Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (63-46) once again failed to complete a sweep on Wednesday, dropping the finale in Cincinnati to close out their worst full month (by winning percentage, excluding a 1-2 March 2018 and a 2-3 October 2022) since September 2017. They went 12-17 that September and limped into the playoffs, where they lost out on the piece of metal for reasons we don’t need to go into again. They went 10-14 in July despite winning the first three games of the month and have now seen their lead in the West shrink to three games.
The trade deadline also came and went (Dustin recapped it and looked at the roster earlier today) and while the Dodgers improved their Major League roster (and somehow also improved their farm?), it felt a bit underwhelming. The team is betting on themselves, and no trade will fix the team if Mookie Betts/Freddie Freeman/Teoscar Hernandez post OPS’s of .586, .678 and .646 respectively as they did in July.
They return from the deadline for a strange three-game set in Tampa. The start times are weird for us West Coasters (4:30 today, but 10 and 9 AM tomorrow and Sunday) and they’ll be playing at Steinbrenner Field, a minor league and Spring Training park. The Rays (54-56) were even worse than the Dodgers in July. They were 47-38 after their final game in June and proceeded to lose 18 of their 25 games in the month. They’ve lost eight of their last 10 and despite that, were cautiously buying at the deadline. They traded starting catcher Danny Jansen, acquired Nick Fortes and then also acquired Hunter Feduccia from the Dodgers. They also traded Zack Littell, but added Adrian Houser from the White Sox and made the final big swing before the deadline, acquiring Griffin Jax from the Twins from Taj Bradley. The Dodgers took two of three from Tampa in LA last August. The opener was memorable, as Shohei Ohtani hit a walkoff grand slam to join the 40-40 club after stealing his 40th base earlier in that game. The Rays took the middle game in extras, and the Dodgers won the finale.
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| 4:35 PM | Tampa | |||
| SS | Betts | 1B | Díaz | |
| DH | Ohtani (L) | SS | Kim | |
| C | Smith | SS | B. Lowe (L) | |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | 3B | Caminero | |
| RF | T. Hernández | DH | Morel | |
| CF | Pages | CF | DeLuca | |
| LF | Conforto (L) | RF | J. Lowe (L) | |
| 2B | Edman (S) | LF | Mangum (S) | |
| 3B | Freeland (S) | C | Fortes | |
| P | Kershaw (L) | P | Baz (R) |
Clayton Kershaw gets the ball for the 13th time this season. The Dodgers lost three of his four starts in July and Kershaw struggled, allowing 11 runs and 26 hits with only 10 strikeouts in 21 innings. He completed six innings in the first two starts of the month, but failed to get out of the fifth in his last two. Kershaw struggled last time out in Boston after the Dodgers gave him an early lead against Garrett Crochet. Boston started the second with a walk, double and two-run triple off Kershaw and scored a third run on a sac fly. A double play helped him work around two hits in the third and he threw a perfect fourth, but after starting the fifth with a pair of groundouts he allowed a single and an RBI double for a fourth earned run. Edgardo Henriquez came in to strand the double and the bullpen kept Boston off the board, but the offense couldn’t make up the 4-2 deficit. Kershaw needed 91 pitches to get through 4 2/3 which is the third most he’s thrown this season. Kershaw only made seven starts last season but one of those did come against Tampa. He allowed five runs and nine hits over five innings and threw a season-high 88 pitches, but that ended up being his second-to-last start as he left his next start in the first inning with the toe issue.
Shane Baz makes his 22nd start of the season tonight. He’s had a bit of a rough year so far, with a 4.61 ERA/4.48 FIP and 1.303 WHIP over 119 innings. Baz was solid last time out in Cincinnati, allowing two runs and five hits over five innings. It was a nice bounceback after his worst start of the season in Chicago, where he allowed eight runs and eight hits in four innings against the White Sox. He’s had quite a few absolutely dominant starts this season (four scoreless starts of six+ innings, three starts with double digit strikeouts), but has also had a few clunkers and a lot of mediocre starts. This could have something to do with playing in a minor league stadium, as Baz has a 6.33 ERA and .806 OPS allowed at home and a 2.97 ERA and .692 OPS on the road. Baz is somehow not a Dodger despite a career impacted by injuries. His 119 innings this season nearly doubled his total since 2021 (119 2/3 over four years thanks to a Tommy John in 2022 and an elbow issue last season. He’s never faced the Dodgers in his career but was supposed to start the finale of last season’s season before being scratched with the flu. He has faced Hernandez five times and Teo is 1-for-4 with a homer, a walk and two strikeouts.
Baz has nearly eliminated the slider from his repertoire. It was his second-most used pitch in each of his three previous seasons, but he’s only thrown it 4.2 percent of the time this season. He’s seemingly replaced it with a cutter, which he’s throwing for the first time this season and has used it 11.2 percent of the time. His knuckle curve is now his second-most thrown pitch, throwing it 28.7 percent of the time. He has one of the higher-velocity fastballs among starters, averaging 96.8 MPH on it.
A pretty standard lineup for the Dodgers today. Tommy Edman moves back over to second and Alex Freeland starts at third again. Deadline acquisition Alex Call is on the active roster, taking James Outman‘s roster spot. The Rays get Ha-Seong Kim back from the IL, which would be more fun if Hyeseong Kim wasn’t on the Dodgers’ IL. Old friend Jonny DeLuca starts in center, and newly old friend Feduccia was activated by the Rays but isn’t starting today.
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The Dodgers activated two of their pitching acquisitions, as Brock Stewart and Paul Gervase were added to the roster. Dustin May‘s roster spot was filled, and Kirby Yates was placed on the IL.
Kirby Yates is going on the IL with lower back pain. Brock Stewart, Paul Gervase and Alex Call will all be active tonight.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 1, 2025
Yates hits the IL with lower back pain and is going back to LA for testing. The move is retroactive to July 29, so he could return next weekend against Toronto. Stewart hasn’t pitched since July 28 and Gervase hasn’t pitched since July 25, so at the very least the bullpen should be extra fresh with the two of them added.
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Ohtani left his start Wednesday with a leg issue, but it seems that it was only cramping and nothing else has come of it.
#Dodgers Dave Roberts said Shohei Ohtani has no ill effects from his cramping Wednesday night. On track to make his next pitching start next Wednesday at home
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 1, 2025
He’s still lined up to make his next start on Wednesday and remained in the game to hit on Wednesday.
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First pitch is scheduled for 4:35 PM PT and will be on SportsNet LA.
