We have reached the final four. Major League Baseball’s Championship Series officially start today with two best-of-seven series to determine the American League and National League representatives for this year’s Fall Classic.
On the National League side, much as everyone expected, the Los Angeles Dodgers are pushing for their sixth World Series appearance in the last decade as they try to three-peat. The Dodgers sat down the Atlanta Braves to make it this far. However, the powerhouse Dodgers are shockingly
not the top seed in this matchup. That honor belongs to the Milwaukee Brewers, who finished with the best record in baseball for the 2026 regular season.
The Brew Crew knocked out the San Diego Padres in the NLDS and are trying to appear in their first World Series since 1982—where they lost in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals—despite making the playoffs in eight of their last nine seasons. They’ve only made it to the Championship Series twice in that stretch.
Meanwhile, the Cinderella run of the Chicago White Sox has at last struck midnight. Despite a miraculous turnaround from two seasons ago—in which they were the worst team in baseball history—the Cleveland Guardians have snuffed out their flame with a surging comeback after originally being down 0-2 in the series.
The Guardians and their dominant pitching staff—which set the record for team strikeouts in a nine-inning game—will now face the Tampa Bay Rays as they look to make it to the World Series for just the fourth time since 1948. Those same Rays, looking to raise a banner in the waning years of Tropicana Field before moving into a new ballpark, kicked the Yankees to the curb in order to reach their third Championship Series in franchise history. The Rays have gone on to lose in the World Series the two previous times they have participated in the ALCS.
The Colorado Rockies watch from the sidelines as they break down their fourth consecutive 100-loss season, perhaps examining the (non-Dodgers) playoff participants for blueprints to work with in their own rebuild.
With that being said, here’s what our staff here at Purple Row had to say this week:
To Read: Scaling the Rocks
- Monday: Walk-offs are awesome | James Riggenbach
- Tuesday: The Rockies are looking ahead | Skyler Timmins
- Wednesday: Let the autopsy of the 2026 Colorado Rockies begin | Renee Dechert
- Thursday: Away from the din of the crowds, 2027 starts to take shape | Cory Cohen
- Friday: CarGo joins elite Colorado club | Joelle Milholm
- Saturday: What would a 154-game season mean for the Rockies? | James Riggenbach
To Read: Rockpiles
- Monday: One peak Rockies shortstop, one impossible choice | James Riggenbach
- Tuesday: A briefing on the Rockies’ arbitration players for 2027 | Skyler Timmins
- Wednesday: Walker Monfort and Paul DePodesta discuss pitching, the Penner Sports Group, and going forward | Renee Dechert
- Thursday: Lessons for the Rockies from the Athletics failure to launch | Cory Cohen
- Friday: Rockies attendance dips, again, in 2026 | Joelle Milholm
- Saturday: The 2026 Rockies Statcast Awards | James Riggenbach
To Read: Ranking the Rockies, 2026
- No. 50: Troy Johnston | James Riggenbach
- No. 49: Brenton Doyle | Renee Dechert
- No. 48: Sean Sullivan | Joelle Milholm
- No. 47: Kyle Freeland | Sam Bradfield
- No. 46: Valente Bellozo | Skyler Timmins
Weekly Discussion Topics
Four teams now need eight wins to reach the pinnacle of baseball. What have you enjoyed most about the playoffs so far? What has you feeling disappointed? What are your predictions for the Championship Series? When do you think the Rockies might find themselves in the NLCS? Let us know in the comments!
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