It is not one thing, but a confluence of events that seems to be impacting the Dodgers’ 2025 season.
This was the 2nd consecutive year that the Dodgers left in the middle of Spring Training to open the MLB season in Korea and then Japan. Sure it is the trip of a lifetime for the players and their families, and ownership made of piles of $$$, but could the ST interruption negatively impact their 2025 development?
One year could be okay, but two consecutive years? In and by itself, it was not a big deal. After all, the team broke out 8-0. But then the injuries started to pile up. Treinen, Phillips, Glasnow, Snell, Kopech, Sasaki, Gonsolin…Mookie came down with an stomach virus, as did Kiké. Mookie lost 20+ pounds. He did not have 20 pounds to lose. He did recover and was playing well when he broke his toe. He did not recover quickly from the broken toe and tanked for 2+ months into his worst slump by far as a baseball player. Did the recovery from the loss of the 20 pounds impact his recovery and conditioning for the toe?
Then we learned that Mookie’s stepfather was suffering an illness that just recently took his life. How much did this weigh on Mookie? Mookie has been in a funk all season, and the Dodgers need Mookie to be Mookie.
The Dodgers were already coming off a WS championship run, that would necessarily cut into the recovery mode of the offseason. Then with the early and shortened ST, there were bound to be some injuries, lingering and new, correct?
Did Glasnow have sufficient time to change his mechanics before departing to Japan? It did not take long for Tyler to come down with a shoulder inflammation. Could the rushed ST have impacted Tyler’s 2025 training and development? His mechanics changed so as to try and minimize potential injuries. Did he not have time to work them all out?
The shortened ST sure appears to perhaps have had an impact with Blake Snell. He has since stated that he was not ready to start the season but did not want to disappoint his teammates, and he too came down with a shoulder injury.
Tony Gonsolin came down with a back ailment, and is now out with right elbow discomfort.
Evan Phillips first hurt his rotator cuff, came back and suffered a UCL tear and had TJ surgery. Maybe there was not enough rest from the extended innings in 2024 and the early start to 2025 and shortened ST to fully recuperate, as he was injured and not on the WS roster.
Michael Kopech also perhaps did not recover sufficiently from 2024 forcing him to start on the IL. His latest injury had nothing to do with any other circumstance.
Roki Sasaki was losing velo last season in Japan. Maybe he should not have tried to push it early in his MLB career, and build up his arm to get ready for the back end of the season. He is supposedly pain free now and is heading out for a rehab assignment in OKC of Thursday.
The Dodgers were the best team in MLB when Max Muncy suffered a significant knee bruise and went on the IL. Max was carrying the team in June. The Dodgers were 10-15 during the 25 games that Max was out. The team is 3-4 since he returned, so it appears that the Dodgers have still not recovered fully from his absence.
One of the players who might have filled in for Max was Kiké Hernández, but Kiké has been out since July 7 with elbow soreness. The reports of his potential return are all over the place. One day Doc is reporting that Kiké may be down for the year. A couple of days later, Kiké is taking ground balls at 3B and now could be back in a few weeks. Who knows right now.
Next man up was Tommy Edman. Edman has been hurt all year, but he tweaked his bad ankle again and was placed on the IL August 4, the same day Max came back. Tommy has not been Tommy since injuring his ankle at the end of April. At the time of his injury, his OPS was .818. Since he returned May 18, his batting line has been .214/.273/.323/.596.
To begin the season, Teoscar Hernández was batting .315/.333/.600/.933 with 10 doubles, 9 HR, 34 RBI, and only 25 K (18.3%) in 136 PA. He was well on his way to another All Star season when he suffered a groin injury. He returned to the lineup 13 days later, and has not been the same since. Since his return, Teo is hitting .220/.265/.390/.655, 13 doubles, 9 HR, 35 RBI, and 73 K (28.9) in 253 PA.
Freddie Freeman started the year as if he was on his way to his 2nd NL MVP. On May 31, Freddie was batting .374/.440/.638/1.078. Then June hit Freddie right between the eyes. No reported reason or explanation. But from June1 to July 28, Freddie batted .212/.288/.285/.573. He had 1 HR in that span, on the last game in June. He did not get his next HR until his last game in July. From July 29 thru August 11, Freddie is back at his MVP pace, batting .395/.462/.721/1.182.
Shohei was having another MVP type season through May. He won May MLB Player of the Month, and was batting .298/.395/.667/1.062. Through June and July, Shohei was batting .236/.348/.533/.881. July was a particularly bad month for Shohei.
