The Opener: Soto, Kurtz, Ohtani
The Mets’ losing streak grew to a dozen last night. The club will be getting some reinforcements for Wednesday’s matchup.
1. Soto set to return
Outfielder Juan Soto is expected back tonight against the Twins. He’s missed a little under three weeks while nursing a calf injury. The four-time All-Star left early against the Giants on April 3. New York won that game and the next three contests with Soto out of the lineup. The team has since lost 12 straight games. Getting Soto’s bat back in the mix should be a boost. He had a .928 OPS through eight games before the injury. After last night’s 5-3 loss, the Mets have scored three runs or fewer 10 times during the losing streak.
2. Kurtz nearing A’s record
First baseman Nick Kurtz led off last night’s matchup against the Mariners by working a walk against right-hander Luis Castillo. It was his 12th consecutive game with a free pass, moving him into a tie with Rickey Henderson for fifth-most in franchise history (h/t Sarah Langs of MLB.com). The A’s record is a three-way tie at 15 straight games with a walk by Henderson, Max Bishop, and Topsy Hartsel. Kurtz will have a tough task on Wednesday, facing right-hander Logan Gilbert and his 4.3% walk rate.
3. Two-way Ohtani returns?
Right-hander Shohei Ohtani will be on the mound tonight against the Giants. It remains to be seen if he’ll be in the hitting lineup. The two-way star did not hit in his last start. Instead, Dalton Rushing served as the DH and slugged a home run. It was the first time as a Dodger that Ohtani pitched but wasn’t in the batting lineup. Manager Dave Roberts said a HBP earlier in the week led to the decision. LA’s lineup will be an interesting one to monitor on Wednesday, especially with Rushing off to a tremendous start.
Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images
The Opener: Ohtani, Miller, Waldichuk
Here are a few items to track to begin the week…
1. Ohtani’s 51-game on-base streak
An RBI double in the third inning of Sunday’s game against the Rockies pushed Shohei Ohtani‘s on-base streak to 51 games. He now sits alone in third place in Dodgers’ history (since 1900). Shawn Green is next on the list at 53 games. Ohtani will need another week of reaching base safely to catch Duke Snider, who compiled a 58-game on-base streak in 1954. The Dodgers face left-hander Jose Quintana in the final game of the series tonight. Left-on-left matchups have been no issue for Ohtani. He has a .998 OPS in 27 plate appearances against southpaws this season.
2. Miller nearing Padres’ record
Flamethrower Mason Miller locked down his eighth save on Sunday against the Angels. The right-hander retired the side in order, pushing his scoreless innings streak to 32 2/3 innings. Miller is now one clean frame away from Cla Meredith‘s franchise record. He’s permitted just two hits and two walks this season. Of the 34 outs Miller has recorded, 27 have come via strikeout. Miller was last scored upon on August 5. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. turned around a 103 mph fastball for a game-tying two-run homer in the eighth inning. Miller was saddled with a blown save, but the Padres ultimately won in 11 innings. San Diego opens a three-game set against Colorado on Tuesday.
3. Waldichuk visiting specialist
Left-hander Ken Waldichuk is getting a second opinion on his injured forearm today, reports Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic. The initial recommendation for the lefty was Tommy John surgery. Waldichuk missed the 2024 season while recovering from TJ and did not reach the majors last year. He made his long-awaited big-league return in Washington’s second game of the season. Ian Happ rudely welcomed him back with a three-run homer on his first pitch. Waldichuk left an April 12 matchup against the Brewers in the middle of a Brice Turang at-bat. He hit the 15-day IL shortly after, and soon moved to the 60-day IL.
Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images
The Opener: Mets, Ohtani, Fermin
Here are a few items to track in the baseball world on Thursday:
1. Mets drop eighth straight, head to Chicago
The Mets were in a tight one on Wednesday night against the Dodgers until Dalton Rushing blasted a grand slam in the eighth inning to put the game away. The small silver lining for New York fans is that the Rushing homer meant the game was no longer a save situation, so the Mets avoided being on the other end of Edwin Diaz and his trumpet entrance. The Mets have been held to two runs or fewer in seven of eight games during this losing streak. Their next chance to get into the win column will come on Friday against the Cubs. New York will have to survive one more road series without Juan Soto before his potential return next week.
