GameDay Kickoff: Sounds, storylines and players to watch ahead of Week 3
After an exciting Week 2, we look ahead to a Week 3 slate with a battle involving the Wildcats on Friday night, as new Big 12 member No. 20 Arizona faces No. 14 Kansas State. Elsewhere, a Tulane wide receiver will make his return to his original college stomping grounds.
Can Tulane’s Mario Williams continue his trend of at least 100 receiving yards per game in his first visit back to Oklahoma? Can Kansas State’s defense stop Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan? Both Arizona and Kansas State go into Friday’s matchup 2-0, so one Wildcats team is bound to lose their first game.
And for an extra dose of excitement, Colorado and Colorado State face off, and Deion Sanders had something to say as the Buffaloes are 1-1 going into Saturday’s matchup.
Our college football reporters give insight on big storylines and players to keep your eyes on in Week 3.
Jump to a section:
Journey to UNLV | Returning to old stomping grounds | New conference rivals
Freshman QB shines | Five freshman to know
Quotes of the week
Jacob De Jesus’ journey to UNLV
In high school, Jacob De Jesus left recruiting camps feeling discouraged and unsure.
Not of himself. He shined at those camps and dominated some, but coaches never talked to him afterward. De Jesus knew why.
“I used to question myself, I used to question God and be like, ‘Why did you give me this dream to play football? Like, why do I love football so much? I’m so small,'” De Jesus told ESPN. “Nobody wants me to be on their team.”
Fortunately for De Jesus, he was wrong about the last part. As he neared a future without football, probably working as a UPS driver and caring for his 2-year-old daughter, UNLV reached out. Three years later, he’s an All-American returner and productive wide receiver for the Rebels, who aim for a 3-0 start and their second win against a Big 12 opponent Friday at Kansas.
De Jesus is often the smallest player on the field, at 5-foot-7, 175 pounds. He’s also one of the best, leading the FBS in total return yards last season (1,079), finishing second on the team in average yards per runback, behind All-American Ricky White.
“I knew I was good enough to play at this level,” De Jesus said. “I just didn’t know if anybody was going to give me a chance.”
UNLV wide receivers coach, Del Alexander, seemed unlikely to be that person. Alexander’s history is with big wide receivers. Only once had he taken one as small as De Jesus, in Wisconsin‘s Kenzel Doe, a 5-8 dynamo who finished second in team career kick-return average.
But then Nelson Fishback, a staff member who initially discovered De Jesus while working at Morehead State, alerted Alexander about De Jesus.
“I honestly believed that he was going to be exactly who he was on film,” Alexander said. “I just knew that his speed was not an accident.”
De Jesus had amassed 2,550 yards for Modesto Junior College, near his home in Manteca, California. But as the 2022 season ended, he appeared to be out of options. He had been working at UPS as a package handler and was close to becoming a driver. The money would’ve been good. De Jesus had just turned 21.
“I was really close to being done with it,” he said.
UNLV’s new coaching staff, led by Barry Odom, needed a returner. As the coaches surveyed options, Alexander became more convinced about De Jesus, who received an offer from UNLV on New Year’s Day 2023.
Days later, De Jesus was on campus, working out with the team.
“He did everything full speed,” Alexander said. “He won every race, he won every agility [drill], he was ultra competitive. It was just noticeable. It just made everybody else look bad.”
De Jesus’ life changed. After UNLV’s spring game that April, he proposed to his girlfriend, Kirsten Lopez, on the field at Allegiant Stadium.
He had 208 all-purpose yards, 158 on kickoff returns, in his Rebels debut. He earned All-Mountain West honors at both return spots, the first Rebel to be recognized for two positions since quarterback Randall Cunningham, who also punted, in 1984. De Jesus was a finalist for the Jet Award, given to the nation’s top return specialist. Alexander heard from friends on opposing coaching staffs, such as Michigan and San José State, all with the same message: “Man, that 21 is special.” The coach who was leery of small receivers now wants to get De Jesus to the NFL.
