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What would you call the opposite of a baseball manager’s “circle of trust”?

Because that’s where the Cubs are probably going to have to send Jacob Webb after yet another blown save, yet another two-run homer served up, yet another game where it’s clear he can no longer be used in high-leverage situations.

The numbers are horrific. In his last eight appearances, Webb has thrown 6.2 innings and has a 14.85 ERA, 2.100 WHIP, 14 hits and four walks allowed and the worst part, four home runs — all of which either gave the other team the lead or tied the game. In those eight games, Webb had four blown saves.

Convert even two of those save opportunities and the Cubs are a lot more comfortable in the Wild Card race. Unfortunately, these games are in the books and they are, at the moment, not.

All right, that’s out of my system, let’s look back at the Cubs’ 6-3 loss to the Braves, all of Atlanta’s runs scoring via three two-run homers.

Kevin Gausman had a rough first inning — 25 pitches — but got out of it scoreless. The Cubs put two runners on in the bottom of the inning via a pair of two-out walks, but could not score.

The Cubs took the lead in the bottom of the second. Michael Busch led off with a single and advanced to second on a walk by Matt Shaw.

Pedro Ramirez’s single scored Busch to make it 1-0 [VIDEO].

Miguel Amaya then sacrificed Shaw and Ramirez up a base, putting runners on second and third with one out. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a ground ball to second and Shaw was thrown out at the plate. Seiya Suzuki then struck out, so the Cubs had just one run to show for all that traffic.

Gausman settled down and retired 10 straight Braves from the last out of the first through the fourth. The Cubs extended their lead in the bottom of the fourth. Busch led off with a walk and Shaw’s infield single moved Busch to second.

Then this happened [VIDEO].

That throw… what was that? That play should have resulted in at least one out. Instead, Busch scored to make it 2-0 and Shaw wound up on third, where he scored on this sac fly by Miguel Amaya [VIDEO].

About the Cubs’ two-sac night, from BCB’s JohnW53:

The Cubs went into Tuesday with nine successful sacrifice bunts, tied with the Braves and Twins for the second fewest. The Tigers had eighth; the Yankees, 10.

The Cubs were 11th in sacrifice flies with 43, one behind the Braves and Royals.

Tuesday’s game was the first this season in which the Cubs had at least one of each. They had not done it since May 26, 2025. They had played 260 games since then before Tuesday.

So it’s 3-0 Cubs going to the top of the sixth. Gausman had been sailing along, but a one-out single by Drake Baldwin followed by a two-run homer by Ronald Acuña Jr. made it 3-2. Gausman gave up another hit and a hard-hit line drive out and then was removed in favor of Daniel Palencia, who ended the sixth with a fly ball to right.

The Cubs did not score in the bottom of the sixth and that’s when Webb entered the game. Honestly, I was surprised Craig Counsell didn’t just leave Palencia out there — he’d thrown only two pitches to retire Mauricio Dubon to end the sixth.

Webb, as I noted above, did not have a good game. The two-run homer he allowed to Ozzie Albies gave Atlanta a 4-3 lead.

Still, that’s not insurmountable — usually. But the Cubs bats went silent. After Shaw led off the sixth with a single, the next 12 Cubs went down in order.

Meanwhile, Edward Cabrera made his Cubs relief debut. And actually, it was going along pretty well until a two-run homer by Baldwin in the ninth put the game out of reach. Cabrera threw 40 pitches — maybe too many for his first outing out of the bullpen? I do still think Cabrera can be a useful weapon in relief. He touched 99 with his four-seamer several times, and that, combined with his 94 mile per hour changeup, can record outs — but again, maybe in shorter bursts.

Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame remarks [VIDEO].

In that clip, Counsell doesn’t sound like he’s going to take Webb out of that circle of trust, and he really needs to. He notes that the team is giving up “too many home runs.” Ya think? This cannot keep happening:

Marquee’s postgame show discussed #Cubs bullpen woes, including a critique of Jacob Webb. pic.twitter.com/YbXio8pwFZ

— Jeff Agrest #🟦 (@JeffAgrest) September 16, 2026

Fortunately, all the other teams in Wild Card competition with the Cubs — the Phillies, Padres and Diamondbacks — also lost Tuesday, so no ground was lost and the Cubs still have the top wild card spot by half a game over the Phillies. The Cubs lead the Padres by 1.5 games and the Diamondbacks by four. Arizona’s loss reduced the Cubs’ magic number to clinch a postseason spot to 6.

