Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers survived the middle game against the Rangers last night, as Emmet Sheehan dominated everyone in the lineup not named Brandon Nimmo and the offense put up six runs despite going 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The Rangers had allowed six or more runs twice in their first 12 games of the season, but have done so in each of the first two games in LA and now the Dodgers have the chance for a third sweep in the first six series of 2026.
 |
 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| RF | Nimmo (L) | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| CF | Carter (L) | RF | Tucker (L) |
| SS | Seager (L) | CF | Pages |
| 1B | Burger | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| DH | Pederson (L) | 3B | Muncy (L) |
| C | Jansen | 2B | Freeland (S) |
| 2B | Smith (L) | C | Rushing (L) |
| 3B | Jung | LF | Call |
| LF | Duran | SS | Kim (L) |
| P | deGrom (R) | P | Sasaki (R) |
Roki Sasaki gets his third start of the season looking to build off a pair of semi-promising starts. Sasaki allowed two runs in four innings in his first start of the season against Cleveland and had an unfortunate start in DC last weekend. Sasaki allowed a walk and a homer in the third but the wheels fell off with a runner on and two outs in the fourth. Sasaki got Keibert Ruiz to ground to first which should have ended the inning, but the grounder hit the bag and got past Freddie Freeman to score a run and extend the inning. He gave up another single before James Wood hit a tank to put six earned runs on Sasaki’s line. He did bounce back by striking out two in a perfect fifth inning and the Dodgers scored five runs in the final two innings for another comeback win, but it was so close to being another solid outing for Roki. Sasaki did face the Rangers last April in arguably his best start of the season. He completed six innings for the first (and still only) time in his career and only allowed a two-run homer to Kyle Higashioka in a game the Dodgers would end up losing on a Kirby Yates blown save.
Jacob deGrom gets the start after some injury concerns following his last start against Seattle. deGrom was dominant for five innings in that game, allowing one hit (a Cal Raleigh homer) with six strikeouts and one walk. However, he was dealing with some knee discomfort throughout and was pulled after only 78 pitches. His MRI came back clean and he’s starting today on regular rest. deGrom failed to complete five innings in his first start of the season in Baltimore, allowing three runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings. He allowed a solo homer in the fourth and got two quick outs in the fifth, but allowed two singles and a two-run double to end his night on a sour note. deGrom’s career stats against the Dodgers are extremely indicative of him being a Met for most of his career. He’s only allowed a .588 OPS against the Dodgers and has a 2.58 ERA in 12 starts, but is only 1-5 in his career against LA. Only four of those starts came in LA, where he has a 3.75 ERA in 24 innings and hasn’t started since 2019. I originally wrote (started a regular season game), but he’s also only started five postseason games in his career and only one since 2015? The Mets should be disbanded.
deGrom’s pretty much always been a top-line pitcher when he’s been healthy, and last season was no different. Among pitchers with >170 innings pitched last season, he had the 11th-best ERA (2.97) and the ninth-best strikeout rate (27.7 percent) with the seventh-best walk rate (5.5 percent). When he did give up contact it was loud, as his 41.9 percent hard-hit rate was the 12th-highest and only 13 pitchers gave up more homers than his 26. He was not quite as good on the road last season, with a 3.61 ERA in 84 2/3 innings compared to a 2.35 in 88 innings at home. 16 of his 26 homers allowed came on the road, but he did strike out more batters in fewer innings on the road than at home.
Will Smith and Teoscar Hernandez sit for the Dodgers. Andy Pages bats third and Alex Freeland slides up to sixth in the order. Dalton Rushing starts behind the plate and bats seventh, while Alex Call gets his first game action at home this season starting in left and hitting eighth. For the Rangers, Wyatt Langford remains out after tweaking his quad in Friday’s game.
——
Edwin Diaz is relatively fine.
Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia were called on in a save opportunity yesterday, as Diaz was reportedly unavailable after his velo was down on Friday. He said this is normal for him.
Edwin Díaz said he is not dealing with anything physically, and reiterated what the Dodgers said the other day: His velo is usually lower to begin the season before ticking back up.
— Sonja Chen (@SonjaMChen) April 12, 2026
Here's his average fastball velo by month from 2024-now, so that has indeed been a trend for him: pic.twitter.com/Cj11bUutB7
This has been a trend for his career, and he’s being treated as day-to-day and he ramps up. He could be available today, but they’re going to remain cautious with him.
——
First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 PM PT and will be on SportsNet LA.
