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Lucas Erceg - Relief Pitcher Age on 2027 Opening Day: 31 Service Time: 3.125 2024 Salary: $750,000 2025 Salary: $776,750 2026 Salary: $803,500 2027 MLB Trade Rumors Estimate: $2,300,000 Erceg Background Lucas Erceg was drafted 46th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2016 MLB Draft. After making his major league debut with the Oakland Athletics in 2023, Erceg was traded to Kansas City at the 2024 trade deadline in exchange for a trio of prospects. Erceg immediately became a valuable piece of the Royals bullpen, posting a 2.88 ERA and a 1.17 FIP across 25 innings while striking out 31 batters following the trade. He followed that up with another strong season in 2025, recording a 2.64 ERA across 61 1/3 innings. However, there were some warning signs beneath the surface. Erceg's strikeout rate dropped from 28.5% in 2024 to 19.3% in 2025, and that trend continued into 2026. He finished this past season in the third percentile for both strikeout and walk rates, while his ERA ballooned to 5.59. After posting 1.2 WAR and 1.5 WAR in 2024 and 2025, respectively, Erceg finished 2026 at -0.7 WAR. He was even optioned to Triple-A Omaha because of his poor performance, rather than an injury, although he did deal with a forearm strain in September. That makes this an interesting decision for Kansas City. Erceg has been one of the team's more reliable late-inning arms over the past two seasons, but his 2026 performance raises legitimate questions about whether he can return to that form. This will also be his first year of arbitration eligibility, giving the Royals a decision to make on his future. 2026 Stats: 48 1/3 IP, 13 SV, 5.59 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 14.9% K, 14.0% BB, 5.40 FIP Royals Relief Pitcher Depth 40-man roster: Steven Cruz, Jose Cuas, Connor Thomas, Connor Seabold, Carlos Duran, Beck Way, Nolan Hoffman, Spencer Nivens, Easton McGee Arbitration Eligible: Nick Mears, Alex Lange, Daniel Lynch IV, James McArthur, Lucas Erceg, Anthony Gose 2027 Club Option: Carlos Estévez Triple-A: Tyler Guerrero, Augusto Mendieta, Shane Panzini, Luke Little, Ben Sears, Chazz Martinez, Brandon Johnson, Oscar Rayo Why the Royals Should Offer Him Arbitration Despite a horrid 2026 campaign, there's still a strong track record for Erceg to fall back on. He posted a 121 ERA+ in 2024 before following it up with a 159 mark in 2025. Those are the kinds of numbers that make it difficult to completely give up on a pitcher after one disappointing season. And while the results were certainly ugly this year, there are still some encouraging signs in his underlying numbers. Erceg comes with a five-pitch mix, which allows him to attack hitters in a variety of ways. He's particularly effective at generating soft contact, and even with his struggles this season, his barrel rate and average exit velocity both ranked in the 91st percentile or higher. His ground-ball rate also ranked in the 88th percentile, while his hard-hit rate remained well above league average. Three of his five pitches graded out as above league average according to Stuff+. Even the two that didn't, his four-seam fastball and changeup, generate strong arm-side run. There's enough here to believe Erceg can still be an effective major league reliever, even if the results didn't show it in 2026. He's also been a reliable late-inning option for the Royals for most of his Kansas City tenure. Even in a season where he struggled enough to be sent to Triple-A, Erceg still led the team with 13 saves. For $2.3 million, there are certainly cheaper bullpen arms available. However, there's also a very reasonable case to be made that Erceg bounces back in 2027. With his track record and the quality of contact he's continued to allow, the Royals could be getting a quality late-inning reliever at a relatively affordable price. Why the Royals Should Non-Tender Him Of course, it's difficult to overlook Erceg's 2026 results. A 5.59 ERA from a late-inning reliever is unplayable, especially for a team that needs to improve its bullpen heading into next season. And it's not as though his underlying numbers suggest he was simply the victim of bad luck. Erceg finished with a 5.40 FIP and a 4.66 expected ERA, both of which indicate that he was far from the pitcher Kansas City saw in 2024 and 2025. He finished the season with just two more strikeouts than walks, which is a major problem for a reliever expected to handle high-leverage situations. A 14.9% strikeout rate and a 14.0% walk rate leave very little margin for error, particularly when runners are already on base. Erceg didn't generate enough whiffs, struggled to get hitters to chase pitches outside the strike zone, and simply wasn't an effective pitcher for much of the season. That's a difficult way to enter your first year of arbitration eligibility, and it could leave a sour taste in the mouths of the people making the Royals' roster decisions. Kansas City also has plenty of other decisions to make this offseason. With multiple arbitration-eligible relievers and several potential additions needed for the bullpen, the Royals may decide that Erceg's salary is better spent elsewhere. If they believe his decline is more than a one-year blip, non-tendering him would give them another opportunity to reshape a bullpen that needs significant improvement. Prediction: The Royals Keep Erceg While 2026 was a year to forget for Erceg, I believe there's enough here to suggest it was more of a fluke than a permanent decline. His stuff was more or less average overall, but his Location+ was actually above league average. That combination realistically shouldn't produce the results he had this season, which makes it worth investigating what went wrong before moving on from him entirely. There's also no shortage of other spots to fill in the Royals bullpen. Kansas City has several arbitration decisions to make this winter, and there are likely to be other non-tender candidates ahead of Erceg. The team won't be able to replace every underperforming reliever in one offseason, so keeping a pitcher with his track record makes some sense. That doesn't mean Erceg should be guaranteed a late-inning role next season. He'll need to show significant improvement this offseason and during spring training to prove that 2026 was an outlier rather than the beginning of a more concerning trend. Still, I don't believe the pitcher we saw in 2024 and 2025 has simply disappeared. Erceg has already demonstrated that he can be a reliable late-inning arm, and his ability to limit hard contact gives him a foundation to build on. For an estimated $2.3 million, I'd be willing to take the chance on him returning to that form in 2027. The Royals have plenty of work to do in their bullpen, but non-tendering Erceg would mean giving up on a pitcher who still has a reasonable path back to being an important piece of the relief corps. View the full article

The Brewers are one win closer to their first World Series championship, and once again, William Contreras was at the center of everything. It was Contreras who helped set the tone early. It was Contreras who kept things under control behind the plate when the Rays threatened in the middle innings. That was the story all October as the Brewers bulldozed their way to their first National League pennant. "I feel like he's taken his game to another level this postseason with just how locked in he is," Yelich said. "It seems like he's doing whatever it takes to get the job done." "Contreras was incredible," Pat Murphy said. "He was the player of the game." It started in the first inning, when Contreras's RBI single capped a two-run frame against Tampa Bay starter Nick Martinez. The efficient veteran posted the highest in-zone rate and lowest walk rate among qualified starters this season, so he (and Game 2 starter Drew Rasmussen) posed a challenge for a patient Brewers offense that grinds down pitchers with long plate appearances. They couldn't wait him out, so they had to attack pitches over the plate. WEQ4azNfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X0FRVldWd2NDVTFFQVhWRUFWZ0FIQjFCZkFGZ0NWZ0lBQkZCV1VndFFCUXBSQmdNRQ==.mp4 "That's the cat and mouse of the whole game," Murphy said on Friday afternoon before Game 1. "That's Baseball 101. It's not early takes on noncompetitive pitches. It's being ready every single pitch and then really discerning between balls and strikes and discerning between strikes to hit and strikes to be okay with." The Brewers didn't plan to be mindlessly aggressive, but to react accordingly when Martinez gave them hittable strikes. After running the second-lowest in-zone swing rate in baseball this year, they swung at 80% of his in-zone pitches in Game 1. Four of six hitters in the first inning swung at the first pitch, including Jackson Chourio's leadoff single and Contreras's base hit to plate the second run. "We didn't want to jump him or anything like that," said Yelich, whose one-out triple drove in Chourio to open the scoring. "It was just make sure that you got a good plan, and you were going to stick to it." "After being off for some time, I'm pleased we came out in the first inning ready to go," Murphy said. This was the second time this postseason that Contreras slashed a high-leverage RBI single on the first pitch. ek15ZzdfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X1ZRQUVYRkVCVmdFQVdsWUdBQUFIQ0FJQUFBQU1CUUFBQndBTkJGVUdBZ05XQWxBQw==.mp4 Setting the tone proved critical, as Martinez quickly settled in after that first inning. The Brewers continued to have tough plate appearances for most of the night, being aggressive on strikes and chasing less than most teams against Martinez, but he held them scoreless over his final four innings. "You know it's going to be a battle," Yelich said. "You have to stay disciplined, do a lot of things right. It was nice to get off to a good start there early. We weren't really able to add on off of him, but guys kept having good at-bats." Without those insurance runs, Contreras kept the Rays at bay with his defense. In both the fifth and sixth innings, he threw out the tying run on steal attempts. Victor Mesa Jr. made an ill-advised attempt at third base in the fifth, and Contreras fired a dime to David Hamilton's outstretched glove to throw him out and end the inning. That got Jacob Misiorowski through five innings of one-run ball, even as another playoff opponent continued spoiling his fastball. In the sixth, he threw out Jonathan Aranda at second for a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play behind Abner Uribe. "I know the game, so I know that the two runners that I was able to throw out today meant a lot in the game and could have been a big difference in the game," Contreras said through interpreter Daniel de Mondesert. That at-bat also featured Contreras's second successful ABS challenge of the night, continuing his late-season turnaround after making too many poor challenges during the summer. Both at-bats ended in strikeouts after he flipped a ball to a strike. "Going through a good moment right now, and I think the ABS is kind of similar to hitting in a season," Contreras said. "You might go through a slump. Right now, I think I'm going through a good moment with it, and I've got to take advantage of that." Contreras has long possessed the talent and competitiveness to be one of baseball's best players, but has not always lived up to that ability during the regular season, often performing like a good catcher instead of a great one. This October, he's elevated his game when it's mattered the most. "This guy has been incredible, and he does both sides of the bal—and the side that you can't measure," Murphy said. "I don't know what his numbers are, but he does so much for the team. He's incredible. That's all I could tell you. He's incredible. We wouldn't be in the position we're in without Contreras." View the full article

