Dodgers Rumors

Freddie Freeman, Xander Bogaerts Leave NLDS Game 2 Due To Injuries

By Mark Polishuk | October 6, 2024 at 10:58pm CDT

The Padres hit six home runs in what turned into a rout of a 10-2 victory in Game 2 of their NLDS matchup with the Dodgers, knotting the series 1-1 as the scene shifts to San Diego for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday. Neither club emerged from Game 2 unscathed, however, as both Freddie Freeman (left ankle discomfort) and Xander Bogaerts (hamstring cramp) made early exits due to injury.

Freeman’s exit is the less surprising of the two, as the first baseman’s attempts to play through both a bone bruise and a sprain of his left ankle has become one of the series’ chief storylines. After going 2-for-5 and even stealing a base in the Dodgers’ Game 1 victory, Freeman went 0-for-2 tonight before he was replaced in the field heading into the top of the sixth. Freeman was due up to the plate again in the bottom of the sixth and L.A. was trailing only 3-1 after five innings, yet he was clearly not feeling well enough to continue playing. Post-game, manager Dave Roberts told Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times (X link) and other reporters that the team would know more about Freeman’s status after working out tomorrow during the club’s off-day.

Freeman suffered what was initially diagnosed as just an ankle sprain on September 26, in the Dodgers’ fourth-last game of the regular season. X-rays were negative, but Freeman revealed to reporters that the combination of the sprain and the bone bruise would normally sideline him for 4-to-6 weeks if this was the regular season. However, on just eight full days of rest, Freeman returned to the field in Game 1, though it wasn’t clear until just a few hours before game time if the first baseman would indeed be ready to go.

Bogaerts seemingly suffered his injury while hitting a foul ball during his plate appearance in the eighth inning, yet the shortstop seemingly looked no worse for wear in hitting a solo homer. The Padres ended the frame with a 7-1 lead, which perhaps gave the club a little more flexibility to replace Bogaerts in the field with Tyler Wade in the top of the eighth.

Monday is an off-day in the series, so Freeman and Bogaerts will get some built-in time to recuperate before play resumes. While Bogaerts’ cramp doesn’t seem overly serious, Wade is the natural replacement at shortstop if Bogaerts isn’t ready for Tuesday’s Game 3. If Bogaerts can hit but not field, the Padres can use Wade at shortstop, Luis Arraez at first base, and Bogaerts could conceivably act as the designated hitter.

Shohei Ohtani’s presence in the DH spot gives the Dodgers no such flexibility with Freeman, as he’d have to play first base if he is to be part of the team’s starting lineup. If he can’t start, Freeman would therefore seemingly be limited to pinch-hit duty, which then necessitates a larger shuffle of the Dodgers’ lineup. Obviously losing Freeman under any circumstance is bad news for Los Angeles, but losing a key left-handed bat will hamper the Dodgers against Game 3 starter Michael King (a right-hander), and L.A. is lacking in left-handed bench depth.

As a reminder, teams can make injury replacements to a series roster, but at a significant longer-term cost. Replaced players would not only be out for the rest of the NLDS, but they also wouldn’t be able to participate in the NLCS if their team was to advance to the next round. This rule is surely weighing on the Dodgers in particular as they figure out Freeman’s status, though it would seem as if Freeman would have to have seriously re-aggravated his injury for L.A. to remove him from the roster altogether.

NL Notes: Adames, Braves, Giants, Francona, Yamamoto

By Mark Polishuk | October 6, 2024 at 6:33pm CDT

Willy Adames has long been mentioned in trade rumors, with the Dodgers one club known to have had past interest in the star shortstop. It is fair to guess that any number of teams at least checked in with the Brewers about Adames’ availability, and the New York Post’s Jon Heyman (via X) writes that the Braves and Giants also had Adames as a “target” in the past. As Adames is now set to become a free agent this winter, any of these teams could well be suitors again on the open market, though naturally a free agent pursuit and a trade pursuit can be very different endeavors.

Atlanta shortstop Orlando Arcia had a dismal year at the plate after posting solid numbers in 2022-23. Arcia is still under contract for 2025 but only for $2MM (and a $1MM buyout of a $2MM club option for 2026), so the Braves could sign Adames and still keep Arcia around as veteran infield depth. With Adames likely to command a contract in the $150MM range, signing the shortstop would represent something of a departure for Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos, whose free agent signings have been fairly limited during his seven seasons running Atlanta’s front office. Still, a more aggressive foray into free agency might be seen as necessary after three straight playoff disappointments, and Anthopoulos certainly hasn’t been shy about spending in general, as evidenced by the Braves’ heavy slate of contract extensions.

