Getting Ready to Rubble
Opening Day against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on March 26 is approaching sooner than later. Except for 2B, which ultimately seems to belong to Tommy Edman, who will start the season on the IL, all the positions are set… barring injury… and there will be…
Opening Day against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on March 26 is approaching sooner than later. Except for 2B, which ultimately seems to belong to Tommy Edman, who will start the season on the IL, all the positions are set… barring injury… and there will be injuries. Won’t there?
Breakout candidate: Christian Zazueta is a RHP who is 6′ 3″ and very skinny. He came to the Dodgers in the Caleb Ferguson deal with the Yankees. He has recently added 17 pounds but needs about 30 more. His fastball tops out at 98 MPH and has a killer changeup. He is working on a sweeper/curve, but he is a strike thrower. Last season, between Great Lakes and Rancho Cucamonga, he was 7-2 with a 2.41 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. In 67 IP, he struck out 81 and walked just 16, so he has incredible control for someone so young. He will start at Great Lakes, but he could move rapidly and could possibly see the show by fall. Watch this kid:
Players most likely to be traded: I am going to preface this by saying, “If he has a good spring.” The player is Hyeseong Kim. He is essentially Alex Freeland with less power and not able to hit from both sides of the plate. I can see him being traded if he has a hot spring. Oh, and if Freeland has a good Spring. Kim really isn’t the type of player the Dodgers seek. I prefer Freeland, and Kim has some real value to certain teams.
Some fans will say Miller or Knack, but that would involve selling low. We know that Graterol and maybe Snell will be late to the dance, along with Edman and Kike, so some pitchers will get an opportunity early. I think that after the World Series of 2025 and the long season, the Dodgers will slow-play a lot of the staff. Look for Wrobleski, Casparius, Stone, Sheehan, and Ryan, along with Knack, to get opportunities.
The Lineup:
Right about now, it looks like this:
- Ohtani DF
- Tucker RF
- Betts SS
- Freeman 1B
- Smith C
- Muncie 3B
- Teoscar LF
- Pages RF
- Kim/Rojas 2B
Bench: Rushing, Call, Freeland
More from Dodger Talk
Dodgers Food Trailer
I did this interview a couple of weeks ago with Chef Mike, who runs the Dodgers Food Trailer for the Great Lakes Loons. They are there for every home and road regular season and playoff game. They prepare three meals a day for approximately 50 people (players and coaches). Since games end late most evenings, they do not prepare breakfast. Many of their hotels have a complimentary breakfast anyway. However,…
Meet LAD 2026 Draft Picks 1-12
3 picks were High School players (2 SS and 1 OF). There was a college OF, college catcher, college SS, and 10 college pitchers. Of all the talk for a need for a catcher, the only catcher the Dodgers selected was Luke Bard, son of LAD bullpen coach Josh Bard. Bard was a 4th year senior from Houston Christian University. He is not a prospect, so the Dodgers are still…
Interview with Paul Beachy – Team Bus Driver For The Great Lakes Loons (LA Dodgers Minor League Team)
It’s been a few days since I did this interview. We have evidently been working my son-in-law (the video guy) like a rented mule at US Water Systems. However, I am taking him to London with me in a few days, so maybe Watford will buy him a pint as a tip, but he’s a dang Red Sox fan, so there is that! I thought that it would be interesting…
Thanks for Your Service: Chris Taylor
I was going to do this post when Chris announced he was retiring, then he changed his mind, but since the chances of him ever playing for the Dodgers again are slim and non-existent, I will go ahead with this post. He unretired, went on the IL, then decided to call it quits on May 24th. Taylor was born in Virginia Beach VA on August 29th, 1990. He attended Great…
Discussion (110)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Freeland is adept all over the infield. He has not played outfield.
Big difference between Milb and MLB performance as Freeland has proven. He is not going to play for the Dodgers if he doesn’t hit better. Plus he can’t play/sub CF, SS, 2B or even 3B in a pinch. I wish hits .280 with 30 dingers but spring training will give us a hint. Thanks for letting us comment freely. It means a lot.
Good for Fedex, Lux, Busch and McKinstry. Ward is a probably hoping for a a trade to end this BS before he is 30. No we didn’t have room for them, but I wish them well.
Nick Senzel bears watching.
Kim is safe until then… maybe!
