September 29, 2025
The Los Angeles Dodgers announced on Monday that left-hander
Blake Snell will make the start on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium against the Cincinnati Reds for Game 1 of the wild-card series. Snell will be opposed by Reds hard-throwing right-hander
Hunter Greene. The Reds will have a tough matchup on their hands with Snell, who had a minuscule 0.47 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 19 innings in his final three starts of the regular season. Injuries cropped up again for the 32-year-old two-time Cy Young winner, limiting him to just 11 starts in his first year with the Blue. However, when he was available, he was tough to hit, going 5-4 with a 2.35 ERA and 1.25 WHIP with 72 punchouts and 26 walks in 61 1/3 frames during the regular season. Snell did not face the Reds this year. The Reds as a team ranked 13th in the majors in 2025 in OPS (.720) against left-handed pitchers.
--Keith HernandezSource: Los Angeles Dodgers
September 29, 2025
Los Angeles Dodgers catcher
Will Smith (hand) was scheduled to take more swings on Monday, according to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. If Smith feels good on Monday, he will face live pitching on Monday night. If he doesn't feel good, Ardaya speculates that it won't be a good sign for his chances to be on the wild-card roster against the Cincinnati Reds this week. The 30-year-old felt good while swinging in the batting cage on Saturday, so he's giving it another go on Monday before the Dodgers have to finalize their roster for the wild-card series on Tuesday. Smith would be a big loss behind the plate for the defending World Series champions, as he hit a cool .296/.404/.497 with a .901 OPS and 17 home runs during the regular season. However, the three-time All-Star has not played in a game since Sept. 9. If Smith is out this week against Cincy,
Ben Rortvedt will continue to serve as L.A.'s starting backstop.
--Keith HernandezSource: The Athletic - Fabian Ardaya
September 29, 2025
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora said that right-hander
Lucas Giolito (elbow) will not be on the roster for the wild-card series this week in the Bronx against the division-rival New York Yankees as he deals with an elbow issue, according to Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald. Giolito has gone to visit with Dr. Dugas, who performed his elbow surgery back in March of 2024. It's a big blow to Boston's pitching staff for the postseason, as Giolito was a significant part of them making it to the playoffs. After missing all of 2024 due to an elbow injury that required an internal brace, the 31-year-old went 10-4 with a nice 3.41 ERA (4.17 FIP) and 1.29 WHIP with 121 strikeouts and 56 walks in 145 innings over 26 starts in his first year in Beantown. At this time, it's unclear how serious Giolito's injury is or if he could return to start in the Division Series if Boston advances. With Giolito out this week against the Yanks, rookie
Connelly Early could now be the favorite to start a Game 3 on Thursday, if necessary.
--Keith HernandezSource: Boston Herald - Gabrielle Starr
September 29, 2025
Boston Red Sox third baseman
Alex Bregman (illness) "should be good to go" for Game 1 of the wild-card series on Tuesday in the Bronx against the division-rival New York Yankees, according to chief baseball officer
Craig Breslow. Bregman has been sick and away from the team for most of the past two dayshe'sut h's apparently feeling better and will be ready for the start of the playoffs. He traveled separately from the team to New York and was on the field for a workout at Yankee Stadium on Monday, according to Tim Healey of Newsday. The 31-year-old hit just .216 in September to close out the regular season, so Boston will be hoping he can turn things around now that they are in the postseason. In his career against Fried, he's gone 5-for-9 with a home run and two RBI in 12 plate appearances. Against lefties this year, Bregman hit a strong .319 (36-for-113), but with only three of his 18 home runs.
--Keith HernandezSource: Newsday - Tim Healey
September 29, 2025
New York Yankees left-hander
Max Fried will take the ball on Tuesday for Game 1 of the wild-card series in the Bronx against the division-rival Boston Red Sox, according to manager Aaron Boone.
Austin Wells will make the start behind the plate. Fried will be opposed by Boston left-hander
Garrett Crochet. In his first year in pinstripes, Fried didn't disappoint, winning an American League-best 19 games while also posting a sharp 2.86 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 189:51 K:BB in 195 1/3 innings over his 32 starts. His 189 strikeouts were a new career high. He was excellent in his three starts against the division rivals this year, too, sporting a 1.96 ERA with only four earned runs allowed, 22 strikeouts, and seven walks in 18 1/3 innings pitched. The Red Sox were one of the worst teams in the league this year in terms of OPS against left-handed pitchers, so things won't be easy for them against one of the best lefties in the majors in 2025.
