There is just something different about those no doubters, when a slugger digs into the box and really gets a hold of a pitch unleashing that wooden thunderclap like the legend of Thor. Watching the ball arch towards the sky and then seeing gravity finally win the fight and bring it back down to earth still sends a childlike joy through my bones.

Despite only getting 327 at-bats from biggest sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees still had their fair share of no doubters in 2026. Before we dive into the top ten home runs, I want to clarify this list ranks each long ball by distance. 

There is one honorable mention I want to give out before we get started. On April 21st, Stanton launched a 368-foot home run with a 41-degree launch angle. This moonshot in Boston was the Yankees’ highest-arching home run of the season. It did not go far, but it was a fun one to watch as it had hang time like Vince Carter!

10. Ben Rice: 431 feet (August 8th vs. Atlanta)

I hope you are not hungry, because this top ten list contains as much Rice as your favorite takeout place’s menu! There is your dinner plan, as Rice keeps serving us even after the season ends. This early-August blast came off the bat at just over 105 miles per hour (mph) and had the highest launch angle of the top ten at 35 degrees.

9. Ben Rice: 433 feet (June 19th vs. Cincinnati)

The team leader in home runs stakes his second claim on the list quickly, also claiming the nine-hole. This bullet traveled 109.1 mph off Benny’s barrel and had a 26-degree launch angle. The three-run job was one of those long home runs that reminds you center field at Yankee Stadium is no joke.

8. Ben Rice: 438 feet (August 16th @ Toronto)

Starting the list off with a turkey, Rice keeps cooking. Unlike his first two appearances, this one came in Toronto. Number 33 on the season for Rice came off Braydon Fisher in the top of the 10th inning, making it the latest inning long ball on the list. What would prove to be the game-winner jumped off the bat at 108.5 mph and launched at a 27-degree angle.

7. Spencer Jones: 443 feet (June 9th @ Cleveland)

The rookie’s first home run in the show was an absolute missile. Jones jumped all over this pitch from Slade Cecconi and produced the second-highest exit velocity on the list at 112.2 mph, with the lowest launch angle of the top ten at just 25 degrees. Do not blink, or you will miss this straight-line shot that got out of play in a hurry.

6. Ben Rice: 444 feet (September 4th @ San Diego)

Despite a lower exit velocity of 108.6 mph, the one-degree difference in launch angle, at 26 degrees, was enough for this Rice home run to travel one foot farther than the previous entry. This ball ran away from the camera operator as it decided it would rather check out the San Diego Zoo than stick around for peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

5. Giancarlo Stanton: 446 feet (April 16th vs. LA Angels)

Big G gets more than just his honorable mention with this home run that landed 446 feet from home plate in the Bronx, earning him a spot in our top five. Stanton muscled this ball at 111.1 mph off the bat and into the air at a 27-degree angle. This was a frustrating season for Stanton, and at this stage of his career, there might not be many more of these moments left for us to enjoy.

4. Ben Rice: 447 feet (August 19th @ Baltimore)

Making his fifth and final appearance is Rice with this home run down at Camden Yards. This one got a few extra shakes of Old Bay seasoning as it traveled at 110.2 mph and lollipopped toward the harbor at a 33-degree angle. All hail the Yankees’ home run king of 2026!

3. Spencer Jones: 448 feet (September 20th @ Arizona)

With a build similar to Judge and a left-handed swing, Jones is sure to send a few moonshots each season that will be impressive enough to land him on this list for years to come. This home run claims the title of highest launch angle on the list at 34 degrees. The towering drive traveled at 109.8 mph before falling like a meteor out in the desert.

2. Amed Rosario: 450 feet (July 31st @ Chicago Cubs)

Imposter alert! Surprise, surprise, surprise. Who would have believed it at the start of the season, but at 6-foot-1 and 227 pounds, Rosario hit a home run good enough for second-furthest of the season. Perhaps aided by the Chicago wind, this home run tried its best to make it to the rooftop seats, coming off the bat at 108 mph with a 30-degree launch angle. Another whacky surprise, it was off a lefty!

