Happy Wednesday, everyone! While the season might be winding down, we still have things to look forward to. First and foremost, this weekend the Tigers will bid farewell to Justin Verlander in the best way possible: with a confirmed final start on Saturday. It will be very poetic to see his career end where it began, and despite how the season has gone, the seats should be packed for the last weekend.
We look at what Verlander said about his last hurrah, and we also share how Dillon Dingler has won
this season’s Heart and Hustle Award, why Paul Skenes is blaming the WBC for his pitching woes, and how the Yankees are going to manage in the Wild Card without Aaron Judge.
Let’s just jump right into it.
Detroit Tigers News
- JV is ready to go!
When Verlander spoke about a successful bullpen session on Tuesday, he was candid about the excitement and the work it took him to get to this point.
“Obviously we’ve gotten tantalizingly close a couple times, so we’ve been cautious with how we announce things this time. So to do that step, I felt really pleased about. It was like a breath of fresh air coming off the mound. Just don’t do anything stupid between now and Saturday, and we should be good.”
He opened up about how much it means to him to be able to end his career where it began, and what the fans mean to him.
“And I’ve been so thankful — I think thankful’s probably a word you’ll hear a lot here the last few days. I’ve been so thankful to be here back where it started, the love that these fans have shown me even when I’m not out there pitching, whether it’s this stadium, visiting stadiums, around the city, it’s meant so much to me and really helped me through this process to feel better about how this season has gone, to know that it means something not just to me, but to the fans too.
I think for that reason, that’s a large driving factor in this. I could’ve easily hung it up a month or two ago, but really pushed as hard as I possibly could, skipping a lot of steps, risking some serious injury potentially. But hey, that’s what I’ve done my whole career. I want to be out there. I want to pitch, to do it not only for myself but for the fans.”
- Dillon Dingler is the Tigers’ Heart and Hustle winner.
- If you missed this incredible moment from Monday’s game, we’re resharing it.
- A quick look at the medical updates.
- Even a cool hype video can’t make me like this stadium name change.
MLB News
- Should the Brewers give Kyle Harrison a chance in the postseason?
- When will the Angels be competitive again?
- Making sense of all the potential tie-breaker scenarios in the last week of the season.
- The Yankees are without Aaron Judge again and might be that way through the Wild Card series.
- An MVP case for Bobby Witt Jr.
- Zack Wheeler reaches 2000 career strikeouts.
- Joc Pederson is heading to the IL with a hand fracture, but he’s hopeful to return for the postseason.
- How could the final week of the season change things in the MVP races?
- How the Angels have managed to develop an elite starting rotation.
- The Phillies are in a state of flux ahead of the postseason.
- How a massive storm could impact the final week of the year.
- What are the biggest stories to watch in this last week of the season?
- Paul Skenes believes participating in the WBC contributed to his velocity dip this season.
- A look at the new road grays jerseys for the Rays. ($)
- Ranking postseason pitching rotations. ($)
- The Mets are standing by their man.
- Why the Andy Green hire is both safe and a “leap of faith.”
- This is actually super interesting.
- Alex Bregman is a trooper.
He will also get to skip a trip to the IL and might be back playing as soon as this weekend.
