Vanderbilt Professional Athletes

Vanderbilt's fingerprints are all over the 2026 MLB postseason — for better and for worse.

Sonny Gray: Free Agency, Fallout, and a Sticky Situation

Sonny Gray's 2026 season ended with a thud. The Red Sox were swept by the Yankees in the Wild Card round, and Gray's exit from Game 2 — pulled after just 70 pitches and two earned runs — became one of the most scrutinized managerial decisions of the postseason. Manager Chad Tracy was forced to publicly defend the call, and Red Sox catcher Willson Contreras reportedly met with team brass for two hours after firing pointed comments at the club's analytics-driven approach.

Then it got messier. MLB launched an investigation into Gray after social media footage appeared to show a sticky substance on his neck during that Wild Card loss, per Bleacher Report and Heavy Sports. The probe put an uncomfortable spotlight on the veteran right-hander as he entered the offseason.

Despite the turbulence, Gray confirmed he's not done — announcing he intends to pitch in 2027 after briefly weighing retirement. Whether that's in Boston remains an open question. Gray has indicated openness to returning to the Red Sox, per Boston.com, but the market is forming around him. FanSided identifies the Cubs and Tigers as teams that must pursue him, while Sports Illustrated floats the Cardinals — a former Gray stop — as a reunion candidate. One Sporting News projection pegged his next deal at roughly $10 million, a figure that could test Boston's appetite given their roster priorities.

Gray's postseason circumstances — the early hook, the investigation, the free agency limbo — make him one of the messier Vanderbilt stories of the fall. But his track record keeps the phone ringing.

Walker Buehler: Starting October the Right Way

While Gray's postseason ended before it really started, fellow Commodore Walker Buehler is still in it. The Padres tabbed Buehler as their Game 4 starter against the Brewers in the NLDS — his first postseason appearance since leaving the Dodgers — and he delivered three innings of one-run ball in a San Diego loss, per game logs. The outing wasn't flawless, but it underscored why the Padres brought him in and why Clayton Kershaw, his former Dodgers teammate and current analyst, was publicly praising Buehler's late-season resurgence heading into the series, per Sports Illustrated.

Buehler has also made clear he wants to stay in San Diego beyond this season. With free agency looming, his performance in October will do as much as anything to shape his next contract — and the Padres' willingness to bring him back.

Spencer Jones: Postseason Struggles Continue

Yankees outfielder Spencer Jones — a Vanderbilt product in his rookie year — had a difficult October. He went 1-for-4 with an RBI, a run, and two walks in New York's Game 3 loss to the Rays, which completed a sweep and ended the Yankees' season. Jones batted just .176 in the series, and his struggles drew notice even as Aaron Judge offered a public vote of confidence, per Heavy Sports. The potential is real; the postseason exposure was sobering.

Three Commodores, three very different October stories — a veteran arm in limbo, a reinvented starter making his case, and a rookie learning what October really costs.

Two Vanderbilt alumni stood at the center of the MLB postseason conversation this week — one celebrating, one seething — as the Yankees swept the Red Sox out of the Wild Card round and into an offseason full of uncomfortable questions.

Spencer Jones: History-Making Rookie, ALDS Bound

Spencer Jones didn't just have a good Wild Card Series. He had a historically unusual one. The 6-foot-7 Yankees rookie — whose Ohtani-esque batting stance has become appointment television — put together an inning the sport had never seen before, adding to a résumé that's already defying expectations for a player his size and experience level.

Jones hit .333 in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series (1-for-3, two runs, one walk) and contributed again in Game 2 as New York cruised to a 9-2 victory and a series sweep. Heading into the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees rewarded him with a prominent spot in the starting lineup — a bold statement about how much this organization trusts its rookie right fielder on the biggest stage.

On the eve of Game 1 against Tampa Bay, Jones sent an 11-word social post that made the rounds quickly, underscoring his confidence and the kind of personality that plays well in a Yankees uniform. His regular-season average sat at .182, a number that doesn't tell the story of his October impact or his upside — and the Yankees clearly agree.

Sonny Gray: 70 Pitches, Five Strikeouts, and a Full Clubhouse Revolt

The other side of that Wild Card sweep is where things get messy — and where Vanderbilt's Sonny Gray finds himself at the heart of a full-blown controversy.

