Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Been a while, so some of the stuff is a bit dated but it’s all still relevant.
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The Athletic: Freddie Freeman is playing amazing, which is remarkable because apparently the ankle he injured last year that was repaired in the off-season is still messed up.
Now, each day, the Dodgers begin the process of putting Freeman back together again with an hour and a half of treatment before he sets foot on the field to start his routine. After the game, he undergoes a series of contrasting temperatures (hot to cold and back) and sometimes a boot to preserve the state of the ankle. He wears a heavy wrap under his pants and lifts in his cleats to prevent his ankle from jamming against the top of the shoe.
The ankle has hardly gotten a break. Asked directly if he feels the ankle will be 100 percent again, Freeman admitted he doesn’t know.
“(Head athletic trainer Thomas Albert) thinks in a couple of months, maybe after the All-Star break, I might not have to do as much treatment,” Freeman said. “I’m looking forward to that.”
With him, it’s never having to worry about whether he’ll do everything to play, it’s more worrying about whether him trying to play will kill him.
MLB: Speaking of Freddie, he and his wife have donated $1 million to the Children’s Hospital Of Orange County, where their son was treated for Guillain-Barre syndrome last year.
“Seeing every room full in the PICU each and every day impacted Chelsea and I deeply,” Freeman told ESPN. “Getting to know the doctors, nurses and care teams and seeing how they show up each day to bring healing and hope to kids and their families was inspiring. CHOC saved Maximus’ life.”
Los Angeles Times: A short profile on Andy Pages‘ ongoing breakout, including Teoscar Hernandez‘s mentorship role.
“He’s played in the major leagues for a long time now,” Pages said of Hernández, a 10-year veteran who signed with the Dodgers months before Pages made his big-league debut. “He’s been through a lot of bad times. I went through that at the beginning of the season, for example, and last year too. And he’s given me advice that’s helped me a lot to get through that time.”
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TJStats: One of the five nastiest pitches in baseball? Ben Casparius‘ cutter, which has been a revelation for him.
Sitting in the low 90s with 6” of both ride (iVB) and sweep (HB) sits it squarely between his fastball and slider in terms of both velocity and movement. This action allows the pitch to act as a bridge offering. This means that out of hand his cutter looks similar to both his fastball and slider. Since its movement mimics both of those offerings, batters have a difficult time predicting which pitch is on its way to the plate before it is too late to react.
Aside from one blowup relief outing where he was hung out to dry, 2025 is certainly shaping up to be his breakout.
Pitcher List: Andrew Krutz makes the case that Andy Pages’ improvement is legit due to Process+ improvements.
Verdict: Legit. This appears to be a case of a solid prospect building on his relative success from his rookie season. Process+ agrees that his improvements are legitimate. The only yellow flag I see is that his Savant sliders are ho-hum. However, everything else looks good.
Pages has only reinforced his legitimacy since the time of publishing.
TJStats: When talking about fastball quality, here’s a good visualization of what 20-80 grade offerings look like, including Roki Sasaki at 40, Yoshinobu Yamamoto at 50, and Alex Vesia at 70.
Vesia may have the most outlier fastball in baseball. Despite sitting in the low 90s, Vesia’s fastball grades out as plus-plus thanks to its league best ~22” iVB. The ride on the offering is aided by his over-the-top release, but it is still miles ahead of the pack.
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Baseball America: Not only did prospect Patrick Copen return to the mound this year following losing sight in one eye, but he seems to be having a bit of a breakout as he’s one of the 10 pitching prospects who stood out in May.
The Marshall product has been excellent in May, pitching to a 2-0 record, 1.85 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and an opponent’s batting average of .122. Over 24.1 innings this month, he struck out 40 batters while walking just eight. In all four of his May starts, Copen generated a minimum of 16 swinging strikes, topping out at 19 swinging strikes in his May 13 and 18 starts.
While Copen has spent the better part of a year in High-A, he’s shown the sort of swing-and-miss stuff that could portend future success. Under the Dodgers’ tutelage, he could continue to evolve in the coming years, culminating in another viable starting pitcher grown in the LA system.
Definitely older for the level as a prospect, and there’s still command concerns, but if he’s eventually able to adjust to AA then all of a sudden he becomes A Guy™.
Baseball America: Prospects Mike Sirota and Eduardo Quintero were among 10 hitting prospects who stood out in May.
Sirota is the latest in a talented outfield corps bubbling in the minor league for the Dodgers. On the season, he is hitting .374/.457/.702 with nine home runs while showing a balance of bat-to-ball skills (9.7% swinging strike rate), approach (12.6% walk rate) and power. He’s shown off impressive exit velocity numbers and is getting into his pullside power more consistently.
In the month of May, Quintero hit .351/.443/.629 with five home runs and 15 extra-base hits. He also stole 13 bases, but his success rate wasn’t great, as he went 13 for 19. Quintero is hitting the ball in the air more in 2025, and it’s allowing him to get to more of his plus raw power in games. He displays excellent batted-ball angles in addition to his power, as evidenced by a high barrel rate and a pulled air rate of over 25%.
Baseball America: Speaking of Quintero, his improvement this year comes after he worked to make swing changes for the sake of efficiency after last year.
After the season, he stuck around the Dodgers’ complex in Arizona for about three weeks, working to cut the fat out of his swing.
“We could see it improving and we could see that he was motivated to go back to Rancho and kind of prove that he he was ready, and he belonged,” Dodgers farm director Will Rhymes said. “Now he looks like one of the best players there.”
The eight home runs he’s clubbed through 38 games equal the total he’d produced in his previous 132 games. So, how’d he power up? Part of it is the natural addition of strength as he’s grown into his body. Another part involves the swing changes, which stripped away some moving parts and added a bit more loft.
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Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis won the 2025 Sports Emmy for ‘Outstanding Sports Personality – Play By Play’.
Deserved, obviously.
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While the Dodgers are inarguably old at the moment, I do love the updates on how the next generation seems to be growing up well, and Pages might end up serving as a key bridge between the eras.