2. Pitcher-only Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani led the charge in the sweep of the Mets, tossing six innings of one-run ball with 10 strikeouts. He was not in the hitting lineup, though. The two-way superstar pitched but didn’t hit for the first time since 2021. Rushing’s grand slam actually came as the DH in Ohtani’s stead. Manager Dave Roberts said the decision was made after Ohtani was hit by a David Peterson sinker on Monday night. “This one game, it just makes the most sense to give us the best chance to manage the shoulder and back,” Roberts told reporters, including Katie Woo of The Athletic. Ohtani’s next chance to get back in the hitting lineup as a pitcher is slated for Wednesday against the Giants.
3. Fermin leaves after a foul tip to the mask
Padres catcher Freddy Fermin was removed in the third inning of Wednesday’s game against the Mariners after being struck by a foul ball. Manager Craig Stammen told reporters, including AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, that Fermin does not have a concussion following an initial round of testing but will be reevaluated today. Luis Campusano replaced Fermin and is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune noted that Triple-A catcher Rodolfo Duran was removed from last night’s game in the ninth inning after Fermin’s injury. He’d seem to be a logical replacement if Fermin is forced to the IL.
Dodgers Notes: Ohtani, Snell, Edman
Shohei Ohtani was on the mound for the final out of the last World Baseball Classic, striking out then-teammate Mike Trout to take home the trophy. The 2026 edition of the event won’t feature Ohtani the pitcher. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters, including Alden Gonzalez of ESPN, that the Japanese right-hander will not be pitching in the WBC. Roberts added that it was Ohtani’s decision.
Though Roberts said the team “absolutely” would’ve worked out Ohtani pitching in the tournament if he wanted to (per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register), recent developments around WBC insurance may have thrown a wrench into the situation. Evan Drellich of The Athletic noted Ohtani was unlikely to be covered as a pitcher, meaning he couldn’t have pitched in the WBC regardless of his personal preference. The insurance issues have led Team Puerto Rico to consider removing themselves from the event.
Ohtani will still be on Team Japan as a DH. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic relayed that the righty said he’ll be ready to pitch to open the regular season. Ohtani didn’t pitch at all in 2024 as he recovered from elbow surgery. A shoulder procedure at the conclusion of that season kept him off the mound until June of this past year. Ohtani made 14 starts for the Dodgers in 2025. He delivered a 2.87 ERA across 47 innings. Ohtani wasn’t as dominant in the playoffs, though he did toss six innings in three of his four outings, something he did just once in the regular season.
Health tends to be the main question mark for L.A.’s rotation, and Blake Snell is taking steps to make sure he feels right in 2026. The talented left-hander told reporters, including Ardaya, that he’s taking a more deliberate approach to building up strength this offseason. “Last year, I was rushing,” Snell said. “I wanted to pitch so bad.”
After signing a massive five-year, $182MM deal, Snell went down with shoulder inflammation just two starts into his Dodgers tenure. He posted eight walks to just four strikeouts in those two games. “Just never felt great, never felt what the normal (is) I’ve felt my whole career,” Snell said. He returned in August and looked like himself, piling up strikeouts and keeping opposing offenses off the board. The lefty limited the Reds, Phillies, and Brewers to two earned runs over 21 innings in the playoffs. The Blue Jays tagged him for 10 earned runs over three appearances, but Snell’s final postseason line still looks solid.
Even with the slower buildup, “the plan” is for Snell to be ready for Opening Day, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com. If Snell isn’t ready by late March, Roki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan would likely fill out a rotation. The Dodgers are a good bet to rely on more than five starters anyway, given the injury histories and heavy workloads of their core arms. As Ardaya points out, the starters covered 137 1/3 of 165 innings during the 2025 playoff run.
