Dodgers Rumors

Poll: NL MVP Race Check-In

By Nick Deeds | June 25, 2025 at 3:05pm CDT

While days off and postponements leave clubs around the league without a uniform number of games played, one of the games in this week’s slate will represent the halfway point in the season for every team across MLB. Who are the frontrunners to claim the MVP Award this offseason? MLBTR’s look at the American League saw Aaron Judge come away with 55% of the vote, and today we’ll be checking out the National League:

Shohei Ohtani

The reigning NL MVP hasn’t slowed down much after his 50-50 2024 campaign. Ohtani is slashing an incredible .289/.388/.627 (174 wRC+) through 78 games this year, with 27 home runs and 11 steals during that time. His status as a DH holds him back somewhat in terms of WAR, but he’s still second in the NL among hitters according to Fangraphs. He leads the league in homers and slugging percentage and clocks in within the top five in terms of on-base percentage. Ohtani’s expected numbers are quite good as well, as his .435 xwOBA is actually better than his wOBA and trails only Juan Soto among NL hitters. Of course, the real ace in the hole for Ohtani is the fact that he’s returning to pitching this year. He’s only thrown two innings so far, but his stuff has looked good in those abbreviated outings and he figures to only ramp up the volume as the season progresses.

Ohtani’s unicorn status as the only true two-way player in the sport will likely make him a frontrunner for the MVP Award every season until he either starts facing significant decline or retires from pitching. That said, he does not currently hold sole possession of the NL lead for fWAR even when combining his pitching and hitting numbers this year. His offensive numbers have not been quite as robust as they were last year, and he notably is not stealing bases anywhere near as frequently as he did when he was the second most valuable baserunner in the NL last season. For a player who’s won an MVP award in three of the last four seasons, voter fatigue can be a consideration as well; just ask Ohtani’s former teammate Mike Trout about the 2015 season. Will those potential weak spots be enough to let another player overcome him?

Pete Crow-Armstrong

The dynamic 23-year-old’s breakout has been one of the biggest stories in the entire sport this year. Despite entering the 2025 season as a career 82 wRC+ hitter across parts of two seasons in the majors, Crow-Armstrong has slashed .273/.310/.563 (140 wRC+) across 78 games. That’s a very low on-base percentage for an MVP candidate, but Crow-Armstrong makes up for that flaw by being elite in every other regard. He’s fifth in the NL with 21 home runs, his 24 stolen bases are second only to Oneil Cruz, and he’s one of the most valuable defenders in the entire sport with +10 Outs Above Average. Taken together, it’s enough to give Crow-Armstrong a 4.0 fWAR figure that leads the league among hitters, and is tied with Ohtani when the latter’s work on the mound is factored in.

For those less statistically inclined, the fact that his breakout has been key to the Cubs’ ascent from mediocrity to become one of the league’s heavyweights could hold value with voters who differentiate between the “most valuable” player in the league and the “best” player in the league. Even with all of that going for him, it’s hard to consider Crow-Armstrong the favorite. Ohtani’s star power and uniqueness as a two-way player is difficult to match, and if he’s able to pitch effectively throughout the second half, it will be very difficult for Crow-Armstrong to not fall behind on the WAR leaderboard. What’s more, advanced metrics are somewhat skeptical of his offensive performance this year, as his .356 xwOBA is 16 points lower than his actual wOBA of .372. Crow-Armstrong’s plate discipline issues go beyond his anemic walk rate; he swings more often than any qualified hitter in baseball but has a below-average contact rate both overall and more specifically on pitches within the strike zone.

James Wood

He’s lagging behind both Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong at this point, but Wood has been every bit the phenom the Nationals hoped he would be when acquiring him as part of the Juan Soto trade back in 2022. He’s hitting .281/.377/.561 (158 wRC+) in 80 games to go along with nine steals and solid defense in left field. His underlying offensive metrics are also immaculate, with top of the scale expected numbers, elite bat speed, and a 99th percentile barrel rate. It’s an exciting offensive performance, particularly from a player who’s just 22 years old. Some MVP voters could also hold the fact that Wood and his Nationals are not contenders against the budding young star.

