Sports
MLB Third Basemen Don’t Hit for Power Anymore: Epidemic on Display During MLB Playoffs Game 1
On a night when the baseball playoffs put fans to sleep—literally in Atlanta, where their beloved Braves played until almost 11 p.m. and still never scored—we search for run-producing answers.
Start the postseason basically five minutes after the regular season ends, and thus make it difficult for ace pitchers to be ready for Game 1?
Uh, we’ve got Cole Ragans and Michael King on Line 1… that didn’t work.
So we ask: What did the good old days of baseball playoffs have that we’re missing today?
Well, that’s easy. They had George Brett, Brooks Robinson, Paul Molitor, David Wright, Miguel Cabrera and Chipper Jones manning the same position at which their franchises trotted out Maikel Garcia, Ramon Urias, Joey Ortiz, Matt Vientos, Matt Vierling and Gio Urshela on Tuesday.
Whatever happened to Mike Schmidt, Adrian Beltre and Alex Rodriguez? Later this week, we’ll find out they’ve turned into Alec Bohm, Max Muncy and Jazz Chisholm, Jr.
We’re just 27 outs into the baseball games that really matter, so hasty conclusions are a dime a dozen. But what we saw Tuesday is something that’s been trending for years:
Apparently power-hitting third basemen have become punters.
Hey, don’t discount the notion.
Legend has it that when Vince Lombardi visited the California home of his former ballboy, Bud Levitas, almost 60 years ago, the legendary coach saw his pal’s grandson tossing a baseball with a friend out front of the house.
“You want to be a professional athlete someday?” Lombardi asked.
“Yes, sir,” 5-year-old Bobby Melvin proudly responded.
“Then you should learn to punt a football.”
Melvin kicked a few spirals, but found it boring. So he became a major-league catcher and now serves as manager of the San Francisco Giants.
If history were to repeat itself today, with Melvin doing the visiting and the late Lombardi’s great, great grandson not recognizing the famous skipper, here’s how the conversation likely would unfold.
“You want to be a professional athlete someday?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then learn how to play third base.”
The baseball playoffs opened with eight teams fielding eight third basemen. Free tickets to the Mike Schmidt Museum to anyone who could name even six of them.
Two looked familiar: Alex Bregman and Manny Machado.
Then there were uniforms inscribed Vierling, Garcia, Urias, Vientos, Ortiz and Urshela.
As a group, third basemen went 7-for-27 in their playoff openers. That’s not terrible (.259).
But this is: one extra-base hit (a double), one walk, three runs and three RBIs.
Take away Vientos—the Mets have an old-school third baseman and they scored eight runs; imagine that—and you have a bunch of guys who should have been pinch-hit for, as one (Urias) was with the game on the line in the ninth.
Pete Rose is rolling over in his grave… and he’s not even buried yet.
To be honest: not a whole lot was expected. Garcia and Ortiz batted last. Urias hit seventh and Urshela was slotted eighth.
While the corporate minds of baseball try to figure out how baseball turned into soccer, the answer stared them in the face Tuesday.
Third baseman can’t hit anymore.
It’s shocking, and it’s an epidemic.
How powerless has this position gotten?
The leading home run hitter among third basemen on 11 different teams hit fewer than 10 this season. And not just on the White Sox.
The Yankees, whose A-Rod once hit 52 homers as a third baseman in 2007, barely reached the threshold. They were led by Chisholm’s 10.
Tyler Nevin, whose dad Phil had 41 homers as a third baseman for the Padres in 2001, led the A’s with four.
The Nationals sent 619 third basemen to the plate this season. They combined for seven homers, no one with more than three.
Schmidt once hit four IN ONE GAME. So did Graig Nettles and Bob Horner.
As a whole, National League third basemen hit .243 with 294 homers this season. That was better than their American League counterparts, who hit .241 with 274 homers.
I guess we should blame Fernando Tatis.
In 1999, he was one of six third basemen who hit 30 or more homers and one of 10 who hit .299 or better.