What happened to make things go sideways? Could it have been that was the time when Shohei was starting to ramp up to be a starting pitcher. His first start was June 16. Shohei probably would have been ramped up in his off season training if not for the shoulder subluxation suffered in the World Series.
Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates (twice) were supposed to be the late game high leverage relievers/closers. Neither has lived up to their expectations. Why? Is it just the season of unanswered questions?
Michael Conforto has been a disappointment from very early on. No injury, just bad baseball. Why?
Dalton Rushing, Hyeseong Kim, Alex Freeland have each had their moments, but none of them have shown they can sustain their positive play. They all look to be MLB players with some upside. But it is doubtful that Rushing will achieve that level as a backup catcher, and probably should be traded in the offseason for him to be able to achieve that success. Holding on to him for next year will necessarily diminish his future trade value.
Kim is an exceptional defensive 2B. Can he hit consistently enough for the everyday job? He should be back soon. Freeland has shown he too can be a plus defensive infielder. Will he hit enough? None of the three players are capable of contributing to the success of the team over a lengthy part of the 2025 season.
Injuries are certainly a reason for the poor play of the Dodgers in 2025. But perhaps another factor could be where the Dodgers draft every year. At some point the age of the MLB regulars and lack of elite MLB ready talent in the affiliates have to have had an effect, right?
The last time the Dodgers had a draft pick in the teens was 2013, RHP Chris Anderson was selected 18th overall. This was one year after the Dodgers selected SS Corey Seager, also with the 18th overall pick.
Clayton Kershaw was the last single digit overall selection. He was #7 in 2006. From 2007-2011, there were two other overall selections in the teens:
- 2008 – RHP Ethan Martin
- 2011 – LHP Chris Reed
The Dodgers have had two 1st draft picks at #40 in the last 4 drafts: C Dalton Rushing #40 (2022) and LHP Zach Root (2025).
The highest draft pick LAD has had in the AF era was 2016 when the Dodgers selected #20 overall for HS SS Gavin Lux.
Of course there have been multiple All Star selections taken subsequent to the first round, but the odds of selecting an elite perennial All Star player increases the lower in the draft order a team goes. It is not just the first round, but all of the subsequent rounds where the Dodgers select near the end of each round. Plus the Dodgers have lost a number of 2nd and 5th round picks for selecting free agents with a QO.
With all of that, we have now learned that Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo are subject to a multi Hundred Million $$$ lawsuit, for allegedly sabotaging a $240 million Hawaii real estate project. Per the suit, Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, demanded concessions from developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto before eventually dropping out of the project altogether.
Per the AP:
“Balelo and (Ohtani), who were brought into the venture solely for (Ohtani’s) promotional and branding value, exploited their celebrity leverage to destabilize and ultimately dismantle Plaintiffs’ role in the project — for no reason other than their own financial self-interest,” the lawsuit claims. It’s also claimed that Ohtani and Balelo used their influence to tank a neighboring project, costing the company millions in the process.
The project – a hotel and resort – championed Ohtani as the first resident of the hotel at Mauna Kea Resort.
“Ohtani will act as the celebrity spokesperson for the project and has committed to purchasing one of the 14 residences within the project,” the brochure says. “He also intends to spend significant time at The Vista in the off-season and will construct a small hitting and pitching facility for preseason training.”
Will this affect Ohtani for the remainder of the season? The Dodgers need Shohei to be Shohei.
One of my favorite movies was The Perfect Storm.
Could all of the circumstances together create a season where enough things can and do go bad enough to derail the season? Do not know yet. There is still nearly 7 weeks before the end of the season, and things can turn around. Ohtani, Mookie, Freddie, and Max have all shown positive signs of turning the page.
Then we saw a Yoshinobu Yamamoto hiccup in Monday night’s game. Is there something there? I would not be surprised with how this season has been unfolding.
But I still choose to think positively (even with some trepidation). I still believe that Scott will come back and be his 2023-2024 version.
I think Treinen’s command will come back. I have no clue about Yates, but he was so good last year, you have to hope that his time on the IL will help. I am also very curious as to what may have been uncovered with Bobby Miller who has been exceptional since moving to the pen. I hope he gets a chance to show what he can do at the MLB level, even if it is as a showcase for 2026.