Tyler Fitzgerald hit well in his rookie season but was a subpar defender as the Giants’ primary shortstop in 2024. That said, Fitzgerald has played at six different positions during his two years in the big leagues, so it is easy to see San Francisco shift him to another spot on the diamond to accommodate Adames. The Giants have long been eager to bring top-tier free agents to the roster, and with Matt Chapman already signed to a new contract, adding Adames would give the team arguably the league’s best left side of the infield. Landing Adames (or another big name) would be an easy way for Buster Posey to make a splash in his first offseason as the Giants’ new president of baseball ops.

More from around the National League….

The Reds’ hiring of Terry Francona came together quickly, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that president of baseball operations Nick Krall first touched base with Francona via a phone conversation on September 26. Krall had gotten permission from the Guardians to speak with Francona (who was still with the team in a special assistant role), as Francona was atop the Reds’ list of nearly 100 possible managerial candidates but “with an asterisk,” depending on the longtime skipper’s health and whether he wanted to return after a year away from the sport. Krall and GM Brad Meador met with Francona in Tucson on October 2, and were impressed enough to call owner Bob Castellini to fly to Tucson the next day to finalize the contract. In other details on the managerial search, interim manager Freddie Benavides had put himself on the Reds’ short list with an excellent set of interviews, and Rangers associate manager Will Venable was also on the list of top targets. It appears as though Benavides might’ve been the only other candidate to actually interview, as Francona’s emergence precluded the Reds’ need to speak with Venable, or other rumored candidates as David Ross or Skip Schumaker.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was rocked for five runs over three innings in Game 1 of the NLDS last night, though the Dodgers came back for a 7-5 win over the Padres. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that the Dodgers were exploring the possibility that Yamamoto was tipping his pitches when runners were on base, and Ardaya notes that Yamamoto had a similar pitch-tipping issue during Spring Training. Or, the problem might just be that the Padres have Yamamoto’s number, as they tagged him for eight runs over six innings in two starts during the regular season. Either scenario is naturally a concern for L.A. in the rest of the series, and Roberts only said Yamamoto was “in play” to pitch during a potential Game 5, if not necessarily as a starter.

NL Postseason Notes: McNeil, Marte, Edman, Freeman

By Leo Morgenstern | October 6, 2024 at 9:06am CDT

The Mets could potentially get a big boost to their lineup if they advance to the NLCS. Manager Carlos Mendoza revealed to reporters (including Tim Britton of The Athletic) that Jeff McNeil will join the team’s taxi squad today, two days after welcoming his second child. The second baseman/corner outfielder has not played since September 6, when he fractured his right wrist as he pulled back a bunt attempt on a high-and-inside curveball from Reds’ left-hander Brandon Williamson. It’s possible McNeil will be ramped up and ready to play in time for the NLCS, should the Mets win two more games against the Phillies in the NLDS. However, Mendoza made it clear that it’s too soon to offer a definitive timeline for McNeil’s return.

McNeil, 32, got off to a dismal start over the first three months of the 2024 campaign. Then, he turned a corner in July, hitting eight home runs and 15 doubles with an .859 OPS and 140 wRC+ over his final 55 games. The veteran looked much more like the version of himself that won a Silver Slugger and a batting title in 2022. Even if he can’t get back to quite that level of performance, his lefty bat should be a valuable addition to a righty-heavy Mets lineup; he could take over from Jose Iglesias at second base or Starling Marte in right field with a right-handed starting pitcher on the mound.

Speaking of Marte, the 35-year-old outfielder took a Zack Wheeler fastball off his left forearm yesterday. As Britton pointed out, the pitch hit Marte in almost the exact same spot where Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman plunked him with a sinker three weeks earlier. Marte remained in the game yesterday, running the bases and taking a couple more at-bats, but he was removed in the bottom of the eighth amid a flurry of late-game defensive switches and substitutions. There’s no reason to believe he’s nursing anything more than a minor contusion, but it’s possible he could use a day to rest. After Hoffman beaned him in September, Marte took the next game off. He started the game after that on the bench before entering as a pinch hitter.

