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Well, excuse the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies for crashing the party.

The 101-win Mets, with a rotation featuring Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom and their most wins in a regular season since 1986? Gone from these MLB playoffs.

The 101-win Braves, trying to defend their World Series championship with a better, deeper team than last season? Gone in a blitz of Phillies power.

The all-powerful, almighty Dodgers, winners of 111 games, the most in the National League since 1906? Gone in a blitz of blistering Padres fastballs.

The first season with six playoff teams in the National League proved to be as chaotic as a system like this can allow it to be. Maybe you love it. Maybe you loathe it. (Dodgers fans definitely loathe it.) Padres and Phillies fans will take it, though, as their teams meet in the most improbable matchup in National League Championship Series history. That’s not an exaggeration — this is the first NLCS between two teams with fewer than 90 wins. But it’s not lacking in star power, not with Bryce Harper and Aaron Nola and Manny Machado and Juan Soto.

Also of note: The condensed playoff schedule means the best-of-seven series will be played over eight days rather than the usual nine, with an off day after only Game 2. That will put a little added pressure on the pitching staffs and perhaps force the managers to dig a little deeper than usual into their starting rotations.

Ahead of Game 1, David Schoenfield takes a look at each team and our ESPN experts make their picks.

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Phillies | Padres | Our picks


Why they can move on: Their offense took it to the Braves, scoring seven, nine and eight runs in their three victories. In a postseason where generating offense has been difficult to impossible, the Phillies have put together big innings: six runs in the ninth inning to pull out Game 1 of the wild-card series against the St. Louis Cardinals and six runs in the third inning of Game 3 of the division series against the Braves, plus three other three-run innings. Of their six home runs, three have come with runners on base, including three-run homers from Rhys Hoskins and Brandon Marsh against Atlanta. Keep hitting those and you might see more bat slams.

Why they might not: The bullpen is still a work in progress for manager Rob Thomson. Zach Eflin, who didn’t start relieving until September and picked up his first career save late in the season, had first crack at ninth-inning duties and allowed seven hits and four runs in three innings. Luckily, the Phillies’ leads were big enough that it didn’t matter, and he did close out a 2-0 victory over the Cardinals cleanly. But in the clinching game against the Braves, Eflin was the setup guy to Seranthony Dominguez. Meanwhile, Jose Alvarado, who allowed just two home runs in the regular season, has served up two in the postseason.

Who’s hot: In 35 games after returning from the injured list in late August, Bryce Harper hit just .227/.335/.352 with three home runs. But he has three home runs and three doubles in six playoff games, including two blasts of more than 400 feet. A locked-in Harper is a beautiful sight for Phillies fans.

Who’s not: Kyle Schwarber, who led the NL with 46 home runs, is 1-for-20 with eight strikeouts in the postseason, and two of his three walks have been intentional.

How’s the defense? Still bad. Nick Castellanos made a diving catch in right field in the bottom of the ninth to help preserve a 7-6 victory in Game 1 against the Braves, but he and Schwarber remain big liabilities in the outfield corners — Castellanos is in the second percentile in Statcast’s outs above average and Schwarber is in the first. Alec Bohm is a problem at third base, and in the Phils’ only loss so far, Game 2 to the Braves, Hoskins butchered a ground ball that led to a couple of runs.

Final thought: Eliminating the Braves in four games puts the Philadelphia rotation back in order: Zack Wheeler will be ready to start Game 1, Aaron Nola on full rest for Game 2 and then Ranger Suarez for Game 3. But with the possibility of seven games in eight days, that means digging into the No. 4 (Noah Syndergaard) and probably the No. 5 (likely Bailey Falter) starters, which will further stress the thin bullpen. With an off day after Game 2, Wheeler would be lined up to go in Game 5, but Nola wouldn’t be on full rest until Game 7. If the series does go seven, though — the Phillies will like their chances with Nola. — Schoenfield


