Browsing: MLB

Oct 13, 2025, 04:48 PM ET

Sandy Alomar Sr., an All-Star infielder during his playing days in the 1960s and 70s who went on to coach in the majors and manage in his native Puerto Rico, has died. He was 81.

A spokesperson for the Cleveland Guardians said Monday that the team was informed by Alomar’s family about his death. Sandy Alomar Jr., who along with Hall of Fame brother Roberto played for their father in winter ball and in the minors, is on the Guardians’ staff.

“Our thoughts are with the Alomar family today as the baseball community mourns his passing,” the Guardians said on social media.

Sandy Alomar Sr. played for six major league teams across 15 seasons, including three for the Yankees. Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire

Alomar broke into the big leagues in 1964 with the Milwaukee Braves, one of six teams he played for. He also spent time with the New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, New York Yankees and Texas Rangers before calling it a career in 1978.

Known more for his speed and fielding than his hitting, Alomar batted .245 with 13 home runs and 282 RBI in 1,481 regular-season games.

He was named an All-Star in 1970. He stole 227 bases, including a career-high 39 in 1971, when he led the American League with 689 at-bats and 739 plate appearances, and took part in one playoff series with the Yankees in ’76.

Alomar went into coaching in San Diego’s system in the ’80s and was the Padres’ third-base coach from 1986 to 90. He coached for the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies and the Mets in the 2000s.

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London’s Wembley Stadium isn’t the only unique location in which the Los Angeles Rams will be playing in this week.

The Baltimore Banner‘s Hayes Gardner reported last week that the Rams will spend the days leading up to their Week 7 game in London practicing at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, home of MLB’s Baltimore Orioles.

The stadium featured a pair of partial fields, as seen in pictures by Kevin Richardson (via Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun):

The Rams were in town to face the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6, a game they won by the score of 17-3. That game comes ahead of a game in London that will see the Rams take on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Rather than flying back to the West Coast in the intervening week, the Rams will remain in Baltimore before traveling to the United Kingdom, Gardner reported.

The Rams are expected to use the playing field at Camden Yards along with both the team and visitors’ clubhouses and dining areas, The Baltimore Sun’s Todd Karpovich reported.

The Maryland Stadium Authority approved the plan during board meeting on Oct. 7, per Gardner.

The Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium was initially discussed as an option to host the Rams, but stadium authorities expressed concern the field would be damaged ahead of the Ravens’ next home game against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 26, Gardner reported.

The Rams gained access to the ballpark starting Saturday and lasting for one week, per Gardner. Karpovich reported the Rams will pay for staff, security and insurance while using the stadium.

There won’t be any scheduling conflict with the Orioles, which were eliminated from postseason contention in mid-September and played their final game of the MLB season on Sept. 28.

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Oct 13, 2025, 01:10 PM ET

The first managerial changes of the 2025-26 MLB offseason came on the first day after the season, when the San Francisco Giants dismissed Bob Melvin, the Minnesota Twins fired Rocco Baldelli, and the Texas Rangers announced that Bruce Bochy will not return.

Then came the news that manager Ron Washington and interim manager Ray Montgomery both will not return to the Los Angeles Angels, and Brian Snitker informed the Atlanta Braves he won’t return as manager.

In perhaps the most surprising managing development of the offseason, Mike Shildt is retiring as San Diego Padres manager after guiding San Diego to consecutive postseason appearances.

Which major league teams will change managers next? And who could be next in line?

ESPN will track all of the managerial hirings and firings — and provide potential top replacements for every opening as they happen.

Jump to:
Openings | Hirings

Managerial openings

San Diego Padres

2025 manager: Mike Shildt (Oct. 13)

Shildt is retiring after two years as the manager in San Diego, sources confirmed to ESPN. The Padres made the playoffs in both seasons, going 90-72 in 2025 before falling to the Cubs in the wild-card round.

Shildt had two years remaining on the contract extension he signed in November 2024 coming off a 93-win season that ended with a division series loss to the Dodgers.

“We would like to congratulate Mike on a successful career and thank him for his significant contributions to the Padres and the San Diego community over the last four years, including consecutive 90-win seasons and two postseason appearances as manager,” Padres general manager A.J. Preller said in a statement. “His dedication and passion for the game of baseball will leave an impact on our organization, and we wish him the best in his next chapter. The search for a new manager of the Padres will begin immediately with the goal of winning a World Series championship in 2026.”

Top potential candidates:

A.J. Ellis:Currently works as a special assistant to Preller; played 11 MLB seasons for Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins and Padres.

Ryan Flaherty: Currently serves as Chicago Cubs bench coach; played eight seasons for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Guardians.

2025 manager: Bob Melvin (Sept. 29)

Melvin is out after two seasons in San Francisco as the Giants opted to fire him even after picking up his option for the 2026 season in July.

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It was an up-and-down season for the Giants, who ultimately finished third in the National League West and went a combined 161-163 in Melvin’s two seasons. San Francisco has not finished with a winning record or in higher than third place in the division since its 107-win 2021 season.

“After careful evaluation, we determined that making a change in leadership was in the best interest of the team,” said Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey. “The last couple of months have been both disappointing and frustrating for all of us, and we did not perform up to our standards. We now turn our focus to identifying a new leader to guide us forward.”

Top potential candidates

Craig Albernaz:Currently serves as associate manager for Cleveland Guardians; previously worked with Giants as bullpen and catching coach

Dusty Baker:Last served as Houston Astros manager in 2023; managed the Giants from 1993 to 2002.

Bruce Bochy: Manager of the Texas Rangers from 2023-25 (contract expired at end of 2025 season); won three World Series with Giants while Posey was San Francisco’s catcher.

Bobby Crosby:Current A’s first-base coach; played eight MLB seasons with A’s, Pirates and D-backs

Ryan Flaherty:Currently serves as Chicago Cubs bench coach; played eight seasons for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Guardians.

Mark Hallberg:Current Giants first base coach; played college baseball with Posey at Florida State.

Nick Hundley:Works as special assistant to the general manager for the Texas Rangers; Former MLB catcher who was teammates with Posey on 2017-18 Giants.

Tony Vitello:Currently serves as head baseball coach at the University of Tennessee; led Vols to 2024 Men’s College World Series title.

Minnesota Twins

2025 manager:Rocco Baldelli (Sept. 29)

Like Melvin, Baldelli was fired after his team picked up his option for the 2026 season.

Final grades for all 30 MLB teams

Whether your team is headed to October or packing its bags for the offseason, how did 2025 measure up to expectations? David Schoenfield »

The Twins went 527-505 and won the AL Central three times during his seven seasons in Minnesota, but the Twins went just 70-92 this season.

“This game is ultimately measured by results, and over the past two seasons we did not reach the goals we set,” president Derek Falvey said in a team release.

Top potential candidates

Craig Albernaz: Currently serves as associate manager for Guardians

Kai Correa:Currently works as field coordinator/director of defense, baserunning and game strategy for the Guardians

Torii Hunter:Currently serves as special assistant to Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian; played with Twins from 1997-2007

James Rowson:Current hitting coach for the New York Yankees; previously worked as Twins hitting coach

Derek Shelton:Managed the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2020 to May 2025; previously served as Twins bench coach

Drew Butera:Catching coach for the Chicago White Sox in 2025; played for the Twins from 2010 to 2013

Jayce Tingler:Current Twins bench coach; served as Padres manager from 2020-21

Los Angeles Angels

2025 manager: Ron Washington and Ray Montgomery (interim) (Sept. 30)

Ron Washington, who missed the majority of the 2025 season after undergoing quadruple bypass heart surgery, will not be returning as manager of the Los Angeles Angels in 2026, a source confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.

Ranking all 30 MLB cores

We rank the clubs with the most star power under control through 2027. Kiley McDaniel »

Interim manager Ray Montgomery also will not get the full-time manager role in 2026, a source confirmed to ESPN, as the Angels will search for their sixth manager in nine years.

The Angels finished the year with a 72-90 record, accounting for their 10th consecutive losing season.

Top potential candidates

Darin Erstad:Former Nebraska baseball head coach; played for the Angels from 2006-16

Torii Hunter:Currently serves as special assistant to Angels general manager Perry Minasian; played with Angels from 2008-2012

Albert Pujols:Manages Leones del Escogido in Dominican Winter League; played for Angels from 2012-21

Tim Salmon:Played for the Angels for 14 seasons; won 2002 World Series and 1993 AL Rookie of the Year

Mike Scioscia:Managed the Angels from 2000-18; managed USA Baseball in 2021 Olympics

Atlanta Braves

2025 manager:Brian Snitker (Oct. 1)

Brian Snitker will not return as manager of the Atlanta Braves, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. He informed the team of his decision Tuesday, but he will remain with the organization in a senior advisory capacity.

Snitker, whose contract expired after his ninth season as manager, has been with the Braves organization in some capacity as a player, coach and manager since 1977 and led Atlanta to the 2021 World Series championship.

The Braves went 76-86 in 2025, finishing fourth in the National League East.

Top potential candidates:

Mark DeRosa:Managed Team USA during the 2023 World Baseball Classic; played for the Braves from 1998-2004

John Gibbons:Managed Blue Jays from 2004-2008 and 2013-2018

David Ross:Managed Chicago Cubs from 2020-2023; played for the Braves from 2009-2012

Walt Weiss:Currently serves as Braves bench coach after managing Colorado Rockies from 2013-2016; played for Braves from 1998-2000

Managerial hirings

Texas Rangers

2025 manager: Bruce Bochy (Sept. 29)
2026 manager:Skip Schumaker (Oct. 3)

Bochy, who led the Rangers to their first World Series title in 2022, will not return to Texas after he and the team mutually agreed to end his tenure. Bochy was offered a front office role to remain with Texas in an advisery capacity.

Bochy went 249-237 in Texas, including an 81-81 record this year — his first career .500 season. Bochy turned 70 this season and ranks as baseball’s winningest active manager; his 2,252 wins rank sixth all time.