If the Milwaukee Brewers are going to do the thing they are trying to do, they are going to need every ounce of the Abner Uribe who showed up in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday. Uribe was a minor question mark entering the Brewers’ second World Series and first since 1982 due to his poor outing in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series. But after a week off between series, everyday Uribe was back in form in Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Rays. And he will need to maintain that level of performance with the Brewers seeking the first championship in franchise history. Uribe pitched a scoreless 1⅓ innings in the Brewers’ 3-2 nail-biting victory over the Rays to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. There wasn’t great concern over Uribe entering Game 1, but you also wanted to make sure he was back on his game following his bout of wildness in the NLCS. If you recall, Uribe came on to begin the sixth inning of Game 3 against the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, charged with holding a 1-0 lead while facing the heart of the order. He immediately walked Teoscar Hernandez and Kyle Tucker before rebounding to strike out pinch-hitter Max Muncy. But his control was still shaky as he issued his third walk of the inning, giving a five-pitch free pass to superstar Shohei Ohtani. That loaded the bases for Will Smith, one of the heroes of the Dodgers’ Game 7 victory in last year’s World Series with his decisive 11th-inning homer to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4. Smith didn’t homer, but he still did damage, hitting a two-run double to put the Dodgers up 2-1. Manager Pat Murphy had seen enough from one of his most trustworthy relievers, yanking Uribe in favor of left-hander DL Hall. Hall then picked up his teammate by striking out Enrique Hernandez and Tommy Edman, with the Brewers then putting up a three-spot in the top of the seventh and going on to a 6-2 victory. Game 3 was Uribe’s seventh straight in the postseason, which may have been just a bit too much of a workland for the excitable reliever. Uribe didn’t pitch in the clinching Game 4 sweep of the Dodgers, so really had eight days off since his last game. Again called in to begin the sixth inning of Game 1 vs. the Rays following ace right-hander Jacob Misiorowski’s five innings, Uribe showed he was back on his game. Facing the top of the Rays’ lineup with the Brewers up 2-1, he induced Yandy Diaz to ground out to second, then Jonathan Aranda singled. Thoughts had to be racing in Murphy’s head. With the pesky Chandler Simpson up next, Uribe battled the speedster for seven pitches before getting him to chase a 2-2 slider at 89.9 mph low and inside for a huge strikeout. Aranda was running on the play, with catcher William Contreras firing a strike to second to complete the strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out double play to end the inning. Uribe exploded with emotion, not only from the situation but also feeling redemption for his letdown in the NLCS. Uribe’s job wasn’t done, though. Murphy needed him to get another out. And a big out. Uribe came back for the top of the seventh to face Rays superstar Junior Caminero. It was to be his final batter as the Rays had left-handed hitters coming up after Caminero and left-hander Aaron Ashby was ready in the bullpen to take them down. Two sinkers and a slider later, the Rays’ most dangerous hitter did an about-face and was headed back to the dugout after striking out swinging. Uribe’s day was done after 15 pitches and 12 strikes. Uribe being back kept the Brewers’ back end of the bullpen aligned for Game 1. With Ashby’s ability to go multiple innings, he went 1⅔ innings to hand the ball to right-handed closer Trevor Megill. While Megill was a little shaky after pitching just 2⅓ innings in the NLCS, still notching two saves. Not that Uribe needed another boost of confidence as his confidence is always oozing. But it set aside that final outing in the NLCS and erased any doubts about him moving forward. Uribe has been an integral piece of the Brewers’ bullpen all season. Now, he has shut down the Rays in Game 1 of the World Series in a game the Brewers won. Uribe is back, not that he really left. Now that Uribe is refreshed, Murphy knows his weapon is back at full strength and his three-headed monster is roaring and ready to terminate any game. View the full article

The biggest thing that made Xander Bogaerts a sought-after shortstop when he became a free agent was his ability to impact the game as an all-around elite player. When he arrived in San Diego, he met those standards in 2023, but since then, his offense has been declining until it hit rock bottom this season. The regressions in his game have been limited to the offense, as he remains an above-average fielder and a pretty good baserunner. However, Bogaerts fell to the 24th percentile in batting value, the worst of his career with the Padres, and finished with a batting average of just .231 and a .344 slugging percentage. It is impossible not to think about his decline when seeing how far he fell short of his usual numbers: he hit .292 with a .458 slugging percentage in 10 seasons with Boston, compared with .272 and .407 between 2023 and 2025, since he arrived in San Diego. As you can see here, the problem is not his bat speed or Bogaerts’ ability to make contact and put the ball in play. In fact, he finished 2026 with his highest walk rate (12.7%), so his plate discipline helped prevent his entire offense from ending up in an even worse abyss. That said, this is my theory about what caused Bogaerts’ chaos at the plate: his inability to hit pitches that were not fastballs. Pitch Category Pitch % PA HR K% BA xBA OBP xOBP SLG xSLG xwOBA BABIP Whiff% EV (MPH) Hard Hit% Barrel/BBE% Bat Speed Fastballs 54.8% 372 9 11.8% .261 .276 .371 .386 .392 .429 .363 .278 14.3% 91.2 45.8% 6.6% 70.6 Non-Fastballs 33.0% 169 3 25.4% .204 .220 .290 .306 .293 .321 .284 .260 32.3% 86.7 35.5% 3.7% 68.8 Although that BABIP mark remained at a similar level, the differences in contact quality were notable, with significant drops in xBA, xSLG, Barrel/BBE%, and whiff%. Of those 169 plate appearances that ended with a pitch type that wasn't a heater, he recorded a high strikeout rate of 25.4% and another 30.7% ended in ground balls or pop-ups that averaged just a .195 xwOBA. Unlike what happened against fastballs, Bogaerts’ swing failed to do damage in the inner zones, where he hit just .221 xBA against middle and middle-high pitches. His highest average in the lower and outside edges, where pitches were located most often in decisive counts, was .224 in the lower zone over the plate. Here is Bogaerts’ spray-chart on the non-fastballs he put in play. The hot zones were scarce, and most were located toward the left side of the infield. That decline in his ability to produce hard-hit balls was the most concerning drop that marked Bogaerts’ 2026 season and the biggest challenge he has ahead of him during the remaining seven years of his contract with the Padres. View the full article

On Friday afternoon, MLB Trade Rumors reported that the team outrighted pitchers Mason Black, Alec Marsh, Alex Lange, Connor Seabold, and Easton McGee from the 40-man roster. As expected, no one claimed any of the five players. According to Trade Rumors, McGee and Seabold have elected free agency. Marsh and Lange are eligible, but haven't officially done so yet. Black isn't eligible for free agency yet due to service-time requirements. The Royals could keep him in the Minor Leagues for the upcoming season, even though he will not be on the 40-man roster. Seabold and McGee didn't get much time in Kansas City in 2026 after the Royals acquired them midseason from Toronto and Milwaukee, respectively. Seabold posted a 9.00 ERA in five outings and five innings, and McGee posted an 8.68 ERA in seven outings and 9.1 innings. Marsh had a promising 2024 season, posting a 4.53 ERA in 26 games (25 starts) and 129 IP. He also posted a 15.3% K-BB% and a 4.34 FIP in 2024. However, he's dealt with shoulder issues (including surgery) over the past two seasons and hasn't thrown a pitch in the Majors or Minors since the end of the 2024 season. Little has been shared about his rehab, which explains why the Royals were willing to outright him off the 40-man roster. Lange is a local product from Lee's Summit who struggled in his first season with the Royals after spending time in the Tigers and Cubs organizations previously. In 59 games and 60 IP, he posted a 6.75 ERA and 5.87 FIP. He did save 10 games, tying for the second-most among Royals relievers last season. That said, he also had three blown saves and a -1.1 fWAR, the second-lowest fWAR among Royals pitchers (only Matt Strahm was worse). Lange was out of Minor League options, and he likely won't be guaranteed a bullpen spot in Spring Training. The last pitcher outrighted was Black, who came over to the Royals from San Francisco in a trade last offseason (Kansas City traded pitcher Logan Martin to the Giants). In 17 outings and 31.1 IP, the 26-year-old posted a 4.31 ERA, but his FIP was much worse at 6.48. This was mainly due to a paltry 13.4% K% and -0.7% K-BB%. Many of his Statcast percentiles weren't impressive last year either, as TJ Stats shows below. Black will likely return to the Royals organization because of his lack of service time, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Kansas City use him in a trade for cash assets. While Black has a diverse pitch repertoire (seven pitches), he has struggled to produce an effective mix at the Major League level, both with the Royals and the Giants. The Royals' 40-man roster is now at 37 players. View the full article

