A’s @ Dodgers May 14, 2025: Yamamoto looks to rebound from rough Arizona outing, top prospect Dalton Rushing called up

The Dodgers got walloped last night, as Jacob Wilson returned to his hometown and took Landon Knack deep twice while the Dodgers managed one run and six hits off Jeffrey Springs. They wasted a three-double performance by Michael Conforto, who has actually looked solid at the plate of late, and non-Conforto or Will Smith Dodgers combined for two hits in the game. The Dodgers look to right the ship today before a bullpen game tomorrow, and have a shiny new toy to hopefully boost the offense.

	7:10 P.M.		Los Angeles
SS	Wilson	DH	Ohtani (L)
LF	Soderstrom (L)	SS	Betts
DH	Rooker	1B	Freeman (L)
C	Langeliers	C	Smith
RF	Butler (L)	3B	Muncy (L)
3B	Andujar	RF	Pages
CF	Bleday (L)	LF	Conforto (L)
2B	Urías	CF	Outman (L)
1B	Kurtz (L)	2B	Kim (L)
P	Hoglund (R)	P	Yamamoto (R)

Yoshinobu Yamamoto looks to bounce back after his worst start of the season in Arizona. He allowed three hits in the first three innings but held the Diamondbacks off the board until a disastrous fourth that began with a walk-single-hit-by-pitch. Gabriel Moreno promptly unloaded the bases with a grand slam for four earned runs off Yamamoto, who had allowed four earned runs in his first seven starts this season. They added a fifth on a Ketel Marte solo homer in the fifth to match Yamamoto’s career-high runs allowed. Yamamoto wasn’t going to be a 0.90 ERA guy all season, but the regression (and Diamondbacks) hit him hard last Thursday. Both homers came on the cutter (per Baseball Savant) after Yamamoto only allowed one homer off it last season.

Gunnar Hoglund makes his third career start tonight. Hogland is the 14th-ranked A’s prospect on MLB Pipeline after being the headliner of the trade that sent Matt Chapman to Toronto in 2022. Hoglund was excellent in his debut, allowing a run over six innings with seven strikeouts in Miami for his first career win. His last outing was a little bit worse, allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Mariners. He threw 99 pitches in that game, the second-most he’s thrown at any level since being drafted in 2021. Here’s a blurb from Pipeline.

Though Hoglund may never get back the electric stuff he possessed earlier in his career, the A’s were encouraged to see his fastball velocity tick back up to the low-90s. He has also experimented with adding a two-seamer and cutter. His low-80s slider now features more sweeping action and works as his main secondary pitch. He has also improved his low-80s changeup, creating a solid three-pitch mix that is enhanced by a strong ability to consistently throw strikes.

Hoglund’s shown the ability to throw strikes so far in his two starts, with only one walk and only seven three-ball counts. He’s leaned on the four-seamer, throwing it 43.3 percent of the time in his first two starts. He’s also mixed in a change, sweeper, slider and sinker all between 18 and 11 percent of the time.

James Outman and Hyeseong Kim both get the start with a righty on the hill. Max Muncy returns to the lineup, and for maybe the first time in like seven years I’m bummed that Smith starts behind the plate.

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The Dodgers made quite the roster move today, calling up top prospect Dalton Rushing.

The Dodgers are calling up prized catching prospect Dalton Rushing, sources tell The Athletic.

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 14, 2025

Rushing posted a .938 OPS in 31 games at AAA this season and was widely viewed as the Dodgers’ top non-Roki Sasaki prospect coming into the season (including Bruce’s rankings). Rushing is primarily a catcher and will now serve as Smith’s backup, but played 305 innings at first and 288 1/3 innings in the outfield in his four seasons in the Minors. Dave Roberts said he would get a couple starts per week and isn’t expected to play outfield for now. He’s not in the lineup today, but will start tomorrow. Rushing wasn’t on the 40-man roster, so the Dodgers did make a pretty surprising move to bring him up.

The Dodgers selected the contract of catcher Dalton Rushing and designated catcher Austin Barnes for assignment.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 14, 2025

Austin Barnes was designated for assignment. Barnes was the Dodgers’ longest-tenured position player and was still lauded for his ability to handle the staff, but was rough in basically all areas on the field. He posted a .518 OPS in 44 plate appearances this season and has caught 15 of 141 potential base-stealers over the last three years. Barnes deserves his flowers for his leadership and genuine contributions to some very good Dodger teams over the years, but it was getting hard to defend another season of having a backup catcher that didn’t bring much to the lineup or on defense. At worst, Rushing has enough upside to allow Smith some more days off so he doesn’t burn out as drastically as he has in the past.

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Lots of injury updates regarding Sasaki, Blake Snell, Emmet Sheehan, Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernandez.

No plans as of right now for Roki Sasaki to have medical intervention (such as a painkilling injection) in his right shoulder. Will be no throw for a while, Dave Roberts said.

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 14, 2025

Blake Snell threw out to 60 feet today, per Dave Roberts. So the doctor’s visit went well.

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 14, 2025

Emmet Sheehan threw live ABs to Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández today

Edman and Hernández likely won’t be back until next week. Roberts said Sheehan has been trending really well and could be a “pick to click” later this season

— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) May 14, 2025

Sasaki will be no-throw for a while but doesn’t have plans for any injections. Snell passed his doctor visit last night and threw in the outfield today. Sheehan threw live BP to Edman and Teo. Neither are expected back until next week, Edman probably won’t require a rehab assignment and Teo might go out on one before returning. Sheehan is tracking well in his return from Tommy John and could be an option in the summer.

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First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PT and will be shown on SportsNet LA.