Game 139 Thread: Sept 3 @ Pirates, 3.40p

If this game is like yesterday's, it's gonna be torture.

Ohtani (1-1, 4.18) vs. Ashcraft (4-2, 2.58).

Our dispriting loss to the Pirates yesterday may have been allayed by the Padres' loss to the Orioles, allowing us to keep our lead of 2.5 games in the NL West (with 24 games to play). But we're now two full games behind the Phillies, who took the day off yesterday in the middle of their series with the Brewers (weird!), so we're still staring at having to play in the first round of the playoffs.

It would be great if Ohtani could right the ship here. After all, we've got Paul Skenes tomorrow.

Game 134 Thread: August 27 vs Reds, 5.40p

Oh no, it's another Nick!

Shohei Ohtani (0-1, 4.60) vs. Nick Lodolo (8-6, 3.05).

29 games to go, and it's still not comfortable: a one-game lead on the Padres in the NL West, and a half-game deficit to the Phillies for the #2 slot in the playoffs (which would allow the Dodgers to skip the first round).

We're throwing the leading candidate for NL MVP, Shohei Ohtani, out there this evening. But his last outing, in Colorado on August 20, was clearly Ohtani's worst start of the year: 4.0 IP, 9 H and 5 ER, with only 3 Ks. There's no hiding tonight, Shohei (not even behind a tube of Advanced Repair Facial Moisturizer!).

Game 127 Thread: Aug 20 @ Rockies, 5.40p

Ohtani vs. Gordon.

Continuing with the Two-Face theme, the Dodgers have split the first two games of this series so far, with one really bad loss folowed by one really good romp. I have no idea which team will show up tonight in Denver. Hopefully at least Teoscar Hernandez will have some wheels.

Game 121 Thread: Aug 13 @ Angels, 6.30p

Ohtani vs. Hendricks.

This is the sixth and final game against the Angels, and the Dodgers haven't won one yet. As a result of this and other incompetencies, they are now tied for first place in the NL West thanks to the surging Padres (7-3 in their last 10). And we look hopeless against these very inspired and angry Angels. Hendricks for the sweep.

Game 115 Thread: Aug 6 vs. Cardinals, 1p

Ohtani vs. Donovan.

Ha, you thought I had forgotten this Game Thread, right? No worries, I'll be watching this game.

Nice to see Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez opening up their individual cans of whoop-ass last night. Let's go!

Game 101 Thread: July 21 vs. Twins

Ohtani vs. Festa.

The Dodgers are now 2-10 on their last twelve games, having been swept for a second time by the Milwaukee Brewers following Sunday's loss. Oh, and Freddie Freeman got hit on the wrist and will likely need amputation, the way this season is going.

Surely, we can beat a pair of twins, right? (But man, they are cute.)

Game 96 Thread: July 12 @ Giants, 1p

Shohei Ohtani vs. Landen Roupp.

That's seven in a row. Talk about going into the All-Star Break ice cold.

Game 90 Thread: July 5 vs. Cheaters, 4p

Shohei Ohtani vs. Framber Valdez.

More cheaters cheating this afternoon. I hate the Astros.

SoSG Orel and I will be at the game today!

Game 84 Thread: June 28 @ Royals, 1p

Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 4.50) vs. Seth Lugo (4-5, 2.93).

I'm sorry I've been out of pocket this week. Let's get Ohtani north of one inning pitched today!

2025 Dodgers WAR (Through June 23, 2025)

I just peeked at this and found it pretty surprising:

• Shohei Ohtani 3.6
• Will Smith 3.3
• Andy Pages 3.0
• Mookie Betts 2.7
• Max Muncy 2.3
• Freddie Freeman 1.9
• Teoscar Hernandez 1.6
• Tommy Edman 1.5
• Michael Conforto -1.1

For substitutes, Hyeseong Kim leads with a 1.1 WAR. Kiké Hernandez has a 0.6 (better than I expected!), and Miguel Rojas and Dalton Rushing each have 0.3.

Austin Barnes was -0.3 and Chris Taylor was -0.6.

From a pitching perspective, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a 1.9 WAR, and Clayton Kershwaw has a 0.4 WAR. Roki Sasaki is 0.1, as is Tyler Glasnow. Blake Snell has a -0.2 WAR, worse than even Dustin May (-0.1) and Tony Gonsolin (-0.1). Landon Knack has a -0.3 WAR.

Within the relief corps: Ben Casparius has a 0.7 WAR, Alex Vesia is at 0.5, Jack Dreyer is at 0.4, and Anthony Banda is at 0.3. New pickups Tanner Scott is at 0.1 and Kirby Yates is at 0.0.

Game 79 Thread: June 22 vs. Nationals, 1p

Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 9.00) vs. Michael Soroka (3-5, 5.06)

It's the end of a ten-game homestand, the Dodgers going a very respectable 6-3 over their first nine games. Last night's loss to a sub-.500 team was a bummer. But this afternoon, we've got Shohei Ohtani on the mound for the second time this season (and the second time in his Dodgers career).

