The Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers opened the 2025 MLB season on March 18 in Japan and over 6 months later, the regular season finally ended.
A total of 12 teams (6 in the American League and 6 in the National League) made the postseason with 8 of them playing in the Wild Card round starting Tuesday. The series will be best of 3 with all 3 games at the higher seed’s home ballpark.
Three of the four series have each team with at least one player with ties to the Sooner State, however one of those three series has both players out with injuries.
*The one series without a player with ties to the Sooner State is the matchup of Cleveland vs Detroit.
American League
New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox
Talk about a marquee matchup in the wild card round. The greatest rivalry in the history of baseball takes place again in the postseason.
Tim Hill (Bacone College), New York Yankees
Hill is the embodiment of perseverance. After spending four seasons in the minors after spending time at Bacone College, Hill has pitched in the Majors in every season since 2018. He has thrown for Kansas City, San Diego, and Chicago White Sox before being signed as a free agent by the Yankees in the middle of the 2024 season.
Hill has found his spot in the Yankees bullpen as he is the primary left handed reliever in New York. He saw action in 10 games in the postseason last year before making 70 appearances for the Yankees this season.
Hill’s line for 2025: G 70, 4-4, 15 Holds, 3.09 ERA, 67 IP, 58 H, 27 R, 23 ER, 16 BB, 38 SO
Payton Tolle (Bethany High School), Boston Red Sox
As much as Hill is the embodiment of perseverance, Tolle is the hot shot prospect. After being drafted in the 2nd round by the Red Sox in 2024, Tolle shot up through the Red Sox farm system in 2025 after starting the season in High A. After stops at AA and AAA, the Red Sox brought up Tolle for his first start in Boston on August 29.
After 3 starts for the Red Sox, Tolle was moved to the bull pen for the remainder of the season.
All in all, Tolle has made 7 total appearances for Boston and is still on the Red Sox active roster.
Tolle’s line for 2025: G 7, GS 3, 0-1, 6.06 ERA, 16.1 IP, 18 H, 12 R, 11 ER, 8 BB, 19 SO
National League
Los Angeles Dodgers vs Cincinnati Reds
Justin Wrobleski (Oklahoma State), Los Angeles Dodgers
Wrobleski is an organization’s valuable asset as he is depth piece on the pitching side and can go as a starter or reliever. Unfortunately, for Wrobleski that means he gets bounced back and forth between the big league club and AAA which happens to be the OKC Comets. Just this year alone, Wrobleski has been back and forth 4 times in 2025.
However, after being recalled to LA for the 4th time on July 27, Wrobleski has found a spot in the Dodger’s bullpen. Since July 27, Wrobleski has seen action in 16 games.
Wrobleski’s line in 2025: G 24, GS 2, 5-5, 2 S, 7 HLD, 4.32 ERA, 66.2 IP, 65 H, 34 R, 32 ER, 17 BB, 76 SO
Jose Trevino (Oral Roberts), Cincinnati Reds
After spending the last 3 seasons with the Yankees, Trevino was traded to the Reds before the beginning of the 2025 season. Trevino has been a solid presence for the Reds this season as they got hot in September and made the postseason on the last day of the regular season. He platooned the catcher position with Tyler Stephenson.
Trevino’s line for 2025: G 94, .238/.272/.351, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 20 2B, 15 BB, 39 SO
Chicago Cubs vs San Diego Padres
Cade Horton (Norman High/Oklahoma), Chicago Cubs
Perhaps no player with Oklahoma ties had more of an impact this season than Cade Horton did. Horton was expected to debut sometime in 2025, but he was called up in early May after the Cubs lost a couple of starters to injury. All Horton did was anchor a pitching staff that had injuries throughout the season and eventually became the ace of the staff by the end of September.
Horton was so good this season and so dominant with a 1.36 ERA since the start of July (1.03 since the All Star Break) that he is the leading candidate for NL Rookie of the Year.
In a twist of fate, Horton was placed on the 15-day IL retroactive to September 25 with a right rib fracture and will not be available in the Wild Card round.
Horton’s line for 2025: G 23, GS 22, 11-4, 2.67 ERA, 118 IP, 95 H, 40 R, 35 ER, 33 BB, 97 SO
Ramon Laureano (NEO), San Diego Padres
For the 2nd straight season, Laureano got traded at the deadline to a team making a postseason berth. After starting the season at Baltimore where he had an OPS of .884 with 15 homers in 82 games, the Padres traded for the veteran at the trade deadline.
In 50 games for the Padres, Laureano was just as dependable for San Diego as he was in Baltimore. In 50 games, he had an OPS of .812 with 9 HR and 30 RBI.
Unfortunately, Laureano was also put on the 15-day IL retroactive to September 25. His injury is a right index finger fracture.
Laureano’s line for 2025: G 132, .281/.342/.512, 24 HR, 76 RBI, 26 2B, 2 3B, 35 BB, 120 SO
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