This postseason is shaping up to be a fun one.
Happy Monday everyone! We’ve already had plenty of excitement this postseason, with some unexpected winners in the Wild Card series, and some intense games to start off the Divison series.
Today we’re going to look at an incredible home run robbery played off as a trick, a game-changing home run, and “pitching chaos” going wrong for a team. We’ll also see what happens when friendship and rivalry meet, look at who is and who isn’t going to spend money next year, and much more.
Now on to today’s links!
- Michael Baumann looks at how the Mets fared in the first game of the NLDS.
- Anne Rogers explains the meaning behind the date stitched on Royals’ Lucas Erceg’s glove.
- Dave Roberts admits that Yoshinobu Yamamoto was tipping his pitches. Story by Josh Wilson.
- Ken Rosenthal looks at how Freddie Freeman went from sitting out to starring in NLDS Game One. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- It’s a shot from Castellanos…
They say hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do but lemme tell you trying to bartend when your brother ties the game with a homer in the NLDS is not too far behind
— Ryan Castellanos (@ryan_cast_) October 6, 2024
- Todd Zolecki looks at Nick Castellanos’s big moment in more detail.
- Liam McKeone shares the sweet moment between Castellanos and his son after that epic home run.
- Ryan Phillips looks at how quickly the Phillies fans turned against their players early in the game.
- Ben Clemens is pretty sure that Josh Hader shouldn’t have pitched on Tuesday.
- Talk about a robbery. Jurickson Profar nabs a home run ball from the second row. (MLB)
- Brittany Ghiroli explains why Matt Quatraro was the right man for the managerial job in Kansas City. (The Athletic subscription required)
- Ryan Phillips has more on the trick Profar played with his home run robbery.
- That’s one option.
First says he does expect A’s payroll to increase this offseason, hopes free agents see improving team and want to help team to next level.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) October 4, 2024
- And then the flip side.
Arte Moreno says the Angels payroll is going up next season, and he expects them to contend.
Plenty of other topics addressed in Moreno’s first interview since spring training. https://t.co/szLsoPKhsh
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) October 5, 2024
- Davy Andrews breaks down how the Guardians destroyed the Tigers in the first ALDS game.
- Tarik Skubal and Matthew Boyd are friends, and soon they will be facing each other in the second came of the ALDS. Story by Jason Beck.
- Cody Stavenhagen and Zach Meisel look at how Skubal and Boyd are more than just rivals. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Bryan Hoch shares Juan Soto’s opinions about the electric atmosphere of the postseason.
- Alden Gonzalez looks at how Shohei Ohtani dazzled in his postseason debut.
- Phrasing?
“You know what, they say we suck, we suck. Let’s suck. Let’s go suck together. Let’s go have fun sucking.”
J.D. Martinez talks about the Mets blocking out the outside noise and not having pressure on them in the playoffs: pic.twitter.com/PYJgMb1Vrd
— SNY (@SNYtv) October 4, 2024
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.