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Forget the TV ratings, we’re about to be treated to a World Series between two of the most well-rounded, fundamentally sound teams from the 2026 season. For as much as the Brewers’ and Rays’ small TV markets and low payrolls will dominate narratives during the Fall Classic with the CBA expiration looming, this year’s World Series will feature the team with the best record in the NL taking on the team with the best record in the AL. What that says about the health of the sport overall and the owners’ push to ostensibly and artificially improve competitive balance I will leave for you to draw your own conclusions.

Over the next two days, we will preview the offenses and pitching staffs stacked up against one another. The Brewers and Rays met once in the regular season, way back in the second series of the year in the opening days of April. The Brewers won that three-game series at Miller Park handily, dropping the first game, 3-2, before recording back-to-back victories with score lines of 6-2 and 8-2. If that series is any indication of what we’re in store for, their could be fireworks in the coming days as the two teams combined to hit nine home runs across those three games.

Today, we’ll preview the offenses and tomorrow, we’ll cover the pitch side of things.

Milwaukee Brewers

103-59, 1st NL Central
Defeated Padres in NLDS, 3-1
Swept Dodgers in NLCS, 4-0

The Brewers finished the regular season with the third-most position player fWAR in MLB at 26.1. They had a clear identity over the 162, working deep counts, drawing walks, and putting the ball in play. Their .258 team batting average and 10.6-percent walk rate were both tops in the majors while their collective 107 wRC+ placed them third. However, they also finished second-worst in the league with 154 home runs.

Interestingly, they have flipped the script on that narrative in the postseason. Their .250 postseason batting average is still tops among the 12 entrants, but their ten home runs lead all playoff teams as they are the only team to post a wRC+ above 100 in the postseason. Many of those home runs have come in high leverage moments, none bigger than Jake Bauers’ go-ahead two-run homer at Dodger Stadium late in Game 3 of the NLCS. Others have set the tone early, like Jackson Chourio’s homer to lead off that game against Blake Snell to become the franchise leader in postseason leadoff home runs at just 22 years old.

They have difference makers throughout the lineup, with five of their nine regulars hitting above a 100 wRC+ in the playoffs. Chourio leads the way with his seven RBI, but to my surprise has not done much else otherwise as his 48 wRC+ in 38 plate appearances would suggest — you just wonder how much more explosive the offense would be if he could really get it going. Instead, the burden has fallen on William Contreras and Jake Bauers to consistently shoulder the load. Contreras has the highest postseason wRC+ (212) of any player in the World Series and is the engine of their offense batting .367 with three home runs and five RBI. Bauers has been their most clutch hitter and a threat from the cleanup spot with one home run, six RBI, and a 151 wRC+.

Brice Turang finally got some hits to fall against the Dodgers after an anonymous NLDS against San Diego, but you still expect a lot more out of the player who led the Brewers offense with 5.9 fWAR. Christian Yelich and rookie Cooper Pratt have benefitted from some serious BABIP luck, while Sal Frelick, Luis Lara, and Joey Ortiz have been automatic outs at the bottom of the lineup. However, David Hamilton could be an X-factor, the former Boston speedster getting red hot against LA.

They will likely face the buzzsaw of Drew Rasmussen and ALCS MVP Freddy Peralta in the first two games, but are able to counter by packing their lineup with as many as six lefties against that pair of righties. However, the Rays starters could pose a unique problem to the Brewers lineup. Milwaukee usually grinds pitchers down by drawing walks thanks to the second-lowest chase rate in baseball. However, they tend to struggle against higher velocity fastballs. Rasmussen doesn’t issue walks while the Rays unlocked Peralta by convincing him to throw his fastball harder in the zone — both pitchers thrive pounding the zone with heat and that’s not a pitch the Brewers are best at handling.

Tampa Bay Rays

98-64, 1st AL East
Swept Yankees in ALDS, 3-0
Defeated Guardians in ALCS, 4-2

The Rays’ offensive identity is similar in many ways to the Brewers. They tied the Brewers for the major league lead in average (.258), and finished right behind their soon-to-be opponents in fourth with 23.8 position player fWAR and tied for fifth with a team 104 wRC+. They hit 15 more home runs during the regular season but still finished in the bottom-third of the league. The biggest difference saw Tampa favor more of a bat-to-ball approach than a patient one. Whereas the Brewers led the league in walk rate while carrying a league-average strikeout rate, the Rays were bottom-third in walk rate but struck out the least of any team at just 18.8-percent.

