Friday, September 18

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Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today’s edition is brought to you by David Adler.

Yordan Alvarez was leading the Triple Crown race for so long, he seemed like a lock to win American League MVP. 

But as we get down to the wire, we’ve got a little more intrigue. Yordan still looks like the favorite — we’ll see what happens when we release our final MVP poll next week — but two more interesting MVP candidates have emerged. 

One is Junior Caminero, which makes sense. The Rays superstar is leading the way for the AL’s best team, he might seize the home run crown from Alvarez, and he’s got all the momentum from hitting some huge dingersdown the stretch.

The other is the more fun dark horse: Cam Schlittler. A pitcher winning MVP? That barely ever happens. The only MVP pitchers this millennium are Clayton Kershaw in 2014 and Justin Verlander in 2011. 

But the “Schlittler for MVP” buzz is real, and the Yankees ace is right up there with Alvarez and Caminero.

• Alvarez: Triple Crown contender with .311 AVG (T-1st in AL), 40 HR (2nd in AL), 99 RBIs (2nd in AL)
• Caminero: 41 HR (1st in AL), best player on AL’s best team (Rays are 93-59) 
• Schlittler: 14-6, 1.95 ERA (1st in AL), 228 K’s, AL Cy Young favorite

We made the case for Schlittler in the MVP race last week, and that was before he went out and threw six one-hit innings to beat the Mets in the Subway Series finale.

Of course, you might say, “He’s a pitcher! That’s what the Cy Young is for!” (Heck, even Aaron Judge, who knows a thing or three about winning MVPs, might be on your side there. He said about his teammate Schlittler recently: “He’s definitely pitching like an MVP, but they’ve got a Cy Young Award for a reason — best pitcher in the game. So he’s got my vote, definitely, for the Cy Young.”)

But if Yordan doesn’t win the Triple Crown, and there’s no runaway MVP in the AL like Pete Crow-Armstrong is in the National League, why not Schlittler? 

He’s clearly in the same tier as all the other best players in the American League, regardless of whether they’re a position player or pitcher. His numbers are as good as anyone’s, and he’s the ace of a playoff team.

So how about a little poll? Before Schlittler starts tomorrow night against the D-backs, we want to know what you think: Does a pitcher deserve to be the MVP?  

TODAY’S POLL

Should Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler win AL MVP this season?YES!
He’s the best playerNO!
The Cy Young is enough

We’ll get back to you with the results on Monday. 

 

GO CUBS GO (TO THE TRACK)

Fly the W … for Alex Bregman’s horse! 

Act of Parliament, a horse owned by Bregman and his family, was running at the famed Churchill Downs yesterday (that’s where the Kentucky Derby is). So the whole Cubs team went out for an off-day at the racetrack.

And wouldn’t you know it — Act of Parliament won his race. Was it because of jockey Axel Concepcion’s expertise in the saddle? Or was it because of a pep talk from horse whisperer Pete Crow-Armstrong? The world may never know. 

So Bregman and the Cubs — including reliever Ryan Rolison, who was dressed AS a horse — all got to celebrate in the winner’s circle. 

It seemed like one big party. We wish we were there. But luckily there are plenty of great photos of the scene from Churchill Downs.

The big question: Should we interpret this as a good omen for the Cubs’ upcoming postseason run? Who knows — maybe luck is just on their side as they enter the season’s far turn and come down the stretch. 

BIGGEST SERIES OF THE WEEKEND

With playoff spots on the line, there are a bunch of crucial series going on this weekend. Keep an eye on these four:

Red Sox at Rays 

Tonight’s opener: 7:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV

The Red Sox could be the next AL team to clinch a playoff spot. They could do it as soon as tomorrow, but that would mean beating the division-rival and AL-best Rays in the first two games of this series, plus getting some help from other teams. Those Rays have won six games in a row as they close in on the AL East title.

Blue Jays at Rangers

Tonight’s opener: 8:05 p.m. ET, MLB.TV 

This series is huge for both teams. The Blue Jays and Rangers are tied in the Wild Card standings at 76-77, two games back of the Guardians for the third and final spot. But for the Rangers, there’s also a division title up for grabs — they trail the Astros by just one game in the AL West. 

Braves at Astros

Tonight’s opener: 8:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV 

The Braves can clinch a postseason berth tonight with a win over the Astros (or with a D-backs loss to the Yankees). They also have a chance to clinch the NL East as soon as Sunday’s series finale. But the Astros have just as much on the line as they try to hold off the Rangers.

Yankees at D-backs 

Tonight’s opener: 9:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV 

The D-backs are four games back of the Padres for the final NL Wild Card spot after a frustrating series loss to the Marlins. They have to start winning, now, against a team that has already clinched a postseason berth. The Yankees still have a chance to win the AL East, but they look more likely to be the top AL Wild Card team — which could set up a Wild Card Series rematch against the archrival Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. 

I AM THE TOLLE. I SPEAK FOR THE TREES

If you thought you couldn’t love Payton Tolle even more … well, here he is in a full Lorax body suit. 

The Red Sox had their rookie dress-up day as they flew off to Tampa for their final road series of the season, and there were some incredible outfits.

Tolle as an orange Dr. Seuss character stole the show, of course. The big lefty looked more than ready to save some Truffula Trees. (Plus, Tolle already has a little Lorax in him with that mustache…) 

But there was also Roman Anthony as a baby in a diaper, Mickey Gasper as Mario, Caleb Durbin as an Oompa Loompa, rookie manager Chad Tracy as Woody from Toy Story and a whole lot more. 

QUEENS ARE 1 WIN AWAY

We could crown our inaugural Women’s Professional Baseball League champion this weekend. 

The Los Angeles Queens are one win awayfrom taking home the first WPBL title. After beating the San Francisco Fireballs last night, the Queens are up two games to none in the best-of-five series.

Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. ETat Robin Roberts Field in Springfield, Ill. 

Game 4, if necessary, would be Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, and a winner-take-all Game 5 would be Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. All the games of the WPBL championship series will be streamed on ESPN+. 

DAILY WALKOFF

Put your baseball brain to the test with Daily Walkoff, where you can find 30 brand-new trivia puzzles every day, one for each team. Play Daily Walkoff >> 

 

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