Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani is recovering slowly from his off-season surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. The reigning N.L. MVP suffered the injury in Game 2 of the World Series, but he is still expected to be available for the start of the 2025 season.

“I do feel like there’s some discomfort that I have to still overcome, [but] it’s not really debilitating,” Ohtani said through an interpreter, per The Los Angeles Times. “Just a limited range of motion. I’ve gone through it with the elbow before. With the shoulder, it’s a little bit more complicated. I do believe that’s the part that I have to be patient with.”

Not only is Ohtani returning to action as a hitter in 2025, but the Dodgers’ current plan is for him to pitch again this summer. Stepping off the mound for the 2024 season to recover from UCL surgery, a further surgery to repair a torn labrum may complicate that timeline. For now, though, Los Angeles claims that he could be ready to go during the 2025 season. He will not have a rehab assignment, as the team would rather maximize his time as a designated hitter on the 40-man roster. In the meantime, he will reportedly take at-bats in the Cactus League this winter.

In his first season with the Dodgers, Ohtani overcame his inability to pitch by hitting 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases. It was an incredible season that propelled a famously underachieving Los Angeles team to a World Series victory. If he is healthy enough to pitch in 2025, the Dodgers would only further cement their status as prohibitive favorites to defend their title.

The Dodgers did not make the splashiest move of this off-season, missing out on slugging outfielder Juan Soto, but they have done plenty to keep themselves atop the power rankings. Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki is the latest Japanese star to sign with Los Angeles, joining Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He will join a star-studded list of signees, including Cy Young winner Blake Snell, Korean infield prospect Hyeseong Kim and premium reliever Tanner Scott.

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees 7-6 in Game 5 to win the World Series Wednesday night. The Yankees blew a five-run lead at home and could only watch on as Los Angeles celebrated its eight title victory in front of sellout Yankee Stadium crowd.

“I think falling short in the World Series will stick with me until I die, probably,” Yankees slugger Aaron Judge told reporters after the game. “I think just like every other loss, you know, those things don’t go away. They’re battle scars along the way. And, you know, hopefully when my career is over, we got a lot a battle scars but a lot of victories along the way too.”

After avoiding a sweep in an 11-4 blowout win Tuesday, the Yankees seemed intent on continuing their impossible march early in Game 5. Judge, Jazz Chisholm and Giancarlo Stanton all homered in the first two frames to put the Bombers ahead 5-0. Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty exited with just one out in the second, forcing Los Angeles to turn to its bullpen for another lengthy assignment. 

On the other side, fans in the Bronx were finally electrified. They had a Game 4 win under their belts. New York ace Gerrit Cole was cruising with run support, starting Game 5 with four flawless innings. Judge, dead silent for the entire series, was finally starting to hit like an MVP. With a few more quiet Los Angeles frames, the Yankees’ impossible dream of a reverse sweep could have been worth a whisper. Then the fifth inning came and went with all the grace of a six-car pileup on the Grand Concourse.

Judge kicked off the circus routine by dropping an easy line drive to center field, putting runners on first and second. On the very next play, shortstop Anthony Volpe tried to get the lead runner out on a ground ball but spiked the throw to third, loading the bases with no outs. Cole, battling through the poor play behind him, managed to strike out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani for two gutsy outs. A soft grounder down the first base line from Mookie Betts should have ended the inning.

But after coming all the way back from two fielding errors behind him, Cole suffered his own lapse. He failed to cover first base, allowing Betts to reach first, drive in a run and prolong the inning. The Dodgers didn’t need any favors from there; Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez connected for back-to-back two-RBI knocks and Los Angeles tied the game with five unearned runs.

The Yankees retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning and Cole carried on in heroic fashion, throwing 108 pitching in 6.2 innings without allowing an earned run. In a battle of the bullpens from there, however, New York folded almost immediately, loading the bases in the sixth and seventh innings and allowing two runs on sacrifice flies in the latter frame. With a 7-6 lead, the Dodgers closed out the game to earn their eighth World Title.

Freeman earned World Series MVP honors in overwhelming fashion, as the first baseman overcame an injury to hit four home runs and earn 12 RBIs across five games against New York. In a World Series billed as a star-studded matchup between the sport’s most famous franchises, Freeman was the only star to live up to those sky-high expectations.

“It seems like we hit every speed bump possible over the course of this year,” Freeman said after the game. “And to overcome what we did as a group of guys, it’s special. This is what we start out to do every single spring training is to win a championship. I think it’s the hardest thing to do in sports because you just never know what’s going to happen.”

Juan Soto, Judge’s slugging counterpart all season, was far from the Yankees’ biggest problem in the postseason, but the team’s collective failure is sure to make his impending free agency a nightmare. After Game 5, Soto told reporters that he will hear offers from all 30 MLB teams, and reports suggest that he will likely take the best offer. A meeting with Mets owner Steve Cohen in Queens is on the horizon and could potentially take a massive chunk out of the Yankees’ lineup in 2025.