As with any Kevin Cash team, this Rays team did their winning on the margins. They squeeze every last drop out of their roster through executing the fundamentals — moving the runner over, taking the extra base, getting the run home from third with less than one out, etc. It is how they were by far the largest over-performers of their Pythagorean expected win-loss of any team in baseball, winning eight more games than their +86 run differential would have suggested.

They faced more determined opposition than the Brewers did in the LCS, the Guardians pushing them to six games. It was a bit feast or famine in that series, the Rays scoring seven runs in two games but three or fewer in the other four. Like every other offense other than the Brewers, they have largely struggled against top-tier postseason pitching, with an 82 wRC+ across their nine games.

Tampa’s offense appears way more top heavy than the Brewers. During the regular season, they were powered by the three-headed monster of Yandy Díaz, Jonathan Aranda, and Junior Caminero, and two of the three have certainly brought it this postseason. Díaz is the unequivocal driving force batting leadoff, slashing .308/.341/.564 with two home runs, four RBI, and a 151 wRC+, his Game 6 home run putting the final nail in the Guardians’ coffin. Caminero hasn’t quite hit the heights of his regular season, when he became the first player since Eddie Matthews to post consecutive seasons of at least 40 home runs before turning 24, but his two-run homer in Game 6 was a dagger to raise his wRC+ to 127 in nine games.

Aranda’s 96 wRC+ might fall well short of his regular season mark of 123, but the Rays have discovered a new hero to take his place as an impact contributor. Richie Palacios has been a league-average role player in his five regular seasons but has exploded these playoffs with a .364 average and 141 wRC+ despite remaining the only Rays starter not to draw a walk yet in the postseason.

Otherwise, at first glance, it appears there are a whole lot more black holes in the Rays lineup than their opponents. Chandler Simpson, Liam Hicks, Jonny DeLuca, Victor Mesa Jr., and Taylor Walls all sit below a 65 wRC+ this postseason, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. While perhaps not productive in the main, the lineup has shown a remarkable knack for getting hits with runners in scoring position — Díaz, Caminero, Palacios, Aranda, Simpson, and Hicks have all driven in at least four runs across the two series they’ve won.

Unlike the Brewers, the Rays absolutely punish the fastball, particularly Díaz and Caminero. That should make for a blockbuster matchup against Jacob Misiorowski in Game 1, the presumptive NL Cy Young’s triple-digits fastball already getting knocked around by the Padres and Dodgers. It should also give them a distinct advantage against Milwaukee’s high octane bullpen, who were able to blow away LA’s aged, slowing bats with sustained gas.

For Major League Baseball and its broadcast partners, it’s hard to imagine how this World Series matchup could have gone any worse. The Tampa Bay Rays versus the Milwaukee Brewers, two of MLB’s cheapest teams in two of its smallest media markets — glorious evidence against Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB’s cash-lusting owners’ declaration that the league needs a salary cap to maintain competitive balance. The Rays and Brewers are glorified mom-and-pop shops, and just spent six months sticking it to the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and Dodgers. They would have also stuck it to MLB’s most expensive team, the New York Mets, had they not finished last in the NL East and missed the playoffs. 

Like with the recent Indiana Pacers/Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Finals, market sizes will probably make this one of the least-viewed Fall Classics in recent years. But from a baseball perspective? This is the kind of World Series that us sickos dream about — we got random speculative developmental centerfielders finally tapping their raw power, bunts for days, relievers you’ve never heard of with special beam cannons for arms, Jake Bauers unlocking the secrets of the universe at age 31 … for some reason. It’s just every kind of epic, even if I don’t care for bunts. 

It’s also the perfect summation of the 2026 season, with the American and National League top seeds throwing down as they should and fittingly getting their moment in the sun during a season in which nobody (myself included) would shut up about Tarik Skubal, the Dodgers three-peating and the incoming lockout. All the while, the Brewers and Rays just kept winning. 

I don’t actually like postseason baseball — enjoy it? Sure, it’s often exciting, but I don’t actually like it as a representation of the season we just played when more often than not we have teams like the Brewers and Rays grind for 103 and 98 wins for months only to have their work disappear before they get a chance to face each other. I was open about my skepticism of the Rays, and did not think that their rotation would be this good with Freddy Peralta, but both teams have put in the work all season; I’m glad the two best teams made it here. 

