This is the kind of thing I was talking about down the stretch. I felt the Cubs wouldn’t be backed down or awed by the situation. This is an experienced club. At the end of the day, this didn’t come down to injured pitchers or one eyed third basemen. It didn’t come down to one team scuffling a bit or another one that is on a major role. It came down to exactly one scenario. The Cubs needed to have a pitcher good enough to shove for seven innings against a good offensive team. They needed one because the Padres had one.

With the stuff that modern pitchers have, when they are clicking on all cylinders and not making any mistakes, it is very difficult to get anything going. For what it was worth, their hitters did have patience. They drew three walks from Michael King, who was pumping the strike zone with frisbees. When you see a hitter who is among the best in the game and in a good groove himself like Alex Bregman flailing with half swings at where the ball maybe used to be, it’s not hard to understand how mystifying King was. You definitely hat tip to him.

Is there some chance that maybe if Cub pitching were matching zeroes that he’d have at least broken a sweat? Sure. It was unfortunate that the Padres ambushed Cub starter Matthew Boyd and jumped on him instantly. A hat tip to the Padre scouting department. They had a plan as a team and they executed it. They’d clearly prepared for Boyd. They swung early and often and as was noted on the broadcast, they were able to recognize balls and strikes and only swing at the strikes. They were amazingly prepared.

That was about as unfortunate a game as you could possibly get in a short series. Not only did you lose and make the Padres feel even more confident about their game planning, you didn’t force them to use any significant reliever. They have a fully stocked bullpen that was already known to be lethal. In the short history of these three game Wild Card series, the team that has won the first game has won almost every series. I have no doubt that will level off at a lower level than it’s at so far, but it is the simple math of the format. One win gives you so many advantages in the series. Given that you had to give the Padres the edge in the first place (home field, better record, better pitching), you’d have to make them overwhelming favorites to advance at this point.

Again, the Cubs won’t back down. If Game 2 unfolds more like an ordinary game, the Cubs will be in the fight. But the Cubs were always a good, not great team. This is a tough assignment if this team is going to hold off the offseason.

Turn the page. Slow the game down. Do what you do. Hope it is enough.

Three Positives:

• Nico Hoerner had two of the three Cub hits.
• Seiya Suzuki had the other hit and drew a walk.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong had a walk and stole a base. What almost was, he came very close to robbing that first homer. One wonders if it would have shifted the energy at all.

Wild Card Game 1, September 29: Padres 8, Cubs 0

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Seiya Suzuki (.083). 1-3, BB
• Hero/Sidekick: Michael Conforto/Jacob Webb (.000). Conforto: 0-1; Webb: 1.1 IP, 5 BF, 2 H

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Matthew Boyd (-.203). 4 IP, 17 BF, 5 H, BB, 4 R, 4 K (L 0-1)
• Goat: Ian Happ (-.074). 0-3, BB
• Kid: Pedro Ramirez (-.057). 0-4

WPA Play of the Game: Fernando Tatis Jr. homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the first. (.105)

Cubs Play of the Game: Seiya Suzuki reached on a throwing error by Xander Bogaerts and was awarded second leading off the second inning. (.062)

Note: 18 of the 75 WPA events recorded for this game were recorded at .000.

Cubs Player of the Game:

Up Next: Game 2 in San Diego will see Kevin Gausman for the Cubs. Kevin was 9-12 with a 4.51 in the regular season. He did have a 4-2 record as a Cub, but also posted a 4.83 ERA and had the Cub longball problem, allowing 11 homers in only 50.1 innings. It’s obvious the Cubs need to add more talent to their pitching staff in 2027. It’s even more obvious that they need to examine everything in their training and medical department to determine if any amount of their injury woes could have been prevented or lessened. But also, the Cubs need to look at if there is a further issue with some of their approach. Gausman is an exhibit of a pitcher with a long track record who allowed almost as many homers with the Cubs (11) as with the Blue Jays (15), despite throwing more than 70 percent of his innings with the Jays.

Nick Pivetta (3-2, 2.86) starts for the Padres. Pivetta missed most of this year with a right elbow injury. The 33-year-old righty was excellent when healthy. He made four starts in September, throwing a total of 18.2 innings and allowing three runs on 15 hits. He struck out 18 and walked two. He got up to 87 pitches in his last start and that’s usually the threshold where a pitcher is pretty much good to go. I imagine if he is in a groove, they’d let him approach 100 pitches. And with a fully loaded bullpen and blood in the water, if he struggles at all, I imagine they’ll happily try to steal a game with their bullpen. I have no doubt the Padres could run this game as a bullpen game and still be able to bring their key guys back again for game three.

I thought Gausman should have started that first game. I have to wonder about his health after that diving play he made in his last game. Hopefully the Cub bats can get in the fight. It’s still since July 30 that the Cubs won a game without hitting a homer. Teams that hit more homers tend to win games. Teams that don’t score any runs continue to lose every time. So it’s now or never.

LOS ANGELES — Every game of the Dodgers postseason, from the National League Division series to — should they advance — the National League Championship Series and World Series, will be televised by Fox Sports. But on radio, Charley Steiner will call Dodgers home playoff games at Dodger Stadium for AM 570 and the team’s radio network, with Stephen Nelson on radio play-by-play when the Dodgers are on the road.

