Category: Sports News

Now that all but two teams are done playing, baseball and the writers who cover the game are turning their attention to the brief span of time that will be the open market for players. With the potential lockout looming on Dec. 2, executives, players and agents must devise a strategy for handling this unique month ahead of them.

The last lockout, during the 2021 offseason, lasted 99 days. Spring Training was shortened and regular season double-headers had to be played to get all the games in. There was no salary floor or salary cap proposed last time. The game was still recovering from the COVID pandemic and that contentious subject was avoided.

This time, with a resurgent sport and enthusiastic fan base, it seems both sides are willing to risk alienating those fans in order to bring massive change or keep the status quo in the financial structure of baseball.

A trade could make the most sense

A recent article by Andy McCullough in The Athleticfloated the idea that executives and agents alike might make a fast start to this abbreviated free agent period. There is a sentiment that signing before potential rule changes could benefit both sides. The unpredictable time span before a new season begins could spur unprecedented activity.

Signing first baseman Ty France to a deal should be the priority for the San Diego Padres. But at the same time, they need to consider a trade. One that would give them a little financial wiggle room but would also address a need.

Tim Britton, also of The Athletic, surveyed the free agent class of players available during this volatile time. While the pitching market looks ripe with talent, the position player class is rated as the second worst in a decade. The best hitters on the list, Randy Arozarena, Seiya Suzuki and Brandon Lowe, are all 32 years old.

The Padres’ primary need is starting pitching. Most of their positions are occupied once they re-sign France. Should they also re-sign Ramón Laureano, the bench would be their primary positional need.

Deal from a strength

They also have three catchers on the major league depth chart. That is most likely one too many. They have an outfielder who owns two Platinum Gloves and prefers to play in the infield.

For multiple seasons, Jake Cronenworth has been the subject of trade rumors but he has remained a Padre every time. He plays the position that Fernando Tatis Jr. would probably choose to play. They also have a defense-first infielder in Sung-Mun Song who needs to play more so that he can get better against major league pitching.

Packaging either Freddie Fermin or Luis Campusano with Jake Cronenworth in exchange for a starter or bench depth/outfielder could go a long way toward setting the Padres up for what will need to be an active free agent period.

A busy trip to Las Vegas

The General Manager’s meetings begin in Las Vegas on Nov. 9. They are traditionally the start of the trade season, with the free agent market usually getting hot during the Winter Meetings. With the pending labor dispute, the Winter Meetings will likely be cancelled and everything will be swinging in Las Vegas.

President of baseball operations/general manager A.J. Preller will have a structure by then that will dictate the financials and goals of the organization. He should know how much he can spend and which players are considered available. He will have a shopping list for what is needed.

If the Padres can make a fast break during November, getting a skeleton of a starting staff and their team MVP of 2026 back in the fold, the extended work stoppage that might come will not bring as much worry to the fan base. 

Knowing that the 2027 season, whenever it begins, has most of a team already in place should decrease the anxiety that the shortened offseason would normally bring. 

There is also a chance everyone plays it safe and almost nothing happens during the short signing season. But the chance of that seems like a big gamble for the teams that consider themselves playoff contenders. Pushing through a lot of business in a short time will make for hasty decisions and probably inflate player values.

The November flurry of activity could be a small one or a blizzard. If it’s a blizzard, the Padres and Preller have to be taking part.

Padres News:

• In his ongoing grading of players on the Padres’ roster, Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball takes a look at veteran shortstop, Xander Bogaerts.

• Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Milwaukee Brewers shows the Padres and the rest of baseball what is possible.

Baseball News:

• Here is all the information for Game 1 of the World Series, which starts tonight along with three questions to think about as the championship series gets underway.

• Former San Diego pitcher Nick Martinez will start Game 1 for Tampa Bay against Milwaukee and ace Jacob Misiorowski.

• Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt says he will return in 2027.

On the heels of his breakout 2025 campaign, the Yankees extended a qualifying offer to Trent Grisham, an offer that the outfielder accepted. On the surface, it seemed like a piece of business that could work out nicely for both sides. The Yankees retained their starting center fielder at a price just north of $20 million, and Grisham got a chance to prove his 2025 was no fluke, setting him up to enter free agency in 2026 without a qualifying offer and with his status as one of the top hitters on the market cleanly established.