They did so with remarkably similar roster constructions — high contact, occasional but not relied-upon power and washout pitching that overwhelms every aspect of their opponent’s offensive gameplan. I’m still a home run enjoyer, but balls-in-play cabal is growing more powerful by the day, and I acknowledge that the Rays and Brewers have managed to mitigate an unbridgeable talent deficit by maximizing the value and minimizing the risk of each batted ball. As I explored in my bunt video, the Rays somehow got the run value of their bunts above that of their non-bunts, which is super-duper irregular. 

It’s not like the Rays and Brewers won their league championships with bunts and sac flys, though. Ask the Dodgers about the back-to-back sonic booms in Game 4 that effectively ended their season; timely hitting has always been more important than repeatable hitting, and timely hitting is not repeatable. In the MLB postseason, you can’t believe how much better it is to be lucky than good. 

Because of spending and talent pool limitations, both teams simply invested in what they could control: getting balls on the ground … and pitching. Pitching, pitching, pitching … and more pitching. For such cheap teams, these are gnarly staffs, each with a top-10 rotation and bullpen. The Brewers pen in particular have been downright otherworldly this postseason, with Aaron Ashby levitating out of his cleats and Abner Uribe frying hitters like turkey bacon. Both closers, Bryan Baker and Trevor Megill, are all world. 

Then you have the starters, with the Rays leaning on a couple of former Brewers products — Drew Rasmussen and Freddy Peralta — while the Brewers rely on … a couple of other Brewers products in Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson. Behind Misiorowski, the Brewers starters can get a little dicey with Brandon Woodruff’s status still up in the air, with Henderson in particular losing his mind in Game 2 against the Dodgers on two disastrous fielding errors; Dustin May and Robert Gasser make up the rest of the official four-man rotation. But it’s not like the Rays are infallible either with Nick Martinez and Griffin Jax. 

Okay, that’s probably enough naming guys; who is going to win? Short, slightly snippy answer: someone new, because fun fact: neither of these teams has ever won the World Series. So that’s cool! Short, less snippy answer: the Brewers, and let’s say in six games. Milwaukee is a slight favorite on FanDuel, and my pick is for a few reasons. First, I think the Brewers have a better overall offense when we get down to brass tax. The Rays might actually have the two “best” (or at least the most complete) hitters in the series in Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz, but the rest of their lineup has so many exploitable holes. The Brewers just spent a week showing the Dodgers there’s nowhere to pitch around … for Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell. Will the hot streak continue? I don’t know, but if it does, god bless Nick Martinez. 

Baseball is stupidly, frustratingly random, and so you have to ask yourself: how do you fight that randomness? Well, you fight it with swing-and-miss stuff, which the Brewers have in droves out of their bullpen and it’s the one thing that I am willing to invest in when projecting such an even series. When push comes to shove, and push always comes, the Brewers have the arms to deal with it. It was their win condition last year, it’s their win condition this year. You saw what happened to an even slightly diminished Dodgers offense when they faced this bullpen — horrible things.

So give me the Brewers in six, though I would certainly love seven games. I would have no problem with the Rays winning even being a Red Sox fan, I don’t think our two teams have any real historical animosity even though we’re both in the AL East. But one thing before we go: Tropicana Field remains an absolute abomination to the sport of baseball and is one of the least attractive buildings on planet earth. No venue has ever created less hype for a sporting event period, and I’d certainly like if the Rays explored other options for future World Series engagements beyond The Trop. Thanks, and have a nice day.

Welcome to the 2026 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2026. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.

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No. 37, TJ Shook (-0.1 rWAR)

TJ Shook was selected by the Rockies in the Triple-A round of the 2025 Rule 5 Draft from the New York Mets. The right-hander was originally signed by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2020 after going undrafted out of the University of South Carolina and worked his way up through the system before being traded to the Mets in 2024.

Shook began the year in Triple-A Albuquerque, where he made 22 appearances out of the bullpen.

After posting a 0.73 ERA through 12.1 innings in April and a 3.60 ERA through 15.0 innings in May, the Rockies selected his contract on June 1 when Welinton Herrera was transferred to the 60-day IL with his elbow injury and Zach Agnos was optioned to Albuquerque. Shook made his MLB debut the next day against the Los Angeles Angels, where he pitched a scoreless eighth and allowed just one hit on 10 pitches.