“Bruce Bochy is one of the greatest managers in baseball history, and he will forever hold a place in the hearts of Ranger fans after bringing home the first World Series title in franchise history in 2023,” said Chris Young, the Rangers’ president of baseball operations. “Boch brought class and respect to our club in his return to the dugout, and we will always take pride in being part of his Hall of Fame career. We are grateful for everything he has given to the organization over the past few seasons and hopeful he can continue to impact the Rangers for many years to come.”

2026 manager:Skip Schumaker

Rangers hired Schumaker on a four-year contract Friday night, promoting him from a role as senior advisor to Chris Young.

“While I attained a good understanding of the organization through my front office role this past season, the conversations with Chris Young, [general manager] Ross Fenstermaker, and others this week have only intensified my interest in this opportunity,” Schumaker said in a prepared statement. “I can’t wait to begin the work for 2026.”

Schumaker managed the Miami Marlins from 2022-24, winning 2023 NL Manager of the Year when Miami went 84-78 and made the fourth postseason appearance in club history.

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As mentioned in our 2025 Hit+ leaderboard, Baseball America has measured performance throughout the 2025 season based on underlying metrics via Hawk-Eye data gathered across the minor leagues. The RoboScout model incorporates some of this data to assess the minor league performance of hitters and pitchers and evaluate their future major league performance.

Today, we’ll examine how each organization’s minor league pitchers performed by these metrics. Think of it as the corresponding pitching piece to our hitting rankings.

This article ranks how each organizationâ€s collection of minor league pitchers performed via these metrics in 2025. You can see our corresponding hitting rankings here.

Using the same methodology as our Stuff+ leaderboard, we calculated each organization’s Stuff+ score (and corresponding normalized Stuff+ score), weighted by the number of pitches thrown. This means a pitcher with a Stuff+ of 120 over only 100 pitches would have 10% the influence on an organization’s aggregate Stuff+ of someone who threw 1,000 pitches.

Pitch Mix By Organization

To get us started, here are the pitch type breakdowns in the minor leagues per organization. This provides a high-level landscape for each organizationâ€s “pitch mix†against all batters.

As a table:

ORGfour-seamsinkercutterslidersweepercurvechangesplitterATH46%10%2%19%5%7%10%1%ATL44%6%6%25%4%4%8%4%AZ45%9%4%18%5%8%10%1%BAL44%7%8%14%8%8%9%2%BOS42%4%9%23%7%4%9%1%CHC49%5%4%18%7%7%8%2%CIN46%8%4%16%6%6%13%1%CLE50%3%4%19%6%7%10%1%COL51%8%2%16%3%7%11%1%CWS43%7%5%16%7%9%12%1%DET49%9%2%18%4%6%10%2%HOU44%5%7%10%11%11%10%1%KC49%5%5%14%4%10%12%1%LAA51%9%2%17%5%6%10%1%LAD47%8%7%19%5%6%8%1%MIA37%8%4%19%12%9%9%2%MIL40%9%9%20%5%6%9%1%MIN41%7%8%20%6%6%12%2%NYM43%6%6%23%6%3%11%2%NYY41%8%5%12%13%7%13%2%PHI46%7%4%20%6%5%10%2%PIT48%8%5%17%5%6%9%2%SD51%8%3%17%4%7%10%0%SEA38%13%5%17%12%5%9%2%SF45%11%4%16%6%7%10%1%STL45%6%5%20%5%8%10%2%TB49%6%3%27%2%2%10%0%TEX43%8%6%19%7%7%8%2%TOR49%6%4%20%4%5%9%3%WSH48%7%3%17%6%6%12%2%

To reduce them into categories instead of classifications, here’s the above chart bucketed by “fastballâ€, “breaking stuff†(including cutters) and “offspeed.â€

While this isn’t necessarily indicative of Boston’s philosophy, Baseball America explained in June why the Red Sox were throwing the most breaking pitches in the minors. They ultimately finished second behind the Marlins, who also threw the fewest fastballs.

The Rockies and Angels, arguably two of the least progressive pitching organizations, threw the most fastballs.

After leading the trend several years ago, the Yankees still throw the highest percentage of sweepers (13%).

Speaking of trending pitches: Only the Braves and Blue Jays threw more than 2% splitters.

MiLB Stuff+ By Organization

Here’s how every organization ranks among Stuff+ and normalized Stuff+ in descending order of Stuff+.

At the plate, the Dodgers ranked first in Hit+. They also have the highest Stuff+ and nSTF+ on the other side of the ball. As a reminder, the normalized Stuff+ compares each pitch type to the average Stuff+ for that pitch. For example, a slider with a Stuff+ of 109 is an average slider, so it actually would be a 100 normalized Stuff+.

orgstf+ranknstf+rankLos Angeles Dodgers103.91st117.91stBaltimore Orioles103.02nd112.32ndMiami Marlins102.83rd108.15thNew York Mets102.24th109.04thBoston Red Sox102.25th103.210thTampa Bay Rays101.56th109.73rdTexas Rangers101.37th101.712thNew York Yankees101.18th105.86thPhiladelphia Phillies100.99th105.48thCleveland Guardians100.710th105.57thSan Francisco Giants100.611th105.09thMinnesota Twins100.312th101.614thMilwaukee Brewers100.113th94.524thSt. Louis Cardinals100.014th101.613thHouston Astros99.915th97.122ndToronto Blue Jays99.916th102.011thChicago White Sox99.817th100.616thPittsburgh Pirates99.618th97.719thDetroit Tigers99.519th101.415thAtlanta Braves99.520th97.220thSeattle Mariners99.421st88.928thLos Angeles Angels99.222nd99.517thCincinnati Reds98.823rd98.418thChicago Cubs98.424th90.526thKansas City Royals98.425th97.121stAthletics98.126th93.425thWashington Nationals97.927th94.923rdColorado Rockies97.028th90.427thSan Diego Padres97.029th87.529thArizona Diamondbacks96.330th82.330th

Top organizations

Dodgers

Aidan Foeller (118 STF+, 123 nSTF+) has excellent numbers. As Baseball America identified last week, Foeller ranks in the top 10 for Stuff+ among all pitchers with at least 1,000 pitches tracked, Christian Zazueta (108, 115), Adam Serwinowski (107, 113),  Payton Martin (109, 112), Ronan Kopp (112, 110), Nick Frasso (101, 109), and Patrick Copen (110, 104) also stand out.

Orioles

The Orioles’ starting pitching played a major role in their disappointed big league season. Injuries again kept Grayson Rodriguez sidelined and he needed elbow debridement surgery in August. Chayce McDermott, expected to contribute meaningful innings, instead battled a litany of injuries. It may not be bleak for long, as the pipeline is full of pitchers such as Levi Wells (118, 118), Braxton Bragg (112, 113), Esteban Mejia (109, 113), Tyson Neighbors (112, 112), Trey Gibson (113, 108), Nestor German (103, 109), Luis De Leon (104, 109), and deadline acquisition Juaron Watts-Brown (107, 106).

Marlins

Marlins Top 100 pitching prospects Thomas White (104, 112) and Robby Snelling (102, 108) contributed to their ranking. So did young fireballers Eliazar Dishmey (108, 108), Keyner Benitez (100, 104), Liomar Martinez (106, 104), Kevin Defrank (102, 105) and Nate Payne (106, 102). Karson Milbrandt (110, 106) is yet another reason why Miami ranked highly.

Mets

It shouldn’t be surprising that a team with Jonah Tong (104, 115) and Nolan McLean (114, 111) rates highly on our Stuff+ model. Other contributors: Will Watson (111, 115), Brandon Sproat(111, 113), Zach Thornton (106, 102) and Jonathan Santucci (103, 100).

Red Sox

Payton Tolle (111,115) and Connelly Early (102,109) carried incredible minor league seasons into the majors, and even the postseason. The Red Sox also have some highly-ranked pitchers such as Brandon Clarke (115, 114), Blake Wehunt (113, 110), John Holobetz (111, 111) and Tyler Uberstine (103, 104). With a full season from Luis Perales, who is currently rebuilding strength in the Arizona Fall League following elbow surgery, Boston might have climbed even higher.

Rays

Brody Hopkins (117, 120) has some of the loudest stuff in the minor leagues for a starting pitcher. The Rays also have high-octane contributors such as Santiago Suarez (113, 116), Jackson Baumeister (109, 111), Trevor Harrison (108, 112), Yoniel Curet (112, 117), T. J. Nichols (106, 111), Owen Wild (107, 108), and Gary Gill Hill (108, 103).

Organizational Ranks By Pitch Type

Here are how the organizations ranked when looking specifically at some pitch types.

