Dodgers Notes: Sasaki, Glasnow, Phillips
The Dodgers’ pitching staff is the most injured in the sport, as has become common for Los Angeles. With three of their five Opening Day starters currently on the injured list, L.A. has been using secondary choices in its rotation in recent weeks. That’s still a strong group, as staff ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto is joined by a solid group despite those injuries: Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw, and Landon Knack are all pitchers most teams would be happy to have on staff.
Even so, Dodgers fans are surely hoping for the club’s other rotation arms to get healthy soon, particularly given the fact that May’s 4.09 ERA (96 ERA+) is the best of the group aside from Yamamoto. They received some good news on that front today, as manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) that right-hander Roki Sasaki is set to start a throwing progression at some point this coming week. It’s the first sign of the 23-year-old phenom beginning to ramp back up toward a return since he was placed on the shelf with a right shoulder impingement two weeks ago.
It’s encouraging news regarding Sasaki’s status, but fans shouldn’t expect him back on the mound in the near future. Even after Sasaki resumes throwing, it will be some time before he begins throwing bullpen sessions and facing hitters. A rehab assignment of some length is sure to follow after those boxes are checked, and that could leave Sasaki several weeks away from a return to action yet. Still, the fact that the youngster appears likely to return before the first half of the season comes to a close is certainly encouraging. The Dodgers are surely hoping that Sasaki’s current stay on the injured list is giving him time to get on track before his return, as well. After all, the righty has struggled to this point in his big league career with a 4.72 ERA and 6.13 FIP across eight starts and a worrying 14.3% walk rate.
If Sasaki’s ramp back up to big league readiness may end up being as much about getting him right as it is about getting him healthy, the same could arguably be said about right-hander Tyler Glasnow. The 31-year-old had an uncharacteristic 4.50 ERA with a 5.41 FIP in 18 innings of work across his first five starts of the season before getting shelved with inflammation in his right shoulder near the end of April, but the good news is that he’s making good progress towards a return. MLB.com notes that Glasnow threw his first bullpen session since going on the shelf on Friday. The session lasted less than 20 pitches, but Roberts suggested that Glasnow came out of it feeling “great.”
That suggests that Glasnow is a bit ahead of Sasaki in his rehab process. The veteran righty will likely throw more bullpen sessions with higher pitch counts before progressing to facing live hitters and an eventual rehab assignment, but this weekend’s first step was nonetheless an important one. Glasnow would be a huge boost to the Dodgers’ rotation if he comes back looking anything like he did last year, when he pitched to a 3.49 ERA with a 2.91 FIP across 22 starts during his first year in Los Angeles.
Positive as those updates regarding the rotation might be, however, the Dodgers also revealed some worrying news regarding the status of right-hander Evan Phillips today. The reliever was shelved earlier this month due to what was termed “discomfort” in his right forearm at the time, and while that injury was initially believed to be minor Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) that Phillips is still feeling discomfort and has yet to resume throwing three weeks later. Harris went on to note that Roberts acknowledged the injury is “starting to get a little concerning,” though he added that the club is still “hoping for the best.”
Phillips is sorely missed in a bullpen that is also without Kirby Yates, Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, and Brusdar Graterol among others. The righty was removed from Los Angeles’s closer job last year but has been nothing but excellent during his time with the Dodgers overall, posting a 2.22 ERA in 195 innings of work since the club acquired him back in 2021. That includes seven scoreless appearances this season where he struck out 27.3% of opponents while issuing walks at just a 9.1% clip.
AL West Notes: Trout, Soler, Seager, Gilbert, Miller
Mike Trout is seemingly nearing a return to action, as the Angels superstar has been taking part in batting practice sessions and running drills, and is set to start running the bases within the next few days’ time. Trout has been out since April 30 due to a bone bruise in his left knee, and when he does get back, it isn’t clear whether or not Trout will return to outfield duty or if he’ll get more time as a DH in order to help preserve his health. Halos manager Ron Washington told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register and other reporters that the focus right now is just on getting Trout healthy, and “once Mike is back, we can have that conversation right there” about his spot in the lineup.
