Prem Rugby: Bath 40-34 Exeter
Hosts made to fight all the way in 11-try thriller
Bath went to the top of the Prem after beating Exeter Chiefs in a pulsating West Country derby at the Rec but they were made to fight all the way in an 11-try thriller.
Exeter trailed 26-10 at the interval but rallied to lead 33-31 midway through the second half before a yellow card for scrum-half Stephen Varney eventually proved decisive.
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Well, that was not the Wild Card round we wanted. This Cubs team provided the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in 2026. We’ll think of this as the year of the walkoff, brought to you in no small part by a pitching staff that was decimated by injuries. Pete Crow-Armstrong notching the first 40-40 season in the history of the franchise is clearly the defining highlight of the season, and we’ll all celebrate his MVP award when it’s official. But at the end of the day this team hit one of their down stretches towards the end of September and really just never turned it around. It’s disappointing, but baseball is gonna baseball.
Without the Cubs cheering interest in the Division Series this guide will return to its original vibe: a slightly snarky, but hopefully informative, look at all of the divisional action that kicks off tomorrow in Cleveland. Most of the former Cubs in the field were eliminated in the Wild Card round. So unless you’re really pulling for Cody Bellinger and the Yankees for some unfathomable reason, might I propose jumping on the bandwagon of the world’s most famous Chicagoan: Pope Leo XIV and cheering for the White Sox?
To cheer for Chicago or to cheer against Chicago? That is a deep question many Cubs fans face today. As a Cubs fan who grew up far away and moved to Chicago in 2015, I’ve just really never had the animosity for the Sox that many native Chicagoans profess. Cheering for Cleveland, Tampa Bay or San Diego over the Sox really just feels ridiculous. There is no world where I’m taking Atlanta or Milwaukee over a team from Chicago and don’t make me laugh by suggesting I cheer for either coastal Death Star, have we met?
The Sox won their first playoff series since 2005 taking out the Astros in Houston. They’ll return to Chicago with a flawed, but scrappy team. Manager Will Venable will send Hagen Smith, the Game 1 opener from the Wild Card round, to the mound for Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series. Hey, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it [VIDEO].
To advance to the American League Championship Series, the Sox will need to thwart the Guardians. The Guardians have won the AL Central for the last three seasons, although they’ve only posted 90+ wins one time in that period. They’ll send Parker Messick, Gavin Williams and (likely) Foster Griffin to the mound.
On the position side Cleveland is still led by José Ramírez, although the future Hall of Famer had a down year this season only slashing .235/.320/.368 with 12 home runs with a wRC+ of 92 in 544 plate appearances. To put that in perspective, his 2025 slashline was .283/.360/.503 with 30 home runs and a wRC+ of 133 in 673 plate appearances. Savvy readers will note that 130 plate appearance difference, it seems pretty clear J-Ram was dealing with injuries this year. It’s worth keeping an eye on whether the drive all players destined for Cooperstown have will kick in in October transcending whatever issues hamstrung him in 2026. It’s worth noting he seemed to tap into that for his 1,000th RBI, which came on this solo home run in September [VIDEO].
The bullpens are closer in raw talent than you might think, with the Guardians rostering one of the best closers in the game in Cade Smith and the White Sox countering with Grant Taylor (who I discussed at length in the Wild Card Series guide). The Guardians relievers put up a 3.54 ERA off a 3.70 FIP with 46 saves in 63 opportunities this season. By fWAR their bullpen ranked second in the American League behind Boston. Meanwhile the White Sox relievers put up a 3.70 ERA off a 4.10 FIP with 41 saves in 71 opportunities. They ranked fifth by fWAR in the AL.
The regular season between these two teams was about as even as it gets with the White Sox holding a 7-6 edge over the course of the season.
The Phillies gave the Braves a real run for their money coming back to win Game 2 of the Wild Card round before ultimately succumbing in Game 3. The Braves won handily, and probably feel a bit of swagger heading to LA. They’ll need every ounce of that swagger to take on the defending World Series Champion Dodgers.
There are not probable pitchers announced for either team beyond the Dodgers Game 1 hurler, Tarik Skubal. FanGraphs Roster Resource currently projects Game 1 as a bullpen game for the Braves followed by Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow following Skubal for the Dodgers [VIDEO].
Starting pitching seems like a definitive edge to the Dodgers, if only because L.A. will line up three aces and Atlanta will counter with a future Hall of Fame ace, a solid guy and their bullpen. It’s a similar story on the offensive side of the equation where the Braves are led by first baseman Matt Olson who hit 41 home runs in 2026 plus catcher Drake Baldwin, former MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. and Cubs killer Ozzie Albies. But the Dodgers are sporting the second best offense in MLB behind the Chicago Cubs. It turns out even relatively down years from guys like Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman is still utterly dominant relative to the rest of the league [VIDEO].
Even the bullpen, which had given the Dodgers some trouble down the stretch, shows a large edge for LA. While some of their relievers struggled at times this season, they righted the ship in the final two weeks of the season. Closer Tanner Scott had a 2.69 ERA off a 2.10 FIP with 26 saves in 63.2 innings. Braves closer Raisel Iglesias compares favorably to Scott head-to-head with a 2.55 ERA off a 3.17 FIP and 34 saves in 60 innings, however the remainder of Atlanta’s pen just isn’t in the same league as the Dodgers [VIDEO].
For what it’s worth, despite all of the statistical indicators pointing in the direction of the Dodgers, Atlanta won this series handily in 2026 taking five of six meetings between the two teams.
All due apologies to the Tampa Bay Rays with the title here, but until the sabermetrically inclined little front office who could can hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy they are going to have to live with looking like the underdog against the Yankees. Yes, that’s even true when the Rays won 98 games to their division rival’s 93. Yes, even when you’ve narrowly beaten the Yankees head-to-head in seven of 13 games.
Admittedly, the Rays will likely get a shot at the king playing without their best hitter. Aaron Judge was left off the Wild Card roster due to a calf strain that has kept him from fulling engaging in baseball activities. As of Friday afternoon, it seems probable he’ll be left off the Division Series roster as well. Ben Rice did an excellent job filling Judge’s size 17 shoes. The Yankees first baseman went five for ten with two home runs and six RBI in the Wild Card round. Meanwhile, the Rays best hitter is absolutely 23-year-old Junior Caminero who hit .276/.360/.524 with 42 home runs and a wRC+ of 142 in 702 plate appearances. Caminero is in the PCA tier of outstanding young MLB talent as evidenced by the fact that it was the second 40-home run campaign of his young career [VIDEO].
The Rays were actually ahead of the Yankees offensively this season, pacing the American League in position player fWAR with the Yankees 2.6 fWAR behind (admittedly, in one fewer game).
