MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - APRIL 05: Myles Turner #3 of the Milwaukee Bucks reacts after being called for a foul during the second half of the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Fiserv Forum on April 05, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Myles Turner enters his second season with the Bucks and lands at number five in our Ranking the Roster series. Ever since Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, Turner has been on something of an Odyssey. After scoring just six points and grabbing four rebounds, he drew the ire of Pacers fans who felt he didn’t do enough to secure the championship after Tyrese Haliburton ruptured his Achilles in the first quarter. It is impossible to know what might have happened without that injury, but Turner had to focus on free agency. The Pacers offered the veteran big man a three-year, $66m deal, which, in his eyes, was far too low. Therefore, he accepted a four-year, $107m deal from the Bucks after Jon Horst’s historic waive-and-stretch of Damian Lillard’s contract. While those offers look massively different at first, the average annual value is $22m and $26.75m, which isn’t that much. For context, Brook Lopez’s final year with the Bucks saw him make $25 million, so the Bucks saw an opportunity to pair Giannis with “young Brook Lopez” and steal a player from a rival. The Pacers, meanwhile, believed Turner wasn’t worth going into the luxury tax for (or committing an extra year to). Were the Pacers right, or did the Bucks welcome in a wayward hero?
The answer, like many about this team, is a little murky. Last season, Turner was brought in for a very specific purpose: to play next to Giannis and space the floor. And despite last season’s injuries, Turner wasn’t asked to deviate from that game plan; he attempted three-pointers more frequently than ever in his career while also taking by far the fewest two-point attempts of his career. This is partly because Turner needed to rely on others for shot creation; last season, 87% of his made field goals were assisted, on par with the rest of his career. Despite Ryan Rollins emerging as an exciting player, the Bucks lacked a steady creator who could feed Turner adequately. As a result, his player efficiency rating (PER) fell to 14.2, the lowest in his career. So then: how is the answer to the original question murky when it appears that Turner’s tenure has been a disaster in Milwaukee?
That is because, quite frankly, it has not been nearly as disastrous as some want to make it seem. Offensively, yes, Turner had a down year, but he still shot 38.3% from deep on a high volume. Defensively, however, Turner is still solid; last season, he ranked sixth overall in blocks per game. His defensive on/off numbers were very good as well: with MT on the court, the Bucks were significantly better in opponent shooting, accuracy, transition, and half-court defence, with the veteran ranking in or near the 90th percentile in impact, according to Cleaning the Glass. Taken together, Turner is best viewed as a high-impact role player who needs a functioning offensive system around him to thrive. Going back to the idea of the down offensive year, the fix seems simple: feed him more in the paint. Last season, Turner averaged 11.9 PPG—technically the lowest since his rookie season—but not terribly different from the first half of his career. The biggest drop came around 2022-2023, when he averaged 7.8, 7.6, and 5.8 two-point attempts per game and 18.0, 17.1, and 15.6 PPG over the next three years. Last season with the Bucks, he averaged just 3.7 two-point attempts per game, the lowest of his career by a long shot. To say he was being misused would be an understatement.
Of course, the question for Turner now is, “Where do we go from here?” Ultimately, MT is a good player on a reasonable (if not good) contract. Contending teams around the league will likely still be interested in adding him. Should the Bucks be hoping to trade away their starting center, though? The common thinking is that Turner does not match the timeline, which is accurate; however, during a rebuilding season, Milwaukee will need veteran leadership, and MT has shown plenty of that. Turner is clearly a leader off the court and likely a strong locker-room presence. Regardless of where he ends his season, the Austin native comes in at number five on this list because he is a known quantity on both ends. How well he pairs with Kel’el Ware and others this season may determine the Bucks’ course of action, but regardless, Turner seems determined to make the most of his Milwaukee tenure, and for that, I am grateful.
OAKLAND, CA - FEBRUARY 12: Vince Carter #15 of the Toronto Raptors goes up for a dunk during the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest on February 12, 2000 at The Oakland Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2000 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
NBA The Run is the game I have been waiting a long time for.
Basketball video games were the way I cemented my appreciation for the sport. It’s all well and good to watch the on-court product, or pick up the ball yourself, but getting to step into the avatars of the world’s greatest athletes scratches an itch that the other two can’t quite reach.
Reminiscent of not only classic NBA video games, but the grit and attitude of the 2000s, The Run’s new update has added 5 new marquee players from that era, while giving the game a fresh overhaul. That new coat of paint and new additions to the roster made jumping into The Run a whole lot of fun.
To preface my review, all gameplay occurred on a PC, playing on an Xbox One controller.The kind people over at Play by Play Studios sent me a copy of the game, as well as an unlock code for the 5 new players added. With that all considered… let’s get into it.
First steps into the past
The Run first released on June 9th, 2026, but this autumn marks the release of their first major DLC, Wave One — 2000s Legends. The legends in question are Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, and Dirk Nowitzki.
Wave One – 2000s Legends arrives TOMORROW as a free update for all players.
It’s great to not only see two Raptors legends (albeit, only one in the purple and red threads), but also, players that harken back to the turn of the millenium in a way that stars like Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant transcended. Rooting this update in that era is great from a branding perspective, and goes further to draw back connections to older titles like NBA Street. You can unlock the new characters either using in-game currency, or through a purchase.
The new update also brought a soundtrack of vintage cuts, 11 songs from big names such as The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, and Kanye West. Passin’ Me By from the Pharcyde is a personal favourite, and getting to hear it while running the court with Victor Wembanyama was a real pleasure. The Run is designed in large part around sound, with DJ Bobbito Garcia playing emcee, bringing great, over-the-top commentary for everything that happens on the court.