Fernando Tatis Jr.

Tatis is a familiar face in the NL MVP race, as he finished fourth for the award in 2020 before coming in third the following year. Injuries, a PED suspension, and a move from shortstop to right field have all changed the way Tatis is viewed around the league in the years since. That hasn’t stopped him from remaining a force within the Padres lineup, and this year he’s been one of the better all-around players in the NL. He’s slashing .264/.352/.459 (129 wRC+) with 15 homers and 15 steals, and his defensive value is second only to Crow-Armstrong among NL outfielders. Tatis also benefits from strong underlying numbers; his .390 xwOBA is 37 points higher than his .353 wOBA, and if he can play closer to those expected numbers in the second half, he could push his way up to the top of some ballots.

Other Options

While Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong appear to be the clear frontrunners at this point, Wood and Tatis aren’t the only potential challengers. Corbin Carroll is in the midst of a sensational season and was right there in the mix with the top two until news a wrist fracture yesterday left it uncertain when he’ll take the field next. Trea Turner and Kyle Tucker have both been excellent and could find themselves more firmly in this conversation if things break right in the second half. Will Smith is one of the league’s top hitters this year with a 170 wRC+ made all the more impressive by his status as a regular catcher, but he’s only played in 63 games so far.

Juan Soto’s first half has been somewhat disappointing by his standards (147 wRC+), but he’s on an absolute tear right now and his .458 xwOBA is right in line with last year’s monster performance. Elly De La Cruz is flirting with pace for a 40-40 season but hasn’t been nearly as rangy at shortstop this season in the eyes of defensive metrics, which has weighed him down a bit. He could still easily emerge as a candidate with a big second half. Paul Skenes, Logan Webb, and Zack Wheeler are all in the midst of dominant seasons on the mound, but it’s somewhat rare for a pitcher to win the MVP award.

Who do you think will ultimately come out on top in NL MVP voting? Will Ohtani reign supreme once again, or could another challenger like Crow-Armstrong step up to claim the trophy? Have your say in the poll below:

NL West Notes: Carroll, Glasnow, Garcia, Freeland, Black

By Mark Polishuk | June 22, 2025 at 11:00pm CDT

Corbin Carroll has missed the Diamondbacks’ last four games due to a sore left hand, after the outfielder was hit by a pitch in Wednesday’s 8-1 loss to the Blue Jays. X-rays were negative and manager Torey Lovullo indicated today that Carroll’s hand was improving to some extent, but the skipper told MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert and other media that Carroll would undergo an MRI as an extra precaution. “Just because it’s not progressing as quickly as we wanted it to, and because of what we’ve just gone through with [Gabriel Moreno] and several of the injuries that we’ve been taking on, we want to definitely get a baseline,” Lovullo said.

In Moreno’s case, what apparently seemed like a minor hand injury ended up leading to a much longer expected absence, as a second MRI revealed a hairline fracture in the catcher’s right index figure. Such an outcome for Carroll would be devastating, as the young star has bounced back from a fairly ordinary 2024 campaign to hit .255/.341/.573 with 20 home runs in his first 323 plate appearances of 2025. Only 12 players in baseball have a higher wRC+ than Carroll’s 148, so naturally even losing him for a few days has been a hit to Arizona’s lineup. Losing Carroll to a more serious hand issue might well change the trajectory of the Diamondbacks’ season, as it would make it even harder for the Snakes to make up ground in both the crowded NL West or in the NL wild card picture.

