Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (10-3) notched their tenth win of the season last night, in a 8-7 thriller against the Texas Rangers (7-6). They became the first team to reach double-digit wins, and did so in dramatic fashion behind Max Muncy‘s three-homer game and Edwin Diaz‘s … first win as a Dodger. Tyler Glasnow pitched better than his four run line would suggest, as he made a bad mistake to the best hitter on the Rangers, Corey Seager. Diaz eventually came in with a three run lead in the ninth inning, but allowed three earned runs for his first blown save of the year, all to simply set the stage for Muncy, who walked it off with his third solo shot of the game. Tonight, the Dodgers go for the series win with Emmet Sheehan on the mound, aiming for an easier win. Jack Leiter will be on the mound for Texas, looking to continue what has been an excellent start to his season.
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| 6:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| RF | Nimmo (L) | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| LF | Duran | RF | Tucker (L) |
| SS | Seager (L) | C | Smith |
| 1B | Burger | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| DH | Peterson (L) | 3B | Muncy (L) |
| CF | Carter (L) | LF | T. Hernández |
| C | Higashioka | CF | Pages |
| 2B | Smith (L) | 2B | Freeland (S) |
| 3B | Jung | SS | Kim (L) |
| P | Leiter (R) | P | Sheehan (R) |
The Rangers make a few changes to their lineup as they head into the second game of this series. Wyatt Langford is out of the lineup after suffering a day-to-day quad injury last night. He injured it on his home run against a Glasnow curveball, a feat that happens so rarely, it seemingly has the chance to cause injury when it does. Ezequiel Duran is primarily seen as a defense only outfielder these days, and he will start in Langford’s place. Kyle Higashioka will get the start behind the plate over Danny Jansen, while Joc Pederson start at DH over Andrew McCutchen.
The Dodgers do the unthinkable and run out the exact same lineup in back-to-back games. Freddie Freeman has the lowest batting average in the lineup at .255 and Will Smith has the lowest OPS at .731. In some capacity, everyone is hitting. Andy Pages continued his incredible 2026 season last night, adding three hits and a walk, including a double and the go-ahead two run homer in the eighth inning. He’s leading baseball in fWAR (1.2), batting average (.449), RBI (16), and hits (22), while being second in wRC+ (254) and OPS (1.256). Pretty spectacular stuff so far. Muncy is slashing .286/.375/.571 after last night, turning his slow start into a great first two weeks overnight.
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Sheehan is making his third start of the year, this time coming on a full week of rest. It’s appeared as if he’s needed that rest based on his first two outings, allowing four earned runs in each start. This was what I had to say about Sheehan prior to his second outing of the year against the Nationals on 4/3.
“Sheehan’s final line in his season debut against the Diamondbacks was 3.1 innings pitched, four earned runs on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts. He struck out the side to start the game, but things unraveled as his velocity and command withered away throughout his start. His final four-seam fastball of the night came in at 91.2 mph against Carlos Santana who was able to foul it off and eventually pull a double down the line to knock Sheehan out of the game.
Sheehan was electric last year, but in Spring Training and now his first regular season outing, just hasn’t looked like the same guy as the game progresses. He’s said that it’s mechanics that they’re trying to get ironed out, but the steep fall off in velocity as the game progresses is obviously worrisome to an extent. Dustin wrote about it after his last outing.”
His last time out was better than his 3.1 inning start against the Diamondbacks, as he earned his first win of the year in Washington. He went 5.2 innings despite not being sharp at all, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and three walks with just two strikeouts. He had the same issue as his start against Arizona, where he struggled to maintain his velocity. He sat 94.5 mph in the first inning, before his velocity dropped off to 93.1 in the second inning and 92.6 in the third inning. He did however get the velocity back up to 94.5 in the sixth inning, a sign that his endurance might be returning. CJ Abrams took him deep on a four-seamer high and away for a three-run shot, which I’ll chalk up to getting beat by a good hitter. It looked like Abrams was expecting that pitch and sitting on it, impressive stuff. The issue was walking Brady House on five pitches the at-bat prior.
My guess is that the organization wouldn’t let Sheehan pitch if he weren’t 100%, and this is purely an issue stemming from his illness early in Spring that resulted in significant weight loss. It was a setback in his build up and progression, and I think he’s just in the process of building up, he just has to do it in regular season games. Maybe that’s optimistic, but it’s my current view until he’s had a few more outings.
Leiter has had an excellent start to his 2026 season through two starts, as he looks to improve upon a solid 151.2 innings last year. He’s allowed just three earned runs across eleven innings, recording 17 strikeouts and just two walks. The former second overall pick posted a 3.86 ERA, 4.15 FIP, and a 1.28 WHIP in 2025, taking advantage of his opportunity to showcase his stuff at the big-league level. The 26 year-old Leiter sits in the upper-90’s with his four-seamer, a plus offering that made him such a premium prospect. He has a full arsenal and added a low-90’s cutter this offseason, rounding out a six-pitch mix, with a slider, curve, and changeup.
He had a 3.28 ERA in the second half last season, with his strikeout rating shooting up to 26.3% and striking out 79 batters in 71.1 innings. He clearly figured something out, and also had a great Spring Training with a 3.38 ERA over 16 innings with 18 strikeouts to just three walks. His last outing came against the Reds, where he went five innings while allowing one earned run with nine strikeouts.
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Blake Snell is still recovering from shoulder inflammation, but facing live hitters is a positive step. Tommy Edman is still expected back near the end of May, while Enrique Hernández is expected to return sooner.
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Seems good.
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First pitch is at 6:10 PT on SNLA.
