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Yankees Birthday of the Day: Al Gettel

Emeryville, CA April 5, 1955 - Allen Gettel rides a horse on opening day at Oaks Ballpark. (Russ Reed / Oakland Tribune Photographer) (Digital First Media Group/Oakland Tribune via Getty Images) | MediaNews Group via Getty Images

Allen Gettel was born a ways south of the Bronx, down in Norfolk, Virginia. Growing up on the family farm, few could have predicted the journey his life would take. From pitching in Yankee Stadium to acting on the big screen, Gettel became his own type of renaissance man.

Allen Jones Gettel
Born: September 17, 1917 (Norfolk, Virginia)
Died: April 8, 2005 (Norfolk, Virginia)
Yankees Tenure: 1945-46

Gettel graduated from Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach in 1936. The Yankees signed the young right-handed pitcher to a contract upon graduation after scout Gene McCann found the big 6-foot-3 hurler while scouting local high school games. This kicked off a nine-year stint in the Yankees farm system.

The first three years of his time in the Yankees system were spent in the lower levels of the minor leagues. Gettel’s debut campaign came with the Norfolk Tars, in the city where he was born. The following season in 1937, he split his time between the Butler Yankees and the Bassett Furnituremakers (another Virginia team). Then, in 1938, he had a standout performance for the Snow Hill Billies in the Class D Coastal Plain League, and that performance earned him a ticket to the Augusta Tigers for the 1939 season.

From 1940 through 1943, Gettel found himself in Double-A, playing for both the Newark Bears and Kansas City Blues. Following the 1943 campaign, the Yankees traded Gettel, Ed Levy, and $10,000 cash to the Philadelphia Phillies for Nick Etten. However, Gettel declared he would spend the 1943 season on the farm to ensure he could not be drafted into military service, and on the same note, Levy was classified as 1-A by the Selective Service System, meaning he was immediately eligible to be drafted into the military. The Phillies were essentially giving away a player for no one at that point and got the trade vetoed. The Yankees and Phillies later agreed to new players in the trade, and Etten became a Yankee (a very nice wartime one at that).

After the trade fell through, the Yankees assigned Gettel back to Norfolk. Back home, he could play baseball while maintaining his farm work. This is where Gettel spent the next two seasons, and he dominated. Gettel posted an incredible 1.38 ERA while going 11-11. Then, in 1944, he went 17-7 with a 1.81 ERA.

Prior to the 1945 season, the Yankees were depleted due to the war draft; the previous year had already been challenging as their streak of three consecutive pennants was snapped by the St. Louis Browns of all teams. Gettel was protected due to his farmer status, and after his performance the two years prior, the Yankees finally gave the 27-year-old a chance to play in the majors. Gettel made his debut on April 20th against the Washington Senators. Coming on in relief, he pitched four innings and allowed just one hit while striking out four to pick up a retroactive save.

Gettel went on to have a decent rookie year, tallying 154 innings with a 9-8 record and a 3.92 ERA for the Bombers. He followed that up in 1946 by going 6-7 with a 2.97 ERA in 103 innings. However, following the season and facing a roster crunch as the rest of the boys returned home from war, the Yankees decided to trade Gettel, and this time the trade went through.

On December 6, 1946, Gettel, Hal Peck, and Gene Bearden were traded to Cleveland for Ray Mack and Sherm Lollar. Gettel anchored Cleveland’s starting rotation in 1947, earning 11 wins to go along with a 3.20 ERA. In early June of the 1948 season, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox and thus could not celebrate with his old teammates when Cleveland won the World Series that fall, their most recent title as a franchise. Gettel stayed in Chicago for a year and some change before he was purchased by the Washington Senators. Gettel finished the 1949 season in Washington.

From 1950 through 1959, Gettel bounced around, playing mostly for the Oakland Oaks in the Pacific Coast League — though he did play in the majors in 1951 for the New York Giants and in 1955 for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Gettel officially retired from professional baseball in 1959 with 38 career major league victories and 196 minor league wins. Years later in 2001, Gettel and others admitted that the 1951 New York Giants used a system to steal signs from opposing catchers, including on Bobby Thomson’s famous “Shot Heard ’Round the World.” The cheating scheme had a spotter with a telescope buzzing down the catchers finger count to the bullpen who then had various ways to signal to hitters what was coming.

During his time on the Oaks, Gettel used his farm talents to land some roles in movies and television. A skilled horse rider, he appeared in Westerns such as The Tin Star. The acting roles earned Gettel his nickname “Two Guns.” Gettel embraced the nickname and even dressed like a cowboy and rode a horse in from the bullpen when the Oaks would allow.

Gettel continued farming throughout his long life. He passed away at age-87 in 2005 in where else, but Norfolk. Happy birthday to one of Hampton Roads’ great underrated sons!

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

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Dodgers call up Landon Knack, option Bobby Miller

Los Angeles, CA - August 12: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Landon Knack (96) reacts after allowing a hit during the seventh inning of an baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Thursday is a planned bullpen game for the Dodgers, but it directly follows an unplanned bullpen game after Blake Snell left Wednesday’s start after only one inning with left groin tightness. To that end, the Dodgers called up Landon Knack to fill innings ahead of the series and road trip finale against the Cincinnati Reds, and optioned Bobby Miller after throwing 47 pitches in 2 1/3 innings on Wednesday.

Knack is up for a third stint with the Dodgers this season. The right-hander has pitched in a total of three games with five runs allowed in 7 2/3 innings with six strikeouts, two walks, and four home runs allowed. His last outing in the majors was an eight-out save on August 12 against the Kansas City Royals.

Since getting optioned to Triple-A on August 13, Knack had a 1.56 ERA with 14 strikeouts and seven walks in 17 1/3 innings over four appearances. His last outing was five scoreless innings with four strikeouts last Thursday against Sugar Land.

Left-hander Justin Wrobleski will start on Thursday for the Dodgers. He pitched two scoreless innings in relief on Saturday in Miami, throwing 25 pitches.

Miller allowed two runs on three hits and got seven outs in Wednesday’s loss to the Reds, with one strikeout. After spending over five months on the injured list to start the season with shoulder and back problems, Miller was activated off the 60-day injured list on September 5. Miller allowed a run in three relief innings on September 6 to earn the win, then was optioned the next day.

He returned this week on Monday when Edgardo Henríquez was placed on the injured list with low back discomfort.

Miller spending five total days in the majors this month means his total time optioned to the minors fewer than the 20 days required to exhaust an option year. In other words, after using option years in 2024 and 2025 but not 2026, Miller will have one option year remaining in 2027.

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Can Collin Sexton prove to be more than a luxury for the Lakers?

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - APRIL 05: Collin Sexton #2 of the Chicago Bulls looks on against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at the United Center on April 05, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. 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 Jayden Mack/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Welcome to our Lakers Season Preview Series! For the next several weeks, we’ll be writing columns every weekday breaking down the biggest questions we have about every player the Lakers added this offseason. Today, we look at Collin Sexton.

