The Yankees are going the expected route, starting Gerrit Cole in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Rays on Saturday night in Tampa Bay.
Following dominant starts by Cam Schlittler and Max Fried in New York's Wild Card Series sweep of the Red Sox, Cole will look to keep things rolling for New York.
Cole last pitched on Sept. 23 against the Rays in the Bronx, when he allowed two runs on three hits while walking three and striking out eight in 5.2 innings.
The right-hander also fared well in his two other starts against Tampa this season.
On May 22, in what was his first start back after recovering from Tommy John surgery, Cole tossed 6.0 scoreless innings while allowing two hits, walking three, and striking out two.
On July 8, Cole allowed three runs in 6.1 innings while giving up three hits, walking one, and striking out six.
With Game 2 set for Monday in Tampa, the Yankees figure to turn to Cam Schlittler on five days of rest or Max Fried on regular (four days) rest.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JULY 28: Dean Kremer #64 of the Baltimore Orioles delivers a pitch against the Detroit Tigers during the bottom of the first inning at Comerica Park on July 28, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images) | Getty Images
This past season saw the end of Dean Kremer’s time in Baltimore, as the longest surviving member of the Manny Machado trade ended his time with the Orioles with the same frustrating inconsistency that colored his entire career.
When it came to Dean Kremer’s role on the Orioles pitching staff, I always had the mindset of “if Dean Kremer is your 5th starter, you probably have a pretty good rotation.” The Orioles rotation heading into the 2026 season was so good (on paper, at least) that Kremer began the year at Triple-A Norfolk.
However, he returned from Norfolk after only two starts for the Tides. An early-season injury to Zach Efflin saw Kremer immediately return to the fifth starter role in Baltimore. The 30-year-old right-hander looked strong in his first two outings of the season; in his season debut he limited the Diamondbacks to 2 earned runs over 5 innings while striking out nine. His next time out, against the Guardians, Kremer was an unlucky loser after posting a line of 6 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB and 7 Ks.
From there, Kremer’s remaining tenure with the Orioles was largely derailed due to injury, After his start in Cleveland, he landed on the IL with a right quad strain. At first it looked like the injury would only require a short term recovery. Instead, Kremer didn’t return to the mound until June 21st and didn’t make it back to the big league roster until July 1st.
In his first start back from injury, Kremer once again looked his best self. He guided the Orioles to victory over the White Sox in Baltimore, tossing 6 innings of one-run ball while striking out four. Little did we know that that would be the last quality start of his Orioles career.
His next four outings in black and orange were largely disastrous. Over those final four games with the O’s, Kremer averaged less than 5 innings per start, pitched to a 9.47 ERA and gave up a .333 average with 7 home runs across 19 innings. His final start for Baltimore came in Detroit, where he gave up 8 runs in 4 innings as the O’s lost 14-0 to the Tigers.
Four days later, Kremer became the first of five major leaguers Mike Elias & Co. traded away at the 2026 Trade Deadline. The California native was sent from Baltimore to Minnesota, who at the time sat 1.5 games ahead of the Orioles for the final AL Wild Card spot.
At the time, the decision to trade away Kremer was viewed through a neutral lens. The O’s got back 18-year-old OF Jhomnardo Reyes, an athletic, power-first bat in the mold of a typical Mike Elias outfield prospect. Reyes immediately jumped in Baltimore’s Top 20 prospects. The decision to trade Kremer—in the moment—could also have been seen as the Orioles creating space in their rotation to acquire a level-raising starting pitcher.
Instead, Kremer became another example of the front office selling whilst tantalizingly close to playoff contention. To make matters worse, his second start for the Twinkies came against Baltimore in Target Field. That afternoon, Kremer delivered his best start of the season, tossing 7 innings while only allowing 1 run and 1 hit and punching out seven Orioles. Whether motivated by a sense of revenge or just the excitement of facing his old teammates, Kremer immediately made the Orioles look foolish for trading him.
The rest of his year in Minnesota was closer to what we’d come to expect during his 6+ seasons in Baltimore. In his final 8 starts of the season, Kremer pitched to a 4.04 ERA while allowing a .209 average against and striking out 39 in 42.1 IP. The right-hander did finish with a promising flourish, allowing only 2 runs and six hits over his final three starts. With one year left of team control before potentially entering free agency in 2028, Kremer should comfortably slot into the back half of Minnesota’s rotation next year.
