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How much is America behind the Milwaukee Brewers? If you are to believe hashtags from a questionable website loaded with bots, the Brewers have overwhelming support in the NL Championship Series. That is because of the Crew's opponent, the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and their mega-payroll. In fact, all the payrolls of the Brewers and the two AL Championship participants are each less than what the Dodgers will pay just in competitive-balance tax penalties ($183 million). In data from Saturday up until just before first pitch of Monday's Game 2, the sports-betting website thesportsinsider.com said fans in 34 of the 50 states had thrown their support behind the Brew Crew, who posted MLB's best record at 103-59. The Dodgers, who entered the NLCS as the favorite and have been the top choice to win this year's World Series since the final out of the 2025 Fall Classic, accumulated just three states: California, Nevada and Hawaii. In addition to taking most of the Midwest and other states to the west of Wisconsin, the Brewers also pulled in Alaska, several Northeastern states including New York and Massachusetts, as well as Southern states, with Georgia and Alabama among them. Over in the AL Championship Series, the Tampa Bay Rays were only able to win their home state, Florida, while the Cleveland Guardians took care of many of the rest of the states surrounding Ohio and into the Mid-Atlantic, getting 12. As Brewers fans painfully know, the team has not won a World Series since the franchise came into existence in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots. Neither have the Rays, who started in 1998. Cleveland has won two World Series, the last in 1948. Sports Insider, using geotagged data, tracked various hashtags on X.com, more commonly known as Twitter. The primary hashtags counted were the Brewers' #ThisIsMyCrew, the Dodgers' #ITFDB and #LetsGoDodgers, the Rays' #ForTampaBay and the Guardians' #GuardsBall. Also, phrases such as "I'm rooting for the Brewers" were tracked. The timeframe of the social-media posts for all four teams began from the time the ALCS matchup was set Saturday. According to the website Bitdefender, a cybersecurity and software company, the social-media website's owner said Twitter suspended 800 million accounts in 2024 for breaching rules on spam and manipulation. Other estimates have between 9% and 15% of accounts as bots, an alarming number. There was no data on how many of those bots are Brewers (or Dodgers) fans, but would they tell you the truth anyway? View the full article

Justin Gonzales, Henry Godbout, and John Holobetz all finished the season much higher in Boston’s prospect rankings than where they started. Here's how these three promising young players made their mark in 2026. View the full article

It's only been 10 days since the Brewers began their 2026 postseason play. In that short a time, according to Baseball Reference, Aaron Ashby, Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe have combined to give the team 20.7% of a championship. The near-spotless performance of this bullpen—headlined by Pat Murphy's most trusted trio, and epitomized when five relievers retired all 15 batters they saw in Game 2 of the NLCS Monday—has been the throughline during the team's 5-1 start to a playoff run they hope will end with their first-ever World Series championship. Championship Win Probability Added (cWPA) is a stat kept at Baseball Reference, using in-game WPA and the context of playoff series to translate contributions to individual wins into contributions to that ultimate one. It's a fascinating framework to study, because it makes clear how important a great run of relief pitching can be. Ashby has been worth 0.10 cWPA in his five appearances. Megill has delivered another 0.068, and even Uribe—whose outings have been slightly rockier—has added 0.039 in cWPA. Their value is a testament to the rest of the team's performance, in some respects. It's also an affirmation of their varied and formidable talents. Ashby has mowed down Padres and Dodgers batters with his usual assortment of nasty stuff, though there's one wrinkle: he's leaned on his changeup more in these games than was his wont all year, at the expense of his curveball. Perhaps feeling he can best command the pitches that move arm-side for him, he's emphasized the sinker and that change, only going to his breaking balls when the element of surprise is on his side or when he needs to press a lefty to expand the zone. These 10 days have been Ashby in a nutshell: always available, and deeply proud to take a share of the burden that might otherwise fall on his teammates in the bullpen. He's also unique in his ability to work multiple innings within games, without needing the same recovery most pitchers do after such a significant stint. All of that is made near-miraculous (rather than merely impressive) by the fact that a few years ago, Ashby's career was on life support. He suffered such a serious shoulder injury that he missed all of 2023 and failed in his efforts to return as a starter in 2024. Only late in that campaign did he find a foothold in the bullpen. By the time he got hurt, Ashby had already signed what then looked to be a ludicrously team-friendly long-term extension, which can keep him in Milwaukee through 2029. When he went roughly 22 months between stints as a full-fledged big-leaguer, that deal began to look like a disaster. The Brewers had gotten their gamble right, though. They were betting on his talent, but also on the makeup of a kid they found in the fourth round of the draft and plucked from a junior college in Missouri. Becuase of the latter, the former eventually found a way to shine. All the ways in which Uribe's story is different from Ashby's are obvious. All the ways in which they're similar lie below the surface. The team signed Uribe for a very modest $85,000 out of the Dominican Republic back in 2018, but between injuries and the lost pandemic season, he only toed the rubber during the regular minor-league season 38 times from that signing date through the end of the 2022 season. He pitched 65 innings (plus a handful in the Arizona Fall and Dominican Winter Leagues) over the first 56 months of his employment with the Brewers. That makes him almost as unlikely a bullpen iron man as Ashby, but that's what he's been over the last two years. He fired 75 regular-season innings last year, and another six in October. This season, he spent a stint on the injured list, but still got to roughly 60 innings, and he's angling toward a heavier postseason workload than last year's. Along the way, the team had to wait out not just injuries, but some emotional maturation. Uribe has plus makeup, but in a very different way from Ashby, and the team was deeply disappointed in his approach to the game as recently as 2024. Since then, he's turned a corner in that regard. He even stepped into the void left by the absence of Freddy Peralta this year, playing a cohesive role among the other Latin American players on the team. Like Ashby, he throws 100 miles per hour and still induces ground balls. Like Ashby, he's overcome a great deal to get this far, and it shows. They're very different, but they reflect the same extraordinary blend of patience and insight on the Brewers' part. They're willing to wait and try multiple times with players. They often find value—even huge value; even, say, 10% or 4% of a championship—in players on whom other organizations might have long given up. That brings us to Megill—a player on whom other organizations actually did give up. The Padres took Megill in the 7th round in 2015, but he made no headway with them; they didn't even protect him from the Rule 5 Draft when the time came. The Cubs couldn't help Megill avoid giving up homers, so they left him exposed to waivers, where the Twins picked him up. Minnesota was dissatisfied with his ability to stay off barrels, too, though, and Megill wore out his welcome in all three organizations with a personality that can swing from jovial to prickly in a hurry. All along, though, he struck people out, and he threw a fair number of strikes. The question was whether there was anything he wasn't fully tapping into, in his arm, which might allow him to limit opposing batters' power better. The Brewers were willing to bet on doing so, and on their ability to communicate more productively with the talented righty than his previous employers did. They barely had to give up anything to land him in a trade with Minnesota in early 2023. By the end of that very season, though, he was an important part of their relief corps. He's now sixth in team history with 81 saves. He gave up just one home run in 2026, and it's five (including the playoffs) since the start of last season. He surrendered seven in less than 24 innings with the Cubs in 2021. He's also become a voluble but loved member of the team's pen, espousing the power of friendship and smiling his way into the middle innings every night, before transforming into the red-eyed beast who shuts games down so remorselessly. Megill's style is very different from that of Uribe, and if you look closely, it's different than almost every pitcher the Brewers develop for themselves. They have a preferred set of shapes and looks for their homegrown pitchers, which looks most like Ashby and Uribe. The high-rise fastball and hard, vert-only curveball is not a plan the team creates for most of the pitchers they draft or sign as amateurs. However, the team isn't edded to one way of doing things—not by a long shot. They make pitchers the best versions of themselves, by being flexible as well as focused. That's a reasonable way to frame their approach to personalities, too. On a team famous for its turnover, the department of the roster where every team experiences the most turnover has some noteworthy stability. Ashby, Uribe and Megill all pitched in the postseason for Craig Counsell-managed teams (Uribe and Megill in 2023; Ashby in 2021). They've been together for a while, now, and although there's a chance Megill is traded this winter, at least two of the three are likely to be back next year, and the year after. The way the team waited out long periods without getting anything substantial from Uribe or Ashby; the way they developed each and found the right roles for them; and the way they adapted to Megill's skill set instead of demanding that he adapt to them are all microcosms of the team's deft approach to acquisition and development. They make fine symbols. With just a bit more good luck, though, neither the team nor its fans will have to settle for symbols or for championship WPA much longer. These three emblematic hurlers might just be the catalysts of a championship itself. View the full article

Sweet Lou, Comrade Cody, and Ol Gregg discuss the Twins' upcoming arbitration decisions and impending free agents. Who goes, who is released, and who gets traded? Cody and Gregg disagree about pitcher extensions, and Lou almost makes a remark he might regret. Listen using Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twins-off-daily-podcast/id1741266056 Listen using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4tb78XlurcPTYYSsARdbD7 Listen using iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-twins-off-daily-podcas-167548600/ Listen using Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/nvclbt0w Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twinsdaily View the full article

The qualifying offer might not be long for this world. When MLB and the MLBPA agree on a new CBA, they could decide to scrap the qualifying offer system altogether. Yet, for at least one more year, we still have to think about the QO and how it could impact the upcoming free agent class. As a quick refresher, the qualifying offer reflects the average salary of the league's 125 highest-paid players. This year, that number is reportedly $23.15 million. Under the QO system, teams can offer a one-year, $23.15 million contract to any player who becomes a free agent, provided that (a) the player spent the entire preceding season in that team's organization and (b) the player has not received the qualifying offer before. Teams have until the fifth day after the conclusion of the World Series to issue qualifying offers, and players will have until a set date in November to accept or reject the deal. If a player rejects his qualifying offer and signs with a new team, his former club will receive a compensation pick in the next draft. Meanwhile, any team that signs a free agent who rejected the QO will face a penalty in the upcoming draft (and possibly a forfeiture of international bonus pool space as well). The Blue Jays are unlikely to issue any qualifying offers this winter. Six months ago, Daulton Varsho and Shane Bieber both seemed like strong candidates. However, Varsho struggled for four months before Toronto traded him, making the point moot. Bieber started and finished the season on the injured list. He would have had to be amazing in the 11 starts he managed to make to warrant a QO. He wasn't. The good news is Toronto's front office won't have to waste any time debating QO candidates over the next few weeks. The bad news is they can't count on any compensation picks to soften the blow of the penalties they'll face for signing a free agent who rejected a QO elsewhere. As competitive balance tax payors, the Jays would sacrifice their second- and fifth-highest selections in next year's draft, as well as $1 million in international bonus pool space, by signing a QO free agent. That's the price they paid last year when they signed Dylan Cease. Well, except they only actually lost one draft pick. The other pick they technically lost was their compensation pick for Bo Bichette. Bichette rejected a qualifying offer, so when he signed with the Mets, the Blue Jays gained a pick between the fourth and fifth rounds. That would have been the Jays' fifth-highest selection, so it was one of the picks they "lost" for signing Cease. Otherwise, they would have forfeited pick No. 164, which came with $421,300 in bonus pool space, and which they used to draft right-hander Nolan Higgins. This year's free agent class is weak. Moreover, several of the top free agents will be ineligible for the qualifying offer. Some were traded mid-season, like Tarik Skubal. Others have already received it, like Michael King. There are also the NPB stars to consider. Even so, there is a pretty good chance the Jays will sign another QO free agent this winter. They have signed a player who rejected the QO in three of the last four offseasons. This year, Ross Atkins should be as motivated as ever, and he will have plenty of payroll to work with. The Jays have already been linked to Seiya Suzuki, who is a lock to receive the qualifying offer from the Cubs. With that said, the odds of Toronto signing multiple QO free agents are much lower. That's probably for the best. The penalty for signing more than one player who rejected the QO would be the Jays' second-, third-, fifth-, and sixth-highest draft picks, as well as $1 million from their international bonus pool. That would make director of amateur scouting Marc Tramuta's job a whole lot harder next season. Finally, I should note that all of this presumes the QO free agents in question sign before the CBA expires, or that the new CBA doesn't significantly change the QO system. The qualifying offer has survived several CBAs since it was implemented in 2012. Yet, it's not popular with the players' union because it limits star players' earning power. If the new CBA does indeed do away with the qualifying offer, there is a good chance that players who signed before the inevitable lockout will still be tied to draft pick penalties/compensation, while players who waited to sign will not. That's what happened during the 2011-12 offseason, when the league changed the free agent compensation system. The changes were not retroactive, so players who signed before they came into effect were still bound to the old rules. View the full article