There are immediate goals, too, namely a scoring return. UNLV hasn’t had a punt return touchdown in 23 years, the longest drought of any FBS team, and no kickoff return touchdowns since 2011.
“We’ve been close, so close,” De Jesus said. “I know how my team feels about it. They know that I can and I’m capable.” — Adam Rittenberg
Returning to old stomping grounds
Tulane’s Mario Williams was supposed to be the next great Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver.
That was the plan, at least, when Williams arrived at the school as ESPN’s No. 1 high school pass catcher in early 2021. It was all so clear to Williams at the time, too.
He’d settle in at Oklahoma, carve a role in Lincoln Riley’s high-scoring offense and quickly become a key piece within a program competing for Big 12 titles and national championships. A few years after that, perhaps, Williams would be in a position to jump to the NFL.
“I was going to have a career at Oklahoma and that was going to be that,” he told ESPN this week. “But God took me on another path and I’m thankful for every moment.”
Williams caught 35 passes for 380 yards and four touchdowns in his lone season at Oklahoma in 2021, then followed Riley to USC. Now on his third school in four seasons this fall, Williams has become a playmaker in the Green Wave passing game during the initial weeks of his debut season with Tulane.
On Saturday, he returns to Oklahoma Memorial Stadium as one of 2024’s early transfer portal gems under first-year head coach Jon Sumrall when the Green Wave visit the No. 15 Sooners in Norman.
Williams caught four passes for 124 yards in Tulane’s season opener against SE Louisiana on Aug. 29, then followed with six catches for 128 yards in a narrow loss to Kansas State in Week 2 to mark the first back-to-back 100-yard receiving games of his college career.
Through two weeks, he leads all FBS transfer wide receivers with 252 total receiving yards. Williams’ 126 yards per game rank 10th in the country and his 25.2 yards per catch sit 18th nationally with Williams playing the best football of his college career in a Green Wave offense poised to make an upset bid in Week 3.
“I’m just having fun,” Williams said. “Getting back to my groove and getting in my groove. Going out there and enjoying the game with my teammates.”
Williams is having fun again on a path that has exposed him to some of the college football’s rough edges: the pressure of being the nation’s No. 17 overall prospect, the uncertainty of a sudden coaching change after Riley left for USC in 2021 and two trips through the transfer portal leading to stops at USC and now Tulane.
“I’ve just been able to experience a lot about how college football works and the business side of the game,” Williams said. “I’ve gotten to experience playing high-level football and everything that comes with it.”
After two seasons at USC, Williams hit the transfer portal looking for a fresh start last December. Alabama and UCF emerged as early contenders. So did Tulane through a connection with Green Wave offensive analyst Collin D’Angelo, who had recruited Williams in high school. A visit with Sumrall’s staff helped seal Williams’ decision.
“They’re player-first driven — they love their players,” Williams said. “They’re going to make sure the players are good and that’s what I really like about them.”
Williams doesn’t have any expectations for what it will feel like to be back at Oklahoma on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
He plans to rekindle connections with former teammates Danny Stutsman, Billy Bowman Jr. and Woodi Washington, three of the Sooners’ four remaining Riley-era holdovers. Past that, Williams is approaching the Week 3 matchup with the even-keeled mentality he has brought in his early games at Tulane, a perspective honed through the experience of his modern college football journey.
“Just keep going and have fun,” Williams said. “The story didn’t get written how I expected. But that’s the best part about it. Just keep going and keep proving people wrong.” — Eli Lederman
Get to know your new conference rival
Arizona’s trip to Manhattan, Kansas, on Friday is a Big 12 test run of sorts. The game was scheduled before Arizona’s move from the Pac-12, so for scheduling purposes, it was easier to keep it as a nonconference game to prevent the schools from both having to try to find a new opponent with not much lead time. That dynamic lessens the stakes a bit because it effectively gives the loser a mulligan in conference play, but with the teams ranked in the top 20, the outcome will still set the tone for both schools as conference play begins the following week.