The Tampa Bay Rays should feel confident handing the ball to Nick Martinez in Game 1. They’ve won 24 of the 33 games he’s started across the regular season and postseason, and his road numbers have been particularly impressive, with a 2.38 ERA in 16 starts away from Tropicana Field. However, there’s some nuance to the decision, particularly when considering how the ball moves at the Trop compared to other major-league parks. Those conditions could favor Freddy Peralta and his fastball-heavy arsenal more than Martinez’s approach, with the additional induced vertical break that's typical in the Rays' home environment. With Tampa, there really are layers to every decision. Martinez finished the regular season with a 3.10 ERA and a 3.95 FIP, relying on a kitchen-sink arsenal to keep hitters off balance despite a fastball that typically sits at 92–93 mph. His changeup is his preferred secondary offering, and its effectiveness is closely tied to how he establishes his fastball. By attacking the zone and encouraging hitters to commit early, Martinez can use the changeup to disrupt their timing and generate weaker contact. He’s not going to give away many free bases, either, so hitters will need to be aggressive in the zone without becoming overly predictable, a similar challenge to facing Drew Rasmussen. The underlying numbers reflect that approach. Martinez posted a stingy 3.6% walk rate during the regular season, while generating very little swing-and-miss with most of his pitches. That contact-oriented approach comes with a trade-off. Martinez is a line-drive and fly-ball pitcher who relies on avoiding the barrel, rather than consistently generating ground balls. Just 35.5% of balls in play against him were hit on the ground during the regular season, leaving him dependent on keeping airborne contact in the park and allowing the Rays’ athletic outfield to clean up what they can. That could create an opportunity for Milwaukee. The Brewers have an offense capable of hitting the ball hard, even if they don’t always get the launch angle needed to turn that contact into damage. If they can square up Martinez’s offerings and elevate the ball consistently, they could put pressure on a pitcher whose margin for error is smaller when hitters make authoritative contact in the air, rather than the weak contact he typically generates from his kitchen-sink approach. The matchup becomes even more interesting when looking at Martinez’s platoon splits. He's shown reverse splits this season, and the early postseason results have followed a similar pattern. Right-handed hitters have had success squaring up the sinker-cutter combination he typically uses against them, creating a potential weakness Milwaukee could look to exploit. His approach against left-handed hitters is different. Martinez has attacked the zone with his changeup, using it to establish the bottom of the strike zone and set up chase above it with his fastball. The problem is that his fastball has been vulnerable when he leaves it over the plate, giving left-handed hitters an opportunity to punish mistakes if they recognize the pitch and avoid chasing, but doing so with a well tunnelling changeup is no easy feat. On top of that, when hitters chase, they'll find less swing and miss and more weak contact against Martinez, meaning they won't have a second chance in that at bat. That’s an important detail against a Brewers lineup whose left-handed power played a major role in its success against the Dodgers. Home runs from Brice Turang, Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell were all pivotal, and Milwaukee will need that same ability to capitalize on mistakes if it wants to make Martinez uncomfortable in Game 1. So how important is Martinez's command to his success? Well, as you can see from the chart above, Martinez has done a stand-up job against the top seven offenses in the National League this season when he's lived on the corners, but when he's dropped down and over the middle of the plate, those exit velocities have surged. Patience is going to be key for this Brewers line-up, in that while most of Martinez's offerings will look meaty and hittable, being able to wait on a pitch that is truly damageable and down in the zone could be the difference between a weak-contact filled five scoreless innings, and hitting him out of the game after four innings with runs on the board. Ultimately, Martinez’s command and ability to disrupt timing make him a credible option for the opener. But his reliance on contact, his limited ground-ball production and his reverse splits give the Brewers several avenues to attack him. The key will be whether Milwaukee can turn its hard contact into damage, and retaining conviction in the pitches they swing at. If Martinez can spin his web and alter the hitters timing, he will induce a lot of weak contact that the Rays outfield can eat up. On the converse, Martinez will be allowing a lot of balls to enter the field of play, and the Brewers sluggers have hit the ball consistently hard enough to expect they can continue to do so if Martinez isn't absolutely perfect with his command and sequencing. View the full article

We've made it this far. It would be heartbreaking to stop now. Here are the final three things you should watch carefully for during the World Series, which begins in (hey, we made it!) just a few hours. To read the other 24, go here and work backward. 25. Bryan Baker is Not That Guaranteed Guy Right Now, and Maybe Never Was. The Rays' closer has been called upon often for the last two years, and it's catching up to him at the worst possible time. His velocity had already dipped from (speaking very broadly) 96-97 MPH in the first half to 95 in the second. Since the start of the postseason, that trend has (ahem) accelerated. He's sat 94 a couple of times, and even dropped to 92-93 during the ALCS. Baker still got the outs he needed to get to secure the Rays' pennant. In fact, his results have been just fine. He's faced 23 batters, struck out six and allowed only three baserunners. Some have observed that his changeup has also lost some velocity, so the differential between the two offerings is preserved. The fact remains, though: that diminished velocity means a greater likelihood of batters catching up to the heater. It means more danger. That danger just hasn't been realized yet. Though the surface-level numbers say Baker had a great season, there's another reason to wonder if he's about to hit the blades of the fan: he's been getting (if not luck) a little help, all along. Arguably, no pitcher in the league has gotten better defensive support than Baker this season. His strikeout and walk rates have never quite matched his sparkling ERA and WHIP. Some pitchers can accomplish that by inducing oodles and oodles of grounders or specializing in weak contact. Baker might have some of those skills, but he's not an edge case. He's just played in front of a defense that has had his back all year. With his velocity falling, it feels like a good bet that his luck is about to run out. 26. The Extra Few Outs: Yes, We're Really Talking Antonio Senzatela I believe this World Series will have to end with Trevor Megill on the mound, rather than Aaron Ashby. Firstly, the Rays' best hitters (including one or two of their lefties) handle lefty sinkers relatively well. Ashby's stuff is an outlier, and he can still be effective in the series, but his role here will be much more limited than against the Dodgers or Padres. That's fine; he's already done more than his share to get the team this far. Megill and Abner Uribe can and should take on heavier loads, especially if this series stretches to six or seven games. At some point, though, the team will need to get out Yandy Díaz, Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero with a righty who isn't a starter, and who isn't Uribe or Megill. You hope you only have to do it once, but to win, you have to do it at least once. We've already talked about a circumstance under which that righty could be Brandon Woodruff, but it's not a likely one. Instead, it should be Antonio Senzatela. The trust that Pat Murphy likes to build with a high-leverage reliever hasn't quite materialized between the skipper and the team's trade-deadline acquisition, but necessity makes strange bedfellows sometimes. Senzatela's stuff is better than his results with the Brewers have been. If Baker is about to set down some good fortune he's been carrying of late, Senzatela is one of those with the greatest right to scoop it up—which is to say, with a bit better support from the usually-good defense behind him, he'd already be dominating. It might be relatively deep in the series, but unexpected heroics lie ahead for Senzatela. 27. The Mound at The Trop Freddy Peralta will wait and make his first start of the World Series in Game 3, in front of his adopted home crowd and far from whatever stress the Brewers faithful might inflict on him. In Game 5, Jacob Misiorowski will toe the same slab, and we'll all find out together (for the first time this month) how well an opposing grounds crew has made their mound ready for Misiorowski and his extraordinary delivery, with its long downhill launch. That's the last thing I want you to watch for, because I think it's the last thing we'll need to check off the list. There might be some early misfires as Misiorowski gets his feet underneath him, but I think he'll find them. I also think that mound will be the one off which Megill launches himself, a couple hours later, firing the last pitch of the MLB season. It would be neater—nicer—if the Brewers could win their first-ever World Series at Uecker Field, in the center of 46,000 Wisconsinites, screaming and exalting—if the ghosts of the last half-century and more could waft right past the words "Get Up, Get Up, Get Outta Here, Gone!" as they left for good. Maybe that's how it'll go. But I don't think so. I think that mound at The Trop in St. Petersburg, once tamed by Misiorowski and fallen down by Megill, will become the mountaintop on which the Brewers celebrate unreservedly. I've got the Brewers in five. The Rays are a very good team, and it could swing the other way. These 27 things could break their way instead. The mound could remain untamable. Baker could remain improbably impermeable. Lots of things could go wrong. It's baseball. But the 2026 Brewers just might be inevitable. View the full article

One of the reasons why the Miami Marlins couldn't quite call themselves "contenders" in 2026 was their offense was not explosive enough, especially against left-handed pitching. With MLB free agency beginning shortly, AJ Ramos, Kevin Barral and Isaac Azout take turns picking potential reinforcements for Miami's lineup. After signing Christopher Morel from last winter's free agent class, there's nowhere to go but up! This podcast is brought to you by Jet Ski Rentals of South Florida—offering Miami’s best jet ski and boat adventures. With six jet ski locations and over 120 boats, there’s something for every style and every budget. They’re reservation-based only. To inquire, call 305-990-2192, or check them out online at SFJetskiRentals.com. Make sure to use promo code FISHONFIRST to receive 10% off your next booking. You can find Fish Unfiltered and Fish On First LIVE on the Fish On First YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods. AJ highlighted Edmundo Sosa and Tyrone Taylor Isaac highlighted Taylor Ward and Rhys Hoskins Kevin highlighted Alec Bohm and Carson Kelly View the full article

