MLB Player News

Kemp, who went undrafted out of Point Loma Nazarene in 2022, hit .285/.392/.489 at four minor league levels this year, though he stumbled after a late promotion to Triple-A. In Arizona, he’s thus far 7-for-24 with four homers and 12 RBI in eight games. Both homers Thursday were plenty legit, too, with the first leaving his bat at 110 mph and traveling 448 feet. He’s probably not a future major league regular, but he could be another Weston Wilson for the Phillies.

There is no one hotter on the planet than Giancarlo Stanton right now. The 6-foot-6 slugger golfed a homer on the inner-half of the plate out to left field with an exit velocity over 116 mph off Jack Flaherty to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. It’s the fourth consecutive game that Stanton has homered in the playoffs, the sixth of the postseason and the 17th of Stanton’s career.

Chisholm Jr. stole second off Anthony Banda in the sixth. He really showed off his wheels in the 10th, as he singled, stole second, stole third and came around to score on an infield single by Anthony Volpe that gave New York a 3-2 lead. It looked like that would be the game-winning run, but the Freddie Freeman and the Dodgers had other plans. Chisholm will look to keep up the good work but on the winning side in Game 2 against the Dodgers on Saturday.

In his last postseason start, Flaherty was shelled for eight runs over three innings. That didn’t carry over at all. The right-hander had some traffic over the first two innings, but he was outstanding from that point on until Giancarlo Stanton golfed out a homer to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. Flaherty struck out six, walked one, and showed the secondary stuff that was necessary to get this New York lineup out. He’ll likely start Game 5 of the World Series, if a Game 5 is necessary.

Cole and Jack Flaherty were both excellent in the first game of the series, battling zero-for-zero for the first four frames. Cole finally gave up a run after a triple by Enrique Hernandez — on a play that Juan Soto could have (should have?) made — and a sacrifice fly from Will Smith. Cole looked outstanding, but the Yankees didn’t do enough offensively to make it matter. He’ll likely start Game 5, if necessary, but Game 4 can’t be completely ruled out.

What a game. Freeman certainly didn’t appear to be bothered by the ankle, and that was obviously early on when he was able to pick up a triple in the first inning after Alex Verdugo misplayed the baseball. A three-bagger is nice, but obviously what will be remembered was a two-out, bases-loaded homer off Nestor Cortes that secured a 1-0 lead in the Fall Classic for Los Angeles. Game 2 will be Saturday, with Carlos Rodon on the mound for New York and Yoshinobu on the bump for the Dodgers.

It was a surprise that Berti was bumped to make room for Nestor Cortes on the roster, and now we know why. The Yankees could have replaced him with Duke Ellis and given themselves a real speed option off the bench late in games, but they decided to stick with Jasson Domínguez and Trent Grisham as reserves, even though they’ve made it clear they don’t want either getting any at-bats.

The Yankees are using the same lineup they did in Game 5 of the ALCS: 2B Gleyber Torres, RF Juan Soto, CF Aaron Judge, DH Giancarlo Stanton, 3B Jazz Chisholm Jr., 1B Rizzo, SS Anthony Volpe, C Austin Wells and LF Alex Verdugo. With no lefties in the Dodgers’ rotation, this might just be the lineup throughout the Series.

Freeman didn’t start Game 65 of the NLCS because of his sprained ankle, but there was little doubt about his availability tonight. The lineup against Gerrit Cole is essentially as expected: DH Shohei Ohtani, RF Mookie Betts, 1B Freeman, LF Teoscar Hernández, 3B Max Muncy, CF Enrique Hernández, C Will Smith, 2B Gavin Lux and SS Tommy Edman.

Cortes missed the first two postseason series for the Yankees while dealing with a flexor tendon strain, but the 29-year-old will be able to help the New York pitching staff in the Fall Classic against the Dodgers. Jon Berti is off the roster to make room.

Rojas missed the NLCS with a hernia injury; an injury that will require surgery in the offseason. The shortstop is in, and Kevin Kiermaier will not be a part of the 26-man roster for the Fall Classic against the Yankees.