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Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant proved he was worth every bit of the hype as a rookie. Based on jersey sales, it appears Bryant’s emergence has already made him one of baseball’s most popular stars.

Darren Rovell of ESPN.com reported the NL Rookie of the Year favorite led all players in jersey sales during the regular season, followed by San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner.

Bryant, 23, finished the regular season with a .275/.369/.488 slash line, belting 26 home runs and driving in 99 runs. His 6.3 wins above replacement ranks 10th among position players and by far the best among fellow first-year players, per FanGraphs. Matt Duffy of the Giants, who had a 4.9 WAR, is the only rookie remotely close.

Bryant is joined in the top 10 by teammate Anthony Rizzo, who is eighth in sales. Rizzo hit .278/.387/.512 with 31 home runs and 101 RBI, finishing 15th in WAR. The Cubs and Giants were the only teams with multiple players in the top 10. Here is a look at the full list, courtesy of Rovell:

San Francisco has three players in the top seven overall, thanks in large part to its World Series win a year ago. Bumgarner, who went 18-9 with a 2.93 ERA and 1.01 WHIP this season, became one of the sport’s biggest stars with a brilliant run last October. He was responsible for two wins and a save in the deciding game against the Kansas City Royals and was named the World Series MVP.

Catcher Buster Posey, third in jersey sales, has long been the club’s foundational position player. He made his third All-Star team in 2015 and has already been an integral part of three championship teams. Teammate Hunter Pence, seventh on the list, is another three-time All-Star who remained among the biggest sellers despite playing only 52 games.

Overall, the list is one that has to be comforting to Major League Baseball. Pence is by far the oldest player in the top 10 at age 32. The other nine players are all in their 20s, none older than the soon-to-be 29-year-old Andrew McCutchen. Baseball is in the midst of a talent renaissance, and there may be no better indicator of the sport’s bright future than the youth of its jersey sales leaders. 

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It took to the final outs of the season, but the 2015 MLB playoff field is set. Sunday’s regular-season finales settled the remaining dust of the AL West and decided home-field advantage for the NL Wild Card Game, which were the two lingering questions heading into Game 162.    

The AL West was by far the most interesting storyline, with the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels all unsure about where they would be heading.

In the end, Texas was the only AL team who could come through. The Rangers earned a 9-2 win over the Angels to capture the West Division, clinching a wild-card spot for a Houston team that needed the help. The Astros would have been in danger of missing the playoffs had Los Angeles won.

In the National League, meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs showed why they’re among baseball’s best teams. Both earned victories in their regular-season finales, again being carried by their ace pitching staffs. The Pirates’ 4-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds clinched their hosting duties; they’ll be playing in the Wild Card Game for the third straight year. 

With that in mind, here is a look at what we know about the MLB postseason schedule and a look at the two Wild Card Games coming this week.

AL Wild Card: Houston Astros at New York Yankees

Date: Tuesday, Oct. 6

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Network: ESPN

It’s safe to say things could be better for the Yankees. They’ve spent the better part of two weeks trying to clinch a playoff spot and then slowly inching their way to home-field advantage that looked like a foregone conclusion. A pair of ugly series against the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles closed their season, as they dropped a number of key games. 

Things were so bad players took to the tried and true cliche of saying it’s better to be playing for something down the stretch. 

“I think it’s a really, really good thing that’s happening to us,” Alex Rodriguez said, per Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. “I think it’s something we’re going to be able to build on. I’ve been on teams where we’ve clinched in mid-September and it’s been a little anticlimactic going into the playoffs. I think it’s a great thing that’s happening to us. We haven’t played an insignificant pitch in a long time. I think that’s helpful.”

If A-Rod is correct, the Yankees will be going against a team that’s as prepared if not more so. Houston has been in a three-way battle atop the AL West for most of the second half, with each of the three teams seemingly taking control at one time or another. Houston is by far the best of the three teams on paper, posting a plus-111 run differential, while Texas and Los Angeles were right around even.

The Yankees have strangely become a $200 million underdog. Their best everyday player is arguably Rodriguez, a 40-year-old designated hitter who was a pariah before the season. Their best pitcher is Masahiro Tanaka, a $175 million investment who is literally limping to the finish line; it’s hard to remember a time when Tanaka went into a start looking fully healthy. 