Shook made four appearances during his first stint in the majors, and pitched well for the first three. He didn’t allow a run until his third appearance — and his first at Coors Field against his former team — and was optioned on June 7.

He was recalled again on July 5 and made a two-inning appearance against the Giants on July 9 that did not go well. Shook allowed four runs on six hits, including a two-run homer to Rafael Devers, on 52 pitches (36 for strikes). He was once again optioned on July 11, and recalled again on August 17 when Michael Lorenzen was DFA’d.

In his final appearance for the Rockies in 2026, Shook pitched well against the Dodgers at home. The Rockies ultimately lost 11-5, but he pitched two innings of one-run ball with a walk and a strikeout.

Overall, it’s hard to say what TJ Shook’s future is on the Rockies. He pitched alright when he was on the MLB roster, and posted a 3.45 ERA and 1.40 WHIP in Albuquerque.

You can never have enough bullpen arms, especially at Coors Field, so we’ll see what the Rockies decide to do with Shook going forward.

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Maybe I’m a bit of a baseball sadist and/or maybe I’m a weirdo who figures that the best way to reflect on failure is to go back and re-experience said failures. However, I’d like to do that while also getting to enjoy some eye-candy, so these particular moments are going to be filled with bullets and lasers that came off of the bats of Braves players but somehow ended up finding leather instead of grass or seats.

If this isn’t your cup of tea, so be it but if you’re rocking with me here, then let’s go through this process together. I’m here for you if you’re here for me. Let’s get into it, shall we? Also, please stick around until the end — trust me on this one, it is totally worth it.

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No. 10 – Michael Harris II, May 16 vs. Reds, Line Out, .857 xBA

This one’s pretty straightforward to start this list off with. Michael Harris II got ahold of one and blooped it into center field for what could’ve very easily been a bloop single on any other given day. Instead, on this day it ended up being a fine play in center for Ceddanne Rafaela and Money Mike had to head back to the dugout with hat in hand. For what it’s worth, if anybody would’ve appreciated a play like this from a center fielder, it’s Mike.

No. 9 – Ronald Acuña Jr., March 29 vs. Royals, Fly Out, .871 xBA

What makes this one a bit funny from a morbid point of view is that if you look closely at the background as this ball appears destined to land beyond the center field fence, Blooper and his crew appear to be getting ready to celebrate the seemingly-incoming dinger. Instead, they all had to put everything down as this somehow landed in a glove instead of onto concrete beyond the wall. Blah.

No. 8 – Ronald Acuña Jr., April 18 at Phillies, Fly Out, .886 xBA

This time, it happened in Philadelphia (blah) so the robbery got a standing ovation instead of a groan from the crowd. Once again, Acuña seemingly got all of one and sent it flying to dead center. Once again, a center fielder was waiting to grab it instead of seeing it clear the fence. This is another one where Michael Harris II probably would’ve been tipping his cap from the dugout — especially considering how he’d seemingly made a habit of robbing homers at Citizens Bank Park, himself.

No. 7 – Ronald Acuña Jr., April 6 at Angels, Fly Out, .894 xBA

What did Ronald Acuña Jr. do to upset the baseball gods early on this season? This was the third time in less than a month where xBA figured that Acuña should’ve at least come away with (what would’ve likely been) at least an extra base hit. Instead, it ended up turning into a visually-routine out as it hung in the air long enough for old friend Jorge Soler to get under it and make the catch. Fortunately, this was as bad as it got for Acuña in terms of getting robbed but he won’t be the only Braves hitter making multiple appearances on this list.

No. 6 – Drake Baldwin, September 24 vs. Reds, Fly Out, .897 xBA

Maybe if you’re a doomer, you could make a case about this being a bad omen for what was to come in the future as this team met its eventual end at the hands of the Dodgers in a series where they just couldn’t find a way to break through with any sort of regularity. This was certainly a frustrating moment, as Baldwin seemingly got all of this one only for it to wind up finding a glove. Oof, man.

No. 5 – Mike Yastrzemski, August 1 vs. Nationals, Line Out, .931 xBA

Yeah, you’ve got to just give Nasim Nuñez his props here. Mike Yastrzemski hit it hard and he got a decent amount of air on it but Nuñez jumped all the way out of the gym in order to get to this one and snag it out of the sky. It’s hard to complain about this one.

