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Worcester: Cancelled (rain), end of season

Remember when Portland’s last game of the season was cancelled due to rain? Oh, that was just last week.

Well, as we’re stuck in a cycle of weekend storms, the last game of the season was cancelled for the WooSox. A factor in this decision was Worcester being eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday night. Still, for the season to end so unceremoniously calls for at least some commemoration, and so I’d like to shout out some names on the roster. I originally intended on going down the line on the website and speculate on future contributions to the team, but, by my estimation, especially since the trade for Adley Rutschman that had a ripple effect through the organization, a good portion of Worcester’s roster are either one-year placeholders until the farm gets replenished with the next couple of drafts or guys that are dealing with significant injuries. So, here’s to the guys that may not be that:

Allan Castrofinished the season with 77 RBIs, two behind Bobby Dalbec for the team record since they relocated to Worcester five years ago… and saying that relocation happened six seasons ago is crazy for someone who went to the first home stand under pandemic crowd protocols. Castro really was a constant for the offense amidst a handful of platoon guys cycling through the team and that can’t be understated. He batted doubtful games back into contention and sealed close games away. If I pick a workhorse/general player of the year, it’s him orBraiden Ward, but only because Franklin Arias started the year in Portland.

Speaking of Braiden Ward, I personally was sad to see Brennan Bernardino go this offseason but loved the return from Colorado. And he performed fantastically, particularly near the end of the season. He ended up swiping 61 total bags and ther’s some clamor around a potential call-up to the Sox who, despite being a generally quick team in terms of baserunning, lack a real Dave Roberts-esque “when you see him, you know he’s going to steal” threat. Ward provides that, is defensively versatile, playing second as well as center field, and is pretty reliable with the bat in a pinch.

Franklin Arias is banging on the door and he will definitively be getting the call either in 2027 or Opening Day 2028, depending entirely on the length of the lockout. Either way, though, keeping him off the 40-man roster for now means, even with a lockout, he’ll get valuable time to improve his exceptional swing even more, though not against Major League arms. His totals across Portland and Worcester read like an All-Star caliber player: 28 home runs, .323/.400/.557 slash line, a 14% strikeout rate, and a plus glove in the infield to boot. Arias may or may not live up to his sky high prospect status, but pencil him in to the next iteration of this Red Sox team, whenever that comes.

John Holobetz will also likely be given the call in 2027. He’s still just 24. The 6’3” righty struck out 132 in 119 innings, walked just 36, had a WIP of a hair under 1.25, but even more comforting is he outperformed his Portland numbers in Worcester, signaling quick growth. While it’s sad that Quinn Priester missed 2026 with an injury, he was a world-beater in 2025, and the value of having steady presence in the rotation can’t be understated Depending how he bounces back in 2027, especially with the Brewers emerging as an NL front runner, expect that trade to go down in the history books as a win-win.

Hayden Mullinsalso put in his best work in 2026, and more specifically, directly before his promotion to Triple-A right before the end of the season. He celebrated his 26th birthday last Monday and so, in his age-25 season, Mullins was exactly what Portland needed in a rotation guy, especially following Anthony Eyannson’s departure. He struck out 132 in 92 innings, walked 49, lacked the longevity that Holobetz and others in the rotation had but did not give up long balls, getting taken yard just seven times all season (and even one of those was in his only Worcester appearance.) The 6’0” lefty will continue his development in 2027 before likely a late season call-up; it’s possible the team explores some multi-inning reliever roles depending on how this development goes.

Of course, too, the team’s former first-round draft pick Mikey Romeroand current millionaire Kristian Campbellare still kicking around Wrocester, and the latter wants a redemption arc after a rough 2025. Neither saw any Major League time due to a cluttered roster and a multitude of other reasons, but don’t count either out for a platoon role next year, pending a lengthy lockout. You want guys looking better in September than they did in April, and while Campbell swung somewhat of a hot bat in the spring, I think that notion is true for both of these guys. The same is even true with Jedixson Paez (who saw Major League action, but don’t mention this to him) Blake Wehunt and Gage Ziehl. These are all guys to watch in 2027, provided some trade for a hole on the roster doesn’t call for dealing one of them (I think Campbell is pretty set on this roster given his price tag.) But, depth is a good problem to have.