After years as the Halos’ center fielder, Trout began 2025 in right field, already as a way to try and reduce the wear-and-tear on the oft-injured star. Of course, if Trout takes on more of a regular DH role, that would force Jorge Soler into more right field work, which wouldn’t bode well for the L.A. defense given Soler’s long history of subpar glovework. While Washington has felt Soler has “done an outstanding job” in 13 appearances as a right fielder this season, the team feels keeping Soler in right field only in limited fashion is the best solution to help Soler’s overall game. “Running him out there five, six days in a row, we’re not going to do that. But give him two days, a change from just hitting, will help him focus more,” Washington said.
More injury updates from around the AL West…
- Corey Seager hasn’t played since May 10 due to a right hamstring strain, though Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (including Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News) that the star shortstop could be ready to return at some point this week. Friday seems to be the loose target date, though Seager could be back earlier given the increased ramp-up of his prep work — Seager has been taking part in running and fielding drills, and also took part in a live batting practice on Saturday. The plan is to have these baseball activities get Seager into game-ready mode without the need for a minor league rehab assignment. This is already Seager’s second hamstring-related IL stint of the season, which is why he has been limited to 26 games and 107 plate appearances in 2025. As usual, Seager has been excellent (.300/.346/.520 with six home runs) when he has been able to play, and the offensively-challenged Rangers could badly use that bat in their struggling lineup.
- Mariners starters Bryce Miller and Logan Gilbert each threw simulated games on Friday, with Miller throwing around 25 pitches and Gilbert going higher with 35. It was exactly a month ago that Gilbert was pulled from a start due to a flexor strain in his right elbow, and while Friday’s session was a good step forward, the right-hander suggested to MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer and other reporters that he has a ways to go in his throwing progression. This could mean another sim game and perhaps multiple minor league rehab starts before Gilbert is back in Seattle’s rotation.
- Miller (on the 15-day IL since May 12 due to elbow inflammation) is hopeful of returning as early as this week, though manager Dan Wilson expressed some caution. In perhaps more of a long-term concern, Miller told Kramer and company that some tests revealed that his elbow was structurally fine overall, but “there’s something in there that causes inflammation and something I can’t just take out without missing the rest of the year. So this ideally gets me to the end of the year, and then we can reassess and see if I need to clean it up or anything.” These comments somewhat expand on the lingering health issues the righty hinted at when speaking with the media at the time of his initial IL placement, and the exact nature of these injuries may not be known until or unless Miller does get a clean-up procedure at season’s end. With a 5.22 ERA over his first 39 2/3 innings this year, something has clearly seemed amiss with Miller’s performance, and there’s naturally some risk in trying to tough out several more months of pitching before properly addressing the problem.
NL East Notes: Montas, Blackburn, Manaea, Nola, Finnegan
Frankie Montas saw his first proper game action of the 2025 season on Saturday, when the right-hander tossed 37 pitches over 1 1/3 innings for high-A Brooklyn in the first game of a minor league rehab assignment. Montas signed a two-year, $34MM free agent deal with the Mets this past winter, but was immediately sidelined at the start of Spring Training by a significant lat strain. Saturday’s game officially started the 30-day clock on Montas’ rehab assignment, and he’ll naturally need to further build up his arm strength over multiple outings before he is ready to be activated from the 60-day injured list.
Paul Blackburn should beat Montas back to the active roster, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Lutz writes that the plan is for Blackburn to make his seventh and final minor league rehab outing before joining the Mets at some point in June. Blackburn has missed the entire big league season due to right knee inflammation, while Sean Manaea has also yet to pitch due to an oblique strain. Manaea is throwing off a mound, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that Manaea’s projected timeline is about two weeks behind Montas. Despite all of these pitching injuries, even the makeshift version of the Mets’ rotation has posted tremendous results this season, giving the club a potential arms surplus to address if and when everyone is healthy.
More from around the NL East…
- The Phillies are another club relatively deep in starting pitching options, though they may be without Aaron Nola for longer a 15-day minimum stint on the injured list. Manager Rob Thomson told Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer and other reporters that Nola’s sprained ankle is still feeling sore, which scrapped plans for Nola to begin throwing off a mound this weekend. Nola’s IL placement began on May 15, and while Thomson didn’t this continued discomfort as any sort of big setback, he hinted that Nola might need to face some live batters (whether in the form of a live batting practice or a minor league rehab start) before being activated.
- Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan is dealing with some shoulder fatigue, though manager Davey Martinez told MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman that tests didn’t reveal any structural problems. Finnegan hasn’t pitched in either of Washington’s last two games, but figures he can avoid the IL with another day or two of rest. Finnegan has a 2.41 ERA over 18 2/3 innings this season, and figures to be a sought-after pitcher at the trade deadline if the Nationals can’t get into contention. The reliever’s secondary numbers (such as a 3.69 SIERA and slightly below-average strikeout and walk rates) are less impressive, but Finnegan has a 48.1% grounder rate and has done a solid job of inducing soft contact.
NL East Notes: Young, Mauricio, Edwards
Today’s game between the Nationals and the Orioles included a scary moment where Nats center fielder Jacob Young crashed into the outfield wall at full speed and went down, as noted by Spencer Nausbaum of the Washington Post. He eventually departed the game with a left shoulder injury and was replaced by Alex Call in the outfield. Fortunately, Nausbaum was among those to note after the game that x-rays on Young’s shoulder came back negative. The 25-year-old’s status remains uncertain ahead of further evaluation tomorrow, but it’s undeniably a good omen for the club on the heels of an exciting win over Baltimore.
Young, 25, hasn’t hit much in his second season as a regular fixture of the Nationals lineup. Across 124 plate appearances this season, he’s posted a meager slash line of just .215/.300/.252 with zero home runs and just four doubles. Despite that lackluster performance at the dish, however, Young has largely made up for it with elite defense and base running. Young has been in the 88th percentile when it comes to value on the basepaths this year according to Statcast even in spite of his league-leading four failed stolen base attempts. The defense has been nearly as good, as his +2 Outs Above Average leaves him tied for sixth among NL center fielders with other strong defenders like Brenton Doyle and Johan Rojas.
With James Wood and Dylan Crews in the outfield corners on a daily basis and Call posting a solid 114 wRC+ in part-time duty, Young may need to hit more in order to keep himself in the lineup on a regular basis in the long-term, particularly with prospect Robert Hassell III beginning to hit at the Triple-A level this year. For now, however, the Nationals will surely content themselves with a quick return to action for their center fielder, given that the loss of Young would likely force Crews to slide over to center field on a more regular basis. With Crews scuffling badly at the plate himself to this point in the year, the Nats would surely prefer to avoid putting additional responsibilities on his plate at this point.
More from around the NL East…
- The Mets optioned infielder Ronny Mauricio to Triple-A today after ending his rehab assignment at the Double-A level. As noted by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, the move is largely procedural in nature given that Mauricio was already in the minors. Mauricio missed the entire 2024 season after suffering a torn ACL during winter ball, and he’s appeared in just ten games in the minors so far this year as he works his way back up to speed with five games at Single-A and five games at Double-A. Now, Mauricio is set to finish getting back into form with the club’s Syracuse affiliate. Given he’s hitting just .125/.176/.188 with a 35.9% strikeout rate so far this year, it’s safe to say that Mauricio is still focused on recovery at this point and likely won’t be a realistic big league option for the Mets for some time yet.
- The Marlins, meanwhile, have been without shortstop Xavier Edwards in the lineup for two days now due to back soreness. Craig Mish of the Miami Herald relayed today that, according to manager Clayton McCullough, Edwards underwent imaging that “came out OK” and that Edwards was slated to resume baseball activities today. It’s unclear if Edwards is expected to return to the lineup tomorrow, but if a trip to the injured list is being considered that would be an ideal time to make a decision seeing as a hypothetical IL stint could be backdated due May 16 if it began tomorrow. Edwards was one of the club’s better hitters in 70 games last year but has hit just .263/.337/.292 to this point in the 2025 campaign. Javier Sanoja is filling in at shortstop while Edwards is out of commission.
Dodgers Notes: Kershaw, Edman, Hernandez, Ohtani
Longtime face of the Dodgers’ franchise and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw is making his 2025 season debut against the Angels this evening, and ahead of the start of his 18th season in the majors the veteran spoke to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic about his drive to continue his playing career.