After Michigan’s loss last week, Arizona’s nine-game winning streak is the longest active one in the country, but after a subpar showing last week against FCS Northern Arizona, ESPN BET installed Kansas State as a 7.5-point favorite in this battle of Wildcats. There might not be a more intriguing quarterback matchup in college football this week with Arizona’s Noah Fifita and Kansas State’s Avery Johnson both emerging last season after starting the year on the bench.
After throwing for 422 yards and four scores — with 304 of those yards and all four touchdowns to Tetairoa McMillan — in the opener against New Mexico, Fifita was more pedestrian against NAU last week, throwing for just 173 yards. For any team Arizona plays this season, the defensive focus will be on McMillan, the likely first-round pick who arrived in Tucson as one of the most celebrated recruits in school history.
K-State’s start has been similar. After a ho-hum win against UT Martin to start the season, it was fortunate to escape last week’s trip to Tulane after trailing by a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Johnson was solid in both games, but Friday’s game will be more revealing about what to expect in conference play. — Kyle Bonagura
DJ Lagway shines in the spotlight
Trent Miller had a small gathering at his house to watch Florida play Samford last weekend, his eyes trained on true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway and his every move.
Miller coached Lagway at Willis (Texas) High, watching Lagway make the impossible plays possible. In the third quarter against Samford, Lagway dropped back to pass, then scrambled back toward the line of scrimmage as he felt the pressure around him. He did a little jump hop, shot-putting the ball toward the corner of the end zone, for a 41-yard touchdown pass to Aidan Mizell.
Back in Texas, Miller could not help but flash back to the moment he knew Lagway would be one of the top quarterback recruits in the country. It was during the first day of spring practice, a few months after Miller got the job at Willis. Lagway was a sophomore.
“We were doing 7-on-7 against our defense,” Miller told ESPN in a recent phone interview. “He rolls out, hits that little jump throw, hits the receiver in the back corner of the end zone, and I was like, ‘Oh wow. 16-year-old kids don’t make that throw.'”
Lagway became the No. 1 quarterback in the class of 2024, with Miller by his side through it all. When he chose Florida, Lagway knew the spotlight would not only be on him but on his coaches to deliver, too. When he got his opportunity to start last week in place of injured Graham Mertz, he made the most of it, setting a school record for passing yards by a freshman with 456 yards, while adding three touchdowns in a 45-7 win.
The question moving forward is how Florida plans to use Lagway, as he starts Saturday against Texas A&M in the SEC opener, especially as coach Billy Napier faces increasing pressure to win this season. Napier has been mum on how he plans to handle the rotation with a healthy Mertz in the mix, saying only he would play both quarterbacks moving forward.
“For DJ to go out there and do what he did, it puts a lot of pressure on the coaching staff this week to be very strategic on how they roll out the two quarterbacks, but I don’t think there’s any denying that he’ll get out there at some point and play meaningful reps,” Miller said. “What that is, and what that looks like, I don’t know. But what I do know is Coach Napier has never lied to him about what the process looks like.”
Miller said Napier was honest from the beginning about sharing time with Mertz. Miller also said the coaches did a great job during the recruitment process of acknowledging the elephant in the room — that they had to get the Gators turned around in short order.
“They did a great job of getting DJ to commit early to help the process of building that brand with recruits and everybody else around him,” Miller said.
Lagway committed to Florida in December 2022 and held firm a year later, after USC made a final push to flip him. Miller said, Lagway is in a good head space and committed to getting the job done with the Gators — no matter what that looks like moving forward.
“Whatever DJ’s role is, big or small, he’s going to do it to the best of his ability,” Miller said. “You’ll never hear him say anything negative about his playing time, the coaching staff, whatever it is. He made a decision to go there. He’s committed to being there and he’s going to do whatever he can whenever his number’s called to benefit that football team.” — Andrea Adelson
Five freshman running backs to know
Nate Frazier, Georgia: Frazier made the most of his opportunities in his college debut against Clemson, rushing for 83 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries in the Bulldogs’ 34-3 blowout win. The No. 3-ranked running back recruit and No. 62 overall recruit in the 2024 ESPN 300 has impressed Georgia coaches since he arrived from California powerhouse Mater Dei and should continue to have a key role in their rushing attack alongside Florida transfer Trevor Etienne.