MLB Issues Suspensions Related To Dodgers-Padres Incidents

By Anthony Franco | June 20, 2025 at 6:32pm CDT

Major League Baseball has announced suspensions related to last night’s benches-clearing incident between the Padres and Dodgers. San Diego closer Robert Suarez was suspended three games for “intentionally hitting” Shohei Ohtani with a pitch. Suarez, who was also hit with an undisclosed fine, has elected to appeal and remains on the roster during that process.

Additionally, both managers were suspended for one game for “unsportsmanlike conduct and for contributing to inciting the benches-clearing incident.” Managers do not get an appellate right, so Dave Roberts and Mike Shildt will both be unavailable tonight. The Dodgers are hosting the Nationals, while the Padres welcome the Royals to Petco Park. Roberts told Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic that bench coach Danny Lehmann will manage tonight’s game.

The suspensions are related but not all directly from the same sequence. The managers were suspended for their actions in the top of the ninth inning. Dodgers righty Jack Little, making his MLB debut, hit Fernando Tatis Jr. on his right hand with a 93 MPH fastball. It seems unlikely that Little intended to throw at Tatis, which is reflected in the league’s decision not to impose any discipline. (The Dodgers optioned Little back to Triple-A tonight.)

It was the second time that Tatis had been hit in the series, though. He’d also been hit with a pitch during these teams’ previous series one week before. The final beaning came at the end of a very tense four-game set. Dodger outfielder Andy Pages accused Dylan Cease of throwing at him on Monday. Tatis, Jose Iglesias and Ohtani were all plunked on Tuesday. Stephen Kolek drilled Pages again on Wednesday, and Lou Trivino had hit Bryce Johnson with a cutter earlier in Thursday’s game.

Shildt raced out of the dugout to check on Tatis after Little had plunked him. San Diego’s skipper had some choice words for the Dodger dugout along the way. That prompted Roberts to come onto the field. He got into Shildt’s face and bumped him, leading both dugouts to empty. Both managers were ejected. Tatis was removed from the game as an injury precaution. Little stayed in to finish the inning. The Padres had some trepidation about Tatis’ initial imaging results, but he’s fortunately back in the lineup tonight.

Suarez then came out of the bullpen for the bottom of the ninth. He hit Ohtani on the right shoulder with a 100 MPH fastball on a 3-0 count. That probably would’ve caused benches to clear again had Ohtani not quickly signaled to the L.A. dugout not to do so. Suarez and acting manager Brian Esposito were tossed by home plate umpire Marvin Hudson. San Diego’s closer told reporters tonight through an interpreter that he did not intend to hit Ohtani (video provided by 97.3 The Fan). MLB disagreed and imposed the ban.

Dodgers Acquire Zach Penrod From Red Sox, Transfer Roki Sasaki To 60-Day IL

By Steve Adams | June 20, 2025 at 2:50pm CDT

2:50pm: The Dodgers have made it official, announcing that they acquired Penrod in exchange for cash considerations. Right-hander Roki Sasaki has been transferred to the 60-day injured list as the corresponding active roster move. Sasaki has been on the IL since mid-May due to a shoulder impingement. He can be reinstated 60 days from that initial IL placement, which would be mid-July. He was recently shut down from throwing and has an uncertain timeline.

1:37pm: The Dodgers and Red Sox have agreed to a trade that’ll send left-hander Zach Penrod from Boston to Los Angeles, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. The Sox designated Penrod for assignment earlier this week in the wake of the Rafael Devers blockbuster, as they were acquiring two 40-man players (Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison) and only trading away one.

Penrod, 28, is an interesting story. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Rangers in 2018 and pitched briefly in their system before being cut loose during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He then spent three years pitching in the independent Pioneer League before catching the eyes of Red Sox scouts and returning to affiliated ball.

A nice minor league showing across multiple levels in 2024 pushed Penrod up onto the 40-man roster. He tossed 62 2/3 frames across three levels and logged a 4.16 ERA with a huge 34.8% strikeout rate but a similarly hefty 12.4% walk rate. The Sox summoned him to the majors in the season’s second half, and he pitched four innings down the stretch, holding opponents to a run on three hits and four walks with three strikeouts.