And so ends my fourth full season providing Minor Lines for Over The Monster. You’ll see me kicking around during the playoff push and the offseason providing input on pieces that can make this 2027 team – and farm – even better than the 2026 version. Thanks so much for reading all season, and Go Sox!

With one week to go in the regular season, the Cubs’ magic number to clinch a postseason berth has dropped to one, and their magic number to get home field in a Wild Card series is now six. This means that the Cubs control their own destiny. Win out — six games — and they will be home a week from Tuesday against either the Padres or Phillies. (Easy? No, but it is possible.)

In the meantime, here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.

Three up

Pete Crow-Armstrong had a very weird, but productive, week

PCA batted .345/.367/.897 (10-for-29) with two doubles, a triple, four home runs, nine RBI, seven runs scored and two stolen bases. That’s a 1.264 OPS for the six games, which might actually be good enough to get him another Player of the Week award.

But here’s the thing. He put up those numbers while going 0-for-15 with five strikeouts in three of the six games!

That means that in the other three games, he was 10-for-14 (.714) with all those other peripheral numbers.

That’s just crazy. Here’s his 3-for-4 day against the Braves last Wednesday [VIDEO].

I keep saying this but I have to say it one more time: Savor this PCA season, we have not seen anything like it from a Cubs player — or most MLB players! — in most of our lifetimes. I hope he can steal two bases against the Marlins this week so he’d join the 40/40 club at Wrigley Field.

And remember, PCA is only 24. Who knows? He might do this again next year!

David Peterson is getting hot at just the right time

In his two starts over the week ending Sunday, Peterson threw 12 innings, allowed six hits and two runs, walked four and struck out 14. For his last three starts, which include two against postseason teams (Braves and Brewers), Peterson has a 1.65 ERA and 1.163 WHIP and 18 strikeouts in 16.1 innings. (And the run charged to him against Atlanta scored after he left the game.)

I think the Cubs might have to consider Peterson for a Wild Card series start.

Here are his seven K’s last Tuesday against the Braves [VIDEO].

Daniel Palencia appears to be back

Palencia pitched just twice over the week, but the second outing was two scoreless innings against the Reds Saturday, the first time he’d thrown two full innings in a game since April 2025. The best news is that in that two-inning outing, Palencia threw eight of his 20 pitches at 100 miles per hour, a level he had trouble hitting in his first few outings back.

Then he struck out JJ Bleday on this excellent slider to end the outing [VIDEO].

I don’t think I have to tell you how much having a productive Palencia would mean for the Cubs in the postseason.

Three down

Nico Hoerner is still struggling

Remember when Nico was hitting at MVP level in April?

He’s had a rough time since then. Over the six games he batted just .250/.280/.292 (6-for-24) with one double.

Nico’s offensive numbers are down this year and he’s only going to post a bit more than 2 bWAR after a 6.2 bWAR season in 2025.

Hopefully he can turn it on in October, and continue playing solid defense at second base.

Clay Holmes got roughed up by the Reds

Holmes has had a couple of clunkers since joining the Cubs — this week against the Reds and the previous week against the Marlins.

The good news is that both of those starts were on the road. In four Wrigley Field starts since joining the Cubs, Holmes has a 1.14 ERA and 1.014 WHIP in 23.2 innings, with 18 strikeouts and only one home run allowed.

He’ll likely start Thursday against the Marlins (though currently that game is listed as TBD for the Cubs starter), which would set him up for a start in the Wild Card series the following week. If that series winds up at Wrigley, I’d seriously consider Holmes for one of the starts.

Edward Cabrera had a rough transition to relieving, but maybe there’s hope

Cabrera’s first relief outing for the Cubs probably went an inning too long, as he was left in for a third inning of work after finishing the seventh and throwing a scoreless eighth against the Braves last Wednesday. Craig Counsell left him out there in a 4-3 game and he served up a two-run homer to Drake Baldwin in the ninth.

Things were better for Cabrera in a scoreless inning against the Reds in a low-leverage situation on Sunday. He allowed a hit and a walk, but got out of the inning with a double play. He threw only nine pitches, two of which hit 99. Perhaps shorter outings would be better for Cabrera.

