Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (93-60) wrapped up the NL West early yesterday, beating the Reds 8-2 to clinch the West for the 13th time in the last 14 years. They now have nine games remaining to secure a first round bye and figure out their postseason roster plans (check out Chad’s early playoff plan post from earlier today). They haven’t secured a top-2 seed yet, but are now four games up on Atlanta and have a magic number of 6 to secure that first-round bye. They’re only two back of Milwaukee so there’s still a chance they finish with the best record in the NL (or in all of baseball, where they’re currently behind both Milwaukee and 1.5 behind Tampa). Today, the Dodgers begin their final homestand of 2026 with three against the Giants before the Padres come to town on Monday. The Giants (64-89) have been out of playoff contention for a while and still have a minuscule chance of falling into last place in the NL West (eight up on the Rockies right now), and the Dodgers see them six times in the next nine games. Naturally the Giants have played the Dodgers extremely well this season, winning four of the seven games so far. They haven’t played each other since May 14th, which was the end of a four-game series split in San Francisco. The Dodgers will see a bit of a new-look Giants team, as Luis Arraez and Heliot Ramos were traded at the deadline and Matt Chapman, Rafael Devers and Willy Adames are all on the IL (as is Marcelo Mayer, who they got from the Red Sox at the deadline). The Giants have won five of their last nine games, with all five wins coming against the Cardinals in two series wrapped around getting swept by the Padres.
 |  | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 7:15 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| CF | Gilbert (L) | SS | Betts |
| 1B | Eldridge (L) | C | Smith |
| 2B | Cox | LF | T. Hernández |
| RF | Lee (L) | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| 3B | Whitcomb | 2B | Rojas |
| LF | Hill (L) | RF | Tucker (L) |
| DH | Bandura (L) | 3B | K. Hernández |
| C | Cavanaugh (L) | CF | Call |
| SS | Koss | DH | De Paula (L) |
| P | Perdomo (L) | P | Glasnow (R) |
Tyler Glasnow gets the start today looking to prove his health after a concerning start in Miami. Glasnow struggled in that start, needing 91 pitches to get through four innings with four runs, five hits and four walks allowed. It was Glasnow’s second consecutive start giving up four runs, but this start saw him extremely out of rhythm and seemingly stretching out his back a few times throughout his outing. He’s back today for his 12th start of the season and his second start against the Giants. He’s hoping to replicate his previous start in San Francisco, where Glasnow allowed one hit and one walk over a season-high eight innings. He faced the Giants in LA last September in the second of back-to-back starts against the Giants and it went poorly, with four runs on six hits and four walks over five innings.
Rookie Cesar Perdomo gets his third career start and four appearance in his rookie season. The 24-year-old lefty isn’t on the Giants top 30 prospect list on Pipeline, but he’s been solid so far in his limited Major League time. He debuted in relief on September 1 and took down four innings in Pittsburgh, allowing only one run on three hits. He followed that up with his first Major League start and dominated the Mets, giving up three runs and a walk over six shutout innings. His last start didn’t go quite as well against the Padres, where he gave up five runs on 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings in his lone start in San Francisco. Perdomo struggled a bit in the Minors this season with a 4.43 ERA in 120 innings between AA and AAA and made one start against a Dodger affiliate. He faced OKC on June 24 and gave up three runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Very small sample sizes and no Pipeline scouting report to lean on, but Perdomo’s thrown a three-pitch mix in his three starts. He’s thrown a fastball 46.5 percent of the time, change 29.8 percent of the time and slider 23.7 percent of the time. Perdomo’s been very good against righties in his three outings but lefties are 8-for-22 with two homers and only four strikeouts off him.
Tommy Edman gets a rare day off, with Mookie Betts leading off and Alex Call starting in center. Max Muncy sits with Enrique Hernandez starting at third, and Josue De Paula makes his Dodger Stadium debut, DHing and hitting ninth.
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Edwin Diaz is back, and Landon Knack was optioned.
The Dodgers have activated RHP Edwin Díaz from the injured list and optioned RHP Landon Knack.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 18, 2026
Diaz made five rehab outings in this rehab stint and didn’t exactly calm the issues he’s had all season. He gave up six runs, five of which came in one especially poor outing. He walked seven batters and struck out four in 4 1/3 innings over those five outings and now will need to prove himself for a playoff spot. He’ll be working in low leverage situations for now with the hope that he’ll play himself into deserving a playoff spot.
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Andy Pages probably won’t be back this weekend.
Dave Roberts said there’s a good chance Andy Pages will be activated in the next series.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) September 18, 2026
He was expected to return this homestand and now is expected to be back when the Padres visit LA early next week. Dave Vassegh reported that Pages is expecting to return on Tuesday.
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Blake Snell could make another start before the regular season ends.
Blake Snell didn’t wind up needing imaging on his left groin, and Dave Roberts said the hope is that Snell could still make another start before the end of the regular season.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) September 18, 2026
He left yesterday’s start after one inning with groin tightness, but didn’t need imaging on it. They’re hoping he pitches again in the regular season (please get that bye so everyone can rest).
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First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 PM PT and will be exclusively on Apple TV+.
