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He doesn’t garner much press — at least not outside of Tigers territory — but Will Vest has developed into one of baseball’s better relievers. The 30-year-old right-hander has appeared in 181 games for Detroit over the past three seasons and logged a 2.93 ERA and a 2.71 ERA over 187-and-a-third innings. Moreover, he is currently the team’s closer. Vest’s 2025 ledger includes 23 saves to go with a 3.01 ERA and a 2.71 FIP, and he recorded the final out in both of the club’s Wild Card wins over Cleveland. If the Tigers go on to beat the Mariners in the ALDS, Vest will likely have played a key role. He could easily be pitching for Seattle. As related by Dan Hubbs in a piece that ran here at FanGraphs two weeks ago, the Mariners took Vest in December 2020’s Rule-5 draft, only to return him to the Tigers the following July. Hubbs had departed as Detroit’s director of pitching development by the time Vest was reacquired, but he was, and remains to this day, bullish on the righty’s raw ability. Vest was one of three pitchers (Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal were the others) whose development process the now-Athletics’ bullpen coach looked back on in the September 23 article. Spin rates that were “off the charts” was an attribute Hubbs saw in the then-under-the-radar prospect, as were “good movement profiles on everything he threw.” For the young hurler, success at baseball’s highest level “was just a matter of him getting comfortable competing in the strike zone.“ What are Vest’s memories of working with Hubbs, and in which ways has he continued to develop in the years that have followed? “I knew that I had stuff,” Vest told me in the waning days of the regular season. “It was more about homing it in, more about the pitch-ability. There was some raw stuff he saw in me that we’d work on. Velo. Developing a changeup. Refining my slider. I could spin the ball pretty well; I just didn’t have good command. That’s what I refined throughout the minor leagues, and he helped me do that. “When I got into pro ball, the nuances of analytics had kind of taken over,” added Vest, whom the Tigers took in the 12th round of the 2017 draft out of Stephen F. Austin State University. “We were all learning how to use it to help us as pitchers. [Hubbs] was at the forefront, leading that charge in our organization, bringing analytics to the pitching staff.” A more recent development has paid huge dividends. Vest used to spike his slider, but he stopped doing so around the midpoint of last season. The numbers that followed stand out like a sore thumb. Whereas the pitch was too often punished in 2024, this year it has elicited a .206 BAA, a .286 slug, and an eyebrow-raising 43.7% whiff rate. Thrown harder (88.7 mph vs 86.9 mph) and with more spin (2,748 rpm vs 2,381), it has lost some shape, but gained in terms of deception. “The total movement is a little bit less since I stopped spiking it, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Vest explained. “You want it to look as much like your heater as you can, and that had kind of been my problem. Sometimes my slider would get too big. It would pop, and just not look like my fastball. I saw what hitters were telling me. I would throw a pretty decent slider in decent locations, and it seemed like they were on it. Now I’m throwing one that pairs better with my fastball. I’m also commanding it better.” The command and pitch-ability that Hubbs once helped Vest to refine are integral to his success, and the underrated closer knows that as well as anyone. “It all comes down to execution,” said Vest. “You can do little things to make individual pitches better, but at the end of the day, if you’re throwing 95 with a good ride heater, and it’s right down the middle, it’s going to get hit in this league. You need to have a mix of good stuff, but there is also knowing where to throw it and when to throw it. You need to be executing your pitches.” He executed to perfection last night. Vest pitched the ninth and tenth innings, retired all six batters he faced, and was credited with the win as the Tigers edged the Mariners 3-2 to capture ALDS Game One. The effort wasn’t an anomaly. In nine career postseason outings, Vest has allowed one run over 11 innings. ——— RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS Dan Wilson went 10 for 17 against Justin Thompson. Edgar Martinez went 10 for 16 against Mariano Rivera. Kevin Seitzer went 12 for 22 against Richard Dotson. Ichiro Suzuki went 12 for 19 against Aaron Sele. Alvin Davis went 17 for 30 against Dan Petry. ——— Ceddanne Rafaela’s breakout with the bat came to a screeching halt in midseason, and it coincided with a questionable decision. Short in the infield due to injury and nonperformance, the Red Sox began shuttling the game’s best defensive centerfielder between that position and second base. As I pointed out in a mid-August column, Rafaela had a 114 wRC+ before being taken out of his comfort zone — and that number slid to 91 by season’s end. While ten points higher than last year’s 81 wRC+, it wasn’t what it might have been. Is he happy with his season overall? I asked him that question after game 162. “You can say I’m happy, but it’s more so I’m happy that I helped the team in any way I could,” the 25-year-old outfielder told me. “My defense. Part of the season with my offense. So yeah, I’m happy.” Which brings us to the crux of what I wanted his thoughts on. Did having to shuttle back and forth have a negative impact on his performance? “I don’t know,” Rafaela responded. “Maybe. Maybe yeah, maybe no. I didn’t pay attention to it. I just wanted to help the team. But when you’re playing a position every day, it helps.” I related to Rafaela how I’d offered that as one of the reasons for my bullish expectations as the season was about to start. Solely playing center would help him perform better with the bat. “Yeah, of course,” he said to my reasoning. “I think if you only play one position, that can happen. But it is what it is. I can’t look back. I’m in a playoff spot now, so all I can think about is going out there to win. That’s the mindset.” As a second baseman, Rafaela had one DRS and a minus-21 wRC+ over 79 plate appearances. As a centerfielder, he had 20 DRS and a 109 wRC+ over 508 plate appearances. Seemingly coming to their senses, Alex Cora & Co. once again began playing the likely Gold Glove winner solely in center at the the end of August. Not long thereafter, he began to rebound with the bat. Over his last dozen games, Rafaela registered a .364 BA and a .927 OPS. Was the surge something that could have been expected? “Yeah, because it’s baseball,” Rafaela said. “It can happen.” ——— A quiz: The Seattle Mariners were in their 15th season when they first finished with a winning record. Who led that 1991 squad in home runs? (A hint: he has the most strikeouts of any hitter in Mariners history.) ——— NEWS NOTES The average time of a nine-inning MLB game was 2:38 this season, up two minutes from a year ago. In 2002, the last year before a pitch clock was instituted, the average time was 3:04. The 2026 Ford C. Frick Award finalists were announced this past week. They are Brian Anderson, Joe Buck, Skip Caray, René Cárdenas, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Duane Kuiper, John Rooney, Dan Shulman, and John Sterling. More information can be found here. Ray Lane, a legendary Detroit sportscaster whose career included calling Tigers games alongside Ernie Harwell from 1967-1972, died last weekend at age 95. Fans of a certain age will recall that Paul Carey was then Harwell’s broadcaster partner from 1973-1991. ——— The answer to the quiz is Jay Buhner, who homered 27 times for the Mariners in 1991. Ken Griffey Jr., who was then in his third MLB season, went deep 22 times. ——— Left on the cutting-room floor from my recent conversation with Dillon Dingler was what the Detroit Tigers catcher told me when I asked what’s going through his mind when he walks behind the plate to start a game. “The first inning is crucial — it’s usually three of their best hitters — so I’m really just trying to settle down, honestly,” Dingler admitted. “There is a lot of emotion that goes along with the game, especially at the start. You’re amped up, so you take that time to calm down a little bit and get in the flow. I would say that I’m pretty even-tempered, but at the same time, there is adrenaline. It’s the rush, and you have to control that.” ——- Sticking with the Tigers, a recent piece I put together on Cleveland’s pitching group included the perspective of Detroit reliever Paul Sewald, who was with the Guardians for the first half of the season. I also asked Sewald about his current club’s pitching group. “Fet [pitching coach Chris Fetter] is amazing at figuring out our game-planning,” he told me. “That is an essential part of the job, and figuring out which pitches you’re going to throw is very difficult before a game ever starts. And then, [assistant pitching coach] Robin Lund is a physicist at heart. He’s the guy who is going to help you with, ‘Hey, you’re not moving the way you were in 2022 and 2023. We need to get you moving the way you used to, so that you can throw with the same velocity you did then.’ We also have [assistant pitching coach] Juan Nieves. There are times you need somebody who knows what it’s like to be on the mound in front of 35,000 people and throw strikes. Juan is that guy. It’s important to have people who have specialties and can help in any situation.” ——— FOREIGN AFFAIRS The LG Twins had the best record in the KBO, finishing atop the standings at 85-56-3. The Hanwha Eagles were close behind at 83-57-4. The Pacific League’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks had NPB’s best record at 86-52-4. The Central League’s Hanshin Tigers had the second-best record at 85-54-4. Masahiro Tanaka recorded his 200th career win — 122 in NPB and 78 with the New York Yankees in MLB — earlier this week. The Tokyo Yomiuri Giants right-hander joins Yu Darvish, Hiroki Kuroda, and Hideo Nomo as Japanese pitchers who have reached that number between the two leagues. With CPBL season about to come to a close, the CTBC Brothers have the best record in Taiwan at 70-49. The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions are next best at 65-53. ——— A random obscure former player snapshot: Charlie Neal recorded the first hit in Los Angeles Dodgers history. A middle infielder who’d broken in with Brooklyn as Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese were closing out their careers, Neal singled off of Ruben Gomez at San Francisco’s Seals Stadium as the newly-located rivals clashed on Opening Day 1958. The speedy Longview, Texas native was then at his best in 1959. Not only did Neal total 60 extra-base hits, win a Gold Glove, and make the All-Star team; he excelled in the Fall Classic. Neal went 10-for-27 with a pair of home runs as the Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox in six game to capture LA’s first World Series title. A few years later, he made more history back East. In 1962, Neal recorded the first RBI in New York Mets history, driving home Richie Ashburn in the expansion team’s first-ever game. That same day, he became the first Met to log a three-hit game, with one of those knocks leaving the yard. One inning before Neal went deep, Gil Hodges hammered the first home run in Mets history. ——— The Houston Astros missed the postseason this year following eight straight seasons of October baseball, half of of which came with Dusty Baker at the helm. Taking over after the sign-stealing scandal cost A.J. Hinch his job, Baker went on to lead the erstwhile Colt .45s to their second World Series title in six years, in 2022. Houston’s 2024 playoff appearance came under current manager Joe Espada. Alex Cora was Hinch’s bench coach when the shenanigans took place, resulting in the now-Red Sox skipper’s being suspended for the 2020 season. Cora was asked for his thoughts on the Astros’ postseason streak having come to an end. “The thing that I really respect out of the group, with Dusty and Joe, is that they turned the page on our mistake,” Cora told reporters at Fenway Park. “They did an amazing job of putting that behind. It will always be, not on them, but on me and the rest of us… It’s hard to do this over and over and over, and they did it very well. [Jose] Altuve comes in there from the beginning, and he led that team. Alex [Bregman] did the same thing.” ——— Jane Leavy’s Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong With Baseball and How To Fix It includes a number of passages that feature Dusty Baker. One of them, which has nothing to do with the book’s title, addresses the now-76-year-old renaissance man’s days as a minor-league outfielder in the Atlanta Braves system. “That fall [1969], the Braves sent him to the Arizona Fall League, where he saw Janis Joplin play a gig in their home ballpark in Tempe,” Leavy wrote. “In the raw caw of her voice, he heard the strain of upheaval and rage that filled that American season. He hung out with the hippies. He liked them because even though they had stormed the fence to get in, they were peaceful about it… When the Braves told him he had to give up his student deferment and report to spring training earlier, he joined the Marines rather than the State or National Guard. The way he saw it, Marines were not likely to be called upon to fire on hippies and student protestors. It was 1970. He saw what the Ohio National Guard did at Kent State.” Baker has long been a baseball treasure. ——— LINKS YOU’LL LIKE Who drew the comics that used to be found on the backs of Topps baseball cards? Tiffany Babb addressed that question at The Fan Files. Doing a crossword puzzle is a big part of Tarik Skubal’s pregame routine. Jason Beck has the story at MLB.com. Julian McWilliams wrote about the rejuvenation of Toronto’s George Springer for CBS Sports. Andscape’s William Weinbaum presented us with an oral history of Satchel Paige’s final MLB game, which came at age 59 in 1965. How power ages might surprise you. Travis Sawchik shared some of the numbers in a blog article at Driveline Baseball. ——— RANDOM FACTS AND STATS The Seattle Mariners had 31 one-run wins this season, the most of any team. The Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins tied for the fewest one-run wins with 15 apiece. The Los Angeles Dodgers led all National League teams with 825 runs scored. They also topped the circuit in home runs and hit the ninth-most singles. The Milwaukee Brewers were second in the NL with 806 runs scored. They topped the circuit in singles and hit the ninth-most home runs. Houston Astros catchers combined for 178 hits and a .286 batting average this season; both were MLB bests. Tampa Bay Rays catchers combined for 95 hits and a .185 batting average; both were MLB worsts. Toronto Blue Jays catchers were charged with 15 throwing errors, the most of any team. Kansas City Royals catchers had just one throwing error. Don Newcombe became the first Black pitcher to start a World Series game when he took the mound for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Yankees on today’s date in 1949. The lone run Newcombe allowed that afternoon was a ninth-inning homer by Tommy Henrich, the first ever walk-off blast in Series history. On today’s date in 1944, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the St. Louis Browns 3-2 in 11 innings to even up the World Series at one game apiece. The Cardinals went on to win that year’s Fall Classic, with all six contests taking place at Sportsman Park. Players born on today’s date include Randy Bockus, a right-hander who appeared in 37 games for the San Francisco Giants across the 1986-1988 season, and in two games for the Detroit Tigers in 1989. A Canton, Ohio native who attended Kent State University, Bockus went 2-1 with a 4.23 ERA over 61-and-two-thirds career innings. Playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 28th of his rookie season, Bockus struck out as a pinch hitter in the 13th inning, moved to the outfield the following frame and was later pinch-hit for by fellow pitcher Mike Krukow. Also born on today’s date was Jim Bagby, who helped pitch the Cleveland Indians to a World Series title in 1920. A right-hander from Barnett, Georgia, Bagby bagged 31 wins during the regular season, then bested Brooklyn Robins righty Burleigh Grimes in Game 5 of the Fall Classic. Notable in that contest was Bagby’s becoming the first pitcher to hit a World Series home run, and Cleveland second baseman Bill Wambsganss turning the only triple play in World Series history. Source View the full article

