I don’t have much time today. Our 5-year-old granddaughter stayed the night, and she loves to go out to breakfast and to church, so I am pressed for time, but I could not resist saying: “I told you so… and the horse you rode in on .” 😉 All the haters and doubters that wanted…
I don’t have much time today. Our 5-year-old granddaughter stayed the night, and she loves to go out to breakfast and to church, so I am pressed for time, but I could not resist saying: “I told you so… and the horse you rode in on.” 😉 All the haters and doubters that wanted Clayton to be gone had sight but no vision. This is Clayton Freaking Kerhaw! Never doubt the G.O.A.T.
Get busy living or get busy dying. Words I live by!
I said it when Roki Sasaki was struggling…If not Roki, who? He finally started to pitch with more confidence and he put together a string of positive starts. Yes, there were those who forgot about his previous four excellent starts and instead focused on his CWS start. He is a…
A good percentage of comments on this blog relate to “who bats where” in the batting order. “Shohei should bat cleanup.” “ Freddie should be the number three hitter.” “No, Freddie should hit second.” “Max Muncy should hit cleanup.” “Mookie should hit 9th.” … and on and on… Where…
I grew up in Ohio and lived there until 1976, when I was 23 years old. I have been in Indiana for 50 years, so I consider myself a Hoosier. Now, I actually live 45 minutes from Bloomington, where the IU Hoosiers play. However, since I was nine years old, I have been a Dodger…
What do I mean by true blue? Well, over the years I have seen my share of bandwagon and fair-weather fans. True blue fans stick with the team no matter what. Their allegiance to the team never waivers. Not when a favorite is traded or lost to free agency, not when the team…
Discussion (17)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Cleared for first pitching start
June 15, 2025
The Dodgers announced that Ohtani (elbow) will serve as the team’s starting pitcher for Monday’s game against the Padres.
“For the first time since making his last appearance as a pitcher with the Angels on Aug. 23, 2023 before undergoing his second career Tommy John surgery less than a month later, Ohtani will step back on an MLB mound. The Dodgers initially planned to have Ohtani throw at least one more simulated game this week before potentially clearing him to serve as a two-way player, but the right-hander reportedly pushed to resume pitching in MLB games, and the front office and medical staffs were comfortable honoring the request, per DodgerBlue.com. Though Ohtani tossed 44 pitches over three innings in his most recent sim game this past Monday, manager Dave Roberts said that the 30-year-old will operate as an opener in his first start, according to Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register. With that in mind, Ohtani might be limited to as little as one inning Monday, and he’ll likely be built up gradually over the course of multiple outings before he’s capable of handling a traditional starter’s workload. In the meantime, Ohtani will continue to serve as the Dodgers’ everyday designated hitter on his non-pitching days. He closed out the weekend on a high note, going 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs in Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Giants”.
Back to back series wins vs SD and SF….
NOW
WE GO
Cheers to big Dodgers fan JJ Spaun for winning our Nations Open Championship. Heart of a champion!!!
Ohtani pitching tomorrow
May not looking good again. Through 30 batters faced just 3 K’s and 4 BB’s. Not a recipe for success.
The team knows more about him than I do, of course, but it’s surprising that they are letting him throw so much, 94 pitches today – including many in high stress situations. I hope the team is balancing his future health with current needs.
Also, it needs to be said MVPages!
May….. Again!
Devers became a malcontent in Boston because he wanted to play 3B… when statistically speaking, he was the worst 3B in baseball.
The savage is going to play 1B in SF… or maybe DH.
Good riddance.
This is a high-risk move…
Devers to the Giants?
Rumor has it that Ohtani may be back THIS week!
7:10 PM ET
Giants (41-30)
Dodgers (42-29)
SP Kyle Harrison L
1-1 4.56 ERA
SP Dustin May R
3-4 4.46 ERA
.Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
RF T. Hernandez R
1B F. Freeman L
CF Andy Pages R
2B Tommy Edman S
LF E. Hernandez R
C D. Rushing L
3B Miguel Rojas R
85° Wind 10 mph Out
Here’s the thing about the current version of Clayton Kershaw. After hitting 91 MPH in his previous start, Clayton Kershaw did not throw a single pitch at or above 90 mph during his outing against the San Francisco Giants. So, there is less margin for error. In the playoffs, I think he will pair well with Sheehan or Ohtani.