More notes from the NL postseason teams…

Tommy Edman started in center field for the Dodgers last night, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. His most interesting at-bat, however, was the double play he grounded into with runners on the corners in the bottom of the fifth. Facing the right-handed Jeremiah Estrada, the switch-hitting Edman chose to hit from the right side (h/t to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). It was the first time all season Edman attempted to bat right-handed against a right-handed pitcher. To that point, he batted as a lefty against the other two right-handers he faced last night: Dylan Cease and Bryan Hoeing. It was an unconventional, but not entirely unreasonable, choice for Edman, who hit .181 with a .523 OPS and 51 wRC+ in 117 plate appearances as a lefty batter this season. Conversely, he went 14-for-34 (.412) with four home runs, a 1.299 OPS, and a 250 wRC+ in a tiny sample size of plate appearances as a righty. Indeed, Edman has hit better as a righty in every season of his career. However, when he tried batting right-handed against right-handed pitchers on occasion last season, the results were poor. He produced a .665 OPS and 77 wRC+ in 61 trips to the plate. Even worse, he went 0-for-4 batting righty against righties over two games in 2021. It will be worth watching to see if Edman continues this experiment against Estrada or any of the Padres’ other right-handers.
Nursing a sprained right ankle, Freddie Freeman’s status was questionable heading into the NLDS. Yet, the Dodgers first baseman played all nine innings of Game 1, going 2-for-5 at the dish. He also stole a base. Later on, Freeman revealed to reporters (including Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic) that he is also dealing with a bone bruise in his ankle. He says the bruise started to bother home around the fourth inning last night. Nevertheless, the famously durable superstar believes he can do it all again today – with the help of the Dodgers training staff. After the game, manager Dave Roberts joked that Freeman was “certainly medicated” (per Rosenthal), while Freeman expressed his gratitude to the training staff for getting him game-ready despite his significant injuries.

Clayton Kershaw Won’t Return In 2024

By Nick Deeds | October 5, 2024 at 10:58pm CDT

5:15pm: Kershaw spoke to reporters (including Ardaya) this afternoon about the injury and revealed that his attempts to return from the injury have worsened his toe’s condition. Kershaw added that offseason surgery to address the bone spurs is “in the conversation” but indicated that no decision has been made to this point on the topic. When addressing his future Kershaw indicated that he still enjoys pitching but did not want to discuss his plans in detail until after the season has come to a close.

3:33pm: The Dodgers are scheduled to begin Game 1 of the NLDS against the Padres later this evening, and among the pitchers notably absent from their roster for the series is veteran southpaw Clayton Kershaw. That’s not a surprise given that he was previously said to be targeting a return sometime in mid-October, but today manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) that the Dodgers will actually be without Kershaw for the entire postseason. Plunkett adds that, according to Roberts, the bone spurs in Kershaw’s big toe have not improved since he went on the IL back in August, adding that things may actually have worsened since then.

The news officially brings to an end an injury-plagues season for Kershaw, who leaves the 2024 campaign behind with a 4.50 ERA (87 ERA+) and 3.87 FIP in 30 innings of work across seven starts while striking out just 18% of opponents. That’s by far the lowest strikeout rate of his career and the first time his ERA+ has been below average since his rookie campaign back in 2008, when his 98 ERA+ came in just a hair below average. While low walk and home run rates help to salvage some of Kershaw’s peripheral numbers, 2024 will nonetheless go down as the worst season of the veteran’s career to this point, though given the small sample its difficult to draw conclusion about his ability when healthy enough to take the mound.

Kershaw holds a $10MM player option for the 2025 season, though after occasionally contemplating retirement over the past few offseasons it’s not yet clear whether or not he’ll exercise that option or wait to decide on his future until later in the winter. Should he decide to continue his career into 2025, the future Hall of Famer will surely be welcomed back by the only team he’s ever known during an offseason where the club is sure to pursue rotation additions with only Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Gavin Stone locked into the 2025 starting rotation alongside Shohei Ohtani, whose return to the mound will likely necessitate moving to a six-man staff.