For a while, everything went according to plan. Then, injuries struck, Grisham’s production plummeted, and his, and the Yankees’, season ended in ignominy. 

Grade: D
2026 Stats: 121 G, 484 PA, 18 HR, 67 R, 59 RBI, 9 SB, .211/.308/.395, 98 wRC+, 0.7 fWAR, 0.6 bWAR
2027 Contract Status: Free agent

Grisham got off to a nominally slow start this year, but thanks in part to the near-ubiquity of Statcast, most fans saw through his opening slump. The 29-year-old was hitting the ball well, but he wasn’t hitting ’em where they ain’t, so the early-season consensus on Grisham was that he was just one of the unluckiest hitters in baseball.  

Eventually, the results started to come. After the calendar turned to May and up through June 12th, Grisham hit .290/.373/.473, and was one of the primary reasons the Yankee offense remained excellent during the interim period between Aaron Judge’s initial injury and his placement on the IL. 

On that day of June 12th, however, Grisham’s season changed irreversibly. Grisham suffered what the team referred to as a “moderate” hamstring strain in his right leg, landing him on the injured list. Grisham only missed about three weeks with the ailment, but when he returned, he wasn’t the same player. From his return on July 3rd on, Grisham hit just .186/.269/.381.

What made matters worse was Grisham’s deteriorating performance in center field. Even during his superlative 2025 season, Grisham’s defense regressed by almost any measure, and at no point in 2026, before or after his hamstring injury, did Grisham look like he was in position to bounce back in that facet of the game. By season’s end, Grisham rated in the tenth percentile among outfielders in Statcast’s Range metric, and was eight runs below average by Defensive Runs Saved.

Grisham’s decline came to a head in the playoffs. He reinjured his right hamstring in early September, and hit the IL for the remainder of the regular season before the Yankees activated him for the postseason. Grisham started both games of the Wild Card Series against Boston and did well enough with the bat, picking up two hits in Game 2, but he did not look capable of playing center field at the major league level:

The Yankees stuck with Grisham as they faced off with Tampa Bay in the ALDS, and Grisham went 0-for-11 with five strikeouts while continuing to play a limited form of center field defense. 

As far as Grisham defenders go, I actually consider myself as one of the staunchest. Grisham was one of the team’s best hitters before he got hurt this season, and though there’s no way to prove this definitively, I believe that he would have gone on to have an excellent offensive season had he stayed healthy. But the fact of the matter is that Grisham did get hurt, and the player that was scalding the ball early in the year ceased to exist. Despite that version of Grisham disappearing, the Yankees stuck with him to the bitter end, a decision that in all likelihood hurt their chances of prevailing when they faced off with the American League’s top seed in the playoffs. It’s unfortunate that Grisham hitting leadoff in the season’s last game and going 0-for-5 may very well be the lasting image of him in pinstripes for many fans, especially since Grisham’s tenure in the Bronx should largely be defined by his reinvention with the bat and his mid-career growth into a formidable power threat.

Trent Grisham and the Yankees in 2026 could have worked out. Perhaps there’s an alternate universe out there very similar to this one, where Grisham’s hamstring stayed intact and he hit 35 bombs to give the Yankees another potent lefty bat in the lineup. But that’s not the universe we live in. Here, Grisham got hurt and his performance suffered, with the team trotting him out there in a vain attempt to get him back to his prior self night after night. It’s because of that that Grisham goes home with one of the harshest grades you’ll see in our Report Card series. 

The last time the Mets made a big splash by signing a position player from Japan was the only time they made a big splash signing a position player from Japan.

It was the 2003-04 offseason, and the player was Kaz Matsui, a power-hitting superstar infielder. The signing of Matsui was enormous at the time since it came on the heels of Ichiro Suzuki being the first-ever Japanese position player to be posted and signed by an MLB team -- in 2001 with the Mariners, when he won the MVP award. Shortly after Suzuki arrived, Hideki Matsui inked a deal with the Yankees during the 2002-03 offseason and made an immediate impact in the majors.

The Mets had signed a Japanese position player before, landing the flashy outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo ahead of the 2001 season. But Shinjo, while a fun player, was not viewed as a difference-maker.