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Here are the stories we covered ourselves on Book Riot this week. Meet the New Host of Reading Rainbow: Mychal the Librarian We have some good news in the world of books and reading today: Reading Rainbow is coming back! The original TV show was hosted by LeVar Burton and ran from 1983 to 2006. It’s hard to overstate just how beloved this educational children’s series was—and still is. Now, after 20 years, it’s finally coming back! The Best New Books of October, According to Indie Booksellers Here are ten of the best books of October, according to indie booksellers. Many of these we also recommend on Book Riot, so I’ve quoted our relevant recs when available. Be sure to click through to the ABA website for the full list, including six Indie Next Picks that are now out in paperback. THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB is Going to be a Musical! Here’s Everything We Know Mark your calendars and book your flights to New York in spring 2027, because that’s when the new Baby-Sitters Club musical is set to premiere. The musical is set twelve years after the events of the books (which were originally published from 1986 to 2000). Now adults, the four founding members of the Baby-Sitters Club—Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey—return to their hometown of Stoneybrook, CT to honor the pact they made with each other when they were thirteen years old. As the four women reflect on their past lives, the friendships, and the hardships, they come to some life-changing realizations about themselves and what matters most. Texas School Administrators Use A.I. To Ban Books Like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD As reported by Frank Strong, what makes this case even more infuriating is that district officials used Artificial Intelligence to create their list, allowing them to abdicate responsibility for the decision to an even further degree. First, they can blame state legislation for the removal of books, then they can blame A.I. for identifying these specific titles. Watch the PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION Teaser Trailer People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry was published in 2021, and four years later, we’re getting a movie adaptation. The film of the same name stars Emily Bader as Poppy and Tom Blyth as Alex, and it comes out on Netflix January 9th. Netflix has just released the first teaser trailer, which you can watch below. 23,000 Book Bans Since 2021: PEN America Releases Its Latest Report on the State of Literary Censorship So what does the latest report find? Starting at the top level, PEN found that since 2021, nearly 23,000 titles have been banned across 45 states and 451 public school districts. The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists There are a ton of new titles on the bestseller lists this week, which makes for a nice change. Another Judge Chips Away at Library Patron First Amendment Rights In another blow to the First Amendment Rights of library users, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida ruled that the Escambia County school board did not violate student or author rights when it pulled And Tango Makes Three from school library shelves. This is the second ruling in a matter of months to put the approved content of public library and public school library materials into the hands of government officials. The Most Read Books on Goodreads in September 2025 From romance novels to thrillers to historical fiction, these were the most read books on Goodreads this month. View the full article

Today’s Featured Book Deals $1.99Entitlement by Rumaan AlamGet This Deal $1.99The Gene by Siddhartha MukherjeeGet This Deal $4.99The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi VoGet This Deal $1.99Bonfire by Krysten RitterGet This Deal $1.99Ladykiller by Katherine WoodGet This Deal $1.99What Kind of Mother by Clay ChapmanGet This Deal $1.99A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca SolnitGet This Deal $1.99The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat SebastianGet This Deal In Case You Missed Yesterday’s Most Popular Book Deals $1.99Disappoint Me by Nicola DinanGet This Deal $1.99The Book of Doors by Gareth BrownGet This Deal $1.99The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah JohnsonGet This Deal $1.99The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie WrobelGet This Deal View the full article

Photo Credit: NBC The Chicago Fire Season 14 Episode 2 release date and time is on the horizon, and fans around the world are eager to find out when they can watch the next episode. In the upcoming episode named “Primary Search,” viewers will witness Vasquez’s struggle to establish his worth at 51. Meanwhile, Violet and Novak delve into a concerning mystery. Herrmann is determined to ensure that Molly remains positively good for it. Here’s everything you need to know about Chicago Fire Season 14 Episode 2. When is the Chicago Fire Season 14 Episode 2 release date & time? The episode’s release date is Wednesday, October 8, 2025, and its release time is 6 p.m. PT and 9 p.m. ET. Check out its release times in the U.S. below: TimezoneRelease DateRelease TimeEastern TimeOctober 8, 20259 p.m.Pacific TimeOctober 8, 20256 p.m. Find out how many episodes will be available to watch in Chicago Fire Season 14 right here. Where to watch Chicago Fire Season 14 Episode 2 You can watch Chicago Fire Season 14 Episode 2 via NBC and Peacock. NBC’s range of content includes television shows, news, and sports. Peacock serves as NBCUniversal’s streaming platform, allowing viewers to enjoy all their beloved NBC programs, original series, films, and much more. What is Chicago Fire about? The official synopsis for Chicago Fire is as follows: “An edge-of-your-seat view into the lives of everyday heroes committed to one of America’s noblest professions. For the firefighters, rescue squad and paramedics of Chicago Firehouse 51, no occupation is more stressful or dangerous, yet so rewarding and exhilarating. These courageous men and women are among the elite who forge headfirst into danger when everyone else is running the other way and whose actions make the difference between life and death.” The post Chicago Fire Season 14 Episode 2 Release Date, Time, Where to Watch appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

Photo Credit: ABC The Abbott Elementary Season 5 Episode 2 release date and time is on the horizon. Season 5 Episode 1, “Team Building”, showcases the deteriorating condition of the school, with literally roofs falling off the ceiling, followed by gas leaks in the kitchen. After the school gets caught taking bribes, the district sends Craig for team-building exercises as a punishment. This also results in fewer resources, as Janine ends up mentoring a new teacher and handling a large class of 40 students. Here’s all you need to know about the upcoming episode. When is the Abbott Elementary Season 5 Episode 2 release date & time? The episode’s release date is October 8, 2025, and its release time is 5:30 p.m. PT, 8:30 p.m. ET Check out its release times in the U.S. below: TimezoneRelease DateRelease TimeEastern TimeOctober 8, 20258:30 p.m.Pacific TimeOctober 8, 20255:30 p.m. Where to watch Abbott Elementary Season 5 Episode 2 You can watch Abbott Elementary Season 5 Episode 2 via Hulu. Owned by The Walt Disney Company, Hulu is a large streaming platform to watch the latest movies and shows. It also includes a never-ending list of movies and shows across multiple genres. Furthermore, the site also hosts several original content like Alien: Earth, Paradise, The Bear, Only Murders in the Building, Shōgun, Swiped, and the latest Chad Powers, starring Glen Powell. What is Abbott Elementary about? The official synopsis for Abbott Elementary is as follows: “In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible public servants may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don’t love the school district’s less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.” The post Abbott Elementary Season 5 Episode 2 Release Date, Time, Where to Watch appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

Photo Credit: BET The Sistas Season 9 Episode 12 release date and time is right around the corner. As per the season’s official schedule, the upcoming twelfth episode is titled “Search Party.” This episode will pick up from the cliffhanger of Episode 11, “Surprise, Surprise,” which saw Karen leave her baby in the crib and disappear without a trace. Sistas is a comedy-drama television series created by Tyler Perry. It first premiered on October 23, 2019, and follows the tumultuous dating lives of a group of black women living in Atlanta. The show stars KJ Smith, Mignon, Ebony Obsidian, Novi Brown, Crystal Renee Hayslett, Angela Beyince, Devale Ellis, Chido Nwokocha, and many more. Here are all the release details of Sistas Season 9 Episode 12. When is the Sistas Season 9 Episode 12 release date & time? The episode’s release date is Wednesday, October 8, and its release time is 6:00 p.m. PT and 9:00 p.m. ET. Check out its release times in the U.S. below: TimezoneRelease DateRelease TimeEastern TimeOctober 8, 20259:00 p.m.Pacific TimeOctober 8, 20256:00 p.m. Where to watch Sistas Season 9 Episode 12 You can watch Sistas Season 9 Episode 12 via BET. BET is one of the most popular television networks in the country that currently operates under the umbrella of Paramount Media Networks. It hosts an exclusive selection of entertaining movies and television shows. Fans can enjoy popular series on BET and BET Plus, such as The Oval, Tyler Perry’s Assisted Living, Ms. Pat Settles It, and House of Payne, among others. What is Sistas about? The official synopsis for Sistas is as follows: “There’s nothing that bonds a group of single black women together more than sidestepping the land mines of living, working and dating in Atlanta. In a sea of swipe-lefts, social media drama and unrealistic #relationshipgoals, these friends try to find their Mr. Right.” The post Sistas Season 9 Episode 12 Release Date, Time, Where to Watch appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