Kremer never had true highlight moments with the Orioles, and therefore will not be remembered as fondly as contemporaries like Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays or Anthony Santander. However, his 130 career starts are good enough for 33rd in Orioles history, while his 707.2 IP puts him just outside the Top 50 in club history. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Kremer’s 616 career strikeouts with the Orioles put him just behind Ben McDonald at 22nd in Orioles’ history.
If you can separate it from the optics of selling at the deadline when only a couple of games out of a playoff spot, the decision to move on from Kremer spoke/speaks to the improved health of the Orioles pitching depth. His 4.37 career ERA in Baltimore makes him the latest in the line of starting pitchers like Jeremy Guthrie and Daniel Cabrera; professional innings eaters who every once and a while showed the ability to be something more.
Sam Harper’s first innings century and Liam Scott’s five-wicket haul were in vain as Australia A agonisingly fell one wicket short of a series-levelling victory against India A in Puducherry.
Welcome to this edition of the Vancouver Canucks “3 Standouts From The Game.” In this recurring series, The Hockey News’ Canucks team will do a deep dive into three standouts from Vancouver’s last game. This article will focus on the Canucks’ most recent 9–7 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
Paul Cotter
Paul Cotter has been the Canucks’ best forward, offensively speaking, since the start of the 2026–27 season. Following his two-goal performance on Tuesday, Cotter scored yet another goal in Thursday’s 9–7 loss to the Oilers and also added an assist on a goal by Brock Boeser in his effort.
Cotter’s strong play earned him a promotion onto Vancouver’s second-line alongside Boeser and Liam Öhgren, with the trio playing a team-high 7:28 minutes together. Individually, Cotter also had five hits and recorded a faceoff win percentage of 64.3%.
Elias Pettersson
Is Elias Pettersson back? That’s the question everyone seems to be asking after the forward’s performance on Thursday night following his three-point, eight-hit night. The most notable part of Pettersson’s night was his slap shot on the power-play to give Vancouver their sixth goal of the game, with the play resembling a vintage shot by the forward. This was his 202nd-career goal, which gave him sole-possession of ninth all-time in Canucks history.
After Vancouver blended their lines up to start the second period, Pettersson and his wingers — Jake DeBrusk and Linus Karlsson — were given the difficult task of matching up against Connor McDavid’s line. Through a little over six minutes played together, the trio produced three scoring chances-for and surrendered one against.
Oct 1, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson (40) shoots during warm up prior to a game against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Arshdeep Bains
Dating back to training camp, Arshdeep Bains has been praised for his no-quit hustle even when not in game situations. The forward brought that same performance to Thursday night’s game alongside new linemates Marco Rossi and Jonathan Lekkerimäki, spearheading what would ultimately become a shocking consecutive four-goal output for Vancouver in both the second and third periods.
With less than a second left on the clock in the second period, Bains drove to the net to snap a rebound past Oilers goaltender Devon Levi, scoring Vancouver’s third of the game. He didn’t stop there, however, as it was his line that scored two goals for the Canucks five minutes into the third period to bring their total up to five goals on the night. An assist on the second goal made Thursday Bains’s first multi-point NHL game.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 30: Manger Chad Tracy of the Boston Red Sox removes Sonny Gray #54 from the game against the New York Yankees during the fifth inning in game two of the American League Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium on September 30, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Baseball is a game of numbers. It’s played on the field, with balls and bats and gloves, but every action, decision, and outcome is measured by a number. Those numbers are presented to us during broadcasts, in gambling ads, and by people like me on Twitter and in pieces here on OTM. Most of the numbers we see are presented without context.
Just this week, there was plenty of chatter about how Payton Tolle has reverse splits and performs better against righties than he does against lefties. If you say that Tolle stats against righties are superior to those against lefties, you are correct. If you claim that opponents should start lefties against Tolle for that reason, citing that stat as evidence, you’d be a little bit off base.
I saw a lot of "Payton Tolle reverse splits" tonight, and while that's true, I think people are missing the details.
He had three pitches with 70% strike rates. His fastball and cutter had massive swinging strike rates. His sinker had a minuscule ICR% and a huge GB%.
In short, Tolle’s stats against lefties were worse than those against righties because he only throws to the best left-handed hitters. If he faced a lineup of nine lefties, he’d rack up strikeouts and groundball outs because of the pitches he has at his disposal. Tolle isn’t the point of this piece, though, so I digress.
Another example of this came after the final game of the season. The Red Sox bullpen got caved in by the Yankees, and the season ended in embarrassing fashion. During the postmortem, Sonny Gray, who was pulled after just 4.2 innings and 70 pitches, expressed his displeasure at not being allowed to continue. He said that he’s the best pitcher in the American League at facing a lineup for a third time.
