Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below the main deck of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken are, in their own inimitable way, pumped and primed for the weekend …
Their energy level is an inspiration to us all.
Anyway, the second round of baseball’s postseason starts today. The matchups are:
National League
Atlanta Braves versus Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres versus Milwaukee Brewers
American League
Chicago White Sox versus Cleveland Guardians
New York Yankees versus Tampa Bay Rays
The series in this round are best-of-five, with Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Tampa Bay holding home-field advantage.
Starting with the senior circuit, there’s a bit of humor in that Atlanta, often dubbed Hotlanta due to its well-earned reputation for being a sauna during the summer, is bringing at least a bit of its home city’s weather to Los Angeles, with the temperature for the starting pitch at Dodger Stadium today (Saturday, October 3, 2026) predicted to be in triple digits. At least it’s a dry heat, which means not realizing how sizzling it is until the moment one turns into a smoldering ember on the sidewalk. This is as compared to Atlanta summer heat, which usually means stepping outside and immediately knowing you are at death’s door, drenched in your own sweat.
Anyway, back to baseball. The Dodgers are often held up as the prime example of Everything Wrong With Baseball, what with their lavish spending. The fact is they operate within the rules, taking full advantage of their lucrative local media rights revenue stream to build an organization that, in addition to being ready and able to shell out maximum coin on desirable free agents, routinely replenishes itself with fresh young minor league talent readily tradable to fill any gaps in its major league roster with top-tier players hungry for a ring. Hate the system for creating a scenario of unequally shared revenue. Anyway, Los Angeles comes into this series a tad hobbled, in that Shohei Ohtani most likely won’t be pitching and is questionable for effectiveness at the plate due to left knee soreness and right biceps inflammation, although he will play. It’s easy to assume the Dodgers have such a loaded lineup that they can overcome a limited Ohtani with no problem. Still, they too are but human, with Freddie Freeman’s late-season slump, most likely due to late-season knee issues, a concern. Nevertheless, Los Angeles’ pitching looks stout even without Ohtani; it gave up the fewest runs in baseball this year. It’s not that the Braves are pushovers by any means, but they have their work cut out for them and then some.
Pop quiz. Name the National League team with the best 2026 regular-season record. Hint: they do not play their home games in California. It’s Milwaukee, boasting a brutally effective one-two punch in the starting rotation with Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson, alongside a lineup that hits early and often. The Brew Crew are not loaded with household names — the small-market curse in action — but they win. A lot. Especially at home. Milwaukee is not loaded with home run power, but they hit early and often and, far more often than not, in a consecutive manner, thus efficiently scoring runs. San Diego’s offense is far more reliant on power, and its hopes in this series lie in getting an early lead via said power and then turning the ball over to its superb bullpen.
Over in the American League, the White Sox and Guardians renew their division rivalry, this time in the postseason. The teams played each other closely in the regular season, with Chicago taking seven of the 13 games. In many ways, the series looks similar to San Diego — Milwaukee in composition, with the White Sox counting on their power to carry the day while the Guardians feature a more balanced attack of situational hitting, backed by a lot of very, very good pitching. Cleveland is not utterly averse to the long ball, but it is not their long suit. This series may not be a marquee matchup, but for baseball lovers it is a delicious bout of strength versus strength.
Last but not least, we have the Yankees and the Rays. On the field, Tampa Bay boasts quality starting pitching and a solid closer, plus an offense that is superb at hitting when the situation suggests doing so would be greatly advantageous. New York, still minus Aaron Judge, counters with a plethora of young, homegrown talent that is shining brightly thus far in the postseason spotlight. The series looks to be evenly matched, with the Rays holding home-field advantage. Off the field, everyone in baseball’s front offices is hoping the Yankees win both for national fan interest and as an added cudgel to use against the players in the upcoming labor negotiations, “proving” that even the best-run small-market team cannot compete in the spotlight against the big spenders. The players are pulling for Tampa Bay to evidence the opposite. Fun times in Florida!
Enjoy the weekend, everyone.