OAKLAND, CA - FEBRUARY 12: Vince Carter #15 of the Toronto Raptors goes up for a dunk during the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest on February 12, 2000 at The Oakland Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2000 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
NBA The Run is the game I have been waiting a long time for.
Basketball video games were the way I cemented my appreciation for the sport. It’s all well and good to watch the on-court product, or pick up the ball yourself, but getting to step into the avatars of the world’s greatest athletes scratches an itch that the other two can’t quite reach.
Reminiscent of not only classic NBA video games, but the grit and attitude of the 2000s, The Run’s new update has added 5 new marquee players from that era, while giving the game a fresh overhaul. That new coat of paint and new additions to the roster made jumping into The Run a whole lot of fun.
To preface my review, all gameplay occurred on a PC, playing on an Xbox One controller.The kind people over at Play by Play Studios sent me a copy of the game, as well as an unlock code for the 5 new players added. With that all considered… let’s get into it.
First steps into the past
The Run first released on June 9th, 2026, but this autumn marks the release of their first major DLC, Wave One — 2000s Legends. The legends in question are Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, and Dirk Nowitzki.
Wave One – 2000s Legends arrives TOMORROW as a free update for all players.
It’s great to not only see two Raptors legends (albeit, only one in the purple and red threads), but also, players that harken back to the turn of the millenium in a way that stars like Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant transcended. Rooting this update in that era is great from a branding perspective, and goes further to draw back connections to older titles like NBA Street. You can unlock the new characters either using in-game currency, or through a purchase.
The new update also brought a soundtrack of vintage cuts, 11 songs from big names such as The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, and Kanye West. Passin’ Me By from the Pharcyde is a personal favourite, and getting to hear it while running the court with Victor Wembanyama was a real pleasure. The Run is designed in large part around sound, with DJ Bobbito Garcia playing emcee, bringing great, over-the-top commentary for everything that happens on the court.
As well, the autumn update brought a number of other quality of life upgrades, such as adding more camera angles, dedicated practice modes, and new maps. All together, The Run is feels like an even bigger game now.
On the court gameplay
Before writing this review, I played the game for around 2 hours, both online and in the training mode. Despite a lack of tutorial, I picked up the controls pretty quickly, and hopped into a game to try out the different characters.
The Run has a really solid roster for such a new game. A solid number of teams are represented, with most of the big-name stars, some star rookies and younger players, and now, the 2000s legends help to round out the roster. I played with every current or former Raptors in the game: Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Barnes, Tracy McGrady, and Vince Carter. Of the four, Vince Carter was my favourite, from both a design and gameplay standpoint. His dunks looked the coolest and felt the best on the court, and that purple dinosaur pops like nothing else.
The first thing to know about this game is that the dunks feel like dunks. With the magic of controller vibration, throwing down a jam feels like you’re about to tear the rim off. I could (and soon will) spend a lot of time just messing around alone, trying to master the different dunks, the alley-oops, and all the rest. The Run does a good job of making defence feel both exciting an engaging. Grabbing a huge block feels almost as good as hitting a deep three, and leaning into the streetball side of things, you’re able to shove and be physical in a way that wouldn’t work in a basketball simulation. One of my favourite things I discovered was that offensive players are actually able to bounce the ball off of their opponents heads.
The variety of courts upon which you can play are great as well. The Run gets international, including courts placed in China, the Philippines, and features a personal favourite, David Crombie Park in Toronto, Canada. Considering the number of Raptors in this game, I appreciated seeing some representation of their home-country, and I’m certainly that both Americans and non-Americans alike will appreciate the diversity of locales.
The game feels good to play, and at the end of the day, that’s really what matters when it comes to a title like this.
Quality of life
The Run is not afraid to be unapolagetically fun, balancing enough seriousness through its design and smooth handles, with the bombastic and exaggerated action that inflates the exsiting instanity that happens when NBA players step onto the hardwood. However, players should know what they’re getting into before they buy this game.
The Run’s developers have committed to providing an offline campaign mode (with local co-op) by Spring of 2027, but as for now, the game is something that you can only play while online. It’s good that the team understands this is a concern that needs to be addressed, and I hope that changes are implemented to bring a true couch co-op experience to the title. Evoking the 2000s is great, but being able to play this game like you would back in the day would give The Run a lot more replayability and do a lot for building community around the title.
ATLANTA – FEBRUARY 9: (L-R) Michael Jordan (Washington Wizards) #23, Tracy McGrady (Orlando Magic) #1, Vince Carter (Toronto Raptors) #15, Ben Wallace (Detroit Pistons) #3 and Jermaine O'Neal (Indiana Pacers) #7 of the Eastern Conference All-Stars look on at the 2003 NBA All-Star Game on February 9, 2003 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images license agreement. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I really want to dunk on my brother and sister in this game, and it’d be great if we could do so all on the same copy of the game, right next to each other, rather than on different machines and in different houses. However, the game’s offering of cross-platform multiplayer is a solid addition that is an addition worthy of note.
As well, while this is something that the developers don’t necessarily have control of, I noticed that I ran into a fair amount of bots while playing the game. Bots are certainly a lot easier to play with, and against, when compared to real players. But, I certainly got to play against the real deal, dunking on, and being dunked on real people in turn.
It should be noted that the game is not priced the same as a Triple-A title, retailing for $35.99 CAD ($29.99 USD). This game is raw at times, without the polish of some of the ongoing series of sports games. But that’s why I think it’s worth trying all the more.
The future of The Run
NBA Live and NBA 2K are storied franchises that took decades to develop into what their ultimate forms were. The Run is genuinely offering up a different product to audiences both mature and juvenile, and I believe that it should be supported as it continues to blossom into a bigger and badder version of itself.
The Run is a game that tries to be fun, and succeeds. It’s the perfect thing to get on with your friends and chatter in the background while you score on your opponents and take screenshots of your buddies doing Allen Iverson crossovers and T-Mac alley-oops. Take it for what it is, and if you like the sound of thunderous dunks and earth shattering blocks, while great music and an iconic announcer blare in the background, The Run might be the game for you.
All together, Play by Play Studios has revived a beloved concept, bringing it into the light of the modern day while keeping things rooted in the zaniness inherent to professional basketball. NBA The Run is a bright spot in a genre that is often thought of as stagnant, and it’s nice to be reminded that things don’t have to be that way for virtual basketball.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - APRIL 05: Myles Turner #3 of the Milwaukee Bucks reacts after being called for a foul during the second half of the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Fiserv Forum on April 05, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Myles Turner enters his second season with the Bucks and lands at number five in our Ranking the Roster series. Ever since Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, Turner has been on something of an Odyssey. After scoring just six points and grabbing four rebounds, he drew the ire of Pacers fans who felt he didn’t do enough to secure the championship after Tyrese Haliburton ruptured his Achilles in the first quarter. It is impossible to know what might have happened without that injury, but Turner had to focus on free agency. The Pacers offered the veteran big man a three-year, $66m deal, which, in his eyes, was far too low. Therefore, he accepted a four-year, $107m deal from the Bucks after Jon Horst’s historic waive-and-stretch of Damian Lillard’s contract. While those offers look massively different at first, the average annual value is $22m and $26.75m, which isn’t that much. For context, Brook Lopez’s final year with the Bucks saw him make $25 million, so the Bucks saw an opportunity to pair Giannis with “young Brook Lopez” and steal a player from a rival. The Pacers, meanwhile, believed Turner wasn’t worth going into the luxury tax for (or committing an extra year to). Were the Pacers right, or did the Bucks welcome in a wayward hero?
The answer, like many about this team, is a little murky. Last season, Turner was brought in for a very specific purpose: to play next to Giannis and space the floor. And despite last season’s injuries, Turner wasn’t asked to deviate from that game plan; he attempted three-pointers more frequently than ever in his career while also taking by far the fewest two-point attempts of his career. This is partly because Turner needed to rely on others for shot creation; last season, 87% of his made field goals were assisted, on par with the rest of his career. Despite Ryan Rollins emerging as an exciting player, the Bucks lacked a steady creator who could feed Turner adequately. As a result, his player efficiency rating (PER) fell to 14.2, the lowest in his career. So then: how is the answer to the original question murky when it appears that Turner’s tenure has been a disaster in Milwaukee?