For Steiner, Saturday will be first playoff action in three years, with a long journey in between that included a debilitating back injury and battling cancer. Now, he’s feeling well, and ready to call his first postseason game since the 2023 NLDS.

Steiner called 35 Dodgers games on radio this season, and he gradually increased his workload as the season progressed. He called the first three innings of two games on the very first homestand, then gradually added innings over the next few months, before handing off the play-by-play reins to Nelson or Tim Neverett in each game.

“The whole issue was a question of physical strength,” Steiner said via phone. “When I first started way back at the beginning of the season, three innings was a lot.”

Steiner called the first game of nine of the Dodgers’ first 10 home series this season, before calling the first five innings of the last two games of the Dodgers’ series against the Tampa Bay Rays (June 15-16) and Baltimore Orioles (June 19-20).

On the Dodgers’ 10-game homestand heading into the All-Star break, Steiner called every other game, going five innings for three games, then six innings for two games.

On August 13, Steiner called the first six innings of the Dodgers’ series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers before handing off to Nelson for the rest of the game.

“I was leaving and I said to Duane [McDonald, radio producer and engineer for the last decade], ‘I’ll see you Saturday, we’ll go for seven,’” Steiner recalled. “And Duane said, ‘Fuck it, let’s just do nine,‘ and you know that was the kick in the ass that I needed.”

Two days later Steiner called all nine innings of the Dodgers loss to Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, completing Steiner’s first time calling a full game since Game 3 of the 2023 NLDS.

“That was such a big deal to me, because it’d been such a long time. I didn’t know if I’d be physically able to do it, and then I did,” Steiner said. “It was for me the most significant broadcast that I had done, because I had to do so much to get to that point.”

Steiner has seen it all during his career, including 14 years at ESPN before broadcasting baseball games for the last quarter-century, three years for the Yankees before the last 22 years with the Dodgers, his favorite team growing up in New York. He’s called three different World Baseball Classics and called baseball games in seven different countries. But that August 15 game against the Brewers stood out to Steiner given all he endured physically over the previous two years.

“To me it was getting back in the saddle, I knew I could ride the horse to the finish line. And when the game ended, I did,” Steiner added. “I don’t know how many thousands of games I’ve done and how many years I’ve been doing it, but all of that was encapsulated into the first pitch of that game. The long journey took another step forward.”

September saw Steiner increase his workload even more. He called all nine innings of September 1 against the St. Louis Cardinals, then called the first six innings the next day, and all nine innings on September 4 against the Washington Nationals. Steiner called back-to-back full games on September 8-9 against the Cincinnati Reds, September 18-19 against the San Francisco Giants, and September 22-23 against the San Diego Padres. In all, Steiner called 10 full games, all over the final six weeks of the regular season.

He’ll call Games 1-2 of the NLDS on Saturday and Sunday.

“I can’t thank so many folks enough who’ve been so kind and supportive during this journey, especially within the booth. And then the reaction I’ve gotten from listeners and fans, it’s been overwhelming,” Steiner said. “So now, yeah, to the postseason, and I sure would like to call the third World Series championship in a row.”

No one should have been surprised when Austin Riley connected on a nearly 100 mph fastball right down the heart of the plate from Phillies closer Jhoan Duran in the 8th inning of the Phillies’ 5-3, Game 1 loss to the Braves yesterday in Atlanta.

Sure, Duran is the Phils’ lone reliable relief pitcher, a closer with truly unhittable stuff most of the time. And Austin Riley, who hit .219 with a .654 OPS this season, didn’t seem the likeliest of guys to play home run hero, but there were mitigating circumstances.

Duran was being asked to somehow get the Phillies across the finish line following five gutsy innings from Jesus Luzardo and one inning from rookie reliever Alex McFarlane. After breezing through the first five outs, Duran’s command wavered and the Braves made him pay.

It’s a fundamentally terrible idea to ask someone to do something difficult they’ve rarely ever been asked to do before in the most high pressure situation imaginable. One should not reasonably expect that to work very well. While Duran had pitched multiple innings in the past, those instances were rare and, not recent. He had only worked more than one inning in one instance this season, and twice last year, both with Minnesota.

Should Duran have been able to escape the 8th inning without allowing a crushing homer? Sure, but it shouldn’t have surprised anyone that he didn’t.

But Don Mattingly had little choice. There was no one else he trusted to protect a 3-2 lead to secure any of the remaining nine outs needed once J.T. Realmuto put the Phils ahead with his clutch two-run triple a half-inning before. Injuries and poor performance robbed him of any wiggle room, which is why Riley’s three-run blast in the 8th inning was shocking, but not surprising.

You could argue Mattingly should have used Duran for more multi-inning save attempts in September, but the Phillies’ final month struggles likely rendered those plans moot.

Let’s also not gloss over the fact that, had the Phillies not dithered around in the final two weeks of the season, Zack Wheeler would have started this game and, potentially, pitched a bit deeper than Luzardo was able to. Or that, if the bats had shown more of a pulse against Chris Sale in Game 1, they could have provided some cover to a substandard relief corps.

Actions have consequences, as we all saw in Game 1’s final three innings.

