Worldwide Sports News

Good morning, Purple Row!

The Colorado Rockies will finish their penultimate series of the year today with a final game against the Arizona Dimaondbacks. They’ve already lost the series by dropping the first two games but will look to avoid a sweep before heading east to Chicago where they will finish off their season against the White Sox.

Notably, today’s game will be the final home game of the 2026 season for the Rockies. One last baseball game in Denver before settling in for an offseason of uncertain length. Despite the Rockies crossing the 100 loss mark for the fourth straight season, the impending end to the daily routine of baseball will still be a loss for many. Take advantage of these last few chances to watch live Rockies baseball.

First, though, let’s dig into some news from around the league.

Rockies News & Links

• Rockies hit latest low, become fifth team with 4 straight 100-loss seasons | ESPN.com — As mentioned, the Rockies reached triple-digit losses on Wednesday. As it turns out, this streak puts the franchise into rare and undesirable company. If you can’t remember a team having matched this four-season streak previously that’s because the Rockies are just the fifth team ever to have done so and the first since the expansion New York Mets in the early 1960’s.
• Rockies lose 100 games in four straight seasons as Colorado joins ill-famed MLB fraternity | Denver Post ($) —  Kyle Newman of the Denver Post digs even deeper into the state of the franchise in the wake of their extremely poor four season streak. Where ESPN provides the cliff notes for a league wide audience, the Post dives into the ins and outs of how the 2026 team collapsed in the final two months of the season. It ends with a reminder that it’s possible that the Rockies could become only the second team in MLB history to extend a 100 loss streak to five straight seasons without a drastic turnaround next year.
• Freeland deals with ‘rush of emotion’ in possible final home start at Coors | MLB.com —  It’s very possible that Kyle Freeland pitched his final outing for the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. After the game, the ten-year veteran who has spent his entire professional career with the organization, did not hold back the emotional impact the possibility of his time with the Rockies having come to an end had on him.
• Rockies GM Josh Byrnes sees progress at Coors Field, but ‘it’s not good enough’ | Denver Gazette ($) —  As we enter the offseason it’s important for fans to understand that the folks in charge of baseball operations in the Rockies organization are being realistic about the amount of work remaining to turn the club around. Rockies GM Josh Byrnes speaks on that topic with Kevin Henry and is open about how far the team still has to go before becoming a competitive team. It’s a refreshingly self-aware interview for a fanbase that had become accustomed to hearing that the team was in a better shape than their record indicated under the previous leadership team.

Around Baseball

• After Rockies secure fourth straight 100-loss season, Angels aim to avoid first | The Athletic ($) —  While the Rockies may have the most losses in the league for a second straight season, they are not the only team struggling to avoid ending the season on a low note. Fabian Ardaya takes a look around MLB and highlights the Los Angeles Angels attempts to avoid their first 100 loss season, the Athletics struggles to put together a winning ballclub before their impending move to Las Vegas, and the St. Louis Cardinals who are at risk of posting consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1959.
• Queens Crowned Baseball Royalty, Beat Firebells in WPBL Championship | Fangraphs —  The inaugural season of the Women’s Professional Baseball League concluded on Tuesday night. Kiri Oler of Fangraphs breaks down the Championship series game by game. If you didn’t catch the games while they were on this is a great way to catch up on how the leagues first championship was won. The final game in particular was a perfectly poetic capstone to a thrilling first season.
• The MLB Strike Zone Got A Lot Smaller In 2026 | Baseball America ($) —  If you entered the season thinking that the addition of the ABS Challenge system would alter which pitches are called strikes, you’d be correct. J.J. Cooper breaks down how the effective strike zone has noticeably shrunk in the first season of the Challenge system. Most fascinatingly, the piece also goes into how pitcher’s have adapted to this changing zone.
• This Wave Of Japanese Talent Is The Beginning Of A Pipeline | Baseball Prospectus ($) —  Robert Arthur looks into a recent spike in the total percentage of MLB innings and plate appearances that Japanese born players are contributing. As it turns out, a increasingly reliable performance data on players outside the US has given MLB front offices the confidence required to make investments that would have seemed risky just a decade ago.

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Tuesday night’s game against the San Diego Padres was reminiscent of the 2024 playoffs when the Dodgers were forced to employ a bullpen in the NLDS to keep their playoff hopes alive against those same Padres. Both outcomes were the same, with the bullpen shutting down the Friars and getting a big win.

That postseason saw a lot of bullpen usage, and in this one the Dodgers are stacked with starters. Still, the bullpen is always a big part of the postseason.

As Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic points out, 41 days ago manager Dave Roberts was asking the media what choices did he truly have to deploy in the ninth inning of games. Now, he could have several options.

Edwin Diaz, the closer they paid handsomely in the offseason, has not had a great season. He’s been on the IL twice and had an era over 11.00 at one point this summer. But since returning from his latest IL stint, he has faced 11 batters, struck out six and only allowed two to reach base.

“I think it’s one of those things where if you’re one of the 12 pitchers on a postseason roster, you’re in the trust tree,” Roberts said “He’s put himself right smack in that conversation. Given all that he’s had to go through this year to right the ship is a big credit to him.”

Roki Sasaki is also someone who will be in the mix for the ninth inning spot. He has also just returned from his own IL stint, pitching with dermabond on his blister. He allowed two singles, but worked around them for a scoreless inning in Tuesday night’s game. He will appear in Friday night’s game as he continues to work towards a spot in the bullpen that will likely vary as the postseason goes on.