The Twins have several important decisions to make as they prepare for the 2027 season. Payroll expectations, roster construction, and the future of several key players will shape the offseason. However, another factor could influence how the front office approaches free agency: Major League Baseball’s qualifying offer system. The qualifying offer can affect a team’s draft position, a free agent’s contract negotiations, and the cost of signing players from other organizations. For the Twins, Ryan Jeffers represents the most significant question on the qualifying offer front. Depending on how that situation unfolds, Minnesota could also have opportunities to use the system to its advantage when pursuing outside talent. There is another wrinkle this winter. MLB’s current collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1, potentially making this the final offseason in which the qualifying offer system operates under its current rules. With a potential lockout looming, both teams and players must weigh some additional uncertainty. How MLB’s Qualifying Offer System Works The qualifying offer process begins shortly after the World Series concludes. Teams have five days after the end of the Fall Classic to extend a one-year contract to eligible free agents. This winter’s qualifying offer is worth $23.15 million. To qualify, a player must have spent the entire 2026 season with his current team and cannot have received a qualifying offer previously. Players who receive an offer must decide whether to accept the one-year contract or decline it and pursue free agency. Accepting the offer guarantees the player a substantial salary for the upcoming season while keeping him with his current organization. Rejecting it allows the player to negotiate with other teams, but it also means his former club could receive draft-pick compensation if he signs elsewhere. That compensation depends on the financial circumstances of the team losing the player and the guaranteed value of the contract he signs. Teams that sign qualifying-offer free agents must also surrender a draft selection, with the specific penalty determined by their status under MLB's rules. The timing of this year's process adds another layer of uncertainty. The collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1, and a lockout could disrupt the offseason. A player concerned about an uncertain free-agent market or a prolonged labor stoppage might view a qualifying offer more favorably than usual. Conversely, teams could hesitate before extending an offer to a player whose market value is difficult to predict. Those factors could make the qualifying offer decisions more complicated for Minnesota and the rest of MLB. Ryan Jeffers and the Twins' Qualifying Offer Decision Ryan Jeffers is the most obvious player to watch as Minnesota considers its qualifying offer options. The Twins reportedly turned away significant trade interest in Jeffers before the 2026 trade deadline. That decision appeared to signal a commitment to keeping him through the end of the season and potentially extending him a qualifying offer before he enters free agency. However, Minnesota has not officially committed to making that move. At the team’s end of season press conference, Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll said the organization had not made a final decision on Jeffers but indicated that he had no doubt ownership would give the front office the necessary clearance if extending the offer proved to be the right baseball decision. A qualifying offer worth approximately $23.1 million would be a substantial investment in a catcher for one season, even if it ultimately proved to be a short-term arrangement. Jeffers could accept the offer and return to Minnesota on a one-year deal. That would give the Twins another season with an established catcher while postponing the question of his long-term future. Alternatively, Jeffers could reject the offer and explore a market that could be especially favorable to him. He figures to be one of the more sought-after catchers available, and Minnesota would receive draft-pick compensation if he signed elsewhere. The likelihood of the Twins retaining Jeffers through a traditional free-agent contract appears considerably lower. He could command a multiyear deal, and it would be surprising to see Minnesota outbid the rest of the market to sign a 30-year-old catcher to a sizable long-term contract. The qualifying offer provides a middle ground. Minnesota could make a competitive one-year offer without committing to several seasons, while also protecting the organization if Jeffers decides to pursue a larger contract elsewhere. Still, the decision comes down to whether the Twins believe the possibility of Jeffers accepting the offer is worth the financial commitment. If the front office expects him to decline, the offer could become a relatively straightforward way to secure compensation for his departure. What Happens If the Twins Lose a Qualifying Free Agent? If Minnesota extends a qualifying offer to Jeffers and he declines it before signing elsewhere, the Twins would receive a compensatory draft pick. As a revenue-sharing recipient, Minnesota benefits from a more favorable compensation structure than clubs that do not receive revenue-sharing funds. The exact location of that selection depends on the value of the contract Jeffers signs. If a qualifying-offer free agent signs elsewhere for more than $50 million in guaranteed money, a revenue-sharing recipient receives compensation after the first round of the following year's draft. That could be a valuable selection for Minnesota if Jeffers attracts the type of contract many expect. There is a recent example of how this system can work. During the 2024-25 offseason, Baltimore received the 30th and 31st overall selections in the 2025 draft after Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander each signed contracts worth more than $50 million in guaranteed money with new teams. If Jeffers signs a contract worth less than $50 million in guaranteed money, Minnesota's compensatory selection would fall between Competitive Balance Round B and the beginning of the third round. That selection would generally land around the 70th to 75th overall pick. Either outcome would give the Twins additional draft capital as they work to replenish their farm system and develop the next wave of major league talent. Could the Twins Sign a Qualifying-Offer Free Agent? The qualifying offer system could also influence Minnesota's pursuit of outside talent. Teams that sign a free agent who rejected a qualifying offer must surrender a draft selection. For revenue-sharing recipients such as the Twins, that penalty is generally the club's third-highest selection in the upcoming draft. That does not necessarily mean Minnesota would automatically forfeit its third-round pick. Teams that participate in the Competitive Balance bonus rounds have additional selections that factor into their draft order, and the exact selection surrendered can depend on the club's draft position and whether it has traded eligible picks. Competitive Balance selections are the only MLB draft picks that can be traded. In the 2026 draft, six selections across the two Competitive Balance rounds were made by teams that had acquired those picks in trades before draft day. For a team like Minnesota, the qualifying-offer penalty creates another consideration when evaluating free agents. A player might fit the club's roster needs and financial plans, but the cost of acquiring him would include both his contract and the loss of draft capital. The Twins are planning to contend in 2027, which could make them more willing to accept those costs. If ownership gives Zoll additional payroll flexibility, Minnesota might be willing to surrender a draft selection to land a player who can help the club compete immediately. The potential Jeffers situation could make that calculation more appealing. If Minnesota extends a qualifying offer and Jeffers declines it before signing elsewhere, the Twins would receive a compensatory selection. That additional pick could help offset the selection lost by signing another qualifying-offer free agent. The two transactions would not necessarily cancel each other out perfectly, since the selections could fall in different parts of the draft. However, the added draft capital could soften the impact of signing a player who carries compensation penalties. This approach would also depend on the available free-agent market. The Twins would need to identify a player whose projected production justified the salary and draft cost. If the front office believes a qualified free agent could help stabilize the rotation, improve the lineup, or strengthen the bullpen, the qualifying offer penalty might not be enough to keep Minnesota away. The Qualifying Offer Could Shape Minnesota's Offseason The qualifying offer system is more than a procedural step in the MLB offseason. It can influence contract negotiations, determine where teams select in the draft, and affect which free agents organizations pursue. For the Twins, Jeffers is the central piece of the puzzle. Extending him a qualifying offer could provide Minnesota with another season of his services or compensation if he leaves. Either outcome has value, although the financial commitment would be significant if he accepts. The system could also create opportunities for the Twins to pursue players who received qualifying offers from other teams. If Minnesota receives additional draft capital from Jeffers' departure, the front office may have more flexibility to absorb the cost of signing a qualified free agent. With the Twins hoping to return to contention in 2027, every offseason decision will matter. Payroll flexibility and roster needs will remain the primary considerations, but draft compensation could become another tool for building a competitive team. The upcoming labor uncertainty makes the process even more interesting. Whether this is the final offseason under the current qualifying offer rules or simply the last before a new collective bargaining agreement, Minnesota must decide how aggressively to use the system. The first major question is whether Jeffers receives the offer. The next is whether the Twins can turn the outcome into an advantage as they build their roster for 2027. How will MLB’s qualifying offer system impact the Twins this winter? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

Several impressive at-bats propelled the Brewers’ comeback win in Game 2 of the NLCS. Jake Bauers worked a 12-pitch walk against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, setting up Christian Yelich’s bases-loaded, go-ahead single, which knocked the right-hander out in the third inning. William Contreras tied the game twice and singled in the winning run in the sixth. David Hamilton didn’t deliver those big hits, but he may have had the best offensive game (save Contreras's). The speedy Hamilton reached base three times, and each time, he advanced to scoring position without a hit and later scored. He joined Brice Turang as the only players in franchise history with multiple stolen bases in a postseason game. “Hammy's been doing that for us all year,” Bauers said. “He finds a way on in big spots, and he's such a good baserunner that he makes something happen with his legs. That's such a huge piece for us at the 9-hole coming around to the top of the lineup, to be able to get on, steal bases, make things happen, put pressure on the defense.” His most pivotal baserunning was in the sixth, when he set up Contreras’s go-ahead hit. Brock Stewart hit Hamilton with a pitch to open the inning. With the lineup turning over and nobody out, everyone was already thinking about a potential steal. “When I went out to check on Hamilton after the hit-by-pitch, [Freddie Freeman] said to me, ‘Oh, you’re just doing this, Murph, just to get extra time because you want him to steal,’” Pat Murphy said. “I said, ‘Should we go on the first or second pitch? Let me know.’” Fearing a steal, Stewart threw to first. Freeman couldn’t handle the throw, allowing Hamilton to advance to second. Jackson Chourio hit a routine ground ball to short, right where Hamilton was leading off second base. Reading it off the bat and knowing he could make it with his speed, the speedster took off on contact, advancing to third on a play on which some runners might stay put. “I saw the ball. I felt like it was a little bit in front of me, but I could still get there,” Hamilton said. “I didn’t look back, so I slid just to be sure.” From third, he had more time to read Contreras’s topspin blooper into left field and still score easily. In a game where the Brewers disadvantaged themselves with early mistakes in the field, he helped them claw back for good by doing the little things on the bases. “Everybody knew what was going on, and sometimes that affects the pitcher and affects the balance of the game, so he didn’t have to steal,” Murphy said. “He made a good read. That’s all those little things in baserunning that make a difference.” “I think the little things is what wins ballgames, especially critical games like this,” Hamilton said. “So we definitely have an emphasis on that, and so we try and do it.” A few innings later, Hamilton helped the Brewers pull away with a two-run eighth. He led off with a single, stole second, and later scored on Brice Turang’s base hit. Even if his elite athleticism didn’t translate into the breakout the Brewers envisioned (his 80 OPS+ during the regular season matched his career mark entering 2026), Monday night was a reminder of how impactful Hamilton’s speed can be when he reaches base. “He had that pick attempt that got away [in the sixth], he gets to second base, he ends up scoring. He steals the base [in the eighth], he ends up scoring,” Bauers said. “That's such a big piece of the lineup, one through nine, for sure.” View the full article

Game Results: Saturday, 10/3 | Salt River 9, Glendale 4 Sunday, 10/4 | Salt River 4, Surprise 6 Monday, 10/5 | Peoria 7, Salt River 10 Tuesday, 10/6 | Surprise 2, Salt River 7 Thursday, 10/8 | Mesa 3, Salt River 4 Friday, 10/9 | Glendale 9, Salt River 13 Saturday, 10/10 | Scottsdale 10, Salt River 2 Prospects from the Twins organization are playing for the Salt River Rafters this year, and they are joined by players from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies, and New York Yankees organizations. The Twins have sent eight players and they are perhaps headlined by hitters Yasser Mercedes ($1.7MIL international signing in 2022) and Kyle DeBarge (2024 Competitive Balance round selection, 33rd overall). Other top prospects on the Rafters roster include right-handed pitcher Jarlin Susana from the Nationals (66th overall prospect per MLB.com), shortstop Dax Kilby from the Yankees (78th overall), and second baseman Demetrio Crisantes (84th overall) of the Diamondbacks. The biggest name in the Fall circuit this year is MLB.com’s #8 overall prospect, Sebastian Walcott of the Texas Rangers. If you’ve followed along in this league over the past five or so seasons, you will know that the league is all about hitting, as very few top pitching prospects appear in the circuit unless they’re coming off significant injuries or time missed. Susana from the Rafters falls into this category, as did Andrew Painter during the 2024 season. In other AFL quirks, Major League Baseball also likes to experiment with different rules during the season, and this one might perk your eyebrows up. The Rafters home field is equipped with extra tech and markings in the field of play, all meant to experiment with limiting where fielders are allowed to position themselves. The intent behind it might be sound (increasing hits), but I’m not sure the spirit is (strategy). We’ll see if this one ever comes to fruition further in the future. The Rafters had a strong first week, finishing 5-2 and second in the standings after games through Sunday and leading the league in runs scored. No Twins player showed up on the “Top Performers” in Week 1 list, but that doesn’t mean any of them didn’t make a positive first impression out in the desert. OF Yasser Mercedes Week (5 games): 4-for-16, 5 R, 2B, HR (1), 3 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K Overall: .250/.350/.500 (.850 OPS) Mercedes split his time between all three outfield positions in his five games and batted in the middle of the lineup throughout. He scored two runs and drove in one with a sac fly in the season's opening game on Saturday, but made his loudest noise in Thursday’s 4-3 win over Mesa. He was instrumental in the victory, clubbing his first home run in the bottom of the first, a two-run shot that made it 3-0 Salt River. Then with the game tied at three in the ninth delivered a one-out double to put himself in scoring position as the game-winning run, which he scored on a two-out single for the walk-off. IF Kyle DeBarge Week (5 games): 5-for-17, 5 R, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 5 K, 2 SB (2) Overall: .294/.435/.471 (.906 OPS) Debarge was also moved around the diamond in week one playing second base, third base, and shortstop. He hit at the top of the lineup in each, serving as the leadoff man in three of them, and second in the other two. He had an exceptional showing in Friday’s 13-9 win over Glendale, as he finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored, two RBI, and a walk. He had RBI singles in the second and sixth innings, and led off the game for the Rafters with a double in the bottom of the first, coming around to score the game's first run on a single from the next batter. He also added a triple to his stat line in Tuesday’s 7-2 win over Surprise. LHP Cesar Lares Week (1 start): 3 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K Overall: 0-0, 2.70 ERA, 3 1/3 IP (1 start), 1.50 WHIP, .231 BAA, 2 BB, 4 K Lares appears to be the lone Twins lone pitcher who might be assigned starting duties for the Rafters, and he was solid in his AFL debut against the Peoria Javelinas on Monday. He struck out the first batter he faced and added a second K in the first inning. In the second he worked around a one-out single for a scoreless inning, then a leadoff walk in the third to keep the Javelinas off the board. He finally ran into some real trouble in the fourth after a leadoff walk and stolen base, but also notched his fourth strikeout before being lifted. One runner did come around to score for his only charged blemish on the outing, but the Rafters lineup responded with five runs in the bottom half to take control of the game. LHP Ross Dunn Week (1 appearance): 2 1/3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 K Overall: 0-0, 15.43 ERA, 2 1/3 IP (1 appearance), 3.00 WHIP, .500 BAA, 0 BB, 2 K Dunn gets the unfortunate moniker of Twins pitcher who had the worst outing during week 1. But like all pitchers in the AFL, his numbers from each should be taken individually as the small sample amplifies the overall stat line if they have a bad outing or inning. After Lares was taken out in the fourth inning on Monday, Dunn was summoned to start the fifth against Peoria with Salt River leading 6-1. Small cuts from three singles and three stolen bases led to two runs in the frame. A solo homer in the sixth added a third run to the ledger, before he escaped two other hits with no further damage. Back out for the seventh, a one-out double ended his outing before a wild-pitch allowed the fourth run charged to him to score. In positive notes, 29 of his 43 pitches went for strikes (67%) and he didn’t walk a batter. LHP Cleiber Maldonado Week (2 appearances): 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 K Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 2/3 IP (2 appearances), 1.20 WHIP, .250 BAA, 0 BB, 4 K The third of four left-handed pitchers for the Twins made two appearances on the week, coming in as the finisher in both Saturday and Friday’s wins, though with differing results. In the season opener on Saturday against Glendale the score was 9-1 as the inning began. A leadoff single was followed by an error to put multiple runners on. Maldonado responded by striking out the next two hitters, the second on a 97.1 MPH fastball, before he hit a batter to load the bases and result in another call to the bullpen. The next batter proceeded to clear the bases with a double, leading to three unearned runs charged to Maldonado. On Friday he dotted two more 97 MPH fastballs on the inside corner and bottom of the zone to strike out two hitters in a scoreless inning, working around a two-out single to close out the win. LHP Jake Murray Week (1 appearance): 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP (1 appearance) 1.00 WHIP, .000 BAA, 1 BB, 1 K The final left-hander in the group made his lone appearance of the week in Thursday's walk-off win, where he came on for the top of the ninth inning and held the Solar Sox at bay. He walked the leadoff man on four pitches, and it kinda looks like he might have had something against the batter, as everything was high and tight, but he retired the next three hitters to pick up a hold and set the stage for Mercedes and the rest. He punctuated the outing by striking out the final hitter with a swing-and-miss curveball. RHP Brian Zeldin Week (2 appearances): 2/3 IP, 1 K Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2/3 IP (2 appearances), 0.00 WHIP, .000 BAA, 0 BB, 1 K In quirks of being a relief pitcher in the AFL, Zeldin made two appearances during the week but was only tasked with recording the final out of the inning in each. In the season opener he came on with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and induced a groundout to end the frame. In Friday’s win against Glendale Zeldin was the first reliever summoned with two outs in the top of the second inning. He struck out his lone batter and got credited with a win for his four-pitch effort. Even more odd than that, is the pitcher he came in to relieve, did the same for him to start the third, re-entering the game to pitch another inning. OF Jacob McCombs Week: Did not play McCombs did not see play during week 1 of the Arizona Fall League season, but any reason there might be is unknown at this time. McCombs was drafted by the Twins in the seventh round of the 2025 draft, and he hit .268/.378/.452 (.830 OPS) with 25 extra-base hits in 67 games this season for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. If he’s dealing with an injury, it just might be because of the fact he also reached base by being hit with a pitch 27 times on the season, a nearly 10% rate that many hitters would be jealous of when it comes to taking walks. Please feel free to ask questions and discuss the Twins prospects playing in the AFL this week! View the full article