It’s easy to point the finger at Dave Dombrowski and his bullpen construction. Clearly, the team didn’t have the arms they needed. In hindsight, believing in Orion Kerkering, who was optioned to AAA two weeks before the end of the season following last year’s meltdown in Los Angeles, was a mistake, as was hitching their wagons to Jose Alvarado, whose struggles in 2026 mirrored those of ‘25 and were indicative of a reduction in his stuff during the course of the year.

But there is also a slew of bad luck thrown into the mix here.

Brad Keller looked to be a tremendous off-season free agent signing. Signed to a two-year, $22 million contract, Keller had a 4.02 ERA in 31.1 innings until he was shut down for the season with an ailing elbow. Tanner Banks, who had become one of the team’s most trusted left-handed relievers after a stellar 2025 season, missed much of the second half after posting a 6.19 ERA in 36.1 innings. Kyle Backhus was never supposed to be a major contributor, but his 4.95 ERA in 20 innings was a disaster.

The only pleasant surprise in the relief corps this year was the emergence of rookie right hander Alex McFarlane, who is the only other arm in the ‘pen that Mattingly trusts right now. And he also gave up a key run on Tuesday, an RBI triple to Ozzie Albies that briefly gave Atlanta a 2-1 lead.

That the Phillies were not able to reach down into the minors for additional help is certainly an indictment of Dombrowski and the farm system, but the general manager did attempt to mitigate that with a couple more arms at the trade deadline.

Brooks Raley was supposed to become an important left-handed, late inning option after his acquisition from the Mets. Over the last four seasons, Raley had ERAs of 2.68, 2.80, 2.45 and 1.96 in 52.2 innings with the Mets this year. No, he never had great stuff, but he was consistently excellent for New York since 2022. After the trade, Raley’s 7.94 ERA in 16 appearances forced Dombrowski to leave him off the wild card roster.

Caleb Kilian, acquired in the Luis Arraez trade, got hurt almost as soon as he arrived. So, Dombo’s two trade deadline acquisitions to improve the struggling bullpen both turned out to be useless. Were other top-tier closer-type relievers traded? No, but that doesn’t mean had Dobrowski been better at developing prospects that they couldn’t have overpaid for something better than Kilian or Raley in August.

But even if a handful of these pitchers had turned out to be productive, it may not have mattered. That’s because once you put on a Phillies uniform, you are unable to secure late leads in the postseason.

Here are all the instances, dating back to Game 3 of the 2023 NLCS, in which the bullpen was unable to secure a save, eight blown saves in all.

• Game 3, 2023 NLCS: Orion Kerkering, holding a 1-0 lead in the 7th, allows a leadoff single and RBI double to blow the lead. Craig Kimbrel then gave up the walk-off single in the 9th for a 2-1 loss.
• Game 4, 2023 NLCS: In what was a full-on bullpen game, Kimbrel entered the 8th inning with a 5-3 lead, but surrendered a game-tying, two-run home run to Alek Thomas and then, a few batters later, an RBI single to Gabriel Moreno, handing the Phils a 6-5 defeat.
• Game 1, 2024 NLDS: Entering the 8th inning with a 1-0 lead, Jeff Hoffman blew the save but was ably aided by Matt Strahm and Kerkering in allowing five 8th inning runs in an eventual 5-2 defeat.
• Game 2, 2024 NLDS: This game the Phillies actually won! With a 6-4 lead in the 8th, Strahm gave up a game-tying two-run blast to Mark Vientos to tie the game 6-6. The Phils walked it off in the bottom of the 9th, of course.
• Game 4, 2024 NLDS: Entering the 6th inning with a 1-0 lead, Phillies closer Carlos Estevez served up a grand slam to Francisco Lindor that sealed the Phillies’ fate in a series-ending 4-1 loss to the Mets.
• Game 1, 2025 NLDS: Holding a 3-2 lead in the 7th, Matt Strahm allowed a two-out, three-run home run to Teoscar Hernandez in a crushing 5-3 defeat to the Dodgers.
• Game 4, 2025 NLDS: With a 1-0 lead entering the 7th, Jhoan Duran walked in a runner with the bases loaded and two outs to tie the game at 1-1. Kerkering would finish the choke job with his game-ending error in the bottom of the 11th.
• Game 1, 2026 Wild Card: Duran gives up the three-run homer to Austin Riley, with four outs left to get, in a 5-3 defeat.

Seven playoff defeats. Eight blown saves. The Phillies have not successfully executed a save situation since Game 1 of the ‘23 NLCS. And this list doesn’t even count Game 6 of the 2022 World Series in which Alvarado served up a go-ahead home run to Yordan Alvarez in the 6th inning of an eventual 4-1 loss.

At the end of the day, Tuesday’s blown save by Duran was the result of trusting the wrong players and a lot of bad luck. No one knows how Mattingly would have handled the 9th inning had Duran escaped the 8th, but the fact he was put in the position of having to manufacture an elaborate plan to secure the final nine outs of the game is an indictment on the relievers in his ‘pen and an offense that continues to provide the pitching staff with little room for error.

Even if the Phillies figure out a way to win Games 2 and 3 against Atlanta, how do they piece together an additional three series victories over the next three weeks and win a title? How can they do that with only two relief pitchers they trust?

Watching Riley’s home run sail over the right field wall was an incredible moment. How could it happen again? How could this team blow another Game 1 in a tight playoff series?