1. Aaron Judge: 456 feet (April 13th vs. LA Angels)

Almost as surprising as Rosario, Judge finally makes his first appearance on the list, and of course, the best power hitter since the steroid era takes the top spot. Why waste swings, right? This home run by Judge is truly a piece of art. At 116.2 mph, it was the hardest-hit Yankees home run of the season in addition to being the furthest. Its 26-degree launch angle helped it get over the fence quicker than a little leaguer retrieving a home run ball in the sandlot. Please be healthy next season, Captain. We missed you this year.

That concludes the top ten longest Yankees home runs of 2026. Did anyone see any of these in person? What was the biggest surprise in your eyes? I was most surprised that Bellinger didn’t crack the top ten, or even the top 20 longest home runs in 2026!

Just make sure you get to keep playing baseball, boys.

The Guardians continue to have somewhat of a snake-bitten season at home this season, dropping two games against the Rays to head back to Tampa Bay down 3-2 in a 7-game series. They now face Freddy Peralta for a second time, who threw six scoreless against Cleveland in game 2 (after also dominating the Yankees in the ALDS). Meanwhile, the Guardians will open with the “reliable vet” option of Shawn Armstrong and the rest of their pitching plan for the game being, essentially, a shaken 8-ball reading “Reply hazy, try again.”

Keys to Game Six for the Guardians:

1. Hit Freddy Peralta’s Fastball: Peralta is a three-pitch pitcher with a four-seamer, a changeup, and a curveball. Peralta threw a season-high 71% four-seamer mix against the Guardians in game two of the ALCS. It worked. So, does that mean he goes back to the same plan in an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy, or does he make an adjustment to mix in more changeups? Peralta’s average velocity on his fastball was up 2.6 mph from his season average, so I suspect he is simply going to let this pitch ride and dare the Guardians to hit it. We have seen enough of the Rays’ pen to know that there is a reason they haven’t lost a game this season when leading after eight innings. They are very good, so they need to find a way to get to Peralta to have a chance tonight. So… there you go, Guardians. Gird your loins, hit the fastball, and this has a good shot of going to a winner-take-all. For what it’s worth, during the season, Chase DeLauter was 15 runs above average against the fastball, Steven Kwan 5.2 runs above average, Travis Bazzana 4.5 runs above average, and Brayan Rocchio 2.1 runs above average.

2. Adjust to Playing on Turf: There were a couple rough plays on the Tampa Bay turf in games one and two and the Guardians’ defense has been shaky the past two nights. If the Guardians win tonight, they will need to play clean defense and adjust to the various quirks of the turf at Tropicana Field.

3. Strategically Deploy Your Pitchers: After Armstrong, I think we will be set to see Daniel Espino, Joey Cantillo and Tanner Bibee in some capacity. Foster Griffin threw 44 pitches on Saturday… so he could also get an inning, given the elimination game dynamic. Stephen Vogt will need to leverage these arms in the right moments to have a chance at turning the game over to his high leverage arms (who also all threw yesterday, of course). The one thing I definitely would like to see is Espino facing a different part of the order than Diaz and Caminero who have seen him quite a bit.

You know, I feel so good about this Guardians’ season. I will be disappointed in a loss because you can never guarantee yourself this kind of opportunity again, but I also feel proud of what these guys have done to get to this point. I would be so sad because there is a good chance I will not see any more Guardians’ baseball until at least Memorial Day, but I have a lot of happy memories from 2026 to keep me warm. I also would be happy to watch the Brewers-Rays World Series because I like both teams and would enjoy seeing either get a title. But, hey, neither of them deserve to see one as much as Cleveland baseball fans do. None of their players deserve a ring like Jose Ramirez does. So, let’s see our guys really fight to keep this ride going another day.

One of Japan’s biggest stars, and a top free agent target this winter, is a step closer to the major leagues.