Photo Credit: NBC The Chicago P.D. Season 13, Episode 2 release date and time are just around the corner. In Chicago P.D. Season 13 Episode 1, “Consequences,” the story picks up a month after Chief Reid’s death. Following his death, Hank Voight believed that his team could get reinstated, but not before Internal Affairs Commander Delvin made his move. Delvin’s investigation puts Voight and his team’s entire future at risk. However, it is to be seen how far Hank goes for his team. Here’s all you need to know about the latest episode and when it’s airing. When is the Chicago P.D. Season 13 Episode 2 release date & time? The episode’s release date is October 8, 2025, and its release time is 7 p.m. PT, 10 p.m. ET Check out its release times in the U.S. below: TimezoneRelease DateRelease TimeEastern TimeOctober 8, 202510 p.m.Pacific TimeOctober 8, 20257 p.m. Where to watch Chicago P.D. Season 13 Episode 2 You can watch Chicago P.D. Season 13 Episode 2 via NBC. NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation) is a major TV network in the U.S. It started in 1926 and has since become one of the most well-known broadcasters. NBC offers a variety of shows, including news, sports, dramas, and comedies. Some popular programs on NBC include Saturday Night Live, The Voice, and Chicago P.D. What is Chicago P.D. about? The official synopsis for Chicago P.D. is as follows: “A riveting police drama about the men and women of the Chicago Police Department’s District 21 who put it all on the line to serve and protect their community. District 21 is made up of two distinctly different groups: the uniformed cops who patrol the beat and go head-to-head with the city’s street crimes and the Intelligence Unit that combats the city’s major offenses – organized crime, drug trafficking, high-profile murders, and beyond.” The post Chicago P.D. Season 13 Episode 2 Release Date, Time, Where to Watch appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

Photo Credit: Apple TV+ The Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 3 release date and time is right around the corner. As per the official schedule of the show, the upcoming third episode of the season is titled “Tall Tales.” The previous episode, “Incommunicado,” saw Lamb take down an assassin. Meanwhile, Taverner comes across some key information about the Abbotsfield shooting. The third season of Slow Horses returns with the beloved duo Jackson Lamb and River Cartwright, as they find themselves unraveling more crimes and conspiracies. The popular spy thriller stars Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Rosalind Eleazar, and more. So, here’s everything you need to know about the release date of Slow Horses Season 5’s upcoming episode. When is the Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 3 release date & time? The episode’s release date is Tuesday, October 8, and its release time is at 6:00 p.m. PT and 9:00 p.m. ET. Check out its release times in the U.S. below: TimezoneRelease DateRelease TimeEastern TimeOctober 8, 20259:00 p.m.Pacific TimeOctober 8, 20256:00 p.m. Find out how many episodes will be available to watch in Slow Horses Season 5 right here. Where to watch Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 3 You can watch Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 3 via Apple TV+. Apple TV+ offers a free trial that fans can enjoy before purchasing a membership plan to begin streaming. The popular streaming platform hosts a multitude of globally renowned and trending shows like Chief of War, Severance, The Buccaneers, Shrinking, and many more. What is Slow Horses about? The official synopsis for Slow Horses is as follows: “Follow a dysfunctional team of MI5 agents—and their obnoxious boss, the notorious Jackson Lamb—as they navigate the espionage world’s smoke and mirrors to defend England from sinister forces.” The post Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 3 Release Date, Time, Where to Watch appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

A farmworker opened fire at two farms in Half Moon Bay, California, in January 2023. He killed seven men, six co-workers and a supervisor, all immigrants. He also shot an eighth man —five times— but he survived. The physical recovery for Pedro Romero Pérez has been a long one, but his emotional healing has been even longer. José, Pedro’s older brother and only family in the U.S., didn’t survive the shooting. In this episode, we go to Half Moon Bay, where an unconventional music program is helping Pedro and others heal from their deepest wounds through the keys and wails of the accordion. Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa. Follow the show to get every episode. Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for exclusive episodes, sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes chisme on Latino USA and all our podcasts. Follow us on TikTok and YouTube. Subscribe to our newsletter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

http://blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/USATSI_27251697.jpgEric Hartline and Bill Streicher – Imagn Images PHILADELPHIA – It’s dangerous to draw conclusions from one game of a playoff series, but after Game 1 of the NLDS, you can take this lesson to the bank: Nobody’s perfect. Cristopher Sánchez was on the verge of completing six imperious innings, until the last three batters he faced — the last pitch he threw, really — sent the Phillies into a spiral. Teoscar Hernández committed a borderline-unforgivable defensive gaffe, then atoned with interest by the end of the night with a game-winning three-run homer. Shohei Ohtani, making history by leading off a playoff game as a starting pitcher, looked not just like a two-way player but like two different people. Ohtani has seldom looked so hapless at the plate, striking out in each of his first four plate appearances. He made a slightly less glorious brand of history, becoming the sixth player in the pitch tracking era to strike out looking three times in a playoff game. But on the other hand. Ohtani came out the winning pitcher: nine strikeouts in six innings, with just four baserunners allowed. Hernández’s seventh-inning homer off Matt Strahm made the difference in a 5-3 Dodger win. This was the Phillies’ fourth postseason home opener of the Bryce Harper era, and as stable as the core of the team has been over the past four seasons, you can detect markers of the passage of time. The kids of 2022 are now established veterans, and there are more than a few completely new faces. The crowd is different. The tireless, lusty, deafening clamor that defined the 2022 postseason has been chastened by a blown 2-0 lead in the 2023 NLCS and an embarrassing no-show against a division rival last year. This is now a crowd burdened by the knowledge that not everything is going to go the Phillies’ way. In the quiet moments, which exist now, the aggressive roar recedes into an anxious silence. But when presented such an inviting target as Ohtani, they still have that top gear. I’d never seen the most popular athlete in North American sports get booed so loud you couldn’t hear the public address system. Who made up the bottom half of the Dodgers’ order? I had to check the scorecard — an ear-splitting wave of “Let’s Go Phillies” chants drowned out every name from Tommy Edman on down. The first two innings of the game did little to calm the atmosphere. In this matchup of heavyweight starting pitchers, it was Ohtani who hit the canvas first. He walked Alec Bohm to lead off the second, then left a 100 mph four-seamer right where Brandon Marsh could get it. With two runners on and nobody out, J.T. Realmuto scalded another middle-middle triple-digit heater into the right center field gap. What should’ve been a single and maybe driven in a single run turned into a two-run triple when the ball escaped first Hernández and then Andy Pages. “I was playing straight in,” Hernández said after the game. “I didn’t get a good angle. He hit it pretty good. I tried to get it, so he can’t go all the way to third or they can score two runs in that situation. It went by me.” The two Dodgers outfielders watched the ball roll to the wall, like two cats standing over a column of marching ants. And by the time they returned the ball to the infield, two runs had scored and Realmuto was standing on third. He’d score on a Harrison Bader sacrifice fly to stretch the Phillies’ lead to 3-0. That was all the Phillies got. Ohtani kept the top three hitters in the order — Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Harper — off the bases their first three times through the lineup. “I thought we just missed some pitches over the plate that we could’ve done damage on,” said Harper. “We just didn’t get it done.” For the next five innings, though, it looked like the Phillies wouldn’t need their stars’ help. Sánchez made his first postseason start during that 2023 NLCS loss, a token 11-batter effort at the head of a de facto bullpen game. In just 24 months, by a combination Sánchez’s own spectacular self-improvement and attrition to Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, he’s become the Phillies’ ace. With the Dodgers’ nine-deep-with-room-to-spare lineup, headed by a trio of MVPs, Sánchez had little room for error. Perfection was the ask, and he’s one of only a very few starters in baseball capable of providing it. I didn’t have the sense watching Sánchez live that we were seeing perfection. He ran too many deep counts, and he departed the strike zone by too much when ahead — especially against the bottom of the Dodgers’ order. He needed Bader to bail him out with a spectacular diving catch. And yet, after 5 2/3 innings, there he was, up 3-0 in the game, with eight strikeouts and only three baserunners allowed. The key to Sánchez’s game is a mystifying two-pitch combination: a sinker and changeup, both with hard downward and arm-side movement but with a nine mile-an-hour discrepancy in speed. For most pitchers, a changeup is an emergency barrier to protect against opposite-handed batters. For Sánchez, it’s the very rock upon which his church is built. In the very first at-bat of the game, he threw two left-on-left changeups in a row to finish a three-pitch strikeout of Ohtani. His biggest highlight of the night came in the fifth inning against the same batter. Ohtani swung through a 1-0 slider, then swung over a changeup, and then — presumably expecting another change — sat there and watched a sinker straight down the middle for strike three. In three at-bats, off Sánchez, Ohtani saw 14 pitches, whiffed on six, and took two others for strike three: The best baseball player on the planet, maybe the best who ever lived. And Sánchez tied him in knots. It didn’t matter. “Even if I perform well, whatever I do, if we lose the game then I don’t feel good,” said Sánchez through an interpreter. “We’re a team. If we win, we win together, and if we lose, we lose together.” So, about what happened after that superb first 5 2/3 innings. The last three Dodgers who faced Sánchez reached: First, Freddie Freeman on a walk, then Edman on a single, and finally Enrique Hernández. Sánchez’s last pitch of the game might have been his worst, or at least his most ill-conceived: A 1-0 breaking ball in the zone to a righty with a massive platoon split. Hernández laced it into the corner to plate two runs. In came David Robertson, who looked for all the world like he was determined to walk Max Muncy, but baseball’s choosiest hitter chased at least twice, maybe three times, at pitches out of the zone and grounded out weakly to end the inning. Robertson then started the next frame by putting the first two men he faced on base, leaving Strahm with the impossible task of protecting a one-run lead with two men on, no one out, and the top of the Dodgers’ order coming up. He came within about 15 feet of pulling it off. Strahm struck out Ohtani and got Mookie Betts to pop out, but Teoscar poked a fly ball to the opposite field. Bader quickly drew a bead on it and would’ve run it down, had it not cleared the big fence in right center and landed about four rows deep in the seats. Adding injury to insult: That futile pursuit was Bader’s last involvement in the game. The punchy center fielder, whose trade deadline acquisition revitalized the Phillies’ offense, and whose diving grab in center field stanched a potential fifth inning rally, tweaked his hamstring. His participation in the rest of the series remains in doubt. From that point, everything that ailed the Dodgers before could be forgotten. Teoscar had more than atoned for his baffling play in right field earlier. “For me, anything that happened before a big moment like that, it’s in the past,” he said. The Phillies had gotten to Ohtani early, but he kept the game close and ultimately outlasted Sánchez. The importance of that last bit is hard to overstate. “It was huge,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “He’s not always going to be perfect. But I do feel that him giving up the three and to still go out there and give us six innings — so, five innings tonight he threw shutout baseball — was huge. So it’s a quality start for him. He gets the win.” In the month of September, the Dodgers had the second-worst bullpen in the majors, and the squishier parts of said bullpen came closer to giving away both games in the Reds series than the final scores would indicate. The hope for Roberts was this: With only three starters required for the best-of-five NLDS, he suddenly had a surfeit of big arms from the rotation that could be repurposed in relief. Had Ohtani been chased early, or in the middle of an inning, the Phillies could’ve teed off on the same relievers they torched in a September series at Dodger Stadium. Instead, Roberts was able to hand the ball to Tyler Glasnow, who likely would’ve finished the game with a three-inning save if he’d kept the bases clean. Even this strained the limits of the Dodger bullpen. Glasnow, in his second inning of work, walked Turner and let Harper poke a seeing-eye single through the right side. Bohm walked to load the bases with two out, and both managers traded pawns: Alex Vesia came in to face Marsh, who was promptly lifted for Edmundo Sosa. Sosa packs more punch than your average utility infielder. He played a decent amount while Turner and Bohm were hurt, slugged .469 overall and hit .318/.362/.533 against lefties. He also had a three-homer game against the Marlins a week and a half ago. Vesia gave him something to hit — a 92.6 mph fastball up and over the plate — but Sosa hit it to center field, where hitting the ball 361 feet gets you a routine fly out, not a game-winning home run. In came Roki Sasaki for the ninth. The rookie lived up to his billing, establishing himself with 100-plus heat in the zone early in the count, and counterpunching with his splitter. But not in the dirt, where you’d expect him to throw it, where hitters could swing over it. Rather, Sasaki dropped his splitter onto the top third of the strike zone, like a stone off a railroad bridge over a river. Realmuto, trying to start a game-saving rally, took what looked like a hit-the-bull fastball, only to watch it dip into the zone for strike three. The Phillies did bring the tying run to the plate. Max Kepler somehow tagged an outside splitter and yanked it down the line, but Sasaki recovered quickly. After just four batters and 11 pitches, he got Bryson Stott to pop out to Muncy, just past the third base bag. The crowd, three hours removed from baying for blood, dispersed quietly, with scattered boos tinkling around the stadium. Source View the full article