Four-Seam Fastballs

Below, find the Stuff+ (and ranking) of all the four-seam fastballs thrown by each organization in the minor leagues, along with the weighted velocity in mph, Induced Vertical Break (IVB), Vertical Approach Angle (VAA), and Extension in feet (along with their rankings in each metric among all the organizations).

orgstf+rankvelrankivbrankvaarankextrankLos Angeles Dodgers104.11st93.21st15.910th-4.93rd6.32ndBaltimore Orioles103.32nd92.74th16.52nd-5.011th6.213thTampa Bay Rays103.13rd92.49th16.81st-5.010th6.217thNew York Mets102.84th92.83rd15.911th-5.015th6.210thNew York Yankees102.15th92.023rd16.43rd-5.123rd6.211thSt. Louis Cardinals101.86th92.65th16.17th-4.95th6.027thCleveland Guardians101.77th91.627th16.16th-4.81st6.36thDetroit Tigers101.68th92.116th15.714th-5.012th6.214thChicago White Sox101.39th92.313th15.812th-5.08th6.121stTexas Rangers101.310th92.022nd15.517th-4.94th6.126thSan Francisco Giants101.311th92.48th15.813th-5.124th6.34thMinnesota Twins101.312th92.410th16.19th-5.014th6.125thMiami Marlins101.113th93.22nd15.420th-4.97th6.122ndToronto Blue Jays101.014th92.119th16.35th-5.120th6.124thBoston Red Sox100.815th92.115th15.322nd-4.96th6.212thPhiladelphia Phillies100.516th92.021st15.616th-5.125th6.28thPittsburgh Pirates100.517th92.411th15.421st-5.122nd6.35thCincinnati Reds100.418th92.120th16.18th-5.121st6.029thAVERAGE100.4–92.2–15.7–-5.0–6.2–Houston Astros100.019th91.430th16.34th-5.013th6.31stLos Angeles Angels99.920th92.47th15.027th-5.018th6.218thKansas City Royals99.721st92.117th15.615th-5.016th6.219thMilwaukee Brewers99.522nd91.628th15.123rd-5.09th6.215thAtlanta Braves99.523rd92.118th15.125th-4.92nd6.27thColorado Rockies99.124th92.214th15.418th-5.230th6.030thAthletics98.525th92.56th15.419th-5.228th6.120thWashington Nationals97.926th92.312th14.928th-5.017th6.29thChicago Cubs97.327th91.824th15.124th-5.127th6.33rdSan Diego Padres96.928th91.626th14.929th-5.019th6.123rdSeattle Mariners96.529th91.529th14.830th-5.126th6.028thArizona Diamondbacks96.230th91.825th15.026th-5.229th6.216th

Unsurprisingly, the Dodgers lead in Stuff+ for four-seam fastballs—the most frequently thrown pitch in the minor leagues. In terms of the raw metrics, the Dodgers have the highest average fastball velocity, the third “flattest†four-seamers and the second-most extension among all organizations, leading to higher effective velocity.

Interestingly, the Astros have the lowest raw velocity but the most extension, while also throwing it with IVB in the top four in the league. The Guardians also show extreme traits. They have the 27th-slowest velocity, but seemingly the flattest fastballs (as measured by VAA), and they rank in the top 20% in both IVB and extension. Similarly, the Braves who are in the bottom quintile for IVB, throw the second-most “flat” fastballs with extension that ranks seventh in the league.

The Marlins have the second-fastest velocity, but they donâ€t rank particularly high in IVB or extension, coming in the bottom third of the league for those metrics.

Sinkers

Below, find the Stuff+ (and ranking) of all the two-seam fastballs/sinkers thrown by each organization in the minor leagues, along with the weighted velocity in mph, Horizontal Break (HB) in inches and Extension in feet (along with their rankings in each metric among all the organizations).

orgstf+rankvelrankhbrankextrankBoston Red Sox107.51st93.43rd15.29th6.215thBaltimore Orioles106.12nd93.24th15.011th6.34thLos Angeles Dodgers105.73rd93.51st15.012th6.125thKansas City Royals105.64th92.95th15.110th6.219thLos Angeles Angels105.55th93.42nd14.819th6.123rdNew York Mets105.36th92.96th15.013th6.27thCincinnati Reds105.17th91.916th15.71st6.027thWashington Nationals105.08th92.310th15.28th6.33rdMiami Marlins104.89th92.39th15.45th6.126thToronto Blue Jays104.810th91.818th15.36th6.216thTexas Rangers104.711th92.014th15.44th6.217thSan Francisco Giants104.612th92.67th15.014th6.121stNew York Yankees104.413th91.723rd15.43rd6.210thTampa Bay Rays104.014th91.915th14.916th6.218thDetroit Tigers103.615th92.013th14.915th6.29thAVERAGE103.5–92.1–14.9–6.2–Philadelphia Phillies103.416th92.58th14.720th6.28thColorado Rockies103.417th92.212th14.817th6.029thChicago White Sox103.318th91.427th15.37th6.220thSeattle Mariners102.719th90.829th15.52nd6.030thAtlanta Braves102.620th91.428th14.721st6.212thChicago Cubs102.421st91.917th14.425th6.41stSt. Louis Cardinals102.322nd92.211th14.524th6.211thPittsburgh Pirates102.023rd91.819th14.623rd6.35thMilwaukee Brewers101.924th91.721st14.722nd6.213thAthletics101.725th91.724th14.818th6.124thArizona Diamondbacks101.226th91.722nd14.426th6.122ndMinnesota Twins100.727th91.820th14.427th6.028thSan Diego Padres100.328th91.525th14.028th6.36thHouston Astros100.129th91.526th14.029th6.214thCleveland Guardians97.730th90.530th13.630th6.32nd

Here we can see that the average two-seam fastball is 92 mph and the Dodgers, Angels and Red Sox lead all organizations in velocity, each averaging more than 93 mph.

The Reds and Mariners have the most tail on their sinkers with over 15.5 inches of armside run. The Mariners, though, rank second to last in velocity and last in extension, essentially having the slowest effective velocity on their two-seam fastballs.

Interestingly, the Guardians rank last in two-seam Stuff+ after finishing with the seventh-highest Stuff+ for four-seam fastballs.

Sliders

Below, find the Stuff+ (and ranking) of all the sliders thrown by each organization in the minor leagues, along with the weighted velocity in mph, spin rate in rpm, Induced Vertical Break (IVB) in inches, Horizontal Break (HB) in inches (along with their rankings in each metric among all the organizations). While the relative “importance†of these variables varies within the Stuff model, itâ€s still informative to see which traits certain organizations may emphasize or deprioritize.

orgstf+rankvelrankspinrankivbrankhbrankLos Angeles Dodgers112.11st85.01st24406th2.24th4.515thBaltimore Orioles111.92nd84.26th240114th1.712th4.98thSan Francisco Giants111.63rd82.729th24199th0.430th6.71stMiami Marlins111.64th83.811th24751st1.320th5.55thPhiladelphia Phillies111.25th83.615th239716th2.08th5.37thCleveland Guardians110.46th82.927th241410th2.33rd5.64thTampa Bay Rays110.07th85.02nd237818th3.51st3.429thAtlanta Braves109.58th83.713th24534th1.516th4.812thSeattle Mariners109.49th82.828th24337th0.825th6.52ndCincinnati Reds109.310th83.517th236723rd1.515th4.517thWashington Nationals109.211th83.518th234425th1.910th4.319thNew York Yankees109.212th83.025th229130th2.17th4.120thAVERAGE109.1–83.6–2395–1.6–4.6–Houston Astros109.013th83.97th233029th2.26th4.121stSan Diego Padres108.914th83.124th241311th1.514th4.614thToronto Blue Jays108.915th84.54th233427th3.02nd3.230thMinnesota Twins108.916th84.35th240813th2.25th4.024thChicago Cubs108.917th83.026th24328th1.121st5.36thChicago White Sox108.818th83.516th24415th1.123rd4.99thNew York Mets108.719th84.53rd237621st1.99th3.628thTexas Rangers108.720th83.810th24573rd1.613th4.418thLos Angeles Angels108.721st83.89th239915th0.526th4.516thAthletics108.522nd83.122th236822nd1.319th4.911thBoston Red Sox108.323rd83.812th234624th1.911th3.727thSt. Louis Cardinals108.124th83.88th237620th1.318th4.025thPittsburgh Pirates107.925th83.320th234226th1.517th4.023rdDetroit Tigers107.826th83.519th237719th0.924th4.613thMilwaukee Brewers107.427th82.530th24682nd0.527th5.73rdKansas City Royals107.428th83.614th241012th1.122nd3.926thArizona Diamondbacks106.729th83.123th238417th0.528th4.910thColorado Rockies106.130th83.221st233328th0.429th4.022nd

We discovered in the training model that while slider velocity is important to limiting its run value, so is a pitcher’s primarily fastball velocity. So it makes sense that the Dodgers, who had some of the highest fastball velocity, also rank highly in terms of slider Stuff+, especially when they also throw the hardest sliders of any organization too.

Youâ€ll also notice that the worst slider Stuff+ belongs to the Rockies—yet itâ€s still 106. That underscores just how effective sliders are at limiting runs. As hitters continue to adjust, that advantage may narrow, but for now sliders remain quite valuable pitches.

Sweepers

Below, find the Stuff+ (and ranking) of all sweepers thrown by each organization in the minor leagues, along with the weighted velocity in mph, Horizontal Break (HB) in inches and spin rate in rpm (along with their rankings in each metric among all the organizations). While the relative “importance†of these variables varies within the Stuff model, itâ€s still informative to see which traits certain organizations may emphasize or deprioritize.

Itâ€s also worth noting that, by design, our internal model would produce the same Stuff+ score for identical pitch characteristics—regardless of whether a pitch is classified as a “sweeper†or a “slider.†In other words, a pitch shouldnâ€t be judged more or less effective simply because of its retrospective label; the hitter reacts to the same ball flight either way. Of course, there are other implications when a pitcher features two differently shaped breaking balls from the same release point, but thatâ€s a topic for another article.

orgstf+rankvelrankhbrankspinrankDetroit Tigers127.21st81.413th13.26th26333rdNew York Mets126.72nd81.94th12.715th254911thBoston Red Sox126.43rd80.527th13.27th253018thCleveland Guardians126.14th80.723rd13.53th25836thKansas City Royals125.35th81.021st12.99th247027thMiami Marlins125.16th81.510th12.814th26014thLos Angeles Dodgers124.87th82.02nd14.31st26861stToronto Blue Jays124.58th81.68th12.912th253017thBaltimore Orioles124.59th81.69th12.517th251721stNew York Yankees124.410th80.526th13.08th254114thTampa Bay Rays124.211th81.117th13.54th254513thPhiladelphia Phillies124.012th81.412th12.219th255310thMinnesota Twins123.513th81.216th13.25th25787thAthletics123.414th81.95th12.218th251422ndTexas Rangers123.415th81.511th12.910th26372ndPittsburgh Pirates123.316th81.118th11.426th252320thAVERAGE122.9–81.1–12.5–2543–Houston Astros122.217th80.328th12.120th253316thChicago White Sox122.018th81.215th12.813th25599thSan Diego Padres121.619th80.724th11.525th244430thSeattle Mariners121.420th80.030th14.02nd251223thMilwaukee Brewers121.321st81.119th11.127th252719thSan Francisco Giants121.022nd82.41st11.923rd253615thSt. Louis Cardinals120.823rd82.03rd12.911th248126thWashington Nationals120.724th80.822nd11.524th248425thLos Angeles Angels120.725th81.77th12.516th25985thChicago Cubs120.626th81.214th12.022nd254712thCincinnati Reds119.027th81.020th11.028th245829thAtlanta Braves118.928th80.129th12.021st248924thColorado Rockies118.429th80.625th10.030th245928thArizona Diamondbacks117.130th81.86th10.629th25678th

Clearly, the Stuff+ model loves sweepers. The pitch does an inordinate job limiting runs while getting whiffs and chases. A critical caveat, however, is that sweepers are thrown primarily to same-sided hitters (e.g. RHP to RH batters) and are less effective against opposite-handed batters, highlighting a bias in the modeling. In other words, “throwing the sweeper more†would not necessarily improve a pitcherâ€s effectiveness.Â

The Tigers show up at the top of the rankings with an average of 13 inches of horizontal break and the third-highest spin rate on their sweepers. Interestingly, the Tigers had middle-of-the-pack spin rates on their sliders. This might suggest that the high-spin rate pitchers are throwing them more. Although not shown above, they are in the top third in the league for extension, too.