And while this team looks to be snake bit for 2025, and there are a lot of “IFS”, the team is still in position for a playoff berth. Get there and then let the talent take over in short series. Maybe October is the anti-venom for the LAD snake bites.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
OKC Comets 8 – Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado) 6
The Oklahoma City Comets overcame an early five-run deficit and broke a tie in the seventh inning on the way to an 8-6 win against the Albuquerque Isotopes Tuesday night. Albuquerque raced out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning. With Great Lakes RHP Christian Romero starting for OKC, Michael Toglia hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Ryan Ritter knocked a two-run single in the second inning for a 5-0 advantage.
Oklahoma City responded quickly with five runs in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Noah Miller, RBI single by Chuckie Robinson and three-run homer by Esteury Ruiz.
The Comets then went in front, 6-5, on a solo home run by Luken Baker (1) in the third inning.
The Isotopes tied the score, 6-6, in the sixth inning before the Comets regained the lead for good in the seventh inning on Noah Miller’s second sacrifice fly of the night. Jose Ramos added an insurance run for the Comets in the eighth inning, hitting a RBI single.
Esteury Ruiz hit his 10th home run of the season with the Comets and finished with a team-high three RBI. He went 1-for-3 with two walks and scored two runs. Since being optioned to OKC last week, Ruiz has hit safely in three of four games, going 4-for-14 with two home runs, a double, four RBI, seven walks and seven runs scored.
In his second game with the Comets, Luken Baker went 2-for-4 with a home run (1). He has hit safely in each of his first two games with the Comets since being claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Dodgers from the St. Louis Cardinals Aug. 4.
Austin Gauthier went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored a run. Over his last seven games, Gauthier is 8-for-20 (.400) with 12 walks.
Chuckie Robinson hit a RBI single and walked and is now 22-for-56 (.393) with 15 RBI and 12 runs over his last 15 games.
Comets pitchers limited Albuquerque to one run over the game’s final seven innings with Paul Gervase and Julian Fernández combining to hold Albuquerque scoreless over the final three innings. Gervase was credited with his second win with OKC, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and Fernández retired all three batters he faced in the ninth inning, including a strikeout, for his fourth save.
Tulsa Drillers 8 – San Antonio Missions (San Diego) 5
Tulsa took its initial 4-0 lead by scoring four times in the bottom of the third inning. John Rhodes started the rally with a leadoff base hit, and Zach Ehrhard drew a one-out walk. James Tibbs III and Kyle Nevin followed with consecutive run-scoring singles before Chris Newell capped the inning with a two-run double.
The Missions answered with a pair of two-run innings to erase the lead. Tulsa starting pitcher Luke Fox opened the game with three scoreless innings before running into problems in the top of the fourth. A walk and two singles loaded the bases with just one out. Another single from Jacob Campbell plated San Antonio’s first run, and an infield force out brought home the second.
Jeisson Cabrera took over for Fox to open the fifth inning and surrendered a leadoff double. Francisco Acuna singled a run, before scoring himself on a game-tying single.
The Drillers broke the 4-4 tie with a two-run inning of their own in the bottom of the sixth. With one out a pair of walks and a single loaded the bases. John Rhodes singled home the first run, and Ehrhard picked up the second RBI when he drew a bases-loaded walk, giving Tulsa 6-4 cushion.
Jerming Rosario issued a walk and hit a batter to put the tying runs on base. Christian Suarez came on for Rosario and got a potential double-play grounder from Damon Dues, but first baseman Rhodes’ throw to second base sailed into left field. One run scored on the error.
With the Drillers lead down to just one run and runners at the corners, Suarez foiled the Missions suicide squeeze attempt when he fielded Vilar’s bunt and scooped a glove throw to the plate to easily retire Jacob Campbell. Suarez ended the inning by striking out Devin Ortiz with Tulsa still leading 6-5.
Nevin gave the Drillers some breathing run with a big two-out hit in the bottom half of the eighth. With the bases loaded and a full count, Nevin lined a fastball into centerfield for a two-run single that upped the lead to three runs.
Suarez set the Missions down in the top of the ninth inning to close out the win and collect his second save of the season.
- James Tibbs III – 2-4, 1 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Kyle Nevin – 2-5, 1 run, 3 RBI
- Nelson Quiroz – 2-4, 1 run
- John Rhodes – 2-3, 1 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI
- Chris Newell – 18th double
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Milwaukee) 4 – Great Lakes Loons 3
Wisconsin produced four runs, three driven in by Luis Pena in his home debut, to beat the Loons 4-3.