In the meantime, however, the Dodgers will need to piece together production from a rotation that offers little certainty outside of Yamamoto and deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty throughout the postseason. A struggling Walker Buehler (5.38 ERA in 16 starts) and rookie Landon Knack (3.65 ERA in 69 frames this year) stand as the club’s most likely starting options to fill out the rotation behind Yamamoto and Flaherty, who are set to start Games 1 and 2 respectively.

Aside from Kershaw, right-hander Joe Kelly was also left off the club’s NLDS roster. It was a difficult year for Kelly, who allowed a 4.78 ERA across 35 relief appearances while battling injuries. That includes a shoulder issue that bothered him throughout the final weeks of the season, and Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) that the veteran right-hander won’t be available until at least the World Series after tweaking his shoulder during a simulated game this week. Without Kelly in the fold, the Dodgers figure to rookie Edgardo Henriquez to fill out their bullpen for the NLDS.

Division Series Roster Notes: Padres, Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, Tigers

By Mark Polishuk | October 5, 2024 at 1:24pm CDT

We’ve already covered some notable roster additions for the Guardians and Mets as the Division Series begins, and the Royals are sticking with the same 26 players used in the Wild Card Series against the Orioles. Now that all eight teams in the LDS rounds have revealed their rosters, here are the details…

The Padres made two changes from their NLDS roster, adding left-hander Martin Perez and right-hander Alek Jacob and removing Joe Musgrove and infielder Nick Ahmed. Musgrove was obviously out due to his impending Tommy John surgery, while replacing Ahmed with a pitcher gives San Diego 13 pitchers to go with 13 position players. Perez is one of five southpaws on San Diego’s roster, as ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez (X link) was among those who noted that the Padres are guarding themselves as best they can against Shohei Ohtani and other powerful left-handed Dodgers bats.
The Dodgers will go with an even mix of 13 batters and 13 pitchers, and rookie Edgardo Henriquez has made the list of available arms. Henriquez only made his MLB debut on September 24 and he has played in just three games as a big leaguer, but Los Angeles will give the hard-throwing righty a look in October to add some velocity to the bullpen. It’s probably safe to assume that Henriquez wouldn’t have made the cut if the Dodgers weren’t ravaged by pitching injuries, yet the rookie also got the nod over veteran Joe Kelly, who had an inconsistent year but was pitching well after returning from the IL in mid-September. On the position player side, L.A. didn’t include either Kevin Kiermaier or James Outman, so Andy Pages will be the only true backup outfielder along with utilitymen Enrique Hernandez and Chris Taylor in the bench mix.
The Phillies will use 14 position players and 12 pitchers in their NLDS matchup with the Mets, with left-hander Kolby Allard joining the relief corps. Allard has worked as something of a swingman throughout his career, and this ability of covering multiple innings earned Allard the spot, as manager Rob Thomson told MLB.com’s Paul Casella and other reporters. “He’s going to probably give us the most length if we get into an extra-inning game….so I just wanted as much length as we could get,” Thomson said. Utilityman Weston Wilson also got the Phils’ last bench spot, as Casella observes that Wilson brings more positional versatility than outfielder Cal Stevenson.
The Yankees went heavier on position players (15) than pitchers (11) for their ALDS roster against the Royals. Anthony Rizzo is missing the series due to two broken fingers and DJ LeMahieu wasn’t yet activated from the injured list, but New York still has plenty of room on its bench, including pinch-running specialist Duke Ellis. The Yankees appear to be loading up on bats to take on the Royals’ tough rotation and more porous bullpen, which left right-hander Marcus Stroman off the ALDS roster as the odd man out of the starting staff.
The Tigers made just one change from their Wild Card Series roster, as rookie righty Keider Montero has been included in place of Casey Mize. Montero posted a 4.76 ERA over 98 1/3 innings in his first Major League season, starting 16 of 19 games. This doesn’t necessarily mean Montero will start against the Guardians in the ALDS, however, as Detroit’s pitching staff (apart from ace Tarik Skubal) is very malleable in terms of specific roles.

NL West Notes: Gonsolin, Freeman, Bryant, Snell

By Mark Polishuk | September 28, 2024 at 2:43pm CDT

Unless “something really unforeseen” happens, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Tony Gonsolin probably isn’t going to be part of the team’s postseason roster. Gonsolin underwent Tommy John surgery about 13 months ago and was considered a longshot to pitch any big league innings this season, though Gonsolin did return in time to pitch 7 2/3 innings over three Triple-A rehab appearances. As Roberts implied to the Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris and other reporters, however, Gonsolin is still viewed by the Dodgers as something of an emergency option, as it would be asking a lot of any pitcher who go from a year of inactivity right into the tension of important postseason relief innings.