“I don’t really understand that question,” Kershaw said, as relayed by Ardaya, when asked why he’s continuing his career. “People ask me that. Why not just ride off into the sunset? I’m 37. I have a long time ahead of me. Baseball is fun. So why not? As of today, that’s my answer, yeah.”
Kershaw, of course, has flirted with the possibility of retirement from time to time over the years. After winning a second World Series championship with the Dodgers last year and being forced to end his season in August due to injuries that eventually required surgery on his left plantar plate and to repair a torn left meniscus over the winter. He’s been rehabbing ever since, and enters this year playing on a one-year deal that guarantees him just $7.5MM, although incentives based on starts made and time on the active roster could bring that total up to $15MM by the end of the season depending on his health.
The southpaw is already a slam-dunk Hall of Famer and one of the greatest pitchers of the 21st century, but there are some career milestones left for him to conquer. For one thing, he’s 32 strikeouts away from being the 20th pitcher in MLB history to reach 3,000 for his career. The 257 1/3 innings he’d still need in order to join the 3,000 innings club isn’t a goal he can reach this season, but after pitching 258 innings total in 2022 and ’23 it’s not hard to imagine him reaching that milestone before his 40th birthday should he decide to continue his career for that long.
One other motivator for Kershaw could be that neither of his World Series rings have come with the full experience: the Dodgers couldn’t hold a parade in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Kershaw was not on the field with his teammates for their championship last year due to injuries. Kershaw confirmed that his inability to participate down the stretch last year was a source of frustration.
“Nobody wants to just sit around,” Kershaw said, as relayed by Ardaya. “I want to pitch, and contribute, and be a part of it. Last year was difficult. Obviously, fun to at least be a part of it and see us win and things like that. You always want to be a part of a great team. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
More from around the Dodgers…
- The Los Angeles lineup has been a bit battered in recent weeks with both Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández both on the injured list. Fortunately, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Ardaya) yesterday that the club may not be without those bats for very long. Edman is expected to be activated for tomorrow’s series finale against the Angels, while Hernandez is currently on a brief rehab assignment but could be active as soon as this coming Monday against the Diamondbacks. Edman’s 122 wRC+ and versatility have been sorely missed since he went on the IL at the end of April, while Hernandez’s .315/.333/.600 slash line prior to hitting the shelf with a groin strain on May 6 trailed only Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani on the team.
- Speaking of Ohtani, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register writes that his latest bullpen saw him throw 50 pitches split between two 25-pitch “innings” during an up-and-down session. Plunkett adds that it’s the most pitches he’s thrown in a single session during his recovery from Tommy John surgery. That could mean that progressing to facing live hitters is coming soon, though Plunkett did note that the two-way phenom still has yet to throw any breaking pitches. Even with this progress in his rehab, the reigning NL MVP shouldn’t be expected back on a big league mound until the second half of the season.
Yankees Notes: Canning, Cousins, Stanton
With Griffin Canning starting for the Mets in today’s Subway Series matchup, Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed to reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that his own club met with Canning and explored a possible signing this past offseason. Instead, Canning wound up in another corner of the Big Apple, signing with the Mets for $4.25MM in guaranteed money on a one-year contract.
The deal was the culmination of a busy winter for Canning, who was dealt from the Angels to the Braves as part of the Jorge Soler that was essentially a salary dump on Atlanta’s part. Indeed, Canning found himself non-tendered just a few weeks after the trade was completed, and he caught on with the Mets a month later. That deal is now looking like one of the better under-the-radar contracts of the offseason, as Canning has blossomed to a 2.36 ERA over 42 innings with the Amazins.
Signing Canning obviously wouldn’t have prevented the Yankees from their big-ticket pitching acquisition of Max Fried, but it could be that if Canning was in the fold, minor league signings Carlos Carrasco or Jake Woodford might not have wound up in the pinstripes, or the Yankees might not have claimed Allan Winans on waivers. Who knows if Canning would’ve enjoyed the same early success with the Yankees that he has with the Mets, but having an extra starter on hand would’ve been helpful for a Bronx Bombers rotation mix that has been thinned by injuries to Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman, and JT Brubaker.