The San Diego Padres do a nice job of finding pitching talent. The problem is they trade it away before the players can develop and help the major-league staff, instead getting a rental for the final two months of the season and losing the prospects dealt away. There is talent that the Padres have in their system, but most of it is at the lower levels, still at least a couple years away from making an impact. And that doesn’t even include 2026 first-round draft pick Coleman Borthwick, who made his pro debut for the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm in the playoffs, appearing in two games. There are other draft picks who could be on this list a year from now. But for 2026, we have a solid selection of pitchers. Determining how to compare relievers and starters is always tough, but that mostly just makes ranking them difficult; all the players that appear here more than earned their spot on this list. 2026 Padres Mission Minor-League Pitchers of the Year We'll kick things off with a number of honorable mentions before diving into the top five pitching prospects from this season. Javier Chacon, RHP, Low-A Lake Elsinore, High-A Fort Wayne Season stats: 6-1, 3.76 ERA, 38 games (all relief), 3 holds, 1 save (2 chances), 67 IP, 51 H, 37 R, 28 ER, 47 BB, 82 K, .213 opponent average Braian Salazar, LHP, High-A Fort Wayne Season stats: 3-4, 4.25 ERA, 38 games (all relief), 5 holds, 1 save (1 chance), 55 IP, 45 H, 26 R, 26 ER, 31 BB, 67 K, .225 opponent average Bryan Balzer, RHP, Low-A Lake Elsinore, High-A Fort Wayne Season stats: 7-5, 4.74 ERA, 23 games (21 starts), 98⅔ IP, 89 H, 59 R, 52 ER, 48 BB, 100 K, .241 opponent average Winyer Chourio, RHP, Low-A Lake Elsinore, High-A Fort Wayne Season stats: 6-5, 4.56 ERA, 23 games (20 starts), 92⅔ IP, 78 H, 50 R, 47 ER, 57 BB, 122 K, .229 opponent average Josh Mallitz, RHP, Double-A San Antonio Season stats: 5-0, 4.09 ERA, 39 games (all relief), 5 holds, 6 saves (8 chances), 61⅔ IP, 50 H, 30 R, 28 ER, 23 BB, 63 K, .224 opponent average 5. Francis Pena, RHP, Double-A San Antonio Season stats: 4-3, 3.05 ERA, 42 games (1 start), 3 holds, 3 saves (5 chances), 59 IP, 26 R, 20 ER, 36 BB, 71 K, .230 opponent average The 25-year-old right-handed reliever has had a terrific season. It began with an invitation to major-league spring training and is concluding in the Arizona Fall League. In between, he was a force out of the Double-A San Antonio Missions' bullpen. An international free agent who signed out of the Dominican Republic when he was 21, Pena had three blow-up outings that would have made his numbers better if you take them out of the equation (though you obviously can't literally do that). While good all season, Pena was more consistent in the second half. He often went multiple innings, maxing out at three in his lone start of the year. He could still use some work at limiting free passes (13.7% walk rate), but his strikeout rate was a nice 27.1%. Pena pitched 2025 at Triple-A El Paso after just 19 Double-A games in 2024. Depending on how the Padres approach their Triple-A pitching staff in 2027, he could move up to the Chihuahuas to begin next year. 4. Adler Cecil, LHP, Arizona Complex League, Low-A Lake Elsinore Season stats: 2-3, 4.09 ERA, 19 games (11 starts), 1 hold, 61⅔ IP, 41 H, 37 R, 28 ER, 6 HR, 38 BB, 107 K, .187 opponent average A 19th-round draft pick in 2023 who had Tommy John surgery and missed all of the 2025 season, Cecil was a breakthrough prospect this season. He started his comeback in the Arizona Complex League, where the lanky left-handed starter (6-foot-4, 160 pounds) put everyone on notice with 70 strikeouts in 41⅓ innings. He moved up to the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm at the end of July, adding another 37 strikeouts in 20⅓ innings. Adding a playoff appearance to his ledger, he finished with 112 strikeouts, which was fourth-best in the Padres’ system. He did that in 64⅔ innings. Lake Elsinore is just a few miles up the road from where he went to high school at Temecula Valley. As you can imagine, his strikeout rate was extremely high at 39.5%, though his walk rate of 14% offset that a bit. Cecil’s ERA was much better despite the increased competition with the Storm, going from 4.79 in the ACL to 2.66 in six games at Lake Elsinore. With now having a full healthy season under his belt, all eyes will be on how the southpaw progresses in 2027. Starting at Lake Elsinore would seem to be the prudent path, with the potential for an early promotion to High-A Fort Wayne depending on his performance. 3. Tucker Musgrove, RHP, High-A Fort Wayne, Double-A San Antonio Season stats: 2-2, 3.41 ERA, 34 games (all relief), 5 holds, 3 saves (7 chances), 34⅓ IP, 25 H, 16 R, 13 ER, 25 BB, 68 K, .200 opponent average For some reason, the right-handed reliever flies a bit under the radar. The 24-year-old, a seventh-round draft pick in 2023 out of Mobile, an NAIA university, was a two-way star until the draft process revealed that he needed Tommy John surgery. Not only would he be out the rest of 2023, but all of 2024 as well. Even then, the Padres took it easy when he returned to the mound in 2025, having him pitch once a week for the most part, including starts in the second half of the season. There were a couple of setbacks, but nothing that put him out for very long. In 2026, Padres Mission's No. 12 prospect began with the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps and was on a reliever’s schedule, which allowed his stuff to pop a bit more. His athleticism as a college center fielder shows through as Musgrove can easily reach triple digits thanks to a terrific spin rate. His strikeout rate was a sparkling 42.8% between Fort Wayne and a midseason promotion to Double-A San Antonio, but he did walk 15.7% of batters this year before his season ended early due to injury. Musgrove is eligible for the Rule 5 draft this offseason and considering his potential, the Padres might add him to the 40-man roster. He doesn’t feel ready for the majors yet with his control issues, but with a potential change as to how MLB teams handle Rule 5 picks coming in the new collective bargaining agreement, another team might take a chance on him. 2. Ian Koenig, Double-A San Antonio, Triple-A El Paso Season stats: 8-10, 4.19 ERA, 29 games (all starts), 148⅓ IP, 140 H, 82 R, 69 ER, 38 BB, 120 K, .248 opponent average An undrafted free agent coming out of Cabrillo College in Northern California who signed in 2022, the right-hander is one of the few starters in the upper levels of the Padres’ system who has shown the ability to potentially help out the major-league rotation at some point. The 25-year-old spent most of 2026 at Double-A San Antonio, where he had a 4.60 ERA in 24 starts and 121⅓ innings. He was promoted late in the season to Triple-A El Paso, where he made five starts and put up good numbers (2.33 ERA, 27 innings, .198 opponent average). Overall, he had a 6.1% walk rate and a 19.4% strikeout rate, with those numbers at the Triple-A level a bit better in the smaller sample size (4.9%, 21.6%). Koenig’s excellent walk rate helped to keep runners off base, which helped his good .248 opponent average look even better. That added up to a 1.200 WHIP, which was best among starters in the Padres’ system and only behind reliever Josh Mallitz (1.184). Koenig led the system in innings pitched with 148⅓ (13⅓ clear of Jagger Haynes), which helped him rack up 120 strikeouts, second-best in the system, just two behind Winyer Chourio. The knock on Koenig was his proclivity for giving up the long ball. He was tagged for 22 this season (1.33 per nine innings), only a modest improvement from the 17 (1.48 per nine) he gave up in 2025. Koenig is eligible for the Rule 5 draft, but it doesn’t feel like a team would take a shot with him at this point. Starting at Triple-A El Paso to begin 2027 seems likely. 1. Jesus Castro, RHP, Low-A Lake Elsinore Season stats: 6-5, 4.18 ERA, 22 games (20 starts), 90⅓ IP, 87 H, 50 R, 42 ER, 31 BB, 100 K, .249 opponent average It feels wrong to put anyone else here after the Padres named the 19-year-old right-hander the organization’s Pitcher of the Year. The younger brother of another Padres prospect, Double-A right-hander Manuel Castro, Jesus Castro is carving out his own path. Padres Mission's No. 18 prospect more than doubled his innings from 2025 in the Dominican Summer League to his first year in the U.S., going from 43⅓ to 90⅓ with Low-A Lake Elsinore and there were the usual bumps that came with that. He doesn’t have an overpowering fastball, sitting in the low-90s, but it does have excellent movement that has resulted in a groundball rate above 50%. He also has a changeup that is effective, while his slider has good spin but could stand to find the zone more often. He was the Storm’s No. 2 pitcher in the first half to Winyer Chourio, then took over the No. 1 slot after Chourio’s midseason promotion to High-A Fort Wayne. His best outing this year came July 28 vs. Stockton, where he went seven shutout innings, allowing just a fourth-inning leadoff single, while striking out seven and walking none. He had a nice 7.9% walk rate and 25.4% strikeout rate in his full season with the Storm. He made two postseason starts as the Storm won the California League championship, including six innings of two-hit ball in Game 1 of the Division Series vs. Ontario. He'll likely open next year at High-A Fort Wayne, with the chance to join the patented Padres fast track if he continues to impress there. View the full article

