Brett Davis-Imagn Images

• After releasing my comps for players hoping to move from a foreign league to the MLB, here are two more guys looking to make the move. The first is Foster Griffin (link) …

… and the other is Sung-moon Song 송성문 (link).

• There is a chance Kazuma Okamoto will not get posted after all.

Several industry sources believe that the Yomiuri Giants will not post 3B/1B Kazuma Okamoto after the season.

Okamoto, 29, is one of the best hitters in Japanese baseball, with 248 career home runs.

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) October 20, 2025

• And finally, our boy Lance Brozdowski created his own projections for some of the players making the move. He’s even more dismissive of anyone making a major impact.

American League

Rays

• The team thinks Jake Mangum and Chandler Simpson can “co-exist,” but believe Jonny DeLuca will play centerfield.

Jake Mangum and Chandler Simpson are coming off impressive rookie seasons. They’re similar players, built to thrive with contact and speed, with Simpson stealing more bases (44 in 109 games) and Mangum the more polished defender. But Neander said they can co-exist in the same lineup, and he noted that moving from George M. Steinbrenner Field back to Tropicana Field could help both, as their skill sets make them “built for bigger parks.”
…
“Having a lockdown defender in center field is probably as much as our identity that we’ve had as a team for as long as I’ve been here,” Neander said. “[DeLuca’s] greatest strength was to be that type of defender in center field, and not having him, we felt it.

“A healthy Jonny DeLuca will be a huge add to wherever we come out going into camp.”

I think some team will trade for one of these three centerfielders.

Royals

• Bobby Witt Jr. saw a drop in stolen bases because of a lower on-base rate and injuries.

There’s so much that goes into baserunning that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong. Witt stole more bases this year, but he still felt like he could have had more and pointed to several reasons why he didn’t, including that his on-base percentage dipped (.389 last year to .351 this year) and that he was limited by injuries at times.

I looked into the injury angle. At RotoWire, they marked three instances of a Witt getting hurt (no IL stint):

Injury date (location)

• July 23rd (knee)
• Aug 11th (back)
• Sept 5th (back)

Before the first injury, he was 27 for 34 in stolen base attempts over 102 games. An attempt once every 3.0 games. After the first injury, he was 11 for 13 in stolen base attempts over 55 games, or an attempt once every 4.2 games. A change, but not a major one.

He started running fewer times before the first reported injury. Here are his Stolen Base attempts by month.

Month: SB Attempts

• Apr: 13
• May: 12
• Jun: 2
• Jul: 8
• Aug: 6
• Sep: 6

He was on pace for 70 SB, but then June hit, and he slowed down to 33 SB pace. I could not find a reason for the June decline.

Tigers

• Kevin McGonigle, who only played shortstop this minor-league season, is working at third base in the Arizona Fall League.

And with McGonigle, Clark and Josue Briceño (Tigers’ No. 3 prospect, No. 33 overall) likely knocking on Detroit’s door next year, Monday was no different. McGonigle is working at third base in the Arizona Fall League precisely to help his fit for a Detroit debut next season.

“I expect the players that posted dominant years in Double-A to factor into our big league team next year. They’ve earned it,” Harris said. “They posted incredible years as 20-year-olds, very young for the level. I expect their progress to continue, and I expect them to be in Detroit at some point next year.

Twins

• Top prospect, Kaelen Culpepper, added about 3 mph of bat speed.

Following his professional debut in 2024, Culpepper set out to get better. He worked to add bat speed, and according to a club official, he did just that — ticking his swing speed up by about three miles per hour. Then he maintained that throughout the season, and it showed in his results.

National League

Brewers

• Garrett Mitchell expects a normal Spring Training.

OF Garrett Mitchell
Injury: Left oblique, left shoulder
IL date: April 26 (transferred to 60-day IL on July 6)
Expected return: 2026
Status: Underwent surgery on July 1 and expects a relatively normal ramp-up to the start of Spring Training.

• Shelby Miller will miss all of the 2026 season.

