Mon, Oct. 26 · 1 game · Stat Lab #33: Service time: the 172-day year and the road to free agency · 7-min read
Press time 16:27 CET · Final 1/1 · Statcast: posted
- Last night: 1 final
- Game of the Night: Brewers 10, Rays 1 · Drama 1.26 ★
- World Series: TB-MIL: Brewers lead 3-0
- Tonight: 1 game · first pitch Wed 01:00 CET
- Stat Lab #33: Service time: the 172-day year and the road to free agency
- Jump to: Glance · Tonight · Scoreboard · Bracket · Game of the Night · Performers · Statcast · Stat Lab · Wire · World · Web · Terms · Sources
Last Night at a Glance
- World Series Game 3: Brewers 10, Rays 1 · Brewers lead 3-0
Tonight (CET)
Tue, Oct. 27 · 1 game · none before 23:00 CET · starters as of 16:27 CET
| Matchup | Start CET (ET) | Series | Away SP | Home SP | Stakes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIL 103-59 @ TB 98-64 | Wed 01:00 (8:00 p.m.) | WS G4 of 7 MIL leads 3-0 | TBD | Griffin Jax 3.53 · 3.76 · 17.6% · 112.1 | MIL can clinch; TB faces elimination |
Scoreboard
| Matchup | Final | Drama | Decisions | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIL @ TB | 10-1 | 1.26 ★ | W Gasser · L Peralta | Box · Savant |
The Bracket
Wild Card Series (best of three, every game at the higher seed)
- AL: White Sox at Astros: White Sox win 2-0.
- AL: Red Sox at Yankees: Yankees win 2-0.
- NL: Phillies at Braves: Braves win 2-1.
- NL: Cubs at Padres: Padres win 2-0.
Division Series (best of five)
- AL: Yankees at Rays: Rays win 3-0.
- AL: White Sox at Guardians: Guardians win 3-2.
- NL: Padres at Brewers: Brewers win 3-1.
- NL: Braves at Dodgers: Dodgers win 3-1.
Championship Series (best of seven)
- AL: Guardians at Rays: Rays win 4-2.
- NL: Dodgers at Brewers: Brewers win 4-0.
World Series (best of seven)
- Rays at Brewers: Brewers lead 3-0 · Game 4: Wed, Oct. 28, 01:00 CET (8:00 p.m. ET) · history: up 3-0 in a best-of-seven, 41 of 42 won the series.
Game of the Night: Brewers 10, Rays 1
- Drama Index 1.26 ★ · 0 lead changes · peak leverage 2.20 (top 5th)
- In history: 658th most dramatic of 707 World Series games since 1903 (Retrosheet) · The most dramatic World Series games
- Top WPA: Robert Gasser +0.22 (pitcher) · Christian Yelich +0.15 (batter) · Jackson Chourio +0.09 (batter)
- Bottom WPA: Cam Booser -0.22 (pitcher) · David Hamilton -0.06 (batter) · Ryan Vilade -0.05 (batter)
Watch: condensed game, 22 min · recap, 7 min (MLB.com)
| Inning | Matchup | Result | Win probability | WPA | LI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 5th | Brice Turang vs. Cam Booser | Single | MIL 77% → 89% | +0.13 | 2.20 |
| Top 3rd | Christian Yelich vs. Freddy Peralta | Single | MIL 54% → 65% | +0.10 | 2.17 |
| Top 3rd | William Contreras vs. Freddy Peralta | Single | MIL 65% → 70% | +0.05 | 1.87 |
Top Performers
| Starter | Game | IP | H | R (ER) | BB | K | Pitches | GSc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Gasser | MIL @ TB | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 75 | 75 |
| Freddy Peralta | TB vs. MIL | 4.2 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 87 | 37 |
| Batter | Team | Line | WPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Yelich | MIL | 2-for-3, 1 RBI, BB | +0.15 |
| Jackson Chourio | MIL | 4-for-5, 2B, 1 RBI, SB | +0.09 |
| Garrett Mitchell | MIL | 1-for-3, 1 RBI, BB | +0.06 |
| Brice Turang | MIL | 3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI | +0.05 |
| William Contreras | MIL | 3-for-5, 1 RBI | +0.03 |
Statcast Corner
| Category | Player | Detail | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardest-hit ball | Yandy Díaz (TB) | 115.5 mph (186 km/h) single off Robert Gasser | MIL @ TB, bot 1 |
| Unluckiest out | Christian Yelich (MIL) | fly ball out, xBA .846, 104.7 mph (168 km/h), caught by CF Jonny DeLuca | MIL @ TB, top 6 |
| Fastest pitch | Freddy Peralta (TB) | 98.9 mph (159 km/h) four-seamer to Brice Turang | MIL @ TB, top 1 |
Stat Lab · Lesson 33: Service time: the 172-day year and the road to free agency
One day. Kris Bryant’s April 2015 call-up left him with 171 days of service time that season, one short of a full year, and it pushed his free agency back a whole season. The 2026 calendar set the same trap: 187 days from March 25 to September 27, and 172 needed for a year.