Boone’s pregame media session (with Hoch, the New York Post’s Greg Joyce, and other reporters) also included some injury updates. Jake Cousins has yet to pitch in 2025 due to a right elbow flexor strain sustained during the offseason, and the reliever’s recovery process has been further delayed by a pec injury that developed during a recent live bullpen session. Boone doesn’t think the pec issue is “anything serious,” but it was enough for the Yankees to shut Cousins down for 4-5 days to monitor the situation.
Cousins is on the 60-day injured list and was already expected to be out well beyond his first eligible activation date in late May. Joyce writes that Cousins was aiming to return to New York’s bullpen by the middle of June, “but this shutdown will almost certainly delay that timeline.”
The first of Cousins’ live bullpens came facing Giancarlo Stanton, as part of Stanton’s own rehab from torn tendons in both of his elbows. Boone said that Stanton’s workload has included running on the field and facing a high-velocity pitching machine, in addition to some live at-bats against the likes of Cousins.
Stanton is also on the 60-day IL and can be activated in a little over a week’s time, though it isn’t clear exactly how close the slugger is to even a minor league rehab assignment, let alone returning to the majors. Boone did note that Stanton’s rehab process may not follow a standard path, as since Stanton is a DH-only player, he won’t have to take any reps in the field.
AL Central Notes: Lugo, Ragans, Castro, Meadows
Seth Lugo was scratched from a scheduled start today against the Cardinals, as the Royals right-hander is battling inflammation in the middle finger of his throwing hand. The hope is that Lugo will be out for just one turn in the rotation, manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (including Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star) though “we are in the very early stages of it and we are going to see how [Lugo] responds” to the extra rest. Last season’s AL Cy Young Award runner-up is having another good year with a 3.02 ERA over 56 2/3 innings, though Lugo’s 4.26 SIERA and his Statcast metrics aren’t nearly as flattering.
It was just a few weeks ago that the Royals skipped a Cole Ragans start due to a minor groin strain for the southpaw, but while Ragans was able to avoid the injured list at the time, his nagging injury continues to be a concern. Ragans left during the sixth inning of yesterday’s game due to left groin tightness, though Quatraro described the removal as somewhat preventative. Rookie Noah Cameron will be recalled from Triple-A to start today’s game in Lugo’s place, and Cameron might well be in line for an extended look in the majors if one or both of Lugo or Ragans ultimately require a 15-day IL stint to fully heal up.
More from around the AL Central…
- X-rays were negative on Willi Castro‘s right knee after the Twins utilityman made an early exit from yesterday’s 3-0 win over the Brewers. Castro fouled a ball off his knee during a first-inning at-bat and was able to play in left field in the bottom of the frame, but was replaced in the bottom of the second. The injury was officially termed as a knee contusion, and it remains to be seen if Castro will be okay after a day or two of rest, or if he may require a stint on the 10-day injured list. Castro’s numbers (.235/.306/.367 in 108 plate appearances) are down from his All-Star production in 2024, though he has continued to be a versatile option all over the diamond, already logging starts at five positions this year. The injury bug already bit Castro once this season, as he missed over two weeks recovering from an oblique strain.
- Parker Meadows is traveling with the Tigers on their current road trip in Toronto, and the outfielder is scheduled to throw from the outfield to the bases in pre-game drills today. Manager A.J. Hinch told Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press and other reporters that Meadows’ ability to throw is “the last step for him to hopefully get him to a rehab assignment soon,” and the club will monitor how Meadows’ arm is feeling tomorrow. Meadows has missed the entire season due to a musculocutaneous nerve problem in his right arm, and his placement on the 60-day injured list will keep him off Detroit’s roster until May 26 at the earliest. Given the long layoff and Hinch’s observation that Meadows “doesn’t have to be fully 100% back throwing wise to go on a rehab assignment,” it would seem like the outfielder will need quite a few games in the minors to get up to full readiness, so a June return seems more likely. While the 30-15 Tigers have baseball’s best record even without their starting center fielder, the club will be even stronger with a healthy Meadows, a superb defender who was also an offensive sparkplug during Detroit’s late-season surge in 2024.
Orioles Notes: Kittredge, Cowser, Reilly
Back in January, the O’s signed reliever Andrew Kittredge to a one-year, $10MM deal. They haven’t yet received any return on that investment but that may soon change, since he’s currently on a rehab assignment.