Judge is sure to take the vast majority of the blame for the Yankees’ postseason failure; after batting .322 with 58 home runs in the regular season, the presumptive A.L. MVP batted 4-for-18 in the World Series. Before Game 5, he batted 2-for-15, and even after finally coming alive at the plate, his final game this season will be remembered for his costly error in center field that kickstarted the Dodgers’ comeback.

Despite the obvious blame on Judge for the Yankees’ shortcomings, he was not the only MVP candidate to have a quiet World Series. Ohtani was supposed to be the titan on the other side of the matchup, but he actually performed worse than Judge, going 2-for-19 without an RBI. 

In the end, the 2024 World Series was only partially determined by clutch play from immense talents. For the most part, it was a far more fundamental battle, one in which Los Angeles systematically took advantage of the New York’s sloppy play on the way to an unexpected rout. 

The team didn’t need Ohtani to be sharp; Freeman motored the team to consistent leads, and the pitching staff held a hapless Yankees lineup in check for the most part. It may have made for less compelling viewing than the offensive shootout some expected, but the Dodgers proved to be the cleaner team and took full advantage of the Yankees’ collective no-show. It was a decisive, if abrupt, triumph.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will take on the New York Yankees in the Fall Classic, which begins on Friday.

The Dodgers ousted the New York Mets in six games on Sunday, as manager Dave Roberts and his team return to the World Series for the second time in five years. It has not been a linear path for Los Angeles this season as they dealt with starting pitching injuries to four of the top five members of their rotation, fell behind 2-1 to the San Diego Padres in a best of five, and 1B Freddie Freeman dealing with an ankle injury. However, Roberts’ genius managing of the bullpen and Shohei Ohtani’s ridiculous ability to hit with men on base propelled the Dodgers to win the National League pennant. Since L.A. owns a better record than the Yankees, they will get four games at home, the first and the last two.

Meanwhile, the Yankees breeze into the World Series after defeating the Cleveland Guardians in five games and the Kansas City Royals in four during the division series. Their bats have come alive as Giancarlo Stanton won ALCS MVP with five home runs in nine playoff games, and Juan Soto cranked a three-run homer in the 10th inning of game five to send the Yankees to the next round.

On the bump, Florida State alumni Luke Weaver silenced the doubters of the New York bullpen, becoming the defacto closer and recording two saves in the Championship Series. In recent memory, the Bronx Bombers have struggled in the playoffs, and this is the first WS appearance for the Yanks since they won it in 2009.

All games will be on Fox starting at 8:08 E.T. Gerrit Cole is scheduled to take the ball for New York, while Jack Flaherty is probable for Roberts in game one. Hard Rock Bet gives the Dodgers a slight -120 chance to win the World Series.

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager was named the World Series MVP for the second time Wednesday. Over the course of the five games, Seager hit three home runs to lead the team to several key victories.

“It truly is incredible,” Seager said after the game. “But it’s not just me, man. What this team did and how we competed and all the guys in there rallying, we don’t really have one leader. That whole clubhouse is the leadership.”

Seager deflected direct praise, but without his home runs in Games 1 and 3, the Rangers would have had significantly more trouble getting past the Diamondbacks in such short order. He did exactly what the team expected him to do when they signed him to a massive 10-year, $325 million deal going into the 2022 season.

“I don’t know what else to say about the man; he’s just incredible,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s a guy you want up there, obviously.”

Seager was also the World Series MVP in 2020 as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he had eight hits in 20 at-bats, including two timely home runs to lift the team past the Tampa Bay Rays.

After the World Series win in Los Angeles, Seager, now 29, assumed a new vision for the rest of his career. Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young convinced Seager to lead a fledgling franchise, one that was still looking for its first World Series win but mostly trying to attain relevance in a crowded league.

“It was definitely a drawing point for me,” Seager said. “I won in L.A. They hadn’t won in 30 years (actually 32) and I saw what it did to a fan base. When I found out they had never won here, that was something that intrigued me, to be able to start at the bottom and try and build something and compete. And to be able to do it, it’s really satisfying.”

The Texas Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 of the 2023 World Series Wednesday night to clinch the first championship in the franchise’s history. Most people heard about it via social media or news alerts. One of the most prestigious sporting events in the United States was little more than a blip for most fans, who decided that the World Series was over before it started.

Though ratings have not yet been released for Game 5, the first four games of this year’s series were the least-watched World Series games outside of the pandemic in recorded history. Game 5 may enjoy a slight uptick in viewership because the Diamondbacks were facing elimination, but this year’s championship is almost certain to break the event’s record for lowest average ratings ever.

Media outlets have begun a frenzied search for the cause of this ratings crater, with most blaming small markets and the Houston Astros’ elimination in the ALCS. Both of these reasons can be refuted, as the Diamondbacks and Rangers enjoyed healthy ratings boosts with improved play during the regular season. The Astros aren’t a sure bet for postseason ratings either, as their World Series against the Phillies last year will soon be the third least-watched championship in MLB history.

But while those reasons are difficult to accept, there is an even more compelling cause for viewer disinterest that is even harder to stomach. In part, it is a claim that goes against the spirit of baseball and sports in general:

The Diamondbacks did not deserve to be in the playoffs and MLB’s playoff format is intrinsically flawed.

