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Maybe this will be the week Major League Baseball’s playoff logjam finally breaks. (Note: It won’t be).

Alas, there’s decent potential for a little more separation within the packs of several playoff races, even as the week begins with 21 teams within 3½ games of a postseason berth, and 24 within 5½.

It’s an awful lot of mediocre baseball for one year, though perhaps this is how it’s all supposed to work out, what with almost every series carrying at least a scintilla of meaning (sorry, Rockies-Giants). With that, a look at five series this week that could significantly impact the races:

Texas Rangers lefthanded starting pitcher Dalton Pence has been named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for the week of August 3-9. Pence threw five shutout innings for the Round Rock express in their game at Sacramento — a notoriously hitter-friendly park — while allowing just two hits and one walk, striking out six.

Pence was the Rangers’ 11th round pick out of the University of North Carolina in 2024 as a redshirt sophomore who had worked almost exclusively in relief in his two seasons pitching for the Tar Heels after missing 2022 due to Tommy John surgery. The Rangers, seeing him as a potential rotation candidate, inked him to a $350,000 bonus and had him make his professional debut in 2025 at low-A Hickory, where he generally threw two to three innings per appearance. He moved up to high-A Hub City half way through the year and in the final couple of months of the season started getting stretched out to something closer to a starter’s workload.

Pence has taken a big step forward in 2026. He started at Hub City, but was promoted after just five starts there, striking out 30 of 98 batters faced while walking just five and putting up a 2.59 ERA. 11 appearances for Frisco, covering 55 innings, so Pence log a 2.77 ERA with 61 strike outs, though his walk rate rose a little, as he issued 23 free passes. Pence had a rough go of it in his first start for Round Rock, allowing three runs in 1.2 innings against Reno, but clearly bounced back strong.

Pence came into the season as the #16 prospect on the Baseball America Texas Rangers list, and has moved up to #13 on the most recent rankings. MLB Pipeline has Pence at #8, though they haven’t included this year’s draftees on their most recent rankings.

1959
White Sox infielders Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio appeared together on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The headline read, “Magic Up The Middle, Fox And Aparicio.”

1960
A 6-0 whitewash ended a three-game set with the Yankees at Comiskey Park on a sour note, losing two of three and falling to 61-47. That said, this three-game set, a Monday-Wednesday series no less, set the all-time Comiskey Park and Chicago attendance record for three games: 144,840. The Sox drew 48,323 to a 9-1 trouncing of New York on Monday night, lost 7-4 in front of 48,408 on Tuesday night, then wound things up with this day game, with 48,109 in the stands.

1978
Kevin Bell provided all the offense for the White Sox in a 7-3 loss at Toronto. Bell slammed home runs deep and out to left field at Exhibition Stadium, a solo blast in the fifth inning and a two-run shot in the seventh. It marked the first time that a White Sox player had ever homered twice from the No. 9 spot in the lineup.

It was also Wilbur Wood’s final start in the major leagues (he would relieve in one more game after this), and not one he was happy with: seven innings, seven hits, five earned runs, six walks, three Ks and a homer. Wood fell to 10-10 with the loss, and the White Sox a season-worst 20 games worse than .500, at 46-66.

1981
The White Sox brought the most significant work stoppage in MLB history at the time to an end with a 7-1 win at Boston. Harold Baines doubled in Ron LeFlore in the first inning and the White Sox never trailed. Future 1983 heroes Richard Dotson and LaMarr Hoyt started and ended the game, but it was middle innings-eater Dennis Lamp who earned the win.

In the bastardized, split-season format used only in 1981 due to the strike, the White Sox were tied for first, at 1-0 — in the “true standings,” at 32-22, they were just 1 1⁄2 games behind first-place Oakland.

1990
The odds had to be a million to one. For two of the smallest players in Major League Baseball, the impossible happened.

In the second inning of a doubleheader nightcap at Comiskey Park, Craig Grebeck and Ozzie Guillén hit back-to-back home runs off of hard-throwing Nolan Ryan. It was part of a four-run inning in a 5-1 win and a sweep of the two games.