That is because, quite frankly, it has not been nearly as disastrous as some want to make it seem. Offensively, yes, Turner had a down year, but he still shot 38.3% from deep on a high volume. Defensively, however, Turner is still solid; last season, he ranked sixth overall in blocks per game. His defensive on/off numbers were very good as well: with MT on the court, the Bucks were significantly better in opponent shooting, accuracy, transition, and half-court defence, with the veteran ranking in or near the 90th percentile in impact, according to Cleaning the Glass. Taken together, Turner is best viewed as a high-impact role player who needs a functioning offensive system around him to thrive. Going back to the idea of the down offensive year, the fix seems simple: feed him more in the paint. Last season, Turner averaged 11.9 PPG—technically the lowest since his rookie season—but not terribly different from the first half of his career. The biggest drop came around 2022-2023, when he averaged 7.8, 7.6, and 5.8 two-point attempts per game and 18.0, 17.1, and 15.6 PPG over the next three years. Last season with the Bucks, he averaged just 3.7 two-point attempts per game, the lowest of his career by a long shot. To say he was being misused would be an understatement.
Of course, the question for Turner now is, “Where do we go from here?” Ultimately, MT is a good player on a reasonable (if not good) contract. Contending teams around the league will likely still be interested in adding him. Should the Bucks be hoping to trade away their starting center, though? The common thinking is that Turner does not match the timeline, which is accurate; however, during a rebuilding season, Milwaukee will need veteran leadership, and MT has shown plenty of that. Turner is clearly a leader off the court and likely a strong locker-room presence. Regardless of where he ends his season, the Austin native comes in at number five on this list because he is a known quantity on both ends. How well he pairs with Kel’el Ware and others this season may determine the Bucks’ course of action, but regardless, Turner seems determined to make the most of his Milwaukee tenure, and for that, I am grateful.
If one thing is for certain, it’s that Moussa Cissé is a trooper. The Guinean big man signed a two-way deal with the Dallas Mavericks in October of 2025, and in doing so, entered into one of the strangest and most chaotic seasons of Dallas basketball in a long time. The Nico Harrison firing, the Anthony Davis trade, Cooper Flagg’s emergence—that’s quite a lot of drama for a rookie season. But Cissé has taken it in stride. He played nearly 40 games for the Mavericks in 2025-2026; while he only averaged around 5 points and 6 rebounds in 14 minutes, his time on the floor was impactful, giving Dallas defensive energy and rim protection in a season where it was desperate for both.
Headed into 2026-2027, Cissé has a real chance to continue that momentum. Contract-wise, he’s on solid ground, having just signed a 2-year, nearly-$5-million-dollar contract with Dallas (matching the New York Knicks’ post-championship offer sheet). Now, the question is what Cissé can do with this opportunity—and what that opportunity will realistically look like.
The Big Question
With the 2026-2027 season on the horizon, there are real concerns regarding Dallas’ center rotation. From a raw skills perspective, Dereck Lively II has the highest ceiling—but ongoing right foot issues led to a major surgery in December 2025, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season. As of the most recent news, there’s no timetable for his return, and there’s no telling how he’ll look once he is back. Next in line is Daniel Gafford. He fared a bit better last season, playing 55 games for the Mavericks in 2025-2026, with averages hovering around 10 points and 7 rebounds. But in the absence of high-level facilitators like Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić, Gafford’s role on the team is shakier than it used to be.
How does Moussa Cissé fit into this puzzle? Well, that’s the big question. If Lively can’t come back and play meaningful minutes this season, it’s very likely that Cissé will have to soak up some of that playing time. Likewise, if a trade market emerges for Gafford and Dallas decides to move on, Cissé should slot into the Mavericks’ rotation quite naturally. However, if both Lively and Gafford are present and healthy, the picture starts to get murkier, especially with a new head coach at the helm.
Best Case Scenario
The best case for Moussa Cissé’s growth is probably one of the two scenarios above. In a world where Lively or Gafford (or both) aren’t playing, it’s easy to imagine Cissé getting a more consistent 15 minutes per night. He’s unlikely to be starting many of these games—but he certainly could be subbing in for Santi Aldama or Morez Johnson Jr., who may both find themselves sliding over to play the five this season. Viewing the situation optimistically, Cissé might capitalize on this opportunity, bumping his season averages up to 8 points and 8 rebounds while maintaining excellent rim protection.
If all of this comes to pass, some of his impressive stretches last season may begin to feel more regular. His three-game January 15–19 run, for instance: against the Utah Jazz twice and the Knicks once, Cissé averaged 11 points, 11 rebounds, and nearly 3 blocks, all in about 20 minutes of playing time. The last three games of the 2025-2026 season also stand out. Cissé played meaningful time in all of them—and against the Chicago Bulls, he put up 17/20 with 2 steals and 2 blocks in around 41 minutes. There’s no reason to expect that type of single-game performance to become the norm; however, if all goes well, it’s possible we see Cissé post those numbers a few different times next season.
Worst Case Scenario
Of course, there’s also a less optimistic read here: that perhaps Cissé’s rookie season was a bit of a mirage. In this scenario, Cissé enters 2026-2027, and he hits the sophomore slump hard. His defense holds, but he hasn’t added much to his game in the offseason, and his offensive averages look more and more stagnant. Even when Lively and Gafford aren’t available, Dusty May starts to rely more on unconventional small-ball lineups with Aldama and Johnson Jr. We get toward the end of the season, and Cissé hasn’t scratched his way into the rotation. Mavericks fans are left disappointed, and Moussa Cissé’s future with the Mavericks (and in the NBA) becomes doubtful.
Season Goal
How does Cissé avoid this outcome? The answer feels pretty obvious: small improvements on the offensive side of the ball. This could take the form of finishing better through contact, which Cissé sometimes struggled with in 2025-2026. Or, more attention to the fundamentals: screening and rolling harder to the rim would go a long way toward creating better opportunities for his teammates. The real moonshot would be developing a decent short-range jumper—the most unlikely outcome, to be sure, but why not dream a little bit? If Cissé ever became a more reliable scoring threat somewhere down the line, Dallas would have no choice but to keep him on the floor.
Overall
Entering into next season, Moussa Cissé has what feels like a clean slate. His money is secure, he’s got a new coach, and there’s a real chance his number will be called to fill the inevitable gaps at center. This is his biggest opportunity yet to prove his value to the Dallas front office, and if he does, Mavericks fans may be seeing him on the floor next to Cooper Flagg for some time.
(Photo by Jaden Coleman/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
It wasn’t long ago that the NBA Finals felt like they were already a formality when teams reported for training camp to start the new season. The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers faced off in four straight championship series from 2015-2018, which was part of a longer run of LeBron James’ team making eight straight trips to the NBA Finals. Everything changed in 2019 when Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson both suffered devastating injuries, allowing the Toronto Raptors to capture an unlikely championship and unofficially starting the parity era.
The NBA has now seen eight unique champions. No team has even made back-to-back Finals appearances over that time. Durant’s Warriors are the last team to win consecutive championships way back in 2017 and 2018. The league is harder to predict than ever before, and most teams think they’re one or two moves away from being a legitimate championship threat. That belief spurred a dramatic summer of offseason movement that sent multiple superstars to new homes and rearranged the league’s hierarchy behind three proven championship-caliber teams.
There are so many old faces in new places entering the 2026-27 season. Media day felt especially jarring this year as players like LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jaylen Brown put on new uniforms. It also felt wild to see role players like Lu Dort, Naz Reid, and Mitchell Robinson put on their new jerseys after spending their entire careers with one franchise. Check out our Eastern Conference regular season rankings, Western Conference predictions, and full NBA championship rankings for the 2026-27 season. Here are the biggest names who changed teams over the summer in their new threads to start the season.