The Cubs still have a chance at a series win over the Braves Wednesday evening at Wrigley Field. Shōta Imanaga will take the mound for the Cubs and JR Ritchie, just recalled from Triple-A by Atlanta, goes for the Braves. Game time is again 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

I’m shamelessly stealing from the comments, because it’s a long season and I had nothing else for today anyway.

Didier Fuentes is 12th among relievers with 2.0 fWAR. He also ranks in the top 15 in WPA, which isn’t really something he did alone, but is a bit of a tiebreaker when others are close.

He’s not going to win. There are five position player rookies in the NL with more than 2 fWAR, including JJ Wetherholt, who has 4.4 while underhitting his xwOBA by .030. (If he weren’t underhitting it, he’d probably ge some downballot MVP votes.) The Mets’ Carson Benge has 3.5 fWAR and hasn’t missed any time with injury. TJ Rumfield has a .375 wOBA / 125 wRC+, though the former is very Coors-addled and he’s outperforming his inputs. Sal Stewart has 31 homers.

On the pitching end, you have Nolan McLean as the “full-time starter as a rookie” option (3.1 fWAR, about 170 innings), as well as Logan Henderson as the “pitched super-well but only up for like half a season” option (2.3 fWAR, under 90 innings).

But, Fuentes is still ninth in the NL in rookie fWAR, so maybe he gets some recognition, even if it’s not much. He does actually lead all NL rookies in WPA, but again, I don’t expect that to carry the day. It is pretty funny, though.

What do you think?

No news is good news. That’s not always true (few fans feel this way during trade deadline season), but it’s arguably true during the final days of the campaign, where news can really mean only one thing: an injury. And this was so yesterday, as the Phillies placed Jesús Luzardo on the 15 day IL with the shoulder inflammation that had caused him to miss his last start. A return for the postseason is possible but certainly not guaranteed.

There’s no question that this is a major blow for the team. So today’s question is: how does it change your outlook for the rest of the season?

Colton Cowser made a game-saving catch against the Rockies on August 31. The grab took the sports world by storm and lifted the Orioles back to .500 for the first time in four months. The play also preserved Baltimore’s spot as a contender for the third and final wild card spot.

With the benefit of hindsight, Cowser’s home run robbery of Jake McCarthy probably marked the high point of another disappointing season. The Orioles proceeded to lose their next six games (two in Colorado; four against Boston). Everyone chalked the Rockies result up to fatigue at the end of a long road trip, but the Birds came home and got taken behind the woodshed. Adley Rutschman hit multiple home runs during his return to Camden Yards, and Baltimore’s offense tallied only one run over the final three games of the four-game set.

And just like that, the season was lost. The Orioles took two-of-three from Cleveland when they desperately needed a sweep, and the O’s dropped two-of-three in Toronto.

In most years, the Orioles would have lost the privilege of competing for a playoff spot long before September. The third wild card spot, paired with a mediocre American League (outside of the AL East), allowed Baltimore one last chance to compete, but the team let that opportunity slip away.

Let’s put aside the early injuries to guys like Jordan Westburg and Zach Eflin. We can even look beyond the deadline sale of Rutschman, Taylor Ward, Tyler Wells and Dean Kremer. The Orioles held possession of the third wild card spot a little over two weeks ago. If I had told you back in March that the O’s would possess a wild card spot with a month to play, would you have taken that deal? I know that I would have. I would have anticipated a better record, but the playoff spot is the selling point there.

It’s clear that the 2026 season was a failure, but how would you evaluate the last three weeks? Did Craig Albernaz and his team ever really have a real chance of making the postseason? If so, what did they do wrong?

The final two games in Colorado cannot be discounted. I don’t care if the Orioles had spent a full month on the road. Baltimore, desperate for wins, had the luxury of facing the only team in the National League with a winning percentage that begins with the number three.

