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
In my lifetime, I have never seen such a Big Blue Wrecking Crew! Doc is going to run this like a Country Club until mid-September and then “flip the switch”. This is going to be a fun and wild ride. There has never been a better time for Dodger Baseball… and to talk Dodger Baseball. Welcome back, Jeff and LADC readers. R.I.P. Harold!
What other lineup in baseball has a player like Pages batting 8th? Or Muncy andvTeo batting 6th and 7th. The depth is insane! So fun having Kersh on the broadcast. He’s a natural!
Well played game on both sides of the ball by the Dodgers. Impressed that they only struck out 4 times.
Best team of my lifetime. I know how this season started but don’t know how it will end. Let’s try to enjoy the ride.
AZ hitting two Dodger stars. Anybody think there’s going to be repercussions? Regardless, a great start to the season.
Top of the division by a game. Will we be headed this season?
Yamamoto wasn’t even that sharp last night! Dodger pitchers did not issue a walk last night! Not even Trienan! Not Scott! Only blemish was an 0-2 pitch by Yamamoto that caught too much of the plate. Klein was nice! Arenado still can pick it at third! Is Will Smith the most under valued player in baseball? He’s so damn good! There’s a different look in Andy’s eyes. He may be much better than last season! Ohtani hits the ball so hard it’s scary! Mookie looks like he’s been playing shortstop since he started walking! Tucker looks like he’s loving being on this team! #2 in the lineup? WOW! Too bad Miggy is 37. He can’t still pick it at second! It was interesting to hear Clayton say that Teo was pretty dang fast! He doesn’t look that fast. But he looks healthy and happy! Really excited for River Ryan to be in this rotation! It probably won’t be too long. Sure gonna miss # 22 taking the mound! Sounds great on TV! But I’m sure it’s hard for him to sit so close to the dugout and not be in the dugout! The Mets look as if they could be an explosive offensive team. I guess we’ll just have to wait on Soto to ruin the chemistry! Haven’t looked at the pitching matchup for tonight yet. I’m assuming it’s Glasnow. He has some of the best stuff in baseball! Hopefully he can stay healthy. He’s something special when he’s on! Changing lanes a little. Arizona looked amazing last night! No not the Dbacks! The wildcats. They are my pick to win it all. I’m an ACC guy, but man the Cats look unstoppable. Nice to see Calipari take an -ss whippin! Now Duke needs to give Petino one! It’s hard for the ole boys to win now that teams are closer in talent. Legal cheating is now the thing!
If Treinen, Klein, and Scott can pitch like that, they may never lose a game. This team could “accidentally” win 120 games.
“Shohei Ohtani gifted all of his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates $4,000 Seiko watches at their lockers on Opening Day 2026. Each watch was accompanied by a handwritten note that read, “Let’s three-peat,” encouraging the team to win their third consecutive World Series title”. “It wasn’t the only gift Dodgers players received. Manager Dave Roberts also gave each player on the team a bottle of Traveller whiskey”.
The National League West Division is extremely weak with major flaws on all the teams.
2026 NL West Win-Loss Projections (PECOTA) The PECOTA Projections for the 2026 season favor the Los Angeles Dodgers to dominate the division, projecting them for over 100 wins. Team Projected Wins Projected Losses Los Angeles Dodgers 103.9 58.1 San Diego Padres 81.7 80.3 San Francisco Giants 81.4 80.6 Arizona Diamondbacks 78.4 83.6 Colorado Rockies 61.0 101.0
From SI: Complete list of most popular MLB jerseys right now 1. Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers 2. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers 3. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees 4. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners 5. Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers 6. Nolan Arenado, Arizona Diamondbacks 7. Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers 8. Pete Alonso, Baltimore Orioles 9. Roman Anthony, Boston Red Sox 10. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs 11. Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies 12. Kiké Hernández, Los Angeles Dodgers 13. Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies 14. Juan Soto, New York Mets 15. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays 16. Francisco Lindor, New York Mets 17. Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves 18. Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates 19. Josh Naylor, Seattle Mariners 20. Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers Kike “Freaking” Hernandez?
Thank you Jeff for all the hard work and financial support you put into LADC. It’s a shame that it had to end the way it did. Kudos to Bear for all his well written and researched articles that help to round out a terrific blog. I appreciate Mark welcoming everyone back. To quote Yogi “it’s Deja vu all over again” And, it’s great that Jeff will continue keeping all of us informed of all the Dodger prospects. He always seems to find a player that no one is aware of and after reading his analysis we become a fan of the player and envision him on the Dodger roster. No one does it better than Jeff! I was going to comment on last night’s game and point out the many positive results made by so many Dodgers. But, above, Dodgerdad did it for me! As I was reading his comments I kept crossing off my list of things I wanted to cover. Nothing much left to say after finishing his comments. Well done Dodgerdad. A couple of players I wanted to highlight though. Andy Pages – I think he is on his way to an All Star year and if can avoid the injury bug become a superstar for the Dodgers. They haven’t had a star position prospect since Will Smith arrived in 2019. Andy appears to be a good student of the game. He quietly had an outstanding offensive 2025 and vastly improved his CF defense. As for his poor postseason offensive output, he more than made up for it with his game seven catch that saved the WS victory for the Dodgers. Will Klein – Damn he looked awesome last night! What a find by the Dodgers. Question as with all Dodger pitchers, will he stay healthy? Blake Treinen – When he is healthy, he is so much fun to watch. Hoping for an injury free season. Mookie and Teoscar – Both look healthy with Mookie back to his proper weight and Teoscar shedding some unnecessary weight. Expecting productive seasons from both of them. Carry on.
Emmet Sheehan is the expected starter for tonight’s game.
If this was the 50’s, yep, there would be some retaliation. Not in this generation with the fact that warnings can cost you a pitcher.
As I watched the game last night and saw how well Andy Pages played, I said a quiet thank you to Arte Moreno who squashed a trade that would have sent Andy and Joc along with Springer to the Angels for Luis Rengifo and a prospect. Mike Trout homered in the Angels opening day win. He also stole a base.
I have Shohei, Yama, Betts, and Freeman from that list. No Kiké …yet. Kershaw, Seager, JT, Ethier, Buehler, Bellinger, and Wood are others hung deep in the closet. My next one will be Glasnow, but I will not get that until June 9, my birthday. I just have to convince my wife to get me the new gold edition jersey.. My wife has Smith and Cey.
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.
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.
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
Especially drafting at the end of the first round every year. No phenoms down there!
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.
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)
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
That was nice to see