His numbers facing hitters for a third time are in fact excellent: .515 OPS against, 21.6% strikeout rate, 6.8% walk rate, and a .180 batting average in 162 plate appearances across 28 games this season. Despite this, Gray wasn’t allowed to see Cody Bellinger for a third time; Erik Miller came in and gave up a run, and the game snowballed from there, ending the Red Sox season.
If you read my work, you know I like numbers. I do my best to provide context and try to blend the stats with on-field applications, but I admit that I tend to believe what the numbers say even if they go against conventional wisdom. Those choices that go against conventional wisdom have come to be known as “analytics”. If people don’t agree with something, they blame “analytics” without knowing what information was actually used in that decision.
In this case, the consensus was that Gray was removed because “analytics” say that seeing a lineup for the third time is a disadvantage. The numbers presented above disagree with that sentiment, but the Boston Red Sox, who pay people to research these types of things, aren’t making decisions based on slash lines in 150 plate appearance samples. Still, the decision was, at least in some part, motivated by statistics.
This piece is not in defense of Chad Tracy, Craig Breslow, or anyone else who might have had a hand in the decision-making process or game planning. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that I staunchly disagree with the decision. I didn’t have a suite of statistics at my disposal at the time, but I thought Gray had a better chance of getting the out than Miller. I actually messaged the rest of the OTM staff and said: “So this is insane, right?” Before the game, I published a piece on how the Red Sox needed Sonny Gray to go deep into the game, for the sake of both Game 2 and a potential Game 3. Even after looking at the numbers that I’ll share momentarily, I disagree with the decision, although that’s easy to do in hindsight.
Instead of supporting or tearing down the decision, what I’m trying to do here is reverse-engineer the thought process and provide some context, because despite what sports talk radio or faceless Twitter accounts might tell you, it is much more nuanced than “third time through the order bad”. Let’s do it.
I’ll set the scene. It’s the fifth inning with the Yankees leading, 1-0. Trent Grisham has reached on a single to start the inning, and swapped places on the bases with Austin Wells, who grounded out to second base but beat the throw from Trevor Story to break up the double play. Ryan McMahon struck out on a good sweeper, and Ben Rice singled on a hard ground ball through the infield to move Wells up to third base. After 70 pitches and one earned run, Gray walked off the mound.
The first thing I’ll look at is Bellinger’s other at-bats against Gray. In his first trip to the plate, he roped a first-pitch sinker to Nick Sogard, who made a great pick to get the out. His second time up, he grounded out again, this time after fouling off three two-strike pitches and spitting on a good sweeper to his back foot. If you’re judging based on those two matchups alone, I could understand the decision to not give Bellinger a third crack at Gray. Bellinger looked like he was seeing the ball well.
Next, let’s look at how Gray approached the lineup to that point.
Against the eight lefties in the Yankees’ lineup, Gray used his four-seam and sinker a combined 59% of the time. The rest of his arsenal was made up of 12 sweepers, 10 curveballs, and three changeups. The fastballs were in the zone (~60% zone rate on both the four-seam and the sinker), while all three of his secondary pitches returned zone rates between 20% and 33%. While that might seem intuitive — fastballs in the zone, putaway pitches below it — that’s not always the case for Gray. He’s usually willing to flip his curveball in for called strikes, and occasionally does the same with his sweeper. On Wednesday, the plan was clearly to attack with fastballs for strikes, and breaking balls below the zone.
The Yankees’ lefties had the second-highest hard-hit rate against in-zone breaking balls from righties this season, as well as the seventh-highest barrel rate. They had the second-highest whiff rate, but Gray’s breaking balls didn’t miss bats in the zone this season. With those statistics in mind, it’s likely that Gray wasn’t going to change his game plan.
Now let’s look at the fastballs. The third time through the lineup, their performance seriously suffers. Entering the postseason, he threw his four-seam and sinker each about 18% of the time. He also used his cutter 15% of the time, but didn’t throw a single cutter to lefties on Wednesday and used it sparingly in his final start of the regular season, so it appeared to be removed from his game plan. The fastballs that he did use weren’t nearly as effective as they were early in games. The shape and velocity held, but the results did not. His four-seam ideal contact rate jumped from 40% to 56%, as the pitch found the middle of the plate often.
The sinker returned weak contact, but that was likely because the zone rate dropped from 60% the first two times through to 40% the third time through. Because of this, the called strike rate plummeted, and the strike rate fell to near 50%.
