Dodger Juggernaut Starts Steam-Rolling
PLUS: MISSING THE GREAT PRE-SEASON ANNUALS
Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
What, no Sherlock? Two NL East clubs opened the season with converted relievers named Holmes as starters: Grant Holmes (Braves) and Clay Holmes (Mets) . . .
Another great name: Rowdy Tellez, who has averaged 26 home runs over his seven-year career, is back in the big leagues, this time with the power-starved Seattle Mariners (his real name, by the way, is Ryan John Tellez) . . .
With three injured starters, the Rangers will give rookies Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker — both former first-round draft choices — plenty of work behind Jacob deGrom & Company . . .
New Yankees catcher Austin Wells won the starting job — and leadoff spot — by hitting .348 with six home runs and a .400 on-base percentage this spring . . .
Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus is one of 21 catchers in baseball history who have batted first in more than seven games . . .
Two former Braves relievers who throw left-handed hope to help New York teams after overcoming lingering injuries: Tyler Matzek (oblique) with the Yankees and A.J. Minter (hip) with the Mets . . .
Not counting Matzek, who is not yet on New York’s 40-man roster, the Yankees’ injured list contains 11 names, including DJ LeMahieu (calf), Giancarlo Stanton (elbows), and Clarke Schmidt (back, shoulder) . . .
The arrival of Juan Soto helped the Mets draw a club-record 106,027 fans for the 16 games played at Port St. Lucie this spring.
Leading Off
Will the Dodgers Ever Lose?
By Ray Kuhn
Eleven. That’s only two away from 13, which is a full pitching staff. Let’s repeat that again for emphasis: 11.
That’s how many pitchers the Dodgers currently have on their Injured List. And to be clear, we aren’t talking about roster-fillers either. There are some real contributors here such as Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Stone, Tony Gonsolin, Michael Kopech, and Evan Phillips. If this were another team, the results would be crippling.
Instead, this the Dodgers we are talking about. The defending champions have become a symbol of what’s wrong with baseball. To say that they have positioned themselves to weather the storm would be an understatement. While it feels as if we can simply hand them the National League West title, National League Championship, and World Series, let’s not get too crazy.
There’s no reason why they won’t coast their way through the division and the regular season, but we shouldn’t get ahead of things. I understand the sentiment and reaction, but why be so negative?
Baseball has just returned, and after Thursday night, the Dodgers have played four games while 26 other teams have only played two. Yes, Los Angeles has won all of those games, so I will concede that just makes matters worse.
For the record, when we talk about the Dodgers’ 11 injured pitchers, that doesn’t even count the pitching version of Shohei Ohtani. To say that Los Angeles is set up to deal with injuries might be putting it mildly. They have taken depth beyond the next level.
But after they were forced to utilize multiple bullpen games in the post-season, you can say the Dodgers are covered. Ultimately, they were strong enough to overcome that before, but every year is different.
Making into the post-season is very different than advancing and winning the whole thing. Sure, there are the Dodgers and everyone else, but that doesn’t mean we should just give up. Enjoy the regular season for what it is, and know that in a short series with a small sample size, anything can happen.
If this pre-dated the Wild Card era, or was before the revision to the post-season that allowed even more teams to make it through October, it would be a very different story.
While the Dodgers, or a situation like this, isn’t why the rules were changed, it certainly puts things in a different light. Sure, the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, and San Francisco Giants have a tougher path through the post-season, but they still have a lot to play for. They control their own destiny and shouldn’t give up.
For now, though, we really should stop and appreciate what we are seeing. Granted the Chicago Cubs didn’t feel the same way after losing the first two games in Japan, but as fans and lovers of the game, we can feel differently.
Mookie Betts was ill. That’s no big deal; just put him on an airplane back to the United States to get better. Freddie Freeman tweaked a rib. Let’s sit him right down on the bench. It’s becoming very clear that regular season is just a formality for the Dodgers and they can take liberties other teams simply can’t.
There’s not to ignore their payroll and the insane deferrals they have issued. That clearly provides them the ability to act in this manner, but every decision has proven to be wise. There isn’t any wasted money here. This is what separates the Dodgers from just about every other team.
Perhaps the funniest, or cruelest depending on your vantage point, thing is how the Dodgers have handled their bullpen through the first three games.
The Dodgers were proceeding initially that Michael Kopech and/or Evan Phillips would handle the closing duties. Both are currently on the Injured List, but we know that doesn’t matter.
Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia are still in the bullpen, and for most teams, that would be enough. Granted this is where the criticism starts, but Tanner Scott was signed to a four-year, $72 million contract. At that point, it was simple. Scott, who has the pedigree, would be the closer.
