Kaelen Culpepper dealing with glute strain

This seemed like a given after Espada was not extended during the season and then met with the Mariners about their managerial opening earlier this week. In addition to Espada, catching coach Tim Cossins, game plan coordinator Tommy Kawamura, third-base coach Tony Perezchica, assistant hitting coach Anthony Iapoce and assistant pitching coach Ethan Katz will not return to the Astros next season.

Rodríguez last pitched on August 19th 2025, before experiencing soreness in his elbow and ultimately undergoing Tommy John surgery. He spent this entire year rehabbing and is now back on the mound in the Arizona Fall League. His four-seamer touched 96 mph and sat 95 mph in this outing, which is down from the 97.4 mph that he averaged in 2025, but it’s just nice to see him healthy and pitching. He’ll likely get a few more AFL outings, but there is a chance he could work himself into the 9th inning conversation for the Giants in 2027 with a good spring training.

Irish had knee surgery back in July that ended his minor league season after hitting .286/.388/.528 with 16 homers and 20 steals in 343 plate appearances for High-A Frederick. The Orioles want him to make up for those lost at-bats in the fall league, and Irish has been crushing the ball, leading the AFL in hits and home runs. He’s now 11-for-26 (.423) with two home runs, five RBI, and two steals.

Bonemer, who had started playing the outfield this fall, started in left field in this one. The 43rd overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft hit .251/.380/.550 with 37 home runs, 92 RBI, and 17 steals across two levels this season, ending the year with 71 games at Double-A. He will likely begin the season at Double-A, but the White Sox have shown a willingness to be aggressive with their prospects, so there is a chance that we could see Bonemer up in Triple-A early in the season, which would open up the possibility for him to make his MLB debut at some point in 2027.

Mattingly had his interim manager tag expire two weeks ago when the Phillies were eliminated from the postseason, and there were reports that the team reached out, again, to Alex Cora to offer him the manager job. Cora reportedly declined, and so the Phillies appear to have gone back to Mattingly. The former Yankees great led the Phillies to a 79-55 record after taking over managerial duties in late April; however, the team collapsed in September and almost missed the postseason. The 65-year-old, who happens to be the father of Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly, will begin the season on a two-year deal, carrying him through the 2028 season.

This is a surprise, but Nick Martinez did leave his ALDS start after taking an Anthony Volpe liner off his lower back. Jax will be making his first ever postseason start. He allowed one run and struck out four over two innings in his one relief appearance last week against the Yankees. Jax had a 2.41 ERA and a 39/9 K/BB over 37 1/3 innings in his final eight starts of the regular season.

Peralta allowed four hits, walked two and struck out six while topping out at 99.4 mph on the radar gun tonight. His 96.9 mph average with his fastball was 2.6 mph better than his mark from the regular season. Including his two postseason outings, he’s gone eight straight starts without allowing more than one run. The ALCS will resume in Cleveland on Wednesday, with Griffin Jax — not Nick Martinez — and Gavin Williams slated to start.

Baker has yet to allow a hit while pitching four scoreless innings and earning for saves this postseason. That his velocity is down about two mph just hasn’t mattered yet.

All of the runs came after a José Ramírez error in the fourth. Even before the error, Messick barely missed out on a double play ball from the second batter of the inning — Victor Mesa Jr. was originally called out at first but it was overturned on replay — and then got another chopper that would have resulted in an out if it wasn’t Chandler Simpson running. The error scored one run and then a single from Liam Hicks plated two. It’s Messick’s second loss in three postseason starts, though this was his best performance of the three.

Hicks made it a 3-0 game with his two-run single off Parker Messick in the fourth. Hicks usually sits against lefties and didn’t start Game 1 against Foster Griffin, but he delivered in a rare opportunity tonight. He was 4-for-24 with one extra-base hit versus southpaws over the final two months of the regular season after being acquired from the Marlins.