When it comes to the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays, there is no shortage of former Miami Marlins to choose from. Brewers captain Christian Yelich headlines that crop, and would have even before Derek Jeter reminded the baseball world he traded him to Milwaukee. On the Rays side, this series will see them prominently feature two players current Marlins president Peter Bendix traded to his former team. Retired Fish who played for either side include Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Chuck Carr, Trevor Hoffman, Craig Counsell, Devon White, and Liván Hernández. Seriously, it might be easier to name a 1997 Marlin that didn't play for one of these teams. But what about former Fish who played for both Milwaukee and Tampa? That list gets far shorter. Fourteen, to be precise. Now while I freely admit a forgotten reliever could have been lost in the shuffle here, there is no debate about this crop being much less stellar than the above group. Only one Marlins World Series ring among them. Backup catcher Gregg Zaun has that honor, last alphabetically but first in terms of career WAR (13.7) among them. However, that is far from the most recognized Marlin on this list. That honor goes to the worst free-agent signing in franchise history, Avisaíl García. Much attention will be rightly given to the first player mentioned in this article during this series, and what has befallen the Brewers, Marlins, and Yelich since that fateful trade. Yet the staggering flop García proved to be has been nearly as damaging. Remember, one of Miami's largest expenses this past season was the $5 million issued to Garcia to finish off his burdensome contract. It's a fate made all the more horrifying by the fact his 9.4 career WAR ranks second on this list behind Zaun, despite a -1.9 Miami tally. Moving on, what about Jesús Aguilar and Logan Morrison? Only seven players have hit more homers for Miami in the Sherman era than Aguilar, who was a key piece of that 2020 playoff team. Older fans will fondly remember Morrison's 23-homer showing in 2011, and older millennials will even more fondly remember his social media antics. Beyond that, it's a who's who of former faces. Burke Badenhop and Brad Boxberger round out the players most fans remember hearing about. Afterwards? John Curtiss, Joe Dillon, Preston Guilmet, Alex Jackson, Dan Jennings, Trevor Richards, Gerald Williams, and Josh Wilson bring up the rear. Badenhop was part of the infamous Cabrera-Willis trade. Two years after Miami dealt Richards to Tampa, the Rays flipped him to Milwaukee for a package that included Drew Rasmussen. So as another World Series plays out without the Marlins, trust in the fact that history runs deep between these three clubs. And that no matter what happens, Miami will still have more championships than the winner when it's over. View the full article

When you are the ace, you get all the cool assignments. That includes starting Game 1 of the World Series. As the Milwaukee Brewers embark on the franchise's second World Series in their 58-year history, they will send their 24-year-old flamethrower to the mound in Jacob Misiorowski. The probable NL Cy Young Award winner who is at the end of his first full MLB season—very full when you consider the postseason—will face the AL champion Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 (7 p.m. CT, Fox). Misiorowski will join former Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels (2008) as the only players 24 or younger to start Game 1 of the Division Series, League Championship Series and World Series in the same season. The energetic right-hander has taken his game to a whole new level this season after bursting onto the scene just before last year's All-Star break. The Miz led MLB during the regular season with a 2.17 FIP, 1.80 ERA, 252 strikeouts, a 0.802 WHIP and an opponent batting average of .157, the lowest in MLB history. He became the first pitcher in MLB history to throw more than 1,000 pitches at 100 mph or better while his 37.9% strikeout rate was the second-best in MLB history for a qualified pitcher (Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees, 2019, 39.9%). Misiorowski also has 30 career pitches at 104 mph or better, trailing only 17-year veteran Aroldis Chapman (71, including postseason). While Misiorowski has been sharp throughout the season, his postseason has been less so. In those two starts, he has gone a total of 8⅓ innings, striking out 11 and walking four while allowing three runs and nine hits. While he uncorked a postseason-record 104.8 mph offering on his very first pitch of these playoffs, he has been slightly more hittable. That is in part due to his fastball not having as much induced vertical break (down from 15.3 inches to 14), which has helped the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers foul off a combined 50 pitches. What that has meant is more work for Misiorowski and those teams getting to his off-speed stuff more often. Misiorowski has faced the Rays just once in his young career. That came in his second start of this season, April 1 at American Family Field. On that day, the Miz struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks over six innings. One of the four hits was a two-run homer in the third inning by Yandy Diaz, the most tenured player on the Rays' roster. Diaz has been the Rays' top hitter throughout this postseason, putting up a .308/.341/.564 slash line (12-for-39) with seven runs scored, two homers and four RBIs. He hit a huge two-run homer in the clinching Game 6 of the AL Championship Series vs. the Cleveland Guardians. Junior Caminero is another dangerous hitter. The 23-year-old third baseman has a postseason slash line of .273/.351/.455 (9-for-33) and hit his only homer of the playoffs also in Game 6 of the ALCS, a two-run shot that accounted for half of his RBI total. He has struck out 13 times. This after a regular season in which Caminero slashed .276/.360/.524, hitting 42 homers and driving in 101. Jacob Misiorowski vs. Tampa Bay Rays: Current Batters Table Rk Player B PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GIDP 1 Jonathan Aranda L 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 2 Junior Caminero R 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 3 Yandy Díaz R 3 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 .333 .333 1.333 1.667 0 0 0 0 0 4 Nick Fortes R 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0 0 0 5 Cedric Mullins L 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 6 Chandler Simpson L 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .500 .667 .500 1.167 0 0 0 0 0 7 Ben Williamson R 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 8 Liam Hicks L 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0 0 0 9 Jorge Mateo R 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0 0 0 10 Richie Palacios L 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 1.000 .000 .000 0 0 0 1 0 Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results. Generated 10/22/2026. Starting for the Rays will be right-hander Nick Martinez, a bit of a surprising choice over ace right-hander Drew Rasmussen. Martinez, a 36-year-old journeyman who spent 2018-2021 in Japan, has been a full-time starter for the first time in his career and experienced a great deal of success. In 31 starts during his first season with the Rays, he won 15 games and logged 180 innings, all career highs that also led the Rays' staff. In a theme you will hear throughout the World Series, he doesn't walk very many. Martinez led MLB with a 3.6% walk rate. His two starts this postseason were the first of his career, while also having eight relief appearances. In those two starts, he lasted just 3⅔ innings, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk with three strikeouts in the Game 3 clincher against the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series. He bounced back with a stronger showing in the AL Championship Series. In Game 4, Martinez went 5⅓ innings, giving up just two hits and a run, while walking two and striking out three. During the regular season, he had a 3.96 FIP (3.10 ERA) with a strikeout rate of just 15.1%. That poor strikeout rate could be a reason behind the success the Brewers have had against Martinez, who spent the last two years with the NL Central's Cincinnati Reds. William Contreras is 5-for-18 vs. Martinez with a pair of homers, while Christian Yelich is 5-for-19 with a homer. It goes deeper, though, as Garrett Mitchell is 4-for-12 with a pair of doubles and Sal Frelick 4-for-13 with a double and four RBIs, matching Contreras' team-best total. Brice Turang and Gary Sanchez have also homered off Martinez. Martinez faced the Brewers in their early-season series. He made his Rays debut in the March 30 game in which he went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Turang went deep off Martinez in that game, the Rays' only victory of the three-game series. Martinez has been very good on the road this year, posting a 2.36 ERA in 16 starts and 94⅔ innings. Nick Martinez vs. Milwaukee Brewers: Current Batters Table Rk Player B PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GIDP 1 Christian Yelich L 20 19 5 1 0 1 2 1 5 .263 .300 .474 .774 0 0 0 0 0 2 William Contreras R 18 18 5 1 0 2 4 0 2 .278 .278 .667 .944 0 0 0 0 1 3 Brice Turang L 17 16 4 2 0 1 3 1 4 .250 .294 .563 .857 0 0 0 0 0 4 Sal Frelick L 13 13 4 1 0 0 4 0 0 .308 .308 .385 .692 0 0 0 0 1 5 Jackson Chourio R 12 12 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 .167 .167 .250 .417 0 0 0 0 0 6 Garrett Mitchell L 12 12 4 2 0 0 1 0 4 .333 .333 .500 .833 0 0 0 0 0 7 Joey Ortiz R 10 9 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .111 .200 .111 .311 0 0 0 0 1 8 Gary Sánchez R 9 7 3 1 0 1 3 1 1 .429 .556 1.000 1.556 0 0 0 1 0 9 Jake Bauers L 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 .200 .200 .400 0 0 0 0 0 10 David Hamilton L 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 11 Brandon Lockridge R 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .667 .667 .667 1.333 0 0 0 0 0 12 Bo Naylor L 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .333 .333 .667 1.000 0 0 0 0 0 Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results. Generated 10/22/2026. View the full article