As well, the autumn update brought a number of other quality of life upgrades, such as adding more camera angles, dedicated practice modes, and new maps. All together, The Run is feels like an even bigger game now.
On the court gameplay
Before writing this review, I played the game for around 2 hours, both online and in the training mode. Despite a lack of tutorial, I picked up the controls pretty quickly, and hopped into a game to try out the different characters.
The Run has a really solid roster for such a new game. A solid number of teams are represented, with most of the big-name stars, some star rookies and younger players, and now, the 2000s legends help to round out the roster. I played with every current or former Raptors in the game: Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Barnes, Tracy McGrady, and Vince Carter. Of the four, Vince Carter was my favourite, from both a design and gameplay standpoint. His dunks looked the coolest and felt the best on the court, and that purple dinosaur pops like nothing else.
The first thing to know about this game is that the dunks feel like dunks. With the magic of controller vibration, throwing down a jam feels like you’re about to tear the rim off. I could (and soon will) spend a lot of time just messing around alone, trying to master the different dunks, the alley-oops, and all the rest. The Run does a good job of making defence feel both exciting an engaging. Grabbing a huge block feels almost as good as hitting a deep three, and leaning into the streetball side of things, you’re able to shove and be physical in a way that wouldn’t work in a basketball simulation. One of my favourite things I discovered was that offensive players are actually able to bounce the ball off of their opponents heads.
The variety of courts upon which you can play are great as well. The Run gets international, including courts placed in China, the Philippines, and features a personal favourite, David Crombie Park in Toronto, Canada. Considering the number of Raptors in this game, I appreciated seeing some representation of their home-country, and I’m certainly that both Americans and non-Americans alike will appreciate the diversity of locales.
The game feels good to play, and at the end of the day, that’s really what matters when it comes to a title like this.
Quality of life
The Run is not afraid to be unapolagetically fun, balancing enough seriousness through its design and smooth handles, with the bombastic and exaggerated action that inflates the exsiting instanity that happens when NBA players step onto the hardwood. However, players should know what they’re getting into before they buy this game.
The Run’s developers have committed to providing an offline campaign mode (with local co-op) by Spring of 2027, but as for now, the game is something that you can only play while online. It’s good that the team understands this is a concern that needs to be addressed, and I hope that changes are implemented to bring a true couch co-op experience to the title. Evoking the 2000s is great, but being able to play this game like you would back in the day would give The Run a lot more replayability and do a lot for building community around the title.
ATLANTA – FEBRUARY 9: (L-R) Michael Jordan (Washington Wizards) #23, Tracy McGrady (Orlando Magic) #1, Vince Carter (Toronto Raptors) #15, Ben Wallace (Detroit Pistons) #3 and Jermaine O'Neal (Indiana Pacers) #7 of the Eastern Conference All-Stars look on at the 2003 NBA All-Star Game on February 9, 2003 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images license agreement. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I really want to dunk on my brother and sister in this game, and it’d be great if we could do so all on the same copy of the game, right next to each other, rather than on different machines and in different houses. However, the game’s offering of cross-platform multiplayer is a solid addition that is an addition worthy of note.
As well, while this is something that the developers don’t necessarily have control of, I noticed that I ran into a fair amount of bots while playing the game. Bots are certainly a lot easier to play with, and against, when compared to real players. But, I certainly got to play against the real deal, dunking on, and being dunked on real people in turn.
It should be noted that the game is not priced the same as a Triple-A title, retailing for $35.99 CAD ($29.99 USD). This game is raw at times, without the polish of some of the ongoing series of sports games. But that’s why I think it’s worth trying all the more.
The future of The Run
NBA Live and NBA 2K are storied franchises that took decades to develop into what their ultimate forms were. The Run is genuinely offering up a different product to audiences both mature and juvenile, and I believe that it should be supported as it continues to blossom into a bigger and badder version of itself.
The Run is a game that tries to be fun, and succeeds. It’s the perfect thing to get on with your friends and chatter in the background while you score on your opponents and take screenshots of your buddies doing Allen Iverson crossovers and T-Mac alley-oops. Take it for what it is, and if you like the sound of thunderous dunks and earth shattering blocks, while great music and an iconic announcer blare in the background, The Run might be the game for you.
All together, Play by Play Studios has revived a beloved concept, bringing it into the light of the modern day while keeping things rooted in the zaniness inherent to professional basketball. NBA The Run is a bright spot in a genre that is often thought of as stagnant, and it’s nice to be reminded that things don’t have to be that way for virtual basketball.
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 12: Ben Rice #22 and Cam Schlittler #31 of the New York Yankees high five during the game against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium on August 12, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Game 1 of the AL Wild Card series between the Yankees and Red Sox was, at one point, much closer than the final 9-0 score suggests. It wasn’t until the seventh inning that New York was able to build a three-run lead over their archrivals. Turns out that given how dominant starting pitcher Cam Schlittler was, they didn’t even need that many runs.
As Jack Curry stated, Schlittler literally and figuratively threw Boston a curveball by adding more hooks to the mix and throwing off their game prep and rhythm at the plate. He wrapped up his night by tossing 6.1 dominant, scoreless innings with just two hits and a walk, striking out 10. Schlittler, however, wasn’t the only star of the Bronx night. Fellow homegrown players Ben Rice, Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe, George Lombard Jr., and Spencer Jones were all over the box score and the action, too.
You can very well say that the Yankees’ homegrown talent can make or break their postseason run. They will certainly represent the backbone of it, particularly if they advance and they can add three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge to that group.