Tommy Edman is also going with the gradual approach this offseason. The 30-year-old is recovering from ankle surgery. The procedure included ligament repair and the removal of bone spurs, notes Ardaya. Edman said the issues affected him as a baserunner and as a defender bouncing between second base and center field. Similar to Snell, his status for Opening Day is uncertain.
“I think it all depends on how the progression goes along,” Edman said. “I’m not putting that as a hard line in the sand. I am doing everything I can to be ready for Opening Day. But if it comes around to that time and my ankle is 90 percent, not quite where I need it to be, I’m going to do my best to be patient with it and get it back to 100 percent and not dealing with it for the rest of the year.”
Shohei Ohtani Wins NL MVP Award
Shohei Ohtani has his fourth MVP award. As expected, the two-way superstar repeated as NL MVP and has now won the award twice in each league. He’s the second player in MLB history to win a fourth MVP. Barry Bonds won the award seven times. Until tonight, he’d been the only player to earn that title more than thrice. Ohtani won the award unanimously for the third consecutive season and has gotten all 30 first-place votes in all four of his wins.
It’s a third consecutive MVP for the Dodgers slugger. He won the AL version in 2023 during his final season as a member of the Angels. He has taken the crown in both seasons as a Dodger, winning a World Series in each. His $700MM free agent contract is already among the most successful in league history. He’ll have the opportunity to match Bonds’ record of four consecutive MVP wins next season. Bonds won the award as a member of the Giants each season from 2001-04.
Ohtani beats out Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto, the other NL finalists. He led the majors with 146 runs scored while slashing .282/.392/.622 across 727 plate appearances. Ohtani paced the NL in slugging percentage and OPS. He hit a career-high 55 home runs, one back of Schwarber for the Senior Circuit lead. Ohtani’s 102 runs batted in were “only” good for sixth in the NL, though that’s partially because he spent all but one week of the season working out of the leadoff spot.
While Schwarber matched Ohtani from a power perspective, the latter had the advantage of more than .040 points of batting average and .025 points in OBP. He also stole 20 bases and was a far more valuable overall baserunner. That’s before considering his achievements on the mound.
Ohtani finally returned after an extended layoff from pitching following his second career elbow surgery. He chipped in 47 innings of 2.84 ERA ball with 62 strikeouts over 14 starts. Ohtani probably would have won the MVP even if he were simply a DH, as he did in 2024. That he’s also capable of pitching at a top-of-the-rotation level when healthy only reaffirms his status as the sport’s greatest player today and arguably ever.
The award voting takes place at the end of the regular season. Ohtani added another eight homers with a .265/.405/.691 slash over 84 plate appearances in the postseason. He’d been only average during the Dodgers’ World Series run in 2024. That changed this October. Ohtani leveled up when the lights were brightest, hitting .333 with a .500 on-base percentage during the Fall Classic. He set a playoff record with nine times on base during the marathon Game 3, when a couple early homers led Jays manager John Schneider to intentionally walk him every time he came up in extra innings.
Ohtani’s monster showing shouldn’t take away from Schwarber’s phenomenal year. He led the NL in homers and took home the major league RBI crown by driving in 132 runs. Schwarber hit .240/.365/.563 across 724 plate appearances while starting all 162 games for the Phillies. He hit 187 home runs over the course of his four-year, $79MM free agent deal with the Phils and is now set to cash in during a return trip to free agency. Schwarber and Ohtani are tied for second in the majors in homers over the past four seasons, trailing only Aaron Judge. He has received MVP votes in four straight seasons, but this is his first time as a finalist.