Third baseman Teruaki Sato, coming off a historic season with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Hanshin Tigers, will officially be posted, giving MLB teams a 45-day window to negotiate a contract with him, according to Japanese outlet Sponichi Annex.

Tigers general manager Satoshi Shimamura confirmed the club’s intention to make Sato available via the posting system, giving him time to ink a contract before the looming MLB lockout.

“I am grateful to the team for respecting my wishes,” Sato said in a statement. “I truly enjoyed the days I spent with my teammates while playing for the Tigers, and I am sincerely grateful for the warm support from the fans. I ask for your continued support.”

Sato is expected to travel to the United States in November to meet with interested teams, per Yahoo Japan.

The 27-year-old slashed an outstanding .306/.383/.609 with 39 homers and 106 RBIs, becoming the ninth player in NPB history to win the triple crown.

Sato became the first player since now-White Sox star Munetaka Murakami (2022) to secure NPB’s triple crown honors, Hanshin’s first Japanese-born to win the award and the first Tigers player since Randy Bass (1986).

The 6-foot-1, 207-pound Sato’s incredible campaign followed a 2025 in which he hit 40 home runs and 102 RBIs en route to Central League MVP honors.

Sato’s offensive output profiles similarly to the aforementioned fellow lefty-swinging Murakami, who blasted 35 home runs with the White Sox, but also continued to strikeout at an alarming 35.4 percent clip.

Over the past two NPB campaigns, Sato whiffed at a 27 percent rate, compared to Murakami, who whiffed at a 28.8 percent clip over his final two full seasons in Japan.

Primarily a third baseman, Sato — who made an appearance in right field during the 2026 World Baseball Classic with Samurai Japan — could also follow Murakami in shifting full-time to first base.

Even with concerns about his long-term viability at third base, Sato is expected to command league-wide interest — with both New York teams at the forefront.

The Post’s Jon Heyman reported in August that the Mets are interested in Sato as a first base target in the wake of Pete Alonso’s departure and disappointing production from the position in 2026.

After another early playoff exit, in part due to a sputtering offense, Sato’s left-handed stroke also makes him an intriguing target for the Yankees at the hot corner.

The Phillies and Dodgers are also expected to have interest in Sato, per Heyman.

As the MLB Players Association negotiates a new collective bargaining agreement, Sato and thousands of other players will enter the offseason in a state of flux.

MLB’s collective bargaining agreement will expire Dec. 1 at 11:59 p.m., casting doubt on how aggressive teams will be in signing free agents before the expected lockout.

Intermittent Dodgers catcher Ben Rortvedt is a free agent again, opting for free agency on Saturday after getting sent outright to the minors and off the 40-man roster in September.

Rortvedt was acquired by the Dodgers while off the 40-man roster at each of the last two trade deadlines, and filled in while both Will Smith and Dalton Rushing were injured in both seasons. Rortvedt even started four postseason games behind the plate in 2025 before Smith was fully ready to return from a broken hand.

This year, Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia took over catching duties in August after getting acquired at the trade deadline, holding down the fort with Smith and Rushing injured again. Rortvedt caught 16 games and started nine games behind the plate, and five hits in 27 at-bats during his time on the active roster. He was designated for assignment when Smith returned on September 1, then sent outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City two days later.

Rortvedt was with the Dodgers during workouts and through their postseason run, but was not active for either the National League Division Series or NL Championship Series.

“Ben’s a great teammate, he’s a major league player,” manager Dave Roberts said when Rortvedt was designated for assignment. “And I’ll always be grateful because he helped us win a championship last year. Great guy.”

Rortvedt was active with the Dodgers for four weeks, and ended the season nine days shy of four full years of major league service time. But as someone with at least three years of major league service time who was sent outright to the minors during the season and optioned to stick around, they can elect free agency at the end of the season, per Article XX(D)(1) of the collective bargaining agreement:

Any Player who has at least 3 years of Major League service, or who qualified as a “Super Two” Player under Article VI(E)(1)(b) as of the conclusion of the prior championship season, and whose contract is assigned outright to a Minor League club may elect, in lieu of accepting such assignment, to become a free agent. In the event that such a Player with at least 3 years of Major League service does not elect free agency in lieu of accepting such assignment, he may elect free agency during the period between (i) the end of the then current Major League season and (ii) the next following October 15, or 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time on the second day after the date the Player’s Club plays in its final post-season game that season (whichever occurs later) (the “Election Period”), unless such Player is returned to a Major League roster prior to making such election.

