Post-NLDS Game 2 Thread: Snellzilla Minus One

BRAVES 3, DODGERS 2

Yes, the Dodgers went 0-for-8 with RISP this evening, only hitting solo home runs to get on the scoreboard--a similar offensive strategy used in Game 1, which had a more favorable outcome.

But tonight's failure all started with a totally ineffective Blake Snell, who took most of the regular season off, all culminating in what the Dodgers need--and expect, for his outrageous contract--a quality start in the postseason.

Snell once again did not deliver, lasting 3.2 IP with only 1 ER but fortunately working around 5 BBs. And his early exit then taxed the Dodgers' bullpen into ways which will have negative ramifications for the rest of this NLDS.

Now the series is tied, heading to Atlanta for Game 3 against their ace. This is not good.

Thanks a lot, Blake!

NLDS Game 2 Thread: Oct 4 vs. Braves, 5p

Kyle Tucker, NLDS HR hitter.

Blake Snell vs. TBD.

I have so many thoughts about yesterday's Game 1 victory, but the mettle is this: the Dodgers are a team built for slug, and if we can hit multiple home runs in a game, it bodes well. I wouldn't have had Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernandez on my bingo card, but I will take it (as will I Max Muncy's solo shot). And big props to Tarik Skubal for an outstanding performance.

Let's see if Blake Snell can hold serve.

Game 161 Thread: Sept 26 @ Giants, 1p

Blake Snell (4-1, 1.86) vs. Matt Wilkinson (1-3, 3.65).

The Dodgers don't have anything for which to play in the last two days of the season, as we've secured the first-round bye and the #2 seed in the playoffs.

And the Giants also don't anything for which to play, having been eliminated on September 7, 2026.

So how about we just invite the seagulls in early today, and just call it a day? Or maybe that's what the Giants were already thinking, having scheduled the game in the afternoon so they could enjoy the nightlife.

Game 141 Thread: Sep 4 vs. Nationals, 7p

Blake Snell (2-1, 2.42) vs. Jackson Kent (1-2, 5.59).

I'm aware that blogger wouldn't let comments publish on last night's Game Thread. I happened to be listening while on a nighttime run, and it was driving me nuts as I heard us squandering scoring opportunities (we only scored our first run on a wild pitch, and ended the game 1-for-9 with RISP) all over the place.

After Dalton Rushing's eighth inning failure with the bases loaded (he struck out, with the Dodgers down 2-1), I figured all was lost. Surprisingly, Teoscar Hernandez came through with a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth to score Tommy Edman and Mookie Betts, winning the game 3-2..

Oh, and Kyle Tucker went 0-for-3 with a K. He's now batting .225 and has a -0.2 WAR, for his $60M salary.

I wish I could have commented on this one. I'm glad we avoided the sweep.

We're tied for the second playoff bye spot, along with Atlanta. It would be great to start swatting (g)Nats tonight.

Game 136 Thread: Aug 29 @ Tigers, 10a

Blake Snell (2-1, 2.57) vs. Keider Montero (9-8, 3.30).

After three straight one-run losses in Atlanta, with two of those losses coming at the hands of closer Tanner Scott, it was refreshing to eke out the 2-1 win in Detroit Friday, including a shutdown inning from Scott himself.

Now, this doesn't cure our missing offense ills (15 LOB Friday, with the Dodgers 4-for-12 with RISP). That is still a very big problem. But maybe it's a good sign that Evan Phillips and Brock Stewart each threw scoreless frames (along with Scott); and, that Dave Roberts' two pinch hit substitutions led to positive outcomes (Miguel Rojas with an RBI single; Kiké Hernandez would have had the same had Kyle Tucker known how to run the bases properly).

Let's see if Snell can shove today.

Game 131 Thread: Aug 23 vs. Pirates, 1p

Blake Snell (1-1, 3.60) vs. Lake Bachar (1-2, 3.75).

Listening to David Vassegh on the radio call yesterday, as he accompanied Tim Neverett and subbed for Rick Monday, was painful. Not only was Vassegh ineffective as a color commentator, he also took it upon himself to continue expressing his man-crush on Blake Snell, today's starter.