Now, that’s not a very nice thing to say. Diamondbacks players, coaches and executives all worked extremely hard to earn a Wild Card berth. Once they reached the playoffs, they defeated the Brewers, Dodgers and Phillies, three talented teams with serious championship aspirations of their own. They made the most of an opportunity and proved that they belonged among the best in the National League. The only problem is that baseball is really, really weird.

In 2020, Action Sports analyzed the previous five seasons of major American sports and found that MLB had the highest upset rate, with betting underdogs winning 41.6% of the time. Baseball is so unpredictable that it is often taken for granted when these upsets occur.

To put things in perspective, the Rangers, newly crowned champions of the league, played the Oakland Athletics 13 times in 2023. Though the A’s finished the season with a 50-112 record and will go down as one of the worst teams in the history of baseball, they still managed to beat Texas four times.

Nothing can be taken away from the Diamondbacks as a team; they got hot at the right time and took advantage of their opponent’s weaknesses. If Clayton Kershaw is going to give up six runs in the first inning of an NLDS game, then it doesn’t matter if the Dodgers won 101 games. Arizona deserved to win. The point, however, is that any competent team in baseball can beat any other competent team on the right day, and this element of randomness has gotten out of hand now that the league has expanded the playoffs to include three Wild Card teams.

For all the praise one can give the Diamondbacks for their postseason performance, they finished the regular season with 84 wins and lost their division by 14 games. They briefly controlled the NL West early in the season, lost ground to the Dodgers and finished well enough to stay above .500. That sounds more like a disappointment than a success, and yet, the team still snuck into the playoffs, where the records stopped mattering.

Just behind them in the standings, the 82-80 Padres will be remembered as profound underperformers who missed the playoffs with the likes of Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis. If they had won three more games and made it into the postseason, there’s no telling how much damage they could have done. Their embarrassing play over the course of 162 games might not have made a difference.

Even after the Diamondbacks made the playoffs, the league made no real attempt to market the team to national audiences. Their Wild Card series against the Milwaukee Brewers was the only one to air on ESPN2, with the other three series airing on ABC and ESPN. Neither game in the two-game sweep drew more than two million viewers, according to Sports Media Watch, putting it last on average among the four matchups.

Even as the World Series approached, only the most diehard baseball fans outside Arizona would have been able to name more than five players on the Diamondbacks. Young star Corbin Carroll stands out and Zac Gallen hit a bird earlier in the season, but MLB never had a reason to market the team at any point during the season. Their success, while well-earned during the postseason, was completely incongruent with the six months of baseball that preceded it.

When people tune in to watch March Madness, they watch for the upsets. Most viewers are casual fans who weren’t paying attention to the actual college basketball season. The NCAA Tournament is chaotic and punishing and everything that fans of the sport are looking for. The storylines revolve around this randomness. That’s not why people watch the MLB Playoffs.

When viewers turn on the MLB Playoffs, they expect to witness the culmination of a grueling 162-game season in which the best teams compete for the championship. In two straight years since the playoff format was changed, however, MLB seasons have ended in middle-of-the-road N.L. underdogs getting slaughtered by superior A.L. rivals. People have clearly decided that that isn’t worth watching.

Now, there is a minor flaw in this argument. For some reason, the American League has somehow managed to consistently produce a highly touted team for the World Series in the new format. This might be somewhat dressed up, however. Last year, the 106-56 Astros were a historically good team while their ALCS counterpart, the 99-win Yankees, almost got dumped in the ALDS by the Cleveland Guardians. Houston swept New York in four games. This year, the Astros returned to the ALCS and the Rangers boasted newly acquired players from other organizations, but neither team came close to having the best regular season in the A.L. Both teams almost lost their playoff berths to the resurgent Mariners. Houston’s dynastic success may be providing consistency for viewers that would not be present otherwise.

If teams like the Braves and Dodgers win 104 and 101 games, respectively, but disappear in the playoffs, no amount of fan support should protect them from a postseason defeat. There doesn’t have to be an excessive reward for regular-season success, but there should be a more significant punishment for regular-season mediocrity.

It’s a hard truth, but national audiences don’t want a baseball tournament built for underdogs. They want to see the monsters, the teams they’ve watched and read about all season. In October, teams that win 100 games shouldn’t have to worry about the likes of the Cubs, a team that missed the postseason by one game with an 83-79 record.

As things are now, having 12 playoff spots theoretically gives every team in the league a 40% chance of making the playoffs. Toss a few teams with no chance and a few more that give up at the trade deadline, and it follows that practically any team above .500 has a chance at the postseason. From there, it’s just baseball, infinitely random and currently unsatisfying for many. If storylines from the regular season do not begin to bear some resemblance to storylines in the playoffs, then viewers will realize more and more that they have no reason to watch either.

Texas Rangers right fielder Adolis Garcia left in the eighth inning of Game 3 of the World Series with an apparent injury, as he appeared to have hurt his back during the swing.

Manager Bruce Bochy said that Garcia has suffered from left-side tightness and the Rangers were optimistic about his condition. 