It’s just what they do.

The Yankees have a chance to complete a sweep of the Red Sox on Wednesday night when the teams clash in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series.

The opener gave us a 9-0 rout, another Cam Schlittler gem and 6 RBI by Ben Rice, who smashed two home runs. What’s Game 2 got in store? 

Here’s a look at three things to watch as Max Friedopposes former Yankee Sonny Gray at 8 p.m. at Yankee Stadium:

A Gray matter

Gray, a 36-year-old righty, has a complicated history with the Yankees. He’s had a very good career but did not pitch well in 2017-18 in the Bronx after a ballyhooed trade from Oakland. There’s still some leftover Gray-said, Yanks-said wreckage from when he pitched here, and he noted before this season that he was happy to be in Boston, a place where it’s “easy to hate the Yankees.” 

Think that’ll be a talking point in the stands in Game 2? How will Gray react to his reception, which probably will be, um, loud? Even if he had a 4.51 in 41 games (34 starts) as a Yankee, he’s still a dynamite pitcher, as evidenced by his 18 wins this season (tied for the most in MLB) and 2.72 ERA. He threw five sharp innings for the Yanks in a 2017 ALCS game against Houston and has a 3.26 ERA in six previous postseason starts. In 10 lifetime starts against the Yanks, he has a 3.67 ERA, including two good ones this past June.

Gray said on Tuesday that being a Yankee made him a “better pitcher, a better baseball player.” We’ll see how that looks in a huge rivalry moment in Game 2. Boston’s season might depend on how he pitches.

Lefty-laden lineup?

With Gray starting, Aaron Boone has a chance to deploy even more left-handed hitters in his Game 2 batting order. Luis García Jr. and Jazz Chisholm Jr. did not start in the opener and could be factors, though there likely will be late mixing-and-matching, too, since the Red Sox have some strong southpaw relievers. 

Here’s the thing – the Yankee lefties already dominated Game 1, which was started by a lefty. A lot of the damage was done by Rice, who was 4-for-5 and joined BobbyRichardson, Bernie Williams, Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano as Yankees who have knocked in six runs in a postseason game. But overall in the opener, Yankee left-handed hitters were 8-for-18 (.444) with 8 RBI – Austin Wells, who hit just .122 against lefties during the season, knocked in the other two runs. 

Gray actually was better against lefties than righties during the season, holding them to a .654 OPS, 28 points lower than his mark against righties. Keep an eye on these matchups early: Rice is 3-for-7 with two homers against Gray and García is 4-for-10 with a home run. 

Load management

In terms of bullpen work, Game 1 was a Yankee dream. They did not use Brent Headrick, who made the second-most appearances (81) in baseball this year, though he warmed up. Closer David Bednar warmed up, but did not pitch either. The Yankee bullpen, which was second in relief ERA to Boston this year, is fresh going forward.

Some of the savings is due to Schlittler, of course, who delivered 6.1 shutout innings and helped blank Boston for the second straight postseason game, including his 2025 playoff masterpiece. The Red Sox had never been shut out in consecutive postseason games in their long history. 

Boone tried to squeeze an extra out from Schlittler, but he gave up a hit with one out in the seventh. Boone turned to Paul Blackburn, who has been excellent – he had a 1.69 ERA during the regular season and has a 0.83 ERA since June 21. Blackburn threw 1.2 shutout innings and stranded an inherited runner. John Schreiber threw a scoreless ninth after the game got out of hand. 

NEW YORK ― Pull up a chair. Sonny Gray is ruminating on his time as a Yankee, and it got kind of deep.

Gray will be charged with keeping the Boston Red Sox’s season alive Wednesday, Sept. 30, when he takes the ball in Game 2 of the American League wild card series against New York. Game 1, a 9-0 Yankees romp, showed just how loud Yankee Stadium can get.

And Gray knows the pinstriped faithful will be loaded for bear after his offseason comments noting that it’s "easy to hate the Yankees" – made in the wake of his trade from the St. Louis Cardinals to Boston – put him on the other side of this storied rivalry.

Gray’s first go didn’t go great, as he struggled with the Yankees in 2017 and 2018 after a trade from Oakland, a 27-year-old dude adjusting to significant expectations.

The Royals had hoped to contend this year, and instead fell flat on their face to begin the year, eventually losing 93 games. It was a season that included blown leads, cold lineups, but also some bright spots like the emergence of Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone, the ageless Michael Wacha, a turnaround by Noah Cameron, and another sensational Bobby Witt Jr. performance.

We asked our writers to reflect on the 2026 season and the upcoming offseason.

What was the biggest reason why the Royals lost 93 games this year?

Matthew LaMar: The obvious answer is the bullpen, and the other obvious answer is injuries, but neither of them get to why both things were so impactful, and that “why” is just a total lack of organizational talent depth in the upper minors. That severely limited Kansas City’s ability to improve the team in the previous offseason via trades and was why the Royals couldn’t replenish talent internally when they needed to. It’s a little better now, but pitching depth is still a problem.

Jeremy Greco: I said it on our most recent podcast, so I guess I’ll stick to my guns: The bullpen. Last year’s bullpen on this team makes it a playoff contender, I think. There is certainly plenty of blame to go around between the offense not being good enough, the starting pitching suffering so many injuries, and then the offense suffering injuries.