Katie Woo @katiejwoo As expected, Dodgers are targeting midseason returns for Kiké Hernández & Evan Phillips per general manager Brandon Gomes. Hernández will start taking swings soon, while the org is looking at Phillips as more of a “deadline acquisition,” in terms of timeline, Gomes said.
It is split about 50/50 on those who watched the play. Some thought Kike would have caught it. Others thought that he was too low and would have had to jump to catch it as he was running with his back to the play. Kike has said that he would have caught it and also that he wouldn’t have caught it. Statcast gave Pages a 60% Catch Probability. All I know for sure is that Pages DID catch it. Would Kike have caught it? We will never know!
02/21/26 Los Angeles Dodgers placed 1B Enrique Hernández on the 60-day injured list. Recovery from left elbow surgery.
That poor horse……is beating a dead one considered animal cruelty?
The team is beyond loaded. Both a lot of competition and very in that the spaces are so rare.
Kim will be there in the beginning, but what happens when Kike, Edman, and Rojas are on the team, and what if Freeland steps up? It’s possible they send him to OKC knowing that Rojas and maybe Kike will not be back in 2027.
My eyes say otherwise. I’m going with first hand observation.
Give Kim a chance. He might surprise all of us. I’m positive his work ethic is definitely there.
He has NO minor league options remaining.
Kim is making the most of it.
Dodgers To Claim Jack Suwinski “The Dodgers are claiming outfielder Jack Suwinski off waivers, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Pirates designated Suwinski for assignment earlier this week to open up a 40-man roster spot for Marcell Ozuna. The 27-year-old Suwinski has struggled mightily over the past two years, following a breakout 2023 campaign. The outfielder began last season on the big-league roster, but didn’t make it through April. He ended up tallying 59 games with the Pirates and 56 games at Triple-A. Suwinski mashed in the minors to the tune of a 150 wRC+. He managed just a 55 wRC+ in 178 MLB plate appearances”.
BANG!
Kim could really impress right about now!
Play Ball! It’s been a long winter. I’m soooo ready for some baseball. The announcers just confirmed what I have always believed: Kike Hernandez said that he would NOT have caught the ball Andy Pages bulldozed him on in the World Series.
Millionaires fighting Billionaires. Let’s see how long it takes to get a deal done.
Gonsolin underwent an internal brace procedure and flexor tendon repair on his right elbow in August 2025. This surgery was a revision of his previous 2023 Tommy John surgery. His recovery is estimated to take 8 to 10 months. 2026 Outlook: He is expected to miss at least the first half of the 2026 season, with a potential return unlikely before August or September 2026.
The new head of the MLBPA is reputed to be a real hardliner. Well, it’s actually not a rumor!
New MLB Rumors Reveal Proposed Salary Cap as Owners Keep $2B in ‘War Chest’ for Potential Lockout “MLB owners will reportedly push for the implementation of a salary cap as part of the next collective bargaining agreement. According to Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the “initial” sense is that the cap floor for a first proposal would be between $140 million and $160 million while the ceiling would fall into the range of $260 million and $280 million. It would have to be “grandfathered in for a few years.” MLB owners have also funded a “war chest” of approximately $75 million per team in order to provide financial protection in case of a work stoppage, per Heyman and Sherman. The ownership fund contains a total value of over $2 billion. The MLB Players Association has a “significant” war chest as part of a standard preparation for a possible lockout as well, via Heyman and Sherman. The MLBPA will enter CBA negotiations with Bruce Meyer as its interim executive director following the resignation of Tony Clark. Heyman and Sherman reported Thursday that players remain “adamantly against” a salary cap and have expressed a “strong expectation” that a lockout will occur when the current CBA expires. Substantive discussions between both sides have yet to begin. The MLB and MLBPA reportedly held a preliminary meeting in Nov. 2025. According to Evan Drellich of The Athletic, the league could pursue the addition of a “hard-cap” model based off the NHL instead of the NBA’s cap system that includes tax and apron thresholds. Owners are willing to discuss significantly increasing the current minimum wage of $780,000 and lowering the service time required to reach arbitration and free agency as “bargaining chips” if they can receive a salary cap in return, per Heyman and Sherman. An MLB work stoppage hasn’t occurred since 1994, resulting in a shortened 1995 season. The current CBA expires on Dec. 1″.
I missed this. You were right on Lux!
Wish I could watch. Daughter’s away at college and manages all my subscriptions! I don’t even know our wifi password.