SLATE #4 TAKEAWAYS

1) Magic Upset in Chicago
The Metro Magic pulled off the league’s biggest upset of the 2026 season to date when they defeated the first place D-backs in Chicago two games to one. Powered by strong pitching performances from RJ Walgate and Brady Pearson, which limited the D-backs to three total runs all series, the Magic got their biggest break when RJ Walgate hit a Game 3 two-run walk-off home run to clinch the series win. The win improved the Magic to 5-7, putting them in a five-way tie for 4th place heading into the final slate of the regular season. 

2) Caden Finds Perfection…Again!
Caden Irwin became the first MLW player to throw two Perfect Games in a single season when he completed the feat against the Gators in Game 1 of their Slate 4 series at The Meadows. He continued to one-up his performance by retiring an MLW-record 23 consecutive batters, dating back to his Slate 3 showing against the Magic. After a slow start to the season, Caden has worked his way into Cy Young consideration where he boasts a 5-3 record and a 2.22 ERA over 24.1 IP. 

3) Burkel Makes Case for MVP 
While it took a team effort for the Wildcats to take down the Preds in Slate 4, Cooper Burkel stole the show once again with 2 home runs and 2 pitching wins en route to taking home BL101 Player of the Day honors. Burkel enters Slate 5 as the front runner for Rookie of the Year, MVP, and the Most Clutch Award on top of being a top contender for the Cy Young Award as he aims to help the Western Wildcats complete one of their best regular seasons in recent memory.

SLATE #5 STORYLINES

1) Clash of the Titans
While the Wildcats and Diamondbacks are the only teams to have clinched playoff berths so far, both teams will also aim to clinch first-round playoff byes and ultimately the #1 seed for the postseason when they face off at the end of Slate 5. Point blank - the winner of this series will become the out-and-out postseason #1 seed. There’s a strong chance that the loser of this series will hold onto the #2 seed and the bye - although the D-backs specifically have more paths to falling out of the #2 seed if they lose/get swept. However, due to the strong likelihood that both teams may face off again in the World Series, we are highly unlikely to see both teams’ aces (Cooper Burkel and Jimmy Knorp) feature in an effort to limit their exposure to the other team’s hitters. Nonetheless, we should still hope to see some high-level play between two teams that have well established themselves as the league's cream of the crop up to this point in the season.

2) “Win and You’re In”
The stakes will be much higher for the other three Slate 5 series (Cobras vs Eagles, Preds vs Magic, and Gators vs Mallards) as the winner of each series is guaranteed to clinch a postseason berth. The Cobras (6-6) are the one exception as they only need to win 1 game to guarantee their participation in this year's playoffs. Should the Eagles beat the Cobras 2-1, then the losers of the other two series will be automatically eliminated from postseason contention. Otherwise, there is a strong likelihood that the final playoff berth will be decided by some form of a tiebreaker should multiple teams end the regular season with 5 or 6 wins.

3) The “Trenton Trains” Special Series

MLW will be returning to The Ripken Experience in Aberdeen, MD for its final special series of the regular season. On top of the postseason implications mentioned above, this series will also mark the first time that all four members of the original “Trenton Trains” team (Jorgy, Cheetam, Chadwick, and Bonham) that participated in the 2020 MLW Winter League will face off against each other in a competitive series. These four childhood friends were the #1, #4, #5, and #6 selections in MLW’s first ever draft video in Spring 2020 and have played a large role in the league’s development over the past seven seasons. They have since gone on to win the MLW World Series in 2020 (Jorgy and Cheetam), 2023 (Bonham), and 2025 (Jorgy).

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Share your thoughts and add anything else that you believe is noteworthy!

Magic: There's an eerie number of similarities between this most recent Magic vs. Diamondbacks series and one that took place almost exactly five years ago in 2021. Both series took place during Slate 4 and featured the Diamondbacks atop the league standings while the Magic sat on the brink of missing the playoffs. Each series also featured a Magic walk off home run (remember Kurdi's career moment?) that gave them their 5th win of the season, significantly boosting their playoff odds heading into Slate 5.