The Yankees hold the edge in pitching, however, and you don’t need to look further than Cam Schlittler’s performance against the Red Sox to see why. While both the Rays and the Yankees have excellent starting and relief pitching the Yankees just edge out the Rays in both categories. While the Rays will send Drew Rasmussen and his 2.67 ERA off a 2.82 FIP in 172 innings to the mound in Game 1 followed by Freddy Peralta and Nick Martinez, the Yankees will counter with Gerrit Cole, followed by Wild Card hero Schlittler and (probably) Max Fried. You can marvel over what a weapon Schlittler can be reliving his 10 strikeouts against the Red Sox below [VIDEO].
The day before the Cubs began their unceremonial march to being swept out of the Wild Card round by the Padres I wrote about my concerns regarding the way they were limping into the Postseason on the back of a difficult schedule. Part of my concern was also how hot the Padres were finishing the season with a 16-2 mark in their last 18 games. Well, now make that an 18-2 mark in their last 20 games as they head into Milwaukee to take on the team who posted the best record in baseball this season: The Brewers.
To be clear, the Brewers aren’t exactly limping into the playoffs. They won their last five games and went 15-5 in their last 20. This is truly two teams at their peak colliding. It should be an incredible series for baseball fans.
The Brewers will hand the baseball to likely NL Cy Young award winner Jacob Misiorowski while the Padres will counter with veteran Robbie Ray. Baseball is prone to the strangest outcomes, so it is entirely possible that Ray will outduel Misiorowski just because, however it’s hard to fathom they guy who’s thrown more than 1,000 pitches over 100 MPH as a starter flopping in early October [VIDEO]:
In game two, Logan Henderson will take on Michael King in a matchup that is sure to give Cubs fans flashbacks to unhittability, and while things are unannounced for Game 3, it certainly seems like a Brewers bullpen situation led by some combination of Dustin May, Shane Drohan and Robert Gasser going toe-to-toe with Nick Pivetta.
The Padres should hold the advantage offensively if they can figure out the Brewers elite pitching. Fair warning, Cubs fans may not like the next video, but I really don’t know a better way to show how much damage Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado can do early in the game with the bat than this [VIDEO].
The bullpens are probably comparable with maybe a slight edge to the Padres? The question mark is deliberate, it’s hard to know how it will play out in reality but the San Diego bullpen can basically shut a game down after the sixth inning with some combination of Mason Miller, Bradgley Rodriguez, Adrian Morejon, Yuki Matsui and Jason Adam. Frankly, that list is deep enough you can imagine it shutting down two games played on back-to-back nights with that crew [VIDEO].
That’s no shade to an excellent bullpen in Milwaukee. Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby are a fierce trio at the end of games, but you’d absolutely rather be the team wielding the five-headed monster than the three-headed monster to close out games in October.
It’s probably more important that both of these teams are the hottest versions of themselves than anything that came before. That said, it is worth noting that the Padres won the season series four games to two.
Somehow, some way, the Dodgers’ dynasty will inevitably end.
They don’t think it will be this October, of course, as they come off a 100-win regular season and embark on their historic pursuit of a World Series three-peat.
Around the sport, however, not everyone is so sure.
Ahead of the team’s National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves this week, the California Post spoke to two rival National League scouts to break down the keys to the matchup and solicit predictions for the best-of-five showdown.
In a surprise, both tabbed the Braves to pull off an NLDS upset.
Ahead of Saturday’s series-opener, here’s why:
The Dodgers’ biggest battle this postseason might be less against the Braves, or the Brewers or Padres, or whoever emerges out of the American League side of MLB’s playoff bracket.
Instead, both scouts cited the team’s aging lineup, and the ample mileage that has come with their back-to-back championships the past two years, as perhaps their biggest impediment to winning it all again.
There is a benefit to the experience the Dodgers boast, of course, with Scout 1 noting that “in these series, I just think they draw from their experience and age … They grind out at-bats when they matter. That’s what makes them dangerous.”
However, there were times during the regular season when the Dodgers nonetheless seemed to be wearing down, slumping offensively for much of the second half of the campaign.
“It’s tough to bet against those guys because of the track record,” Scout 2 said. “But at some point, they’re just not going to be able to overcome the age.”
The Dodgers were at their worst in July and August, when they struggled to generate power (ranking 25th in home runs and 23rd in slugging percentage over that stretch) or attack fastballs (ranking 20th in batting average and 26th in slugging percentage against heaters in that same period).
And while September was better –– both in overall production (they ranked fourth in the majors in scoring and second in OPS) and their ability to get back on heaters (fourth in batting average and second in slugging percentage against the pitch) –– their final-month schedule included only six games against teams that ranked better than 20th in team ERA this year.
The Braves finished fifth in that category (3.63 team ERA), and limited the Dodgers to just 15 runs in six head-to-head matchups this season, going 5-1 in those games.
“The Dodgers have feasted for years on [when] you start walking guys and giving them free passes, that’s when they beat you … They lock in, those veteran guys, and that’s where they win,” Scout 1 said. “But the Braves play such great defense, they throw strikes and they’re just a really good team. That’s why I think they handled them pretty good this year.”
The Dodgers’ star-studded pitching staff, of course, should have an advantage over Atlanta’s lineup.
The Dodgers ranked fourth in team ERA this season, while the Braves finished more toward the middle of the pack in most offensive categories (eighth in scoring, 10th in batting average, 16th in OPS).
However, when everything is clicking at the plate, the Braves can still be dangerous, possessing plenty of proven balance and depth up and down their batting order.
For example, All-Star infielders Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies had career-worst regular seasons (by OPS+) this year, but belted key home runs in the wild-card round off star Phillies closer Jhoan Duran and longtime Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, respectively.
Middle-of-the-order mainstays Matt Olson and Michael Harris II also had big moments in the team’s defeat of Philadelphia, with each of them also going deep in Game 3.
It hardly even mattered that former MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. and breakout star Drake Baldwin –– the Nos. 1 and 2 hitters in their order –– went a combined 3-for-22 in the series.
At their best, they can compensate with collective production.
“It’s not always the best guys that you need to come through,” Scout 1 said. “You need some of these other guys to overachieve a little.”
“They’ll be hoping they can chip away,” Scout 2 added. “Not necessarily wear the starters down. But the deeper lineup could allow them to get [the Dodgers starters’] pitch counts up a little bit, get them out of the game, and get into the bullpen earlier.”
Speaking of…
One thing neither scout was sold on was the Dodgers’ bullpen, despite the group’s improved form over the final two months of the season.
“That’s the biggest weakness they have,” Scout 1 said.
“That’s probably the toughest question of the whole team,” Scout 2 echoed.
Internally, the Dodgers feel bullish about the state of the group. Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia and Evan Phillips all looked sharp down the stretch (albeit, again, against mostly non-playoff teams). Edwin Díaz made a sudden late-season resurgence to re-cement his place as a high-leverage option. Edgardo Henriquez is expected to be available after finishing the regular season on the injured list with a back injury. And Roki Sasaki is returning to the same postseason relief role he excelled at last October.
Still, questions abound –– especially if their offense underwhelms and forces them to grind through a series of low-scoring games.