Tanner Scott has been the Dodgers’ most reliable arm out of the bullpen this season, and Roberts has remarked how it would be nice to be able to use Scott in high leverage spots that may not come just in the ninth inning.

“I think if there’s an opportunity, for example, for Tanner to pitch a high-leverage inning in the seventh or the eighth inning, it’s just hard to pass that up if he’s the best option right there,” Roberts said. “You just don’t know where the ninth inning is going to be.”

Roberts also added that the team is sitting in their best position with regards to the bullpen as they have ever been. Evan Phillips and Brock Stewart round out the current options, and the team hopes that Edguardo Henriquez can recover from his back issues to appear in the playoffs. With the starters this team has overall this may be the best pitching staff the Dodgers have ever sent to the playoffs.

We’ve spent much of the last week discussing how the Red Sox won’t be playing much baseball in Boston this weekend thanks to an impending nor’easter. But what if I were to tell you it’s also still possible (however unlikely) that they might not be playing much baseball in New York next week either?

Don’t worry, it’s not weather related this time. Instead, it’s because there’s still a bizarre, long shot scenario teetering at the edge of the table where the Red Sox could fall to the No. 6 seed in the American League.

At first glance, this seems impossible. At 85-73, Boston is four games clear of the White Sox with four to play, and even if the Red Sox were to lose out with the White Sox winning all of their remaining games, Boston also holds the head to head tiebreaker by virtue of their 6-0 record against the South Siders this season.

So, it’s over, right?

Wrong!

There’s still one monkey wrench that can flip the board, and that’s Cleveland’s presence. If the 82-76 Guardians win the rubber game at Fenway Park today and then also end up in a theoretical 85-77 tie with both pairs of Sox at the end of the weekend, all sorts of kooky stuff happens.

First of all, in a three-way tie scenario where one of the teams is not in the same division, the tie to determine that division (in this case the AL Central), takes precedent, and must be broken first. Well, guess what? The White Sox hold the tiebreaker over the Guardians, which means if the Red Sox end up tied with both of them, Chicago takes the division, leaving Boston to face off against Cleveland in the tiebreaker for the final seeding.

Right now, the Red Sox hold that tiebreaker over Cleveland thanks to their 3-2 head to head record. However, if the Guardians win today, that becomes 3-3, and the tiebreaker flips to the Guardians on interdivision record. In other words, Cleveland would go to the No. 5 seed, the Red Sox would land in Texas to play either the Astros or Rangers (whoever wins that wretched AL West division) as the No. 6, and Guardians would get shuffled all the way over to New York to play the Yankees.

On one hand, this is far fetched. But if you break it down piece by piece, it becomes one of those things that gets less and less ridiculous the more you look at it.

Let’s start with the Red Sox. They will be throwing Ranger Suarez today against Cleveland, who will counter with Daniel Espino. With the way Suarez has been throwing the ball the last few times out, that looks like a Boston win at first. But remember, the Sox used both Whitlock and Chapman last night, meaning they might not want to push them too hard and go there again today. Additionally, Suarez’ start is coming exactly five days before Game 1 of the Wild Card series, which means they’ll probably pull him after 75 or 80 pitches like they did with Sonny Gray on Wednesday.

Break it all down, and the Guardians are probably going to get a shot at the weaker part of the Red Sox bullpen they didn’t see today. Throw in Ceddanne Rafaela and Willson Contreras possibly not playing, and all of a sudden this becomes a hard game to predict.

From there, the Red Sox are likely going to play a double header against the Cubs on Friday, trying to get as many games in as possible before the nor’easter arrives. Well, as we’ve discussed all week, the Cubs are going to need those games as they fight for seeding in the NL Wild Card race. They enter play today one game behind the San Diego Padres for the top Wild Card billing. Meanwhile, the Red Sox will be done with the Payton Tolle / Sonny Gray / Ranger Suarez part of the rotation for the regular season and will probably be throwing Patrick Sandoval in one of these games. Is it really that hard to see the Cubs taking both ends of that double header?

Meanwhile, back in Chicago itself, the White Sox would need a sweep at home over the weekend to keep any chance of this crazy scenario alive. Well, guess what? They’re playing the Colorado Rockies. And not just the Colorado Rockies, but the Road Rockies. The worst team to ever do it!

Years ago, when I was over at Purple Row, I wrote about how the game is rigged against the Rockies, and how they face a literal competitive disadvantage because of a Coors Hangover Effect that happens when their hitters travel. On that note, the 2026 Road Rockies have been striaght trash! They’ve already been swept in 28 percent of their series this year, and have lost ten games in a row away from Coors Field. They’re so bad, they haven’t won a road game since August 26th!

The point here is that it’s not that hard to see how they could go into a rowdy atmosphere in Chicago this weekend and get their doors blown off. The White Sox are just one game behind the Guardians for not only the AL Central crown, but also for the No. 2 seed and a bye, so they will almost certainly be throwing all their resources at this race right down to the wire.

Of course, they also have to win their game in Kansas City this afternoon to even get this lunacy off the ground, but if they do that, you don’t have to squint too hard to see how this snowball might start running downhill. Again, all this silliness probably gets quashed in the net 36 hours by one of several candidates, but if we’re still sitting here on Saturday morning and the possibility of all this still alive, things will get really, really weird, really, really quick. And that’s before you throw in the weather with the Red Sox possibility waiting through days of rain to play Game their 162.

Can you imagine if they have to come back on Monday and play one last game against the Cubs and they can literally pick their path with a loss (through Texas and the AL Central winner) instead of having to go through New York and Tampa?

