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Who would you rather have starting an October game for the Dodgers than Yoshinobu Yamamoto?

No one, right? And you wouldn’t be the only one thinking that.

Tarik Skubal thought so too.

When Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told Skubal he would start the team’s playoff opener, Skubal responded with a question.

“Why?”

Skubal was honored with the assignment, but he also was worried.

“I was like, ‘Is Yoshi OK?’” Skubal said Tuesday.

Read more:Plaschke: Rejuvenated Dodgers beat Braves, ignore awful tomahawk chop in series that feels over

He is, as the Atlanta Braves found out the hard way. Yamamoto pitched the Dodgers to within one game of the National League Championship Series, setting a postseason high with 10 strikeouts in a 3-1 victory.

In seven innings, Yamamoto gave up one run on four hits, all of them singles. In only one of those innings did Atlanta advance a runner beyond first base.

“I just have a lot of respect for him and for what he means here in L.A. and what he has accomplished here,” Skubal said. “I know we have a lot of good starting pitching, and I know there is a lot of thought that goes into it, but I just assumed he would be the Game 1 guy.”

You could say Yamamoto rises to the October occasion, but Mookie Betts would not say that, if only because Yamamoto rises to the occasion on just about every occasion.

“I don’t see it any different,” Betts said. “I think he does it all year, too.

“He just has so many weapons. He throws a lot of strikes with a lot of pitches. He’s hard to hit.”

Skubal, a two-time Cy Young winner, is brilliant in October.

In seven postseason appearances, he has a 1.97 earned-run average. He gave up five runs in one inning, and he has given up five runs in the other 44⅔ innings. The Dodgers’ grand prize from the trade deadline was hardly a reckless choice to start Game 1 of the division series.

Yamamoto has a 2.14 ERA in 11 playoff appearances, the fourth-lowest of any pitcher since 1903 to make at least 10 postseason starts. He drains the life out of an opposing crowd as well as anyone in major league history, with a 1.42 ERA in six road playoff outings.

“I’m a fan of this game as much as I am a player,” Skubal said. “So, when I watch guys do really impressive things and do great things, I understand what it takes because I also play the game.

“When he goes out and performs like he does, it’s almost like I expect it. And now, being a teammate of his, it’s not surprising at all why he goes and performs like he does, because the way he prepares is as good as anybody in this game. It’s just a ton of fun to be on the same side of it.”

Yamamoto admitted to feeling nervous, even if you would never sense it from watching him. That’s part of the way he prepares, too.

“During the preparation and before the game, then I do get nervous,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter, “but at that time, I personally think that’s very important.”

And then the game starts, the nerves dissipate, and the opponent is methodically slayed.

“He just has a way to just make pitches, calm his heartbeat,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers have played seven postseason series with Yamamoto, and they have won them all.

We’ll always cherish last October. In 76 regular-season starts with the Dodgers, he has one complete game. In back-to-back starts last October, he threw a complete game both times.

Of the Dodgers’ four victories in the World Series, Yamamoto earned three — including Game 6 as a starter and Game 7 as a reliever, with no day of rest in between.

“I got goosebumps watching that,” Skubal said. “I didn’t know how he was doing it. That’s what I was thinking: How is this going to work?

“His stuff looked even better than it did in Game 6, which is insane to say. But it did. When I was watching on TV, I was like, ‘Holy ... he looks better today than he did yesterday, and he did pretty well the day before.’ It’s incredible.

“Hopefully, we’re not having to do that again to him.”

That is one big reason why the Dodgers acquired Skubal. If Tyler Glasnow wins Wednesday — and the Dodgers won in all six of Glasnow’s postseason appearances last October — they are off to the NLCS.

The Game 1 starter could be Skubal, followed in Game 2 by Yamamoto. That’s a tall order for opposing batters and, so far, a winning order for the Dodgers.

Read more:'He shows up when you need him.' Kiké Hernández helps lift Dodgers to 2-1 NLDS lead

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Dodgers were horrible. The Angels were great.