The remainder of the roster is a strange mix of young and old, as unprovens attempt to create their October reputation while overpaid stars attempt to find their former magic. It’s a weird, quirky, almost fun roster. As strange as it sounds in a matchup of the Yankees and Astros, it might actually be more fun to see the Bronx Bombers move on.  

NL Wild Card: Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates

Date: Wednesday, Oct. 7

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Network: TBS

The Pirates and Cubs are nothing if not victims of geography. Pittsburgh ended the regular season with MLB’s second-best record and Chicago with the game’s third-best. Yet both head into Wednesday night in danger of bowing out after one playoff game simply because they’re in the same division as the St. Louis Cardinals.

“This season is an outlier,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said, per John Perrotto of the Times. “How many times are the three best teams in the league going to be in the same division? Not often. This just happens to be one of those years.”

The unfortunate thing for the Pirates especially is that a one-game playoff—no matter where it’s held—heavily favors their opponent. Chicago will tab ace Jake Arrieta for the matchup. Arrieta just so happens to be coming off the best second-half performance in MLB history. No, really, in the history of the sport. Arrieta posted a 0.75 ERA after the All-Star break, all but clinching a Cy Young Award and setting a number of records along the way. 

“He’s unbelievable,” Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said of Arrieta, per Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. “You get guys on base all the time and they say they’ve never seen anything like it. It’s a credit to him. He works hard, and deserves everything he gets and is about to get. Now we’ve got the biggest games of our lives coming up. We’ll be ready.”

The Pirates will go with Gerrit Cole, who is somehow being overshadowed despite nearly being a 20-game winner. Cole went 19-8 during the regular season, going past the 30-star mark for the first time in his career and coming into his own as a foundational ace. The righty walked only four more batters in 2015 than 2014 despite throwing 70 more innings—throwing more accurately without a marked drop-off in strikeout rate.

Focus on the pitching matchup is apt given the minimal separation between the teams. The Pirates have a slightly better run differential, but Chicago is the rare team with nearly an identical record on the road as home. The Cubs’ regular-season mark was the best in baseball, and their late-season road run nearly put them in a position to host the Wild Card Game.

As it stands, it’s tough to go against Arrieta in any setting. His run is among the most impressive feats we’ve seen since the turn of the century; it’d almost be masochistic to pick against the Cubs just to go against the grain.

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Justine Siegal made MLB history Tuesday, as the Oakland Athletics announced she would serve as a guest instructor for their Instructional League club, making her the first woman to coach in big league history.

“It’s a dream come true,” Siegal said, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. “The A’s are a first-class organization, and it will be an honor to wear their uniform.”

Siegal, 40, has completed the Major League Scouting Bureau school and has her Ph.D. in sport and exercise psychology. Her duties will include “a little bit of everything,” ranging from hitting infield practice to offering her knowledge in meetings, according to Athletics assistant general manager David Forst, per Slusser.

“As a rookie coach, I expect to hit a lot of fungos, throw a lot of batting practice and help out wherever they want me to help,” Siegal told Slusser. “And I do like talking about life skills—I like to help people achieve their life goals.”

Siegal’s hiring continues an upward trend for women in men’s professional sports. The San Antonio Spurs made history by hiring Becky Hammon as an assistant coach, and the former WNBAer led the Spurs’ summer league team to a championship in July. The Sacramento Kings followed suit by hiring Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman to serve as an assistant under head coach George Karl this summer.

Siegal’s situation is perhaps most comparable to that of Jen Welter, who served as a coaching intern with the Arizona Cardinals during training camp. Like Welter, Siegal was not hired for a permanent position but as temporary help during a time when a team needs all hands on deck.      

“Justine knows that nothing has been promised, but we’re not ruling that out,” Forst said of a full-time position.

That leaves the NHL as the only major professional sports league that has not had a female coach.

The Athletics previously employed Kate Greenthal in their scouting department from 2012 to 2014, and this hire shows they’re still among the most progressive organizations in baseball. Even if Siegal’s just a guest instructor, this is progress worth celebrating and, hopefully, a sign of things to come.

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The Washington Nationals suspended reliever Jonathan Papelbon for four games Monday, a day after he attacked teammate Bryce Harper during a dugout altercation.