But the bullpen was catastrophically bad. They were not especially good last year, but still put up a total of 4.1 fWAR. This year, they put up -3.2. That’s a difference of 7 wins and would have gotten them all the way up to 76 or 77, which still would have missed the tournament, but if they got most of those before the trade deadline, the Royals probably buy instead of sell, and who knows how that changes things.

Max Rieper: The bullpen was a major reason, and it has been a big weakness for J.J. Picollo during most of his tenure. The lineup also suffered from slow starts to key players like Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez, an injury to Maikel Garcia, and the continued absence of a good on-base guy to set the table in the lineup.

Cullen Jekel: Roster mismanagement, specifically with pitchers. The bullpen went to hell incredibly quickly and there was no one available to step in and stop the bleeding. Additionally, the rotation took a big hit when Cole Ragans went down, which, I mean, shouldn’t have been too surprising. And yet there was no one available in the organization to replace, or help replace, him, either. The front office banked too heavily on the arms being healthy, and that house of cards completely collapsed early in the season.

sterlingice: They ranked in the bottom third of the league in runs scored and runs allowed. The offense performed as it has for 3 of the last 4 seasons. They just aren’t good enough unless Witt is having a superhuman season and a couple of other players are having career years. That needs to change. Meanwhile, the pitching took a step back. In the 2024 playoff season, the starters were historically lucky with health. This year, they relied on oft-injured starters like Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic, Stephen Kolek, and Ryan Bergert alongside aging veterans Wacha and Lugo with predictable results. If castoff Randy Dobnak and his 5.9 K/9 ends up as your third-highest pitcher in bWAR, you’ve had a bad pitching season.

What was your favorite thing about this season? Player, game, play, moment, etc.? 

sterlingice: Even though Father Time is undefeated and Perez had a down season, I enjoyed Salvy’s chase for the franchise home run record.  I like that he did it during one of his trademark hot streaks where he had four home runs in seven games.  I love that the record-breaking home run tied the game in the late innings, as so many of his have done throughout his career.  I wish it had been at home, but kudos to the respectful Detroit fans. Of course, I wish it had been during a playoff chase. But sometimes these milestones help you get through a long August in a lost season.

Jeremy Greco: I want to cheat a little and say the World Baseball Classic was my favorite part of the season. It was an absolute blast, and I wish we could do it more often. But actually, in the season, it’s the star turns of Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen. They both showed so much that it’s easy to believe they even yet have superstar potential left in their arsenals. When I think about just those two players for too long, it’s really easy to see why JJ thinks the team can compete next year.

Max Rieper: Every day I get to watch Bobby Witt Jr. in a Royals uniform is a treat. Again, he is one of the top three players in the league. That is amazing.

But yes, Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone each look like bona fide studs. It was cool to see them rake down the stretch.

Matthew LaMar: I really enjoyed Carter Jensen putting a strong season together. All too often, we’ve seen strong Royals prospects have a great debut and then fall off hard the following year (from Eric Hosmer to Ryan O’Hearn and Vinnie Pasquantino). Jensen, meanwhile, ended up with 27 home runs and nearly 4 WAR as a 22-year-old, all while catching much more than we thought he would. He was a consistent bright spot.

Cullen Jekel:  Two things here. First, I was able to attend my first-ever Opening Day at Kauffman. I went with my wife, two sons, and father-in-law, and we had a great time. My boys still talk about it, and the youngest still sleeps with the Sluggerrr stuff I bought him that day. Second, Carter Jensen. After the team completely overplayed his sleeping in, after he found his footing, he became one of the best catchers, let alone among rookies, in the entire league. He had some growing pains, but he was a joy to watch every time he came to the plate. I’m excited that he’s part of the Royals core going forward. It isn’t easy finding a franchise catcher, but the Royals seemed to have nailed it with the local kid.

What should the Royals do this offseason?

Cullen Jekel: Talk about a loaded question. What shouldn’t the Royals do? The Royals should go out and acquire an entirely new bullpen while also adding another two or three starting pitchers. I would also like a new starting center fielder and left fielder, please and thank you, because Kyle Isbel and Isaac Collins ain’t it.

Jeremy Greco: Since they’ve declared their intention to compete, they should be incredibly aggressive to improve their roster. They need to add at least two high-quality starting pitchers plus a couple more who can act as depth, at least until guys start coming back from injury around midseason. They did an impressive job adding less-terrible options to the bullpen, but they need at least one and probably two really high-quality guys, plus a few more depth guys that you can mix and match with the current group so you can pick the ones who are working. They also need to add a legitimate-hitting left fielder.

Max Rieper: Revamping the bullpen is the top priority. The thing I noticed in this postseason is that with a few exceptions, the bullpens of contenders aren’t filled with high-priced free agents. It’s homegrown guys, guys picked up on minor league deals, waiver claims, and Rule 5 picks. That’s coaching. I like what pitching coach Brian Sweeney has done, but the pitching staff definitely took a step back. We need to find more diamonds in the rough.

I would look to add a left or center fielder. I would cut back on Salvy’s playing time, possibly with a platoon. I think you can squint and see them bouncing back well if they make the right moves.