It’s nuts, and it would be nothing short of a bonkers scenario. But this is the 2026 Red Sox, and bonkers has kind of been the theme of the season. We’ve already seen some of the worst Red Sox baseball of all time at Fenway Park early in the season, a historic winning streak to fuel a remarkable turnaround, a team that has a penchant for playing well with plane problems, and now a huge nor’easter threatening to upend the schedule. If there was ever a year where something this daft might play out, wouldn’t it be this one?

Then again, Kansas City might beat the White Sox in a handful of hours and everything you just read will be rendered moot. Man I love wacky baseball!

You can’t say the Dodgers didn’t give the rest of the National League West a chance.

It wasn’t a great chance, certainly. But consider this: The Dodgers spotted their division rivals 157 games before rolling out their varsity lineup.

The Dodgers clinched the division a week earlier. They still could win 100 games.

On Wednesday, with that preferred batting order making its season debut and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound, the Dodgers fielded the 10 men you might well see in Game 1 of the playoffs next week.

Or, as the Dodgers might say, Opening Day.

The Dodgers can say their schedule starts in October, and their goal is for everyone to be healthy and effective then. But that presumption depends upon the supporting cast: the boys of summer that might never play come fall but must play well enough so that the stars can play postseason ball.

“It’s just the depth,” Freddie Freeman said.

Everyone has depth, to some degree.

“We’ve got really good guys that can cover guys when they get hurt,” Freeman said. “You’re going to go through injury bugs over the course of the year. It’s on people to step up. We’ve got some guys that are on the bench that can fill in.

“You have guys that can potentially be playing every day on some other teams.”

In April, Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman were on the injured list. By the time both men had come off the injured list, Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith were on it. By the time Hernández and Smith had returned, Andy Pages was on the injured list, soon to be followed by Shohei Ohtani.

Rookie infielder Alex Freeland has more at-bats than Smith. In roughly the same number of at-bats, backup catcher Dalton Rushing has more home runs and a higher OPS than Smith, the starting catcher.

The Dodgers rank second in the majors in OPS.

Four Dodgers pitchers started at least 20 games, but Yamamoto is the only one projected for the playoff rotation. Emmet Sheehan and All-Star Justin Wrobleski each started more games than Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, combined.

Eric Lauer, who had won once in six starts for the Toronto Blue Jays, won six times in an eight-start stretch for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers rank fourth in the majors in earned-run average.

“We’ve had more injuries than we would have liked this season, but with that came opportunities for guys that gained a lot of valuable experience,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.

“Now, going into October, we feel like we have a chance to have a roster as representative of the talent level we have as you can reasonably expect.”

The Dodgers buy depth, right?

“I won’t say anything about that,” Friedman said.

They buy everything else. And what other team would spend a combined $10 million on utilitymen Kiké Hernández and Miguel Rojas?

How about the farm system? The Dodgers traded three prospects for Tarik Skubal, the best player available at the trade deadline, and the league website nonetheless ranks the Dodgers’ farm system as the best in all the land.

So, we’ll ask again: What about buying depth?

“Obviously, we have a very high payroll,” Friedman said, “but I think leaving it at that diminishes the incredible work that our scouts, our baseball ops, our player development, our Latin American scouts — our entire department — and the success they’ve had in their respective areas, and how it’s all come together.

Read more:The Dodgers’ Josue De Paula can hit. Now he’s out to prove he can play defense, too

“I think it really minimizes it in a way that’s not fair to excellent people doing excellent work.”

That excellent work includes 97 wins, so far, from the 53 men to play for the Dodgers this season. On Wednesday, finally, the Dodgers had their A team: Freeman, Edman, Betts and Max Muncy starting in the infield; Teoscar Hernández, Pages and Kyle Tucker in the outfield; Smith at catcher; Yamamoto at pitcher; and Ohtani at designated hitter.

One of the charms of baseball is a cliche: Anything can happen — in a single game or in a short series. The Dodgers lost to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday. The A team is 0-1 this season, with October to go.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Phillies will have to play at least one more game before they can officially punch their ticket to the postseason. Last night’s brutal showing with runners in scoring position made sure of that. But today is another great day to clinch.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Tuesday’s win provided a possible blueprint of what the Phillies postseason strategy will be. ($)
• The Brewers being in town means so is former GM Matt Klentak. He sat down with Phillies Extra to discuss acquiring some of the key pieces of this current Phillies team as well as Milwaukee’s pursuit of Tarik Skubal.($)
• You know Brad Lidge from his perfect 2008 season as the Phillies closer. You may not know that now he is an accomplished archeologist. A fascinating Q&A with the former relief ace. ($)

MLB news:

• A forecasted nor’easter this weekend is already wreaking havoc on the scheduling of three games at Fenway Park with crucial postseason implications for the National League.
• Shohei Ohtani returned to the lineup last night as his health looms like a specter over the NL postseason field.
• Who are some players about to play in their first postseason that could end up going down as heroes?

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

It’s Sept. 24 and the Orioles are, technically, still alive in the postseason race. Will wonders never cease?

The Orioles’ elimination number remains at 1 after a productive Wednesday in which they swept a doubleheader against the Blue Jays to close out their Camden Yards schedule for 2026. Combined with a White Sox loss in Kansas City, it remain mathematically possible for the Orioles to claim the third wild card spot. All they need is to sweep their final series at Yankee Stadium while the White Sox lose every remaining game against the Royals and Rockies. Oh, and also the Orioles would have to leapfrog whichever of the Rangers and Astros doesn’t win the AL West.

