After a wild day of NLDS games with both series facing a travel day, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on in the baseball world today:

1. ALDS Game 2:

Both ALDS series are scheduled for their second games tonight, with the Royals and Tigers playing catch-up after falling to the Yankees and Guardians, respectively, in Game 1. Luckily for the underdogs, every club will send an ace to the mound after that. leaning on them to win Game 1 of the Wild Card Series. In the Royals’ case, that means they’re hitting the road Cole Raganswho posted a 3.14 ERA (135 ERA+) with a 3.00 FIP in 32 starts during the regular season before pitching six scoreless frames against the Orioles with eight strikeouts in his first career postseason appearance. He will be tasked with taking on the Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodonwho returned after a brutal 2023 season to post a 3.96 ERA (104 ERA+) in 175 innings of work this season.

Meanwhile, the Tigers will lean left Tarik Skubal in today’s match against division rival Guardians. Skubal, the winner of the AL’s pitching Triple Crown and the likely favorite for the AL Cy Young Award, had an extremely dominant season this year with a 2.39 ERA (170 ERA+) and a 2.50 FIP in 192 frames before retiring six scoreless pitches pitched innings of his own against the Astros in the first postseason appearance of his career. Skubal will compete against former teammate Matthew Boydwho spent eight of his 10 career seasons in Detroit, in tonight’s game. Boyd, a midseason acquisition who sat out the first half while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, has looked great since his return, posting a 2.72 ERA (151 ERA+) and a 27.7 strikeout rate % in eight regular season starts.

2. Freeman day to day:

In addition to a brutal 10-2 loss to the Padres last night, the Dodgers suffered another blow when star first baseman Freddie Vrijman had to be removed after his injured right ankle aggravated. Freeman is considered day-to-day for now, but as ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez noted, manager Dave Roberts didn’t seem optimistic about his first baseman’s availability in the series, calling the injury “less than ideal” and “concerning.” That said, the Dodgers also expressed pessimism about Freeman’s availability for Game 1 of the series, before he not only started the game but also went 2-for-5 with a stolen base. If Freeman cannot take the field, Max Muncy figures to slide from first base to third base. Enrique Hernández or Tommy Edman could handle third base, while the other ended up in center field.

3. Bogaerts drops out due to cramp:

Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts also left San Diego’s win last night in the bottom of the eighth inning due to what he described to reporters last night (including those from MLB.com) as hamstring cramps. The club will already be without a primary shortstop Hi Seong Kim for the rest of the postseason, a reality that forced Bogaerts back to his old position in the first place. This isn’t expected to be an issue that will make Bogaerts unavailable, but it’s still worth keeping an eye on how he comes out of today’s training. The Friars do not lack players with shortstop experience if Bogaerts has to miss a game. Light utility man Tyler Wade is on the bench and the lineup consists of former shortstops Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. And Jackson Merrill all play in different positions. First baseman/second baseman Jake Cronenworth has also played more than 400 big league innings briefly.