“Doli will get some diagnostics done. [We’ll] see where he’s at,” Bochy said. “He’s a complete player. Speed, arm, can hit. The guy can do it all. We saw it [in the second inning]. And he’s accurate, too, and he loves to throw. He loves to be challenged.” 

Garcia played a significant part in the Rangers’ 3-1 victory over the Diamondbacks, mainly his work on defense, helping get several outs for the Rangers.

In the playoffs, Garcia has eight home runs, 22 RBIs and a batting average of .323. He was also the American League Championship Series MVP.

The Rangers also have to deal with injuries related to Max Scherzer, who left Game 3 with lower back tightness. 

On Thursday night, the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers, 10-3. They leveled the best of seven series ACLS series at 2-2.

The Astros saw Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez and Jose Abreu combine to drive in eight runs. The Astros also saw José Altuve, who became the seventh person to play in 100 career playoff games, have three hits, he joined ranks including Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, David Justice and Yadier Molina as the only players to reach 100 postseason games. 

Altuve went 0 for 8 in the Astros’ two losses at home but has gone 5 for 9 in the away victories in Arlington, Texas. Altuve got a double from the game’s third pitch. He later scored on Bregman’s triple. The Astros scored three runs before they recorded the game’s first out. 

The Rangers came back to tie the game to score Corey Seager’s solo home run, but the Astros answered in the fourth inning by scoring four runs.

Altuve’s teammate Bregman praised his accomplishment.

“It’s been an honor to be his teammate – a Hall of Fame player and a Hall of Fame person, incredible leader every single day. From Day 1 of spring training, he shows up, and works his tail off. He always has a smile on his face. He’s so nice to everyone that he comes into contact with,” Bregman said.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said he regrets certain aspects of the league’s investigation into the 2017 Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal and said he would have done it differently if given another chance. Chief among his criticisms was his decision to grant players immunity prior to the investigation.

“I’m not sure that I would have approached it with giving players immunity,” Manfred told Time’s Sean Gregory in an interview. “Once we gave players immunity, it puts you in a box as to what exactly you were going to do in terms of punishment.”

Manfred went on to say that the league could have conducted a thorough investigation without granting immunity to all players, and that withholding it for a time may have been the better decision.

“I might have gone about the investigative process without that grant of immunity and see where it takes us,” Manfred said. “Starting with, I’m not going to punish anybody, maybe not my best decision ever.”

Manfred has faced routine criticism for most of his tenure as MLB commissioner, most recently for his treatment of the Oakland Athletics as owner John Fisher tries to move the team to Las Vegas.

The Astros cheating scandal, however, has always been a particular sore point for Manfred because of its lasting impact on the sport. During a 2020 interview with ESPN, he referred to the World Series trophy as “a piece of metal” in an attempt to quell criticism for what some considered a weak punishment for Houston’s organization.

“I mean, if I could take back the rather flip comment I made about the World Series trophy at one time, I’d take that one back,” Manfred said. “There have been times, particularly in times of pressure, when I look back, taking a little more time might have led to a different outcome.”

Manfred will complete his second five-year term as commissioner in 2024 and will be eligible to continue in the role with another vote from all 30 MLB owners when the time comes.

Houston Astros star pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. will miss the 2023 season after receiving forearm surgery to repair a flexor tendon and remove a bone spur. McCullers has only made 34 starts since 2021 but is expected to return in 2024.

Astros general manager Dana Brown announced McCullers’ injury update Wednesday and clarified in a statement that the righthander made several attempts to return to the mound in 2023. He first suffered the injury to his flexor tendon during the 2021 playoffs and has suffered multiple setbacks since, most recently in February this year. He previously missed the entire 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery.

“After the injury happened in February, Lance worked his tail off to get back on the mound,” Brown said in a statement. “This guy is a warrior and did everything in his power to get back. But each time he built himself up to an increased pitch total off the mound, the pain would come back. It’s unfortunate, but we look forward to him being back on the mound next season.”

In 2022, McCullers returned in August and made eight regular season starts, compiling a 4-2 record with a 2.27 ERA. In the playoffs, he started in series against the Mariners, Yankees and Phillies, earning another World Series ring in the process. He has spent the entirety of his professional career in Houston, debuting in 2015 and making on one All-Star game appearance in 2017.

“Lance is a grinder, and he tried to, with pure grit, fight through the injury and come back,” Brown went on to say. “That happened in ’21, and in ’22, he ended up coming back some. You could give him cheers for his grit to come back. Starting out this year, he felt like he was going to be fine and continue to press through it and it continued to bother him.”

By the time McCullers returns for the Astros next year, he could be 30 years old, and despite debuting at the age of 21, he has only managed to make more than 25 starts in a single season once. His impact on the mound after multiple surgeries is unclear and he still has several years remaining on his contract.

Three days after winning the World Series, the Houston Astros announced Wednesday that they were granting manager Dusty Baker’s request for a one-year extension.

After 25 seasons as an MLB manager and more than five decades in the sport, his championship victory merely affirms the fact that he should get whatever he wants at this point in his career.

