ELMONT, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 03: Nico Daws #50 of the New Jersey Devils looks on during the first period against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on October 03, 2026 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Steven Ryan/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Here are your links for today:
Devils Links
The Devils followed up the excitement of the season’s first game with a real dud on Saturday against the Islanders. New York took a 6-0 win. Sheldon Keefe: “I mean, if you could sum it up by just saying that we were playing preseason hockey against a team that was probably playing February-type hockey. They played at another level today that we haven’t seen. And, I guess you’d say we failed that stress test.” [Devils NHL]
Which players look poised to break out this season? (Seems like there’s a notable name left off this list.) [The Athletic ($)]
“Our 10-person panel of voters was tasked with grading each goalie’s true ability, regardless of situation. The panel is comprised of eight goalie coaches (current and former NHL coaches, and private coaches who work with NHLers) and two recently retired NHL goalies who have played with and against many of the goalies on the list. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to encourage honesty and participation.” [The Athletic ($)]
“In a game where we play a lot of probabilities and take some chances, this is the most we’ve seen it happen off the ice. GMs have gone on offence, and they’re just hoping for it to bounce their way. They might want to ask their coaches how they feel about playing ‘hope’ hockey.” [Sportsnet]
Condolences to the family of Lyle Odelein:
Lyle Odelein, a 16-year NHL veteran, Stanley Cup champion and the first captain in Columbus Blue Jackets history, has passed away from a heart attack. He was 58 years old. pic.twitter.com/oXvPrWuTEK
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 21: Erik Karlsson #65 of the Pittsburgh Penguins shoots and scores during the third period against the Winnipeg Jets at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 21, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Who:Winnipeg Jets (1-0-1, 4th place Central Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2-0-0, 1st place Metropolitan Division)
When: 7:30 p.m. eastern
How to Watch: Locally televised game on Sportsnet Pittsburgh, Sportsnet+ up in Canada, out-of-market streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: Up next for the Penguins will be two road games against division opponent, Washington on Wednesday and then Columbus on Friday, then they’ll quickly return home to meet Dallas at PPG Paints on Saturday night.
Opponent Track: The Jets took a 3-0 lead yesterday afternoon in Detroit and were able to hold onto a 3-2 victory. Kyle Conner scored twice and old friend Stuart Skinner stopped 33 shots in the win. Winnipeg lost to Boston in OT in their first game of the season last week. After tonight the Jets return back home and have the Colorado Avalanche headed to the ’Peg for a Wednesday night game.
Season Series: The Pens get the pleasure of taking their trip to Winnipeg on February 21st to enjoy the Manitoban winter. In 2025-26, the Pens went 1-1 against the Jets – winning at home (5-4 shootout) and losing on the road.
Hidden Stat: At PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh is 21-3-0 in their last 24 matchups against the Winnipeg franchise dating back to Mar. 24, 2007.
Hidden Stat 2.0: Evgeni Malkin is just the second 40-year-old in NHL history to score in each of his team’s first two games of a season, alongside Gordie Howe (2 GP in 1968-69), per Pens PR.
Getting to know the Jets
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Kyle Connor — Mark Scheifele — Cole Perfetti
Isak Rosén — Viggo Bjorck — Gabriel Vilardi
Morgan Barron — Adam Lowry — Brad Lambert
Nino Niederreiter — Vladislav Namestnikov — Alex Iafallo
DEFENSEMEN
Josh Morrissey / Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg / Neal Pionk
Mario Ferraro / Tyrel Bauer
Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Clay Stevenson
Potential scratches: Jack St. Ivany, Cole Koepke, Haydn Fleury
Suspended: Connor Hellebuyck (failure to report to team)
It’s easy to feel bad for the Jets players and fans after their best player, three-time Vezina winner and 2024-25 Hart trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck chose the nuclear option of not reporting to play and will sit out without pay until he can be traded. Hellebuyck requested a trade earlier in the year, at first privately then very publicly later on to make his stance clear that he doesn’t want to play for the Jets again, despite signing a seven-year extension in 2023.
We’ll get a first look at Bjorck, an 18-year old drafted eighth overall in June. Bjorck is one of five 2026 draftees who have stuck on an NHL roster out of training camp and still looking for his first career point.
Former Penguin Jack St. Ivany made the Jets out of camp after a summer trade had him switch organizations. St. Ivany has been a healthy scratch for the first two games of the season, falling behind 24-year old Bauer for playing time. Bauer made his NHL debut at the start of the season after spending four seasons in the AHL. Bauer might be a problem, he’s gotten into two fights in his two career NHL games. Yesterday against Detroit, Bauer threw a big hit on Detroit’s J.T Compher then dropped Keegan Kolesar in a fight.