Penrod was in the mix for a bullpen spot heading into the 2025 season, but an elbow injury in spring training knocked him out for nearly three months. He returned to the mound in late May and has pitched 7 1/3 minor league innings. It’s been a mixed bag. He’s allowed four runs and only seven hits while punching out nine of 36 batters (25%). However, he’s also issued seven walks, plunked a batter and tossed three wild pitches.

Command has never been a particularly strong suit, but it’s also understandable if there’s some rust after he was initially diagnosed with elbow inflammation in late February and didn’t get back onto a mound in a game setting until May 24. Penrod’s 95 mph average fastball this year is a match for his 2024 mark, and he’s posted a huge 15% swinging-strike rate after logging a even more-impressive 16.6% mark in that regard during last year’s minor league run.

Penrod will give the Dodgers a hard-throwing lefty with clear bat-missing ability and, as critically, a full slate of three minor league option years remaining. Los Angeles churns through the final few spots of its bullpen as much as — if not more than — any other team in the sport, so flexible arms with Penrod’s general skill set are always going to be somewhat appealing to the Dodgers.

Dodgers Select Jack Little

By Anthony Franco | June 19, 2025 at 6:59pm CDT

The Dodgers announced they’ve selected reliever Jack Little onto the MLB roster. They optioned Emmet Sheehan to Triple-A Oklahoma City in a corresponding move. Tony Gonsolin was transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register first observed that Little was in the clubhouse, while Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic noted that Sheehan was heading out.

Little gets his first big league call after five-plus seasons in the minor leagues. The 6’4″ righty has been a pure reliever dating back to his college days at Stanford. The Dodgers drafted him in the fifth round in 2019. Little has never been a high-end prospect but has posted solid numbers in the upper minors. He combined for a 3.79 ERA over 57 innings between the top two levels a year ago.

The 27-year-old Little has spent all of this year in OKC, allowing only 2.20 earned runs per nine across 32 2/3 frames. He’s 10-11 in save chances and has fanned a slightly above-average 24.3% of batters faced. He averages 94 MPH on his fastball while mixing in a slider and changeup. Little is an extreme fly-ball pitcher, but he’s done well at avoiding home runs in the minors. He has the sixth-lowest ERA among the 84 pitchers with 30+ innings in the Pacific Coast League this year.

Sheehan heads to OKC one day after being activated from the 60-day IL following Tommy John rehab. He pitched pretty well in his return last night, striking out six while working four innings of one-run ball against San Diego. The Dodgers evidently preferred a fresh arm in their bullpen rather than keeping Sheehan in the rotation in the short term. He’ll need to spend at least 15 days in the minor leagues unless he’s recalled to replace a pitcher going on the injured list.

Gonsolin’s move to the 60-day IL is even more notable. He went on the shelf on June 7 with elbow discomfort. The Dodgers announced that initial imaging didn’t reveal any UCL damage. While they haven’t provided any indication that has changed, they’ve already ruled him out for at least two months. Gonsolin has made seven starts this season in his return from an August ’23 Tommy John surgery. The 60-day clock backdates to his initial IL placement, but that still rules him out into the first week of August at the earliest.

Latest On Dodgers’ Outfield Alignment

By Anthony Franco | June 18, 2025 at 11:31pm CDT

The Dodgers started Hyeseong Kim in center field tonight against San Diego right-hander Stephen Kolek. Kim was flanked in the corners by Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernández, leaving Michael Conforto out of the lineup. Manager Dave Roberts said pregame that he’s unsure whether the lefty-hitting Conforto will get a start against rookie righty Ryan Bergert in tomorrow’s series finale (relayed by Sonja Chen of MLB.com).