No. 4 – Mauricio Dubón, September 8 vs. Rays, Line Out, .940 xBA

If you want to know how the series against the eventual American League Pennant winners wound up going for the Braves, just watch this clip over and over again. It seemed like the entire series was nothing but Braves hitters crushing the ball and the batted ball seemingly being magnetized to Tampa Bay’s gloves. This wasn’t even the moment

No. 3 – Michael Harris II, April 2 at Diamondbacks, Line Out, .954 xBA

Considering the situation, I don’t think Michael Harris II or the Braves lost any sleep over this one. Instead, it was a missed opportunity only when it came to being able to pad some stats as Atlanta was absolutely taking Arizona out behind the woodshed and had forced the Diamondbacks to go to James McCann to cover the ninth inning.

Fun fact: McCann ended up pitching four times during the month of April, which wound up being the most mound appearances for a dedicated position player before the month of May. Congratulations to him, I guess.

No. 2. – Michael Harris II, March 29 vs. Royals, Fly Out, .966 xBA

It’s kind of wild that two of these happened in the same game. This is Michael Harris II’s third appearance on this list (tying him with Ronald Acuña Jr.) and it’s also the second appearance from this game alone. In case you’re wondering: Yes ,the Braves lost this game (4-1) and yes, the Braves out-xBA’d the Royals by a significant margin despite the result (.314 xBA for Atlanta compared to .196 for Kansas City). That’s baseball for you!

No. 1 – Jim Jarvis, July 5 vs. Mets, Line Out, .971 xBA

In almost fitting fashion, the No. 1 robbery for Braves hitters according to xBA ended up looking very similar to what No. 10 looked like. Jim Jarvis blooped it out to center and if it didn’t stay in the air longer, it likely lands in the grass for a base hit that brings up the potential go-ahead run for the Braves. Instead, it lingered long enough to turn into an out and Jarvis goes down as having had the most unlucky moment for a Braves hitter in 2026.

BONUS – Lucky Dog Award: Mauricio Dubón, September 6 vs. Phillies, Double, .011 xBA

Ha ha! That’s all.

How many World Series have the Rays made, won? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Will the third time be the charm for the Tampa Bay Rays?

The American League’s No. 1-seeded Rays will meet the MLB-best Milwaukee Brewers in the 2026 World Series. The heavyweight Fall Classic showdown features two clubs each looking for its respective franchise’s first-ever world championship.

Manager Kevin Cash‘s club went 98-64 in the regular season to claim their first AL East title since 2021. Tampa Bay swept the division rival No. 4 New York Yankees in the ALDS before taking down the No. 2 Cleveland Guardians in six games in the ALCS.

The Rays overcame a 2-1 series deficit against Cleveland, winning three straight games to capture their third league pennant. Starter Freddy Peralta, a trade deadline addition, earned ALCS MVP honors after going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA across two starts and three appearances.

Now, Peralta, Junior Caminero and Co. are on the cusp of making Rays history:

How many World Series have the Rays made?

This is Tampa Bay’s third World Series appearance since the franchise debuted in 1998.

Have the Rays ever won a World Series?

The Rays, along with the Brewers, are among five MLB franchises without a World Series title.

When was the last time the Rays made the World Series?

Tampa Bay’s two previous World Series appearances came in 2020 and 2008.

In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, the Rays lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in the Fall Classic. Tampa Bay’s first World Series appearance in 2008, meanwhile, ended in a five-game defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies.

When does the Rays vs. Brewers World Series start?

Rays-Brewers begins Friday, Oct. 23.

Rays vs. Brewers World Series schedule

Here’s the full series schedule:

• Game 1: Rays at Brewers | Friday, Oct. 23 | 8 p.m. ET | FOX
• Game 2: Rays at Brewers | Saturday, Oct. 24 | 8 p.m. ET | FOX
• Game 3: Brewers at Rays | Monday, Oct. 26 | 8 p.m. ET | FOX
• Game 4: Brewers at Rays | Tuesday, Oct. 27 | 8 p.m. ET | FOX
• Game 5 (if necessary): Brewers at Rays | Wednesday, Oct. 28 | 8 p.m. ET | FOX
• Game 6 (if necessary): Rays at Brewers | Friday, Oct. 30 | 8 p.m. ET | FOX
• Game 7 (if necessary): Rays at Brewers | Saturday, Oct. 31 | 8 p.m. ET | FOX

Former World Series champion and nine-year MLB veteran Todd Benzinger has died at the age of 63.