Catcher is a position fraught with uncertainty for the Cubs this offseason. Carson Kelly's contract contains a mutual option for 2027, but Kelly is in position to earn more than the $6 million in new money that triggering that option would give him, so he'll turn down his side thereof and become a free agent. The Cubs would be interested in having Kelly back at that price, but once they face the specter of paying market value for him (in all likelihood, a two-year deal worth at least $15 million), they're likely to quail a bit. However, they can't plunge forward without replacing Kelly, who's been a stalwart backstop for them over the last two seasons. Miguel Amaya's 2026 season was fine, but no more than that, and it's fairly clear that his body will never allow him to be a first-division regular at the most demanding position on the diamond. He played only about 40% of the time in 2026, and even then, he struggled to produce any meaningful pop. He's a solid defender, but he needs to be kept in the role he had this season; making him the true starter would mean accepting a downgrade at the spot. The natural alternative is close at hand, though. Top prospect Owen Ayers, who caught huge helium as he climbed from the bottom of the minor-league ladder to the top this year. After spending all of 2025 with Low-A Myrtle Beach, Ayers took just a fortnight to solve the Midwest League this spring, and was promoted that quickly to Double-A Knoxville. By late July, he'd forced the team's hand, and he got another bump, to Triple-A Iowa. For the year, he batted .289/.403/.526, with 25 home runs in 538 plate appearances. That produced lots of excitement among those who follow Cubs prospects closely. Ayers even broke into some national top-100 prospect lists. Count me as a skeptic. It was a distortionary season for hitter evaluation throughout the minors. Batters put up huge numbers at all levels below the majors. Ayers rode that wave, but that means that his numbers need some air taken out of them. He also saw a major degradation in his performance when he went from Knoxville to Des Moines, which doesn't feel like a coincidence: they use the big-league ball at Triple-A. High-A South Bend: 151 DRC+, 224 wRC+, 1.156 SLGCON Double-A Knoxville: 145 DRC+, 165 wRC+, .845 SLGCON Triple-A Iowa: 99 DRC+, 92 wRC+, .481 SLGCON If Ayers were a 22-year-old making a rapid but on-time ascent through the minors, those splits would be no great cause for concern. He wasn't. The 2024 19th-round pick turned 25 in June. He only became age-appropriate for a prospect when he reached Iowa, where he looked lost at the plate. Reports on Ayers's defense behind the plate are mixed. He draws good reviews for athleticism and for his throwing arm, but he's not a finished product as a receiver. Again, that's no problem if a player is 22 or 23 years old, but it's much more of a concern if they're still unrefined as a defender at the most important defensive position as they pass the halfway point of their 20s. The Cubs shouldn't plan on having Ayers play a major role early in 2027. My own opinion is that they should have traded him at the deadline, when his value was higher than it is now—and perhaps higher than it will ever be again. It's fine to keep him around, and even hold out considerable hope for him as (if nothing else) a replacement for Amaya in 2028, but to be as good at the catcher spot as they were in 2026, they need to find this year's version of the player they signed ahead of the 2025 season, on an affordable two-year deal. Bad news: no such catcher is available this winter. Kelly was a unique opportunity, in that he became a free agent younger than most catchers do; he had just turned 30 in July 2024. He had also just completed a season in which he significantly reduced his strikeout rate, not by trading power for contact, but by getting more aggressive within the strike zone and avoiding two-strike counts better. He was, at that moment, a clear plus on defense, although he was a bit worse late in his Cubs tenure. The Cubs would, ideally, replace him with a player who'll be 30 or younger for at least half of 2027; saw their key performance indicators move in the right direction in 2026; and is clearly big league-caliber defensively, if not actively helpful on the run prevention side. That guy's just not out there this winter. Projects aplenty are available. Ryan Jeffers is young enough to fit the mold, and he's an even better hitter than Kelly. There are two problems with him: He's a subpar defensive catcher; and Unlike Kelly, he's highly valued by the market and clearly the best catcher available in free agency. He'll make something like five times what Kelly got two years ago, over a longer term. He might even get a qualifying offer from the Minnesota Twins. Tyler Stephenson is closer to being the same situation. He had a rough enough 2026 to keep his asking price from ballooning alongside that of Jeffers. He did trim his strikeout rate this season, and though he's extremely messy as a defender, the pieces of a good catcher are there. He's a more reasonable target, with real upside if he can get to just a bit more of his power. The team would have to place major trust in its catching department to help him along defensively, though. Every other free-agent catcher with any meaningful track record is at least Kelly's age. Buying into a catcher at that age—including Kelly itself—is never a good idea; those players decline too rapidly. Two or three more interesting players might hit free agency after being non-tendered next month, and trades are always an option, but the reality is that the Cubs will have a hard time maintaining what they got from their catchers in 2026. In an array of imperfect options, signing Stephenson might be the most appealing, if his price tag doesn't get unexpectedly unmanageable. Retaining Kelly or promoting Ayers might turn out to be solid alternatives, not because they actually figure to be good next year, but because they might be the smartest and/or easiest ways to make the best of a bad situation. Ideally, the Cubs would find the surprising but legitimate good solution in the midst of the dreck. They got very lucky that Kelly was available when he was, though, and they're not getting that lucky again this time. View the full article

Owen Ayers is proving to be a late-round steal by the Cubs. A catcher with a good blend of hit and power and strong on-base skills to prop up his offensive profile. What's the superpower pushing his production? View the full article

The Arizona Fall League began last week, with many Royals prospects playing for the Surprise Saguaros (which play at the Royals-Rangers shared Spring Training complex). Surprise won the AFL last year, and they are off to a strong start again this year with a 4-3 record. The Arizona Fall League began on October 3rd and runs until November 14th, when the championship takes place. In addition to Surprise, which also has players from the Rangers, Guardians, Phillies, and Mets, there are five other teams in the AFL: Scottsdale Scorpions (Tigers, Astros, Brewers, Giants, and Rays) Salt River Rafters (Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins, Yankees) Peoria Javelinas (Orioles, Reds, Padres, Mariners, Cardinals) Mesa Solar Sox (Athletics, Red Sox, Cubs, Angels, Blue Jays) Glendale Desert Dogs (Braves, White Sox, Dodgers, Marlins, Pirates) Each week on Royals Keep, we recap the Royals' performance in the Arizona Fall League and break down what it could mean for each prospect in the upcoming 2027 season. So, after seven games, let's look at the Royals' prospects' performance so far in the AFL. Hitters: Gomez Standing Out Despite Age Royals Hitters Through October 11th: Austin Charles, SS/3B: 20 AB, .100/.100/.200, 2 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K. Angeibel Gomez, OF: 14 AB, .286/.375/.286, 4 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 SB. Zion Rose, OF: 13 AB, .154/.313/.308, 1 3B, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K, 2 SB. Brooks Bryan, C: 8 AB, .500/.500/1.125, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K. Looking at the numbers, Gomez has probably been the most impressive, simply because of his age. Gomez is one of the youngest players in AFL history at 17, younger than many high school students in America. Despite his youth, the Venezuelan prospect is holding his own after striking out three times in his AFL debut. Since then, he has struck out only once, and in 14 at-bats, he's collected four hits and scored four runs, including a stolen base. He had a strong outing on October 10th, recording his first multi-hit AFL game against Peoria. Gomez's main issue right now is that he isn't hitting for power; all his hits have been singles. His hard-hit rate and exit velocity metrics haven't been great either, especially when you look at his Statcast percentile via TJ Stats. While he's not barreling the ball or generating much exit velocity, I think he's sacrificing some of that for more contact. Gomez definitely looks like a kid facing a top prospect for the first time, opting for a little-to-no-stride approach that deflates his power. That said, he has such natural power, and he's launching the ball well (65th percentile) despite those mechanics. Once he gets more settled, I could see him using more stride in his swing setup and developing more barrels. Rose and Charles are big names and were on the Quad Cities championship team this year. Charles has the most at-bats of any Saguaro this fall, with 20, but he has only two hits. On the flip side, both were doubles, and he drove in the game-winning run on Sunday. Charles doesn't have the prettiest swing, and I wonder if his mechanics will leave him more exposed as he moves up the Royals system. We're already seeing that in his five strikeouts and no walks. At the same time, if he stays healthy, Charles has an intriguing player who could make an impact at the Major League level. As for Rose, it's been a similar story from Quad Cities: He's got a great approach and's hitting the ball hard, but he's just not barreling it. Even with a triple, his barrel rate has been subpar, as his TJ Stats percentiles below show. Rose shows all the tools of a utility outfielder at the very least. Could he be more? A lot depends on how that power develops. Seeing it develop in Arizona over the next few weeks would be encouraging. Lastly, Bryan has had an impressive start at the plate, hitting .500 in eight at-bats. The Royals selected him with an 8th-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, but he played only 33 games with Columbia due to injury. However, in that sample, he hit .319 with a .902 OPS in 138 plate appearances. If he were healthy, the Fireflies might have made the playoffs. He hasn't missed a beat in Arizona with four hits, including two doubles and a home run. His power is intriguing, and his Statcast percentiles in Arizona have been impressive, especially in exit velocity, hard-hit rate, and barrels. The Royals have had a strong track record with catching prospects recently, especially with Carter Jensen and Blake Mitchell having strong campaigns this year. If healthy, Bryan could be another one in 2027. Pitching: Could Mozzicato Find a Spot in the Royals Bullpen Soon? Royals pitchers through October 11: Justin Lamkin, LHP: 12.00 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, BB, 2 K, 3.0 IP. Steven Zobac, RHP: 6.75 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 0 BB, 4 K, 2.2 IP. Josh Hansell, RHP: 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 0 BB, 3 K, 2.0 IP. Frank Mozzicato, LHP: 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 0 BB, 3 K, 2.0 IP. Hiro Wyatt, RHP: 4.50 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 0 BB, 1 K, 2.0 IP. Lamkin made his much-anticipated AFL debut on October 6th, his first outing since May 25th in Double-A Northwest Arkansas. The stat line wasn't impressive. In three innings, he allowed five runs (four earned) on four hits and one walk while striking out two. The stuff also didn't profile well, with his four-seamer having a TJ Stuff+ of 80. That said, he generated a good amount of CSW and whiff, as shown in his Statcast summary below. With strong whiff, O-Swing%, and zone numbers, I wonder if his October 6th debut was more about shaking off the rust and getting back on the mound after such a long layoff. His next outing will be worth watching, as he could be in the mix in the Royals rotation in 2027. Like Lamkin, Zobac had mixed results in his AFL debut on October 5th against Glendale. In 2.2 IP, he allowed two runs on three hits. However, he struck out four and allowed no walks. His strikeout numbers were solid, but he gave up a lot of hard contact in his AFL debut, similar to what he did during the 2026 season in Double-A. Zobac has a spot on the 40-man roster for now, but he needs to show progress in 2027 to keep his spot. Otherwise, the Royals may replace him with another prospect in the system, a free agent, or a trade target from outside the organization. This AFL campaign and the upcoming Spring Training could be critical to Zobac's future in Kansas City. The most intriguing arm so far in Arizona may be Mozzicato, a former first-round pick who hasn't been consistent in the Royals organization since being drafted in 2021. The lefty has been Rule 5 eligible and hasn't been selected, which suggests he's not exactly a "desired" asset in the league. That said, he showed progress in Northwest Arkansas, finishing strong in the last two months of the year with a 3.86 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 18.2 IP. So far in Arizona, Mozzicato has struck out three batters, allowed no runs or walks, and surrendered only two hits in two innings. It's a small sample, but the stuff has been encouraging, and he's shown strong chase rates in the AFL. It would be nice to see Mozzicato's stuff play up even more, especially the four-seamer. However, his strong grades on the cutter and four-seamer show he has the potential to have a strong mix at the Major League level. While Mozzicato's game is inconsistent, his profile feels similar to Daniel Lynch IV, who struggled as a starter but proved reliable as a reliever. He needs to prove a bit more this fall and spring, but Mozzicato has gotten off to an encouraging start in the AFL. Lastly, Hansell and Wyatt aren't getting much prospect fanfare, but they could become decent relievers if they stay healthy and develop properly. Wyatt is intriguing, but injuries have slowed him and kept him from advancing beyond Low-A ball. That said, he can throw strikes and induce plenty of groundballs, as he did in his two-inning stint against Salt River on October 6th. With six pitches, Wyatt has the mix to be a long reliever or middle-innings arm who can thrive in medium-leverage spots. At 22, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Royals be aggressive with Wyatt in 2027, starting him in High-A and hoping he can transition to Double-A mid-season. View the full article

At any given time, only a handful of big-league catchers are on solid ground as unquestioned starters. The rest exist in a peculiar purgatory, wherein they're either a quasi-backup (whom a team might trust to play two of every three games for a few weeks, but only if forced to) or a true one who only grabs 15 percent of the starts behind the plate. Even at this point in his career, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya falls on that spectrum. Amaya has spent the last two seasons as a complement to Carson Kelly, and sometimes as his backup. After getting his most extended run as the No. 1 in 2024, he started 2025 in an equal timeshare with Kelly, but after an oblique injury essentially ended his season in late May, he entered 2026 with a reduced role. Kelly is an impending free agent, though, and Amaya is under team control for another three years. The 2026 campaign was an opportunity for him to showcase his chops and get another shot at the top gig come 2027. Did he manage it? Kelly caught 105 games (94 starts) in 2026, to Amaya's 70 (63 starts). Within a much larger sample of work than we saw in 2025, Amaya finished with a .237/.340/.377 line; a bloated 26.4% strikeout rate against a 9.1% walk rate; and a 106 wRC+ that reveals the broader offensive picture. There were some things that Amaya did better than in 2025, and some things he did worse. He took more walks than we'd seen, but the strikeouts also piled up. His power, measured by ISO, fell from .219 in 2025 to only .140 in 2026. Before this year, Amaya had shown at least average feel for contact, which made him above-average for a catcher in that regard. That was much less true in 2026, and he didn't make up for it by hitting for big power. A couple of caveats are worth keeping in mind, though. First is the fact that Amaya took more walks because he took more pitches. His 4.00 pitches per plate appearance were easily the most of his three full seasons (or facsimiles thereof). He swung far less overall, but was unable to parlay that into much more than an average walk rate. That's not surprising, because his bat speed was way down—about 2 miles per hour. That left pitchers little reason to fear him. When they fell behind, they just gave in and filled up the zone against him; he had little ability to punish them. From a defensive standpoint, Amaya has proven to be a perfectly acceptable backstop. He's gone from below-average in 2024 in Statcast's all-encompassing Catching Runs (-2) to slightly above (1) in each of the past two seasons. In 2026, he graded out as slightly above-average in framing and ABS run value (1 each) and exactly average in throwing and blocking (0 each). Average offensive production and roughly average defense adds up to a useful player, though once you account for the limited role he played, Amaya is probably a bit below average on each side of the ledger. As Kelly hits the market, he's positioned for a multi-year deal, and given his age, it would be unwise for the Cubs to be the ones who give it to him. Yet, they're also unlikely to feel comfortable making Amaya the full-fledged starting catcher. If the Cubs were to go into 2027 with (say) Amaya and top catching prospect Owen Ayers as their two behind the dish, Amaya may maintain the playing time edge early, but Ayers would be likely to take more of the playing time over the course of the campaign. Amaya's 2026 didn't disqualify him from a long-term role on the team, but nor did it solidify one for him. He's probably too good to be a pure backup, but he lacks the offensive upside to be a true No. 1 behind the plate. Be it Kelly or someone else, then, the Cubs probably need to add a catcher this winter. View the full article