“The behavior exhibited by Papelbon yesterday is not acceptable,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said in a statement. “That is not at all in line with the way our players are expected to conduct themselves and the Nationals organization will not tolerate it in any way.”

In addition to the team’s suspension, Papelbon has chosen not to appeal a three-game suspension for hitting Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado on purpose in a game last Wednesday. The combined suspensions will keep him off the field for the remainder of the season.

Papelbon, 34, had a verbal altercation that turned physical with Harper after the MVP favorite did not run out a pop-out in the eighth inning. The Nationals reliever grabbed Harper by the neck and put him up against the dugout wall before the two were separated by teammates. Both players attempted to downplay the scuffle after the game, during which Papelbon allowed the game-winning runs.

“I grew up with brothers, he grew up with brothers, I view him as a brother,” Papelbon said, per ESPN.com. “And sometimes in this game, there’s a lot of testosterone and things spill over.”

“He apologized, so whatever,” Harper said. “I really don’t care. … It’s like brothers fighting. That’s what happens.”

According to Dan Kolko of MASN, Harper will not be in the lineup Monday for his part in the altercation, which drew an understandably perplexed response from Robby Kalland of CBS Sports:

It will be interesting to see if Sunday was the last time we’ll see Papelbon in a Nationals uniform. Acquired in a midseason trade with the Philadelphia Phillies, he has posted a 3.04 ERA and 1.10 WHIP since joining the club. He has seven saves against two blown chances, failing to help Washington stay in the playoff race.

At issue here is the $11 million Papelbon is owed for 2016. Even if he’s not at his peak, he is an effective pitcher who was having an excellent season in Philadelphia before the trade. In today’s MLB, $11 million for a pitcher of his caliber isn’t a massive overpay. It’s really a question of how irreparable the relationship is between Harper and Papelbon—and the Nationals as a whole.

If the situation is really two “brothers” getting into an argument, there’s no reason to expect Papelbon to be sent packing. If it runs deeper, though, Washington would be better off cutting bait—even if it means eating most of his salary. 

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The inevitable crowning is finally upon us. With a 10-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday, the Kansas City Royals clinched their first AL Central championship and first division title overall since their 1985 World Series run.

Mike Moustakas drove in three runs, and Johnny Cueto gave up three earned runs over seven innings of work to help the Royals clinch the division.

MLB shared the final out and the subsequent celebration:

Chris Fickett of the Kansas City Star captured the moment the team streamed onto the field in triumph:

ESPN Stats & Info pointed out the 2015 season marks the first time the Royals made back-to-back postseasons since 1984-85. Given that timeframe, it should come as no surprise they were ready to party, as Baseball Tonight highlighted:

Fox Sports Kansas City shared more of the celebration that spilled from the field to the locker room:

Manager Ned Yost put the length of time between division crowns into context, per Matthew DeFranks of Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City: “Like 25 of these guys weren’t even born the last time the Royals won a division.”

With Kansas City galloping well ahead of the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins, Thursday’s ceremony has been weeks in the making. The Royals were poised to clinch the division at some point during their final homestand of the season, which allowed the team to take a peek at the postseason. 

“It’s certainly a different feeling,” general manager Dayton Moore said, per Jeff Deters of the Topeka Capital-Journal. “Last year we were fighting for everything, and we still are. No one is going to give you anything in this game. You’ve got to go take it and earn it every single night. It’s very challenging to win a Major League Baseball game. But in the same mindset, you think a little bit into the future on what certain matchups might be if we are in the playoffs.”

Dan Plesac of MLB Network offered his congratulations:

Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star looked toward the inevitable party:   

Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller pointed at the team’s doubters:

With their playoff spot clinched, the Royals can now concentrate on landing home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. They are two games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays through Thursday, which means there won’t be time to sit players out down the stretch. Both teams have looming intradivisional matchups, so it’ll be up to East and Central teams to help decide the top overall seed.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports noted it’s up to Kansas City to decide where postseason games will be played:

While clinching home-field advantage would prove helpful, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports noted this team has the right formula to win in any location:

If the Royals keep their lead, they’ll host the winner of the wild-card matchup, which is looking increasingly like a battle between the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. Houston and New York have both taken four of their six matchups against Kansas City during the regular season.