“In close games, offensively you love the Dodgers because of [their experience], but I still am not convinced of that bullpen,” Scout 1 said. “If I was the Dodgers, I don’t think they go into this thing going, ‘Hey, I love our club in a close game.’ I just don’t. I’m not buying it. And it doesn’t mean [their relievers] won’t do it, because the stuff says they can. Especially Scott. I can’t totally pinpoint it. But I know that’s a challenge for them.”
The biggest cloud hanging over the Dodgers, of course, is Ohtani’s health status.
He missed much of September with right arm and left knee problems. He looked good in his first two games back from the injured list, but then dreadful in the following three to close out the regular-season schedule.
The Dodgers have insisted that Ohtani is physically improved from where he was last month, and that his swing has looked better in simulated games during their bye-week workouts.
But still, there is serious skepticism about how impactful the now 32-year-old slugger can be in the playoffs.
“[September] was as bad as anybody’s ever seen him,” Scout 1 said. “He’d have [past cold] streaks where he’ll hunt and he’ll look bad on things and you think, ‘We can get him out with this.’ But he looked different when he was bad this year. It looked like he wasn’t 100%. And I don’t think it’s 100% [now], whether it’s the knee or the arm or whatever.”
“He looked so great on the mound at the beginning of the year,” Scout 2 added. “But you have to wonder just at this point, with his age, did the effort at the beginning of the year come back to really bite him?”
The Dodgers did get one big advantage coming into this series.
While they enjoyed their bye week, and allowed their pitching staff to rest up, the Braves were forced to empty the tank on the mound in their three-game wild-card series –– most notably by starting staff ace Chris Sale in Game 1 and using him out of the bullpen to close out Game 3.
Sale’s wild-card round start was already going to rule him out of pitching Game 1 in the NLDS. But after Thursday’s relief appearance, his availability for Game 2 is suddenly in doubt as well. If he can’t go until Game 3, that would rule out the possibility of him being able to start a potential winner-take-all Game 5.
Given Sale’s importance to the Braves’ pitching staff –– and his complete-game shutout against the Dodgers in August –– that factor gave Scout 2 serious pause about his Braves’ prediction:
“If Sale doesn’t start Sunday, that changes a part of my feeling.”
Still, Scout 2 stuck with a Braves upset, while predicting the series going the full five games.
Scout 1 did the same, somewhat reluctantly, as well.
“I think this one goes five, and it’s going to come down to the bullpen,” he said. “Do I have to pick a winner? Atlanta in five. I like Atlanta.”
When Daryl Morey sent Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a draft pick package at last season’s trade deadline, it was not a widely praised move.
Quite the opposite, actually — amongst fans, media members and McCain’s former teammates alike.
With Morey gone and his replacement Mike Gansey having one of the greatest offseasons in Philadelphia sports history, Sixers fans no longer have to lament every productive performance from McCain for one of the NBA’s best teams.
As a reminder, one of the picks the Sixers received in that deal was a 2026 first-rounder, which the team used to select Alabama guard Labaron Philon, Jr. 22nd overall. If not for the additions of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, Philon would’ve likely been unfairly compared to McCain all season. Now, Philon is free to be himself and play.
And so far, he’s made a strong impression.
Head coach Nick Nurse has been effusive in his praise for the 20-year-old guard. Earlier in the week, Nurse complimented Philon’s compete level after a couple defensive-heavy and physical practices. Nurse also said the young guard’s vision has stood out.
On Friday, Nurse spoke about Philon’s ability as a natural point guard to get his teammates organized.
“What’s showing more is his ability to kind of run an offense,” Nurse said at the team’s practice facility, “get guys where they need — like really, really takes command of getting people where they need to be, making a decisive play call or whatever it is, and getting it executed.
“And then also he’s got a bit of when things are getting a little haywire, and he’s got a little bit of ability to break away and get some space and get into the paint, and then create the offense that way.”
Philon showed off his two-way prowess at Alabama, but not during the same season.
As a freshman, he was the Crimson Tide’s guard stopper, picking up full court and hounding opposing ball-handlers, while All-American Mark Sears ran the offense. As a sophomore last season, it was Philon’s show as he averaged over 22 points a game and was named an All-American himself.
Now, it’s about Philon finding a way to meld those abilities at the NBA level. At his first pro training camp, he’s learning and earning praise.
“Teammates and coaches just encouraging me to be myself, really,” Philon said. “That’s one of the things Coach Rico [Hines] and the guys been telling me — just be yourself and be able to play great basketball, make plays for your teammates, and cheer on your teammates too, and just like be a great leader, be a great teammate. I feel like everybody’s been doing that so far, and that’s what we’ve been preaching.”
There’s no shortage of veteran teammates to learn from.
He asked Brown about his ability to make tough shots in traffic. He’s picked James’ brain about his longevity.
James also provided a fun “Welcome to the NBA” moment on the first day of camp.
“I would say the first play of training camp, LeBron was coming at me full speed,” Philon said. “I was backpedaling, and that’s when the moment really hit. I was like, ‘Alright, like it’s here now.‘”
A benefit of being surrounded by star teammates is getting to practice against them on a daily basis.
“But I would say just being able to stand my ground, like knowing that I can compete against these guys at high levels,” Philon said. “Jaylen’s been making me work every day, all day. So it’s like going against guys like that. I can build more confidence if I’m guarding my teammates in a great way. But those guys are trying to do their best to go at me, and just as a young guy, that’s what you want because if I can guard these guys, I feel like I’m gonna be able to guard anybody across from us or the next opponent.”
But what did he do when James, a physical specimen at 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, came barreling towards him?
“I tried to go for the strip,” Philon said. “He passed the ball across [the court].”
Of course there’s probably no better player for Philon to learn from than Tyrese Maxey.
The Sixers drafted Maxey 21st overall and he was also joining a team with stars and championship aspirations. Even under Doc Rivers, who was notorious for not playing young guys, Maxey forced his way into minutes as a 20-year-old. While Nurse doesn’t have the reputation to the level of Rivers, he also doesn’t have the greatest track record with playing young players.
Philon has a great sounding board in Maxey.
“I would just say the one-on-one talks,” Philon said, “like during practice, like when I’m making great plays, he’ll probably pull me to the side and just like tell me the concepts and the reasons that if this is not open or I don’t have a shot, these are the reads we want to make and stuff like that. … He’s been helping me out pretty well. Ever since I got on the floor and stepped into this building, he’s been helping me.”
Philon has also learned a bit from a former Sixers nemesis — Rajon Rondo, who visited Mobile on occasion when Philon was there. Philon said he’s studied the retired point guard’s defense and wants to be to able get in passing lanes and create turnovers like Rondo once did.
In his second season, Rondo was surrounded by future Hall of Famers Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Much like Rondo in helping the Boston Celtics win a championship, Philon’s focus will be on keeping things simple.
“I feel like for me, the best decision is making the easiest play,” Philon said. “Right now, I don’t really need no showtime or kind of flashy plays. The position I’m in right now, it’s like making the right play every time, it’d be great for me.”
With James and Brown here, Sixers fans have largely forgotten about the Jared McCain trade.