But just kidding: Kirby Yates was given a $13 million contract after a strong season closing games for the Texas Rangers last year.
In Game 1, the Dodgers went right to Scott and he picked up the save. The following day, it was Vesia who got the save. After a week off, on Thursday, the Dodgers decided to keep everyone guessing and turned to Treinen. At this point, you have to wonder, is Dave Roberts just trolling us?
Either way, no need to fret; just enjoy the Dodgers for what they are.
It’s not something we’ve ever seen to this degree, and who knows if we’ll see it again. And remember, it’s still anyone’s World Series to win.
Ray Kuhn can be found covering Fantasy Sports and the MLB on Fantrax, Dr Roto, and MSN after previously covering the Houston Astros as part of the FanSided network at Climbing Tal’s Hill. Reach him on X/Twitter at @ray_kuhn_28 or raykuhn57@gmail.com as he is always interested in talking or writing about our great game.
Cleaning Up
Baseball Preview Issues Aren’t What They Used To Be
By Dan Schlossberg
Before the internet nearly put print publications out of business, the advent of March meant the appearance of a dozen or more pre-season baseball annuals.
The best of the bunch was Street & Smith’s Official Baseball Yearbook, known for its maroon cover, myriad of well-crafted feature stories, and detailed scouting reports.
Not far behind was Bill Mazeroski’s Baseball and Baseball Illustrated, both clients of mine for years, and The Sporting News Baseball Yearbook.
Recent additions and still survivors to this day are Lindy’s Baseball Preview and Athlon Sports Major League Baseball Preview.
The tabloid USA TODAY Sports Weekly, which began life as USA TODAY Baseball Weekly, still does a nice job with its pre-season issue too.
Various big-city newspapers, notably The New York Post, also publish previews — including a comprehensive 32-page insert that appeared in Wednesday’s editions.
Predictions, team previews, and essays of all sizes, shapes, and descriptions can also be found on MLB.com, MLB Trade Rumors, and The Athletic, which usurped the once-thriving sports department of The New York Times.
Then there’s Sports Illustrated, once the standard-bearer for all things baseball.
It used to have detailed team-by-team “scouting reports” that included what it called Basic Rosters, schedules, pictures, and predictions that inspired schoolyard arguments from coast to coast.
The latest one, featuring Juan Soto and a half-dozen of his new Mets teammates, has a gorgeous cover, a well-crafted opening piece by Tom Verducci on wealthy owner Steve Cohen, and the usual slick, glossy paper stock. But the piece on umpire camp and the Dave Roberts profile don’t move me — especially when that space could have been better utilized by discussing teams and players most likely to influence the 2025 season.
I count on publications like Sports Illustrated to cover the entire baseball world, not just the teams on the coasts who spend the most money. Enough already!
It’s just not the same as the old SI baseball issues, since the space for scouting reports has been reduced to two pages for each of the six divisions and just one page for capsule comments on the five teams in each.
Some 20 pages are occupied by golf, football, and other sports with no interest or appeal to a baseball purist like me.
That space could have been — and should have been — devoted to lengthier team scouting reports such as those found this year in the Lindy’s and Athlon annuals.
Hey, don’t mind me: I’m a baseball traditionalist who liked it better when there were two eight-team leagues, no DH, no wild-cards, no scheduled playoffs, and certainly no Manfred Man getting a free ride at second base in extra innings. And no night World Series games either — especially on weekends.
I also liked it better before the Age of Analytics changed the game forever.
Not to say the SI baseball preview is bad — it’s just different than the one I grew up loving. Baseball loves to turn back the clock, recalling its storied history by showcasing old uniforms, for example.
Maybe Sports Illustrated should do the same, especially now that The Sporting News — no longer a rival — has gone from tabloid to internet, invisible to most of its former readers. I just hope SI doesn’t suffer the same fate.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is a long-time subscriber to Sports Illustrated whose favorite publication as a kid was The Sporting News — mainly because it printed minor-league box scores! Dan is on a book tour promoting The New Baseball Bible 2025 edition. His email is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia: Deja Vu All Over Again
CAN THEY REPEAT?
No team has won consecutive World Series since the Yankees won three straight in 1998, 1999, and 2000 . . .
The Washington Nationals led the majors with 223 stolen bases but finished fourth in a five-team division because they scored 660 runs, second-worst in the NL . . .
Although Arizona outscored the Dodgers by 44 runs last season, the D’backs failed to parlay their best-in-baseball 886 runs into a repeat of their 2023 NL flag . . .
Despite strong starting pitching, the Seattle Mariners made the playoffs once in the past four years and remain the only team that has never reached the World Series . . .
Pittsburgh leads the National League with a drought of 45 years.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@outlook.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.