Of course, being an underdog is nothing new to this Royals roster. A year ago, it would have seemed impossible that the small-ball outfit would make a run at an American League championship and narrowly miss out on raising a banner. This year’s version is far different, featuring a number of All-Stars and high-profile midseason acquisitions meant to complete the title push.

Step 1 is now complete. We’ll see if these Royals have the same October magic as their predecessors in a couple of weeks.

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The Miami Marlins‘ managerial job has been mired in turmoil all season. Heading into 2016, it appears the team is dead set on a veteran option.

Continue for updates.

Baker, Acta on Marlins’ Radar

Tuesday, Sept. 22

Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reported Dusty Baker and Manny Acta have emerged as two prime candidates for the position. Baker appears to be the favorite at the moment, though the club interviewed Acta on Tuesday. 

Baker last managed the Cincinnati Reds from 2008-13. He went 509-463 (.524 winning percentage) in Cincinnati, leading the team to three postseason appearances. The Reds fired Baker following a loss in the Wild Card Round to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013.

The 66-year-old also managed the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs to varying degrees of success. In nine seasons in San Francisco, Baker led the Giants to three postseason appearances, including a National League championship in 2002. That run helped him land in Chicago, where he pushed the Cubs to the brink of the NL crown in 2003 before missing the postseason in his last three years.

Bomani Jones of ESPN highlighted Baker’s polarizing nature:

Acta, 46, last managed the Cleveland Indians from 2010-12. He went 214-266 (.446 winning percentage) in Cleveland, failing to make the postseason in all three years before being let go late in the 2012 season. Before Cleveland, Acta had a largely unsuccessful run with the Washington Nationals, going 158-252 (.385 winning percentage) while finishing no higher than fourth place in the NL East.

Of the two, Baker’s by far the more accomplished. That said, the 20-year age difference could be something Marlins management considers as the team tries to build around a younger core. At the very least, it should be a consideration if the club wants a long-term solution on the bench rather than another stopgap in a series of short-term solutions.

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New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez has been diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left knee after undergoing an MRI on Tuesday.

Continue for updates.

A-Rod Has Bone Bruise, Still Playing

Tuesday, Sept. 15 

Rodriguez, 40, suffered the injury in Sunday’s 5-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, per George A. King III of the New York Post. He was in the lineup again Monday after the team traveled to Tampa Bay, knocking in a game-tying RBI as the Yankees pulled off a ninth-inning comeback against the Rays. New York listed him as the designated hitter for Tuesday night.  

While still one of the most controversial players in the sport, Rodriguez has been a revelation for the Yankees in 2015. He’s hitting .257/.359/.501 with 31 home runs and 82 RBI heading into Tuesday night—both numbers at or near the team lead. The former All-Star has also kept a low-profile demeanor for most of the season, something he and the Yankees needed after a whirlwind 2014. 

The former MVP missed the entire 2014 regular season because of a performance-enhancing drug suspension. He was limited to just 44 games in the two seasons prior to 2015 because of the suspension and a degenerative hip condition.

Once viewed among the best players in baseball history, Rodriguez’s injury issues and actions off the field had turned him into a pariah throughout the sport—even in his own clubhouse. 

Now, the Yankees clubhouse likely realizes how much it needs him. With Mark Teixeira out for the remainder of the season, Rodriguez is arguably New York’s most dangerous hitter. If you told fans that at the beginning of the season, they’d most likely be envisioning a doomsday scenario. 

With A-Rod at the center of a team in contention for a division crown, however, their fingers are crossed that this injury doesn’t linger.   

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Ruben Amaro Jr.’s polarizing tenure as Philadelphia Phillies general manager is over. The club announced Thursday that Amaro’s contract would not be renewed, with control over baseball operations ceasing immediately.

Assistant general manager Scott Proefrock will take over for the remainder of 2015 as interim GM.

Phillies president-in-waiting Andy MacPhail addressed the move in a statement, per ESPN.com:

It’s never an easy decision to make a change. Ruben has had a direct impact on some of the best years in the team’s history. He helped to create some great memories for Phillies fans with his accomplishments, but in order to return to a top-contending club, we believe this is the right thing to do as we continue the rebuilding process.

Amaro, 50, has been a member of the Phillies front office since his playing career ended in 1998. He served in the role of assistant general manager from 1998 to 2008, first under Ed Wade and then Pat Gillick, who retired after the club’s 2008 World Series championship (Gillick has since returned as the team’s president but will pass the title to MacPhail after this season).

