New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo (two broken fingers) is feeling better heading into the World Series; after losing in the NLCS, the New York Mets are focused on building a deep rotation heading into the 2025 season; and we lost a legend this week when former Los Angeles Dodger pitching great Fernando Valenzuela passed away at the age of 63.

Max Muncy Mashing for Dodgers

It’s been a wild ride, but now that the World Series is set, it turns out that the two preseason favourites — the Dodgers and the Yankees — are exactly the teams left standing.

This will be the 12th time the two have met in the World Series, and as per usual, the unsung heroes are the ones to watch. Take, for instance, what Dodger third baseman Max Muncy has done so far in the postseason.

He’s certainly gone though his highs and lows. In 2022, Muncy piled up the walks as always, but struggled to do much else. Early last year, we suggested he was back to being a must-own player, but his amazing April turned into a cold May and then a downright ugly June before he turned things around in the second half.

All told, Muncy was solid last year, posting some superb counting cat totals, although walking a smidge less often.

And while he’s often dealt with fairly minor injuries, this season an oblique issue cost him over half the schedule. That really burned his owners, because when healthy, Muncy hit better this season and the power remained top notch; even better, what he’s accomplished in the playoffs is well beyond what anyone could have expected.

He actually failed to record hits in the last two games of the NLCS, but as always, found a way to contribute with three walks and two runs. But overall in the postseason, Muncy has been very productive and has really flashed the pop (.545 SLG), while drawing over a walk per game.

The former Texas high school star has always been a tough Fantasy asset to carry because of his inconsistency week-to-week, and it’s reasonable to be concerned about his health as he enters his mid-30s (although his athleticism will help), but he remains a top 25, possibly top 20 dynasty option at the hot corner.

Gavin Lux Hitting Poorly in Playoffs

So while Muncy is stepping up on the big stage, it’s been the opposite for fellow Dodger infielder Gavin Lux.

The injury-prone Lux got off to a great start in the playoffs, but has gone hitless in four straight and only appeared in three of the NLCS games thanks to a hip flexor injury. Coming off a horrible knee injury that cost him all of 2023, he didn’t hit as well this year, but he did show more power than ever.

However, his hitting has gone further downhill in the playoffs even if he did manage one homer. Now, if you really, really believe in Lux’s pop and feel like taking a massive long shot, FanDuel lists him as +10000 to lead the World Series in homers.

He was fairly productive this season and is said to be completely healthy heading into this series, so hey, you never know, right?

Lux had long been considered the Dodger shortstop of the future, but injuries and poor defense have held him back from achieving that goal.

The Last Cardinal No-Hitter

We noticed on X the other day that it was Bud Smith‘s 45th birthday. You may recall that he had a very brief big league career, reaching the majors with St. Louis in 2001 and lasting two years, and then never making it back to the Show.

What was most notable about Smith’s career was that he became just the 18th rookie ever to throw a no-hitter, and no Cardinal hurler — rookie or otherwise — has had one since.

He was quite good in 2001, but not so much in 2002, hence his less than attractive career ERA of 4.95, although his FIP of 4.50 suggests he was slightly better than that. Smith was definitely a pitch-to-contact type (just 5.5 K/9), therefore, there wasn’t a lot of margin for error.

So by age 27, after a poor second season in the independent Golden Baseball League, he packed it in.

RotoRob Tune of the Day

William Michael Albert Broad goes by Billy Idol for professional purposes. In 1983, he released his second album, Rebel Yell, and the second single from this effort was “Eyes Without a Face,” which became his first top 10 hit in the U.S.