Kaz Matsui was, though he didn't live up to the hype. He had a respectable .727 OPS in 2004 but flamed out quickly in New York, with a .670 OPS in 255 games over parts of three seasons before he was traded to Colorado in June of 2006. Matsui had some solid years for the Rockies and Astros later in his career, but never hit more than nine home runs in a season -- a massive disappointment after blasting 30-plus homers in back-to-back seasons for the Seibu Lions in Japan before coming to the majors.

Since Matsui, the Mets have been active in the Japanese market, but it has been limited to pitchers -- most recently the signing of Kodai Senga and strong pursuit of Yoshinobu Yamamoto before he landed with the Dodgers. 

Meanwhile, Japanese position players have continued to wind up elsewhere.

Most recently, Shohei Ohtani went to the Angels and then the Dodgers (refusing to even consider an East Coast team), Seiya Suzuki signed with the Cubs, Kazuma Okamoto landed with the Blue Jays, and Munetaka Murakami inked a deal with the White Sox. 

Another crop of Japanese stars is about to hit the open market this offseason, and slugging infielder Teruaki Sato could be a strong fit for New York.

Should the Mets pursue Sato? Here are the pros and cons...

PROS

Sato has reached another level offensively over the last two seasons for the Hanshin Tigers.

He smacked 40 homers and 34 doubles while posting a .924 OPS in 2025 as he won the Central League MVP award. Sato followed that up in 2026 with another monster season. In 143 games, he slashed .306/.383/.609 with 39 home runs, 40 doubles, 100 runs scored, and 106 RBI -- winning the Triple Crown in the process. 

Sato also excelled in a small sample against international competition in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, hitting .300/.417/.600 with three doubles in 12 plate appearances.

A look at Sato's advanced stats doesn't reveal any glaring issues. While he has a propensity to strike out (he fanned 164 times in 143 games in 2026), his strikeout percentage has been quite steady since 2023 -- and it actually ticked down a bit from 2025 (27.3 percent) to 2026 (26.7 percent) as his power output increased. Sato's BABIP in 2026 (.370) was a career high, so there should be some regression there. But his BABIP has always trended relatively high (.343 in 2024, .323 in 2025).  

When it comes to durability, Sato has been a rock of sorts, appearing in 132 or more games in each of his first six seasons.

Sato also has youth on his side, as he'll be playing the entire 2027 season at just 28 years old.

While Sato has been primarily a third baseman and corner outfielder in Japan, many experts believe his defensive home in the majors will be at first base.

If Sato is indeed destined for first base, it would make him an ideal fit for a Mets team that still has a huge hole at the position. Jared Young performed admirably there this past season with Jorge Polanco injured and Mark Vientos ineffective, but Young -- who doesn't have much power and struggles against left-handed pitching -- might profile better in a reserve role. 

CONS

While Sato might fit better at first base than third base, that doesn't mean he can definitely handle the position. At the same time, plenty of players have made a successful transition across the diamond, so there should be hope that a relatively athletic player like Sato can do it. 

Another possible knock against Sato -- strictly when it comes to a possible Mets pursuit -- is that he hits from the left side of the plate. 

The Mets are already very left-handed, with Juan Soto, Carson Benge, and A.J. Ewing among their key offensive cogs. But they do have some variety with the switch-hitting Francisco Lindor, both of their catchers (Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens), and Bo Bichette (if he opts in to his contract) all hitting from the right side.  

Then there's the strikeouts.

As is noted above, Sato's strikeout rate for Hanshin in 2026 was 26.7 percent (164 K's in 143 games).

In 2024, in what was his last full season playing in Japan, Murakami's strikeout rate was 29.5 percent (180 in 143 games). In 69 games in 2025, Murakami's strikeout rate was 28.6 percent (71 in 69 games). In his first season for the White Sox, Murakami fanned a whopping 196 times in 127 games -- a rate of 35.4 percent.  

Even though it's fair to expect Sato's strikeout rate to tick up as he transitions to the majors, there's no reason to believe it will be as stark as Murakami's increase. 

In any event, even while striking out as often as he did in 2026, Murakami was still very valuable for Chicago, posting an .825 OPS (130 OPS+) and cracking 35 homers in 127 games.