The team summoned Luis De León—the team’s seventh best prospect according to MLB Pipeline—to join the team in Colorado. The 23-year-old had started in 22 of his 26 appearances in the minors this year, but Baltimore gave the lefty a few relief reps before adding him to its major league bullpen. Albernaz immediately thrust the rookie into a high-leverage situation, and De León surrendered the go-ahead homer in a 4-2 loss.

It’s fair to wonder if De León should have even been with the team, let alone working in a leverage situation during his debut. The Orioles needed a fresh lefty in the bullpen, but they opted to go with a prospect that wasn’t exactly pounding down the door (6.50 ERA over 18 Triple-A innings) over a guy like Cade Povich.

The bullpen continued to bite the team as Andrew Kittredge and Grant Wolfram both blew saves in the series finale. Kittredge, one of the only experienced relievers in the bullpen, clearly lost a step in the second half. But did Albernaz mismanage the bullpen, or was he simply working with a bunch that shouldn’t be expected to deliver?

The four-game sweep at the hands of Boston all but put the final nail in the coffin. The Orioles, facing their former franchise player for the first time, all but crumbled under the pressure. The O’s failed to score on Friday and Saturday before exploding for one run in the finale. Do you blame the front office for the bats going to sleep? Can you blame the skipper?

The team deserves credit for claiming Luis Robert Jr., but the outfielder hit the injured list shortly after his arrival. Gunnar Henderson finished 3-for-13 with 0 RBIs in the Boston series. Samuel Basallo hasn’t hit since returning from the injured list. Carlos Narváez quickly reminded everyone in Baltimore what a true backup catcher looks like at the plate. Blaze Alexander attempted to manufacture a spark before returning to the injured list.

Baltimore entered last night with a season-low .650 team OPS in the month of September. Despite all the team’s struggles, the Orioles still managed to post an OPS in the .700s during every other month of the season.

It’s understandable that the pitching staff started to run out of gas. The rotation was filled with guys approaching a career high in innings pitched. Brandon Young, the starter with the highest WAR (2.1), had been pitching above his level all season. But at the end of the day, the bullpen didn’t have the dudes. The offense, with respect to Pete Alonso and Coby Mayo, didn’t have the juice.

The Orioles were the benefit of a weak field, but they proved to be the weakest of the bunch. Albernaz deserves some heat for how things unfolded this year, but it’s not like he managed this team out of a playoff spot. Players like Jackson Holliday and Colton Cowser did not take the step that everyone expected. Ryan Helsley got banged up, and Félix Bautista never returned.

This roster just didn’t have the talent to make the playoffs this season, and it will need to make several improvements if it hopes to compete next year.

Rangers 4, Red Sox 2

• And that’s three in a row.
• Oh damn…just realized that this has gotten us to the much feared and hated one-game-under-.500 spot again.
• That’s been a bit of a stumbling block this season, hasn’t it?
• But that is the next game’s problem, not this game’s problem.
• This game featured some gritty gutty work from Jacob deGrom, who was originally scheduled to make his next start on Wednesday. But with the urgency of the Rangers’ current situation and Monday’s off day, the Rangers could move deGrom up a day and still have him start on regular rest.
• Doing so also means that deGrom would be slated to start in the Sunday series finale against the Blue Jays.
• Despite an ongoing groin issue which deGrom had to manage, he gave the Rangers five strong innings, with the blip being a two run Nick Sogard homer in the third inning.
• deGrom has now allowed just nine hits in his last four starts, and just 16 hits in his last six starts.
• Oh, and he struck out eight batters in the game, allowing him to pass Aaron Nola on the all time strikeout list.
• deGrom is now tied with Dazzy Vance for 86th on the all-time K list.
• There’s been not enough people named Dazzy in the world in recent years. Someone needs to look into that.
• Rangers hitters didn’t do a lot in the game, but they did enough, putting up a four run inning in the second, with all the runs coming with two outs, and with the broadcast feed not working, so none of us watching at home were able to see what was happening.
• I bet it was exciting, though.
• Also exciting? A bases loaded situation in the fifth, an inning that started with deGrom’s first hit by pitch of the season, and was followed by a catcher’s interference. With two outs and the bases full, a seven pitch Adley Rutschman at bat ended with a 3-2 ground out, and also ended deGrom’s night at 92 pitches.
• Meanwhile, in the eighth, an infield single, a fly out and a walk was followed by Robert Garcia being lifted for Jacob Latz, who was asked to get the final five outs. After a groundout moved the runners to second and third, Trevor Story was intentionally walked, leading to another lengthy at bat, this time by pinch hitter Andruw Monasterio, finally ending in a 3-2 swinging K.
• I can say now that those bases loaded jams were exciting because things turned out okay. I’d use a different adjective if things had turned out poorly.
• Corey Seager’s bloop single brought home the final two runs of the second inning for the Rangers. He was 2 for 4 in the game. Since returning from the injured list the first time in early June, he is slashing .280/.359/.511 in 206 plate appearances.
• That’s pretty good, I think.
• Cleveland won, so the Rangers are still a game and half back in the Wild Card race, and the Astros won so the Rangers are still a game back in the A.L. West. Toronto, however, lost, so the Rangers moved ahead of the Jays in the Wild Card chase, and now have no one between them and Cleveland.
• Oh, and Martin Perez won his 100th career game. That’s neat.
• Jacob deGrom topped out at 98.8 mph with his fastball, averaging 97.0 mph. Chase Silseth hit 97.3 mph with his fastball. Tyler Alexander touched 92.7 mph with his fastball. Robert Garcia’s fastball reached 92.1 mph. Jacob Latz maxed out at 97.5 mph with his fastball.
• Corey Seager had a 108.8 mph single. Brandon Nimmo had a 106.3 mph single. Ezequiel Duran had a 105.3 mph single. Danny Jansen had a 103.9 mph single. Jake Burger had a 101.9 mph groundout. Wyatt Langford had a 101.9 mph fly out.
• Eleven games to go.