All the way back in March, there were still plenty of questions about this Atlanta Braves ballclub as the curtain was being raised on the 2026 season. Would the squad as a whole be able to get over the injury bug that hampered their 2024 season and then wrecked their 2025 season? Would the rotation have enough to get through the long season? Would they be able to fend off two contenders in particular from the Northeast? Would they be able to get over losing one of their starters for an entire season du Would this team respond positively to having a new manager in charge?

There were plenty of questions heading into the 2026 season and as far as the regular season goes, the answers were all positive. It’s September 21 and the Atlanta Braves are NL East champions once again. For the seventh time in nine years, the Braves are the top dogs in their division and their two years in the wilderness when it comes to the East have come to an end.

While it may not be a massive shock to see this particular Braves team make it back to the top of the divisional mountain, it is a pleasant surprise that the Braves ended up basically going wire-to-wire. From Opening Day on March 27 until now, the Braves went into every game this season either tied for first place or by themselves at the top. There was no need for a late-season surge or an extremely dramatic race going down to the very last week of the season where they flip-flopped in the standings — the Braves got their surge done early on in the season and maintained from that point forward and now they’ve clinched the divisional title with a week to spare.

That’s not to say that this was easy — as Walt Weiss mentioned in the away clubhouse in Houston before the champagne started flowing, winning a division is never easy since you’ve got to be on top of things for a solid six months. It’s a massive challenge and as it turns out, the Braves were up to the challenge. They took advantage of both the Phillies and the Mets stumbling out of the gate to start the season, they survived a serious run of malaise in June and halfway through July that saw the lead fall down to just two games by the All-Star break. The lead got back as high as nine-and-a-half games on August 12 but again dipped down to being as low as three games on September 9.

If the pressure that the Phillies was putting on them was clear in the standings, it wasn’t apparent by the way that the Braves responded to that pressure. When the lead fell down to just two games on July 18, Atlanta responded by rattling off 14 wins out of 18. When it was down to three on August 22, the Braves went on a seven-game run that included a sweep of the Dodgers. When the Phillies were within striking distance with a stretch looming that saw the Braves face Philadelphia seven times over ten games, the Braves responded by going winning five of those seven games. Dusting off the divisional title with a sweep in Houston (their first sweep on the road since May, mind you) was just another example of how when the circumstances called for it, the Braves were usually able to rise up to moment and take care of business when they needed to.

The much-maligned rotation also deserves plenty of praise for how they performed over the course of this season. There were real questions for everybody in this rotation — including the ace of the rotation, Chris Sale. Thanks to some reportedly impressive preseason workout regimens, Sale was able to not just ward off Father Time but deliver one of the best seasons of his career so far — at age 37!

Meanwhile, Martín Pérez admitted early on that this was the first time that he had felt healthy since 2023 and he responded to the faith that the Braves organization placed in him by delivering his most productive season since 2022. The questions concerning Atlanta’s action (or lack therof) at the trade deadline were answered by Tyler Mahle arriving and immediately stepping his game up once he entered Atlanta’s rotation. Bryce Elder was able to be productive more-often-than-not, himself and Grant Holmes has shown flashes of being an incredible effective option in the rotation all season. It’s a group that’s proven to be greater than the sum of its parts, and that’s even with guys like Spencer Strider being injured for the most part and Spencer Schwellenbach being gone for the entire season.

Outside of Chris Sale, however, the biggest star on this pitching staff has collectively been the bullpen. Raisel Iglesias has had his ups and downs but as you can imagine by the fact that he’s still closing, there have been more “ups” than “downs.” With that being said, this bullpen is certainly more than just its closer and that’s been proven with the way that Didier Fuentes, Dylan Lee, Dylan Dodd and everybody else who’s been called upon in big spots has usually managed to go in and get the job done in very effective fashion. With Robert Suarez potentially returning, that just makes this bullpen even tougher to deal with down the road and for all we know, this could very well be the successor group to the Night Shift from 2021 that we’ve all been waiting for.