If we’re being honest, when the flurry of reports that the Lakers were acquiring Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Collin Sexton came in rapid succession, the signing that had people almost instantly second-guessing was the deal for Sexton.

Sure, people could quibble with the dollar amounts or the player options in the contracts for Grimes and Mamu, and there was certainly some debating about the price paid in draft capital for Kessler, but the basketball fit for all of those players seemed straightforward and easily explainable.

For Sexton, though, the nitpicking and questioning were nearly immediate.

Not because Sexton is a bad player. In fact, I think it’s universally understood that the former Cavalier, Jazz, and Bull is a good player who, in a vacuum, could even be looked at as a value contract on the terms the Lakers got him at.

But, on a team that already had Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, using the team’s room exception on a small, shot-creating guard like Sexton instead of going after a big wing who could help fill the void in the frontcourt was certainly a choice.

And now, over two months later, with the team’s offseason functionally over, training camp just weeks away, and the hole at the forward spot vacated by LeBron James still without a clear candidate universally believed capable of filling it currently on the roster, the Sexton signing remains top of mind for those looking to be critical of the choices President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka made when trying to build out this team.

So, though he might actually be the most established player the Lakers signed when it comes to production and ability to fill the job he’ll be asked to on opening night, it feels as though Sexton might actually have the most to prove. The reason is as simple as to show he can be more than a luxury as the team’s backup point guard, and more of a necessary rotation piece who allows head coach JJ Redick to establish the sort of offensive dominance he’s not yet been able to get to in his two seasons as Lakers head coach.

What is his best-case scenario?

Much of Sexton’s career has been spent playing on bad teams whose lethargic pursuit of wins, combined with the broader offensive limitations of those rosters, has put too much responsibility on his shoulders to be a main shot creator and offensive fulcrum. This has led to Sexton having some strong individual seasons as a scorer, but in the macro sense, too many campaigns where his overall efficiency and shot creation for others have come into question.

The hope for Sexton on these Lakers is that this sort of paradigm shift allows for him to take a meaningful step forward in ways that impact winning. Said another way, this season’s Lakers should have a particularly dynamic offense that makes Sexton’s life easier to a degree in which he can not only thrive as a scorer, but his efficiency and playmaking increase simply because the decisions and scenarios he’s put into will be so favorable.

Whether playing next to Luka or Austin, Sexton will have more opportunities to be a second-side creator who gets the ball in more advantageous situations where he can either take open catch-and-shoot threes or attack closeouts that lead to easier scoring chances. And when Sexton starts possessions with the ball, the attention Dončić and Reaves require should free him up to be the best on-ball version of himself too.

Further, coming off the bench should allow Sexton to play in the parts of games where the flow is looser and the general level of competition is not the same as when both teams’ starters are in. This should also allow him a bit more freedom overall, and offer more chances to succeed and thrive.

What is his worst-case scenario?

Sexton has never averaged fewer than 14.3 points and has only shot under 45% from the field once, all the way back in his rookie season. In other words, as a scoring guard coming off the bench, a baseline level of production has historically been baked into Sexton’s minutes.

So, rather than viewing what would be considered an outright bad season through a lens of box score stats, what would constitute a worst-case is much more likely tied to his role or fit within this roster not coming to fruition in ways where he’s positively impacting the team.

In other words, there’s a scenario in which Sexton ends up not getting as many opportunities to impact the game offensively and instead becomes more of a watcher and low-volume spot-up shooter who never quite finds his rhythm or flow. And while he still might find ways to get his numbers, those come mostly by playing on island when Luka or Austin is resting/taking possessions off or in transition rather than being a cog in a machine that keeps the defense on tilt.

And then, in this scenario, his lack of clean fit on offense exacerbates the challenges he has on defense, ultimately leading to even more inconsistency with his minutes and playing time. This, then, only reinforces the original critiques of his signing, leading to more second-guessing and questioning of him as a player and his fit, which impacts chemistry and generally brings the vibe of the team down, to say nothing of creating challenges for Redick to find and play the best lineups more often.

What is his most likely role on the team?

Sexton was signed to be the backup point guard who can serve as a spot starter should Luka or Austin miss time. I see very little in either his makeup as a player or his history of production to dissuade me from believing he can and will be able to fill this role well — maybe even to the point where he distinguishes himself as one of the better backups in the league.

Beyond that, I think his presence on the team and the discussions it fosters will be more fodder for the talking heads than it will actually matter negatively for the Lakers. I understand there were some inherent tradeoffs of signing him vs. chasing a different archetype of player, but I also believe he’ll be well worth his salary and that he’ll be truly helpful to the team.

Does that mean the Lakers couldn’t use another type of player too? Of course not, but multiple things can be true at once. Fact is, it was always going to be difficult — if not impossible — for the Lakers to fill every need in a single offseason on a roster they purposefully stripped down.

And if they didn’t have Sexton, they’d likely be relying on Bronny or a minimum-level player to fill that role while plugging their starting forward slot with a player of similar or lesser quality to Sexton.

That they went this route could be viewed as the wrong choice, but my gut says Sexton will be good enough in his role to justify his spot on the team even though it won’t erase the needs the roster has in other spots.

You can follow Darius on BlueSky at @forumbluegoldand find more of his Lakers coverage on the Laker Film Room Podcast.

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Flames Training Camp: Breaking Down the Roster Groups

The Calgary Flames are officially back on the ice.

Following Wednesday’s media day, which saw players take part in headshots, promotional shoots and the usual start-of-season activities, the Flames opened training camp Thursday morning with their roster divided into two groups.

Team Red features much of the expected NHL group, while Team Black is made up largely of players expected to start the season with the Calgary Wranglers, along with several prospects looking to make a strong impression.

With preseason games coming up, here are some of the names and storylines worth watching from each group.

Team Red: The NHL Group

Team Red features plenty of familiar faces, including Mikael Backlund, Matt Coronato and Morgan Frost, while Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley make up the goaltending tandem.

For the most part, this is the group that gives us an early look at the players expected to be competing for spots on the Flames’ opening-night roster.

There is also an interesting prospect mixed into the group.

Chase Harrington, the Flames’ second-round pick from the 2026 NHL Draft, gets an early opportunity to skate alongside NHL veterans.

Harrington is coming off his junior career with the Spokane Chiefs, where he recorded 57 points, including 28 goals and 29 assists, in 61 games last season.

At this point, camp is about getting a first look at how prospects fit into the bigger picture. For Harrington, being around the NHL group provides an opportunity to show what he can do against stronger competition.

For Calgary Flames Roster Hopefuls, Preseason Is Their ChanceFor Calgary Flames Roster Hopefuls, Preseason Is Their ChanceThe Calgary Flames Celebrity Charity Golf Classic has become something of an unofficial kickoff to hockey season in Calgary.