Game 74 Thread: June 17 vs. Padres, 7p

TBD vs. Randy Vasquez (3-4, 3.57).

Dylan Cease was mowing us down in the first two innings: five straight swinging Ks, followed by a Max Muncy weak tapper to the mound. But then the fourth inning came around, and seven of eight consecutive Dodgers reached base, and suddenly the Dodgers were up 6-2 on the Padres. Cease ended up lasting only five innings, and although the Dodgers used seven pitchers to secure the victory (the day before another spot-start and/or bullpen game), it seemed like a pretty big win in the opener of this four-game series.

Oh yeah, and that Ohtani guy pitched as well. He gave up a run and lasted only one inning, so his ERA is 9.00.

I hope that guy makes it in the bigs.

Anyway, today is game #2 and who knows what we'll see on the mound, so I hope the Dodgers are ready to (yet again) bat their way out of trouble.

Game 73 Thread: June 16 vs. Padres, 7p

SHOHEI OHTANI vs. some other guy.

Shohei Ohtani makes his Dodgers pitching debut tonight at the Stadium.

What more needs to be said?

Game 55 Thread: May 27 @ Guardians, 3p

Today's opposing starting pitcher (with a huge assumption on the gender preferences of the insect).

Dustin May (2-4, 4.09) vs. Tanner Bibee (4-4, 3.57).

Last night, out of the spotlight of nationally-broadcast television, felt like the type of road game the Dodgers should be playing: solid pitching that goes relatively deep with efficiency (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB and 7 Ks across 88 pitches); power hitting (Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith solo HRs) as well as timely hitting (4-for-8 with RISP, including a nice two-out rally in the sixth with Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman RBI singles); and only one error (this time, not from Max Muncy!).

The Guardians are solid: behind the Tigers in the AL Central, but in the first wild card position in the American League. Tanner Bibee has also been solid for the Guardians, while Dustin May has shown flashes of brilliance in 2025 but a lack of consistency between starts. Let's see how today plays out.

Post-Game 39 Thread: Ohtani Bat Flips with Three-Run HR in Ninth

DODGERS 14, DIAMONDBACKS 11

I mean, look at that bat flip. That's all I have to say about that amazing comeback victory.

Oh, and maybe the fact that Michael Conforto wasn't in yesterday's starting lineup (he did score a run in the ninth, reaching through a HBP. But he lined out PH for Chris Taylor in the eighth as well, dropping his BA to .134). Hmmmmmmmmm....

Here's another great view, from the field perspective:

Post-Game 8 Thread: Ohtani Walks It Off On First 2025 Bobblehead Night

SoSG AC got there early for the bobblehead, and stayed late for the walk-off HR.

DODGERS 6, BRAVES 5

Jack Harris of the LAT had a great recap of last night's game at the Stadium, where a Shohei Ohtani walk-off HR in the ninth allowed the Dodgers to win the game 6-5, open up the year with an unprecedented 8-0 record, and sweep the Braves (who are now 0-7 on the year, notable because no team has ever started 0-7 and made the playoffs).

But what was funny was, as bad as the Dodgers were playing early, those of us who had been watching this year knew what was coming. Sure, Max Muncy made two throwing errors and three feeble at bats to start the game (Muncy did hit a two-run double in the eighth to tie the game at 5, but before we all get excited, let's remember that Muncy's hit lifted his pathetic 2025 average to .120 and his his OPS to .414 (which translates to an OPS+ of 21, 79% worse than the major league average)).

Andy Pages' dropped ball in center was also coupled with a feeble batting line (0-for-3 wwith 2 Ks, sitting on a .120 BA). And big contract Blake Snell, who only lasted five innings last start, was even worse this outing, with a 4.0 IP, 2 K night that does not portend well for the remaining 4.9 years of this contract.

But when the Dodgers are down 5-0, great things seem to happen. Tommy Edman and Michael Conforto homered for the first three runs of the comeback; Muncy got two runs across the plate in his last AB; and then Shohei hits the first pitch for a game-winning HR in the bottom of the ninth. Aaron Judge didn't even need to drop a ball in this contest; the Dodgers were capable of winning this game anyway.

Said Dave Roberts in the aforementioned LAT piece, "We had no business winning that game. But to our guys’ credit, we just kept fighting.” In eight games, we've had six comeback victories. Imagine how this team might be if we actually put all the pieces together and / or had a complete lineup (our outfield bats are still questionable outside Teoscar Hernandez, and Freddie Freeman was out of the lineup for the third straight game).

Off to our road trip!

Post-Game 3 Thread: Dodgers Win Home Opener, 5-4

DODGERS 5, TIGERS 4

For all the talk about the Dodgers' formidable, stacked, dominating lineup: today's Opening Day win was a squeaker that showed a lot of vulnerabilities in the armor.