No, that’s not a dispatch from topsy-turvy land. It’s their report cards following the first season Major League Baseball has utilized the Automated Ball-Strike system (ABS), courtesy of Baseball Savant’s calculations of the total run value of overturns on challenges.

ABS is the review process that uses cameras to track the precise location of a pitch in real time. Batters, catchers and pitchers can contest a ball or strike call by immediately tapping their cap or helmet. When a call is overturned, Baseball Savant measures the difference in run expectancy between the situation before the pitch/challenge and the situation after the call is flipped.

Overall, ABS overturned 54% of challenged calls. Catchers succeeded on 59% of their 5,792 challenges — changing an umpire’s “ball” call to “strike,” while batters succeeded on only 49% of their 4,765 challenges — changing a “strike” to a “ball.” Pitchers made 182 challenges — only 1.7% of the 10,557 total attempts — and only 72 were overturned (39.6%).

That shouldn’t be surprising. Catchers have a stationary view of a pitch from directly behind the plate, while batters track pitches standing from the side. Pitchers deliver the ball with their heads and several other body parts in motion.

Read more:Fred Claire, former Dodgers GM whose team won the '88 World Series, dies

“It’s like a new muscle for players to learn,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters. “You have instincts over what to do in certain situations. This is a new instinct of knowing when to challenge and instinctively within a second, oh, that’s a ball. What’s the situation?”

Takeaways from this high-tech, high-stakes MLB add-on that became instantly popular with fans and something of a poker hand for players:

Batters best at winning challenges didn’t necessarily produce at the plate:Jose Altuve topped all batters with 5.6 projected runs gained, followed by Seattle’s Cal Raleigh at 4.6. Yet Altuve, a .300 lifetime hitter, had his lowest batting average in 15 full seasons at .250, and Raleigh inexplicably hit only 23 homers while batting .182 one year after setting a record for catchers with 60 homers while batting .247.

Batters poor at challenges can lose their privileges: Dodgers third-year outfielder Andy Pages showed vast improvement in his patience at the plate this season, drawing 49 walks compared to the 29 he totaled in each of his first two seasons. Yet he is so bad at ABS challenges that manager Dave Roberts forbade Pages from challenging pitches after his unsuccessful challenge in the NL Division Series opener Monday.

“We talked about obviously a lot this year with Andy’s success rate or lack thereof,” Roberts said. “I didn’t revisit it before Game 1, so that’s my fault. I did have a conversation today. So, yeah, we’ve managed that one going forward.”

Pages challenged more pitches (25) than any other Dodger during the regular season, yet was unsuccessful on 14 of them, giving him an underwater success rate of 44%, roughly the same as similarly challenge-challenged teammates Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Dalton Rushing and Miguel Rojas.

Players adept at challenges need to tap their helmets more often: Each team starts the game with two challenges. Teams lose the ability to challenge after they do so incorrectly twice. That makes some players challenge-shy, especially early in a game.

Read more:Bob Fontaine Jr., a legendary scout who drafted the Angels' 2002 championship core, dies at 73

Freddie Freeman (71%) had the highest success rate among Dodger regulars, yet he challenged only seven pitches all season. He desperately wanted to challenge a pitch during a game in June, but could only shake his head in frustration after a strike three call he believed was a ball. Pages had wasted the Dodgers’ second challenge on a clear strike moments earlier.

Mookie Betts was successful on 12 of 18 challenges, yet found himself tap-tied as well as tongue-tied in Game 1 of the Division Series when he led off by striking out looking on a full-count pitch clearly outside. He gave plate umpire Roberto Ortiz an astonished look and walked to the dugout shaking his head. What he didn’t do was tap his helmet to trigger a challenge.

Coming down hard on Pages was a change of tune for Roberts, who early in the season encouraged Dodgers hitters to be more aggressive making challenges. They finished the season 25th with 310 challenges and a 54.5% success rate. The Minnesota Twins led MLB with 460 challenges and the Cincinnati Red had the highest success rate at 61.6%.

Losing teams can be adept at challenges: The Reds also led MLB with 16.8 runs added through challenges, yet finished last in the NL Central. The Angels were next at 14 runs added, but that didn’t keep them from racking up 100 losses for the first time in franchise history. The Athletics (12.3) and Twins (10.1) were third and fourth in runs added, respectively, but also had losing records.