Matthew LaMar: If the Royals want to compete next year, the only real option available to them is to spend a lot of money and cash some of their exciting young A+ to AA prospects in for established players. They need to grab Randy Arozarena or Taylor Ward for starters.

sterlingice: They clearly need another good right-handed bat. However, like the last two offseasons, there just aren’t many out there.  This year, there are exactly two: Randy Arozarena and Seiya Suzuki.  Both will command a substantial contract that will look bad on the back end as both are in their early 30s.  However, both would look good in this lineup for the next couple of years. 

They need at least another starter and, really, more than that. The rotation for 2027 is currently Michael Wacha, Noah Cameron, Seth Lugo (5.17 ERA), and that’s it.  There are a decent number of mid-rotation starters.  The Royals need to sign one and it needs to be the right one.  I don’t even know where to start with the bullpen.  All of the pitchers need to be ones that Brian Sweeney and company can improve so they are paying 50 cents on the dollar because there’s a lot of work to be done and limited resources.

What will the Royals do this offseason?

sterlingice: With the impending lockout, it’s very difficult to predict. There was a flurry of activity before the 2021-2022 lockout, including a one-day record, but the Royals weren’t a part of that. However, they were in a different place in their contention window than they are now. Smart teams will hedge as to whether it’s better to make moves pre or post-lockout and it remains to be seen which direction the Royals go.  They have some money to play with, but not a lot.

I think they’ll sign a mid-rotation starter, a couple of mid-leverage bullpen arms that cost too much for what they are but won’t break the budget, and go bargain shopping for OF bats.  It won’t be enough unless Witt has another great year, Jac and Jensen continue their upward trajectory, Vinnie can figure out how to start a season as strong as he ends them, the starters stay healthy, and the bullpen is magically overhauled.  That’s a lot of “ifs.”

Max Rieper: I think they will have about $20-30 million to spend this offseason, which can go pretty quickly. I would expect them to trade for an outfielder – not a big trade, but maybe someone more promising than Isaac Collins. They will also likely bring in an outfielder, another Lane Thomas type, although that worked out pretty well when it was all done. The rest will be allocated to the pitching staff, maybe another starter and reliever if there is money left over.

Matthew LaMar: The Royals will not spend a lot of money and will keep all of their exciting young A+ to AA prospects. They’ll maybe go out and get someone for like $10 million a year over two or three years and tout that as a big acquisition. I am prepared to be underwhelmed.

Jeremy Greco: I think they’ll sign Taylor Ward, two middling starting pitchers, and one really good reliever, and hope they can cobble together the rest of it from spare parts.

Cullen Jekel: Nothing? I’m pessimistic about the 2027 season even occurring, and it’s going to be a rush to get things done this truncated offseason before a lockout. Now, if by some miracle of the baseball gods that there’s a (relatively) normal offseason, I can see the Royals adding a couple of cheap arms for the bullpen while maybe–maybe–coughing up some dough for a fifth starter. I bet they don’t make any changes to the coaching staff or the lineup aside from adding bench pieces. But Jensen-Witt Jr.-Caglianone-Garcia-Pasquantino-Perez-Massey-Collins-Isbel will probably be the Opening Day lineup.

World Series prediction?

sterlingice: I’d love it to be something fresh like Rays vs Brewers.  But it will probably be something awful like the Dodgers over the Yankees/Red Sox winner.

Cullen Jekel: Well, at the beginning of the season, I predicted the Mariners over the Dodgers. Uh, I think I need to change at least half of that. Let’s go with the Rays over the Dodgers in seven even though I’ll be rooting for the Brewers.

Jeremy Greco: Padres over Rays in 7. Adrian Morejooooooooon

Matthew LaMar: Dodgers over White Sox. The new Evil Empire punctuates the season with their third consecutive victory over a plucky upstart and ushers in particularly nasty CBA negotiations.

Max Rieper: The Brewers win their first ever title, defeating the Red Sox.

Good morning A’s fans!

Yesterday, the 2026 MLB playoffs began with four opening games in the best-of-three Wild Card series. The victorious Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and San Diego Padres moved one step closer to the Division Series. There, the rested Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays are waiting to pounce on their prey.

While the Athletics are watching the playoffs from afar for a fifth straight year, that does not mean October baseball is devoid of players and coaches who have history with the Green and Gold.

Stephen Vogt, a fan-favorite during his successful career with the A’s, has led Cleveland to the playoffs in each of his first three seasons as their manager. In hindsight, the A’s should have hired him instead of Mark Kotsay, but the past cannot be changed and Vogt finds himself in a much more stable situation in Cleveland.

Moving to active players, there are former A’s on just about every postseason squad. Matt Olson has started every game at first base for the Braves, who also employ Sean Murphy as their backup catcher and onetime A’s minor leaguer Grant Holmes in their rotation. Former Athletic, left-hander Jesús Luzardo, started the Philadelphia Phillies first playoff game.

Another former A’s draft pick, Nick Allen, is a backup infielder on the Houston Astros, while reliever Sean Newcomb, who was on the A’s from 2023 through 2025, is a vital part of the White Sox’ bullpen.

On the East Coast, veteran pitchers Paul Blackburn and Sonny Gray enjoyed strong seasons with the Yankees and Boston Red Sox and will be counted on if their teams want to make a deep postseason run this fall. 