Breathless with anticipation over Snellzilla's start, Vassegh overlooked Tarik Skubal's 11-K, seven-inning performance Saturday (Skubal's first win as a Dodger), and instead pointed out Snell's baseball-savant intellect. Hey, I'd take some classes too if I was taking four months off of work each year.

Skubal and Snell both had Skubal-scope surgery this season. Skubal, a trade deadline pickup for the Dodgers, has as many wins as Snell as a Dodger this season, on top of seven wins for the Tigers this season. Skubal's 2026 Dodger ERA (3.38) is better than Snell's (3.60).

And Skubal's WAR as a Dodger (0.4) is double that of Snell's (0.2), who has been a Dodger all season long and not just in the month of August.

Blake Snell earns $28M this year. He doesn't play for two-thirds of the season.

So he'd better come to pitch, every one of these minimal outings.

Game 126 Thread: Aug 17 @ Rockies, 5.40p

Blake Snell (0-1, 5.00) vs. Tomoyuki Sugano (12-5, 4.43).

The Dodgers' beatdown against the Brewers continued on Saturday, marking a four-game series in which the Dodgers' frozen bats mustered only 10 runs against the Brewers. It's pretty pathetic.

So maybe Coors Field is the remedy. Heck, we may as well try.

Game 120 Thread: Aug 11 vs. Royals, 7p

Blake Snell whaaaaaaaaaat (0-1, 12.00) vs. Michael Wacha (5-8, 3.44).

First Edwin Diaz doesn't blow the save, and we get a win last night. Now, Blake Snell is actually starting a game for the Dodgers?!

What is going on here?!

Game 110 Thread: July 31 vs. Red Sox, 7p

Blake Snell, still not pitching.

Edgardo Henriquez (4-1, 2.79) vs. Ranger Suarez (4-3, 3.02).

Not sure which Red Sox team we're going to see this series--the one that fumbled around the start of this year and got Alex Cora fired, or the one that has won an amazing 20 of their 24 games this month.

But starting Edgardo Henriquez tonight only underlines how badly Blake Snell has slow-walked his return to the Dodgers' rotation. Tarik Skubal had the same surgical procedure and returned in 38 days. 38 days from Blake Snell's surgery would have been June 26--so over a month later, Snell is just lounging around.

Hence, Henriquez.

Thanks a lot, Blake!

Game 45 Thread: May 15 @ Angels, 6.30p

Actually, Snellzilla is more toothless than this.

Blake Snell (0-1, 12.00) vs. Jack Kochanowicz (2-2, 3.97).

Maybe forgoing that minor league rehab stint in Ontario, to instead face one of the best teams in the majors, was not a great idea for Blake Snell last outing. The Dodgers' PR department did its best to try and put lipstick on this baby dinosaur ("Snell averaged 95.9mph with his fastball, up from 95.1mph last year"), but the truth of the matter was, Blake Snell sucked against the Braves: 3.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB and 5 Ks.

That's not a "mixed bag". That's a steaming pile of shit from the 5-year, $182M man who has only given the Dodgers 12 regular season games, a quarter of the way through his excessive contract.

Tonight, Snell gets the punching bag that is the Angels, 16-28 and in last place in the AL West. If Snell can't succeed in these conditions, there's no place to hide.

UPDATE: What a surprise, Snell has been scratched.

Game 39 Thread: May 9 vs. Braves, 6p

Blake Snell (has not pitched all frickin' year) vs. Spencer Strider (0-0, 8.10 after one game this year).

Blake Snell has earned about $9M from the Dodgers in this year alone, just by sitting on the couch for all of this ongoing 2026 season. The oft-injured pitcher was a valued asset down the stretch and in the postseason last year, sure, but it's pretty easy to be fresh for October when you only throw in 11 games during the regular season (Snell participated in only six games in the 2025 postseason, earning a winning decision in none of those games).

And this was only the first year of his five-year, $182M contract. Just think how many games Snell can miss for us over the full five-year term!

And yet, on the other side of the ledger is Spencer Strider, coming back from an oblique strain this year, after seeing limited action last year as well. Maybe Snell and Strider can hang out together on the couch and watch some television.