Jerrick Gibson, Texas: Gibson, the No. 2-ranked running back and No. 59 overall recruit in his class, is showing he’s ready to step up and help a Texas run game that lost CJ Baxter and Christian Clark to season-ending injuries. The 5-10, 205-pound back from IMG Academy leads the team with 103 rushing yards and has scored in each of his first two games, including a 7-yard touchdown run against Michigan in the Longhorns’ 31-12 rout at Ann Arbor.
Isaac Brown, Louisville: Peny Boone reentering the transfer portal in April opened the door for Brown and several young backs to help power Louisville’s run game. The four-star signee from Florida leads the team with 187 yards from scrimmage, including a 77-yard touchdown in his debut against Austin Peay, and is also returning kicks. Fellow true freshman Duke Watson has gained 137 yards and scored two TDs on only 10 carries and redshirt freshman Keyjuan Brown has put up 116 rushing yards and two scores for a Cardinals offense that’s No. 2 in the ACC and 14th nationally in rushing.
Wayshawn Parker, Washington State: The three-star back from Sacramento, Calif. has teamed with quarterback John Mateer to give Washington State a surprisingly dangerous rushing attack. Parker has produced 219 yards from scrimmage over his first two college games and has scored touchdowns of 54, 52 and 43 yards. The Cougars burned Texas Tech for 301 yards on the ground in their 37-16 upset win Saturday, their second-most rushing yards in a game in more than a decade.
Antwan Raymond, Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights currently have college football’s second-leading rusher in Kyle Monangai and found a steal in Raymond to complement him. The 5-11, 202-pound back hails from Canada and reclassified from the 2025 class to join the program this summer. Raymond has turned 23 carries into 126 yards and two touchdowns, has seven rushes of 10 or more yards and has forced nine missed tackles, according to TruMedia. — Max Olson
Quotes of the week
“The rivalry, the energy in the air. It’s not just one day. It’s bragging rights for the year and for the rest of time. … Other people are looking forward to games against Ohio State or Michigan down the road, but this is my Super Bowl.” — Oregon senior linebacker Bryce Boettcher on playing Oregon State one last time in his career.
“When you lose, you’re going to be ridiculed, you’re going to be prosecuted and persecuted and I’m good. I’ve been on the cross for a long time, and I’m still hanging.” — Colorado coach Deion Sanders after the team’s 1-1 start.
“This is not a statement win. Washington State has played at the highest level forever. We beat another team that plays at the highest level. That’s it. We’ve done that hundreds of times,” — WSU coach Jake Dickert on the win against Texas Tech.
HOUSTON — Astros starter Framber Valdez said he apologized to catcher Cesar Salazar after hitting him in the chest with a pitch Tuesday night, but the left-hander insisted it wasn’t intentional.
Valdez appeared to shake off Salazar on a 1-0 pitch with the bases loaded and Trent Grisham of the New York Yankees at the plate in the fifth inning. Salazar then urged Valdez to step off the mound, but he proceeded with the pitch, which Grisham launched to deep left field to give New York a 6-0 lead in an eventual 7-1 win.
On the second pitch to the next batter, Valdez hit Salazar in the chest with a 93 mph pitch, raising questions about whether he was upset about what happened in the Grisham at-bat and if it was intended.
Valdez said it was not.
“What happened with us, we just got crossed up,” Valdez said in Spanish through an interpreter. “I called for that pitch, I threw it and we got crossed up. We went down to the dugout and I excused myself with him and I said sorry to him and I take full responsibility for that.”
Valdez was then asked directly if he did it on purpose.
“No,” he said. “It was not intentional.”
Valdez and Salazar were talking when reporters entered the clubhouse after the game, and Valdez said they had sorted things out.