His breaking stuff wasn’t much better. The curveball had a huge swinging strike rate and chase rate, but when hitters did connect, it was hammered to the tune of a 67% ideal contact rate. The sweeper, his best whiff pitch, saw its chase rate drop 15% the third time through, thanks to bigger misses off the plate.
Bellinger is an excellent breaking ball hitter. Gray’s fastballs lose effectiveness later in games, and hitters don’t expand the zone as frequently against his sweepers. If those are your cards, you probably want to fold that hand in favor of another. The card that Tracy chose to play is a whole other can of worms, but there was a case for Gray to be removed.
If you read this and thought, “the analytics have gone too far, who cares that Gray’s sweeper is less effective the third time through the order it’s playoff baseball you pitch with your nuts not your arm blah blah blah”, I don’t blame you. As I wrote this, I questioned if I was too in the weeds myself, and still would have probably rolled the dice with Gray. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Gray’s early exit, I hope this provided some insight into what the team might have been thinking, because it really is deeper than blanket truths discovered by “analytics” that have been parroted 1,000 times by people who think Billy Beane ruined baseball.
TORONTO, CANADA - SEPTEMBER 16: Gleyber Torres #25 of the Detroit Tigers looks on against the Toronto Blue Jays in their MLB game at Rogers Centre on September 16, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/Getty Images)
Happy Friday, everyone! With all eyes on the MLB postseason and which teams will be advancing from the Wild Card series, there hasn’t been a lot of Tigers news to report on. We share below a story on some of the Tigers, like Gleyber Torres and Jack Flaherty, who will be entering free agency this offseason as they’re unlikely to sign extensions with the Tigers.
We also take a look at plenty of stories emerging from the postseason, from temperamental Astros fans turning on their own team, to Sonny Gray’s opinions about being pulled early from his Wild Card start, to wondering if the Yankees are the only team in the postseason doing roster building right. Lots to get into, so we’re just going to dive right in.
Tigers SS John Peck has been added to Arizona Fall League to make up at-bats lost to injury this season. He joins OF Zyhir Hope, SS Bryce Rainer and Ps Logan Berrier, Jalen Evans, Preston Howey, Maddox Long and Win Scott in Scottsdale.
Willson Contreras shares his feelings about Big Data Baseball.
Willson Contreras: "It's not enough when you have talent, or you have data, or you have computers telling you what to do, because this is baseball. The data is here to help us, but at the end of the day, you need experience and veteran guys to win games. There's a lot of stuff I… pic.twitter.com/MS7u5yy96y
The Arizona Cardinals (1-2-0) have the opportunity to get back to even in the standings against the New York Football Giants, who are struggling at the quarterback position. Starter Jaxson Dart is out for the year, and his replacement, journeyman Jameis Winston, is not playing well at all. The game is played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Arizona is in need of a “W,” or else this season will begin to unravel early in the year.
The Week 4 game between the Cardinals and Giants will air on CBS and Paramount+ at 1:00 PM ET on Sunday.
Announcers: Spero Dedes, Adam Archuleta, Aditi Kinkhabwala (sideline reporter)
Radiocoverage:
Arizona Cardinals Radio: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (English flagship for the Cardinals)
New York Football Giants Radio: WFAN 101.9 FM / 660 AM (flagship for the Giants)
Oct 1, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola (27) walks to the dugout after pitching change made by interim manager Don Mattingly (8) against the Atlanta Braves during the second inning in game three of the Wildcard round for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Truist Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
After fighting for a one-day respite, the Phillies went down relatively quietly in their winner take all Game 3 with the Braves. Aaron Nola was given the start and was tasked with at least giving the Phillies three solid innings, but he couldn’t even escape the first without giving up a back breaking three-run homer. The debate started to rage over whether Zack Wheeler should’ve started in his stead, but he too gave up a two-run bomb of his own pitching in relief to make the whole thing pointless. Really, the pitching was moot because once again, the Phillies offense could not get anything going, this time against an Atlanta bullpen game that featured three shutout innings from opener Ray Kerr.
This is going to be a long offseason where the Phillies will face numerous painful questions. First off, they have to find a permanent manager, whether that be Alex Cora or not. Then they have to find some way to inject life into the 30th ranked offense by OPS+. They have to find a way to build a bullpen that has more than two reliable arms in it. They will have to determine if their younger players such as Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford as well as prospects Aidan Miller and Gage Wood are in their long-term plans or not. Finally, they may have to come to terms with the hardest thing of all: the possibility that some of their stars are no longer the MVP caliber players they were in the past but rather All-Star type contributors at best.
And all of that isn’t even taking into account the impending lockout that threatens to wipe out most of the offseason and some or all of the 2027 regular season. There’s no telling exactly what state baseball will be in when the Phillies next take the field.