RHP Shelby Miller
Injury: Right UCL sprain
IL date: Sept. 3 (60-day IL; retroactive to Sept. 2)
Expected return: Late 2026 or start of ’27
Status: Underwent surgery to repair the UCL and flexor tendon on Oct. 13 with Dr. Keith Meister and is likely to miss most or all of 2026. Will be a free agent after the World Series.

Diamondbacks

• Tyler Locklear will need surgery and will miss part of the 2026 season.

Locklear needs elbow and shoulder surgery this offseason after a collision at first base in September, and his recovery will likely force him to miss the start of next season.

Marlins

• Joe Mack made it to AAA and will be added to the 40-man roster this offseason.

Mack, who turns 23 on Dec. 27, appears to be the catcher-in-waiting.

In 2025, Mack received an early-season promotion to Triple-A Jacksonville and helped the Jumbo Shrimp to their first national championship. In 99 games, he slashed .250/.320/.459 with 18 doubles, two triples, 18 homers and 53 RBIs.
…
Mack will need to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft. As a result, he will receive an automatic invitation to big league camp this spring — his second straight appearance there. This time around, Mack should receive more reps than he got this year.

Nationals

• Josiah Gray will be healthy and ready for a full Spring Training after recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The Nationals decided to end Josiah Gray’s rehab and shut him down for the remainder of the season. The right-hander recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery will now begin his offseason program in preparation for next season instead of making one major league start before the season ends Sunday.

“I think the decision was made because he did his rehab, he was in good spirits, he was feeling good, he’s healthy. And now we want him to go home, relax and start (getting) ready for next season,” Cairo said. “Finally, he’s going to have a whole winter working to be prepared to show that he can pitch in the big leagues, that he can be with us. But he’s going to have a whole winter working out to get stronger and be healthy.”

In three rehab starts across three levels of the minor leagues, Gray allowed no runs over 6 ⅔ innings, with four hits, five walks and five strikeouts. He threw 45 pitches over 2⅔ scoreless and hitless innings while walking three and striking out two in his last start Friday night for Triple-A Rochester.

During Gray’s rehab process, the Nats were more focused on him staying healthy than his mechanics and results.

Hopefully, he found a way to throw strikes (career 4.3 BB/9 and 1.42 WHIP).

Padres

• The team may consider stretching out Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller as starters.

Preller didn’t commit to roles for either pitcher but left open the possibility of stretching one or both back out. “We’ll definitely get Mason’s thoughts and hear what he thinks is best. We’ll see how the offseason plays out, roster-wise. Then we’ll have some clear direction for him of what that looks like,” he said regarding Miller. Preller expressed a similar sentiment on Morejon. “(He’s) a lefty that’s throwing three plus pitches with command and the ability to use him in different places in the game. I think that’ll be a conversation as we get into it, similar to Mason, about what that looks like here for next year.”

Pirates

• MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf thinks Konnor Griffin will start the 2026 season in AAA and quickly work his way to the majors.

Based on conversations I had at the end of the season, I will hazard a guess that Griffin will start next year with Triple-A Indianapolis. If he performs well there, I don’t know how long he can be kept from Pittsburgh. The left side of the infield needs an upgrade. If the Pirates pick up a third baseman and have Jared Triolo start the year as the shortstop, there would be a very clear path for Griffin to reach the Majors.

Reds

• Late in the season was the first time Matt McLain started feeling 100% after having shoulder surgery.

McLain, 26, batted .220 with a .643 OPS in 147 games. He was often dropped to ninth in the lineup by the second half after opening the season batting second.

“Sometimes with shoulders and a year of development [lost], it’s just not as easy as you want,” Francona said.
….
“I do believe he’s just now starting to feel and be 100 percent. I think it’s a year-and-a-half-plus surgery to get back to full strength,” general manager Brad Meador said. “But he should have a full offseason. He should be able to have a good offseason. He knows he needs to have a good offseason. I think he’ll bounce back in a good way next year.”

First off, shoulder injuries can put a damper on a player’s season. Also, McLain didn’t show much improvement with a 76 wRC+ in the first half and 79 wRC+ in the second half. His power metric stayed the same from the first half to the second, while his contact rate dropped. I don’t buy that McLain is back in any way.

Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

American League

Angels

Astros

• The team signed Nate Pearson:

Nate Pearson to sign a 1-year deal with the Astros, per Chandler Rome.The team plans to use him as a starter.