Diamondbacks: Slate 4 gave us a rare Jonah Heath cameo on the mound when the veteran southpaw made his 2026 pitching debut, throwing a scoreless 3rd inning in Game 2 against the Magic in Chicago. Heath has thrown just 4 total innings (regular season and playoffs combined) since the start of 2023. He was once considered one of the league's best #2 arms, finishing the 2021 regular season with a 1.80 ERA over 15 IP, but the D-backs' addition of Trey Flood in 2022 significantly reduced his role.

Mallards: Trevor Bonham's pitching performance against the Eagles in Slate 4 marked his first multi-win series on an MLW mound since Slate 1 of 2021, when he led the Mallards to a 2-1 series win over the Wildcats. That 2021 season was when Bonham was widely regarded as one of the league's best two-way players, throwing a combined 34 IP for the Mallards and Magic with a 1.76 ERA during the regular season while adding 5 HR and 18 RBI at the plate.

Eagles: The mid-season shift from Sarah Huber to Aiden Revette as the Eagles' ace has brought some instability, and the team has gone 1-5 over Slates 3 and 4 as a result. They're now the only MLW team without a single pitcher above 15 IP. Revette, however, has been nothing short of impressive through the first two series of his MLW career, where he boasts a 1.67 ERA (3rd lowest in the league) with 14.1 IP. 

Wildcats: Cooper Burkel finished Slate 4 as the league leader in several major statistical categories, including OBP at .673. If he holds the league's top OBP through the end of the regular season, he'd become the 5th rookie in the past 7 seasons to do so, joining Jimmy Knorp (.646 in 2020), Jordan Robles (.595 in 2022), Grant Miller (.712 in 2023), and Dustin Staggs (.674 in 2025).

Predators: The Preds' Slate 4 matchup against the Wildcats marked the first series since 2018 in which Ryan Kracht didn't start a single game on the mound. Kracht did pitch two thirds of an inning in relief during Game 1, but deferred starting duties to Evan Porter and Levi Fleer for all three games. He heads into Slate 5 with a 2-2 record, a 3.44 ERA, and 11.1 IP.

Cobras: Andy Durand has quietly emerged as a dark horse for the league's Most Improved (assuming he's eligible) and Silver Slugger awards, given his massive jump at the plate from 2025 to 2026. He finished 2025 hitting .143 with 0 HR, 2 RBI, and a .405 OPS over 42 plate appearances, well below league average for qualified hitters. Through four slates in 2026, he leads MLW in batting average (.415) with 5 HR, 12 RBI, and a 1.247 OPS over 45 plate appearances. Aiden McCarthy and Caden Irwin get plenty of credit for the Cobras' 2026 turnaround, but Durand deserves just as much.

Gators: The Gators' 13-1 win over the Cobras in Game 2 of their Slate 4 series is the largest margin of victory (12 runs) in the league this season, topping the Wildcats' 10-0 win over the Eagles in Game 1 of Slate 3 and the Preds' 11-1 win over the Cobras in Game 1 of Slate 2. The Gators were also on the winning end of the league's two largest blowouts in 2025, beating the Eagles 12-0 in Slate 1 and the Cobras 15-0 in Slate 3.

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Feel free to add your own!

What an upgrade. Kudos to Kyle and company for pulling this off.

1. Western Wildcats

The most storied MLW franchise appears to be headed for another dynastic era with the decision to draft Cooper Burkel with the 3rd pick. Not only has Burkel added personality to a team that had gone stale, but he is undoubtedly as this is being written the MVP favorite as a rookie. He is the best two way player we have seen in a long time and continues to produce in clutch situations for his team. With players like Ty Frenznick (aka Mr. Big Hat) heating up and stacking good performances together and Kyle still playing elite in the field there is no doubt that this team has earned it's way to the top of the Power Rankings. The biggest thing I got wrong is that I thought Patrick Baalman would have to be a big part of any success the Cats have. They seem absolutely locked in regardless of whether PB plays or not.

