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We awoke this morning to discover that the 2026 baseball season was still with us. Standing on the brink of elimination, Brewer brooms sweeping towards them, the Rays found a way to survive, walking off Milwaukee on a Ben Williamson single to right.

But doom still stares them in the face: a 3-1 deficit is a forbidding thing. The odds of a comeback are against them. But we are not asking about odds. We are asking about a stranger, less predictable thing: the vibes, the hopes, the general sense of it.

The Rays have faced World Series deficits twice before, in 2020 and in a year that you surely recall. They had no miracles in them then. Do they have one in them for 2026?

This week, I set out on a quest to find a bullpen as bad or worse than the 2026 Cardinals bullpen. We all found it aggravating at times, with only a few bright spots if we were paying attention. The closer was an enigma with a lot of saves, and a lot of memorable blown saves. It certainly felt like. 8 was enough!

George Soriano also had 8 blown saves. etc

Let’s get in a time machine back to 2018. John Brebbia, Jordan Hicks, and Carlos Martinez were our only trustworthy bullpen arms… and Carlos Martinez only pitched 18 innings in relief, so he almost doesn’t count.

Guys with names like Mike Mayers, Tyson Ross, and Dominic Leone were at least a hair above replacement level. They were there, not doing too much harm, but also allowing damage.

Bud Norris, Dakota Hudson, Tyler Webb, and John Gant were also out there, not bad, not good, but there.

Sam Tuivailala showed some promise, but was not much of a factor, either. Greg Holland and his 7.92 ERA was also a member of this bullpen! Sigh. But Brett Cecil was the worst part of this horrible bullpen, with negative fWAR in over 30 IP.

The 2018 Cardinals bullpen ranked #25/30 teams. This team was a good team with a bad bullpen, going 88-74, which was not good enough for the playoffs that year, finishing 2.5 games out of wild card berth.

Oddly enough, the 2017 and 2019 bullpens were assets compared to the 2018 Cardinals’ bullpen. In 2019, Brebbia, Martinez, and Gant stepped it up a notch while Giovanny Gallegos emerged as the bullpen leader. Showing anything can happen, I suppose!

Fastforward to 2021 when the bullpen was an asset again thanks to peak Gallegos and Genesis Cabrera. This bullpen was good enough to make the playoffs, but fell victim to the one game playoff system in place at the time. This would end up Mike Shildt’s last chance in a Cardinal uniform. Ryan Helsley pitched 47 innings with a 4.56 ERA. Kodi Whitley was better than Helsley in only 25 IP.

The 2022 bullpen was lead by the talents of Ryan Helsley who emerged as a 1.25 ERA / 2.34 FIP dominant pitcher! Gallegos was also incredibly good that season, albeit not quite that astonishing at 2.88 FIP. That’s a nice duo to build a bullpen around…

The issue was that Jordan Hicks would have been a triple threat, but he had a rather unlucky 4.37 ERA, while his other rate stats were 2.39 xERA, 3.06 FIP, and 3.20 xFIP. That’s enough evidence for bad luck. Maybe he was tipping his pitches.

While 2022 relievers had some high end talent, the bullpen also included guys like Packy Naughton, Jake Woodford, Chris Stratton, and Zach Thompson. So even with the one-two of peak Helsley and a still really good Gallegos, this bullpen ended up in the middle of the pack.

The Cardinals bullpen remained mid in 2023 and 2024, but in 2025 the bullpen was actually an asset.

But… in 2026 it was an afterthought. sad, really.

So many lessons not learned by the organization. The bullpen is back to 2018 levels where it crippled the team for some reason, reasons unknown other than they though they thought they could get away with the bullpen as an afterthought. It is a fantasy that you do not need a reliable bullpen. I agree with all sabermetric finds outside of this one.

