Good
morning.
- Aaron Judge hit two home runs on Thursday to tie Joe DiMaggio for fourth place on the Yankees all-time home run list.
- A collection of pitchers talking about what it was like to face Judge, starting with his time at Fresno State and in the Cape Cod League going on to today.
- Bradford Doolittle evaluates who are the favorites for the BBWAA Awards and Judge’s chances to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award.
- Mike Axisa examines what the Yankees have to do to catch the Blue Jays and win the AL East.
- Anthony Castrovince looks at the Fangraphs favorites to win the World Series and which ones feel like the numbers are under- or overestimating.
- Michael Baumann wonders if the Brewers are built to beat good teams in the playoffs?
- Russell Dorsey has two playoff teams trending in the right direction and two going the wrong way.
- On a less positive note, Brittany Ghiroli and Alex Andrejev report that at least eight members of the Tigers organization, including four VPs, have been accused of misconduct towards women (The Athletic sub. req.) working in the organization.
- Mark Giannotto has a summary of the allegation.
- Ryan Gustafson, the CEO of the Tigers business operations, defended the organization from the charges. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Jared Greenspan has six veterans who are “turning back the clock” down the stretch.
- Davy Andrews looks at how Cody Bellinger has returned to form this year and how he believes the improvement is here to stay.
- For most of the season, Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts was anything but a superstar. But recently, he’s been on a terrific hot streak. David Adler looks at just how hot Mookie Betts has been lately.
- Sam Blum reports despite a poor season (by his standards, at least), Mike Trout still believes he can be among the best players in the game. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Michael Baumann notes that we’ve finally gotten a mostly-healthy season from Twins outfielder Byron Buxton and wonders what his career could have been.
- The Dodgers just clinched their 15th consecutive winning season. Cole Jacobson looks at the longest winning-season streaks in baseball history. The Dodgers have a way to go to catch the Yankees’ 39 season streak from 1926 to 1964.
- Ken Rosenthal has four disappointing teams in 2025 who could rebound in 2026. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- R.J. Anderson looks at the questions facing the Braves and Orioles for them to return to glory in 2026.
- Braves manager Brian Snitker, who had been widely expected to retire after the season, left the door open to returning as the Braves manager in 2026. If the Braves still want him, of course. Mark Bowman reports.
- Barry M. Bloom explains how luring manager Terry Francona out of retirement has paid off big for the Reds.
- Buster Olney examines the vacant and possibly vacant manager and general manager jobs in the game this winter and who are the candidates to fill them.
- Jay Jaffe notes that there is only one qualified hitter in the National League batting over .300 and puts that into historical context.
- Every year, Keith Law publishes his list of “Prospects I was wrong on.” (The Athletic sub. req.) This year’s group is headed by Twins pitcher Joe Ryan.
- The Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes managed to score in all nine innings in their 21-10 win at El Paso on Wednesday.
- And finally, Jayson Stark looks at this seasons absence of no-hitters and how rare that is. (The Athletic sub. req.)