Angels aging superstar Mike Trout treated ABS challenges like a new toy, asking for four in the first five games of the season. Three were successful. Trout was expected to benefit big-time from ABS because he has always had an excellent walk rate and boasts a .405 on-base percentage in 16 seasons. Yet after the initial burst, he challenged only 10 more pitches all season, finishing with a 64% success rate.

Angels youthful hitters Nolan Schanuel and Zach Neto were among the top 10 MLB players in challenges, and their success rates were better than league average at 56%. Reds infielder Sal Stewart, the odds-on favorite to win the NL rookie of the year award, led MLB with 51 challenges and was successful 28 times.

Read more:Woeful Mets outspend the Dodgers while Rays, Guardians and White Sox win on the cheap

Early in the season, Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said he wasn’t going to impose hard-and-fast rules on his players that might prevent them from making a challenge they believe in. The Angels finished 11th in MLB with 369 challenges and had a 53.7% success rate.

“If you feel 100% strongly that it’s a ball,” Suzuki told the Athletic, “go ahead and challenge it.”

Winning teams can be poor at challenges: The three teams with the best records in baseball were challenge challenged. The Dodgers (100 wins) were worse than all but four of the 30 teams at minus-8.5 runs, followed by Tampa Bay (98 wins) at minus-7.8. Milwaukee (103 wins) was 20th at minus-2.4.

The worst team at challenges was Cleveland at minus-13.4, yet the Guardians won the AL Central.

What does it mean? ABS challenges produce an infinitesimal W or L, a momentary shot of euphoria or thin slice of humble pie. Yet there is little correlation between a batter’s ability to crush the ball and his ability to discern a ball from a strike when a pitch is only an inch or so inside or outside the strike zone.

The player who accumulated the most unsuccessful challenges? Future slam-dunk Hall of Famer Bryce Harper with 26. His success rate was only 45%.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Alex Cora won't manage Phillies or any MLB team in 2027: Report originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

When Alex Cora spoke to the media at the start of spring training in 2024, he claimed that he didn’t intend to be a baseball manager for the rest of his life, stating that “there’s more in life than baseball.” And though his tenure as Red Sox manager ended a lot sooner than he or anybody else anticipated, the 50-year-old has followed through on his declaration.

He first did that in April, when he turned down an offer to manager the Phillies. And it’s now happened again, as he told the Phillies that he doesn’t intend to work in MLB for the 2027 season, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

“Cora informed [Phillies president of baseball operations Dave] Dombrowski he’s taking the season off,” Nightengale reported.

Dombrowski, who ran the Red Sox’ baseball operations from 2015-19, fired John Farrell after the 2017 season and hired Cora for his first managerial job. Cora led the Red Sox to a World Series victory in Year 1. And though the Red Sox fired Dombrowski late in the 2019 season, Cora remained a logical choice as Dombrowski’s next hire in Philadelphia after firing Rob Thomson in late April this past season.

Nevertheless, Cora took the 2026 season off following his firing on April 25, and he’ll continue to watch baseball from afar in 2027.

That’s not the most difficult choice for Cora, considering he’s still owed more than $7 million by the Red Sox, who in the summer of 2024 extended Cora through 2027 on a three-year, $21.75 million contract.

The Pittsburgh Pirates infield in 2026 was comprised of a balanced mix of All-Star caliber players and average rotational pieces.

Best of the best starters

Pittsburgh’s infield as a whole was a position group that in 2026 had several marquee players. The most explosive of these players was second baseman Brandon Lowe. After being acquired from Tampa in 2025’s offseason, Lowe made an instant impact for Pittsburgh as he set the all-time mark for most home runs hit by a Pirates’ second baseman in a single season with 35. His pop and power was a welcomed addition that helped the Pirates completely transform their putrid offense from a season ago. Fingers crossed Lowe resigns with the Pirates.