Morant needed a fresh start, but this still feels like a weird fit. Are Morant and Damian Lillard really going to last as Portland’s starting backcourt with so many defensive questions?
Kawhi Leonard, F, Toronto Raptors
The Clippers got nuked and Kawhi got away scot-free. The Raptors hope they can party like 2019 again with Leonard back in Toronto.
Jaylen Brown, F, Philadelphia 76ers
I really thought Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum would spend their entire careers with the Celtics. Blame the second-apron, I guess. I actually think Boston is going to kill it without Brown this season, and I totally understand the case for trading him. It will be a very interesting year in Philly to say the least.
At least the endless will-he-or-won’t-he speculation about Giannis’ future is over. It’s time for him to stay healthy long enough to prove that he’s still the best player in the East.
Walker Kessler, C, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers traded every available asset to land Kessler, who immediately upgrades their rim protection behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. I thought the Lakers gave up too much in the deal, but Kessler fixes LA’s biggest problem and gives them a chance to dream about making a Cinderella run to the NBA Finals.
Klay Thompson, G, Miami Heat
Klay Thompson’s Warriors jersey will hang forever one day, and he looks weird as hell in any other uniform. I am not bullish on his fit in Miami, but he’s such a cool player that I hope he proves me wrong.
Anthony Davis, C/F, Washington Wizards
This one is kind of cheating, because Davis got dealt to the Wizards at in February at last season’s trade deadline, but I’m counting it because he didn’t play a game with them. Davis is in the market for a contract extension, which is part of the reason I’m not confident he’ll be in D.C. long-term. Enjoy this photo of Davis in a Wizards jersey while you still can.
Norman Powell, G, Chicago Bulls
I would bet Powell is wearing a different uniform by the Feb. trade deadline. His two-year contract with a team option at the end was was essentially signed to be traded. There should be a solid market for his services coming off an All-Star season.
Peyton Watson, F, Cleveland Cavaliers
The Nuggets couldn’t afford to pay Watson without crossing the second-apron, so they traded him to Cleveland for a future first-round pick. Can Watson be the fifth-starter the Donovan Mitchell-era Cavs have always been missing? He has the talent to do it, but I find myself higher on the deal from Denver’s side.
Naz Reid, F, Charlotte Hornets
Naz Reid should have been a Timberwolf for life. This just looks bizarre.
Paul George, F, Boston Celtics
Paul George has played for the Thunder, Clippers, and now the Celtics since leaving the Indiana Pacers. Maybe I’m delusional, but I think he can be a really good fit in Boston this season.
Julius Randle, F, Brooklyn Nets
Randle had a rough 2026 playoffs, but he can still be a really good player in the right system. I thin Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez is going to unlock him the same way he unlocked Michael Porter Jr. last year (and Cam Johnson the year before that).
Bobby Portis, F, Miami Heat
Bobby Portis will always be a Buck in my mind. It’s pretty cool that he’s following Giannis to Miami, but he still looks weird in these threads.
Mitchell Robinson, C, Boston Celtics
Robinson spent his whole career with the Knicks, but they let him go to their biggest Eastern Conference rival because they didn’t want to enter the second-apron to keep him. We’ll see how that one works out for everyone involved.
Isaiah Joe, G, Detroit Pistons
I’m super high on the Isaiah Joe acquisition for the Pistons. Remember when Malik Beasley led the league in three-pointers made in Detroit two years ago? Joe can have a similar impact if he gets enough minutes.
Lu Dort, G, Atlanta Hawks
Hot take, but Lu Dort is anything other than a Thunder jersey is weirder than LeBron in Philly or Giannis in Miami. This just isn’t right. I liked the Dort trade for both OKC and Atlanta.
Rui Hachimura, F, Los Angeles Clippers
Rui Hachimura was a major playoff riser with the Lakers. I’m going to go out on a limb and say he’s not going to get the opportunity to keep proving himself as a 16-game player during his time with the Clippers.
Isaiah Stewart, F/C, Memphis Grizzlies
Beef Stew was the Detroit Pistons’ identity. He still feels like a natural in the Grit-n-Grind threads. Memphis will love him.
DeMar DeRozan, G, Denver Nuggets
DeRozan can still get buckets at age-37, but it’s fair to wonder if his deliberate style can mesh with Nikola Jokic. I’d expect him to help lift Denver’s weak bench units if nothing else this year.
Zaccharie Risacher, F, Dallas Mavericks
He’s not quite Anthony Bennett, but there’s no doubt Risacher is one of the most disappointing No. 1 overall picks ever. Maybe he can turn it around in Dallas. The rest of my 2024 NBA Draft board looks pretty bad, but I was right that Risacher wasn’t a top-10 caliber prospect.
Tobias Harris, F, San Antonio Spurs
Harris will be in a smaller role in San Antonio than he was in Detroit, but his halfcourt scoring can still help a Spurs team that expects to be playing deep into the playoffs.
Here is a decent recap of things that were said at the Royals end of year press conference yesterday. Also, shoutout to my former classmate and friend Maddie Hartley for writing this story.
Royals general manager J.J. Picollo didn’t shy away from his assessment of their 2026 season.
“I think it goes without being said, it’s kind of disappointing sitting here today without being in the playoffs as we expected,” Picollo said in Wednesday’s end-of-season press conference at Kauffman Stadium. “It was something we certainly felt was attainable coming into our season.”
The Royals finished with a 69-93 record — the club’s first losing season since a 106-loss 2023 — landed at the bottom of the AL Central and missed the postseason for the second straight year.
“We’ve got to figure out how to get this current roster playing to its abilities and put ourselves in a better position in 2027,” Picollo said. “But it’s not just about ‘27, it’s about long-term success.”
The Royals are overhauling their training staff as well.
On Wednesday, Royals general manager J.J. Picollo announced that head athletic trainer Kyle Turner, assistant athletic trainer Chris DeLucia and major league rehab coordinator Jeff Blum will not return.
My fellow writers here at Royals Review, have put out great work here the last couple of days, so I’m going to link some of their stories below.
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 11: The Atlanta Braves honor the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks before the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Truist Park on September 11, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jack Casey/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, baseball fans!
The 2026 MLB Playoffs continue today with Game 3 of the National and American League Wild Card series.
As usual, I am writing this before all of yesterday’s games have been played. So I don’t yet know the outcomes, which means I don’t yet know which games will actually have a third game. Fun!
Also, all games that do happen will have national radio coverage on ESPN Radio.
First up, we know for sure that the Philadelphia Phillies will take on the Atlanta Braves at 11:00 a.m. PT and the game will be broadcast on NBC/Peacock.
If necessary, the Chicago White Sox will play the Houston Astros at 2:00 p.m. PT, airing on Peacock/NBC Sports Network.
If necessary, the Boston Red Sox will play the New York Yankees at 5:00 p.m. PT, airing on NBC/Peacock.
And finally, if necessary, the Chicago Cubs will play the San Diego Padres at 7:00 p.m. PT, airing on Peacock/NBC Sports Network.
CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 26: Hunter Goodman #15 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates after hitting a home run in the third inning during the game between the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on Saturday, September 26, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Lawrence Brown/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Good morning!
For fans of teams that missed the playoffs, this week is the time for reviewing the 2026 season, a time to look to the future outlook of each organization and dream of what steps each team could take to one day eventually play October baseball again.
Over the course of the week, almost every Rockies-specific news site has published their own form of 2026 review or offseason preview piece. There are plenty of opinions on what the Rockies need to do moving forward, and you have the opportunity to read them all!
If you’d rather stay connected to the present, however, playoff baseball has begun! Outside the Rockies-specific media ecosystem, analysis of the Wild Card round has begun. Even if the Rockies aren’t a part of the field again this year, there’s nothing better than engrossing yourself in the theater of playoff baseball.