Why they can move on: Postseason success has become more and more about finding the hot bullpen — and manager Bob Melvin might have found it at exactly the right time. Robert Suarez, the 31-year-old rookie who spent his career in Mexico and Japan before signing with the Padres, has tossed six scoreless innings in the postseason, topping out at 101.5 mph. Veteran Luis Garcia has hit 101 mph in the postseason. Tim Hill can be a tough matchup for left-handed hitters. Most importantly, closer Josh Hader has rediscovered his mojo after a few horrific blowups earlier in the season with the Brewers and Padres (including a six-run outing in late August). He has allowed just one hit in 4 1/3 scoreless innings in the postseason and topped out at 100.8 mph. If you’re going to beat the Padres’ bullpen, you better be able to hit some high-octane heat.

Why they might not: You need to hit home runs to win in the postseason. So far, the Padres — who ranked just 12th in the NL in home runs in the regular season — have done that, hitting nine in seven games. But some of those have come from surprising sources, mostly notably three from Trent Grisham — a batter who hit .184 in the regular season. Juan Soto, who hit just six home runs in 52 games with the Padres, continues to search for his power stroke.

Who’s hot: Joe Musgrove and his ears. Red hot, to be precise. Musgrove made the All-Star team after a dominant first half in which he allowed a .205 average and .595 OPS, before batters hit .254 with a .758 OPS against him in the second half. He dominated the Mets with one hit — and one ear check — over seven scoreless innings in the wild-card series and then held the Dodgers to two runs in six innings in the division series.

Who’s not: The Padres’ rotation thins out after Yu Darvish, Musgrove and Blake Snell. Mike Clevinger drew the ball against the Dodgers in Game 1 and got knocked out in the third inning — this after a 6.52 ERA in September. Sean Manaea might get the next opportunity to start over Clevinger and then Melvin might have to rely heavily on his bullpen. Nick Martinez, a part-time starter during the season, can go multiple innings and might play a key role in the middle games of this series.

How’s the defense? Manny Machado has had an excellent postseason with a couple of home runs and vacuum cleaner defense at third base. Ha-Seong Kim is an underrated shortstop, and Grisham is arguably the best center fielder in the majors right now (99th percentile in outs above average). The big liability is Soto, who is a terrible right fielder — bad reads, below-average speed and seemingly indifferent to playing well out there. He does have a decent arm, but the defensive metrics (first percentile in outs above average) support the eye test. The Padres hope the ball doesn’t find him in key moments.

Final thought: The Padres’ master plan to dethrone the Dodgers didn’t materialize in the regular season — the Dodgers not only beat them by 22 games but won all six series. But the Padres won the one that counts the most and will now actually get home-field advantage in the NLCS over the Phillies. If the fans bring the same energy and noise they brought against the Dodgers, that’s a small factor in their favor. The bullpen is clicking on all cylinders and the top three starters are pitching well. This series could come down to pitching depth, and the Padres have the advantage there over the Phillies. — Schoenfield


Who will win?

Padres (7 votes), Phillies (5)

Tristan Cockcroft: Phillies in 6

MVP: Wheeler

The one thing we’ll all be talking about during this series: Either Austin Nola taking brother Aaron deep in his first at-bat in Game 2, or whether the Padres would’ve ultimately won had Fernando Tatis Jr. been available this postseason.

Bradford Doolittle: Phillies in 6

MVP: J.T. Realmuto

The one thing we’ll all be talking about: How Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski did it again, assembling a pennant winner with a big payroll and a roster that was incomplete but could flex its star power at the right time.

Alden Gonzalez: Padres in 6

MVP: Machado

The one thing we’ll all be talking about: How San Diego might really, truly be a baseball town.

Eric Karabell: Phillies in 6

MVP: Harper

The one thing we’ll all be talking about: Harper 1, Machado 0.