Rice put on the fireworks by going 4-for-5 with a double, two homers, two runs, and six RBI. That’s 11 total bases and a triple shy of the cycle for those counting at home. Most of his hits were clutch, too: his first-inning two-bagger put a runner in scoring position with one out, his solo blast in the fifth doubled the Yankees’ lead, his seventh-inning single drove in Spencer Jones and made it a 3-0 ballgame, and his eighth-inning grand slam put it out of reach for Boston. Not bad for a night’s work.
But there’s more. George Lombard Jr. went 3-for-4 with two runs scored for the Yankees, too, injecting some life into the middle of the lineup. He was also sure-handed defensively, boosting his confidence ahead of what’s coming.
Anthony Volpe started at second base and had some very well-hit batted balls, going 1-for-3 on Tuesday night. He also put down a perfect sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the eighth to move runners to second and third base when the game was 4-0, and the team was looking for insurance runs. Whether or not you agree with the strategy of giving away an out, the execution was perfect.
Then, you have the eighth- and ninth-hole hitters, both homegrown, too: Spencer Jones and Austin Wells. They combined to go 3-for-6 with three runs, two RBI, and a walk. The outfielder went 1-for-3 and crossed home plate twice with one base on balls in a start against a lefty, and the backstop went 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI. Wells actually drove in the first run of the game, and Jones scored the third one in the bottom of the seventh on Rice’s single.
The homegrown stars played a flawless game. No fielding errors, steady defensive play, and a bunch of timely hits. If they keep playing like this while getting enough support from the rest of the roster, the Yankees will be very hard to beat. Of course, there is — hopefully at least — a lot of baseball to be played, and one game doesn’t tell the whole story. It did tell us, however, that these guys mean business, and that they are prepared to leave it all on the field.
Now that we know the Yankees’ postseason run advances past the Red Sox, the hope is that fellow homegrown players Judge and Will Warren play a big role, too, in addition to the aforementioned names. The talent that the Yankees have drafted and developed in-house can, evidently, be very impactful in the outcome of short postseason series.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 16: Petey Halpin #0 of the Cleveland Guardians hits a three-run home run to right center field in the sixth inning to give Cleveland a 5-3 lead against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field on September 16, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Russell Lee Verlinger/Cleveland Guardians/Getty Images) | Getty Images
This Saturday at 1PM the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox will be facing off in Game 1 of the ALDS. It will be the first ever postseason match up between the two clubs. The game is sold out, but for those who have tickets, the team is asking for another post season “red out”. So be sure to don your favorite red jersey, perhaps the free Austin Hedges jersey to bring the ultimate vibes to game 1.
As of the time of writing, the starter has not been announced for Cleveland and likely will be announced later today or tomorrow.
To prepare for the ALDS with the week off, the Guards had a light workout day yesterday and will workout and take BP today and tomorrow. Stephen Vogt and some of the players also spoke with the press today.
"When it comes playoff time, they pack the house"
"Definitely a home advantage when we have Progressive at full force."#Guardians Stephen Vogt and Steven Kwan on having a home field advantage here in Cleveland for the ALDS#GuardsBall@WEWSpic.twitter.com/ur2PB27TGg
After Hunter Goodman had a two home run game to secure the loss for the White Sox, helping the Guardians win the division, a Guardians fan on Twitter led the charge in donating to Hunter Goodman’s preferred charity. This one tweet quickly snowballed into over $22,000 donated from Cleveland fans to a wonderful organization in Denver that provides clothing to children.
A losing season didn't stop the Rockies from changing lives. When Hunter Goodman's two homers helped Cleveland clinch its division, fans responded by flooding a Denver charity with $22,000 in donations — and the timing couldn't be better:https://t.co/Zzpz5VXlAfpic.twitter.com/UE56e7gASg
SARASOTA, FLORIDA - MARCH 20, 2026: Joseph Dzierwa #67 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches during the seventh inning of a Spring Breakout game against the Boston Red Sox at Ed Smith Stadium on March 20, 2026 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
Disappointment is the usual thing for Orioles fans when it comes to starting pitching prospects. This long predates Mike Elias’s tenure as general manager of the team, or even his predecessor Dan Duquette. Sometimes people come up with names for groups of them like the much-ballyhooed “cavalry” of Dave Trembley’s time. Call them what you will, so frequently these guys have just ended up getting hurt or not being as good as evaluators thought, or some of both.
I mention all of this before saying one word about Joseph Dzierwa because all of that was on my mind before we were all introduced to him by the Orioles bringing him into some spring training games early this year. It’s true that Dzierwa is the highest-drafted pitcher taken by Elias yet, a second-round pick from the 2025 draft taken out of Michigan State, and that was worth noting all on its own. Yet at times in recent years it has seemed like as soon as people take notice of an unheralded Orioles starting pitching prospect, he implodes. This happened last year to Keeler Morfe, and this year to Esteban Mejia.
After impressing in those spring training games, Dzierwa smoothly carried that over into the regular season. The team assigned him straight to High-A Frederick for his first real pro action; he didn’t debut after being drafted last season, an increasingly-common decision teams make with their pitchers.
Within about two games, it was clear that I was going to have to quickly absorb how to spell and pronounce Dzierwa to do my job of writing and talking about the Orioles. (Per the Keys media guide, the pronunciation is JER-va.) Dzierwa introduced himself to the minor league world by striking out nine batters over a six inning start – with only 79 pitches thrown! – against Texas’s High-A affiliate. He went seven innings the next time out, and by the middle of May, he’d recorded three different games where he struck out nine opposing batters.