Jeremy Zoll's first season as the Twins' general manager offered a few glimpses of what the organization might look like under his leadership, but plenty of questions remain. His trade deadline decisions provided an encouraging starting point, and early indications suggest he could take a more aggressive approach than his predecessor, Derek Falvey. However, one season isn't enough to determine whether Zoll can consistently build a competitive roster. With his first full offseason approaching, Zoll faces several decisions that could shape the Twins' direction for years to come. How he handles those challenges, works with ownership, and balances short-term competitiveness with the organization's young core will provide a much clearer picture of the general manager he hopes to become. With that in mind, what grade should Zoll receive after his first season running the Twins? The Unexpected Promotion Timing matters when evaluating a new general manager, and Zoll's situation was unusual. He took over for Falvey approximately two weeks before spring training. By then, many of the offseason's top free agents had signed, and the opportunity to reshape the roster was limited. General managers typically spend months identifying weaknesses, exploring trades, and negotiating with free agents. Zoll inherited a situation in which much of that work had already been completed. Much of Minnesota's roster reflected decisions made during Falvey's tenure. Zoll had limited time to determine which players fit his vision and pursue meaningful additions before the team reported to camp. It would be unfair to judge him too harshly for the roster's shortcomings or assume every decision during his first season represents his philosophy. He inherited the situation, and his ability to change it was limited. His first season should be viewed as a transition period, rather than a complete representation of his vision for the Twins. Becoming a Buyer Zoll's first substantial opportunity to differentiate himself came at the August 3 trade deadline. Minnesota decided to buy, acquiring Jeff Hoffman, Dean Kremer, A.J. Minter, and Tommy Nance to address needs in its pitching staff. Overall, Zoll generally did well with these moves. Hoffman provided stability to the bullpen’s late innings, Kremer added rotation depth, and Minter and Nance added relief depth. Just as importantly, the Twins made these additions without surrendering their best prospects. Minnesota improved its immediate roster without dramatically compromising its future. The team's deadline approach can be viewed through multiple lenses, but the front office followed through on its pledge to buy. Rather than moving veterans for future assets, the Twins invested in their existing roster. The long-term value of these moves will depend on player performance, but Zoll addressed multiple needs without paying an excessive prospect cost. Four acquisitions aren't enough to establish whether he consistently identifies undervalued talent or negotiates favorable trades. Still, the deadline provided an encouraging early indicator. Zoll showed that he was willing to make moves while preserving the organization's most valuable young talent. It's hardly enough to form a firm opinion about his competency in the big chair, but it's something. Is Zoll More Aggressive Than Falvey? There is some early evidence suggesting Zoll might be slightly more aggressive than his predecessor. Minnesota's deadline approach provided one indication, while reporting from Aaron Gleeman suggested that people in other front offices who have dealt with the Twins viewed Zoll as more aggressive than Falvey. However, it's important to consider the circumstances in which each executive operated. Falvey's tenure included a division title and the development of important young players. It also coincided with ownership decisions that complicated the team's ability to maintain a competitive payroll. Following the 2023 division championship, Minnesota reduced payroll, limiting its ability to retain players and pursue established free agents. A general manager can identify a player who would improve the team, but that doesn't mean ownership will approve the necessary financial commitment. Falvey often operated under circumstances that made aggressive roster construction more difficult. Zoll may have a different environment under Tom Pohlad, whose willingness to support the front office will help determine how aggressively the Twins pursue improvements. That doesn't automatically make Zoll a better executive than Falvey. It means he could have different opportunities. The coming offseason should provide a better indication of how his approach and ownership's financial commitment work together. The Offseason Will Tell Us Much More Zoll's first full offseason will provide his best opportunity yet to shape the roster. Several decisions could reveal his priorities. One possibility is pursuing long-term extensions with members of Minnesota's young core. Extensions can provide players financial security while helping the organization retain important contributors. The challenge is determining which players warrant those commitments and whether ownership will make the necessary investment. The bullpen is another area to watch. Minnesota has frequently relied on developing relievers and finding inexpensive options rather than consistently committing significant money to established arms. A meaningful investment would demonstrate a willingness to address a persistent roster need. The Twins could also pursue a power hitter at first base. An established bat would add another run producer, although the organization must weigh the player's cost and contract length against other priorities. Finally, Zoll could make difficult decisions about remnants of the previous core, including Royce Lewis and Trevor Larnach. Both players are reaching the point in arbitration where it is clear if the club will keep them around. It may be time to move on from both. Neither player should be moved simply to create change. However, Zoll must be willing to reconsider previous plans if a trade would improve the roster or create opportunities elsewhere. Whether the Twins retain these players or move on, the decisions should reflect Zoll's evaluation of the team's competitive timeline. At this point, Zoll's grade is incomplete. He inherited the general manager's responsibilities approximately two weeks before spring training, leaving limited opportunities to reshape the roster. His trade deadline performance offered encouraging signs, but one group of acquisitions isn't enough to determine whether he can consistently build a competitive team. Ownership's role will be equally important. Tom Pohlad must demonstrate whether the organization intends to support a more aggressive approach. The Twins don't need to spend recklessly, but they need a coherent plan connecting payroll, player development, and major-league additions. For now, Zoll deserves credit for navigating an unusual transition and making reasonable moves at the deadline. However, it would be premature to label him a success (or failure) after a season in which he had so little time to establish his own direction. The early returns are encouraging, but Zoll's grade remains incomplete. His first full offseason will provide the best opportunity to evaluate his priorities, his relationship with ownership, and his ability to build a competitive roster. The potential lockout may complicate that process, but the most important evidence is still to come. What grade would you give Zoll for 2026? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

The Brewers did what they've done all postseason: respond. For the fifth time in six games, the opposition scored first, but Milwaukee has only lost once. The Dodgers scored in three innings, and each time, the Brewers tied or took the lead in the bottom half of that very frame. It didn't need to be a back-and-forth affair. None of the four runs Milwaukee allowed should have scored. William Contreras allowed a wild pitch to bounce off his chest protector in the first inning, Cooper Pratt couldn't knock down a tough hop on what should have been a double-play ball in the third, and Logan Henderson made throwing errors in both the third and the fifth. Poor infield defense has been a theme. Errors are a small and incomplete measure of defense, but the Brewers have already committed seven this postseason. Because they've also made a handful of great plays, their fielding has probably been closer to a net zero, but a team that is usually fundamentally sound has made things harder for itself with those misplays. "It was the way we just kept going. We kept competing," Yelich said. "We beat ourselves a little early in the game, would get up, get behind. It was just a lot of self-inflicted wounds." Those wounds limited Henderson to four innings in his second postseason start. He wasn't hit hard in either outing, but walks and miscues have limited his success after an outstanding regular season. "You walk the lead-off hitter, you threw a ball in the dirt with a man on second that kicked away—that's not a pitch that was called for in the dirt. Now he put himself in that jam," Pat Murphy said. "Then he throws the ball away to first on two different occasions. That's three runs that you give them. That can't happen. That just can't happen. But I believe in him, and I believe he'll correct it." Meanwhile, the Brewers' offense went to work against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw a one-run complete game in his last playoff outing at American Family Field. Contreras practically willed Milwaukee to victory, tying the game with a first-inning single and a fifth-inning home run before securing the lead for good with another single in the sixth. The game's trajectory changed when the Brewers chased Yamamoto in a 36-pitch third inning. With two outs, Jake Bauers saw five of his six pitch types in a 12-pitch plate appearance, spoiling all of them with six straight foul balls before drawing a walk to load the bases. "It just got to a certain point where it was straight compete mode," Bauers said. "A little bit of [a] blackout, just kind of in the flow a little bit of competing." The seven-minute battle clearly took a chunk out of Yamamoto. After Bauers finally took ball four, the Dodgers' playoff superhero nearly hit Christian Yelich with a first-pitch fastball, then hung a curveball that Yelich lined up the middle for a go-ahead single. "That changes the game," Murphy said. "You think about that and what it does to a pitcher. He can get through an inning in less than seven minutes, and he does all the time. He's one of the best pitchers in the land. It was a great at-bat. I think [it was] a turning point, I really do." "The deeper the at-bat got, I knew he was getting on, whether it be by hit or walk, whatever it may be," Yelich said. "You want to follow a great at-bat like that with a good at-bat." That was all for Yamamoto, who was the World Series MVP a year ago. In last year's NLCS, he recorded all 27 outs against the Brewers in Game 2 on just 111 pitches. This time, he needed 75 pitches for eight outs. From there, Milwaukee kept the pressure on as the Dodgers emptied their bullpen, with David Hamilton's aggressive baserunning and more big swings by Contreras putting them over the hump. Before the postseason started, multiple Brewers insisted this year would be different from past disappointing Octobers. They said they learned from last year's NLCS sweep against the Dodgers and came back stronger, hungrier, and more confident. They're proving every night that it wasn't just talk. The Brewers look different than the team that ran out of steam last postseason. Their offense is grinding down great pitching. Their bullpen has allowed one earned run in 28 ⅔ innings, making up for Henderson and Jacob Misiorowski's shorter-than-expected outings. They've even gotten timely home runs from Contreras, Jackson Chourio, and Brice Turang, to score enough runs when their pressure-focused style has fallen short. The Brewers feel inevitable, and they've undertaken their domination with businesslike determination. "This year, they don't want to be denied," Murphy said. "They're going against arguably one of the best teams in baseball ever put together, and they don't care. They won't be denied." When they have felt vulnerable, it was because they were beating themselves. The Brewers overcame misplays in the NLDS to eliminate the Padres, and they're on that path against the Dodgers. But the reality remains that Los Angeles, the NL's other 100-win team, will make them pay if they keep making mistakes. The margin for error is thinner than it was against the Padres, and it's not worth testing. The job is far from finished, and the Brewers have gotten by without playing their best baseball. If they clean things up in the field, they could secure their first World Series berth since 1982 in a few days. "Keep going," Contreras said. "The goal is not to think about where we're at. Regardless of where we're going, who we're playing against, the goal is just to focus on doing our jobs and executing our jobs. That's the task at hand. Just focusing on what's next." "We've got to keep going," Yelich said. "We haven't accomplished anything yet. It was a good start, but still a long way to go. They're a great team over there, and we know that we've got to continue to play well." View the full article

No fear. No fear, and no self-doubt. No fear, and no self-doubt, and no waiting around. William Contreras felt responsible for the run the Dodgers scored in the top of the first inning Monday, giving the visitors another near-immediate lead and forcing the Brewers to play from behind against the untouchable mega-ace of the last two Octobers, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He was responsible for it. A Logan Henderson changeup did hit the dirt well in front of home plate, with Mookie Betts at second base, but it came up into Contreras's chest, rather than skipping wildly or staying down in some unpredictable fashion. Contreras should have blocked it, but he failed to, and a few pitches later, Betts came home from third with the first run of the game. Contreras isn't perfect. That's never been his game. When he first arrived in Milwaukee, he was a poor framer, failing to maintain a tidy strike zone for his pitchers. He cleaned that up nicely, but went through a long period where his arm (though very strong) was inaccurate, so he struggled to control the running game. The last two years, his accuracy has gotten dramatically better. But he struggled mightily blocking errant pitches this season, and that has been a costly shortcoming already this postseason. Meanwhile, at the plate, he's played through some injuries and gone through long, profound power outages. No matter. His greatest trait on the diamond is not his bat speed or his arm strength. It's his tenacity, and second on the list is his resiliency. He plays without fear, or self-doubt, and he never waits for the game to give him the next opportunity to make up for a mistake. Instead, fueled by confidence and his desire to make good, he makes things happen. In the bottom of the same inning in which he cost the team a run, he got the chance to even the score. Brice Turang slashed a beautiful opposite-field double against Yamamoto, bringing up Contreras with a runner in scoring position and one out. Yamamoto jumped ahead of him 0-2, with back-to-back fastballs on the inner edge of the plate. He missed badly with the next two pitches, though, evening the count. Contreras had a sense of what was coming: something low, maybe even dipping out of the zone. He could have taken the approach of programming a take on that pitch, but he would have risked staring at strike three, if Yamamoto had dotted the bottom rail of the zone with an unexpected fastball. Instead, Contreras was ready. He got a slider, rather than the splitter Yamamoto had tried on the previous pitch, but it was in much the same position as that pitch had been. It was, in fact, about ankle-high on the outer edge of the plate. It's a strikeout pitch. It's a death sentence for any hitter who swings at it. Contreras, though, is a freak. He scooped that ball into left field, a humpback line drive that allowed Turang to score. His salvific services would be needed again, though. After a third-inning back-and-forth left the Brewers up 3-2, the Dodgers found two runs in the top of the fifth. Milwaukee had already chased Yamamoto, but now, they had to finagle another comeback, with the countdown clock starting to tick. Indeed, the Dodgers had nearly gotten to the halfway point. Contreras stepped into the box against lefty Kris Bubic with Los Angeles having recorded 13 of the 27 outs they needed, and Bubic started him with a strike. You can't get any closer to being exactly halfway to the end of a game, as the winning team. Then, Contreras turned off the clock, the way you turned off your alarm clock when the snooze button wasn't emphatic enough: by firing it off the back wall. Contreras's long, screaming homer felt like the hammer falling on the Dodgers, but it really only restored parity. The knockout blow would have to come an inning later. The Dodgers should have known better. They faced a tough situation, with a runner on third and one out and the left-hitting Turang due up against righty reliever Brock Stewart. They could have gone to a lefty to take on Turang, but he would have been locked into a matchup with Contreras afterward. Instead, they intentionally walked Turang. They should, really, have known better, but Dave Roberts got away with two bad intentional walks in Game 1 and seemed to be feeling himself. Contreras didn't wait around. Stewart threw a first-pitch sweeper that stayed up and on the outer third, and although he caught it off the end of the bat, the All-Star catcher dumped the ball safely into left field again. It was 5-4 Brewers, and the game felt over. The series felt over. Three huge at-bats; three huge postseason hits. Contreras hasn't been perfect all postseason. He was as good as perfect in Game 2, though. The Brewers needed him to deliver three times to vanquish the defending champs and take a 2-0 lead in the series. That's a very tall order, but Contreras filled it, with fearless swagger and no small amount of baseball IQ. Every time there was even the slightest temptation to worry, Contreras alleviated it. Now, the team can head to Southern California feeling loose and completely in control. View the full article