History was in jeopardy for a bit when the Twins came into the Bronx earlier in the season and won a series against the Yankees, but the timeline course-corrected as the team has traveled up to Minnesota and won the first two games of the rematch. The Bombers’ perpetual punching bag have fallen out of the still-bloated race for the third Wild Card spot and that point’s been driven home by the Yankees taking a second-consecutive win with eight runs scored, this time only allowing a single run in exchange and getting their offense going much earlier than the eighth inning.

With their business handled, New York’s eyes drifted across the league to see what their rivals managed to do on Tuesday. The Rays and Red Sox were both in action, and there was a battle going on between the two top teams in the Central to check in on.

Tampa Bays Rays (91-59) 2, Athletics (61-90) 1

After taking consecutive series against Atlanta and Houston, the temporarily-relocated Athletics weren’t expected to put up much of a challenge to Tampa. However, after allowing an unearned run in the second inning on a passed ball the A’s buckled down and prevented the Rays from extending their lead, Jack Perkins going 6.2 innings without any more runs crossing home plate under his watch. Meanwhile, the A’s offense wasn’t managing much against Griffin Jax but Kevin Cash pulled him after just 67 pitches despite it being his third start back from the IL. The Athletics took advantage and pounced on the new pitcher Ty Johnson in the sixth, stringing a pair of singles before scoring the lead runner on a wild pitch to tie the game.

The Rays couldn’t be stifled forever though, and in the ninth inning they finally broke through. Elvis Alverado was brought on to start the frame facing Junior Caminero, and after getting a generous high strike to get ahead in the count Alverado threw two pitches middle-middle. Caminero fouled off the first one, but he wouldn’t get cheated on the second and drove it 345 feet for the walk-off homer. The big hit prevents the Yankees from gaining any ground once more, as they remain 3.5 games behind Tampa with 11 games left to play.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (82-69) 2, Texas Rangers (75-76) 4: The Rangers blitzed Patrick Sandoval in the second inning for all four of their runs, Elias Díaz and Corey Seager getting the RBI base-knocks with a double and single, respectively. Nick Sogard got two of those runs back in the third, but that’s all they could manage against Jacob deGrom as he struck out eight over five innings and ended his night by performing a Houdini act to prevent any runs from scoring after letting the first two runners aboard in the fifth. The Rangers’ bullpen held serve with Boston’s, working themselves out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth to secure the win and move to within a game of .500. The Sox now fall to six games behind the Yankees for the top Wild Card seed, and with New York owning the tiebreaker it’s looking all but guaranteed that the Yankees will have home field advantage for whatever their opening round of the playoffs are.