“We were able to talk through it,” he said. “We spoke after the game … at his locker and everything’s good between us. It’s just stuff that happens in baseball. But yeah, we talked through it and we’re good.”
Salazar also was asked about what happened on the pitch where he was hit.
“The stadium was loud,” he said. “I thought I pressed the button, but I pressed the wrong button. I was expecting another pitch, but it wasn’t it.”
Salazar said Valdez didn’t hit him on purpose.
“No, me and Framber we actually have a really good relationship,” he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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David Schoenfield
With each postseason expansion throughout MLB’s history, the value of division races has diluted. In the wild-card era, you can finish in second place — or even third or fourth — and still win the World Series.
Does that make September less exciting? There’s no doubt it brings more teams and more fans into the mix. And a big game is still a big game, even if there is slightly less tension in a Red Sox-Yankees or Mets-Phillies series than there otherwise might be if both teams already know they’re going to make the playoffs.
Thus, we’re mostly left with wild-card races and battles for seeding to occupy our time and scoreboard watching. That still offers plenty of fun, still makes September the best month on the baseball calendar, and there’s still a lot of sweating going on when your closer walks two batters in the ninth trying to protect a one-run lead. The 12 postseason slots aren’t completely locked up, so if you’re a fan of the Mets or Mariners, you can’t breathe easily just yet — not until a playoff spot is clinched and the champagne uncorked.
September is here, believe it or not. We have races to decide. Let’s rank their potential excitement level over the final month.
1. National League West race
Standings: Los Angeles Dodgers up 2 games on San Diego Padres
What’s at stake: This is the best rivalry going on in the majors right now. The teams don’t like each other, the fans don’t like each other, and there’s still that element of David trying to knock out Goliath as the Padres seek their first division title since 2006 and their first World Series title ever. The teams have met three times in the NL Division Series since 2020 — with the Dodgers winning in 2020 and 2024 and the Padres victorious in 2022 — and with another rematch possible, home-field advantage could be key.
Do the Dodgers need to win the division? No, they will still be more focused on getting the pitching staff healthy and ready for October than on getting consumed in the race to win the division. It would probably mean more to the Padres, who want to finally beat their I-5 rivals in something besides that one playoff series. On the other hand, San Diego is probably a little better equipped for a short wild-card series, as it can ride its bullpen for the two or three games.
Series to watch: Somehow, the schedule-makers thought it would be a good idea to not have the Dodgers playing the Padres in September. The Dodgers finish with a road trip to Arizona and Seattle while the Padres end at home against Milwaukee and Arizona. The Dodgers won the season series, so they own the tiebreaker.
Dodgers player to watch: Blake Snell has been a notable second-half pitcher in his career and has a 2.54 ERA since returning from the injured list in August, but he hasn’t been quite as dominant as when he gets on one of his patented hot streaks (such as the second half last year, when he had a 1.45 ERA and .130 average allowed). The Dodgers won last season despite a beat-up rotation that wasn’t even all that effective in the playoffs. But the bullpen has been nowhere near as strong this season as in 2024, so they’ll need that dominant version of Snell down the stretch and in October.
Padres player to watch: Ramon Laureano has been the team’s best hitter since he was acquired at the trade deadline, slashing .305/.354/.581 with seven home runs and 23 RBIs in 28 games. He helped keep the offense afloat in August as Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. each hit just one home run on the month and Jackson Merrill has been injured. Laureano’s production has been great, but the Padres need more power from their big two.
2. American League East
Standings: Toronto Blue Jays up 3 games on New York Yankees, 3.5 games on Boston Red Sox
What’s at stake: This has been the wildest division race all season. The Blue Jays were eight games back in late May when they fell under .500 but have now held first place since July 3. The Yankees fell as many as 6.5 games back in August before cleaning up against the Washington Nationals and Chicago White Sox this past week to draw closer. The Red Sox were 41-44 on June 30, but only the Brewers have a better record since that date. The Yankees have a plus-134 run differential, whereas it’s plus-56 for the Blue Jays and plus-102 for the Red Sox, so you wonder why they’re even in this position. However, New York is 5-8 in extra-inning games (the Blue Jays are 8-4) and hasn’t played well against Toronto and Boston (5-15).