--Keith HernandezSource: NJ Advance Media - Max Goodman
September 29, 2025
San Diego Padres right-hander
Michael King will be available out of the bullpen during the entire wild-card series at Wrigley Field this week against the Chicago Cubs, according to manager Mike Shildt. Right-hander
Nick Pivetta will start Game 1 on Tuesday, followed by right-hander
Dylan Cease in Game 2 on Wednesday. If necessary, right-hander
Yu Darvish will likely get the nod in a deciding Game 3 on Thursday. King only made 15 starts in 2025 after missing the majority of the year, first with a right-shoulder injury and then a knee ailment. The 30-year-old made just five starts after injuring his shoulder in May and wasn't good, recording a 6.11 ERA with 12 strikeouts and nine walks in 17 2/3 innings to close out the year. He finished the year 5-3 with a 3.44 ERA (4.42 FIP) with 76 strikeouts and 26 walks in 73 1/3 innings. If the Padres advance to the National League Division Series, King could rejoin the starting rotation.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com - AJ Cassavell
September 29, 2025
San Diego Padres right-hander
Dylan Cease will start Game 2 of the wild-card series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Wednesday, according to manager Mike Shildt. Right-hander
Yu Darvish would likely start Game 3, if necessary, on Thursday. Cease finished the 2025 season with 200-plus strikeouts for the fifth straight season, but all in all, he was a disappointment with a 4.55 ERA (3.56 FIP) and 1.33 WHIP with 71 walks in 168 innings over 32 starts. To close out the regular season, the 29-year-old allowed only a run while striking out eight in five innings against the Milwaukee Brewers last Wednesday, but he had only one quality start in his final eight starts. His lone start against the Cubbies came at home all the way back on April 14, when he allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits (one homer) while walking one and fanning six in 5 2/3 frames for a no-decision.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com - AJ Cassavell
September 29, 2025
The Chicago Cubs officially announced on Monday that left-hander
Matthew Boyd will start in Game 1 of the Wild-Card series on Tuesday at Wrigley Field against the San Diego Padres, according to Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. It's not a surprise after rookie right-hander
Cade Horton (rib) was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a rib injury. Left-hander
Shota Imanaga has struggled down the stretch, but he's likely to get the nod for Wednesday's Game 2. The 34-year-old Boyd was the anchor of Chicago's pitching staff in 2025, going 14-8 with a 3.21 ERA and 1.09 WHIP with 154 strikeouts and 42 walks in 179 2/3 innings over 31 starts as a first-time All-Star. Both of Boyd's outings against San Diego came way back in April, when he gave up only two runs on 11 hits with eight K's and three walks in 11 1/3 innings. However, the Padres as a team had the sixth-best OPS (.801) against lefty pitchers during the regular season.
--Keith HernandezSource: The Athletic - Sahadev Sharma
September 28, 2025
Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar
Shohei Ohtani ended his regular season with a flourish on Sunday, swatting a career-high 55th home run in a 6-1 win over the Seattle Mariners. Ohtani's homer, a 412-foot, seventh-inning solo shot off left-hander
Gabe Speier, broke the single-season franchise record of 54 HRs he set last year. He also chipped in a single and a double to finish the day 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored. Likely to collect the fourth MVP award of his remarkable career this year, Ohtani finished the regular season hitting .282/.392/.622 with a major league-best 146 runs, 102 RBI, and 20 stolen bases in 727 plate appearances. Not to be forgotten, he also pitched to a 2.87 ERA with a 1.04 WHIP, 62 strikeouts, and nine walks over 47 innings. The future Hall of Famer and the defending World Series champion Dodgers will open a wild-card round series against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday.
--Connor ByrneSource: ESPN
September 28, 2025
Cleveland Guardians third baseman
Jose Ramirez was a menace on the base paths in a 9-8 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday. Ramirez stole three bases in a game for the third time this year and also collected multiple hits, going 2-for-5 with a pair of singles. It was the last in a long line of productive regular-season games in 2025 for Ramirez, one of the driving forces behind an improbable AL Central-winning campaign for Cleveland. The 33-year-old earned his seventh All-Star nod this season and slashed .283/.360/.503 with 30 homers, 85 RBI, 103 runs scored, and a career-high 44 stolen bases in 158 games and 672 plate appearances. Ramirez and the Guardians will begin a wild-card series against a familiar foe, the Detroit Tigers, on Tuesday. The Guardians stunningly overcame a 15 1/2-game deficit to snatch the division from the Tigers.
