MLB Division Series Takeaways: Mariners, Yankees, Brewers, Dodgers & Phillies Storylines

Two home teams won the openers of the Division Series round, and two road teams won. Two games were one-sided, and two came down to the last inning (pretty much). Let’s see where the Major League Baseball playoffs stand heading into action Sunday.

1. The Seattle Mariners face the toughest task among the teams that are down 0-1.
With the Detroit Tigers set to pitch left-hander Tarik Skubal in Game 2 on Sunday night, the Mariners need to win, or else face elimination when the best-of-five series moves to Comerica Park on Tuesday.

The Mariners had success against Skubal in the regular season, beating the Tigers in each of his starts, most recently 12-3 at Comerica in July. Julio Rodríguez hit a two-run homer off Skubal in that game. Victor Robles hit a two-run double off Skubal at T-Mobile Park in April. Skubal allowed a total of seven runs in 10 2/3 innings against Mariners hitters.

Coincidentally, right-hander Luis Castillo was the winning pitcher in both games against Skubal, and they square off again in Game 2.

2. Rodríguez made a subtle but significant base-running mistake that could have cost the Mariners a victory.
Rodríguez went 3-for-5 with a home run, knocking in both of Seattle’s runs, so the Mariners wouldn’t have been in position to beat the Tigers without him. But, a key failure for Seattle came in the sixth after Rodríguez’s score-tying single also put runners at first and second with nobody out.

Against left-hander Tyler Holton, Josh Naylor followed by grounding into a 6-4 double play. If Rodríguez had avoided a tag by shortstop Javier Báez, or even just delayed it, the M’s would have had a runner at third base, plus another elsewhere, with just one out, increasing their chances to score. Neither team touched home plate again until the 11th in Detroit’s 3-2 victory.

3. The Mariners won’t have right-hander Bryan Woo this series, and could lose Naylor at any moment.
Woo’s pectoral muscle injury from two weeks ago hasn’t improved enough for him to be ready to pitch against the Tigers. Woo is on the M’s taxi squad and could be activated later if he feels better and there’s an injury to another, or a different kind of roster opening: the one where a player goes on paternity leave.

Naylor’s wife, Chantel Collado, could give birth to the couple’s first child at any time. Naylor plans to join his wife in Arizona once he gets word, and MLB rules allow for a player to miss up to three days for the event. The ALDS has an off day scheduled for Monday, if that helps.

Just in case, the Mariners have been working others, such as Eugenio Suárez, at first base.

4. The New York Yankees need the kind of performance from Aaron Judge in Game 2 on Sunday that the Toronto Blue Jays got from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the opener.

Guerrero came in 3-for-22 in six career postseason games until he unloaded on the Yankees for three hits, including a home run in the first inning against right-hander Luis Gil. Guerrero also saw a team-high 22 pitches.

Judge seems to be on the verge of breaking out, having gone 6-for-15 in four playoff games, including 2-for-4 against the Jays with a double — his only extra-base hit this postseason. He also has yet to draw a walk.

Judge hit two balls over 100 mph against the Jays, including a 112.6 mph single against right-hander Kevin Gausman.

5. No matter who hits what in the Yankees lineup, they might not have enough relief pitching to advance beyond this round.
New York’s bullpen allowed eight runs against the Toronto Blue Jays in a 10-1 loss in Game 1, with right-hander Luke Weaver being the biggest concern. Weaver has faced six batters total this postseason, allowing five runs, and has yet to retire anyone. Weaver said he is probably tipping his pitches but can’t figure out how to stop.

Weaver became a star reliever for the Yankees a season ago, allowing just three earned runs to go with 16 strikeouts over 15 1/3 innings in the 2024 postseason.

6. The time seems right for the Milwaukee Brewers to win — unless it isn’t.
The Brewers blitzed the Chicago Cubs 9-3 in Game 1 of the NLDS. Milwaukee finished with the best regular-season record in MLB, earning a Wild Card bye. The Brewers are MLB’s fourth-winningest franchise since 2017, but they also came into this season having dropped 13 of their past 16 postseason games, and haven’t won a playoff series since 2018. The franchise has been to one World Series (1982), which it lost.

Keying the offensive eruption against the Cubs, young slugger Jackson Chourio became the first player to have three hits in the first two innings of a postseason game. Chourio drove in three runs, but also exited early after sustaining a hamstring injury on the same leg he injured earlier this season. The team said he had an MRI, and manager Pat Murphy said he was worried they wouldn’t have Chourio going forward, but the player said the discomfort didn’t feel nearly as bad as the strain that cost him the end of July and most of August.

7. Roki Sasaki gives the Los Angeles Dodgers a back-end bullpen solution.

The Dodgers relief corps has been inconsistent all season, but they ended their 5-3 victory against the Philadelphia Phillies with (mostly) impressive performances by Tyler Glasnow, left-hander Alex Vesia and Sasaki. The trio kept the Phillies off the scoreboard in relief of Shohei Ohtani, who finished his start with four scoreless innings.

Sasaki was the most impressive of the relievers, reaching 100-plus mph multiple times and continuing to show the stuff the Dodgers expected when they signed him from Japan in the offseason. Sasaki posted a 4.46 ERA in 10 appearances during the regular season, including eight starts. But he spent most of the season fighting a right shoulder impingement, which had reduced his velocity. His future still could be in the rotation but the Dodgers need him now in the pen.

8. The potential loss of Harrison Bader would really hurt Philly.
Bader took only one plate appearance against the Dodgers, hitting a sacrifice fly in the second inning, before reportedly leaving because of a groin injury. Bader has been one of the Phillies best hitters since they added him from the Twins before the trade deadline. 

Bader slashed .305/.361/.463 with five homers and 11 doubles in 194 plate appearances during the regular season for Philly — about 25 percent better than league average. He also finished ninth among all outfielders in total runs saved at Fielding Bible. The series continues Monday after a day off.