Behind Nolan McLean’s 85.5 mph sweeper with 15 inches of horizontal break, the Mets rank second in sweeper Stuff+. The breaking ball-forward Red Sox and pitching savvy Guardians round out the rest of the top four, with a lot of gloveside break though with below-average velocity.

The Dodgers rank first or second for velocity, horizontal break and spin rate on their collective sweepers.

Curveballs

Below, find the Stuff+ (and ranking) of all the curveballs thrown by each organization in the minor leagues, along with the weighted velocity in mph, Vertical Approach Angle (VAA) in degrees, Horizontal Break (HB) in inches and spin rate in rpm (along with their rankings in each metric among all the organizations). While the relative “importance†of these variables varies within the Stuff model, itâ€s still informative to see which traits certain organizations may emphasize or deprioritize.

A more negative VAA means it has more “dive†and they are ranked from “most downward action†to “flattest.â€

orgstf+rankvelrankvaarankhbrankspinBoston Red Sox102.81st79.71st-9.030th8.318th240127thMiami Marlins101.92nd79.64th-9.128th10.21st25314thLos Angeles Dodgers101.63rd79.72nd-9.227th8.317th25236thWashington Nationals100.64th79.45th-9.224th8.416th242224thPhiladelphia Phillies100.55th78.911th-9.226th9.34th246816thTampa Bay Rays100.56th79.63rd-9.415th8.810th243921stAtlanta Braves99.37th78.815th-9.320th8.811th242623rdTexas Rangers98.88th79.27th-9.029th7.923rd25227thSan Francisco Giants98.49th79.36th-9.319th7.825th244820thPittsburgh Pirates98.310th78.223rd-9.225th9.53rd247714thMinnesota Twins97.711th79.29th-9.321st7.924th25018thKansas City Royals97.612th78.717th-9.414th8.713th245419thNew York Mets97.413th78.912th-9.56th7.726th248810thAVERAGE97.3–78.7–-9.4–8.5–2473–San Diego Padres97.214th77.829th-9.323rd9.72nd247913thBaltimore Orioles97.115th78.913th-9.61st8.122nd25295thNew York Yankees97.016th78.520th-9.63rd9.35th25019thCleveland Guardians97.017th78.618th-9.417th9.07th25573rdSt. Louis Cardinals96.718th79.110th-9.318th7.129th248811thToronto Blue Jays96.619th79.28th-9.413th7.527th227430thDetroit Tigers96.520th78.521st-9.512th8.712th242722ndChicago Cubs96.421st78.814th-9.59th8.89th246218thMilwaukee Brewers96.122nd78.125th-9.510th9.06th25911stSeattle Mariners96.123rd78.124th-9.416th8.98th246317thColorado Rockies95.924th77.928th-9.62nd8.515th239928thLos Angeles Angels95.925th78.619th-9.322nd7.528th238029thChicago White Sox95.526th78.716th-9.57th8.614th25572ndHouston Astros95.027th77.926th-9.511th8.220th247615thAthletics94.928th77.927th-9.64th8.221st248212thCincinnati Reds93.829th77.530th-9.58th8.219th241226thArizona Diamondbacks93.430th78.322nd-9.55th6.930th241625th

The Brewers rank a bit lower on our model—which factors a pitcher’s primary fastball velocity—but they’re still in the top 10 for downward break and horizontal break, while also having the highest spin rates on their curveballs (helped by Coleman Crowand his 3,000+ rpm). I wouldnâ€t be surprised if they are specifically emphasizing these traits more for their curveballs. The Yankees rank similarly for these same traits with their curveballs, too.

Intuitively, pitchers who throw harder curveballs will achieve less downward break. However, the Rays rank third in velocity (79.6 mph) yet manage middle-of-the-pack downward break. Of course, other factors (such as a high release point) could affect this, but it’s still interesting.

Offspeed

For offspeed pitches, we combined changeups and splitters. When evaluating their effectiveness, we focused on outcomes rather than raw pitch characteristics such as spin rate or velocity differential from the fastball. This approach reflects the reality that those metrics can lose meaning when viewed in aggregate. For example, while most pitchers aim to “kill spin†on a changeup, others—such as Nationals righthander Sean Paul Linan—intentionally generate screwball-type spin to achieve different movement profiles.

Below are the weighted averages for Whiff% (the percentage of swings that missed an offspeed pitch) and Chase% (the percentage of offspeed pitches outside the strike zone that still drew a swing).

The below is listed in descending order of whiff rate.

orgwhiff%rankchase%rankLos Angeles Dodgers39.6%1st28.3%25thNew York Mets38.8%2nd30.8%6thTexas Rangers38.2%3rd31.4%3rdSt. Louis Cardinals38.1%4th29.0%17thTampa Bay Rays38.0%5th31.4%4thBaltimore Orioles37.6%6th27.9%27thNew York Yankees37.2%7th30.3%9thCleveland Guardians36.6%8th28.7%24thColorado Rockies36.4%9th28.1%26thLos Angeles Angels36.0%10th29.3%15thPhiladelphia Phillies36.0%11th29.4%13thWashington Nationals35.8%12th26.5%30thHouston Astros35.7%13th29.6%11thAVERAGE35.4%–29.3%–Arizona Diamondbacks35.1%14th29.6%12thAthletics35.1%15th29.4%14thMiami Marlins35.0%16th28.9%19thChicago Cubs34.9%17th29.2%16thSan Francisco Giants34.9%18th30.6%7thChicago White Sox34.7%19th28.8%23rdPittsburgh Pirates34.4%20th27.4%28thSan Diego Padres34.1%21st29.0%18thKansas City Royals34.1%22nd28.9%21stToronto Blue Jays34.0%23rd30.5%8thAtlanta Braves34.0%24th30.2%10thCincinnati Reds34.0%25th26.8%29thMinnesota Twins33.7%26th28.9%20thMilwaukee Brewers33.6%27th31.6%2ndDetroit Tigers33.2%28th28.8%22ndBoston Red Sox32.9%29th31.8%1stSeattle Mariners30.3%30th31.4%5th

The offspeed arsenals of the Mets, Rangers, Rays and Yankees ranked in the top 10 for both whiff rate and chase rate.

The Dodgers, Orioles, Guardians and Rockies ranked in the top 10 for whiff rate but in the bottom10 for chase rate. This might be merely random variance, but interesting to note.

The Mariners, Red Sox, Brewers, Braves and Blue Jays ranked in the top 10 for chase rate on their offspeed pitches while being in the bottom10 for whiff rate. These are all progressive pitching organizations—much like the Dodgers, Orioles and Guardians above—so this presents an interesting comparison regarding whiff rate and chase rate. As noted earlier, the Braves and Blue Jays throw the most splitters of any organizations.

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As mentioned in our 2025 Hit+ leaderboard, Baseball America has measured performance throughout the 2025 season based on underlying metrics via Hawk-Eye data gathered across the minor leagues. The RoboScout model incorporates some of this data to assess the minor league performance of hitters and pitchers and evaluate their future major league performance.

Today, we’ll be ranking how each organizationâ€s collection of minor league hitters performed via these metrics in 2025. You can find our corresponding pitcher rankings here.

Using the same methodology to capture a hitterâ€s true underlying performance, we used weighted on-base average (wOBA) as our baseline and created a Hit+ score that weights each key metric by how strongly it correlates with future wOBA. Like wRC+, Hit+ is centered at 100, so scores above that mark indicate better-than-average underlying performance or vice versa.

One important note: Due to data availability, each hitterâ€s performance was compared to the overall minor league average rather than level-specific averages. As a result, a Double-A and Low-A hitter with the same contact rate against breaking balls, for example, are evaluated equally in that category.

Please note Hit+ scores do not reflect a playerâ€s defensive or running ability.

For the organization scores, the metric (Hit+, Contact rate, barrel rate, etc.) of each player in the organization was “weighted†by the number of plate appearances they had. So, if one hitter had a Hit+ of 200 but with only 10 plate appearances, his influence on the organizationâ€s aggregate Hit+ would be 10% of someone who had 100 plate appearances.

Below are the weighted scores (where 100.0 is average) and rankings for each organization. Note that “Swing Dec†is represented by Swing%-minus-Chase%.