The Cincinnati Reds mourned Benzinger's passing with a social media post on Thursday, Oct. 22. No cause of death was given.

"Todd will be remembered with great affection and gratitude for his place in one of the most memorable chapters in Reds history," the statement read. "Our deepest condolences go out to his family, friends, former teammates and all who knew and loved him."

Benzinger was a key member of the Reds' 1990 championship squad at first base, securing the final out in a four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics.

A native of Dayton, Kentucky, Benzinger was drafted out of high school by the Boston Red Sox in 1981 and made his MLB debut with Boston in 1987.

He played two seasons with the Red Sox before being traded to Cincinnati in a five player deal that sent third baseman Nick Esasky to Boston.

With the Reds, he became an everyday player for the first time in 1989, hitting .245 with career highs of 17 home runs and 76 RBIs. After winning the World Series, the Reds traded Benzinger to Kansas City the following season. He later played one year with the Los Angeles Dodgers and two more with the San Francisco Giants before his career ended after the 1995 season.

He was a lifetime .257 hitter and finished with 66 home runs, 376 RBIs and 21 stolen bases.

After retiring as a player, Benzinger managed the Dayton Dragons, the Reds' Class A affiliate, in 2009 and 2010. He was also a frequent attendee at Reds' fan fest events.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former Reds 1B, World Series champ Todd Benzinger dies at 63

The 2026 World Series begins on Friday, with the Milwaukee Brewers hosting the Tampa Bay Rays. But before we get back to baseball on the field, let’s take the temperature of the room regarding the looming labor fight.

The collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1 at 8:59 p.m. PT, after which MLB owners will lock out the players.

Three times previously a labor stoppage has caused the postponement of the start of an MLB season:

1972 strike

This moved opening day from April 5 to April 15. None of the lost games were made up, and one ancillary result gave the Detroit Tigers the American League East crown at 86-70, a half-game better than the 85-70 Boston Red Sox, who played one fewer contest. In fairness, these two teams played one another in the final series of the regular season. Boston went into the final game of the season up a half-game playing the Tigers at home, plus lost 4-1 in what was essentially a playoff game for the division.

1994-95 strike

After the previous season ended on August 12 and the World Series was cancelled for the first time in 91 years, it took an injunction from United States District Court to get a deal done on April 2, 1995. Opening day was moved to April 25, about three weeks later than previously planned. Teams in 1995 played 144 games instead of the normal 162. Even with the reduced schedule, a stacked Cleveland team still won 100 games.

2021-22 lockout

As soon as the previous collective bargaining agreement expired, MLB owners locked out the players, and it took until March 10 for a new CBA to be reached. MLB originally canceledthe first two weeks of games, but after the agreement was reached, opening day was pushed back one week, from March 31to April 7. To get in a full 162 games, teams made up the difference by adding a week to the back end of the regular season schedule and mixing in some doubleheaders throughout the season to reclaim the other lost week of games.

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Opening day in 2027 for now is scheduled for Thursday, March 25. Today’s question is on what date do you think the next regular season Major League Baseball game will be played?

Let us know in the comments below. We’ll check back in about five weeks to see how we all feel closer to the lockout.

The good news for Connor Thomas is that he’s appeared to have figured it out as a reliever and he should be able to find somewhere to pitch once the smoke has cleared with the upcoming labor war that’s looming over all of baseball. The bad news is that he figured that out with the Kansas City Royals instead of the Atlanta Braves.

Connor Thomas didn’t make too many appearances for the Braves in 2026 but he did somehow manage to become the focus of a rival broadcast’s pity based on his final outing as a Brave this season. Just how badly did it go for Connor Thomas in Atlanta? Let’s get into it, shall we?

How Acquired

The Braves signed Connor Thomas to a minor league deal back in early November of 2025. This came after he elected free agency when the Brewers outrighted him off of their roster oncer their season came to a close. That came after he was selected in the Rule 5 Draft by the Brewers ahead of the 2025 season, so that tells you that something was certainly there for Thomas if a team was willing to pick him in that particular draft. With that being said, it mainly didn’t work out for Thomas in Milwaukee because bone spurs in his elbow wrecked his 2025 season, so Atlanta was certainly taking a bit of a flier on bringing in Thomas.

What were the expectations?