How often can you say a game-changing plate appearance happened in the third inning? Well, in the postseason, it can occur at any time. Most remember walk-offs or late-inning hits that lead to a team winning a game. But Monday, the biggest plate appearance happened in the bottom of the third inning of the NL Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. It was a walk—it was the walk heard 'round Wisconsin. And because of it, the Brewers have a 2-0 lead over the Dodgers thanks to a 7-4 win. Four wins are needed to get through the NLCS. A trip to the World Series, their first since 1982, awaits if they get two more. It won't be easy as the next three games are in Los Angeles. The Dodgers had just taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning against Brewers rookie right-hander Logan Henderson. Perhaps the Dodgers were about to go on and add more runs against Henderson and go on to even the best-of-seven series at a game apiece. After all, the Dodgers had right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound, last year's World Series MVP. The Japanese star began his impeccable postseason run against these Brewers in Game 2 of last year's NLCS, throwing the first of back-to-back complete games. Those were the first complete games of Yamamoto's brief MLB career. So it had to creep into the Brewers' minds that Yamamoto was about to throw a shutdown inning and give the Dodgers' bats a chance to tack on. Only the Brewers had other ideas. David Hamilton, the light-hitting No. 9 batter, led off with a single to center. Star leadoff hitter Jackson Chourio lined out to right fielder Kyle Tucker, who made a nice running play. Hamilton easily stole second and one of the Game 1 heroes, Brice Turang, walked. William Contreras, who would make his own mark on this game with two run-scoring singles and a solo homer, flew out to center, with the runners still at first and second. Up came Bauers. A surprising big piece of the Brewers' offense this season with a team-high 26 homers to go along with 86 RBIs, Bauers didn't have a good at-bat in his first trip to the plate against Yamamoto. He popped up to catcher Will Smith on five pitches. Yamamoto wishes he only needed five pitches against Bauers in his second time up. Bauers, a left-handed hitter, got ahead in the count 2-1, with Yamamoto getting back into the count with a curveball at the top of the zone. The next pitch was a ball high and outside. Full count. Two outs. Two on. The fun was about to begin. 97 mph four-seamer up and in. Fouled off. 77.7 mph curveball down and in. Fouled off. 95.7 mph sinker middle up. Fouled off. 97.4 mph four-seamer up and off the plate inside. Fouled off. 93.7 mph cutter just a little below the previous pitch. Fouled off. 92.3 mph splitter missed low and outside. Fouled off. Six straight foul balls. The tension of the postseason, even on a late-afternoon start on a Monday, was intense. The sellout gathering at American Family Field was with Bauers on every pitch, every swing. Finally, after swinging at three pitches that were out of the strike zone, the last three swings, Bauers didn't swing. Ball four was in the dirt. After a scintillating 12-pitch battle with one of the best pitchers in all of MLB, the journeyman first baseman trotted to first with a walk that loaded the bases. Bauers, as the Brewers have preached all season, did his job and handed the baton to the next hitter, That guy was Christian Yelich, the newly christened captain of the Crew. After a poor finish to the regular season and speculation over his postseason role rampant, Yelich has found a second wind after being named captain. Yelich lined a 1-0 curveball right down the pipe to center. Two runs scored. The Brewers had the lead at 3-2. That lead wouldn't hold. The Dodgers took a 4-3 lead, then the Brewers tied it 4-4. But what Bauers did wore down Yamamoto. After Yelich's hit, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did what no one had on their bingo card entering the game: removing his ace with two outs in the third inning. Yamamoto had thrown 75 pitches. A Yamamoto game usually means a light day for the bullpen. Not on this day. Bauers exhausted Yamamoto with a plate appearance that took 7 minutes, 15 seconds. It was Yamamoto's shortest of 11 postseason starts. The 2⅔ innings matches what Yamamoto pitched to close out Game 7 of the World Series last year. This year's Game 2 was different. No complete game. Instead, a parade of seven Dodgers relievers. The Brewers have now beaten Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal, the two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner in the first two games of the series. Blake Snell, another two-time Cy Young Award winner, awaits in Game 3. But as Yamamoto found out, these Brewers are different. They have expected to perform on this stage. They have done just that. And a 12-pitch walk has the Brewers with an improbable series lead and halfway to a long-awaited trip to the World Series. View the full article

With the first full week of the Arizona Fall League (AFL) ending, let’s take our first look at the nine prospects the Chicago Cubs sent to Mesa to compete. The AFL is primarily a developmental league, but that does not mean the same thing to each team. Some teams send top prospects to get more work against better competition across the six-week league. Other teams use the AFL to make up innings for prospects that missed significant time with injury throughout the regular season. Last year, Owen Ayers began his prospect breakout by taking home the AFL All-League catcher award. As per usual, the Cubs sent five pitchers and three hitters to the Mesa Solar Sox this season, as well as hitter Miguel Useche to Salt River. Can any of them replicate what Ayers did last year? Before we get into the first week of play, let’s take a look at each of the nine prospects the Cubs sent to Arizona. Jhon Cabral Cabral is an interesting AFL selection for the Cubs. Released in June by the Marlins after a fourth straight rough year in Rookie ball, the Cubs signed Cabral and got pretty disastrous results from his 11 innings across the ACL and Carolina League. In those 11 innings, he gave up 11 hits, 14 walks, and 21 runs. While he did have 21 strikeouts, those numbers do not indicate fall league selection to me. Yet, here we are; the 21-year-old just wrapped up his fifth professional season, yet he has never thrown more than 22 innings in a single season. Yoendris Gonzalez Gonzalez finds himself in the AFL after a quality 2026 season split across Myrtle Beach and South Bend. The 23-year-old threw 37.2 innings with a 36% strikeout rate and a 9% walk rate and allowed just 11 runs on 27 hits. Gonzalez seems likely to start the year in the AA bullpen, so a stint in the AFL where he can throw some more innings and face higher competition seems to be a great springboard for him. Dominick Reid A 2025 draftee, Reid is coming off of his first professional season. He spent April and May in Myrtle Beach, but was then placed on the 60-day IL before returning to make one final start in September in South Bend. Reid threw 50 innings in Myrtle Beach with a 23% strikeout rate and a 9% walk rate. The reasons for his inclusion here are likely two-fold: He only threw 53 innings this year and needs more work as he was third-round pick in 2025, and they want to see what he looks like in the AFL setting. Reid likely starts next year back in Myrtle Beach, but the 22-year-old could push for a AA assignment with a strong fall league showing. Luis Rujano This is the second trip to the AFL for the 23-year-old Rujano, as he threw nine innings back in 2024 for Mesa. He has posted back-to-back seasons with a strikeout rate north of 24% since then, split between South Bend and Knoxville. Rujano’s issue is that the punch-outs come with a walk rate north of 15%. He really struggled this year in Knoxville with 25 walks in just 29.2 innings. The Cubs are looking for Rujano to find the zone more consistently and hoping the exposure to the AFL helps build confidence for a player likely returning to Knoxville next season. Anhuar Garcia The Cubs signed Garcia out of the Mexican League before the 2025 season and, as a 21-year-old, he put up a strikeout rate of 24% and a walk rate of 9% across 32 innings while allowing 21 earned runs in Rookie ball. Those are not numbers that jump off the page, especially for his age in the complex league. He followed that up with a strong 2026 split across Myrtle Beach and South Bend where he increased his strikeout rate to 29% and decreased his walk rate to a minuscule 5% while allowing just 17 runs in 43.1 innings. Similar to Reid, this AFL selection seems to aim to get Garcia both more innings and expose him to some higher level competition in preparation for next season. Juan Cabada Cabada made his stateside debut this year with an impressive 14 game sample in the ACL before missing three months and ending the season with promotion to Myrtle Beach in which he scuffled a bit over 17 games. After missing all that time, there is no question he needs more game reps, so his inclusion in the AFL makes sense from that perspective. For the 18-year-old Cabada, though, the AFL selection may also be the Cubs testing the mettle of a prospect they gave a seven-figure bonus to. As one of the youngest players in the league he is likely to struggle, but he can learn a ton by being around older players and the higher level of competition. Kade Snell Snell’s inclusion on the AFL roster makes a ton of sense. He was a fifth-rounder in 2025 and although his draft season debut was a bit lackluster, he rebounded to put together a quality 2026 season in South Bend. However, e only played 81 games due to a broken wrist in May. The AFL allows Snell to get more game reps and at-bats before he aims to open the 2027 season in the Knoxville outfield. Harrison Feinberg The most interesting inclusion on this year’s AFL roster, Feinberg will make his professional debut in the AFL. It is an incredibly aggressive assignment for Feinberg after signing with the Cubs as an undrafted free agent in July. A corner outfielder out of Northeastern University, Feinberg hit 47 career NCAA home runs with a 1.013 OPS across four seasons with a 20% strikeout rate and a 12% walk rate. This will be a fascinating debut for him. Miguel Useche Signed out of Independent Ball last season, Useche had a solid season with an .816 OPS in South Bend before getting promoted and putting up an .861 OPS in Knoxville. He is a little on the older side, but played C/1B/LF/RF for the Cubs this year and provides solid depth for Salt River. Now that we know the nine prospects, how did the first week go? Dominick Reid: 8 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 9 strikeouts, 4 walks Reid started the AFL opener for Mesa and delivered four innings with seven strikeouts, one walk, and just one ball hit out of the infield (although it was a home run). He recorded three strikeouts each with his fastball and slider, and one with his sinker. He sat 92-94 with the fastball, slightly lower with the sinker, and 82-85 with both the slider and changeup. He also showed a cutter and a curveball. His second start came in the seventh game for the Solar Sox, though he was not as crisp. Facing the same opponent again, Reid worked through traffic all day and was the recipient of two runners thrown out on the bases (both started by Cubs outfielders, Feinberg and Snell respectively). His stuff looked similar to game one and he did manage to limit the damage to just one run through four innings. Anhuar Garcia: 5 IP, 6 hits, 7 runs (4 ER), 2 strikeouts, 4 walks Garcia was the first man out of the 'pen for Mesa in their opener. He walked the first batter and the second batter hit a 105.9 ground ball for the double play before getting a fly out to end the inning. He got two hard-hit fly-ball outs on four pitches to start the next inning before giving up a soft double and then going 100+ mph homer, four-pitch walk, 100+ mph homer, four-pitch walk and getting pulled. He was 90-92 with his four-seamer and sinker, 86-89 with his cutter, and 84-86 with the slider. He gave up home runs on a slider and four-seam fastball. Garcia got his second appearance over the weekend and was much better. He came in in the second with a runner on, likely much earlier than he expected, and got a ground ball and strikeout to get out of the inning. Across 3.1 innings, Garcia gave up just three singles, including one of the infield variety, while striking out two. Luis Rujano: 2.2 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks Rujano got his first appearance out of the Solar Sox 'pen in their third game of the season. He has shown five pitches so far, averaging 95-97 mph on his four-seam and sinker, 92 mph on his cutter, and 82-84 mph on both the curve and slider. He walked one and gave up one hit, but got two ground-outs and three strikeouts. His second appearance came over the weekend and he walked the leadoff hitter before giving up a RBI double with one out. Rujano also has made his own life difficult by making a throwing error in each of his two appearances. Jhon Cabral: 1.1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 strikeout, 2 walks Cabral relieved in game two for Mesa. He is out there throwing almost all fastballs and sitting 99-101. He has not shown much other than the fastball in his limited time, but the velocity is quite promising. Yoendris Gonzalez: 1.1 IP, 2 hits, 6 runs, 2 strikeouts, 5 walks Gonzalez also relieved in game two for Mesa, though he did not look great. He sat 94-96 on his four-seam and mixed in a sinker, slider, change, cutter. The results of that first appearance: three walks and a hit by pitch in his six batters, as he couldn’t get out of the inning. He came in late in a few games later and walked back-to-back hitters to start the inning. He struck out the next two but a two-out, RBI infield single was followed by a three-run homer at 100+ mph and he was again yanked before completing an inning. Kade Snell: 19 ABs, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 double, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts Snell hit leadoff for Mesa for the opener and went 2-4 with a walk and two balls hit over 100 mph. He is just 2-15 since then and has fallen toward the bottom of the lineup. He has hit just two balls in the air in the AFL; everything else has been on the ground. Juan Cabada: 15 ABs, 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, 1 SB The season has started as expected for the 18-year-old. He has started four games and has a 41% k rate. He has hit one ball over 100 mph, but most of his contact has been weak. He did have a two-out, ground-ball RBI single during the week for the Solar Sox, but he has hit just one line drive and one fly ball in his 15 at bats. It is early, but he certainly looks overmatched. Harrison Feinberg: 9 ABs, 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, 1 SB Feinberg has only started three games thus far, but two of them were Mesa’s last two games. He didn’t get a start until game three and had a strikeout and two ground-outs before hitting a two-out RBI single at 108.7 mph. In the last two games, he has gone 2-5 with three walks, a 109 mph single, and a stolen base. I would expect him to get some more playing time after those two performances, but he is showing impressive exit velocities in his limited sample. Miguel Useche: 4 ABs, 0 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts Useche has started two games for Salt River so far. He went 0-1 with two walks and a sac fly in his first start and 0-3 in his second. He has yet to play behind the plate, with one start coming at 1B and the other in LF. View the full article