— MLB Daily News (@fantasymlbnews.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T19:47:15.600Z

Read the rest of this entry »

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American League

Angels

• Logan O’Hoppe is going to be the team’s main catcher after struggling in 2025.

To this day, the Angels view O’Hoppe as their guy, said Angels GM Perry Minasian. When he comes into spring training next season, he won’t need to earn the job.

“Logan had a tough year, there’s no sugarcoating that,” Minasian said. “But yes, we believe Logan can catch. It’s a really tough position. To break in a young catcher takes time. I’m expecting a better Logan O’Hoppe.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Note: There was so many “season in review” pieces that came out I’m still working through them. I’ve got at least one more Mining the News from end-of-season comments.

• NBP’s Takahiro Norimoto could sign with an MLB team.

Rakuten Eagles RHP Takahiro Norimoto will exercise his international FA rights and wants to talk to both NPB and MLB teams.

Norimoto, 34, was a 5x PL strikeout title winner from 2014-2018. He moved to the pen in 2023 and only had a 17.3 K% this season.

https://t.co/ZxIDaytXcd

— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) October 6, 2025

Read the rest of this entry »

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Other

• Batters rarely add power once in the majors and start declining due to better early-career training.

Position players are not becoming stronger in their late 20s, as conventional wisdom suggests. Bat speed and exit velocity are not immune to aging like so many other movement- and speed-based skills in the sport (like pitching velocity).

When players arrive in the major leagues, many of their underlying skills are nearly as good as they will ever be – at least since we’ve had the ability to measure them in the Statcast era.

Driveline director of hitting Tanner Stokey noted that those skills’ aging curves might have been different years ago – perhaps more players did grow into strength and bat speed – but it is a different game in the modern era.

“You just assume players are the most physically gifted they’ve been – they have all the resources in the weight room, the nutrition side, the sleep, recovery side, right? It’s very different than it was back in the day,” Stokey noted. “That stuff is pretty optimized compared to where it was 20, 30, 40 years ago.

Read the rest of this entry »

Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Note: Teams out of the playoffs are starting to drop end-of-season reports. I’m going to be behind for a couple of weeks catching up.

American League

Athletics

• Zack Gelof had surgery on his shoulder.

Athletics second baseman Zack Gelof had successful surgery on his left shoulder to address an injury sustained earlier last week, the team announced Wednesday.

Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed an anterior labral-capsule repair in Los Angeles to address instability after Gelof’s injury in Pittsburgh on Sept. 19.

Read the rest of this entry »

Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

American League

Astros

• The team doesn’t want AJ Blubaugh to face a lineup a second time and his injury history make keep him in the bullpen.

Blubaugh’s truncated outing aligned with a pregame plan concocted by Espada and pitching coach Josh Miller. Team officials are still wary of Blubaugh’s ability to navigate a lineup more than once. Having him available as a reliever during the upcoming series against the Seattle Mariners mattered, too. Limiting him to 50 pitches made that possible.
…
Injuries have forced Blubaugh into the big-league bullpen after starting his entire professional career. Whether that is his long-term home is a matter of debate. His stuff has played up so well out of the bullpen that some team officials believe he is best suited for relief. Blubaugh has bumped 98 mph with his four-seam fastball when asked to pitch one inning. On Tuesday, it touched 96.6 mph, but averaged 94.1.

“It’s a tough one. He can start. He can come out of the (bullpen) — his stuff plays up out of the ’pen,” Espada said last week. “He’s not afraid to come after hitters … It’s tough because he can do a lot of things for a club.”

Blue Jays

• The starters aren’t going to go deep into games to rest their arms for the postseason.

The careful management extends to an aging rotation, too. Excluding Yesavage, the average Blue Jays starter is over 34 years old. Shane Bieber is the youthful presence at 30. To prepare for a potentially deep run, the Jays are utilizing shorter outings for the eldest starters and extra rest for the entire group.