The bullpen keeping teams in games has been crucial since Atlanta’s offense has proven all season that they can get it done late in games against the other team’s bullpen. Heading into Sunday’s action, the Braves had the second-best wRC+ in the National League when it came to production from the seventh inning through the ninth inning, with a wRC+ of 109 in that situation. It’s only gotten better for Atlanta recently, as they’ve been hitting at a clip of 130 wRC+ as a team in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings since August 1. That’s still tied for second in the NL (in both scenarios behind the Cubs) but it’s proof that this is a team that can make a run late in games if they need to.

We saw a perfect example of it this past weekend in Houston. Ronald Acuña Jr.’s grand slam broke the game open for Atlanta in the seventh inning. They’ve won games late and they know how to pull off comeback victories as well, as a whopping 41 of their 92 wins so far have been of the comeback variety. The comeback victories are actually a trend from last season, when the Braves pulled off comeback victories in 41 of the 76 games that they won in 2025. They also did it 43 times when they won 104 games in 2023 and then picked up 38 comeback victories when they won it all back in 2021. Fighting for 27 outs has been akey factor in Atlanta’s success in this current era and it’s something that Walt Weiss has carried over from the Snitker Era to his current time as manager so far.

So while Atlanta’s offense hasn’t been nearly as potent as it was in those 2022 and 2023 seasons, they’ve been doing enough to get the job done and keep the line moving. Having Acuña continue to perform at a high level entering the Postseason would be crucial and it would also be huge to see Matt Olson continue to hit balls far and deep like he’s done all season. Michael Harris II’s consistency would be greatly appreciated in October and then having a hitter like Mauricio Dubón who has consistently come through in big moments for the Braves will also be huge going forward as well. Drake Baldwin has star potential, himself and then both Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley should be able to provide the experience to not be blinded by the bright lights of October since they’ve been there, done that, and have plenty of celebratory t-shirts to prove it when it comes to Postseason experience.

All in all, you have to like where this Braves team is at as they head into the Postseason as NL East champions. The rotation will be shortened during the Postseason so that makes things a bit easier for Walt Weiss to keep track of going forward. The bullpen is a strength and it’s especially important for the relievers to come up big during this time of year. It’s also important for the timely hitting to be there as well and the Braves have shown that they’re capable of getting that timely offensive production in late game situations and in high-leverage situations as well.

As long as they can stay healthy, the Braves have got all the ingredients to get a deep Postseason run cooking and in a NL bracket that appears to be extremely competitive, it’s not like there’s a going to be a clear-cut favorite this October. The Dodgers look as vulnerable as ever, the Brewers are definitely in a position where they need to finally prove that they can do something in the offseason, the Cubs offense is dangerous but they’ve also been prone to running extremely cold at times, the Phillies have struggled against the Braves all season and the Padres could very well run out of gas by the time the Postseason runs around (though admittedly, that is a scary team to face with the way that they’ve been playing lately). It’s a wide open bracket and it’s a wide open Postseason as well since the American League hasn’t been as good when compared to the National League.

So there’s plenty of reason to feel optimistic. The Braves are back on top of the division, they’ve proven to be resilient whenever the situation has called for it, they’ve bounced back from adversity on plenty of different occasions during this season and they’ll be entering the Postseason after playing a whole bunch of games against contenders for weeks on end. Here’s hoping that there’s a fun Postseason ahead for us fans and one that could potentially end with a parade in Atlanta (hopefully a slower one if it does happen) and Cobb County to start off November. That sure would be fun, right? Let’s see what happens!

Gabriel Hughes and TJ Rumfield are two very different players.

Hughes was drafted by the Rockies in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft and has worked his way up through their minor league system. Rumfield was acquired from the Yankees in an offseason trade.

Rumfield made the Opening Day roster; Hughes debuted mid-season.

And, of course, Hughes is a pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery while Rumfield is a position player.

But both have made an impact for the Rockies this year in different ways.

TJ Rumfield

TJ Rumfield is making a case for NL Rookie of the Year. Through Saturday, he is slashing .302/.392/.454 with a 23-game on-base streak, the longest in the Majors and the longest single-season on-base streak by a rookie in franchise history.

But how would Rumfield sum up his rookie season?

“A lot of learning experiences,” he said. “I think a lot of the team stuff – trying to gel together with guys and make conversations with new people, and even when you have new faces in here, trying to make them feel comfortable because I know how I felt when I first got in the locker room. It’s just small things like that, and ultimately just learning every day.”