We're past the seventh inning, and now, things really begin to stretch. Happily, we have honest-to-God news to work with now: the rosters are out. Let's dig in on three players you haven't heard much from lately, but who are going to have an impact on this series, one way or another. 22. Christian Yelich's Kryptonite Awaits in the Rays Bullpen As the venerable Joe Sheehan pointed out in his preview of this series, Ian Seymour is being used as a high-leverage lefty out of the Tampa bullpen right now, because they're a bit starved for southpaws. That's not an especially intimidating matchup, even for the Brewers' lefty batters. Seymour isn't the main lefty to whom Kevin Cash will turn for relief work, though. That's Cam Booser, who poses some bigger problems. From a relatively low slot, Booser achieves good carry on his four-seam fastball, and the rest of his arsenal slants off the glove side from there. That's a nightmare matchup for Christian Yelich, who struggles to get on top of even pedestrian four-seamers from lefty hurlers. You know who absolutely bashes that pitch type, though? Andrew Vaughn. It's been a mostly quiet, mostly inactive October for Vaughn. He's only batted nine times all month, though to his credit, he's managed a single, a double and two walks (one of them huge) in those trips. In this series, there will be no obvious opportunity for him to start, as there was against the Dodgers. There's an excellent chance that Vaughn will have multiple high-leverage plate appearances in this set, specifically because the Rays will try to create a Booser-Yelich matchup at moments that matter. If Pat Murphy is smart, he'll counter by forcing a Booser-Vaughn matchup instead. If that means, later, that he has to turn to Gary Sánchez or even Luis Lara in a less desirable matchup, so be it. Sandy Kazmir's matchup matrix shows an expected wOBA of .274 for Yelich against Booser, and a .340 for Vaughn. That's a huge gulf, bigger than you'll see for almost any other imaginable direct substitution. I think it might undersell the actual difference. In any situation that matters at all, it has to be Vaughn for Yelich against Booser. 23. The Man is On the Roster. I've already said my emotional piece about Brandon Woodruff. It's a wonderful thing that he dodged a second shoulder surgery, and still more wonderful that he's made it onto the World Series roster. If he never throws a pitch, so be it. It's worth it just to say he made it. Still: you want him to pitch, right? I want him to pitch. Murphy, surely, wants him to pitch. It'll all be a matter of finding the right pocket. I don't think that can be against Yandy Díaz, Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero, unless it be in a full-fledged blowout where the stakes are low. I don't even think you want it to be against Liam Hicks, Victor Mesa Jr. or Richie Palacios. The target has to be the bottom end of the Tampa batting order. Woodruff is here because he proved to the team that his stuff can play, at least a little bit. I would guess, though, that they try to get him into a one-inning situation against the likes of Johnny DeLuca and Taylor Walls. Shape and execution-wise, if this is anywhere near a healthy and complete Woodruff, he does have some ways to get the top third of the Tampa order out. The question is whether this is that kind of Woodruff or not, and though the Brewers have much better information than we do after his live session on the game mound earlier this week, even they don't have enough to judge that very well in advance. So, here's the one exception to the above: If a game goes into extra innings, the very moment that the bottom portion of the Tampa order is due, Woodruff should go in. If he looks right, they should then ride him for two or three innings, if needed. If not, they can still get him out of there before the big boppers can race to the bat racks. Woodruff took Chad Patrick's place on the active roster. Patrick didn't pitch in the first two rounds of the postseason. Woodruff might not do so, either. If he does, though, the team needs to have both a path to getting real value from it—and a viable exit strategy. 24. He's Here for a Reason... Don't be scared. It's ok. This might happen, but it's going to be ok. Panic would be premature. Hell, it would be downright wrong. Just meditate now on this eventuality: Kyle Harrison is going to pitch in this World Series. The halcyon of Gravitron feels like a long-ago daydream. Then again, Harrison did look better at the tail end of the season—only to go even more unused than Patrick during the NLDS and NLCS. (Yes, you can go lower than zero, in this case. Patrick was seen on TV warming up during games, in case he was needed. Harrison never even made it that far.) It seems a little crazy to think he'd get back onto a mound now, doesn't it? If it seemed crazy to the Brewers, Patrick (or Grant Anderson) would have Harrison's roster spot. Instead, there he is, active and loaded for bear. The gravity-defying four-seamer that made him so good early this year is a perfect fit for the Rays' swings, from the Brewers' perspective. He can be a targeted lefty-killer, or merely force Cash's hand and create bad matchups for Tampa later in the game. He can work to the right areas of the zone to neutralize Aranda, Caminero and Chandler Simpson. He can give you length. All you have to do is believe that Harrison is fixed, and it's easy to see his utility in this particular series—this particular matchup. It's just that you (and I) don't currently believe that. The Brewers will eventually have to believe it, though. They got through two series without using Harrison or Patrick. There's no way they get through a third without using Harrison or Woodruff. Some dice are going to be rolled. One more inning, and just a few more hours. It's getting real, now. Next time: how the Brewers will win this seriesor why they'll lose it. View the full article

Jake Cronenworth was a breakout member of the San Diego Padres back in 2021. He signed a seven-year extension in 2023. And in each year that has followed, it feels as if there's been something disappointing embedded somewhere on stat line. The 2026 campaign, however, was much more overt in its demonstration of his struggles. One of the things that the Padres have been forced to accept since 2021 is that the power Cronenworth demonstrated that year (21 homers, .194 ISO) clearly served as the outlier. Nevertheless, he's been able to maintain value in the form of his plate approach reflected both in his walk rate and his ability to create contact. The 2026 season, though, tamped his production in those areas to new lows. Those depths, though, can largely be attributed to one inflection point. On April 18, Cronenworth took a fastball to the jaw. He was cleared from concussion protocol and continued playing up until May 4, a stretch wherein he mustered only four hits across more than 30 plate appearances. Once it was established that he was playing through those symptoms, he landed on the injured list for almost two full months. At that point, his slash sat at just .144/.272/.196 (45 wRC+). As such, the majority of that early season stretch can be attributed almost entirely to the concussion symptoms. For the remainder of the season, Cronenworth was varying shades of fine. His slash from his July 2 return through the end of the year read .250/.320/.364 (96 wRC+). His .114 ISO was low even by his standards, but the more noticeable aspects of his game were in much more lopsided strikeout (24.2 percent) and walk (7.9 percent) rates than those to which we've become accustomed from him. In terms of the whole picture, Cronenworth's swing rate was at 45.8 percent. That's his highest since 2023. A 29.0 percent chase rate was the highest of his career, as was a 43.7 percent whiff rate on said chases. His overall whiff rate, at 21.3 percent, also sat atop his career rankings. Whether those are the result of calculated aggression on Cronenworth's part—possible, considering the slumping nature of the Padres' offense upon his return—or the result of never having a genuine opportunity to settle into the season is unknown. Still, there were stretches of positivity for Cronenworth. In the second half of July, he recorded multiple hits in four of seven games. In September, he had multiple hits in five of seven. It's hard to imagine that a player with a keen approach like Cronenworth has lost it altogether, and those brief stretches within an otherwise underwhelming second half of the season indicate that the more level version of him is still in there. Ultimately, it does feel as if we would be best-served to consider Cronenworth's 2026 season a wash. Playing through concussion symptoms for an injury that would eventually cost him multiple months of the season lends itself to entirely unquantifiable factors that could have been at play. Where that impact could actually manifest is something that we can't measure on a stat sheet. Regardless, such a mindset toward his overall production doesn't do anything to settle his roster status moving forward. Cronenworth may have that keen approach at the plate, but he's also been largely unable to parlay it into consistent impact. Would the Padres finally take a long-rumored step toward trading him? Or do they like the patience he offers in the bottom half of the lineup on a mostly reasonable contract too much to actually move on? It's a complicated situation that wasn't made any simpler by an even murkier 2026 season. View the full article

Justin Lamkin quietly put together an impressive first professional season before a shoulder injury cut it short. Now healthy and flashing a new curveball, he could be poised for an even bigger 2027. View the full article

All of the work he did to even potentially just pitch one inning in the World Series paid off. Brandon Woodruff is on the Milwaukee Brewers' roster for the World Series. Woodruff, whose career nearly ended unceremoniously when he walked off the mound with a bum right shoulder July 4, was an emotional addition to the Brewers' 26-man roster that was announced Friday. The Brewers open the 2026 World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday (7 p.m. CT, Fox). Woodruff's addition to the roster comes at the expense of right-hander Chad Patrick being left off. Patrick has not pitched in a postseason game this year despite being on the roster for both previous rounds. No other changes were made to the Brewers' roster from the previous two rounds. The 33-year-old right-hander, a stalwart of the Brewers' rotation until a shoulder injury sidelined him just before the 2024 postseason, has only faced hitters in live batting practice Tuesday since that devastating July 4 day, the third setback of 2026 during Woodruff's comeback from surgery three years ago. The start to his season was also slightly delayed and he then went on the injured list following an April 30 game from which he was also removed. Both games he left happened to be against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Woodruff is the Brewers' longest-tenured player and was one of the team's top starting pitchers until his shoulder issue popped up on the eve of the 2023 postseason, preventing him from pitching. Surgery took him out of all of 2024 and he was on the comeback trail in 2025 when a couple non-shoulder injuries set him back again. He did, however, return to the mound to make 11 starts last year, posting a 3.17 FIP (3.20 ERA) with a stellar 5.4% walk rate and 32.3% strikeout rate. But he broke down again late in the season and wasn't available for the postseason as the Brewers were short on starting pitching. One of the concerns with Woodruff potentially getting hurt again if he pitches in the World Series was the Brewers' ability to replace him on the roster. Players who get hurt during the postseason are typically eligible to be replaced, but there is a clause about preexisting injuries and a player being removed from a roster. Replacements must be approved by MLB and preexisting injuries have not always been approved when a player gets reinjured and MLB had indicated to the Brewers that it would not allow a substitute should Woodruff get hurt. View the full article

Jefferson Rojas wasted little time making an impression after joining the Mets. His improved batted-ball profile and late-season power surge have put him firmly on the major-league radar heading into 2027. View the full article

The Padres have some work to do to get their rotation ready for another postseason run in 2027. Tarik Skubal, Trevor Rogers, Tyler Mahle, and Nick Martinez are four free agent starters who could help San Diego get there. View the full article

Boston is tied for the most arbitration-eligible players in MLB with 17, and some tough decisions are looming. Which players should the Red Sox keep, and who could be on their way out? Discussed in this video are Jarren Duran, Adley Rutschman, Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Triston Casas, Romy Gonzalez, Johan Oviedo, Connor Wong, Wilyer Abreu, Andruw Monasterio, Greg Weissert, Justin Slaten, Tyron Guerrero, Jahmai Jones, Zack Kelly, Erik Miller, Eli White, and Garrett Whitlock. View the full article