http://blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Vladimir-Guerrero-Jr-ALDS-G1-2025.jpgNick Turchiaro-Imagn Images At this time last year, the Blue Jays faced some serious uncertainty. They’d just finished last in the AL East, and they had only one more season guaranteed with both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette on their roster. The future became even murkier during the winter, when the Yankees and Red Sox were both beefing up, the Orioles were still expected to be good, and the Rays were, well, the Rays. Both Guerrero and Bichette became the subject of trade rumors; really, there were questions about whether or not Toronto would just blow it all up. Oh, how things have changed. In early April, the Jays extended Vladito through the end of the next decade, and then they caught fire. And now, one year after coming in last, they finished tied with the Yankees for the best record in the American League and took the division because they won the season series between the two teams. For that reason, Toronto hosted Game 1 of the Division Series against the New York on Saturday, and after the Jays bludgeoned the Yankees, 10-1, maybe it’s the boys from the Bronx who should be feeling a bit of self doubt. As a franchise, the Yankees have played 441 postseason games; this loss ranks as one of their worst playoff humiliations ever: Worst Yankees Playoff Losses Date Series Game Opponent Runs Scored Runs Allowed Difference 10/8/2018 ALDS 3 Red Sox 1 16 -15 11/3/2001 WS 6 Diamondbacks 2 15 -13 10/16/1999 ALCS 3 Red Sox 1 13 -12 10/20/2001 ALCS 3 Mariners 3 14 -11 10/20/1996 WS 1 Braves 1 12 -11 10/7/2000 ALDS 4 Athletics 1 11 -10 10/4/2025 ALDS 1 Blue Jays 1 10 -9 10/4/2007 ALDS 1 Cleveland 3 12 -9 10/2/1958 WS 2 Braves 5 13 -8 10/7/1921 WS 3 Giants 5 13 -8 10/9/1926 WS 6 Cardinals 2 10 -8 10/27/2001 WS 1 Diamondbacks 1 9 -8 10/18/2010 ALCS 3 Rangers 0 8 -8 10/19/2010 ALCS 4 Rangers 3 10 -7 10/20/2004 ALCS 7 Red Sox 3 10 -7 10/28/1981 WS 6 Dodgers 2 9 -7 10/18/2012 ALCS 4 Tigers 1 8 -7 10/10/1978 WS 1 Dodgers 5 11 -6 10/4/1978 ALCS 2 Royals 4 10 -6 10/16/1977 WS 5 Dodgers 4 10 -6 Source: Baseball-Reference Saturday was the Yankees’ worst playoff loss since their 16-1 shellacking at the hands of the Red Sox in 2018. For those who have forgotten that game, or at least have tried to forget it, that was the one where the Sox tagged Luis Severino early and Brock Holt (!!!) hit for the first cycle in postseason history. Against the Blue Jays, the Yankees started reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil, who was left off the Wild Card Series roster after starting the final game of the regular season, when the Yankees were still in pursuit of the first-round bye that Toronto barely secured. In his two postseason starts last year, Gil didn’t make it to the fifth inning; on Saturday, he couldn’t make it a full three frames. The Jays pounced quickly in the first, with Gil throwing a middle-inside changeup that fooled Guerrero about as effectively as a toddler trying to hide by covering their head with a blanket. That’s not a location where pitchers will typically throw offspeed stuff to Vlad, and after the way he unleashed his bat speed on this one, they won’t be rethinking their approach for him anytime soon. The day didn’t go much better for Gil after the Guerrero homer. Alejandro Kirk led off the second inning with a solo shot of his own, smacking a 95-mph fastball into the crowd with the second-fastest bat speed on any ball in play of the night, at 84.7 mph. The Yankees were still only down 2-0 at this point, but the Blue Jays were hitting Gil hard. Six of their batted balls against him registered an exit velocity of at least 95 mph. Recognizing that his starter didn’t have it, manager Aaron Boone went to left-handed sidearmer Tim Hill to face the lefty-heavy part of the Toronto lineup with a runner on first and two outs in the third. Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman fared much better than Gil. He attacked the zone early and got a lot of quick outs as a result. Six of the nine batters in New York’s lineup were lefties, but Gausman’s profile limits the effectiveness of playing for platoon advantages against him: He’s long had a legitimate reverse platoon split as a result of his filthy splitter, which he uses aggressively in any count. He didn’t rack up a ton of strikeouts, but the splitter did its job, getting 10 whiffs on 17 swings. Fortune did the rest of the job for him; of the four balls hit with an exit velocity north 100 mph, he only gave up the two singles. However, Gausman’s command failed him in the sixth, providing the Yankees with their only real scoring opportunity. Anthony Volpe doubled to start things off, and after an Austin Wells single, they had runners on the corners, nobody out, and the top of their order coming up. Trent Grisham, who’d swung at and got out on the first pitch from Gausman in his first two at-bats, decided it was maybe a good idea to take a pitch. Three of them actually, all for balls. Behind 3-0, Gausman found the zone for strike one, then got Grisham to foul off a center-cut fastball for strike two, before walking him. Bases loaded. Nobody out. Aaron Judge at the plate. Gausman hunkered down, and with the count full, got Judge to flail at a sinker tumbling low and outside the zone. That matchup seemed to have taken a lot out of Gausman, because he walked the next batter, Cody Bellinger, on four pitches to bring in the Yankees’ only run of the game. After Ben Rice popped out to third base for the second out, Blue Jays manager John Schneider called on Louis Varland to face Giancarlo Stanton, striking him out with a 100.7-mph fastball to escape the jam. For a good stretch of the middle innings, it looked like the game was settling into a low-scoring affair. Hill and then Camilo Doval combined to allow only one hit in 3 1/3 innings in relief of Gil. The problem was the entire Yankees bullpen struggled to miss bats; over 6 1/3 innings of work, their relievers combined for just one strikeout. The Jays were largely successful all afternoon at putting the ball in play, and when you can do that consistently, it’s only so long until the BABIP gods smile upon you. That’s precisely what happened in the seventh. Boone brought in Luke Weaver. His last time out, in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series against the Red Sox, Weaver faced three batters without recording an out in an inning that got away from the Yankees. And in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Blue Jays, Weaver faced three batters without recording an out in an inning that got away from the Yankees. After issuing a leadoff walk to Daulton Varsho, Weaver allowed back-to-back singles to Anthony Santander — whom I totally forgot existed — and Andrés Giménez to make it a 3-1 game. Next in from the bullpen was Fernando Cruz, and after a failed sacrifice bunt attempt by Ernie Clement, George Springer walked and Nathan Lukes doubled home two more runs. Guerrero then lifted a sac fly for the fifth run of the inning. At that point, it was Paul Blackburn mopup time. The Jays finished the Yankees off in the eighth with two more doubles, three more singles, and Kirk hitting his second homer of the game. All that was left was for Jeff Hoffman to close out the rout in the ninth. It’s hard to find a silver lining in a 10-1 loss in the playoffs, and the best I can manage is noting that by the ZiPS projections, this was the only projected game in which the Blue Jays were favored, by a slight margin. Having this happen with Max Fried or Carlos Rodón on the mound would have been a bit more damaging for the Yankees, and while the bullpen got a workout, New York didn’t have to use either David Bednar or Devin Williams. Game 1 of the ALDS could not possibly have gone better for the Blue Jays. With their ace on the mound at home against New York’s no. 4 starter, it was a game they had to win. On Sunday, with Fried getting the ball opposite rookie Trey Yesavage in Game 2 of the best-of-five series, the Yankees will be the ones facing a must-win situation. Source View the full article