Soto just wrapped up the first season of his free agent mega deal with the Mets. It was a disappointing year for the team, as they melted down in September and lost out on a playoff berth to an 83-win Cincinnati club. Soto came under some fire early after getting out to a slow start, but he was a monster from June onward. He finished the year with a .263/.396/.525 slash across 715 trips to the plate. Soto led the majors with 127 walks and paced the NL in on-base percentage. That’s to be expected for the hitter with the game’s best eye. Far more surprising is that he also tied for the NL lead with 38 stolen bases after entering the season with 57 steals over his first six and a half seasons. Soto has never won an MVP but has finished in the top three on three occasions.
FanGraphs credited Ohtani with an NL-best 9.4 wins above replacement between his pitching and hitting. Baseball Reference had him in second place at 7.7 WAR, narrowly behind Cy Young runner-up Cristopher Sánchez at eight WAR. BRef actually had Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo as the WAR leader solely among position players, excluding Ohtani’s pitching stats. Perdomo was second in fWAR behind Ohtani.
Schwarber received 23 of the 30 second-place votes. Four voters had Soto second on their ballot, while the other three placed Perdomo in that spot. The three finalists were the only players who appeared among the top five on all 30 ballots. Trea Turner, Pete Alonso and Freddie Freeman all received one third-place vote, with the rest split between Schwarber, Soto and Perdomo. Perdomo finished in fourth place, while Turner landed in fifth. Cy Young winner Paul Skenes came in sixth and was the top pitcher on the ballot. Corbin Carroll, Fernando Tatis Jr., Pete Crow-Armstrong and Francisco Lindor rounded out the top 10. Twenty three players received at least one vote.
Image courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images. Full vote breakdown available via BBWAA.
Dodgers Notes: Ohtani, Yamamoto, Lineup
Shohei Ohtani is slated to start Game 7 on the mound tonight. The two-way star will be pitching on three days’ rest after tossing six innings in Game 4 on Tuesday. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters, including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, that he’s “not sure” how long Ohtani will pitch. Roberts added that he wants to “withhold expectations and kind of read and react.”
After tearing his left shoulder labrum in the 2024 World Series, Ohtani was brought along slowly as a pitcher this season. He didn’t make his first appearance on the mound until mid-June. Since he’s a crucial part of the offense, Ohtani couldn’t take a few weeks off to go on a rehab assignment. Instead, he had to build back up at the major-league level. Ohtani tossed a single inning in each of his first two appearances. He eventually built up to three innings by the end of July. Ohtani made it through five innings in his final start of August, then capped off his regular season with his first six-inning outing.
Ohtani has had at least five days of rest between every pitching outing this season. The spread-out postseason schedule (along with LA’s success) has afforded him even more time off. Ohtani had 12 days between his NLDS and NLCS starts, then another 10 days until his first World Series outing.
While the workload has been a question for Ohtani, performance has not. He posted a 2.87 ERA across 47 innings in the regular season, and his xFIP (2.45) and SIERA (2.67) were even better. Ohtani rattled off three straight scoreless starts heading into the playoffs. He then posted quality starts in the NLDS and NLCS, winning both games. Toronto did get to Ohtani for four earned runs in Game 3, though he had six strikeouts and went six innings yet again.
Game 7s are typically all-hands-on-deck situations for the pitching staffs. Could that possibly include Yoshinobu Yamamoto? A video from Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times surfaced of the Game 6 victor throwing ahead of tonight’s game. Yamamoto wasn’t expected to be available tonight, but Roberts was asked about his status for Game 7. “He’s definitely interested,” Roberts told reporters, including Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.
Yamamoto followed his dominant complete game in Game 2 with another sterling effort on Friday. He allowed just one earned run over six innings, throwing 96 pitches. Yamamoto now has a 1.56 ERA over 34 2/3 innings this postseason. He would be in the World Series MVP conversation if it weren’t for Ohtani’s impressive contributions. While Yamamoto seems ready to go 2001 Randy Johnson, he’s probably pretty deep on the depth chart tonight. Roberts only had to use relievers Roki Sasaki and Justin Wrobleski in Game 6, plus an inning from starter Tyler Glasnow, though he only threw three pitches. Every other pitcher, including Game 5 starter Blake Snell, has had at least a couple of days off.