There haven’t been any lineup changes or switches yet for the Jets. That could change today, being as Stuart Skinner played yesterday. Backup Clay Stevenson was claimed off waivers from Washington. Stevenson, 27, only has five career NHL games under his belt, though he has been one of the better goalies in the AHL over the past four seasons and is finally getting an NHL opportunity handed to him.
Kyle Conner (five points in two games) is hot, it’s only two games but Mark Scheifele (zero points so far) is not. Pretty wild considering they play on the same line. Scheifele’s probably happy to see Pittsburgh come up on the schedule, he has 23 career points (9G+14A) in 23 games historically against the Pens.
Nice to see Skinner start out pretty well. He was well-liked in Pittsburgh and moves onto a team of his choosing in free agency. Given his career highs and lows it will be interesting to see where his path takes him from here.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Nick Robertson – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell
Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin
Andrei Kuzmenko – Ben Kindel – Hendrix Lapierre
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Filip Hallander
DEFENSEMEN
Declan Carlile / Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard / Kaeden Korczak
Trevor van Riemsdyk / Kris Letang
Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov
Potential Scratches: Ville Koivunen, Elmer Soderblom, Ilya Solovyov
IR: Ryan Graves, Justin Brazeau, Bryan Rust
The Pens were off yesterday, we’ll see how the deck might reset today at the morning skate for any changes to last game’s lineup. The team is deep enough now that someone like Koivunen who scored in the first game didn’t get a sweater for the second due to forwards returning.
The two lowest forwards for icetime from last game were Hallander and Lapierre, which might signal who the next players to rotate out could be. One might have to make way in the near future, since Bryan Rust was at practice in a regular jersey on Saturday.
Could today be the start for Murashov? Given the schedule it could be coming up soon and a home game against a team that isn’t expected to be a powerhouse (and is also on the back half of a back-to-back) sure sounds like a great spot to start a season for a young goalie.
Offense from the defense
The blueline has been making an impact on the scoreboard early on in the season for the Penguins.
1921 – New York is host to the first one-city World Series since 1906 and the Polo Grounds is the site for all nine games. Carl Mays of the Yankees needs 86 pitches to set the Giants down on five hits, four of them by Frankie Frisch, as Babe Ruth drives in the first run of the Series in the opening inning of the 3-0 Yankees win.
1954 – Oscar Charleston, one of the greatest players in the history of the Negro Leagues, dies in Philadelphia, days after he had fallen down a flight of stairs. He was 57 years old.
2003 – Chicago Cubs win their first MLB postseason series since the 1908 World Series with a 5-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the NLDS at Turner Field
1274 – Around 1,000 soldiers of the Mongol army land on the Japanese island of Tsushima in the first attack of Kublai Khan‘s Mongol invasion of Japan.
1892 – The Dalton Gang ends in a shootout in Coffeyville, Kansas, during a bank holdup; four members are killed, and a fifth is captured.
1947 – Harry Truman delivers the first presidential address televised from the White House.
1969 – TV sketch comedy series “Monty Python‘s Flying Circus” premieres on BBC1.
1973 – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the 7th studio album by Elton John, is released.
1975 – Austrian Niki Lauda wins the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen to claim his first Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship, winning by 19.5 points over Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 27: Kyle Schwarber #12 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a single in the first inning during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park on September 27, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Crazy what happens when the roof is open, huh Milwaukee? Still, I’ve never seen anything like Ty France’s long out on Saturday night in a playoff game. It’s why baseball playoffs are the best.
Sep 22, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jordan Westburg (11) throws to first base in the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
The MLB postseason rolls on, and yesterday brought two quality games in the NL Division Series. The Brewers and Padres played an absolute thriller, one that ended on Jackson Chourio’s dramatic two-run, two-out, two-strike walkoff single off of the unhittable San Diego closer Mason Miller, putting Milwaukee one win away from a sweep. And in Los Angeles, the Braves clapped back against the Dodgers with a 3-2 victory — with their bullpen game defeating Blake Snell — to even the series at one. The NL teams have a travel day today while the two AL Division Series are back in action.
In the meantime, it’s never too early to start thinking about what the Orioles’ roster will look like in 2027, whenever the season may begin. MLB Trade Rumors’ Charlie Wright wrote about Jordan Westburg’s expected return and what it might mean for the Orioles’ crowded infield picture. In the absence of Westburg, the Orioles’ regular third baseman in 2025, the O’s filled the hot corner this season with the trio of Coby Mayo, Blaze Alexander, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who happened to be three of the Orioles’ best hitters. All remain under team control for years to come.