Team Black: Wranglers Core and NHL Hopefuls

Team Black is largely made up of players expected to form the core of the Flames’ AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to watch.

Andrew Basha, Jonathan Castagna, Rory Kerins, Sam Morton and Aydar Suniev are among the younger players looking to make an impression and put themselves into the conversation for NHL opportunities.

The "Show Me" Season: Can Rory Kerins Stick in the NHL?The "Show Me" Season: Can Rory Kerins Stick in the NHL?Rory Kerins has spent the last few years doing things the right way, but now he faces the ultimate test: turning AHL dominance into a permanent NHL career. At 24 years old, the Caledonia, Ontario native is no longer just a "prospect", he’s a player with a proven track record of finding the back of the net at the AHL level, and he knows exactly what the Flames are looking for.

A strong camp doesn’t necessarily mean an immediate NHL roster spot, but it can go a long way toward establishing where a player sits on the organization’s depth chart when injuries or roster needs arise during the season.

William Strömgren is another player worth keeping an eye on.

After getting an NHL call-up last season, Strömgren enters this year’s camp with some experience at the next level and another opportunity to push his way further up the organization.

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Brzustewicz in the Blue-Line Mix

One of the bigger names on Team Black is defenceman Hunter Brzustewicz.

Brzustewicz appeared in 34 games with the Flames last season, recording two goals and five assists for seven points.

That NHL experience gives him something to build on as he enters another training camp.

The Flames added Simon Nemec and Jake Middleton to the blue line this offseason, creating another layer to the competition for NHL spots.

For Brzustewicz, the task is pretty straightforward: have a strong camp, carry over what he learned from last season and make the decision as difficult as possible for the coaching staff.

What to Watch as Camp Continues

The roster split gives us an early snapshot of how the Flames are organizing their group, but there is still plenty of time for things to change.

The preseason will provide a better indication of where some of these players fit, particularly among the prospects and younger players competing for NHL opportunities.

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Thursday morning Rangers things

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 16: Brandon Nimmo #24 of the Texas Rangers runs home to score on a single by Ezequiel Duran #20 (not pictured) against the Boston Red Sox in the seventh inning at Globe Life Field on September 16, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Good morning, folks…

The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox by a score of 7-3 last night.

Evan Grant’s game story talks about Nathan Eovaldi stepping up with a huge outing out of the pen.

Shawn McFarland writes that Eovaldi being asked to pitch multiple innings in relief added to the game’s October vibe.

MLB Pipeline lists one breakout prospect for each team, with the Rangers’ breakout prospect being an A-ball outfielder who burst onto the scene in 2026.

Jacob Latz is having a very unique season for the Rangers.

In non-Rangers news, Blake Snell left his start for the Dodgers yesterday after just one inning due to a groin issue, and Aaron Judge departed prematurely from the Yankees’ game against the Twins yesterday due to leg tightness.

Ken Rosenthal writes about some managerial situations that are potentially up in the air when the season ends, including sixty percent of the American League West.

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How quickly the Cincinnati Reds starting pitching went south

MILWAUKEE, WI - SEPTEMBER 12: Brady Singer #51 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches during the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Saturday, September 12, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Kylie Bridenhagen/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images

You need not dig too deeply through the annals of Major League Baseball history to discover a time when the Cincinnati Reds sported one of the finest collections of starting pitching in the land. In fact, you need only turn back the clock to last year to find the Reds, with 15.6 collective fWAR, ranking as the 2nd best starting pitching unit in the sport.

Oh, how times change!

Despite Chase Burns emerging as a legitimate ace prior to having his innings curtailed, Cincinnati’s starters sit with a meager 8.0 fWAR combined so far this season. That ranks 22nd overall, and given the rate at which they’ve been getting shelled lately there’s reason to believe that number could even shrink before season’s end.

(Where have you gone, Hunter Greene’s elbow? Reds nation turns their lonely eyes to you.)

As Cincinnati slumps its way towards game 162, it’s worth pointing out the meteoric fall of two starters in particular.

As of the morning of September 17th, there have been 52 big league pitchers to log 150 innings so far this season, and not a single one has a higher FIP (5.40) than Brady Singer, who’ll start this afternoon in the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers. That’s the guy that the front office hinted might get a $23 million qualifying offer at season’s end after they didn’t deal him away at the trade deadline.

Meanwhile, you need not look far down that bad-news leaderboard to find a fellow Reds starter, as Andrew Abbott (4.90) ranks 3rd worst. So, Cincinnati has had a bit of durability from these arms – as I mentioned, fewer than two starters per club have reached 150 IP so far this season, on average – but the ones the Reds have had clear that mark rank as the guys who more likely than not shouldn’t be pitching that much after all.

It’s almost like they lost their pitching coach mysteriously in the middle of the season and couldn’t remember how to throw anymore.

With just over two weeks remaining in the 2026 season, it’s unlikely that either of these two finds a new gear, a new pitch, a new approach that rights their respective ships enough for it to matter in the larger sample. That’s work that will be reserved for the long, cold offseason when Cincinnati once again gets to lick its wounds while other clubs play meaningful postseason ball. Whether or not it’ll be a long enough winter for them to fix all the problems remains to be seen.

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Game Discussion: Milwaukee Brewers (95-57) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (75-77)

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - SEPTEMBER 12: Kyle Harrison #52 of the Milwaukee Brewers throws a pitch in the game against the Cincinnati Reds at American Family Field on September 12, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) | Getty Images

After a come-from-behind win on Wednesday night, the Brewers are looking for a sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Thursday afternoon, as the team is now just three wins away from setting a new franchise record and five wins away from a 100-win season.

Left-hander Kyle Harrison gets the ball for the Crew, and while his season stats still look solid — 3.98 ERA, 4.03 FIP, and 134 strikeouts over 110 2/3 innings — he’s really struggled in his last few outings. Spanning 7 1/3 innings over two starts and a relief appearance, Harrison has allowed a whopping 19 runs (17 earned) on 23 hits (including six homers) and six walks while striking out seven. That’s raised his ERA and FIP from 2.79 and 3.30, respectively. He’ll look to get back on the right track against a team he’s had plenty of success against — across 17 career innings against the Pirates, he’s allowed no runs and struck out 29. That includes a pair of wins this season, as he’s totaled 11 innings with 22 strikeouts against them.

Opposite Harrison is right-hander Wilber Dotel. Dotel, 23, has made 19 appearances this season, and this will be just his second start. Across 35 1/3 innings here in his rookie year, he’s 1-5 with a 4.84 ERA, 2.98 FIP, and 36 strikeouts. He pitched 2/3 of a scoreless inning against the Brewers in Tuesday night’s loss, allowing a hit and striking out one. His only other start came on Friday against the Cubs, when he went two innings and allowed three runs before Khristian Curtis (3 IP, 6 ER) and Antwone Kelly (3 IP, 3 ER) finished things out in a 12-2 loss.