Roberts didn’t frame it as a benching, saying he envisions Conforto “playing a lot still.” At the same time, the veteran skipper acknowledged that Kim has earned the opportunity for regular playing time. Kim is a natural middle infielder, but the Dodgers have Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman playing at those spots. That leaves center field as the clearest position for Kim to get consistent at-bats.

Signed to a three-year offseason deal out of Korea, the 26-year-old Kim began his Dodger tenure on optional assignment. Los Angeles called him up in early May. Kim was expected to work as a multi-positional player off the bench. He has thrived in his first look at MLB pitching, running a .382/.425/.544 batting line through his first 30 big league contests. He’s obviously not going to continue hitting that well, but he’s putting the ball in play at an above-average rate and has gone 6-6 on stolen base attempts.

Pages is playing at an All-Star level, while Hernández remains a middle-of-the-order bat. Getting Kim regular outfield work will come at the expense of Conforto, who is hitting .168/.305/.277 in his first season as a Dodger. He has hit below the Mendoza line in each month. Kim’s ability to play up the middle also allows the Dodgers to use Pages in left field. He’d otherwise need to play center when Conforto is in left.

It’s clearly not what the Dodgers envisioned when they signed Conforto to a surprising $17MM free agent deal. It was a fairly sizable bet on his strong finish to the 2024 campaign while with the Giants. He’d been up-and-down through the season’s first couple months before posting an OPS above .840 in both August and September. An injury to any of L.A.’s outfielders or a slump from Kim could reopen everyday work for Conforto, but he may lose some playing time in the short term as they ride the hot hand.

Dodgers Reinstate Emmet Sheehan

By Nick Deeds | June 18, 2025 at 2:38pm CDT

June 18: Sheehan has now been officially reinstated. The 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now full. Sauer was optioned as the corresponding active roster move.

June 14: The Dodgers are planning to activate right-hander Emmet Sheehan from the 60-day injured list this week, according to a report from The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya. He’ll join the big league rotation upon being activated, though Ardaya notes that the Dodgers won’t decide exactly when to activate him until after Sheehan throws his next bullpen session. Sheehan will require a 40-man roster spot once activated, so a corresponding 40-man move will be required if the Dodgers’ roster is full at that point.

Regardless of the exact timing of Sheehan’s return, getting him back figures to be a huge boost for a Dodgers rotation that recently had to move right-hander Ben Casparius onto a starter’s schedule after months of excellent numbers in relief due to a lack of viable alternatives. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May, and Clayton Kershaw are the only other healthy regular starters L.A. has rostered at the moment, with depth options like Justin Wrobleski, Bobby Miller, and Landon Knack having more or less disqualified themselves with their significant struggles when called upon for spot starts. Sheehan is a more proven commodity than those options, with 11 big league starts to his name after debuting with the Dodgers last year.

While Sheehan seems a bit safer to give the ball to than the club’s other depth options, that shouldn’t be taken to mean this is a riskless move. After all, Sheehan has a career 5.23 ERA out of the rotation in the majors and has not pitched in the big leagues since 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He looked better than that in his most recent outings, however, with a 3.68 ERA and 4.35 FIP across 22 frames in September. Sheehan seemed likely to be firmly in the Dodgers’ rotation mix for last year despite his uneven performance, but he went under the knife almost exactly 13 months ago to the day and hasn’t pitched at the big league level since.

The right-hander has made four rehab starts this year, with a 3.97 ERA in 11 1/3 innings of work during that time. That overall line doesn’t do Sheehan’s performance in those four outings justice; he’s struck out 44.7% of his opponents while rehabbing and limited opposing batters to just one walk. That’s come against minor league hitters, of course, and the jump from minor league opponents to the big leagues is larger than ever these days. Even so, it’s an undeniably encouraging sign that he’s been able to punch out that many hitters even as he’s rebuilding to a starter’s workload.

