{"id":127821,"date":"2025-09-02T18:16:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T18:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/127821\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T18:16:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T18:16:13","slug":"mlb-pennant-race-check-in-plus-trevor-story-hit-the-weirdest-home-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/127821\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB pennant race check-in, plus: Trevor Story hit the weirdest home run"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB<\/a> newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

It was a long weekend; let\u2019s catch you up on the various playoff chases as we dive into September.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plus: Ken talks Tigers pitching, we had a few not-a-trade uniform changes for veterans and we watch the weirdest home run I\u2019ve seen in a long time. I\u2019m\u00a0Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!<\/p>\n

Standings Watch: Pennant race check-in<\/p>\n

Want to know which contenders have the easiest and hardest schedules for September? Stephen Nesbitt and Chad Jennings\u00a0break down the calendar(s) here<\/a>. In the meantime, here are a few key playoff-implicated moments from the long weekend:<\/p>\n

The Dodgers lost two of three to Arizona, while the Padres did the same against the Twins. L.A. was off yesterday, while the Padres lost 4-3 to the Orioles. The Dodgers lead the NL West by 2 1\/2 games, and the Padres look like they\u2019ll be without\u00a0Xander Bogaerts (fracture in foot)<\/a>\u00a0and setup man\u00a0Jason Adam (left leg)<\/a> for a while.
\nIn a matchup with possible (if very strange-feeling) World Series implications, the Brewers took two out of three from the Blue Jays in Toronto. Milwaukee is still 5 1\/2 games up on the Cubs (who took two of three in Colorado, then beat the Braves last night). Meanwhile, after a loss to Cincinnati last night, Toronto\u2019s division lead is just 2 1\/2 games over the Red Sox and Yankees (who\u00a0took three out of four<\/a> from the White Sox).
\nThe Phillies took three out of four from the Braves, then\u00a0beat the Brewers last night<\/a>. Meanwhile, the Mets lost three of four to the Marlins (but \u2014 behind\u00a0a red-hot Juan Soto<\/a> \u2014 beat the Tigers last night). Philadelphia\u2019s lead in the division has grown to six games.
\nI guess I owe the Rangers an apology after declaring them dead in Friday\u2019s Windup. Riding a late comeback to beat the Diamondbacks in extras last night, they\u2019ve now won six straight and are 1 1\/2 games out of a wild-card spot. Still ahead of them in the West: the Mariners (who dropped two of three to the Guardians before getting blown out in Tampa last night) and the Astros, who \u2014 despite an\u00a0\u201canemic\u201d August at the plate<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0still lead the Mariners by three games and the Rangers by 4 1\/2.
\nKen\u2019s Notebook: Detroit\u2019s playoff rotation after Skubal<\/p>\n

From\u00a0my latest column<\/a>:<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a Tigers fan worrying about what the postseason rotation will look like beyond Tarik Skubal, relax. It\u2019s not that big a deal.<\/p>\n

In a handful of recent games, Tigers manager AJ Hinch has provided a glimpse of how he might operate in October. He was not afraid to yank his starters early, and by the postseason, his bullpen should be deep enough for him to manage with the same type of urgency.<\/p>\n

Frankly, the Tigers\u2019 greater concern might be an offense that entered Monday with the fourth-highest strikeout rate in the majors. The only teams that were worse \u2014 the Angels, Rockies and Pirates \u2014 were all non-contenders. And the Tigers\u2019 swing-and-miss tendencies mitigated their base-running proficiency: They led the league by a wide margin in extra-base taken percentage.<\/p>\n

Pitching should be less of an issue, and not just because of Skubal\u2019s dominance. Last season, Hinch\u2019s \u201cpitching chaos\u201d strategy helped the Tigers make a remarkable run to the playoffs. This season, functioning with a more stable rotation, things look more conventional. But come the postseason, Hinch again figures to attack opponents in waves.<\/p>\n

One of the Tigers\u2019 non-Skubal starters \u2014 Jack Flaherty, Charlie Morton or Casey Mize \u2014 will be in the mix to be a bulk reliever, at least for the Division Series. The choice of which one moves to the bullpen might depend more on matchups than on how each pitcher is performing at the time.<\/p>\n