And those learning experiences have paid dividends for the rookie, as he ranks among all qualified rookie leaders in average (.302, 1st), OBP (.392, 1st), OPS (.846, 1st), hits (159, 3rd), and multi-hit games (41, T-2nd). Rumfield ranks among NL qualified rookies in doubles (29, 1st), RBI (70, 2nd), extra-base hits (47, 2nd) and total bases (239, 2nd). And he ranks among Major League leaders in OBP (.392, 3rd) and average (.302, 5th).

He and Yordan Alvarez (.312/.429) are the only qualified players in all of MLB with a batting average of at least .300 and an OBP of at least .309.

Not too shabby.

Rumfield has also been a defensive stalwart for the Rockies at first base — something they’ve been sorely lacking since Todd Helton retired in 2013. He’s made plenty of jaw-dropping plays, but one stood out to him in particular on May 18 against the Texas Rangers at Coors Field.

“I just remember the ball going up in the air and like, ‘Okay, this is one where I can maybe go over the dugout. Like this could be cool,’” he recalled. “And you get closer and closer, and you’re like, ‘Uh oh, it’s about to happen!’ And the momentum taking me over – it was just everything you dream of. Nobody caught me, but it was fine. It’s baseball. You dream of making plays like that and just trying to make a little difference in the game.”

He’s also been leaning on his teammates, especially Troy Johnston.

“(He’s given me) more golf advice,” Rumfield chuckled. “But the boy’s a great teammate. I would actually go to him when I’m feeling down. And he can attest to this – I’ll go to him and I’ll be like, ‘Troy, you’ve got to give me something. Tell me something good about myself.’ And he always does. We’re currently 3-for-3 on that one.”

Manager Warren Schaeffer has also helped his fellow Virginia Tech alum get settled from day one.

“Schaeff was unbelievably welcoming on the first day in spring training,” Rumfield recalled, “calling me into his office and letting me know, ‘Hey, you’re welcome here. I just want you to come and compete.’ It didn’t feel like anything was given to me. I just had to go out and earn it, and I’ve wanted to do that. That’s what I’ve done my whole entire career. It was nice to have the front office be so welcoming – Schaeffer be so welcoming – and just everything kind of working out.”

Gabriel Hughes

Gabriel Hughes (No. 7 PuRP) has been a different story.

The former 10th-overall pick had a long way to the majors that included Tommy John surgery in 2023. But he didn’t let that slow him down, making his long-awaited MLB debut on July 3.

Hughes made his last start on September 18 — his 13th of the year — and took yet another no decision. In 14 appearances (13 starts), Hughes is 0-8 with a 6.33 ERA. The only other Rockies pitcher in franchise history to begin their career with zero wins through their first 13 starts was Jon Gray in 2015-16.

But like Rumfield, Hughes said his rookie year has been “a learning experience.”

“It’s been very different from every level I’ve played at so far, and I think learning how to manage that schedule is part of being a professional,” he said. “But it’s been wonderful, too, being able to travel to so many different places, play so many different places, experience so many different things. It’s been really special being able to see so much of the country in such a short amount of time.”

For example, Hughes was able to pitch at Yankee Stadium — somewhere he’d always dreamed about as he grew up as a huge fan of Mariano Rivera. And he had to navigate the New York City Subway System to get there:

But like all of the other pitchers, Hughes noticed a difference pitching at Coors Field versus the road. But not necessarily in the way one would think.

“I think it’s an experience that Albuquerque has prepared me for, where you go from elevation to non-elevation every week,” he said. “I think here, the biggest difference is that you do it every three to four days instead of every week.”

In addition to his body preparation, though, Hughes has made some adjustments to his pitching.

“I think one of the things I’ve really learned is that I have to have different starting points for a lot of my pitches when I’m here versus on the road,” he said. “It’s not something I’ve thought about too much in the past when I was in Albuquerque. But here, where the margin for error is so low, I think it’s extremely important. So that’s something I’ve continued to work on. But that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve noticed because the margin for error is so low, so you have to be sharp here and on the road.”