In roster news, the Brewers have designated left-handed reliever Rob Zastryzny for assignment. Zastryzny, 34, made 35 appearances for the Brewers between 2024 and 2025, pitching to a 2.12 ERA, 4.09 FIP, and 25 strikeouts across 29 2/3 innings. He hasn’t appeared in any major league games this year as he’s dealt with multiple injuries and setbacks. He was sent on his latest rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville last week, but the Brewers activated and DFA’d him today. The move doesn’t open a 40-man spot, as Zastryzny was on the 60-day IL.

Brice Turang sits in the leadoff spot today, followed by Luis Lara and Jackson Chourio. Andrew Vaughn bats cleanup, with Gary Sánchez in the five-hole. Joey Ortiz, Sal Frelick, Bo Naylor, and David Hamilton round things out, as regular starters Jake Bauers, William Contreras, Garrett Mitchell, Cooper Pratt, and Christian Yelich all get the day off.

First pitch is set for an early 11:35 a.m. CT and will be on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.

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Red Sox Minor Lines: Sam McWilliams brings the heat, Franklin Arias, Romy Gonzalez keep producing

Jul 10, 2020; St. Petersburg, Florida, United States; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Sam McWilliams (64) throws a pitch during a simulated game at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Worcester: W, 8-5 (BOX SCORE)

We need to come up with a cool nickname for Allan Castro. Clutchstro? The Bull Runner? Because, he’s running those Bulls (Rays AAA) out of town the last couple of nights. After capturing the walk-off knock Tuesday, he was right back at it again on Wednesday with two home runs including a 7th-inning shot that turned the game on its head. The WooSox went into that seventh inning down 5-3 and never looked back after taking the lead. Castro’s home runs were aided by Tsung-Tse Cheng. Franklin Arias and Braiden Ward really extending those innings in front of him; Ward had a three-hit night, Cheng had two, and Arias had two RBIs of his own.

Defensively, things weren’t pristine, as Blake Wehunt allowed four runs in his five innings of work and left the game in the loss column, but it was also far from a terrible start. The bullpen shoved. Seth Martinez struck the side out, Sam McWilliams again slammed the door to get his second save in just over a week, and overall this all led Durham to go 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. McWilliams is an interesting case for a “get him up to eat some innings” once the playoff spot is captured and the team is secure in their slot. A 2014 Phillies draft pick, the 6’7” 230 righty touches the high 90’s with his fastball, but, due to the 31-year-old imploding at the wrong times, he hasn’t touched an MLB roster. This includes being selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Royals in 2018 and promptly having an ERA of 15 in 7 appearances in Spring Training. Still, if you want a low-leverage, innings eater, mop-up guy for late September, look no further than McWilliams, who now hasn’t allowed a run since last month.

Another eyebrow-raiser is Romy’s OPS growing closer to that hallowed 1.000 mark in Triple-A and the possiblity of him being a guy that can help should one of these platoon guys need some rest. Gonzalez is hitting .462 in September. That’s good, right? It’s also good that the team has several “break glass in case of emergency” guys that are not a considerable step down from guys currently on the roster… or at least not guys the fanbase would collectively be quivering in fear to see on a line-up card. At least, not any more than usual…

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In Terms of the New Jersey Devils Roster, Training Camp is Mostly a Formality This Year

NEWARK, NJ - SEPTEMBER 13: New Jersey Devils Matyas Melovsky #57 celebrates after scoring a goal during a game between the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils at RWJ Barnabas Health Hockey House at Prudential Center on September 13, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey.(Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The New Jersey Devils 2026-27 roster is mostly set.

Yes, players have just started to report and media day just came around yesterday, but let’s face facts. With the way the New Jersey Devils roster is currently structured, training camp is a mere warm-up for the preseason which is warming the team up for the regular season. While that might sound exactly like what the definitions of those things should be, training camp in thew NHL has had its surprises in the past. Some young players have excelled to the point of making the team out of nowhere, while players that would be expected on the roster have shown themselves to not be ready for NHL action.

The Devils made enough adjustments in the offseason to fill out their forward and defense group, leaving very little room for anyone to come out of obscurity and make their way onto the opening night squad. If you’re still not sold on the idea, take a look at the Devils page on Puckpedia. Oh sure, maybe there’s one fourth line/press box guy that’s currently listed at the NHL level who will be swapped with one currently listed at the AHL level. Maybe Vladislav Kolyachonok is the 7th defender rather than Declan Chisholm when the opening night roster is announced. Perhaps the Devils choose to carry three goalies and have one less forward on the roster, at least at the start of the season. While there’s a few small details that are still to be ironed out, there’s no room for any major surprises.

That means unfortunately for anyone wanting Anton Silaev on the opening night roster, (barring a slew of injuries in preseason games) it’s going to have to wait until at least 2027-28. The players who just appeared at the team’s rookie camp/matchup against the Islanders? Don’t expect to see any of them cracking the lineup either. Players like David Rittich and Amadeus Lombardi (who were alluded to earlier with the “press box guy” label) were already being penciled into the Devils’ roster as they wouldn’t have signed/traded for guys who need to be placed on waivers if they did not intend to play them, although in Rittich’s case, third goalies do sometimes get signed and placed on waivers for depth purposes.

Training camp this year will be about training for these Devils. It will serve as an introduction to some of the younger players through practices and maybe the first or even first two preseason games. Beyond that, with a shorter, four game preseason, the team will be looking to just get all of the new pieces to mesh and figure out who is going to play with who and where on the depth chart. Between signing Anthony Mantha in free agency, and bringing Evan Rodrigues in and Jesper Boqvist back from Florida while also acquiring Luke Evangelista from Nashville. That’s four new forwards at a minimum; with a shorter preparation period, the Devils probably won’t be looking to work in too many other new parts.

Training camp and the preseason will be coming at us quickly, with the first game already slated for this coming Sunday. For the Devils, however, there won’t be much to figure out before the regular season starts. A couple minor things for sure, but the larger parts are already sorted; this preseason, roster formation is a mere formality.

What are your thoughts about the Devils’ training camp; do you feel there’s room for a roster surprise, or do you agree there’s just no space for it this season? Is there anyone you want to see make a strong showing even if it doesn’t result in an NHL spot? If there’s injuries, who do you think could step up? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!

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Bruins Opening Night lineup projection 1.0: Where should James Hagens play?

Bruins Opening Night lineup projection 1.0: Where should James Hagens play? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The first practice of Boston Bruins training camp took place Thursday at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton.

The Bruins underwent a retool last season and surprised a lot of people by making the playoffs. The expectations have increased as a result. Can the Bruins not only make the playoffs again, but also win a round? They have advanced past Round 1 only once since 2021.

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney added a few good players to the roster in the offseason, most notably winger JJ Peterka and defenseman Will Borgen. But if the Bruins are going to take the next step and be a contender, they really need some of their young players to step up and fill a larger role.

