Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know in baseball, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Thanks for being here. Can't wait for playoff baseball? Same here. Fortunately, we don't have to wait long -- all four Wild Card Series matchups start tomorrow. For a detailed position-by-position breakdown at every spot on the diamond for each series, click on the matchups below. To get things rolling, here's one intriguing position battle to watch in each of the four series. Guardians (3) vs. Tigers (6): Left field Cleveland and Detroit will meet up in the playoffs for the second straight year after a wild AL Central race that saw the Guardians make a historic comeback to win the division. Both clubs feature left fielders who earned All-Star selections in each of the past two years, albeit in very different ways. Cleveland's Steven Kwan is a stellar defender, as well as one of the toughest hitters to strike out. Riley Greene isn't either of those things, but he offers far more power than his Guardians counterpart. Yankees (4) vs. Red Sox (5): Starting pitchers
One of baseball's most storied rivalries adds another chapter in the AL Wild Card Series, with the starting pitchers set to play a decisive role in shaping the outcome. It starts with a marquee Game 1 matchup between Boston's Garrett Crochet and New York's Max Fried, each of whom put together a strong first season with his respective club. The Red Sox won all four games Crochet started against the Yankees in the regular season, but Fried was no slouch in three starts against Boston (1.96 ERA). Dodgers (3) vs. Reds (6): Shortstop
Facing the defending World Series champions in what looks like a one-sided matchup on paper, the Reds will rely on their stars to carry them. Chief among them is Elly De La Cruz, who will try to get the better of Mookie Betts in a battle of talented shortstops coming off uneven regular seasons. Betts had the stronger finish of the two, but De La Cruz may have rediscovered his power stroke at the end of the year after a lengthy home run drought. Cubs (4) vs. Padres (5): Center field This would have been a runaway in favor of the Cubs in the first half, when Chicago's Pete Crow-Armstrong looked like a leading candidate for NL MVP as he combined elite defense with a 40-40 pace. But PCA's second-half cooldown, combined with Jackson Merrill's torrid 20-game finish (7 HR, 1.053 OPS) for the Friars, has tightened things considerably. -- Thomas Harrigan |
MAKING A LASTING IMPRESSION |
For players who are about to be free agents, the postseason is even a little extra important -- because it's one last chance to showcase their value on the biggest stage. The 2025 playoffs will have plenty of interesting players to watch from that perspective, as MLB.com's Mark Feinsand writes. Players like: Shane Bieber, RHP, Blue Jays: The former Cy Young Award winner had a 3.57 ERA in seven starts after returning from Tommy John surgery and has a $16 million player option for 2026. Would a strong postseason prompt him to opt out and test the market? Alex Bregman, 3B, Red Sox: Bregman can opt out of the final two years of his contract after the playoffs, and if he's as good as he was in some past postseasons for the Astros, he'll have a big decision to make. Dylan Cease, RHP, Padres: Cease had 215 strikeouts but a 4.55 ERA this season. If he can get back to his dominant strikeout form in the playoffs, that could help convince teams that his elite strikeout stuff outweighs his rocky 2025 performance. Gleyber Torres, 2B, Tigers: Torres had a big bounceback first half (.812 OPS) and made the All-Star team, but he hasn't been as good in the second half (.659 OPS), so a big postseason might put him back on the radar of free-agent suitors. -- David Adler |
Rejoice, fellow nerds! The regular season is in the books, and the stats are set in stone. If you don't have time to sort through it all, don't worry, we've got you covered here with some of the coolest facts and figures from 2025 that you might have missed: • Shohei Ohtani not only broke his own Dodgers single-season home record with his 55th homer on Sunday, but he became the first player to finish with exactly that total. • Aaron Judge led both leagues in WAR, OPS and all of the slash-line categories, including a .331 average that was not only 20 points higher than anyone else, but also made the 6-foot-7 Yankees slugger the tallest batting champ in history. • Julio Rodríguez swiped two bags on Saturday to join the 30-homer, 30-steal club for the second time in his young career. He became the record seventh player to reach the 30-30 mark this season. • Rafael Devers became the first player since 2008 to appear in 163 games in a season, and the first since 1996 to do it after a midseason trade. His San Francisco teammate Willy Adames went deep in the season finale to become the first Giants hitter to hit 30 homers since Barry Bonds in 2004. • Trea Turner was hitless in two at-bats in his return from the IL on Sunday, but he still finished as the only .300 hitter in the NL (.304) to capture his second batting title, and the first by a Phillies player since Richie Ashburn in 1958. For a complete rundown of all of the 2025 statistical leaders, click here. -- Ed Eagle |
There may be no better testament to an athlete's greatness than to earn a standing ovation on the road, and the T-Mobile Park crowd in Seattle rose to the occasion -- literally -- for Clayton Kershaw on Sunday, with a little help from Freddie Freeman. Making his final regular-season start, Kershaw had just fanned Eugenio Suárez for the first out of the sixth inning when he learned it might be the final out of his career. Only instead of Dave Roberts coming to pull him, it was Freeman jogging out of the Dodgers dugout. A smiling Kershaw embraced Freeman and then each of his infielders in turn before walking off the field and tipping his cap in response to a rousing round of applause.
Kershaw, who earlier this month announced his plan to retire at season's end, won't be on the Dodgers' roster for the Wild Card Series against the Reds, meaning they'll have to advance if they want to see him take the mound again before he hangs up his cleats for good.
-- Andy Werle |
How will the 2025 Postseason shake out? Can you correctly predict the outcomes? Enter your picks in the 2025 MLB Postseason Bracket Challenge and you could win tickets to a 2026 home opener. |
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