And the coaching staff have given Hughes a lot of good advice and a lot of good ideas, which he has enjoyed.

“It’s been awesome. They’re all young and full of ideas,” he said.

“And working with Alon (Leichman) and Gabe Ribas and Matt Buschmann has been really cool because there’s always some new idea, and it’s always, ‘Hey, take it or leave it. If it works for you, great. If not, no worries.’ There’s no ego there. But I think it’s really cool because if I have ideas, I can bounce them off them. They have great ideas that they bounce off me, too.”

He also had high praise for his manager.

“I think Schaeff’s been really cool, too,” he continued. “He’s been a great manager so far because he’s been willing to give praise when you need it and to give you tough words when you need it. And I have no doubt that all the coaches would go to war for us.”

There have been a lot of up-and-down moments for Hughes during his rookie season, but one stands out in particular:

“Striking out Shohei (Ohtani) on three pitches at Dodger Stadium was pretty cool,” he said. “I think it was to lead off an inning, and it was a fastball up, a curveball that he fouled off, and a fastball above the zone for a swing and miss. That was a pretty cool feeling.”

Hughes was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on September 19 to finish his rookie year, but still finished with 1.1 fWAR — leading the Rockies’ rotation.

Looking to the future

Rumfield and Hughes represent the Rockies future. Both have been bright spots in different ways, and it will be exciting to see what they are able to do in their sophomore campaigns.

In the meantime, there are six games left in the Rockies 2026 campaign and hopefully they are able to finish strong.

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Bloodied but unbowed, Alex Bregman had a three-word message for Chicago Cubs fans:

"I'll be back."

Bregman, struck in the left eye by a foul ball while standing in the on-deck circle Sunday, Sept. 21, posted a pair of photos to his Instagram story after undergoing tests.

The grim news: Bregman looks like hell, a nasty shiner that's rendered his left eye practically shut after Michael Busch's foul ball on a check swing took one hop and clocked Bregman standing nearby.

The good news: He's returned to Chicago, his eye appears intact and he seems insistent that he'll return to play.

The Twins’ owner called season ticketholders in the offseason basically begging for them to stick around. Their fans had become so disillusioned with their team losing that the negativity had started to get to Tom Pohlad. And early in the season, he had a public incident with a fan wearing a SELL THE TEAM hat. Are billionaires sensitive? Between this and Arte Moreno selling the Angels because he got big emotions from fans demanding he sell the team, too, it’s enough to make you wonder where the Giants would be if they had fewer owners.

But the Twins, who had finished 70-92 this season, started off the year in surprisingly great fashion, to the point that by the end of July, they were 56-55 and just 3 games out of the AL Central lead.

They’ve gone 17-28 since.

So, it’s another failed season for the Twins. Giants fans can relate. Well, not really. The Twins have had five winning seasons and four playoff appearances in the past decade. The Giants have had 1 and 1. As of this writing, the two teams are 12th and 13th in wins over the last 10 years… but with a significant split.

• Minnesota: 763-749
• San Francisco: 735-777

In this 45-game that spiraled them out of the playoffs, the pitching has been mediocre but the offense has fallen to below league average (99 wRC+). They’ve lost Byron Buxton to injury once again. Taj Bradley has emerged to mitigate the pre-season loss of Pablo Lopez, but Joe Ryan’s prime seems to have been betrayed by their small window of contention. Their defense has been atrocious: -38.4 Defensive Runs Above Average, 25th in MLB. Don’t get too smug, though. The Giant are 23rd (-34.5). They’re the team the Giants could become if all the prospect excitement fails to pan out and the front office’s grand design busts.

On the other hand, the Giants have sort of gone through this already. Their last rebuild was supposed to usher in a window of contention. It did, but for, like, two seasons (2020 & 2021), and during that time, the San Diego Padres (and, to a lesser extent, the Arizona Diamondbacks) zoomed past them. The Twins were supposed to be NL Central contenders, challenging the Dodgers of that division (the Guardians), only to have the Tigers and now the White Sox (!) zoom past them.

Anyway, the Twins have been bad on the road this year (33-45) while the Giants have been okay (36-39); however, they’ve lost 7 of 9 overall. The roster is a shambles. Bryce Eldridge is in the concussion protocol. It’s all very gloomy here in the final week of the season. Then again, that’s been the status quo for six months.