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 01: Atlanta center fielder Michael Harris II (23) reacts after hitting a three-run home run during the Philadelphia Phillies versus the Atlanta Braves in game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series on October 1st, 2026 at Truist Park in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Have at it. Here’s mine.
Michael Harris II, swinging 2-0, at not even a strike or borderline pitch, and absolutely creaming it for a three-run homer. It upended narratives, even narratives that some attempted to apply postgame. Aaron Nola noted the Braves didn’t chase. Well, not exactly: they didn’t chase sometimes, and Harris did chase, and delivered what ended up serving as a knockout blow even though there were still eight innings to play.
Yes, Harris and Ozzie Albies will chase a lot. No, they don’t fit the mold of a hackneyed “professional hitter” who draws walks and shoots liners over the infield. But, like Albies said earlier this season, when you crush, it’s the best feeling in the world. And that’s what they did last night. But Harris did it swinging at a pitch that you might say he shouldn’t have even swung at, and that’s awesome.
I hope everyone remembers what led to this win going forward.
The Warriors are back in action ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season, and new faces like rookie Yaxel Lendeborg are ready to prove themselves in the NBA. Lendeborg could have a big role for the team right away, and early on, he is making a good first impression.
Steve Kerr had high praise for the former Michigan star; speaking with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Bonta Hill and Dalton Johnson on “Dubs Talk,” Kerr declared Lendeborg is “100 percent” the most pro-ready rookie he has had since becoming the Warriors coach.
“He’s the most prepared, most ready guy,” Kerr said. “I think he was coached really well last year by Dusty May, and I like his life story too. He wasn’t the five-star recruit, [he spent] two years in … junior college in Arizona. He’s had to fight his way to get here, and he’s so appreciative of the opportunity, and he’s a pleaser. He wants to be coached, and he wants to do the right thing. He’s got a great approach.”
Lendeborg shined during NBA Summer League and has had a good training camp so far, but that does not mean that there is not room for improvement. The NBA is a big adjustment, and for him to be successful, there are certain areas of his game that need to grow. According to Kerr, Lendeborg’s biggest area to focus on is the defensive side of the floor, particularly in moments of adversity.
“Defensive awareness, it’s the biggest adjustment a guy like him has to make,” Kerr explained. “He already has a great feel offensively, very natural gift for just moving the ball, making the right play, without even having to coach anything on that front. He just does that, and then that will ingratiate himself with his teammates. It’s the defensive side where there’s so many actions that you see in the NBA that you don’t see in the college game. You have to learn personnel.
“You have to know who you’re going against every night. If we’re switching, now you’re guarding point guards, you’re guarding centers, you’re guarding wings. You’ve got to know all the rotations from all the spots. So that’ll take some time, and that’s what we’re working with him on. The good thing is, he’s very experienced as a basketball player. He’s 24 now, he turned 24 yesterday. He’s played junior college. He’s played for a national championship last year with Michigan. He’s got a lot of basketball wisdom, and that will serve him well.”
Lendeborg, the No. 11 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds for Michigan last season and proved to be the program’s marquee player. He earned several accolades at the end of the season, such as consensus First-Team All-American, Big Ten Player of the Year, First-Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Defensive Team. Now, Lendeborg enters his rookie year with the Warriors eager to bring that same level of play.
The Warriors do not face very high expectations this season, but if Lendeborg can establish himself as a star early on, it will create problems for the rest of the league. Lendeborg and the Warriors play their first preseason game in Honolulu on Oct. 4 before returning to the mainland.
When you’ve waited 32 years for your one epic career moment, you let it all out — censors be damned.
Braves journeyman Ray Kerr unleashed a spew of happy f-bombs while celebrating his 3 1/3 innings of no-run ball in the Braves’ 6-2 win over the Phillies in Game 3 of the NL wild-card series.
The southpaw served as the opener for the elimination game in his first career postseason outing and allowed just one hit and walked one batter to set the game off on the right foot for Atlanta.
“Man, starting a game and him closing it out? What the f–k, that’s coolest feeling ever,” Kerr told Braves Vision. “And him coming to me after the game and congratulating me. F–king blessing.”
Kerr’s teammates drenched him in alcohol while he provided the second part of that answer, leading to him being asked how the champagne feels.
“F–king cold,” Kerr said, which elicited a chuckle from the interviewer. “I’ve been freezing all night.”