Rockies News & Links
Questions facing the Colorado Rockies after fourth 100-loss season | Mile High Sports — As the Rockies finish up 2026 and begin looking to the 2027 season, Drew Creasman lays out the major questions the franchise will need to answer moving forward. Creasman goes over everything from the uncertainty the new ownership rumors have brought to what it will take for fans to come back to the ballpark. It’s a useful initial primer on the state of the franchise.
Rockies 2026 postmortem: Until Colorado figures out starting pitching, losing will continue | The Denver Post ($) — In Kyle Newman’s look forward at the current state of the team, he identifies pitching as the key component that the team will need to focus it’s efforts on improving. Credit is given to the start of a productive lineup that began forming in 2026 but makes it clear that that will not be enough on its own to turn the organization’s fortunes around.
How Rockies reach MLB playoffs in not-so-distant future | Kevin’s take | The Devner Gazette ($) — Kevin Henry has a more optimistic view of the Rockies current outlook than some. Henry compares where the Rockies are with how the Chicago White Sox were able to reach the playoffs just two seasons after a historic 121 loss season in 2024 and sees a potential blueprint for the Rockies to follow. Even with the precedent of possibility having been set, Henry acknowledges the challenges ahead in terms of improving the teams pitching staff to be playoff caliber.
The 2027 Free Agent Tracker Is Here! | Fangraphs — While the playoffs are underway for the best teams, the rest of the league is able to start looking ahead to the possibilities for next season. Every year Jason Martinez and the team over at Fangraphs maintain an incredibly useful reference tool showcasing all available free agents. Take a look and start dreaming of next year.
How 2026 MLB Playoff Rosters Were Built | Baseball America ($) — Now that the playoff field is set, J.J. Cooper does a comparison of how the players on each roster were acquired by their organization. It’s a fun piece that shows winning teams can be constructed in all sorts of different ways without any specific avenue of player acquisition being the prevailing best path.
Astros players blast their own fans for booing, not showing up to playoff loss | The Athletic ($) — The Houston Astros managed to just barely earn a trip to the playoffs with a .500 record which happened to be good enough to win the American League West. Their recent history of dominance had set their fans up to have higher expectations and so began booing the team during their game one loss to the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. The Astros players were not pleased with this believing that they’d just played their hearts out attempting to get to where they were. A fascinating situation that Chandler Rome breaks down with a multitude of quotes from those involved.
Everybody Except the Yankees Is Doing Wild Card Roster Construction Wrong | Fangraphs — The optimal way to construct a roster is a complicated topic with a multitude of factors to consider. Michael Baumann argues that the way the New York Yankees have chosen to trim their pitching staff heading into the Wild Card round is not only different from the rest of the field but an advantage based on the dynamics of a short series.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - SEPTEMBER 26: Cody Freeman #39 and Jake Burger #21 of the Texas Rangers celebrate the win against the Minnesota Twins after the game at Target Field on September 26, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Rangers defeated the Twins 6-2. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Morning, all!
The Houston Astros have been swept from the playoffs, marking a need to enter the offseason with a need to rebuild.
Chris Young is also entering the offseason using rebuild coded words, like ““address the makeup of this team.”
The problem is that the team doesn’t really have much salary coming off the books and have double the number of arbitration eligible players, so there likely isn’t a lot of money to address the team’s many problems.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are back at home to kick off the 2026-27 season tonight at Nationwide Arena against the Buffalo Sabres.
The CBJ have lost four straight season openers. They last won at home against the Arizona Coyotes in 2021. The Sabres have lost three straight.
Their all-time record is 9-14-2 in season openers and 3-6-2 in home season openers.
Buffalo Sabres - 2025-26 - 50-23-9 - 109 Points - Won the Atlantic Division
Columbus Blue Jackets - 2025-26 - 40-30-12 - 92 Points - Finished 5th in the Metro
Team Notes Per CBJ PR
Columbus has won three-straight games vs. Bualo at Nationwide Arena.
CBJ and Buffalo have combined for 60 shots or more in eight of the last 10 games of the series.
The Blue Jackets have not surrendered a power play goal in the past eight games of the series (18-of-18, penalty killing).
Player Notes Per CBJ PR
Adam Fantilli, who signed a six-year contract with Columbus on Sept. 24, was second on the club in goals scored (24) during the 2025-26 season.
Zach Werenski captured the 2025-26 James Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman and was named to the First All-Star Team after notching 22-59-81 in 75 contests. He ranked second in the NHL in TOI (26:37) and second among league defensemen in scoring and third in goals.
Blue Jackets Stats - 2025-26
Power Play - 19.0% - 22nd in the NHL
Penalty Kill - 76.1% - 27th in the NHL
Goals For - 245 - 17th in the NHL
Goals Against - 249 - 22nd in the NHL
Sabres Stats - 2025-26
Power Play - 19.5% - 21st in the NHL
Penalty Kill - 81.9% - 4th in the NHL
Goals For - 283 - 5th in the NHL
Goals Against - 240 - 10th in the NHL
Series History vs. TheSabres
The Blue Jackets are 14-8-1 at Nationwide Arena and 29-17-1 overall vs. Buffalo.
Columbus has won three-straight games vs. Buffalo at Nationwide Arena.
The Jackets went 2-1-0 in 2025-26 against the Sabres.
The Blue Jackets have picked up four wins against the Sabres over the past two seasons (4-2-0).
Who To Watch For TheSabres
Tage Thompson had 40 goals and 81 points last season.
Rasmus Dahlin had 55 assists and 74 points.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen went 22-9-0 with a SV% of .909 last season.
CBJ Player Notes vsSabres
Jet Greaves has a 3-1-0 record with a .926 save percentage and 2.49 goals-against average in four career games vs. Buffalo.
Sean Monahan has 9-15-24 in 26 career games vs. the Sabres.
Matthew Knies posted 1-6-7 in 11 career games vs. Buffalo with points in three-straight.
Injured Reserve & Other Injuries
Dante Fabbro - Broken Hand
Damon Severson - Shoulder Surgery
Isac Lundestrom - Achilles Surgery - LTIR
Mikael Pyyhtia - Lower Body Injury
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 0
How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be simulcast on The Blue Jackets Hockey Network and97.1 The Fan, with Steve Mears behind the mic doing the play-by-play.
Next Up For Columbus: The CBJ take on the Buffalo Sabres tonight at 7 PM.
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Archer rested for tri-series that begins on 18 October
Nearly nine years on from his solitary Test cap in Sydney comes an England recall for Mason Crane. The leg-spinner has been named in England’s squad for the one-day international tri-series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. England will fly to Islamabad on 15 October for a round-robin mini-tournament that serves as preparation for next year’s 50-over World Cup. The three teams play each other twice in the group stage, before the top two meet for the final at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on 31 October.
Jos Buttler will miss the trip due to his recent hamstring tear and Jofra Archer is being rested at the start of a busy winter. But there are returns for Adil Rashid and Sam Curran after injury and a spot for James Coles, while the most eye-catching move is Crane usurping Rehan Ahmed as the back-up wrist-spinner.
The Toronto Maple Leafs earned their first win of the 2026-27 season with a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Wednesday. This result on the second night of a back-to-back at Scotiabank Arena is Jim Hiller's first win as the Maple Leafs' head coach.
It was a much cleaner performance compared to Toronto's season opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, when they lost 3-2 at home.
With that said, here are the four main takeaways from the Maple Leafs' first win of the campaign.
Anthony Stolarz Looks Sharp
Goaltender Anthony Stolarz made his first start of the season for the Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
There was a lot for him to prove going into this season, given the numbers he produced last year. He posted an .893 save percentage and a 3.28 goals-against average, which was a significant decrease from the .926 SP and 2.14 GAA he registered in his first year with the team, 2024-25.
Against the Islanders, Stolarz stopped 26 of 27 shots, getting a .963 SP. That's the best the 32-year-old has performed, statistically, since recording a .966 on Oct. 16 of last year.
"It was good," Stolarz said of his first performance of the season. "I think it's a great feeling and something for our team to grow on and expand on, and continue to work forward. Obviously, you want to win the first one last night, but to come out the way we did and respond the way we did was extremely encouraging for sure.