8 years later, the Cardinals have designed a bullpen almost to fail spectacularly with Gordon Graceffo the most valuable member by fWAR. That was not supposed to happen! O’Brien and Bruihl were both above replacement level. Yet, the Cardinals bullpen were #25/30 in WAR. They barely cracked the top 20 in ERA. Not real good, especially with a lackluster bullpen.

If there is some sort of decade cycle, we should not be worried about the bullpen. We had an offyear in 2018, which was surrounded by good bullpen years. There’s a good chance that the 2025 bullpen is closer to the 2027 than the 2026 one was. I think the Cardinals are overall bullpen savvy, so there should be some improvement during the next season. They don’t usually cough up a bad bullpen.

1999 Heavy Metal for Halloween!

• Today Is The Day – ‘In The Eyes of God’ two members of Mastodon before they went on to their more well-known band, and early alt metal noise rock stalwart Steve Austin, create a monster of a prog metal psychedelic art rock album of the highest order (live in St Louis 1999)
• External Suffering – ‘Drowning in Tragedy’ a good example of everything that was happening in heavy music in 1999. new find, but I think an instant classic!
• Melvins – ‘The Maggot’ one of the best Melvins albums of all! even has a cover song! Top tier.
• Botch – ‘We Are The Romans’ Converge opened the doors a year before, but Botch took it to the next level for the times! post punk metalcore noise rock whatever you want to call it this is influential af for 1999
• Neurosis – ‘Times of Grace’ heavy and haunting to this day, for me completes their first four cycle of album in grand fashion, haunting and hypnotic and heavy, but more noise rock maybe?
• Type O Negative – ‘World Coming Down’ the heaviest Type O Negative album, a band that is just as much doom metal as it is goth rock and epic industrial metal.
• The Dillinger Escape Plan – ‘Calculating Infinity’ reinvented the whole game
• Immolation – ‘Failures For Gods’ early death metal stalwart becomes legendary!
• Angelcorpse – ‘The Inexorable’ intricate, brutal tech death of the highest order from KC!
• Deeds of Flesh – ‘Path of the Weakening’ instant classic upon first listen!
• Breach – ‘Venom’ there was definitely a noise rock prog metal thing happening this year, and this was definitely a good part of it!
• Cave In – ‘Until Your Heart Stops’ legendary noise rock post metal album along with Both and Breach!
• Nootgrush – ‘Erode The Person’ the sludge metal legends get it started here!
• Monstrosity – ‘In Dark Purity’
• Deformity – ‘Murder Within Sin’
• Delorian – ‘When All The Laughter Has Gone’
• Cavity – ‘Supercollider’
• Vile – ‘Stench of the Deceased’
• Amorbital – ‘Invicta’
• Unruh – ‘Setting Fire To Sinking Ships’

Well there you have it, a heavy metal Halloween soundtrack time machine to the year 1999!

1999 Heavy Metal Underground Radio From George Matt Bowles

Happy Early Halloweeen VEB! I found a cat mask that looked like my cat, so I was a cat dad for Halloween at work. What are you going to be? I spent many years not being anything, which is just as good!

2026 was a tale of two seasons for right-hander Roki Sasaki.

To begin the season, Sasaki struggled to find his footing back in the rotation after becoming the team’s de facto closer during their 2025 title run. Sasaki entered the All-Star break with a 5.33 ERA and a 1.358 WHIP across 81 innings over his first 16 games. He followed up a poor first half with an incredible six start stretch to begin the second half until a blister on his right middle finger sidelined him for a month.

Just like the year before, there was no room for him in the starting rotation in October, and he was relegated to just 3 1/3 innings out of the bullpen in the postseason. The Dodgers don’t have to look far to add supplemental value to the rotation for 2027, and Sasaki’s goal for next season is to be become a reliable starter both in the regular season and when it matters most, notes Dylan Hernandez of the California Post.

“To start in the regular season and continue being a starter in the postseason, I think I have to give a performance worthy of that,” he said. “I know what I did this year wasn’t enough.