Saturday was the second day after the Dodgers played their last postseason game. Another player who elected free agency at the beginning of that period was outfielder Alek Thomas, who opted for free agency on September 29.

Thomas was designated for assignment on September 5, was sent outright to Triple-A three days later, and finished out the season with Oklahoma City, and hit the game-winning three-run double in the Triple-A championship game on September 26.

Acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league outfielder Jose Requena on May 12, Thomas spent most of his season in Triple-A, but was called up to man center field on August 22 after Andy Pages had his left hand broken by an errant fastball.

Thomas played in seven games for the Dodgers, including six starts in center field. He delivered run-scoring singles in each of his first three games, and totaled four hits in 19 at-bats plus a walk with the Dodgers. Thomas has somewhere in the neighborhood of three years, 156 days of major league service time, 16 days shy of four full years, but with at least three years he had the right to elect free agency after getting sent outright, off the 40-man roster, to the minors during the season.

Coming into 2026, the last season of his six-year, $150 million contract with the Jays, we really didn’t know what to expect. He had a couple of very good seasons, a couple of fairly average season and a poor season. In 2026, coming off his best season of the five, who knew what would happen at age 36?

Well….

With the offseason underway, we are taking a look at every player who appeared for the Texas Rangers in the 2026 season.

Today we are looking at pitcher Nolan Kingham.

One of the difficulties in doing this series is deciding who to write up in any given post. Early on, one can be overwhelmed by all the choices available — there’s a phenomenon known as “choice overload,” where a whole lot of things to choose from can overwhelm a person and make it harder for them to pick anything at all. Folks who are especially vulnerable to this, I have to think, stay away from the Cheesecake Factory.

There’s also the question as to who should be the first player to be written up. In previous seasons, when the Rangers were eliminated before the regular season was over, and I started the write-ups in the last week or two of the season, that was easier, because I could pick someone who was on the injured list or who had been traded or released. If I’m doing seasons in review with a week and a half left in the season, guys still on the active roster, or who could be activated or called up, are excluded, simplifying the issue.

The Rangers weren’t eliminated until the final day of the 2026 season, however, so that isn’t an option here.

So what to do? Pick someone prominent? Someone who had a really good season? Someone who disappointed? Someone who I have lots to say about? Someone I’m indifferent to? Do I jump immediately in the deep end with someone controversial who there’s going to be a lot to say about?

Ultimately, the decision was to ease into things. Start off with a write-up that isn’t going to get people mad or worked up or cause controversy, to better whet the appetites of the LSB faithful for the previews to come.

Do you remember Nolan Kingham? I’m willing to bet that, a few years from now, he’ll be one of the least-guessed answers on the 2026 Texas Rangers Sporcle quiz. Hell, I am betting that some of you read the headline and said, who? Is AJM making up players now? Did he stroke out at the keyboard? AJM, do you smell burnt toast?

Nolan Kingham was one of 34 Texas Rangers players who pitched for the team in 2026. Three of the players who pitched were actually position players, though, so we can say Kingham was one of 31 pitchers who the team rostered and who appeared in a game for the Rangers in 2026.

The Rangers, as a team, had 1419.1 innings pitched in 2026. Nolan Kingham threw one of those innings, representing .07% of the total innings thrown for Texas on the season. The Rangers allowed 719 runs in 2026. Kingham allowed one of those runs, meaning he allowed .13% of the total runs allowed by Texas in 2026.

