The Weekly Rundown: 9/22/24 - 9/28/24
Playoff bracket is (mostly) set, A's bid farewell to Oakland, and much more.
Good morning and happy Sunday!
Today marks the final full slate of games for the 2024 MLB season. Due to a weather postponement, the Braves and Mets will face off in a doubleheader tomorrow, just one day before the Wild Card games begin. The double-header is huge for Atlanta and New York as they vie for position in the National League Wild Card race. The Arizona Diamondbacks remain in the mix but if there’s a tie between the three clubs, they would be the odd team as they lost the tiebreakers.
As for the rest of the league, the Houston Astros came from 10 games back to clinch their fourth straight American League West title. The New York Yankees took care of business in the AL East. The Los Angeles Dodgers earned their 11th NL West title in 12 years. The Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and Kansas City Royals clinched AL Wild Card spots while the San Diego Padres punched their ticket to the playoffs via the NL Wild Card.
We’ll get to the full postseason bracket and much more below in our final regular-season rundown of 2024. Enjoy, and don’t forget to subscribe above to get these rundowns in your email inbox every Sunday throughout the playoffs and the offseason.
Padres Clinch Playoffs In Style
The Padres punched their ticket to the postseason in one of the coolest ways possible. Up by two runs with two on and no outs in the bottom of the ninth, they turned a game-ending triple play vs. the Dodgers.
It was only the third game-ending triple play in the Wild Card era and only three teams have turned a triple play on the day they clinched a postseason berth. The Padres are the only team ever to end a playoff-clinching game with a triple play.
Postseason Bracket
Here’s what the 2024 MLB postseason bracket would look like if the season ended today. The Mets, Braves, and Diamondbacks are battling for two of the three NL Wild Card spots.
Reds Fire David Bell
The Cincinnati Reds relieved manager David Bell of his duties. Bell had served as Cincinnati’s skipper for the last six seasons.
Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall released the following statement:
“David provided the kind of steadiness that we needed in our clubhouse over the last few seasons. We felt a change was needed to move the Major League team forward. We have not achieved the success we expected, and we need to begin focusing on 2025.”
Bell finishes with a 409-456 record as the Reds’ manager.
Skip Schumaker Leaving Marlins
Unlike Bell, Skip Schumaker is leaving his team on his own terms. He told his players after Friday’s game he would not be back next season.
Schumaker replaced Don Mattingly as Marlins manager ahead of the 2023 season. He had a less-than-stellar 144-178 record as Miami’s skipper, but that has more to do with the poor roster than anything else.
Schumaker should be a coveted managerial candidate this offseason and seems to be a frontrunner for the Reds and White Sox vacancies.
Farewell, Oakland
On Thursday, the A’s and their fans bid farewell to Oakland Coliseum after 56 years of calling the ballpark home.
Fans filled the stadium to say their goodbyes and reminisce on fond memories. The A’s perfectly wrapped up their time in Oakland with an emotional victory over the Rangers.
Players, fans, and team staff members were teary-eyed as they soaked in their final few moments at the Coliseum. You can watch the scenes from the final game in Oakland below.
A’s owner John Fisher released the following letter to fans before their final home series.
To our Oakland Athletics Fans:
This upcoming series with the Texas Rangers will be the final games of the A's storied 57 years in Oakland. And while the A's previously played in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Oakland has been home for the greatest era in the franchise's more than 123-year history.
Four World Series Championships. Six pennants and 17 division titles. Seven Baseball Hall of Famers. Charlie Finley and his mule. Billy Ball. Reggie and his incomparable swagger. Rollie and his handlebar mustache. Dave Stewart and the stare. Bill King's "Holy Toledo." Rickey, the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history. The list goes on and on.
Triumphs, near misses, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in Game 3 of the Bay Bridge Series, the 20-game win streak, a Hollywood movie, and an unmatched cast of players, coaches, and fans. We've had it all.
And that, I know, is what makes our departure so very hard.
The A's are part of the fabric of Oakland, the East Bay, and the entire Bay Area. When Lew Wolff and I bought the team in 2005, our dream was to win world championships and build a new ballpark in Oakland. Over the next 18 years, we did our very best to make that happen. We proposed and pursued five different locations in the Bay Area. And despite mutual and ongoing efforts to get a deal done for the Howard Terminal project, we came up short.