Ryan O’Hearn was another welcomed addition via free-agency and he too had one of his best statistical seasons of his career in his first year as a Bucco. O’Hearn did have to miss some time due to injury, but when he was on the field (first base or right field) he was absolutely electric. On July 7 against the Atlanta Braves he set a Pirates’ single-game record for RBIs (10) as he had three homers on the night and absolutely put the team on his back in that performance. His veteran leadership was welcomed in the locker room and on the field, and the Pirates are far better off with O’Hearn in the lineup.

Perhaps the most surprising star of this Pirates squad in 2026 was Nick Gonzales who served primarily as the Pittsburgh’s third baseman. In 148 games played Gonzales put together his most complete season as a pro to date. His .303 batting average ranked fourth in the National League, while his hits and on base percentage ranked eighth and ninth respectively. This season Gonzales proved he’s a piece that’s worth keeping around, as he proved to be a capable well-rounded defender, as well as a great presence at the plate. Gonzales’ 167 hits was the most by anyone on the Pirates in 2026

Middle of the road rotational players

There was a point in time in the year where Spencer Horwitz getting a hit was as guaranteed as Munetaka Murakami giving a great interview. However, he did cool off at points in the season and had a pretty average year. Still though he did appear in 107 contests at first base for the Buccos and was mostly solid just not spectacular. His .244 batting average was a downtick to his .272 in 2025, and he hit one less homer this year. That being said, Horwitz is a steady presence at first, and was certainly the best option to play the position when O’Hearn was either hurt or in right field.

Jared Triolo was once again right in the thick of things as a do it all defender. The former Gold Glove utility man had eight appearances at first base, 50 at third base and 71 at shortstop. He’s still the most versatile defensive player on the Pirates’ roster, but of course his offensive shortcomings keep him from being a more regularly used piece in the lineup. He once again finished with very high marks when it comes to fielding percentage, but was just average at the plate, only hitting .238 on the season and just three homers.

Not all will be welcomed back

Jacob Gonzalez was acquired from the Chicago White Sox on July 11 and it seems like he left the best of his abilities back in the Windy City. Although he did have five home runs with the Pirates the rest of his stats did not hold up. He only hit .203 as a Bucco and only had 14 RBIs with the club. I’m not sure that there was a real winner to this trade, but it’s clear that the Pirates might be better off cutting their losses with Gonzalez.

Nick Yorke had a majority of his appearances come at third base (38) for the Pirates in 2026, but that was mostly as a depth piece when Gonzales or Triolo weren’t there. He certainly shouldn’t be viewed as an integral piece of the team moving forward. What he didn’t do on the field was in a way made up for what he did provide to the clubhouse as a morale guy.

Konnor Griffin

The rookie-phenom Konnor Griffin deserves his own section, not so much for what he did in 2026 but for what he’s projected to do in the future. Griffin made waves when he became the highest paid Pirate ever, and then followed it up with a big hit in his first major league at bat. However, Griffin’s season was plagued with injuries. He was still able to appear in 80 games and hit for .272, but it’s clear to anyone with eyes and ears that Griffin is capable of so much more. It’s already remarkable what he’s been able to do at such a young age and in an injury shortened season, that 2027 will really be a treat for anyone who has the privilege of seeing Griffin in action. He’s a future star in the making, and could very well end up being talked about in the same breath as former teenage-phenoms like Ken Griffey Jr. and Bryce Harper. Stay tuned for so much more to come!

Overall the infield for the Pittsburgh groups was super solid. Even the middle of the road players were capable of flipping the script on a game and contributing in meaningful ways. If Lowe is resigned, this will be arguably the best position group for the Pirates in 2027.

The postgame celebration songs pounded through the Bluetooth speakers in the Chicago White Sox clubhouse on Monday night, minutes after the team’s playoff victory over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.

The White Sox, who lost 121 games two seasons ago, have made a remarkable turnaround. A team who were once so abject that they stopped tweeting out their results are now just five wins from the World Series. They can seal their progress to the American League Championship Series on Wednesday if they beat the Guardians in Chicago.

But amid the clubhouse excitement in Cleveland, one individual remained the same. As usual.

