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My All-MLB Ballot

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

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Open Thread: Watch the Media Day video addressing Spurs players by their full names

SAN ANTONIO, TX -SEPTEMBER 28: Keldon Johnson #3 of the San Antonio Spurs poses for a portrait at the San Antonio Spurs Media Day at Victory Capital Performance Center on September 28, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Normally, middle names are saved for when a parent is calling a child (usually loudly and from a distance) to inform said child that he is, in fact, in trouble. If I heard “Jeffrey David Duarte” a tinge of fear shot through my entire body. (In fact, any time I’ve been referred to as “Jeffrey” I was either in trouble with a family member or a government entity. Family was the usual culprit throughout my childhood, traffic court from sixteen to present.)

So when members of the Spurs video team decided to address members of the team by their “government” names on Media day, the players did a double-take.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the members of your 2026-2027 San Antonio Spurs: Stephon Javonte Castle, Tobias John Harris, Julian Kymani Champagnie, Carter Dayne Bryant, Luke Francis Kornet, Harrison Bryce Jordan Barnes, and Keldon Wilder Johnson.

Tobias corrected stating that his middle name is “John Lee, bet you didn’t know that.” We didn’t…and his Wikipedia page does not list the “Lee” either.

Not introduced: Devin Anthony Vassell, Dylan Robert Harper, De’Aaron Martez Fox, and Victor Nonga Wembanyama-de Fautereau-Vassel. Bet you can’t say Wemby’s full name five times really fast. I’ll wait.

It’s a good thing the players don’t have their full name on the back of their jerseys. Victor’s would need sleeves.

One week to preseason. It’s all happening.

Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.

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Kentucky’s presence was felt throughout NBA Media Days

With NBA Media Days taking place this week, let’s take a look at some of the notable stories involving former Kentucky Wildcats.

Milwaukee Bucks

We’ve seen in the past that professional organizations tease some of their players by sneaking in a hat or shirt from another team for them to sign, and the reactions are always priceless. 

This edition of that is the Bucks sneaking in the players’ college rivals’ sayings or slogans, and Kentucky was featured in two of them. 

Tyler Herro was prompted to say “Go Cards!” and he responded, “No, sir. I don’t say that.” 

Boy Wonder wasn’t going to be fooled by saying that, and was holding strong to his old Kentucky home and the school he had tattooed on his body. This is coming on the heels of Herro making some noise this offseason after he recreated the iconic TJ Ford pictures. Good offseason so far for the bucket.

Nate Ament, a former Tennessee Volunteer, was given the saying, “Go Big Blue!” and he said it, and it sounded incredible. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Nate!

Oklahoma City Thunder

Otega Oweh is prepared to start his professional basketball career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and at his first-ever NBA Media Day with the Thunder, he was asked a question that people could see coming from a mile away. 

“We know you spent time at OU and then Kentucky. They’re playing each other in a couple of weeks. Are we going to see you at the game in, like, the split-down-the-middle jersey, or are you going to pick a side?

Oweh’s response may shock some people, he said: “It’s crazy; I was just talking about that, like, I want to say yesterday. I probably don’t have enough time now to get a split jersey, but I’ll be supporting for sure. I’m not going to say who, but I just want to see a good game. 

Well, Big Blue Nation would prefer an answer somewhere in the Ballpark of “What’s a Sooner, I’m a Wildcat”, or “No question, I’m Big Blue all the way”. It’s a 26-minute drive from Paycom Center, where the Thunder play, to Gaylor Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where the Sooners play football, so I would say it’s easier said than done. 

Hopefully, Oweh is there in a T-shirt with one of his buzzer beaters against the Sooners on it, but that may be wishful thinking. Very thankful for his time in Lexington; now we need to see him rep the blue and white.

Philadelphia 76ers

The offseason NBA news has been all about the move of LeBron James leaving the Lakers to join the 76ers, and rightfully so. With that, Kentucky fans get to celebrate, or not, the fact that James now has a couple of Wildcats as his teammates and could potentially cut down the nets with them. Tyrese Maxey and Justin Edwards are now partnered up with the King and have high hopes for the city of brotherly love. 

My favorite takeaway from 76ers Media Day, though, is the pair of shoes Justin Edwards decided to wear for the special day. He chose to don the Kobe 5 Grey Kentucky PE’s in his pictures. As a lifelong, die-hard Kentucky fan and a big-time sneakerhead, this made me smile. Such a beautiful shoe on a player that all of BBN and I are rooting for this year; love to see it.

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Jordan Walsh is learning the difference between having a role and being a role player

Apr 28, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jordan Walsh (27) reacts after his basket against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second half during game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jordan Walsh is entering an in-between stage of his Celtics career.

He’s 22 years old, which still makes him young enough to be discussed alongside Boston’s latest batch of developmental players. He’s also entering Year 4, wasn’t part of Boston’s Summer League group this July, has already been around a championship team and can casually cite things he learned from Jrue Holiday as part of his basketball education.

He’s not exactly the new kid anymore, but he’s also not Derrick White or Neemias Queta, whose places in the rotation are considerably easier to picture before the games even start.

That leaves Walsh somewhere in between. Listening to him at Media Day, he seems pretty aware of it.

“I’m trying to switch my mentality to having what I call a high role player IQ,” Walsh said, “of just affecting the game in ways without the ball basically.”

