Cam Smith on bench for second straight game

The 48-year-old Reith played 13 years of professional baseball, including three in the big leagues with the Reds as a reliever. He has spent the past five seasons as the pitching coach for Triple-A Durham in the Rays’ organization. This will be Reith’s first stint on a major league coaching staff, and it will be interesting to see what, if any, organizational approaches he brings over from Tampa Bay, where he coached current Twins starters Taj Bradley and Joe Ryan.

Povich was allegedly “pitching through significant pain down the stretch.” He was optioned to the minors in the middle of September after posting a 4.38 ERA in 37 MLB innings. Povich is expected to be ready for spring training, and he has a shot at earning a spot in the starting rotation.

Melton was placed on the injured list on September 21st with right arm fatigue and had reportedly been dealing with an “achy” arm for a few weeks. Unsurprisingly, that coincided with a major dip in production from the 25-year-old. The Tigers said that “Melton’s medical evaluation found no issues,” and he will head into the offseason as a fully healthy pitcher with a normal routine. This was Melton’s largest MLB sample yet, but he did throw 120 innings split between the minors and majors last season, so it’s at least a little concerning that his arm didn’t feel right at the end of the year. He will be a name to monitor in spring training.

By many metrics, Turner was one of the worst defensive shortstops in baseball in 2026. While 2026 was easily the worst defensive season of his career and could be an outlier, Turner has had one positive Defensive Runs Saved season since 2021 and no positive seasons by Outs Above Average since 2019. The Phillies could move Bryson Stott to shortstop and try Turner at second base if they were eventually looking to make a defensive change.

The lefty reliever pitched to a 3.48 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 64/18 K/BB ratio in 67 1/3 innings this season. He will remain a key piece in the bridge to Jhoan Duran in 2027.

Mendoza was let go by the Mets at the end of June after posting a 34-47 record to start the season. He was 206-199 (.509 winning percentage) in his two-plus years with the Mets, but the team fell short of expectations. He had a sterling reputation as a coach with the Yankes prior to taking the Mets job and is a strong addition to the Phillies staff.

Palacios sat the first two games with Cleveland throwing left-handed pitchers in both. Ben Williamson will not shift back to the bench, but the rest of the Rays’ lineup remains the same.

Bailey was not in the starting lineup for Game 2, but he drew a walk as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. The 27-year-old has reached a new offensive height with a more pull-centric approach in Cleveland. He has gone 7-for-20 with two home runs, five RBI, and a 5/2 K/BB ratio so far this postseason.

Both players “politely declined,” and the Phillies went on to hire Don Mattingly to a two-year deal. According to Stark’s sources, “the Phillies’ interest was serious enough that the team’s president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, formally requested permission from the Los Angeles Dodgers to contact Utley and Ibanez, both of whom work for the team.” That makes three known candidates, along with Alex Cora, who turned down the opportunity before the team went back to Mattingly.

Bauers had another long at-bat that saw him foul off several middle-middle pitches before pulverizing a 3-2 cookie from Blake Snell to give the Brewers the 3-2 lead. The 31-year-old veteran has his first homer of the postseason, but he’s been excellent in the playoffs thus far while driving in three runs. Bauers and the Brewers are now one win away from their first trip to the World Series as a National League team, and can reach that accomplishment with a win Thursday in Game 4.