Tim Keown: Padres in 7

MVP: Machado

The one thing we’ll all be talking about: The improbable convergence of talent and cohesiveness that appeared almost out of nowhere and carried the Padres to the World Series.

Tim Kurkjian: Padres in 7

MVP: Machado

The one thing we’ll all be talking about: How the Padres — who, in early August, were supposed to be an offensive machine — won with great pitching.

Joon Lee: Padres in 7

MVP: Musgrove

The one thing we’ll all be talking about: The Padres’ roster depth, overcoming the suspension of Tatis Jr., and showing that getting aggressive at the trade deadline can be the difference between a wild-card exit and making the World Series.

Kiley McDaniel: Phillies in 7

MVP: Nola

The one thing we’ll all be talking about: The Dombrowski formula works again — and the 76ers/Eagles are good, too!

Buster Olney: Padres in 6

MVP: Soto

The one thing we’ll all be talking about: How owner Peter Seidler hoisted the Padres into the echelon of elite teams through his desire to win, giving the OK to expend resources to get Melvin, as well as players like Machado, Soto, Musgrove, Darvish and Hader — to name a few. Seidler changed the trajectory of the franchise.

Jeff Passan: Padres in 7

MVP: Soto

The one thing we’ll all be talking about: The last time the Padres made a World Series, nearly a quarter-century ago, where they were promptly swept by the Yankees. For this team to go all-in and make it to the Fall Classic, even without Tatis Jr., is not just a phenomenal outcome for this season but a portent of a great future.

Jesse Rogers: Phillies in 6

MVP: Harper

The one thing we’ll all be talking about: The Phillies’ starting staff — it’s as good as it comes, and even with some question marks in Philadelphia’s bullpen, the Padres won’t score much in the series.

Schoenfield: Padres in 6

MVP: Machado

The one thing we’ll all be talking about: The Padres’ bullpen. Luis Garcia, Suarez and Hader were each throwing 100 mph laser beams against the Dodgers. If the Padres are leading after six, those three will take it home.

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What are torpedo bats? Are they legal? What to know about MLB’s hottest trend

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What are torpedo bats? Are they legal? What to know about MLB's hottest trend

The opening weekend of the 2025 MLB season was taken over by a surprise star — torpedo bats.

The bowling pin-shaped bats became the talk of the sport after the Yankees’ home run onslaught on the first Saturday of the season put it in the spotlight and the buzz hasn’t slowed since.

What exactly is a torpedo bat? How does it help hitters? And how is it legal? Let’s dig in.

Read: An MIT-educated professor, the Yankees and the bat that could be changing baseball


What is a torpedo bat and why is it different from a traditional MLB bat?

The idea of the torpedo bat is to take a size format — say, 34 inches and 32 ounces — and distribute the wood in a different geometric shape than the traditional form to ensure the fattest part of the bat is located where the player makes the most contact. Standard bats taper toward an end cap that is as thick diametrically as the sweet spot of the barrel. The torpedo bat moves some of the mass on the end of the bat about 6 to 7 inches lower, giving it a bowling-pin shape, with a much thinner end.


How does it help hitters?

The benefits for those who like swinging with it — and not everyone who has swung it likes it — are two-fold. Both are rooted in logic and physics. The first is that distributing more mass to the area of most frequent contact aligns with players’ swing patterns and provides greater impact when bat strikes ball. Players are perpetually seeking ways to barrel more balls, and while swings that connect on the end of the bat and toward the handle probably will have worse performance than with a traditional bat, that’s a tradeoff they’re willing to make for the additional slug. And as hitters know, slug is what pays.

The second benefit, in theory, is increased bat speed. Imagine a sledgehammer and a broomstick that both weigh 32 ounces. The sledgehammer’s weight is almost all at the end, whereas the broomstick’s is distributed evenly. Which is easier to swing fast? The broomstick, of course, because shape of the sledgehammer takes more strength and effort to move. By shedding some of the weight off the end of the torpedo bat and moving it toward the middle, hitters have found it swings very similarly to a traditional model but with slightly faster bat velocity.