It wasn’t just the strikeouts. People weren’t doing much of anything when facing Dzierwa. He walked one or fewer batters in seven of his eight starts with Frederick, and he was sitting on a 2.21 ERA and 0.811 WHIP when the Orioles decided it was time to challenge Dzierwa with Double-A. That’s a decently aggressive move for a guy who just got drafted last year. Dzierwa went on to pitch 18 games for Chesapeake after that promotion and he posted a nearly-as-good 2.29 ERA at that higher level.
Under the hood, this was a bit less impressive than the High-A totals. While still striking out more than a batter per inning, Dzierwa’s strikeout rate did decline against more advanced hitters, and the batting average of his opponents improved. Still, these were great results, so much so that I’m surprised the Orioles left him at Double-A rather than giving him a few Triple-A starts to close out his season.
Dzierwa was a deserving selection to the All-Star Futures Game roster for the 2026 season. Future Orioles acquisition Anthony Eyanson was one of Dzierwa’s teammates for that game. They were reunited at Chesapeake for Eyanson’s final six starts of the season.
Prospect outlets took notice of the 6’8” lefty as the season went along, some more than others. The end-of-season MLB Pipeline prospect list has Dzierwa checking in at #86, the third-highest of five Orioles on that outlet’s top 100. The report sounds nice:
Dzierwa showed real ability to limit walks in college and can pinpoint his entire arsenal wherever he wants, pounding the strike zone and also working the edges well. … His foundation of size, two potentially plus pitches and command gives him one of the highest floors in the Orioles system as an almost surefire starter, with the development of a reliable breaking pitch determining whether that’s in the middle or the back-end of a big league rotation.
I am taking note that even an often-optimistic outlet like the MLB-owned Pipeline is not projecting out from Dzierwa’s minor league numbers that this is a future ace in the making. When you start to hear about a “high floor” that probably also doesn’t mean “high ceiling,” and in this case, Dzierwa doesn’t have the kind of fastball velocity that’s just going to blow away hitters, nor are they confident in his breaking arsenal enabling him to get such elite results against higher-end hitters.
This assessment is shared across other reports. At FanGraphs, where Dzierwa was the #12 player on their preseason-but-posted-in-May list, the main thing they take from him is that he is a lefty with good changeup command, a type of player who tends to be a good big leaguer. They’re not as big on his potential to go higher in a rotation, either, describing him as a “quick-moving no. 4/5 starter.” That kind of player doesn’t hit the top 100 there, where upside gets greater weight.
Among some of the warts that hold his ranking back for the FG evaluation are – like Pipeline – questions about the breaking pitch development, as well as thinking that Dzierwa doesn’t use his height to generate elite extension towards home, which would help his fastball velocity play higher than it actually is.
Talking about a no. 4/5 starter means you’re saying a guy who’s going to be as good as Dean Kremer. That doesn’t launch many prospect rockets into space. Dzierwa may start to look more like that as he faces Triple-A hitters and eventually MLB ones, but in the meantime… man. Batters facing Dzierwa this season batted a combined .186/.246/.289.
That’s dominant. You can’t hope for much better from any 22-year-old pitcher in his first full pro season, no matter what round he was drafted. Many teams are probably now wishing they had been paying closer attention to that 2025 Michigan State team. If you get a solid back-end-of-the-rotation guy with a second round pick, you’ve done very well for yourself. That’s why it was frustrating for many years when Elias wasn’t even trying to get pitching prospects in higher rounds.
Dzierwa is making a good case for why that should be done more often. Things could hardly have gone better for him this season. Hopefully, he has the opportunity to continue to show that quality by opening up at Triple-A in 2027.
SPRINGFIELD, MO - APRIL 08: Liam Doyle #19 of the Springfield Cardinals pitches during the game between the Tulsa Drillers and the Springfield Cardinals at Hammons Field on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 in Springfield, Missouri. (Photo by Kaylee Vaughan/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
Sadly, we have reached the last minor league update of the 2026 season. These are a bit time-consuming, so I suppose it’s not that sad for me, but it’s just another reminder that there’s no more baseball to follow. Technically, the AFL is there, but it doesn’t scratch the same itch. At least this year there’s some interesting prospects to follow.
Cijntje played his first game at Memphis on July 19th and a day later was my first half update for pitchers. He had better stats at Memphis than Springfield, so score one for the scouting department on knowing when to promote him.
We all knew he had good AAA stats when the Cardinals decided to promote him to the big leagues. So instead of the full season stats, why not share how he did in September in response to getting demoted? Better than Nolan Gorman, that’s for sure.
Tink Hence, RHP – 24 (#10 VEB prospect)
Didn’t pitch after July 19th, was very bad when he did pitch. Had surgery of some sort. Not even Jeff Jones knew what surgery he had, so your guess is as good as mine.
Ixan Henderson, LHP – 24 (#16 VEB prospect)
Only ended up pitching in one game at Memphis after a monthlong rehab process. He walked four and struck out none, although he didn’t allow a run. He was shut down after that one start however.
Once again, his Springfield stats predated my halftime update, so I don’t feel the need to share those stats as well. It was only a 106 wRC+, but did come with a somewhat low BABIP. He also got hurt in his last game at AA, missed some time, played rehab games in the lower levels and when he was deemed ready, was sent to AAA.
At some point, I’m sure I’ll cover a player who wasn’t promoted midseason. Easier on me not to have to transcribe stats for two different levels though. He didn’t really pitch better in Memphis, but it would be accurate to say he didn’t miss a step.