It’s been less than a week since the Giants fired Bob Melvin, ending his tenure with the organization after just two seasons even in spite of the team’s decision to preemptively exercise a 2026 club option on Melvin over the summer. It was a somewhat surprising decision given that context, and today Melvin spoke about his time in San Francisco, his dismissal, and his future plans with Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle. A Bay Area native who was born in Palo Alto and currently resides in Menlo Park, Melvin expressed gratitude for the opportunity to manage both the A’s while they were in Oakland and the Giants in San Francisco “in one lifetime,” calling the opportunity “more than I could even imagine.” Melvin had far more success in his time with the A’s, who he managed to pilot to a 823-764 record across 11 seasons that earned him six playoff appearances and two of his three Manager of the Year awards. By contrast, Melvin’s two seasons in San Francisco were generally disappointing as the club finished with an 80-82 record in 2024 before making only a token improvement to 81-81 in 2025, even after Buster Posey took over as president of baseball operations and brought in quality veterans like Justin Verlander, Willy Adames, and Rafael Devers. That 2025 campaign is even more disappointing when one considers that the Giants were tied for the division lead in mid-June, shortly before the Devers trade. It would be easy to point to that second-half decline as the reason for Melvin’s dismissal, but Melvin told Rubin that he hadn’t received a concrete reason for his firing when he spoke to Posey about his decision the day of the announcement. Posey would later cite the club’s performance over the final months of the season as the reason for Melvin’s dismissal, but Melvin pushed back against that characterization. He correctly pointed out that Posey and the front office made the decision to sell off key pieces like Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval at the deadline in July. In that context, the club’s 27-26 record over the final two months of the season actually looks relatively impressive. Whatever the reason for Posey’s decision to go in another direction, Rubin suggests that Melvin hasn’t closed the door on continuing his managerial career. There’s a number of vacancies all around baseball (including attractive jobs in places like Atlanta and Baltimore), and a three-time Manager of the Year with 1678 wins under his belt seems certain to be an attractive potential candidate to any club hoping to find an experienced voice in the dugout. Another stateside gig may not be his preferred destination, however, as Melvin told Rubin that he’s “always wanted to manage in Japan.” Having managed Japanese superstars like Ichiro Suzuki and Yu Darvish during his career, Melvin went on to note that he “really enjoys the style of baseball they play” in Nippon Professional Baseball. Expatriate managers in Japan aren’t especially common, but they aren’t completely unheard of with Bobby Valentine’s time managing the Chiba Lotte Marines standing out as perhaps the most notable example of an MLB manager finding work in an NPB dugout. Perhaps Melvin will follow in those footsteps, though he acknowledged to Rubin that it’s “tough to say for sure” what his plans are so soon after being dismissed by the Giants. View the full article

The Phillies pulled outfielder Harrison Bader from Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers tonight due to what was at first described by the team has hamstring tightness, but manager Rob Thomson later relayed to reporters (including Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic) that the issue was actually groin tightness. Bader himself later spoke to reporters (including Tim Kelly of On Pattison) and revealed that he would be undergoing imaging to determine the extent of his injury. While the situation might seem concerning, Bader is considered day-to-day for the time being and expressed confidence that he’ll return to the Phillies’ lineup during this series. He noted that he’ll rest during tomorrow’s day off and “go from there,” adding that playing in the postseason is the time where you “empty the tank,” suggesting a willingness to try and play through an injury that might otherwise sit him down at another point in the season. That’s surely encouraging for Phillies fans to hear given Bader’s emergence as a key piece of the team in recent weeks. Acquired from the Twins at the trade deadline back in July, Bader had already been enjoying a solid season with the Twins but kicked things up to another gear when he arrived in Philadephia. In 50 games with the Phillies, Bader has hit .305/.361/.463 with five home runs, eleven doubles, and a triple in 194 trips to the plate while serving as the team’s regular center fielder. He’s done his part defensively as well, with +1 Fielding Run Value in center this year despite playing the outfield corners exclusively in Minnesota. Bader has long been a well-regarded center fielder in the majors, but was pushed into a corner with the Twins due to the presence of a healthy Byron Buxton in the club’s lineup. The addition of Bader at the deadline helped to stabilize the Phillies on both sides of the ball. Nick Castellanos struggled badly this year, with below-average offensive numbers that paired with his typical lackluster glove in the outfield to make him a below replacement level player. Max Kepler and Johan Rojas had disappointing seasons of their own as well, leaving Bader to step up alongside Brandon Marsh to help create some more production for the Phillies on both offensively and defensively. Few deadline additions have been more impactful for their club down the stretch, and it would be devastating for the club to go without Bader during a tough matchup against the Dodgers this week, especially after dropping game 1 of the series at home earlier this evening. If Bader were to miss Game 2 on Monday, an outfield featuring Marsh in center flanked by Kepler in left and Castellanos in right seems like the most likely outcome, though Weston Wilson is also on the roster as a potential right-handed complement to Kepler. In a worst-case scenario where Bader needed to be pulled from the club’s NLDS roster entirely, the Phillies would have the option to place him on the injured list and replace him on the roster. Doing so would mean that Bader would miss the entire NLCS, however, and only be eligible to return this year if the Phillies made it all the way to the World Series. Needless to say, that’s a situation the Phillies will surely be hoping to avoid. View the full article

Youmin Hwang birdied five of her last six holes for a one-shot win in the LOTTE Championship for her first LPGA Tour title.View the full article

Angels GM Perry Minasian spoke to reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) today about the club’s disappointing 2025 season, as well plans for the future of the club. Much of the conversation was focused on the decision to move on from both manager Ron Washington and interim manager Ray Montgomery in the dugout and search for a new skipper to lead the club. While Minasian didn’t tip his hand much on the club’s managerial search beyond noting that they’d like to find a new voice in the dugout sooner rather than later, he did make a number of intriguing comments about the state of the team headed into the offseason. With Kyle Hendricks and Tyler Anderson both headed into free agency this offseason while Anaheim’s array of young pitching arms have yet to establish themselves as viable regular starters, Minasian suggested that there are three pitchers he has penciled into next year’s rotation: Yusei Kikuchi, Jose Soriano, and Reid Detmers. Kikuchi and Soriano are hardly surprising as both veterans turned in perfectly solid season in the rotation and remain under control for next year. Detmers, by contrast, is something of a surprise given his rocky tenure in the organization. The lefty was once among the game’s very best pitching prospects and pitched quite well in the rotation from 2022 to ’23 after a shaky debut in 2021. Things changed last year when he was torched to the tune of a 6.70 ERA in 17 starts and spent much of the season in the minors. This year, Detmers pitched out of the bullpen and enjoyed a solid enough season where he posted a 3.96 ERA with a 3.12 FIP across 63 2/3 innings of work. While that role of single-inning reliever mostly worked out for the lefty, the Angels will now have him try his hand at starting once again. Minasian suggested he’s “earned” a spot in the rotation and that Detmers was “a different guy” last time he pitched as a starter for the club. While it may seem unorthodox to put Detmers back into a role he struggled in after he found success in the bullpen, it’s worth noting that the Angels did the same thing with Soriano to some success. The right-hander hadn’t made even 10 starts at any level since his stint at Single-A in 2019 when the club decided to put him in last year’s rotation, and he’s turned out quite well in that role. With Detmers and Soriano joining Kikuchi in the rotation next year, that leaves two spots left unsettled. Caden Dana, Mitch Farris, Sam Aldegheri, and Jack Kochanowicz all pitched as starters in the majors for the club this year and remain young and at least somewhat intriguing, but none posted an ERA lower than 6.40 at the big league level this season and all four can be optioned to the minors, making them perhaps best served as depth options to protect against injury. Perhaps the club could invest in the rotation via free agency this winter, but the club’s budget remains a mystery. When asked by reporters about the club’s payroll flexibility this winter, Minasian said (as relayed by Sam Blum of The Athletic) that he and owner Arte Moreno “haven’t gotten into” the details about the club’s budget for next year. It stands to reason at least some money will be available given that RosterResource projects the club for just $129MM in salary for next year, more than $75MM below where they were this year. Of course, arbitration salaries for both pricey veterans like Taylor Ward as well as first-time eligible players like Logan O’Hoppe and Zach Neto could make up some of that difference in a hurry, so it’s unclear whether or not Anaheim will be able to shop at the top of the market for arms like Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, and Zac Gallen. This year’s crop of starting pitchers is somewhat thin after that top layer, but there are some solid back-of-the-rotation types like Zack Littell and Adrian Houser available as well. Turning towards the positional side of things, Minasian made clear that the club plans to try and upgrade both center field and third base this winter. That’s not necessarily a surprise given Bryce Teodosio’s lackluster performance at the plate, Yoan Moncada’s impending free agency, and the fact that (according to Fletcher) Anthony Rendon hasn’t yet resumed baseball activities after undergoing surgery earlier this year. Minasian suggested the club also hopes to get more left-handed in the lineup and that Christian Moore would be in competition for a spot in the lineup, which would logically mean there’s room for an addition at second base as well. Aside from simply reuniting with Moncada or Luis Rengifo, the pickings in free agency for left-handed or switch-hitting infielders are somewhat slim. Jorge Polanco would be the cream of the crop if he can return to playing the field regularly, with Adam Frazier, Cavan Biggio, and Willi Castro joining Moncada and Rengifo among the next tier of options. The idea of making a splash by adding a lefty-swinging center fielder is far more plausible with both Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger likely ticketed for free agency coming off strong seasons, not to mention the availability of Cedric Mullins. Adding one of those three players (or someone similar) becomes harder to imagine when you consider the state of the club’s outfield mix, however. Minasian suggested that the Angels hope to get Mike Trout back into the outfield next year, but that would be a corner outfield capacity rather than moving him back to center. Jorge Soler is under contract for next year and would be ticketed for regular at-bats at DH, and Minasian suggested that Jo Adell is an option in center field but the club would prefer to leave him in a corner. Taylor Ward enjoyed his best season since 2022 this year while playing exclusively left field. Given that logjam of right-handed outfield bats, it stands to reason that an addition to the outfield mix would either need to be a complementary player who shares time with Adell in center or be paired with a move to deal away one of the team’s other outfielders, though Trout obviously isn’t going anywhere and Soler likely has little value after an injury-marred season. Making a trade to clear room to bring in a free agent center fielder would likely stretch the club’s budget, of course, but perhaps the trade return for someone like Ward or Adell could address a need elsewhere on the roster to lighten that blow. View the full article

Garrick Higgo took a two-shot lead in the Sanderson Farm Championship on Saturday but said he'll "play as if I'm behind" in Sunday's final round.View the full article

