And Away We Go!
And they are off and running! The 2026 MLB season is officially on its way. The Dodgers open at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks and begin their pursuit of a third straight Championship. Miggy Ro is in the starting lineup despite there being a right hander starting for…
And they are off and running! The 2026 MLB season is officially on its way. The Dodgers open at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks and begin their pursuit of a third straight Championship. Miggy Ro is in the starting lineup despite there being a right hander starting for Arizona.
We will get our first look at the powerful first eight of Ohtani, Tucker, Betts, Freeman, Smith, Muncy, Teo and Pages. Yoshi coming off of his World Series MVP performance, is the opening day starter. Yoshi has done very well against the D-Backs in his career, 3-1 in 6 games with a 1.93 ERA. He has allowed just 2 homers to them. They have added Arenado at third.
Gallen on the other hand, has a 2-5 record against LA in 15 starts with a 3.90 ERA. He has allowed 8 homers to the Dodgers. He is 1-4 in his career at Dodger Stadium. The game was televised on NBC and on Peacock. So, you did not get the full pre-game ceremony that you would have gotten on Sportsnet LA.
Freddie and Miggy Ro driven into the ballpark by Will Farrell with the two World Series trophies. Ownership raised the Championship pennant in CF, which looks entirely different now. Garvey and Jamie Jarrin revealing the 2025 sign. Magic Johnson throwing out the first pitch to Ohtani.
The game started off slow. Yoshi got the first two hitters and then Perdomo singled but was thrown out stealing. Ohtani singled in the Dodger half. Tucker hit into a force play, Betts struck out and Freeman grounded out. Except for a Muncy walk in the 2nd, that was the Dodger offense through four.
Perdomo slugged a 2-run homer in the top of the 4th. One of five hits Yoshi would allow in his 6 innings of work. He struck out 6 and did not allow a walk. The Dodger bats came alive in the bottom of the 5th. Muncy singled, Teo beat out an infield dribbler. Pages then hit a 3-run homer deep to left.
Rojas then singled and Ohtani walked, that chased Gallen. Tucker and Betts flew out. Freeman walked loading the bases. Smith then hit a shot down the line that Santana knocked down, but could not make a play on, Ohtani scored the 4th run of the inning. Muncy struck out to end the inning.
Az went down in the 6th, and so did the Dodgers. Treinen came in to pitch the 7th. He gave up a 1-out single to Arenado, but that was all. Dodgers put the game away in the bottom of the 7th. With Clarke pitching, he hit Ohtani. Tucker doubled to right-center scoring Shohei. Betts singled to center scoring Tucker. Freeman flied out deep to left, and Smith then hit a 2-run shot to left. 8-2 LA.
Klein pitched the 8th and got Arizona 1-2-3. LA loaded the bases as Pages singled, Rojas and Ohtani made outs. Tucker walked and Betts was plunked by Hoffman. Freeman then grounded out sharply to end the inning.
Scott came in to pitch the 9th. Carroll flied out to Teo in foul territory. Perdomo grounded out Muncy to Freeman. Moreno popped out to Betts ending the game. Dodgers had 10 hits and walked 5 times and had 2 hit batters. Yoshi got his 1st win of the year. Dodgers struck out just 4 times, and they were 3-7 with RISP.
After the 4th inning, it was all Dodgers. Yoshi, Treinen, Klein and Scott kept Arizona from any kind of rally. My player of the game was Pages with his clutch 3-run homer and a couple of excellent plays in center. One down, 161 left to go. Win was Dodgers fifth opening day win in a row. Since 1884 they are 75-64-4.
Orel was in the NBC broadcast booth along with Luis Gonzalez and Kershaw gave commentary from next to the dugout.
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Discussion (67)
Disagree, not disagreeable
He was the 59th pick in 2009. With pick 56, we took some dude named Blake Smith.
It was a joke. My emoji’s didn’t show up. I’m well aware they are paying him to be more. I will say he’s the lefty I trust 4th out of the pen until he shows me more. Of course I’m bias toward all former Hawkeyes
He is currently on the Tulsa Roster, but they don’t play until April 2. That could change…
Wish the Dodgers could’ve drafted Arenado.
10:10 PM ET Diamondbacks (0-1) Dodgers (1-0) SP Ryne Nelson R 0-0 .00 ERA SP Emmet Sheehan R 0-0 .00 ERA Confirmed Lineup DH S. Ohtani L RF Kyle Tucker L SS Mookie Betts R 1B F. Freeman L C Will Smith R 3B Max Muncy L LF T. Hernandez R CF Andy Pages R 2B A. Freeland S 68° Wind 8 mph Out
For your convenience, at the top of the Home Page, on the black bar that goes all the way across, there is a link which says “MINOR LEAGUE AFFILIATES.” They are all there. If anyone has any better suggestions, I welcome it.