Simple, right? Might as well start printing the playoff tickets now.

OK, OK, I get it. It’s not happening. The O’s will be eliminated, possibly as soon as tonight. But it’s nice that they didn’t have to suffer that ignominious fate in front of their home fans. They played a pair of well-played games — and officially knocked the defending AL champion Blue Jays out of playoff contention — to end their home season on a high note. Check out Mark Brown’s recap of the opener and Tyler Young’s write-up of the nightcap.

The twin bill demonstrated what the 2026 season could have looked like for the Orioles if they’d been clicking all year. The O’s got some effective starting pitching performances from unlikely sources, especially Trey Gibson, who tossed the finest outing of his major league career with 6.2 shutout innings. Their bullpen was solid, with six different relievers delivering scoreless outings. And Pete Alonso did Pete Alonso things, crushing his 41st home run and later leading the entire O’s team onto the field to acknowledge the fans before they left town for the year.

The Orioles ultimately are going to come up short for a litany of reasons that we don’t need to rehash here, but they’ve got a chance to finish the season at .500 if they take all three games from the Yankees this weekend. If not, they can at least try to sustain their recent competent play and hopefully bring some positive momentum into the 2027 season, whenever it might begin. For now, that will have to do.

Links

Holliday to undergo surgery on left wrist; Basallo to concussion IL – MLB.com

The Orioles’ two youngest players saw their disappointing 2026 seasons come to an end. If there’s any hope for a turnaround next season, it’s guys like this who are going to need to take a step forward.

Kyle Goon: The threat of a lockout looms over 2027. But in home finale the Orioles spark positive thinking. – The Baltimore Banner

The possibility of having games wiped out in 2027 is upsetting for so many reasons, not the least of which is: what the heck am I going to do with my time? Are you telling me I’m supposed to get another hobby? Get outta here with that.

Is it too late for the O’s to re-sign Trevor Rogers beyond this season? – Steve Melewski

It’s not too late until Rogers puts pen to paper with another team. Which might not happen for a while, considering the aforementioned lockout.

Would an Orioles general manager under Elias have autonomy? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com

I can venture a guess. The O’s have gone more than a year (and counting) without bothering to fill the GM role, so it sure seems like it’s not something Elias values highly.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Five former Orioles were born on this day, including Rafael Palmeiro (62), one of the most prolific sluggers in O’s (and MLB) history. Palmeiro had two stints with the Birds in his 20-year career, hitting 223 of his 569 major league homers as an Oriole. He would be in the Hall of Fame if not for, well, you know. Happy birthday, Raffy.

Other former Orioles with Sept. 24 birthdays include infielders Travis Ishikawa (43), Jesse Garcia (53), and Kevin Millar (55), and the late outfielder Curt Motton (b. 1940, d. 2010).

On this date in 2000, Orioles ace Mike Mussina pitched a masterpiece in what turned out to be his penultimate start in an O’s uniform. Mussina dominated the Red Sox at Fenway, throwing seven scoreless innings and racking up an eye-popping 15 strikeouts without walking a batter. The Orioles managed to get him a win by scoring a run in the top of the eighth on Gene Kingsale’s sac fly, and closer Ryan Kohlmeier escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the ninth to secure the 1-0 victory.

Random Orioles game of the day

On Sept. 24, 1984, the Orioles won two games for the price of one, sweeping a doubleheader against the Yankees at Memorial Stadium. Mike Boddicker led an easy 8-1 victory in the opener with a complete game, scattering 10 hits — all singles — and allowing only one run. The O’s also had 10 hits but turned them into eight runs, with John Shelby, Gary Roenicke, and Mike Young all homering.

In the nightcap, the Orioles pulled off a thrilling come-from-behind victory, scoring five runs in the bottom of the eighth to erase a 6-2 deficit. An error by Yankees reliever Jay Howell opened the floodgates for a Roenicke RBI single and a Benny Ayala three-run homer. Cal Ripken also homered in the game. Reliever Nate Snell worked a scoreless eighth and ninth for the victory. The doubleheader sweep gave the O’s and Yanks identical 83-73 records, though both had long since been eliminated from the AL East race.

Most fans are aware of both the legend and the reality of Chicago White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper. And we as White Sox fans have committed so much of him to memory, most prominently “Coop’ll fix ’em” and the four straight complete games that polished off the 2005 ALCS.

So recounting his resumé is not the objective here, although I’d be remiss not to at least mention that the dominant 2005 rotation was largely of his making, from tutoring Mark Buehrle on his way up to the majors to creating the force that was Jon Garland to looking under the hood and tweaking the engines of Orlando Hernández, Freddy García and José Contreras to unleash their bewildering stretch of greatness on baseball’s biggest stage.

During my relatively brief time writing for and covering the White Sox — nearly Cooper’s entire, uncommonly-long 18-year tenure as pitching coach — I rubbed elbows with him, and get to know him a bit. So this is not an obituary, but a remembrance.

Three snapshots really stand out to me when remembering the man, and the first is not a pleasant one.

In Toronto in late May, anticipating soon having six starters to fit into five rotation spots, I’d written that Mark Buehrle could be the White Sox starter to take a short shift in the pen. Not should, but based on a slow start to the season, Buehrle’s consummately-amenable nature, and the fact that any “demotion” to the pen would last a turn or two before inevitable injury struck down one of the six starters, could.