Shifting to the West Coast, Aaron Civale, who the Athletics designated for assignment earlier this year, will pitch in relief for the Chicago Cubs. Their opponent, the Padres, are reaping the rewards of employing closer Mason Miller, who has thrived since the A’s traded him during the 2025 trade deadline. Miguel Andujar joined his former teammate Miller in San Diego this season.

Which of these former players competing this week do you most want to see win the World Series? What are your playoff predictions? Should the A’s attempt to bring back Blackburn in free agency this offseason?

A’s Coverage:

• Athletics’ Zack Gelof sues Tigers after hitting metal fence
• 2026: Year Of The “Didn’t See That Coming!”
• Where the A’s Plan to Use Zack Gelof in 2027
• Last MLB game in West Sacramento? Why A’s 2026 season deserves a eulogy
• A’s Lose Final Game Of The Year To Astros 9-0
• Perkins finishes intriguing season with another flash of potential
• A’s Bounce Back, Take Second Game From Astros 6-5
• ‘Road Trip Mike’ on the move to wherever his beloved A’s go
• Wheat/Chaff Updates As Season Winds Down
• Paralyzed A’s prospect Lasko released from rehab facility to ovation from staff
• Devin Taylor: Athletics 2026 Minor League Player Of The Year
• Henry Bolte Is the A’s Next Budding Star
• Determining Athletics’ Offensive MVP for the 2026 Season
• Notes From Star-Studded Rockies-A’s Instructional League
• Injuries Out Of Control, But Why?
• 2027 Infield Landscape Ever Changing
• “Fast Movers” Might Be Key To Contention
• Billy Beane comments on the job Mark Kotsay has done this season.
• Should Mark Kotsay return in 2027? A’s Players Weigh In
• What the A’s Hiring Mike Rizzo would Signal and the Questions it Would Raise
• Athletics Considering James Click For GM Vacancy
• Get the best of Athletics Nation on the new SB Nation app

MLB News & Interest:

• Here is why each playoff team could win the World Series
• Ghiroli: Why I’m (sort of) dreading this postseason
• Tatis, Machado start Wild Card Series with a bang, homering in 1st inning
• Riley’s clutch HR turns Braves’ 8th-inning deficit into huge Game 1 win
• White Sox make it look easy in Game 1 win over AL West champs
• Yanks ride Massachusetts natives Schlittler, Rice to Game 1 win over Sox
• Arraez (ankle) won’t be on Phillies’ wild-card roster; Luzardo to open G1
• Astros owner: Playoff berth will factor into call on Espada
• Pope Leo XIV sends blessings to White Sox ahead of playoffs
• Injured Judge not added to Wild Card Series roster
• Corbin Burnes Not Expected To Need Shoulder Surgery
• Mariners Prefer To Hire Experienced Manager; Torey Lovullo On Radar
• Giants stamp commitment to Vitello as Posey reflects on tough 2026
• Rangers’ Chris Young On Offseason, Seager, Jung
• Angels Notes: Mozeliak, Suzuki, Trout
• Blue Jays Interested In Seiya Suzuki
• Ryan Jeffers Open To Staying With Twins, Plans To Test Free Agency
• Potential MLB game at national park criticized by some
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley delivered the postseason’s first game-changing moment yesterday.

The Athletics are still searching for their next general manager. Ideally, the club will have someone in place before free agency opens after the playoffs end.

This fact sums up the state of baseball in this max-effort era. Fewer starters are pitching deep into games because of the strain on their arms from trying to throw every pitch as fast as possible.

Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series couldn’t have gone much better for the Yankees. On the mound, Cam Schlittler was excellent, blanking the Red Sox for 6.1 impressive innings. Then, led by Ben Rice, the Yankees’ offense plated nine runs, pulling away from Boston to go up 1-0 in the series.

Yesterday wasn’t just the opening of the Yankees-Red Sox series, though. All three of the Wild Card matchups also got underway on Tuesday, so let’s check in on what happened.

AL Wild Card Series Game 1

Chicago White Sox 6, Houston Astros 3
(Chicago leads 1-0)

After jumping out to a 3-0 lead early, the White Sox withstood the Astros and tacked on some more runs late to take the opener of the other AL matchup in Houston.

Facing an Astros’ bullpen game, the White Sox got going quickly. With a runner on third in the first, Munetaka Murakami hit a fly ball that was deep enough for Chicago’s Sam Antonacci to tag up and score. The next inning, Antonacci did it at the plate, hitting a bases loaded single to bring home two more runs. A Colson Montgomery homer in the fourth and a Chase Meidroth RBI single in the fifth had Chicago up big before Houston showed any resistance.

A two-run shot from Nelson Velázquez in the bottom of the fifth got the Astros on the board, but Chicago got one of those runs back a little while later. Houston countered with one in the eighth and brought the tying run to the plate, but couldn’t cash in as the ChiSox held on from there. Amusingly, the Astros have now lost eight consecutive playoff games in Houston since early on in the 2023 playoffs. If Chicago can win one more at Daikin Park either today or tomorrow, they’ll not only eliminate Houston but also secure their first playoff series victory since winning the 2005 World Series, over two decades ago. The Astros will have their best pitcher going for them in Hunter Brown, so we’ll see if that’s enough to keep their season alive.