VERDICT

With the Mets seemingly locked in at most positions on the diamond, the easiest way to move the needle offensively is to add someone to play first base or be the regular designated hitter. And with there being serious drawbacks to adding a DH-only player, the target should be first base.

There are other intriguing first basemen set to be on the free agent market, including Ty France. But none of them possess the upside of Sato. 

Sato obviously comes with some risk, but it's time for the Mets to take a big swing on a high upside talent. 

On Monday, I watched the Tampa Bay Rays clinch their place in the World Series. The broadcast was entirely in French.

Now, part of the fault of this lies directly with me, I’ll admit. I am in fact, a Canadian. During the regular season, I watch all my games—those available to be watched—on MLB TV, a service which has steadily become less and less worth the $120 Canadian a season I pay for it. The postseason is not carried on MLB TV. For the two postseasons before this, I made the same mistake each year: I went to the SportsNet website directly to sign up for an account for October. I then subsequently realized I couldn’t use that same account if I wanted to sign into SportsNet through Prime Video. So for two years in a row, I paid twice for the same service.

Eager not to make the same mistake this season, I pulled up the game on my TV through Prime and selected the paid feed option. I was delighted to see the price had gone down, but didn’t know why it was telling me my subscription would be through “RSN.” It is worth noting that up to this point, every single step of the process had been in English. I finalized my new subscription and turned on the game, only to discover that the entire broadcast, commercials included, was all in French. No subtitle options, no language change options, no ability to switch my audio feed.

I know enough French that this was not devastating or worth the effort of cancelling only to find an alternate feed for SportsNet, but the frustration remained. Because of the way MLB allows regional broadcast restrictions—in the case of Canada, we cannot watch a single Blue Jays game through MLB TV, they are exclusively available through Rogers—my ability to properly watch the postseason in my preferred language was made unnecessarily difficult.

In 2026, MLB aired exclusive games on multiple streaming services, including Apple TV+, Peacock, and Netflix. In the case of Netflix, they had exclusive rights to the Opening Night game—the first game of the 2026 season—and events like the Home Run Derby and the Field of Dreams game. Peacock, meanwhile, had rights to Sunday Night Baseball, the draft, the Future’s Game, and more importantly, every single game of the 2026 Wild Card series. Apple TV+ had exclusive access to two Friday night games each week.

In addition to this, many teams debuted their own regional networks this season after leaving behind Bally Sports/FanDuel sports and other traditional RSNs. This meant that for many fans, they now had to subscribe to a local regional network package in order to watch their team play. With all these packages, and MLB TV factored in, a baseball fan in 2026 might need to spend over $100 a month just to watch baseball. And if they want to watch the All-Star Game or the rest of the postseason? Well, too bad, hope you still have cable.

For years, I have bemoaned the lack of MLB foresight when it comes to making their most exciting product available to the widest possible audience. The MLB All-Star Game each July plays host to the biggest names and hottest talent in baseball, and for a sport that has been having trouble getting and maintaining a young viewership of new fans, this seems like a gross oversight. The game is not broadcast on any streaming services, but it’s also not available on MLB TV, so for those who have cut out cable, there is no way to watch the biggest exhibition game of the year. Moving this game to YouTube, where it would be freely accessible to anyone who wanted to watch it, would create not only plenty of ad revenue for MLB, but would also make it easy for new fans to find and participate in. MLB even attempted an arrangement with YouTube in 2019 with the MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube, where select regular season games were broadcast on the online platform. This program lasted through the 2022 season, but was not renewed in 2023, as MLB explored new options.

Herein lies the problem with MLB’s current model. There is no one place anyone can go to watch their team play a whole season of baseball. Once upon a time, MLB TV allowed for an optional postseason package for international viewers, allowing them to live watch all the postseason games, but that has since been dropped. Canadian fans who don’t watch the Blue Jays are not able to watch their chosen teams play if they happen to be up against the Toronto club. That’s a whole country blackout, arguably the largest geographical blackout for restricted viewing. But even for American viewers, unless someone wants to keep cable, and then subscribe to an additional 3-6 streaming packages, there will be games during the season that are simply unviewable.

And that’s because MLB doesn’t care if fans can watch the games. We’re just in an ongoing game of chicken to see how far fans can be pushed.