Roberts is largely running back the same lineup tonight, outside of flip-flopping Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez. That means Mookie Betts is back in the cleanup spot. Roberts bumped the scuffling Betts from second to third in the order for Game 5, then moved him to fourth for Game 6. The move paid off, as Betts came through with the biggest hit of the game. With the bases loaded and two outs in the third inning, the shortstop lined a Kevin Gausman fastball through the left side, knocking in a pair of runs. Betts had been 3-for-24 in the series prior to the single. It was his first RBI since Game 3 of the NLCS.
Muncy will move up to fifth in the order for the second time this series. Both instances have come against Max Scherzer. While righties got on at a higher clip against Scherzer this season, lefties had far more power. The veteran yielded 13 home runs and a hefty .545 slugging percentage in 200 plate appearances against left-handed hitters. The lineup adjustment will allow Muncy to get an earlier look at Scherzer.
Dodgers Notes: Smith, Ohtani, Glasnow
The Dodgers took the first game of their NLDS matchup against the Phillies. As they gear up for the second contest, manager Dave Roberts revealed some notes about the roster. Notably, Roberts said that Will Smith could start behind the plate in Game Three, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
The club has largely been without Smith for about a month. He took a foul ball off his throwing hand in early September, suffering a hairline fracture, and hasn’t played much since. He has been on the club’s postseason roster but hasn’t started a game yet. He did enter the first game against Philly as a pinch hitter, striking out twice and getting hit by a pitch. Ben Rortvedt has taken up the lion’s share of playing time with Smith out and is in the starting lineup again tonight but it seems possible Smith is trending towards retaking that playing time.
That’s potentially a huge boost for the Dodgers. Smith had a massive .296/.404/.497 line and 153 wRC+ this year. Rortvedt has managed a massive .500/.571/.667 line in the playoffs this year, but in a tiny sample of just three games. He’s obviously not going to maintain that production, especially when considering his .190/.279/.270 line in his regular season career. Even though Smith is getting healthier, he may not be immediately available to resume his previous level of production, so his condition could be an ongoing storyline as long as the Dodgers stay alive.
Roberts also confirmed the club’s rotation plans. Game one starter Shohei Ohtani will take the ball in game five, if necessary, and won’t be available out of the bullpen before then. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register was among the reporters to pass that along.
It’s quite common for starting pitchers to be available in the bullpen during the playoffs. More off-days allow clubs to shrink their rotations, which leads to some guys getting nudged out. Also, the “all hands on deck” nature of playoff baseball makes teams and players push things beyond normal comfort levels.
The idea of Ohtani making relief appearances has been kicked around but it’s understandable why the Dodgers would lean against it. For one thing, his workload is already double that of the normal player, given his status as a two-way player. Adding in some extra relief work would only tax him further.
There’s also the in-game strategy component of it. MLB implemented a rule in 2022 that would allow a starting pitcher to be removed from his pitching duties but stay in the game as the designated hitter. This basically only applies to Ohtani, so it’s often referred to as the “Shohei Ohtani rule”. But if Ohtani is not the starting pitcher and enters as a reliever, then is removed, he would have to either come out of the game or play a defensive position.
Taking all that into consideration, it’s understandable that the Dodgers are keeping things simple. Blake Snell is starting game two tonight with Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking the ball in game three. It seems likely that Tyler Glasnow will start game four, though he did make a relief appearance on Saturday. He came in after Ohtani and logged an inning and two thirds, throwing 34 pitches in the process. Despite that relief outing, Roberts said yesterday that Glasnow was in line to start Game Four, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Ohtani would then start Game Five, though Snell would also be on normal rest by then and could be a factor.
Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images
Clayton Kershaw Will Not Be On Dodgers’ Wild Card Roster
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts tells Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times that left-hander Clayton Kershaw will not be on the club’s Wild Card roster. The veteran southpaw is starting today’s game and it will be a normal start for him. The Dodgers recalled right-hander Landon Knack to give them a fresh arm, with left-hander Andrew Heaney optioned out as the corresponding move.