The Dodgers attempted to have Shohei Ohtani battle through both knee and biceps injuries in the second half, and it resulted in a nearly two-month long home run drought where he was a shell of himself offensively— let alone the fact that he hadn’t taken the mound since July 3.

It seems that there was a lack of full transparency between the two-way superstar and the coaching staff, as Katie Woo of The Athletic details.

“I think in his mind, he thought the best way to help the team was to go out and play, which I respect,” Friedman said in September. “But us staying really connected and sharing that information, I think, will be really important going forward. And again, the communication back and forth has been awesome. The fully sharing exactly how he’s feeling, maybe not as awesome.”

One of the more intriguing international talents entering this offseason is Japanese right-hander Shoki Oda. Oda intends to forego a career in the NPB, notes Michael Clair and Ayako Oikawa of MLB.com, and his fastball has put him on the same echelon of both Ohtani and Sasaki.

The Dodgers are already in the mix for Japanese outfielder Teruaki Sato, but Dylan Hernandez of the California Post notes that the Dodgers would be the expected landing spot for Oda.

And while people familiar with his situation insist he hasn’t made a decision, the widespread expectation around the industry is that 18-year-old Shoki Oda of Japan will end up with the Dodgers.

On one hand, I’m never truly ready for baseball season to end, but in the case of this World Series, I have a particular rooting interest who could’ve ended the season on Tuesday night. Having crushed the Rays in Game 3, the Brewers went into Game 4 a win away from a sweep and the franchise’s first ever World Series championship.

In the end, they came mightily close, but not close enough. Having taken a lead in the 12th inning, the Brewers couldn’t quite hold on. With five consecutive batters reaching base, the Rays came storming back in the bottom of the 12th, ensuring that we’ll have at least one more game this season.

World Series Game 4

Tampa Bay Rays 4, Milwaukee Brewers 3 — 12 innings
(Brewers lead series 3-1)

The two teams traded runs back and forth throughout the first half of the game.

Having been part of some defensive miscues that helped doom the Rays in Game 3, Chandler Simpson helped get Tampa Bay off to a better start in Game 4. His second inning double scored Jonny DeLuca to get Tampa Bay on the board and open the scoring.

Milwaukee got on the board themselves in the top of the fourth. Cooper Pratt hit a two-out double to score Sal Frelick and even things up. However, the Rays answered back in the bottom of the inning. With Junior Caminero on second, DeLuca hit a grounder to Brewers’ third baseman David Hamilton. Hamilton’s reaching attempt to tag out an advancing Caminero missed and his throw to first was then wide of the mark. The error allowed Caminero to score.

However, it didn’t take long for Hamilton to atone for that. He was due to lead off the top of the fifth and took Griffin Jax deep to tie the score once again.

After that, the game became a battle of the bullpens, and quite a battle it was. After tying it up in the fifth, the Brewers had just three runners reach base in regulation innings, and none of them advanced into scoring position. Meanwhile after taking the lead in the fourth, the Rays had just two runners reach base, and similarly they didn’t get close to scoring. Eventually the game headed into extra innings.

Both teams traded opportunities in extras, but it wasn’t until the 12th inning when things went haywire. With one out in the top half of the inning, Cooper Pratt went deep, giving the Brewers their first lead of the game and putting them on the cusp of a championship.

However, a fairly big issue arose after that in that the Brewers didn’t have an obvious option to try and close out the win, having used most of their big pieces to get the game to extras to begin with. That includes Aaron Ashby, who went 2.1 innings in this game, setting a record in the process. They tried sticking with Antonio Senzatela, who had finished off the 11th, until Camerino reached on an error to lead off the inning, leading to Pat Murphy going back to the bullpen.

Shane Drohan was the call, but things didn’t improve from there. Liam Hicks singled to put runners at the corners. DeLuca then punched through a single of his own, tying the game back up. Following a Simpson single to load the bases, Ben Williamson capped off the comeback with yet another single. His walk-off scored pinch runner Nick Fortes as the Rays had won the game to stay alive.