Why did it become such a big story so early in the 2025 MLB season?

Because the New York Yankees hit nine home runs in a game Saturday and Michael Kay, their play-by-play announcer, pointed out that some of them came from hitters using a new bat shape. The fascination was immediate. While baseball, as an industry, has implemented forward-thinking rules in recent seasons, the modification to something so fundamental and known as the shape of a bat registered as bizarre. The initial response from many who saw it: How is this legal?


OK. How is this legal?

Major League Baseball’s bat regulations are relatively permissive. Currently, the rules allow for a maximum barrel diameter of 2.61 inches, a maximum length of 42 inches and a smooth and round shape. The lack of restrictions allows MLB’s authorized bat manufacturers to toy with bat geometry and for the results to still fall within the regulations.


Who came up with the idea of using them?

The notion of a bowling-pin-style bat has kicked around baseball for years. Some bat manufacturers made smaller versions as training tools. But the version that’s now infiltrating baseball goes back two years when a then-Yankees coach named Aaron Leanhardt started asking hitters how they should counteract the giant leaps in recent years made by pitchers.

When Yankees players responded that bigger barrels would help, Leanhardt — an MIT-educated former Michigan physics professor who left academia to work in the sports industry — recognized that as long as bats stayed within MLB parameters, he could change their geometry to make them a reality. Leanhardt, who left the Yankees to serve as major league field coordinator for the Miami Marlins over the winter, worked with bat manufacturers throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons to make that a reality.


When did it first appear in MLB games?

It’s unclear specifically when. But Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton used a torpedo bat last year and went on a home run-hitting rampage in October that helped send the Yankees to the World Series. New York Mets star Francisco Lindor also used a torpedo-style bat last year and went on to finish second in National League MVP voting.


Who are some of the other notable early users of torpedo bats?

In addition to Stanton and Lindor, Yankees hitters Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt have used torpedoes to great success. Others who have used them in games include Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers and Toronto’s Davis Schneider. And that’s just the beginning. Hundreds more players are expected to test out torpedoes — and perhaps use them in games — in the coming weeks.


How is this different from a corked bat?

Corking bats involves drilling a hole at the end of the bat, filling it in and capping it. The use of altered bats allows players to swing faster because the material with which they replace the wood — whether it’s cork, superballs or another material — is lighter. Any sort of bat adulteration is illegal and, if found, results in suspension.


Could a rule be changed to ban them?

Could it happen? Sure. Leagues and governing bodies have put restrictions on equipment they believe fundamentally altered fairness. Stick curvature is limited in hockey. Full-body swimsuits made of polyurethane and neoprene are banned by World Aquatics. But officials at MLB have acknowledged that the game’s pendulum has swung significantly toward pitching in recent years, and if an offensive revolution comes about because of torpedo bats — and that is far from a guarantee — it could bring about more balance to the game. If that pendulum swings too far, MLB could alter its bat regulations, something it has done multiple times already this century.


So the torpedo bat is here to stay?

Absolutely. Bat manufacturers are cranking them out and shipping them to interested players with great urgency. Just how widely the torpedo bat is adopted is the question that will play out over the rest of the season. But it has piqued the curiosity of nearly every hitter in the big leagues, and just as pitchers toy with new pitches to see if they can marginally improve themselves, hitters will do the same with bats.

Comfort is paramount with a bat, so hitters will test them during batting practice and in cage sessions before unleashing them during the game. As time goes on, players will find specific shapes that are most comfortable to them and best suit their swing during bat-fitting sessions — similar to how golfers seek custom clubs. But make no mistake: This is an almost-overnight alteration of the game, and “traditional or torpedo” is a question every big leaguer going forward will ask himself.