Making matters even more incredible was that both Grebeck and Guillén pulled their shots. Craig reaching the left-field seats and Ozzie right field! It was Grebeck’s first career home run, and the only one he’d hit in 135 plate appearances in his rookie year.

1993
With his career fading, the White Sox dealt franchise all-time saves leader Bobby Thigpen to the Phillies for pitcher José DeLeón. Thigpen saved a then-major league record 57 games in 1990 but was never the same afterwards, posting lower and lower save numbers in the years after the mark was set.

2009
In an aggressive move that ultimately backfired, the White Sox claimed two-time All-Star Alex Ríos off of waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays. Rios was hitting .264 at the time, with 14 home runs, 62 RBIs and 1.5 WAR — but was also due $58.6 million through 2015.

Rios’ tenure with the White Sox was a mixed bag, playing poorly after being claimed in 2009, and in the ballyhooed 2011 “All-In” season (-2.5 WAR combined) but flashing the talent that got him claimed by GM Ken Williams in the first place in 2010 (3.3 WAR) and 2012 (4.8 WAR).

Rios was off to a so-so start in 2013 (1.4 WAR) before the White Sox dealt him to Texas for Leury García. The deal off-loaded more than $20 million the White Sox were on the hook for, but overall, doling Rios out $37.2 million to produce 7.0 WAR in his career on the South Side was a significant overpay.

García went on to play 10 seasons on the South Side, producing 4.4 WAR for the club.

2024
With another loss to the Cubs, this one 3-1 at Sox Park, the White Sox were now underwater as a franchise, at 9,581-9,582. It marked the first time since Aug. 14, 1956 that the White Sox carried a losing record as a franchise.

To add insult to injury, by falling to an unfathomable 28-91 on the year the White Sox now were in sole possession of the second-worst start to a season in AL-NL major league history, trailing only the woebegone 1915 Philadelphia A’s.

Tarik Skubal will take the mound at Dodger Stadium on Monday, Aug. 10, with a lot more at stake than anticipated.

It will be a chance for the dominant pitcher to win over fans during his first home start in a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform. But it’s more crucial than that.

Skubal, the two-time Cy Young Award winner acquired by the Dodgers this month, has a team to help rescue.

Since acquiring the lefthander, the Dodgers have lost so much that Skubal might have thought he had been traded back to the Detroit Tigers. Actually, while the Dodgers have lost eight of nine games, the Tigers have won six of eight games.

Yes, Dodgers world has spun off of his axis.

That is why Skubal needs to be more than a great pitcher. As the Dodgers begin a three-game homestand against the Kansas City Royals, he needs to function like a superhero, minus the cape perhaps.

When Tarik Skubal last took the mound at Dodger Stadium, he did so for the first time as a Cy Young winner for the Tigers in the Dodgers’ home opener back in 2025. That wasn’t one of Skubal’s finest moments, allowing four runs in just five innings in what turned out to be a one-run loss against the reigning champs, and here he is, now on the other side. When Skubal was traded to the Dodgers at the deadline, the term embarrassment of riches never felt so appropriate, yet his immediate role is one not many envisioned for the standout lefty.

As you might see being the case with other big-name acquisitions at the deadline, Skubal is now being asked to put an end to the Dodgers’ worst form in the 2026 campaign—having lost eight out of their last nine games—dropping series against the Red Sox, Cubs, and Diamondbacks. It’s relevant to point out those specific teams not only for their quality but also that each of them is in the middle of very productive stretches.

However difficult to come by, wins have been as of late; it wouldn’t be easy to handpick a more appealing outlook than to have your most talented starting pitcher at home against a team that finished the month of July getting swept by the Colorado Rockies—one of four in the big leagues with already 70 or more losses.

If there is something to be wary about in this Monday matchup, it is that while the Royals may not be in top form, their starter Noah Cameron is. The talented left-hander who finished last season in the top 5 for the AL Rookie of the Year voting has completed eight innings in back-to-back starts and has allowed just one run and five hits over his last 23 frames. Struggling against left-handers has been a common theme for the Dodgers as of late, hoping to change that at home.