"The guys did a great job of boxing guys out. Let me see the first shot. Obviously, we knew that they have a lot of skilled defensemen who they like to pound the puck. So it's kind of up to me just to smother that rebound. And obviously, we did a great job blocking shots, getting sticks in lanes. And if you do that consistently as a team, you're going to come out on top most times," he added.
If it wasn't for Stolarz's spectacular outing, Easton Cowan certainly would've been the star of this contest. The 21-year-old was noticeable all game long and contributed to both of Toronto's goals. He recorded an assist on Colton Sisson's first goal of the game and scored on the power play, which turned out to be the game-winning goal for the Leafs.
"He was feeling it tonight," Sissons said of Cowan. "Just a dynamic player. He has the puck on his stick a lot and makes a lot of good plays. So really blessed to be playing with him right now.
Cowan and the third line with Sissons and Nick Paul were arguably the best line in the game against the Islanders, and probably for the Leafs against the Canadiens in the first game, too. There's lots of positivity surrounding that trio in terms of their play, effectiveness, and early chemistry.
"Sky's the limit with that kid," Sissons said. "Yeah, he's got all the potential in the world."
Aside from Jack Roslovic's power-play assist on Cowan's goal, among Maple Leafs forwards, the third-liners were the only ones on the scoresheet, with Cowan's two points, Sissons' goal, and an assist from Paul.
Outside of producing offense, that trio were great at keeping possession in the offensive zone, executing low cycles, and they were very responsible in their own zone as well.
The right-handed blueliner was all over the place on Tuesday, giving the puck away five times on his own, and was on the ice for all three goals. On Wednesday, it was a much cleaner performance from him, Rielly, and the D-corps as a whole.
The entire Maple Leafs defense only gave up the puck a collective four times against New York, and not one Toronto D-man had more than one giveaway.
That pair didn't set the game on fire and dominate, but it was good that they were a little quieter. That means there was less of an issue breaking out the puck, and very few breakdowns in their own zone.
And to add to that, Rielly got an assist on a pretty impressive play on the power play.
"What a play by Morgan," Hiller recalled of Toronto's second goal of the night. The 32-year-old picked off a clearance from the Islanders' penalty kill, controlled it at the blueline, and was able to make a play that led to Cowan's goal.
The Maple Leafs killed all four power plays that came the Islanders' way. Toronto did a great job of obviously keeping the puck out of the net, but also limiting dangerous chances when New York had the man-advantage.
The Isles were held to just three high-danger chances on the power play, according to Natural Stat Trick. Among the forwards, the Leafs' penalty kill was led by Teddy Blueger and Brandon Duhaime, playing 3:52 and 3:43 of ice time shorthanded, respectively. Duhaime had three blocks in this game, more than any Islander.
"When you kill them all off, you give yourselves a pretty good chance to win a hockey game," Sissons said, who had 2:33 of ice time on the PK. "And yeah, it was sharp. Obviously, not a lot of time to kind of work out your system and work out some of the kinks. So it's been big thus far."
The efforts of defensemen Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev can't be ignored either, as they combined for a total of eight blocks, and each led the team in time on the penalty kill in this contest.
So far, Toronto is six-for-six in killing penalties after two games this season.
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Sep 30, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter (24), designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12), catcher J.T. Realmuto (10) and outfielder Brandon Marsh (16) celebrate after a win against the Atlanta Braves in game two of the Wildcard round for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
After a rollercoaster of a ballgame yesterday, the Phillies lived to fight another day, forcing this series with the Braves to a decisive Game 3. Not enough can be said about the performance of 23-year-old Andrew Painter who threw three scoreless innings in relief to win the game. That’s the kind of stuff that makes everyone forget his early season struggles and can grant a young rookie a boatload of confidence. No matter what happens today, Painter answered the call when the team needed him most.
BRONX, NY - SEPTEMBER 30: Luis Garcia Jr. #26 of the New York Yankees hits a solo home run in the fourth inning during the New York Yankees game against the Boston Red Sox in game 2 of the American League Wild Card Playoff Series at Yankee Stadium on September 30, 2026 in the Borough of the Bronx, New York. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
It doesn’t get much better than The Rivalry, especially in postseason baseball. Having this series for the second year in a row is a true treat for the game of baseball, even if this one was much less cinematic than the last one. There’s something poetic about a guy making his postseason debut in this rivalry, something we saw across the board with guys like George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones this year, and even Cam Schlittler and Ben Rice last year. It’s not just rookies who can experience this; vets can too.
Take Luis García Jr., a seven-year major league vet. He might only be 26 years old, but he’s experienced plenty of empty Octobers as a big leaguer, being unlucky enough to make his big league debut for the Washington Nationals in 2020, just after their World Series championship.
He played 708 games as a National, all in the regular season. He never experienced a competitive team. So imagine the joy he must’ve felt when he, a Yankees fan growing up in the Dominican Republic after being born in New York City, was traded to the contending Yankees in early August ahead of the Trade Deadline. Was the fit a bit wonky? Sure, but on a team that was drowning offensively, any help was nice.
He did well as a Yankee down the stretch, albeit trading blistering hot and ice-cold stretches. He got a raw deal entering his first-ever postseason as a big leaguer with his struggles against left-handed pitching and the presence of Paul Goldschmidt as the steady platoon bat at first base. Hence, he spent Game 1 on the bench, except for one at-bat against Wyatt Olds in which he hit into a double play with the bases loaded.
Game 2 was going to be his opportunity, at least in this series. With Ranger Suárez looming in Game 3, if the Yankees couldn’t close out their biggest rivals, this was the only game he knew he was going to have at least three at-bats to set the tone for his postseason legacy. You could tell he was dialed in from the start, as even when his first at-bat ended in an out, it was laced at 108.5 mph right at Wilyer Abreu in right field. All good, just need to get more air under it.
I’m not sure if that was his prerogative in his second at-bat, but that’s exactly what he did off Sonny Gray to break the ice in the fourth, walloping a 1-2 sweeper that stayed just high enough for him to belt it over the fence for a short porch homer to give the Yankees a lead they would not relinquish.
In his next at-bat, he was put into a tough situation. A quick hook by Chad Tracy saw Boston’s nasty lefty, Erik Miller, come into the game in a big spot in the fifth inning. Aaron Boone could’ve made the call to put Paul Goldschmidt in, but he elected to stick with García. Whether it was his personal trust in the matchup or acknowledging a higher-leverage situation was possible against a guy like Garrett Crochet or Aroldis Chapman, we’ll never know. García smacked a 0-1 sinker into left field for a single, but the inning ended on an aggressive send by Luis Rojas. That kind of swing is what you love to see in a tough matchup.
He wouldn’t come up again in any type of leverage, but would add another scorched single off a demoralized Garrett Whitlock at the end of a six-run sixth inning. All in all, García finished 3-for-5 with the home run, one of several great outings on the roster, but it was the tone he set with his fourth inning home run that earned him these honors.
When you’re playing a team facing elimination, it’s absolutely necessary to throw the first punch so they start to feel the pressure. Both Max Fried and Gray were on their game to start, so it was clear that whoever could make one of them blink first would be on their way to a Wednesday night win.
For García, his homer that broke the ice put even more pressure on a comatose Red Sox offense that only felt like they had life after Willson Contreras’ first-row homer with two outs in the sixth. Even then, the Yankees buried two of Boston’s best pitchers, Crochet and Whitlock, in one of the best offensive innings of the season immediately after.
This was an absolute mugging of a series. One where the superior team, with home-field advantage, played like they were disgusted they even had to share a field with the team on the other side, knowing they were better than this. Starting on Saturday, they’ll truly get a chance to prove they are better than the Wild Card team they were through 162.
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - SEPTEMBER 23: Chris Bassitt #40 of the Baltimore Orioles looks on during game one of a baseball doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 23, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hello, friends.