Series to watch: Blue Jays at Yankees (Friday-Sunday); Red Sox at Blue Jays (Sept. 23-25); Yankees at Red Sox (Sept. 12-14). All three season series have already been clinched: The Blue Jays over the Red Sox and Yankees and the Red Sox over the Yankees. That will leave the Yankees on the short end of any tiebreaker.
Blue Jays player to watch: Toronto acquired Shane Bieber at the deadline even though he was still completing his minor league rehab from Tommy John surgery. He has allowed three runs in two starts for the Blue Jays, striking out 15 with no walks in 11⅓ innings. It’s just two starts, but he looks like he did when he was the Cleveland ace, plus he has allowed the Jays to go to a six-man rotation. Don’t be surprised if he ends up as the Game 1 starter in the postseason.
Yankees player to watch: Aaron Judge is still probably the MVP favorite, but after missing 10 days with a flexor strain in his right elbow, he hasn’t been quite the same, hitting .241/.417/.506 with six home runs and 12 RBIs in 24 games in August. Though those are still good numbers, it seems fair to call it a slight slump by Judge’s recent historic standards — and it’s not the same level of production as before his injury. He also still hasn’t played the field, which limits the red-hot Giancarlo Stanton to pinch-hitting duties when the Yankees are on the road (manager Aaron Boone has been willing to play Stanton in right field at Yankee Stadium, where there’s less ground to cover).
Red Sox player to watch: Sixty-nine games into his career, 21-year-old rookie Roman Anthony has made it clear: He’s going to be a big star. Sure, he can cut his strikeout rate a bit, but he already has A-plus plate discipline and has the second-highest hard-hit percentage in the majors behind only Kyle Schwarber. And Anthony is also quickly learning to lift the ball, slugging six home runs in August after hitting one each in June and July.
3. National League race for No. 2 seed
Standings: Milwaukee Brewers hold No. 1 seed with 5.5-game cushion; Philadelphia Phillies up 1 game on Dodgers, 3 games on Padres
What’s at stake: The Phillies hold a comfortable lead over the Mets in the NL East, so they have about a 90% chance of winning the division, but Philadelphia is neck and neck with the pair of NL West rivals for the second-best record in the NL. Home-field advantage isn’t a must to win a World Series — we’ve seen wild-card teams take it all, such as the Rangers in 2023 when they were the fifth seed in the AL — but the Phillies have an extreme home/road split this season, going 45-23 in Philadelphia and 34-35 elsewhere. They’re hitting .275 with an .808 OPS at home, .239 with a .693 OPS on the road.
Series to watch: Phillies at Dodgers (Sept. 15-17). The Phillies finish with a six-game homestand against the Miami Marlins and Minnesota Twins, which looks like a favorable way to end the season.
Phillies player to watch: Kyle Schwarber, of course, and Cristopher Sanchez as he takes over the role of staff ace from the injured Zack Wheeler. But the bullpen has been the issue the past two postseasons for the Phillies, which puts Jhoan Duran on the spot as well. Acquired from the Twins at the trade deadline to take over as closer, Duran has mostly done the job, but he blew one save against the Nationals, picking up the loss, and then lost another game against the Mets when he allowed four straight hits without getting an out.
4. American League race for top two seeds
Standings: Detroit Tigers hold No. 1 seed and are up 0.5 games on Blue Jays, 3.5 games on Yankees, 4 games on Red Sox and 4.5 games on Astros
What’s at stake: Bragging rights? Momentum heading into the postseason? Home-field advantage? Sure, all those things are nice, and the Tigers have a notable home/road split (44-25 versus 36-33), so securing that top seed, which they’ve held much of the way in the AL, would be the final touch on an excellent regular season. Still, if you’re manager A.J. Hinch, you’re not going to burn out your rotation in September just to get that top seed. If the Astros climb closer to the Tigers and Blue Jays, however, it will get more interesting as teams want to avoid that wild-card series if possible.
