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Postseason Prognostication: Our MLB experts make their 2024 World Series picks

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Postseason Prognostication: Our MLB experts make their 2024 World Series picks

The Athletic has live coverage of the MLB Wild Card Series.

The postseason begins with no clear favorite, as MLB finished the regular season with no 100-game winner for the first time since 2014. Every team seemingly has a path to a title, and every team also appears to have a flaw as big as the Death Star. So who will take home the trophy at the end of the playoff marathon? Our staff experts weigh in with their predictions:


Predictions for World Series winner

Andy McCullough (Houston): They have the best starting rotation. They have a championship core. This is what the Astros do.

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Will Sammon (Philadelphia): Their lineup remains as formidable as anyone’s. Their rotation features enough starters opposing teams do not want to see in any pivotal game. Oh, and they also created a bullpen loaded with variety, depth and talent.

Fabian Ardaya (Houston): I mean, they’ve made it this point. And once the Astros get let into the dance, they tend to go far.

C. Trent Rosecrans (Cleveland): They don’t have the sexiest team, but they just do everything right. They’re death by a thousand paper cuts. They’re a team that won’t make the big mistakes but will force their opponents to do so.

Eno Sarris (San Diego): Excellent starters, great relievers by the handful, a lineup that not only makes contact but does so with power: all things the Padres enjoy.

Andrew Baggarly (Philadelphia): My gut wants me to pick the Padres because they have starting pitchers capable of dominance, a deep and nasty bullpen, and a star-laden lineup. But the Phillies have all those things and maybe more of them — plus the best home-field advantage in the major leagues. Ring the bell.

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Jen McCaffrey (Philadelphia): They’re deep and experienced. This feels like their year to finally pull it all together.

Keith Law (Philadelphia): They’re almost fully healthy and have the kind of top-end hitters and pitchers who make the difference in the postseason’s limited schedule.

Stephen J. Nesbitt (Philadelphia): There is no perfect team this postseason. But the Phillies come closer than anyone. They have a well-rounded lineup, a rotation led by Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler, and a bullpen with some of the baddest stuff in the sport. They are capable of getting on the board quickly, and holding on.

Sam Blum (Cleveland): Bullpens win games in the playoffs. And there’s no better bullpen than Cleveland’s.

Chad Jennings (Philadelphia): If the Phillies aren’t going to win, then what’s their fatal flaw? For the Dodgers, it’s their banged-up rotation. For the Yankees, it’s a thin bullpen and uncertain bottom of the order. For the Astros, it’s injuries that have weakened their outfield and robbed them of multiple starting pitchers. But the Phillies don’t have a glaring weakness. Their pitching staff has a legitimate ace, a four-deep rotation, and an elite bullpen. Their lineup can run, hit home runs, and score in multiple ways from top to bottom. Manager Rob Thomson is a battle-tested veteran with a steady hand.

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They’ve come close in the past two seasons. This is the year they win it all.

Chandler Rome (San Diego): The Padres are the most complete team in the sport.

Zack Meisel (San Diego): A.J. Preller’s maniacal wheeling and dealing finally pays off. The Padres have the pitching and just enough offense to get it done.

Kaitlyn McGrath (Philadelphia): At one point this season, it looked like the Phillies would cruise to the best record in baseball. That didn’t happen, but even within their uneven play, there was never a serious doubt that the Phillies wouldn’t figure it out. The Phillies have been a big presence in the postseason for a couple of years now, and it feels like this is finally the time that Bryce Harper leads them all the way.

David O’Brien (Philadelphia): It’s their time, with almost the same group of veterans having made several runs together at this thing.

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Sahadev Sharma (San Diego): They look like the most balanced team. Defense isn’t great, but the rest is well above average.

Patrick Mooney (Philadelphia): A star-studded roster built for the postseason.

Noah Furtado (Los Angeles): They have Shohei Ohtani.

(Top photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)

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Buccaneers bring back 464-pound defensive lineman Desmond Watson

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Buccaneers bring back 464-pound defensive lineman Desmond Watson

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-signed defensive tackle Desmond Watson and added him to the practice squad as the team prepares to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4.

Watson, the 464-pound rookie defensive lineman out of Florida, failed to make the 53-man roster in the preseason. He was forced to the sideline as he failed to meet the conditioning requirements to take the field. He was considered to be the heaviest player in NFL history.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Desmond Watson (56) warms up during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Rookie Mini Camp workout on May 9, 2025 at the AdventHealth Training Center in Tampa, Florida. (Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said on Monday that Watson had a “good workout” when the team brought him in last week.

The Buccaneers will look to try to find a way to stop the Eagles’ tush push, which has come under the spotlight in the last few weeks as it appeared some players had been jumping before the ball was snapped to Jalen Hurts.

Bowles said Watson wasn’t just being brought in as the answer to the tush push.

“We’ll never bring him in just to stop a tush push. If we’ve got to bring in a guy to stop one play and the tush push never comes up, you’re wasting your time,” Bowles said. “If we bring him in, we think he can play, not just for a Philadelphia thing. 

Desmond Watson looks on

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Desmond Watson watches from the sideline during practice at NFL football training camp, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Tampa, Fla.  (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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“It’s very unlikely he’d be ready to play, once we bring him in, for Philadelphia right now anyway. It’s just a matter of us making room and seeing if we have a place for him, and then what we see for him in the future.”

The 6-foot-6 defensive tackle was working with a nutritionist during the summer. The team didn’t say what an ideal weight for him would be.

