MLB Player News

Yes that Tucker Davidson. The left-hander was recalled Saturday to be the bulk guy in a game that had no real meaning for the Orioles, but he pitched well. The former Atlanta prospect was a little fortunate to not give up a run while issuing just one strikeout against two walks with four hits, but credit to him for wiggling out of jams. Davidson is extremely unlikely to be part of the Baltimore pitching staff for the playoffs.

The first baseman has been out since the end of August with a broken thumb that was expected to keep him out for 4-6 weeks. Over the weekend, he took batting practice on the field multiple times, and the team must feel good about his ability to manage the pain while swinging. No final decisions have been made yet, but it seems like things are tracking for the 26-year-old to be in the lineup in the Wild Card round.

It’s about time. The specially designed All-Star jerseys have drawn a lot of ire from fans over the last few years and have not been major hits with sales either, which likely has a lot to do with this decision. Regardless, it won’t be anything for fans to worry about moving forward.

Even with the Braves throwing a right-handed pitcher, the Mets will still go with Tyrone Taylor in right field and will now start Harrison Bader in center field. It gives the Mets their best defensive lineup, and Winker has also been hitting .071 in 18 games in September, so the decision does make sense in that regard.

With two games on tap, it’s highly likely the Braves will have Sean Murphy catch game two, but it will be d’Arnaud, who hit a walk-off home run on Saturday night, who gets the start in game one. The rest of the Braves lineup is exactly as it has been for the last week.

Jasson Domínguez went 0-for-3 today, as both played with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto resting. That won’t happen in the postseason, of course. We’re guessing the Yankees will favor Verdugo in the ALDS, in part because of Domínguez’s defensive issues. Still, we’ll have to wait and see. Verdugo ends the year at .233/.291/.356 in 621 plate appearances. A free agent this winter, he’d benefit as much as anyone in the league from having a strong October.

Schmidt needed to be better than this to add to his case for the fourth spot in the Yankees’ postseason rotation, but it still probably makes sense to go with him over Marcus Stroman anyway. He ends the regular season with a 5-5 record, 2.85 ERA and 93/30 K/BB in 85 1/3 innings.

Holmes lost his closing gig when he gave up four runs in a blown save on Sept. 3, but he’s since allowed two runs in eight innings. He ends the year with a 3.14 ERA, 68 strikeouts and four homers allowed in 63 innings. We’d expect Luke Weaver, who got the win today, to remain the favorite for saves in the Yankees pen during the postseason, but Holmes remains a viable option in the ninth.

Falter faded some at the end of what was a rather solid year, finishing 8-9 with a 4.43 ERA. His velocity was up a bit more than one mph from 2023, but it didn’t result in additional strikeouts, which was disappointing from someone who has always been a flyball pitcher. Eligible for arbitration for the first time, he’s probably due about $2 million or so next year, which should make it an easy decision to keep him. Even if he’s not part of the Pirates rotation to begin the season, he’d be nice to have around as depth.

The two sides mutually agreed to part ways. The Marlins went 146-178 during Schumaker’s two-year tenure, going 84-78 in 2023 and 62-100 this year. Schumaker is likely to be hotly pursued by other teams looking for managers this winter, while the Marlins will focus on finding the most qualified option willing to take the least amount of money.

This was a legacy start for David Peterson. Mets’ announcer Keith Hernandez said it’s a game that, “his teammates will always remember and look at him differently for.” He worked all five of his pitches masterfully and each forced at least one swing-and-miss. The Brewers could only muster one hit against him and it was an infield single. All in all, this was a masterful start and one the Mets needed badly.