Milwaukee will now have to try again tomorrow night, when they’ll likely send Jacob Misiorowski to the mound. Meanwhile, the Rays used their Game 1 starter, Nick Martinez, for two innings out of the bullpen in this one, so it’s unclear exactly where they’ll go.

Good morning. Especially since we’re getting a Game Five tonight. Apologies to Jack Buck in the Great Beyond for today’s title. And we’ll see you tonight from when you’re reading this.

• The Rays beat the Brewers 4-3 in Game Four after falling behind 3-2 in the top of the 12th inning and then scoring twice in the bottom of the inning.
• With 2.1 scoreless innings in Game Four, Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby recorded his 18th consecutive scoreless inning of work in the playoffs, a new record for one postseason.
• Game three will be remembered for the eight-run fifth inning that seems to have clinched the title for the Brewers (although the Rays aren’t dead yet). Julian McWilliams goes over that pivotal point in the Series that broke the Rays’ back.
• Jake Mintz points out that Christian Yelich’s hustle on the base paths was the difference in Game 3.

• Michael Baumann breaks down that eight-run inning. (Fangraphs paywall)
• Andy McCullough looks at that eight-run inning and the Brewers on the brink of their first title. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• The Brewers Jackson Chourio became the youngest player since Joe Garagiola in 1946 to have four hits in one World Series game.
• Matt Snyder writes that Chourio is now the face of the Brewers franchise.
• Jordan Shusterman has more thoughts on Chourio and his Game Three heroics.
• Jesse Rogers looks that the impact that manager Pat Murphy has had on the Brewers’ success.
• Andy McCullough and Will Sammon note that if the Brewers want to continue to be good, they may have to trade many of the heroes of this season. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Tyler Kepner writes about Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff’s career with Milwaukee and his miraculous comeback from injury to pitch the ninth inning in Game Three. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Davy Andrews marvels at Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson’s speed and unique sliding technique. (Fangraphs paywall)
• Will Sammon asks some scouts how much could Rays pitcher Freddy Peralta make in free agency this winter. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Despite some bad predictions with the two small markets, television ratings were only down a little for Games One and Two.
• Dan Shanoff and Andrew Marchand have more on what the TV ratings mean. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• None of this matters to commissioner Rob Manfred, who argued that two small market teams in the World Series means even more that baseball needs a salary cap. Mike Axisa reports.
• A FAQ on the upcoming collective bargaining talks and the lockout.
• Before that, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman have the top 50 free agents this winter.
• Congratulations to the Mets’ Francisco Lindor, who won this year’s Roberto Clemente Award.
• The Mariners are holding in-person interviews for their vacant manager job. The two candidates appear to be former Astros manager Joe Espada and Cubs farm director Jason Kanzler.
• Eric Longenhagen looks at some of the prospects in the Arizona Fall League.
• An update on the restrictions on outfield defensive positioning in the AFL.
• Legendary Yankees catcher Jorge Posada said that he doesn’t “feel welcome” around the Yankees. He didn’t say why.
• Andrew Baggarly reports on Giants team president Buster Posey comments on how the team plans on developing better “stuff” among their pitchers. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Former Dodger Miguel Rojas plans to play one more game for his original Venezuelan League team in Miami this November before retiring.
• The 2009 World Series MVP Hideki Matsui has been named the new manager of the Yomiuri Giants in NPB. Max Ralph reports.
• Sweeny Murti notes that former Royal Danny Jackson had the only immaculate inning in postseason history and didn’t even know it for 30 more years. That’s because “immaculate inning” wasn’t a thing in 1985.
• Charlotte Barnes has a look at the “organized chaos” as the wives, fiancées and girlfriends of major leaguers in the World Series plan what they’re going to wear to support their significant others. (The Athletic sub. req.) There’s a lot of planning and custom orders.
• And finally, we all know the sad part of the Brewers run to the title is that Bob Uecker is not around for it. Cody Stavenhagen talks to people in the Brewers family about their memories of Uecker and how none of this seems complete without him. (The Athletic sub. req.)