James Hagens, who the Bruins selected with the No. 7 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, is at the top of that list.

Let’s dive into our first Opening Night roster projection of camp.

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JJ Peterka was the Bruins marquee offseason addition, and getting him off to a strong start is important. Playing alongside Pastrnak is the best way to accomplish that objective. Peterka plays with great speed and has scored 25-plus goals each of the last three seasons. It wouldn’t be surprising if Peterka hit the 30-goal mark with Pastrnak, who set a career high with 71 assists last season. Asking Fraser Minten to be the first-line center is a lot of responsibility for the 22-year-old forward, but the B’s did outscore opponents 23-7 at even strength last season when he played with Pastrnak.

Geekie scored a career-high 39 goals last year. Getting to the 30-goal mark for the third straight season would be impressive. Geekie and Zacha only played about 111 minutes together at even strength last season, per Natural Stat Trick, but the B’s had a plus-42 edge in shot attempts, a plus-19 advantage in shots on net, and a plus-13 lead in high-danger chances during that ice time. Mittelstadt is entering the final year of his contract and has all the motivation to be more productive offensively.

James Hagens is a real X-factor for the B’s this season. The team’s top prospect has immense offensive talent, which was on full display earlier this week when he scored four goals in a 4-3 overtime win over the Sabres in the 2026 Prospects Showcase.

“I was so happy and I’m glad he played in that tournament,” Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said at a press conference Wednesday. “I’ve seen in the past with some other guys I had. It’s a great opportunity to shine, and he did. It gives him a little bit of a head start. I think he feels pretty good today. I saw him around, he was smiling. That means he’s going to be ready for tomorrow and that’s all what I’m looking for.

“He doesn’t have to be doing this and doing that. No, he’s just got to be James Hagens. He worked extremely hard, like [Don Sweeney] said, this summer. Now he should just reward himself and play free. It’s different, it’s not playoff hockey. It’s training camp. He’s going to be ready to go tomorrow. I’m excited, too, to see him play in preseason.”

Lindholm has disappointed offensively since signing a seven-year free agent contract with the Bruins in 2024, but he’s still a very good defensive center. He can handle those responsibilities and allow Hagens to jumpstart the attack. Hagens’ speed would also mesh well with Khusnutdinov, who also plays with plenty of pace. Hagens could eventually move into a top-six role, but a third-line spot is probably the best spot for him to make a complete transition to regularly playing against NHL competition.

The fourth line speaks for itself. This group played well last season. There’s no reason, at least at the moment, to break it up.

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Charlie McAvoy’s six-game suspension to start the season is a tough setback for the Bruins considering he’s by far their best defenseman. It also makes putting together these pairings much more difficult. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Sturm try a bunch of different combinations in camp.

The Bruins have 10 waiver-eligible defensemen, so unless someone is traded, they might risk losing one of these defensemen to another team through waivers if they are sent down to the AHL’s Providence Bruins.

Sturm admitted Wednesday that he wants to see the blue line produce more offensively this season.

“Sometimes I think the offense was kind of the one thing, one area, it kind of got lost a little bit,” Sturm said. “I think there’s times we could have maybe joined the rush more. We could have been more active overall as a defensive group. That’s something we’re going to touch on starting tomorrow to be more involved, I would say, in our offensive game.”

Two young players who could provide some offensive punch from the back end are Mason Lohrei and Frederic Brunet. Lohrei is in the final year of his contract and has proven to be a good skater with playmaking ability, but defensively he still has a ton of room for improvement. Brunet is the Bruins’ top defenseman prospect and excelled in Providence last season with 36 points (12 goals, 24 assists) in 65 games. Having a good camp and preseason is important for both players. It’s possible both players could play Opening Night, but Jonathan Aspirot should be in the mix, too.

Aspirot and Nikita Zadorov played 160:23 of even-strength ice time together last season and the B’s outscored opponents 11-5 and had a .939 save percentage during those minutes, per Natural Stat Trick.

The one thing we know about this blue line is there will be plenty of internal competition over the next two weeks.

“I think the competition is going to play out,” Sweeney said Wednesday. “Clearly, we had an eye toward the fact that Charlie wasn’t going to start the year for six games. You get through training camp, albeit it’s a little shorter than what it has been in the past. You could run into injury troubles, last year we did, and we tested that pretty quickly. We’re in a good spot there. Will we have to make a move? Time will tell in that sense, in how the players play, how their health is. At some point in time, we will have to get to the waiver question and make smart decisions as a result.”

Goaltenders

  • Starter: Jeremy Swayman
  • Backup: Michael DiPietro

Swayman had a great bounce-back season in 2025-26 and was voted a Vezina Trophy finalist for the first time. He was the Bruins’ best and most valuable player throughout the regular season, and in the playoffs.

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The unknown coming into the 2026-27 campaign is whether the Bruins will increase his workload after he played in a career-high 55 games last season. Michael DiPietro has earned a chance to be an NHL goalie after excelling for Providence the previous two years, highlighted by an AHL MVP award in 2025-26. But he only has one game of NHL experience. If he’s not ready, Swayman might need to play a ton of games.

“We’ll see, time will tell,” Sturm said Wednesday when asked about Swayman’s workload. “He had a pretty good run last year, and that’s why there’s a lot of nights we even talk about who’s going to be in net the other night or the next night. Sometimes we had to go with him because he was pretty hot for a while, so hopefully he’s going to have stretches like this again, regardless of who’s going to be the backup, a veteran or a young kid like Mikey [Michael DiPietro].

“We just want to give him the best opportunity, and hopefully he’s going to have another year like this, like he had last year for us, and get us a lot of good saves and a lot of points on the board.”

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Spurs Villain Tournament: The Final!

The Golden State Warriors' Zaza Pachulia (27) reacts after he was called a foul against him on San Antonio Spurs' Kawhi Leonard in the third quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday, May 14, 2017. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) (Photo by RAY CHAVEZ/MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images) | MediaNews Group via Getty Images

In the strangest Family Feud episode ever, Uncle Dennis has usurped his nephew as the biggest Spurs villain in their family.

It was a tightly contested match, with UD (representing “Spurs Haters”) just narrowly beating Kawhi (representing “Former Spurs”) 53-47. I mean, how could you choose? Should you vote for Kawhi, the actual player and face of all this scrutiny, or Uncle Dennis, the mastermind behind it all? I would’ve bet my entire life savings on Kawhi dominating the tournament, but after the recent events surrounding the Aspiration scandal, I think the voters got it right.

On the other side of the bracket, Zaza from the “Dirty Players” quadrant edged out Derek Fisher, who led the “Spurs Killers” section. I find it hilarious how both finalists are directly related to Kawhi, yet neither is the Nephew himself. He still lives rent-free in the heads of Spurs fans, and given what’s gone down the past year, that also applies to the NBA as a whole.