Kingham was the #223 prospect on the Baseball America board in 2015, coming out of Desert Oasis High School in Enterprise, Nevada. I had never heard of Enterprise, Nevada before now. It is, per Wikipedia, an unincorporated town that is part of the Greater Las Vegas metropolitan area. It had 14,676 residents in 2000, per the U.S. Census, and 221,831 in 2020, which is kind of remarkable. That’s, like, Collin County on steroids levels of population growth.

The “Notable People” section of Wikipedia has a surprisingly lengthy and eclectic list of residents, including, among the athletes, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Baron Davis, Reggie Jackson, the Big Hurt, and Chris Carter. I had assumed that Chris Carter had been retired for years, but he’s actually been playing in the Mexican League since 2019. He slashed .237/.370/.486 in 219 plate appearances for Saltillo in 2026, at the age of 39. Nick Carter is listed, as is Toni Braxton, and seeing her name reflexively makes me think back on, and lament, the Three J’s.

Someone named Terry Fator is also listed in the “Notable People” category. It says “Terry Fator, ventriloquist.” He’s from Dallas, incidentally — was born there, anyway — but I take issue with his being listed there. The only ventriloquists who are Notable People are Edgar Bergen and Jeff Dunham.

Also, I can’t think of ventriloquists without thinking of this. Fun fact — Choo Choo, the Herky Jerky Dancer, is played by Jay Johnston, who was convicted of a felony in connection with the January 6 Capitol attack. Less fun fact — Professor Murder is played by Sam Sarpong, who took his own life in October, 2015, by jumping off a bridge in Pasadena.

Anyway, back to Kingham…Kingham was by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 39th round of the 2015 MLB Draft. As was the case with most 39th rounders, he didn’t sign, opting to go the college route, and pitched for the University of Texas for three seasons. BA had him as the #100 prospect in the 2018 draft, with a disappointing junior season dropping his stock, and the Atlanta Braves selected him in the 12th round, giving him a $150,000 bonus, $25,000 more than the $125K amount that you can sign a player in the 11th and later rounds without dipping into your bonus pool.

Kingham made it to AA in 2019, his first full season as a pro. 2020 happened, and we won’t talk about all that. 2021, 2022 and 2023 saw him shuffle between AA and AAA in the Braves’ system, providing organizational depth but not missing enough bats to have any sort of real success. He was released late in spring training in 2024 by the Braves, and was not picked up by a major league team.

Another fun fact — Nolan’s brother, Nick, was also a major league pitcher. A former consensus top 100 prospect in the Pirates’ organization, Nick appeared in 43 games for the Pirates and Blue Jays in the 2018-19 seasons, then pitched in Korea from 2020-22, then briefly in China and Mexico in 2023. Nolan, having seen his brother’s path, opted to do something similar, spending the next two-plus years pitching in the Mexican League and in the Mexican Winter League.

The minor league roster limits that were implemented in the last CBA mean that teams aren’t able to sign and roster random depth arms like Kingham like they used to, which means that, when injuries strike in the minors, teams are now having to turn much more often to the independent leagues to find someone to fill in. And so Kingham, who was sporting a 1.82 ERA in 6 starts for Monterrey to start the 2026 season, was snagged by the Rangers when they needed an available arm for the rotation at Round Rock in late May.

Back where he played college ball, Kingham did what was asked of him, going out every fifth or sixth day for the Express and giving them some innings. The innings were not necessarily good innings — after eight starts he had an 8.41 ERA and was allowing opposing hitters a whopping 1023 OPS — but, you know, they didn’t have to be good innings at that point for the Express.

A relief appearance, where he threw a scoreless inning, was followed by a pair of five inning starts where Kingham allowed three runs total. In the second of those starts, he struck out nine batters, the most he’d fanned in an affiliated game since pre-COVID. Whether because he impressed in that outing, or previous outings, or just because the Rangers needed an arm, he was brought up to the big leagues on August 1, replacing Luis Curvelo, who had given up four runs in two innings the day before in what would turn out to be Curvelo’s final appearance in the majors for the Rangers.