José Berríos’ last two starts came on nine and seven days of rest, respectively. Bassitt has thrown 80 or fewer pitches in his last two starts. He “wasn’t feeling great” in his last outing, Bassitt said, and agreed with Schneider’s early pull. Max Scherzer hasn’t pushed deeper than five innings in his last three outings while recovering from back pain. The 41-year-old and Toronto’s coaches planned on a shorter start ahead of Scherzer’s Saturday outing. It’s all with the future in mind.

Guardians

• John Means will not be activated and continue rehabbing in AAA.

While Allen is expected to pitch in Minneapolis, lefty John Means does not appear to be an option to come off the injured list to make his Guardians debut.

Vogt noted that Means (who is recovering from June 2024 Tommy John surgery) came out of his Sunday rehab start with Triple-A Columbus feeling good physically. But the lefty “more than likely” will make a seventh rehab start on Friday with Columbus.

• Lane Thomas is considering off-season foot surgery.

During the home opener, Thomas was struck on the wrist by a pitch. He missed a week, came back for a few days, and then missed a month. He played in four games, and then his foot started barking, thanks to a case of plantar fasciitis. He missed two weeks. He returned for three and a half weeks. Then, he went back on the shelf. He ramped up, then stopped. He rehabbed, then stopped. He received a cortisone shot at one point, a different injection at another point, and another cortisone shot when he returned to action earlier this month. He would play an inning, and then could barely walk.

Thomas will enter free agency as a 30-year-old outfielder two seasons removed from a 28 home run, 20 stolen base season. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
The foot issues actually trace back to last season. He developed a bone bruise in his heel as the year progressed, and it flared up when he started training for the new season. He tolerated it through the spring, but it ultimately forced him out of the lineup. Thomas said he’s spoken with a few other players who have dealt with similar maladies, including Carlos Correa and Harrison Bader.

Rays

• Joe Boyle didn’t walk anyone. He didn’t rework his mechanics, but his catcher did move the target glove.

Perhaps the most telling statistic, considering the control issues that have held [Joe Boyle] back at times, is this: It was his first big league start without a walk and only his second walk-free MLB appearance.

With a fastball that averaged 98.2 mph, a nasty slider and a wipeout splitter, Boyle has the stuff to dominate opposing lineups if he is in the strike zone enough to get ahead in counts. He lived in the zone against the Blue Jays, throwing 53 of his 78 pitches for strikes while throwing only three pitches in a three-ball count.
…
Boyle said he didn’t overhaul his mechanics, but he did note that he “found some fire” and “found some passion for the game” after being sent back to the Minors. That energy was reflected in his performance on the mound.
…
Catcher Nick Fortes pointed to one adjustment the Rays made to help Boyle: They tweaked his target behind the plate, trying to mitigate his usual arm-side misses by setting up more on his glove side. Boyle threw 60 percent of his pitches in the strike zone against the Jays, according to Statcast, with his slider a particularly effective weapon in the zone.

“I think it really, really helped tonight. He was able to keep all three of his pitches in the zone for the most part and gain count leverage,” Fortes said. “And he’s got amazing stuff, so that’s just what it’s all about with him.”

Twins

• According to his manager, James Outman is a horse.

The more Outman produces, the more chances he’s likely to get.

“I think he’s making good adjustments at the plate,” Baldelli said. “I think his swing feels good. He’s getting some fairly regular playing time out there and some at-bats, and he’s taking advantage of it. He’s a thoroughbred-type athlete, big, strong young man that can do a lot, and we talk about it. When he barrels the ball up, watch that ball go.”

National League

Braves

• Some team officials believe Ozzie Albies’s struggles are from the wrist he fractured last season.

Some Braves officials believe his struggles in the first half, from both sides, not just vs. lefties, could be due in part to weakness in the wrist he fractured in July 2024, which sidelined him for two months. That might have been a season-ending injury if Albies had not pushed hard to get back for a late-September playoff drive.

• Reynaldo López feels healthy for the first time in years …

Lòpez threw a bullpen session Friday, his second time throwing off the mound since surgery. The right-hander, a 2024 All-Star in his first season with Atlanta, said his shoulder feels better than it has in several years.

“Throwing without pain, it feels good,” López said. “I’ve been feeling that (discomfort) for four or five years. It was, like, getting worse. So this year at spring training, that’s when I felt it the most.”