Series to watch: Tigers at Yankees (Sept. 9-11); Tigers at Red Sox (Sept. 26-28); Yankees at Astros (Tuesday-Thursday); Astros at Blue Jays (Sept. 9-11)
Tigers player to watch: The Tigers have been searching for a No. 2 starter behind Tarik Skubal all year. Jack Flaherty has been inconsistent all season and had three starts in August where he allowed five or more runs. Casey Mize has a 7.20 ERA over his past eight starts. Chris Paddack? No. Maybe it’s 41-year-old vet Charlie Morton, who has a 4.61 ERA in his five starts with Detroit, as he has mixed in three excellent outings with two bad ones (although he fanned 10 in one of the bad ones). No matter what, there are going to be a lot of bullpen games for the Tigers in the playoffs when Skubal isn’t pitching, especially since the pen was much better in August after struggling in June and July (and adding some depth at the deadline).
5. American League West
Standings: Houston Astros up 2 games on Seattle Mariners
What’s at stake: The Mariners haven’t won a division title since … hold on here, scrolling through the years on Baseball-Reference.com … that’s right, the 116-win season in 2001. The Mariners made some weird pact with the baseball gods that season, which for some reason didn’t include them making the World Series after their historic regular season but did include them not making the postseason again until 2022. That’s right: They remain the only franchise never to appear in the Fall Classic. Winning the division would increase their odds just a bit and allow them to set their rotation for the ALDS.
Series to watch: Mariners at Astros (Sept. 19-21). The season series is tied 5-5, so the winner of this series gets that crucial tiebreaker edge. Of note: The Mariners have lost five consecutive road series and are 1-6-1 (they split a four-game series) in their past eight. The Astros have managed to keep their grip on first place despite going 12-13 in July and 13-15 in August. They’ve won every full-season AL West title going back to 2017.
Astros player to watch: Yordan Alvarez returned last week after being out since early May with a hand injury. He homered in his second game back and didn’t strike out in his first five games. The Astros have even started him twice in left field, allowing them to give Jose Altuve a DH day. Bottom line: If Alvarez is producing, a below-average offense suddenly looks at least like an average — or better-than-average — offense. With Alvarez, Altuve and Carlos Correa, it’s 2019 or 2021 all over again, two seasons that ended with the Astros playing in the World Series.
Mariners player to watch: How much does Cal Raleigh have left in the tank? He’s sitting on 50 home runs but also hit .194 in July and .173 in August. He’s still doing damage with the long ball and has had 17 home runs and 36 RBIs over the two months, but he’s not carrying the offense as he did in the first half.
6. American League Wild Card
Standings: Mariners hold third wild-card spot and are up 2.5 games on Kansas City Royals, 3 games on Texas Rangers and 4 games on Cleveland Guardians
What’s at stake: By no means are the Mariners out of the AL West race against Houston, but they also haven’t played well enough to pull away in the wild-card fight, even after everyone declared them a sure-thing playoff team following the acquisitions of Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor at the deadline. But given Seattle’s recent history of just missing the playoffs — two wins short in 2021, one short in 2023 and 2024 — Mariners fans are understandably nervous about blowing it, especially with the Royals and the Rangers refusing to go away.
Series to watch: Mariners at Royals (Sept. 16-18); Royals at Guardians (Sept. 8-10); Rangers at Guardians (Sept. 26-28). The Royals finished one game ahead of the Mariners for a wild-card spot last season, so this looks like the key series. The Mariners have one three-game series in Houston starting Sept. 19. If they can survive this current road trip — they just went 1-2 against Cleveland and now head to Tampa and Atlanta — that series looms large as well.
Royals player to watch: Is it too late to toss Bobby Witt Jr. into the Judge/Raleigh MVP debate? He’s making a late run with his outstanding all-around game and just had his best month of the season. With Vinnie Pasquantino mashing home runs and some trade acquisitions chipping in, Kansas City is peaking at the right time. The Royals have played well for two months now and have a pretty soft schedule for the final month.