There are 174 days remaining until the next scheduled Orioles game. We are about two months away from the point where the league’s owners will get greedy and lock out the players in a negotiating tactic that the commissioner himself likened to shooting the players with a .45. At that point, there will be a giant question mark as to when the next MLB game will be played, with nothing firm again until a labor deal is reached.
There will be at least one playoff game today. Perhaps only one. (This is being finished off before the west coast Cubs-Padres game has wrapped up.) Yesterday’s postseason action saw the White Sox dispatch the Astros and the Yankees wipe the floor with the Red Sox, each completing the two-game wild card series sweep.
Good riddance to a .500 team that made the postseason. That team advancing would have been a shame. So long to the Red Sox. Too bad for Adley Rutschman still remaining winless in the playoffs in his career. Maybe next year. The Phillies did even out their series by beating the Braves in extra innings. I honestly don’t care who wins that series. My wife, who hates Bryce Harper, wants the Phillies to lose.
It’s an interesting article because most of it consists of players are actually on the record talking about issues under their own names. Beat writer Andy Kostka says that he spoke to 10 players, and by my counting, there’s exactly one anonymous quote here, with a small number of additional anonymous paraphrases. Getting guys to speak frankly, even in just a general way, is good work by him.
One thing that stands out is that most of the quoted players here are either guys who arrived in 2026, are about to be free agents, or both. There is a lot of Blaze Alexander, Pete Alonso, Chris Bassitt, and Trevor Rogers. There are no direct quotes from guys like Colton Cowser, Gunnar Henderson, and Coby Mayo.
A dramatic example of how it had to be the new arrivals offering leadership is recounted by Alexander, who explained that there had been an early August players-only meeting initiated by catcher Carlos Narváez. As Alexander related things to Kostka, it took Narváez mere days of being around the Orioles to recognize some similar problems to what plagued his old team, the Red Sox, early in the season, and after apparently explaining some of that (Alexander didn’t say exactly what,) he conluded, “The players, it’s up to us.”
This was, according to the article, one of four or five players-only meetings called through the season. Whatever people were trying to get going just wasn’t taking. In a quote that was already widely shared on social media before this article was published, Pete Alonso laid the blame squarely on the players:
“We need to do a better job as players. That’s what it boils down to. At the end of the day, you can have all the help, all the coaching, all the information, but it’s about getting it done between the lines, and collectively as a group, we didn’t do that.”
Bassitt’s quotes in this article also hit on the players needing to be the ones who step up. He said that it needs to be the key players the team has invested in – specifically naming Alonso and Henderson for position players and Shane Baz and Kyle Bradish for pitchers – who set the standard not just at the major league level but all the way down into the minors. Bassitt’s message is that everyone in the organization should feel like, if you’re not doing it the right way, you’re not going to make it to the majors or stay there for long.
Among the problems were players “going through the motions” (again, you’ll be disappointed if you want him to say who) in drills rather than actually trying to use them to sharpen up. That’s also in what Bassitt said.
I am again left wondering about first-year manager Craig Albernaz, who needs to be sat down in the conference room like in Office Space with the two Bobs and asked, “What would you say… ya DO here?” If there’s an obvious effort problem in the drills, what was the manager doing about it? Apparently not enough for things to stick. And if he can’t make it stick, why is he here?
One could wonder the same, to some degree, about Mike Elias. What does it say about the organization that, now eight years after he has been hired, there is still not a top-down standard all the way down to the lowest levels of the minors, such that players have good habits instilled all the way up the ladder and arrive at the major league level with fewer of these problems? That’s a colossal screwup!
If I was the billionaire owner of the Baltimore Orioles, I would not count on Elias being the guy to fix that mess, even if, belatedly, he has identified some of the deficiencies. Yet it seems that Rubes is giving him another year to sort it out. One thing that can be said about Elias is that he did shift gears in building out his roster for 2026, and it’s clear there are changes coming to the front office as well, even if the guy at the top is staying the same. Will it be enough? I don’t know. But, he’s clearly not stubbornly plowing ahead with a failed plan. Critiques of the O’s situation should acknowledge that.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
With Mike Elias still in charge, the Orioles remain stuck (The Baltimore Banner) The Banner’s hot taker is back from covering the Ravens in Brazil to weigh in on the end-of-season presser and the state of the organization generally, musing whether Mike Elias is like Sisyphus. I might apply the myth differently, myself. Mike Elias is the guy rolling the boulder back down the hill every night so Sisyphus has to do it all over again.
Looking at important context to this year’s minor league numbers (Orioles On The Verge) The folks at the Verge are looking at minor league park factors to see whether or how much that should change what to think about some Orioles prospects and how they did this season.
2026 All-Prospect team includes Eyanson, Dzierwa (MLB Pipeline) There might really actually be a wave of interesting Orioles pitching prospects right now, for the first time in the Elias tenure.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 1997, the Orioles beat the Mariners in game 1 of their division series, scoring five runs off Randy Johnson and four more off reliever Mike Timlin on the way to a 9-3 victory. Mike Mussina allowed two runs in seven innings to get the win for the O’s. This game featured six future baseball Hall of Famers. It was a stacked series.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2025-26 two-game catcher David Bañuelos, 2018-25 outfielder Cedric Mullins, 2026 two-game reliever Lou Trivino, 2011 three-game pitcher Mitch Atkins, 2000-01 pitcher Chuck McElroy, and 1956-60 infielder Bob Boyd.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Boeing founder William Boeing (1881), Bonnie and Clyde outlaw Bonnie Parker (1910), 39th president Jimmy Carter (1924), actress Julie Andrews (1935), baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew (1945), actor Zach Galifianakis (1969), and gymnast/social media star Livvy Dunne (2002).
On this day in history…
In 1791, the revolutionary French Legislative Assembly had its first session. More radical members were seated on the left side of its hall, where more conservative or reactionary members were seated on the right. This is the origin of “left” and “right” as political descriptors, which has continued with some evolutions on into today.
In 1903, the first modern World Series game was held, taking place between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Boston triumphed in what was then a best-of-nine with a 5-3 series victory. Pittsburgh took Game 1, though, by a 7-3 score where Cy Young was the losing pitcher.
In 1938, Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland region was annexed by Nazi Germany. This action was permitted by the previous day’s agreement in Munich, which European leaders at the time believed would prevent a war on the continent. This agreement is not so well-regarded today, rather instead an infamous instance showing that appeasement of a dictator never works.
In 1971, Walt Disney World opened in Florida. At its pre-COVID peak, Disney World was drawing nearly 60 million attendees annually. It’s just recently rebounded to about 50 million annually. (Exactly 11 years later, EPCOT Center, part of the Disney complex, opened to the public.)
**
And that’s the way it is in Birdland on October 1. Have a safe Thursday.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - SEPTEMBER 28: Brice Turang of the Milwaukee Brewers attends Monday Night RAW at Fiserv Forum on September 28, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Michael Marques/WWE via Getty Images) | WWE via Getty Images
On Monday, MLB revealed their All-MLB ballot, and we covered the Brewers who were included. This is a fun exercise for me, because I’ve been keeping my own personal All-MLB teams for years, since before it was an official thing that the league did (they started bestowing the honor in 2019).
My own personal teams don’t look exactly like the ones MLB uses—they specify outfield positions instead of just choosing three outfielders, I only include one starting pitcher and one reliever, and if the situation calls for it, I’ll throw in a Wild Card selection (this is where I’ve put Shohei, and when I’ve gone back to look at historical seasons, that designation can be used for great two-way seasons). In my own exercises, I also used a “DH” spot not for a player who necessarily actually played most often at designated hitter, but instead I just gave that position to the next-best offensive player who did not make it at any other position. These choices were made mostly because I made All-MLB teams for each season going way, way back to before there was a DH, but I still wanted to honor players who sometimes had truly great seasons but were edged out because, for example, Jimmie Foxx and Lou Gehrig were playing the same position at the same time.
In any case, I’ll stick to the “rules” that MLB has put forth for this exercise, but I’ll rank my pitchers based on preference, so you’ll know which two would’ve made my personal team. I’ll also add that I’d include Shohei as a two-way player this year in my “wild card” pick; it was a “down” season for him, but he was still awesome.