Series Overview

Who: San Francisco Giants (64-92) vs. Minnesota Twins (73-83)
Where: Oracle Park | San Francisco, California
When: Monday & Tuesday at 6:45pm PT, Wednesday at 12:45pm PT
National broadcasts: None

Projected starters
Monday: Blade Tidwell (RHP 1-2, 4.56 ERA) vs. Zebby Matthews (RHP 9-10, 4.74 ERA)
Tuesday: Anthony Molina (RHP 3-1, 4.18 ERA) vs. Taj Bradley (RHP 11-6, 3.81 ERA)
Wednesday: Cesar Perdomo (LHP 0-1, 3.72 ERA) vs. TBD

Prediction time

Roger Clemens’ son, Kody, has 26 home runs on the season. He’s hit 14 of those on the road. With an outside shot at getting to 30 home runs, I’ll predict that this 30-year old will whack at least one homer in the series. Meanwhile, Jung Hoo Lee is 6 extra base hits away from matching last year’s season total (51). He hit 31 doubles last and has hit 31 this year, too. I predict he’ll pickup a few in this series giving faint hope that he can match last year’s total by having a nice final series when the Giants host the Dodgers.

Multiple reports confirm that the Yankees are finalizing a $2.6 billion deal with private equity firm Apollo Global Management to sell up to a 16-percent stake in the franchise. The firm will have the Yankees’ largest ownership percentage, only behind the Steinbrenner family, once the deal goes through.

The deal involves both a debt and private equity investment, and incoming funding is expected to refinance existing obligations and fund future expansion projects. This move would mark Apollo’s largest capital injection into the US sports market to date, according to the New York Post. The news of the firm’s interest in acquiring a stake in the Yankees dates back to July and more specifics were revealed last month.

It also allows the Yankees’ value to surpass that of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who’ve recently dominated the market when it comes to giving out larger contracts. The club most notably signed MLB star Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million deal and, more recently, signed Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million contract that included a $64 million signing bonus with $30 million deferred.

The additional ownership stake can result in a variety of outcomes, but it could eventually work out well for the Yankees as they look to add more talent in the coming years. Details of the deal have yet to be confirmed, but it comes at a time when private equity is gaining more of a spotlight in the sports world, with firms engaging in hefty investments in a variety of teams and leagues in hopes of bolstering profits.

The Yankees aren’t a stranger to the private equity game that continues to raise concerns throughout the sports world. Yankees president Randy Levine joined the executive board of AC Milan nearly five months after the New York franchise engaged in a minority stake in the club and RedBird Capital Partners acquired a $1.3 billion controlling interest.

Notably, Major League Baseball regulations have a 15-percent cap in place for private equity ownership per fund, so it’s unclear how the logistics of this will all work considering the report of a 16-percent stake for Apollo. With this deal expected to come through, I’d anticipate more firms will soon follow with investments in Major League clubs that will continue to raise more questions.

1901
The White Sox won the first major-league American League pennant despite losing to the Philadelphia A’s, 10-4. The Sox would end up winning the pennant by five games over the Boston Americans, with a record of 83-53. Interestingly, this loss was the start of a five-game losing streak that took the White Sox nearly to the end of the season — a streak that included a sweep at Boston (too late, Americans).

Unfortunately, the World Series didn’t start until 1903, so an AL pennant was the best that the Sox could do. 

However, the White Sox did play a postgame series, against the “AL All-Stars” in what was dubbed the “All-American Series,” splitting the four-game set. In a telling statistic for an upstart team and league in its first season in the majors, the White Sox nearly doubled the attendance of the established Orphans (Cubs), 354,350-205,071.

The White Sox had a very balanced lineup, led by outfielders Billy Hoy and Fielder Jones, and scored the most runs in the league. The team relied primarily on speed, as Frank Isbell, Sam Mertes and Jonesfinished 1–2–3 in the AL in stolen bases, swiping 136 among them. The pitching staff was anchored by player-manager Clark Griffith, who went 24–7 with a 2.67 ERA.