This 17th rounder adapted fairly well to his midseason promotion to Memphis – of course – with the exception of a really high BABIP. Whether unlucky or not, his pro career started in 2025, so hard to complain about a 17th rounder with mediocre stats in AAA.
Ledbetter’s season started extremely slow, but he recovered in the 2nd half. His xwOBA was just .299 (actual wOBA .343), so safe to say the batted ball metrics aren’t supportive of him.
I will repeat it is amazing how long it took the Cardinals to send down Fernandez last season, but once they did, he became persona non grata. He was okay in Memphis, better in St. Louis, but I never really got the impression the Cardinals ever wanted to use him.
Sandro Santana, LHP – 21 (Traded in a package for Lars Nootbaar)
Well, the Mason Molina part of the Phil Maton trade is working out really well at least. Not so much this part of the trade. But it was for 2 months of Maton so feels like found money either way.
Does not include his two postseason appearances. Pitched 3.2 IP with 8 Ks and 5 BBs with one earned run and then later 5 IP with 6 Ks and 2 BBs and no earned runs. Kind of surprised, even with the playoff innings, that he didn’t throw more innings. Followed up a 95.2 IP college season with 111.2 IP.
I should have posted his stats in the last update, because he only actually pitched in one game in Springfield. It was a very good 4 inning appearance with seven strikeouts and one walk and no runs allowed.
Franklin also threw 6.1 IP in the playoffs with 9 strikeouts and one walk. I do not know why they don’t just include playoff stats in their overall stats, I get it for the majors, but not the minors.
He didn’t really pitch better in Springfield – he wasn’t great in his two postseason starts, although he did strike out 7 in one of them. But he certainly pitched well overall as a 19-year-old in AA, which is crazy.
Daniel Eagen, RHP – 23 (Traded in a package for Lars Nootbaar)
Eagen also pitched 9 innings with 12 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 2 earned runs in the playoffs. Pitched noticeably better overall in his five starts (and seven appearances) as a Cardinal.
I’m in a pickle, because I can’t say anything in the vicinity of negativity in these posts, so I will just say factually speaking, he had a 92 wRC+ in High A and his 3.9 BB% would not rank very highly on the MLB leaderboards.
Josiah Ragsdale, OF – 22 (traded in a package for Dustin May)
In the first half, he had a near identical hitting line in High A, but he actually had a much better BABIP than in Springfield. Because he struck out less and had more power in AA.
He made 14 starts in High A, which featured a much higher strikeout rate, but also a higher walk rate. Hunter Dobbins and Fajardo were also in the trade for Contreras, so think of Aita as a bonus.
Honeyman seems to have gotten injured on July 21st, played in a week’s worth of rehab games a Low A a month later, appeared in precisely one game at Springfield at the beginning of September and then missed the rest of the season.
I should have listed him in the lower level section, but he did actually get promoted to AA for the last 10 games of the year (and the playoffs). He must have been on a hot streak, because he absolutely killed it in Springfield with three homers in 10 games for a 177 wRC+.
He rose from the dead in High A, delivering unexpected power, so power to him for being average at AA. He also seems quite good defensively from the few games I watched.
He spent the first half of the season in High A and all you need to know is that he wasn’t really that good – he had a considerably lower strikeout rate. Hopefully, something clicked.
He proved too good for High A almost immediately, but AA proved to be more of a challenge. In the context of the run environment, these are closer to mediocre numbers than they might appear.
Okay. The appearance of San Diego native Joe Musgrove in the ninth inning, to the screams of a chanting crowd, was pretty cool.
And that was the only enjoyable part of Game 1 of the Wild Card game versus the Padres. “Enjoyable” because by that point, Cub fans that were still watching were like any other neutral observers.
The gameplan was obvious for the Padres: Swing at everything that Matthew Boyd threw. Ten of Boyd’s first 11 pitches were swung at, very productively. They were just looking for the right changeup to flutter by. From the mound, the Padres plan was pound, pound, pound sweepers at the Cub hitters.
The result: Two first-inning home runs, an RBI-double and a third home run for a 4-0 Cub deficit. Then to start the fifth inning, unexpectedly, Javier Assad put himself in an immediate jam, loading the bases with two outs. Ryan Rolison allowed those three inherited runners to score. At 7-0 and still needing the third out, the game was beyond being over.
I hate Sunday Morning Quarterbacking, but at the moment the second home run was hit, it occurred to me, “Craig Counsell went with the pitcher he knew best, not necessarily the best pitcher to put out there.” I’m sure that he would vehemently deny this, and I could be as far off as possible, but it was a thought I had.
Michael King was extremely effective with his sweeper early, then with his mix of pitches, went into the seventh inning without allowing a hit. It was an impressive performance.
The only possible offensive leader was Nico Hoerner. He beat out a infield single to end the no-hit bid in the seventh, then singled to load the bases in the ninth. The Cubs managed three hits in the game and were given four walks, but struck out 11 times.
Since this will be posted after Game 2, there’s not much for me to say in a rah-rah fashion. I just hope I have two Cubs wins to write about for Saturday’s article.
I appreciate your reading.
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Randy Holt (North Side Baseball): Chicago Cubs’ Game 1 Loss Revealed the Playbook Against Their Top Hitters. “The Cubs found themselves losing just about everywhere in the box score against the Padres in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series. Worse, the Padres emerged with a clear plan to stifle the team’s top two hitters—unless the duo can adjust right away.”
Vinnie Duber (Chicago Sun-Times): Facing elimination, Cubs starting playoff-tested Kevin Gausman in Game 2 vs. Padres. “With their season on the line, the Cubs will turn to the headlining piece of their trade-deadline haul, giving the ball to Gausman, who made six playoff appearances a year ago, including two in the World Series.”