When Coop saw me in the clubhouse, he was mad. Clutching a copy of my feature, he undercut me with defense after defense of Mark, All-Star this and Opening Day starter that. Was Don wrong? Of course not. Was he taking a spec piece probably intended to provide off-day copy by a writer interested in throwing ideas out there to see what stuck and perhaps blinded enough by a 5.12 ERA to miss a 3.88 FIP a bit too seriously? I … think so?

Honestly in the moment I felt both pride that Don was reading me, given that part of the them vs. us nature that pervades a clubhouse is the team pantomime that writers covering the team are not part of the White Sox “us,” nor can they pay enough attention to any one of us as to influence any decision-making. But also, there was bemusement that my feature had gotten him so riled. From there, with the knowledge that the White Sox were acknowledging me as a voice to reckon with, I could be a little more mindful of corralling my wildest ideas — but also take advantage of the existence of a wider communication pipeline that had opened, not just with players but Ozzie Guillén and his staff.

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Rewind to 2010, and a trading deadline that saw the White Sox nab Edwin Jackson from the Arizona Diamondbacks, a pitcher everyone and his uncle knew was a key chip to flip to Washington to acquire GM Ken Williams’ most desired target for the second half, Adam Dunn. While the drama surrounding Nats GM Mike Rizzo upping his demands at the last minute and Williams’ colorful disgust over Rizzo’s unprofessionalism, Cooper steered us to another scoop.

The dugout was white-hot with front office disgust and true limbo for Jackson, by then already an MLB journeyman on his way to residence on a record 14 different teams, when Don tapped me and ESPN’s Doug Padilla out from the dugout and onto the infield for an impromptu hype session. With rapture in his eyes, Cooper explained how he knew he could “solve” mechanical issues that were keeping Edwin down in his career (earlier that very summer, EJax had thrown a very wild no-hitter, epitomizing his incredible potential and aggravating reality all in one start). Knowing Coop had already worked his magic with several pitchers on the South Side, both Doug and I came away convinced that the best days of Edwin Jackson were ahead. (And real talk, Jackson’s 30 starts in Chicago from trading deadline 2010 to deadline 2011 were worth 4.2 WAR, by far the best stretch of his 17-year career in the majors.)

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But truly, my core memory of Don Cooper was sitting in the visitor’s dugout at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, water lapping at our ankles during one of those infamous torrents tearing through the middle of our country. Our conversation had started on the dugout steps, the game already delayed by drizzle, and as the drops pelted more aggressively we chose not to tear off and into the clubhouse or press box, but shift to the bench, and continue talking. I am not certain why that happened; perhaps as I was a relative newcomer to the White Sox beat Don was curious to get to know me, but I don’t think that was the case. It was two guys, just interested in talking for a while.

Recorder off, notepad mostly unscribbled, we had a casual conversation that likely started with me trying to mine Don for “all” of his pitching guru secrets but mostly spun into talk of family (inside the clubhouse and out) and distant career aspirations. Knowing of many pitchers/pitching coaches who successfully managed, as well as his impeccable reputation at the time, I brought up the topic of managing in the majors. Truly, my feeling was that it was only a matter of time, if Don wanted it, before he left Chicago to move into managing at Triple-A or straight into the majors; I was resigned to the fact that he wouldn’t be a White Sox coaching lifer. And Don did confirm, in a modest way, that he had considered it, and remained curious to see whether his leadership of arms could extend to stewardship of a full roster.

How interesting it turned out to be that by the end of 2011, his first (and as it turned out, only) managerial opportunity was with the White Sox, after Ozzie Guillén abandoned the team for Miami and right-hand man Joey Cora was then instructed to pack his bags as well. Not once thinking I was going to help spur Don into raising his hand for the interim gig by texting him “now’s your chance” and encouraging him to make sure the White Sox knew he wanted to be considered for the top job in 2012, that was in fact what happened.

Of course, Don’s response to that text, well remembering the encouragement I’d given him to aim higher during our damp dugout discussion months earlier: “Who is this?”

Always joking, always keeping it loyal, always keeping those outside of the 25 in the clubhouse on their toes.

Baseball, and especially those who were lucky enough to experience the sport through your eyes and words, will miss you, Don.

The Chicago Cubs scored more runs than anyone in baseball this year and their offense is still the strongest in the field by both raw production and park-adjusted numbers. Even with Alex Bregman questionable after taking a foul ball to the face.

Milwaukee has the best record in baseball, but fewer home runs than any other team playing in October, and by a wide margin.

The Yankees have as much raw power as anyone in this field, and none of it will matter much if Aaron Judge isn't healthy enough to be in the lineup, and right now, there's no guarantee he will be.

The Dodgers have more star power in one lineup than anyone else in the sport, if Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith and Kyle Tucker are all healthy by the time it matters, which right now, they aren't.

And Houston might have the single best hitter of any team in this field, Yordan Alvarez, an MVP candidate having one of the best seasons in baseball, attached to a team still fighting just to make the playoffs.