While Thursday’s win may be remembered more for Chris Sale pitching 1 1/3 innings to close out the game just two days after his Game 1 start or Michael Harris II’s three-run first-inning homer off Aaron Nola that set Truist Field ablaze, the Braves don’t advance to the NLDS without Kerr.
Kerr had appeared in a grand total of 48 MLB games and just nine this season — his only outings over the last two years — before the Braves tapped him to serve as an opener.
Kerr’s mastery allowed him to last into the fourth inning in a 47-pitch outing, which lessened the length they need from presumed bulk pitcher Grant Holmes.
Braves’ Ray Kerr (62) acknowledges the crowd while walking to the dugout against the Philadelphia Phillies during the fourth inning in game three of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park in Atlanta, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. Getty Images
He exited the game with a 3-0 lead, and held the Phillies’ top-three hitters of Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper to an 0-for-5 showing with one walk.
“I was focused from the moment I woke up,” Kerr said. “I was like we’re going to put some 0s up and get a W.”
“It felt great. I don’t got much on that,” he said in reference to his past. “But it was fun. It was a journey. I’ve dreamed about stuff like this. For it to actually happen, I still haven’t even processed yet. We’re just going to get after it tomorrow. Hopefully we can win the next series, and yeah.”
Donnie Baseball did an excellent job in Philadelphia to save the Phillies’ season this year – and now he’s being shown the door.
Mattingly will not be brought back as the Phillies’ skipper after he took over midseason, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported after Thursday’s 6-2 Braves victory in Game 3 of the NL wild-card series.
The Phillies and Mattingly will reportedly announce a mutual parting of ways and give the former Yankee great a chance to stay with the team in an advisory role.
Don Mattingly will not return in Philadelphi, per multiple reports. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
After taking over a 9-19 Phillies team that looked like a disaster when led by Rob Thomson, Mattingly did a stellar job to right the ship and lead the team to a playoff berth.
He led the team to a 79-55 regular-season record before the 1-2 postseason showing, and he knows his future is far from certain.
“It’s not the time to talk about anything like that,” Mattingly said after the game. “I’m not concerned about myself in this situation. I want the Phillies to do what they need to do to set themselves up for success. Yeah, I’m not really — it’s like, my stuff doesn’t really matter.”
Mattingly said hasn’t talked to Phillies general manager Dave Dombrowski about the pending offseason.
“No, I haven’t talked about it, haven’t worried about it,” Mattingly continued. “Just trying to win games, honestly, and put us in the best spot to win games and move forward from there.”
The Phillies’ team construction is the real problem, considering they have a bunch of major free-agent signings who are getting older while on big contracts with many years remaining.
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) walks to the dugout after a pitching change made by interim manager Don Mattingly (8) against the Atlanta Braves during the second inning in game three of the Wildcard round for the 2026 MLB Playoffs. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Trea Turner represents what looks like one of the worst contracts in all of baseball with seven years left on his contract as he enters his age-34 season.
Bryce Harper and Aaron Nola are also entering their age-34 seasons as a part of an aging core that may need a youth injection.
Club was a ‘shambles’ before takeover by boyhood Wakefield fan Matt Ellis – and on Saturday they face Warrington for the title
Last one out of Wakefield on Saturday, turn off the lights. Some 965 days ago, this story began on a field in Siddal on the outskirts of Halifax with just a few hundred people there to see it: this weekend, one of rugby league’s grand old clubs will be the headline attraction in front of more than 70,000 supporters when Trinity face Warrington in their maiden Super League Grand Final.
It is a rise so rapid it almost defies belief but to understand it you must appreciate where this club were in the food chain even just a few short years ago. It was late 2023 when boyhood Wakefield Trinity fan Matt Ellis completed a takeover of the club; £10m worth of investment later, the results are clear to see on and off the field.
Oct 1, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles mascot "Oriole Bird" sheers in the stands against the Toronto Blue Jays in the fourth inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles won 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
If you have been a Camden Chat regular over the years, you are probably familiar with our annual contest. Each year in March, we post a series of questions to get you thinking about the season ahead. This past March, we had 282 of Camden Chat’s finest submit their answers to 30 questions, and we had a pretty large group of first place finishers.
With 19 answers correct, congratulations go out to Melvinmora, J(O’s)elskil, OldOsFan, DJDrP, and PaulFolk! You five have proven your brilliance and may commence gloating immediately. One of these winners is my husband! I’ll let you guess who.
Eight entrants had 18 correct answers, including our boss Mark Brown, AKA Eat More Esskay. Fun fact, the worse the Orioles do in a season, the higher Mark scores in this contest.* As for me, I finished in 63rd place with 15 correct.
