shopping both Lopez and Edwards, maybe there should be a pause that they are trying to sell high. For the Phillies, maybe they should be buying high. In the case of Lopez, he has turned himself into a high contact, low strikeout hit machine that also plays a great defense. He’s entering arbitration for the first time and should command a solid trade package, but he’d be exactly what this lineup needs. Is he a a 115 wRC+, .305/.349/.437 hitter? Probably not. That line was driven by a .335 BABIP, so maybe he stalls out a bit. But he also showed some of those same chops the years before. Maybe the asking price would be a bit too high, but they should absolutely be picking up the phone and inquiring. With Edwards, he’s a definite step below Lopez, but offers much the same package. Maybe not as much power, maybe not the same amount of defense, but still an upgrade over what the team had, especially if they feel confident in moving Stott to third base full time.

Davis Schneider – Eastern High School is in Voorhees, NJ, about 15 minutes from Citizens Bank Park. Schneider grew up going there and has made himself into a major leaguer despite not really being all that great at doing major league things. He got famous during last season’s World Series for being a bench player that was abnormally productive, but 2026 saw him crash down to Earth, posting a wRC+ of 84. He’s 28 years old and can play in a few different spots, plus he’s right handed, all things that this Phillies team could use. Other than, you know, the whole not a great hitter thing.

Max Schuemann – Another versatile player, Schuemann has a solid batting eye and a little pop in his bat. He doesn’t make a lot of contact, which is kind of a problem for a lineup that has enough of that “skill” already, but he probably could be had on the cheap if the team was looking to deepen its bench a bit more.

Ke’Bryan Hayes – How much do you like a project? Hayes might be the worst hitter in the game right now, but he’s also an incredible defender. The team has a stated effort to be better at defense. If we can assume that Hayes has nowhere to go but up with the bat, maybe this would be a buy really low option for the team? Particularly if you consider they are about to undergo an overhaul of their instructional hitting department after letting Kevin Long go. Like I said, how much do you like a project?

Predicted outcome

There are four spots for this infield that need to have players. Two of them will be filled by Harper and Stott, the third presumably by Turner (somehow, somewhere). That means a fourth spot is going to have to have someone come in and set things straight.

That answer is probably Aidan Miller.

The runway has been set by the team for Miller to win a job in spring training. He came back at the end of 2026 to get some at bats, has been playing well in Arizona to try and make up for lost time and has been giving interviews touting his health. Should he show the same health spring training and be productive against major league caliber arms during that time period, it’s likely the team opens with him at an infield spot. That spot might be third base if Turner is playing well at shortstop, it might be at shortstop if Turner is struggling. Yet that feels like the most likely outcome here. Maybe signing someone like Torres on a one-year deal to give Miller a little more time in the minors isn’t the worst idea to have. Teams probably aren’t going to be knocking down the doors to get him onto their roster. But splurging on a big time free agent like Chisholm or emptying the farm to acquire Otto Lopez isn’t the most prudent usage of resources they have available to them.

Let’s see how Miller does and go from there.