Here’s something we won’t be able to say until Spring Training next year: If you want to watch four Major League Baseball games today, you can. Heck: Don’t you have to?
Thanks to the Yankees rallying to stave off elimination on Tuesday night, we’ve got baseball all day on Wednesday. And it’s also possible we have four clinchers: In order, the Mariners, the Brewers, the Blue Jays and the Dodgers will all try to advance to the LCS. And, conversely, the Tigers, the Cubs, the Yankees and the Phillies will try to keep their seasons alive. In the history of Division Series (1981, 1995-onward), there’s been only one year where all four series ended on the same day: October 5, 1996.
This is as good as it gets. Strap in, folks.
Throughout this postseason, I’ll be previewing the next day’s action, game by game, with the major storyline for each team from each one. Here’s what to watch on Wednesday.
ALDS Game 4: Mariners at Tigers (SEA leads 2-1)
3:08 p.m. ET, FS1
SP: Bryce Miller (SEA) vs. Casey Mize (DET)
Mariners: How much can they get from Bryce Miller?
The only real downside of Game 4 for the Mariners is that they were forced, thanks to the Tigers scoring three in the ninth, to use closer Andrés Muñoz, one of four relievers manager Dan Wilson deployed. That means a little bit less breathing room for Miller, who was excellent for the Mariners last year (2.94 ERA in 31 starts) but was ravaged by injuries this year and never found his groove (5.68 ERA in 18 starts). Since returning from the IL in August, Miller has made eight starts and given up 12 homers in 41 2/3 innings. (And his ERA was even higher before he hit the IL.)
Tigers: Can they just get it back to Skubal?
Sure, the Mariners have beaten Tarik Skubal (or at least beaten the Tigers when Skubal is pitching) the last three times they have faced him, including in Game 2 of this series. But go ahead: Ask the Mariners if they’d like to face Skubal one more time, with elimination on the line. The Mariners have grabbed control of this series, with a feel-good story, a lineup that’s muscling up, stars stepping up at the biggest moments and a fanbase that’s having more fun than it has in decades.
And yet, if the Tigers can win one measly game, at home, they can put the best pitcher on the planet back on the mound with a chance to send them to the ALCS. The Tigers just need to find a way, any way, to make that happen. And it starts with Mize. Seven years ago, Detroit made him the No. 1 pick in the Draft, and while Mize’s big league career has been anything but smooth up to this point, he will have a chance on Wednesday to deliver on those sky-high expectations.
NLDS Game 3: Brewers at Cubs (MIL up 2-0)
5:08 p.m. ET, TBS
SP: Quinn Priester (MIL) vs. Jameson Taillon (CHC)
Now, perhaps the mystery of the “inconclusive” hamstring injury is as simple as “Jackson Chourio is 21; he just heals faster than us olds.” But hamstrings are not generally that simple, or easily mended, and in fact, when Chourio exited in the ninth inning of Game 2, it was because he “felt [the hamstring] again,” according to Murphy. Another day of rest should help, but this is still a day-to-day situation.
Considering Chourio looks like he’s about to go on one of his heaters at the plate, the Brewers obviously need him. Maybe the best thing to do is just finish off the sweep and give everybody, including Chourio and his hamstring, a few extra days off before the NLCS.
Cubs: Is this the last stand for Kyle Tucker?
When the Cubs traded for Tucker with one season to go until free agency, it was with the explicit understanding that while they’d like to have him in their long-term plans (who wouldn’t?), he was here to help them win in 2025 — right now. As they face elimination, that “right now” is in serious danger of turning into “too late” or even “never.”
Tucker’s injuries derailed most of his second half and because he, according to manager Craig Counsell, still can’t play the field, the Cubs have to put him at DH, which is causing issues up and down the lineup. That all would be worth it if Tucker were hitting. But he isn’t so far: 0-for-6 in this series, and 3-for-17 overall this postseason. This has also been a theme to Tucker’s career. In 69 postseason games, he’s a .226 hitter with an OPS nearly 200 points below his regular season number.
It is very possible, perhaps even likely, that Wednesday could be the last time Tucker plays in a Cubs uniform. The key to Chicago’s season (and Tucker’s tenure with the team) continuing may be for him to find his groove, and fast.
ALDS Game 4: Blue Jays at Yankees (TOR up 2-1)
7:08 p.m. ET, FS1
SP: Louis Varland (TOR) vs. Cam Schlittler (NYY)
Blue Jays: How can they cobble together 27 outs?