*I did not check my work on this over multiple seasons, but you have to admit it sounds right.
To see the full results and find your score, click over to the results spreadsheet. It is sorted by number correct, so the easiest way is to CTRL+F your name. Check it out and let us know how you did in the comments!
The full questions and answers are below. This year was tough, as so many answers brought back all the troubles the team had. But on the bright side, next year our expectations will be so low that it’ll be easier to be pleased with the results.
Which will be higher?
Innings pitched by Shane Baz or Grayson Rodriguez? Baz – 179.2; Grayson – 98.2 – Baz was a vast improvement over Rodriguez. No only did he pitch 81 more innings, but his ERA was 1.91 runs lower. (97.5% answered correctly)
Games played by guys named Tyler or guys named Jackson? Jackson – 200 (Hollday – 98, Jeremiah – 102), Tyler – 128 (O’Neill – 85, Wells – 43). This race was actually tied about halfway through the season before Team Jackson pulled away. (72% answered correctly)
Saves by Ryan Helsley or starts by Zach Eflin? Helsley – 8, Eflin – 1. Both of these answers make me sad. (84% answered correctly)
OPS+ for Pete Alonso or Kyle Schwarber? Alonso – 149, Schwarber – 128. We love you, Pete! (51.4%)
Colton Cowser K% or Cedric Mullins stolen bases? Cowser – 30.9%, Mullins – 21. Cowser struck out at the rate we pretty much expected. Mullins had a poor year on the basepaths. He stole 21 bases and was caught 10 times. (81.2%)
Taylor Ward bWAR or Trevor Rogers ERA? Rogers – 4.03, Ward – 2.7. Rogers’s number was higher than I expected and Ward’s was about what I expected. (47.2%)
Chris Bassitt HR allowed or Coby Mayo HR hit? Mayo – 24, Bassitt – 10. Next year we’ll probably do an O/U on Mayo homers. (65.6%)
Dean Kremer BB or Blaze Alexander GS? Alexander – 74, Kremer – 11. This one was lopsided by both Blaze’s unexpectedly good play and Dean’s unexpected trade. (73%)
OBP by Dylan Beavers or Ramón Laureano? Beavers – .307, Laureano – .286. Beavers essentially replaced Laureano in the lineup, and proved a better hitter this year. It was a low bar to cross; Laureano was not only bad at the plate, but he missed about 2/3 of the season with injury. (60.6%)
Playoff games at Camden Yards or Orioles with 30+ HR? 30+ homers – 1 (Pete!); Playoff games – 0. This one is a bummer (61%)
Over/Under
This section is pretty depressing.
Gunnar Henderson SLG: .4995 – Under – .404 (21.6%)
Orioles wins: 85 ½ – Under – 79 (12.8%)
Number of starting pitchers used: 12 ½ – Under – 10 (79.8%)
Jackson Holliday OPS: .7245 – Under – .640 (42.6%)
Kyle Bradish ERA: 2.755 – Over – 4.12 (74.5%)
Yes/No
This section stumped people as a whole. Look at those low percentages of right answers!
Will Jordan Westburg play a Major League game in 2026? No (27.7%)
Will Samuel Basallo make >50 starts at catcher? Yes (69.1%)
Will Adley Rutschman finish with at least 2 bWAR? No – 1.9 (6%)
Will the team ERA be under 4.00? No – 4.08 (41.1%)
Will Ryan Mountcastle be in the organization on Sept 27th? Yes (19.5%)
Multiple Choice(71/3%)
Who will make the second-most starts at first base? Alonso – 142, Mayo – 13, Basallo – 4, Mountcastle – 2 (17.7%)
Which pitcher listed will make the most starts? Brandon Young – 28, Trey Gibson – 8, Cade Povich – 7, Albert Suarez – 0. Young will no longer be lumped in with this tier of pitcher. (8.2%)
Which of the following prospects will have the most stolen bases in the minors? Enrique Bradfield – 44, Aron Estrada – 8, Vance Honeycutt – 38, Nate George – 15. Estrada’s steals went down as his power went up. George only played 20 games and still had 15 steals. (71.3%)
Against which AL East team will the Orioles have the most wins? Rays 8, Jays – 7, Red Sox – 4, Yankees – 3. The Orioles had a winning record against the team with the most wins in the AL. Baseball is funny. (59.6%)
Which relief pitcher will have the most losses? Helsley – 4, Wells – 2, Akin – , Cano – 3, Somebody else (Wolfram) – 4 (33.7%). If you chose Helsley or Wolfram, you got the points. Considering he missed so much time with injury, how did Helsley end up leading this category?