While Gonsolin likely won’t factor into the L.A. playoff plans, Roberts was less concerned about Freddie Freeman’s bad ankle, as the manager was very optimistic Freeman would be ready for the start of the NLDS a week from today. Freeman suffered a sprained ankle in the Dodgers’ 7-2 win over the Padres on Thursday, and was seen on crutches and in a walking boot later that night. X-rays were negative on the ankle, however, and Freeman benefits from some extra time off before the Dodgers play their first postseason game.

Clayton Kershaw Multiple Weeks From Return

By Anthony Franco | September 26, 2024 at 7:09pm CDT

With the postseason getting underway next week, the Dodgers figure to be without Clayton Kershaw at least into the middle of October. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic) that the future Hall of Famer is “not going to be viable for a couple weeks.” Kershaw has been out since late August on account of bone spurs in his left big toe.

Roberts said earlier in the week that the three-time Cy Young winner was in a “holding pattern” on his rehab. That didn’t bode well for his availability for the start of the playoffs. That’s a lock now. The Dodgers would clinch the NL West and a first-round bye with a win over the Padres tonight. Assuming they wrap up the division — either tonight or during their weekend series in Colorado — they’ll punch their ticket to a Division Series beginning next weekend.

Kershaw clearly isn’t going to be ready by that point. The NLCS begins on October 13. Roberts’ timeline leaves open the possibility of Kershaw returning for that series if the Dodgers get there, but it’s far from guaranteed. The Dodgers have already ruled out Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone through the entire postseason. Kershaw’s return seems questionable at best.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jack Flaherty will take the ball in some order for the first two games of the postseason. Rookie righty Landon Knack probably lines up as L.A.’s Game 3 starter. The Dodgers haven’t managed to get Walker Buehler on track, while Bobby Miller pitched so poorly that he was optioned back to Triple-A a few weeks ago.

Kershaw’s regular season concludes with a 4.50 ERA over 30 innings. He didn’t make his season debut until shortly after the All-Star Break as he completed rehab from last November’s shoulder surgery. He made seven starts. That’s significant from a contractual perspective. Kershaw’s two-year, $10MM deal contained a ton of incentives. He tacked on $2.5MM to this year’s $5MM base salary. Getting to seven starts also added $5MM in escalators to next year’s player option. That option was initially valued at $5MM but will land at $10MM; Kershaw could boost that as high as $25MM if he makes 25 starts next year.

The Dodgers provided a few additional injury updates this evening. Miguel Rojas, who left last night’s game, said that he’s been diagnosed with a partially torn left adductor (groin) muscle (X link via Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times). The veteran infielder said he’ll need to undergo surgery in the offseason but believes he’ll be able to play through it during the postseason. Rojas has emerged as Roberts’ starting shortstop thanks to his defensive reliability and a solid .283/.337/.410 showing at the plate. He won’t play tonight. Tommy Edman moves in to play shortstop while Andy Pages steps into the lineup in center field.

The bullpen is also taking a hit. Roberts said that righty Brusdar Graterol is going back on the 15-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation (via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times). Graterol has battled shoulder problems dating back to Spring Training. He also lost a few weeks late in the year to a hamstring strain. The hard-throwing sinkerballer has been limited to seven appearances, during which he has thrown 7 2/3 frames of two-run ball. Graterol was one of the best relievers in MLB last year, turning in a 1.20 ERA across 67 1/3 frames.

Dodgers Select Edgardo Henriquez

By Darragh McDonald | September 24, 2024 at 6:37pm CDT

6:37pm: Los Angeles officially selected Henriquez’s contract while optioning Ben Casparius to clear a bullpen spot. The Dodgers transferred Gavin Stone to the 60-day IL to open the 40-man roster spot. Manager Dave Roberts announced last week that Stone’s season was likely over because of soreness in his throwing shoulder. That’s now official.

5:15pm: The Dodgers are going to promote right-hander Edgardo Henriquez, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic on X. The righty isn’t on the club’s 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will be necessary to add him.