That phrase gets at what Year 4 probably needs to be for Walsh.

For most young players, development is easy to imagine in terms of adding things. Improve the jumper. Tighten the handle. Bulk up. Learn another counter.

Walsh certainly still has plenty to improve, but there’s a different challenge waiting for him now. The Celtics aren’t going to hand him the ball for 15 possessions and ask him to show them everything he worked on over the summer. If he earns real minutes, most of them will come while Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard or Paul George are doing considerably more attention-grabbing things with the basketball.

Walsh has to figure out how to matter anyway.

“I think the biggest thing that I’ve been working on is affecting the game without the ball, primarily on offense,” he said. “Trying to sprint the floor, trying to get in transition, trying to run and be an outlet guy, get on cuts.”

There’s nothing particularly glamorous in that list. There also might be a career hiding inside it.

The little things eventually become the job

During Media Day, Walsh brought up Holiday when he was asked where the idea of “role player IQ” came from.

“I felt like Jrue Holiday was a big piece of that, big representative of that,” Walsh said. “I’ve tried to take as much as I can from him, obviously on the defensive side.”

That makes immediate sense. Holiday is one of the best defenders of his generation, and Walsh entered the league with defense as the easiest way to imagine him sticking around.

But Walsh’s answer quickly moved beyond defense.

He talked about watching film and recognizing that the Celtics were better when players understood where the offense actually needed to go. In the previous version of this team, that often meant doing something that made life easier for Tatum or Jaylen Brown.

“Guys like Jayson Tatum and JB have to have the ball in their hands,” Walsh said. “So whether it’s going to find them on a pin-down screen or, like, passing up my shot to get them a shot, stuff like that is kind of just stuff I keep seeing.”

That’s the part of NBA role-playing that can be hard to appreciate from the outside. Plenty of players can tell you what their role is. “Defend, run the floor, hit open shots” has probably appeared in approximately 40,000 Media Day interviews in the past few years.

Actually becoming useful inside that role? That’s much more complicated.

Can you recognize when cutting clears the lane for someone else? Can you make a defense pay for ignoring you without hijacking a possession? Can you screen somebody open and immediately find the next useful place to be? If Tatum gets doubled, are you standing where the next pass needs to go before it gets there?

Walsh has spent three years close enough to winning basketball to see what those decisions look like. Now he needs to make enough of them himself in order for Joe Mazzulla to trust him.

The physical stuff has never been especially mysterious with Walsh. He’s long, athletic and switchable, and when his energy is pointed in the right direction, he can make possessions uncomfortable in ways that are difficult to teach.

His offensive fit has always required a little more imagination.

Walsh sounded pretty confident about one important part of that equation Monday.

“I feel like I’ve come a long way with my three-point shot,” he said. “I feel like if I’m open and I catch the ball, it’s going in. And I feel like my team feels that way and I feel like the coaches and staff feel that way too.”

If defenses eventually feel that way too, Walsh becomes a lot more useful.

And if defenses have to respect him on the perimeter, a hard closeout suddenly gives him somewhere to send all that athleticism. He talked about attacking downhill, kicking the ball out, cutting after the pass, screening and slipping. Basically, making himself part of the possession instead of waiting for the possession to find him.

That may fit this version of the Celtics better than the previous one.

Walsh described Boston’s old offense pretty plainly: “swing the ball, stand still, watch JT ISO, watch JB ISO, set a ball screen, ISO.”

It wasn’t really a criticism. When you have Tatum and Brown on your team, watching Tatum and Brown do things is often a pretty good offensive strategy.

But Walsh believes Mazzulla wants this team playing with more movement and more interchangeable bursts of energy.

“What Joe wants is it to be more of a five in, five out type of rotation where it’s like we’re all going super hard, four or five minutes, boom, switch out, come in, new five, and then fight, fight, fight for four or five minutes.”

For a player trying to build a career out of activity, that sounds like a pretty decent invitation.

The prospect phase is over

Walsh has also lived through enough change in Boston to recognize how different the room feels now. He talked about Al Horford and Luke Kornet being gone and how much the environment around him has changed.

“It feels completely different,” Walsh said. “It feels new. It feels fresh.”

Then he landed on the word that probably matters most to him.

“Opportunity.”

“I feel like a lot of the guys here who haven’t made a name for themselves, like me, have an opportunity here to take a chance at carving out a role, carving out, you know, a career,” Walsh said. “You can feel that in the air.”

Walsh has been in Boston long enough that “potential” can’t carry the whole conversation anymore. He knows what championship teammates look like up close. He’s had enough NBA minutes to understand how much harder it is to stay on the floor than it is to flash something interesting for three possessions.

And yet, at 22, there’s still plenty of runway left if he can put the pieces together.

Maybe that’s what Walsh means by “high role player IQ.” He isn’t trying to reinvent his game so much as make the game he already has easier to fit alongside his teammates.

The Celtics already know he can defend. They know he can run. Walsh believes the jumper is better than it has ever been. Now comes the harder part: knowing what to do during all the basketball happening in between.

Walsh already knows the role. Year 4 is about proving he knows how to be the player who fills it.