On Jan. 2 that year, Fernando had a son. He named him Junior… and sent him out to play shortstop.
NL third basemen hit 391 homers in 1999. In the next decade, they failed to reach even 350 three different times, then six more times in the 2010’s.
In the AL, third basemen hit .265 or better seven times in the decade of the 00’s, then just once in the 10’s.
The A-Rod era had turned into B-Inge error.
And post-pandemic… Well, we caught a good glimpse of it Tuesday. NL third baseman have hit 350 or more homers once. AL third basemen have yet to hit .265 or better.
In 2021, NL third basemen hit 357 homers with a .249 average. This year: 294 and .243.
That year in the AL, third basemen hit 311 homers with a .248 average. This year: 274 and .241.
Move over, Mario Mendoza. A .201 average with 3.3 home runs has become a third baseman’s Carter Kieboom Line.
Five guys with 100 or more plate appearances as a third baseman landed below the Kieboom Line this season. Throw in another 11 if you lower the minimum plate appearances to 50.
Has there ever been a guy with a more misleading name?
Maybe that’s why baseball’s brass is so confused.
Sports
Red Sox tackle Blue Jays to secure sixth straight series win
Jul 26, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Ranger Suarez (55) pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images Boston Red Sox starter Ranger Suarez and four relievers combined to shut down the visiting Toronto Blue Jays in a 6-1 win Sunday.
Boston, which has won 17 of its last 19 games, won a sixth straight series.
Suarez, pitching for the first time since July 5 due to a groin strain, was taken out after four scoreless innings and 64 pitches. The southpaw allowed four hits with no walks and struck out six.
Greg Weissert (3-2), Tyron Guerrero, Justin Slaten and Ryan Watson scattered five Blue Jays hits the rest of the way.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman (4-10) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings. The right-hander walked one and struck out six in 98 pitches.
Toronto has lost eight straight Gausman starts, and the 35-year-old has not won since May 22.
Boston jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third when Andruw Monasterio led off with a single off the Green Monster. He scored on a two-out single by Ceddanne Rafaela.
The Red Sox added two more in the fourth when Willson Contreras led off with a walk and Caleb Durbin singled. Romy Gonzalez laid down a bunt to sacrifice the runners to second and third, and Jarren Duran drove them both in with a single to center for a 3-0 lead.
Suarez, meanwhile, kept the Blue Jays off balance.
His only trouble came in the fourth inning when Alejandro Kirk and George Springer hit back-to-back one-out singles. Suarez, however, induced Daulton Varsho to hit into a fielder’s choice and then struck out Kazuma Okamoto looking to end the threat.
The Red Sox scored three more in the seventh.
Duran led off with a single and Monasterio walked. Carlos Narvaez bunted them over and pinch hitter Jahmai Jones doubled them both in with a drive off the wall in center.
Jones came home when Wilyer Abreu broke an 0-for-20 streak with a double off the wall in left.
The Blue Jays finally broke through in the ninth with three hits. Andres Gimenez drove in Varsho with two outs for their lone run.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Birthday boy Ryan O'Hearn leads Pirates past Cubs
Jul 26, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe (left) and designated hitter Bryan Reynolds (10) greet first baseman Ryan O’Hearn (29) crossing home plate on a grand slam home run against the Chicago Cubs during the third inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Ryan O’Hearn celebrated his 32nd birthday by belting his second grand slam of the season and fourth of his career as the host Pittsburgh Pirates held on for an 8-7 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.
Pittsburgh’s Shawn Ross launched a two-run homer in his second MLB game while rookie Esmerlyn Valdez also went deep and added an RBI single
Brandon Lowe collected three hits and two runs as the Pirates snapped a three-game losing streak in the finale of the three-game series.
The offensive explosion proved just enough for Braxton Ashcraft (10-4), who allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings.
Carmen Mlodzinski bridged the gap to Mason Montgomery, who surrendered Seiya Suzuki’s two-run homer in the ninth before retiring the next two batters to secure his second save.