--Connor ByrneSource: ESPN
September 28, 2025
Baltimore Orioles shortstop
Gunnar Henderson launched his lone home run of September and broke a 30-game dry spell in a 3-2 loss to the New York Yankees on Sunday. Henderson, who went deep for the first time since Aug. 24, also drew a walk during a 1-for-3 season finale. Over 154 games and 651 plate appearances in 2025, the 24-year-old star hit .274/.349/.438 with 17 homers, 68 RBI, 85 runs scored, and 30 stolen bases. While that's more-than-respectable production, Henderson finished a long way off last season's career-best marks in HRs (37), RBI (92), runs (118), and OPS (.893).
--Connor ByrneSource: ESPN
September 28, 2025
Chicago White Sox outfielder
Michael A. Taylor announced his retirement on Sunday. The 34-year-old went 1-for-3 with a walk in his last game, an 8-0 win over the Washington Nationals. He finished the season with a .200/.259/.366 line, nine home runs, 35 RBI, 33 runs scored, and eight stolen bases in 325 trips to the plate. Taylor entered the pros as the Nats' sixth-round pick in 2009 and debuted with the club in 2014. He played in Washington through 2020 and was part of the only World Series-winning team in franchise history in 2019. Between his stints with the Nationals and White Sox, he spent time with the Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, and Pittsburgh Pirates. A longtime defensive stalwart and a Gold Glove winner with the Royals in 2021, Taylor played in 1,216 regular-season games in the majors and hit .232/.287/.379 with 109 home runs, 387 RBI, 427 runs scored, and 128 stolen bases over 3,801 plate appearances
--Connor ByrneSource: Andrew Golden - The Washington Post
September 28, 2025
Boston Red Sox outfielder
Roman Anthony (oblique) will head to Florida to continue rehabbing from a strained left oblique, according to Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. However, Anthony said Sunday that there's still no timetable for him to start baseball activities. Although the Red Sox have gone without the rookie sensation since placing him on the 10-day injured list on Sept. 3, they still managed to earn a playoff berth in his absence. The club is now gearing up to take on the archrival New York Yankees in a best-of-three wild-card series. If Boston knocks off New York, it'll begin an ALDS series on Oct. 4, though it seems optimistic to expect Anthony back by then. In 71 games and 303 plate appearances this season, the 21-year-old slashed .292/.396/.463 with eight homers, 32 RBI, 48 runs scored, and four stolen bases.
--Connor ByrneSource: Christopher Smith - MassLive.com
September 28, 2025
Boston Red Sox right-hander
Brayan Bello will start Game 2 of the team's wild-card series against the New York Yankees on Wednesday, manager Alex Cora announced. Bello, who will follow Game 1 starter
Garrett Crochet and battle left-hander
Carlos Rodon, held his own over three regular-season outings against the Yankees. He went 2-1 in those matchups and threw 19 innings of four-run, 11-hit ball with 17 strikeouts and seven walks. Bello finished the season 11-9 with a 3.35 ERA, a 1.24 WHIP, 124 strikeouts, and 59 walks in 166 1/2 innings, though he hasn't been at his best in recent weeks. In five starts this month, the 26-year-old went 1-3 and struggled to a 5.40 ERA with 16:12 K:BB across 25 frames.
--Connor ByrneSource: Tim Healey - The Boston Globe
September 28, 2025
San Diego Padres starting pitcher
Nick Pivetta will start Game 1 of the wild-card series on Tuesday against the Cubs, reports AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. This is no surprise, as he has been the Padres' clear ace in 2025, posting a 2.87 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 190 strikeouts, and 50 walks in 181 ⅔ innings. The Cubs have yet to announce who will take the mound opposite Pivetta, but it figures to be either
Matthew Boyd or Shoto Imanaga. It's worth noting that the 32-year-old has been shakier as of late, particularly in his last start, where he walked five batters in 5 ⅔ innings against the Brewers.
--Jeremy HeistSource: AJ Cassavell
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