2025 World Series Game 5 Thread: Oct 29 vs. Blue Jays, 5p

Blake Snell vs. Trey Yesavage.

In last night's debacle, the Dodgers looked listless at the plate, possibly exhausted from the 18-inning affair the night before. But it would be too easy to say the Dodgers were just tired, since the Blue Jays also would have been just as tired (save a couple of Blue Jays who were removed for pinch runners early in Game 3).

The fact is, the Blue Jays' lineup--with five players batting .300 or better this postseason--is still coming to hit and get on base. And the Dodgers' lineup has exactly zero players batting .300 or better this postseason.

And that's a problem that one night's lack of sleep can't explain away.

We either get that together tonight, or we are doomed. We've got Blake Snell poised to be outdueled by rookie Trey Yesavage again, just as he was in Game 1.

I'm not feeling it.

LET'S GO, DODGERS!!!

2025 World Series Game 1 Thread: Oct 24 @ Blue Jays, 5p

Hey look, a cursive logo! How retro!

Blake Snell vs. Trey Yesavage.

The long break for the Dodgers gave the opportunity for the media to trial balloon a ton of different narratives for the 2025 World Series.

Shohei Ohtani, as the one who got away from Toronto (and now, the Blue Jays (in jest) want him to return the gifts it gave him during the interview process). Mookie Betts, emerging in the World Series one year later, as a Gold Glove Finalist at a brand new position. The Dodgers as MLB's villain, the new evil empire who is ruining baseball.

But the narrative I see tonight is one of redemption, which could craft new chapters for two Dodgers looking to change their stories.

For Blake Snell, tonight's start will make his first appearance in the World Series since his fateful and early exit from the 2020 World Series Game 6. With only 73 pitches and two hits through 5.1 IP, Rays manager Kevin Cash pulled Snell rather than have him face the Dodgers' lineup a third time (which was, statistically, a difficulty for Snell). The Dodgers feasted from there, and ended up winning the 2020 World Series in that game.

In the 2025 NLCS vs. Milwaukee, Blake Snell opened up the series and went eight strong scoreless innings, with 10 Ks.

Tonight is a chance for two-time Cy Young Award Winner Blake Snell to show the world, on the biggest stage, that he can gut through the lineup a third time.

In the Dodgers' 2024 World Series Championship run, Shohei Ohtani was caught stealing in Game 2 of the 2024 World Series, and the awkward landing had him suffer a shoulder subluxation which impaired his ability to contribute for the rest of the World Series.

This 2025 postseason, Ohtani was largely absent from and lost at the plate, following NLWC Game 1 against the Reds (two HR)...until NLCS Game 4 against the Brewers, where Ohtani put on the best sporting performance ever, from both the plate (3 HR) and the mound (10 Ks).

Tonight is a chance for three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani to show the world, on the biggest stage, the majesty of his offensive power.

Also, I am not buying into the narrative about the Dodgers being heavy favorites on this one. It's certainly not a David vs. Goliath story, not with the Blue Jays owning the fifth-highest payroll in the majors; the beasts in their offensive lineup; or the fact that they have all of Canada behind them (and probably most of America, as well).

Not to mention, tonight's Blue Jays starter, Trey Yesavage, has torn through the playoffs (22 Ks over three starts), and the Dodgers don't tend to perform well against pitchers we've never seen.

This is going to be a dogfight. Game 1 at Rogers Centre is important.

LET'S GO, DODGERS!!!!!

2025 NLCS Game 1 Post-Game Thread: Snell Carries The Dodgers To A Game 1 Victory

“He put us on his back and he won it for us,” said Mookie Betts. (Quoted in The Athletic)

DODGERS 2, BREWERS 1

The Dodgers were sloppy tonight. Poor baserunning by Teoscar Hernandez flipped a sure sacrifice fly into an unusual but still costly inning-ending double play (and the Dodgers added another inning-ending double play from Mookie Betts, one frame later).

And from the plate, the missed opportunities were more glaring. The Dodgers were 1-for-10 with RISP, 11 total LOB, in Game 1. And if not for Freddie Freeman's solo HR in the sixth, and then Betts' bases-loaded walk RBI in the ninth, we would have been shut out altogether by the effective patchwork of Brewers arms.