Amaro took over as general manager following the 2008 season. Under his guidance, Philadelphia made the playoffs in each of the first three seasons, including a return to the World Series in 2009. Fans voted him MLB‘s Executive of the Year during that campaign, and it appeared Amaro would be making a seamless transition.

Unfortunately, that’s where things peaked. The Phillies performed progressively worse in each October after 2009 and are now heading toward their fourth straight missed postseason. Their roster in recent seasons has been littered with long, expensive contracts given to veterans who had peaked years earlier. That resulted in unceremonious exits for the likes of Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Cole Hamels.

It’s unclear whether Proefrock will have a chance to win the full-time job or will merely be a figurehead until the organization finds a permanent replacement this winter. Now, it’s time to see if the new regime can competently rebuild the team in the competitive NL East.

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Major League Baseball’s richest somehow got even richer Thursday, as the Los Angeles Dodgers called up shortstop Corey Seager, one of the top prospects in the sport.

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported the news.

Seager, 21, ascended to No. 1 in Baseball America‘s midseason prospect rankings and ranked fourth in Sporting News‘ similar June checkup.

Selected No. 18 overall in 2012, Seager has ascended quickly through the Dodgers system. He has split 2015 between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting .292/.343/.486 with 18 home runs and 74 RBI overall. While his numbers have dipped a bit in Triple-A compared to his scorching start in Double-A, Seager’s arrival should come with as much fanfare as that of Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson, if not more.

The Dodgers have spent the entirety of 2015 relying on 36-year-old Jimmy Rollins at shortstop. Rollins has responded by hitting .222/.276/.358 with 13 home runs and 41 RBI while playing below-average defense. He is on pace for his first negative WAR season since a 14-game cup of coffee in 2000, according to FanGraphs‘ formula.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports said the Dodgers plan on playing Seager, noting it may be related to third baseman Justin Turner’s taking a pitch off his hand Wednesday:

While Seager has spent the bulk of his career at shortstop, he’s also put in time at third base.

Of course, it’s entirely unclear how much time Seager will get and how it will affect Rollins. The Dodgers are still in the midst of a pennant race. Managers tend to err on the side of caution when a World Series is involved; it’s possible Rollins continues to get playing time well into October despite his poor performance.

Seager might not have a Yasiel Puig-like debut either. As his numbers in Triple-A show, Seager took some time to acclimate to the increased competition. That will only be more difficult as teams try their best to keep baseball’s highest payroll away from the sport’s pinnacle.

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The Kansas City Royals have hit an unexpected bump in their road to a repeat World Series bid. Or, to be more accurate, several bumps.

A chickenpox outbreak in the Royals clubhouse will leave outfielder Alex Rios and relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera out for at least two weeks, per Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star. Both had been absent from the team since the weekend as they underwent testing. The Royals believe Rios and Herrera are the only two players affected at this time.

Team officials have not publicly commented but are expected to address the situation before Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers. No additional information about how the breakout began is available as of publication.

“A child might have a couple hundred lesions,” Rafael Harpaz, a medical epidemiologist from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told McCullough. “An adult might have over 500. The likelihood that they’ll end up getting pneumonia is much higher. That’s pretty rare in children. So there’s a number of complications that are more common in adults than in children.”

Rios, 34, is hitting .253/.288/.333 with two home runs and 22 RBI this season. His illness will be somewhat offset by the return of Alex Gordon, who had been out since July with a strained groin.

“This is kind of a one-shot deal,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said of Gordon over the weekend, per Laura McCallister of KCTV5. “He comes back and hurts it, he’s done. So we want to make sure that he’s in great shape, healthy and ready to go when he gets back.”     

Still, it’ll be harder to work Gordon back into the lineup slowly if Rios is on the shelf for an extended period. The Royals are already stuck with Ben Zobrist playing an outfield spot rather than replacing Omar Infante at second base, which is probably their best long-term option given Infante’s offensive struggles.

Herrera is 4-2 with a 2.12 ERA and 0.99 WHIP this season but is far more replaceable. With its September call-ups, Kansas City has more arms on the roster than at any other point this season, so losing a reliever—even a talented one—isn’t a crushing blow.

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