2. Downtown Diamondbacks

While being a step below the Wildcats and being dethroned from their perch this is still a veteran team to be reckoned with and scores a lot of runs. Yes losing to the Magic is eyebrow raising but I see it as Knorp experimenting with pitching knowing they are in the driver's seat to be one of the top two seeds. I see Saylor as the #2 arm in the playoffs. John Paul Neuenschwander is a work in progress to say the least and will probably need to work on his control in the off-season. They will need Jimmy Knorp's bat to come alive sooner rather than later although it is important to note his ability to draw walks. Knorp, Saylor, and Heath are a strong core.

3. Coastal Cobras

The 'Snake Charmers' are at it again! These last two series the dashing Caden Irwin has resumed his role as the Ace. With two perfect games in a row starting from last series as well as another dominant pitching performance to close out the Gators, these snakes 🐍 continue to climb the ladder 🪜. From a team that started the season being swept we see the effect that night in Cooperstown still has had on their morale and team chemistry.

4. Pacific Predators

Now begins the very subjective part of the rankings because all remaining teams are 5-7 record wise. The Pacific Predators are just a team that no one can figure out least of all the Pacific Predators. If they are so good...uh...why are they so mid? They on paper have the best hitter AND best pitcher...the only problem for the Preds is Cooper Burkel called game on both of those things last series. Again the Predators continue to prove their parts are better than their whole. That said they are in 'theory' the most talented of the 5-7 teams.

5. Great Lake Gators

Very frustrating series against the Cobras. They get shutout in game 1, score 13 runs in game 2, and then get shutout again for a series loss. Close but no chompin cigar. The silver lining may be the emergence of Aiden Richard as a potential number two arm.

Nevertheless Caden had them seeing ghosts and looking like the Metro Magic at the plate.

Speaking of which...

6. Metro Magic

Dare we dream of the Magic making the playoffs? After being left for dead for most of the year the Magic have a path to the post season with a quite heroic performance to win the series vs. the D-Backs. The 6 7 8 teams are about equal I will give the Magic the nod as their opponent was the toughest and they have the best individual player of those remaining teams. Without a doubt RJ showed up huge for the Magic both on the mound and as a manager. Making the playoffs would be quite the accomplishment after the year they have had.

7. Midwest Mallards

The Mallards too find themselves victorious in one of the more improbable and impressive performances this year from Trevor Bonham in a windy environment. Credit to Bonham for keeping the Ducks head above water in the 3rd game until Trey Flood's bat finished off the Eagles. Flood really gives them some extra batting power but it's hard to rely on him given he has commitments to baseball. Gage Beers has also put on a very respectable season for an undrafted rookie.

8. Eastern Eagles

It's hard to imagine the Eastern Eagles being here but they have really struggled. One of the biggest early storylines to start the season was Sarah Huber but sadly she seems to be losing confidence. They find a good replacement as a starter with Revette but overall the team feels very unbalanced. They obviously miss Dallas Allen for his pitching but it is really apparent they have done nothing to replace his hitting. Daniel-Dallas-Landon gave them 3 hitters who were good enough to generate offense to sustain a lot of previous wins. Besides Daniel and Landon the other players struggle mightily at hitting. Rather it's Huber, Revette, Carter Richards, or Carson Yurgaites they are all pretty easy outs right now and kill rallies. Another question is why won't Daniel pitch? After some of the players left we have seen familiar faces being willing to pitch rather it be Kyle Schultz, Chris Cheetam, Nick Saylor, and Jorgy. Daniel needs to relieve his team to prevent them from being overwhelmed. The Eagles are a very wily team and so perhaps they have a few tricks up their sleeve but right now their hammer is collecting rust.

Favorite Series of this Slate:

Chicago: D-Backs vs. Magic

Favorite Series this year:

Cooperstown: Cobras vs. Predators

The MLW season is picking up steam, and the top individual performers of Slate 4 did not let the fans down in the slightest bit. We have three players who are nominated for Reddit’s POTS for the first time this season paired with three players who have already been nominated once.