With the first full week of the Arizona Fall League concluding, the eight New York Mets prospects sent to the desert got the opportunity to get their feet wet in the AFL. This year, only two of those sent did not miss most of the season due to injury. Some player have played very little in the Mets' system, so the team will hope to use the AFL to see what they have in these prospects. However, the results were not great in week one. Position Players Bruin Agbayani: Slashed .245/.375/.321 across 53 ABs in A-ball this year. Missed most of season with shoulder injury. Son of Former Met Benny Agbayani Boston Baro: Slashed .241/.333/.310 in 29 ABs this season. Missed most of the season with a shoulder injury. Struggled in 2025, slashing .224/.282/.321 with a .602 OPS. Cole Mathis: 10 HRs, 42 RBIs in 189 ABs. Had Tommy John surgery prior to last season. Hit below .100 when called up to A+ Brooklyn. Pitchers Irving Cota: Posted a 0.73 ERA in 24 2/3 innings as a starter for A+ Brooklyn, however, he went down with injury and barely worked after that. Brenden Girton: 6.72 ERA in 83 Innings for AA Binghamton, with an 81:57 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Allowed 81 hits including 16 HRs. Ryan Lambert: In 25.2 Innings in AAA, he posted a 7.71 ERA with a 32:28 K-to-BB ratio. He had a 1.71 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 2025 in AA. Peyton Prescott: 5.15 ERA in 36.2 innings in 2025 for Florida State. Had UCL surgery shortly after he was drafted, managed one inning for St Lucie with two strikeouts and a walk. Calvin Ziegler: 7.00 ERA in nine innings in A+ Brooklyn. Bounced around RK/A/A+/AA this year due to injury. He pitched to a scoreless inning in his lone Double-A outing. The eight New York Mets prospects will be home to the same team the 2022 Mets prospects played for, the Surprise Saguaros. These prospects, along with those from the Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians and Philadelphia Phillies, will make up the roster for Surprise this season. Following one week of action, the Saguaros are 4-3 headed into their game today versus the Peoria Javelins. Here is a breakdown of how each of the eight have played through the first week of the season. Bruin Agbayani 2B/SS/3B Bruin was one of the prospects handed over for Freddy Peralta, while also serving as a legacy prospect due to his father being Benny Agbayani. It is safe to say the Mets would love for Bruin to have a positive AFL season. So far, in five games played, Bruin is slashing .063/.167/.125 with seven strikeouts. On the positive side, Bruin has recorded a double, RBI and two walks and two runs scored so far. The Saguaros will hope that he can cut down on the strikeouts. Boston Baro SS/3B/2B In four games played, Baro is 1-for-10 with three walks and his lone hit being a RBI single. In Sunday’s game, Baro went 0-for-2 with two walks to end his week, Coming off of a slow season due to injury, and with the Mets having a surplus of middle infield prospects, Baro will need to show his worth to keep his name off the developmental list or worse, off the roster. Cole Mathis 1B/DH Mathis definitely fared the best of the position players, despite slashing .133/.316/.333. In Sunday’s game versus the Desert Dogs, Mathis took a sinker in the middle of the zone 395 feet over the left field fence, a no-doubt shot. The solo home run tied the game in the eighth inning, which Surprise would go on to win. Mathis was sent over to Queens in a one-for-one deal for starting pitcher David Peterson during the summer. Mathis, always a home run or strikeout kind of hitter, recorded 56 strikeouts and 45 hits this past season. He was a former two-way player before giving up pitching due to TJS. With nobody waiting in the wings for the Mets first base spot in the minor leagues, Mathis could push his name to the front of the list with more home runs like that during the rest of the AFL season. RHP Irving Cota In two appearance so far for Surprise, Cota has given up two earned runs in 4.2 innings. The part of his outings that the Mets will be the happiest about Is the seven strikeouts (and only one allowed hit). In Cota’s second outing, he struck out six in two innings of work, a very positive showing of what could come in his young career. Cota was at his best when he was a starter in A+ ball, posting an ERA under 1.00 with 14 strikeouts. Injuries reduced him down to a relief role down the stretch, but with ridiculous spin rates seen so far in his Mets tenure and scarce pitching depth in the system, Cota has a good opportunity to get his name out there this fall. RHP Brendan Girton Girton has not given up a run through two appearances thus far. He has always been a strikeout pitcher but has not recorded one thus far in 1.1 innings pitched. In 2025, Girton recorded 81 strikeouts and gave up 81 hits, which is a ratio he'll need to skew in favor of the former going forward. Girton’s fastball has so far topped out at 92.5, a small tick down from his usual 93-94 he was at last season. In his last outing on Friday, Girton gave up a hit but got through a full inning with letting the run score. RHP Ryan Lambert In two appearances, Lambert has gone two full innings with two strikeouts. His most recent outing came on Friday where he struck out two, topping out at 98.6 mph. Lambert’s first strikeout came on a 2-2 breaking ball vs a lefty, which is always encouraging (seeing a struggling righty striking out a left-handed hitter). Lambert’s second strikeout came on a 2-2 upstairs fastball that registered 98 mph. He is no stranger to generating whiffs, but he needs to be better at limiting his walks and getting himself into better early counts. Many fans were calling for Lambert to be called up during his dominant 2025 campaign where he and his 100 mph heater were striking guys out left and right, but a step back this year delayed those plans. A strong AFL showing can get him right back on track. RHP Peyton Prescott Because of injury, Prescott’s minor-league career has only featured one inning of work. It's no surprise, then, that he hasn't looked great in three inning in the AFL; six hits, four walks and three earned runs rest on his ledger. His most recent outing came on Friday where he gave up four hits, three earned runs, and two walks while also recording a strikeout. Prescott features a fastball, sweeper, and splitter primarily. He uses his sweeper more towards the beginning of the count to set up for his fastball, with the splitter being the out pitch. It's good to see him out there and hopefully he'll record better results in his next couple outings. RHP Calvin Ziegler Ziegler floated through his first outing last Sunday, throwing one inning of work while not giving up a hit and topping out at 95.1 mph, However, his second outing on Friday was not as kind; he was only able to get one batter out by way of the strikeout after giving up three hits, three walks and three earned runs. Ziegler was drafted in 2021 but has not seen recent minor-league action due to major injuries including a torn UCL and a torn quad. This fall is all about the Mets seeing if he still is the guy they drafted in the second round five years ago. View the full article

The Twins had 32 different pitchers take the mound this season, along with a pair of position players in Alex Jackson and Orlando Arcia(!). There were some bright spots, including a few young pitchers who took important steps forward. But it was an injury-filled year for the Twins’ pitching staff, as only one hurler recorded more than 145 innings. However, the injuries also gave fans a chance to see some younger pitchers get their first taste of the majors. Minnesota also added a few arms via trade, including a couple who cracked (or nearly cracked) today’s top three. Let’s take a look at the best Twins pitchers of the 2026 season. Honorable Mentions Before getting into the top three, a couple of honorable mentions are worth recognizing. SP Connor Prielipp: 4.87 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 23.9% K, 8.2% BB, 3.73 FIP, 125 2/3 IP (24 G, 22 GS) SP Dean Kremer: 3.48 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 22.7% K, 8.5% BB, 3.82 FIP, 54 1/3 IP (10 G, 10 GS) #3: RP Yoendrys Gómez 2026 Stats: 21 SV, 3.62 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 24.2% K, 13.5% BB, 3.40 FIP, 49 2/3 IP (56 G) Yoendrys Gómez was acquired from Tampa Bay on May 6 for cash considerations, and he turned out to be an extremely important piece of the Twins’ bullpen. He went 21-for-21 on save opportunities to begin his tenure as the Twins' (accidental) closer, before hitting a rough patch toward the end of the season. He still finished 21-for-23, giving Minnesota a reliable ninth-inning option. That was something the Twins desperately needed, after struggling to find a consistent answer at the back of the bullpen earlier in the year. Gómez’s sweeper proved to be a dominant pitch, generating a 40% whiff rate while allowing very little hard contact. Pair that with a quality four-seam fastball that sits around 96 miles per hour, and there's a strong foundation for a high-leverage reliever. There are still some things for Gómez to clean up, particularly his command. His 13.5% walk rate left plenty of room for improvement, and limiting the free passes could help him take another step forward. But he figures to remain a late-inning option for Derek Shelton next season. If he can build on what he accomplished in 2026 while improving his control, he could become one of the better relievers in the AL Central. #2: SP Joe Ryan 2026 Stats: 3.79 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 25.9% K, 5.0% BB, 3.70 FIP, 144 2/3 IP (27 G, 27 GS) Joe Ryan won this award in 2025 and may have been able to repeat, had it not been for injuries. He looked like a legitimate Cy Young contender during the first half of the season, earning a spot on the American League All-Star roster in the process. He was comfortably the Twins’ best arm before the All-Star break, showing the swing-and-miss stuff and command that have made him such an important part of the rotation. He continued to pound the strike zone and miss bats at a high rate, while his 5.0% walk rate ranked among the best in baseball. Unfortunately, Ryan didn't look quite like the same pitcher after the All-Star break. He landed on the injured list in early August with a glute strain and missed about a month. Although he returned to the mound, the missed time limited him to 144 2/3 innings. When Ryan was healthy, he looked like an ace. His underlying numbers also suggest he may have slightly underperformed his results, giving Twins fans reason to believe he can bounce back next season. Barring an offseason trade, Ryan should continue to lead Minnesota's starting rotation in 2027. His ability to miss bats and limit walks gives him a strong foundation, and a healthy season could put him back in the conversation among the American League's best starters. However, when looking at the starting pitchers who made this list, including the honorable mentions, innings pitched mattered quite a bit. Ryan's season was impressive, but he simply didn't have the same workload as this year's winner. Minnesota Twins’ 2026 Pitcher of the Year: SP Taj Bradley 2026 Stats: 3.73 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 27.4% K, 10.2% BB, 3.82 FIP, 178 1/3 IP (31 G, 31 GS) Taj Bradley entered the season with plenty of question marks after making a rough first impression with the Twins in 2025. After Minnesota acquired him from Tampa Bay, there were questions about whether he could develop into the frontline starter the organization hoped he would become. He answered a lot of those questions in 2026. He was one of just 13 pitchers to record 200 or more strikeouts this season, flashing the upside of a legitimate top-of-the-rotation starter. He made 31 starts, threw 178 1/3 innings and showed that he could handle a significant workload while missing bats at a high rate. Five of Bradley's 31 starts featured double-digit strikeout totals, and his 27.4% strikeout rate ranked in the 83rd percentile among major league pitchers. That ability to generate swings and misses gives him an important foundation to build on as he continues developing. In the span of a year, or technically about eight months, Bradley went from a pitcher who needed to prove himself to a leader of the Twins' pitching staff. He's still only 25 years old, which makes his 2026 performance even more exciting when considering what could be ahead. Of course, there are still areas where Bradley can improve. His 10.2% walk rate shows that his command isn't quite where it needs to be, and he occasionally struggled to get hitters to chase pitches outside the strike zone. If he can clean up those non-competitive misses and improve his command within the strike zone this offseason, there's reason to believe he could produce even better results next year. Bradley wasn't perfect, but he gave the Twins plenty to be excited about moving forward. After a season filled with injuries and uncertainty across the pitching staff, having a young starter take such a significant step forward is a major positive. The Twins will need more consistent production from their pitching staff in 2027, particularly if they hope to get back into postseason contention. Bradley's development, Ryan's health and the continued emergence of younger arms could go a long way toward determining how successful that effort will be. View the full article

With a few extra days to put their thoughts together on the San Diego Padres' season coming to an end, Randy Holt and Steve Drumwright talk about how the NL Division Series loss happened, some things they liked, some things they didn't and the feelings that the Padres are left with going into the offseason. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/padres-mission-podcast/id1896922834 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033xclmydmbLmEp0exYuYz Listen on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-padres-mission-podcast-336930560 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@padresmission View the full article

Jake Bauers was once on five different teams over a six-season span. He has made Milwaukee his home for the last three years, and in 2026, he's enjoyed a career-best campaign. The 31-year-old first baseman has thrashed 28 homers and 50 extra-base hits, and the Brewers will need his potent power if they want to advance to their first World Series of the century. View the full article

