MLB Playoff Divisional Round Overreactions to Dodgers vs. Braves, Rays vs. Yankees and Every Game

When the summer doldrums start to wear you down as a baseball fan, dreaming about days like these can quickly put that pep back in your step.

Four postseason games, back-to-back-to-back-to-back.

All of them are potential elimination games, no less.

And we've celebrated the occasion with one rapid (over)reaction for each of the eight teams in action.

Cleveland Guardians: They Done Woke Up J-Ram

For most of this season, José Ramírez simply wasn't the J-Ram we've come to know and love.

Even before suffering that broken hamate in mid-June, he was only on pace for 22 home runs and 74 RBI, both of which would have been his worst (non-2020) totals since 2016.

But he really was not the same after his return to the lineup.

In his last 52 regular-season games, Ramírez hit just two home runs and posted a .593 OPS.

And in the first two postseason games against the White Sox, he went 0-for-6 with two walks and three strikeouts.

At long last, though, the proverbial light may have come back on.

J-Ram went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, a stolen base and a walk in Wednesday's 9-3 win over Chicago.

Even his unsuccessful plate appearances were impressive. The lineout in the first inning was scalded at 107.9 MPH with an expected batting average of .830. It just happened to find Randal Grichuk's glove. He also worked the count full before popping out in the seventh inning.

But it was the double-stolen base-run scored on a grounder sequence in the fifth inning that felt like the J-Ram of yore. And the two-run triple in the eighth made it feel like more than a flash in the pan.

If he's back—with Parker Messick pitching Thursday and Gavin Williams gearing up for Game 5—Cleveland might storm back from a 2-0 deficit.

(Also, three cheers to Foster Griffin, who struck out seven of the 11 batters he faced to get the win. He had a 5.19 ERA after relocating from Washington at the trade deadline, but that was huge.)

Chicago White Sox: The Bullpen Shtick Has Finally Imploded

In winning their first four postseason games, the Chicago White Sox's MVP was the entire bullpen.

Of the total 36 innings pitched in those victories, the bullpen was responsible for 26.0, doing so with a 1.04 ERA, 0.69 WHIP and 10.4 K/9.

It was as if they all of a sudden had nine Josh Haders out there. (Houston's Hader finished the year with a 1.01 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and 11.1 K/9 in his 44.2 innings of dominance.)

But after Sean Newcomb gave them two scoreless innings in starting Game 3, the wheels came all the way off.

Starting with Bryan Hudson, the subsequent six White Sox pitchers took turns getting smoked to the tune of 10 hits, 10 walks and nine earned runs as the Guardians lived to see another day.

Notably, Jordan Hicks and Grant Taylor played no part in that implosion. The former has gone 10.1 scoreless innings with 18 strikeouts since Labor Day, while the latter has been quietly one of MLB's most dominant relievers since July 4.

All the same, the dam may have broken on Wednesday.

A very limited supply of reliable pitching was everyone's concern about the White Sox heading into the postseason, and it finally reared its ugly head in Game 3.

Can they reel it back in on Thursday, presumably with Erick Fedde and Taylor each pitching multiple innings?

Los Angeles Dodgers: There Is No Achilles' Heel

Less than one month ago, the thought of Edwin Díaz pitching in anything close to a high-leverage situation for the Dodgers was inconceivable.

In 16 appearances across two trips to the IL, he posted a 11.85 ERA and blew four of his last seven save chances.

But something clicked during his last rehab assignment.

Over his final five regular-season appearances, he struck out nine of 17 batters faced while allowing just two baserunners. And after pitching a flawless sixth inning in Game 2, Dave Roberts had seen enough to put him back in the closer role for Games 3 and 4.

He locked them both down, not even allowing a baserunner in the series clincher.

Meanwhile, the hero in both Games 3 and 4 came out of the 9-hole in the lineup.

After not even getting a plate appearance in Game 1 or Game 2, Kiké Hernández hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning in Game 3 to break a scoreless tie, ultimately driving in the winning run.

On Wednesday night, Andy Pages delivered a massive two-out, two-run single that put the Dodgers ahead for good.

Of course, with this loaded roster, the 9-hole has never been much of a hole.

During the regular season, they had an MLB-best .259 batting average from that bottom spot in the order. But those two games in Atlanta were a sobering reminder that there are no easy outs when facing the twice-reigning champs.

Atlanta Braves: It Might Be Time to Trade Ronald Acuña Jr.

Ronald Acuña Jr. is a five-time All-Star and a three-time Silver Slugger.

He was the NL Rookie of the Year in 2018 and the NL MVP in 2023.

When he's at his best, not many who have ever played the game have been better.

But he sure has been a ghost in October for a while now.

Dating back to Game 2 of the 2020 NLDS against Miami, Acuña has gone 14-for-84 (.167 AVG) with 24 strikeouts, zero home runs and just one RBI in 24 games played.

The idea of Atlanta trading away its final two years of team control on Acuña would have been considered blasphemy just a few days ago. Braves fans certainly sang his praises when he played a massive role in keeping the Phillies at bay in the first half of September.

But here at the end of his third consecutive injury-plagued season, the fans sure seem to have had enough of his inability to deliver when they need him the most, going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position this postseason.