Kingham — who I keep wanting to call Kingman, a problem I have had since the Rangers signed him four and a half months ago — made one appearance for the Rangers. The game, against the Giants, was a memorable one, due to clownball by the Rangers resulting in five errors, and Texas scoring just one run despite Ezequiel Duran going 4 for 4 and coming a triple short of the cycle.

Kingham loaded the bases with one out on a pair of walks sandwiched by a single. Jung Hoo Lee hit a sac fly before Kingham got Willy Adames to strike out swinging to end the inning.

The Rangers won the following game, which featured several relievers, by one run, and so one can argue that Kingham being able to come in and pitch an inning in a game the Rangers lost contributed, in a small way, to a Rangers win.

Kingham was designated for assignment a few days later, and was claimed by the Seattle Mariners, who optioned him to AAA. By my count Kingham got 10 days of major league service time, which is 10 days more than most baseball players get. Kingham was DFA’d by Seattle at the start of September, waived and outrighted, so he will be a free agent in a couple of weeks once the season ends. At that point, he might sign a minor league deal with another team — maybe Texas! — or he may return to toiling in one of the independent leagues, waiting for a major league team to need an innings sponge at their AAA affiliate.

Kingham is 30 years old, and so he will have the opportunity, should he choose, to continue his professional baseball career in one form or another. He could make it back to the majors, in a similar situation to this year, when a team needs a fungible arm in the bullpen who can give them innings in a lost cause and be designated for assignment soon thereafter. Or he could continue to toil in AAA, or one of the indy leagues here, or in Mexico, or overseas.

But Nolan Kingham made it, even if he never makes it back. He will forever have an entry in the major league records. He will forever get to say he faced a guy making $182 million and struck him out swinging.

That’s pretty cool.

Sean Sullivan (No. 21 PuRP) had an up-and-down season.

He made his MLB debut on June 12th in the Las Vegas heat (while battling illness) and shined. But that was about the high point for Sullivan, as he bounced between Triple-A and the majors, and also battled an elbow injury.

“It was originally my elbow. It was just, like, some posterior impingement – just some inflammation and stuff like that. Nothing really too serious,” he said. “I got it obviously MRI’d and everything, and it came back fairly clean. So I just got a cortisone shot and just rehabbed it and took some rest and was able to come back for those last two weeks of the season.”

Sullivan made 14 total starts in Albuquerque, posting a 5-3 record and 5.31 ERA. He was on the injured list from August 3-September 16. In three starts at the end of the year — including one rehab start — Sullivan pitched 6.1 innings across three starts and posted a 2.84 ERA and 1.58 WHIP.

In five big league starts between June 12-July 4, Sullivan went 0-3 with an 8.87 ERA. But he learned a lot during the 2026 season.

“I feel like there were a lot of ups and downs throughout the year,” Sullivan said.

“This year for me was definitely a year of growth and learning. Obviously, the debut day was a pretty special day in my life. But … I think just every day I was up there [was a highlight] — just being able to live that experience. And even when I got sent back down, just knowing what I need to get back to and what I’m missing out on.”

He continued, “It was a great learning experience, but I take it all for granted, and I’m very blessed to be in the position I am.”

His favorite moment? Facing his hometown Boston Red Sox at Coors Field on June 23rd.

“That was pretty cool for me, just being from the Boston area,” he recalled. “I grew up loving that team and seeing a lot of those names and facing that lineup was pretty cool for me. So I would say that was probably a special day for me.”

But of all the lessons Sullivan learned, he said many of them stemmed from his injury.

“I felt like my body just wasn’t in a position where it needed to be physically,” he said. “I felt like I was running on fumes almost when I was up there, and I think you could kind of see that with some of my velocity and just my stuff overall wasn’t performing as well as it usually does.

“And that ended up showing when I got injured and stuff like that. So I think just getting my body in a better position to where I can go out there for 30 starts and be able to pitch for a full season.”

But that also gave him the opportunity to spend some time in Arizona, and now he’s back with a plan in place.

He has made two starts so far with the Salt River Rafters, allowing five runs on 10 hits across 5.2 innings with one home run, one hit batter and eight strikeouts.

