Rangers place Michel Otañez on IL with illness

Grisham has been on the injured list with a hamstring strain since September 4th. The outfielder hit just .170/.261/.352 in 45 games since the All-Star break. With the Red Sox also set to use multiple left-handed starters, it remains to be seen if Grisham will be a regular starter for the Yankees in this series.

Despite Judge claiming that he was intending to play, it always seemed like a long shot. The 34-year-old has a calf strain that was expected to sideline him for 2-6 weeks, and he had not done any running in the days leading up to the announcement. Judge will continue to rehab and almost assuredly will be on the Yankees roster for the Divisional series, if they can get there.

He struck out against Ryan Weathers. Judge didn’t do any running during the live BP or afterwards. It seems like it would be quite the roll of the dice to put him on the Wild Card roster 13 days after he suffered a calf strain.

Smith started one of his 18 appearances after joining the White Sox in August, pitching two scoreless innings against the Pirates. He topped out at three innings in relief against the Twins on Sept. 6 and had a 1.29 ERA in 28 innings overall.

With Kevin Gausman’s status a little bit up in the air, Boyd seemed like the one certainty to get a start for the Cubs in the Wild Card. He’ll be pitching on four days’ rest after limiting the Marlins to one run over seven innings last time out. He also pitched Game 1 of last year’s Wild Card against the Padres, allowing one run over 4 1/3 innings in what turned into a 3-1 win for the Cubs.

Seager was limited to 102 games this year, but the elbow never kept him out. Still, it might have had something to do with his career worst .227/.312/.424 line. Seager could have surgery and still be ready in plenty of time for spring training.

There was little doubt Blubaugh would pitch tomorrow, but it’s a little surprising to see him get the ball first, just because that never happened all year. He led the majors with 96 relief innings, finishing with a 3.66 ERA in his 64 appearances. He’s been used in shorter stints lately than he was early on, so the Astros would be pushing it if they asked for more than two innings from him. The only two times he completed three innings both took place in May.

Thomas, trying to make his way back from an intercostal strain, resumed hitting last week and was seen running in the outfield today. Still, he won’t be activated prior to the NLDS.

Hampton was previously claimed off waivers from the Yankees a couple of weeks ago. He was regarded as one of that team’s top prospects before undergoing Tommy John surgery in Feb. 2025. He returned to the mound in May, but he struggled mightily in posting an 8.18 ERA in 55 innings, which is why he’s bouncing around like this.

The versatile Wade, 31, debuted in 2017 and spent parts of nine years in the majors with the Yankees, Angels, A’s and Padres, hitting .216/.294/.284 with seven homers and 51 steals in 992 plate appearances. He was with the Rangers this spring, but he failed to make the team, and he never signed with another club after being released in mid-April.