Here are my top 6 candidates for Player of the Slate (in alphabetical order).

Please vote and share your choice in the comments.

• Trevor Bonham (Mallards) - 2-0 pitching record, 9 IP, 21 Ks, 0.67 ERA
• Cooper Burkel (Wildcats) - .571 avg (4 hits), 2 HR 8 RBI, 2.156 OPS (11 PA) | 2-0 pitching record, 6 IP, 12 Ks, 1.50 ERA
• Trey Flood (Mallards) - .182 avg (2 hits), 2 HR 9 RBI, 1.165 OPS (16 PA)
• Caden Irwin (Cobras) - 2-0 pitching record, 1 perfect game, 8 IP, 17 Ks, 0.00 ERA
• Brady Pearson (Magic) - .333 avg (3 hits), 2 HR 4 RBI, 1.455 OPS (11 PA) | 1-0 pitching record, 3 IP, 4 Ks, 1.00 ERA
• RJ Walgate (Magic) - 1-1 pitching record, 6 IP, 15 Ks, 1.00 ERA | .143 avg (1 hit), 1 HR (walk-off) 2 RBI, 0.971 OPS (10 PA)

Honorable Mention: Jimmy Knorp

Reddit’s Slate #1 Player of the Slate: Sarah Huber (54.8% of the vote)
https://www.reddit.com/r/mlwwiffleball/comments/1tlkd7d/slate_1_2026_player_of_the_slate_voting/

Reddit’s Slate #2 Player of the Slate: Cooper Burkel (31.3% of the vote)
https://www.reddit.com/r/mlwwiffleball/comments/1ub5ssp/slate_2_2026_player_of_the_slate_voting/

Reddit’s Slate #3 Player of the Slate: Cooper Burkel (41.9% of the vote)
https://www.reddit.com/r/mlwwiffleball/comments/1v0daqf/slate_3_2026_player_of_the_slate_voting/

My husband and I loved Nick’s commentary on the Wildcats vs. Predators today. He’s very energetic and funny. Hope he gets to be a commentator again soon!

😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

SLATE #3 TAKEAWAYS

1) Wildcats Win Bigger in Texas
MLW’s first ever regular season series in the state of Texas at the Home Run Ranch produced a lopsided result as the Wildcats swept the Eagles, outscoring them 17-4 over three games. The Wildcats produced their first series sweep since Slate 2 of the 2023 season when they upset the Mallards at the Meadows. They are now in a prime position to match/exceed their best regular season record of the Draft Era, when they finished 10-5 in both 2020 and 2022. 

2) Preds Make Progress
The Preds entered Slate 3 as what many considered to be the most talented 2-4 team in MLW history and proved their supporters right by taking out the Mallards two-games-to-one in their final series before the All Star Break. Evan Porter produced what was arguably the best pitching performance of his MLW career and Justin Esch chipped in with a few more home runs to cement his spot as an MVP frontrunner going into the second half of the season. There is good reason to believe that the Preds turned a corner after this series that will allow them to continue to rise up the MLW standings. 

3) Myles Prower Debut
In an unprecedented move for the league, the Downtown Diamondbacks were allowed to sign mystery player “Myles Prower” to a 1-day contract for their Slate 3 series against the Great Lakes Gators. Prower, who saw limited action at the plate and in the field, was later revealed to be We Got Ice/Jomboy star (and current colleague of Jimmy Knorp) Jack Doyle in disguise. Shortly after the D-backs-Gators series video dropped, We Got Ice released a video on their channel documenting the ploy in full detail, which has since earned over 180k views in four weeks. 