Well, Thomas ended up starting the season on the Injured List due to the surgery that he underwent in the previous year and while he did make a handful of appearances with the Rome Emperors in High-A, it wasn’t until May 22 when he was finally activated and sent to the Gwinnett Stripers. That’s where he stayed until he got called up in early-July, so the Braves really did kind of have Thomas tabbed as organizational depth during his time here.

Honestly, there wasn’t much of a reason to think differently. He was getting 35+ future value grades on FanGraphs, which is very definitionally a fringy prospect. He was a fifth-round draft pick with a modest signing bonus, hadn’t pitched well in all of two appearances with the Brewers in 2025, and had fairly unimpressive numbers from 2022-onward, after he ascended full-time to Triple-A. Largely the only thing he had going for him was running a low-ish ERA relative to his peripherals in some minor league stints, but that does not a pitcher above organizational depth make.

2026 Results

Connor Thomas finished with 19 1/3 innings pitched under his belt during this particular stint, as he proved to be a bit of a ground ball machine (finishing with a 64.4 percent ground ball rate) while also doing a good job of keeping runs at a premium. He ended up finishing with a 2.33 ERA (54 ERA-) and a 2.43 FIP (58 FIP-) across 19.1 innings pitched and 17 appearances — for the Kansas City Royals. When it came to his time with the Braves, well, it was disastrous.

Thomas only made two appearances totaling 6 1/3 innings while he was with the Braves. We all know about the second and final appearance that he made (which we will discuss later) but his first appearance still ended with some poor results. Thomas gave up the first of four homers that he’d somehow end up giving up in such a brief amount of time with Atlanta during his first appearance on July 7 against the Pirates. He wound up giving up four runs while he was out there, so this was certainly a rough experience for Thomas while he was here.

What went right?

The only good thing I can say about Connor Thomas’s time with Atlanta is that he ate some innings. The guy who entered the game after Thomas was done with both of his appearances was none other than Jorge Mateo, who is not a pitcher. Thomas’s job while he was here was to be on mop-up duty unless there were no other options available out of the ‘pen at any given moment.

Unfortunately for Thomas, that scenario came to fruition three weeks later.

I guess, one thing we can say went “right” for Thomas is that he pitched so much better in an extended stint for the Royals that he actually finished with positive fWAR for the year. Seriously: -0.4 fWAR across 40 batters faced for the Braves, and +0.5 fWAR across 78 batters faced for the Royals. Well done, sorta.

What went wrong?

Thomas’s second and final appearance for the Braves was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Walt Weiss brought him in for the sixth inning of a tie game against the New York Mets on July 27, which was a sign that the bullpen was definitely a bit gassed at this particular moment in time. Thomas gave up a single and a two-run homer to kick off his outing and at that point, it became clear that Thomas was going to have to wear one for the team.

Sure enough, he ended up facing 23 batters and getting charged with 10 hits (three of which were homers bashed off of him) and walking five batters in order to give up a grand total of 11 runs over 78 pitches. You know it was bad when the Mets’ TV commentary team was actually feeling bad for the guy instead of cheering on the onslaught.

"Poor kid – you want to give him a hug…literally I'm sick to my stomach"

"I'm not a happy camper at all, pretty disgusted with it"

Keith and Ron didn't like the Braves leaving Connor Thomas out on the mound to throw 78 pitches and give up 11 runs pic.twitter.com/aR7pefLUnl

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 28, 2026

Anyways, Thomas did indeed receive his ticket back to the minors after this and two days later, the Athletics claimed him off of waivers. Oof.

2027 Outlook

Considering that he did end up sticking around with the Royals through the end of the season and what the Royals were able to get out of him while he was there, it certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see him pitching somewhere once the 2027 season rolls around. He’s a left-hander, he’s under 30 and he’s shown an ability to induce ground balls at a pretty high rate and his stint with the Royals ended up going pretty well. He’s never going to blow anybody away with his velocity but maybe some organization will decide that it’s worth it to see if he can keep on getting opposing hitters to keep it on the ground instead of the air by relying on the varied movement of his pitches. It probably won’t be the Braves giving him another shot, though.

Of course, the Royals still control him, given his low service time, so all of this only matters if they decide to move on. Which, given how he pitched for them down the stretch, isn’t a certainty. Still, he looks like a replacement-level reliever on balance until he shows otherwise for more than a couple of months. But, maybe the Royals helped him figure something out that goes beyond serving as a sacrificial lamb to the long grind of an MLB season.