López said the plan is to travel to the Braves’ training site at North Port, Fla., on Saturday and throw five more bullpen sessions there before facing hitters on Sept. 30. He said he would probably throw live batting practice twice before going home for the offseason, aiming to be fully recovered and without any limits when spring training begins.

… and will be considered a rotation option according to the team.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos said the plan is to keep López in a starting role, with the caveat that things could change depending on how personnel moves shake out this winter.

López said Friday that he prefers to stay in a starting role and thinks he has a better chance of staying healthy with the routine of a starter. However, he also said he’s open to being a reliever again if the Braves prefer that.

Dodgers

• Roki Sasaki added a sinker and changed his sweeper.

Sasaki also started throwing a sinker 18% to right-handed hitters at Triple-A. It has posted a better zone, swinging-strike, and ground-ball rate than his four-seamer in a smaller sample of usage. The Dodgers flipped the sweeper he was throwing in the majors to more of a true bullet slider.

Giants

• Justin Verlander plans on pitching next season.

After the 42-year-old built on his strong second half on Wednesday with seven shutout innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the future Hall of Famer said that he plans on returning for a 21st season.

“I would hope that somebody would offer me a contract now,” Verlander said following the San Francisco Giants’ 5-1 win. “Kind of showing that I can turn it around and still pitch at a high level.”

Phillies

• Zach Wheeler should have a shorter recovery because of the nature of his thoracic outlet syndrome.

Dr. Dean Donahue, director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s thoracic outlet syndrome program, said patients with vascular cases tend to rehab more quickly because “nerves recover very slowly in general.” Donahue, who is not Wheeler’s doctor and has not reviewed his medical records, said the expectation for any athlete with venous thoracic outlet syndrome is full recovery.

“That’s just the expectation for all of us that take care of this,” Donahue said. “It doesn’t mean it will happen. Obviously, it’s surgery and the human body, and people don’t always recover in a predictable manner. But, by far, the expectation is to be able to return to full function.”

I’m planning to find all the correct comps to start this offseason and get a good idea of how to value Wheeler going into the 2026 season.

• The team is setting up their playoff rotation with Taijuan Walker and Walker Buehler piggybacking this Friday’s start.

In the meantime, setting up starting pitching to be ready for the playoffs is at the front of Thomson’s mind. Tuesday, Thomson said that Cristopher Sánchez will be his Game 1 pitcher. Wednesday, before his team tried for a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thomson revealed his other plans. Those will begin the next series against the Diamondbacks, beginning Thursday in Arizona.

“Friday, we’re going to piggyback,” the manager said. “Taijuan (Walker) will start and (Walker) Buehler will piggyback. So, it will be a Walker Buehler piggyback.”

Laughter erupted in the Phillies dugout as the manager gave himself a chuckle with his word play. “I’ve been thinking about it for weeks. (Aaron) Nola Saturday, Ranger (Suárez) Sunday.”

Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

American League

Angels

• Mike Trout has been dealing with knee pain
…

[Trout] also hasn’t played defense since April, due to lingering soreness after tweaking his surgically repaired left meniscus.

… and might rework his swing to cut down on his strikeouts.

The Angels have approached Trout about making swing changes surrounding his leg kick and hip placement, and while he has been open to them, he’s yet to actually implement those changes.

He’s described his mechanical issue as his back side collapsing. This, Trout said, causes his head to move back, which makes pitch recognition more difficult, and creates an “uphill” swing. Hence, copious strikeouts and a lack of hard contact.

It’s a problem he’s dealt with for years, he said, and acknowledged “I don’t know” when asked if it’s a product of aging.

Read the rest of this entry »

Matt Marton-Imagn Images

• Clay Davenport examined the drop in hitter production from AAA to the majors. From 2021 to 2025, he found the following adjustments.

Stat: Adjustment
AVG: -.040
OBP: -.046
SLG: -.099

Additionally, he found:

There is a small tendency for young players to do a little better than older players.

A good read on what has and hasn’t changed for hitters making that last transition to the majors.

American League

Guardians

• The team is going with a six-man rotation.