Wright also suggests that the O’s could plug in Westburg at second base, a position he’s played 120 times in his career, as a way to ease him back into action. The Orioles’ current starter at the keystone position is Jackson Holliday, who struggled after suffering a hamate injury in spring training.
That makes five players for two positions. All of them have some warts, though. Mayo’s bat belongs in the lineup but he isn’t really a quality defender. Alexander had a scorching bat in part-time duty but could be overexposed as a regular. Encarnacion-Strand is just a few months removed from being waived by the Reds and can’t be considered a sure thing. And it’s unclear how quickly Westburg will be able to round back into form after missing the entire 2026 season.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Orioles aim to alleviate the logjam, if they try to do so at all. Would they consider optioning Holliday to the minors for the first time since 2024? Will they put Westburg on the IL at the start of the season to give him a little extra time to recover? Or, as Wright suggests, could the O’s try to swing a trade involving one or more of their infielders?
Me, I say just keep them all, unless you get an overwhelming trade offer. These things tend to have a way of sorting themselves out. Last year before spring training, O’s fans thought there was no possible place on the team for Mayo, with Pete Alonso and Ryan Mountcastle blocking him at 1B/DH and Westburg at 3B. And look what happened. Westburg and Mountcastle both suffered injuries that cost them most or all of the season, and Mayo ended up playing 132 games. It’s always nice to have extra depth.
What do you think, Camden Chatters? What should the Orioles’ infield — especially the second and third base situations — look like in 2027?
If it weren’t already obvious by the fact that he played zero games behind the plate in 2026, Ike Irish is no longer a catcher. That’s probably a good thing, considering that he openly hated catching.
The newly acquired outfield prospect hasn’t taken long to Endd-ear himself to Orioles fans. (I’ll show myself out.)
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! The only player in Orioles history born on Oct. 5 is the late right-hander Terry Mathews (b. 1964, d. 2012).
On this date in 1986, Hall of Fame Orioles skipper Earl Weaver managed the final game of his 17-year career, which included 2,541 regular season games, 46 postseason games, and 96 ejections. Weaver, who had retaken the reins of the Orioles in 1985 after initially retiring in 1982, took a loss in his finale, 6-3 to the Tigers. That finished a 73-89 season, which remarkably was the only losing season of Earl’s career.
The Orioles have played 11 postseason games on this date, going an incredible 9-2 in those games. Among the highlights:
In 1966, the O’s opened their first-ever World Series with a 5-2 win over the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson set the tone for the series with back-to-back homers in the top of the first against fellow Hall of Famer Don Drysdale, taking an early lead that the O’s never relinquished. Moe Drabowsky turned in a brilliant appearance in long relief, working the final 6.2 scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts.
In 1969, the Orioles won Game 2 of the ALCS with their second straight extra-inning, walkoff win against the Twins. Dave McNally pitched a masterpiece, tossing an 11-inning shutout with 11 strikeouts. The Twins’ Dave Boswell was very nearly McNally’s equal, carrying a shutout of his own into the bottom of the 11th, but a walk, a sac bunt, and a pinch-hit RBI single by Curt Motton led the Orioles to a 1-0 victory.
In both 1970 and 1971 on this date, the O’s finished off a three-game ALCS sweep, beating the Twins in the former and the Athletics in the latter. In both cases, it was Hall of Famer Jim Palmer who led the Orioles to victory with a complete game. In the 1970 game, he dominated the Twins with 12 strikeouts and gave up only one run in a 6-1 decision, and in the ’71 contest he held the A’s to three runs in a 5-3 Orioles win.
In both 1996 and 1997, the Orioles finished off the Division Series with a Game 4 victory to advance to the ALCS. In ’96, they outlasted Cleveland in a 4-3, 12-inning thriller at Jacobs Field. Roberto Alomar played the hero, first tying the game with two outs in the ninth on an RBI single, then winning it with a leadoff homer in the top of the 12th. And in ’97, in an epic pitcher’s duel between Hall of Famers Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson, Moose came out on top with seven innings of one-run ball. O’s manager Davey Johnson riskily countered the Big Unit by benching top hitters like Alomar and Rafael Palmeiro in favor of little-used righties, and it worked when utility infielder Jeff Reboulet powered a homer en route to a 3-1 Orioles win.