MLB is, at the end of the day, the stomping ground of billionaires who are mostly concerned with fattening their bottom line. They want localized sports networks, they want Netflix money, they will accept any and every streaming offer if it means a sweet shared payday when everything is said and done. Under the current administration of baseball, we’ve seen a vast number of changes made to quicken the pace of games, making them more watchable, hoping to hold fan retention in an era of increasingly shortened attention spans. We’ve seen pitch timers, ghost runners in extra innings, the ABS challenge, the elimination of actually throwing pitches for an intentional walk. All of these things were introduced, ostensibly, to create a more consumable product.

But MLB does not seem to care if you actually get to consume their product, because they have already cashed their checks. With each MLB TV subscription, even if it doesn’t include all the games of the season, they have made their money. When we tune into the Home Run Derby because hey, we already have Netflix, they already have their money. When we sign up for Peacock to watch the Wild Card games and forget to cancel it for several months, they have made their money. Meanwhile, we’re now on to finding a service on which to watch FOX and TBS, if you don’t already have them, in order to see the rest of the playoffs.

In a sport where we already talk about players as if they were commodities to be bought, sold, and traded, we are, in a sense, complicit in our own downfall. We have accepted that we are consumers being fed a product that moves ever further from the original sport into a packaged television program, and like all industries, those with the money and power and control are seeing just how far they can push us before we refuse. Before the fans say No, I won’t subscribe to seven different channels to watch my team lose.

We haven’t hit that point yet, and MLB knows it.

But we should have hit that point a long time ago, when something we paid $120 a year for stopped being enough. When we couldn’t watch an entire season all in one place, we should have drawn a line. Because MLB has created a monster. Fans will now be treated to an incredibly irritating CBA dispute while getting squeezed for every dollar just to consume the product.

And even in saying all of that, even in feeling a sense of fury and frustration over how ridiculous the enterprise has become, I still paid $25 to watch eight baseball games.

In French.

For some people, Braves out equals no more baseball. For others, they’ll take as much as they can get.

I’m weird: I’ll take as much of the regular season as I can get, but lose interest in the short-series-tournament format pretty handily. I nominally watched the Braves in their two postseason series, though with far more multitasking and less paying attention than all the games that came before. I haven’t watched any other postseason series, though I have followed along with some. (Most were kinda boring, though.)

Honestly, a big reason why I have less interest is because MLB.tv is very convenient, but those stateside can’t get MLB.tv to show playoff games without a lot of hassle, and I just have no real interest in enduring hassle for the sake of receiving a product that I already receive, with payment willingly made, for the prior six months. One day, MLB might offer an a la carte plan for postseason viewing, and, well, my tune might change. But that’s not this year, or probably next year, either.

But, you are not me, and there’s one series left. Will you be watching?

The 2026 World Series begins tonight, as the Tampa Bay Rays travel to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers. First pitch in tonight’s Game 1 is scheduled for 8pm on FOX. It’s the first World Series since 1980 where neither franchise has ever won a title, ensuring that a first time-champion will be crowned.

It is both surprising and not that these two teams are the last ones standing. They may not have many marquee names attached to them, but both possessed the best records in their respective league, with the Brewers winning an MLB best 103 games and the Rays tallying the third best 98 wins. Both have gotten here in somewhat contrasting styles to most teams in the modern game today, mostly by playing impeccable defense with strong pitching and an offensive approach that led to the two best team batting averages but power numbers in the middle of the pack.

National League Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski will take the mound tonight in Game 1 at home for the Brewers and will face off against Nick Martinez of the Rays as Tampa curiously elects not to start their own ace and postseason revelation Drew Rasmussen. This gamble would allow the Rays to start Rasmussen in Game 2 on an extra day of rest. It will be interesting to see if that decision pays off.

So, who is your World Series pick? Who will be hoisting the trophy for the first time in their franchise’s history?

Every team needs a guy who can spend most of the year in the minors and comes up to the big leagues to fill in for someone who is hurt or to help the rest of the rotation get another day of rest. As a team, you could do worse than to have lefty Cade Povich in that position.