Cleveland will deploy a six-man rotation for the foreseeable future, manager Stephen Vogt said on Tuesday ahead of the Guardians’ 11-7 loss to the Red Sox. Joey Cantillo will start in Wednesday’s series finale at Fenway Park, joining Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Cecconi, Logan Allen로건 and Parker Messick in the rotation.

“We’re going to go with the six-man rotation for a little while,” Vogt said. “Just with the starting pitching, where they are innings wise and where they are in their career. And we have 24 games in 24 days, so we thought it was a good opportunity for us to get them … they’ll all be on five days’ rest throughout this long process.”

Rangers

• Jacob Latz will stay in the rotation.

Bochy said Latz will remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future, a relatively new development considering he has just six career starts in 78 appearances.

The last few weeks have been an adjustment for Latz, who didn’t even find out he was starting against the Diamondbacks until Monday. Even so, he said he was ready to go regardless of when his number was called, whether it was as a starter or out of the bullpen.

In five starts (23 relief appearances) this summer, the 29-year-old lefty has a 3.38 ERA (4.32 xFIP), 1.17 WHIP, and 7.5 K/9 in 24 IP.

White Sox

• Brooks Baldwin adjusted his approach during the season.

But the switch-hitter also has executed something offensively that’s tough to do in-season – make meaningful changes to approach and technique and have them work immediately. Baldwin showed off those changes yet again with three hits against the Twins, as the White Sox (51-88) won for a third straight time and won a third straight game at Target Field (dating back to April 24) for the first time since 2021.

…

“It’s hard to adjust in season, but sometimes you have to do it when things aren’t going the right way,” Baldwin told MLB.com. “I made the choice to change and stick with it and go with it the rest of the year, and it’s done well.

“Just like the approach wise and kind of stance at the plate, spread out and get a little wider and shorten everything up a little bit and stay to the opposite field. It’s not really like I’m trying to hit everything to left field or left-center, but mentally I’m trying to stay on the ball that way. And then if it presents itself to pull it, you can still pull it.”

All his stats are showing 1H to 2H improvements

Stat: 1H, 2H
BB%: 5%, 8%
K%: 28%, 22%
OPS: .628, .802
Contact%: 77%, 80%,
avgEV: 90.4, 90.7

National League

Braves

• Ha-Seong Kim 김하성 believes his struggles stem from coming back too early from his back surgery.

Kim believes coming back quickly from that surgery contributed to his back issues this season, but said he’s fine now.

• Bryce Elder reworked his slider.

Elder noted the work on his slider as a reason for his stronger efforts.

He said he’d always thrown one that was “kind of nose-down gyro,” but that over time, he began to throw it differently. Elder “really looked into the nose being up, and the ball was just spinning right in the heart of the plate and people were hitting it.”

The slider was a pitch he felt was his top swing-and-miss offering, but he wasn’t getting those whiffs at the same level.

However, Elder has noticed progress with the slider since about the end of June. Six of his top seven single-game whiff rates with it this season have come since the calendar flipped to July — including Wednesday’s 38.4 percent — giving that credence.

I couldn’t find any signs of improvement on his end. Additionally, he is not throwing his slider as much. Before August 1st (beginning of Elder’s hot stretch), he threw his slider 38% of the time and 29% after that point.

Cardinals

• Nolan Gorman implemented a change in early June.

Gorman didn’t play in any of the three games against the Royals. Instead, he took a couple of workout days in the batting cages and tried to put his trust in what felt comfortable. He ditched the toe-tap swing he started with at the beginning of the season and reverted to a leg kick while committing to a more selective approach.

Soon after, tangible results followed.

“Knowing where I was with playing time, I knew I couldn’t just go try to fix something every single day,” Gorman said. “I had to trust one thing and run with it. In Kansas City, that’s where I really started feeling good. That’s where I felt things really flipped. I was like, ‘I need to run with this, I need to keep it.’”
…
When evaluating Gorman, the Cardinals’ coaching staff likes to look at chase rate, strikeout percentage and walk rate to ensure Gorman is improving his plate discipline and fine-tuning his approach. Similar to nearly every power hitter in the modern game, with homers come strikeouts. Swing-and-miss will essentially always be a part of Gorman’s game, but it doesn’t have to define it.

