Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Dodgers Rumors

Dodgers To Activate Yamamoto Next Week

By | at

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will return to the Dodgers’ rotation on Tuesday. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Alden González of ESPN) that the right-hander will get the start for the second game of next week’s set with the Cubs. Yamamoto is on the 60-day injured list and will need to be reinstated onto the 40-man roster.

It’ll likely be a brief appearance. Yamamoto last pitched in the majors on June 15. A rotator cuff strain knocked him out of action for more than two months. The 26-year-old joined Triple-A Oklahoma City on a rehab stint last week. He only pitched there twice, topping out at two innings. He labored through 53 pitches last night, and while his results weren’t good, he built up enough that the Dodgers don’t feel he needs another rehab appearance.

The Dodgers will presumably limit Yamamoto to somewhere in the 60-75 pitch range next week. L.A. has a decent 5.5-game cushion on the Padres in the NL West. They’re a game up on the Phillies for the top seed in the National League and three clear of the Brewers for a first-round bye. They’re still playing meaningful regular season games, but the primary focus is again on October.

Yamamoto should be able to log four turns through the rotation before the regular season concludes. That’d be ample time to build to a typical starter’s pitch count going into the postseason. If his stuff returns to pre-injury levels, he could be Roberts’ choice to start the first game of a playoff series. Yamamoto’s first MLB start was a nightmare, as he allowed four hits and five runs and didn’t make it to the second inning. The former NPB star has been as advertised since then. In the 13 starts since his debut, he sports a 2.34 earned run average with a 28.1% strikeout rate through 73 innings.

While it’s too soon to make definitive judgments about the Dodgers’ $325MM investment, Yamamoto was pitching like the top-of-the-rotation arm that L.A. expected. He’s part of an extremely high-variance rotation. Jack Flaherty and Gavin Stone are leading the group at the moment. Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw are on the IL. The Dodgers seem hopeful that both Glasnow and Kershaw will be back with a couple weeks to spare. If they get each of Yamamoto, Glasnow, Flaherty, Stone and Kershaw firing on all cylinders, they’ll go into the playoffs with an excellent rotation. That’s a big ask with the health uncertainty surrounding most of that group.

Kershaw went on the IL over the weekend with a bone spur in his left big toe. The Dodgers will turn to rookie righty Landon Knack in his place for Friday’s series opener with the Guardians, Roberts said (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). Knack has been on and off the MLB roster as an injury replacement throughout the season. He has performed well when called upon, working to an even 3.00 ERA over 48 innings.

Dodgers Select Brent Honeywell

By | at

The Dodgers have selected the contract of right-hander Brent Honeywell, according to a team announcement. Honeywell will take the active roster spot of right-hander Joe Kelly, who the club has placed on the 15-day Injured List due to right shoulder inflammation. A corresponding 40-man roster move was not needed to accommodate Honeywell, who will take the spot vacated by veteran outfielder Jason Heyward last week. The Dodgers have also officially announced the placement of veteran lefty Clayton Kershaw on the IL that was reported earlier this evening.

Honeywell, 29, returns to the big league Dodgers for a second stint after being designated for assignment by the club just two weeks ago. Once a consensus top-15 prospect in the sport with the Rays, Honeywell has faced a number of injury-related struggles throughout his career that caused him to miss three full seasons of action from 2018 to 2020 before being limited to just 103 1/3 innings of work across the 2021 and ’22 seasons.

Those long layoffs cost him several key years of development and robbed him of his ability to start, but he re-emerged as a big league reliever with the Padres last season. He posted decent middle relief numbers in San Diego before being squeezed off the roster and ending up with the White Sox, with whom he was shelled for seven runs in 5 2/3 innings down the stretch. That disastrous end to 2023 cost Honeywell his roster spot in Chicago, but he managed to find a minor league deal with the Pirates over the winter and made his way to the majors in July.

