Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (47-27) won the middle game of their series with Tampa last night, with a Shohei Ohtani leadoff homer in the sixth being all the run support Justin Wrobleski and the Dodger bullpen needed. The 1-0 win gave the Dodgers a nine-game lead in the NL West and thanks to a rainout in Atlanta now gives the Dodgers the most wins in baseball over the Braves. Today, the Dodgers look for a sweep and send last night’s hero to the mound.
Tommy’s back!
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 17, 2026
Today’s #Dodgers lineup vs. Rays: pic.twitter.com/7RRkajQAHj
#Rays lineup vs. #Dodgers, RH Ohtani: pic.twitter.com/0aW7mD9BWO
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 17, 2026
Ohtani gets the ball coming off his worst start of the season in Pittsburgh. He looked solid through six, allowing a fourth-inning solo homer but nothing more and had the Dodgers winning 2-1 heading into the seventh. The Dodgers put up four runs in the top of the sixth in what looked on its way to a blowout, but Ohtani allowed the first two runners on in the bottom of the seventh. He got a pair of strikeouts, but Brandon Lowe doubled home both runners to put three runs on Ohtani’s line for the first time in 2026. Lowe did end up scoring, but it didn’t go down as an earned run for Ohtani because he scored on a Max Muncy error. The Dodgers still escaped the inning with a 6-4 lead, but Kyle Hurt and Jack Dreyer combined to give up five runs in the eighth for a 9-8 Pirate loss. Ohtani did DH that game and started the following game in his usual DH spot, but ended up leaving that game early and missing the first game in Chicago with knee inflammation. He only missed that game and has been in the lineup ever since, so it’ll be worth monitoring how long they let Ohtani go today. He threw 102 pitches in that start and we saw the Dodgers pull Wrobleski yesterday at only 67 pitches since he was going on four days’ rest.
Lefty Shane McClanahan makes his 14th start of the season after missing the last two years with injury. McClanahan had Tommy John in 2023 that cost him all of 2024. He was prepping to return for 2025, but came out of Spring Training with a nerve issue in his tricep that cost him all of last season. When healthy, McClanahan is one of the premier pitchers in baseball (and I believe was Dustin’s big draft crush). He picked up right where he left off in 2026, with a 2.45 ERA through his first 11 starts of this season. June hasn’t been kind to McClanahan, as he’s allowed four runs on eight hits in back-to-back starts in Miami and Anaheim. His fastball velocity dipped a little in that start in Miami, but it was the highest its been all season in Anaheim (96.7 MPH) and he still struggled. McClanahan’s never faced the Dodgers in the regular season, but did throw an inning of relief in the World Series in 2020, before making his regular season MLB debut. McClanahan came on in a bit of a mop-up role in Game 3, tossing a scoreless ninth inning in a 6-2 Dodger win.
McClanahan throws a four-pitch mix, leading with that fastball 36.4 percent of the time. He mixes in a change (29.3 percent), slider (20.7 percent) and curve (13.6 percent). McClanahan’s only faced a lefty 45 times this season and they’re 4-for-40 with four walks and one hit batter and 11 strikeouts. The Dodgers have three lefties in the lineup today.
With Ohtani out of the lineup Tommy Edman makes his first start of the season, leading off and playing third. Miguel Rojas serves as the DH, Alex Call starts in left and Alex Freeland gets a rare start against a lefty.
——
Will Smith is eligible to return from the IL on Friday, but likely won’t be ready.
Will Smith went through a full day of work yesterday, but Dave Roberts said he is "unlikely" to be activated from the IL on Friday. With Smith still feeling some neck discomfort, Roberts wants to "get him to a place where we don't regress once he comes back."
— Sonja Chen (@SonjaMChen) June 17, 2026
He’s still feeling some discomfort (TBT them playing shorthanded for like four games instead of just ILing him) and they want him to be in a better place with it before returning.
——
Teoscar Hernandez should begin his rehab assignment next week.
#Dodgers Teoscar Hernandez is scheduled to take at-bats in a live BP session Thursday. Could go on rehab assignment early next week, per Dave Roberts
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) June 17, 2026
He’s scheduled to take BP tomorrow and could begin his rehab next week when OKC is in Reno. This could happen as early as Tuesday.
——
First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 PM PT and will be on SportsNet LA.