Cleveland Guardians (77-75) 7, Chicago White Sox (77-74) 6: Chicago’s opener strategy backfired as Chris Murphy gave up three runs on a pair of homers in the first inning, only recording two outs before getting pulled. The White Sox clawed a couple of those runs back before charging out into a lead of their own in the sixth inning as they plated four. Travis Bazzana got one of those back immediately with his second homer of the night, but Cleveland entered the ninth inning down a run and in need of a rally. Nathaniel Lowe started it with a single to lead off, and Kyle Teel walked to put the winning run on two batters later. A groundout brought Cleveland down to their last out, but Brayan Rocchio stepped up and delivered a double just out of the leaping Sam Antonacci’s reach to walk it off. The Guardians erased the previous night’s loss and move to within a half-game of Chicago again for first place, setting up a critical rubber match later today.

AL Wild Card Rock Fight

Toronto Blue Jays (75-77) 1, Detroit Tigers (72-79) 10: The Tigers punished the Jays for running a bullpen game, dropping five runs on Michael Lorenzen before adding at least one more run against each of the next three Jays pitchers. Toronto’s only offense came in the eighth when Kyle Finnegan entered and promptly gave up several hits with Alejandro Kirk getting the RBI single, but he quickly exited and the outs resumed without further incident.

Houston Astros (76-75) 4, Kansas City Royals (66-85) 2: Two hitters did it all for Houston, Jeremy Peña hitting a pair of solo shots to put the Astros up early before Yordan Alvarez launched his 39th homer of the year for a two-run shot that wound up as the game-winning runs. Hunter Brown struck out 10 over six innings with just one run allowed to earn the win, and Josh Hader continued his sub-1 ERA run with another clean inning for his 26th save.

Baltimore Orioles (74-78) 7, New York Mets (69-82) 5 (11 innings): Down 3-2 in the ninth inning, Pete Alonso hit his 300th career home run against his former team to tie things up and force extra innings. The O’s got one across in the 10th on a wild pitch but could muster no more and got matched by a Marcus Semien RBI double, but they exploded for three runs in the 11th as Coby Mayo hit an inside-the park three-run homer that he initially stopped to admire before actually running the bases. Fortunately for him A.J. Ewing wasn’t able to turn around in time to come up with the grab near the wall and the ball caromed into no-man’s land deep in center field allowing him to race home easily.

Meet the Mets

The Mets lost to the Orioles 7-5 in the eleventh inning. The game winning runs were scored when Coby Mayo hit a ball just out of A.J. Ewing’s reach, which turned into a three-run inside-the-park home run.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, New York Daily News, New York Post, The Athletic

Pete Alonso’s return to Citi Field not only inspired rosy nostalgia, but caused the season-long anger some fans have held to bubble over.

While the end of the contract might still go poorly, the return of Alonso illuminates the difficulty of replacing Alonso in the present.

The Arizona Fall League rosters have been released, and eight Mets prospects will be playing in the autumn.

The Mets claimed infielder Christian Cairo from the Phillies, optioning him to Triple-A Syracuse.

Around the National League East

An investor in the Atlanta Braves believes now is the time to sell the team.

Jesús Luzardo has landed on the injured list in a big blow to the Phillies rotation in the midst of a playoff push.

Luzardo’s injury at such a critical point in the Phillies season has many possible ramifications.

The Phillies fell to the Nationals 6-3. Cristopher Sánchez had an uncharacteristically rough start, giving up fine runs in 6.1 innings, allowing eight hits and two walks while striking out five.

The Braves beat the Cubs 6-3 in Chicago. Ronald Acuña Jr., Drake Baldwin, and Ozzie Albies all drove in two runs each.

The Marlins beat the DIamondbacks 4-2 in eleven innings. Esteury Ruiz drove in the inning runs with a three run double in the top of the elventh inning.

Around Major League Baseball

MLB and the MLBPA have joined forces with multiple other major leagues to crack down on betting related harassment of players, coaches, and families and urged regulators to combat such harassment.

Pete Crow-Armstrong has joined an elite group in baseball history, with his season WAR passing 10.0.

It was Roberto Clemente Day yesterday, and the celebration has overshadowed MLB’s shrinking Puerto Rican player representation, with the number being just 27 this year, half of what it was 25 years ago.