NL Wild Card Series Game 1

Atlanta Braves 5, Philadelphia Phillies 3
(Atlanta leads 1-0)

Austin Riley’s go-ahead eighth inning home run stunned the Phillies to give the Braves the series opener.

The Phillies opened the scoring early when Alec Bohm doubled home a run in the top of the first. Atlanta then answered back with Mike Yastrzemski RBI single. The game remained tied for a while after that as both Chris Sale and Jesús Luzardo put in solid outings; Luzardo hadn’t necessarily been expected to even last five innings, as he was still relatively fresh off the IL and threw an inning of relief just to help the Phillies clinch a playof spot on Sunday. Things changed as both teams got to the bullpen, and there were some dramatic swings.

Atlanta took the lead for the first time in the sixth when Ozzie Albies hit an RBI triple thanks to some less-than-stellar fielding from Phillies’ center fielder Derek Hill. However, a Ronald Acuña Jr. misplay in the seventh allowed J.T. Realmuto to hit a triple of his own, scoring two runs to put Philly back in front.

Phillies’ manager Don Mattingly went for the kill shot by bringing on closer Jhoan Duran in the seventh. He got through that inning fine and came back out for the eighth, facing the heart of Atlanta’s order. He got two quick outs before Michael Harris II kept the inning alive with a softly-struck infield single. Duran hit Albies with a pitch after that, bringing Riley to the plate. Duran then left a fastball right in the middle of the zone, and Riley took full advantage, giving Atlanta a lead that Raisel Iglesias held on to in the ninth.

If the Braves win today, then they’ll advance to play the two-time defending champion Dodgers in the NLDS. If the Phillies can hold them off behind ace Cristopher Sánchez however, then Game 3 awaits on Thursday.

San Diego Padres 8, Chicago Cubs 0
(San Diego leads 1-0)

Michael King took a no-hitter into the seventh inning as the Padres’ offense crushed Cubs pitching in the late night game out west.

The Cubs’ story this season is that they have an excellent offense and poor pitching, ranking first and last in fWAR respectively. However in Game 1, only one of those things proved true. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado both hit first inning home runs against Matthew Boyd, getting San Diego off to the perfect start, from which they only added on to their lead.

Meanwhile, the Cubs offense couldn’t do much against King. The former Yankee didn’t allow a hit until Nico Hoerner singled with one out in the seventh. In total, King shut out Chicago over seven frames, allowing just the one hit and three walks, striking out eight.

In the ninth inning, Padres’ pitcher Joe Musgrove returned to the majors after a two-year absence while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He allowed a couple Cubs to reach base, but did end up throwing a scoreless inning.

Yesterday afternoon the Atlanta Braves won a roller coaster of a game as the lead changed four times. Ultimately Austin Riley had his redemption arc and hit the go-ahead three run HR off of Jhoan Duran fastball that was in the triple digits in the eighth inning.

Tyler Mahle, the Braves’ best trade deadline pickup will be taking the mound for the Braves against Cristopher Sánchez. Both pitchers were on completely different trajectories to end the season.

Before he joined the Braves, Mahle had a 5.13 ERA in eighteen starts. Since he joined the Braves he has a 1.99 ERA in nine starts, averaging six innings per appearance. In his first eighteen starts, Sánchez had a 2.00 ERA and averaged 6.5 innings per start. Since then, he has a 4.10 ERA while averaging 6.0 innings pitched. If we look at the last month, it is even worse. Sánchez has a 5.12 ERA since the start of September.

This does not mean the Braves will have it easy today. It is a do or die game for the Phillies so if Sánchez starts to struggle, it would not be shocking to see a starter come in on short rest to take over. Sánchez is a very good pitcher, in fact he will likely get some Cy Young down votes. However, on paper the matchup looks good. The players on the Braves’ playoff roster have a combined OPS of .759 against him in their careers.

Ronald Acuña has an OPS of 1.000 in sixteen ABs, Ozzie Albies has a .500 average and 1.193 OPS in eighteen ABs, and Austin Riley has a .467 average and 1.104 OPS in fifteen ABs against him. The rest of the team has mostly struggled, so there is some pressure on these three to perform. Michael Harris, fresh off of a three hit night, has struggled to an OPS of .321 in fifteen ABs.

Mahle has not faced the Phillies nearly as much as Sánchez has faced the Braves. However, he did face them in back-to-back starts in early September. In those combined starts he pitched 13.0 innings and only gave up one run on ten hits. He struck out six to only one walk. He was able to induce a whopping twenty-three ground balls in that span. He did have some luck with a BABIP of .220, but the results were great.

On paper, the Braves have the edge today. It is truly going to depend on if Acuña, Albies, and Riley can continue to rake against Sánchez in a period where he is clearly worn down at the end of a long season. Of course, other players stepping up would be nice too. If Mahle can perform like he did against the Phillies already this month and the Braves can get to the bullpen relatively early, they will be in a good spot. The Braves lead MLB in wRC+ in the ninth inning.

If the Braves win today, technically the Phillies miss October baseball this season.

First pitch is at 2:00 EDT.

Game Info

Game Time: Wednesday, September 30th, 2:00 pm EDT

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

Watch: NBC/Peacock

Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan and ESPN Radio