In 23 2/3 innings of work with the Pirates and Dodgers this season, Honeywell has posted strong results despite lackluster peripherals. His 2.28 ERA is nothing short of excellent, but the fact that he’s managing to prevent runs to that degree despite a microscopic 13.8% strikeout rate appears likely to be unsustainable, particularly if his whopping 89.6% strand rate regresses to a more typical figure. Even so, Honeywell figures to be as solid a bet as any to eat innings in a beleaguered Dodgers bullpen that was forced to use seven relievers after Kershaw departed in the second inning of last night’s game due to injury.

Honeywell will be taking the roster spot of one of those seven relievers, as Kelly is headed to the IL with a bout of shoulder inflammation. The 38-year-old hurler has been struggling mightily for the past month as he’s posted a 7.71 ERA with a paltry 18.2% strikeout rate and a hefty 13.6% walk rate. Last night’s outing was particularly difficult for the veteran as he surrendered two runs on three hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings of work while striking out just one and hitting two batters.

Kelly’s brutal results over the past month have caused his season numbers to go from solid to well below average, as he entered August with a 3.93 ERA and a sterling 2.41 FIP. Those numbers now sit at 5.20 and 4.83, respectively. It’s unclear how long Kelly is expected to be out of action, but with just a month left in the regular season it’s possible the right-hander won’t be healthy enough to return before then. Kelly could hypothetically return at some point in the postseason even if he isn’t able to make it back before the end of the regular season, though given his deep struggles of late it’s unclear how strongly he would factor into L.A.’s postseason plans even if healthy.

Dodgers Place Clayton Kershaw On Injured List Due To Bone Spur In Toe

By | at

5:37pm: Kershaw is headed to the injured list due to the issue, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). Right-hander Ben Casparius has been recalled from the minors to take Kershaw’s roster spot, and Plunkett adds that left-hander Justin Wrobleski is set to be called up when rosters expand tomorrow to start tomorrow’s game. That could leave Wrobleski in position to take over Kershaw’s spot in the rotation relatively seamlessly.

7:55am: Clayton Kershaw threw just 27 pitches in Friday’s start before soreness in his left big toe forced the longtime Dodgers starter out of the game.  Kershaw was charged with three earned runs over one inning of work plus one batter faced in the second frame, as the left-hander left the mound after allowing a home run to Corbin Carroll.

Speaking with reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) after the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained that Kershaw’s toe discomfort was caused by a bone spur that has been lingering for multiple seasons.  “Some starts it feels fine and it’s not impeding. Today certainly it was,” Roberts said.

Given the longstanding nature of the injury, it isn’t necessarily clear whether or not Kershaw will need to be placed on the 15-day injured list.  Kershaw and Roberts both stated that some testing and evaluation will need to happen before a decision is made, and the Dodgers have some extra time to monitor the situation since Kershaw wasn’t scheduled to pitch until next Friday.  L.A. is expected to call up Justin Wrobleski for a spot start on Sunday, and the team has an off-day on Thursday, giving Kershaw more opportunity to rest.

That said, it obviously wouldn’t be surprising if the Dodgers opted to put Kershaw on the IL even as a precautionary measure.  Kershaw’s lengthy injury history is well-documented, and he didn’t make his 2024 debut until July 25 due to a lengthy recovery from shoulder surgery last November.  The southpaw has posted a 4.50 ERA and only an 18% strikeout rate over 30 innings, and while it isn’t a big sample size, Kershaw’s fastball velocity has dropped to 89.9 mph.

Losing Kershaw to the IL would represent yet another blow to the injury-ravaged Los Angeles rotation.  The Dodgers have still posted an 81-54 record despite having to account for multiple injured arms for the entirety of the season.  Roberts said the team is very likely to make some roster moves today to add fresh arms to a bullpen that had to cover eight innings on Friday, and some extra breathing space will come Sunday when teams expand their rosters from 26 to 28 players.

Adding just relief depth, however, might not provide much help to an L.A. team that still has plenty of questions about its starting staff as the postseason approaches.  Considering the Dodgers’ five-game lead in the NL West, it would take quite a collapse for the club to actually miss the playoffs, yet it certainly seems possible that Los Angeles could have another strong regular season undone by a lack of healthy arms in October.  In terms of reinforcements, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has started a Triple-A rehab assignment and could be back within a couple of weeks, though it isn’t yet clear when Tyler Glasnow could return from a bout of right elbow tendinitis.