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Islanders News: Starting with a whimper in Toronto

Lotta chaos around our net, just sayin’. | Getty Images

The Islanders and Maple Leafs treated us to a savagely uninteresting Isles 2-1 loss in Toronto to open the season, and one can only hope it’s not a harbinger, like one hopes the AI swarms don’t escape the lab and kill us all.

Victor Eklund played his second NHL game, so that was neat, and he got his first NHL penalty by crosschecking John Tavares on his butt, so that was funny, but the Leafs scored what proved to be the winner late on the ensuing power play, so that was not.

The Isles had a bit of jump early in the opening period, with Toronto playing on back-to-back nights, but penalty trouble and chaotic defensive zone chasing killed that vibe. After a series of dangerous chances on Ilya Sorokin both at 5-on-5 and the Leafs power play, the Isles were trailing 2-0 by the 12:00 mark. They didn’t rally a promising response until well into the third. Their special teams, a long-running thorn, were no help.

Other than Matthew Schaefer skating like the wind, the lone highlight was Emil Heineman outracing William Nylander on a shorthanded break to convert Bo Horvat’s pass and make it look close. There was also one line mix late, with Anthony Duclair being promoted while Matias Maccelli ended on the Casey Cizikas-Ondrej Palat line, aka This Thing That Should Not Be line.

[Game center | Game summary | Event summary | Natural Stat Trick]

They’ll learn, they’ll “tighten things up,” they’ll get better at what Pete DeBoer wants them to do, they had a short training camp, and it’s just one, opening game. Yada yada, etc. For three hours of your life on what is supposed to be an exciting night, however, it was not fun, not at all. The home opener Saturday provides an opportunity for redemption and renewal.

Islanders News

  • About last night: NHL | Newsday | Post | CP
  • Brendan Burke reaches a decade as voice of the Islanders. (Although he was on national duty last night.) [Newsday]

Elsewhere

Wednesday’s scores included

  • Our Saturday opponent has a grizzled mentor and a delayed up-and-comer in the crease. [NHL]
  • I confess I will root for Amadeus and his whole amusingly named family. [NHL]
  • After giving up six goals in their opener, Mike Babcock says the Oilers have “serious work to do.” At least when all else fails, they can fall back on Tristan Jarry. [NHL]
  • Five young players poised for breakouts. [Sportsnet]
  • William Karlsson signed a two-year extension to keep him in Vegas until they ship him out for the latest sexy trade target. [NHL]
  • Matt Duchene, starting on the injured list, has gotta be the oldest 34-year-old out there. [Sportsnet]
  • Tee-hee-hee J.T. Miller thinks he will lead a revival in Manhattan. [NHL]
  • Reliving a Flames-Ducks melee from 2001 that involved former Islanders Craig Berube (suspended) and Greg Gilbert (as coach, also suspended). The video montage is a beauty. [Sportsnet]
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Pens Points: Perfect Start

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 30: Ville Koivunen #41 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates his goal with Filip Hallander #11, Kaedan Korczak #6 and Samuel Girard #49 during the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena on September 30, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) | Getty Images

It’s hard to draw up a much better start to the season than what the Pittsburgh Penguins had on Wednesday night with a 7-0 beatdown of the rival Philadelphia Flyers on the road. Nick Robertson scored twice for the Penguins and Filip Hallander recorded three points in the blowout victory. In goal, Artur Silvos recorded his second opening night shutout in as many seasons to backstop the win. [Pensburgh]

Pens Points…

Top goal scorer? Breakout player? Playoffs? Those are all predictions to be made for the Penguins as the 2026-27 begins. Egor Chinakhov is a popular pick to lead the Penguins in goal scoring while seeing the Penguins back in the playoffs feels like a 50-50 toss up. [Pensburgh]

For the past few seasons, the Penguins fan base has been waiting for an inevitable youth movement to arrive. While the prospect pool is being refilled by Kyle Dubas, many of those young players have yet to breakthrough. This needs to be the season where it starts to happen. [PPG]

After being acquired in the offseason, David Gustafsson made the Penguins opening night roster. That was no guarantee when he came to Pittsburgh, so he’s going to relish any time he gets to spend in the NHL this season, no matter how long or short the stint may be. [Trib Live]

Set to play in his 22nd NHL season, Sidney Crosby will make history as the longest tenured Pittsburgh athlete of all time, surpassing Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates whom he previously shared the title with at 21 seasons in black and gold. [The Athletic $$]

Another all time mark Crosby is set to break this season is being the longest tenured captain in NHL history. This season will mark No. 20 for Crosby with the “C” on his chest, surpassing Steve Yzerman. [Daily Faceoff]

NHL News and Notes…

Casey DeSmith has been a reliable backup for the Dallas Stars in recent seasons and will continue in that role for at least the next two after he agreed to a contract extension with the team on Wednesday. [NHL]

After missing the entirety of the Washington Capitals preseason slate with a lower body injury, Alexander Ovechkin expects to be ready for action when the team opens its season on Friday night. [NHL]

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The Yankees made quick work of their ALDS warm-up

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 30: Cody Bellinger #35 of the New York Yankees celebrates in the clubhouse after defeating the Boston Red Sox in game two of the American League Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium on September 30, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images) | Getty Images

You can’t take anything for granted in the playoffs, especially a short series like the Wild Card. In the short time that it has existed, the Wild Card Series has humbled several teams that stood a head above the rest of the first-round field by record, and it’s had a habit of favoring teams that strike first — all but one series has seen the team that wins first advance, with only their own performance in last year’s Wild Card Series against Boston standing out (though the Phillies still have a chance to change that this year). Playing in it is meant to be a punishment, a risk, and it has acted accordingly, but the Yankees faced little challenge this time around in embarrassing their archrivals to open the postseason.