The Red Sox made clear nearly a month ago that they planned to hire a GM this offseason. At the time, Paul Toboni was an assistant GM for the club and immediately appeared to be the logical choice for the role among internal candidates and perhaps even the overall favorite. It didn’t take long, however, for that option to come off the table. Toboni was hired by the Nationals to serve as their president of baseball operations, taking over as their top executive. According to The Boston Globe’s Tim Healey, Toboni was not only the “heavy favorite” to serve as Craig Breslow’s #2 in Boston, but the club now plans to “take a step a back” this offseason to evaluate what they want to do with the role now that he is no longer an option. That seems to leave the door cracked open for the possibility that the Red Sox will go without a GM serving under Breslow for a third consecutive season in 2026. That would be something of a shock given the club’s comments last month, but given the club’s apparent focus on Toboni for the role it’s at least possible that their decision to hire a GM was largely a way to promote him and keep someone viewed as a rising star around the game in the organization’s fold. That’s no longer an option, so perhaps the Red Sox could decide to once again leave the job vacant headed into 2026. Of course, that’s hardly guaranteed and may not be the most prudent option. As Healey notes, Breslow called Toboni’s departure “a big loss” for the organization and noted that he had a hand in all areas of player development in both the majors and minors. Those responsibilities will presumably need to be taken over by someone else, and while Boston’s three remaining assistant GMs (Raquel Ferreira, Eddie Romero, and Mike Groopman) could share some of that load or a lower-level member of the staff could be promoted to fill Toboni’s shoes, an external hire who could be brought in by the allure of that vacant GM job could perhaps kill two birds with one stone by filling the job of Breslow’s #2 with someone who offers some of the same strengths Toboni would have offered. In any case, the Red Sox likely won’t be in a rush to hire their next GM in the coming days. While they’ve been eliminated from postseason contention themselves, Breslow suggested that they’ll figure out how to handle the loss of Toboni and the vacant GM role “once things quiet down” and the postseason starts to wind down. That’s sensible enough, given the fact that potentially intriguing candidates from other organizations could be hard to pluck away until that team is eliminated from postseason contention. In other Red Sox news, the club is facing two significant looming opt-out opportunities on the left side of their infield. Alex Bregman, of course, will have the opportunity to forgo the final two years and $80MM ($40MM of which is deferred money) on his contract and return to free agency. After a season where Bregman slashed .273/.360/.462 with 3.5 WAR according to both Baseball Reference and Fangraphs in 114 games, it seems like a fairly good bet that he’ll be taking that opportunity. For now, though, Bregman is staying mum about his plans. He told reporters (including Chris Cotillo of MassLive) on Thursday that he was “not even thinking about” his impending free agency in the aftermath of the club’s loss to the Yankees in Game 3 of the AL Wild Card series. The same is true of shortstop Trevor Story, who told reporters (including Cotillo) that his impending decision was “not at the top of mind,” though he did acknowledge that he came to Boston in hopes of sticking around for a “long time.” Story has two years and $55MM guaranteed left on his contract, with $5MM of that coming in the form of a buyout on a $25MM club option for the 2028 season. While Bregman’s banner year seems likely to make him a lock to opt out, Story is a much more borderline case. He played just 163 games total for Boston between 2022 and 2024 with below average offensive numbers, but enjoyed a 2025 campaign where he played in 157 games while slashing .263/.308/.433 with 25 homers and 31 steals in 654 plate appearances as Boston’s starting shortstop. He also improved as the season went on, hitting .291/.336/.490 in 75 games from July 1 onward. That’s the sort of production that makes it easy to imagine Story beating his current guarantee in free agency, particularly in a market with few quality shortstops outside of Bo Bichette. On the other hand, he’s headed into his age-33 season and has a long injury history that could raise some eyebrows about offering a long-term deal, while his roughly league average offense (101 wRC+) isn’t the sort of impressive production that spurs teams to invest a massive average annual value in a player. If both Bregman and Story were to walk this winter, that would leave the Red Sox with a deeply unsettled infield, though Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer, Triston Casas, and Ceddanne Rafaela are among the young players in the organization who could theoretically pick up a glove somewhere on the dirt next year. View the full article

http://blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Caleb-Durbin-and-William-Contreras-NLDS-G1-2025.jpgMichael McLoone-Imagn Images The Brewers and the Cubs played nine innings of baseball on Saturday, but Game 1 of the National League Divisional Series was decided before the end of the first. Every series starts off with its share of questions. Did the Brewers have enough pitching to withstand injuries to Brandon Woodruff and Shelby Miller? Could Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong locate the MVP form they’d showed earlier this season? How would a Brewers offense that loves to work the count fare against a strike-throwing Cubs pitching staff? Would the Brewers be rusty after a five-game layoff? Would the Cubs regret starting Matthew Boyd on short rest after he threw just 58 pitches against the Padres on Tuesday? In Game 1, those last two questions were all that mattered. The Brewers were not rusty, and Boyd may well have been. The Cubs jumped out to an early lead, but in the bottom of the first, the Brewers exploded on Boyd like they’d spent the past five days packing themselves into a cannon. During the regular season, the Brewers scored only 9% of their runs in the first inning, the third-lowest rate in baseball. Maybe they were saving it all up for the playoffs. Milwaukee raced to a 6-1 lead in the first and extended it to 9-1 in the second. “I’m proud they came out ready,” said manager Pat Murphy during the game. “The guys came out ready to swing, and when they’re ready to swing, a lot of good things can happen. They’re a great bunch.” By virtue of their first-round bye, the Brewers lined up ace Freddy Peralta to pitch Game 1. After an early hiccup, Peralta looked every bit the guy who led the NL with 17 wins and notched three of them against the Cubs. He missed well outside with a 95-mph fastball on the first pitch of the game, then came back with a belt-high heater over the center of the plate, which Chicago leadoff hitter Michael Busch fouled off. Peralta repeated the pattern: four-seamer well outside, belt-high four-seamer over the middle. Busch was ready for the second one. He turned on it and sent it 389 feet over the right field fence. Four pitches in, the Cubs had a 1-0 lead. Peralta recovered quickly, retiring the next three batters in order. He’d allow just one more base hit over the next four innings. In the bottom of the second, Jackson Chourio squared to bunt on the first pitch from Boyd, then took it for a ball inside. Looking back, it’s tempting to wonder what would have happened had Boyd put the pitch in the strike zone. Maybe if Chourio would have actually bunted the ball, and maybe the whole game would have gone differently. But it was tight and Chourio pulled the bat back, then ripped the fourth pitch he saw down the third base line for a double. Brice Turang knocked Chourio in with a double of his own, lining the first pitch he saw on a hop off the right field fence. The Brewers had tied the game at one after five pitches. William Contreras ripped the next pitch just past a diving Ian Happ for a double into left field, scoring Turang. With doubles on three consecutive pitches, the Brewers grabbed a 2-1 lead. They were far from done. Chicago pitching coach Tommy Hottovy walked out to settle down Boyd, who induced a grounder to short from Christian Yelich, then deepened his trouble by walking Andrew Vaughn. Much earlier than the Cubs would have liked, Michael Soroka started warming up in the bullpen. Boyd broke Sal Frelick’s bat, inducing a weak grounder to second base. Nico Hoerner, who may well end up winning his second Gold Glove this winter, charged the ball and then inexplicably biffed an easy hop. The ball kicked past him, allowing Contreras to score. The Brewers still had runners on first and second with one out, now with a 3-1 lead. Boyd struck out Caleb Durbin with a four-seamer above the zone, then got ahead of Blake Perkins, 1-2. He was one strike from ending the inning, but Perkins worked an incredible 12-pitch at-bat, fouling off pitch after pitch, then ripping a line drive right back up the middle – the thing that both he and the Brewers love the most in the world – scoring Vaughn and moving Frelick to third. The Brewers had a 4-1 lead and Boyd’s day was over after 30 pitches and two-thirds of an inning. Soroka came into the game with a simple mandate: stop the bleeding and keep the game close. Instead, he walked ninth hitter Joey Ortiz on four pitches, loading the bases and bringing Chourio back to the plate. This might be a good time to note that Chourio ran a 307 wRC+ with two homers in last year’s Wild Card Series, his only previous playoff games. He pushed that career postseason mark even higher, rocking a single through the left side of the infield to drive in two more runs. The Brewers led 6-1. Mercifully, Soroka got Turang to chase a high fastball for strike three. The Brewers hit for 26 minutes in the first inning. They saw 45 pitches from two pitchers. They notched five hits, walked twice, and reached once via error. They put seven balls in play with a 72% hard-hit rate. Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel pointed out that it was the first time they’d scored six runs in the first inning all season. The incomparable Sarah Langs noted that teams to score at least six runs in an inning had gone 113-1 in postseason history. With that last single off the bat of Chourio, Soroka’s job changed. It was no longer to keep the game within reach. It was to eat as many innings as possible in order to keep the Cubs from annihilating their bullpen in addition to falling behind in the best-of-five series. Peralta allowed a single to Crow-Armstrong, but he needed just 12 pitches to retire the Cubs in the top of the second and give the Brewers the chance to get right back to hitting. After leading off the first with three straight doubles, Milwaukee led off the second with three straight singles. Contreras singled to left, Yelich singled to right, and Vaughn singled to center. The bases were loaded and Aaron Civale got warm in the Cubs bullpen. Frelick lined out to left field on a ball that was too shallow for Contreras to tag up on, then Durbin dropped a duck snort into shallow center field, knocking in two. Seventeen Brewers had come to the plate. Thirteen had reached safely. Eight had scored. Perkins grounded out to first base, pushing the runners to second and third with two outs. Ortiz walked on four pitches, loading the bases again, and Counsell made the slow walk out to the mound. Soroka lasted just one third of an inning longer than Boyd. The job of eating innings fell to Civale, whom the Brewers traded to the White Sox for Vaughn back in June and whom the Cubs claimed off waivers at the end of August. Chourio greeted Civale with another grounder right down the third base line, this one for an infield single to push the score to 9-1. However, it came with a price. Chourio missed nearly the entire month of August with a right hamstring strain, and he aggravated the injury as he hustled to beat the throw from Matt Shaw. Visibly distraught, he spoke to a trainer, then left the field, and walked back to the clubhouse. The Brewers announced that he would be evaluated further after the game. Turang struck out to end the inning, and the TBS broadcast announced that Brewers were the first team in playoff history with nine runs and 10 hits in the first two innings. The Cubs and Brewers played seven more innings of more baseball. Peralta pitched brilliantly, though he surrendered another solo homer to Happ in the sixth inning. He left one out shy of a quality start, and the Milwaukee faithful rewarded him with a standing ovation. He gave up three earned runs over 5 2/3 innings, striking out nine, walking three, and allowing four hits. Civale filled his role excellently too, scattering three hits over 4 1/3 innings and allowing Counsell to ask the bullpen for just two more innings. Hoerner added another solo homer off Jared Koenig in the eighth inning before Nick Mears closed things out in the ninth. The questions going into Game 2 will revolve around Chourio’s health and Chicago’s ability to bounce back from such a thorough drubbing. The Brewers possess a capable fill-in in Isaac Collins, who ran a 122 wRC+ as a rookie this season, but Chourio is an awfully hard player to replace. His three hits pushed his career wRC+ in the playoffs to 361, and if the hamstring injury is anywhere near as serious as it looked, it’s hard to imagine him returning in time to play against the Cubs. With the 9-3 victory, the Brewers drew the season series with the Cubs even at 7-7. The good news for the Cubs is that they’ll have a day off before Game 3, allowing their bullpen to get some rest. Although Boyd threw just 30 pitches, he seems unlikely to go on short rest in Game 4. Source View the full article

