Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (88-68) blew a shot at a four-game sweep over the weekend, as Dave Roberts gave Blake Treinen another high-leverage test that did not go well. Treinen has been the losing pitcher for each of the Dodgers last five losses (which hasn’t happened since at least 1912, a fitting stat for a guy that wishes we were living in 1912). The Padres also walked off the Brewers last night, clinching their own playoff spot and keeping them 2.5 games back for the NL West and the Dodgers’ magic number at 3 with 6 games remaining.
The Dodgers have a chance to clinch in Arizona against a team with everything to play for. There’s one playoff spot remaining for technically six teams still alive in the NL, although the Cardinals, Giants and Marlins are pretty far off. The Mets are in the midst of an incredible collapse, as they had the best record in baseball through June 12 and would be on the outside looking in if the playoffs started today. The Reds and Mets are tied at 80-76, but the Reds have the tiebreaker having won four of six against the Mets. However, the Diamondbacks are lurking at 79-77 and very well could earn that sixth and final playoff spot and a date in the first round with (likely) the Dodgers. The Dodgers are four back of the Phillies for the second bye, so unless the Padres end up winning the division that last spot is for a trip to LA.
The Dodgers and Diamondbacks have split their 10 meetings this season, each winning three of six in LA and two of four in Arizona. They played seven times in in two weeks back in May and last played to end August. The Diamondbacks took two of three in LA last month as the Dodgers only scored one run over the first two games before walking off for a 5-4 win in the finale. Arizona’s won six of their last eight games and took two of three over the weekend from the Phillies.
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| 6:40 P.M. | Phoenix | ||
| DH | Ohtani (L) | SS | Perdomo (S) |
| SS | Betts | 2B | Marte (S) |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | RF | Carroll (L) |
| 3B | Muncy (L) | DH | Moreno |
| RF | T. Hernández | 3B | Alexander |
| LF | Conforto (L) | 1B | Vargas (S) |
| 2B | Edman (S) | CF | Thomas (L) |
| CF | Pages | C | McCann |
| C | Rortvedt (L) | LF | McCarthy (L) |
| P | Ohtani (R) | P | Pfaadt (R) |
Shohei Ohtani makes his 14th and final start of the season tonight and the 100th start of his career. He would be lined up to start Game 1 of the Wild Card series a week from today. Ohtani was dominant last time out against the Phillies, tossing five no-hit innings with a walk and five strikeouts in 68 innings. The Dodgers obviously weren’t going to keep him in despite the no-hitter, and Justin Wrobleski came in in the sixth and picked a bad time for the worst outing of his young career. The Phillies put up six runs in the sixth and the Dodgers did tie it in the eighth, but Treinen gave up a three-run bomb in the ninth for a 9-6 loss. Ohtani’s making his second career start against the Diamondbacks, his first since the Angels visited Arizona in 2021. Ohtani allowed five hits and two runs over five innings with eight strikeouts, but somehow balked twice in that game. He also went 2-for-4 with two doubles in that game and played an inning in right field.
Brandon Pfaadt makes his 32nd start of the season. He has a 5.02 ERA in 166 2/3 innings and is coming off a very Dodger-esque start last time out against the Giants. Pfaadt would have thrown a Maddux as he needed 97 pitches to throw nine shutout innings with one hit, one walk and seven strikeouts. However, the Diamondback offense got shut down by Justin Verlander and the Giants’ bullpen, and John “Blake Treinen” Curtiss allowed five runs without getting an out in the top of the 11th. This will be Pfaadt’s fourth time seeing the Dodgers this season. He has a 3.78 ERA and .670 OPS against in 16 2/3 innings and the Diamondbacks have won two of the three. On May 8, Pfaadt shut the Dodgers out over 6 1/3 with four hits and three walks issued. He saw the Dodgers again on May 19 and allowed three hits over six innings, but all three of them left the park (two Mookie Betts homers and one by Ohtani). He started in LA on August 31st and struggled, allowing four runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Pfaadt has a 4.8 percent walk rate, only behind Zack Littell and Tarik Skubal for the best among qualified starters. However, that’s pretty much where his success ends this season. His 19.1 percent strikeout rate is the 12th-worst and his 5.02 ERAis the fifth-worst. His 45.6 percent hard-hit rate is the eighth-worst and his 11.1 percent barrel rate is the fourth-worst. Among pitchers with more than 350 batted balls against, he has the third-worst xBA (.301), the seventh-worst xSLG (.519) and the 10th-worst xWOBA (.368). Not great. He throws a six-pitch mix leading with a four-seamer and sinker, throwing each 23.9 percent of the time. He’s thrown a sweeper (19.1 percent), change (15.9 percent), curve (9.4 percent) and cutter (7.8 percent).
Tommy Edman gets the start at second and Ben Rortvedt starts behind the plate. This feels like the potential playoff lineup, maybe with Miguel Rojas in there over Edman or Michael Conforto.
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Roki Sasaki is expected to return tomorrow in the bullpen. Brock Stewart had his second rehab outing and is in Arizona, but it’s still TBD on when he’ll be activated.
Roki Sasaki is here in AZ & expected to be activated tomorrow
— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) September 23, 2025
Brock Stewart is also here, but threw an extended flat-ground session earlier in front of a trainer & GM Brandon Gomes. Roberts said they want to “make sure he feels good,” and that it’s “no guarantee” he’s activated
Both threw on Sunday and threw scoreless innings. Sasaki needed eight pitches to record three outs with a strikeout and Stewart allowed a hit but also recorded a strikeout.
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The thought was that Ohtani would max out at five innings this season. That’s no longer the case.
Dave Roberts said today he could be willing to push Shohei Ohtani beyond five innings tonight and into the postseason. That’s a byproduct of several conversations on how Ohtani has been feeling during his build up.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) September 23, 2025
Ohtani’s apparently feeling good and he could be out there for a sixth inning if all goes well. He’s topped 80 pitches twice this season and was only at 68 pitches through five last time out. He was also pitching on 10 days’ rest, so that feels like it would have been a decent time to change this strategy. He’s on six days’ rest today as he has been for most of the season.
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First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM PT and will be on SportsNet LA.
