Devers’ Season Over With Core Muscle Surgery; Bradish Also Shut Down

San Francisco Giants slugger Rafael Devers will undergo core muscle surgery that ends his season with two weeks remaining, cutting short a late-season power surge that had him on pace to reach a franchise milestone.

Devers, 29, hit his 37th home run Saturday before the Giants placed him on the 60-day injured list the following day. The operation denies him a chance at becoming the first Giants player to reach 40 home runs since Barry Bonds accomplished the feat in 2004. Notably, he had reportedly been playing through the injury while producing one of the hottest stretches of his career — seven homers and a .342 batting average in September. The team expects him to be fully recovered in time for spring training.

In Baltimore, right-hander Kyle Bradish is also expected to miss the remainder of the season after landing on the 15-day injured list with lower abdominal discomfort. The move came a day after he allowed five runs over three innings against Toronto. Bradish, 30, entered the year with elevated expectations following a strong finish to his return from Tommy John surgery, but his first full season back proved difficult: a 4.12 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, and a strikeout rate of 21.2% that marked a career low.

Elsewhere, the Chicago Cubs are targeting a Friday return for shortstop Dansby Swanson, while 22-year-old outfield prospect Esmerlyn Valdez was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain after exiting Friday’s game against the Cubs in the sixth inning.

Broadcast context

Major League Baseball’s media footprint remains a key story line for investors in sports media. Comcast — whose NBC Sports division is slated to carry MLB coverage in 2026, including exclusive rights to Sunday Night Baseball, the Wild Card round, and first-round MLB Draft coverage on NBC and Peacock — traded at $24.88 on Monday, down 1.11% from the prior close of $25.16, valuing the telecom and media company at roughly $92.5 billion. The return of MLB to NBC platforms comes as streaming services like Peacock continue to anchor the company’s content strategy. On-field storylines such as playoff races — with clubs like Milwaukee and Tampa Bay having already clinched postseason berths — help drive viewership during the stretch run.

What to watch

• Updates from the Giants on Devers’s surgery and his readiness for spring training.
• Baltimore’s announcement of Bradish’s expected recovery timeline and offseason plan.
• Whether Swanson returns to the Cubs lineup as targeted on Friday.
• MLB postseason ratings across broadcast and streaming platforms, a metric relevant to Comcast’s media segment.

Source: original release