Labaron Philon might make people remember it for all the right reasons.
Regardless of the outside noise and uncertainty surrounding the organization, the Detroit Red Wings still have business to take care of.
Detroit will host the New York Rangers at Little Caesars Arena on Friday evening, officially opening its 101st NHL season. However, the Red Wings will be without two key pieces of their lineup.
Forward Dylan Larkin will miss Detroit's first two games while recovering from an off-ice training injury, while unsigned RFA defenseman Simon Edvinsson has returned to his native Sweden amid a contract stalemate.
But the NHL schedule doesn't stop for injuries or contract disputes.
Despite the challenges they're facing, the Red Wings will enter the season with the pride that comes with being the winningest American-based NHL franchise and an Original Six club.
"We're the Detroit Red Wings, and that means something," said head coach Todd McLellan, who has his name on the Stanley Cup as a Red Wings assistant coach in 2008. "We are an Original Six team; we have a lot of stuff going on around us, but we're still the Detroit Red Wings.
And if it doesn't mean anything to me, or to the players in the locker room, or the trainers, or anyone else in the organization, then shame on them. They shouldn't be part of it."
Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features.
Pride can only go so far, as the Red Wings cannot rest on laurels.
They currently own the NHL's longest postseason drought at 10 years, which is also the longest in franchise history.
Despite having several top-notch talents, questions remain about whether this is finally the group that can get over the hump, especially after three straight March collapses. Larkin's situation remains unresolved, as is Edvinsson's.
Additionally, the Red Wings' executive leadership situation remains unsettled.
However, with a full regular season ahead, Detroit has no choice but to move forward and hope to recapture some of the magic that makes being a part of the Red Wings so special.
"We've got work to do; we know who we are, we know what we have to do, and things we have to overcome," McLellan said. "But we are the Detroit Red Wings, and that means something.
And we're going to approach it that way all year."
Younger generations of Red Wings fans have yet to experience the championship-level success the franchise once enjoyed.
With one eye on the past and the other on the future, it's up to the current crop of Red Wings to pull the club out of its prolonged slump and back into the NHL's upper echelon.
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The Yankees made headlines with an unusual roster construction in the Wild Card. Confident in their starting rotation and recognizing the team’s extreme lefty/right splits, New York carried a Major League record 16 position players, carrying just ten pitchers for the three-game set with the Boston Red Sox. While the team did not, in the end, need that entire bench — only 14 players actually got in the games, with Giancarlo Stanton and Ali Sánchez riding the bench — the decision drew quite a bit of attention: the NBC broadcast routinely stressed the wide variety of buttons that Aaron Boone had at his disposal, while Michael Baumann of FanGraphs published an article on Wednesday titled, “Everybody Except the Yankees Is Doing Wild Card Roster Construction Wrong.”
The historic move worked out pretty much perfectly. The Bombers sent out two very different lineups in each of the two games against Boston, with only five position players — designated hitter Ben Rice, left fielder Cody Bellinger, shortstop George Lombard Jr., outfielder Spencer Jones, and catcher Austin Wells — slotted into the lineup both nights; furthermore, in each game, the team went to the bench early and often: Luis García Jr. and Paul Goldschmidt pinch hit in the games they didn’t start, and Ryan McMahon, Trent Grisham, and José Caballero came in for defense. While these moves were not, obviously, the reason the Yankees won the series (holding the Boston lineup to just two runs on seven hits across 18 innings gets top billing), this flexibility off the bench was a weapon that Boston manager Chad Tracy had to contend with.
Despite its success, though, conventional wisdom dictates that the Yankees surrender this advantage against the Rays in the ALDS. They carried 12 pitchers last year, 11 in 2024, and 12 in 2022: fewer than the standard 13 they carry during the regular season, but nonetheless more than the 10 they carried this week. The thing is, though…how often do teams actually need more than 10 pitchers in the Divisional Series? Can the Bombers avoid the position player roster crunch — or rather, even more of one than they’re going to have when Aaron Judge returns from injury?
To see just how far the Yankees can realistically push the oversized bench in the ALDS, I went back to every Divisional Series from 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 (i.e., every year since the most recent CBA, when the Wild Card Game was expanded into the Wild Card Series) and counted how many pitchers each team actually used over the course of the series. I also documented how many different pitchers got the start, to see if that had any effect on the total (I did not record how many starting pitchers were used out of the bullpen, at least in this preliminary analysis).
Of these 32 teams, seven teams only used 10 pitchers, while one team — the 2022 Yankees, whose series went five games against Cleveland — used just nine. A full quarter of the time, teams were able to get away with the number of pitchers the Yankees had in the Wild Card Series, and while that’s much smaller than the 42 percent who used 12 or 13 pitchers, it suggests that entering the series with a skeleton bullpen is not exactly an impossible ask.
Since eight pitching staffs are a much more reasonable sample size, I then decided to take a deep dive into these staffs, looking into how many starting pitchers they used in relief.
The raw numbers don’t tell the whole story, of course — one of the five relievers on the 2022 Yankees was Clarke Schmidt, who did make a handful of starts that year between Triple-A and the Majors, and one on the 2024 Kansas City Royals was Kris Bubic, a starting pitcher who worked out of the bullpen while recovering from Tommy John surgery; both pitchers were capable of going multiple innings if needed. Even so, though, these numbers give some reasons both for and against the Yankees’ ability to carry just 10 pitchers.
The biggest reason not to carry a short bullpen is the fact that the Yankees are lined up to use four starters during the ALDS, with Cam Schlittler, Max Fried, Gerrit Cole, and Carlos Rodón likely to get the ball against Tampa Bay. Of these eight squads, only two were able to get by with 10 pitchers while using four starters — and in truth, only one had a “traditional” pitching staff, as the 2024 Detroit Tigers employed “pitching chaos” behind ace Tarik Skubal. In a five-game set, it’s already harder to keep the circle of trust completely closed without burning out the bullpen, and even more so when you’re only squeaking by with the bare minimum number of starting pitchers to begin with.
The Bombers, though, do have one trick up their sleeve: the number of starting pitchers and multi-inning relievers available out of the bullpen. Will Warren has already made his first postseason appearance of the season, coming on in relief of Fried on Wednesday night. Paul Blackburn has gone more than one inning in 32 of his 62 appearances. Long reliever Ryan Yarbrough and starter Ryan Weathers should be able to provide multiple innings, and it’s likely at least one (if not both) will make the roster. Brent Headrick, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to need much rest at all, having pitched in 81 games this season — a full half the season. And, if the rotation is lined up as I expect it will, with Schlittler getting Games 2 and 5, and Fried Game 3, either Cole or Rodón will get the ball in Game 4; given the amount of rest they’ve had, it wouldn’t surprise me to see whoever doesn’t get the Game 1 start come out of the bullpen in that game if the situation arises.