Once activated, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Dodgers ease Sheehan into the starting rotation. He’s only built up to 63 pitches so far, which could make him a prime candidate to either be used alongside an opener or perhaps piggyback with another pitcher like Wrobleski or Matt Sauer. In any case, adding another arm to a fraught Dodgers rotation that seems unlikely to get further reinforcements before Shohei Ohtani’s return to pitching sometime next month has to be a significant relief for the entire pitching staff.

Shohei Ohtani To Make Dodgers Pitching Debut On Monday

By Nick Deeds | June 15, 2025 at 10:58pm CDT

Dodgers fans have been waiting for more than a year to see Shohei Ohtani pitch in a major league game in for the club, and that wait might finally be over. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times) that Ohtani will “most likely” make his pitching debut during the Dodgers’ series against the Padres this week. Shortly thereafter, the Dodgers announced that their two-way superstar will start against San Diego in tomorrow night’s game.

It’s a long-awaited return that’s coming much earlier than expected. While offseason expectations placed Ohtani’s return to the mound from his September 2023 elbow surgery at some point in May, but those hopes were squashed when his pitching rehab was paused in late February. Ohtani resumed ramping up shortly after Opening Day, but the star’s timetable for return has been kept extremely vague by Dodgers officials ever since. For most of the season, Ohtani’s return to pitching had been anticipated at some point in the second half, though earlier this week Roberts hinted at the possibility that Ohtani could return at some point before the All-Star break.

Still, Ohtani’s timeline having been bumped up to tomorrow night puts him back on a big league mound a month earlier than even the most generous of expectations. The narrative surrounding Ohtani’s return to pitching shifted rapidly throughout the day today, with Roberts telling reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) earlier this afternoon that the plan was for Ohtani to face hitters early this week before “potentially” making his return to the big league pitching staff. Last night, Ohtani himself was vaguely alluding to the possibility that he could return earlier than anticipated, as Ardaya notes that he playfully asked, “What do you think?” when asked if he’ll return to the mound before the All-Star break before acknowledging that “something like that” was on the table.

After today’s win over the Giants, Roberts retracted his previous comments about Ohtani facing live hitters this week and noted that he would likely pitch as an opener at some point during this week’s series against San Diego, and that timeline was pushed up further by the organization’s announcement that he will be on the mound opposite Dylan Cease tomorrow evening. Despite the seemingly rapid and somewhat haphazard way the decision to start Ohtani tomorrow night came together, it seems clear the organization feels he’s ready to pitch in games. His latest session on the mound last week, which lasted three simulated innings and 44 pitches, drew rave reviews from Dodgers brass. Pitching coach Mark Prior told reporters (including Ardaya) that “he was doing whatever he wanted with the baseball, with every pitch he wanted to” during Tuesday’s session.

It should be noted that expectations must be tempered for Ohtani’s start tomorrow night. He’s starting the game as an opener, and there’s no expectation that he’ll be able to pitch especially deep into the game. As Roberts told reporters (including ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez) this evening, at least Ohtani’s first few appearances seem likely to be closer to rehab appearances than full starts. It’s long been known that Ohtani wouldn’t have a traditional rehab opportunity due to his importance for the Dodgers as their regular DH, and Roberts indicated this evening that cooling off after a simulated game and then heating back up to hit in that evening’s Dodgers game was actually more taxing for him than it would’ve been to pitch and hit in the same game. That combined with the fact that Ohtani won’t count against the club’s 13-pitcher roster limit and the superstar’s own desire to start pitching in big league games was enough to convince the organization to let him start tomorrow night’s game.

Even if it should be viewed more through the lens of a rehab outing rather than a traditional start, Ohtani’s return to the mound will be a boost for a beleaguered Dodgers pitching staff. Right-hander Ben Casparius was previously scheduled to start tomorrow night’s game for Los Angeles, but threw just 54 pitches in his last outing and was sure to tax the club’s bullpen at least somewhat when used as a starter. With Ohtani likely to handle the first inning or two of the game, perhaps he and Casparius can combine to offer the Dodgers the same amount of length that a more traditional starter could be penciled in for. That should be very helpful for a relief corps that’s likely to be taxed by a bullpen game on Tuesday followed by what figures to be an abbreviated start from right-hander Emmet Sheehan in his first appearance following his expected activation from the injured list later this week.