Gray started Game 2 for Boston and was pulled after just 70 pitches and 4.2 innings, having allowed two earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts in what shaped up to be a competitive outing. Manager Chad Tracy turned to Garrett Crochet instead. The final score was 9-2. The Red Sox's season was over.

Gray did not hide his feelings. He publicly said he was "frustrated" with Tracy's decision and that he would have liked his manager to "live or die" with him in that moment. Then came the kicker: when asked about his future in Boston, Gray's response — described by multiple outlets as just three words and bluntly non-committal — threw open the door on what figures to be a contentious offseason negotiation.

Reports surfaced that Gray felt "disrespected" by the hook. Teammate Willson Contreras piled on, posting a video widely interpreted as a dig at the Red Sox's reliance on analytics over human judgment. The moment cracked something open in the Boston clubhouse that front office decision-makers will spend the winter trying to repair — or replace.

Adding fuel: scrutiny emerged around Gray's neck during the game, with questions circulating about whether a substance was visible. An insider weighed in without drawing definitive conclusions, but the optics didn't help an already combustible situation.

Gray posted a 3.86 ERA on the season. He's a free agent. He thinks he's the best pitcher in the AL. Boston's projected 2027 rotation already has him replaced in some models. The disconnect between how Gray sees himself and how the Red Sox used him in the biggest moment of their season may be irreconcilable.

For Vanderbilt fans, the week offered a split screen: one Commodore sprinting toward a World Series, another walking toward the exit.

Spencer Jones Is Making the Yankees' Offseason Easier

The debate over who starts in center field for New York this October is getting harder to ignore — and Spencer Jones keeps making it harder to argue against him.

The 6-foot-7 Vanderbilt product delivered his signature moment of the week on Tuesday, September 15, crushing a 423-foot home run against the Minnesota Twins and finishing the night with one HR and three RBIs in an 8-1 Yankees rout. He followed that up with an RBI performance in Saturday's 9-2 win over the Diamondbacks, closing the week hitting .248 on the season through 80-plus games with 10 home runs and a .433 slugging percentage.

Jones was not even a top-100 prospect entering 2026, but he's done something rare for power-first rookies: he's shown discipline and adaptability at the plate, making midseason adjustments that turned a shaky debut into a legitimate breakout. Cody Bellinger publicly praised Jones after the Tuesday win, and a former Yankees manager also weighed in this week with a bold endorsement of the rookie's ceiling.

The week wasn't flawless — Jones struck out five times in a Wednesday loss to Minnesota and was scratched from Friday's lineup in Arizona as a result — but the broader arc of his season is unmistakable. Sports Illustrated noted that Jones' emergence may reshape the Yankees' winter priorities entirely, freeing the front office to address other roster needs rather than hunting for a center field solution on the open market.

With the postseason approaching, Jones isn't just holding a roster spot. He's competing for a starting job.

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Swanson Back in the Fold for Cubs

Across the league, the other marquee Vanderbilt name had a different kind of week — one marked by a return rather than a breakthrough.

Dansby Swanson had been sidelined for a stretch that tested the Cubs' postseason positioning, with Chicago forced to adjust its infield alignment and bullpen plans in his absence. Manager Craig Counsell confirmed Swanson's availability before the Cubs' series opener against the Reds, and the shortstop made an immediate impact: he went 1-for-something with a run scored in Friday's 4-6 loss, then exploded for 2 hits, a home run, an RBI, and 2 runs scored in Saturday's 5-2 Cubs win over Cincinnati — bumping his average to .220 on the season.

The timing of the return matters. Chicago is navigating a gauntlet of late-September games with playoff seeding on the line, and Swanson anchors a defensive unit that looks meaningfully different without him. Whether the Cubs can sustain the momentum with their shortstop healthy again will be one of the NL's more interesting subplots over the final weeks.

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Around the Dores

Sonny Gray (Red Sox) turned in a quality start Friday in Texas — 6.1 innings, 6 strikeouts, 3 earned runs — as Boston continues to jockey for playoff positioning. Gray's $30 million club option looms as an offseason decision the Red Sox can't ignore.

Jordan Lawlar (Diamondbacks) had a strong Tuesday against Miami, going 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs in an 8-7 win, before getting caught stealing to end a game against the Marlins later in the week — a tough moment in an otherwise solid stretch hitting .264.

Mike Yastrzemski put together a quality Saturday for Atlanta, going 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored in a 6-3 win over Houston, as the Braves look to close out September on a high note.