Wednesday, September 23
Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today’s edition is brought to you by David Adler.
OK, so the Yankees won’t have Aaron Judge for the Wild Card Series. Now what?
It’s not like they’re going to roll over in the playoffs just because they don’t have him in the lineup. They’ve been playing most of the season without Judge already, and here they are, right back in the playoffs.
But missing your best hitter — maybe the best hitter — obviously hurts. We’re not going to sugarcoat that. Even if Judge can return for the Division Series or later rounds, it’s just much tougher to get through a postseason series without Judge than with Judge.
So how can the Bronx Bombers make a run even without their captain and three-time MVP? Yankees beat reporter Bryan Hoch rattled off five big reasons today, and we want to piggyback off that.
Here are three hitters who will have to step up if the Yankees are going to win without Judge:
1) Ben Rice
With no Judge in the lineup, Rice has to be The Guy. And he’s shown all year that he can lead this lineup. His .884 OPS this season is by far the best of any healthy Yankees hitter — Cody Bellinger is next at .779.
But Rice will still need to carry that 39-homer, 95-RBI bat into October. Last year, after his breakout regular season, Rice didn’t have the best playoffs, batting .222 in six games — but he did hit a big home run in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.
2) Paul Goldschmidt
Especially in the first round, Goldy could have a big chance to step up. If the Yankees do indeed end up in a rematch against the Red Sox, they’d have to face two good lefty starters in a three-game series in Payton Tolle and Ranger Suarez … not to mention Aroldis Chapman and maybe even Garrett Crochet out of the bullpen. And against lefties, Goldschmidt is the Yankees’ secret weapon.
The 39-year-old former MVP has had a resurgence as a platoon bat this season. Goldschmidt is batting .307 with 11 home runs and a .990 OPS in 179 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers. He’s one of the best lefty mashers in the league. As he tries to win that elusive World Series late in his career, this will be Goldschmidt’s opportunity to make a difference.
3) Spencer Jones
If there’s anyone who can literally step into Judge’s shoes, it’s Jones. The 6-foot-7 rookie slugger provides some of the biggest thump in this Yankees lineup. As long as Judge is out, he should have the chance to provide some big swings in his first career postseason.
The lefty-swinging Jones might only be in the lineup against right-handed pitchers, but the Yankees won’t face all southpaws, and when Jones is in there he can punish a baseball. He has the fastest bat speed in the Yankees lineup when Judge and Giancarlo Stanton aren’t playing. Jones is averaging an elite 77.1 mph, which is top-10 in the Majors.
BIGGEST GAMES OF THE NIGHT
The playoff picture is getting clearer by the day, but there’s still plenty to be decided. Multiple races are still up in the air, and five teams could potentially clinch a playoff spot tonight. Keep an eye on these games.
Brewers at Phillies (6:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
The Brewers clinched a bye and home-field advantage in the NLDS yesterday despite dropping the series opener to Philadelphia. That Phillies win gives them the chance to clinch a postseason berth today. The Phils need a win against the Brewers and either a D-backs loss to the Rockies or a Padres loss to the Dodgers.
Guardians at Red Sox (7:10 p.m. ET, ESPN)
The Guardians have now won six games in a row, including yesterday’s opener against the Red Sox. That win kept them a game ahead of the White Sox in the AL Central race, and tonight — with a great pitching matchup on tap in Foster Griffin vs. Sonny Gray — the Guards have a chance to clinch a playoff spot. If they win and either the Rangers lose to the Mets or the Astros lose to the Mariners, they’re in.
Marlins at Cubs (7:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
Of all the teams that clinch a playoff spot today, the Cubs have the most straightforward path. They just need to win. Or even if they don’t, they still clinch if the D-backs lose. We’re also on PCA 40-40 watch — with 45 home runs and 39 stolen bases, Pete Crow-Armstrong just needs one more steal to become the seventh member of the 40-40 club.