Statcast Scores For All 30 Organizations

orghit+swingdeccont%zcon%90evbrl%xwobaconLos Angeles Dodgers103.3100.9100.999.7100.8101.8102.4Detroit Tigers102.2102.399.399.4102.1103.1101.4San Francisco Giants102.2100.4101.6101.4101.0101.1101.8Houston Astros101.899.298.398.9102.5101.7101.1Minnesota Twins101.898.9101.0100.9100.6101.5101.5New York Yankees101.4102.197.997.6101.6102.6101.7Toronto Blue Jays101.1100.7100.8100.6100.1100.999.0Seattle Mariners100.7101.399.299.6101.0100.7101.6Arizona Diamondbacks100.698.5101.6101.598.498.8102.5Chicago White Sox100.4102.299.299.3100.3100.5101.4New York Mets100.399.2100.4100.7101.7100.798.8Pittsburgh Pirates100.399.698.899.2101.5101.099.6Chicago Cubs100.1100.5100.0100.2100.499.999.5St. Louis Cardinals99.998.3101.7101.4100.099.799.0Cincinnati Reds99.899.199.199.3101.0100.4100.7Athletics99.799.6102.3101.997.898.399.8Los Angeles Angels99.7101.097.697.799.5100.6102.5Milwaukee Brewers99.7101.4100.299.899.498.799.1Philadelphia Phillies99.799.9100.099.9100.4100.399.0Baltimore Orioles99.6101.199.098.1100.1100.698.8Miami Marlins99.599.9100.3100.3100.299.698.4San Diego Padres99.3100.0100.3100.397.899.1100.0Boston Red Sox99.298.298.999.5100.699.699.1Cleveland Guardians99.2101.0102.0101.697.698.598.3Colorado Rockies98.696.5100.2101.298.898.2101.5Texas Rangers98.697.5102.1102.297.398.298.7Tampa Bay Rays98.299.5100.6100.598.797.898.4Washington Nationals98.1100.897.697.6102.199.598.9Kansas City Royals97.898.799.199.898.698.598.8Atlanta Braves97.6101.9100.7100.597.997.697.4

Statcast Rankings For All 30 Organizations

orghit+swingdeccont%zcon%90evbrl%xwobaconLos Angeles Dodgers1st10th8th19th10th3rd3rdDetroit Tigers2nd1st19th22nd3rd1st9thSan Francisco Giants2nd14th6th6th8th6th4thHouston Astros4th22nd27th26th1st4th11thMinnesota Twins4th24th7th8th12th5th8thNew York Yankees6th3rd28th30th5th2nd5thToronto Blue Jays7th12th9th10th17th8th19thSeattle Mariners8th6th21st20th9th10th6thArizona Diamondbacks9th26th5th4th25th22nd1stChicago White Sox10th2nd20th24th15th13th10thNew York Mets11th21st12th9th4th9th23rdPittsburgh Pirates11th19th26th25th6th7th15thChicago Cubs13th13th17th15th13th16th16thSt. Louis Cardinals14th27th4th5th19th17th20thCincinnati Reds15th23rd22nd23rd7th14th12thAthletics16th18th1st2nd28th26th14thLos Angeles Angels16th8th29th28th20th12th2ndMilwaukee Brewers16th5th15th18th21st23rd18thPhiladelphia Phillies16th17th18th16th14th15th21stBaltimore Orioles20th7th24th27th18th11th25thMiami Marlins21st16th13th14th16th19th27thSan Diego Padres22nd15th14th13th27th21st13thBoston Red Sox23rd28th25th21st11th18th17thCleveland Guardians23rd9th3rd3rd29th24th29thColorado Rockies25th30th16th7th22nd27th7thTexas Rangers25th29th2nd1st30th28th26thTampa Bay Rays27th20th11th11th23rd29th28thWashington Nationals28th11th30th29th2nd20th22ndKansas City Royals29th25th23rd17th24th25th24thAtlanta Braves30th4th10th12th26th30th30th

Top Seven Organizations (Hit+)

Dodgers

The Dodgers are pretty much universally acclaimed as player development behemoths and, unsurprisingly, rank at the top of the list. Some of their hitters of note include Mike Sirota (Hit+ of 122), Charles Davalan (116), Josue De Paula (114), Emil Morales (114), Eduardo Quintero (113), Zyhir Hope(112) and Ching-Hsien Ko (112).

Interestingly, the Dodgers rank in the top 10 of every facet of Hit+ except for in-zone contact rate.

Tigers

The Tigers have Baseball America’s No. 2 prospect, Kevin McGonigle (118), plus other Top 100 Prospects like Max Clark (114), Josue Briceño (112) and Bryce Rainer (112), so it isn’t surprising that the Tigers rank highly in this metric. The Tigers flirted with best record in the American League for much of the season and made it Game 5 of the ALDS. Their future at the plate looks bright, too.

The Tigers really excel in swing decisions—where they rank No. 1—and in their ability to damage upon contact based on their exit velocity, barrel rate, and xwOBAcon.

Giants

To be honest, I was a bit surprised that the Giants graded so highly. But they ranked in the top 10 for contact rates and on damage-on-contact.

Voracious Baseball America readers are aware that Parks Harber (121) has excellent Statcast data (here and here). Other hitters with compelling data are Bryce Eldridge (121), Josuar Gonzalez(110), Bo Davidson (110), Drew Gilbert (112) and Dakota Jordan (111).

Astros

In RoboScout articles, I often talk about how the Astros have a hitter type preference that highly emphasizes ‘quality of contact.†That shows up in the data again here, as Houston hitters rank first in 90th percentile exit velocity. That comes at the expense of swing decisions and contact rate, however. Still, as quality of contact supersedes the other facets, and Houston ranks highly overall, though there may be a high accompanying strikeout rate.

From a Statcast point of view, the Astros have a number of hitters grading out well in Hit+ who weâ€ve identified over the last couple months. Ethan Frey (120), Zach Cole (117), Will Bush (117), Anthony Huezo (114) and Lucas Spence (113) have all been written about or podcasted about as hitters with surprisingly good Statcast data. With their contributions—and from others like Drew Brutcher (109) or 17-year-old DSL hitter Sami Manzueta (109)—the Astros grade as the organization with the fifth highest Hit+.

Twins

RoboScout has vouched for Luke Keaschall and Emmanuel Rodriguez (112) in the past, and 2025 is no exception. Some other noteworthy hitters include Kalaâ€I Rosario (115), Walker Jenkins (113), Hendry Mendez (112), who was talked about here, Gabriel Gonzalez (108) and Kaelen Culpepper (106).

Yankees

With his outrageous power, Spencer Jones still has a Hit+ of 117 even with extreme swing-and-miss. Dax Kilby (120), Richard Matic (113), Dillon Lewis (110), Brian Sanchez (109) and George Lombard Jr. (108) also contributed to New York ranking near the top of the league.

The Yankees rank in the top five for swing decisions and exit velocity, but are near the bottom of the league for contact rate. Their in-zone contact rate ranks dead last.

Blue Jays

Toronto has the No. 1 seed in the American League and some reinforcements percolating in the minors, as the Blue Jays rank seventh in Hit+. RJ Schreck (117) and Yohendrick Pinango (116) had high Hit+ data in 2024 and they sustained it into 2025. Other noteworthy and possibly underrated hitters include Sean Keys (114), Sam Shaw (110), Juan Sanchez (107) and Victor Arias (106).

Bottom Five Organizations (Hit+)

Braves

The Braves had a year to forget, and their minor league hitting corps didn’t have the aggregate strength from a Hit+ point of view, either. Some hitters of note, though, are David McCabe (114), Cody Miller (107) and DSL youngster Diego Tornes (105).

Atlanta ranks in the top five for swing decisions and top 10 in contact rate. The Braves system doesn’t have much thump, though, ranking at the bottom in barrel rate and expected damage on contact.

Royals

Despite perennial RoboDarling Carter Jensenâ€s 119 Hit+ and Jac Caglianoneâ€s 114, the organization as a whole is lagging behind other systems. They do have some solid contributions from Blake Mitchell (107), Gavin Cross (105), Warren Calcano (104) and Ramon Ramirez (105).

The Royals sit in the bottom quartile of the league in swing decisions, contact rate and 90th percentile exit velocity.

Nationals

Daylen Lile (113), Andres Chaparro (115), Brady House (111), Jose Tena (111) and Robert Hassell III (105) all earned meaningful plate appearances in the major leagues this year. Unfortunately, behind them, itâ€s a bit thin. Still, Washington has players like Yohandy Morales (106), Nauris De La Cruz (105), Ethan Petry (106), Luke Dickerson (104) and Eli Willits (104) all showing above-average skills.

Interestingly, the Nationals rank second in 90th percentile exit velocity but are in the bottom third in barrel rate and expected wOBAcon. So. while Washington is hitting it hard, it’s doing it straight into the dirt. The Nationals rank dead last in both in-zone contact and contact rate, which might be an artifact of a philosophy or the unintended consequences of their player development.

Rays

I was a bit surprised to see the Rays in the lower tier. Although they do have some individual standouts like Theo Gillen (112), Nathan Flewelling (109), Xavier Isaac (109) and Brailer Guerrero (106), they also had somewhat disappointing seasons from Tre†Morgan(100), Maykel Coret (98) and Adrian Santana (97).

Rangers

The Rangers are near the bottom in swing decisions and also in their ability to do damage on contact. They are a team of extremes—they are at the top for contact rate—implying this might be a drafting and scouting philosophy.

Some of their better standouts are Abimelec Ortiz (114), Devin Fitz-Gerald (112), Dylan Dreiling (112), Elorky Rodriguez (110), Cody Freeman (109, Keith Jones II (107) and Sebastian Walcott (106).

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TORONTO — Only five days had passed since Cal Raleighâ€s last home run, but for these Seattle Mariners, it felt like an eternity.

That made sense, considering the circumstances. Quite a bit transpired between Raleighâ€s blast in ALDS Game 3 on Tuesday in Detroit and his game-tying big fly in Seattleâ€s 3-1 ALCS Game 1 win on Sunday in Toronto.

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Hereâ€s an exhausting, inexhaustive list.