Dodgers Release Jesse Hahn

By | at

Right-hander Jesse Hahn has been released by Triple-A Oklahoma City, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been pitching for that club after signing a minor league deal with the Dodgers in the offseason.

Hahn, now 35, had his 2021 season ended by a shoulder injury and then didn’t pitch in any official capacity in the following two years. With OKC here in 2024, he tossed 41 2/3 innings over 35 appearances, allowing 4.54 earned runs per nine. His 24.2% strikeout rate and 58% ground ball rate were both strong, but his 18.1% walk rate was abysmal. For reference, the major league average in 2024 is currently 8.2%.

It’s perhaps not surprising that Hahn has had some rust after such a long layoff, but it was also a trend prior to his absence. With the Royals from 2019 to 2021, he tossed 25 1/3 innings with a 26.1% strikeout rate but a 16.2% walk rate.

Hahn will now head to the open market and see if any club is interested in his services, presumably one that has a plan for reining in that control somehow. In 311 1/3 career innings from 2014 to 2021, he posted a 4.22 ERA with an 18% strikeout rate, 9% walk rate and 49.5% ground ball rate.

Latest On Dodgers’ Rotation

By | at

Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow landed on the 15-day injured list two weeks ago due to right elbow tendinitis. At the time, the righty said the ailment was “nothing super concerning to me,” per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. But it seems things have gotten murkier since then. Last weekend, manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Glasnow’s return would be a “slow process” but that his season wasn’t in jeopardy. Last night, when asked if Glasnow would return this year, Roberts was noncommittal.

“We’re hopeful,” he said, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times on X. “I think hopeful. I think that there’s still a lot of variables, to be certain. But I think everyone in the organization is hopeful.” The righty is planning to play catch today and through the weekend. Roberts was asked if Glasnow would still be ramped up if he continues to feel discomfort. “I’m not sure about that,” he said, per Harris. “I do know right now, when you’re starting up, you’re probably looking for pain-free. I think that’s probably the start. But it’s a fair question.”

It would appear to be a less than ideal development, given that the prognosis seems to be getting less optimistic. Glasnow’s health has been in the spotlight for most of his professional career. He dealt with elbow issues during his time with the Rays, including a Tommy John surgery, and never topped 120 innings in a season with that club. He’s up to 134 innings with the Dodgers this year, setting a new career high, but it hasn’t been totally smooth sailing. He missed two weeks around the All-Star break due to some lower back tightness and now his elbow is again the focus.

When on the mound, he’s been his usual self, giving up some home runs but also racking up lots of strikeouts. He’s allowed 3.49 earned runs per nine frames on the year, striking out 32.2% of batters faced while limiting walks to a 6.7% clip. His 48.6% ground ball rate is also strong but his 15 home runs allowed have put some runs on the board.

All together, Glasnow is one of the better pitchers on the club. Despite various injury issues around the roster, the Dodgers are currently the best team in baseball at 80-54. Still, fans of the club will likely be worrying about a repeat of last year, when the club’s dominant regular season was quickly undercut by a lack of rotation health for the playoffs.

The Dodgers went 100-62 last year and earned a bye through the Wild Card round but were quickly swept by the Diamondbacks in the Division Series. By that time, Julio Urías was on the restricted list due to domestic violence charges while each of Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and Walker Buehler were all out due to significant surgeries. Clayton Kershaw wasn’t on the IL but was clearly battling shoulder problems that eventually required surgery in the offseason. Lance Lynn had been fighting home run problems all year, which followed him into the postseason.

This year, Glasnow’s status is up in the air. May is out for the year due to surgery again, this time due to a tear in his esophagus. River Ryan and Emmet Sheehan both required Tommy John surgeries.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been on the IL since June due to a rotator cuff strain, though he seems to be nearing a return. He started a rehab assignment on Wednesday night, tossing 31 pitches over two innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Assuming he doesn’t experience any kind of setback, he should make a few more rehab outings as he builds up that pitch count and could be back with the big league club before the regular season is out. Prior to hitting the IL, he had posted a 2.92 ERA in his first 14 major league starts.