Rangers player to watch: The Rangers looked out of it, and they’re going to be without Nathan Eovaldi for the rest of the season — and likely Marcus Semien as well — and Corey Seager for some period of time following an appendectomy. But they just won three series in a row. Without Eovaldi, Jack Leiter has to continue to pitch well: He has a 2.88 ERA over his past 11 starts and just tossed back-to-back excellent games.
Guardians player to watch: Cleveland is barely hanging in there, taking two of three against the Mariners as Kyle Manzardo hit big home runs in wins Friday and Saturday. He’s hitting .273/.362/.545 since July 12, giving Cleveland a much-needed power source other than Jose Ramirez.
7. National League East and NL Wild Card
Standings: Phillies up 6 games on Mets in division; Mets up 4 games on Cincinnati Reds in wild card
What’s at stake: The Mets temporarily made the division race interesting again after sweeping Philadelphia early last week but then lost three of four at home to the Marlins. That’s unacceptable if you want to win the division. The Reds continue to falter, so the Mets’ wild-card spot looks reasonably safe, though they are just .500 since May 1.
Series to watch: Mets at Phillies (Sept. 8-11); Mets at Reds (Friday-Sunday). With next week’s four-game series, the NL East remains in play even though it would take an epic New York comeback combined with a Phillies collapse for the Mets to win the division. They’ve already clinched the season series over the Phillies with a 7-2 advantage. Meanwhile, the Reds have a chance to put pressure on the Mets with a three-game series in Cincinnati before New York’s trip to Philadelphia.
Mets player to watch: Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong. The Mets’ rotation has scuffled for a while, so suddenly the season rests heavily on their two prized rookie starters. McLean won his first three starts, allowing just two runs in 20⅓ innings. Tong, who led minor league starters in ERA and strikeouts, beat the Marlins in his debut Friday, striking out six in five innings with no walks while showcasing the changeup that allowed him to dominate the minors.
Reds player to watch: What’s happening with Elly De La Cruz‘s power? He hasn’t homered since July 31 and has just one in his past 58 games.
8. National League Central
Standings: Brewers up 6.5 games on Chicago Cubs
What’s at stake: This is another David vs. Goliath matchup. Milwaukee, of course, is Goliath. The Cubs won the NL Central in the COVID-shortened season of 2020 but haven’t taken a full-season division title since 2017. Given the Brewers’ lead with no signs of faltering, the odds are slim that Chicago can chase them down.
Series to watch: The two teams are done for their season series, and the Cubs took it 7-6, so at least they own the tiebreaker.
Brewers player to watch: Closer Trevor Megill landed on the IL a few days ago with a flexor strain in his elbow after blowing three saves since mid-August, so Abner Uribe takes over. If the Cubs have a chance to catch the Brewers, it might be because the Milwaukee pen, which has been worked hard, burns out in September, especially with the Brewers in the midst of playing 19 games in 18 days.
Cubs player to watch: Kyle Tucker slumped as he played through a hairline fracture in his right hand for two months. He finally broke out with three home runs in two games and has hit over .400 his past nine games. The Cubs’ offense was horrid in August — Pete Crow-Armstrong also struggled — and they’ll need Tucker and the rest of the lineup to rebound in September.
9. American League Central
Standings: Tigers up 9.5 games on Royals
What’s at stake: This one is all but over — though, it’s not impossible for the Royals. The Mets blew a seven-game lead in 2007 with 17 games to play. The 1995 Angels entered September with a 7.5-game lead and lost the division in a tiebreaker game. The 2009 Tigers were up seven games on Sept. 6 and blew it. The 2011 Braves had an 8.5-game lead in the wild-card race at the start of September and missed the playoffs. And during that same season, the Red Sox were leading the Yankees in the AL East and nine games up on the Rays — who would catch them on the final day of the season to win the wild card. So … you never know.
Series to watch: The Tigers and Royals are done playing each other, with Detroit winning the season series 9-4.
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