On to the selections!
Catcher: Gabriel Moreno, Diamondbacks
Moreno was a big-time prospect a few years ago—he was the #7 prospect via Baseball America and MLB Pipeline before the 2022 season. He’s been a solid player as a pro—DRS really likes his defense, and he had a solid 108 OPS+ across 316 games in his first four (really three plus a handful of games near the end of 2022) seasons.
This year, he broke out offensively. He won the NL batting title by hitting .311, he hit for decent power, with 16 homers and 33 doubles, and he walked at a solid 10.4% rate. Moreno’s 143 OPS+ was the best of any catcher with real playing time this season by a pretty solid margin, and he played in 130 games, all of which led to 6.7 WAR via Baseball Reference. FanGraphs is a little more down on his defense, but he still led all catchers with 5.4 fWAR. Even if Dillon Dingler is a way better defensive catcher than Moreno (FanGraphs thinks so, Baseball Reference doesn’t), there was a huge gap between the two of them offensively this year, and this was a clear choice.
A nod also to Madison product Drake Baldwin, who basically recreated his Rookie of the Year campaign from last season. For stretches, he was Atlanta’s best offensive player, and that team won 94 games.
First Base: Pete Alonso, Orioles
Alonso played in 161 games this year; he’s played in at least 152 games in every season he’s been in the big leagues except 2020, when he played in 57 of the Mets’ 60 games. In his first season in Baltimore, Alonso was as good as he has ever been. He hit 43 homers and knocked in 113 runs, both of which led the American League, his second time leading his league in each stat category. His 149 OPS+ was the best of his career, and by WAR he had either his best (5.0 fWAR is a career high) or second-best (4.9 bWAR, slightly behind his 53-homer rookie season) season. Alonso is not a perfect player, but he’s become a metronomic source of 40-ish homers, and don’t look now, but he’s got a real shot at hitting 500 in his career despite not debuting until he was 24.
The players with the best case behind Alonso are both also in the American League East: the Yankees’ Ben Rice and the Red Sox’ Willson Contreras. Contreras, a BCB favorite, had what was probably his best overall season: he set career highs with 27 homers, a 153 OPS+, and 4.6 bWAR/4.0 fWAR. Rice, in just his second full season, carried the Yankee offense in the absence of Aaron Judge and hit 41 homers with a 146 OPS+ in 154 games.
Brief shout-outs to three other guys who had really good seasons but were a tick below the others mentioned here: the human metronome, Matt Olson; Rafael Devers, who after a drama-filled 2025 season quietly put together a monstrous offensive season in San Francisco; and Milwaukee’s own Jake Bauers, one of the nicest stories of the year.
Second Base: Brice Turang, Brewers
This is an easy one, and not just because Turang is Our Guy. Via bWAR, Turang was the second-best position player in baseball with 7.3, and while FanGraphs doesn’t view him as favorably (5.9) he’s still way ahead of the second-place player who is actually a second baseman (Brandon Lowe, 4.9; Fernando Tatis Jr. did play 50 games at second base this year, but that would be stretching it).
Turang, as we all know well, is just a complete player. He posted a .268/.366/.450 batting line (124 OPS+, 128 wRC+), showed power (37 doubles, 21 homers), knocked in runs (100 RBI), stole bases (19 stolen bases at a 79% success rate), and played defense that seems likely to win him the second Gold Glove of his career. No other second baseman—really no infielder in the league this season—can boast that diverse a skillset.
It also just wasn’t a great year for second baseman in the non-Brewers division. Lowe was quite good—he hit 35 homers and knocked in 96 runs, and the numbers suggest he played the best defense of his career; his 5.4 bWAR were a career high. St. Louis’s rookie megaprospect JJ Wetherholt played great defense and held his own at the plate, but he fell off quite a bit down the stretch and finished the season as basically an exactly league-average hitter. Luis Arraez was really bad after switching from San Francisco to Philadelphia, which tanked any chance it looked like he had early in the season.
Third Base: Junior Caminero, Rays
Ah, finally, a tight race. Caminero was fourth among third basemen in fWAR if you include Detroit rookie Kevin McGonigle, who split his time almost exactly evenly between third and shortstop, but I’m going with him here because those four are very tightly packed and because it’s a bit of a “team success” choice. The Rays spent most of the season as the clear best team in the American League, and Caminero was their best player.
Caminero—who was only 22 for much of the season!—has become one of the best offensive players in baseball. He hit .276/.360/.524 (144 OPS+) and popped 42 homers while knocking in 101 runs and walking 79 times. Sure, he’s the undisputed champion of the double play (it was his second consecutive season leading baseball) and he’s probably somewhere between “mediocre” and “pretty good I guess” defensively. But the man who was once traded straight-up for Tobias Myers is a bonafide star who will hit his 100th career homer well before his 24th birthday.
There’s a very real argument for Alex Bregman here, and who knows, if I wasn’t a Brewers fan I might have gone in that direction. Bregman started badly but hit .304/.389/.658 over the season’s last two months, and by defensive WAR on Baseball Reference, he had the best season of his career. He finished with 5.8 bWAR, the best season he’s had since he was a legitimate MVP candidate in 2018-19.
On the South Side, Miguel Vargas had an outstanding season for the White Sox, serving as that team’s “veteran presence” even though he’s only 26. He hit 31 doubles and 33 homers, stole 22 bases in 24 tries, and just had an all-around great season. But defensively he was worse even than Caminero, and he’s a pretty clear third for me. I’ll discuss McGonigle a bit more in the shortstop section.
Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals
This is another hard one!
Witt might be getting a little bit of a legacy vote, here. He’s been what I’d consider the league’s best shortstop for three years running, now, and while this season wasn’t quite as good as either of the last two, it was still in the same universe. Witt hits (.281 batting average), hits for power (18 homers, 33 doubles), runs (45 stolen bases in 53 attempts), and plays great defense (he’s got a good shot at winning his third straight Gold Glove). None of the other players who Witt is contending with here do everything quite as well as he does. Via WAR, Witt is second among shortstops via Baseball Reference (6.7) and first on FanGraphs (7.0).
There is stiff competition, though. First, let’s talk about McGonigle, who led American League position players in bWAR this season. A rookie, McGonigle led the AL in plate appearances and hit .278/.376/.430 (126 OPS+) with 18 homers, five triples, and 28 doubles, and he walked 95 times, which added a lot of value. He’s not nearly the baserunner that Witt is, though, and there’s some disagreement about his defense; the DRS based BRef numbers think he was outstanding, while the OAA based FanGraphs numbers think he was merely “okay.” This disagreement is enough for me to give the edge to Witt, who was almost as good a hitter but was pretty clearly better as a runner and fielder.
Elly De La Cruz is also in this conversation. The Reds’ shortstop had his best season by far at the plate, where he hit .283/.365/.515 with 30 homers, 30 doubles, 5 triples, and 30 stolen bases (he was a fan of round numbers, I guess). He was caught stealing a lot, though (eight times), and his defense did not grade out all that well. Still, FanGraphs had him with 6.4 WAR, second to Witt.
The last guy I want to mention here briefly is Otto Lopez. He was definitely behind these other guys, but it was a great season nonetheless—Lopez is a good defensive shortstop and he hit .305 and led the majors with 191 hits, and was a menace on the bases (34 steals in 39 tries).
There’s also no “team success” consideration here: all four of these guys played for disappointing teams who missed the playoffs. So in that respect, it’s an even playing field!
Left Field: Randy Arozarena, Mariners
By happenstance, it just so happens that the three best outfielders in the league this year slot nicely into a left-center-right alignment, so I can stick to my non-generic outfield preferences while also choosing the three guys I’d have picked anyway if I was doing the MLB style “OF” that appears on their ballot.