In 2012, the Orioles won the first-ever AL Wild Card Game in Texas, stunning the Rangers with a 5-1 victory. Journeyman lefty Joe Saunders, who historically had always struggled in Texas, memorably outdueled Rangers ace Yu Darvish by holding Texas to one run in 5.2 innings. Darren O’Day, Brian Matusz, and Jim Johnson followed with 3.1 innings of scoreless relief. Nate McLouth and J.J. Hardy sparked the O’s lineup by combining for three hits and three RBIs atop the order.
And in 2014, the O’s sealed a three-game sweep of the Tigers in the Division Series, eking out a 2-1 win in Detroit. For the third consecutive game, the Orioles defeated a former Cy Young winner, besting David Price after doing the same to Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. Nelson Cruz’s two-run homer in the sixth provided all the offense the O’s needed, backing 6.1 scoreless innings from Bud Norris. Closer Zack Britton kept the tying and winning runs stranded on base in the ninth by inducing a series-ending double play.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - OCTOBER 03: Cam Schlittler #31 of the New York Yankees speaks to the media prior to Game One of the American League Division Series presented by Booking.com between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Saturday, October 3, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
It’s becoming very easy to treat Cam Schlittler as a superhero, the old school television programs that end with the protagonist once again disposing of the villain, with everything present on screen except the ads for cereal are replaced by ones for so-called prediction markets that are rotting the brains of 30 percent of the male population. Throw whatever obstacle at him you want — playoff start, the hated rival, a lineup that refuses to score — and he’ll overcome it. I am at least slightly convinced the Yankees scoring nine runs last Tuesday had something to do with Cam.
Tonight he once again faces his toughest test of the year, tasked with preventing the Rays from taking what would be a strangling 2-0 lead in the ALDS. If there was one pitcher on planet Earth, with full respect to Jacob Misiorowski, that I would trust to lead my team away from that fate, it would be Cam Schlittler.
The what is one thing, and that’s discussed above. The how and why are different questions.
Cam’s disposal of the Red Sox last week was a particularly notable one, as the righty drastically changed his approach to pitching. If you’re standing in the box against Cam, there’s about a 90 percent chance he throws you some kind of fastball, and your job is to figure out, in the 0.4 seconds it takes for that pitch to reach the plate, whether it has rise, cut, or run. That approach has put Cam in the pole position for the AL Cy Young Award, just throw F*** You fastballs all around the strike zone and good things will happen.
Except, against the Red Sox, something changed:
You still get a lot of the No. 1, Cam will never abandon the four-seamer that’s made him one of the three or so best pitchers in the world. He caught the Sox completely flat footed with his curveball though, after the club reportedly spent the entire final regular season in Tampa working off his heaters on Tropicana Field’s Trejekt machine.
It’s hard to tell what’s funnier, that Cam got a 50 percent (!) whiff rate on the bender that night, or that while he edged out eight whiffs he got another six called for strikes. Boston doesn’t have the best lineup in baseball, but they’re still MLB players, and they were bamboozled by the change in gameplan.
And we’ve seen this with Cam before — what makes me so supremely confident in him, and what drives my desire for the Yankees to work out an extension with him the moment labor strife in the sport is resolved is that ability to tweak in-between starts. He gave up four home runs against the Tigers on June 30th, and then just six in the 15 starts and 89.2 innings he threw to close the year. He walked five against the Red Sox on August 28th, a start that could have made us otherwise nervous given his dominance of his hometown team. After that he made five starts to finish up his Cy Young campaign, 30 innings of work, and walked just seven combined.
Then of course facing a Boston team so geared up for velo on Tuesday, Cam quite literally bent the gameplan and pitched the game of his life, again. Mike Trout used to do this, at the height of his powers he would look at a part of his game that wasn’t A+ and just decide to make it A+. Mike Trout is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, maybe the best five-tool talent I have ever seen for an extended period of his career, and I am not quite ready to say that Cam Schlittler is at that level, but damn if he isn’t trying.
But he doesn’t face Boston tonight, he faces Tampa Bay. Instead of the league’s 17th best offense, it’s the sixth best. The Red Sox struck out 21.7 percent of the time, below league average to be clear but three full points higher than Tampa’s K-rate. They do have one thing in common though.
Boston was the worst team in baseball facing curveballs, -7 runs against the pitch. Tampa Bay is the second-worst, -5.7. Now we get into game theory, and perhaps paralysis by analysis. If I know how bad Tampa is against curves, and Tampa just watched the Red Sox get led around Yankee Stadium on a leash made of breaking balls, the Rays have to be gameplanning against a repeat, curve-heavy performance.