This week's Forum Friday highlights three threads: one discussing the upcoming World Series between the Brewers and Rays, another debating the correct short forms of Mets players' names, and a third examining the inconsistent performance of first baseman Billy Amick. Are you exhausted by algorithmic internet "discussion"? Tired of seeing posts that are meant only to anger you, bait you into a response, or find yet another way to extract your personal data? Come join the conversation on the human-moderated Grand Central Mets forums, where you can talk Mets baseball without the constant barrage of misinformation, hot takes and loudmouths. Joining is free: create an account at diamondcentric.net, then use that same login here to comment. So the World Series is all set / IWST discusses the upcoming World Series between the Brewers and Rays, highlighting their records, historical context, and implications for MLB narratives. Posters noted the Brewers' 103 wins and Rays' 98, pointing out this is the second Fall Classic for both teams and the first since 1980 where each franchise seeks its first title. Some emphasized the Rays and Brewers' analytics-driven front offices, while others questioned the matchup's legitimacy, with a few suggesting a league swap. Zac, Zach, or Zack? Members debated the correct short forms of Mets players' names, focusing on Zack Wheeler, Zac Thornton, and Zack Wheat, with some noting the prevalence of "Zac" in modern baseball. The discussion also included non-Mets players and a fictional character named after them. Some readers corrected the spelling of Ringo Starr’s son as "Zak" and noted the rarity of the name before the 21st century. The thread took on a playful tone, with the room scoring points for correct answers and joking about penalties for cheating. The Curious Case of Billy Amick Fans debated the inconsistent performance of Mets first baseman Billy Amick, noting his 38 HRs in 122 games in 2026 with a .222 average and 161 strikeouts, compared to a .307 average and only 4 HRs in 266 PAs in 2025. Some questioned whether his 26% strikeout rate in 2025 could indicate a more balanced approach, while others expressed skepticism about his high minor league K rates making him a viable prospect. It's another great day to be a Mets fan at Grand Central Mets! View the full article

This week's Forum Friday highlights four threads: the 2027 catcher situation, the Brewers' Game 1 and 2 decisions against the Rays, the team's future World Series hopes, and a quest to find an old Bob Uecker audio clip. Fans debated strategy, player futures, and even dug into old game memories. Are you exhausted by algorithmic internet "discussion"? Tired of seeing posts that are meant only to anger you, bait you into a response, or find yet another way to extract your personal data? Come join the conversation on the human-moderated Brewer Fanatic forums, where you can talk Brewers baseball without the constant barrage of misinformation, hot takes and loudmouths. Joining is free: create an account at diamondcentric.net, then use that same login here to comment. Catcher position in 2027 Discusses the Brewers' 2027 catcher situation, focusing on whether to extend or trade William Contreras. Posters highlight his leadership, October performance, and value as a pitching staff leader, while acknowledging his aging and contract status. Some argue keeping him for one final run at a title is crucial, citing his impact on pitchers and lack of young alternatives like Quero, whose injury history raises concerns. Others suggest using Contreras' money on other priorities, though most agree trading him now would be unwise. Rays throw a curveball The Brewers' decision to use Mizanowski and Henderson for Games 1 and 2 against the Rays, rather than Rasmussen, sparked discussion. Members debated whether it was a strategic move to avoid overusing Rasmussen, protect Freddy Peralta from emotional distractions, or a sign of desperation. Some saw it as a way to gain an early advantage, while others argued it conceded two games and increased pressure on the Brewers. World Series Hope in the future A thread sparked by a fan's question about the Brewers' chances of repeating or building a dynasty like the Giants in the 2010s, citing prospects like Made, Pena, Fischer, and others, along with current players like Josh A. Fans debated whether the team's young roster, strong farm system, and new CBA could lead to sustained success. Some argued the team's lack of home run power could hurt in October, while others countered that the Brewers' unique approach—emphasizing doubles, triples, and speed—compensates. Hunting Down an Old Audio Clip from the Ueck A fan seeks help finding an old audio clip from a Brewers game where Bob Uecker and a co-announcer joked about him catching a foul ball. The incident likely occurred between 2016 and 2019, during a game against the Pirates, before the fourth inning, with a left-handed batter hitting the ball. Members offered suggestions, including checking game logs, using the MLB At Bat app, and contacting MLB or radio stations for archives. It's another great day to be a Brewers fan at Brewer Fanatic! View the full article

Talk Sox fans turned their attention to the forums, where the busiest threads covered everything from the Red Sox's playoff performance and management decisions to looks at the 2027 roster and offseason challenges. The column highlights discussions on the Pre-Offseason Mega Thread, the 2027 Red Sox roster, injury concerns and non-tender risks, prospect updates and free agent pursuits, and debates over MLB expansion and a potential salary cap. Are you exhausted by algorithmic internet "discussion"? Tired of seeing posts that are meant only to anger you, bait you into a response, or find yet another way to extract your personal data? Come join the conversation on the human-moderated Talk Sox forums, where you can talk Red Sox baseball without the constant barrage of misinformation, hot takes and loudmouths. Joining is free: create an account at diamondcentric.net, then use that same login here to comment. Red Sox Pre-Offseason Mega Thread The Red Sox Pre-Offseason Mega Thread sparked discussion about the team's playoff performance and management decisions, with posters debating the impact of manager Alex Cora's choices, particularly the early removal of pitchers like Nick Tolle and Chris Gray. Some argued that the team's struggles were due to poor management and reliance on analytics over experience, while others pointed to the Brewers' success under Craig Counsell as evidence that good management can make a difference. A Realistic View at the 2027 Red Sox Part I Members discussed the 2027 Red Sox roster, focusing on injuries, free agency, and potential additions. They debated the future of pitchers like Gray, Tolle, and Bennett, with some concerned about their workload and others optimistic. The need for a right-handed power bat was emphasized, especially if Gray leaves. There was also discussion about potential free agents and the importance of making bold moves before key players become expensive. Red Sox Roundup, Oct 12: Offseason Questions, Injury Concerns, Non-Tender Risks discusses Red Sox offseason challenges, focusing on injury concerns for Crochet and Anthony, the uncertain future of Duran, and the need for power-hitting. Posts mention potential non-tender candidates like Duran and others, as well as critiques of the medical staff. Fans debated the team's direction, with some arguing for developing homegrown talent and others pushing for signing impact players. There was also discussion about the changing priorities of MLB owners and the focus on profitability over competitiveness. Red Sox Roundup, Oct 19: Anderson's AFL Performance, Martinez's 2004 ALCS, King Pursuit discussed Red Sox prospects, Pedro Martinez's 2004 ALCS performance, and potential free agent signings, including Michael King. Members noted Franklin Primera's strong stats, Antonio Anderson's AFL success, and debate over King's declining K9 rate and value. Some argued against spending on King, while others felt the bullpen needed reinforcement. There was disagreement on whether to invest in pitching or focus on offense, with mixed opinions on relievers like Austin Wells and Eduardo Rodriguez. Arbitration--Salary Cap discusses the potential expansion of MLB to 32 teams and the push for a salary cap, with members debating the impact on competitive balance and player development. Posts reference Portland and Salt Lake City as likely expansion candidates, while some suggest a "dead money" system and roster expansion to 28 players to help implement a cap. Regulars split on whether a cap would help or hinder competition, with some arguing it would reduce spending and others believing more money leads to more wins. It's another great day to be a Red Sox fan at Talk Sox! View the full article

This week's Forum Friday highlights four threads: the Twins' Rule 5 decision on Yasser Mercedes, Ben Rortvedt's free agency and potential return, Derek Bender's release and suspension, and a poll on who could be the Twins' next All-Star. Are you exhausted by algorithmic internet "discussion"? Tired of seeing posts that are meant only to anger you, bait you into a response, or find yet another way to extract your personal data? Come join the conversation on the human-moderated Twins Daily forums, where you can talk Twins baseball without the constant barrage of misinformation, hot takes and loudmouths. Joining is free: create an account at diamondcentric.net, then use that same login here to comment. The Twins Have a Tough Rule 5 Decision with Yasser Mercedes The Twins' Rule 5 decision regarding Yasser Mercedes sparked discussion, with posters debating whether to protect the 21-year-old outfielder. Some argued he is not MLB-ready, comparing him to Akil Baddoo and noting his below-average performance in the minors. Others suggested leaving him unprotected, citing low chances of being drafted and the risk of him failing to progress. Ben Rortvedt Elects Free Agency discusses Ben Rortvedt's free agency and whether the Twins should pursue him as a backup catcher. Members note his defensive skills and potential value as a mentor, but question his hitting ability. Some argue he could outperform current backup Victor Caratini, while others worry about the cost of trading Caratini, who has a large remaining contract. There's also mention of Rortvedt's potential fit with the Twins' catching prospects and his experience with the Rays and Dodgers. What Happened to Derek Bender, the Former Twins Prospect Accused of Giving Away Pitches? A thread on Derek Bender, a former Twins prospect accused of tipping pitches, sparked discussion after his release and suspension. Fans cited his 2025 and 2026 offensive success in the Frontier League but questioned his return to affiliated baseball. Most agreed the Twins had sufficient evidence to cut him, though some suggested he may have made a mistake without intent to harm the team. Poll: Who Will Be the Twins' Next All-Star asked who the Twins' next All-Star will be, excluding current ones and focusing on future prospects or potential acquisitions. Members discussed players like Keaschall, who had a strong second-half performance, and Taj Bradley, with some suggesting Culpepper could emerge at second base. There was confusion about how to determine "next" if multiple players make the All-Star team. Most leaned toward Keaschall or Bradley, though opinions varied on whether the player would be acquired, on the roster, or in the minors. It's another great day to be a Twins fan at Twins Daily! View the full article