It might be theoretically possible, then, for the Yankees to get by with just 10 pitchers. In all likelihood, though, I doubt it’s going to be something they’re actually going to try: even with the extensive amount of rest built into the schedule (the Yankees have off-days scheduled between Games 1 and 2, 2 and 3, and 4 and 5, only playing on back-to-back days once — and at home), the fact that the team lines up best with four starters makes it unlikely we’ll see them risk rolling with just a six-man ‘pen. Even so, I’d expect Aaron Boone to keep the circle of trust small and keep only 11 pitchers; assuming Judge doesn’t return from the IL (I will personally be surprised if he returns before the ALCS), that would mean the Yankees would only need to drop one position player, and thus can employ the deep and flexible bench they used so well against Boston.
Nic Maddinson’s call-up to Australia’s Test squad in South Africa came from nowhere.
After just a single game at the NHL level to start the season, Nashville Predators General Manager Chris MacFarland announced that Ryan Ufko has been reassigned to the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League on Friday.
"I thought his play tapered a little bit," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette told Brooks Bratten, the Preds' team reporter. "We're hoping for a little better effort last night from him, and he got overwhelmed a little bit in that hockey game. And I think we’ve got some things to figure out on the backend, and we don't really want him sitting out. We want him playing.”
Ufko, a 23-year-old defenseman out of Smithtown, New York, was Nashville's 115th overall pick at the 2021 NHL Draft. He's currently starting his third fully professional season, and although he's made appearances at the NHL level sporadically, he's been a regular in Milwaukee for the past two seasons.
The Admirals are set to start their season tomorrow night as they visit the Rockford IceHogs.
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers will have a familiar face and voice on the field before Saturday’s opener of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium, as Keith Williams Jr. is slated to sing the national anthem before Game 1 against the Atlanta Braves.
It’s the 14th postseason national anthem at Dodger Stadium dating back to 2016 for Williams, who also sang before Game 1 of the 2025 wild card round and for Game 3 of the 2025 NLCS. Williams also performed the national anthem before opening day this regular season on March 26.
Saxophonist Mike Phillips will perform the national anthem ahead of Game 2 on Sunday evening.
For other pregame ceremonies, Adrián González will throw out the first pitch before Game 1 and Reggie Smith will do the honors before Game 2. Both will also say “It’s time for Dodger baseball” ahead of their games.
González played in four NL Division Series with the Dodgers (2013-16), and hit .260/.299/.438 with four home runs and 14 RBI in 18 games. Smith played in one NLDS with the Dodgers, after the strike-shortened 1981 season, and had one hit in two at-bats plus a sacrifice fly and two RBI in three games against the Houston Astros. Smith was inducted into the Legends of Dodger Baseball in August.
If the NLDS goes the distance, the Dodgers will have Manny Mota and José Mota involved in the ceremonial first pitch before Game 5 next Friday, October 9, with Amber Blue singing the anthem.
Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
The idiot that said, “Harper is coming” asks:Was that fun or what? Share some of your feelings about the absolute destruction of the Boston Red Sox in historic fashion.
The Wild Card Series ended up being a rout, and while I definitely favored the Yankees over the Red Sox I wouldn’t have guessed the final tally would see New York put up 18 runs to Boston’s two. The games were definitely tense for a good bit before they became stomps, as Boston’s starters were doing well to keep pace with the Yankees’ until they were both pulled to disastrous effects. I think that the gap in managerial experience in this series was abundant, as now-no-longer-interim manager Chad Tracy didn’t have much of a feel for when he should’ve trusted his starters. The more egregious case was Sonny Gray, who was only at 70 pitches and as he stated his own case in the post-game was an extremely effective pitcher going through the order a third time, whereas Payton Tolle was at least a little deeper into his pitch count. Meanwhile, Boone and company were ahead of the game in constructing their Wild Card Series roster and the Yankee skipper got to pull out all the stops in playing to his matchups with great success. I imagine the ALDS roster will be a little more balanced in the number of pitchers versus position players making Boone’s choices in this regard a little more difficult to make going forward, but this team has had to make the most of their platoons throughout the year and I think that can be a real strength for them now in the Postseason.
As for the damage they did once they got to that Boston bullpen… my goodness. It felt like an entire summer’s worth of frustration unleashed into near-perfect execution. We’ll get into the specifics of their turnaround in a minute, but a Ben Rice masterpiece followed by a team-wide throttling was absolutely thrilling to watch. Everybody got involved, from the most downtrodden names in the middle of the year to the stars they were counting on, and it felt like a resounding answer to the question looming over everyone’s head about how far this team could go if Aaron Judge isn’t going to be available.
The absolute cherry on top of this performance was watching the pitching staff pour it on as the tide started to turn in the Yankees’ favor. Cam Schlittler continues to haunt the Red Sox, turning in another fantastic outing and showing that he’s got plenty in the tank should the team need it, tossing 117 pitches in a 10 strikeout performance going 6.1 strong without a single run allowed. When the Yankees saw Luis Severino break out in 2017 and lead into 2018, I thought I wouldn’t witness a homegrown Yankee pitcher deal like that for a long time, but Schlittler has managed to go above and beyond even the best of Sevy’s reign. He’s the full-fledged ace of the best staff this franchise has formed in decades, and even though there are some incredibly strong teams in the field having a staff like that gives me the confidence that the Yankees could truly go out and compete with anyone. Max Fried’s efforts can’t be ignored, as he’s been an underrated Red Sox killer now in his career as well. His outing wasn’t as flashy as Schlittler’s, but he was extremely effective in preventing the Sox from ever getting a rally going and served as an elite 1B to Schlittler’s 1A. Their efforts combined with the later run support also made it a light series for the bullpen, who will now be nice and rested heading into St. Pete with all hands on deck. They truly couldn’t have drawn this series up any better, and now it’s onto the real test against the Rays.
BetweenThePinstripes asks:The Yankee offense has picked up the pace for well over a month now. What do you attribute this uptick to?
There’s a number of names in the lineup that have quietly turned in significantly better performances in the second half of the season that led them to where they could demolish Boston like they did. It starts with the bottom of the order, which was an absolute black hole for the Yankees for a good stretch. Austin Wells’ job security was hanging on by a thread, his excellent management of the pitching staff from behind the plate being his only saving grace as he couldn’t string together a pair of hits for his life. His 41 wRC+ through the first half of the season was truly dreadful, but he was also dealing with a cervical headache issue that eventually saw him hit the IL in early June. Ever since he returned he’s been a different man at the plate, and over the second half the numbers agree: he posted a 124 wRC+ to close out the year.
Wells has been the biggest turnaround, but it doesn’t stop there. Jazz Chisholm Jr. had a much-maligned season, but he found his groove in August and rode that into September, posting a 122 wRC+ in the final month. Jazz’s slow start was mostly fueled by a complete lack of power, but his dip in the summer was the product of him losing the strike zone completely, walking at just a 7.1 percent rate compared to a 38.1 percent strikeout rate in July. With that smoothed out, he’s once again a solid contributor down in the lineup, and then you throw in Spencer Jones finding himself after a couple of stints with the Major League team. Jones ran a trial by fire in his first couple of stays, getting called up as the team couldn’t keep a set of three outfielders healthy for any extended period of time. His strikeout rates may still be a bit gruesome, but they’re nowhere near the stratospheric 41.5 percent Jones was striking out at in the first half, and he’s displayed a surprising burst of speed to go along with his prodigious power. His strikeout converted into a free base was a crucial turning point in Game 2 of the ALWCS, and he’s provided some flexibility now as they work Trent Grisham back into the fold.