Watson spoke about his weight gain to reporters earlier this year. He said he would consistently stop off to get food while at Florida.

“Stopping while driving,” Watson said when asked about bad habits he’s tried to shed at his pro day. “My biggest thing is keep going, get to where I need to get. There are stores and a lot of temptations. That’s helped me immensely.

Desmond Watson warms up

Tampa Bay Buccaneers nose tackle Desmond Watson (56) runs a drill during the NFL football team’s rookie minicamp Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Florida. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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“Don’t go inside the gas station. Pay at the pump. Because inside it’s snacks and all types of things like that. Don’t pull over. If you’re on the highway, stay on the highway until you get where you’ve got to go.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Prep talk: Another day, another life saved by high school athletic trainer

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Prep talk: Another day, another life saved by high school athletic trainer

For those high schools in California that still don’t have an athletic trainer, what happened last week at San Clemente High was another reason why they are so valuable for the safety reasons. And also proven was the requirement that coaches be certified in CPR every two years.

As a soccer class was ending last Thursday, an assistant coach fell to the ground. Head coach Chris Murray thought he tripped. Then he looked into his eyes, which appeared dilated, and saw that his face was purple. While a football coach nearby was calling 911, Murray began chest compressions.

Athletic trainer Amber Anaya received a text in her office that said, “Emergency.” She got into her golf cart that contained her automated external defibrilator (AED) machine and raced to the field within two minutes. She determined the coach was in cardiac arrest.

While Anaya hooked up her AED machine to the coach, Murray continued chest compressions. The AED machine evaluated the patient and recommended one shock. This went on for some seven minutes until paramedics arrived. Another shock was given after the paramedics took over.

The coach was transported to a hospital and survived. He would receive a pacemaker. It was a happy ending thanks to people who knew what to do in case of an emergency.

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Last school year, the Culver City athletic trainer helped save a track athlete who went into cardiac arrest.

Murray said what he did was based on instincts and adrenaline. As soon as the ambulance left, he said he collapsed to his knee exhausted.

“His ribs are sore but not broken,” Murray said, “so I guess I did good.”

All the preparation in case of an emergency was put to good use by the coach trained in CPR and the athletic trainer who knew how to use an AED machine.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

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Police investigating USA Cycling incident as footage of organizers' interaction with activist goes viral

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Police investigating USA Cycling incident as footage of organizers' interaction with activist goes viral

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Police in Livermore, California, are investigating an incident that occurred at a USA Cycling event on Sunday, when organizers were seen berating a women’s sports activist who was inquiring about sex tests.

“At the moment, we are looking into the matter and are in the process of reviewing our report and video footage,” a Livermore Police Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

Footage of the interaction at USA Cycling’s Oakland Grand Prix has gone viral in recent days. 

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Beth Bourne, a California activist known to oppose biological male athletes in women’s and girls’ sports, was seen in the footage asking organizers if the women’s competitors at the event had been sex-tested to prove they were not male. One organizer was then seen approaching Bourne and covering her camera, saying, “We have policies in place. You can stop filming me.” 

Bourne was then heard saying, “Give me my phone!” 

The footage then showed Bourne walking away from that organizer in a panic before another organizer came up behind her to shout, “Hey! Get the f— out of here!” 

Bourne told Fox News Digital that the incident was “emotional.”

“It was so unexpected. I have an idea that we’re going to have people maybe calling us names, or maybe calling us TERFs, which we’ve had, maybe even grabbing our signs. But to have somebody come up from behind me, before I even, I hadn’t even gotten a sign out, I had just asked two or three questions, so that shocked me, I was scared,” Bourne said. 

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“I was actually terrified, I was terrified that this person might really, really hurt me.” 

Additional footage of the incident showed the same organizer who yelled in Bourne’s face later putting a pizza box in front of her face, covering the view of Bourne’s camera, then picking up her protest signs and throwing them in the garbage. 

Bourne alleged that the organizer told her, “Your God isn’t going to protect you.”

“‘You’re just a hateful, awful person’” he told Bourne, she alleged. “And then he grabs all my signs and takes them and puts them in the trash can next to the start and finish area. And like that’s insane to me, that someone would grab someone’s property and throw it in the trash can, and it would be the race organizer himself.” 

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Fox News Digital has reached out to USA Cycling for comment, but has not received a response. 

The same event also drew scrutiny for another viral video of transgender cyclist Chelsea Wolfe telling protesters, “Go suck a sawed-off shotgun,” “You’re a Nazi piece of s—,” and “We kill Nazis.” 

Chelsea Wolfe of Team USA competes in the women’s final during the BMX Freestyle World Cup on Dec. 11, 2022, in Gold Coast, Australia.  (Matt Roberts/Getty Images)

Wolfe, a former Team USA alternate in women’s BMX who previously said the athlete wanted to win an Olympic medal to “burn the American flag,” took to social media to share multiple posts celebrating Charlie Kirk’s assassination last week.

“We did it!” Wolfe wrote in an Instagram Story sharing a report on the assassination last Wednesday.

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Police in Livermore, California are investigating an incident at a USA Cycling event where a 'protect women's sports' protester was berated by organizers.

Police in Livermore, California are investigating an incident at a USA Cycling event where a ‘protect women’s sports’ protester was berated by organizers. (Getty Images, Courtesy of Beth Bourne)

USA Cycling provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing Wolfe’s posts. 

“The views of current and former national team athletes are their own and do not reflect those of USA Cycling. Chelsea Wolfe has not been a member of the USA Cycling National Team or a member of USA Cycling since 2023,” the statement read. 

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