“All good news with how he’s throwing the baseball and how he feels,” said manager Brandon Hyde, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. “I think he throws again this weekend and then he’ll do a back-to-back and maybe another one. We’ll see how it goes.”
Kittredge required a left knee debridement procedure in March and has been on the 15-day injured list all year so far. He’s now made four rehab appearances, the last three being scoreless Triple-A outings. Based on Hyde’s comments, it seems he’ll get into a few more games and should join the Baltimore bullpen after that.
The righty had a 2.80 earned run average in 70 2/3 innings with the Cardinals last year. His 23% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 45.2% ground ball rate were all solid figures. If he can get back to that level of performance, he’ll be a nice upgrade to the relief corps. However, it might require a tough decision on who goes out. The only members of the bullpen who are optionable are the high-leverage arms: Félix Bautista, Yennier Cano and Keegan Akin. That could put pressure on a struggling pitcher like Cionel Pérez or Charlie Morton, who both have ERAs north of 8.00.
Regardless of that decision, it’s possible that Kittredge could eventually emerge as a trade candidate this summer, if he performs well after being reinstated from the IL. The O’s are now 15-27 and will have to engineer a big winning streak to avoid being deadline sellers. Kittredge’s deal contains a $9MM club option for 2026 with a $1MM buyout.
Kubatko also relayed a minor update on outfielder Colton Cowser, saying that he did some “light outfield work” yesterday. He suffered a broken thumb just a few days into the season, an injury which came with a timeline of six to eight weeks.
He was subsequently transferred to the 60-day IL, so he’s not eligible to return until late May, though that doesn’t seem likely even though it’s been over six weeks now. He will presumably need to ramp up his activities further before even beginning a rehab assignment. Kubatko notes that the injured thumb is still wrapped in a brace. For now, the Orioles will continue with the outfield mix consisting largely of Cedric Mullins, Ramón Laureano, Tyler O’Neill and Heston Kjerstad.
The club also announced to reporters, including Kubatko, that pitching prospect Patrick Reilly had UCL surgery yesterday. The O’s didn’t provide a timeline for Reilly but he’ll surely be sidelined into the middle of the 2026 season.
Acquired from the Pirates last summer in a deal which sent Billy Cook the other way, Reilly has been with Double-A Bowie since the deal. He has logged 41 innings for the Baysox with a 3.29 ERA. For his entire minor league career, he now has 139 2/3 innings with a 3.54 ERA, 30.1% strikeout rate and 12.3% walk rate.
Coming into 2025, Baseball America ranked him the #16 prospect in the Orioles’ system while FanGraphs had him at #25. He’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December of 2026 if not protected before then, but he’ll spend most of the intervening time rehabbing from this surgery.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Dodgers Notes: Rushing, Sasaki, Snell, Glasnow
The Dodgers have gotten top catching prospect Dalton Rushing looks at first base and in the corner outfield to expand his defensive portfolio, but Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports that at least for the time being, Rushing will serve only as a catcher in the majors. The 24-year-old is set to make his MLB debut tonight when catching a bullpen game, and the plan is for him to catch twice a week while also participating in daily game-planning meetings, catching bullpen sessions and serving as a true understudy to veteran backstop Will Smith.
Rushing, the No. 40 overall draft pick in 2022, has torched Triple-A pitching dating back to 2024. He’s tallied 301 plate appearances there and turned in a .289/.409/.512 batting line, taking walks in more than 15% of his plate appearances along the way. Perhaps down the road, Rushing could see time at other positions if his bat again forces the team’s hand, but manager Dave Roberts likened today’s promotion to that of Smith several years ago.
“We did it with Will before his rookie year (when we) brought him up in September to get assimilated with how we do things on the game-planning stuff,” said the skipper. “In one sense, to not take at-bats every day, you could see some downside. But I think that having (him) here in this environment, around our pitchers, around our coaches … I think just net sum was more positive.”
Rushing will likely get the nod behind the dish tonight in a bullpen game that would have gone to right-hander Roki Sasaki were it not for a trip to the 15-day injured list due to a shoulder impingement. ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez writes that Sasaki’s shoulder discomfort began earlier this month. The right-hander himself described the issue as not necessarily painful, but limited mobility in his shoulder. Even in the absence of strict pain, sub-optimal range of motion in the shoulder is an obvious detriment to any pitcher’s ability on the mound.