Carlos Correa won’t be rejoining the Astros this season after his ankle surgery in May.

Reds manager Terry Francona was encouraged by the reports of the front office leaders being expected to stay put in Cincinnati.

The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their fourth straight National League Central title behind another great Jacob Misiorowski start.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

A Pod of Their Own released another episode.

Steve Sypa published the 25th edition of Mets Minor League Players of the Week for 2026.

This Date in Mets History

September 16th is a date with multiple Mets 20-count milestones, both for pitchers and hitters.

The Atlanta Braves evened the series against the Chicago Cubs after Tuesday night’s 6-3 win.  Martín Pérez got the start, lasting six innings and allowing three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out four. Though a bit of a shaky start, Pérez ultimately got the win, the 100th of his career.

1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ career wins for Martín! pic.twitter.com/qr8XzgLsb0

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 16, 2026

The Braves got some much needed insurance in the ninth, courtesy of Drake Baldwin’s two-run blast. Pérez kept the Braves in the game, the offense came through, and the magic number dwindled to 5.

More Braves News:

Right-hander Reynaldo López was placed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation. Fellow righty JR Ritchie was recalled as a result.

Tate Southisene headlines the list of the eight Braves prospects headed to the Arizona Fall League.

The 2026 season has come to an end for the Columbus Clingstones, and here is a recap of the 64-68 season for the Double-A affiliate.

MLB News:

The Philadelphia Phillies placed left-hander Jesús Luzardo on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation. The move is retroactive to September 12.

Joc Pederson of the Texas Rangers is dealing with a small fracture in his left hand but is attempting to play through it. 

The Athletics placed left-hander Gage Jump on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement. The move is retroactive to September 13.

From the Feed:

Cast your vote for Braves Player of the Game here.

The Dodgers’ winning ways in September were briefly interrupted for two games against the Miami Marlins, but they have picked back up against the Cincinnati Reds, taking the first two games of a four-game set.

After Tarik Skubal shut down Cincinnati over seven innings on Monday, Yoshinobu Yamamoto continued the trend of marvelous results from the rotation with a seven-inning scoreless gem on Tuesday, working through a pair of lead-off walks while allowing just one hit while striking out seven. Yamamoto has amazed in his two most recent starts— both against the Reds— allowing just one run over 14 innings while racking up 17 strikeouts compared to just three walks.

Yamamoto held the Reds to just a 1-21 clip after walking his first two hitters of the game on Tuesday, and the right-hander managed to take a page out of Skubal’s playbook for his dominating efforts, notes Sonja Chen of MLB.com.

Yamamoto was able to learn from how the Reds approached Skubal the night before, and Snell was no doubt gathering similar information on Tuesday.

“That kind of encouraged me to be aggressive and attack the hitters,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda.

The pitching has managed to hold their end of the bargain against Cincinnati this week, and Blake Snell looks to keep that trajectory in motion. On the offensive side of the ball, Teoscar Hernández has fortified the offense at Great American Ball Park, as the right-hander has crushed a pair of two-run home runs that put both games out of reach.

Hernández has once again found his stride that fans saw during spring training this year, and the Dodger outfielder’s recent success is the brainchild of hitting coach Aaron Bates, allowing Hernández to have a “twister tap” in his stride to the ball, per Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times.

“It was a great meeting we had,” Bates said. “We all talked about it, and then he felt comfortable enough to do it, and then the rest is to his credit. He’s just been who he is.”

“When Teo’s hips are loose that way, and his front leg looks like an Elvis knee, it’s a good sign for us,” Bates said. “Because that means that he can open and close it without his upper body going with it.”

Update on Shohei Ohtani

It’s an unusual feeling watching the Dodgers without Shohei Ohtani in the everyday lineup. So far, rookie Josue De Paula has filled in at DH to a small degree of success in limited time (.143/.368/.429, 19 PA) while the reigning two-time NL MVP recovers from multiple nagging issues.

Jack Harris of the California Post notes that Ohtani was able to take batting practice on Monday, and the team is optimistic that he can potentially return from the injured list before the end of the regular season.

“Today was positive,” Roberts said, “and hopefully we can just keep building towards that.”