The Tigers had some housekeeping to do before the real offseason begins, and they made progress on Tuesday by inking veteran catcher Carlos Perez and several of their better minor league relief prospects to new minor league deals.

Pérez took the place of Tomás Nido as their Triple-A depth catcher de jeur back in July, with Nido eventually signing on with the Boston Red Sox. Pérez was red hot with the bat in Toledo until an ankle injury in August ended his season. The 36-year-old backstop has some major league experience and is regarded as a good game caller with solid defensive skills.

The three relievers signed to new minor league contracts were some of their top relievers at the Double-A level last year. Sinkerballer Moises Rodriguez leads the way with a high 90’s sinker that touches triple digits and a solid breaking ball. He was our 28th ranked prospect, and really the only notable upper level relief prospect on our preseason prospect rankings. The 24-year-old rarely allows hard contact in the air and posted a 2.57 ERA in 2026, but inconsistent command and two good pitches that don’t really pair together that well by shape and appearance out of hand have kept him from breaking through. He signed a one-year deal to stay in the Tigers farm system, though he’s eligible for the Rule 5 draft this offseason.

Veteran right-hander Marco Jimenez also re-signed with the Tigers. The 26-year-old throws hard and has a quality breaking ball, but the fastball shape plays down a bit from the 97-98 mph typically seen from Jimenez. He has hit triple digits for various stretches in the past, though injuries have also slowed his progress. He only threw 16.2 innings in 2026, but his strikeout rate was decent and his walk rate was excellent. The home runs were a problem though that’s obviously a small sample and Jimenez hasn’t had much trouble with giving up home runs in the past.

Finally, 30-year-old right-hander Wandisson Charles also re-upped with the Tigers. After several years in the Baltimore Orioles system without breaking through to the major leagues, Wandisson didn’t pitch in 2025 and the Tigers brought him in on a minor league deal last winter. He was the key cog in the Erie SeaWolves bullpen this year, striking out 31.2 percent of hitters faced over 63.2 innings of work. Charles is another who throws hard and keeps the ball on the ground. The heater is good enough that he could probably hang in middle relief, but his breaking stuff needs to be more consistent.

The Tigers other minor league free agents not yet re-signed includes outfielder Roberto Campos, utilityman Trei Cruz, and right handed relievers Yoniel Curet, who is young enough and has power stuff worth keeping, and veteran reliever Jack Little. Campos is far and away the most notable name as he received a $2.85 million bonus as a teenager who flew Cuba to the Dominican Republic. Now 24, Campos’ progress has been slow, but it has remained steady as well and he handled the jump to Double-A reasonably well this year. At this point his upside is more of a fourth outfielder type, but the Tigers would probably like to hang onto him one more year to see if he improving selectivity helps him finally tap into more of his raw power.

The offseason is almost upon us, which means it’s time to pull out your calendars and see when certain offseason events occur. November is sure to be busy, but things get a little more uncertain once we turn to December and the expected lockout begins. During that time, some events will be postponed if not cancelled outright.

Today, be on the lookout for my Rockpile covering the 40-man roster.

Either way, here is the calendar of notable dates for the offseason.