William Rory Gallagher (2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as “Ireland’s first rock star”, he is known for his virtuosic style of guitar playing and live performances. He has sometimes been referred to as “the greatest guitarist you’ve never heard of”.
Gallagher gained international recognition in the late 1960s as the frontman and lead guitarist of the blues rock power trio Taste. Following the band’s break-up in 1970, he launched a solo career and was voted Guitarist of the Year by Melody Maker magazine in 1972. Gallagher played over 2,000 concerts worldwide throughout his career, including many in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. He had global record sales exceeding 30 million.
During the 1980s, Gallagher continued to tour and record new music, but his popularity declined due to shifting trends in the music industry. His health also began to deteriorate, resulting in a liver transplant in March 1995 at King’s College Hospital in London. Following the operation, he contracted a staphylococcal infection (MRSA) and died three months later at the age of 47.
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.
CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 26: Hunter Goodman #15 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates after hitting a home run in the third inning during the game between the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on Saturday, September 26, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Lawrence Brown/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Good morning!
For fans of teams that missed the playoffs, this week is the time for reviewing the 2026 season, a time to look to the future outlook of each organization and dream of what steps each team could take to one day eventually play October baseball again.
Over the course of the week, almost every Rockies-specific news site has published their own form of 2026 review or offseason preview piece. There are plenty of opinions on what the Rockies need to do moving forward, and you have the opportunity to read them all!
If you’d rather stay connected to the present, however, playoff baseball has begun! Outside the Rockies-specific media ecosystem, analysis of the Wild Card round has begun. Even if the Rockies aren’t a part of the field again this year, there’s nothing better than engrossing yourself in the theater of playoff baseball.
Rockies News & Links
Questions facing the Colorado Rockies after fourth 100-loss season | Mile High Sports — As the Rockies finish up 2026 and begin looking to the 2027 season, Drew Creasman lays out the major questions the franchise will need to answer moving forward. Creasman goes over everything from the uncertainty the new ownership rumors have brought to what it will take for fans to come back to the ballpark. It’s a useful initial primer on the state of the franchise.
Rockies 2026 postmortem: Until Colorado figures out starting pitching, losing will continue | The Denver Post ($) — In Kyle Newman’s look forward at the current state of the team, he identifies pitching as the key component that the team will need to focus it’s efforts on improving. Credit is given to the start of a productive lineup that began forming in 2026 but makes it clear that that will not be enough on its own to turn the organization’s fortunes around.
How Rockies reach MLB playoffs in not-so-distant future | Kevin’s take | The Devner Gazette ($) — Kevin Henry has a more optimistic view of the Rockies current outlook than some. Henry compares where the Rockies are with how the Chicago White Sox were able to reach the playoffs just two seasons after a historic 121 loss season in 2024 and sees a potential blueprint for the Rockies to follow. Even with the precedent of possibility having been set, Henry acknowledges the challenges ahead in terms of improving the teams pitching staff to be playoff caliber.
The 2027 Free Agent Tracker Is Here! | Fangraphs — While the playoffs are underway for the best teams, the rest of the league is able to start looking ahead to the possibilities for next season. Every year Jason Martinez and the team over at Fangraphs maintain an incredibly useful reference tool showcasing all available free agents. Take a look and start dreaming of next year.
How 2026 MLB Playoff Rosters Were Built | Baseball America ($) — Now that the playoff field is set, J.J. Cooper does a comparison of how the players on each roster were acquired by their organization. It’s a fun piece that shows winning teams can be constructed in all sorts of different ways without any specific avenue of player acquisition being the prevailing best path.
Astros players blast their own fans for booing, not showing up to playoff loss | The Athletic ($) — The Houston Astros managed to just barely earn a trip to the playoffs with a .500 record which happened to be good enough to win the American League West. Their recent history of dominance had set their fans up to have higher expectations and so began booing the team during their game one loss to the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. The Astros players were not pleased with this believing that they’d just played their hearts out attempting to get to where they were. A fascinating situation that Chandler Rome breaks down with a multitude of quotes from those involved.
Everybody Except the Yankees Is Doing Wild Card Roster Construction Wrong | Fangraphs — The optimal way to construct a roster is a complicated topic with a multitude of factors to consider. Michael Baumann argues that the way the New York Yankees have chosen to trim their pitching staff heading into the Wild Card round is not only different from the rest of the field but an advantage based on the dynamics of a short series.
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 11: The Atlanta Braves honor the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks before the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Truist Park on September 11, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jack Casey/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, baseball fans!
The 2026 MLB Playoffs continue today with Game 3 of the National and American League Wild Card series.
As usual, I am writing this before all of yesterday’s games have been played. So I don’t yet know the outcomes, which means I don’t yet know which games will actually have a third game. Fun!
Also, all games that do happen will have national radio coverage on ESPN Radio.
First up, we know for sure that the Philadelphia Phillies will take on the Atlanta Braves at 11:00 a.m. PT and the game will be broadcast on NBC/Peacock.
If necessary, the Chicago White Sox will play the Houston Astros at 2:00 p.m. PT, airing on Peacock/NBC Sports Network.
If necessary, the Boston Red Sox will play the New York Yankees at 5:00 p.m. PT, airing on NBC/Peacock.
And finally, if necessary, the Chicago Cubs will play the San Diego Padres at 7:00 p.m. PT, airing on Peacock/NBC Sports Network.
Here is a decent recap of things that were said at the Royals end of year press conference yesterday. Also, shoutout to my former classmate and friend Maddie Hartley for writing this story.