The Mariners jumped to an early lead in ALDS Game 4, wasted that golden opportunity with an untimely bullpen implosion, flew home to Seattle, participated in one of the wonkiest, most unforgettable playoff games this century, drank some beers, sprayed some Champagne, basked in the joy of a city in revelry, caught a few hours of precious shuteye, located their passports, endured a lengthy flight delay caused by a mechanical issue on the team charter, jetted across the continent and readied themselves to compete for a trip to the World Series.

[Get more Seattle news: Mariners team feed]

And while the entire experience has been draining for everybody in navy and teal, nobody has shouldered more of the load — physical and emotional — than Raleigh. He is, of course, the de facto leader of this bunch, the heart, soul and cushioned backside of the 2025 Seattle Mariners. The MVP contender caught all 15 innings of that Game 5 thrill ride, rising from and lowering into his squat before and after all 209 pitches from Mariners†arms. The Big Dumperâ€s lower half, despite its heralded girth, was surely sore and achy the next day.

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“The mental part of it is definitely more exhausting than the physical,†Raleigh said on Saturdayâ€s off day. “Obviously, you’re physically tired, but mentally, having to deal with new pitchers and trying to face guys six, seven, eight times — whatever amount it was — it gets to be tough.â€

But on Sunday in Toronto, Raleigh showed absolutely no signs of weariness.

“If he is tired, he never says anything about it, that’s for sure,†Mariners pitcher Emerson Hancock told Yahoo Sports after the game. “He shows up every day, gets his work in, and he’s ready to rock and roll.â€

Raleigh, unsurprisingly, was Seattleâ€s driving force once again in Game 1 of the ALCS.

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His sixth-inning, two-out laser tied the score at one, jolting awake a Seattle offense that looked understandably tired in the early going. It also kept the inning alive, allowing the Mariners to score again two batters later on an RBI single from Jorge Polanco, the hero of Game 5.

But Raleighâ€s jack was a vintage Big Dumper swing, controlled but powerful. The long ball, his 62nd of the year, was Seattleâ€s first since Raleigh went yard way back in the ninth inning of ALDS Game 3. It was another enormous moment in a season full of them.

“I don’t want to say we feel accustomed to it, because obviously it’s special, but I think it’s just what he expects of himself,†Mariners starter Brian Woo told Yahoo Sports afterward. “So yeah, you know, we’re not surprised.â€

“We’ve seen Cal do that so often in a big situation there to get us back tied,†Mariners skipper Dan Wilson said in his postgame media conference. “I thought that was a big lift in terms of our dugout and getting us back in it.â€

Raleigh also got the Mâ€s going with a single in the top of the first, but Jays starter Kevin Gausman was able to work out of trouble. Gausman proceeded to retire the next 15 Mariners he faced. Seattle hitters were perplexed by the right-handerâ€s trademark splitter, and it seemed like Gausman was in line to deliver a legendary performance in front of a hopping home crowd.

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As it turned out, the only run support the lanky right received came on the very first pitch seen by a Blue Jay on the night: a leadoff tank from DH George Springer that sent Rogers Centre into a frenzy. After that blemish — Springerâ€s 21st career postseason tater — Mariners starter Bryce Miller also cruised through six relatively uneventful innings.

Miller, forced into a start on short rest after Seattle used multiple starters in relief during the ALDS clincher, was outstanding, scattering three walks and just one additional base hit as he shut down a Toronto offense that was firing on all cylinders last round against the New York Yankees. The 27-year-old righty, who burst onto the scene last season, had an uneven, injury-impacted 2025, scuffling to a 5.68 ERA across 18 starts. No qualified pitcher in baseball surrendered a higher average exit velocity than Miller this season. But he seems to have rediscovered his good stuff at just the right time, first with a solid showing in ALDS Game 4 and now with a masterful outing in ALCS Game 1.

“Really give Bryce credit — going on short rest and going six innings like that. It was really huge, especially for our bullpen, who threw a lot of pitches the other day,†Raleigh gushed afterward.

But Seattleâ€s bullpen — or, at least, the relievers who threw in Game 1 — didnâ€t seem particularly impacted by the heavy workload. Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andres Muñoz combined to twirl three perfect innings, finishing Millerâ€s gem and propelling the Mariners to an unlikely and invigorating 1-0 lead in this ALCS.

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On Monday in Game 2, Seattle will turn to Logan Gilbert, fresh off a seven-strikeout, zero-walk masterpiece in ALDS Game 3. Heâ€ll go up against Toronto rookie Trey Yesavage, who baffled the Yankees into oblivion in his fourth career big-league start last week.

Raleigh, certainly, will have an impact on the evenings of both men.

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Oct 12, 2025, 04:28 PM ET

NEW YORK — Alfonso Márquez is working his seventh League Championship Series, serving as a crew chief along with James Hoye.

Ryan Additon, Ben May, Adam Beck and John Libka are working the LCS for the first time, Major League Baseball said Sunday.

Márquez will umpire the Toronto Blue Jays’ series against the Seattle Mariners starting Sunday. Hoye, umping his fifth LCS, will head the NL matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers starting Monday.

Seven-man crews will work each series, with one umpire off each game.

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Additon will be behind the plate for the AL opener, with May at first, Márquez at second, Marvin Hudson at third, D.J. Reyburn in left, Quinn Wolcott in right and Doug Eddings as the reserve umpire.

Eddings will work the plate in Game 2, followed by May, Márquez, Huston, Reyburn and Wolcott.

The NL series starts Monday with Libka behind the plate, Hoye at first, Beck at second, Vic Carapazza at third, Chad Fairchild in left, Mark Ripperger in right and Gabe Morales as the reserve umpire.

Morales will be behind the plate in Game 2, followed by Hoye, Beck, Carapazza, Fairchild and Ripperger.

Hudson will be AL crew chief in Game 3, when Márquez is the reserve ump, and Carapazza will be the NL chief in Game 2, when Hoye is the reserve.

Hudson is umpiring his fifth LCS, Carapazza and Eddings their fourth LCS, Fairchild his third, and Morales, Reyburn, Ripperger and Wolcott their second each.

Alex MacKay, Bill Miller and David Rackley will be the replay umpires at Major League Baseball’s office in New York.

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  Bradford DoolittleOct 12, 2025, 01:30 PM ET

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  • MLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com
  • Former NBA writer and analyst for ESPN.com
  • Been with ESPN since 2013

Let’s ignore the fact that the 2025 MLB playoffs began on the last day of September and might end on the first day of November — because it’s always October when it comes to playoff baseball — and ask this: Who is this year’s Mr. October?

What if I told you that so far, it’s a certain Japanese-born star on the Los Angeles Dodgers with a nasty splitter? OK, admittedly that doesn’t narrow it down as much as you would think, but I’m guessing the first name that flashed in your mind was Shohei Ohtani. The right answer: Roki Sasaki. For now, anyway.

At least that’s the answer through the rubric of Win Probability Added (WPA, a metric that’s been around for a while now and has a lot of utility in putting numbers to the narratives that emerge as the October bracket plays out.)

How the Dodgers fixed Roki Sasaki

After a disastrous MLB debut, L.A.’s new ninth-inning man has unleashed jaw-dropping stuff in October.
Jeff Passan »

The Dodgers, the sole wild-card team remaining, have played an extra round, and Sasaki currently leads all players on baseball’s final four rosters in playoff WPA with .706. Here’s Sasaki’s game-by-game performance:

Oct. 1: .015 (Finished the last inning of an 8-4 wild-card win over the Cincinnati Reds, a relatively low-leverage outing. But he looked good doing it, setting the Reds down in order with two whiffs. Hmmm. Maybe this means something.)

Oct. 4:.099 (Closed out the Dodger’s 5-3 win Game 1 of the division series at the Philadelphia Phillies. Something is definitely brewing here.)

Oct. 6:.208 (Sasaki faced one batter! But it was the last batter of the game, Trea Turner, and there were runners on the corners with two outs with the Dodgers clinging to a 4-3 lead. Turner grounded out, and the Dodgers grabbed a commanding lead in the series. L.A., we might have a new closer.)

Oct. 9:.384 (Sasaki retired all nine batters he faced during the eighth, ninth and 10th innings of a 1-1 game. The Dodgers went on to win the series clincher, and any doubts that L.A. has found a lethal, high-leverage playoff reliever were erased.)

Numbers that function as narrative. That’s WPA. We’ve been keeping tabs on these numbers as the playoffs have unfolded — and will continue to do so. Our leaderboards and conclusions will be updated here as we move forward, so keep checking back.

Jump to:
Methodology | Top 5 | WPA hero of the day
Top 10 for eliminated players | Ohtani tracker | The all-time WPA champs

Methodology

The way WPA works is that play-by-play during a game, if you do something that improves your team’s chances to win, you get a positive credit. If you don’t, it’s a negative. In small samples, one play can have an outsized effect on WPA. A grand slam in a 10-0 game? Great for your stat line, but the blast does little to change the game’s outcome. Hit the same homer with your team down 3-0 in the eighth, and you’ve made some history. Because of that, there is a bias toward players who end up in a lot of close games — but only if they come through.

All we’ve done here is to marry the hitting and pitching versions of WPA together based on the version of the system at Baseball-Reference.com. Why add pitching and hitting WPA together in 2025, the era of the universal DH?

Well, you know why — Mr. Ohtani — and it was his historic debut as a two-way postseason player this season that inspired us to watch the WPA results a little more closely this October. So far, Ohtani has been pretty quiet during this postseason, but these leaderboards can change fast, so don’t write off Ohtani just yet.

Top 5 alive

Best postseason WPAs from players on teams still playing

1. Roki Sasaki, Dodgers | .706

The current 2025 Mr. October.

2. Andres Munoz, Seattle Mariners | .598

Munoz went 4-for-4 in posting positive WPAs during Seattle’s tense five-game win over the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS. Munoz put up 5â…“ scoreless innings during his four outings.