“He’s the same guy every single day,” White Sox designated hitter Andrew Benintendi said about the club’s manager, Will Venable. “He’s even keel. … Being Steady Eddie and showing up every day as the same guy.”

Venable has been the catalyst for the White Sox this year. His consistent approach and calm demeanor have helped set the tone for a team whose manager once envisioned his future on a basketball court. Long before Venable managed a major-league team, he learned about spacing, timing, preparation, trust and precision away from the baseball diamond.

Venable was a shooting guard for Princeton University from 2001 to 2005. He was first team All-Ivy League, led his team to the NCAA Tournament and once scored 21 points against Duke. As a baseball player, Venable was also All-Ivy, which made him only the second Princeton athlete to accomplish that distinction in baseball and basketball.

And he eventually took the Princeton concepts of basketball and used them in his baseball career.

“For me, my time playing basketball, especially at Princeton, helped me understand the importance of attention to detail,” said Venable, who played eight years in the majors, mostly for the San Diego Padres. “The spacing and timing required [in the Princeton offense] helped me as a baseball player understand the importance of every little detail.”

Princeton’s style of basketball taught Venable how to see baseball spatially and collectively. The basic concepts of the Princeton offense rely on constant player movement, precise passing, back-door cuts and read-and-react decisions rather than fixed set plays.

The Princeton offense is about players functioning as connected pieces rather than individuals. This postseason, Chicago’s pitching philosophy has been a team effort – sharing the ball as in basketball. Instead of the traditional routine in the playoffs of leaning on a starter to throw six-plus innings followed by relief, the White Sox focus on managing matchups, not innings. It’s not about who starts but who gets the next out.

Venable essentially manages his pitching staff the way a basketball coach manages a roster: through combinations, matchups, short bursts and putting players into situations where their particular skills have the greatest advantage.

“That’s carried over into managing,” Venable said. “The details matter: where we position guys, the timing of their pre-pitch movements, timing at the plate, all the very fine details and the precision of the game. I learned that through my time in basketball.”

And many of White Sox players have learned from their manager. They learned from the unconventional style but mostly from the confidence that leaks into his players.

That confidence was on display Monday when rookie Braden Montgomery’s opposite-field double in the sixth inning gave the White Sox the lead. In that same inning, Montgomery scored on a single as the White Sox held on for a 4-3 Game 2 victory. The switch-hitting outfielder had a .430 OPS in 103 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers in the regular season, the worst among qualifying hitters from the right side of the plate. And it was just his third hit in 12 postseason plate appearances.

“That’s a guy that’s not going to shy away from the moment,” Venable said. “It all culminates into trusting the player and really again putting the nine best guys out there to get the job done.”

Montgomery said Venable’s quote is special.

“I respect him so much for having that confidence in me, and that means the world to me,” Montgomery said. “I’d run through a wall for Will.”

Earlier this season catcher Kyle Teel needed a dose of confidence as he struggled at the plate after he returned to the active roster.

“[Will] came up to me and told me not to do too much and stay within myself,” Teel said. “I hit a home run right after he said that. He’s a phenomenal leader. I’m grateful he’s our manager.”

Shortstop Colson Montgomery said Venable’s confidence has a strong influence on the team.

“When you see your manager walking around with all of the confidence in the world, why would I not walk around like that too,” Montgomery said. “There’s never a doubt wondering if he believes in me.”

After losing 102 games in his first season as manager in 2025, Venable earned belief when the White Sox made a chase for a Central Division title this season and finished 84-78. They fell one game short behind the Guardians. Venable says the turnaround is a team and organizational effort.

“[General manager Chris Getz] was very clear about what he thought [winning] looked like, and as he outlined his plan and his values, I was very much in line with that,” Venable said. “That’s why I ultimately thought it was a good partnership and that this was going to be a place where we could help the organization move forward. … I was on board with the vision and wanted to do my part to help him.”

His part included developing a trust among his players, establishing confidence and bringing the lessons from basketball – precision, trust, interconnectedness and unselfishness – to baseball.