1. Chicago Cubs

The Cubs led all of baseball in runs scored heading into the final week, with the best raw production and the best park-adjusted offense in the entire playoff field. Pete Crow-Armstrong is having an MVP-caliber season, hitting around .280 with 40-plus home runs, stolen bases and elite center field defense. Seiya Suzuki has been a steady power threat in the middle of the order all year. Bregman, one of the lineup's most productive hitters, uncertain at least for the wild-card series after suffering multiple facial fractures on a foul ball on Sept. 20. He's hopeful to play in the final weekend, but even a return for the NLDS if the Cubs advance would be remarkable. Even missing a piece of its lineup for at least the first round, this remains the most complete offense of the 13 teams playing in October.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers rank second in both raw production and park-adjusted offense, but the number that matters most right now is how many of their best hitters have played healthy together lately. Shohei Ohtani, having an MVP-caliber year at the plate, has been on the injured list with a right biceps issue since Sept. 8, with his return timeline still uncertain. Will Smith broke his hand on a foul tip and is doubtful for the rest of the regular season. Kyle Tucker, brought in on a massive free agent contract, has struggled this season and now has a knee contusion. Mookie Betts missed time early with an oblique injury and struggled out of the gate before rebounding over the second half. Freddie Freeman has hit well most of the year, but the Dodgers have been managing a knee issue with occasional rest days down the stretch. If the Dodgers get their top hitters back in the same lineup or October, it can be the best in baseball. If they don't, it's a different story.

3. Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee's lineup produces, ranking second among the league leaders in runs scored. What it doesn't do is hit home runs. The Brewers have the fewest as a team of any of the 13 playoff contenders, and by a wide margin. That's not a new problem. It's the same offense that got exposed in a four-game NLCS sweep last October, when the Brewers scored one run a game, and hit .118, the lowest average in a postseason series of at least three games in MLB history. Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang are legitimate table-setters, both with real power and on-base skills. Christian Yelich has been streaky but he caught fire in September. A league-best record covers for a lot. It hasn't fixed the power problem that ended last October.

4. Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays have the best team batting average in baseball at .259, but their power ranks in the bottom half of the league. Junior Caminero is the exception, a legitimate star with well over 40 home runs and one of the better OPS marks on the roster. Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda round out a solid top of the order. The bottom of the lineup is where this offense breaks down. Taylor Walls has struggled to get on base all year, and Jorge Mateo has been overmatched at the plate since Tampa Bay acquired him in August. A contact-oriented, low-strikeout approach has carried this offense to the best record in the American League. It won't matter is the bottom third of the order can't produce a run in October.

5. Houston Astros

Houston's raw numbers are strong, ranking among the top half of these 13 teams without the park inflation that flatters some of the offenses ranked above it. Yordan Alvarez is a legitimate MVP candidate, hitting over .300 with 40-plus home runs and one of the best OPS marks in the sport. Isaac Paredes and Jeremy Pena have both had solid seasons at the plate. The lineup's depth thins out fast beyond that group, and Carlos Correa's season-ending ankle surgery didn't help. Houston is fighting Texas for the AL West with the season almost over.

6. Boston Red Sox

Fenway Park is a good fit for hitters, and Boston's offense shows it. What looks like a top-half offense turns into almost exactly league average once the park adjustment strips it down. Willson Contreras, one of the best hitters on the roster, is the real deal regardless of ballpark. Wilyer Abreu has added real power to the lineup. Roman Anthony, one of the sport's top young players, missed nearly four months with a wrist injury and only returned in late August, a wild card for October readiness. Last year's trade that sent Rafael Devers to San Francisco left this lineup without a true middle-of-the-order force, and a full season and an offseason later, Boston still hasn't fully replaced it. Boston made the playoffs with this offense. It never got better than league average doing it.

7. Atlanta Braves

Matt Olson has been the engine for Atlanta all year, with 40-plus home runs and one of the better OPS marks on the team, but the offense around him tells a story similar to Boston's, a below league average unit once you adjust for park effects. Austin Riley is having down year following abdominal surgery, a real drag in the middle of the order. Ronald Acuna Jr. missed large chunks of the season to hamstring injuries but has been red hot in September. Atlanta clinched the division anyway. A below-average offense with a struggling third baseman doesn't leave much room for error once October starts.

8. New York Yankees

The Yankees have real thump, one of the best home run totals among these 13 teams, and among the best walk rates, and they built it largely without a healthy Aaron Judge. He fractured a rib in early June and didn't return until mid-September, then lasted barely a week before landing back on the injured list Sept. 18 with a right calf strain, an injury to the soleus muscle that's especially hard to play through. He's expected to miss the wild card series, maybe longer, with no guarantee he's back at all this postseason. Ben Rice has emerged as a legitimate offensive engine on his own and this lineup has already proven for most of the season is can produce without Judge in it. Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. are complementary pieces, not lineup-carriers, and how much longer this offense can keep doing it without its best hitter is the real question entering October.

9. Chicago White Sox

Chicago's lineup is solid without being special, a bit above league average overall. Miguel Vargas and Chase Meidroth are both legitimately good complementary pieces. Colson Montgomery supplies real power, but strikes out more than almost anyone in the American League and was hit on the wrist by a pitch this month, his status uncertain for the stretch run, This offense performs about the same against left-handed and right-handed pitching, a rare balanced trait, but it doesn't have a true middle-of-the-order star to build around. A wild-card spot secured mostly on pitching and defense means this lineup will need to be better than its regular-season numbers suggest.

10. Texas Rangers

Texas ranks near the bottom of these 13 teams in raw production, though the underlying quality is a little better than the raw numbers show. The bigger issue is the profile, a high strikeout rate and a low walk rate, the kind of free-swinging approach that can get exposed against good bullpens. Corey Seager is a shell of the hitter he was a year ago after multiple injury absences. Marcus Semien is gone, traded to the Mets for Brandon Nimmo, a step down offensively. Josh Jung and Justin Foscue have picked up some of the slack. A division lead built mostly on pitching now has to hold up with a diminished lineup behind it.

