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It was a long weekend; let’s catch you up on the various playoff chases as we dive into September.
Plus: Ken talks Tigers pitching, we had a few not-a-trade uniform changes for veterans and we watch the weirdest home run I’ve seen in a long time. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!
Standings Watch: Pennant race check-in
Want to know which contenders have the easiest and hardest schedules for September? Stephen Nesbitt and Chad Jennings break down the calendar(s) here. In the meantime, here are a few key playoff-implicated moments from the long weekend:
- The Dodgers lost two of three to Arizona, while the Padres did the same against the Twins. L.A. was off yesterday, while the Padres lost 4-3 to the Orioles. The Dodgers lead the NL West by 2 1/2 games, and the Padres look like they’ll be without Xander Bogaerts (fracture in foot) and setup man Jason Adam (left leg) for a while.
- In a matchup with possible (if very strange-feeling) World Series implications, the Brewers took two out of three from the Blue Jays in Toronto. Milwaukee is still 5 1/2 games up on the Cubs (who took two of three in Colorado, then beat the Braves last night). Meanwhile, after a loss to Cincinnati last night, Toronto’s division lead is just 2 1/2 games over the Red Sox and Yankees (who took three out of four from the White Sox).
- The Phillies took three out of four from the Braves, then beat the Brewers last night. Meanwhile, the Mets lost three of four to the Marlins (but — behind a red-hot Juan Soto — beat the Tigers last night). Philadelphia’s lead in the division has grown to six games.
- I guess I owe the Rangers an apology after declaring them dead in Friday’s Windup. Riding a late comeback to beat the Diamondbacks in extras last night, they’ve now won six straight and are 1 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot. Still ahead of them in the West: the Mariners (who dropped two of three to the Guardians before getting blown out in Tampa last night) and the Astros, who — despite an “anemic” August at the plate — still lead the Mariners by three games and the Rangers by 4 1/2.
Ken’s Notebook: Detroit’s playoff rotation after Skubal
From my latest column:
If you’re a Tigers fan worrying about what the postseason rotation will look like beyond Tarik Skubal, relax. It’s not that big a deal.
In a handful of recent games, Tigers manager AJ Hinch has provided a glimpse of how he might operate in October. He was not afraid to yank his starters early, and by the postseason, his bullpen should be deep enough for him to manage with the same type of urgency.
Frankly, the Tigers’ greater concern might be an offense that entered Monday with the fourth-highest strikeout rate in the majors. The only teams that were worse — the Angels, Rockies and Pirates — were all non-contenders. And the Tigers’ swing-and-miss tendencies mitigated their base-running proficiency: They led the league by a wide margin in extra-base taken percentage.
Pitching should be less of an issue, and not just because of Skubal’s dominance. Last season, Hinch’s “pitching chaos” strategy helped the Tigers make a remarkable run to the playoffs. This season, functioning with a more stable rotation, things look more conventional. But come the postseason, Hinch again figures to attack opponents in waves.
One of the Tigers’ non-Skubal starters — Jack Flaherty, Charlie Morton or Casey Mize — will be in the mix to be a bulk reliever, at least for the Division Series. The choice of which one moves to the bullpen might depend more on matchups than on how each pitcher is performing at the time.
The Tigers also are awaiting the returns of two potential bullpen weapons who have yet to throw a pitch for them — José Urquidy, who is on a rehabilitation assignment completing his recovery from Tommy John surgery, and Paul Sewald, whom the team acquired from the Cleveland Guardians at the deadline while he was on the injured list for the second time this season with a shoulder strain.
Watch This: Wanna see the weirdest home run?
The Red Sox dropped two of three to the Pirates over the weekend, but got back on track last night with a 6-4 win over Cleveland. In the sixth inning, Trevor Story hit the weirdest home run I’ve seen in a long time:
In case you can’t tell what happened, the ball hit Jhonkensy Noel’s glove, then hit the Pesky Pole, then went back to the glove, then off a fan and ultimately landed back in Noel’s glove.
Nothing after “hit the Pesky Pole” mattered, though — once it hit the foul pole, that was a home run. A 306-foot home run, to be precise — the second-shortest of the Statcast Era (2015-present). If you’re curious how a home run could possibly be shorter than that — so was I. Statcast projected the distance of this Lorenzo Cain home run to be 302 feet. You tell me which one went further.
Movement: Last-minute additions for contenders
You might have noticed a lot of players placed on waivers and/or released last week. That’s not only for teams to try to save a little money if a player is claimed. It’s also a courtesy to veterans who might be able to latch on with a contender. To be eligible for a postseason roster, a player must be on the team’s roster by Sept. 1.
As a result, quite a few veterans found themselves in new uniforms over the long weekend.
- With Payton Tolle’s “electric” MLB debut, the Red Sox decided Walker Buehler was expendable. He signed with the Phillies (who also claimed reliever Tim Mayza from the Pirates).
- Not long after being released by the Pirates, Andrew Heaney is going (back) to the Dodgers on a minor-league deal.
- After being released by the Guardians, Carlos Santana signed with the Cubs — who also snagged Aaron Civale off waivers from the White Sox. Civale, you might remember, was the White Sox’s return for Andrew Vaughn earlier this year.
- A little over a year after they traded him to the Pirates, the Blue Jays (re-)acquired Isiah Kiner-Falefa off waivers from Pittsburgh to add infield depth for their pennant racee.
- It wasn’t only contenders making additions, actually. The Braves claimed former Rays infielder Ha-Seong Kim off waivers. Kim has a player option for 2026, so Atlanta might have been hoping to get a head start on locking down the infielder for next year.
- The Red Sox also “added from within,” signing Aroldis Chapman to an extension for the 2026 season. Chapman, 37, has a career-best 1.00 ERA in 59 appearances for the Red Sox after making just … the absolute simplest adjustment possible this spring.
Handshakes and High Fives
We have an update — albeit a small one — on the Guardians pitchers who are on leave while MLB conducts a gambling investigation. That leave has been extended “until further notice.”
It is never unremarkable to me, the logistics required for minor-league call-ups. Katie Woo has the inside story from over the weekend, when the Cardinals called up Jimmy Crooks and César Prieto.
Matthew Bowyer — better known as “the bookie who was connected to Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter” — has been sentenced to a year in prison and forced to repay $1.6 million in damages.
In this week’s Power Rankings, we try to identify one possible award winner from each of the 30 teams.
Byron Buxton stole third base Friday night. Why is that significant? Because of his 112 previous stolen bases, not a single one was a steal of third.
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(Photo: Michael McLoone / Imagn Images