Henriquez, now 22, was an international signing of the Dodgers out of Venezuela a few years ago. He made his professional debut with 30 Rookie ball innings in 2019. The minor leagues were then wiped out by the pandemic in 2020.

In 2021, he tossed 34 2/3 innings, mostly at the Arizona Complex League. He allowed 4.93 earned runs per nine and walked 15.9% of batters faced, but struck out 33.1% of opponents. In 2022, he made 14 appearances at Single-A, 13 starts. He had a 4.54 ERA and 11% walk rate but a strong 27% strikeout rate. Going into 2023, FanGraphs ranked Henriquez the 20th best prospect in the Dodgers’ system, noting that his fastball sat in the high 90s and he also possessed an elite slider.

Tommy John surgery wiped out the 2023 season for Henriquez but he’s been back with a vengeance in 2024. He has gone through four levels this year, mostly pitching in relief, going from Single-A to High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. Between those four stops, he has 53 innings pitched with a 2.72 ERA. Control is still an issue, as he has walked 12.8% of batters faced on the year, but he’s also punched out 38.9% of them. As noted by Ardaya in the tweet above, Henriquez has hit 104 miles per hour with his fastball this year.

The Dodgers are currently 93-63. They have already clinched a playoff spot and have a good shot at both winning the National West division and securing a first-round bye. They are three games up on the Padres, though the two sides are kicking off a three-game series in Los Angeles tonight. Assuming the Dodgers don’t get swept and find themselves in a tight divisional battle, they should be in line for that bye since they are currently four games clear of the Central-leading Brewers.

As they play out the final games of the season, they can likely find a few moments to experiment a bit with Henriquez to see if his stuff can play against major league hitters. He may be a work in progress with his youth and wildness, but there’s clearly some talent and bat-missing ability here. If Henriquez can impress the club’s decision makers, perhaps he can pitch his way into a postseason role. He wasn’t on the 40-man prior to September but he was in the organization. Such players are allowed to be placed on postseason rosters via petition to the commissioner’s office, something that essentially a formality as it happens with regularity around the league.

NL Injury Notes: Glasnow, Hicks, Wicks, Kinley

By Anthony Franco | September 20, 2024 at 8:44pm CDT

The Dodgers moved Tyler Glasnow to the 60-day injured list on Wednesday, all but officially ruling him out for the rest of the season. The lanky right-hander spoke with reporters (including Jack Harris and Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times) and essentially confirmed he won’t be back in the playoffs. Glasnow called it “extremely frustrating” to be dealing with an elbow sprain, though he indicated he’s confident he will not require any kind of surgical repair.

Glasnow tossed 134 innings across 22 starts in his first season with the Dodgers. He established new career marks in both categories, though the season-ending elbow injury isn’t going to quiet concerns about his durability. Glasnow remained effective as ever before the injury, turning in a 3.49 ERA with a 32.2% strikeout rate.

A few more Senior Circuit injury notes as noncompetitive teams shut some players down:

Shoulder inflammation sent Jordan Hicks to the injured list, ending his season. The Giants recalled Austin Warren to take his spot in the bullpen. Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Hicks will go for an MRI tomorrow. The first season of his four-year, $44MM free agent deal was a mixed bag. Hicks moved to the rotation for the first extended stretch of his career. The sinkerballer pitched well early, carrying a 2.70 ERA in 12 appearances through the end of May. He seemed to wear down quickly thereafter, allowing a 6.37 ERA over his next eight starts. The Giants moved him back to the bullpen at the end of July, but he continued to struggle in relief. Hicks allowed nearly five earned runs per nine with six strikeouts and walks apiece over 11 frames out of the ’pen.
The Cubs placed left-hander Jordan Wicks on the injured list with a right oblique strain. Trey Wingenter is up from Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move. Wicks had returned from a stint on the 60-day IL at the start of September. That was also on account of a right oblique strain, while the southpaw also missed time with an early-season forearm problem. It’s a frustrating second season for the former first-round pick. Wicks struggled when healthy enough to take the mound, allowing a 5.48 ERA across 46 innings in 11 appearances (10 starts).
Rockies closer Tyler Kinley landed on the shelf with elbow inflammation. Colorado recalled Jake Bird to take the open bullpen spot. It’s his second elbow-related IL stint in as many months. Kinley missed the second half of 2022 and most of last season after undergoing elbow surgery. He was healthy for most of this year but hasn’t found anything close to the success he enjoyed before the surgery two years ago. Kinley allowed a 6.19 ERA over 64 innings. He fanned a quarter of batters faced but walked more than 11% of opponents while struggling with the home run ball.