But Blake Treinen saved Roki Sasaki's lack of sharpness tonight in the bottom of the ninth, staunching the bleeding after the Brewers scored one run and had the bases loaded, by striking out Brice Turang to notch the Game 1 victory.

We won't be able to depend upon game sloppiness and a moribund offense, if we want to win this series.

Not to mention, we won't be able to expect our starters to go eight full scoreless innings and face the minimum number of batters (24), like Blake Snell did tonight. 8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 10 Ks. Unbelievable outing by Snell, who put the Dodgers on his back for this NLCS Game 1 victory.

We stole this road win. Let's be sharper tomorrow, okay? (I'm looking at you, Teoscar.)

illustration from ChatGPT

2025 NLCS Game 1 Thread: Oct 13 @ Brewers, 5p

Blake Snell (2-0, 1.38) vs. TBD.

Let's start with the negative: the Dodgers were basically a mediocre road team this year (41-40), but against the Brewers, the Dodgers came up short both on the road AND at home, losing all six games to Milwaukee this year. In the three games in Milwaukee, we scored a total of four runs, never scoring more than two runs in a game.

So tonight's game at Miller Park American Family Field should not give the Dodgers a ton of hope or momentum, especially coming off of a very fortunate NLDS victory that was partially handed to us by a game-ending error (another weak offensive performance by the Dodgers, might I add).

Sure, Fangraphs gives us favorable odds of 70% to win the NLCS. ESPN's pundit panel sides with the Dodgers. And The Athletic's panel gives a very slight series edge to the Dodgers (even though San Francisco Giant homer Grant Brisbee is one of the ones picking the Brewers to win).

As a result, I'm not feeling confident heading into this NLCS. The Phillies were a tough opponent in the NLDS, and we barely snuck by them and advanced. The Brewers play great defense, kill you with small ball, and have a grizzled coach who has his team believing. Can the Dodgers, with their bullpen cupboard bare, and their main slugger batting .148 this postseason, really feel like they've got what it takes to win?

We're going to have to step the hell up here. Like Roki Sasaki in the NLDS.

Now that was awesome.

LET'S GO, DODGERS!

UPDATE 10:48a: Ben Casparius makes the NLCS roster; Dalton Rushing (as a third catcher) left off.

It All Starts With Snell

Blake Snell named as the Dodgers' starter for 2025 NLCS Game 1. That pushes Shohei Ohtani all the way to a start at Dodger Stadium (with Yoshinobu Yamamoto getting Game 2's start), which means he will only see one rotation this series:

MILWAUKEE -- The Los Angeles Dodgers will start lefty Blake Snell in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night while righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto will get the ball in Game 2. It means Shohei Ohtani will get just one start in the series, during the middle leg back in Los Angeles.

"He'll pitch at some point, but we just don't know which day," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Sunday.

Unlike in previous spots, the Dodgers are not concerned with pitching Ohtani before a day off, choosing to maximize rest for the other starters as the team embarks on its first best-of-seven series this postseason.

"Not as important," Roberts said. "I think just appreciating having four starters in a potential seven-game series and who can pitch potentially twice, and that's kind of the impetus, versus Shohei having that day off after a game."

Hoo boy. Here we go.

2025 NLDS Game 2 Post-Game Thread: Snell, Sasaki Overcome Phillies and Dodgers Bullpen, To Go Up 2-0

DODGERS 4, PHILLIES 3

One year ago, the Dodgers' bullpen put the team on its shoulders and carried the team to a World Series Championship. This year, the Dodgers bullpen--with some of the very same arms that were incredible last year--threaten to corrode the Dodgers' 2025 chances from the inside.

Blake Treinen was almost the goat tonight, entering the game in the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead, following six scoreless innings from starter Blake Snell and two solid one-run innings from converted starter Emmet Sheehan. Treinen proceeded to shit the bed, yielding a leadoff single to Alec Bohm, then a double to JT Realmuto, and then a two-RBI double from Nick Castellanos, who wasn't even supposed to be in the lineup except Harrison Bader pulled a groin muscle. Treinen left having given up two runs and left one RISP, and not having gotten even one out.