Royals general manager J.J. Picollo didn’t shy away from his assessment of their 2026 season.
“I think it goes without being said, it’s kind of disappointing sitting here today without being in the playoffs as we expected,” Picollo said in Wednesday’s end-of-season press conference at Kauffman Stadium. “It was something we certainly felt was attainable coming into our season.”
The Royals finished with a 69-93 record — the club’s first losing season since a 106-loss 2023 — landed at the bottom of the AL Central and missed the postseason for the second straight year.
“We’ve got to figure out how to get this current roster playing to its abilities and put ourselves in a better position in 2027,” Picollo said. “But it’s not just about ‘27, it’s about long-term success.”
The Royals are overhauling their training staff as well.
On Wednesday, Royals general manager J.J. Picollo announced that head athletic trainer Kyle Turner, assistant athletic trainer Chris DeLucia and major league rehab coordinator Jeff Blum will not return.
My fellow writers here at Royals Review, have put out great work here the last couple of days, so I’m going to link some of their stories below.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - SEPTEMBER 26: Cody Freeman #39 and Jake Burger #21 of the Texas Rangers celebrate the win against the Minnesota Twins after the game at Target Field on September 26, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Rangers defeated the Twins 6-2. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Morning, all!
The Houston Astros have been swept from the playoffs, marking a need to enter the offseason with a need to rebuild.
Chris Young is also entering the offseason using rebuild coded words, like ““address the makeup of this team.”
The problem is that the team doesn’t really have much salary coming off the books and have double the number of arbitration eligible players, so there likely isn’t a lot of money to address the team’s many problems.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are back at home to kick off the 2026-27 season tonight at Nationwide Arena against the Buffalo Sabres.
The CBJ have lost four straight season openers. They last won at home against the Arizona Coyotes in 2021. The Sabres have lost three straight.
Their all-time record is 9-14-2 in season openers and 3-6-2 in home season openers.
Buffalo Sabres - 2025-26 - 50-23-9 - 109 Points - Won the Atlantic Division
Columbus Blue Jackets - 2025-26 - 40-30-12 - 92 Points - Finished 5th in the Metro
Team Notes Per CBJ PR
Columbus has won three-straight games vs. Bualo at Nationwide Arena.
CBJ and Buffalo have combined for 60 shots or more in eight of the last 10 games of the series.
The Blue Jackets have not surrendered a power play goal in the past eight games of the series (18-of-18, penalty killing).
Player Notes Per CBJ PR
Adam Fantilli, who signed a six-year contract with Columbus on Sept. 24, was second on the club in goals scored (24) during the 2025-26 season.
Zach Werenski captured the 2025-26 James Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman and was named to the First All-Star Team after notching 22-59-81 in 75 contests. He ranked second in the NHL in TOI (26:37) and second among league defensemen in scoring and third in goals.
Blue Jackets Stats - 2025-26
Power Play - 19.0% - 22nd in the NHL
Penalty Kill - 76.1% - 27th in the NHL
Goals For - 245 - 17th in the NHL
Goals Against - 249 - 22nd in the NHL
Sabres Stats - 2025-26
Power Play - 19.5% - 21st in the NHL
Penalty Kill - 81.9% - 4th in the NHL
Goals For - 283 - 5th in the NHL
Goals Against - 240 - 10th in the NHL
Series History vs. TheSabres
The Blue Jackets are 14-8-1 at Nationwide Arena and 29-17-1 overall vs. Buffalo.
Columbus has won three-straight games vs. Buffalo at Nationwide Arena.
The Jackets went 2-1-0 in 2025-26 against the Sabres.
The Blue Jackets have picked up four wins against the Sabres over the past two seasons (4-2-0).
Who To Watch For TheSabres
Tage Thompson had 40 goals and 81 points last season.
Rasmus Dahlin had 55 assists and 74 points.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen went 22-9-0 with a SV% of .909 last season.
CBJ Player Notes vsSabres
Jet Greaves has a 3-1-0 record with a .926 save percentage and 2.49 goals-against average in four career games vs. Buffalo.
Sean Monahan has 9-15-24 in 26 career games vs. the Sabres.
Matthew Knies posted 1-6-7 in 11 career games vs. Buffalo with points in three-straight.
Injured Reserve & Other Injuries
Dante Fabbro - Broken Hand
Damon Severson - Shoulder Surgery
Isac Lundestrom - Achilles Surgery - LTIR
Mikael Pyyhtia - Lower Body Injury
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 0
How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be simulcast on The Blue Jackets Hockey Network and97.1 The Fan, with Steve Mears behind the mic doing the play-by-play.
Next Up For Columbus: The CBJ take on the Buffalo Sabres tonight at 7 PM.
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Archer rested for tri-series that begins on 18 October
Nearly nine years on from his solitary Test cap in Sydney comes an England recall for Mason Crane. The leg-spinner has been named in England’s squad for the one-day international tri-series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. England will fly to Islamabad on 15 October for a round-robin mini-tournament that serves as preparation for next year’s 50-over World Cup. The three teams play each other twice in the group stage, before the top two meet for the final at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on 31 October.
Jos Buttler will miss the trip due to his recent hamstring tear and Jofra Archer is being rested at the start of a busy winter. But there are returns for Adil Rashid and Sam Curran after injury and a spot for James Coles, while the most eye-catching move is Crane usurping Rehan Ahmed as the back-up wrist-spinner.
The Toronto Maple Leafs earned their first win of the 2026-27 season with a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Wednesday. This result on the second night of a back-to-back at Scotiabank Arena is Jim Hiller's first win as the Maple Leafs' head coach.