Friedman: Ohtani Pitching In Postseason “Not Really An Option”

By Darragh McDonald | September 20, 2024 at 12:13pm CDT

Shohei Ohtani has been putting together an MVP season at the plate and on the bases lately. Yesterday’s epic game saw him go 6-6 with three homers, ten runs batted in and two steals as he finished building the 50/50 club for himself.

He has done that while also rehabbing from last year’s Tommy John surgery on the side and has made enough progress that manager Dave Roberts recently left the door open to Ohtani taking the mound in the playoffs. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman pushed back on that possibility yesterday, telling Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register that Ohtani is “not really an option.”

Ohtani has recently thrown six bullpen sessions but Friedman notes that a pitcher would normally get to that point in late January while preparing for a normal season. In other words, still a couple of months away from regular season starts. Friedman goes on to point out that following the normal timeline would have Ohtani doing live bullpens in mid to late October.

Ohtani and the team are soon having a meeting about next steps, but it’s a meeting that has been planned for months and isn’t about postseason pitching. “We aren’t even thinking about that right now,” Friedman said. “Again, this is like January for him. He’s just barely a year out from Tommy John.” The meeting is more about whether to continue to live BPs in October or put his pitching on pause during the postseason, with a resumption in November.

“The whole meeting is about how we handle his rehab to have him in the best position to be ready to go in ’25 while also taking the least amount of toll on him in ’24 because he will have an important job in October as it is,” Friedman said. “Okay – if you suspend it then and do it in November, is that enough time or do you ramp him up and have him a little bit later (at the start of next season)? That’s the stuff we have to get into.”

At this point, it’s generally best not to doubt Ohtani, who has a strong tendency to silence naysayers. But he is human, despite some evidence to the contrary, and the timelines for returning to the mound this year are ambitious. It was September 19 of last year that he went under the knife, almost exactly a year ago. If often takes 14 months or longer to fully come back even if there are no setbacks, so returning in the next month would be on the fast side.

This is also the second Tommy John of Othani’s career, as he also underwent the procedure in October of 2018. He didn’t pitch at all in 2019 and then only made two brief appearances in the shortened 2020 season. Returning from the second such operation is generally more challenging than doing it the first time, which should give Ohtani and the Dodgers extra incentive to play things cautious.

The idea of Ohtani coming back may have been extra tantalizing for some fans because of the ongoing injury troubles for Dodger starters. Last year’s club won 100 games but they limped into the playoffs with an injury-ravaged rotation consisting of Bobby Miller, Lance Lynn and Clayton Kershaw, the latter of whom was clearly battling through shoulder problems. The Diamondbacks laid waste to the Dodgers and swept them out of the playoffs.

This year, the Dodgers have lost Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan and Dustin May to season-ending surgeries. Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone are both on the IL with arm problems and are unlikely to make it back in October. Tony Gonsolin and Kershaw are also on the IL but seem to have some chance of being factors in the playoffs. Gonsolin is currently rehabbing from his own 2023 Tommy John surgery while Kershaw is trying to work through a bone spur in his left big toe.

That leaves the Dodgers currently with Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Landon Knack and Walker Buehler as their rotation at this moment. Flaherty has been great this season but had some back problems with the Tigers earlier in the year, enough to reportedly scuttle a deal to the Yankees before the Dodgers swooped in. Yamamoto missed over three months due to a rotator cuff strain and isn’t fully stretched out yet. He made just two rehab appearances before being activated and has since made two major league starts of four innings each. The club is also still planning to give him more than four days of rest between each outing, as they have done all year. Knack has good results so far but just 61 big league innings under his belt. Buehler has a 5.54 ERA on the campaign.

The idea of Ohtani charging over the horizon on his steed to save the day would obviously be exciting but perhaps too much to ask for. Even a relief role would have appeal, bringing back memories of Ohtani striking out Mike Trout to close out the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Perhaps there’s some scenario where Ohtani, Friedman, Roberts and other staff members get together and the plans change as Ohtani supersedes expectations once again, but it’s notable that the club’s chief baseball decision maker is throwing cold water on the idea.

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