With a full day in the books from the Denver Broncos win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, I thought it would be a good idea to check in with the Mile High Report staff and see what was one thing they learned about the team from that game: good or bad. Among us, we came up with five things that we learned and what the Broncos could build on from there as they prepare to face the Indianapolis Colts next week.
Yankees Must Pursue 261-Home Run Japanese Slugger to Solve First Base Problem
Posted September 8, 2025
As the New York Yankees close in on another playoff berth, Aaron Boone and management once again face a first base-sized problem in their lineup.
Age and nagging injuries have slowed former NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt, who is batting .245 with two home runs, seven RBIs, and a .649 OPS over 117 second-half plate appearances. Although budding star Ben Rice has played more first base in recent weeks, his future might be behind the plate, especially given Austin Wells’ prolonged inconsistency.
And as for that whole Aaron Judge playing first base idea? Any position change involving the AL MVP frontrunner would almost certainly wait until next spring at the earliest.
We feel safe assuming that Goldschmidt, who turns 38 on Sept. 10, won’t be wearing the Yankees pinstripes next year. Goldschmidt’s likely departure, coupled with Rice possibly becoming the Yankees’ full-time catcher, could open the door for a new first baseman — and veteran Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami makes perfect sense, assuming that the Yakult Swallows enter him in the posting system.
If you’re unfamiliar with Murakami, we suggest getting caught up ahead of his potential U.S. arrival. A 25-year-old corner infielder who previously played for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic, Murakami owns 261 home runs across eight Japanese seasons.
Murakami is one of the most revered home run hitters in Japanese history, mashing a single-season record 56 homers in 2022. Interestingly, that was the same season Judge set a new American League record with 62 home runs.
Munetaka Murakami would be a perfect fit for the Yankees
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported last week that the Mets and San Diego Padres have each scouted Murakami in person, with Padres executive A.J. Preller even seeing Murakami’s three-home run game in late August.
Passan projected that Murakami could command a significant free agent deal despite being a strikeout-prone corner infielder. Not only do the Yankees have a reputation for handing out lofty contracts, but they’ve frequently acquired Japanese players — both as international free agents and established major leaguers, such as Ichiro and Hiroki Kuroda — for nearly 30 years.
Theoretically speaking, the Yankees could also put Murakami at third base and give first base to Rice. However, the recently acquired Ryan McMahon still has two years of team control left, and there’s no indication that the Yankees would give up on him playing third just yet.
We’ve seen how a left-handed, power-hitting first baseman fares with Yankee Stadium’s right field short porch. Jason Giambi and Anthony Rizzo took full advantage, as did switch-hitting All-Star and aspiring Congressman Mark Teixeira. Murakami will play all of next season at 26, and he’d immediately join a loaded lineup with Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and a resurgent Giancarlo Stanton.
All of that sounds good to us, though we doubt the rest of the AL East feels the same way. But if the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays want to avoid seeing Murakami in pinstripes, we suggest they pony up and break out the big bucks themselves.
5 things we learned from the Broncos in win over Titans
1. Broncos’ defense is as advertised.
I have been unloading defensive stats metrics today into The Feed section of the site. There is just a lot of data being posted to X that is fun to see related to the Broncos’ defense. We also dug into some of the defensive data today in a post aptly named the same as this first thing we learned:
Under the guidance of Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph, the Broncos’ defense shut down signal caller Cam Ward and the Titans offense. When the clock struck zero, it was total domination. They had allowed just 12 points and 133 total yards from scrimmage. Ward finished his NFL debut going 12-of-28 for 112 yards. He was sacked five times and lost a fumble. Overall, the Titans amassed just 62 net passing yards, averaged a dreadful 2 yards per play and completed only 14-percent of their third down attempts.
In the second half alone, the Titans gained a total -1 net yardage in a one-point game. There were some drops by Titans’ wide receivers, but a few of those throws from Cam Ward felt like they had zero touch and were just missiles launched out of paranoia. The Broncos pressure rate was quite literally off the charts in that game. - Tim Lynch
2. Offseason hype was way premature.
The overall team hype may have been premature. The defensive hype is somehow probably not quite enough for how good they are and can be (assuming they get Greenlaw back and stay healthy).
I didn’t see a playoff team on Sunday and hope they’ll get the offense sorted out over these next few weeks. I would put Denver below the Chargers and Kansas City so far in the division race, just based on eye test. - Jeff Essary
3. Interior OL was dominated by Titans.
Luke Wattenberg still is poor at run blocking. Jeffrey Simmons ate his lunch all game and T’Vondre Sweat destroyed him on the 4th down sneak. He has got to improve next week or defenses are going to start run blitzing him. - Joe Mahoney
4. Broncos’ offense is not as advertised.
It’s still really early in the season, and the Broncos survived a game that had numerous sloppy mistakes. The offense looked they were still in the preseason. We can’t learn much from a game like this, but we can see that neither team on the field was prepared for regular season football. Penalties and turnovers should have led to a Broncos loss, but the Titans did a lot of the same.
If they want to take care of business in Week 2 they will have to focus on holding onto the football, and limiting mistakes. Preseason is over. Hopefully, they will understand that in their second game. - Adam Malnati
5. How about Jeremy Crawshaw though?
Jeremy Crawshaw delivered a steady and efficient performance in the game against the Titans. The highlight came from his ability to control field position, pinning the Titans inside their own 20-yard line on four occasions.
We didn’t expect this performance after the preseason! Let’s see if he can improve! - Ivan Talavera