No, the Mariners aren’t playing in the World Series this year. No surprise there. But that doesn’t mean Mariner fans have to sit out the Fall Classic without any thought of their hometown nine. In fact, there are plenty of Seattle connections featured during this series between the Brewers and Rays.

1B/OF Jake Bauers

2021: .220/.297/.275, 2 HR, 67 wRC+, 0.0 fWAR

2026: .266/.389/.484, 26 HR, 143 wRC+, 3.7 fWAR

By now, you’ve probably heard all about Jake Bauers’s story. How went from considering leaving baseball entirely a few years ago to winning the NLCS MVP award last week. His story also briefly crosses paths with the Mariners — twice! Way back in 2018, Bauers was traded from the Rays to the Guardians as part of the three-way, Edwin Encarnacion/Yandy Díaz trade. (Weird that that trade included two key players during this postseason eight years later.) Bauers was later traded to Seattle in June 2021 and posted an ugly 67 wRC+ across 202 plate appearances during the second half of that season. He was outrighted off the 40-man roster at the end of the season and bounced between the Reds and Yankees before latching on with the Brewers in 2023.

INF Ben Williamson

2025: .253/.294/.310, 1 HR, 76 wRC+, 0.4 fWAR

2026: .238/.302/.318, 3 HR, 76 wRC+, 0.2 fWAR

Ben Williamson made his major league debut with the Mariners last year combining excellent defense at third base with a noodle bat at the plate. Recognizing a need for a more potent profile at a traditionally offense-focused position, the Mariners traded Williamson to the Rays during the offseason as part of the three-way, Brendan Donovan deal. With Junior Caminero manning the hot corner for Tampa Bay, Williamson spent most of the season as a utility infielder, splitting time between second base and shortstop. His defensive chops were stretched a little at those two up-the-middle positions and he matched his rookie campaign with a 76 wRC+ in 2026.

RHP Freddy Peralta

2015 (MiLB): 4.11 ERA, 2.32 FIP, 8.38 K/BB

2026: 4.42 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 2.48 K/BB, 1.9 fWAR

Both of the MVPs from this year’s LCS’s had ties to the Mariners, but you have to go all the way back to 2015 to find Freddy Peralta’s connection. He was dealt to the Brewers in the ill-fated Adam Lind trade as a 19-year-old prospect and made his major league debut just three years later. Peralta was traded to the Mets this past offseason and then dealt to the Rays at the trade deadline, so he’ll be facing his old ballclub in the World Series. His season started off pretty rough in New York — his ERA was just a hair under five in 22 starts before moving to Tampa Bay — but he got things back on track down the stretch and has allowed just two runs in 16.2 postseason innings so far.

RHP Brody Hopkins

2024 (MiLB): 2.90 ERA, 4.08 FIP, 2.38 K/BB

2026: 5.06 ERA, 6.29 FIP, 1.17 K/BB, -0.1 fWAR

Brody Hopkins was the headlining prospect sent to the Rays in the Randy Arozarena trade in 2024. He’s developed into a top 100 prospect and was ranked third in Tampa Bay’s preseason farm system rankings. His athleticism has helped him thrive on the mound even though he’s only truly focused on pitching for four years now — he was a two-way player in college. But that lack of experience has led to some developmental hurdles that have stalled his growth a bit. The biggest issue is his command; he was walking nearly a batter per inning in Triple-A, limiting his strikeout-to-walk ratio to just 1.3. His stuff is nasty, his velocity has played up in shorter stints out of the bullpen, but he simply can’t locate any of his pitches with any regularity.

Those four players are the most notable former Mariners playing in the World Series this year. A special mention goes to Casey Legumina who was a significant piece of the Rays bullpen since being traded to Tampa in April but wasn’t included on their ALDS or ALCS rosters. The Rays have the advantage with three players (four if you count Legumina), plus it seems like Arozarena will be cheering on his former club as loudly as he can this weekend.

Oh, and there’s the fact that the creator of Lookout Landing, Jeff Sullivan, is employed by the Rays. In a roundabout way, Tampa Bay’s success is also Lookout Landing’s success.

Even though the Brewers have only one former Mariner on their roster, the franchise started out as the Seattle Pilots in 1969. By the transitive property, a Milwaukee championship would also count as a Seattle championship, right?

If you’re looking for a team to bandwagon simply based on Mariners connections, you can’t go wrong with either team.