The Tigers also are awaiting the returns of two potential bullpen weapons who have yet to throw a pitch for them \u2014 Jos\u00e9 Urquidy, who is on a rehabilitation assignment completing his recovery from Tommy John surgery, and Paul Sewald, whom the team acquired from the Cleveland Guardians at the deadline while he was on the injured list for the second time this season with a shoulder strain.<\/p>\n

Watch This: Wanna see the weirdest home run?<\/p>\n

The Red Sox dropped two of three to the Pirates over the weekend, but got back on track last night with a 6-4 win over Cleveland. In the sixth inning, Trevor Story hit the weirdest home run I\u2019ve seen in a long time:<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

In case you can\u2019t tell what happened, the ball hit Jhonkensy Noel\u2019s glove, then hit the Pesky Pole, then\u00a0went\u00a0back to the glove, then off a fan and ultimately landed back in Noel\u2019s glove.<\/p>\n

Nothing after \u201chit the Pesky Pole\u201d mattered, though \u2014\u00a0once it hit the foul pole,\u00a0that was a home run<\/a>. A 306-foot home run, to be precise \u2014\u00a0the second-shortest of the Statcast Era (2015-present). If you\u2019re curious how a home run could possibly be shorter than that \u2014 so was I. Statcast projected the distance of\u00a0this Lorenzo Cain home run<\/a>\u00a0to be 302 feet.\u00a0You tell me which one went further.<\/p>\n

Movement: Last-minute additions for contenders<\/p>\n

You might have noticed a lot of players placed on waivers and\/or released last week.\u00a0That\u2019s not\u00a0only for teams to try to save a little money if a player is claimed. It\u2019s also a courtesy to veterans who might be able to latch on with a contender. To be eligible for a postseason roster, a player must be on the team\u2019s roster by Sept. 1.<\/p>\n

As a result, quite a few veterans found themselves in new uniforms over the long weekend.<\/p>\n

With Payton Tolle\u2019s \u201celectric\u201d MLB debut, the Red Sox decided Walker Buehler was expendable. He\u00a0signed with the Phillies<\/a> (who also claimed reliever Tim Mayza from the Pirates).
\nNot long after being released by the Pirates,\u00a0Andrew Heaney is going (back) to the Dodgers<\/a> on a minor-league deal.
\nAfter being released by the Guardians,\u00a0Carlos Santana signed with the Cubs<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0who also\u00a0snagged Aaron Civale off waivers<\/a> from the White Sox. Civale, you might remember, was the White Sox\u2019s return for Andrew Vaughn earlier this year.
\nA little over a year after they traded him to the Pirates, the\u00a0Blue Jays (re-)acquired Isiah Kiner-Falefa<\/a> off waivers from Pittsburgh to add infield depth for their pennant racee.
\nIt wasn\u2019t\u00a0only\u00a0contenders making additions, actually. The\u00a0Braves claimed former Rays infielder Ha-Seong Kim<\/a> off waivers. Kim has a player option for 2026, so Atlanta might have been hoping to get a head start on locking down the infielder for next year.
\nThe Red Sox also \u201cadded from within,\u201d\u00a0signing Aroldis Chapman to an extension<\/a>\u00a0for the 2026 season. Chapman, 37, has a career-best 1.00 ERA in 59 appearances for the Red Sox after making just \u2026 the absolute\u00a0simplest adjustment possible<\/a>\u00a0this spring.
\nHandshakes and High Fives<\/p>\n

We have an update \u2014 albeit a small one \u2014 on the Guardians pitchers who are on leave while MLB conducts a gambling investigation. That leave has been\u00a0extended \u201cuntil further notice.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

It is never unremarkable to me, the logistics required for minor-league call-ups.\u00a0Katie Woo has the inside story<\/a>\u00a0from over the weekend, when the Cardinals called up Jimmy Crooks and C\u00e9sar Prieto.<\/p>\n

Matthew Bowyer \u2014 better known as \u201cthe bookie who was connected to Shohei Ohtani\u2019s interpreter\u201d \u2014\u00a0has been\u00a0sentenced to a year in prison<\/a>\u00a0and forced to repay $1.6 million in damages.<\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s Power Rankings, we try to identify\u00a0one possible award winner<\/a>\u00a0from each of the 30 teams.<\/p>\n

Byron Buxton stole third base Friday night. Why is that significant? Because of his 112 previous stolen bases,\u00a0not a single one<\/a>\u00a0was a steal of third.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love The Windup? Check out\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(Photo: Michael McLoone \/ Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-127821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}