The decision on Kershaw makes sense given the short series, as they wouldn’t need him to make a start in the best-of-three. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell will likely take the ball for the first two contests. Tyler Glasnow started yesterday but only went three innings. He should be plenty rested to start on normal rest for Thursday’s Game Three, if necessary. Shohei Ohtani could also be a factor in there, depending on how the Dodgers want to use him.
The Dodgers have experimented with Kershaw as a reliever a little bit recently, as he tossed a relief inning on Wednesday. However, Kershaw lacks the top-end velocity that teams generally like to have coming out of the bullpen these days. His fastball averaged 90.4 miles per hour during that appearance out of the bullpen on Wednesday. Even with the Dodger bullpen scuffling a bit in recent weeks, they seemingly prefer to go with their typical relievers instead of having Kershaw convert to a pen role.
Since the Dodgers don’t plan on using Kershaw in the Wild Card round, they can have him absorb as many innings as possible today. Their contest this afternoon is meaningless, as they have already been locked into the #3 seed in the National League. It’s also meaningless for the Mariners, who are locked into the #2 seed in the American League. The Dodgers presumably hope to have Kershaw and Knack cover as much of the game as possible. Though they do have an off-day tomorrow before the Wild Card series begins, so they could perhaps have some relievers get limited work during today’s contest. Kershaw should get more consideration for a spot on the NLDS roster, if the Dodgers advance.
As for Heaney, he has more than enough service time where he can only be optioned to the minors with his consent. Presumably, he has agreed to be optioned off the active roster. That arrangement likely works for both sides. He probably isn’t going to be on the club’s initial playoff roster but could be recalled if some injuries pop up. That gives the Dodgers some extra depth. For Heaney, it’s a chance to potentially pitch in the postseason, whereas not consenting would only allow him to get a headstart on his offseason. He’ll be eligible for free agency at season’s end regardless.
Roberts also provided updates on some position players, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com. Roberts expects third baseman Max Muncy to be ready by Tuesday’s game. He hasn’t played since Wednesday due to some unspecified lower body injury. Roberts added that infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman should be able to play the field by Tuesday as well. Due to some right ankle soreness, he hasn’t played the field since Wednesday, though he did serve as the designated hitter on Saturday.
Catcher Will Smith is a bit more up in the air. He hasn’t played in almost three weeks due to a hairline fracture in his hand, suffered when he was hit by a foul ball. Roberts says he has been swinging lately but will need to take live at-bats tomorrow to be considered for the roster. Currently, the Dodgers have Ben Rortvedt and Dalton Rushing handling the catching duties.
Photo courtesy of Joe Rondone, Imagn Images
Poll: Will Anyone Get To 60 Home Runs This Year?
It’s been a great year for power hitters in MLB, as five different players slugged their 40th home run of the season before the end of August. It’s not often that so many hitters enter September with a realistic shot at the lofty threshold of 60 home runs in a season. It’s a feat that’s only been accomplished nine times, and the combination of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire account for five of those nine 60-homer seasons. Of course, it’s an incredibly rare feat for a reason, and many promising campaigns fall short in the season’s final month. 12 seasons with between 56 and 59 home runs have been logged throughout MLB history, after all.
Will this year’s biggest power threats join that club of also-ran seasons, or will we see the tenth 60-homer season in MLB history come to fruition this year? Here’s a look at each of the top home run hitters from this season and their chances of reaching that illustrious 60-homer plateau, in order of their current home run totals for 2025:
While everyone else on this list hit their 40th homer of the season in August, Raleigh’s 40th home run was actually slugged on July 26. The Mariners’ catcher has had a historic season this year, setting the all-time single season home run record for a catcher while sitting just four behind Mickey Mantle for the all-time single season record for home runs by a switch hitter. With 50 homers tallied so far this year, it’s hard not to see why Raleigh could have a very real shot at hitting 60 home runs this season. He’s hit at least ten homers in three of the season’s five months so far, and has never hit less than eight in a month this year. With that being said, it’s also worth noting that Raleigh has slowed down a bit in the second half of the season. In 40 games since the All-Star break, Raleigh has posted just a 112 wRC+ with 12 home runs. With just 25 games left to play on the Mariners’ schedule, he’ll need to pick up the pace if he’s going to reach 60 homers this year.