It was a much cleaner performance compared to Toronto's season opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, when they lost 3-2 at home.
With that said, here are the four main takeaways from the Maple Leafs' first win of the campaign.
Anthony Stolarz Looks Sharp
Goaltender Anthony Stolarz made his first start of the season for the Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
There was a lot for him to prove going into this season, given the numbers he produced last year. He posted an .893 save percentage and a 3.28 goals-against average, which was a significant decrease from the .926 SP and 2.14 GAA he registered in his first year with the team, 2024-25.
Against the Islanders, Stolarz stopped 26 of 27 shots, getting a .963 SP. That's the best the 32-year-old has performed, statistically, since recording a .966 on Oct. 16 of last year.
"It was good," Stolarz said of his first performance of the season. "I think it's a great feeling and something for our team to grow on and expand on, and continue to work forward. Obviously, you want to win the first one last night, but to come out the way we did and respond the way we did was extremely encouraging for sure.
"The guys did a great job of boxing guys out. Let me see the first shot. Obviously, we knew that they have a lot of skilled defensemen who they like to pound the puck. So it's kind of up to me just to smother that rebound. And obviously, we did a great job blocking shots, getting sticks in lanes. And if you do that consistently as a team, you're going to come out on top most times," he added.
If it wasn't for Stolarz's spectacular outing, Easton Cowan certainly would've been the star of this contest. The 21-year-old was noticeable all game long and contributed to both of Toronto's goals. He recorded an assist on Colton Sisson's first goal of the game and scored on the power play, which turned out to be the game-winning goal for the Leafs.
"He was feeling it tonight," Sissons said of Cowan. "Just a dynamic player. He has the puck on his stick a lot and makes a lot of good plays. So really blessed to be playing with him right now.
Cowan and the third line with Sissons and Nick Paul were arguably the best line in the game against the Islanders, and probably for the Leafs against the Canadiens in the first game, too. There's lots of positivity surrounding that trio in terms of their play, effectiveness, and early chemistry.
"Sky's the limit with that kid," Sissons said. "Yeah, he's got all the potential in the world."
Aside from Jack Roslovic's power-play assist on Cowan's goal, among Maple Leafs forwards, the third-liners were the only ones on the scoresheet, with Cowan's two points, Sissons' goal, and an assist from Paul.
Outside of producing offense, that trio were great at keeping possession in the offensive zone, executing low cycles, and they were very responsible in their own zone as well.
The right-handed blueliner was all over the place on Tuesday, giving the puck away five times on his own, and was on the ice for all three goals. On Wednesday, it was a much cleaner performance from him, Rielly, and the D-corps as a whole.
The entire Maple Leafs defense only gave up the puck a collective four times against New York, and not one Toronto D-man had more than one giveaway.
That pair didn't set the game on fire and dominate, but it was good that they were a little quieter. That means there was less of an issue breaking out the puck, and very few breakdowns in their own zone.
And to add to that, Rielly got an assist on a pretty impressive play on the power play.
"What a play by Morgan," Hiller recalled of Toronto's second goal of the night. The 32-year-old picked off a clearance from the Islanders' penalty kill, controlled it at the blueline, and was able to make a play that led to Cowan's goal.
The Maple Leafs killed all four power plays that came the Islanders' way. Toronto did a great job of obviously keeping the puck out of the net, but also limiting dangerous chances when New York had the man-advantage.
The Isles were held to just three high-danger chances on the power play, according to Natural Stat Trick. Among the forwards, the Leafs' penalty kill was led by Teddy Blueger and Brandon Duhaime, playing 3:52 and 3:43 of ice time shorthanded, respectively. Duhaime had three blocks in this game, more than any Islander.
"When you kill them all off, you give yourselves a pretty good chance to win a hockey game," Sissons said, who had 2:33 of ice time on the PK. "And yeah, it was sharp. Obviously, not a lot of time to kind of work out your system and work out some of the kinks. So it's been big thus far."
The efforts of defensemen Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev can't be ignored either, as they combined for a total of eight blocks, and each led the team in time on the penalty kill in this contest.
So far, Toronto is six-for-six in killing penalties after two games this season.
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SAN ANTONIO, TX -SEPTEMBER 28: Keldon Johnson #3 of the San Antonio Spurs poses for a portrait at the San Antonio Spurs Media Day at Victory Capital Performance Center on September 28, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Normally, middle names are saved for when a parent is calling a child (usually loudly and from a distance) to inform said child that he is, in fact, in trouble. If I heard “Jeffrey David Duarte” a tinge of fear shot through my entire body. (In fact, any time I’ve been referred to as “Jeffrey” I was either in trouble with a family member or a government entity. Family was the usual culprit throughout my childhood, traffic court from sixteen to present.)
So when members of the Spurs video team decided to address members of the team by their “government” names on Media day, the players did a double-take.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet the members of your 2026-2027 San Antonio Spurs: Stephon Javonte Castle, Tobias John Harris, Julian Kymani Champagnie, Carter Dayne Bryant, Luke Francis Kornet, Harrison Bryce Jordan Barnes, and Keldon Wilder Johnson.
Tobias corrected stating that his middle name is “John Lee, bet you didn’t know that.” We didn’t…and his Wikipedia page does not list the “Lee” either.
Not introduced: Devin Anthony Vassell, Dylan Robert Harper, De’Aaron Martez Fox, and Victor Nonga Wembanyama-de Fautereau-Vassel. Bet you can’t say Wemby’s full name five times really fast. I’ll wait.
It’s a good thing the players don’t have their full name on the back of their jerseys. Victor’s would need sleeves.
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