The Red Sox kept it close early again on Wednesday, and there was definitely some tension for the first hour or so of each of these two games, but much like Game 1 as soon as Chad Tracy went to his bullpen it became a party for the Yankees’ offense. A plethora of batters contributed this time around, from Luis Garcia Jr. getting it started with a solo home run to George Lombard Jr. coming up with an RBI knock as the lone right-hander starting in last night’s lineup to Austin Wells and Ryan McMahon providing productive outs before Cody Bellinger delivered the death blow with a three-run porch job: the entire offense had a part in the dismantling of the Sox bullpen.

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Sonny Gray commented after the game that he wasn’t pleased with his manager pulling him in the middle of the fifth inning set to face the top of the order for the third time with the score still 1-0, and perhaps he and Payton Tolle could both make that argument after they were forced to watch the game unravel right after they left, but at the end of the day the Red Sox offense was completely flummoxed by the Yankees’ pitching and the dam that was Boston’s bullpen seemed destined to burst eventually. Cam Schlittler reasserted his dominance over the Sox on Tuesday, but Max Fried took the baton and continued shoving with six innings of one-run ball to make it miserable on Boston. The Yankees were the better team, evidenced by the record entering play before this series as well as the results during it. Now the team with the second-best record in the American League will get to move on, and they couldn’t have drawn it up any better.

Critically, New York won this series so handedly that they can effectively line themselves up again for a fresh start against the Rays instead of needing to scramble towards their next destination like they had to last year. Needing all three games against Boston in 2025 pushed them into the scenario where they had to start Luis Gil in Game 1 of the ALDS, the first of several unsuccessful moves that didn’t pan out as their pitching simply couldn’t handle Toronto’s bats. This time around, they’ve got Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon both waiting in the wings and can make a decision on which of them they want to start opposite Drew Rasmussen before slotting their presumptive Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler in for Game 2. Since Cole was named the ALWCS Game 3 starter ahead of time, I’m going to assume they’ll stick with him for Game 1, and if you told Aaron Boone before the season started that you could guarantee him he’d get to start Cole, Schlittler, and Fried in a row to open the ALDS he’d probably take that deal, even if it didn’t come with home field advantage. The blowouts also allowed the team to avoid taxing their bullpen, Boone tossing Brent Headrick and David Bednar to close out Game 2 simply to get them some work with minimal stress involved.

Nothing is guaranteed in the playoffs, but the opportunity for the Yankees right now is massive. Their offense picked the perfect time to break out and did so without Aaron Judge, who may or may not be active for the ALDS (for the sake of his health, he probably shouldn’t play yet but it’s only going to get harder to tell him no). Their pitching looked as lights out as they have all year, and the biggest road block on the American League side of the bracket is now directly in front of them in another short series. Win this one, and all that stands in your way of returning to the World Series is the winner of an AL Central matchup between two of the weakest teams in the whole dance. You can’t get caught looking ahead, but the path is right there. The Yankees didn’t break a sweat denying the Sox from playing in October, and it may have just been the jump start they were looking for all year. We’ll see how well they can carry this momentum into the Trop on Saturday.

We’re basking in the high of the Wild Card sweep to open the day, as Michael gives us his Player of the Game from the Game 2 victory. Jeremy then previews the ALDS matchup against the top-seeded Rays, Andres discusses how the young core has made their mark on this postseason run already, and Peter recaps the action around the rest of the Postseason as two other Wild Card Series wrapped up alongside the Yankees. Nick reminisces on the man who patrolled center before Burnie arrived in the Bronx in Roberto Kelly on his 62nd birthday, and then Peter will return to break down Cam Schlittler’s latest postseason gem in the Sequence of the Week.

Today’s Matchup:

Off-day, ALDS begins on Saturday, October 3rd

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Dumping Deuce Not Advised

SAN ANTONIO, TX - JUNE 3: Miles McBride #2 of the New York Knicks dribbles the ball during the game against the San Antonio Spurs during Game One of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 3, 2026 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE(Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

Seasoned Knicks fans have doctorate degrees in roster construction, with a primary focus on asset management. For over a decade, we spent countless hours discussing expiring contracts, tracking picks, and praying the day would come when all the “futures thinking” translated into a legitimate championship window.

Well, we made it. Like the driver-side door on my red Nissan Rogue, the window is now open. But now that repeating as champions is the goal, New York’s roster-building approach is shifting again. That shift directly brings our focus to Miles “Deuce” McBride and his future with the Knicks.

Entering the final year of his contract, it is no secret that talks between Deuce and the Knicks have stalled. All signs point to him wanting to stay in New York. The fan base would love him to remain as a key piece of the rotation. However, ownership and the front office are fretting about wearing two aprons while making their prize-winning pizza, especially with Jim Dolan looking over their shoulders.