The Finals

1. Zaza Pachulia vs. 4. Uncle Dennis Robertson

Zaza coming out of his side of the bracket makes sense. He was the sole reason why we didn’t get to see a more competitive Western Conference Finals in 2017 against the greatest team ever assembled, with the Spurs up 20 when he conveniently slid into Kawhi’s landing zone. Not only was the result a sweep for the Spurs, but Zaza also had the honor of being made an example of with a new rule created that summer.

On the other side, I think the fans got it right by voting for Uncle Dennis, even if the result surprised me. From what we now know, the signs point to him being the puppet master who created all this chaos. That doesn’t mean Kawhi isn’t also complicit (whoever thinks he didn’t know about the Clippers’ side deals is lying to themselves), but Dennis seems to be the one whispering sweet lullabies in Kawhi’s ear and persuading him to go through with all the shady business.

Recency bias also helps both sides. I doubt Uncle Dennis would’ve gotten the support (hate?) he did throughout the tournament if the suspension and reporting dropped later, and Zaza being one of the most recent players in his section helped his case too. With both finalists being connected to the same player, my mind starts to come up with what-if scenarios had neither impacted Kawhi.

Zaza’s case is simple. With Kawhi still playing in the 2017 West Finals, the Spurs would’ve won game 1 and made it a more competitive series before likely still bowing out to the juggernaut Warriors. I know many fans like to believe that San Antonio would’ve beaten Golden State with a healthy Kawhi, but let’s not kid ourselves: that was the greatest team ever assembled, and the series would’ve gone 6 games max.

The Uncle Dennis implications are far more interesting. Without him casting spells on Kawhi, does that mean the latter would’ve remained a lifelong Spur? Personally, I doubt it. It seems like Kawhi always had his eyes set on LA and would’ve made his way there eventually, although the exit wouldn’t have been as messy, and he could’ve waited until 2019 to leave as a free agent.

If that scenario played out, the Spurs would’ve potentially had two more seasons to compete as a legitimate contender. Kawhi would still have dealt with his quad injury heading into the 2017-18 campaign, but perhaps he could’ve healed and come back 100% that season had he listened to San Antonio’s medical staff instead of scheming his way out of town.

Chris Paul was also rumoured to have been interested in joining the Spurs in the summer of 2017, and the Kawhi uncertainty definitely didn’t improve the Spurs’ chances of landing the Point God. The chances of acquiring him were slim to begin with, but can you imagine the 2018 version of CP3 playing alongside a prime Kawhi? In that alternate universe, the Spurs would be the ones taking Golden State to game 7 of the West Finals (and potentially beating them), and not the Rockets.

Alright, enough with the hypotheticals — it’s time to vote for the ultimate Spurs villain! Will it be the man who ended the Spurs’ exhilarating playoff run in 2017, or the infamous uncle who will (hopefully) never be heard from again? Let us know with your final vote!

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Sydney’s most improbable AFL finals run may continue but culture questions are here to stay

As Swans turn sights on Fremantle for the preliminary final, their suspended players are still the story on and off the field

Four weeks ago, the Sydney Swans were preparing to play North Melbourne in the final round of the home and away season. By that point of the week, five of their players had been suspended for the rest of the year for a breach of club standards. We’d been bombarded with think pieces. We’d been lectured to by personal injury lawyers. Sydney’s chief executive Matthew Pavlich, who’d previously been reading the sports news on Perth television and reporting on dressage from the Paris Olympics, was central to a national conversation about how we talk about violence against women. The prime minister, the governor general and the Victorian premier had all weighed in.

At that stage, much of the outrage had been directed at the way the story was framed as a footballing story. As a result, nearly every single comment on the Swans by the football media was prefaced by an acknowledgment that our thoughts were foremost with the alleged victims. Most of the time they sounded like one of those disclaimers at the end of a betting ad.

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Connor Hellebuyck Nowhere to be Seen as Jets Camp Gets Underway

For the average person, $30,000 is a sizeable chunk of an entire year's salary.

For Connor Hellebuyck, it could soon become the approximate cost of a single day away from the Winnipeg Jets.

The Jets suspended their star goaltender Wednesday after Hellebuyck failed to report for medicals and physical testing ahead of training camp. Winnipeg will hit the ice for its first practices Thursday morning at hockey for all centre without the three-time Vezina Trophy winner.

Hellebuyck isn't yet sacrificing regular-season salary, with NHL players not receiving their regular pay during training camp. But should his absence continue once the regular season begins, the financial implications become staggering.

Hellebuyck is in the third season of a seven-year, $59.5-million contract carrying an $8.5-million annual cap hit.

Photo by Ron Cheney/USA Today 
Photo by Ron Cheney/USA Today 

Depending on the calculation applied to his actual salary and the number of days in the NHL pay period, we are talking tens of thousands of dollars for every day Hellebuyck remains suspended - roughly $30,000-plus per day.

A week? More than $200,000.

A month? Potentially approaching $1 million.

And yet, for now, Hellebuyck isn't budging. The 33-year-old publicly confirmed his trade request on Aug. 27, saying he had privately asked the Jets for a move several months earlier.

“I have tried to handle the situation quietly and respectfully while giving the organization time to explore its options,” Hellebuyck said in the statement released by his agent, Ray Petkau. “My position has not changed. I believe moving on is the best path forward for me and my family.”

Three weeks later, Hellebuyck has backed those words with action.

The Jets included him on their 51-player training camp roster, but when players reported Wednesday, Hellebuyck wasn't among them. Winnipeg responded by suspending him for failure to report.

General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff is scheduled to address reporters Thursday morning, with Hellebuyck's future certain to dominate the conversation.

Hellebuyck has spent his entire 11-year NHL career in Winnipeg, appearing in 625 games while winning three Vezina Trophies and the 2024-25 Hart Trophy. But after requesting a trade and now refusing to report to camp, the relationship between Hellebuyck and the only NHL organization he's ever known has reached its most significant impasse yet.

Training camp has officially begun in Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck is nowhere to be seen. And if that remains the case into October, staying away is going to start getting very expensive.

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Braves at Cubs series recap: homers in one game, slouching in two

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 15: Michael Harris II #23 of the Atlanta Braves fields a ball in centerfield in the sixth inning of a game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 15, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Griffin Quinn) | Getty Images

Coming off a series where the Braves mostly sewed up the NL East by taking two of three from the Phillies, they then departed on a road trip consisting of the final part of their September gauntlet. The first part of that road trip had them go up to Wrigley Field to face the Cubs, who are in the midst of maybe the weirdest season (by one measure) ever. With Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle not deployed pitching-wise against the league’s best offense, things didn’t go well for the Braves… except for the one game where they donned their homer-hitting shoes and pulled off a really fun comeback win.