Wyatt Crowell worked his first two innings scoreless to extend a streak of innings without an earned run to 26. Luis Pena put Wisconsin on the board with a 388-foot home run to deep left field in the third inning.
Wisconsin plated three runs in the fifth. Blyburg Diaz doubled to start the inning. Two walks in the next three batters loaded the bases. Crowell balked home a run and then Luis Pena lined an 0-1 pitch to centerfield to score two and to end Crowell’s day.
Great Lakes opened the scoring in the 1st. Eduardo Quintero doubled up the right field line, and Zyhir Hope’s infield single put runners on the corners. Logan Wagner pushed a run across with a fielder’s choice. Wagner was tagged out trying to get back to third after a Cameron Decker infield single.
Kendall George gained two singles, including a go-ahead knock in the fifth. With Frank Rodriguez in scoring position with two outs, George lined the first pitch he saw into centerfield. George moved to second base after an error in centerfield. He was stranded, one of seven on the night. Wisconsin starter Travis Smith left three on base in his 5.2 innings.
Wisconsin’s Jesus Broca completed the last 3.1 innings, punching out five Great Lakes batters. Great Lakes bullpen arms combined for 3.2 scoreless innings. Myles Caba struck out two over 1.2, including a strikeout to escape the fifth. Joel Ibarra and Alex Makarewich each struck out the side; Ibarra needed just 13 pitches.
Cameron Decker’s sacrifice fly in the sixth pulled the deficit to one. Decker has four RBI in his last two games.
- Kendall George – 2-5, 1 RBI
- Eduardo Quintero – 1-3, 1 BB, 1 run, double (3)
- Jake Gelof – 1-4, double (6)
Visalia Rawhide (Arizona) 3 – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 2
The Quakes scored the initial run of the game after getting 3 walks to open the 2nd inning. A ground ball out scored the run.
Aidan Foeller was the starter for Rancho. He surrendered a pair of runs in the 5th. Visalia hit a double and a single putting runners on the corners. After a SB, the next batter hit a ground out scored one run, with the runner moving up to 3rd. That runner scored on a sac fly.
Both teams put up zeroes until the 9th. Jaron Elkins led off with a BB. With one out, Elkins stole 2nd and moved to 3rd on the catcher’s throwing error. Elkins scored the tying run when Chase Harlan reached on a fielding error.
Visalia hit three consecutive single off Shawndrick Oduber for the walk off win.
The Quakes had one hit, a single by Ching-Hsien Ko.
Finding ways to lose every single night. This time they hit into a rallye killing triple play in a close game.
And once again we had to witness the lack of a closer when this time Vesia blew the lead.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vesia has closed before and has done the job. For whatever reason he’s been bad his last 3 outings. But it’s not just him. Since at least the StL series, I can recall only one inning where the bullpen has had a 1-2-3 inning.
In an alternative universe, Mason Miller closed out this game for the save.
In this universe, he’s closing games for the Padres.
Make that twice as Henriquez had one last night.
Now surgery is planned for Gonsolin.
Again.
Did the Dodgers offend the Almighty? Their toughest foes seem to be the Angels and the Padres.
Right now, I’d say the Padres should be the favorites in the West, given their trade-deadline makeover while the Dodgers stumble with various problems.
But the Dodgers should at least make the wild card, right?
Right?
Nice post regarding the obstacles (injuries) the Dodgers have dealt with this year. A lot of information and things to consider. They definitely rode their bullpen hard last year into and through the playoffs. Does make you wonder how much that contributed to injuries to Phillips,Treinen, Graterol, Kopech.
Selfishly, their struggles are going to make for an entertaining finish to the season. Though AF and the FO won’t admit it, I do wonder if they regret not overpaying for a reliever like Jhoan Duran. Two of these last three losses have been blown saves.
I would like to see them bring Miller or Gervase up and give them a chance. Still not a believer in Alexis Diaz. As a group, this present Dodger pen does not have a lot of swing and miss. A healthy trio of Kopech, Yates, and Scott would really help.
On the bright side, Rushing had a good night with the bat and Henriquez looked good. Honestly, I would give Dean a chance in center tomorrow and give Conforto a day or two to sit. He has hit .125 for the better part of two weeks and looks helpless right now.
The wife and myself are headed to Wisconsin to watch the Loons. A shout out to Tulsa, they were really hard to follow earlier in the season. They received an infusion of talent getting players from the Loons and by the May trade. Don’t know the Driilers record since the trade but it seems they turned corner.