1917
The White Sox clinched their third pennant, beating the Red Sox, 2-1 in 10 innings behind Red Faber. Shano Collins singled after Ray Schalk led off the top of the 10th with a double, providing the eventual game-winner. The final outs came when pinch-hitter Babe Ruth rapped into a double play in the bottom of the 10th.

The White Sox would outdistance Boston by eight games in 1917, with a mark of 100-54, and then defeat the New York Giants four games to two in the World Series.

The 100 wins in a season have never been equaled in team history — and that includes, of course, 162-game seasons beginning in 1961. The Sox offense led the league in runs scored that season while the pitching staff, led by Eddie Cicotte, had a season ERA of 2.16

1955
Frank “Trader” Lane, one of the best GMs in team history, resigned. During his seven-season tenure, Lane made 241 trades involving 353 players. He was one of the architects of the club that would win the 1959 American League pennant. Among the players Lane acquired for the Sox were Minnie Miñoso, Nellie Fox, Dick Donovan, Jim Rivera, Billy Pierce, Chico Carrasquel and Sherm Lollar.

1960
For just the second time among White Sox players, and eighth overall, there was a home run hit over the Comiskey Park roof. In a 7-2 victory over the Kansas City A’s, Minnie Miñoso clobbered a two-out, two-run homer to left that opened scoring.

Just seven White Sox homers and 21 total went over the roof in the 72 years of Comiskey Park history before home plate was moved forward, before the 1983 season.

1970
For the first time in 69 seasons, the White Sox finally had a 30-home run man. Bill Melton got an upper-deck shot off of Kansas City’s Aurelio Monteagudo (who was Melton’s teammate on the Sox the year before) to set the record for the most White Sox home runs in a season.

That same day, Luis Aparicio got his final hit in a Sox uniform. He had 1,576 of them for the White Sox. Just 672 fans were on hand to see the doubleheader at Comiskey Park, as the White Sox were in the process of setting their all-time losses mark.

1975
The White Sox traded Deron Johnson to the Red Sox in a post-deadline waiver deal, in exchange for a player to be named later. The slugger had a poor season in Chicago after being signed as a free agent for 1975, but found an extra gear in his few games for Boston, hitting a key homer down the stretch while going 3-for-4 in his Bosox debut on September 22 and 6-for-10 in his three games overall.

The White Sox acquired afterthought prospect Chuck Erickson on November 7 to complete the deal, a catcher who would play just 18 games in Triple-A in 1976 before ending his playing career.

1998
Jim Abbott’s amazing comeback with the White Sox continued, as he threw six innings of a 7-1 win over Minnesota to improve to 4-0.

It was Abbott’s second stint on the South Side, the first coming in 1995, where he compiled 2.6 rWAR in 17 starts before being dealt at the trade deadline to the Angels. After re-signing with the Angels and suffering an awful 1996 (2-18, 7.48 ERA), Abbott was flushed out of the majors and took a year off.

In 1998, the White Sox gave the southpaw another shot, and he swallowed his pride and made 18 starts across all four minors levels, from Low-A up to Triple-A. He was called up to the majors during roster expansion, making his season debut with the White Sox on September 5. He won all five of his starts for Chicago, racking up a 4.55 ERA and 4.31 FIP.

He signed with Milwaukee in the offseason and would play one more year in the majors, before retiring with a career 19.6 WAR and 87 wins.

2015
Jeff Samardzija was acquired from the A’s with the hope that the Chicago native (who grew up a White Sox fan) could be the difference in getting the team to the postseason. His campaign, though, was something to forget; he struggled all year, particularly in the first inning of games, and after the trade deadline.

On this day, however, he pitched the finest game in his career; in the opener of a doubleheader against the Tigers, he tossed a one-hitter in a 2-0 shutout. The only hit he allowed was a bloop single off the bat of Victor Martinez in the fifth inning. Samardzija struck out six and only faced one hitter over the minimum. Erik Johnson won the nightcap, completing a White Sox sweep.

2024
A 6-2 loss at San Diego gave the White Sox 119 losses, tying them with the 2003 Detroit Tigers with an AL most-ever 119 defeats. Chris Flexen, quite naturally, took the defeat to fall to 2-15 (although he would win one more, in a matter of days).

The White Sox remained a season-high 53 1/2 games out of first place.