“I think the idea was to get me innings, but obviously while I’m pitching, I’m always working on something,” Sullivan said. “Right now, me and Owen Cuffe have been working on my slider, just kind of changing the shapes a little bit from more of, like, a sweeper to more of a traditional slider, and working and kind of tinkering with different grips and stuff like that with my changeup, as well.

“But I’ve definitely seen some great progress so far,” he continued. “I think taking some of these adjustments into the game has been kind of nice in a less-intense environment rather than in the big leagues where it’s hard to make those adjustments.”

That was something that senior director of player development, Chris Forbes, said before the AFL season started.

“He missed quite a few starts, so I think we’re hoping to get his innings up, and I’m hoping this ends up being a blessing in the sense that once we got him down here, as were kind of letting that calm down, he was able to kind of get to, ‘OK, we’re going to focus on strength. Let’s get the strength back up,’” Forbes said in September.

“He’s one of those guys that, during the year, just has trouble maintaining weight. He can come in at 205 (pounds), and now he’s pitching at 187 or something at some point. So you’re hoping with him that he’s able to get some innings back in and get some feel back, and then ultimately make a better decision on how does he play in next year’s club. Does he come out of the bullpen as a length guy? Is he doing a spot start? I don’t know. But that’s the plan with Sean. I’m just looking at five healthy starts and going into the offseason feeling really good about it.”

And Cuffe shed some light on Sullivan’s new pitch.

“We decided to use this time during the Fall League to work on adding a pitch to his arsenal,” Cuffe said via text message. “The goal is give him another pitch to make hitter decision making tougher and have another tool to help him platoon hitters. We wanted to keep the cutter and sweeper in his arsenal and to add a more traditional gyro slider that’s more in that 80+ mph range to give him another breaking ball.

“So far, he’s had some success with throwing it in our pitching lab, so we will see how it performs to hitters. He’s also been working on his movement quality on the mound, which has allowed him to get about 92 mph for the first time in a game this year. Overall, Sean has been working hard and seeing some of the payoffs, so I’m excited for him!”

In the midst of executing his new pitch and overall plan, Sullivan is also enjoying the opportunities afforded to him in the AFL, such as playing with players and coaches from other teams.

“It’s really special,” he said.

“I think that’s one of the coolest parts of this is just being able to kind of pick everyone’s brain. And other teams have coordinators in town, and obviously just talking in the dugout and on the bench and stuff, just trying to hear how other teammates do it in their processes and organizations, and I think it’s a great way to learn and stuff.”

Planning ahead, Sullivan is looking forward to continuing to get better and compete.

“I missed some decent chunks of time this year, and it’s never fun,” he said. “So I think continuing to get to play – potentially before a lockout, too – is exciting. Whenever I get to take the mound is awesome.”

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Happy 2026 Battery Power Player Review season to all who… celebrate?

This particular season was ripe with weirdness and what-ifs. It seems only fitting that we will kick off this year’s series with one of the most polarizing of players to don a Braves uniform this year: infielder and presumed Opening Day shortstop Ha-Seong Kim.

How acquired

In a low-risk waiver claim for the final month of 2025, Kim played 24 games with the Braves and seemed to be trending upward offensively from his injury-plagued time with the Rays (.253/.316/.368 with a .301 wOBA/92 wRC+ with three homers). Emboldened by that improvement and a dire shortstop market, he declined the $16 million player option to test the waters of free agency.

But the faith in Kim in his “trial period” and mutual interest paid off, as he and the Braves reunited to the tune of a one-year, $20 million deal in mid-December.

What were the expectations?

The South Korean infielder was given a pretty penny to shore up a premium position in place of glove-first players like Orlando Arcia and Nick Allen in years past. At minimum, it was an exciting short-term upgrade if Kim’s production was even close what it was in his time with the San Diego Padres. In the longer term, this could have paid off in an extension that got us closer to bridging to our potential shortstop of the future in Tate Southisene.