Day after the World Series ends

• Free Agents file – 7 am MT

November 1

• Gold Glove Awards announced – 7 pm MT (ESPN)

November 2

• HOF eight-person Contemporary Baseball Era ballot for managers, executives and umpires
• Silver Slugger Award finalists announced – 12 pm MT
• BBWAA Awards Finalists announced – 4- 6 p.m. MT (MLB Network) – (ROY, Cy Young, MVP, etc)

Five days after the World Series ends

• Free agency opens at 3 p.m. MT 
• Last day to issue Qualifying Offer 
• 60-day Injured List reinstatement 
• Contract options deadline 

November 6

• Heart & Hustle Awards announced – TBD – MLB Network
• Gold Glove Awards dinner in NYC – Platinum Glove winners announced

November 9

• Rookie of the Year – 5-6 pm ET (MLB Network)

November 9-12

• GM Meetings in Las Vegas

November 10

• Manager of the Year – 5-6 pm MT (MLB Network)

November 11

• Cy Young Awards and BBWAA Relievers of the Year – 5-7 pm MT (MLB Network)
• MLB Awards show – 7- 9 pm MT (MLB Network)
• All-MLB first and second teams
• Hank Aaron Award winners
• Comeback Players of the Year
• Mariano Rivera & Trevor Hoffman relievers of the year
• Edgar Martinez DH of the Year

November 12 

• MVP Award – 5-6 pm ET (MLB Network)

November 16 

• Hall of Fame announces its 2027 ballot, 10 am MT – Writer’s ballot

November 17-19

• Owners meetings in New York

November 17

• Silver Slugger Awards
• Deadline for players to accept the Qualifying Offer, 2 pm MT
• Rule 5 protection deadline (Players need to be added to 40-man roster to protect from the Rule 5 draft)

November 20

• Non-tender Deadline

December 1 

• CBA expires 9:59 pm MT – Lockout begins

December 6

• BBWAA announces Contemporary Baseball Era inductees

December 7-9

• Winter Meetings in San Diego (Likely to be canceled)

December 8

• Draft Lottery (likely to be postponed during lockout)

December 9

• Rule 5 Draft (likely to be postponed or canceled during lockout)

January 8 

• Arbitration figures exchanged (likely to be postponed during lockout)

January 15

• International signing period opens

January 19

• Hall of Fame announces BBWAA voting results & 2007 inductees, 4 pm MT (MLB Network)

In the meantime, here are today’s links and content for the Rockies and the rest of MLB!

Rockies news and links

Owen Cuffe promoted to assistant director of pitching for the Colorado Rockies | Purple Row

The Rockies are looking to continue shaping their pitching philosophy this offseason and as part of that, they have promoted Owen Cuffe to assistant director of pitching. Cuffe was hired last January to work as a pitching and rehab coach in the Arizona Complex League. The team seems to have liked him enough in that role to now expand his talents to all facets of the organization.

Top 40 MLB free agents for 2026-27: Contract predictions, team fits for Skubal, Peralta, more | The Athletic ($)

Jim Bowden end up listing Taylor Ward as a free agent option for the Rockies. Ward’s right-handed bat and potential for power could be a nice fit for the Rockies. Ward didn’t have a good season between the Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners, so a one-year prove-it deal on a cheaper deal could be a steal for the Rockies if he rebounded.

World Series Highlights Rockies’ Need for Bullpen Help in 2027 | Rockies On SI

Ben Fisher highlights how bullpens have been a focal point of the World Series teams and the Rockies should take note of how important late-game relievers are for a winning team.

Rockies prospect Stu Flesland III on fast track to Coors Field | Denver Gazette

Kevin Henry catches up with prospect Stu Flesland III who could be at Coors Field sooner rather than later. He’s currently in the Arizona Fall League and continuing to look for more velocity.

Are the Brewers Cheating? Milwaukee on the Brink, Jack O’Dowd’s Rise & MLB’s Last Game? | Mile High Territory

On this episode of Mile High Territory, Ryan Spilborghs and Troy Renck talked about the Milwaukee Brewers being on the brink of a title and then talked about Jack O’Dowd as well as some stories with former Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd.