For the first time in contest history, we included questions about yearly awards, which are not announced until after the postseason. This was a mistake on our part, because the Orioles are not getting any awards. The questions are on the spreadsheet linked at the top of the page but have no scores. IF someone ends up winning (lol!) I’ll come back and issue an addendum.
Thank you to everyone who played this year! I hope you had fun and we’ll see you in the spring for the 2027 contest.
Victor Wembanyama reacts during the Spurs’ Game 1 matchup against the Knicks in the 2026 NBA finals at Frost Bank Center.Photograph: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
If the song from LeBron James’s agonizing Polymarket ad is as stuck in your head as mine thanks to the commercial playing during every YouTube video and HBO show (all I wanted to do was rewatch The Leftovers), let Victor Wembanyama be your antidote. At the Spurs’ practice on Thursday, San Antonio Express-News columnist Mike Finger asked Wembanyama if he would ever partner with a sports betting firm. It couldn’t have been easier for the 22-year-old to say yes. The NBA displays ads for both FanDuel and DraftKings, in addition to hawking betting odds on its broadcasts. Until the streaming service met its end a few months ago, plenty of NBA games streamed exclusively on FanDuel Sports Network. Then there are Wembanyama’s legendary peers: James is the new face of Polymarket; Kevin Durant reads FanDuel odds and invests in Kalshi; Giannis Antetokounmpo is a Kalshi shareholder.
“Absolutely not,” Wembanyama said instead. “I will never do that. Honestly, I think it’s very sad to see some players promote it. Everybody does whatever they want, but without me.”
Standards are so back. It shouldn’t feel miraculous that a star of Wembanyama’s stature is taking the position that players should not cash checks from predatory companies that incentivize athletes to dabble in insider trading, but in 2026, we’ll take any anti-sellout ally we can find. This one may prove particularly valuable. Given his age and fame, Wembanyama should be around as a beacon to cut through the murk of betting for some time to come. How refreshing that, as rightwing terror reigns, the NBA’s best and biggest young star is a politically outspoken leftist.
It’s not a stylish time to turn down buckets of money. Thanks to some combination of a disintegrating economy, a president and political party so craven and corrupt that scandal-worthy behavior often doesn’t register, and a significant overlap among the wealthy and the morally bankrupt, shame died a bloody death somewhere in the last decade. Most basketball podcasts keep themselves afloat with gambling companies’ life rings. No reputational damage seems to last. James’s Polymarket partnership was immediately and emphatically unpopular, but apparently not enough for anybody at the Philadelphia 76ers’ media day to ask him about it.
So Wembanyama’s emphatic rejection of a sports betting partnership stands out. Had he simply said, “Sure, who knows what the future brings,” few would have batted an eye. But not only did he refuse the possibility, he also left behind a receipt. I will never do that. For Wembanyama, any eventual embrace of gambling will be met with fans’ usual criticism – and his own words echoed back at him.
What’s perhaps most refreshing about Wembanyama is – so far, at least; athletes tend to become more and more PR-friendly as they age – his willingness to ruffle feathers. Asked about the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in January, Wembanyama said, “Yeah, PR has tried, but I’m not going to sit here and give some politically correct [answer]. Every day I wake up and see the news, and I’m horrified. I think it’s crazy that some people might make it seem like or sound like the murder of civilians is acceptable.” It’s similarly outrageous that the aggressive integration of sports betting and prediction markets into society has been successful. It’s not normal or ideal for professional sports leagues to be in bed with gambling firms, or for companies that allow people to trade money on every event imaginable to exist at all. A healthy NBA is one where the star poised to dominate the league for the next decade is willing to express sentiment along those lines out loud.
There is one cynical way to look at Wembanyama’s response. He’s coming off a run of bad press on the court. After a brilliant playoff run through three rounds, he had a disastrous NBA finals. He threw a pass off a teammate’s back in the decisive moments of one game, missed two free throws towards the end of another (in which the Spurs failed to consolidate a 29-point lead into victory). He showed flashes of violence in the playoffs, earning an ejection by elbowing Naz Reid in the neck, and at times succumbed to the same brand of foul-baiting he’d criticized in other players months earlier. As the Spurs crashed out, Wemby had never been less popular. Decrying the omnipresence of sports betting, which fans almost universally abhor, gets the Spurs’ big man back in their good graces. But it’s hard to say his swing in fortune is undeserved. Fun as it is to watch, what happens during a professional basketball game is rarely more than a metaphor for society. A clear appraisal of the real world is more representative of virtue.