The Jays didn’t include Max Scherzer on the playoff roster, and you can absolutely understand why: He had a 10.20 ERA in his four September starts and gave up seven runs in two-thirds of an inning against the Royals in a game the Jays lost 20-1. It has been rough of late for the likely future Hall of Famer. But they’ve gotta wish they had him right now, if just for the possibility of some bulk innings. Toronto announced Tuesday night that Louis Varland will start Game 4 as manager John Schneider will need to concoct some sort of bullpen game. That would be stressful enough — given the Yankees’ offense, with Aaron Judge seemingly now locked in — but remember, the Jays also just used seven pitchers in Game 3 (including Varland).
Now, none of those pitchers — apart from starter Shane Bieber — threw more than 20 pitches (Varland, in fact, hit the 20-pitch mark while also surrendering the game-tying homer to Judge in the fourth and the go-ahead homer by Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the fifth), so it’s not like none of them can go again, but the fear about the Jays heading into this series was always that they might run out of arms. Trey Yesavage could theoretically pitch an inning just two days after his terrific start, but then again, he could be handy behind Kevin Gausman in a potential Game 5. But the best way to avoid having to worry about that is by making sure there is no Game 5. How many pitchers won’t be used in the Jays’ attempt to avoid it? Is the answer as simple as “none of them?”
Yankees: Is Schlittler ready to be the savior, again?
The Cam Schlittler story is one of the things we love about sports. He’s a kid with hardly any experience. He’s suddenly a star for the Yankees, one who grew up a Red Sox fan and just beat the Red Sox — dominated them, really — in a win-or-go-home Wild Card Series Game 3. He has a massive arm, he has no idea he’s supposed to be scared and, yes, he has a funny name that terrifies any live-TV broadcaster who has to say it. And he’s all of these things for the biggest brand name in baseball, and maybe all of sports, a team that has gone 16 years without winning a World Series, which is basically 160 years for any other franchise.
The Yankees hardly ever have guys like this, and that’s one of the things that’s so fun about it. But it is one thing to be an inspiring story. It’s another to be the one who has to come through with the entire season — and perhaps many people’s jobs — all on the line. Fair or not, this season will be seen as a failure if the Yankees don’t win the World Series, let alone get out of the ALDS against the division rival Jays. Which means Schlittler isn’t just a fun story anymore: He’s the only way forward. Good luck, kid.
NLDS Game 3: Phillies at Dodgers (LAD up 2-0)
9:08 p.m. ET, TBS
SP: Aaron Nola (PHI) vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD)
Phillies: Is this really going to be how it ends?
The notion that the veteran Phillies are perpetually on their last legs, that this group is running out of time to win that elusive title, is always a little bit overstated. Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Ranger Suárez are set to become free agents after this season, but most of the key pieces of the roster are under control through at least 2026, if not longer. (Bryce Harper, as one example, is signed through 2031 and Trea Turner is signed for two years after that.) They’re probably going to be good again next year, and they’ll be just as invested in winning a World Series then.
But it is undeniable that there’s a fine line between “veteran team” and “old team,” and the Phillies are skirting that line more and more every year. This was actually an ideal year for the Phillies to make a run: They pulled away for the NL East title (and locked down a first-round bye and NLDS home field) in a year when the Braves never launched and the Mets collapsed down the stretch. They got a breakthrough year from Cristopher Sánchez and their bullpen is, theoretically anyway, stronger than it has been in many a moon. And yet here they are, down 2-0 to the Dodgers, after two crushing home losses, in danger of being swept. Getting this series back to Philly for Game 5 is going to be a heavy lift.
Dodgers: Is this the team they’ve been building for all year?
You might not remember this, but during Spring Training, the primary conversation topic about the Dodgers was whether they would break the single-season wins record. (I actually argued in April that they wouldn’t and it was kind of a controversial notion!) Not only did they not break the record, they didn’t even get a first-round bye. This season, the Dodgers have dealt with injuries, down seasons from veterans and general pitching chaos, and at times they looked listless and suffering from a little bit of a World Series hangover.
And yet here they are, not only having a chance to win their fifth straight game to open this postseason and advance to the NLCS, but to do so with the team looking as healthy and locked in as it has all season. (Bullpen issues aside, that is.) Shohei Ohtani is healthy at the plate and on the mound. Roki Sasaki is a bullpen weapon. Blake Snell is dominant. Will Smith is back in the lineup. Mookie Betts looks like Mookie Betts again.
Remember, the Dodgers, last year, had all sorts of injury issues (even with Ohtani!) in the postseason. They look mostly healthy now, with a starting rotation that has figured itself out and a lineup that has its All-Stars back. This looks like a team that could win 117 games. But now they only have to win nine more.