Cam’s made three starts against the Rays this year, and has actually underperformed to his own baseline, posting a gaudy 2.81 ERA in 16 innings. He has also struck out seven Rays for every one he walked so, maybe the gameplan is just “do that again.” Then again, he owns the lowest ERA of any pitcher ever against the Red Sox, and became a completely different man when taking them down Tuesday. Maybe we get F*** You Fastball Cam, maybe we get Schlittler on a bender, maybe there’s something else he’s cooking up. The joy of watching Cam Schlittler over the last year and a half has been witnessing the evolution of an ace, and the next chapter comes tonight.
Jonathan Aranda's solo homer was the game's only run and Rays starter Drew Rasmussen took a no-hitter into the eighth inning as Tampa Bay took the all-important Game 1 on Saturday.
Likely AL Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler takes the mound for the Yankees in Game 2 coming off his scoreless outing with 10 strikeouts in the first game of the AL wild card series against the Boston Red Sox, the second year in a row he dominated the rivals in the postseason. Freddy Peralta starts for the Rays in Game 2 after going 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA following a trade deadline deal with the Mets.
Yankees players were able to spend the off day working out at the team's spring training facility in Tampa and manager Aaron Boone didn't have any updates on the status of MVP Aaron Judge, who was left off the ALDS roster as he continues making his way back from injuries.
How to watch Yankees vs Rays: TV channel, streaming
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The Dallas Stars haven't had much go their way to start the season, and they're doing it without one of their most familiar names.
Dallas opened with a 4-0 home loss to the St. Louis Blues before falling 2-1 to the Nashville Predators on Saturday. They're 0-2, and Matt Duchene hasn't been available for either game.
The former Colorado Avalanche forward is on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury suffered during training camp. He'll miss at least 10 games.
For Colorado, Duchene's situation is worth keeping an eye on.
He was the No. 3 overall pick by the Avalanche in 2009 and spent parts of nine seasons with the organization. By the time Colorado traded him to Ottawa in 2017, Duchene had appeared in more than 587 games for the franchise.
He's obviously a different player now.
Duchene turns 36 in January, but he showed he could still produce at a high level during the 2024-25 season. He played all 82 games for Dallas and led the Stars with 30 goals and 52 assists for 82 points.
That was the third 30-goal season of his career.
Last year was much tougher.
Duchene missed 25 games after suffering a vestibular concussion on a hard hit from Minnesota Wild defenseman Jake Middleton. He later described it as the hardest injury he'd had to recover from.
He still managed 45 points in 57 games after returning, scoring 16 goals with 29 assists.
Now he's dealing with another setback.
The lower-body issue surfaced during training camp. Dallas tried to manage it, but Duchene eventually suffered a setback and landed on LTIR.
The earliest he can return is Oct. 25 against the New York Islanders, which would be Dallas' 11th game. That's only the first date he's eligible to return, though, not a guarantee that he'll be ready.
The Stars could use him. They've scored just one goal through their first two games, and they're already looking for more offense.
Duchene has bounced around since leaving Colorado, playing for Ottawa, Columbus and Nashville before eventually landing in Dallas.
But his Avalanche years remain a significant part of his career. He was a third-overall pick, played nearly 600 games in Colorado and became one of the most recognizable players on the team during his time there.
Now, at 35, he's facing another stretch on the sidelines.
After missing significant time last season, that's not exactly the start Duchene or Dallas wanted.
DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 4: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets prepares to shoot a free throw during the game against the Utah Jazz during the NBA preseason on October 4, 2026 at CU Events Center, Boulder, Colorado. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Denver Nugget star Nikola Jokic often gets compared to Larry Bird, which is only partly fair. The funny part is, when people talk about Bird, they often suggest that he would be too slow to play in today’s NBA, but Jokic is far slower than Bird ever was, and he’s doing just fine.
The primary reason they are compared is because both have phenomenal vision and passing skills. Bird had an ability to pass to people when his back was turned. Somehow, he always knew where everyone was on the court at all times.
Jokic has some of that too, as we see here: He’s in the corner near the bench, half-turned, when he whips a behind-the-back pass through the defense to former UNC player Cameron Johnson, who is alone deep in the opposite corner. Caught completely off-guard: Lauri Markkanen, Jusuf Nurkic, and Svi Mykhailiuk.
In our opinion, this is the rare play that Bird could not have made. Why?
