Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (64-38) held on for a wild win last night in Philly, as a Max Muncy homer and an all-time J.T. Realmuto TOOTBLAN gave the Dodgers a 2-1 win. Justin Wrobleski continued to work his way in and out of trouble and kept his strikeout trend going upward, and now the Dodgers have a shot at a second series win on this east coast road trip. They remain 11.5 up on the Diamondbacks in the NL West and reclaimed a half game lead on Milwaukee for the best record in baseball. Today, the Dodgers look for their 65th win with Eric Lauer on the mound against Aaron Nola.
Today's #Dodgers lineup at Phillies: pic.twitter.com/aJP9QCW805
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 22, 2026
The rubber match#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/H6ISZpO8J2
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) July 22, 2026
This was originally slated to be Shohei Ohtani‘s first start after the knee draining he had during the All-Star break, but he was taken out of the rotation indefinitely as he tries to recover. Instead Lauer gets the ball coming off a shockingly strong first half as a Dodger. Lauer posted a 6.69 ERA in eight outings before getting DFA’d by the Blue Jays in mid-May and made his first Dodger start on May 29. Lauer’s been nothing but solid in his seven outings as a Dodger, with a 3.12 ERA/5.28 FIP in 40 1/3 innings. Lauer completed six innings in five of those seven appearances and allowed three or fewer runs in all seven outings. Lauer’s extremely close to having thrown five consecutive quality starts to end the first half (one of them was six no-hit innings after an opener so not technically a start, the other was 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball). Lauer struck out nine batters in his first start of the season with Toronto, but hasn’t struck out more than five in a game since. Lauer faced the Phillies in relief for the Blue Jays last season and threw four no-hit innings, walking a batter and striking out two.
Nola makes his 21st start of the season for the Phillies today. It’s been a rough couple seasons for Nola, who missed a good chunk of last season with a few non-arm-related injuries (ankle, rib) and posted a 6.01 ERA in the 17 starts he did make. He’s been healthy this season, but still has a 5.68 ERA/4.96 ERA over 103 innings. Nola’s allowed three or more runs in 13 of his 20 starts and has only one more six-inning outing than Lauer does in his seven Dodger appearances. The Phillies have lost each of Nola’s last four starts but he does have two quality starts in his three July starts. On July 5, Nola completed a season-high seven innings and allowed three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts. In his final start before the break, Nola allowed three runs on three homers in six innings. Nola’s given up 23 homers this season which is the third most in baseball and he’s allowed multiple homers in a game eight times in 20 starts, including in five of his last seven starts. Nola missed the Dodgers earlier this season, but has faced them 12 times in the regular season in his career. He’s 3-3 with a 4.31 ERA in those 12 starts and has allowed a .730 OPS against the Dodgers. Nola’s second start of 2025 came against the Dodgers and he allowed three runs in six innings, including homers to Enrique Hernandez and Michael Conforto. He also started in Game 3 of the NLDS and only went two innings, but struck out three and only allowed one hit and a HBP in the Phillies’ lone win of the series.
Nola’s offspeed and breaking pitches have been elite this season, but his fastballs have been some of the worst in baseball. Savant’s run value tool has his breaking pitches in the 94th percentile and offspeed in the 86th, but his fastball is first percentile. Nola’s thrown one of his three fastballs 50.5 percent of the time and they’ve combined for a .375 average and .715 slugging off them (expected numbers .298 and .562 so some bad luck there, but still not ideal). He’s thrown a breaking pitch 35.4 percent of the time and has given up a .189 average and .352 slugging (expected .184 and .292) and his offspeed pitches (14 percent usage) have a .176 average and .196 slugging against (expected .223 and .288). His sinker has been extremely not sinking, as he’s thrown it the third most of any of his pitches (19.8 percent) but given up the most homers off it (eight) and is averaging a 20 degree launch angle with it.
No surprises in the Dodger lineup, with Tommy Edman starting at second and Dalton Rushing back behind the plate. Realmuto sits for the Phillies today with Rafael Marchan starting behind the plate.
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Edwin Diaz made another rehab outing today.
Good morning from Sacramento, where Edwin Díaz is currently throwing in the outfield, as he has joined OKC to continue his rehab assignment. Expected to pitch at some point during today's game. #Dodgers
— Alex Freedman (@azfreedman) July 22, 2026
Diaz joins OKC after making his first three rehab outings with Ontario (and one ACL outing). He’s allowed one hit and one walk in four innings over those four outings with seven strikeouts. Today, Diaz came in in the fifth inning and struck out two of the three batters he faced but failed to complete the inning after giving up a two-out single, which eventually scored after Paul Gervase gave up a walk and two singles. He’d maxed out at 14 pitches in his three Ontario outings and threw 19 today. There were reports that he could be reactivated this weekend, but likely wont be back until the Dodgers return home next week. He also still hasn’t ticked the back-to-back box.
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Ohtani threw a bullpen today.
Shohei Ohtani just completed a 34 pitch bullpen session in Philly. According to Japanese media members, Ohtani threw his full compliment of pitches. #Dodgers
— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) July 22, 2026
He threw 34 pitches and was originally slated to throw a bullpen in New York this weekend, but threw one today. Unsure if this one replaces the one he was supposed to throw.
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First pitch is scheduled for 3:40 PM PT and will be on SportsNet LA.