Of course, the table setters for this offense still have to make their mark, and the Yankees’ top two hitters are entering this Postseason at their hottest points in months. Cody Bellinger’s season was rapidly declining from an elite May into a downright bad summer, but after a stay on the IL he’s back to looking like his old self at just the right time. Ben Rice struggled for a good portion of this season after the weight of being The Guy in the lineup was thrust upon him with Judge’s injury, but after the Captain’s return became only a brief cameo it was imperative that he could be the big threat in a playoff game and he proved that he’s up to the task with a godly 195 wRC+ in September before going ballistic in Game 1. With just a little bit of protection around him Rice can be a nightmare for opposing pitchers, and now that the rest of the ensemble has gotten their act together he might just have a very special run in him.
All in all, the season stat lines on the Yankees’ offense may not wow you but they’ve got a significant portion of their lineup peaking exactly when you want them to. Would I have liked to see some of them be more consistent throughout the year considering their talent on paper and the fact that their lethargic offense was what held them back from running down the Rays for the division? Sure, but the season is defined by what you do in October and I can easily forgive the frustrations of the summer if it’s met with champagne bottles popping throughout the fall.
As the instructional leagues wrap up and the MLB moves closer to the World Series, it’s time to turn our attention to the next event on the minor league calendar: the Arizona Fall League.
According to the AFL website, “The roots of the Arizona Fall League go back three decades, when the Major Leagues wanted to create an easily accessed offseason league. With the Arizona Fall League, managers, coaches, scouts and league officials can be under direct guidance of league and club personnel in league-affiliated ballparks and premier training facilities. The AFL is designed to serve as the ‘finishing school’ of the minor leagues for players, coaches, umpires and aspiring employees.”
Prospects from all 30 teams are split up into six “super teams” across the Phoenix metro area and play games from October 3-November 14. You can see the full schedule here.
The Colorado Rockies will be represented by eight prospects and two pitching coaches this season, alongside prospects and coaches from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins, Washington Nationals and New York Yankees.
Here is a preview of each player, as well as comments from Rockies director of player development Chris Forbes.
Eaton (No. 28 PuRP) was drafted in the sixth round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of George Mason University. The left-hander made nine appearances out of the bullpen during his first season — eight in Low-A Fresno and one in High-A Spokane. He returned to Spokane in 2025, starting 23 games and posting a 5-8 record with a 3.56 ERA. Eaton was promoted to Double-A Hartford, where he made four starts and posted a 1-1 record with a 5.30 ERA.
He repeated in Hartford in 2026, making 23 starts once again and posting a 5-3 record with a 4.46 ERA.
“There’s a command plan for him,” Forbes said. “We need just a little bit more time with him.”
Stu Flesland III was drafted in the 11th round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Washington. He’s rocketed up the system, making appearances in Spokane, Hartford and Albuquerque this year. He started the year by repeating in Spokane, but was promoted after five appearances (one start) where he posted a 2-1 record and 3.63 ERA. Flesland made 18 appearances for the Yard Goats (12 starts) and posted a 5-1 record and 1.88 ERA before a late-season, four-inning cameo with the Isotopes. On August 10, he was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week.
Across all three levels in 2026, Flesland posted a 7-2 record, a 2.85 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.
“They’ve got this velocity thing they’re trying to do with him,” Forbes said of Flesland’s AFL plan, “and they’re going to do that and then try to get him to try it in a game.”
Hunter Mann was drafted in a few rounds after Flesland in the 14th round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Tennessee Tech. Forbes described him as a player “who’s emerged this year as a two-plus guy.”
Mann was promoted to Low-A Fresno halfway through the 2024 season, and then spent all of 2025 at High-A Spokane. In 38 appearances in 2025, Mann posted a 6.61 ERA and 1.71 WHIP across 49 innings. He began 2026 back in Spokane, but was promoted to Hartford towards the end of the season.
In 31 appearances in Spokane, he posted a 4.06 ERA and 1.13 WHIP across 57.2 innings. While in Hartford, Mann made 10 appearances with a 5.54 ERA and 1.46 WHIP.
Sean Sullivan (No. 21 PuRP) made his MLB debut in 2026, three years after being drafted 46th overall in the 2023 . The Wake Forest product made five starts in the bigs, earning an 0-3 record and 8.87 ERA. In Albuquerque, Sullivan only made 14 starts after spending two separate stints on the injured list.
“He missed quite a few starts, so I think we’re hoping to get his innings up, and I’m hoping this ends up being a blessing in the sense that once we got him down here, as were kind of letting that calm down, he was able to kind of get to, ‘OK, we’re going to focus on strength. Let’s get the strength back up,’” Forbes said.
He also shed light on the Rockies’ plans for Sullivan in the Fall League.
“He’s one of those guys that, during the year, just has trouble maintaining weight. He can come in at 205 (pounds), and now he’s pitching at 187 or something at some point. So you’re hoping with him that he’s able to get some innings back in and get some feel back, and then ultimately make a better decision on how does he play in next year’s club. Does he come out of the bullpen as a length guy? Is he doing a spot start? I don’t know. But that’s the plan with Sean. I’m just looking at five healthy starts and going into the offseason feeling really good about it.”
Fidel Ulloa was drafted in the seventh round of the 2024 Draft out of LSU. He started immediately in Fresno where he posted a 4.50 ERA across 11 appearances (12 innings). In 2025, he split time between Fresno and Spokane (with a brief rehab stint in the ACL after an injury in June). Across all levels, Ulloa posted a 1.46 ERA and 1.06 WHIP across 41 appearances.
“It’s a good reward for a kid that’s been pretty steady,” said Forbes.
Jack O’Dowd (HM PuRP) was signed as an undrafted free agent ahead of the 2026 season, and took the Rockies farm system by storm. The former Texas Longhorn started in Fresno, but was promoted after slashing .345/.385/.702 with seven home runs in 22 games. In Spokane, he kept going, slashing .359/.451/.664 with nine home runs in 34 games. O’Dowd finished the season in Hartford, where he hit a cool .254/.333/.434 with seven home runs in 51 games.
“They needed another catcher,” Forbes said, “and it was great to be able to give [Cole] Messina a blow and reward Jack O’Dowd, and then also play some first and then be able to hit a little bit more.”
Andy Perez (No. 25 PuRP) was signed by the Rockies during the 2021 International Signing Period. He spent two years in the Dominical Summer League before making his stateside debut in 2023. In 119 games in 2023, Perez hit .245/.280/.316 with 24 extra-base hits. He repeated Fresno to start 2024, and was promoted right at the end for 16 games in Spokane. Jump ahead to 2026, and Perez hit .285/.321/.403 with 41 extra-base hits across 128 games in Double-A Hartford.