Monday, September 14

Cubs 7, Braves 3

The Braves gave the start to Reynaldo Lopez, and it went pretty poorly. The Cubs plated three in the second (with an inning extended due to a non-double play on a slow-enough grounder hit by the Cubs’ catcher), and then two more in the third. AJ Smith-Shawver came out of the bullpen and finished up the rest of the game, but was taken deep by presumptive NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong, who ended up going 4-for-5 and finishing a triple shy of the cycle in the game. For their part on offense, the Braves mostly just hit a bazillion grounders when they weren’t striking out against David Peterson. They plated three in the seventh, including two on a Mike Yastrzemski pinch-hit homer, but nothing else. There was a rally-killing double play in the eighth after the first two batters reached, and then Ronald Acuña Jr. hit into a game-ending double play while representing the tying run in the ninth.

  • Braves: .318 wOBA, .293 xwOBA
  • Cubs: .386 wOBA, .326 xwOBA

As expected, I guess. Cubs doing Cubs things.

Tuesday, September 15

Braves 6, Cubs 3

For a while, this game felt like it was going to be similar to the first one. The Cubs plated a run in second, but the big blow came in the fourth: with two on and no out, Pedro Ramirez hit a routine double play ball to Mauricio Dubon at short, but the latter inexplicably threw the ball nowhere near second base. By the time the inning ended, Martin Perez and the Braves trailed 3-0.

That’s where things stayed until top of the sixth, when the Braves finally got to old friend/frenemy Kevin Gausman, thanks to Acuña drilling a two-run shot to pull them within one. The tormenting of old friends wasn’t done there, though. In the top of the seventh, Ozzie Albies exorcised his latest slump demons by mashing another huge two-run homer, this time off Jacob Webb. That turned the game around, and after two perfect innings from Didier Fuentes, Drake Baldwin added a third two-run homer in the top of the ninth. Raisel Iglesias shut the door, and the Braves had a fun comeback win where they actually hit pulled fly balls in the air to good results, instead of not doing that (which has been a theme for about the last six weeks with this team).

Crow-Armstrong was kept in check here, going 0-for-5 with a strikeout. Martin Perez had a fairly brutal outing with a 2/4 K/BB ratio, but danced through the raindrops successful-y-ish, aside from Dubon throwing that ball away.

  • Braves: .367 wOBA, .359 xwOBA
  • Cubs: .201 wOBA, .300 xwOBA

Wow, the Cubs underhit their xwOBA massively. Go figure.

Wednesday, September 16

Cubs 8, Braves 4

The Braves gave JR Ritchie the ball in this one after he had a really good four-start run in Triple-A, and it went terribly. Meanwhile, Shota Imanaga, who’s been having a meh season due in large part to an incredible run of homers allowed since August, absolutely eviscerated the Braves.

Ritchie’s struggles were present from the get-go, with two walks and a run in the first. Crow-Armstrong tagged him for a homer on an 0-2 pitch in the third. Alex Bregman followed suit with a homer in the fourth, and the rout became apparent when the Braves left Ritchie in to face the lineup a third time, where it quickly became 6-0. Owen Murphy and Brent Suter mopped the game up, with the former giving up yet another homer to Crow-Armstrong. He finished 3-for-4 with two homers, a triple, and a walk in this one, while Bregman finished a single shy of the cycle. Combine that with Imanaga putting up an 8/0 K/BB in six innings, and the Braves didn’t really have a chance.

The Braves did score four runs in this game, through three game on RBI groundouts, which is a tough way to sustain a rally. Two of those runs came in the ninth, where the first three Braves batters reached, but the next three all made outs to end the game.

Ritchie finished with an awful 5/2 K/BB, two homers, one HBP in 4 2/3 line. Murphy was even worse with a 2/1 K/BB ratio and a homer allowed in 2 1/3. The Braves don’t need to do much to clinch the division, but this sort of stuff doesn’t help.

  • Braves: .257 wOBA, .247 xwOBA
  • Cubs: .513 wOBA, .400 xwOBA

I’m kind of surprised this game was only 8-4, to be honest.

The great news for the Braves is that the Phillies went 1-1 against the Nationals while the Braves were going 1-2 against the Cubs. So, they lost only half a game, and are up 4.5 with nine to play (including holding the tiebreaker, which is kind of like being 5.5 up). They’re also more or less assured a playoff berth at this point, as it looks like just one more win or one more Diamondbacks loss will secure them a playoff berth. It’s fine for the Braves to be coasting at this point in terms of the big picture, but it does make the games somewhat less watchable. On the flip side, this team hasn’t had much offensive success for weeks now, whether facing the Cubs’ league-worst pitching or anyone else: they’re 20th in xwOBA and 26th in wRC+ since the start of August.

So, hopefully the three-homer game that led to a win was more of a sign of things to come than the other two games. We’ll see.

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2026 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Shōta Imanaga is the Superhero vs. the Braves

I think it bears repeating as the Cubs split their season series with the Braves. The Cubs won the season series from seven teams, including the Dodgers, Phillies, Padres and Diamondbacks. They split the series with four teams, including, now, the Braves. They lost the season series to only the Cardinals and Brewers. Are the Dodgers definitely doing a thing where they coast through the regular season just trying to stay healthy for a postseason run? Absolutely. Were all of those other teams? Did any of those other teams think they had so much margin of error that they could just mail in their games with the Cubs? I don’t think so. The National League was the better league this year, by a decent margin. And the Cubs played better against the NL.

My point? This Cubs team is a flawed team. We’ve all seen that. We all know it. Heck, this was a pretty good game and it saw the Cubs bullpen allow three runs in three innings of work. And the three guys who threw have definitely been three of the better arms of late, regardless of what that says about the guys who didn’t throw in this one. So even in a nice win, we see the problem. And yet, when you have the presumptive NL MVP, a guy who is going to get a fair bit of downballot support for that same award and a deep cast of supporting characters, you do have a chance to be a pain in somebody’s butt. I see what you see. I know what has you nervous or disappointed about this team. I get it. But this team can play. They’re not going to shy away from anyone (even the Brewers who, yeah, maybe they should).

Oh and one more thing. You aren’t digging around the web and finding BCB and then finding what I write and then hanging around because you are a casual fan. You are looking for sports talk and getting in the weeds. You’re a smart baseball fan. Don’t be one of those people who’s still doom speaking and suggesting this team won’t even get into the playoffs. This team is going to be a playoff team. They’ll probably, but not definitely, be the first Wild Card. They’ll clinch a playoff spot early next week.

Can’t let Al have all of the fun. The big picture is fun, but what a fun game this was from the closeup view. This was pretty certainly the best combined game of the two best Cub hitters this year. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman each had three hits, all extra base hits. 20 total bases between the two of them. Seven runs driven in between the two of them. Four runs scored. With Bregman’s continued late push, he might finish in the top five in the NL in fWAR among position players.

