The Phillies and Braves open the Wild Card round at 2 PM EDT in Atlanta as Jesus Luzardo takes on Chris Sale. From June 28 through Sept. 7th, Luzardo posted just one poor start. He owned a 1.65 ERA in 87 1/3 innings. The complete game on the 7th led to an injury, Luzardo returning on the last day of the season to throw a scoreless inning in relief. Sale finished second in the NL and third in the majors in ERA at 2.16, but just made it over the qualifying level with 162 2/3 innings. He allowed just ten home run in 2026.
The White Sox open their series against the Astros in Houston with Hagen Smith facing AJ Blubaugh. If you haven’t heard of them, that’s okay. Both are rookie relievers, although Blubaugh did pitch some in 2025. Both teams burned their starters trying to win their divisions, and who wants their fourth starter going in game one! Smith gave up just eleven hits in 28 innings this season, striking out 41. He was a bit wild, walking 16 batters. He pitched two scoreless inning in his one start this season. Blubaugh also did a great job limiting hits, giving up 76 safeties in 96 innings, all in relief. Like Smith, Blubaugh is wild with a high walk rate. The difference is that batters were able to connect for 13 homers off the Astros opener, Smith gave up just one.
The Red Sox face the Yankees in The Bronx in primetime, Payton Tolle battling Cam Schlittler as the youngsters take center stage. Both these pitchers blow away batters. Among hurlers with 148 innings, Schlitter ranked fifth in the majors with 11.11 K per 9 IP. Tolle came in twelfth at 10.35 K per 9 IP. Both did a great job of limiting walks and home runs, also. Tolle shut down the Yankees in his two starts against them, allowing one run and four hits in 13 innings, the one run coming on a solo homer. Schlittler challenged the Red Sox four times in 2026, posting a 0.74 ERA in 24 1/3 innings. The two runs he allowed both came on solo home runs. One gets the feeling that the team with the most home runs wins tonight.
Finally, the Cubs get to enjoy the San Diego weather as they open their series against the Padres, prime time on west coast. Matthew Boyd faces Michael King, as the teams clinched early enough to save a good starter for game one. In the last two seasons, Boyd posted better ERAs than his FIPs as his K rate deteriorated. He is very good at removing base runners, with 24 double plays induced, six caught stealing, and 15 pickoffs over the two seasons. King is the clear ace of the San Diego staff. He did a good job limiting power in 2026, and the Cubs offense led the NL in slugging percentage this year. The Padres need the win in game one, as they’ll need to slug with the Cubs the rest of the way to win the series.
Enjoy!