Because of that fearful culinary attire (too many second-apron jokes?), a growing segment of the fanbase is convinced the Knicks must flip him before the trade deadline. Whether it’s to recoup a draft pick or fill a worrisome hole at center, Deuce cannot simply walk away for nothing. OK, sure he can. And maybe he does. Regardless, trading him away because of that worry would be a majorly short-sighted mistake.

New York finds itself in a bit of a financial gridlock. After sacrificing about $113M to help the team, Brunson will be extension eligible next summer (ka-ching). Anunoby and Bridges are secure for now (on ascending contracts), Hart would like to extend now, and throw in a monster contract for Towns, and there’s not much wiggle room.

In the old NBA, James Dolan could scribble out a luxury-tax check to keep a fan favorite around. Then the 2023 CBA introduced a first apron (roughly $8–9M above the tax line) and a second apron (roughly $17–21M+ above the tax line, depending on the year; e.g., ~$221.7M for 2026-27). Crossing that damned second apron doesn’t just trigger a tax penalty; it hijacks a team’s roster-building. If you cross the line, you lose trade flexibility, the ability to aggregate salaries, and future first-round picks get frozen like Jack Dawson at the end of Titanic.

Unfortunately, Deuce is a potential casualty of math. He’ll undoubtedly earn a significant pay raise in his next contract. However, the Knicks can’t give him one without dismantling a starting five that just brought New York a championship… and appeared on Saturday Night Live. He isn’t a financial priority because the money could be spent more intelligently elsewhere. That’s just the reality of the business.

Irreplaceable Production

So, if the Knicks probably cannot pay the guy, why not trade him now? Well, that answer has two parts. First, what he does on the court can’t be easily replaced. Second, he gets paid very little (relatively speaking) to do it.

Deuce is making a “meager” $3.96 million this season. That kind of contract is a cheat code for a contending team. In the trade market, however, it is a major limitation. An outgoing $4 million salary doesn’t bring back a game-changing asset.

Consider how Deuce’s skill set impacts New York’s production on both ends of the court. Averaging 12 points per game last year and shooting roughly 40% from three, he spaces the floor well with Brunson and punishes defenses that try to double the captain. Defensively, he is relentless at the point of attack. He picks up opposing guards full court, navigates ball screens, and takes on the most tiresome defensive assignment to give the primary producers a break. You cannot find that level of two-way reliability for under $4 million.

The Center Trap

Yeah, Yeah, I hear you…

But John… We desperately need a center!

I mean, you’re not entirely wrong. Big Mitch is gone and glancing at the center depth chart is enough to raise anyone’s blood pressure. Looking at Deuce as the best trade chip is tempting and convincing yourself we can flip him for a big man is quite easy to do.

But trading an elite rotational guard for a stopgap center that potentially might not play a whole lot is terrible roster management. Do the math for a minute. If we trade Deuce’s contract, we have to bring back a $4 million center. That gets the Knicks a deepl flawed, third-string big man destined to get hunted in the pick-and-roll and become nonexistent come playoff time. Anyone willing to trade a guy who plays closing minutes in crucial games for a big who will consistently rock the warmup gear should not be employed by an NBA front office.

New York can survive the early schedule by signing a low-cost option and patch the center rotation by committee, and even have OG play a little five (as Mike Brown even mentioned.) It gives them time to evaluate the landscape and see what shakes out throughout the league. Panicking in October and trading our best bench piece does nothing but hurts the organization’s title odds.

There is also precedent to consider. The Knicks brass were probably well-aware that they would not be able to afford to re-sign Mitchell Robinson this summer—and his departure is the reason why we’re in this pickle at center. Leon Rose must have heard some interest in Mitch before the in-season trade deadline, but he held on to the asset. Unless there’s a too–good-to-pass-up offer, we suspect he’ll do the same with Deuce.

So Long Forward Thinking

Forward-thinking got the Knicks where they are today. Focussing on the present is how they hang another championship banner up in Madison Square Garden for the second straight year.

Letting a talented, 26-year-old guard hit unrestricted free agency without getting anything in return goes against everything we have been conditioned to believe. It might sting a little but the ultimate goal of asset management isn’t to pretty up the perfect spreadsheet. It is to win a championship. Miles McBride helps this roster win games this season.

If we have to accept the 2026-27 campaign is essentially a one-year, rental of Deuce, so be it. Keep him on the roster! Let him lock down the opposition and hit clutch threes for us as we look for two in a row. If another franchise throws $20 million at him next summer, we simply song that catchy Fall Out Boy song and tell the man, “Thanks for the memories.”

The window for winning is right now. You don’t close it early just to save a few bucks and appease the armchair analysts.

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Sporticast: To Expand or to Relocate, That Is the Question

On the 592nd Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams speak with colleague Kurt Badenhausen about his latest list of NHL franchise valuations, the league’s looming expansion, and why the biggest-market teams tend to struggle to win Stanley Cup titles.

The Toronto Maple Leafs ($4.8 billion) are the most valuable franchise in the NHL, followed by the New York Rangers ($4.15 billion), Montreal Canadiens ($3.8 billion), Los Angeles Kings ($3.33 billion) and Boston Bruins ($3.31 billion). The Columbus Blue Jackets ($1.5 billion) rank 32nd.

The hosts break down the numbers, including a surge for Sun Belt franchises like the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers, both of which have won recent championships. Those teams have better weather, and some are in states without income taxes, which many think helps them attract talent to their rosters.