Around MLB

Rays live to fight another day thanks to Williamson’s walk-off single | MLB.com

The Milwaukee Brewers came three outs shy of securing their first World Series title as the Tampa Bay Rays managed to pull off a 4-3 walk-off victory in the 12th inning. Former Rockie Antonio Senzatela finished the 11th inning and started the 12th, but left after an error allowed the lead off runner to reach. Shane Drohan then entered, and the Rays tied the game and managed to load the bases before a chopped single to right field won the game. So, they’ll play at least one more tonight in Tampa Bay with the series now 3-1 in favor of the Brewers.

118.2 mph exit velo! 103.8 mph fastball! These are the Arizona Fall League Statcast leaders | MLB.com

The AFL is at its midpoint, so Jim Callis breaks down some of the Statcast leaders to this point in the season. Jack O’Dowd comes in with the fourth-longest home run.

Astros GM Search: Mike Rizzo May Be Exactly What Jim Crane Wants — and That Says Everything | The Crawfish Boxes

The Houston Astros are in search of a new general manager and former Washington Nationals leader Mike Rizzo interviewed for the position. Our Astros affiliate breaks down the fit of Rizzo.

Phillies hire Fatse as new hitting coach | MLB.com

The Phillies lineup is sure to look different next year and the team has hired a new hitting coach and assistant to hopefully provide a new path forward.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

The offseason has arrived, but there’s no rule against watching a few White Sox highlights to get us through it. Each week, I’ll pick a player and revisit five plays worth another look. No homework, no deep dive. Just a little baseball to fill the void.

First up: Chase Meidroth, who apparently took it personally whenever a baseball tried to sneak through the infield. With a Gold Glove potentially headed his way, it feels like a good time to revisit some of the leatherwork that put him in the conversation.

Grab your morning coffee and enjoy five reasons opposing hitters might prefer to send the ball somewhere else.

Here are five favorites listed in chronological order:

1. No hits for you
April 17 vs. Athletics

Nick Kurtz sent one toward right field. Chase Meidroth had other plans. A diving stop and a throw to first later, Kurtz had himself a ground out, and we had ourselves a replay.

2. Balance is overrated
May 6 at Angels

Feet set? Optional. Out at first? Required. Chase gets the throw off from an awkward angle and sends Travis d’Arnaud back to the dugout.

3. Chase it down, call it a night
June 10 vs. Braves

A one-run lead in the ninth is no time for a bloop to get any bright ideas. Chase’s running catch sealed a 2-1 win. Exhale, Sox fans.

4. Up by 21? Still diving
June 26 vs. Royals

Apparently, a 22-1 lead wasn’t enough to convince Chase to take it easy. He punctuated the blowout with a diving play for the final out. The Royals couldn’t even leave town with a little ground-ball consolation prize.

5. A little early for a highlight reel?No, absolutely not
August 7 vs. Guardians

Chase needed all of one inning to give us something worth replaying. A backhand throw retired Brayan Rocchio to end the first. Might as well get Cleveland acquainted with the glove right away.

Those are my five, but Chase gave us plenty to choose from. Which play was your favorite? Did I leave out a gem? Drop yours in the comments, and let me know which players should get the highlight treatment next.

How will this year's World Series play out? Using the Dynasty League Baseball online simulation, USA TODAY Sports' Steve Gardner and DLB designer Mike Cieslinski will pre-play each game to provide some insight into the key matchups and strategy fans can expect to see in the Fall Classic.

In real life, the Milwaukee Brewers have three more chances to close out the 2026 World Series, so the pressure won't really start ramping up unless they have to return home still looking for that clinching victory.

In USA TODAY Sports' annual Simulated World Series, the Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays are on much more even footing, with each team winning twice on the other's home field. Game 5, in this sense, is more pivotal than it is a potential endpoint.

Also in our version of the series, the Rays have ace Drew Rasmussen available to pitch on full rest after starting him in Game 1. The result was a classic pitcher's duel against Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, with both pitchers putting up goose eggs ... until Tampa Bay broke through in the eighth for a 3-0 win.