Because to move a ball that far, that fast, behind your back, takes a lot more strength than Bird had. But if you’d told Bird that, the basketball sociopath would have just told you that he didn’t need to do that because he had plenty of other options. Then he would have told you what he was going to do to you, and then done it, and taunted you afterwards because you couldn’t even stop what you knew was coming.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani strikes out during the seventh inning of a 3-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium on Sunday. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
That’s weird because normally he’s everybody else’s problem. This man has been terrorizing pitchers and hitters across baseball for years.
But biceps, knee and neck ailments have taken the ball out of Ohtani’s hand this season. And now, anyone who says they haven’t wondered whether the Dodgers should also take the bat out of his hands is lying.
It’s not going to happen, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves, which evened the best-of-five National League Division Series 1-1 heading back to Atlanta for Game 3 on Tuesday.
“He’ll be in there Game 3,” Roberts said of Ohtani, the four-time league MVP and much-celebrated unicorn. “We’ve just got to, again, take good at-bats and expect the best.”
Except anyone watching actually is expecting the worst from Ohtani’s at-bats.
He can’t be right, can he? He’s so much better than this.
Though Roberts reminded us once more: “This time of year ... no one feels perfect.”
Still, Roberts also said, “I haven’t heard anything other than he feels fine. So I don’t know if he’s trying to do too much because he doesn’t feel perfect.”
Ohtani has been far from that. In his final 18 games of the regular season, he hit .157 with an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of .503. He struck out 29 times in 70 at-bats. He hasn’t hit a home run since Aug. 18 and has only one RBI in that span.
He has two singles in the NLDS, but he’s otherwise chasing pitches and chasing his normal self. Turning himself into a pretzel, corkscrewing himself into the dirt.
At this point, it’s cause for celebration when Ohtani simply slaps a single, as he did in the fifth inning Sunday when he poked Dylan Lee’s 95-mph four-seam fastball into left field for his only hit. We’ll take it, take him taking what the pitcher gives him instead of all the flailing and failing we’re seeing.
Because even as a decoy, Ohtani is whiffing badly.
But the Dodgers can’t very well move him down from No. 2 in the order; they’d have to move him out of it entirely. Because if they signal that they don’t have faith in him, who in the other dugout is going to fear him?
Not that the charade is working on the Braves, who in the third inning walked Mookie Betts — now the Dodgers’ leadoff man — on four pitches and then got Ohtani to pop out.
Shohei Ohtani reacts to taking a strike during the third inning against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Usually Ohtani’s presence in the on-deck circle is enough to strike fear into the other guys. Now it’s the Dodgers’ fans who have an uneasy feeling when they hear those familiar Michael Bublé walk-up notes.
Ohtani isn’t hitting, and he’s not getting anything to hit. He’s doing much of the pitchers’ work for them, swinging at pitches outside of the strike zone, stacking undisciplined and unserious at-bats that are unbecoming of the biggest star on the ballclub with three-peat immortality on the line.
Beside a smattering of promising at-bats in the final week of the season against the San Diego Padres, Ohtani has looked like a man fighting himself — and losing.
“If you look at the at-bats, there’s a lot of chase,” Roberts said. “It’s hard to square up, put good swings on balls that are out of the zone. That’s kind of what it boils down to.”
And …
“Certainly [Chris] Sale is going to be tough,” Roberts said.
Oh, yeah. It’s only going to get tougher. On Tuesday, the Braves will start their ace, against whom Ohtani is three for 15 all time.
Thirty-seven-year-old Freddie Freeman has been fighting to find a groove again too — and he seems to have found it, with three hits in his last seven at-bats, including his first home run since Sept. 2 in Sunday’s loss.
And there’s a school of thought that the Dodgers’ Josue De Paula infusion sparked a late-season fire under Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández.
Could the rookie — who pinch-hit for Tommy Edman and fouled out for the final out Sunday — have a similar impact on Ohtani? Could De Paula possibly do a better impression of Ohtani than Ohtani currently is doing?
We’ll never know. But at this point, we’d sure like to.
Joonas Korpisalo has been around the NHL for a long time now, but before he became a veteran goaltender bouncing around the league, he was one of Jared Bednar's young goalies in the AHL.
More than a decade later, Korpisalo is back in the news after the New York Rangers placed him on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. He's considered week-to-week, according to the Associated Press.
It's an interesting development for Colorado Avalanche fans because of Korpisalo's history with Bednar.
The two were together with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2015, when Bednar coached the team to a Calder Cup championship. Korpisalo was only 21 years old at the time and played 18 regular-season games.
He went 8-8-4 with a 2.36 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. He also recorded two shutouts.