Pete Crow-Armstrong ripped an RBI triple and Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner and Pedro Ramirez each had an RBI single for the Cubs.
Swanson opened the scoring in the second with an RBI single, but that slim advantage didn’t last long.
Valdez sent a 1-1 cutter from Jameson Taillon (2-6) over the left center wall to lead off the second inning. Valdez’s homer was his 14th of the season and eighth in his last 13 games. After O’Hearn walked, Ross deposited a 3-2 cutter over the wall in left.
The Pirates loaded the bases in the third before O’Hearn deposited a 0-1 fastball from Taillon over the wall in center to stake his team to a 7-1 lead. The homer by O’Hearn was his 17th of the season and first since he went deep three times — highlighted by a grand slam — in a 12-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves on July 7.
Taillon permitted seven runs on six hits in four innings to fall to 0-5 in his last eight outings.
Chicago scored three times in the fourth before Valdez’s broken-bat RBI single off Ryan Rolison extended Pittsburgh’s advantage to 8-5 in the fifth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jerry Kelly holds on to win 'indescribable' Senior Open title
Jerry Kelly hits out of a bunker on hole No. 14 during round 3 of the Kaulig Companies PGA Championship, July 11, 2026, at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Jerry Kelly turned a clutch bunker shot on the final hole into a birdie and won the ISPS Handa Senior Open by two shots on Sunday in Auchterarder, Scotland.
Kelly, 59, delivered his third consecutive round of 2-under-par 68 on The King’s Gleneagles course and finished at 10-under 270 to win the fifth and final major tournament of the season.
Matt Gogel, Darren Fichardt of South Africa and Cameron Percy of Australia all finished two shots back in a tie for second place.
With a one-shot lead on the par-5 closing hole, Kelly found the bunker with his second shot. The Madison, Wisc., native put the bunker shot to within 4 feet and made the putt for his first Senior Open title and his third major victory on the Champions Tour.
“It’s indescribable to win it,” said Kelly, who now has 15 overall victories on the Champions Tour. “The senior Claret Jug is the trophy that I’ve wanted as an over-50 golfer other than any other. To do it in Scotland, at the home of golf … I mean, I’m absolutely speechless.”
Tied for the lead with Percy at the start of the final round, Kelly was 2 under through five holes before his first bogey of the day at No. 6. He bounced back by birdieing the par-3 eighth. Kelly also had a bogey at No. 11 before he reeled off six consecutive pars that led into his birdie at 18.
“My brain, actually, was the most successful part of my game,” Kelly said. “In the past I would have gotten down that I wasn’t striking it the way I’d like to strike it. But instead of worrying about that, I just went and took care of the next shot.
“I learned a lot about myself today, and I wish I would have learned it about 20, 30 years ago.”
Gogel worked his way into contention with a 7-under 63 in the final round as he shot a 4-under 30 on the front nine. He also had birdies at Nos. 10 and 12 to close the gap, then wrapped his round with his seventh birdie of the day at No. 18.
“Certainly by 10, when I had a two-putt birdie there, I was thinking, ‘Geez, we keep this thing going, we have a chance to get a high finish,'” Gogel said.
Percy (even-par 70) had a rocky ride in the final round and was at 2 over the front nine. He had his first birdie of the day at No. 10 before another bogey at No. 11. He gathered himself down the stretch for two more birdies but was unable to collect another at the 18th.
Percy missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole that would have put more pressure on Kelly.
Fichardt shot a 4-under 66 to close in on Kelly. He started his round with a bogey on the first hole, but had a strong finish with birdies at Nos. 14, 15 and 18.
Kely remained undaunted with his one-putt birdie to win it.
“To be on this trophy, to be a part of this trophy, to be a part of the R&A — I just love it over here, I really do,” Kelly said. “It brings it full circle that I didn’t do what I wanted to in the Open Championship but to get it done here, I mean, I’m over the moon.”
–Field Level Media
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Red Sox tackle Blue Jays to secure sixth straight series win