Following a 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the NL Championship Series—the same score as last year's NLCS opener with the opposite outcome—the Milwaukee Brewers will be aiming to protect home-field advantage in Game 2 at American Family Field. And the pitcher tasked with that responsibility is right-hander Logan Henderson (4:20 p.m., Fox or FS1). The rookie, who was injured at the end of the 2025 season, preventing him from pitching in the postseason, will look to build off his start in Game 2 of the NL Division Series. Against the San Diego Padres in his postseason debut, Henderson allowed two runs (one earned) over five innings, allowing two hits and walking three while striking out five in a 4-3 victory. Henderson had a terrific second half. In 12 starts after the All-Star break, Henderson had a 2.19 ERA over 70 innings, walking 12 and striking out 76 while limiting opponents to a .174 batting average. For the season, Henderson had a 2.47 ERA (3.32 FIP) with a 5.1% walk rate and 29.6% strikeout rate. He did face the Dodgers twice this season, with the Brewers coming out on top both times. In the May 22 game at Am Fam, Henderson tossed five shutout innings, giving up two hits and three walks, striking out seven. He was better in the Aug. 16 rematch at Dodger Stadium, going seven innings and allowing a run on three hits and a walk with six strikeouts. With this being Henderson's 20th MLB game, the Dodgers only have those two games to go off of. Shohei Ohtani is 2-for-5 with a walk and two strikeouts, while Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez are the only other Dodgers with hits off Henderson. Muncy hit a solo homer in the second game. Logan Henderson vs. Los Angeles Dodgers: 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 Shohei Ohtani L 6 5 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 .400 .500 .400 .900 0 0 0 0 0 2 Mookie Betts R 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .200 .200 .200 .400 0 0 0 0 0 3 Freddie Freeman L 5 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .200 .000 .200 0 0 0 0 0 4 Max Muncy L 5 5 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 .200 .200 .800 1.000 0 0 0 0 0 5 Andy Pages R 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 .000 .400 .000 .400 0 0 0 0 0 6 Kyle Tucker L 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 7 Teoscar Hernández R 4 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250 .250 .250 .500 0 0 0 0 0 8 Tommy Edman B 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 1 9 Dalton Rushing L 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results. Generated 10/11/2026. Opposing Henderson will be Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Last year's World Series MVP began his tremendous postseason run against the Brewers in Game 2 of last year's NLCS, pitching his first career complete game and the first of back-to-back postseason complete games. Yamamoto has already begun this postseason with a terrific start. In Game 2 of the AL Division Series vs. Atlanta, Yamamoto struck out 10 over seven innings, yielding one run on four hits and a walk. That is on the heels of a 2.53 ERA (3.33 FIP) over 28 starts in the regular season. He had a career-best 5.9% walk rate, but his strikeout rate was down to 25.7% after being at 29.4% in 2025. Like Henderson, Yamamoto faced the Crew twice this season and the Dodgers won both. On May 24 in Milwaukee, he went seven innings, scattering seven hits while giving up a run, walking one and striking out three. Then on Aug. 14 at Dodger Stadium, he struck out nine and allowed a run on four hits and two walks over six innings. Yamamoto's only other appearance against the Brewers came last year, when the Crew chased him after two-thirds of an inning, allowing five runs on four hits and two walks. Andrew Vaughn hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat in a Brewers uniform. Jake Bauers and Joey Ortiz are each 2-for-4 vs. Yamamoto. Yoshinobu Yamamoto 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 Jackson Chourio R 7 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .143 .143 .143 .286 0 0 0 0 0 2 Jake Bauers L 6 4 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .500 .667 .500 1.167 0 0 0 1 0 3 William Contreras R 6 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .200 .333 .200 .533 0 0 0 0 1 4 Garrett Mitchell L 6 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 .200 .333 .200 .533 0 0 0 0 0 5 David Hamilton L 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .200 .200 .200 .400 0 0 0 0 0 6 Bo Naylor L 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .200 .200 .200 .400 0 0 0 0 0 7 Joey Ortiz R 5 4 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 .500 .400 .750 1.150 0 1 0 0 0 8 Sal Frelick L 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 .250 .250 .500 .750 0 0 0 0 0 9 Brice Turang L 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .333 .500 .333 .833 0 0 0 0 1 10 Christian Yelich L 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .250 .000 .250 0 0 0 0 0 11 Luis Lara B 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .500 .500 1.000 1.500 0 0 0 0 0 Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results. Generated 10/11/2026. View the full article

The Arizona Fall League, a showcase for key prospects for all 30 MLB teams, just wrapped up its first full week of action and the eight San Diego Padres players participating had some nice performances. The 30 MLB teams send players that are split among the six AFL teams. Padres prospects play for the Peoria Javelinas, who call the Friars' minor-league and spring training complex home. The other teams supplying players to the Javelinas are the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals. Each week, we will take a look back at how the Padres' prospects fared. Ty Harvey, C Making up for time lost due to a pair of injuries in the regular season for the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm, the 2025 fifth-round draft choice has had a mixed bag of success. The 20-year-old catcher, Padres Mission's No. 5 prospect, has gone just 1-for-13, but he has walked six times, which makes for an odd-looking .077/.368/.077 slash line in five games. When on base, Harvey has continued what the Storm did during the regular season: run. He has a team-high five stolen bases. He had nine in 57 regular-season games. Those five steals include three in one game and have contributed to Harvey scoring four runs. Justin DeCriscio, SS The 10th-round draft choice in 2025, who played at three levels including at Double-A San Antonio this year, went 2-for-14 with a double and three RBIs in four games. He has walked three times, was hit by a pitch and stolen a base. DeCriscio has started twice at shortstop and twice at second base. Alex McCoy, OF The breakthrough prospect in the Padres' system this season, the 24-year-old outfielder got off to a quick start in the AFL. Padres Mission's No. 8 prospect, signed as an undrafted free agent in 2025, homered in the first AFL game of the season and is 4-for-16, also notching a double with five RBIs. McCoy's homer was a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth inning and was a no-doubter 420-foot shot with a 110.6 mph exit velocity. It came on a 2-2 slider that was middle out. McCoy also had a big game Friday, when he went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two stolen bases. He has four steals in the five games he has played. Winyer Chourio, RHP The soon-to-be 23-year-old is looking to put his second-half struggles at High-A Fort Wayne in the rear-view mirror. He certainly took a good step forward in his first AFL start. The right-hander, Padres Mission's No. 17 prospect, went three shutout innings, allowing two hits and no walks while striking out one. He also hit a batter. That one strikeout came against Kevin Flewelling (Tampa Bay Rays), who was the MVP of the Futures Game, on a nice curveball. But Chourio also sent a murmur through the stands as he reached 96.7 mph on his four-seamer. He induced five groundball outs to just one in the air. Jordan Valenzuela, RHP Another arm to keep an eye on next year, the 21-year-old right-handed reliever made his AFL debut with a pair of one-inning appearances. Against Salt River, Valenzuela gave up two runs on three hits while not allowing a walk nor notching a strikeout. He bounced back against Glendale with a scoreless outing, striking out two while walking one and hitting another. He finished the season at Low-A Lake Elsinore. View the full article

Although this season didn’t pan out how everyone expected after a 2025 World Series trip, the Blue Jays have positives to build on as they head into the offseason. Sixteen players made their MLB debuts this season, one of the league's highest numbers. Among them, Kazuma Okamoto, Spencer Miles, Brandon Valenzuela, and Brett Bateman showed promising signs that they could handle the major league level. Some players also showed flashes of success that could help the team next season. Looking at players currently in the Blue Jays organization, here is a way-too-early prediction of what the 26-man roster could look like. Batting Order Here's what the batting order could look like, depending on the handedness of the opposing starting pitcher: vs RHP vs LHP 1 Brett Bateman (CF) Brett Bateman (CF) 2 Nathan Lukes (LF) Charles McAdoo (2B) 3 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1B) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1B) 4 Alejandro Kirk (C) Alejandro Kirk (C) 5 Kazuma Okamoto (3B) Kazuma Okamoto (DH) 6 Anthony Santander (DH) Anthony Santander (RF) 7 Addison Barger (RF) Jonatan Clase (LF) 8 Andrés Giménez (SS) Andrés Giménez (SS) 9 Ernie Clement (2B) Ernie Clement (3B) For the most part, the batting order stays the same, unless George Springer is re-signed. However, he’s 37, so I doubt he'll return, despite having the second-most home runs for the Blue Jays this past season. That says little for a team that finished last in homers among MLB teams. Anthony Santander and Addison Barger should be healthy going into spring training, but can the team rely on them to perform and stay healthy? Santander has been a massive bust since joining the Blue Jays after a 2024 season in which he hit 41 home runs with the Baltimore Orioles. He played at least 152 games in each of his last three seasons (2022-2024) with the Orioles. However, he only played in 54 games in his first season as a Blue Jay and hit six home runs. Santander then missed the entire 2026 season after undergoing shoulder surgery right before it began. Barger had a solid 2025 season, slashing .254/.301/.454 with 61 runs, 74 RBIs, and 21 home runs. He was expected to be a major contributor this season, but he played only nine games before needing right elbow surgery. The surgery came with a six-month recovery timeline, which ended his season. However, while Barger was in the lineup, he was awful, hitting .045/.214/.095, with two runs and two RBIs in a handful of games. The Blue Jays will hope he returns to his power production, but it’s hard to say how he'll respond after major surgery. With this uncertainty and Santander’s struggles to stay on the field, the team needs to add an outfielder during the offseason, preferably one with power. Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs and Teruaki Sato of Nippon Professional Baseball are already being linked to Toronto. Both would give the team what it lacked this season: power swings. Suzuki has hit 113 homers over five seasons with the Cubs, and Sato has hit 162 in six seasons with the Hanshin Tigers. Adding a big bat in free agency should be a priority, as the Blue Jays' farm system has few answers to the power drought. Sean Keys showed promise, hitting 28 long balls over 435 plate appearances between Double and Triple A this season, but that didn’t translate to his 66 plate appearances in the majors. He hit only two homers in that span, while slashing .197/.242/.328. Power outfield options may be thin this offseason, with Suzuki, Sato, Randy Arozarena, and Ian Happ as the top targets. So the Blue Jays have to be aggressive. They can’t risk finishing last in home runs and runs again if they want to contend in the competitive AL East. However, the threat of a lockout could keep Toronto and other MLB teams from making a big move until a new collective bargaining agreement can be agreed upon. Bench Brandon Valenzuela Charles McAdoo/Addison Barger (*depending on who starts) Josh Smith Jonatan Clase/Nathan Lukes (*depending on who starts) Everyone except for Clase is an obvious bench selection. Someone like Keys would give the Blue Jays another power hitter, but there simply isn't room for another left-handed bat. If a left-handed pitcher starts, they would already have three lefties on the bench. The issue with that setup is that it makes Valenzuela, a switch-hitter, their only right-handed bench bat. If they use him to pinch-hit, the team would lose its backup catcher in the event that Kirk gets hurt. Myles Straw is another right-handed option, but his availability depends on whether the organization exercises his $8 million club option or opts for a $1.75 million buyout. Other options for a bench spot are Davis Schneider, Yohendrick Piñango (another left-handed bat), or someone not currently on the 40-man roster. Josh Kasevich, Jay Harry, and RJ Schreck are notable prospects not on the 40-man roster who are all eligible for the upcoming Rule 5 draft. If the Blue Jays want to keep any of these players out of the draft, they’d need to add them to the 40-man, which would make them viable candidates to make the Opening Day roster. However, some top pitching prospects are also eligible for the Rule 5 draft, making it tough to decide who to protect. Starting Rotation Dylan Cease José Soriano Trey Yesavage Cody Ponce Ricky Tiedemann The first four players were obvious choices, with Cease returning as the ace of the rotation. José Berríos and Bowden Francis aren’t expected to return from their recovery from the Tommy John surgeries they both underwent earlier this year until mid-2027. Their absences set up Tiedemann or Spencer Arrighetti to take the last spot in the rotation. Tiedemann dealt with injuries over the last two seasons, missing 2025 after Tommy John surgery and being shut down twice this past season with elbow and neck discomfort. The lefty finally made his long-awaited MLB debut on August 15, but he came out of the bullpen in all five of his appearances. The Blue Jays likely eased their young prospect back into things because he didn’t reach two full innings in any of his 11 minor league outings. If the team sees him as a starter, then stretching out his outings will be his focus this offseason. He struck out eight of the 29 MLB hitters he faced, so he could give Toronto a strong strikeout-heavy rotation. Plus, he’d be the only lefty in the starting five. Arrighetti has thrown 291 innings over the last three seasons, but he hasn’t fared well. He’s posted a 4.79 ERA, a 4.82 FIP, and 4.61 walks per nine innings. He was even worse when he joined the Blue Jays in the trade that sent Daulton Varsho to the Houston Astros. Fans likely wouldn’t be thrilled to see Arrighetti on the mound every fifth game. Toronto may add a starter in free agency to build depth, which was a massive issue this season given the team's injuries. The team also has prospects Gage Stanifer and Daniel Guerra, who are eligible for the Rule 5 draft. If either is added to the 40-man roster, a strong spring training could help them earn the fifth spot in the rotation. Bullpen Louis Varland Tyler Rogers Spencer Miles Brendon Little Mason Fluharty Braydon Fisher Brendan Cellucci Josh Winckowski The Blue Jays will return the top six relievers that gave the team one of the strongest bullpens during the second half of the season. In addition to those six, Cellucci was outstanding in 8 2/3 scoreless September innings for Toronto. He struck out 11 of 30 batters he faced while walking only three. The last spot in the ‘pen could also go to Chase Lee, CJ Van Eyk, or Chad Dallas. However, if healthy, Winckowski is my top choice, though he would need to be added to the 40-man roster. He was originally drafted by the Blue Jays in 2016. He was then included in the trade package that brought Steven Matz to Toronto in 2021 from the New York Mets. The 28-year-old was designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox in late 2025 and then signed a two-year minor league contract with Toronto. Winckowski missed a majority of the 2026 season after undergoing an internal brace procedure during the offseason. He returned in late August, pitching in 13 2/3 innings for Triple-A Buffalo, where he posted a 0.66 ERA and struck out 17 of 55 batters he faced. The righty brings four years of MLB experience to the staff and has also worked as a starter for 21 games. Adding a free agent reliever would probably be the lowest priority. However, with the number of injuries the Blue Jays faced this season, it wouldn’t hurt to add more depth in the form of MLB-ready arms. Toronto looks strong on paper for next season, but everyone had that feeling this past year, and it didn’t play out the way fans and the team expected. View the full article