When Baker took over in Houston in 2020, his job was to provide stability and likability to a team under fire. The Astros were reeling from the offseason investigation of their 2017 sign-stealing scandal, one that resulted in suspensions for manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow. Perhaps even more importantly, however, the team became the most vilified in recent sports history.

Though Baker entered with an immense amount of good will among fans, having coached for the Giants, Cubs, Reds and Nationals since 1993, the team still suffered under seething vitriol for a time. If not for the COVID-19 pandemic, road games would have been hostile all season, like they were in spring training that year.

From the very beginning though, Baker remained focused in the face of open contempt, insisting that no form of cheating would ever occur on his team. Though the team hired him to be a friendly face, he said that his goal was to win as many games as he could. He did well, guiding the team to the ALCS in 2020 and a World Series appearance in 2021.

In a 2022 season full of powerful contenders, Baker guided the team to a 106-win season. While other favorites wilted in the playoffs, Houston thrived, sweeping the Mariners and Yankees to advance to the World Series for the second straight year.

In 1981, Baker won a championship as an outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but as a manager, he had been chasing another ring for more than two decades. A Game 6 victory Sunday over the Philadelphia Phillies finally made it a reality, as the Astros won their third World Series in six years and first since the sign-stealing scandal was exposed. It was legitimate.

But as Baker has repeatedly said over the years, if he was going to win one championship, he would always want to go for two. The organization has rightfully granted him that opportunity with a well-deserved extension.

“How many times in your life do you say something and then have the opportunity to fulfill it?” Baker said Wednesday. “I wasn’t just talking. I meant what I said. I love keeping my word. We’ve got a chance to win back-to-back and this is what I’d like to do.”

He’s 73 years old, the oldest coach to ever win a championship in professional sports. On nearly any other team in the league, he might have been blamed for the organization’s woes and ousted by now. But as the leader of the Astros, a team long on talent but short on fan sentiment, Baker has found the perfect spot to end his career. He’s done enough for Houston and the sport beyond to leave on his own terms, and if he believes there’s more on the horizon, it’s hard to question him.

“I’d be going against what I was destined to do if I did anything else at this point in time,” Baker said. “I prayed on it and my answer was, ‘Hey man, get your butt back out there and manage again.’”

In the first close game between the two teams since Game 1, the Houston Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 on the road to take Game 5 of the World Series. The Astros are now one victory away from the championship and return home to Minute Maid Park for Game 6 on Saturday.

The Astros’ third win of the series followed two highly polarized games for Philadelphia’s offense, as the Phillies began their two-game home stand in Game 3 with a commanding 7-0 victory featuring five home runs. The next night in Game 4, four Astros pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter, the third in postseason history. Game 5 was less of a spectacle following those two games — a gritty defensive battle that seemed to favor both teams at certain points.

After taking a 2-1 lead and knocking Phillies starter Noah Syndergaard out of the game in the fourth inning, the Astros seemed to be in a solid position early with Justin Verlander on the mound. Verlander was looking to bounce back from a disastrous collapse in Game 1, in which the Phillies mounted a five-run comeback and won in extra innings.

Houston’s ace gave up a solo homer to Kyle Schwarber in the first but escaped jams in the second and third before encountering more trouble in the fifth. Bryce Harper doubled to right field with two outs and Nick Castellanos on deck. Manager Dusty Baker lingered in the dugout but ultimately didn’t make a call to the bullpen.

“I was considering after the Bryce double whether Dusty was gonna leave me in there or not,” Verlander said after the game. “I wasn’t sure.”

To escape his final frame of the night, Verlander had to endure a grueling 10-pitch at-bat against Castellanos, the catalyst for the Phillies’ comeback in Game 1. The hard-hitting outfielder eventually flew out to end the inning and Verlander exited the game after five innings, having allowed one run four hits and four walks.

Both teams failed to score for two innings thereafter before scoring one apiece in the eighth. If not for key defensive stops, both teams could have scored more, but the biggest play of the night didn’t come until the ninth.

With one out in the bottom of the final frame, center fielder Chas McCormick made a leaping into the wall to rob J.T. Realmuto of what would have been an extra-base hit. The catch stymied the Phillies’ final rally bid and allowed Houston to take the 3-2 win.

“I wanted to lay there longer,” McCormick said after the game. “If it were the last out, I would’ve laid there all night.”

With the help of McCormick and a massive defense effort, the Astros are now one game away from their second World Series title in franchise history. They will play at home Saturday in Game 6, and if needed, will also play in Minute Maid Park for Game 7 on Sunday to decide the championship.

Picture this. Forty-two thousand fans pack into Citi Field during a season like few others for a game that will be second to none. Let’s make it a 7:10 p.m. start for dramatic effect. The celebrations have been raucous in Queens all year, but this one’s already started and a pitch hasn’t been thrown yet. “Simple Man” is blaring over the sound system, but Lynard Skynard couldn’t get a louder ovation if they were playing it live. Jacob deGrom is on the mound.