Before the change, he was batting .187/.280/.297. Since the adjustment, .231/.329/.446.

• The manager wants Jordan Walker to take the team’s advice and improve several aspects of his game.

Not only would the Cardinals like to see a strong finish to the season from the former top prospect in MLB, but they also want to see [Walker] be more receptive to making the changes needed to potentially make him more consistent at the plate. And, quite frankly, the club’s patience seems to be wearing thin with the 23-year-old outfielder’s receptiveness to the changes they have asked him to make.

“We have not seen the consistency that we would have hoped for by now,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “Our hope is that changes. He’s still young, and this could flip at any moment. We’ve seen other players where that’s the case — on this team or another — where they are an offseason away. But there’s real work to be done and there’s a real level of dedication and consistency that needs to come with that.

“I need to see Jordan have a sense of urgency for the things that need to take place to give him consistent results. That goes with his moves toward the ball, his preparation in the cage and his approach in games.”
…
“Real adjustments have to be made, physically and approach-wise,” he said. “[Brown] is doing a really nice job of providing him ways of doing that. Now, he has to take hold of that and put it in play.”

Cubs

• Michael Soroka’s fastball velocity is in the mid-90s.

#Cubs Michael Soroka threw a 34 pitch live BP today. He checked out healthy and his velocity was back up into the mid-90s. It had dipped in the weeks leading up to the injury.

— Taylor McGregor (@Taylor_McGregor) September 2, 2025

That’s encouraging since Soroka’s velocity dropped 3 mph after joining the Cubs

Dodgers

• Roki Sasaki will remain in the minors to gain some consistency.

Given the results, and that the Dodgers have no immediate need for him at the big league level, it seems likely that Sasaki will remain with Oklahoma City for at least another start.

“Guys here are pitching well,” manager Dave Roberts said before Sasaki’s outing. “I’m not sure what that means for Roki after this one. Let’s just get through this one. Pitch well, [get] healthy, and then we’ll make a decision.”
…
After sitting around 96 mph with his four-seamer in his previous two starts, Sasaki averaged 94.4 mph with the pitch on Tuesday. He maxed out at 96.9 mph.
…
“The velocity needs to be consistent. The strike throwing needs to be consistent. Just having overall command,” Roberts said recently. “The focus certainly is different in the big leagues vs. Triple-A, which is totally fair. But I do think that where he’s at, performing and dominating Triple-A hitting is something we should expect.”

• Teoscar Hernández’s groin and foot aren’t yet healed.

Concerns about Hernández’s focus go away if he’s hitting. This is not a storyline if he is putting up the .840 OPS he put up a year ago, or the .933 OPS he had before landing on the injured list in May with a strained groin. That halted what was set to be a strong encore to last year’s success. So did a bruise he suffered when he fouled a ball off his left foot more than a month after returning. The resulting struggles raised one of two questions: either Hernández was still hurt (or trying to avoid reinjuring himself) or the injuries had disrupted whatever rhythm he’d had to start the season.

Hernández’s groin and his foot are “100 percent,” he said.

“For me, it’s more being on the field,” Hernández said. “For me, being hurt is more frustrating than having a bad year. I’d rather be on the field and having a bad year than not being on the field and just fighting back and forth.”

Pirates

• Nick Yorke will play some outfield.

Nick Yorke, the team’s No. 11 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, was recalled as part of the expanded September rosters and got the start at first base on Tuesday.
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Yorke could also play second base and corner outfield, Kelly said pregame …

Allan Henry-Imagn Images

American League

Athletics

• Zack Gelof, Jacob Wilson윌슨, Darell Hernaiz, and Brett Harris with “shuffle” positions and starts.

On Monday, Gelof, Hernaiz and Harris were all in the A’s starting lineup, with Hernaiz manning third base and Harris at first base on a rare day of rest for Nick Kurtz. Those three will likely shuffle around the infield over the final month of the season as the A’s seek to get a closer evaluation of the trio of homegrown players.

“Wilson will also need some rest as we go,” Kotsay said. “There will be enough opportunity to utilize a rotation. It’s about performance, and we’ll also look for the best matchups for those opportunities as well.”

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