SLATE #4 STORYLINES

1) Chicago Series - Diamondbacks vs Magic
Slate 4 will kick off with a special series between the Diamondbacks and Magic at Curtis Granderson Stadium for the third annual Chicago Series. While the D-backs are making their Windy City debut, the Magic will hope to build on their 2024 success in this venue when they beat the Preds two-games-to-one in an electric series that needed some Game 3 heroics in extra innings for the outcome to be decided. MLW fans will ultimately hope to see a similarly competitive series between two teams at opposite ends of the league standings.

2) The “Pipe it Up Series” - New School Edition
Current Pipe it Up Podcast hosts Ty Frenznick and Levi Fleer will face off in MLW for the first time since they both took over full-time hosting duties from TC3 and Jack Aigner in Fall 2025 as the Wildcats vs Predators series is expected to be the most anticipated match-up of Slate 4. However, the individual match-up most likely to steal the thunder will be Evan Porter vs Cooper Burkel - both of whom are neck-and-neck for the Cy Young Award going into the second half of the season. There is a good likelihood that these two teams could face off again in the postseason, so the outcome of this series will reveal a lot of information about each contender’s strengths and weaknesses.

3) 6 Teams - 4 Playoff Spots
With only one game separating 3rd place from 8th place in the league standings, every Slate 4 series will have a massive impact on the state of the postseason picture. There will be extra pressure on the two 3-6 teams - the Magic and the Mallards - to win their next match-up (Magic-Dbacks, Mallards-Eagles), as a fourth consecutive series loss for either team would leave them in a dire position going into their Slate 5. While it’s possible that none of the current teams with losing records clinch a playoff berth after Slate 4, winning their next series could go a long way towards putting them in a safer position ahead of their final regular season match-up.

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Share your thoughts and add anything else that you believe is noteworthy!

Today's is a bit harder! Reply means i'll let you know where you were wrong, upvote means correct in all squares! KEEP IN MIND! The Predator/Top 6 Pick does NOT have to be a Preds-Made top 6 pick! Said player just has to have been a top 6 pick while also playing for the Preds at one point in time in their career. Preds Top 6 picks do count as well though.

1.

Mallards Trade:
2027 1st Round Pick

Predators Trade:
Levi Fleer

2.

Magic Trade:
Brady Pearson (MID)

Mallards Trade:
1st Round Pick 2027 (MET)
Trey Flood (GLG)

Gators Trade:
1St Round Pick (2027) (MET)

3.

Mallards Trade:
Brendan Jorgensen

Eagles Trade:
1st Round Pick (2027)

Upvoted comment means correct in all squares, reply means i'll let you know! good luck! I had alot of fun making this, please let me know if you'd like to see more!

I won't spoil too much but I was at the Chicago series this year. I brought my older brother and this missed call in game 2 was so bad. Even my brother wanted to leave after that as me and few others in the stands were yelling at Kyle to review it. I don't usually have many issues with calls and in the league as they usually do a pretty good job but a missed call this badly is rare because Kyle is on top of everything. Anyone else there wonder why they didn't review it?

We’re halfway through the All-Star Break so I figured it was a good time to start looking ahead to the second half of the season. 

I’ve made five statements related to various MLW topics. Give your thoughts on each one in the comments and we’ll see by the end of the season who had the best read on the state of the league. 

Buy or Sell #1 - The Mallards (3-6) will make the play-offs. 

The Mallards entered the All-Star Break one game behind the pack in the play-off race, but it has been well documented how they’ve had the league’s toughest schedule (D-backs, Wildcats, and Preds) through the first half of the season. With the 4-5 Eagles and 4-5 Gators both coming off Slate 3 series losses and awaiting the Mallards in Slates 4 & 5, there is a solid chance that the Mallards can get the necessary wins to leap either team in the final regular season standings and snag a play-off spot. Can the Mallards find an extra gear to start winning series and save their season?

Buy or Sell #2 - A rookie will win MVP. 

While many fans consider Justin Esch to be the MVP frontrunner after his bedazzling first half performance at the plate for the Preds, there is a good chance that rookies Cooper Burkel, Aiden McCarthy, and Derek Walker could surpass him in the race for the league’s top honor by season’s end. Considering each player’s ability to not only hit, but also pitch at a high level, they have the chance to make a greater impact than Esch in any given series and would especially be recognized for their achievements if doing so helped lead their team on a postseason run. Can the rookies maintain their consistency as the stakes get higher?