After making 16 starts in 2024 and 20 starts in 2025 for the Orioles, Povich couldn’t crack the Orioles’ starting rotation out of Spring Training in 2026. It’s not surprising. While Povich showed flashes of brilliance over the previous two years, he was mostly quite bad. His ERA was over 5 both seasons. He walked too many guys and allowed too many homers.

With Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt added to the team, there was no room for Povich in the rotation. Heck, there wasn’t even room for Dean Kremer. And so off Triple-A Norfolk Povich went.

Povich’s 2026 debut came on March 31st with the Norfolk Tides. It was not good. He struck out eight and didn’t walk anyone, but he allowed five runs in five innings and gave up two home runs. Even so, he was the first man up when Zach Eflin went onto the IL after just one start.

Povich only appeared in eight games with the Orioles, and he never made more than two appearances in a row before being sent back to the minors. He was truly a use in case of emergency kind of guy.

His first stint with the team lasted two games, and he was actually pretty good. On April 5th, he relieved Bassitt in the third inning and pitched 5.2 strong with two runs. His next appearance was an excellent game against the Giants. Povich pitched 6.2 innings, allowing just one run.

Despite the limited success, Povich was sent back to the minors the day after his second start. The Orioles needed a starter for the next day, so they swapped him with Kremer. He wasn’t down long, though. After two starts at Triple-A, Povich was right back on the big league roster.

He might have lasted longer in this stint, but in his second start back, he was pulled after just three innings. He had forearm soreness, which, luckily for him, did not send him to Tommy John surgery. It did cause him to miss quite a bit of time. By the time he healed, rehabbed, and was back with the Tides, he was almost two months later.

By early July, the Orioles rotation was solidified with Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Kremer, Brandon Young, and Shane Baz. So Povich settled into Norfolk’s rotation, although he didn’t have a very impressive stretch. Over five starts, he had an ERA over 7. He only had two true clunkers, but failed to pitch deep into games and gave up a bunch of homers. If he was angling for a call-up, he wasn’t doing a very good job.

He got called back up at the beginning of August anyway. Somebody had to pitch after Kremer was traded to the Twins, so Povich it was. And in his start on August 4th against the Angels, he was very good. He pitched six shutout innings with seven strikeouts and earned himself another look. But once again, he was gone after two starts. It had to be frustrating to him. Bassit was returning to the rotation, so someone had to go.

Povich got two more starts with the Orioles after that. He was back for just one day on August 31st to start against the Rockies, and again on September 18th against the Brewers.

Altogether, Povich had five stints with the Orioles, five stints with the Tides, and one rehab stint with the Chesapeake Baysox. In 13 starts with the Tides, he had a 6.28 ERA. He struck out over 10 batters per nine innings, but allowed 17 homers in just 61.2 innings.

In eight games with the Orioles, Povich pitched 37 innings with a 4.38 ERA. He struck out 28, which was just 6.8 per nine innings. But he only allowed six home runs! Small victories.

Cade Povich turns 27 years old just after Opening Day 2027. He is no longer a prospect, and he was never a top prospect. He struggled mightily in Triple-A, especially with the long ball.

It’s hard to judge his MLB season with the way he was moved up and down, but it’s hard to envision him having a place in the Orioles’ Major League rotation. Since Povich was shut out of the Opening Day rotation in 2026, the Orioles have lost (or will lose after the World Series) Trevor Rogers, Dean Kremer, Chris Bassitt, and Zach Eflin.

They still have Shane Baz, Kyle Bradish, and Brandon Young but will have to build out the rest. If they end up filling those spots with Povich and/or Trey Gibson, it will be hard to take them seriously as a team that intends to contend.

Povich could be included in a trade, but in my opinion, he will, in 2027, fill a similar role to the one he did in 2026. It’s probably what he is best suited for. I’d love for him to prove me wrong.

As award season is ramping up, Matt Olson is the first Atlanta Brave to be honored this offseason. It was announced Thursday that Olson was selected to receive the Fielding Bible award. 

​​https://x.com/Braves/status/2113331140870156573

The Fielding Bible Awards recognize the best defensive player at each of MLB’s nine positions, along with a top multi-position player, an overall Defensive Player of the Year and the best defensive team in baseball. Olson has accumulated six of these awards and is also a Gold Glove finalist. 