Credit Alex Vesia--the only Dodgers bullpen arm to have recorded an out in two games of the 2025 NLDS--as well as Max Muncy and Mookie Betts for turning a Bryson Stott bunt into an out on the lead runner, Castellanos. Vesia then yielded a single and then got a force out to make it two outs, Phils at the corners.

And then Dave Roberts did the thing that he should have done earlier, and brought in Roki Sasaki (in post-game interviews, Roberts explained that he was worried about leaning on Sasaki as he had never pitched twice in three days before last night--but hey, man, it's the playoffs! Time to sack the hell up!). Sasaki barely got the third out and earned his second save of the NLDS.

(Tommy Edman almost threw the ball away, but Freddie Freeman saved Edman's bacon to close out the game. Said the TBS announcer, "Oh, my. Tommy Edman owes Freddie Freeman the fattest steak dinner he's ever had." Book Maestro's on Tuesday night, stat.)

The post-game banter on the SoSG Whats App channel went like this:

Sax: Alex Vesia is the only non-starter that has gotten outs this NLDS

Nomo: Any discussion of using Treinen again is also a non-starter.

We didn't need that heart attack Monday night, but we got it. And we also got a 2-0 NLDS lead on the road (fangraphs just jumped our odds from ~75% to >90%). I never would have expected this, not after watching Game 2 play out today. Consider ourselves very lucky.

But let's all agree, we won't use Blake Treinen again in 2025, at least not without a 15-run lead.

And I'm not even going to talk about Andy Pages, now 1-for-17 in the postseason, and swinging recklessly and early every AB.

2025 NLDS Game 2 Thread: Oct 6 @ Phillies, 3p

Blake Snell (5-4, 2.35) vs. Jesus Luzardo (15-7, 3.92).

Fellow SoSGers, I confess that I missed NLDS Game 1.

Car trouble and an overly-ambitious schedule during the day thwarted my efforts to actually watch Game 1. I was stuck on the side of a road waiting for a tow truck to come. And it was difficult, because all I had was radio. Though to be honest, I don't think I could have had the emotional strength to make it through a live viewing of that game.

I would have fallen into despair when Shohei Ohtani got rattled in the second inning, understandbly so while watching Teoscar Hernandez run practice jog routes out in right field rather than bend down and try and stop a ball.

I would have screamed at the television watching Andy Pages flail at the plate for another game, looking totally overmatched.

I would have chewed through t-shirt watching Max Muncy make another fielding error at third base.

And I would have had nothing left in the tank to cheer when the Dodgers showed a level of mettle I did not know or even believe that they had, ultimately prevailing in Game 1, 5-3.

Here's Fangraphs' win probability. That is nuts.

Ohtani not only settled down after that second inning, he didn't allow another run in four more innings of work, shutting the Phillies down (especially their top three formidable bats). And that wasn't easy, given how Philadelphia fans were jeering him all game. Teoscar Hernandez hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the seventh that was totally unlikely given his play this year, but maybe not so given his postseason resume.

Speaking of postseason resumes, Kiké Hernandez, a woeful .203 batter in the 2025 season, is up to his same clutch self: batting .417 with a 1.000 OPS this postseason. His two-RBI double in the sixth put us on the board and created some tension in a game where the Phillies seemed to be rolling. It makes no sense that Kiké is so clutch in October, but so it happens every year.

And even Andy Pages scored a run and had a hit in this one (he's now 1-for-13 in this postseason).

During yesterday's off-day, I watched the condensed game highlights of Game 1, and Rick Monday (on his radio call) was spot-on--Citizens Bank Park turned as silent as a library after Teo's HR. It was amazing.

From the LA Times, "When you can hear a pin drop in the stadium, that’s the ultimate feeling in baseball,” Max Muncy said of the home run. “I felt like the people in the upper deck could hear us cheering in the dugout.”

And so today, we try to steal another game from the Phillies in NLDS Game 2, a game I do plan to watch. Blake Snell was great in 2025 NLWC Game 1 for us, and given Dave Roberts' new "all-starters, all the time" strategic approach and/or necessity (Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki got 26 of the 27 outs in Game 1), we again will need Snell to go long.