Kim was tabbed to be the primary shortshop with earlier offseason acquisiton, infielder Mauricio Dubón, serving as a versatile utility man.

At the time of the signing, we were pretty excited about the upgrade to our infield and looking forward to what Kim could bring to the Braves in a full season. The projections were fairly solid despite his poor 2025, with Steamer seeing a 1.4 WAR, league-average bat with subpart shortstop defense in a half-season, and ZiPS more sanguine at 2.1 WAR over about two-thirds of a campaign. Both projection systems saw him as a league-average bat, which makes sense given that he had a 99 wRC+ coming into the 2026 campaign.

2026 Results

Kim played in 51 games with Atlanta, racking up single-digit wRC+ (7) negative fWAR (-1.2) with a .116/.219/.140 slash line. Defensively, his Statcast-based value was also negative (-3, as in, three runs below average despite playing in less than a third of a season).

What went right?

Once reactivated from the injured list on August 3, he stayed up with the big club for good and was available through the end of the season, even making a couple starts in the postseason.

Can a walk-off single be worth $20 million if it’s against the two-time World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers? In a series full of unreal scenes (and second only to Chris Sale’s complete game shutout), he entered with two on and two out in a tie game to pinch-hit for pitcher Victor Mederos. Kim saw seven pitches before lacing a ball to left field to win the game and the series for the Braves in electric fashion.

That was part of a brief stretch of unexpected heroics from Kim: he had that huge hit, had a three-hit game against the Nationals a few days later, and then played a critical role in one of the division-defending wins against the Phillies in September, singling with two outs to tie the game in the 11th and then madly dashing around the bases to score the walkoff run a few minutes later.

What went wrong?

Basically the whole thing, but you knew that. We seemed to run out of synonyms for “nightmare” when talking about Kim’s 2026 season. You almost couldn’t have drawn it up any worse. It was historically terrible.

A dastardly patch of ice derailed things early. A month after signing with the Braves, the news broke that he’d sustained a hand injury while slipping and tore a tendon in his right middle finger and putting him on the shelf for at least four months. Once activated in May, he was Not Right. He struggled and he hit the Injured List again for inflammation in that same finger in early July. He largely lost out on the starting shortstop job, getting the occasional rep as matchups allowed or entering games late as a pinch-runner. He earned a little more regular playing time after the walk off hit above and showed some signs of life, but still never put it all together.

All in all, Kim finished with the lowest wRC+ among anyone with 140 or more PAs this season, as well as the lowest xwOBA. Somehow, he was only bottom five in value (thanks, Jorge Polanco and Noelvi Marte!). Nor did anything really get better in the postseason, as Kim managed just a 20 wRC+ in eight PAs. It’s also not like the Braves were able to bury him in a way that kept his struggles from leading to losses, either. Or, at least, not soon enough for it to matter. One of his most damaging games came in his fifth contest of the year: he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, and up with two out and the bases loaded in a one-run game, hit a measly groundout to Aroldis Chapman to end the game.

Even his defense graded out poorly, though this was a case where most of the damage was done early, as he was a positive defender after May (though not enough to counterbalance how poorly he played in the field in May).

2027 Outlook

Kim headlines another thin shortstop class in this uncertain offseason, and it’s anybody’s guess as to who might take a chance on him if baseball is played in 2027. On one hand, that’s two truly terrible years in a row (albeit with some bad luck of the injury persuasion in there). On the other, there is a chance he can get back to being a ~2 WAR player, as he was projected to be in 2026… though the path as to how he gets there is a bit unclear given that it will have been at least three years since he was last productive by the time he next takes the field.

Walt Weiss lauded Kim for his hard work and team-player attitude amidst his struggles this season. With no real internal options and Dubón also hitting free agency, there may be an opportunity for a return to the Braves. If he does, there’s truly nowhere to go but up. At least it won’t be for $20 million this time — it’s hard to see a team guaranteeing him more than $5 million at this point, even if the spending situation associated with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is relatively unchanged. The Braves, though, will probably want to move on from this specific sense of failure.