Now the league is looking to expand in the American South, something that would have sounded insane a decade ago, when all the expansion conversations seemed focused around putting second teams in Quebec or Ontario or other cold-weather places. The get-in price for this round of NHL expansion, which will likely start in Texas, is probably around $2.5 billion.

They close by diving into the economics of expansion vs. relocation. At $2.5 billion, interested parties could likely buy a number of different existing NHL teams, which have infrastructure already in place. The hosts talk about why that is, how relocation fees help rebalance the calculus, and also why this conversation is different in some other leagues that are expanding, like the NBA, NWSL and WNBA.

(You can subscribe to Sporticast through Apple, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts.)

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Jordan 'Last Dance' jersey sells for £9m

Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls goes to the basket past Jeff Hornacek of the Utah Jazz during game three of the 1998 NBA Finals
Michael Jordan came out of retirement for two more seasons with the Washington Wizards from 2001-2003 [Getty Images]

A Michael Jordan jersey from his 'Last Dance' season has sold for $12.3m (£9.3m), a record for a piece of game-worn Jordan memorabilia.

He wore the jersey in game three of the 1998 NBA Finals, his last season with the Chicago Bulls.

Jordan helped the Bulls win the series 4-2 for his sixth and final NBA Championship. He was named the Finals' Most Valuable Player in all six.

The previous record for a piece of Jordan memorabilia was $10.1m (£7.6m) for his jersey from game one of the 1998 Finals.

The game three jersey was put up for sale by entrepreneur Ryan Gough and sold at Joopiter, Pharrell Williams' digital auction house, which gave it an estimated price of $10-15m (£7.5-£11.3m).

Jordan's 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello was sold for $2.7m (£2m), four times the auction record for that model.

"Few objects in the history of sport embody greatness as completely as Michael Jordan's game three jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals," Joopiter said in the auction posting.

"Worn during the Last Dance... it marks the culmination of an era that transformed basketball into a global cultural phenomenon.

"Today it stands among the most important game-worn sports artifacts ever to come to market."

The record price for a piece of game-worn sports memorabilia is the jersey worn by baseball legend Babe Ruth when he "called the shot" during the 1932 World Series, which was sold for $24.1m (£18.2m) in 2024.

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Neemias Queta’s improvements with the ball can unlock a new element

BOSTON, MA - MAY 2: Neemias Queta #88 of the Boston Celtics dunks the ball during the game against the Philadelphia 76ers during Round One Game Seven of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on May 2, 2026 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

After putting together the best season of his NBA career, big man Neemias Queta enters next year with a familiar mindset: there’s still room to grow.  

The Celtics big man took a significant step forward last season, establishing himself as a reliable part of Boston’s rotation, but he isn’t treating that progress as a finish line. Instead, Queta is focused on continuing to round out his game and finding new ways to contribute.  

During Media Day, Queta was asked about the areas of his game he has emphasized improving heading into the season. He pointed to his mobility as a particular focus, an area in which he believes he has already made significant progress. 

“I’m working on my mobility. Obviously, I feel like I’ve taken great strides in that aspect, and I want to be able to keep on improving in that. Being able to be more versatile,” Queta said. 

In a separate Media Day interview, Queta expanded on those comments.  

“My versatility has gotten better, my ability to shoot the ball [has], too. Being able to be more of a mismatch killer too is going to be something that I’m trying to rely on this season,” Queta explained.  

What particularly intrigues me about Queta’s developing versatility and mobility is the potential stress he can place on defenses with the ball in his hands, particularly as a handoff keeper and downhill driver. We saw flashes of this last year.  

But when Queta says his mobility has improved over the offseason, I believe him. That progress was evident during his time representing his home country of Portugal in FIBA competition. 

 When discussing how playing in this setting can shape his development, Queta emphasized the opportunity to expand his role and experiment with different aspects of his game. 

“When I go down there, I’m scoring the ball a little more… I see it as an opportunity to get better.” 

Queta also highlighted the value of stepping outside his familiar structure of the NBA.  

“You might be able to test different coverages and different methods that you’re not as used to doing over here [in the NBA] and check your comfort zone, too.” 

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has also noticed Queta’s development in this area, saying at practice that, “The area that he’s gotten more confident in is just making plays, whether he’s in the seam, catching in the paint versus a small, just when he has the ball in his hands, something happening and not getting rid of it because we want something else to go to.”  

Queta, having a bigger impact as a handoff keeper/driver this year, aligns with the Celtics early intention on developing different ways to attack on offense.  

During Media Day, President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens described the direction coming out of the coaches’ meetings, saying, “It seems like there’s a lot of leaning into different ways to attack and different ways of playing.”  

Additionally, Stevens noted, “At times in the past…in the biggest moments we’ve had a tendency to be stagnant. I think this group can be more versatile in those ways.” 

To me, this is ultimately about having as many viable counters as possible available at any moment. I don’t want Queta to start isoing and crossing over opposing fives every chance he gets, but I do think he is more than capable skill and athleticism wise, to make his own offense especially when these opportunities will be coming with premade advantages.  

Playing alongside Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard, Paul George, and Derrick White naturally creates opportunities for Queta, as defenses are forced to devote significant attention to those perimeter threats. If Queta can consistently capitalize on the openings that attention creates, it gives the Celtics another layer to their offensive attack. 