The onset of the discomfort appears particularly evident when looking at Sasaki’s game log. He averaged 96.4 mph on his heater through his first six starts of the season but sat at 94.8 mph in each of his two most recent turns. His splitter had a similar drop, going from 85.2 mph on average to 84 mph. Even prior to his recent velo dip, Sasaki wasn’t throwing as hard as he did in Japan. Still, the results in those two most recent outings weren’t pretty — eight runs on 11 hits and four walks with only four strikeouts in nine innings pitched — and the Dodgers will now give that ailing shoulder a break.
A firm timetable for Sasaki’s absence isn’t yet established. Gonzalez notes that at least for now, Sasaki isn’t expected to receive any kind of injection to treat the shoulder. He’ll be down for a to-be-determined period, but the Dodgers will be back to a five-man rotation in short order, with Clayton Kershaw‘s return set for this weekend.
Also on the mend are top starters Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow. Jack Harris of the L.A. Times reports that Snell was throwing in the outfield yesterday and is again moving forward with his throwing program after it was pushed back last week. Gonzalez adds that Glasnow, too, has been cleared to resume throwing. Both former All-Stars will need to progress through several milestones and then head out on a minor league rehab assignment, so a return for either isn’t exactly just around the corner — but it’s nevertheless encouraging to hear that both are trending in the right direction.
Dodgers Notes: Phillips, Edman, Hernández
The Dodgers put right-hander Evan Phillips on the 15-day injured list last week due to forearm discomfort. Manager Dave Roberts initially downplayed the issue but the prognosis changed in the following days, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.
“Our expectation is on that 16th day, he’ll be back active,” Roberts previously said. Phillips himself also relayed his belief that he would be back after a minimum absence but that will not be the case. An MRI discovered inflammation in his elbow and he’s going to be shut down from throwing for “a couple weeks,” in Roberts’ words. Even if everything goes smoothly and he feels better after that shutdown, he will then have to ramp back up again.
It’s been a challenging on-and-off period for Phillips going back to last year. Late in 2024, he was dealing with irritation in his shoulder and arm fatigue, as well as tightness in his lat, triceps and biceps. He was left off the club’s World Series roster. He was diagnosed with a small tear of a tendon in his rotator cuff during the playoffs, though that information didn’t come out until early in 2025. He started the current season on the IL due to that strain and was eventually reinstated but only pitched 5 2/3 innings for the Dodgers before this latest issue put him back on the shelf.
Phillips is one of 13 pitchers on the Dodgers’ IL at the moment. That’s not entirely unexpected as several of them underwent major surgeries last year and the team has a broad willingness to bet on talented but injury-prone pitchers. The team is doing fine in spite of that, as their 27-14 record is the best in the majors. Perhaps that allows them to be cautious with Phillips, as opposed to pushing him through an injury before he’s ready.
Whenever he’s healthy again, he will add another weapon to the pitching staff. Dating back to the start of the 2022 season, he has thrown 184 2/3 innings for the Dodgers with a 2.14 earned run average, 29.6% strikeout rate and 6.6% walk rate.
Plunkett also relays updates on infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman and outfielder Teoscar Hernández, who are both on the 10-day IL. Edman landed there a couple of weeks ago due to ankle inflammation while Hernández suffered an adductor strain last week. The Dodgers are bringing minor league pitchers to the park for some live batting practice this week, with both Edman and Hernández set to take part.
Somewhat similar to the Phillips situation, Edman’s injury was initially framed as very mild but has lingered longer than expected. Even though he’s going to take some swings, he is still having trouble running and Roberts estimates that Edman is only about 80% recovered.
With those two out, more playing time has gone to guys like Hyeseong Kim and James Outman. Kim has no walks and no extra-base hits, leading to a flat line of .318/.318/.318 so far, while Outman has a dreadful .067/.176/.267 slash. That latter line is in just 17 plate appearances but Outman struggled last year as well, hitting .147/.256/.265. Before their IL placements, Edman was hitting .252/.295/.523 while Hernández was at .315/.333/.600, so getting them back on the roster would give a boost to an already-strong Dodger team.
Image courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images