The idea. Service time counts days in the majors: a day on the active roster or the major league injured list is a day of service, and 172 of them make a year. It is written as years and days, so 3.050 means three years and 50 days. Six years make a player a free agent, free to sign with any club shortly after the World Series. Three years bring salary arbitration: if he and his club can’t agree, a panel picks his salary figure or the club’s. The “Super Two” group, the top 22 percent by service time of players between two and three years who had at least 86 days the year before, gets a fourth arbitration year.
The math. The 2026 regular season ran from March 25 to September 27: 187 days. A year of service needs 172, so 187 − 172 = 15 days of slack. Count 15 days forward from March 25 and you reach April 9: a player called up around then and kept in the majors to the last day banks about a full year. Arrive a day later and he falls short, as Bryant did with 171. Free agency takes six such years: at least 6 × 172 = 1,032 days.
The scale. The milestones are 3.000 for arbitration and 6.000 for free agency. A player who shuttles between the minors and the majors can need seven or eight seasons to get there. The 2022 labor deal took aim at late call-ups: it can give a full year of service to a rookie who finishes first or second in Rookie of the Year voting, whatever the calendar said.
What it doesn’t tell you:
- The cutoff is approximate: the official count has fine print, so treat April 9 as a rough line.
- Days in the minors generally don’t count. A player sent down stops earning service until he is back.
- Service time measures a clock, not a player: a 10-year veteran can be a bench bat, and free agency is the right to sign anywhere, not a promise of a big contract.
Try it. Pick your club’s best young player and find the date he first reached the majors. Count his days in each season: when does he reach three years, and when six? Then look at this winter’s free agent class and find the players who just crossed 6.000.
Go deeper: MLB Glossary: service time · MLB Glossary: free agency · MLB Glossary: salary arbitration
Check yourself
- Q1. The 2026 regular season lasted 187 days. About how many could a player miss at the start and still bank a full year?
- Q2. Why did one day matter so much for Kris Bryant?
- Q3. Who belongs to the Super Two group?
Show answers
- A1. About 15: 187 − 172 = 15. The official count has fine print, so the exact line can move by a day or two.
- A2. His April 2015 call-up left him with 171 days that season, one short of a full year, so he reached six years of service, and free agency, a season later.
- A3. Players with between two and three years of service who rank in the top 22 percent by service time and had at least 86 days the year before. They get a fourth year of salary arbitration.
Transaction Wire
- Pirates: signed RHP Martin Gonzalez to a minor league deal
- Pirates: signed LHP Rogner Betancourt to a minor league deal
More moves (3)
- Red Sox: signed RHP Franklin Diaz to a minor league deal
- Red Sox: signed RHP Obel Encarnacion to a minor league deal
- Red Sox: signed SS Brayan Cordero to a minor league deal
Around the World
- KBO (Korea): Tigers 5, Lions 1 (Playoff)
- Venezuelan Winter League: Tigres 9, Leones 8 ★★★★
- Arizona Fall League: Solar Sox 13, Desert Dogs 12 ★★★★★ · Saguaros 4, Rafters 20 ★ · Scorpions 7, Javelinas 10 ★
Around the Web
Last Night’s Games
- Brewers 10, Rays 1 — After two 1-run losses, blowout at Trop puts Rays’ season on brink (MLB.com)
News
- 1 unprecedented inning not only way Crew rewriting Fall Classic record books — MLB.com
- How the Rays fixed Freddy Peralta: The changes that propelled him back to ace form after ugly Mets stint — CBS Sports
- Chourio the youngest with 4-hit game in Series since … 80 years ago! — MLB.com
- Giants among NFL’s biggest Week 7 winners; today’s rare Sports Equinox with World Series, MNF, WNBA Finals — CBS Sports
Transactions & Rumors
- Offseason Outlook: Philadelphia Phillies — MLB Trade Rumors
- A’s Max Muncy Undergoes Knee Debridement — MLB Trade Rumors
Analysis · Listen (7)
Analysis
- Sink, Florida, Sink: Inside the Rally That Broke the World Series Open — FanGraphs
- Red Sox Stock Watch: Where Every Key Player Stands Headed into 2027 — Just Baseball
- Game 3 Recap: Murphy’s Wallbangers — Baseball Prospectus (subscription)
- Cup of Coffee: October 26, 2026 — Cup of Coffee (subscription)
Listen
- Crew 1 win from 1st title after dominant Game 3 — MLB Morning Lineup · 15 min
- WAITING FOR GAME 3 OF THE WORLD SERIES – Brewers and Rays Wait Plus Thoughts on Jacob Misiorowski’s Role — Locked On MLB · 32 min
- Brewers Explode for 8 Runs in World Series Game 3 +Game 4 Preview — Rates & Barrels · 47 min
Terms in This Post
Drama Index · Leverage Index (LI) · Win Probability Added (WPA) · Hard-Hit Rate (HardHit%) · Barrel · Service Time · every term in the Glossary
Sources & Notes
Built automatically from MLB Stats API, Baseball Savant and MyKBO Stats data; numbers through Oct. 26, 2026, with FIP, xFIP, WAR and wRC+ up to a day behind. Highlight videos link to MLB.com. The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at “www.retrosheet.org”. How this site works