“Andy Perez is a guy that I don’t think people talk about near enough,” Forbes said. “He’s got a real shot at this thing, and he’s Cuban, so I can’t just send him to the Dominican to play in winter ball. So I think it’s an opportunity for him and his wife to just be steady and safe. Plus he’s a really good player.”
Jared Thomas (No. 8 PuRP) was one of the headlining prospects of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Texas. He absolutely tore through Spokane in 2025, hitting .330/.427/.495 in 73 games. He also had 25 extra-base hits (11 homers) and 22 stolen bases. He cooled off a little in Hartford, but still had a good enough season to be selected to last year’s Fall League.
However, it turned out he was playing through a hamate injury that set him back six months. Thomas didn’t play in 2026 until July 6th — five days after his 23rd birthday. He played just 32 games in 2026, which led to him getting a repeat call to the desert.
“Jared Thomas needs the at-bats desperately,” Forbes said, “and I know it’s kind of a relapse back into that league, but we just asked him, ‘Do you want to go to Puerto Rico? Do you want to go to the DR or Mexico? Or do you want to stay here?’ Because he really wants to lock in with our strength coaches, too, and we’re hosting on our side, so I think that’s huge.”
AFL games start tomorrow! Which Rockies prospect are you most excited to watch? Are there any other prospects from other teams you’re excited to watch?
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LAS VEGAS - The day has finally come for the Ducks to kick-off their 2026-27 season. It begins with a rematch against one of their opponents from last season's playoff run, the Vegas Golden Knights. Despite losing the series, the Ducks had the most success out of any of the Golden Knight's playoff opponents, taking the series to six games.
"It's gonna be a fast five minutes (to start)," Leo Carlsson said. "It's always loud in Vegas. Just play a simple game in the beginning, and then it's going to open up. They're an older and heavy team, we've known that since last year."
"It's always an exciting game, the first night," Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said. "I think that when we finished (training) camp there, we had a little maybe tough ending. But I thought we had a real good week and a couple good days here going into the game. These guys want to play for keeps. I really liked the pace of our practices. We want to play with some speed, we want to play with some energy, we like the enthusiasm in our team. A lot of new faces, a lot of new players. At the same time, we've got some guys that we're excited to see how they're going to do this year, and I think they should be getting better. That's what we're looking forward to as well."
The Ducks' lineup will feature a pair of NHL debutants. Judd Caulfield, who had an impressive training camp, will skate alongside Jeff Malott and Tim Washe on the fourth line. Caulfield has appeared in over 200 AHL games and was utilized heavily by former San Diego Gulls head coach Matt McIlvane last season. Defenseman Noah Warren will be paired with Tyson Hinds on the third defensive pair. Injuries to Drew Helleson and Ian Moore have opened up opportunities for players like Warren and Travis Mitchell (who will be making his Ducks debut) to crack the lineup.
"I'm just extremely excited and blessed to have this opportunity," Caulfield said. "It's something I've been dreaming about my whole life and the time's finally come. Just super pumped to get out there and super excited for the game."
"Really excited," Warren said. "It's a dream come true to play the first NHL game, so really excited. Try not to think about it too much tonight, but we'll see what happens."
"He's a big body, gets in the way. I think that gives us some size back there. I just think that he's evolving from this year to last year. We've got a couple of right D who aren't playing, so it's a chance for him to get into the game and we feel that he should be fine out there."- Joel Quenneville on Noah Warren
"He's had a real good camp. He gives us some size, physicality. He looks like he's improved his quickness and his pace to his game. Just an up-and-down winger that plays hard. Took advantage of an opportunity based on his performance. I think last couple years down there (in the AHL), he's just gotten better and better."- Joel Quenneville on Judd Caulfield
Tristan Luneau, who signed a six-year contract extension with the Ducks on Thursday, will get the first crack at filling the spot next to Jackson LaCombe on the top defensive pair. Despite having played just 14 NHL games since being drafted in 2022, the Ducks are trying to get ahead of the curve by tying down one of their pending RFAs before his breakout has even occurred.
"We think a lot of him. There's a lot of upside to his game. Could push for more ice time in more offensive situations. Defensively, he's a work in progress, like our whole D corps is, kind of as a collective, as a group. We saw him last year at the end of the year. Played a real nice game for us against Nashville. It's a great opportunity, good for him. Now, we've just got to complement one another and make sure our young D, we've got to get better on the job."
After a preseason where it seemed that he would get an opportunity in the top-6, 2026 15th overall pick Nikita Klepov will have to wait to make his NHL debut. Quenneville said that Klepov has a "great feel" for the game offensively and that watching a few games from the press box will help him intake some of the situations that he will be in when he eventually gets into the lineup.
"I would say there's some balance to that thought process, exactly like that."- Joel Quenneville on whether Nikita Klepov could be on a game management plan similar to Leo Carlsson's rookie season
Tustin native Trevor Connelly netted his first NHL goal for the Golden Knights on Tuesday in his NHL debut. He, among others, will be responsible for replacing the production of Pavel Dorofeyev, who was traded to the New York Rangers during the offseason. Dorofeyev's timely goalscoring was instrumental in helping the Golden Knights beat the Ducks in the playoffs.
Projected Ducks Lines
A.J. Greer - Leo Carlsson - Cutter Gauthier
Beckett Sennecke - Mikael Granlund - Alex Killorn
Nikita Nesterenko - Ryan Poehling - Frank Vatrano
Jeff Malott - Tim Washe - Judd Caulfield
Jackson LaCombe - Tristan Luneau
Pavel Mintyukov - Travis Mitchell
Tyson Hinds - Noah Warren
Lukáš Dostál (confirmed)
Projected Golden Knights Lines
Ivan Barbashev - Jack Eichel - Mark Stone
Brett Howden - William Karlsson - Mitch Marner
Trevor Connelly - Tomáš Hertl - Victor Olofsson
Braeden Bowman - Nic Dowd - Marc Gatcomb
Brayden McNabb - Shea Theodore
Parker Wotherspoon - Rasmus Andersson
Jérémy Lauzon - Noah Hanifin
Carter Hart (confirmed)
Warriors training camp takeaways: Praise grows for two offseason signings originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
LAIE, Hawaii – Intensity was replaced by intentionality Friday during the Warriors’ fourth practice of training camp on the campus of BYU-Hawaii.
The day prior was the Warriors’ hardest scrimmage thus far of training camp. Competitive spirit echoes throughout the gym. The blue team wanted to beat the yellow team and vice versa, with those in red jerseys showing they belong too. Hours later, the Warriors continued their team bonding with a luau at their team hotel.
“The culture that they’ve built here over the last 10-plus years has been amazing,” Warriors forward Georges Niang said. “To be actually a part of it, not on the outside looking in, is really cool.”