Korpisalo ended up taking over the starting job during the playoffs, although he didn't finish the postseason in that role. Anton Forsberg eventually moved ahead of him, leaving Korpisalo in more of a backup spot.
He still won six of the eight games he played.
The numbers weren't quite as good as they had been during the regular season. Korpisalo finished the playoffs with a .898 save percentage and a 2.98 goals-against average, but he was still part of a championship team that gave him an early taste of winning at the professional level.
Forsberg, by the way, is still in the NHL too. He's now with the Los Angeles Kings.
Korpisalo went on to carve out his own NHL career and has spent the years since playing for several different organizations. This summer, he landed with the Rangers, who brought him in to back up Igor Shesterkin.
That job is suddenly on hold.
With Korpisalo on injured reserve, New York recalled Dylan Garand from Hartford. The Rangers have Shesterkin as their clear No. 1, but the timing of the injury isn't great with the team facing Tampa Bay and Detroit on back-to-back nights.
Garand could get his chance sooner than expected.
For Bednar, this is just another chapter in a relationship that goes back to the early years of his coaching career.
Korpisalo was one of the young goalies on that Lake Erie team, long before either of them had reached where they are now.
Bednar is running the bench in Colorado.
Korpisalo is trying to get healthy and get back into the Rangers' crease.
It's been quite a while since those two were chasing a Calder Cup together.
PITTSBURGH, PA - OCTOBER 03: Ben Kindel #81 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates his goal with teammates against the Montréal Canadiens at PPG PAINTS Arena on October 3, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Here are your Pens Points for this Monday morning…
Forward Ben Kindel returned from a lower-body injury Saturday and scored in his season debut during Pittsburgh’s win over Montreal. The 19-year-old center said he remains hungry to establish himself in the NHL and has “a lot of things” he still wants to accomplish after his rookie season. [Trib Live]
Forward David Gustafsson was assigned to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins after clearing waivers Sunday afternoon. [Trib Live]
Lyle Odelein, a defenseman who won a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1993 and played for several other NHL organizations, including the Penguins, died over the weekend. He was 58. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
Andrei Kuzmenko made his Penguins debut Saturday in Pittsburgh’s home opener, returning to the lineup less than two weeks after his father’s death. Kuzmenko had taken a leave of absence to return to Russia and mourn with his family before rejoining the team Friday and changing his jersey number to 62 to honor his father. [Trib Live]
News and notes from around the NHL…
The Edmonton Oilers are exploring the trade market for forward depth after several forwards were sidelined by injuries to start the season. [Sportsnet]
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson reportedly prefers a move away from Detroit amid a contract stalemate with the team. The 23-year-old restricted free agent attended training camp but returned to Sweden after negotiations stalled. [The Detroit News]
A horse named Gaudreau, honoring late NHL star Johnny Gaudreau, finished second Saturday in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park. Another horse named Johnny Hockey, also named for Gaudreau, competed in the same race but faded late. [NHL]
The Florida Panthers placed star forward Aleksander Barkov on long-term injured reserve on Saturday with a lower-body injury. [NHL]
Dodgers reliever Edwin Díaz delivers during the sixth inning of a 3-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium on Sunday night. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
On a night when so much went so wrong for the Dodgers, the sound of trumpets in the sixth inning sounded like just another misplay. Edwin Díaz was coming in from the bullpen, not to the accompaniment of a live trumpeter preceding a save opportunity, but to a recording preceding a middle inning of an uninspiring defeat.
All was not lost, however, for this is what those trumpets heralded: The Dodgers have found their postseason closer.
Is Dodgers manager Dave Roberts ready for Díaz to pitch the ninth?
“Yeah, I think I’ve been very consistent in the fact that I wanted to get him an outing, and this was a big spot,” Roberts said. “He did what he needed to do. It looked great.
“So absolutely, you could see him closing, yes. I could see him closing.”
This should not be breaking news, even with the Dodgers and Atlanta Braves tied one game apiece in the best-of-five National League Division Series. This, after all, is what was supposed to happen.
The Dodgers signed Díaz for $69 million last December and feted him and his family with a lovely press conference, at which president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman anointed the three-time All-Star as the undisputed closer.
“To name someone the closer, you have to be one of the best,” Friedman said then. “You have to be elite and dominant at what you do.”
Then the season started, and Díaz was limited to 18⅔ innings because of elbow surgery and, later, a neck injury. He returned in mid-September, limited to five scoreless appearances before the end of the regular season.
The numbers say he’s back: Add in the perfect sixth inning he pitched Sunday, and he has faced 20 batters. He has given up one hit and one walk and has struck out 11 — that is, 55% of those batters.