The Brewers got their NLDS off to a huge start with today’s 9-3 win over the Cubs in Game 1, with all nine runs coming in the opening two innings. Unfortunately, the game involved a significant injury for Milwaukee, as outfielder Jackson Chourio left during the second inning with what the team described as right hamstring tightness. Chourio collected his third hit of the two-inning outburst when he hit a ball deep into the third base hole, then beat out the throw for an RBI single. Unfortunately, Chourio came up limping on the play, and Isaac Collins replaced Chourio as a pinch-runner and then in left field for the start of the next inning. Speaking to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters after the game, Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Chourio was undergoing an MRI at the time of the media session, and more would be known once the testing is complete. The concern is real, as Murphy said “obviously it’s real scary having that hamstring injury to the same leg. We’re hoping it’s something he can come back from soon…It could be devastating.” In a more positive note, Chourio told McCalvy and company that the removal was more precautionary in nature. “We’re still waiting [on MRI results]. But physically, I feel good, and I feel I’m in a position where I’m ready to keep going and ready to keep competing,” the outfielder said. The previous right hamstring issue referenced by Murphy was a strain that sidelined Chourio for a month this summer, keeping him on the injured list for almost all of August. Chourio hit only .240/.293/.413 in 117 plate appearances after returning from the IL, after batting .276/.311/.474 with 17 home runs in 472 PA prior to his hamstring strain. The outfielder was also more active on the basepaths (stealing 18 bases in 25 attempts) pre-injury, as he stole three bases in as many attempts once his return. To be fair, this could also have been a tactical decision, as the Brewers were coasting towards a playoff berth in September and Chourio saw less need to press. Assuming that the MRI doesn’t reveal anything serious, Chourio could benefit from the staggered nature of the NLDS schedule. Game 2 isn’t until Monday, and then there’s another off-day before Games 3-4 in Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday. Sitting Chourio just for Game 2 would be a hit to the Brewers’ lineup, but the team might view it as a necessary evil to give Chourio three full days off to rest his hamstring. This assumes, of course, that Chourio feels good enough to perhaps try playing in Game 2 after just one day off. In the worst-case scenario of a mid-series injury removal, the Brewers would be able to replace Chourio on the roster. However, that would mean Chourio would have to sit out the NLCS if Milwaukee advanced. That means the Brewers won’t want to make a drastic call on Chourio unless it’s absolutely necessary, so there’s some added drama to what seemed like a pretty stable Crew lineup heading into the playoffs. View the full article

A number of teams (and their fanbases) have already turned their attention towards the offseason. Identifying free agent targets is a big part of that prep work, so it’s worth taking a look at the players who’ll be available at each position. We’ll start things off with catchers. Ages listed are for the 2026 season. Starting Catchers J.T. Realmuto (35) Now in his mid-30s, Realmuto is no longer the all-around superstar he was at his peak. Still, he remains a perfectly solid starting backstop who is as reliable in the lineup as any in baseball. Realmuto led the majors with 132 starts and 1151 1/3 innings behind the plate. He’d also logged the heaviest workload of any catcher in 2022-23, and only a five-week absence for a knee sprain kept him from doing the same in 2024. Realmuto is still an exceptional athlete for the position. He’s an elite catch-and-throw defender, leading the league with an average pop time of 1.86 seconds on throws to second base. He cut down almost 30% of attempted basestealers at a time when the league average is around 22%. Statcast has increasingly soured on his pitch framing and blocking metrics, but the former might not be quite as valued a skillset with the forthcoming strike zone challenge system. The righty-hitting Realmuto put up a .257/.315/.384 slash across 550 trips to the plate. He hit 26 doubles, one triple, and 12 home runs. It’s technically his first below-average offensive season since his 2015 rookie year. It’s nevertheless solid production, and he took a .266/.321/.403 line into September before slumping in the final month. Realmuto has a good shot at a two-year deal as he enters his age-35 season. He’s now in year seven in Philly. Extending that arrangement makes the most sense. If that doesn’t come to pass, he could fit on the Angels, Padres or Rays. The Nationals arguably have the biggest need at the position of any team, but his age might not align with a Washington club that has yet to pull out of the rebuild. Potential Regulars/Timeshare Options Victor Caratini (32) Caratini has been a high-end backup for most of his career. While he has never gotten to 400 plate appearances or 100 starts in a season, he’s a switch-hitter with serviceable career numbers from both sides of the plate. Caratini hit .263/.329/.406 in 660 plate appearances while splitting time with Yainer Diaz in Houston over the last two seasons. He’s a capable receiving catcher and adept at blocking balls in the dirt. Caratini’s biggest weakness is a below-average arm that makes him vulnerable in the running game. Opponents were successful on 57 of 64 stolen base attempts (an 89% rate). This is Caratini’s second trip to free agency. He commanded a two-year, $12MM deal last time around. He has done enough to get another two-year contract at a slightly higher annual value this winter. Kyle Higashioka landed two years and $13.5MM last offseason, and he’s three years older than Caratini. Danny Jansen (31) Jansen was one of the more quietly productive two-way catchers in Toronto early in his career. His tenure with the Blue Jays was marred by injuries, and while he’s been mostly healthy over the past two seasons, his numbers have dropped. His defensive metrics have been up and down for the past couple seasons. He had a terrible second half in 2024 that left him to sign an $8.5MM pillow contract with the Rays. Jansen hit .204/.314/.389 over 73 games with Tampa Bay and was traded to Milwaukee this summer. There’s not much playing time available when you’re backing up William Contreras, so Jansen only made 16 starts with the Brew Crew. He has impressed in that time (.254/.346/.433 with three homers in 78 plate appearances) but hasn’t rebuilt the value it seemed he’d have when he was out to an excellent start to his walk year in ’24. He’s probably looking at a two-year deal at most, ideally with a team that can offer semi-regular playing time. Backups Elias Díaz (35) Díaz was an All-Star with the Rockies a couple seasons back. His production has trended down the past two years, and he’s coming off a .204/.270/.337 slash over 283 plate appearances with the Padres. He has an excellent arm but has gotten mixed grades for his receiving skills over his career. Mitch Garver (35) Seattle will pay Garver a $1MM buyout on a mutual option to conclude a disappointing two-year free agent deal. Garver had been a key contributor to the Rangers’ championship team in 2023. The Mariners hoped he’d carry that power into T-Mobile Park, but he hit just .187/.290/.341 across 720 plate appearances with Seattle. A primary DH with Texas, Garver started 42 games and logged almost 400 innings behind the dish while backing up Cal Raleigh this season. Austin Hedges (33) Hedges is probably the worst hitter in MLB, but his defensive reputation is so strong that he continues getting opportunities as a backup. The Guardians have signed him to $4MM deals in consecutive offseasons. Luke Maile (35) Maile signed an offseason minor league deal with the Royals. He spent a good portion of the season on the big league roster but only got into 25 games. He hit .244/.346/.356 across 54 trips to the plate. Maile is a career .209/.277/.320 hitter but has a strong defensive rep. Martín Maldonado (39) There’s been speculation about retirement for the 39-year-old Maldonado, who finished the season on the Padres’ playoff roster with Díaz nursing an oblique injury. A former Gold Glover and World Series champion on the 2022 Astros, Maldonado has built a career off his rapport with pitching staffs and game-calling ability. James McCann (36) McCann was playing on a minor league deal with Atlanta when the Diamondbacks offered him an MLB opportunity on June 22. They expected the veteran to be a temporary fill-in while Gabriel Moreno was on the injured list. McCann played well enough to stick around and push previous backup Jose Herrera off the roster once Moreno was healthy. He finished the season with a .260/.324/.431 line over 42 games and might’ve earned himself a big league deal in 2026. Gary Sánchez (33) Sánchez landed an $8.5MM contract from the Orioles last winter. He won’t come close to that this time around, as wrist and knee injuries limited him to 29 games. Sánchez hit .231/.297/.418 across 101 plate appearances. He missed the entire second half with a right knee sprain. Christian Vázquez (35) Minnesota’s signing of Vázquez on a three-year, $30MM deal did not work out. He hit .215/.267/.311 during his time in the Twin Cities, falling behind Ryan Jeffers on the depth chart early into his tenure. He’s coming off a .189/.271/.274 showing and probably looking at a minor league deal, though he remains a quality defender. Club Options Tom Murphy (35) Murphy missed the entire season with a back injury. In late August, he told Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle that the team misdiagnosed what turned out to be a herniated disc as an oblique strain. The interview is worth a read in full for more context, but Murphy also blasted an outside spinal clinic that the team recommended for what he called “100% malpractice” after they treated the wrong disc. Murphy said at the time that he’d had no contact with the front office since suffering the injury in Spring Training and called his injury-riddled two seasons with the Giants “an absolute nightmare.” Suffice it to say, he won’t be back in San Francisco. The team will pay him a $250K buyout. Salvador Perez (36) Perez almost certainly won’t make it to the market. The Royals have a $13.5MM club option. General manager J.J. Picollo has more or less confirmed that Perez will stick in Kansas City, though they could work out some kind of multi-year deal rather than picking up the option. Picollo said they’ve already begun those conversations with the franchise icon. Third/Fourth Catchers Austin Barnes (36) Jason Delay (31) Jose Herrera (29) Sandy León (37) Omar Narváez (34) Tomás Nido (32) Austin Nola (36) Jacob Stallings (36) Matt Thaiss (31) View the full article

In a move that wasn’t publicly reported earlier this season, longtime catcher Curt Casali retired and took a job in the Reds front office, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Casali signed a minor league deal with the Braves last winter but was released before the end of Spring Training, and he didn’t play at all in 2025. At age 36 and after 11 Major League seasons, it appears as though Casali decided to call it a career and move onto a new phase of his baseball life. The nature of his duties with the Reds isn’t specified, but Slusser wonders if Casali could emerge as a future managerial candidate….even as soon as this winter as the Giants look for a new dugout boss. That would continue the trend of catchers moving into managerial jobs, and Slusser notes that Buster Posey (obviously a former backstop himself) seems to be looking at ex-catchers in the early stages of San Francisco’s managerial search. Casali has plenty of links to the organization, as he played with the Giants in 2021-22 and again during the 2024 season. In the first year of Casali’s time in San Francisco, he was Posey’s backup during what ended up being Posey’s final big league campaign. A 10th-round pick for the Tigers in the 2011 draft, Casali was dealt to the Rays in March 2013, and he made his MLB debut in a Tampa uniform in 2014. Casali was mostly a part-time over his four seasons with the Rays, but he received the bulk of the catching duties in 2016, playing in 84 games and making 256 plate appearances. He didn’t hit much during that extended look, however, and Casali left the Rays organization and bounced around to a few teams on minors deals, including a return to Tampa Bay before the Rays dealt him to the Reds in May 2018. Casali spent the next three seasons in Cincinnati, and his bat came alive to the point that he moved into a virtual timeshare with Tucker Barnhart. Casali hit .260/.345/.440 over 485 PA during the 2018-20 seasons, but the Reds still chose to non-tender Casali during the 2020-21 offseason, paving the way for his next contract with the Giants. At the 2022 trade deadline, San Francisco dealt Casali to the Mariners as part of a noteworthy trade that also sent Matthew Boyd to Seattle’s bullpen for the stretch run. Casali backed up Cal Raleigh for the remainder of the 2022 campaign before entering free agency again, and his final two MLB seasons were spent revisiting old haunts in Cincinnati (in 2023) and San Francisco (in 2024). While Casali’s big league playing time during those two seasons was spent with the Reds and Giants, he also was briefly part of the Marlins and Cubs organizations on minors deals. Overall, Casali will finish his career with a .218/.312/.369 slash line and 48 home runs over 1579 PA and 543 games across his 11 seasons in the Show. Beyond that modest offensive production, Casali was well-regarded for his ability to handle pitchers and call a game. If Slusser’s report is any indication, Casali’s knowledge of the game might well develop into coaching or managerial jobs if he wishes to pursue that direction. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Casali on a fine career and wish him the best in his post-playing career. View the full article