11. San Diego Padres

Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill give this lineup a genuine top of the order, both with real power and speed. The raw numbers actually undersell this offense a little once you adjust for pitcher-friendly Petco Park. Manny Machado is in real decline, his power intact but his contract and on-base skills collapsed. The bigger problem is depth. Luis Rengifo tore his ACL, Gavin Sheets and Ramon Laureano have both been out for weeks, and San Diego is filling its bench with September call-ups. Fighting for the final postseason spots, this offense doesn't have much margin to make up for its own injuries.

12. Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies have gone from a top-10 power team through July to one of the coldest in baseball since August, a real, documented power collapse. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, among the leaders in home runs, remain excellent. Trea Turner has been a different problem all together, mired in one of the worst slumps of his career the last few weeks. A team that spent most of the summer near the top of the National League in offense is now clinging to the last wild-card spot with a lineup that's cooling off at the worst time.

13. Cleveland Guardians

Cleveland's full-season numbers are the worst of any team in this ranking. The Guardians have been genuinely better lately, an above-average offense since early August, led by a resurgent Steven Kwan. Jose Ramirez, normally the offense's best player, is having the worst year of his career since returning from a hamate fracture. Cleveland is in first place on pitching and defense. A better recent stretch doesn't erase a season of being one of the least productive offenses in baseball.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ranking MLB's best lineups for 2026 playoffs: Who's built for October?

The Pittsburgh Pirates are about to complete their best season in a decade, but it’s still far short of their goals to compete for a World Series. Though this year is coming to a close for the Buccos, there are several things they can try to do next season to finally get them over the hump and back into the playoff picture.

Consider a pitching coach change

The rotation of the Pittsburgh Pirates was supposed to be their marquee position group in 2026, but instead it fell as flat a pancake on the griddle. There were too many stretches this season where the Pirates’ starters could not get things going. Ace Paul Skenes was uncharacteristically inconsistent, citing that his involvement in the World Baseball Classic may have hindered his outings during the year.

“Usually, that time of year, you’re kind of ramping up and it’s a little bit slow. You can kind of get onto the slope and find your body,” Skenes said. “One live [batting practice], you’re topping at 97 [mph], and then the next you’re 98, 99. And that wasn’t the case this year. … Looking back, I don’t think that really helped.”

The Carmen Mlodzinski saga did not help matters either, and when it was apparent that he wasn’t going to be in the rotation longterm, he too fell apart. Bubba Chandler did not effectively build on his experiences as a rookie last season to improve this season and was largely average for the Pirates, while veteran Mitch Keller looked outmatched and over the hill throughout the year before landing himself on the IL.

Former Pirates reliever Dan Pleasac critiques Paul Skenes mechanics. And very simply states why he’s having control problems. Question: If it’s this easy. Why aren’t Skenes and overrated pitching coach Bill Murphy make these changes ASAP??? pic.twitter.com/yI8oh1QFvg

— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) August 20, 2026

The bullpen of course was a disaster all year round too, and only got slightly better after some very aggressive moves at the trade deadline. However, that would prove to be too little too late as the pitching staff began to watch their wheels fall off. First year Pirates’ pitching coach Bill Murphy was not a welcomed addition to the Pirates’ staff, following the organization’s decision to not bring back Oscar Marin. Murphy’s squad blew 16 saves and was all over the place. This group, specifically the starters, is far too talented to have taken such a large step backwards since last season. Perhaps the Pirates would be best suited with another man at the helm of the pitching staff.

Find a consistent presence at catcher

The Pirates have tried, tried and tried again to find their every day catcher for years now. The writing should be more clear than it is, but they really need to think about cutting ties with someone like Henry Davis. Although he’s arguable the best defensive catcher on the team, he’s been and continues to be a liability on offense, to the point where part of the team’s strategy is to get him to bunt instead of pulling balls.

Despite the struggles, General Manager Ben Cherington envisions a future where Davis, Rafael Flores Jr. and Endy Rodriguez are all on the Pirates’ roster and being key contributors .

Your 2027 starting catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Rafael Flores Jr. pic.twitter.com/ULD3QBwV0i

— Kody Duncan (@KodyDuncanPGH) September 20, 2026

“We believe all three can be primary catchers on a Major League team,” Cherington said of Davis, Flores and Rodríguez. “The offensive side of Henry’s game hasn’t been at the level we anticipated it would be. It doesn’t mean it won’t get there. We see a guy who’s not striking out, who’s hitting the ball hard and generally making contact. Sometimes guys like that are only an adjustment or two away from putting up much better numbers. We all know the defensive side of his game is a strength.“Flo has come up and really looked like a big piece of the lineup offensively. He’s done some really good things defensively, too. … We see it as a strength going forward. I just hope that group of three continues to challenge each other.”

Now not every catcher is going to be hitting in the .300s like Arizona’s Gabriel Moreno, but Davis hitting .169 is a serious problem. There are enough talented catchers in Major League Baseball these days where there’s no need to keep an anchor attached to your roster. Undoubtedly the organization is trying to at least break even on the former first overall pick, but his defensive prowess might not be enough to keep Davis on as a Bucco.

Remain aggressive on the market

This team is close. At the very least, the Pirates are far closer than they’ve been in a long time. A lot of 2026’s success is a result of last winter. They made a splash trade for Brandon Lowe, Mason Montgomery and Jake Mangum with Tampa Bay. They signed Ryan O’Hearn to a multi-year contract. It is imperative that the front office keep their feet on the gas pedal and not dial back and settle into old ways.

