Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers had a successful road trip, sweeping the Nationals and taking two of three in the World Series rematch in Toronto. It did end on a bit of a sour note, as sloppy defense and a rough day for Jack Dreyer out of the bullpen prevented another sweep in Toronto. Alex Freeland made the first non-Will Smith-desperation-throwing error of the season for the Dodgers, and then Smith allowed the winning run to score on a throwing error with a runner on third.
The Dodgers still hold the best record in baseball and look to become the first team to 10 wins tonight against the Rangers. Texas is 7-5 this season, one of only four AL teams with a winning record. They’ve been streaky to start the season, which began with an Opening Day loss against Philly. They won their next four games before dropping four in a row heading into this week. They’re coming off a sweep of the Mariners led by their pitching staff, who only allowed three runs in the three games. Their pitching has been the strength to start the season, as they have a positive run differential (+5) despite having seventh-fewest runs scored in baseball (44). They’ve allowed the third-fewest runs in baseball (39) and have only allowed five runs or more twice in 12 games. The Dodgers took two of three in Texas last April, winning a pair of shutouts but dropping the middle game after Kirby Yates came in for a save and immediately allowed a double and a walk-off Adolis Garcia homer.
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| 7:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| RF | Nimmo (L) | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| LF | Langford | RF | Tucker (L) |
| SS | Seager (L) | C | Smith |
| 1B | Burger | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| DH | McCutchen | 3B | Muncy (L) |
| CF | Carter (L) | LF | T. Hernández |
| C | Jansen | CF | Pages |
| 2B | Smith (L) | 2B | Freeland (S) |
| 3B | Jung | SS | Kim (L) |
| P | Rocker (R) | P | Glasnow (R) |
Tyler Glasnow gets his third start of the season following two nearly identical starts to open the season. Glasnow allowed two runs and four hits over six innings in his first start against the Diamondbacks, and followed that up allowing two runs and four hits over six innings in D.C last Saturday. He struck out more and walked more batters in his last start (nine strikeouts and two walks, six strikeouts and one walk in his debut), but so far so good. Glasnow’s completed six in both starts after only doing so seven times in 18 starts last season, and topped 90 pitches twice after only doing so nine times last season. Glasnow started in Texas last season and allowed one hit over four shutout innings, but left the game at only 51 pitches with leg cramps. He did make his next start a week later, but only lasted one inning against the Pirates with shoulder discomfort and ended up missing 2.5 months.
Kumar Rocker gets his second start of the season and his first look at the Dodgers in his young career. Rocker pitched in three games in 2024 and 14 games last season after missing a couple months with a shoulder issue. Rocker struggled when he did pitch last season, with a 5.74 ERA/4.88 FIP in 64 1/3 innings. He allowed five or more runs twice in his five starts before hitting the IL but did show some signs of his college hype at times, including 6 1/3 innings of one-hit ball against the Tigers last July before they completely fell apart. Rocker had a solid 2026 debut against the Reds, allowing two runs and six hits over five innings but took the loss as the Rangers were shut out. Rocker was one of the best college pitchers in the country during his time at Vandy, with a 2.89 ERA and 321 strikeouts and only 68 walks in 236 2/3 innings over his three years there. He’s mostly continued that dominance in the Minors, with a 2.90 ERA and 115 strikeouts to 15 walks in 83 2/3 innings. However, he hasn’t found his stride in the Majors yet and only has 73 strikeouts and 30 walks in 81 innings.
Rocker threw a six-pitch mix last season, leading with three different fastballs. He threw a sinker 26 percent of the time, cutter 25.4 percent of the time and a four-seamer 20.2 percent of the time. He also mixed in a slider (16 percent), curve (6.3 percent) and change (6.1 percent). He changed up his mix in his start in Cincinnati, leaning on the slider (42.5 percent) and only throwing the cutter 7.5 percent of the time while not throwing a single curve. Kumar was one of the hardest-hit pitchers in baseball last season, with the 14th-hardest average exit velocity against among pitchers with 200 batted balls against (91.2 MPH) and the 13th-highest hard-hit rate (47.5 percent).
Hyeseong Kim gets the start at short with Freeland starting at second. For the Rangers, old friend Corey Seager bats third with other old friend Joc Pederson on the bench.
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Mookie Betts won’t be back when he’s eligible from the IL, but does have a positive update.
Betts is reportedly symptom-free from his oblique strain, which could mean he’ll be back on the shorter side of oblique injuries. Those tend to be tricky and flare up, but it’s still a good sign this early.
A few updates on the bullpen front with Brusdar Graterol and Brock Stewart.
Dave Roberts said Brusdar Graterol has progressed to throwing bullpens.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) April 10, 2026
Graterol has been throwing bullpen sessions and is reportedly feeling good. Stewart has continued his rehab in Arizona and could progress to a rehab assignment after facing hitters a few more times.
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First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PT and will be on SportsNet LA.