More Braves News:

Our 2026 player review series continues with left-hander Connor Thomas. 

Relive the 10 most unlucky moments for the Atlanta offense during 2026.

MLB News:

The Washington Nationals are reportedly retaining all of their coaching staff in 2027.

Before we begin looking ahead to 2027, OTM is looking back at 2026, diving into the highs and lows of the roster. Today, we look at the team’s biggest free agent acquisition.

2026 In a Nutshell

Suarez was the Red Sox’s biggest offseason acquisition. He had some great starts and some bad starts. He did not appear in either of the two postseason games, which should tell you all you need to know about whether he lived up to his price tag.

The Good

On his day, Suarez showed why he earned such a large contract. He had six starts in which he pitched over six innings while allowing one or fewer runs, including two eight-inning shutouts.

He continues to be one of the best in the game at limiting hard contact. His barrel and hard-hit rates both ranked in the top 20% of qualifiers, thanks to his ability to pitch to the edges. Some of his other metrics took a step back, but he was able to navigate that and turn in a 3.22 ERA while maintaining a respectable 23% strikeout rate.

He also remains excellent in the field. It often goes unnoticed for pitchers, but the lefty routinely showed cat-like reflexes on the mound when balls were hit up the middle. His defense has always been stellar, and that continued in 2026.

The Bad

There’s going to be more bad than good, but I’d like to emphasize that Suarez was still very effective this year.

The biggest area where the lefty took a step back was in his strike throwing. His walk rate jumped from 5.8 to 7.5%. His mark is still very solid, but it’s not quite the elite mark he posted in 2025 and it limited him to just 5.1 innings per start.

As for why his walk rate rose, there are a few places to look. ABS is an obvious one, and it certainly had an impact. Batters successfully overturned 17 strikes against Suarez, second most in baseball. On the other side of the equation, though, the Red Sox overturned 13 calls in Suarez’s favor, which ranked near the top of the league. Furthermore, his rate of pitches outside the strike zone called strikes in 2025 wasn’t extraordinary, so it’s not as if he was relying on framing and bad umpiring to throw strikes.

Aside from rule changes, Suarez didn’t throw his cutter in the zone nearly as frequently this season. Its zone rate against righties dropped from 57% to 44%, which dropped the strike rate about 6%. The locations were still good, and the contact against it was weak, but he was often just off the edge of the strike zone, which led to more walks. Small misses aren’t concerning, and the pitch was still good, so we’d let it slide.

More concerning, however, was his changeup. In 2025, it was his best two-strike pitch to right-handed hitters. In 2026, the chase rate dropped 10%, the swinging strike rate dropped 6%, and the strike rate dropped 9%. His feel for the pitch disappeared, with the percentage of changeups landing in the “chase” and “waste” zone jumping from 46% to 55%. By the end of the season, the pitch had virtually disappeared from his arsenal.

His changeup usage against lefties was smaller, but effective with the Phillies. In 2026, its usage was cut about in half against lefties as its effectiveness waned, leading to a decrease in strikeouts.

Suarez was on and off the roster due to injuries, which might have had something to do with him not having feel for all of his pitches. With a wide arsenal that relies on location, he needs to be precise to survive. Even without being at the top of his game, he turned in a solid season, so while the list of negatives might seem long, don’t sour on Suarez going into next year.

Best Game or Moment

Suarez threw two eight-inning shutouts in April. Those were his best games, although at that point in the season, things were going poorly for the team. In August, Suarez had a brutal month, posting a 5.70 ERA in five starts, adding another question mark to the pitching staff heading into the postseason. On September 4th, however, the lefty fired seven shutout innings against the Orioles, and followed it with seven innings of one-run baseball in his next start against the Royals. He, of course, did not pitch in the postseason, but he silenced some concerns about his demise.

The Big Question

Does the changeup come back? Suarez’s cutter is excellent at neutralizing righties, but his changeup is his best bet at continuing to punch them out. He’ll need it to continue posting solid marks against right-handed hitters.

2027 and Beyond

Suarez has always been able to survive without premium velocity. As long as he pitches to the edges, as he’s shown a history of doing, he’ll keep a solid floor and turn in long starts due to his ability to induce weak contact. On the other hand, if his command goes, that contract will look ugly in a hurry.