Schwarber is just one homer back of Raleigh in the race for the MLB home run lead after an incredible four-home run performance on August 28. Schwarber has long been one of the game’s premiere power threats and, like Raleigh, has hit at least 10 homers in three of this season’s five months so far. He’ll need to hit 11 in 25 September games in order to reach 60 homers, but one thing working in his favor is that he’s saved most of his power for the second half this year. He’s hit 12 home runs in both July and August, so if he can put up just one more month like the last two, he’ll get there. Of course, a player slugging .655 over his past 52 games also runs the risk of getting pitched around, which could damage Schwarber’s chances of making it to 60. One thing that could work in Schwarber’s favor is his home ballpark, as Statcast considers Citizens Bank Park to be the fifth-most homer friendly stadium in the majors this year.
With three MVP awards in the past four years, no one should put anything past baseball’s two-way superstar. Ohtani became the first player to go 50-50 last season, and with 54 homers tied with Mantle (and seven other seasons) at 22nd on the single-season home run leaderboard. With 45 home runs headed into September, he has an outside shot at not only breaking that personal record, but getting a coveted 60-homer season. 15 home runs in a single month is a tall order for any player, but Ohtani did exactly that back in May when he crushed 15 long balls in 27 games. The Dodgers have two fewer games than that in September, but Ohtani will benefit from playing his home games at Dodger Stadium, which is far and away the most homer-friendly ballpark in the majors this year per Statcast.
Aaron Judge hit his 43rd home run of the season yesterday, and that makes it a tall order for him to reach 60 homers this season. With that being said, onlookers around the game should know better than to doubt the hulking slugger’s offensive abilities at this point, with MVP wins in two of the last three seasons and a completely absurd 202 wRC+ since the start of the 2022 season. Judge is also, of course, the only active player who’s already a member of the 60 home run club after bashing 62 long balls to take the AL home run record from Roger Maris during his 2022 AL MVP campaign. Judge finished just short with 58 home runs last year, but perhaps this year will be different. In order to reach 60 on the season, Judge will need to make a different kind of history: as noted by Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com last year, the record for home runs hit in September (and October, in seasons where it hosts regular season games) belongs jointly to Albert Belle and Babe Ruth. Judge would need to at least tie that duo’s 17 homers in the final month of the year in order to crack 60 long balls this year.
What do MLBTR readers think? Will the league enjoy a 60-homer campaign for the second time in four years this season? And if so, who is most likely to pull it off? Have your say in the polls below:
Will there be a 60 homer season in 2025?
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No 59% (2,782)
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Yes 41% (1,920)
Total votes: 4,702
If someone WERE to hit 60 home runs this year, who would it be?
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Cal Raleigh 44% (2,001)
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Kyle Schwarber 43% (1,928)
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Aaron Judge 8% (341)
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Shohei Ohtani 6% (264)
Total votes: 4,534
Dodgers Notes: Snell, Ohtani, Rotation, Miller, Treinen
Blake Snell threw 76 pitches in a rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday, and it would appear as though this fourth rehab outing will also be the left-hander’s last. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) that Snell will be activated from the 60-day injured list this week, and the club will move to a six-man rotation.
It has been a long road back for Snell, who appeared in just two games for L.A. before shoulder inflammation put him on the shelf in the first week of April. Some renewed soreness in the later part of April led to both an injection in Snell’s shoulder and a shutdown from throwing, which led to this lengthy stint on first the 15-day and eventually the 60-day IL.