In his outing Sunday, he struck out two of three batters, throwing one pitch at 101 mph and two others at 100 mph.
Roberts called that performance “a silver lining” in the defeat.
“I’ve been throwing the ball really well,” Díaz said. “Arm feels good. Body feels great. It’s playoff baseball.
“I was letting the ball rip.”
The Dodgers have been publicly noncommittal about a designated closer. Tanner Scott, who converted 25 of 29 save opportunities in Díaz’s absence this season, got the first postseason shot on Saturday. He gave up a single and a home run to the first two batters he faced.
Roki Sasaki, the accidental postseason closer last year, got his first shot of this postseason on Sunday. He walked the first batter, hit the next, and walked another to load the bases, although he did pitch two scoreless innings.
It is fair to say that Díaz did not face the heart of the Braves’ order. It also is fair to say that, if the Braves feature left-handed-hitting stars Matt Olson and Michael Harris II in a future ninth inning, the Dodgers might let the left-handed Scott work the ninth and deploy Díaz in an earlier inning against a run of right-handed batters. It also is fair to say Sasaki’s October run last year should earn him a shot to close.
But, really, the Dodgers ought to trust Díaz by now without overthinking this.
The only times Díaz has pitched as early in a game as he did on Sunday: twice this September, as he came back from the neck injury; the final day of the 2025 season, trying to keep his New York Mets alive in the playoff chase; in the sixth inning of a seven-inning doubleheader game during the 2020 pandemic season; and three times in his debut season of 2016.
For all his success over the years, the Dodgers are grateful that Díaz did not insist upon returning as a closer. That old bromide about how a player should not lose his job because of an injury?
“We are playing playoff games, so I’m open to coming into any situation,” Díaz said. “In playoff baseball, every inning counts, so if I come in the fifth or the ninth, it would play out the same for me.
“I will treat every inning as the ninth.”
Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas saluted Díaz on his professionalism.
“He knew, when he got to this team, it’s all about winning,” Rojas said. “You put the egos aside as soon as you walk into this clubhouse and you see the best players in the world. It’s really easy for you to put your personal demands or goals on the side.
“He’s been a really good closer, one of the best in our generation for a long time, and it’s a credit to him to keep working hard. Who knows if he’s going to end up closing the last game of the year?”
One step at a time, and the Dodgers took steps backward on Sunday.
Blake Snell, the Dodgers’ starter, barely outlasted Ray Kerr, the Braves’ opener. Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández misplayed a drive into a triple. Dodgers reliever Kris Bubic heaved a run-scoring wild pitch. The Dodgers were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
And, as the tedious and repetitive screaming of in-game hosts begged the fans to make noise yet again, as the game headed to the ninth inning, plenty of fans instead headed to the exits, even with the home team down by only two runs.
Yet something good came out of the evening. The Dodgers found their closer.
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 03: Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the New York Yankees looks on from the dugout during the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in game one of the American League Division Series at Tropicana Field on October 03, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Yankees don’t have their backs to the walls just yet, but it’s darn near close after losing Game 1 of the ALDS. They desperately want to avoid going home to the Bronx facing an 0-2 hole, especially with their ace Cam Schlittler toeing the slab tonight. Schlittler dazzled in his Game 1 start against Boston, going 6.1 shutout with 10 strikeouts to continue his dominance over the team’s archrivals. Schlittler had one of the best starts in recent postseason memory to start last year’s postseason, but his follow-up against Toronto wasn’t nearly as sharp and he’ll look to avoid repeating that pattern this time around against Tampa Bay.
We’ve got plenty to go through before we get to Game 2, starting with Josh musing on Schlittler’s arsenal choice ahead of his start after he mixed in far more curveballs than usual against Boston. John takes us back to class with a history lesson on how the league first hammered out a deal to sell the film rights to record the 1911 World Series, Jonathan remembers one-time Yankee Aaron Guiel and his unlikely road to the majors on his birthday, Michael compares the paths of two of the more veteran GMs across baseball in Brian Cashman and Dave Dombrowski, and later on I’ll be back to open up the mailbag for another week of your questions.
Today’s Matchup:
American League Division Series Game 2
New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays
Time: 8:00 p.m. EST
TV: TBS/HBO Max, TruTV, Univision
Venue: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL
Questions/Prompts:
1. On a scale between Saturday’s Game 1 and 10, how effective will the Yankees’ offense be against Freddy Peralta?
2. Will we see a redemption game from Austin Wells after his baserunning gaffe?
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