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St. Pete to spend $22.5M to fix Tropicana Field

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St. Pete to spend .5M to fix Tropicana Field

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The once and possibly future home of the Tampa Bay Rays will get a new roof to replace the one shredded by Hurricane Milton with the goal of having the ballpark ready for the 2026 season, city officials decided in a vote Thursday.

The St. Petersburg City Council voted 7-1 to approve $22.5 million to begin the repairs at Tropicana Field, which will start with a membrane roof that must be in place before other work can continue. Although the Rays pulled out of a planned $1.3 billion new stadium deal, the city is still contractually obligated to fix the Trop.

“We are legally bound by an agreement. The agreement requires us to fix the stadium,” said council member Lissett Hanewicz, who is an attorney. “We need to go forward with the roof repair so we can do the other repairs.”

The hurricane damage forced the Rays to play home games this season at Steinbrenner Field across the bay in Tampa, the spring training home of the New York Yankees. The Rays went 4-2 on their first homestand ever at an open-air ballpark, which seats around 11,000 fans.

Under the current agreement with the city, the Rays owe three more seasons at the Trop once it’s ready again for baseball, through 2028. It’s unclear if the Rays will maintain a long-term commitment to the city or look to Tampa or someplace else for a new stadium. Major League Baseball has said keeping the team in the Tampa Bay region is a priority. The Rays have played at the Trop since their inception in 1998.

The team said it would have a statement on the vote later Thursday.

The overall cost of Tropicana Field repairs is estimated at $56 million, said city architect Raul Quintana. After the roof, the work includes fixing the playing surface, ensuring audio and visual electronics are working, installing flooring and drywall, getting concession stands running and other issues.

“This is a very complex project. We feel like we’re in a good place,” Quintana said at the council meeting Thursday.

Under the proposed timeline, the roof installation will take about 10 months. The unique membrane system is fabricated in Germany and assembled in China, Quintana said, adding that officials are examining how President Donald Trump’s new tariffs might affect the cost.

The new roof, he added, will be able to withstand hurricane winds as high as 165 mph. Hurricane Milton, one of the strongest hurricanes ever in the Atlantic basin at one point, blasted ashore Oct. 9 south of Tampa Bay with Category 3 winds of about 125 mph.

Citing mounting costs, the Rays last month pulled out of a deal with the city and Pinellas County for a new $1.3 billion ballpark to be built near the Trop site. That was part of a broader $6.5 billion project known as the Historic Gas Plant district to bring housing, retail and restaurants, arts and a Black history museum to a once-thriving Black neighborhood razed for the original stadium.

The city council plans to vote on additional Trop repair costs over the next few months.

“This is our contractual obligation. I don’t like it more than anybody else. I’d much rather be spending that money on hurricane recovery and helping residents in the most affected neighborhoods,” council member Brandi Gabbard said. “These are the cards that we’re dealt.”

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Tulane suspends Finley after transfer QB’s arrest

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Tulane suspends Finley after transfer QB's arrest

Tulane quarterback TJ Finley has been suspended following his arrest Wednesday in New Orleans on a charge of illegal possession of stolen things worth more than $25,000.

Finley, 23, whose name is Tyler Jamal, was booked and released. Tulane said in a statement that the length of the suspension will depend on the outcome of his case. The school cited privacy laws in declining to comment further.

University police responded Wednesday to an address where a truck was blocking a driveway. After looking up the license plate, police saw it registered to a vehicle stolen in Atlanta. Finley arrived to move the car and informed the officer that he had bought the truck recently. He’s scheduled to appear in court June 1.

Finley transferred to Tulane in December after spending the 2024 season with Western Kentucky. He had been competing for the team’s starting quarterback job in spring practice alongside fellow transfers Kadin Semonza and Donovan Leary.

Finley, a native of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, started his college career at LSU before transferring to Auburn for two seasons and then Texas State in 2023. He started five games for both LSU and Auburn but had his most success with Texas State, passing for 3,439 yards and 24 touchdowns.

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