The lingering shoulder problem is the latest setback in Snell’s checkered injury history, adding to his reputation as something of an all-or-nothing pitcher. When Snell is healthy and available, there are few (if any) better pitchers in the game, as evidenced by Snell’s two Cy Young Awards and his tendency to catch fire in later in the season. As we saw just last season with the Giants, Snell battled injuries and ineffectiveness in the first three months of the 2024 campaign before delivering an absurd 1.23 ERA in his final 14 starts and 80 1/3 innings of action.
Time will tell if Snell can deliver anything close to that in his return to the Los Angeles rotation, but his impending return should be a nice boost to a Dodgers pitching staff that has been crushed by injuries all year. The move to the six-man rotation reflects this improved rotation health, and the club’s desire to manage everyone’s innings in an attempt to preserve the starters’ arms over the rest of the season and through October. If all goes well, the staff will consist of Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, and one of Dustin May or Emmet Sheehan.
This isn’t the first time the Dodgers adopted a six-man rotation, and the ragged nature of the team’s pitching health has already led to a pretty irregular deployment of the starters. There’s also the Ohtani factor, as the two-way star is still slowly building up his innings. Ohtani has tossed three frames in each of his last two starts, with May and Sheehan working as piggyback starters in support.
Ohtani is now expected to pitch four innings for his next two starts, Roberts said, so the team will be setting aside the piggyback plan for now. This doesn’t mean Ohtani is going to be viewed as a regular starter per se, as Roberts explained. “We’re not going to have the reins off where we’re going to say, ‘Hey, you can go 110 pitches.’ I don’t see that happening for quite some time,” the skipper said. “So I think that staying at four [innings] for a bit, to then build up to five and we’ll see where we go from there.”
Ohtani’s next two starts will come on Wednesday against the Reds, and then on August 6 against the Cardinals. Notably, the Dodgers don’t play on either of the days following Ohtani’s two scheduled starts, as Roberts said the intent is to give Ohtani some built-in recovery time following his pitching outings before returning to his usual DH duty.
There is still plenty of fluidity in the six-man rotation plan, so Roberts didn’t want to commit to stating which of May or Sheehan could be remaining in the rotation and which might be moved to bullpen duty. Describing the Dodgers’ pitching depth as a surplus is probably misleading given how more injuries could arise at any time, yet Los Angeles is addressing its number of starters at the Triple-A level by moving Bobby Miller from rotation duty to a relief job.
Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported yesterday about Miller’s role change, and Roberts confirmed the plan today. “I think that this might be something that unlocks him. Going hard for a shorter period of time, to get some confidence for him, which could help us here,” Roberts said.
Selected 29th overall by the Dodgers in the 2020 draft, Miller posted a 3.76 ERA over 22 starts and 124 1/3 innings in his 2023 rookie season, but that promising beginning gave way to an 8.85 ERA in 61 big league innings since Opening Day 2024. Shoulder problems cost Miller two months of the 2024 season but his struggles have continued into this year, including a 5.58 ERA at Triple-A Oklahoma City and continued control issues. Miller’s walk rate (15.4%) is almost as high as his strikeout rate (17.9%) over his rough 69 1/3 Triple-A frames this year.
Returning to the Major League bullpen mix, the Dodgers welcomed Blake Treinen back from the 60-day injured list today. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski was also called up from Triple-A, while righties Edgardo Henriquez and Will Klein were optioned to Oklahoma City.
Treinen posted a 3.38 ERA over eight relief innings for Los Angeles before right forearm tightness led to almost three and a half months on the sidelines. While the veteran’s health is still a concern given his significant injury history, Treinen was a major bullpen weapon for the Dodgers as recently as last year, when he posted a 1.93 ERA over 46 2/3 innings in the regular season, and then a 2.19 ERA in 12 1/3 postseason frames. His return won’t halt the Dodgers’ plan to acquire more high-leverage bullpen help at the deadline, but Treinen could help the club fulfill part of that need from within.