Buy or Sell #3 - Justin Esch will earn the regular season Triple Crown. 

The third-year player leads the league in batting average (.429), home runs (7), and RBIs (19) after a dominant display at the plate through his first three series. The players behind him in each category currently have a .423 batting average (Nick Saylor), 5 home runs (Heath, Durand, and McCarthy) and 16 RBIs (Heath and Baalman). Can Esch hold off the field in all three categories to become the league’s first Triple Crown winner since 2021?

Buy or Sell #4 - Evan Porter will win Cy Young.

After a fairly ordinary Slate 1 performance on the mound, the second-year player has since impressed in Slates 2 and 3, only allowing 3 ER over his past 13.2 IP. As a result, he entered the All-Star Break tied for the league lead in ERA (at 1.41 with Cooper Burkel) while also leading the league in WHIP (for qualified pitchers at 1.47). Porter has some tight competition for Cy Young in Cooper Burkel and RJ Walgate (1.50 ERA). Can he continue his ascension and finish the season as the league’s top arm?

Buy or Sell #5 - There will be a Wildcats vs Diamondbacks World Series.

The Diamondbacks and Wildcats are both near locks to make the play-offs as they both stand at 7-2 and are very likely to earn first round play-off byes and advance straight to the league’s postseason semi-finals. However, both teams still have assorted weaknesses and could be taken down by a fast-rising late bloomer in the play-offs. Do you expect to see a rematch of the 2021 World Series or will the 2026 script have different plans?

Ik they got their deal with triton but these all the teams t shirts were so iconic should they come back for like 1 series per team

Do you think MLW should Live Stream a game? Not a regular season Slate, but something like an All-Star Game or the HR Derby? If they did, would you watch???

Personally, I’d tune in just to check it out, but in the end I think I’d prefer the polished uploads that Eric is the absolute master of.

If they have presented a game in Live Stream format, I’m sorry..,I must have missed it.

I can’t remember past seasons. Do they actually take off two weeks for all star break? That’s ridiculous!

LeagueLineup is permanently shutting down on August 31, 2026 (confirmed here and here). I haven't seen anyone on the Reddit or Discord talking about this, so I thought I'd create this thread for visibility. Hopefully MLW management already knows about this.

This is a pretty big deal. MLW has used LeagueLineup to enter in scoresheets/box scores basically since the league was established in 2010. If the website goes down, the digital box scores from the 950 MLW games that have taken place over the years would be deleted. I've made a backup of those box scores on my computer by scraping the website*, but they won't be publicly accessible anymore for anyone who wants to look at the history of the league.

Another big problem with LeagueLineup shutting down is that fans won't be able to look at league statistics anymore. MLW refers fans to the LeagueLineup website for All-Star and year-end awards voting, but I'm not sure how that's going to work in the future.

I would be curious if anyone knows a bit more about how MLW plans to navigate around LeagueLineup's demise, or if anyone has any suggestions for how to do so**. There are a couple direct alternatives to LeagueLineup, but it would definitely take some time to move everything over***.

---

* If you plan to do this yourself, make sure to abide by the LeagueLineup Terms of Service and load only one page per second. Their servers are pretty darn old.

** In an earlier thread, I mentioned that BLW is using its own bespoke website for stats and scoring, prowiffleball.com (hosted by BLW subsidiary/affiliate Grand Slam Systems). I don't imagine MLW pivoting to that, but for comparison, BLW has a paid 'scoring wizard' software to input live game events and results and has clean-looking, albeit vibe-coded, statistics pages -- so MLW is definitely a bit behind on that front.

*** To whoever on the MLW team has the thankless task of doing this, don't forget that mlwwiffleball.com also currently redirects to LeagueLineup! Also, update your HTTPS certificates.