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Yankees news: Clarke Schmidt shut down for the season

CBS Sports: Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt tried his best, but the timing just wasn’t right. According to manager Aaron Boone, the former first-round draft pick will be shut down for the rest of the postseason as he couldn’t quite recover from his right biceps neuritis, the injury that landed him on the list before the end of the regular season. The focus will now shift to Schmidt being ready for the start of the 2027 campaign.

NY Post | Greg Joyce: Aaron Judge is in the middle of a battle against time and his own body to be ready for the AL Division Series. On Wednesday the captain and three-time AL MVP was in Somerset, where he was scheduled to get some live at-bats with a group of players staying ready in case they are needed, such as Luis Gil, Eli Morgan and Justin Topa. There’s still a couple hurdles for Judge to clear, including running the bases, but he’s got a few more days to make his case before the Yankees finalize their ALDS roster.

MLB.com | Jonathan Mayo & Sam Dykstra: The always exciting Arizona Fall League starts this weekend on Saturday, and MLB.com went through every organization’s sleeper prospect. The Yankees’ representative is right-hander Antonio Gómez. The former catcher now has a potentially deadly fastball-slider combo on the mound and has shown the ability to touch the triple digits with the heater. He is still very much a project, but there’s a lot of potential in his arm.

NY Daily News | Gary Phillips Ben Rice is a Statcast darling. Even when he struggled in 2024 as a rookie, he boasted elite barrel, chase, and walk rates. His personal page Baseball Savant was full of red in 2025 and 2026, which is fitting because he is one of the most data-driven and analytical hitters on the Yankees.

“He’s a little more analytical in how he processes the opponent and what they throw and what their specific pitches do,” Boone said. “He has a really good knowledge and idea of that, so he’s really good at developing his plan on a given night.”

“He dives into the numbers because I think that’s a tool that is helpful for him. He dives into a lot of the shapes and the movement of pitches, he dives into certain counts and how guys will attack him or pitch him,” added Judge. “He just eats that up.”

It’s safe to say the approach seems to work for him.

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Gavin Sheets’ pinch-hit homer propels dominant Padres past Cubs 4-1 for 2-game Wild Card sweep

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Pinch-hitter Gavin Sheets blasted a two-run homer, five Padres pitchers combined on a five-hitter, and San Diego swept the Chicago Cubs out of the NL Wild Card Series with a 4-1 victory in Game 2 on Wednesday night.

Xander Bogaerts drove in the first run for the surging Padres, who followed up their 8-0 victory in Tuesday’s opener with another dominant mound performance. The Cubs led the majors in runs and the NL in homers this year, but they managed just eight hits — seven singles — over 18 innings against San Diego’s inspired staff.

Ethan Salas drove in a run while becoming the youngest player to catch a postseason game in major league history for the Padres, whose 20-3 surge since Sept. 5 has them looking like a threat in the NL. With their fifth playoff series victory in the past seven years, the Padres advanced to face the MLB-best Milwaukee Brewers in an NL division series this weekend.

“It’s our entire group coming together, finding ways to win ballgames over and over,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said between puffs on a cigar in the Padres’ beer-soaked clubhouse. “This feels great, but we’ve already been to this part before, and we’re all so hungry to go farther.”

One year after the Cubs eliminated the Padres in three tough Wild Card games at Wrigley Field, the Padres reversed the result in two romps before frenzied sellout crowds at Petco Park.

“It’s nice to finish in two,” manager Craig Stammen said. “Saves our bullpen a little bit, and we can decide who’s going to start Game 1. We haven’t decided that yet, but it definitely sets us up better with two days off. Get those guys fresh and ready to go.”

Nico Hoerner had half of the Cubs’ hits in the series, and he drove in Chicago’s only run in the fourth inning. He also got their only extra-base hit of the series with a ninth-inning double off Mason Miller, but the Padres’ vaunted closer calmly finished the save and set off another massive celebration on the field.

“It didn’t go well here,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We just didn’t play well enough. They’re playing really well. We just couldn’t get anything going offensively, obviously. Look, when you’re in this position, you’re going to be disappointed. You’re going to feel unfulfilled, and that’s just dominating everything you feel right now. Maybe as you reflect, I think I can get to some better places. Right now, that’s all I feel.”

Probable NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong and veteran slugger Alex Bregman struggled mightily atop the Cubs’ lineup in San Diego, going a combined 0 for 15 with a walk and eight strikeouts over these two games. Bregman played just over a week after he was hit in the face with a foul ball.

“Those were the two guys we marked as we don’t want those guys to beat us in this series,” Stammen said. “We tried our best to set up our pitching to handle them. In the first game, we were just lucky we got out to a bigger lead. It’s a lot easier to pitch to those guys with a bigger lead.”

After hitting two homers in the first inning of Game 1, the Padres waited until the second inning of Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead. Ty France led off with a double off Kevin Gausman and scored on Bogaerts’ single before Salas hit a line-drive flyout to center, scoring Jackson Merrill.

Salas, the prized 20-year-old prospect recalled Sept. 1, also became the youngest player to appear in a postseason game for the Padres.