Friday was a day for the film room and jogging through actions, as opposed to the physicality of Thursday’s scrimmage. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said his team “needed a day like this,” and that Saturday will be “short and crisp” as a final tune up for Sunday’s preseason opener.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ fourth day of training camp, which featured comments from Kerr, Niang and Gui Santos.
After going over the film, Kerr likes what he sees while knowing plenty of room for improvement is there.
“We’re getting better,” Kerr said. “Our transition offense was way better than it was the first two days, which is a big key for us. Our transition game left so many points on the on the board last year, so we’re working hard on that.
“Defensively, some good stuff. I think the guys are really taking to Coach [Frank] Vogel’s terminology, to his schemes, and a lot of great discussion amongst the players and staff as far as what we’re trying to accomplish. Slowly but surely, we’re getting there.”
The Warriors scored the fourth-fewest points per game in transition (19.7) last season. Only the Boston Celtics (19.4), Brooklyn Nets (19.2) and Milwaukee Bucks (19.2) were below them.
They also ranked 24th in transition possessions per game (18.1), 28th in transition frequency percentage (16.0) and 27th in transition points per possession (1.08). Overall, those stats, plus a handful of others, placed them 10.3 percentile of transition offense throughout the NBA.
“The theme this year is we have to be better,” Kerr said. “We’ve got to be better, and from my perspective, what I have to do better is get more organized. The whole theme of the offense is to be spaced and organized and in concert. As I told you guys, we can’t play out of chaos anymore, because it’s a different era in the league. We’re in a different spot, talent-wise. Where I failed them last year was not helping them close out these games, the multiple games that we lost – five, six games – and it wasn’t necessarily late-game execution as much as it was giving away too many points during the 48 minutes of the game, where we’re turning it over, we’re not executing well enough.
“That’s why we worked so hard over the summer to reimagine our our plan, and that’s what we’re implementing.”
Several players shined during Thursday’s scrimmage. Brandin Podziemski’s offensive arsenal was impressive. De’Anthony Melton’s two-way impact was felt, and Niang showed off his shot from long distance.
But there’s another name people can’t stop talking about: Brandon Williams.
Blink, and you’ll miss him. His speed is something the Warriors have missed for years. And it’s a trait that reminds Kerr of a former fan favorite.
“He’s the fastest guy we’ve ever had here,” Kerr said. “[Leandro] Barbosa would come to mind for me. Barbosa was lightning. Brandon’s more on ball. LB was a lot was off-ball transition, running ahead, catching and finishing. Brandon is probably more of a high pick-and-roll speedster, and it changes the calculus. It gives you more options.”
There’s a reason Barbosa famously was called “The Brazilian Blur.” Williams is one of a select few Warriors who doesn’t have a wild nickname on his Basketball Reference page. Niang might have found the perfect one for him.
“He has a unique ability to just take off when he gets the ball,” Niang said. “He’s kind of like the Road Runner, right? He’s just like, ‘Meep meep,’ and gets to places where he wants to. As a guy like myself that moves from slow to slower, I can appreciate how fast he moves.”
Williams and Santos already are building chemistry with the second unit. When asked about Williams’ speed, Santos smiled and his eyes lit up.
“That guy’s fast, man,” Santos said while laughing. “I think yesterday you guys could see it, but he’s really, really fast. When he’s in position and he chooses a side and he’s going to go that way, it’s really, really hard to stop him.”
Adding the speed of Williams, along with his ability to get by his defender and score or make a play, have the Warriors excited about their improvements offensively in transition.
Speaking of great nicknames, Niang, or “Minivan” to others, just might have the best on the Warriors. He also has been a welcome addition on the court as a full-circle moment.
Niang, 33, who is listed at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, was part of the yellow team in Thursday’s scrimmage. He was surrounded by Williams, Santos, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II. In that group, Niang essentially is a small-ball center.
Per Basketball Reference’s position estimate tool, Niang spent 8 percent of his time playing center between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks in the 2024-25 NBA season. He missed all last season to an injury sustained in training camp. Playing the position in a Warriors jersey this season doesn’t worry Niang one bit.
For him, after a lost season, it’s all about finding any way to get on the court.
“I think at this point, if you’re on the court, you better feel comfortable,” Niang said. “That’s the biggest thing. You want playing time, you figure out where and how to be comfortable, and you find ways to implement things that you can do that can help your team.”
The Warriors have used several players who aren’t traditional centers at the position over the years. Kerr isn’t one to put someone in a box. He wants versatile players who can make multiple combinations work, and that’s what he sees in Niang.
“Georges is just a hell of a basketball player,” Kerr said. “He can play with any combination. If he’s your small-ball five, offensively you’re going to really be lethal. Defensively, you’re not going to have a lot of rim protection or verticality at the rim, lob threat, obviously. He’s capable of playing small-ball five, but you got to put the right group around him – more for your defense than for your offense.
“And it’s no different than most players. You always have to find the right five-man group to be the best two-way team you can be.”
Niang played 79 games in the 2024-25 season and averaged a career-high 9.9 points per game, while shooting 40.6 percent from the 3-point line on a career-high 5.2 attempts per game.
Two young Pirates pitchers closed out the season better than anyone in the National League.
Jared Jones and Mason Montgomery entered the season on different paths, but ended with the same recognition.
Jones was awarded National League Pitcher of the Month for September earlier this week. Montgomery earned NL Reliever of the Month after a dominant stretch as Pirates closer.
In five starts, Jones delivered a 3-0 record with a 0.93 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 29 innings. Jones only allowed three earned runs and opponents hit .133 off the 25-year-old righty.
He recovered well from internal brace surgery to post the best month of his career.
Montgomery further solidified himself as the Pirates’ closer of the future with an impressive close to the season.
The flamethrowing righty recorded 16 strikeouts in 13 games. Montgomery earned a 2.08 ERA, allowing three runs in one outing against the Tigers on September 26 but not allowing any runs in his other 12.1 innings pitched.
Pittsburgh won 11 games with Montgomery earning the save. Opponents hit .174 off him in September and it equated to a 0.92 WHIP.
The 26-year-old finished with a 2.88 ERA in 68.2 innings during his first season with the Pirates. Montgomery struck out 105 batters, a rarity for relievers to exceed 100 strikeouts in the modern game.
Jones and Montgomery will be anchors of the Pirates’ rotation and bullpen in 2027. Ben Cherington and Don Kelly’s coaching staff are likely to return.
Pittsburgh finished the season 82-80 for its first winning campaign since 2018.
Pinto has witness protection status removed
His lawyers will appeal and say his situation is ‘critical’
Rui Pinto has revealed he is preparing to leave Portugal because he fears for his safety after being informed that his participation in the country’s witness protection programme has been terminated.
The Football Leaks founder claimed he has received “multiple death threats” and is facing “the serious risk of an assassination attempt against me” after being informed of the decision by Portuguese authorities on Wednesday. That came two days after Manchester City were found guilty of 115 charges by an independent commission – an investigation that was prompted by Pinto’s leaks of thousands of private documents.
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