I've mocked Snellzilla for most of this year. It would be great to see him breathe fire in Game 2.

Post-2025 NLWC Game 1 Thread: The Leakiest of Pens

2025 NLWC GAME 1: DODGERS 10, REDS 5

For the second straight outing, Blake Snell's seven solid innings (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 Ks) should be the story. But it's not, because our bullpen is a disaster--and actually let the Reds back into this game because of their absolute ineptitude.

Alex Vesia entered the game in the eighth. 22 pitches, 13 strikes. He saw three batters and got one out. Both of his runners scored.

Edgardo Henriquez came into the game, and was even worse. He saw three batters and got no outs, walking in two runs.

Jack Dreyer came into the game, and barely escaped. He saw three batters, walking in a run on his own, and got a strikeout and then a pop out to first, to escape the jam.

That's three pitchers, 59 pitches, and three runs yielded--all in one inning. This bullpen is pathetic.

During that eighth inning, we had to rush Emmet Sheehan to get warm in the bullpen, given the implosion that was happening on the field. Thankfully, we had scored 10 runs by then: three RBI from two Shohei Ohtani HRs; four RBI from two Teoscar Hernandez HR; a solo shot from Tommy Edman; and an RBI from Ben Rortvedt. (An Alex Call single with a two-run error from Noelvi Marte led to the other run, but no RBI was awarded.)

So we went to the ninth inning up 10-5, with Blake Treinen in for the ninth. He got two Ks, then gave up a single to Gavin Lux, but got Miguel Andujar for the final out. Whew.

If our starters can't go eight innings, we don't stand a chance, not with this leaky pen. We should be happy with a series-opening 10-5 win. But this isn't good.

I'm not even going to dwell on Andy Pages' 0-for-5.

2025 NL Wild Card Game 1 Thread: Sept 30 vs. Reds, 6p

Blake Snell vs. Hunter Greene.

The Reds may have backed into the playoffs with a loss in their final game and a 83-79 record (10 games worse than the Dodgers), but it doesn't matter now--they're on level ground with the winners of the NL West. And since anything can happen in the playoffs--the Reds have a 31.4% chance of advancing, according to Fangraphs--I'm already pretty nervous (as usual).

The fact that we're starting Blake Snell for Game 1 doesn't settle my stomach much, either. Snell, who missed almost all of the first four months of the season with assorted boo boos, did not pitch against Cincinnati this year.

Notre Dame Sherman Oaks graduate Hunter Greene pitched one game against the Dodgers this season, on August 25, 2025. He took the loss having pitched 5.0 innings: 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 HR (both by Andy Pages), 2 BB and 3 Ks. Michael Conforto, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith all struck out against Greene, but Conforto and Freeman also had doubles against Greene before he exited, and Smith's walk against Greene in the bottom of the sixth (with none out and one on) chased Greene from the game.

Pages knocked in five runs in that game. I assume he will be in the starting lineup today.

And of course, this game marks another return to Dodger Stadium for former Dodger and 2024 World Series Champion, Gavin Lux. Lux, whose -0.2 WAR paled in comparison to (his replacement) Hyeseong Kim's 1.6 WAR, still had a respectable year, with a 97 OPS+ of .724 (relative to Kim's OPS .699 / OPS+ 95). So maybe trading Lux was a wash? He still has a mean ultimate frisbee forehand.

But the one to watch in Cincinnati's lineup has to be Elly De La Cruz, who played in every game for the Reds this year, batting .264 with a .777 OPS (109 OPS+, to lead the team). He mashes (a team-leading 22 HR), but also strikes out a lot (a team leading 181 Ks--which to be fair is six fewer than Shohei Ohtani). We need to keep him off the basepaths this series, or there will be no more plane rides for us this year.

(Lux photo: John Hefti-Imagn Images, from Sports Illustrated)

UPDATE 9.30 2p: Will Smith makes the NL Wild Card roster. Justin Dean grabs an outfielder spot, alng with Alex Call; Michael Conforto does not make the cut. Also, on the pitching side, Roki Sasaki makes the roster; Clayton Kershaw, who pitched the last game of the regular season, will not be on the NLWC squad (as has been widely reported for days now).