Let’s start with Arozarena. The Mariners were an immensely disappointing team this year, but that can’t be put on their left fielder. Arozarena has, at times during his eight-year career, looked like a superstar, but he’s never really been able to sustain it for a whole season. That changed this year. He hit .281/.381/.484, by far the best batting line of his career, and he hit 34 doubles and 26 homers while playing in the extremely pitcher-friendly T Mobile Park in Seattle. His 113 runs scored led the AL, and he added 26 stolen bases, giving him his sixth straight 20/20 season (surprising to me!).
The guy who should get this second-team selection is a familiar face: Jackson Chourio. Chourio was fourth among all outfielders in fWAR this season (he is a more modest eighth in bWAR), and he played only 127 games; if he’d played the 154 games that Arozarena had, this very well may have been his award. He’s got a real case purely as an outfielder to make that second team, but if you’re strict about left field, I think he’s a pretty obvious selection.
Center Field: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs
This is an extremely obvious choice. Via Baseball Reference, Crow-Armstrong’s 9.8 WAR were 2.5 more than any other position player in the league, and via FanGraphs, that gap was 3.6 (10.6 to Witt’s 7.0). Sarah Langs tells us that he was the first player under Statcast (since 2016) to finish in the 99th percentile in all of batting, fielding, and baserunning run value; I wonder if that would still be the case if we had Statcast for another 100 years prior to 2016. He led the majors in homers, led the NL in OPS+, stole 41 bases, and was arguably the top defensive player in baseball. It was a truly historic season.
Even if PCA’s season was only “great” instead of “historic,” there was no one else close in center. The next best options include Ceddanne Rafaela, who was only a slightly above-average hitter but played excellent defense, Andy Pages who started out incredibly strong but faded a bit in the second half, and Michael Harris II, who is a good but imperfect player.
Right Field: Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres
There could be some debate here, because our two major sites have vastly different views of Tatis’s defense. FanGraphs views him as solid defensively at both right field and second base this season; Baseball Reference has a similar view of his defense in the outfield but saw him as atrocious at second base. Of course, we’re choosing a right fielder, so even if Tatis was bad at second base, maybe it shouldn’t be a huge demerit against him here, even if it weighs down his WAR numbers (4.3 bWAR vs. 5.4 fWAR).
If we can’t agree on defense, let’s look elsewhere, then: Tatis, who played in 159 games this season, finished with a 131 wRC+ despite not hitting a home run until May 30th, one of the season’s weirdest stories. They kept coming once he hit them and he finished with 25 homers, 83 RBI, and 38 stolen bases (though he led the NL in CS with 13). He was San Diego’s best player as the Padres turned their season around, and he hit .295/.372/.563 in the season’s final three months.
If Tatis is not the answer here, the other contenders probably include the Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki, who has become a consistently good hitter, or Boston’s Wilyer Abreu, another player who has vast differences in defensive value between BRef and FanGraphs.
Designated Hitter: Yordan Alvarez, Astros
Alvarez was the best hitter in baseball this season, and it was not close. Alvarez’s OPS+ this season was 190; second place was Crow-Armstrong at 156. The gap between Alvarez and PCA was the same as the gap between PCA and 35-year-old Nolan Arenado.
The numbers are eye-popping. he led all of baseball in every slash category (.316/.432/.601). Despite walking more than anyone else in the league (109 times), he still managed to lead the AL in total bases (341). He was intentionally walked 33 times; the only player to be intentionally walked that many times in the last 17 years was Aaron Judge last season. He didn’t quite finish with the triple crown—he was probably walked too many times, and finished second in the AL to Alonso in homers and RBI—but he was in that race the whole season.
The only other player to really mention here is Ohtani, who played 19 fewer games than Alvarez and had his worst offensive season since 2020, posting “only” a 143 OPS+ while hitting 30 homers. Combined with the excellent pitching he was able to do when he was healthy, Ohtani still had a notable season, but this was clearly Alvarez’s spot.
Starting Pitchers (5): Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers; Cam Schlittler, Yankees; Dylan Cease, Blue Jays; Chris Sale, Braves; Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies
This wasn’t all that hard for me to choose five, though there are several other guys right on the outside, who I’ll list in a moment. Misiorowski I have covered; he would be my All-MLB pitcher if, like I traditionally do in my personal lists, I only chose one pitcher.
Schlittler was incredible for the Yankees, and deserves some real consideration for American League MVP. He led the AL in ERA and you’ve likely heard that he set a Yankee record in starts in which he allowed zero or one runs (21), and that doesn’t include three starts in which he allowed more than one run but only one of them was earned.
People haven’t been talking about Cease much because the Blue Jays were incredibly disappointing in their pennant defense this season. But Cease, a former Cy Young runner-up, had his best overall season, in my opinion: in 169 innings, he had a 2.40 ERA (184 ERA+) and AL best 2.56 FIP, and he led the AL in hits per nine, homers per nine, and strikeouts per nine.
Sale is going to the Hall of Fame—he had a borderline case even before he joined the Braves three years ago, but his three seasons in Atlanta, which have come from age 35-37, have been masterpieces that locked him in as a bonafide inner circle Hall of Famer. He was every bit as good this season as he was when he won the pitching triple crown and the Cy Young in 2024, he just had the misfortune of being in the same league as Misiorowski.
The last spot becomes a little complicated. Sánchez is ultimately my choice; he was the leader by a lot in WAR by a pitcher on Baseball Reference this year, with 8.1, but there’s some controversy in those numbers—they’re heavily buoyed basically because the Phillies defense is bad. He does also have an innings advantage on the other players I’ve mentioned here; Sánchez’s 207 innings are second this season only to Miami’s Sandy Alcantara, a pitcher who wishes so badly that he could’ve pitched in the 1970s when the Atlanta Braves would’ve let him throw 375 innings. Sánchez’s rate stats aren’t quite as good as the rest of these guys, but they’re still great—2.91 ERA, 2.80 FIP, 5.13 strikeouts per walk—and he played a major role for a Phillies team that needed someone to step up.
The other players who could be considered for this last spot and should be on (or in consideration for) the second team include Sánchez’s teammates Jesús Luzardo and Zack Wheeler; the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto; Cleveland’s Parker Messick; Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen; Boston’s Sonny Gray; and Arizona’s Eduardo Rodríguez.
Relief Pitchers (2): Mason Miller, Padres; Louis Varland, Blue Jays
Miller was the most unhittable reliever in baseball this year; he had a 1.67 ERA and 1.17 FIP, struck out a mind-boggling 16.6 batters per nine innings (129 in 70 innings), and allowed only 4.8 hits per nine innings, and he tied for the NL lead in saves with 38.
Varland, playing for a worse team, had “only” 35 saves. But he pitched a ton for the Blue Jays (78 innings in 71 outings) and pitched to a 1.27 ERA, the best for any player who threw more than 45 innings this season, and backed it up with a 1.83 ERA. Varland had 97 strikeouts to 23 walks and was just a solid presence all season for a team that needed him.
There are a couple of tough cuts. Bryan Baker’s advanced metrics aren’t as good—he had a 3.07 FIP—but he tied for the major-league lead with 41 saves and had a 1.44 ERA, better even than Miller. Jhoan Duran had a 1.82 ERA and 1.42 FIP, struck out 84 batters, and walked only 10 (a minuscule 1.5 per nine innings). Garrett Whitlock and Abner Uribe were both great in setup roles, Cade Smith tied Baker’s league-leading saves mark, and the ageless Aroldis Chapman worked to another outstanding season as Boston’s closer.
The full list:
C: Gabriel Moreno, ARI 1B: Pete Alonso, BAL 2B: Brice Turang, MIL 3B: Junior Caminero, TBR SS: Bobby Witt Jr., KCR LF: Randy Arozarena, SEA CF: Pete Crow-Armstrong, CHC RF: Fernando Tatis Jr., SDP DH: Yordan Alvarez, HOU SP: Jacob Misiorowski, MIL SP: Cam Schlittler, NYY SP: Dylan Cease, TOR SP: Chris Sale, ATL SP: Cristopher Sánchez, PHI RP: Mason Miller, SDP RP: Louis Varland, TOR