The Pirates need to add one more above average hitter to their everyday lineup. If they can find another hitter in the trade market or free-agency that can deliver on a 20-25 home run season, that instantly puts the team in a far better situation moving forward. If they can add another veteran presence while also resigning Brandon Lowe, 2027’s squad could enter as one of the most dangerous lineups in baseball.

3️⃣3️⃣ HRs this season for Brandon Lowe!
9️⃣6️⃣ HRs at home this season (! NEW FRANCHISE RECORD!) pic.twitter.com/T9s8DRk95S

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 20, 2026

Not to mention this young core is already looking like one that with enough time can grow into something very exciting. Konnor Griffin could be a generational superstar, Esmerlyn Valdez has emerged as a serious power threat at the plate, and Nick Gonzales quietly performed far beyond expectations in 2026. This is not the time for the Pirates to blow things up or to stay stagnant. With one or two more pieces, this team can build off of this season accordingly and take this platform to the next level in 2027.

What do yinz think the Pirates should do to get over the hump? Let us know in the comments!

I do feel a little bad for Ben Rice and Ryan McMahon. Yes, Tuesday’s nightcap rendered yesterday’s Yankees/Rays game largely irrelevant, but these guys are still playing for pride out there. Rice zoomed into a tie for the American League lead in homers, joining a trio of others at 41, and McMahon showed signs of life with the bat for the first time in what’s felt like ages, driving in a run with a single before curling a grand slam around the right-field foul pole. The Yankees are so desperate for something from third base that they’re probably going to give the inexperienced Anthony Volpe a look in at least a one or two of these final few games; McMahon needed to show signs of life.

But no, none of the game stories from the Yankees’ 9-2 win on Wednesday matter much. So, Aaron Judge. On Tuesday, manager Aaron Boone said that he didn’t expect the captain to be available for the Wild Card Series. Pretty reasonable, considering that almost all calf strains take a few weeks to recover from and he only hit the IL effective September 17th. However, the man wants to play in the Wild Card Series even with a busted calf! In fact, he disputes that the strain that Boone described as “moderate” is not exactly, well, moderate. “What’s moderate for others is not moderate for me,” he essentially says.

In Yankee days of yore, conflict between players, managers, and the front office was far from unusual. They didn’t call it “the Bronx Zoo” because of Sparky Lyle’s sometimes-walruslike mustache (though it was luxurious). Compared to both then and what you occasionally see in other leagues, it’s nothing. In the post-Derek Jeter vanillassance days though, this is what passes for acrimony. And at minimum, it is a storyline to follow as Tuesday’s Game 1 of the Wild Card Series creeps closer.

The Yankees will have until early Tuesday to finalize their roster. So is there a world where it even makes sense to put Judge on there, even if he’s compromised? Despite the man’s insistence, I think that it is safe to say there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that he’s going to be in tip-top shape, let alone manning his customary right field. But could it still make sense to throw him on there?

It’s a tough situation because if this was another year, then there might be a possibility to hide him at DH, even if he can’t run (which: no, don’t try that Aaron). Even with his pal Giancarlo Stanton injured and trying for his own long-shot bid, the DH spot is occupied by a legitimate option. Ben Rice is tied for the AL home run lead and is fairly locked in there Luis García Jr. and Paul Goldschmidt sharing time at first base in a platoon-ish role. Rice is Rice, García has 27 homers against righties, and Goldy has a .990 OPS against southpaws. Obviously, healthy Judge is better than all of them, but that’s not who we have. As much as I like the guy, it’d be foolish to start the guy who most recently hit .174 off the IL with K’s in over half his at-bats over any of them. I really believe that.

There is one possibility where it could maybe work. Judge can’t start, sorry. He might have merit as a pinch-hit option, lurking in the background for the Red Sox to consider in any late-game moment. By the numbers, no, he wouldn’t be much of a challenge. And yet it’s extremely difficult for pitchers to square that thought with staring down No. 99 in the batter’s box. It’s harder than one would think to simply throw strikes, let alone when a three-time MVP is hitting. Even the threat of him looming on the bench could mess with the right coach’s strategy.

So suppose you buy into this. Is there roster space for him? I think it might get tight if we’re in later round, but one could squint and see it for the best-of-three Wild Card Series. You really don’t need that many pitchers if you have three real starters. And even if you throw in the three most reliable relievers (David Bednar, Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick) as well as both the fourth and fifth starter and some flyers on other arms, you’ll still be covered. The bench is bigger and teams sometimes even carry a third catcher for this. Is this wild card of Judge being intimidating in the box and on the bench worth the trade-off for a designated pinch-runner, extra utilityman, or a J.C. Escarra cameo? Maybe. Maybe.

The concern is that playing it too fast and loose with these gambles could have consequences on Judge’s 2027 if this turns into something really bad (and the soleus muscle is a tough one). The man’s not young at this point in baseball terms. The safest path is indeed probably just to tell him to take it easy. He won’t, but that’s why tough decisions have to get made. Although everyone wants to have their Kirk Gibson Pinch-Hit Moment, far more often than not, it’s just not in the cards.

What do you think?

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Today on the site, Madison will run through the Rivalry Roundup as we officially bid farewell to one particular nemesis from last year. Nick will argue why potentially missing Judge for the Wild Card Series shouldn’t doom the Yanks, Jonathan will celebrate the birthday of a South Side fan favorite who closed out his career in the Bronx, and Peter will break down some excellent work from Carlos Rodón for his Sequence of the Week.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Time: 7:05 p.m.

TV: YES Network, Rays.TV

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY