Daulton Varsho sits for second straight game

The 36-year-old right-hander was brilliant his last time out, allowing just one run over 5 2/3 innings in a victory over the Guardians in Game 4 of the ALCS. It will be the first time in his career that Martinez has pitched in a World Series contest. Historically, the Brewers haven’t had a great deal of success against him, though William Contreras is 5-for-18 (.278) with a pair of homers and a double. He’ll be opposed by Brewers’ ace Jacob Misiorowski with the entire baseball world watching on Friday night.

The 35-year-old Garver, who finished out the season in Triple-A for the Yankees after being let go by the Mariners in August, might stay in the game as a coach or in a TV role. The backstop played in 701 major league games for the Twins, Rangers and Mariners after debuting in 2017, hitting .229/.325/.432 with 110 homers in 2,498 plate appearances. His best season came in 2019, when he hit .273/.365/.630 with 31 homers in 359 plate appearance for the Twins. He had three homers and 14 RBI in 14 games during the 2023 postseason to help the Rangers win the World Series.

After spending most of the previous four years serving as the Nationals’ backup catcher, Adams, 30, was stuck in Triple-A for the duration of the 2026 season, hitting .273/.389/.506 with 16 homers in 82 games while Drew Millas and then Harry Ford played behind Keibert Ruiz. His bat has always been intriguing — he was literally fourth in the majors in average bat speed in 2025 behind Giancarlo Stanton, Oneil Cruz and Junior Caminero — but he’s produced only a modest .211/.287/.354 line in 849 career plate appearances in the majors, and his defense behind the plate has typically graded out quite poorly. He’ll likely enter the spring third or fourth on the depth chart at catcher for the Red Sox.

Woodruff, out since June after a shoulder setback, resumed facing hitters on Tuesday. The Brewers are concerned that Woodruff would likely be unable to be replaced on the World Series roster if he aggravates something while pitching. He’d probably be limited to one- or two-inning appearances if he does make the cut for the roster.

He’ll be ready for spring training, but this obviously takes winter ball out of the mix for him. The 23-year-old Watson made his major league debut this year, hitting .239/.264/.341 with a 32/3 K/BB and nine steals in 91 plate appearances in June and July. He finished up at .247/.361/.455 with 19 homers and 24 steals in 98 games in Triple-A.

The Dodgers expect that it’ll be about nine months before Rushing is ready to return as a catcher, putting him in play for the second half of next season. He’ll be able to hit well before that, but unless something goes wrong for Shohei Ohtani, it seems unlikely that the Dodgers will bring him back as a bench bat before he’s ready to catch.

Klein is expected to be ready for spring training after having a bone chip removed and a spur shaved down. The 26-year-old righty had a 3.67 ERA in 41 2/3 innings before missing the final two months of the season.

So, the new GM will get his own choice of manager following the dismissal of Kurt Suzuki. Mozeliak will apparently be stepping aside when a new GM is in place. The former Cardinals GM was hired in June after Perry Minasian was let go, signing a contract for the remainder of the 2026 season.

Avoiding the full Tommy John would likely allow Rushing to resume hitting in spring training and catching during the first half of the season. The Dodgers can plug in Hunter Feduccia as Will Smith’s backup while Rushing rehabs, but they might want to try to do better.

He’ll be pitching on 11 days’ rest after throwing 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball in Game 1 of the NLCS. The Brewers have won each of Misiorowski’s last 11 starts, including the final nine of the regular season and his Game 1 outings against the Padres and Dodgers.