Right now, the rotation consists of Kershaw, Buehler, Jack Flaherty, Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone. Kershaw has a solid 3.72 ERA in his return from shoulder surgery but with a 19% strikeout rate that’s below average and well shy of his previous form. The velocity on all his pitches is a bit below where he was last year, prior to going under the knife. Flaherty is having a strong season but has health questions of his own, as he dealt with some back problems with the Tigers which reportedly scuttled a deal to the Yankees before he was traded to the Dodgers. Both Miller and Buehler have struggled significantly this year.

It’s still possible that the Dodgers will be compiling a postseason rotation from a strong group including Stone, Flaherty, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Kershaw, though Stone is the only one without a notable health concern this year. If things go well with Yamamoto and Glasnow in the coming weeks, things will be looking pretty good, but it will be a situation worth monitoring in the coming weeks.

Circling back to Gonsolin, it’s possible he could return this year, but he wouldn’t be fully stretched out. Roberts said this week that the door is “a little open” for the righty to return as a reliever, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic on X.

He underwent Tommy John surgery almost exactly a year ago, on September 1 of 2023, so now is a natural time in the rehab process to start ramping up. He has been throwing live bullpens and could start a rehab assignment soon. The righty had a 3.19 career ERA, having started 71 of his 79 outings. Coming back as a reliever could be a boon to the pitching staff while also laying a small foundation for his 2025 season. He can be controlled via arbitration through 2026.

Dodgers Release Jason Heyward

By | at

The Dodgers released Jason Heyward, per the MLB.com transaction log. It was very likely that Heyward would become a free agent after L.A. designated him for assignment on Thursday.

Heyward’s DFA came as a surprise even for a team that had already jettisoned deadline pickup Amed Rosario. While Heyward hasn’t had a great season, he was an above-average contributor in a platoon capacity a year ago. The veteran outfielder hit .269/.340/.473 with 15 homers in 377 plate appearances in 2023. His numbers are down this year, as he carries a .208/.289/.393 mark across 197 trips to the plate.

Most of that downturn is attributable to a career-low .224 average on balls in play. Heyward’s strikeout and walk profile is essentially the same as it was a year ago. His hard contact percentage is up more than six points relative to last season. The higher exit velocities have come with a spike in ground-balls, though, which isn’t an ideal trend for a pull hitter in his mid-30s.

Heyward is no longer a Gold Glove caliber outfielder, but he remains a solid defender in right field. Statcast has graded him at league average in 434 innings. Defensive Runs Saved has him three runs above par. Another team could view Heyward as a complementary platoon bat who can step directly onto their big league roster.

The Dodgers are on the hook for what remains of Heyward’s $9MM salary for this season. A signing team would only be responsible for the prorated portion of the $740K league minimum. It stands to reason that Heyward’s camp will look for a deal quickly now that he’s on the open market. He’d need to sign elsewhere by the end of the month (on either an MLB or minor league contract) to be eligible for the postseason with a new team.

Dodgers Notes: Ohtani, Yamamoto, Glasnow

By | at

Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani just took the first major step towards his anticipated return to pitching next season. As noted by The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, Ohtani threw off the mound for the first time since he underwent elbow surgery just over eleven months ago. While today’s ten-pitch bullpen session won’t change the fact that Ohtani isn’t going to pitch in the majors this year, it’s the latest indicator that the league’s biggest star is well on his way to returning to two-way play in time for the Dodgers to open the 2025 regular season with a two-game set against the Cubs in Japan next year.

While Ohtani won’t throw an official pitch for the Dodgers in the first year of his record-shattering ten-year deal with the club, that hasn’t stopped the 30-year-old from being a dominant force for the club as they head for their 12th-consecutive playoff appearance. Ohtani is currently the consensus favorite for this year’s NL MVP award, which would be the third MVP of his career after he captured the AL MVP award in both 2021 and 2023 with the Angels. In 126 games with the Dodgers this year, Ohtani has slashed an incredible .292/.378/.614 (170 wRC+) across 578 trips to the plate. He became just the sixth player in MLB history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season last night, joining Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, and Ronald Acuna Jr.