Lineup is up
Sorry, my comment not only was missing a word but was ambiguous too. I meant to say we need him to be better than a mop up option this year. He was great last night.
If they were willing to pay Rortvedt 1.5 mil this winter, they should have done it now by claiming him again. I’m the first to admit that I’ve made Ben into way more than he really is, based on a fairly small sample size. That said, chances are pretty good that either Will or Rushing will spend some time on the IL this year and I’d rather spend that $1.5MM for Rortvedt than to have to call on Alfonzo or Zavala. And yes, it ain’t my money, and it’s actually more than $1.5MM because of penalties which would be involved.
Ben Rortvedt has passed through waivers unclaimed and was outrighted. Rortvedt could refuse the outright assisngment and beoome a free agent, but would have to forfeit his $1.5MM guaranteed contract that he signed when he was with the Dodgers. I am guessing that the Dodgers thought they could slip Ben through waivers thinking no team would pick him up with that guaranteed contract. The Dodgers are probably fine with Eliézer Alfonzo and Seby Zavala as their AAA catchers.
Ehrhard is on the published preliminary roster for OKC. His assignment is just not official yet. Jerming Rosario and Logan Allen are also on the preliminary roster, but their assignments have not yet been officially reported either. The Affiliate’s roster page will not update the names until the assignment is officially reported. MiLB rosters are constantly manipulated. Currently River Ryan is assigned to the ACL Dodgers. OKC will not need him for the weekend games, so no reason to add him now. ACL Dodgers roster will get multiple AAA, AA, A+, and A players added. ACL does not start until May 2. MiLB also has a Development List which is liberally utilized. They also utilize a 7-Day IL for all players rather than 10-Day IL (non-pitchers) and 15-Day IL (pitchers). Like MLB, they also have a 60-Day IL, but also have a Full-Season IL. My guess is that the Dodgers have River Ryan at Camelback ramping him up if Sasaki does not fare well on Monday and a change is made.
Erhard is at AA Tulsa. Tibbs III is listed as the 4th outfielder. OKC plays Albuquerque tonight. Cole Irvin is starting for OKC.
OKC starts tonight at home vs Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado AAA affiliate). 32 year old LHSP Cole Irvin is scheduled to be the OD starter for the Comets. Albuquerque will counter with 28 year old RHSP Tanner Gordon. The game starts at 5:05 PDT. I look forward to watching a couple of hours of OKC before the Dodgers game.
After one game? Seriously? Give the man time.
Most talented roster for sure. The 2019 team won 111 games. Best in franchise history.
He needs to better than mop-up
Arenado at 6th?
That was nice to see
Scott looks good in the mop up role. Let’s keep him there. Hopefully Treinen gains some confidence and we see the old Treinen. Interesting stat. Will Smith is 5 postseason RBI’s from being the all-time leader at catcher in MLB history. That’s playing something like 45 or 50 games less than Posada. He has to be the most underrated player in the games. Quietly on his way to the Hall of Fame
Oklahoma City AAA Preliminary Roster Starting pitchers (4): Cole Irvin, Ryder Ryan, Cristian Romero, Carlos Duran Right-handed relievers (8): Kyle Hurt*, Paul Gervase*, Chris Campos, Keynan Middleton, Jordan Weems, Wyatt Mills, Antonio Knowles, Jerming Rosario Left-handed relievers (4): Ronan Kopp*, Antoine Kelly, Logan Allen, Garrett McDaniels Catchers (2): Eliézer Alfonzo, Seby Zavala Infielders (4): Ryan Fitzgerald, Noah Miller, Nick Senzel, Austin Gauthier Outfielders (4): Michael Siani*, Ryan Ward*, Jack Suwinski, Zach Ehrhard Infielder/outfielders (2): Hyeseong Kim*, James Tibbs III Injured list (2): José Rodríguez (60-day), Matt Gorski (60-day)
I have a military edition Seager, Robinson 55 Series, Koufax, Gibson 88 series, Bellinger road, Freeman home, a blue Russell Martin, Kershaw road uni, Adrian Gonzalez home.
Especially drafting at the end of the first round every year. No phenoms down there!
Jackson Ferris has had quite an interesting path through the minors (Cubs and Dodgers.) In 2023, at 19 years of age A BALL (Cubs system) 18 Games and 56 innings In 2024 Upper A (Dodgers system from here on) 20 Games and 98 innings AND AA Ball: 7 games, 98 innings. In 2025 Full year in AA: 26 games, 126! innings. Now it’s 2026 and his Age 22 season he is in AAA where the average age is 25
A lot of people pooh-pooh Dodgers development for not developing “stars.” I feel these same people wildly overlook Will Smith and Pages. For many Front Office regimes developing just one player like those would be enough to hang a hat on. But to have done both in addition to Busch is quite something.
Good lord, how impressive for Kike!! I have 1 jersey: # 42. I can’t imagine wanting another one, but if I did, it’d have to be Shohei for when I travel outside America.