Monday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Royals
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
• Start time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The Toronto Blue Jays probably win the 2025 World Series a good number of times if you keep replaying those last few innings of Game 7. But 2026 has, so far, not been the redemption tour anyone had in mind. Sure, you can have your team go on a historic run including a 15-game winning streak to get right back into the playoff mix, but that’s easier said than done. These 2026 Jays are 6-3 against the Boston Red Sox and this four-game series could still decide their season series. After the Jays swept Boston in June they probably figured the season series was safe. But the Sox still have a path to seven wins.

Sonny Gray shut down the Chicago White Sox last time out and is working on his lowest ERA since 2015. His FIP is higher, but then again his FIP in 2015 was 3.45. He’s pulled off the better ERA trick before. He’s faced Toronto twice this season: a 7.0 inning, 3 run outing in June and a 5.0, 5 run game in July. Jameson Taillon has made one start with the Jays since being acquired from the Chicago Cubs. His season in Chicago, where he’s been since 2023, was rough. He had a 5.92 ERA / 6.72 FIP in 76 innings while allowing career high homers-per-9 (25 total!). In 2025, Taillon allowed 24 home runs in 129.2 innings. His one start back in the American League (at Houston) was a 4.0 inning, 3 run performance with 4Ks and 2 BBs. He allowed a 26th home run. We’ve seen some high-ERA guys settle down against Boston before but Taillon has pretty much struggled regardless of the team. If Gray can keep the Sox in this they’ve got a chance to quickly forget about the A’s.

Patrick Sandoval turned in 5.0 solid innings against the White Sox during a rout. He held Toronto scoreless for 4.2 innings back on July 29th. He too will need to keep the Sox in the game because of his opposing pitcher, Dylan Cease. The potential American League Cy Young Award winner for 2026, Cease has been excellent. His last time facing Boston, Cease tossed a complete game shutout. With, uh, 12 Ks, his season high. This will be the fourth time Boston has had to face Cease this year (which is just not fair but is random) and the Jays have won two of his three starts coming into this one. On April 27th the Sox scored 4 runs in 5.2 innings off Cease. A big night for Sandoval and the bats would really take the wind out of Toronto’s sails as they enter the series 7-3 in their last 10 games.

Ranger Suarez labored through three innings against the Chicago White Sox in that thrilling 13-inning win last week. He hasn’t quite bounced back from his IL stint. He’s been limited to 4.0 innings (against the Jays), 4.2 innings, and that early exit against the White Sox. It’s hard not to think of his April 27th start in Toronto where he held them scoreless for 8.0 innings in dominant fashion. A highlight of the pre-streak Sox. He’ll face off against new acquisition José Soriano. The righty, recently acquired from the Los Angeles Angels who play in the city of Anaheim, had a 0.84 ERA headed into May. He then put up two months of 5.34 ERA ball until bouncing back with 5 solid starts in July and August, including his first with the Jays. He hasn’t allowed more than 3 runs since June 24th. Despite the really hot run to begin 2026, he’s right in line with previous seasons in terms of his hits, walks, and strikeouts for the season as a whole. He is leading the league in walks with 60 in 127.2 innings. Force him to make pitches might be the strategy here for some guys.

The finale is New Hotness vs Old and (somewhat) Busted. That’s right: Payton Tolle against Max Scherzer. Tolle is coming off a 14 strikeout performance against the A’s. The old man has accomplished this feat 5 times in his career. Plus 6 more starts with more than 14 Ks, including a 2016 performance with 20 strikeouts against the Detroit Tigers. Mad Max Scherzer has only made 9 starts this year and while several have been dreadful, he’s been solid as of late. His last two outings total 11.1 innings with just 3 runs allowed against the Phillies and Cardinals. Before that he allowed 1 run in 2.2 innings against the Nationals. He put together a bit of a run in the 2025 playoffs and fresh from the IL he might be doing the same over his recent starts. If this is the end it’s an impressive career. The Sox didn’t face him this year given his multiple IL stints. He’s only good for about 80-85 pitches this year. It could be a great one for the history books that the future Hall of Famer faced off with young Tolle and people will be amazed they played at the same time.