Mets at Rangers (8:05 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
The Rangers’ loss to the Mets yesterday dropped them into a tie with the Astros for first place in the AL West. But Houston owns the tiebreaker against them, so now the Rangers have to outwin the Astros over their final five games to win the division … and quite possibly to make the playoffs at all, since they’re three games back of the White Sox for the third Wild Card spot.
Astros at Mariners (10:10 p.m. ET, ESPN)
The ‘Stros now control their own playoff destiny. After a big win last night, the Astros now hold the edge in the AL West by virtue of their tiebreaker over Texas. And Yordan Alvarez’s Triple Crown quest is back on — he smashed his 41st home run of the season yesterday to tie Junior Caminero for the AL lead (Pete Alonso is now also tied with them after a homer off Max Scherzer today), and drove in three runs to stay within striking distance of Alonso in the RBI column.
WILD CARD 3-WAY TIE? HERE’S WHAT HAPPENS
The NL Wild Card race is set up for a fun — but confusing — photo finish. We might get a three-way tie! So let’s lay out exactly what would happen, if that happens.
Here’s what the standings look like today:
The Cubs, Phillies and Padres all have the same record. So… what’s the playoff seeding if things stay that way?
Here’s how a three-team tiebreaker would shake out. It’s actually simpler than you might think.
Step 1: The Cubs are the top Wild Card team.
Because the Cubs won their season series against BOTH of the other two teams (they went 5-1 against the Padres and 6-1 against the Phillies), they’d be the No. 4 seed in the NL playoffs and have home-field advantage in the Wild Card Series over the No. 5 seed.
Step 2: The Phillies are the second Wild Card team.
That No. 5 seed? The Phillies. Once you remove the Cubs from the tiebreaker, it’s simply a head-to-head between the other two teams. Philadelphia swept the season series against the Padres, 6-0, so they’d face the Cubs in the Wild Card round.
Step 3: The Padres are the final Wild Card team.
That leaves the Padres as the No. 6 seed. They’d face the No. 3 seed in the first round of the playoffs — aka, the NL division winner with the worst record. That’s probably the Braves, who are way behind the Dodgers (the Brewers have already clinched one of the byes).
OHTANI SET TO RETURN
This was already a fun Padres-Dodgers series, between the division rivalry and both teams jockeying for playoff position (the Dodgers are close to clinching a bye; the Padres are close to clinching a Wild Card).
And now Shohei Ohtani is coming back.
Ohtani is expected to return tonight (10:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) after a minimum-length stint on the injured list due to his lingering left knee and right biceps issues.
Ohtani might not be in his usual leadoff spot right away, with the Dodgers facing a tough lefty in Robbie Ray, but just having the reigning MVP back in the lineup in any capacity will be a welcome boost for the defending champs as they approach the postseason.
In case you forgot, Ohtani will only be hitting the rest of the way — his attempt to return as a pitcher was derailed by flareups of his injuries. But even one-way Ohtani is enough to lead a team to a World Series championship, as we saw in 2024.
Dodgers beat reporter Sonja Chen has more >>
QUEENS CROWNED WPBL CHAMPS
Your inaugural Women’s Professional Baseball League champions are … the Los Angeles Queens!
The Queens beat the San Francisco Firebells in the winner-take-all Game 5 of the WPBL championship series last night to clinch the new league’s first title.
L.A. was led by superstar Ayami Sato, who pitched a shutout — the first complete game in WPBL history — to win her team the championship. Sato took home MVP honors thanks to her clutch performance.
“I felt today’s game went really slow because I just wanted to feel every single moment,” Sato said after the game through her partner and translator, Mayo Hirano. “I wanted to enjoy my baseball with the best teammates in the world. My mind and my pitching connected successfully, and we won.”
Michael Clair has the full story here >>
© 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
Please review our Privacy Policy.
You (peterhovis@icloud.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com.
Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.
Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