“It’s because they’ve done it together,” Venable said. “It’s because they’ve done it for each other, and that’s something that we witness every single day in that clubhouse.”

NY Daily News | James O’Connell: The Yankees ran out the same exact lineup in Games 1 and 2 of their ALDS matchup against the Rays, but aside from Ben Rice and his pair of home runs no one else is really contributing. As the series shifts over to New York for Game 3 tonight, manager Aaron Boone was amenable to some lineup tinkering though he wouldn’t get into specifics of who could find their way in and who would get sent to the bench. Some of the more likely candidates to sit include those who both haven’t found their way into a hit yet and also fumbled the ball around in their atrocious Game 2 showing, such as Ryan McMahon and Jazz Chisholm Jr.

NY Post | Mark W. Sanchez: Max Fried is lined up to start tonight on the mound in Game 3, but there was the potential for that to not be the case. Fried’s partner is due to give birth in the coming days and there was the possibility that Fried would have to miss this start, but the lefty confirmed that he will be there for the team adding that he’s “got a really supportive family that understands that this is my job.” Fried’s focus is leaving it all on the line for his team as the Yankees face elimination, and hopefully that dedication pays off for him.

MLB.com | Matthew Leach: So the Yankees are down in an 0-2 hole, but is there any hope of a comeback? There’s a few reasons to believe in a turnaround, namely that they largely beat themselves in Game 2 and have an elite pitching staff that could lock down opposing bats so long as the defense stops putzing the ball around. Getting out of Tropicana Field is also a big plus, and even though a potential Game 5 would see them return to that house of horrors, they’ve got to win the first two before worrying about that.

MLB.com | Mike Lupica: The Yankees are certainly not strangers to reverse sweeping in an ALDS, as Lupica takes us through the history of the team’s ability to flip the script. Unfortunately, that history all lies in the recent past as Aaron Boone’s squads have largely been unable to answer back after getting punched in the face in a series — let’s see if they can change that narrative this time around.

The Big Lead | J.P. Hoornstra: Sadly, we end our notes with the passing of ‘Sudden’ Sam McDowell, who died on Monday. McDowell was a six-time All-Star throughout his 15-year MLB career, and he played for the Yankees at the tail end of his career for the 1973-74 seasons. From all of us here at Pinstripe Alley, we send our condolences to Sam’s family and friends.

SAN DIEGO — Jake Cronenworth and the San Diego Padres avoided breaking the city's heart, earning a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The win not only extends the season for the Padres, but forces the Brewers to stay in San Diego for Game 4.

Cronenworth and the Padres were confident in what the victory could do for them in Game 4 with a chance to even the series.

“I think it can (carry over),” Cronenworth said. “You look at the situation we’ve been in for more than half the season and it's kind of been our backs against the wall and fighting since before the trade deadline to survive. I think no team is more battle-tested than us right now.”

GAME 3: Padres will fight another day as ace plays emergency closer

Cronenworth made a difference offensively, going 2-for-2 with a home run that helped San Diego retake the lead. He blasted the ball 368 feet to right field in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Padres wouldn’t give up the lead again, despite the Brewers’ efforts.

A single run has decided all three games in the best-of-five series.

Our slow march toward… something

• Game 3 of the ALDS will be Daniel Espino squaring off against Sean Newcomb

Dodgers 3, Braves 1

• The Dodgers moved a hurting superstar down to 5th in their order. Do the Guardians know this is an option?

• Said hurting superstar, Shohei Ohtani, was 0-for-2 and drew a walk.

• But the Dodgers didn’t need much because Yoshi Yamamoto was pitching, and it appears that some guys are just great this time of year, despite little scientific evidence of #clutch.

• Speaking of which, Freddie Freeman and Enrique Hernandez homered.

Padres 4, Brewers 3

• Facing elimination, the Padres held off the pesky Brewers to win 4-3 and force a game 4.

• Michael King, who has been unhittable this postseason, got a 2-inning save in this one…

• …because Mason Miller was with his wife who was in labor.

Odds and ends
• Entering today,

• The New England Patriots released linebacker Jose Ramirez.

• Tom Pham remains insanely unlikeable.