Adley Rutschman will travel to Toronto with the team but will not be activated on Monday.

Vlad still doesn’t have a home run at home. He’s also hit just 7 total. A far cry from 2021’s total of 48.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Monday, August 10: Sonny Gray (2.78 ERA /3.52 FIP) vs. Jameson Taillon (5.96 ERA / 6.67 FIP)

Tuesday, August 11: Patrick Sandoval (3.38 ERA / 4.00 FIP) vs. Dylan Cease (2.28 ERA / 2.20 FIP)

Wednesday, August 12: Ranger Suarez (3.32 ERA / 2.71 FIP) vs. José Soriano (3.24 ERA / 3.78 FIP)

Thursday, August 13: Payton Tolle (3.20 ERA / 3.25 FIP) vs. Max Scherzer (7.25 ERA / 6.89 FIP)

When/Where to Watch

Monday, August 10: 7:07 PM ET on NESN

Tuesday, August 11: 7:07 PM ET on NESN

Wednesday, August 12: 7:07 PM ET on NESN

Thursday, August 13: 3:07 PM ET on NESN

The Dodgers have combined a seemingly endless war chest with cutting edge analysis to identify a roster of talent that has helped them become a dynasty, including another title last year. But although they have the fourth-best record in baseball going into this series, they have gone into a slide, losing eight of their last nine games.

Kansas City Royals (49—70) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (70-48) at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

Royals: 4.13 runs scored/game (24th in MLB), 5.07 runs allowed/game (27th)

Dodgers: 5.01 runs scored/game (4th), 3.84 runs allowed/game (5th)

Who’s hot:

• Shohei Ohtani is hitting .301/.365/.602 with 8 HR in his last 26 games.
• Jac Caglianone is hiting .378 with four home runs in his last 11 games.

Who’s not:

• Tommy Edman is mired in a 4-for-38 (.105) slump over his last ten games.
• Kyle Isbel is just 2-for-16 (.125) since coming off the Injured List.

Interesting matchups:

• Teoscar Hernandez is 6-for-11 (.545) with two home runs against Michael Wacha.
• Salvador Perez is 12-for-42 (.286) with four home runs and no walks against Tarik Skubal

Tarik Skubal makes his first start at Dodger Stadium since he was acquired from the Tigers. He is 5-9 with a 3.86 ERA in 19 games against the Royals in his career. Blake Snell returns to make his first start since mid-May when he had elbow surgery. The Dodgers have not yet announced a starter for Wednesday, but Lauer started last week against the Cubs, giving up six runs and 11 hits in four innings.

Edwin Diaz has blown the lead in each of his last two outings, and has given up five runs in four innings since coming off the Injured List. Only three teams in baseball have fewer blown saves than Dodgers relievers.

This is just the fourth time the Royals have visited Dodger Stadium, and they have only won two games there in nine tries. The Dodgers may be vulnerable right now, but seeing the Royals on the schedule may be just what they need to get back on track. The Royals will try to cobble together a pitching staff to face one of the top lineups in baseball, and pray they catch the Dodgers on an off-night.

The two youngest players on the San Diego Padres roster are playing their best baseball when it means the most for the Friars.

Center fielder Jackson Merrill, 23, and right-handed reliever Bradgley Rodriguez, 22, are significantly younger than any other player, even rookie outfielder Jase Bowen, who is 25.

Merrill broke onto the roster in 2024 after impressing Padres coaches and players with his play during Spring Training. He was drafted in 2021 as the Padres’ first-round pick and spent three seasons working from the ACL Padres through the A and Double-A teams.

Invited to 2024 Spring Training camp as a shortstop, the toolsy then-19-year-old switched from the infield to the outfield at the start of camp without any previous pro experience playing in center. 

Making it look easy, Merrill was the starting center fielder on the opening day of the season. 

Rodriguez was signed out of Venezuela in 2021 as an 18-year-old. He injured his elbow in 2022 and did not play again until late in the 2023 season with the Venezuelan Winter League. He started 2024 in Single-A Lake Elsinore and finished the season with High-A Fort Wayne.