For most of their lives, these fans in attendance have served as the defenders of a laughing stock, a New York Mets franchise that throws away seasons, pays retirees in their fifties and gets defrauded for billions. They hadda believe, right? Now, these fans represent the elite, one of the richest teams in baseball with a roster to match. In an oligarchical sport, they finally found the patron with the deepest pockets, and their team is one of a few privileged World Series contenders. Now, their hero is finally back on the field.

For a team that has had a phenomenal season with plenty of meaningful victories, it may seem unlikely that the mere presence of a player could evoke more hope or excitement than any single result. But those who can’t envision this scenario are merely unaware of the untethered hysteria surrounding deGrom, not just within the Mets organization and fanbase but across Major League Baseball.

As deGrom has worked his way back from an injury, his second since the summer of 2021, baseball fans have followed his progress meticulously. His rehab starts in the minor leagues resemble showcases, not warmups. After tickets sold out for deGrom’s scheduled game on July 14 for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets, they were reportedly selling online for more than $300. The average price to attend a 2022 Miami Marlins game at the start of the season was $40.

It may not be his first game back for the team. The pitch count may be short and he may not go five innings. He might even get shelled, as he did on Wednesday afternoon in Triple-A against the Omaha Storm Chasers. But at some point soon, deGrom will make his homecoming start at Citi Field, and the response from the sold-out crowd will be thunderous. It’s important to understand why.

In his early days as a mortal with a 94 MPH fastball, deGrom was still one of the best pitchers in baseball and served as a key contributor in some very talented Mets rotations. He made the All-Star game in 2015, his second season in the league, and proved integral during the team’s run to the World Series later that year. His 13-strikeout game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his playoff debut set the tone as the Mets rolled through the National League before falling to the Kansas City Royals.

After a few more solid years on middling Mets teams, deGrom became a premier pitcher in the 2018 season. With an average fastball velocity of 96 MPH and a nearly unhittable slider, he began playing at a level few have ever reached, earning a mind-boggling 1.70 ERA. In 2019, he was throwing even harder without losing any of his frame-perfect control. While the Mets struggled at the plate and provided deGrom little to no run support in either season, he still managed to win the Cy Young Award in both years with a combined record of 21-17.

After two Cy Youngs and a successful shortened season during the pandemic, deGrom began earning comparisons to some of the greats — Pedro Martinez, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson. But by the summer of 2021, even the experts began to run out of comparisons.

Through 15 starts, deGrom had a 1.08 ERA and was consistently throwing his fastball 99 MPH. By June 11, 2021, Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan had thrown 10 pitches over 100 MPH, the second most for a starting pitcher that season. DeGrom was first — with 121 pitches. As SNY pointed out, his ERA+ at that point in the season was so astronomically high that it defied explanation.

Those who worried that it was unsustainable were right, as deGrom suffered minor arm strain in April and a major injury in July that ended his season. After two starts in spring training this year, he suffered yet another arm injury that has kept him out of a Mets uniform since.

While he has been away, the Mets have gone from pretenders to contenders, as new owner Steve Cohen continues to import talent. As of Wednesday afternoon, the team has a 60-37 record and is doing everything it can to hold off the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. Max Scherzer has been one of the best substitute aces in the history of baseball and new faces like Starling Marte and Mark Canha have bolstered the old guard.

The trade deadline may bring in even more talent as the Mets attempt to make their first postseason push since 2015. Regardless of who they bring in though, no single piece will be more important than deGrom. If the team is going to win the World Series, “Simple Man” will need to be coming out of those speakers.

Barring any further setbacks, deGrom will make his return to Citi Field sometime soon, and baseball fans need to be ready for what could be the defining moment of the season. One of the most dominant pitchers in the history of the sport is about to join a team on the brink of a championship, and three months of his usual production may make the difference.

A victory for Braves fans all over the country, the team has won its first World Series since 1995.

The Atlanta Braves defeated the Houston Astros 7-0 in Game 6 to take the series 4-2. Atlanta jumped out to a sizable lead thanks to two multi-run home runs early in the game. Jorge Soler delivered a massive three-run blast in the third inning to put Atlanta up early. Statcast had Soler’s home run traveling 446 feet with an exit velocity of 109.6 mph.

In the fifth, the Braves plated a pair of runs on a Dansby Swanson homer. Swanson’s wasn’t quite as impressive as Soler’s, but it did have an exit velocity of 108.8 mph and it carried some 411 feet. A Freddie Freeman doubles later in the fifth, and then a homer in the seventh gave the Braves what proved to be an insurmountable 7-0 lead.

“I’m at a loss for words. This is it. This is everything you work for,” Freeman said. “We’ve had so many ups and downs this year. For us to be world champions … That is awesome to hear.”

Soler tapped his heart twice before beginning his home run trot after connecting off rookie Luis Garcia in the third inning, sending the ball flying completely out of Minute Maid Park. Swanson homered again and by the final out, nothing could stop them.

“There’s no place that deserves it more than the city of Atlanta,” Swanson said.

The Astros will now head into a pivotal offseason as Astros Manager Dusty Baker‘s contract is set to expire – it’s unclear if the Astros will retain his services heading forward. Also, shortstop Carlos Correa and starters Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke, are potentially retirement candidates. At a minimum, the Astros could look a lot different come the next opening day.