Only in 2021, after 16 years of working exclusively on developing a home in the Bay Area and faced with a binding MLB agreement to find a new home by 2024, did we begin to explore taking the team to Las Vegas.
There are millions of dedicated and passionate A's fans, in Oakland and around the world. Countless dedicated staff members and Oakland Coliseum employees have poured their hearts into this team, and their efforts have meant so much to our community. I know there is great disappointment, even bitterness. Though I wish I could speak to each one of you individually, I can tell you this from the heart: we tried. Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we failed to achieve it. And for that I am genuinely sorry.
Looking ahead, I hope you will join our beloved A's as we move forward on this amazing journey. I hope I will see you again sporting the Green and Gold. And I hope we will make you proud.
That message, of course, rang hollow in Oakland. Fisher has rightfully earned the reputation as a greedy, cowardly billionaire owner who cares more about his wallet than the millions of fans who have loyally rooted on the franchise for the last 56 years.
While they wait for their new Las Vegas stadium to be built, the A’s will move to Sutter Health Park - home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats - for the next three years with an option for a fourth season.
Charlie Blackmon Calling It a Career
Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon AKA “Chuck Nazty” has announced his retirement after 14 MLB seasons.
“As a kid you play the game because you love it, like nothing else matters,” Blackmon wrote on X. “I still play the game that way, but I don’t feel like a kid anymore. My perspective has changed. I have been blessed to call the city of Denver and The Colorado Rockies my baseball home for the entirety of my career. I am grateful for the support of this organization, my teammates, and most of all Rockies fans. It is with a thankful heart and a career’s worth of memories that I choose a new path.”
Blackmon, 38, spent his entire career in Colorado. He ends his impressive tenure with four All-Star nods, two Silver Sluggers, and a batting title in 2017.
White Sox Officially the Worst
Congrats to the Chicago White Sox for officially earning the title of worst MLB team in the modern era. They lost their 121st game of the season on Friday, marking the most losses of any team in modern MLB history. Bravo.
Dominant on the Bump
Blake Snell, San Francisco Giants
6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 1 BB vs. Kansas City Royals
Bryce Miller, Seattle Mariners
7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 K, 2 BB vs. Houston Astros
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 1 BB vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Jack Kochanowicz, Los Angeles Angels
7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 K, 0 BB vs. Chicago White Sox
Max Fried, Atlanta Braves
8.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 2 BB vs. Kansas City Royals
Big Bombs
Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts hit back-to-back homers to give the Dodgers a walk-off win over the Rockies.
Red Sox slugger Triston Casas hit three homers in a game against the Twins.
Rhys Hoskins hit a grand slam for the Brewers vs. the Mets
Aaron Judge hit homers in five consecutive games.
Travis d’Arnaud hit a walk-off homer vs. the Royals to bring the Braves within one win of clinching a Wild Card spot.
Web Gem of the Week
Tigers outfielder Parker Meadows robbed the Orioles of a homer.
Welcome to the Show
Tigers top pitching prospect Jackson Jobe allowed just one hit in a scoreless inning of relief in his MLB debut Wednesday vs. the Rays.
Cubs outfield prospect Kevin Alcantara recorded his first career hit in his MLB debut Wednesday vs. the Phillies.
Pirates pitching prospect Mike Burrows pitched 3.1 innings in his MLB debut vs. the Yankees on Saturday, allowing one run on two hits and three walks while striking out two.
Notable Injuries
The Mets shut down right-hander Kodai Senga for the rest of the regular season with tricep tightness. It’s unclear whether he would be able to return if New York makes a deep playoff run.
Braves third baseman Austin Riley won’t return in the regular season or the postseason due to a fractured hand.
The Orioles are shutting right-hander Grayson Rodriguez down for the year due to a lat injury.
The Yankees placed left-hander Nestor Cortes on the 15-day IL due to a flexor strain in his left elbow.
Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.
Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick has a bone bruise in his hip and is expected to miss the start of the playoffs.
Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo fractured two fingers on a hit-by-pitch.
Rapid Fire
The Marlins designated outfielder Cristian Pache for assignment.
The Twins DFA’d lefty Cole Irvin.
The Pirates released first baseman Rowdy Tellez and outfielder Michael A. Taylor. Tellez was only four plate appearances away from a $200K bonus.
Longtime utility man Marwin Gonzalez announced his retirement from baseball. The 2017 World Series champion has spent the last two years playing in Japan.