Rodriguez was invited to Spring Training in 2025 but started the regular season with Double-A San Antonio. He had two call-ups to San Diego during that season, making seven appearances for a 1.17 ERA.

Both Merrill and Rodriguez had short minor league careers. Merrill played in 202 games as a Padres prospect while Rodriguez appeared in 89 games and 123.3 innings over three seasons.

Jackson Merrill has early success

In his 2024 rookie season, Merrill played in 156 games with a .292 average and .826 OPS. He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting and was an All-Star in his first season. He was NL Rookie of the Month twice during the year. 

In his sophomore season, Merrill started well but suffered a hamstring strain in early April and missed almost a month due to the injury. In his first game back, Merrill suffered a concussion sliding into second base and went back on the injured list under the concussion protocol.

After spending a month and a half on the IL, Merrill was activated on June 22. 

The next two months allowed the center fielder to get back into the rhythm of the season, and then he suffered a sprained ankle and went back on the injured list on Aug. 23. Merrill returned on Sept. 1, finishing the season healthy.

For the year, Merrill played in 115 games around the three injuries. He didn’t have any sustained success; it wasn’t a quality test to determine if he would fall victim to a sophomore slump.

To begin the 2026 season, Merrill struggled through the first three-plus months, chasing pitches outside the zone, missing pitches in the zone, and exceeding his previous whiff and strikeout percentages. He looked the picture of a player experiencing said sophomore slump.

When the calendar changed to July, Merrill turned his season around.

Hitting .300/.330/.530, Merrill hit two doubles, seven homers and had 17 RBI. For the first eight games of August, Merrill is hitting .344/.382/.625 with a double, a triple, a home run and 10 RBI. He is chasing less often, striking out less and making hard contact. 

Merrill also has 23 stolen bases in 25 attempts.

In the Aug. 8 Padres daily newsletter, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported the 1.087 OPS accumulated by Merrill since July 19. During that time, he has 18 RBI and has scored 15 runs, the fifth-highest total in MLB.

Merrill is showing that his rookie season was not a fluke.

Bradgley Rodriguez is a budding star

During his 2025 season, Rodriguez also spent some time on the injured list. He made his debut in May with the Padres for one game then was sent back to the minors. From July to mid-September, Rodriguez had to be placed on the IL on July 9 and was activated on Aug. 22. After only three weeks back on the El Paso roster, Rodriguez was called up to the Padres for the second time. This time he pitched in six games, allowing one earned run over seven appearances in total.

Rodriguez had a 1.17 ERA for San Diego and a 3.19 ERA in 36.2 innings for El Paso and Double-A San Antonio. The most he has pitched as a pro is 61.1 innings in 2024. Between the minors and San Diego last year, he totaled 43.2 innings.

In 2026, Rodriguez has a 2.29 ERA in 51 innings pitched with 53 strikeouts to 16 walks. He began the season in lower-leverage spots and has been advanced to high-leverage situations, especially since the loss of both Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada to injury at times.

He has also pitched in multi-inning situations but it does appear that the Padres would prefer to protect him from the extended outings we have seen from both Adrion Morejón and Mason Miller.

In 2025, Rodriguez featured a fastball that averaged 98 mph, a sinker, a changeup and a cutter. He had an excellent 29% K rate but didn’t pitch enough with the Padres to qualify for league stats. 

In 2026, Rodriguez features his changeup 43% of the time, contrasting with his fastball that tops out at almost 101 mph (25%). He throws his 98 mph sinker 24% of the time and has a slider instead of a cutter (8%). He misses bats, gets lots of ground balls, and is in the 74 and 77 percentile in whiff and K rates in MLB.

In July, FanGraphs picked Rodriguez as the reliever to watch in the Padres bullpen. With his age and repertoire, Michael Baumann of FanGraphs is excited for his future.

Of the pitchers in the Padres pen, Jason Adam and Adrián Morejón are slated to reach free agency after the season. Morejon would be a huge loss and all Padres fans should hope the organization can figure out a way to extend him. 

Bradgley Rodriguez has already shown that he has what it takes to take his place as a valuable member of the bullpen.