Blake Snell only lasted five innings and earned the win despite leaving the mound with a 2-1 lead through five frames (Teoscar Hernandez' three-run HR in the bottom of the fifth rescued Snell from the loss column, putting the Dodgers ahead 4-2). Snell struggled his third time through the order--which we've obviously seen before--and needed 92 pitches to get through his five innings (Tigers starter Tarik Skubal needed only 80, and both starters ended up with 2 Ks each).

The Dodgers' bullpen was also kind of shaky, with Ben Casparius working out of a jam in the sixth; Alex Vesia and Tanner Scott each yielding a run in their innings of work; and closer Blake Treinen needing 23 pitches to sneak his way out of the ninth inning by getting Colt Keith to foul out to Freddie Freeman for the final out.

Hernandez' shot was the big bopper, bookended by Tommy Edman's second-inning solo shot and Shohei Ohtani's homer in the seventh. But Freddie Freeman was 0-for-4 and Max Muncy was 0-for-3 with 2 Ks (he is batting .100 on the year). And even with the three homers, we just eked out the one-run victory over the Tigers, who aren't a bad team, but aren't stacked like the Dodgers.

But a win is a win, I guess. Credit to my uncle for taking this photo and for staying the whole game, obviously. He'll probably be in Dodger Stadium traffic through midnight.

Post-Game 2 Thread: Dodgers Sweep Cubs in Tokyo Dome

DODGERS 六, CUBS 三

Though they scheduled these contests way too early for me to watch either of the Tokyo Series games, the Dodgers still prevailed with a series sweep over the Cubs, following a 6-3 victory in the second game that featured a Shohei Ohtani home run, which followed taters from Tommy Edman (first MLB HR in 2025!) and Kiké Hernandez. All three of those Dodgers now lead the majors in HR.

Other crazy stats from the disparate number of games played (which reminds me of when Adrian Gonzalez led the majors in stolen bases, following the 2014 Opening Series in Sydney, Australia): Kiké Hernandez leads RBIs (3); Landon Knack co-leads Wins (1), along with Yoshinobu Yamamoto; and Will Smith is tied for the batting title at .500 (along with Chicago's John Berti).

More importantly, the Dodgers--sans both Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in this series--still opened up a dominant two-game lead in the NL West with only 160 games to play. Let's get the team back together here in Los Angeles, and hopefully get Betts and Freeman back to health.

ESPN's Doolittle Ranks Dodgers' Starting Rotation Fourth In Majors

ESPN's Bradford Doolittle had the Dodgers currently sitting at #4 among MLB teams, with still a lot of time left in the offseason for some additional pickups (namely, Roki Sasaki). The Dodgers' ranking is behind the Mariners, Phillies, and Braves. But note that Clayton Kershaw is not mentioned at all:

Los Angeles Dodgers:

Rotation index: 110.5
Ranks -- Stars: 3 | Depth: 13 | Length: 11 | Dominance: 2

Top 6: 1. Blake Snell (Rating: 121), 2. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (115), 3. Tyler Glasnow (124), 4. Shohei Ohtani (119), 5. Tony Gonsolin (96), 6. Dustin May (103)

We went with Gonsolin and May at the bottom of the Dodgers' six-man rotation, though others -- Landon Knack, Ben Casparius, Bobby Miller -- could figure into the mix.

This is probably also a good place to highlight the possible impact of Sasaki, who could propel the Dodgers near the top of these rankings, or boost the fortunes of one of the teams below. The possibility is why the term "an embarrassment of riches" was invented.

Ohtani Wins Third Career MVP Award In Unanimous Fashion

It may have been inevitable, but it was still great to see Dodger Shohei Ohtani win the 2024 National League MVP Award in unanimous fashion (30 first place votes). From MLB.com:

Ohtani is the Dodgers’ 13th MVP and first since Cody Bellinger in 2019. He’s the sixth player to win an MVP with multiple franchises, joining Harper, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, [Frank] Robinson and Jimmie Foxx, and just the second to win one in both leagues (Robinson). He’s also the first player since Miguel Cabrera (2012-13) to win an MVP in back-to-back years. Ohtani had already been the first player to win multiple unanimous MVPs (in 2021 and 2023 with the Angels). Now, he’s done it again.

Wrote Jack Harris of the LAT:

While no designated hitter had won an MVP, the award was not a surprise. In his first season with the Dodgers, Ohtani led the NL in home runs (54), RBIs (130) and on-base-plus-slugging percentage (1.036). He was second in batting average (.310). And with 59 steals, he became the first player in history with a 50-homer, 50-steal season.

It is the Dodgers' 15th MVP award and first since Cody Bellinger in 2019. The Dodgers rank third in MVP award recipients, behind the Yankees (24) and Cardinals (21).

Congratulations, Shohei Ohtani!

photo: Associated Press and Getty Images; photo illustration by Tim Hubbard / Los Angeles Times