Photo Credit: Disney Disney Plus’ new TV and movie release schedule for October 5 to October 12, 2025, includes Dancing With the Stars Season 34, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Season 2, The Murky Stream, and three seasons of Halloween Baking Championship. On October 7, Dancing With the Stars (Season 34)’s new episode drops on Disney Plus. The reality show hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough showcases celebrities pairing up with choreographers for a fierce dance battle. Every episode features a new routine with judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough giving their opinions and scores. Every pair works hard to give their best and impress the judges. Further, comedy-drama series Wizards Beyond Waverly Place (Season 2) will be available on the streaming platform. In the second season, Billie deals with the fact that being part of the Russo family is more complicated than she imagined. This is especially true as there are other wizards in the house as well. On the other hand, Justin has to train three young wizards for a competition. Additionally, the Russos must be prepared to deal with a strange new threat. Season 2 features Janice LeAnn Brown, Alkaio Thiele, and Max Matenko, among others. Also coming to Disney Plus is The Murky Stream’s new episodes. The series showcases a once-clear Gyeonggang River turning into a murky stream in a lawless Joseon. This ends up intertwining the fates of three characters: Siyul, Choi Eun, and Jung Chun. Additionally, three seasons of Halloween Baking Championship arrive on the streaming platform. The cooking show features bakers engaging in a competition. They need to prepare exciting dishes based on the Halloween theme to bag a prize money of $25,000. New Disney Plus releases for October 6-12, 2025 Below are all the new TV shows and movies being added to Disney Plus from October 6-12, 2025 Tuesday, October 7 Dancing With the Stars (Season 34) – New Episode Live at 8/7c Wednesday, October 8 Wizards Beyond Waverly Place (Season 2) – Premiere – All Episodes Streaming Friday, October 10 The Murky Stream (Hulu Original) – New Episodes Saturday, October 11 College GameDay (ESPN, ESPNU) – 9 am ET Halloween Baking Championship (Three Seasons) For more Disney content, check out the Zootopia 2 trailer. The post Disney Plus Schedule October 6-12, 2025: New TV Shows & Movies Being Added. appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

The Tigers and Mariners get their AL Division Series underway tonight in Seattle, with rookie Troy Melton starting for Detroit against former All-Star George Kirby. Both teams will go with 14 position players and 12 pitchers on their 26-man rosters for the series…. Tigers catchers: Dillon Dingler, Jake Rogers Infielders: Colt Keith, Trey Sweeney, Spencer Torkelson, Gleyber Torres Outfielders: Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, Jahmai Jones, Parker Meadows, Wenceel Perez Utility players: Javier Baez, Andy Ibanez, Zach McKinstry Left-handed pitchers: Tyler Holton, Brant Hurter, Tarik Skubal Right-handed pitchers: Kyle Finnegan, Jack Flaherty, Brenan Hanifee, Tommy Kahnle, Troy Melton, Casey Mize, Keider Montero, Rafael Montero, Will Vest Mariners catchers: Harry Ford, Mitch Garver, Cal Raleigh Infielders: J.P. Crawford, Josh Naylor, Jorge Polanco, Leo Rivas, Eugenio Suarez, Ben Williamson Outfielders: Randy Arozarena, Dominic Canzone, Victor Robles, Julio Rodriguez Utility players: Luke Raley Left-handed pitchers: Caleb Ferguson, Gabe Speier Right-handed pitchers: Eduard Bazardo, Matt Brash, Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, Emerson Hancock, Luke Jackson, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, Andres Munoz, Carlos Vargas Keith and Hanifee are newcomers to the playoff roster, replacing Paul Sewald and Justyn-Henry Malloy. Right ribcage inflammation has kept Keith from playing since September 18, and he wasn’t quite ready to go for the Tigers’ wild card series against the Guardians. As MLB.com notes, Keith isn’t feeling 100 percent but he is good enough to hit, so it is possible he might be limited to pinch-hitting or DH duty in the series. Since the Mariners are heavy on right-handed pitchers, the Tigers’ bench should benefit by adding a left-handed bat like Keith, who hit .267/.346/.439 over 422 plate appearances against righties this season. The biggest developments on Seattle’s roster were reported earlier today, as Bryan Woo remains sidelined due to a pectoral injury. Josh Naylor’s impending paternity leave is also a major storyline for the series, though the M’s would get to make a mid-series substitution if Naylor did have to depart for the birth of his first child. View the full article

Game 1 between the Dodgers and Phillies takes place today in Philadelphia, with Shohei Ohtani (in his first playoff pitching appearance) facing Cristopher Sanchez in the pitching matchup. Here is how each club has arranged their 26-man roster for the NL Division Series… Dodgers catchers: Ben Rortvedt, Dalton Rushing, Will Smith Infielders: Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Miguel Rojas Outfielders: Alex Call, Justin Dean, Teoscar Hernandez, Andy Pages Utility players: Tommy Edman, Enrique Hernandez, Hyeseong Kim DH/right-handed pitcher: Shohei Ohtani Left-handed pitchers: Anthony Banda, Jack Dreyer, Clayton Kershaw, Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia Right-handed pitchers: Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan, Blake Treinen, Yoshinobu Yamamoto Phillies catchers: Rafael Marchan, J.T. Realmuto Infielders: Alec Bohm, Bryce Harper, Otto Kemp, Edmundo Sosa, Bryson Stott, Trea Turner Outfielders: Harrison Bader, Nick Castellanos, Max Kepler, Brandon Marsh, Weston Wilson Designated hitter: Kyle Schwarber Left-handed pitchers: Tanner Banks, Jesus Luzardo, Tim Mayza, Cristopher Sanchez, Matt Strahm, Ranger Suarez Right-handed pitchers: Walker Buehler, Jhoan Duran, Orion Kerkering, Aaron Nola, David Robertson, Taijuan Walker Los Angeles made two changes to the roster that swept the Reds in two games during the wild card round. Kershaw and Banda join the fray in place of left-hander Justin Wrobleski and right-hander Edgardo Henriquez. There was no doubt Kershaw would be returning to action after sitting out the Reds series, though in his final postseason appearance, Kershaw is slated to pitch in a relief capacity rather than in a starter’s role. Smith hasn’t played since suffering a hairline fracture in his right hand on September 9, though the fact that the Dodgers included him on the wild card series roster indicates that the catcher is getting at least close to game readiness. Chances are Smith is ready to go at some point during the NLDS, though Rortvedt and Rushing are both on the roster to keep L.A. from being shorthanded behind the plate. Both teams have plenty of big left-handed bats, which factored why each roster features six southpaws. The Phillies haven’t announced their rotation beyond Sanchez today, but Suarez is probable for Game 2, and using Luzardo in Game 3 would mean Philadelphia is tossing three consecutive left-handed starters at Ohtani and company. News broke earlier this week that Johan Rojas was dealing with a quad injury, which removed any chance that the Phillies could put Rojas on the playoff roster following two months in the minors. The bench was instead filled out by two multi-position players in Kemp and Wilson, plus Sosa can play the outfield in a pinch. View the full article

12:30PM: Manager John Schneider provided Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling (multiple links) and other media with some context on the roster decisions. Beyond the lack of running, Bichette has yet to face higher-velocity or pitches with movement in his cage work. Bassitt wasn’t quite stretched out enough to be ready, whereas Scherzer was omitted because Schneider didn’t like how he matched up with New York specifically; Scherzer would likely have been included had the Red Sox defeated the Yankees in the wild card series. 9:20AM: The Blue Jays announced their official 26-man roster for their AL Division Series matchup with the Yankees that begins today. Toronto will take 13 pitchers and 13 position players into action against New York, with the following breakdown… Catchers: Alejandro Kirk, Tyler Heineman Infielders: Addison Barger, Ernie Clement, Andres Gimenez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Isiah Kiner-Falefa Outfielders: Nathan Lukes, Anthony Santander, Davis Schneider, George Springer, Myles Straw, Daulton Varsho Left-handed pitchers: Justin Bruihl, Mason Fluharty, Eric Lauer, Brendon Little Right-handed pitchers: Shane Bieber, Seranthony Dominguez, Braydon Fisher, Kevin Gausman, Jeff Hoffman, Tommy Nance, Yariel Rodriguez, Louis Varland, Trey Yesavage The roster notably doesn’t include three players battling injuries (Bo Bichette, Chris Bassitt, Ty France) and one prominent name in Max Scherzer. Omitting Scherzer and Bassitt from the roster means that the Blue Jays seem to be locking into rookie Yesavage to start one game of the series, and then perhaps turning to a bullpen game in Game Four. It wasn’t long ago that the Jays seemed to have almost a surplus of postseason rotation candidates, between Gausman, Bieber, Scherzer, Bassitt, Lauer, Jose Berrios, and Yesavage waiting in the wings at Triple-A. Toronto moved Lauer into a relief role at the start of September and also tapped Berrios for bullpen work late in the month, though a case of elbow inflammation sidelined Berrios and left his postseason availability up in the air. Bassitt also hit the 15-day injured list on September 19 due to lower back tightness, but seemed to be on pace to be part of the ALDS roster. It isn’t yet known if Bassitt might’ve had some sort of setback in his ramp-up work, or if perhaps he or the Jays had enough uncertainty over his health that the team didn’t want to take the risk of issuing Bassitt a roster spot. If a player has to be removed from a postseason roster due to injury, the player is ineligible to play in the following series, so it could be that the Blue Jays didn’t want to take the chance of losing Bassitt for the ALCS if the Jays defeat New York. For Scherzer, his two World Series and 143 career playoff innings didn’t carry as much weight to the Jays as the veteran’s recent form. The right-hander posted a 9.00 ERA over his final six starts and 25 innings in the regular season, and Scherzer only completed six innings in one of those outings. One of those tough starts came against the Yankees on September 7, when Scherzer allowed four runs on three hits and four walks over 4 1/3 innings in a 4-3 New York victory. Scherzer ended up with a 5.19 ERA over 85 innings in 2025, as he missed most of the first half dealing with injuries. Just prior to his rough final six starts, it seemed like Scherzer was locking into form with a string of five consecutive quality starts and a 2.25 ERA over 32 innings. The Jays signed Scherzer to a one-year, $15.5MM contract last winter in the hopes that he could turn back the clock and provide veteran depth and experience to the rotation, particularly if Toronto happened to advance into the playoffs. While it is possible he could return for the ALCS, Scherzer will be limited to spectator duty for at least the first leg of the Blue Jays’ postseason run. It isn’t surprising that Bichette isn’t participating, since as of Wednesday, Bichette had yet to start running drills as part of his rehab from a left PCL sprain. Bichette hurt his knee almost exactly a month ago, on an awkward slide into home plate on September 6 in another game against the Yankees. Bichette has been able to take swings in the batting cage, but until he is able to run whatsoever, his status for the rest of the playoffs remains unclear if the Jays manage to advance deeper into October. Ty France is another noteworthy player left off the roster, as France may still be bothered by the oblique inflammation that has kept him sidelined since September 21. France’s absence will leave the Jays without some right-handed hitting bench depth, and Guerrero is now the only true first baseman on the roster, though naturally Guerrero isn’t expected to leave the lineup at any point in the series. View the full article