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We have everything you need to keep up with all the action this October. Schedule, bracket, more »

3. Alex Vesia, Dodgers | .591

Vesia is a good example of why WPA can be more telling than traditional stats in the short series of October. His postseason ERA is 6.00. Egad! But that’s because he gave up two low-leverage runs in the first game against Cincinnati, a Dodgers rout. Vesia hasn’t been dinged in four subsequent outings that had a lot more weight to them, including the last inning of L.A.’s extra-inning, close-out win over Philadelphia, when he came on for Sasaki.

4. Blake Snell, Dodgers | .581

Snell was dealing in both of his outings so far, one in Game 1 against Cincinnati, the other in Game 2 against Philadelphia, the terse affair in which Sasaki recorded the last out.

5. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays | .434

We all saw what Guerrero did against the Yankees — 9-for-14 with three homers and nine RBIs. Because Toronto won so many lopsided games in the series, it limited the chances of any of the Jays to roll up WPA points. But the early damage Guerrero did in those contests were enough to land him here.

About last night

Golden Guy: Chad Patrick, Milwaukee Brewers (.240)

Patrick retired all five batters he faced during a midgame stretch in which the Brewers led the Chicago Cubs just 2-1. He replaced Aaron Ashby in the sixth with two runners on base and one out, getting Seiya Suzuki on a long fly and striking out Ian Happ to escape the threat. FanGraphs measured those two plate appearances as the first- and third-highest leverage plays of Game 5.

This was Patrick’s third straight game leading the Brewers in WPA. It’s been quite a run for the rookie, who was moved to the bullpen for the postseason after making 23 largely successful starts during the regular season.

Good while they lasted

Top 10 postseason WPAs from players on eliminated teams

1. Will Vest, Tigers | .848

2. Tarik Skubal, Tigers | .609

3. Kerry Carpenter, Tigers | .591

4. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees | .579

5. Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians | .482

6. Keider Montero, Tigers | .441

7. Cristopher Sanchez, Phillies | .349

8. Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox | .348

9. Cam Schlittler, Yankees | .314

10. Brad Keller, Cubs | .283

Ohtani tracker

Since Ohtani inspired all of this, we should keep tabs on him.

Through the NLDS:

Hitting WPA: minus-.257

Pitching WPA: minus-.062

WPA: minus-.319 (267th of 284 players this postseason)

It can only get better from here, right? Ohtani is 4-for-27 at the plate (.148) with two homers. Both dingers came in Game 1 against Cincinnati and one of those was with the Dodgers already leading 6-0. Ohtani posted a good line in his lone pitching outing so far — six innings, three runs, nine strikeouts. But the runs he gave up were early and with the Dodgers down three runs for much of his outing, that limited his chances to compile WPA.

The WPA pantheon

Top 10 single-season postseason WPAs since 1903

Note: It’s a big time frame, but the cumulative nature of the leaderboard heavily favors the recent decades when there have been more playoff rounds.

1. David Freese, 2011 St. Louis Cardinals | 1.908

2. David Ortiz, 2004 Red Sox | 1.892

3. Curt Schilling, 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks | 1.748

4. Alex Rodriguez, 2009 Yankees | 1.704

5. Yordan Alvarez, 2022 Houston Astros | 1.646

6. Carlos Beltran, 2013 Cardinals | 1.582

7. Bernie Williams, 1996 Yankees | 1.545

8. John Wetteland, 1996 Yankees | 1.522

9. Eric Hosmer, 2014 Kansas City Royals | 1.443

10. Mariano Rivera, 2003 Yankees | 1.420

Editor’s Picks

2 Related

Ohtani is unique as a full-time two-player in a series, but not the first. For one, Babe Ruth won two games on the mound and played in left field during the 1918 series, though he did not start any of the games as a position player. But there have been pitchers who have had big postseasons with the bat.

Here are the four instances in which a player posted at least .200 WPA on both the hitting and pitching sides during the same postseason. This is the list we thought Ohtani might join. He has some work to do to get there, but at least we know that if he doesn’t do it, in 2025 baseball, no one else will.

• Christy Mathewson, 1913 New York Giants (1.054 WPA | .447 hitting; .607 pitching)

• Rube Foster, 1915 Red Sox (.883 WPA | .303 hitting; .580 pitching)

• Babe Ruth, 1918 Red Sox (.710 WPA (.209 hitting; .501 pitching)

• General Crowder, 1935 Tigers (.923 WPA | .207 hitting; .716 pitching)

• Jake Arrieta, 2016 Cubs (.480 WPA | .218 hitting; .262 pitching)

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Oct 12, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

The 2025 MLB playoffs are down to the final four teams after an action-packed division series round that saw the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners move on in thrilling Game 5s.

Now that the matchups are set — Los Angeles Dodgers-Brewers and Mariners-Toronto Blue Jays — it’s time for some (more) predictions! We asked our MLB experts to weigh in on who will reach the World Series, which players will earn league championship series MVP honors and the themes that will rule the week to come. We also had our experts explain why their initial Fall Classic picks are still in play — or where they went very wrong.

LCS previews: Blue Jays-Mariners, Dodgers-Brewers | Bracket

Jump to:ALCS | NLCS | Predictions we got right | … and wrong

ALCS

Seattle Mariners (8 votes)

In how many games:seven games (5 votes), six games (3)

MVP if Mariners win: Cal Raleigh (4), Randy Arozarena (2), Josh Naylor (1), Julio Rodriguez (1)

Who picked Seattle: Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez, Paul Hembekides, Eric Karabell, Tim Keown, Kiley McDaniel, Jeff Passan, David Schoenfield

Toronto Blue Jays (6 votes)

In how many games:seven games (2 votes), six games (3), five games (1)

MVP if Blue Jays win: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3), George Springer (1), Kevin Gausman (1), Daulton Varsho (1)

Who picked Toronto: Tristan Cockcroft, Bradford Doolittle, Tim Kurkjian, Dan Mullen, Buster Olney, Jesse Rogers

The one thing we’ll all be talking about:

How a perpetually tormented franchise is going to represent the American League in the World Series. The Mariners have played 49 seasons. They’re the only team in MLB never to make the World Series. And to advance to the American League Championship Series in such dramatic fashion only supercharges the stakes for them.

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, spend year after year in the AL East meat grinder, haven’t been to the World Series since winning it in 1993 and returned much of the roster from a team that went 74-88 last year. They’re a delightful team to watch, though, putting the ball in play, vacuuming balls on the defensive side like Pac-Man, running the bases with purpose and throwing tons of filthy splitters.

Destiny calls one of these snakebit organizations. It’s a fight decades in the making. — Jeff Passan

Editor’s Picks

2 Related

The stars in both lineups. On one side you have George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who torched the Yankees in the American League Division Series. On the other, it’s Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh. Complementary players matter in October, but stars fuel deep October runs. — Jorge Castillo

There’s so much to like about the Mariners — the powerful lineup led by Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez, good starting pitching and an effective closer, and they’re good at home — but they will start this series at such a disadvantage because of how their series played out against the Tigers. Whether Dan Wilson chooses an opener or goes with a starting pitcher on short rest or leans into Bryan Woo for his first appearance in a month, the dominoes from the ALDS Game 5 will affect the choices Seattle will have to make in this round. Meanwhile, the Jays will be relatively well-rested. — Buster Olney

It rarely comes down to one thing in baseball, but as I like the way the Blue Jays’ hitters match up against the Seattle staff, I think we’ll be harping on the importance of making contact as a standout trait for an offense in this era of strikeout hyper-inflation. This will especially be the case if the Blue Jays end up playing the Brewers in the World Series. Batting average is alive and well! — Bradford Doolittle

NLCS

Los Angeles Dodgers (9 votes)

In how many games:Seven games (1 vote), six games (4), five games (3), four games (1)

MVP if Dodgers win: Shohei Ohtani (5), Blake Snell (2), Teoscar Hernandez (1), Freddie Freeman (1)

Who picked Los Angeles: Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez, Paul Hembekides, Matt Marrone, Kiley McDaniel, Buster Olney, Jeff Passan, Jesse Rogers, David Schoenfield

Milwaukee Brewers (5 votes)

In how many games:seven games (3 votes), six games (2)

MVP if Brewers win:Jackson Chourio (4), Andrew Vaughn (1)

Who picked Milwaukee: Tristan Cockcroft, Bradford Doolittle, Eric Karabell, Tim Keown, Dan Mullen

The one thing we’ll all be talking about:

How the Dodgers’ rotation doesn’t just have them on the brink of becoming the first repeat champion in a quarter century, but might make a case for the best a team has ever fielded this time of year. The foursome of Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow will continue to dominate. — Alden Gonzalez

How the big market Dodgers have tipped the economic scales in baseball will be the talk during the World Series, but for the LCS, the conversation will be about Shohei Ohtani. He’s going to get hot. Hitting .148 in the postseason so far — with 12 strikeouts to just three walks — is an outlier. That will reverse itself very soon as his struggles this postseason come to an end starting on Monday. He’s your NLCS MVP. — Jesse Rogers

One-stop shop for 2025 MLB playoffs

We have everything you need to keep up with all the action this October. Schedule, bracket, more »

Can anyone stop the Dodgers? It’s the same question that was asked last year. The answer was no. And now Los Angeles is coming off a series in which it beat a very game Philadelphia team while posting a .557 OPS and hitting two home runs, the fewest of any division series team. The prospect of the Dodgers’ bats staying cold for an extended period of time is unlikely, regardless of what’s thrown at them.

After two rounds, the Dodgers have solved their closer issue — Roki Sasaki is the guy — but their lack of bullpen depth has been exacerbated. For a seven-game series, manager Dave Roberts needs to find at least one more reliever he can trust, or the Dodgers could find themselves in the sort of late-inning trouble that has yet to derail them. If that and the paltry offense couldn’t do the job, perhaps nothing can. — Passan

The talk of the NLCS will be the same story as in the Dodgers’ NLDS win over the Phillies: the starting pitching and their new closer.

Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow are peaking at the right time, the main reason — along with Roki Sasaki — why the Dodgers held the Phillies to a .212 average in their series (and under .200 if you ignore the Clayton Kershaw disastrous relief outing). Of course, the related talk, if they do dominate, is that this is the ultimate store-bought staff of high-end pitchers, with four free agents and Glasnow (acquired in a trade, signed to a big extension). Not a single homegrown starter. — David Schoenfield

World Series predictions we’re right about — so far

I rarely go chalk when filling out a bracket, but this year I did exactly that by seed line — picking both the Brewers and Blue Jays. Of course, those No. 1 seeds were also far less popular choices going into the postseason than the Yankees and Phillies, among others, but a second straight World Series between top seeds is still in play. — Dan Mullen

The Blue Jays easily handled the Yankees, especially at Rogers Centre. They’re rightfully the slight Vegas favorite to win this series with home-field advantage. But I picked the Mariners to win the World Series before the regular season started and again before the postseason, so I’m sticking with them. — Castillo

How the Dodgers fixed Roki Sasaki

After a disastrous MLB debut, L.A.’s new ninth-inning man has unleashed jaw-dropping stuff in October.
Jeff Passan »

The Dodgers were one bad Orion Kerkering decision away from potentially having to go back to Philadelphia and win a do-or-die game — and now, they should be everyone’s favorites. The Yankees just got beaten by a better team. — Passan

Well, obviously the Phillies found a way to “Phillies” again, so they won’t be winning, but I had the Mariners representing the AL, and they have the pitching to hold the Blue Jays relatively in check. In the NL, it’s Milwaukee’s best chance in such a long time. It may be unconventional against the behemoth Dodgers, but the Brewers have the pitching and depth. We’ll have a first-time WS champion, the Brewers. — Eric Karabell

World Series predictions gone wrong

My World Series pick (Phillies-Yankees): If I had it to do all over again, I would have picked two teams that did not lose in the LDS. Thinking back to my late-September self, I’m sure I was entranced by the veteran presence and long ball power on both the Phillies and Yankees. It did not work out. — Doolittle

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I also predicted Yankees-Phillies, a 2009 World Series rematch that failed to materialize thanks to a scorching Blue Jays lineup and a dominant showing from the Dodgers’ starting rotation. — Paul Hembekides

Before the playoffs, I predicted the Phillies would beat the Dodgers in the NLDS and go on to win the World Series. The home-field advantage wasn’t what I thought it would be for Philly, though the starters and Jhoan Duran were as good as expected: 30.1 innings, 6 earned runs for a 1.78 ERA in the series. I’ll shift my World Series winner prediction over to the Dodgers, as they were my second option from before the playoffs. — Kiley McDaniel

I had the Phillies winning the World Series, which says a lot about what it meant for the defending-champion Dodgers to get past them in the division series. They might have been the most talented in this field. — Gonzalez

Since my original pick, the Phillies, decided to play the Dodgers just as Roki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan transformed the Dodgers’ bullpen into a formidable unit, Los Angeles seems like the obvious pick here now — and why not a West Coast World Series against the Mariners, with the shadows creeping from the mound to home plate in the late afternoon sun, and every game ending 2-1? — Tim Keown

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MILWAUKEE — Going into Game 5 of the NLDS on Saturday, the feeling at American Family Field was eerily similar to another October night a little more than a year ago. On that night, the Brewers†2024 wild-card series ended in a winner-take-all Game 3 against the Mets. And in some ways, thatâ€s where the story of Milwaukeeâ€s 2025 season began.

Last fall, the Brewers saw the Mets defeat them in crushing fashion, as Pete Alonsoâ€s ninth-inning, game-winning home run ended Milwaukeeâ€s season in front of its home crowd. Many Brewers players stayed and watched as New York celebrated advancing to the next round on their home field.

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Brewers manager Pat Murphy had to give his team a difficult speech that night. The takeaway of his message was that the difficult moment could benefit them going forward.

“Don’t know how,†Murphy remembered saying, “but somehow, that experience will help us.â€

[Get more Chicago news: Cubs team feed]

Fast-forward a year later, and on Saturday, the Brewers were once again on their home field playing a must-win game with a chance to advance on the line. But this time around, as Joey Ortiz fielded the final out off the bat of Carson Kelly and fired to first, sending 42,000 fans into a frenzy, it was clear something had changed.

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“You can’t really lose [a game] tougher than we did last year,†designated hitter Christian Yelich said afterward. “So going into tonight, you just play with a bunch of freedom. You know you’ve got belief and trust in your teammates that we’re going to be able to get the job done.â€

That belief ultimately turned into a 3-1 victory over the Cubs and a ticket to the NLCS vs. the Dodgers. As blue and gold steamers fell from the rafters after the final out, covering the field, the Brewers players mobbed one another in the middle of the diamond.

Emerging victorious from the winner-take-all NLDS Game 5 was going to require two things from the Brewers. First, their offense needed to give their pitchers a lead to work with. And second, considering how the previous four games of the series had gone — with 21 total runs scored in the first inning — getting the lead early was probably going to be key.

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In this one, it was catcher William Contreras who took the big first-inning swing, sending a 94.1-mph four-seamer from Cubs opener Drew Pomeranz into the Brewers†bullpen and putting Milwaukee ahead 1-0. But one run never felt like it would be enough to win this elimination game, and sure enough, Cubs slugger Seiya Suzuki followed with a solo blast that tied the game in the top of the second inning.

The second big swing for Milwaukee came from first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who has played a key role for Milwaukee this year after being optioned and traded by the White Sox in June. The 27-year-old authored a stunning revival with the Brewers, becoming a force in Milwaukeeâ€s lineup. And just as he did across the second half of the season, the first baseman produced in a big moment, launching a 3-2 cutter to left field just beyond the reach of outfielder Ian Happ. Vaughnâ€s solo homer gave Milwaukee a 2-1 lead and swung the momentum back to the Brewers.

“The journey has been kind of crazy,†Vaughn said after the game. “The opportunity to be with this group, itâ€s changed my life, honestly.â€

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Late in the one-run game, Milwaukee seemed to have Chicago on the ropes and was looking for a knockout blow. Second baseman Brice Turang hadnâ€t done much during this NLDS, with just two hits going into Game 5. But in the bottom of the seventh, Turang ambushed Cubs†reliever Andrew Kittredgeâ€s first-pitch slider and hit a no-doubt blast off the batterâ€s eye in center field, giving the Brewers some breathing room with a 3-1 lead.

Slugging isnâ€t a huge part of the Brewers†game, yet across five games, they outslugged the Cubs eight home runs to six. And when those home runs happened might have been even more impactful, as six of Milwaukeeâ€s homers, including all three in Game 5, came with two outs.

The other side of Milwaukeeâ€s recipe for success Saturday was their bullpen arms, whom the team entrusted to get all 27 outs. Kicking things off was All-Star closer Trevor Megill. After all the first-inning runs in this series, the Brewers showed some urgency by sending their high-leverage arm out to set the tone.

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When Megill walked off the mound after blowing a 99-mph fastball past Kyle Tucker and pumped his arms up and down to hype the crowd, it was exactly what Milwaukee needed.

Next came fireballer Jacob Misiorowski. The rookie right-handerâ€s night started off rocky, with the Suzuki homer to lead off the second, but the 23-year-old settled in after that. He tossed four huge innings while allowing just that one run, which turned out to be the Cubs†only score of the game.

“I don’t think I knew exactly how much I had,†Misiorowski said afterward. “I think I was giving everything I’ve got. And I think I left everything out there.â€

For the Cubs, the biggest moment of the game — and one theyâ€ll likely think about all winter — came in the sixth inning. The first two batters reached base, with Michael Busch hitting a single and Nico Hoerner getting hit by a pitch. With Chicagoâ€s 3-4-5 hitters due up, it felt like Milwaukee was on the precipice of letting the game slip away.

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But after falling behind in the count 3-1, southpaw Aaron Ashby came back to get Kyle Tucker swinging for the first out. Then right-hander Chad Patrick came into the game. He induced a lineout from Suzuki and then struck Ian Happ out looking, ending Chicagoâ€s biggest and best opportunity to score with a perfectly placed 90.5 mph cutter.

In total, the Brewers†bullpen was terrific in the series-clinching victory. Megill, Misiorowski, Ashby, Patrick and Abner Uribe combined to toss nine innings while allowing just one run and one walk and striking out eight batters.

“They pitched very well. I mean, they pitched super well,†Cubs manager Craig Counsell said postgame. “The only inning that we disrupted, maybe, the plan was the sixth. But the rest of the game, they did a heck of a job.â€

In addition to advancing the Brewers to the next round, the Game 5 victory over the Cubs allowed Milwaukee to exorcise some recent postseason demons. It was the Brewers†first playoff series win since the 2018 NLDS against the Colorado Rockies. And prior to Saturday, the Brewers had lost five straight postseason clinchers, including Games 3 and 4 of this NLDS.

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“I don’t worry about how many years it’s been,†Murphy said. “I know this: We’ve been in contention every year [I’ve] been here, and I’m just thankful for that. And starting in 2017, I guess, we’ve either been in the playoffs or a game away. That says something about the org. Says something about the front office and the ownership and the coaching staff.

“But most importantly, understanding the type of player that has to play here. And we got a bunch of them in there that’s pretty special.â€

Milwaukee will now face the L.A. Dodgers, starting with Game 1 on Monday at home, in a rematch of the 2018 NLCS. While Los Angeles is heavily favored in this championship series, the Brewers won all six regular-season meetings between the clubs in 2025. And with their five-round fight against the Cubs behind them, the Brewers can feel confident about their resilience and resolve going forward.

“It was an unbelievable atmosphere tonight,†Yelich said. “The two fan bases going back and forth, and Game 5 in the series. We had a feeling before it started — we play each other so close all season long, this series is probably going to go five, and it was going to be a lot of ups and downs.

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“And credit to our guys for sticking with it, being mentally tough and being able to finish the job here. Just a huge win for us.â€

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