The Minnesota Twins are turning to the Tampa Bay Rays' pitching development system for their next pitching coach. Brian Reith spent the past five seasons coaching Triple-A Durham, giving him experience in an organization known for developing effective pitchers. Now, he will try to bring some of that approach to Minnesota. Reith has already made his priorities clear. "Throwing strikes is No. 1," Reith told reporters, according to MLB.com's Matthew Leach. "Getting to two strikes as quick as possible, then executing a pitch to get a guy out." That philosophy should provide a foundation for a Minnesota pitching staff that allowed the sixth-most runs in baseball last season. The struggles ultimately cost Pete Maki his job, and Reith will be tasked with helping the staff become more consistent heading into 2027. However, some of Reith's most important offseason work will involve pitchers who still have plenty to prove. Zebby Matthews, Kendry Rojas, and Connor Prielipp each enter the winter with questions about their performance, development, or long-term role. If Reith can help those three take the next step, Minnesota could have more reliable options heading into the new season. Can Zebby Matthews Find More Consistency? Zebby Matthews entered the 2026 season with an opportunity to establish himself as a regular member of Minnesota's rotation. The right-hander has the ingredients to become a useful starter, but consistency remains a major part of his development. Matthews needs to show that he can execute his pitches over multiple innings and keep opposing hitters from taking advantage of mistakes. He posted a career-worst 14.1 K-BB% in 2026 with his K% dipping by over 3.5%. Getting ahead in counts will be especially important for a pitcher trying to establish himself at the major-league level. That is where Reith's philosophy could benefit Matthews. The new pitching coach wants his pitchers to attack early and get to two strikes quickly. For Matthews, that means developing a dependable plan for each hitter rather than allowing an at-bat to become a battle for control. During his minor league tenure, Matthews posted elite walk rates and strikeout percentages, but that hasn’t followed him to the big leagues. Reith will also need to determine whether Matthews' delivery and pitch mix give him the best chance to succeed as a starter. The offseason provides an opportunity to evaluate his mechanics, identify areas where he loses command, and establish a plan for getting more consistent results. Technology can help the coaching staff identify delivery issues, but the goal must be translating those adjustments into better execution on the mound. Reith's first challenge is helping Matthews build a more dependable foundation. If he can improve his command and find a repeatable approach, the Twins should give him every opportunity to remain in the rotation. If those improvements do not come, a bullpen transition could become a more realistic option. Kendry Rojas Needs a Defined Role Kendry Rojas presents a different challenge for Minnesota's new pitching coach. The left-hander needs to establish a clearer role after a season in which the Twins did not consistently treat him as either a traditional starter or a full-time reliever. Young pitchers often move between roles as organizations attempt to balance development with immediate roster needs. In 2026, Rojas never pitched more than four innings and topped out at 60 pitches in an outing for the Twins. He was able to make spot starts and provide length from the bullpen, but a defined role can help his 2027 performance. There can be value in that flexibility, particularly when a pitcher is still learning how to handle professional hitters. However, there comes a point when a player needs a more consistent assignment to develop the routines and skills required for a specific job. Rojas needs that clarity heading into 2027. If the Twins believe he can become a starter, the organization should give him a structured plan to build up his workload. That includes developing the endurance to handle multiple innings, refining his secondary pitches, and learning how to adjust his approach as hitters become more familiar with him. Starting requires more than having enough pitches to get through a lineup. It also requires maintaining execution deep into outings and having a plan for the second and third time through the order. Reith could help Rojas establish those habits during the offseason. The coaching staff can evaluate his delivery, review his pitch usage, and identify which offerings give him the best chance to get ahead of hitters. From there, Minnesota can develop a more consistent plan for his progression. Reith's background in Tampa Bay could prove valuable here. Pitching development involves more than identifying a player's best pitches. It also requires determining how those pitches fit into a role and creating a plan that helps the pitcher execute consistently. Rojas needs that type of direction as he works toward becoming a dependable major-league option. Minnesota does not need to decide Rojas' entire career this winter, but it should enter spring training with a clearer understanding of his future. Giving him a defined role would provide a better foundation for evaluating his progress and determining how he fits into the pitching staff. Can Brian Reith Unlock Connor Prielipp? Connor Prielipp enters the offseason with an important accomplishment behind him: he made it through the 2026 season healthy. For a pitcher whose development has been interrupted by injury concerns, staying on the mound is a meaningful step forward. However, health is only part of the equation. Prielipp's underlying numbers suggest there could be more performance available, making him an intriguing project for Reith and the Twins' pitching development staff. When a pitcher's underlying indicators suggest better results are possible, the coaching staff needs to determine what is preventing those results from showing up consistently. Prielipp had a 4.87 ERA compared to a 3.95 xERA. That difference could be tied to pitch location, sequencing, contact quality, or the ability to finish at-bats after getting ahead. Without identifying the specific issue, it becomes difficult to turn promising indicators into better results. Reith's emphasis on attacking hitters early should give Prielipp a starting point. Getting ahead in counts creates opportunities to use secondary pitches more aggressively and puts hitters in situations where they must protect the strike zone. For a pitcher trying to maximize his arsenal, that advantage can be significant. In 2026, Prielipp’s fastball run value was -7, and that isn’t putting him in a good spot for his secondary pitches to be weapons. The next step will be evaluating Prielipp's delivery and pitch characteristics. Reith has indicated that technology will play a role in his approach, with an emphasis on getting deliveries right so pitchers can execute their pitches. That could help the Twins identify adjustments that allow Prielipp to repeat his mechanics and improve his command. Still, the goal should not be to overhaul a pitcher simply because his numbers suggest room for improvement. Prielipp first needs to establish what works and build from there. With a healthier season behind him, the organization has a better opportunity to evaluate his strengths and identify the changes that could make him more effective. Prielipp's healthy 2026 campaign gives the Twins a foundation to build upon. Reith now has an opportunity to help him turn that availability into more consistent performance. If the new pitching coach can identify the gap between Prielipp's underlying indicators and his actual results, Minnesota could have another arm ready to contribute. The Twins Need More From Their Young Pitchers Reith inherits a pitching staff that needs improvement, but the challenge extends beyond helping established starters maintain their performance. Minnesota also needs its younger pitchers to develop into reliable options, whether that means earning rotation spots or becoming valuable bullpen contributors. Matthews, Rojas, and Prielipp represent three different development questions. Matthews needs to show that he can deliver consistent results as a starter. Rojas needs a clearer role and a plan built around it. Prielipp needs to turn a healthy season and encouraging underlying indicators into more effective major-league performance. Reith's experience with Tampa Bay's development system could help the Twins address those challenges. His focus on throwing strikes, getting ahead in counts, and using technology to improve deliveries provides a clear starting point. The more difficult work will be identifying what each pitcher needs and making adjustments that translate into results. Minnesota does not need all three pitchers to become top-of-the-rotation starters for the offseason to be successful. It needs them to make progress toward roles in which they can consistently help the major-league team. If Reith can provide that direction, the Twins could enter 2027 with a deeper and more dependable pitching staff. His first major-league coaching job will come with plenty of challenges, and helping these three young arms find their footing would be a strong place to start. Can Reith help this trio of pitchers take the next step in 2027? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