We'll leave the "Where would he go?" and "How much could they get?" speculations for another day, but it does feel like the Braves need to do something drastic to shake things up after yet another early flameout in October.

Tampa Bay Rays: Welcome to the Victor Mesa Jr. Show

For most of the regular season, I was reluctant to believe the Tampa Bay Rays could win the World Series.

It's not because of their payroll, nor the fact that they have never won it all before.

Rather, it's because, for most of the season, it felt like they could get swept in a series if Junior Caminero and/or Yandy Díaz went through a cold spell. So much of this offense depended on that dynamic duo in the first half of the year.

Chandler Simpson really started to heat up in July, though. They traded for Liam Hicks in August, bolstering a problematic catcher spot in the lineup. But the final, biggest nudge that pushed the Rays into Serious Contender-ville came when Victor Mesa Jr. caught fire in September.

The rookie had a 1.015 OPS in the final month of the regular season, blossoming into a near-daily fixture in the lineup.

And after catching that controversial Spencer Jones fly ball off the catwalk early in Game 2 in Tampa Bay, Mesa delivered the 401-foot haymaker of a two-run home run off Max Fried in the sixth inning.

Fried had allowed just four home runs during the regular season.

His 0.32 HR/9 rate was the lowest among pitchers in a season with at least 100 innings pitched since 2014.

He hadn't allowed a single home run to a left-handed hitter all season.

That's how legends are born, though. And Mesa's postseason legend might just be getting started.

Aaron Boone isn't to blame for Aaron Judge's postseason absence.

It's not Aaron Boone's fault that the Yankees couldn't field their way out of a paper bag in Game 2 of this series against the Rays.

It's not Aaron Boone's fault that Ryan Vilade's deep fly ball traveled just beyond Spencer Jones' outstretched glove, nor that Anthony Volpe's deep fly ball a few innings later traveled only far enough for a fan-interference decision heard 'round the world.

It's not Aaron Boone's fault that Max Fried picked the worst possible moment to allow his first home run to a left-handed hitter (Victor Mesa Jr.) since August 2025, more than 30 starts ago.

And we know this because nothing ever seems to be Aaron Boone's fault.

How can the Yankees justify keeping him once again after yet another embarrassing postseason exit?

He is now 27-30 in the postseason in his nine-year managerial career, and has overseen more than 50 percent of what is now a 17-year drought without a World Series title.

On the one hand, many MLB fan bases would do anything to experience 57 postseason games in less than a decade.

On the other hand, six-ish postseason games per year is pretty much the bare minimum when you're the Damn Yankees.

George Steinbrenner would've fired Boone at least four times by now. And if Hal Steinbrenner doesn't do it now, he might as well put out a public statement that simply making the playoffs (while turning a profit) is the new Yankee Way.

Milwaukee Brewers: We'll Be Talking About "The Garrett Mitchell Game" for Years

For years, Milwaukee Brewers fans had been wondering what Garrett Mitchell could do at full strength.

After going 20th overall in the 2020 draft, his "games played" count through his first half-decade in the pros was 64, 96, 27, 83 and 29, suffering one injury after another.

At long last, though, he had a healthy season in 2026, becoming Milwaukee's primary center fielder behind the strength of his blistering speed.

And in the series-clinching victory over the Padres, he was everywhere.

It was Mitchell's single up the middle in the third inning that produced the first run of the night.

It was Mitchell's leadoff triple in the fifth inning that set the table for Jackson Chourio's game-winning RBI.

And it was Mitchell's home run robbery of Manny Machado in the eighth inning that saved the game while evoking memories of Adam Jones' catch in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Previously, "The Garrett Mitchell Game" was Game 2 in the 2024 wild card round against the Mets, when his two-run home run broke an eighth inning tie and brought the Brewers a season-saving victory.

That was one moment, though, and quickly forgotten when they collapsed the following night.

This was his game, setting up the NLCS rematch with the Dodgers.

Does he have a few more tricks up his sleeve?

San Diego Padres: Never Going to Get Over the Hump

The San Diego Padres entered the NLDS hotter than a thousand suns.

They won 17 of their final 20 regular season games, leading the majors in runs scored during that time.

They also breezed through the wild card round against the Cubs, shutting down the best offense in baseball by a combined score of 12-1.

But as they always eventually do, they ran out of gas in painstaking fashion.

With help from the roof at American Family Field, they blew an early 2-0 lead in losing Game 1.

In Game 2, the greatest closer in all the land may or may not have been tipping his pitches for another heartbreaking loss.

And after clawing back to take Game 3, Manny Machado's would-be game-tying home run in Game 4 wasn't meant to be, as this scorching hot offense was extinguished in a 3-1 loss.

It's becoming an all-too-familiar tale in San Diego.

They scored just one run in each of their losses in last year's wild card round.

They blew a 2-1 series lead in the 2024 NLDS by failing to score for 24 consecutive innings.

And let's not even talk about Josh Hader's availability with two innings remaining in the 2022 NLCS.

Despite Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts and more, it's just never enough for a team that is starting to feel destined to never win a World Series.

For now, they're tied with the Brewers as the longest-existing franchises to have never won it all.

We'll see in a few weeks' time whether that's still the case.