“We’ve been waiting for a championship in this city for a long time,” Freeman said. “And we delivered it.”

The Houston Astros have, once again, kept their dreams of becoming the World Series champions alive after beating the Atlanta Braves 9-5 on Sunday.

The Braves would have achieved the title with a victory in front of their home fans; however, a new batting order from the Astros caught them off guard and lost them their series-winning victory.

Astros manager Dusty Baker decided to switch things up paid off as shortstop Carlos Correa, bumped up to third in the batting order, came through with three hits and a pair of RBIs. And Yuli Gurriel, who moved up to fifth after hitting seventh in Game 4, had three hits of his own and scored two runs.

“We don’t worry about what other people say or what they think. It’s what you think of yourself and what you think of each other on the team that really counts,” Baker said. “These guys are together, they’ve been through many of these battles and so they don’t know how to quit and they are always looking for an edge or an opening. Fortunately, tonight we took advantage of some.”

The Braves, seeking their first championship since 1995, opened the scoring in explosive fashion with Adam Duvall hitting a grand slam in the first inning; however, the Astros quietly chipped away, ultimately drawing even at 4-4 after a Gurriel groundout in the top of the 3rd.

The Astros then added an insurance run in the seventh with catcher Martin Maldonado‘s third RBI of the night, and one more in the eighth with Correa’s single which plated second baseman Jose Altuve.

“You always love to do it here. I’ll take it anywhere,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I don’t care where we’re at. If we win the World Series, it doesn’t matter where it is. I’d have loved to have done it in front of our fans. Hopefully, we can do it the next couple of days.”

With game six on their home stadium, the Astros will try to become the 15th team in MLB history to beat a 3-1 deficit and still win the best-of-seven postseason series.

After a tough loss on game one, the Houston Astros dominated the second game with an ending score of 7-2 and an evened score of 1-1 for the World Series.

The Astros took a first-inning lead on Alex Bregman‘s sac fly that plated Jose Altuve. The Atlanta Braves then tied it on a solo home run from catcher Travis d’Arnaud in the top of the second.The powerful Astros then broke out in the second inning with an outburst that came almost entirely from perfectly placed groundballs, the kind of groundballs that bounce the Astros’ way more often than not, the kind good-hitting teams seem to hit more often than others. The Astros took charge for good, with five singles off Atlanta ace Max Fried and some speed on the bases, the Astros were able to plate four runs in the inning.

In the seventh, Altuve added some salt on the wound with a solo home run. This was the 22nd postseason home run of his career. He also doubled in Game 2. Michael Brantley notched a multi-hit game in the postseason for the 18th time in his career.

On the pitching side, Houston starter Jose Urquidy gave them five innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts and no walks. After his exit, four relievers ─ Cristian Javier, Phil Maton, Ryan Pressly, and Kendall Graveman ─ combined for four scoreless to secure the victory for the Astros.

“The difference between this group and some other groups I’ve had is the fact that they are always looking for something good to happen,” said Astros Manager Dusty Baker.

The Astros and Braves split Games 1 and 2 in Houston, so the World Series is now a best-of-five, and it shifts to Atlanta for Games 3-5. Historically, teams that take a 2-1 lead in a best-of-seven series go on to win the series 70.4 percent of the time, so Game 3 is a pretty significant swing game.

Tragedy struck the Atlanta Braves as Charlie Morton, their star pitcher, broke his leg on the mound.

Morton spun a curveball past Jose Altuve for a called third strike, his 16th pitch after taking a 102 m.p.h. comebacker off his right leg, Morton stumbled and started to fall. Nobody knew that his leg was broken, yet Morton delivered with stride until the end.

“I wouldn’t think it’s possible,” catcher Travis d’Arnaud said. “It’s incredible that he even thought of going out there.”

Morton’s right fibula was fractured by Yuli Gurriel‘s one-hop screamer leading off the second inning of Tuesday night’s World Series opener, a ball hit so hard it ricocheted to first baseman Freddie Freeman for an out.

“You don’t wish bad on anybody,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “Charlie Morton is one of the best guys around, too.”

Braves manager Brian Snitker said that an initial X-ray after the second failed to show a break. “He wanted to keep going, because he was down in the tunnel and he was throwing against the wall,” Snitker explained. “He said, ‘It kind of hurts more when I run. I feel good when I throw.'”

Morton went back out for the third. Still reaching up to 95.9 mph, he struck out Altuve. The 37-year-old right-hander braced himself with both arms after the pitch and grimaced as he popped back up, then rubbed at his right ankle.

“To go out there and strike out the next guy with a broken leg, it blows my mind,” d’Arnaud said, repeating for emphasis. “It blows my mind.”

Morton’s World Series was over soon after it started, but even without Morton, they took a series lead on one of the best hitting teams of this generation. They even secured their first win in a World Series game since 1996 as they seek their first title since 1995. Whether Atlanta can survive the loss of Morton remains to be seen. The 37-year-old star player seemed certain to start again later this series, probably at an even more crucial moment.

“That’s Charlie,” Snitker said. “He wants to be on this stage. God bless him, I hate it for him. Really hate it for him. He’s such a great person, great person and teammate.”

