Colson Montgomery hits ninth in Game 1

No surprises here, especially as the Braves have had more difficulty with left-handers this season. Skubal made 10 starts for the Dodgers following the mid-season trade from the Tigers, going 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and a 70/13 K/BB ratio across 62 innings of work. He has been brilliant in his postseason career as well, posting a 2.04 ERA and 0.73 WHIP with a 56/6 K/BB ratio in just 39 2/3 frames.

We’ll give him the /OF slash because the Mariners did, but he belongs at first base, and he missed the final five weeks of this year because of a right shoulder dislocation he suffered while diving in the outfield. Toglia is 28 with a .198/.275/.385 line and a 74 OPS+ in 1,095 major league plate appearances, all except the last 28 of which came with the Rockies. He does offer legitimate power, but he seems more like a minor league signing than someone who should take up a 40-man spot all winter.

Interesting. Because of the extra off day built into the ALDS schedule, teams only need three starters. The Yankees, though, seem set to use four anyway. They could then pick between Gerrit Cole on six days’ rest or Cam Schlittler on four days’ rest in a potential Game 5.

It’s unclear if Ortiz will be a full-time player against the Padres. If not, that would mean a fair amount of David Hamilton at third base.

The call might go down to the wire Saturday morning. Judge hasn’t played since suffering a calf strain on Sept. 16.

Gasper is likely to need 4-6 months to recover, putting his availability for the beginning of 2027 in some doubt. Still, he shouldn’t have to worry about his job this winter after bouncing around on the waiver wire last year. He hit .251/.357/.466 with 10 homers in 225 plate appearances this season.

Tarik Skubal is expected to start Game 1, though the Dodgers still haven’t announced it. Yamamoto probably wouldn’t come back on Sunday after throwing Wednesday, so Blake Snell figures to get the Game 2 start. That’d leave Tyler Glasnow set up for Game 4 and Skubal for Game 5.

Lane Thomas, who finished up on the IL with an intercostal strain, is a possibility to be activated. The pitchers, though, will have to wait for a potential NLCS. Elder is coming off knee surgery and hoped to be ready for the series. Pérez missed the end of the season with a back strain.

It sounds like the Rays could have both Wells and Garrett Cleavinger, also on the IL with forearm tightness, on the ALDS roster against the Yankees, which would be big. Wells had a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings for the Rays after arriving from Baltimore at the deadline.

Simpson missed the final two games of the regular season after fouling a ball off his foot last Friday. He should be in the lineup against Gerrit Cole on Saturday.