Luis García Jr. absent from Saturday’s lineup

Messick, who hails from nearby Plant City, Florida, allowed four runs over 6 2/3 innings in a pair of ALDS starts against the White Sox to kick off his postseason career. The 25-year-old southpaw was the best rookie pitcher in baseball this past season, posting a stellar 2.56 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 193/49 K/BB ratio across 186 1/3 innings over 32 starts.

Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters that they’ll go game-by-game with their entire pitching staff for the remainder of the series following Peralta’s outing. The 30-year-old former Brewers ace limited the Yankees to one run over 4 2/3 innings during his Tampa Bay playoff debut last week.

Vilade posted an .818 OPS against southpaws during the regular season and will get a chance to face Guardians starter Foster Griffin at Tropicana Field to kick off the best-of-seven showdown. The 27-year-old lefty-masher blasted a solo homer off Yankees ace Max Fried during Tampa Bay’s series-clinching victory last week. Here’s the full lineup: Yandy Díaz (DH), Jonathan Aranda (1B), Junior Caminero (3B), Vilade (LF), Victor Mesa Jr. (RF), Jonny DeLuca (CF), Ben Williamson (2B), Taylor Walls (SS) and Nick Fortes (C).

Ramírez served as Cleveland’s primary offensive catalyst, sparking a memorable comeback to take down the division-rival White Sox in a decisive Game 5 to reach the ALCS for the first time since 2016. The 34-year-old franchise cornerstone hit .417 (5-for-12) with two homers and seven RBI during the final three games of the series. They’ll face a tough challenge against Rays ace Drew Rasmussen at Tropicana Field to kick off the best-of-seven series. Here’s the full lineup: Steven Kwan (LF), Ramírez (3B), Chase DeLauter (RF), Jo Adell (DH), Nathaniel Lowe (1B), Travis Bazzana (2B), Patrick Bailey (C), Petey Halpin (CF) and Brayan Rocchio (SS).

It’s Edman’s first start in four games. Kiké Hernández is getting bumped to make room. The lineup: SS Mookie Betts, 1B Freddie Freeman, OF Teoscar Hernández, C Will Smith, 3B Max Muncy, CF Andy Pages, RF Kyle Tucker and 2B Edman.

Cooper Pratt has started all six games at shortstop so far, leaving Ortiz and Hamilton to divvy up only the starts at third. Ortiz is thus far 1-for-13, while Hamilton is 1-for-4. The Brewers lineup tonight: LF Jackson Chourio, 2B Brice Turang, C William Contreras, 1B Jake Bauers, DH Christian Yelich, CF Garrett Mitchell, SS Pratt, RF Sal Frelick and 3B Hamilton.

He’ll be replacing Pedro Guerrero. Lawson was hired by the Marlins back in July as a roving hitting coach. He spent 2022 and the first half of 2023 as a hitting coach for the Yankees and then worked for the Red Sox in 2024 and ’25 before being fired in the team’s purge this April.

The Guardians will carry one more pitcher in this series than they did against the White Sox, choosing Cecconi over Daniel Schneemann. The move makes sense considering it’s a best-of-seven series, and Cleveland’s pitching staff was worn down in the series against Chicago. Cecconi will likely just work in long relief.

The Rays prospect allowed three runs on two hits in 5 1/3 innings with a 7/6 K/BB ratio after being promoted from the minor leagues. Hopkins is a high-upside prospect with plenty of strikeout upside, but it’s likely the Rays will keep him in low-leverage innings in his playoff debut. He will replace Garrett Cleavinger on the roster.

McClanahan is on the 15-day injured list with forearm tightness, but Cash said that the team “didn’t want to further push [him] after a solid season with a hefty workload.” McClanahan missed the entire 2024 and 2025 seasons while recovering from Tommy John surgery and a subsequent nerve issue. He returned in 2026 and threw 118 innings, which the Rays apparently felt was enough of a workload that they decided to shut him down. On one hand, it does make sense that they wouldn’t want to push him too much in his first year back, but, on the other hand, McClanahan has dealt with enough injuries that we’re a little skeptical that he’s truly fully healthy. The team claims he’ll be ready for spring training, so we can see how he looks then before we have to make any decisions in fantasy drafts.