That dominant offensive performance has allowed Ohtani to emerge as the most consistent threat in a star-studded Dodgers lineup. That’s thanks in part to his sturdiness; while fellow superstars Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman have both missed time this year, Ohtani has appeared in 126 of the Dodgers’ 129 games, leaving him tied with Teoscar Hernandez for the club lead in games played this year. With the surging Diamondbacks and Padres sitting just 3.5 and 4.5 games back respectively of L.A. in the race of the NL West, the Dodgers figure to continue leaning on Ohtani to lead their offense to their 11th NL West title in the past 12 years.

More from the Dodgers…

  • While Ohtani sets his sights on returning to the mound in 2025, his fellow nine-figure free agent addition from this past offseason is hoping to pitch in the majors much sooner than that. Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto is making significant progress toward a return to action after being sidelined by a rotator cuff strain back in June. According to MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, Yamamoto threw a two-inning simulated game earlier this week and is scheduled to throw his next bullpen session on Monday. Should that session go well, manager Dave Roberts indicated to reporters yesterday that Yamamoto would be in line to begin a rehab assignment this coming Wednesday. The 25-year-old righty was as-advertised in 14 starts prior to the injury this year with a 2.92 ERA and 2.68 FIP with an excellent 27.9% strikeout rate in 74 innings of work to this point in his big league career. [UPDATE: Roberts said on Sunday that Yamamoto will indeed start his rehab assignment at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday.]
  • The future is significantly murkier regarding the Dodgers’ third major offseason addition, however, as manager Dave Roberts today described the rehab plan for right-hander Tyler Glasnow as a “slow process” to reporters (including Ardaya). The righty was placed on the 15-day injured list just last week due to elbow tendinitis and while Roberts relayed that he has already resumed playing catch from 60 feet, he did not provide a timeline for the hard-throwing ace’s return to action beyond saying that Glasnow’s regular season is not in jeopardy as things stand. With the Dodgers extremely well-positioned for a postseason berth headed into the regular season’s final month, it’s not necessarily a shock that the club would be extremely careful with the 31-year-old in hopes of ensuring his healthy return for the playoffs this October.

Nick Ahmed Elects Free Agency

By | at

Nick Ahmed elected free agency after going unclaimed on outright waivers, per the transaction log at MLB.com. The Dodgers had designated the veteran shortstop for assignment on Monday.

Ahmed signed with the Dodgers a month ago. With Mookie Betts and Miguel Rojas out at the time, Los Angeles added Ahmed directly onto the major league roster. The defensive stalwart started 14 games at shortstop. He continued to provide defensive value but didn’t produce much offensively. While Ahmed hit a go-ahead home run to help beat the Giants (his former team) early in his Dodger tenure, he ultimately hit just .229/.245/.292 in 49 trips to the plate.

Between San Francisco and L.A., Ahmed carries a .232/.271/.300 batting line through 221 plate appearances. While he has never been a huge offensive threat, Ahmed has particularly struggled at the dish over the last two seasons. The two-time Gold Glove winner remains a strong defender, but the lack of firepower at the plate has squeezed him off a trio of rosters within the past two seasons. The Dodgers have welcomed Betts and Rojas back in recent weeks. Even with Betts returning to the outfield, they were comfortable enough with their infield depth to waive deadline pickup Amed Rosario after five games.

Ahmed is now free to look for a third team of the ’24 season. If he signs elsewhere before September 1, he’d be eligible for postseason play with another club.

Dodgers Designate Jason Heyward For Assignment

By | at

The Dodgers announced that they have designated outfielder Jason Heyward for assignment. His roster spot will go to infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor, who has been activated from the injured list. Robert Murray of FanSided reported the Heyward DFA on X prior to the official announcement.