Chicago finally scored when Seiya Suzuki singled and eventually came home on Hoerner’s ground ball to center off Nick Pivetta. Stammen immediately yanked his starter in favor of his intimidating bullpen, and Bradgley Rodríguez escaped a bases-loaded jam.

Rodríguez also pitched the fifth to earn the victory in his postseason debut.

“Those guys, they’re so good at what they do,” Pivetta said. “It was a pleasure to watch.”

After Bogaerts’ double chased Gausman in the fourth, Sheets crushed a 100.8 mph fastball from Daniel Palencia into the right-field bleachers. Sheets, the fan-favorite outfielder who is playing with a nagging plantar injury in his left foot, delivered his second career postseason homer and his first since 2021 as a White Sox rookie.

“That was one of the cooler home runs I’ve ever seen,” Merrill said.

The shot was the Padres’ first pinch-hit postseason homer since 2005, and their long-suffering fans’ cheers rattled the park.

Up next

Game 1 of the division series is Saturday in Milwaukee. The Padres took four of six from the Brewers this season, even sweeping a three-game series at Petco Park in August.

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Sharks prepared for big expectations in 2026-27 season with playoff aspirations

Sharks prepared for big expectations in 2026-27 season with playoff aspirations originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Sharks have a lot of eyes on them to start the 2026-27 NHL season. After extending their franchise superstar Macklin Celebrini, expectations are high for a team that hasn’t made the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2019.

With a bunch of returning personalities, the team camaraderie is at an all-time high. Whether that chemistry will translate onto the ice remains to be seen.

“Going into last year, there weren’t as many outside expectations,” right wing Collin Graf told NBC Sports California’s Natalie Noury at Sharks Media Day. “I think that now everyone is looking towards the playoffs, and that’s our goal in the locker room, and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Graf has been influential in the rebuild over the last three seasons. Graf has 26 goals in 121 games played, and looks to build on an already impressive career.

Coach Ryan Warsofsky has proven he is the best fit for guiding this young team. Warsofsky agreed to a multi-year contract extension on the first day of training camp, before his third season at the helm.

“There are certainly things that we need to do better than we did last year,” Warsofsky admitted to Noury. “We’re going to stick to our process and be where our feet are.”

Celebrini is on his way to becoming the face of the NHL after putting up unreal numbers in his first two seasons. The 20-year-old already has 70 goals and 108 assists in his young career.

“We all have the same goal in mind, which is to make the playoffs,” Celebrini told Noury. “We’ve been out of it for the last seven years, so our whole group is motivated to get back there.”

The Sharks were four points out of a wild-card spot last season. Celebrini and company want to solidify their spot in the West, so it doesn’t have to come down to needing help from other teams when making the postseason.

“I think we just have to be ready to go,” center Will Smith told Noury. “We struggled at the start of the year … that can ruin the first month. The first five games are big, but we’ve got to worry about the first one.”

If the Sharks can come out hot and make a statement to the league, there’s no telling how far this team can go once the playoffs roll around.

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How to watch Phillies vs. Braves Game 3 of 2026 MLB Wild Card Series: TV channel/ streaming info, schedule

Phillies vs. Braves hasn't disappointed, with Games 1 and 2 featuring late-inning home runs that have paved the way for a winner-take-all NL Wild Card Game 3 on Thursday, October 1 at 8pm ET on NBC and Peacock.

Find out how to watch Thursday's Game 3 between the NL East rivals below.

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02:00
Wild Card HLs: Phillies force decisive Game 3
The Phillies slug their way to a thrilling win in extras over the Braves to force Game 3 in the NL Wild Card Series.

How to watch Phillies vs. Braves Game 3 on NBC and Peacock

  • When: Thursday, October 1
  • Where: Truist Park - Atlanta, Georgia
  • Time: 8:00 PM ET
  • TV: NBC
  • Streaming: Peacock
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01:39
Phillies have the ‘advantage’ going into Game 3
CC Sabathia believes the Phillies have all the momentum going into Game 3 of the NL Wild Card against the Braves, while Eric Hosmer has his eyes on the game’s pitching plans.

Phillies vs. Braves Game 3 2026 MLB Wild Card schedule and first pitch time

Head to Peacock and NBCSN for a 30-minute pregame show starting at 7:30pm ET. First pitch is scheduled for 8:15pm ET at Truist Park. Fans can expect a 30-minute postgame show on Peacock and NBCSN following the game's final out.

Who won Games 1 and 2 of the 2026 MLB Wild Card between the Phillies and Braves?

The Braves came away victorious in Game 1 after stunning the Phillies thanks to Austin Riley's late-inning home run. Philadelphia answered with a statement of its own in Game 2, where back-to-back jacks from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper paved the way for an eventual go-ahead HR from Alec Bohm in extra innings.

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02:19
Wild Card HLs: Braves stun Phillies to take Game 1
The 2026 MLB postseason began with a classic bout between two NL East rivals, where the Braves powered their way to a thrilling Game 1 win over the Phillies at Truist Park.

How to watch 2026 MLB Wild Card Round on NBC and Peacock

NBC, Peacock and NBCSN are the home for this year’s MLB Wild Card Series. You can sign up for Peacock here, available to enjoy on a variety of devices. View the full list of supported devices here. Wild Card games on NBC will also be available on Peacock. NBCSN is available on YouTube TV, Fubo and Xfinity.