Austin Riley hits go-ahead homer in Game 1 win

Given the severity of the injury, it’s awfully impressive that Whitlock was able to continue pitching — and pitch as well as he was — down the stretch and into the postseason for the Red Sox. The 30-year-old hurler isn’t expected to require surgery, but he will be in a walking boot for the next 4-6 weeks while the injury heals. Whitlock should still be able to go through his regular off-season routine and should be a full participant at the start of spring training.

Rojas exited Game 3 of the NLDS due to pain in his lower back and sat out Game 4 on Wednesday. While he has progressed steadily during their time off, he’s still not ready to return and could potentially be left off of the Dodgers’ roster for their NLCS battle against the Brewers. Expect the Dodgers to make a final decision on his status on Sunday.

That was the expectation all along, but it has now been confirmed. Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start in Game 2 with Blake Snell expected to start in Game 3. Skubal delivered a dominant performance in his Dodgers’ postseason debut, striking out seven batters over six innings of one-run ball in a victory over the Braves in Game 1 of the NLDS.

The Guardians’ ace came out of the bullpen in Game 4 on Thursday, throwing 18 pitches to record the final three outs. Williams racked up 11 strikeouts over five innings of two-run baseball as the Guardians dropped Game 2 on Monday. It’ll be an all hands on deck situation in an elimination game for the Guardians, with Williams giving them everything that he possibly can before turning the ball over to the bullpen on Saturday.

There had been some rumblings that the 37-year-old hurler was mulling retirement but ultimately, it became a relatively easy decision. Gray noted, “My family and I have talked about it and it’s an easy decision... I still want to win a World Series, whether that is [with] Boston or with whoever wants me.” He’s expected to decline his side of his $30 million mutual option with the Red Sox and should be very highly sought after in free agency this winter.

Jung suffered a right-hand fracture during the final week of September when he was drilled by a 95-mph fastball from Joe Ryan. He’ll still need some time to recover, but it’s not expected to interfere with his regular off-season routine. Expect the 28-year-old infielder to be fully recovered and ready to go for the start of spring training.

The procedure isn’t expected to interfere with Jansen’s regular offseason routine, and the 31-year-old backstop should be ready to go for the start of spring training. Jansen slashed just .203/.296/.381 with eight homers and 26 RBI in 227 plate appearances with the Rangers during the 2026 campaign.

The 32-year-old shortstop will have plenty of time to recover from the procedure and still be ready for the start of spring training. While the elbow injury didn’t force him to miss any time in 2026, it may have played a role in his underwhelming .227/.312/.424 slash line.

The 31-year-old right-hander stated, “San Diego’s been—been incredible for me, and it’s all the way across the country from home... But now I feel like I have a—a second home on the West Coast, so it’s been awesome. And yeah, I hope to—hope to continue.” King holds a $28 million player option ($5 million buyout) for the 2027 season. He’s almost certain to opt out of that and land a multi-year deal with a much higher AAV. While the Padres will almost assuredly love to bring him back, there’s going to be plenty of competition for his services on the open market and they’ll need to ante up in order to put themselves in the mix.

Burke was available in the pen Thursday, but he wasn’t used. That meant the only question for Saturday was whether he’d start or again work as a bulk reliever. He did the latter in the Game 2 victory, coming in during the third inning and allowing one run over 5 1/3 innings.