PCA? He’s chasing Rogers Hornsby for the highest fWAR season in Cub history. With two more homers and a triple along with his usual excellent defense, he feels like a good bet to set that record. He’s already set new records for most homers and most extra base hits by a Cub left handed hitter. It is mind-boggling that if he doesn’t get a 40/40 season, it’s largely because he has too many homers. As if that’s such a thing. As if his season will be any less special at 44/37 (and counting). There are players in baseball history with 37 or more steals and 44 or more homers in a single season — PCA, Shohei Ohtani and Alfonso Soriano.

Simply remarkable. If we didn’t have PCA, we’d be talking a lot about the impressive season of Bregman. Pretty amusing for a guy who many suggested was a terrible signing for the first couple of months of the season, while he was working hard to work out a couple of issues. How many teammates do you think were paying attention when a savvy veteran with a couple of rings and an enormous contract was working his butt off trying to work out some issues? He could have just been satisfied and plodded along until he got things together. But we saw on Marquee several times early him going through the process of getting things worked out.

This has been the kind of season that makes you want to pull your hair out. But it has also been so much fun. I suspect we’re going to have a long offseason to digest all of the things that went wrong and try to figure out how to triage that and correct it in what will likely be a disrupted offseason. We know in some way or another there will be new economics going forward and the team will have to figure out how to navigate that new system while also trying to keep a talented team building while significantly upgrading the pitching staff. We know that they can’t solely depend on the returns of a number of guys who missed all or most of this year. But we also know that those guys might come back and have a lot to add too.

Let’s do our best to put the frustration aside and really enjoy these last few weeks of the season. I feel like there are probably some thrills still to be had before the ride comes to a full and complete stop. Do keep your hands inside the car until then. Wouldn’t want to lose anybody.

Three Positives:

  • Perhaps the wildest thing in this game was a Tommy Hottovy mound visit for Shōta Imanaga with no clear reason. Imanaga was terrific in this one. Four hits, no walks, one run. He struck out eight over six. The Cubs got terrific work from their starters in this series. I have to wonder if the Marquee broadcast was correct and Imanaga was tipping pitches and the Cubs rather than the Braves picked up on it. He’s so often good other than when allowing homers, you don’t need a lot of tinfoil to wonder if he has a consistent ongoing problem with tipping his pitches.
  • Pete Crow-Armstrong had two homers and a triple. If I heard right on the broadcast, this was his second such game. The all time record for such games is four by a couple of fellows named Ruth and Gehrig. Pete’s probably going to break that record eventually, too.
  • Alex Bregman joined the club of guys who have gotten the three hardest parts of a cycle but didn’t finish it. Bummer for Alex not to finish it. That’s one thing he’s never done in his very successful career. He might join some fun groups this offseason. Things like Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, MVP top 5’s, etc.

Game 153, September 16: Cubs 8, Braves 4 (85-68)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

  • Superhero: Shōta Imanaga (.266). 6 IP, 22 BF, 4 H, 0 BB, 1 R, 8 K (W 11-10)
  • Hero: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.210). 3-4, 2 HR, 3B, BB, 3 RBI, 3 R
  • Sidekick: Alex Bregman (.199). 3-4, HR, 3B, 2B, 4 RBI, R

THREE GOATS:

  • Billy Goat: Seiya Suzuki (-.083). 0-4, HBP, R, DP
  • Goat: Michael Conforto (-.054). 1-3, BB, RBI
  • Kid: Pedro Ramirez (-.056). 1-4

WPA Play of the Game: Pete Crow-Armstrong’s solo homer with one out in the third inning increased the Cub lead to two. (.103)

Braves Play of the Game: JR Ritchie got Seiya Suzuki to ground into a double play with a runner on first and no outs in the first inning. (.072)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 152 Winner: Kevin Gausman received 22 of 50 votes.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

  • Pete Crow-Armstrong +26.5
  • Alex Bregman +25
  • Carson Kelly +16.5
  • Shōta Imanaga +15
  • Ben Brown +13.5
  • Jameson Taillon -13
  • Nico Hoerner -16
  • Dansby Swanson -17
  • Caleb Thielbar -17.5
  • Seiya Suzuki -18

Note: For the second time this week we see four of the top six (Conforto drops to sixth in the overall standings) on the podium. And Suzuki drops back into the cellar as his slump continues.

Scoreboard Watching: Blake Snell left a start early for the Dodgers in their loss to the Reds. The Phillies won and remain half a game behind the Cubs (but the Cubs own the tiebreaker). The Padres won for the ninth time in 10 games (1.5 back of the Cubs but Cubs own the tiebreaker). The Diamondbacks lost another close one (five back of the Cubs and Cubs the own tiebreaker). So the Diamondbacks would have to make up six games on the Cubs over nine games played. With full understanding that the Cubs do own a 10-game losing streak this year, they are going to be in a Wild Card spot. It’s only a matter of which one. That D-backs loss was notable because Sandy Alcántara got his first career save in the game. A team using a starter out of the pen late in the season probably wouldn’t raise eyebrows. But Alcántara was Monday’s starter for the Marlins. Now that is a throwback performance.

Up Next: The Reds will host the Dodgers again on Thursday afternoon while the Cubs have an off day. The Cubs can rest their bullpen and all of the players have a day to recharge and they don’t have any crazy travel. Of course, the Reds are staying at home, so no travel for them either. I’m sure the Reds would love to win two or three games from the Cubs here and play spoiler, but they are in last place in the division and very much playing out the string at this point. Heading into play Thursday, they’ve lost seven of 10.

We just covered this team at the end of August. They are 24th in OPS. They don’t really walk but they hit a lot of homers. This series features the first and third place teams in baseball in homers hit (and first and fifth in homers allowed). The Reds are 28th in ERA and 28th in WHIP. Their bullpen is 25th in ERA and WHIP, just slightly better than their starters. Keep the ball in the park and the team is very beatable.

Fangraphs still has the Reds as favorites in the first two games of this series. They have the Cubs as favorites in just four of the final nine games. Coincidentally, the four games the Cubs would need to reach the playoffs even if the Diamondbacks win out and the other two teams do enough to pass the Cubs.

The Cubs haven’t announced starters. But Clay Holmes (6-7, 2.85) is due. Clay is 2-3 with a 3.46 as a Cub in seven starts. Last time out, he got no decision as he allowed two runs over 5.2 innings versus the Pirates. He’s not started against the Reds this year. The Reds did beat him in New York once last year. So there are several Red hitters familiar with him.

Chase Burns (15-3) is scheduled for the Reds. He beat the Cubs a few weeks ago, allowing two runs on six hits over 5.2 innings. The Reds have him significantly pitch limited. He’s thrown three innings in each of his last two starts (at the Dodgers and Brewers). He allowed two runs over six innings and threw 100 pitches total in the two starts. So it’s essentially a bullpen day, regardless of how well he pitches (he had three no hit innings against the Dodgers).

Survive the Burns start and then beat the bullpen. Stay hot. Go Cubs.