There aren't 27 different things that will decide this World Series, or else, there are way more than 27. What this series of preview posts dares to ask is: What if that's not true? What if there are exactly 27 key things that will tilt the Series one way or the other? We've already talked about 18 of them. Let's explore a few more. 19. Garrett Mitchell, Finally in Stride There was something peculiar and old-fashioned-looking about the way Garrett Mitchell finished his swing on his two massive NLCS homers, wasn't there? Didn't it seem like he was walking out of the box almost before he hit it, with his bat still finishing a long and unusually low sweep? It was the opposite of a modern uppercut, at the very least. TUFxTGJfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X1VBaFJYRk1NVndNQURsZFdWZ0FIQmxWUUFGaFJVZ0FBQ2dCWFZnVUNBUUlEQWdGVQ==.mp4 This is what Mitchell has been working toward all season, aided by his first prolonged run of good health and more chances to play than he's ever enjoyed before. It wasn't easy to find it, though. To get to that confident stride-and-swing, Mitchell had to do some tricky trial-and-error work. Early this year, Mitchell's stance was only slightly open. He set up with his feet a little less than three feet apart, and he took a fairly short stride. He was spread-out in the box, as hitters like to say. By early summer, though, he'd begun some big experiments with getting more upright in the box, which means starting with your feet closer together. It also meant, in his case, striding considerably farther, which helped him generate ever greater bat speed. He opened his stance a great deal, and became a big mover in the box. That wasn't comfortable, though. After some experimentation, Mitchell has now landed back where he was (give or take) in June: Back Foot Front Foot - Start Front Foot - Land Stride Month X Y X Y X Y X Y April 21 -41 28 -8 21 9 7 17 June 19 -43 30 -15 21 6 9 21 August 19 -41 35 -21 23 9 12 30 October 19 -42 31 -15 22 6 9 21 Every hitter is different. They all have to find their comfort zone, when it comes to stance and stride. For Mitchell, the sweet spot has turned out to be setting up with his feet closer to two feet apart than three, a bit (but not dramatically) open, and a stride of just under two feet. In his first 200 plate appearances as a big-leaguer, Mitchell's average bat speed was 75 miles per hour. That's a very impressive figure, to begin with; it's markedly above the league average. Over his next 200, it was 76.2 MPH. Over the 200 after that, it was 76.4, and after that, 76.9. Finally, over his 200 plate appearances from about mid-June to late July, Mitchell's bat speed spiked all the way to a terrifying 78.3 MPH. It made him dangerous—but it was also too much. Managing that quick a stick proved too tough. He's only given up a small portion of that bat speed since then, mostly by going back to a more controlled setup and stride. That's what we saw in the NLCS: a hitter whose bat is so fast that even without loft in the swing, he can be lethal. We also saw him moving under control, in a way he wasn't doing two months ago or so. 20. Does Nick Martinez Have (the Opposite of) a Wrinkle in Store? The signature adjustment the Rays encouraged Nick Martinez to make this season was throwing more sinkers and changeups. They like his arm-side movement profile, particularly from a high arm slot that often makes hitters read glove-side movement at first. There's no denying that Martinez, a converted shortstop, is deceptive, and he's athletic enough to make that kind of change fluidly. Sure enough, he filled up the zone better than anyone in baseball this year. Much has already been written about whether he (and his Rays teammates, many others of whom excel at avoiding walks) will be able to take away the walk from the Brewers, who depend heavily on that as a driver of their offense. I think that's an interesting question, and without a doubt, it will be fun to see what the Brewers come up with against a pitcher who ran strikeout and walk rates this year almost perfectly in line with late-career Bob Tewksbury—a hurler who pitched 30 years ago, in a very differenht version of the league. For now, though, I want to examine a different question: What if he pitches way differently than he has all year, again? In his outing against the Guardians in the ALCS, Martinez suddenly swerved away from his newfound sinker dependence—especially against lefties, who made up most of the lineup against him. There's ample research on this, by now: Sometimes, stacking your lineup too comprehensively with opposite-handed batters allows a starting pitcher to get into a mental and physical groove. You might have the platoon advatnage, but they gain an execution advantage. In Game 4, the Guardians ran out a lineup against Martinez that included only one right-handed batter: cleanup man Jo Adell. With everyone else he faced batting left-handed, Martinez reverted to reliance on his four-seam fastball, for the first time (almost) all year. As you can see from the chart (and the box I drew to pin down a timeframe for discussion), Martinez had already begun to make a change against lefties late in the season, leaning more on his cutter and changeup and eschewing the sinker. With only one righty (and a pretty four-seamer-vulnerable one, at that) on his docket of opponents, Martinez felt confident enough to reach back for a pitch that had been deemphasized in his arsenal this season. That's less likely to happen in Game 1 against the Brewers. They'll run out Jackson Chourio, William Contreras and Cooper Pratt, at a minimum, making their lineup more of a back-and-forth affair. Martinez will probably use his sinker more and his four-seamer less than against Cleveland. Keep an eye on this, though, especially against lefty bats like Mitchell. The matchup between Martinez and Mitchell might be especially favorable for the Brewers, unless there's another unexpected adjustment up the veteran righty's sleeve. 21. Logan Henderson and the Rays' Approach The matchup between Logan Henderson and Junior Caminero will be a delightful one. Henderson has exactly the combination of pitches and skills I would want to get Caminero out. He has not been very vulnerable to chasing outside the zone this year, especially on breaking balls away. He can be utterly lethal if you leave a pitch up in (but not above) the zone, and when he sits on anything soft, he can destroy that, too. He hit the first home run ever against Cade Smith's splitter to close out the ALCS. However, Caminero's very flat swing is not great at adapting to changes of eye level that he can't anticipate, and Henderson throws the best-disguised changeup in baseball. Right-on-right changeups are the perfect way to get Caminero out, as long as you can get him thinking fastball first. It'll be cat-and-mouse between those two all Series. Caminero's exceptionally fast swing means (definitionally) that his barrel isn't in the zone all that long, at least on the proper plane. That makes him susceptible to timing disruptions, and Henderson excels at that. If Caminero ever gets the jump on him, Henderson will be in trouble, but he should be capable of making Caminero look very bad, too. We could see Caminero strike out five times and hit a homer against Henderson in the set; it's that extreme a matchup. The Brewers just have to hope they can either avoid the homer altogether, or have it come when the damage it does is minimal. That encounter will be a microcosm of a larger dynamic at play, too. The Rays have very flat swings, well-tuned to attack a pitcher like Henderson but not (with some notable exceptions) well-prepared to pull and lift the ball against him. Their key adjustment this season, however, has been to simply swing less often. That's the rational behavioral choice when the strike zone shrinks, which it has unequivocally done since the advent of ABS (and even before it). Only the Cubs and Guardians lowered their team swing rates by more this year than did the Rays. The Brewers will have to attack them and force them to swing, just as Tampa's hurlers will have to do so to Milwaukee—but on both sides, there are guys who can punish you for trying to punish their patience. It's crunch time, now. Time to come up with some big hits. Come back later today for the penultimate installment in this series. View the full article

The 2026 Blue Jays had a mixed season from their outfielders, as two potential key contributors spent the majority of the season on the injured list, in Addison Barger and Anthony Santander. Daulton Varsho struggled and was shipped off at the deadline, and Jesús Sánchez was DFA’d before the end of the season. That doesn’t mean everything went bad, though, as the Jays ended up in the middle of the pack in outfielder fWAR. Brett Bateman was a revelation after coming over from the Cubs, Myles Straw was a capable fourth outfielder, and Nathan Lukes ended up with the fourth highest fWAR for Jays position players. The 2027 Jays will hopefully look for healthy seasons from their injured players and hope that the strong performances from Bateman and Lukes were not just simply flashes in the pan. Here’s how the depth chart will potentially look once everything is settled. Check out prior entries in our Depth Check series here: Catcher The Starters The Jays started Sánchez the most out of any player in left field in 2026, and with him not in the organization anymore, there’s no standout candidate for the position. Most likely, the Jays will use a platoon in left field as they did in 2026, with Barger being the strong side of it, and a mix of Straw (if his option is picked up) or Davis Schneider (despite having reverse splits throughout his major league career). Lukes could also bear a heavy load in left as well, but with his Gold Glove nomination in right field, the Jays may want to optimize their defense with him in right more. Santander could also face lefties, but with his age and injury issues, he may DH more often than not. The Jays hope that they can get the 2026 Barger back, and if so, he’ll be a key part of the Jays’ position player core. In center field, it is the Brett Bateman show, as the 2026 rookie took Toronto by storm, accruing nearly 2.0 fWAR in 181 plate appearances, buoyed by a .410 BABIP. The speedy outfielder is most likely not going to slash .329/.402/.424 with a 138 wRC+, but if he can have a .350 OBP while playing elite defence, he’d be a very valuable starting center fielder in 2027. Right field will most likely be manned by Lukes again, who played 108 games in right and had 11 Defensive Runs Saved and a +7 Fielding Run Value, with his arm carrying his value, leading me to believe that he’ll be the starter again. Offensively, he was just slightly above league average for the second year in a row, but if he can continue to provide that offensive production along with great defense in right, there’s not much to complain about. The Bench Straw should split time at all three outfield positions if the Jays end up picking up his $8 million club option. There’s a buyout of $1.75 million if they do not, and the likelihood of finding a comparable replacement for just over $6 million on the open market doesn’t seem high. He’ll provide solid defense and baserunning, and if he can be just slightly below average as a hitter, he’ll be a useful bench piece again. Jonatan Clase is out of options, and if Straw isn’t retained, he could be the next one up as a fourth outfielder despite a below-average season in Triple-A Buffalo and shaky defense. Other potential depth options come from infielders who can play outfield to spell the main outfielders, with Charles McAdoo, Davis Schneider, Sean Keys and Josh Smith all being able to play in the outfield, leading to greater roster flexibility. 40-Man Depth Yohendrick Piñango was close to a league-average hitter, but his poor defense made it hard for him to stay on the field. He’ll need to hit much better or become a much better defender if the Jays are to rely on him. Rudy Martin Jr. made his MLB debut with the Jays last season as a 30-year-old but quickly hit the injured list with a hamstring strain. The outfielder spent over a decade getting to the major leagues, but his best role is most likely a pinch runner or fifth outfielder in a playoff push, and he may not remain on the 40-man throughout the offseason. Rule 5-Eligible Depth RJ Schreck has been a productive hitter in the upper minors ever since he was traded to the Jays for Justin Turner, but injuries and a minor logjam in the outfield have prevented him from getting his shot in the major leagues. At 26 years old, he’s a bit old for a prospect, but with his plate discipline and knock for the barrel, he could be a solid hitter at the next level, although he’s most likely limited to a corner outfield spot. Victor Arias came into 2026 as Jays Centre's No. 8 prospect after a solid 2025 season, but struggled to adjust after being promoted to Double-A New Hampshire, struggling with his production and health. He’ll need some seasoning to be a real major league option, but the 23-year-old still has a strong power-speed combo that still needs to be tapped. Alexis Hernandez was a minor league Rule 5 pick from the Red Sox and was one of the most productive hitters for the Jays farm system in 2026, with a 132 wRC+ in 439 PAs, making it all the way to New Hampshire. He’s not at risk for getting picked in the major league portion, as he’s never been a ranked prospect, but is worth mentioning due to his production. Jace Bohrofen was the Jays’ 2023 sixth-round pick and hit 13 homers in just under 200 plate appearances, but has massive swing-and-miss issues, with a 34% K rate. He’s been a top-20 Jays Centre prospect previously, but the hit tool is concerning enough to make him fall off. The power is nothing to sneeze at, but he was hurt halfway through the 2026 season and will also most likely not be picked. More Minor League Depth Jake Casey, the son of former major leaguer Sean Casey, started off the season on the IL but mashed when he went to Vancouver after a rehab assignment. He was sent to the Arizona Fall League to make up for lost time and will probably start 2027 in Double A. Aaron Parker received some left field reps at the end of the 2026 season, as the catcher still grades out pretty poorly defensively behind the dish. There might be a more direct line to the major leagues if Parker can play a decent left field. View the full article