UPDATE ABOVE:
I did not have time to do it this AM, but I changed the picture.
Who are all these haters and doubters?
Maybe I don’t get out much, but at least from what I read here and occasionally Jeff’s site, I’ve not seen much if any Kerhsaw “hate.”
No one hates Kershaw.
Are there doubts about his ability to dominate in a rotation that will already be stacked when the playoffs roll around?
You’d be delusional if you didn’t have some doubt.
His FB velo last night was 86-88, down from 89-90 of his prior starts. Kike threw a fastball last night at 87!
His K% is under 7. His BB% is over 3.
Maybe he’s a different pitcher. Maybe last night was not an anomaly, but shows how he has successfully adapted to the lower velocities of his pitches, and is effective through guile.
I hope so. There’s nothing I’d like to see more as a Dodger fan than Kershaw being instrumental in winning a WS and going out on top. It’d be the perfect storybook ending to a HOF career.
His current stuff, as it is, does give me concerns.
That doesn’t make me a hater.
Love Kersh, who doesn’t?
I feel like the perfect Kershaw-into-the-sunset script is unfolding. Kershaw gives us 10-12 outings this season and joins the 3,000 club.
He’ll want to pitch in the playoff but will gracefully defer to others more qualified.
Kersh proves you don’t have to throw in the high 90’s to win in the major leagues. Shades of Jamie Moyer. Nice game for Ohtani too. 25 bombs with 91 games left. Might hit 50 again.
Oklahoma City 8, Albuquerque 7
Great Lakes 9, Wisconsin 2
Rancho Cucamonga 6, Inland Empire 4
ACL Dodgers 8, ACL Athletics 0
Journeyman veteran Michael Chavis hits for the cycle for Oklahoma City
Mike Sirota and Kendall George lead Great Lakes offense
Sunday schedule
Wisconsin (Ryan Birchard) at Great Lakes (Maddux Bruns), 10:05 AM PST
Tulsa (TBA) at Springfield (TBD), 10:05 AM PST, completion of Saturday’s game
Tulsa (Jackson Ferris) at Springfield (TBA), game 2
Rancho Cucamonga (Jakob Wright) at Inland Empire (Peyton Olejnik), 2:05 PM PST
Oklahoma City (Bobby Miller) at Albuquerque (TBA), 5:05 PM PST
For more detailed recaps,stats,schedules, daily standings and box scores for Dodger minor league teams go to the top of this page and cIick on MINOR LEAGUE AFFLIATES.
The results were great
I’m not in a place that I can watch games from, and I also have no problem admitting (unlike many) that watching a game from the stands or on a screen doesn’t really give me that much insight into how a player looks.
The results, 7 shutout innings, were great. A 21% K rate (5 of 24 hitters) is basically average. Just 1 walk was great of course.
Beyond that, I can’t say. The stats he didn’t induce a bunch of soft contact and was actually hit harder than the average pitcher in 2025. Kershaw’s rates for soft, medium, and hard were 6/61/33. League average is 16/53/31. So Kershaw traded soft contact for medium contact. Can’t say that that’s ideal. Of course, it’s a small sample, so, that’s like, literally, 2 batted balls.
His xFIP for the game was 3.93. His SIERA was 3.86.
For me, a guy who trusts data over my own eyes (nearly everyone else’s), that seems like a reasonable assessment of how he pitched this game – good, but not great. The Giants just didn’t hit him.
But I’ll take a 3.9 runs per 9 Kershaw at this point. That’s still going to stabilize the rotation and win some games
Kershaw was magnificent.
If he can keep this up, the Dodgers will be in great shape.
My dream playoff rotation features both Kershaw and that other guy who really might be the GOAT, Shohei.
Here’s a fun stat: The Dodgers have played 71 games so far–and Shohei has scored 80 runs.