The Braves are scheduled to play against the Astros on Wednesday night. Without their star pitcher, who knows if the Braves will be able to pull out another win.

Alex Cora is back in MLB as the Boston Red Sox have decided to hire him as general manager again.

Cora had previously managed the Red Sox from 2018-2019 before being suspended by the league for one season.

Cora was found to have played a significant role during his time as a coach for the 2017 Houston Astros. The 2017 Astros had won the 2017 World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. However, it was after that World Series win that a scandal broke out over the Astros for sign stealing using technology. The scandal called into question the legitimacy of the Astros 2017 world series win and season.

MLB decided to investigate these claims in 2019. The league’s investigation had found that the Astros used technology to steal signs of pitchers for their advantage. Cora was a coach for the Astros in 2017, was found by the league to be heavily involved in the sign stealing. Cora was said to have devised methods to relay messages of signs to hitters using trash cans and other ways to steal signs. For this, MLB decided to ban Cora for one-season in 2019. As a result, Cora was released from his managerial role for the Red Sox.

The Boston Red Sox also have a history of sign stealing. In 2017, the Boston Red Sox were fined for sign stealing. When Cora joined as manager in 2018, he led the Red Sox to a World Series win. Ironically, that winning Red Sox team was investigated by the league for sign stealing. However, this time it was not Cora who was the culprit, it was the replay system operator J.T. Watkins who was the main offender.

The Red Sox had considered Sam Fuld, who played for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2011-2013 before they decided on Cora. Cora was interviewed last week after the conclusion of the World Series.

On Tuesday night during the Los Angeles Dodgers clinching win, Dodger’s third baseman Justin Turner was removed in the eighth inning. Turner was taken out because he had tested positive for COVID-19. After testing positive, he had to be isolated from the team. Turner had previously been tested on Monday, however, the results had come back inconclusive. This prompted another test to be done on Tuesday, which came back positive.

Turner was a key factor during the Dodgers regular season, as he hit an impressive .307 batting average. This helped the Dodgers win 43 games of the 60 games shortened regular season. Turner continued to keep up his batting production during the World Series, he achieved a .320 batting average before he was pulled in the eighth inning. Losing Turner was a blow, but the Dodgers were able to hold onto their 3-1 lead to clinch the World Series title. This World Series win became number six for the Dodgers and their first since 1988.

Following the title-clinching win, Dodgers players ran onto the field to celebrate, hugging one another in joy. During this moment, Turner, who was isolated from his teammates, came back onto the field to join his teammates in celebrating. Turner was seen with a mask, holding the World Series trophy in his hand, taking pictures with the team. At one point, Turner had removed his mask during the celebration.

Turner’s return to the field was seen as hazardous because he was positive for COVID-19, though he is asymptomatic. Understandably, Turner wanted to celebrate his teams win, but he did so in a selfish manner that has put his teammates at risk. The third baseman tested positive and immediately broke his isolation to celebrate and removing his mask during team pictures.

We can only wait to see the consequences of Turner’s actions.

On Wednesday night, the Tampa Bay Rays edged out the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 in game two of the World Series to tie the count at 1. This tight win was thanks, in most part, to the superb hitting of Brandon Lowe who had been in a bit of a slump up until this point in the playoffs. That slump broke in game two with Lowe hitting two home runs in five at-bats, driving in three total runs. After coming in as a rougher prospect, Lowe has become one of the better hitters in the MLB and his skills were on full display Wednesday night.

“Yeah, those felt really good,” Lowe said. “It felt great to kind of get back and contribute to the team. They’ve been doing so well for the past month. It felt really good to get back and actually start doing stuff again.”

Lowe, who was a low-ballot MVP candidate this year, was a brutal 6 for 56 with 19 strikeouts and no multi-hit games so far this postseason. He certainly picked an opportune time to break out of this funk.

“The biggest reason that makes us all believe it is he’s shown over time that he’s a really good hitter, really good player, and sometimes guys, you got to let them go through some tough patches, and he’s been in one,” Rays’ manager Kevin Cash said after Wednesday’s win. “It was exciting for the first home run. The second one really ignited them. You’ve seen it. You’ve covered him. He can go quiet for a little while, but he can get as hot as anybody in baseball. Hopefully, that’s the trend that we’re looking at going forward.”

Game three is on Friday at 8 p.m. on Fox.

Soon after Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association agreed upon a 60-game season for 2020, the odds for the World Series were released by Caesars Sportsbook. 

The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers are the odds on favorites to win the World Series in 2020 at 7-2 odds. They are followed by the Houston Astros at 11-1 odds. After that, the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins at 15-1 odds. The reigning World Series champions, the Washington Nationals sit at 18-1 odds.

Being that the season will be 60-games, there is definitely a chance for some team that no one would have originally predicted to make a run. The senior odds maker at Caesars, Rex Beyers, spoke on this possibility with ESPN. “It would seem plausible to me that there will be money for some of the midrange to longer-shot teams that might field young lineups – think Toronto – or hot shot, young pitching that the league hasn’t seen much of yet.”