Heyward, 35, engineered a solid bounceback season with the Dodgers last year. After struggling with the Cubs for many years, he got into 124 contests with the Dodgers in 2023 and hit .269/.340/.473 for a wRC+ of 120. He also continued to get solid grades for his outfield glovework, mostly in right field but with some time in center as well.

He and the club reunited on a one-year, $9MM pact, though his results have tailed off a bit this season. He has had a couple of stints on the injured list, one due to lower back tightness and one due to a left knee bone bruise. Around those, he has hit .208/.289/.393 for a wRC+ of 91.

That is hardly disastrous production but the Dodger roster is strong enough that even decent players are getting squeezed off. The club acquired Amed Rosario at the deadline but he was nudged off the roster a couple of weeks later when Mookie Betts returned from his stint on the IL.

Speaking of Betts, his return to right field likely played a role in Heyward getting pushed out. Betts had started the year in the middle infield but it was decided to move him back to his customary right field position when he recently returned. The Dodgers acquired Kevin Kiermaier as a glove-first center fielder between the big bats of Betts and Teoscar Hernández in the corners.

The club has seemingly given a priority to flexibility in its bench spots. Guys like Taylor and Enrique Hernández aren’t having amazing seasons at the plate but are capable of playing all over the diamond. Tommy Edman, recently acquired from the Cardinals, has missed most of the season recovering from wrist surgery but can also bounce around to multiple different positions. Heyward can play a bit of center, as mentioned, but is mostly a corner guy with some lackluster results this year, so he is the odd one out.

With the trade deadline now passed, the Dodgers will have to put him on waivers in the coming days. Given his mediocre season and notable salary, it’s possible that he goes unclaimed. If that comes to pass, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment while keeping all of that salary on the table. Perhaps that will see him on the free agent market in the coming days.

If that comes to pass, the Dodgers would remain on the hook for what’s left of his salary. Heyward would then be free to sign with any other club, with that team only responsible for paying him the prorated version of the $740K league minimum for any time Heyward spends on the roster, which would be subtracted from what the Dodgers pay.

Assuming he signs elsewhere before September 1, he would be postseason eligible with his new club. He is likely to garner interest given the low-cost investment that would be required and his competent play. His offense has a bit a bit below par this year but was quite strong as recently as last year and his glovework is still solid. He would likely appeal to a club that’s weak against right-handed pitching, given his notable platoon splits. He’s hit .265/.350/.432 against righties for a 114 wRC+ in his career, whereas he has a line of .231/.301/.344 and 78 wRC+ without the platoon advantage.

Dodgers Outright Brent Honeywell

By | at

August 21: Honeywell has accepted his outright, per OKC broadcaster Alex Freeman on X.

August 20: Dodgers righty Brent Honeywell went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Honeywell has a previous career outright, so he can decline the assignment in favor of minor league free agency.

A top prospect when he was a member of the Rays’ system, Honeywell battled various injuries before getting a real look at the MLB level. He finally got that opportunity last season, combining for 52 1/3 relief innings between the Padres and White Sox. Honeywell posted serviceable middle relief numbers in San Diego before being hit hard with the Sox. That cost him his roster spot in Chicago and left him to sign a minor league deal with the Pirates over the winter.

The 29-year-old spent the first half of the year with Pittsburgh’s Triple-A team. He turned in a 4.85 ERA with a modest 19.6% strikeout percentage across 39 innings. While it wasn’t the most dominant showing, the Bucs called him up in July. He made two appearances before Pittsburgh designated him for assignment and lost him on waivers to Los Angeles. The Dodgers gave Honeywell 10 outings in low-leverage spots. He posted a 2.21 ERA through 20 1/3 frames. That’s despite a well below-average 15.2% strikeout rate and 6.5% swinging strike percentage. The Dodgers squeezed him off the roster over the weekend when they promoted Ben Casparius.

Honeywell carries 4.26 ERA across 80 1/3 innings over parts of three big league campaigns. If he reports to OKC, he’d be eligible for minor league free agency at the start of the offseason unless the Dodgers call him back up.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows FOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top