It’s unclear exactly when Ohtani is expected to be built up enough to serve as a full-fledged starter rather than just open games for the Dodgers, but perhaps his workload in tomorrow night’s game can provide some insight into that question. In the meantime, the Dodgers will surely be happy to have any innings he can offer as they continue to piece together starts amid a rash of injuries that have already sent a majority of the club’s Opening Day rotation to the injured list.

Roki Sasaki No Longer Throwing; No Timetable For Return

By Nick Deeds | June 15, 2025 at 9:31pm CDT

9:31pm: Roberts struck a much more optimistic tone regarding Sasaki after this evening’s game, as relayed by Ardaya. Roberts emphasized that Sasaki is “pain-free” and “already moving around” before going on to suggest that he should be able to resume building up his rehab process “soon.” While his tone regarding the young right-hander was significantly more optimistic than earlier in the day, he still provided few specifics regarding the righty’s status or when he’ll resume his throwing program.

3:41pm: Rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki is no longer throwing due to him not feeling “comfortable” with his shoulder when throwing at full intensity, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) this afternoon. Sasaki has been on the injured list due to a right shoulder impingement for just over a month, but it doesn’t sound as if he’s likely to return anytime soon. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register adds that the Dodgers have no timeline for Sasaki’s return to throwing, while Ardaya suggests that Roberts’ comments indicated that Sasaki’s return to the mound in 2025 may not be guaranteed.

The news doesn’t change any short term plans for the Dodgers, as he wasn’t necessarily expected to return in the near future even before today’s news. MLB.com notes that Sasaki did not have an estimated return date and had not yet progressed beyond playing light catch as of last week. While pitching coach Mark Prior noted at that time (as relayed by Plunkett) that Sasaki was pain-free, he noted even then that the phenom hadn’t progressed enough to start ramping up the intensity of his fastball and that Sasaki must be “confident in his ability to throw the baseball” before his rehab can proceed. Roberts told reporters (including Benjamin Royer of the Los Angeles Times) that he would defer to Sasaki in describing the issue.

“As far as kind of the sensation,” Roberts said, as relayed by Royer. “It’s discomfort. I don’t think it’s pain, it’s tightness… whatever the adjective you want to use — I would rather him kind of say that.”

Regardless of the specific verbiage surrounding Sasaki’s stalled rehab, it’s clear he and the Dodgers were not seeing the sort of results they were looking for. As a result, the right-hander will be shut down from throwing for an indefinite period, though it appears that no additional testing on Sasaki’s shoulder is planned at this time. That suggests the Dodgers are at least confident they know what the problem is, but it’s still somewhat worrisome that the club could not say with confidence that Sasaki would return to the big league mound this season.

If Sasaki doesn’t return to the mound this year, it will be hard to view his rookie campaign as anything other than a disappointing one. The right-hander has made eight starts for the Dodgers, pitching to a 4.72 ERA (84 ERA+) in 34 1/3 innings of work across those outings. That’s not too far off from an average back-end starter at first glance, but Sasaki walked (22) nearly as many hitters as he struck out (24) and recorded an out in the sixth inning just twice while failing to record an out in the fifth inning four times. That combination of poor results, worse peripherals, and lack of volume made for a pretty bleak debut for Sasaki, particularly given his elite pedigree as one of the most talented young arms in the entire world.

Of course, the other side of that coin is that his talented hasn’t mysteriously disappeared. Eight starts is far too small of a sample to judge a pitcher on, and Sasaki’s bonafides as a potential top-of-the-rotation talent speak for themselves. He’s got some of the nastiest stuff in the entire sport, and posted a 2.10 ERA with a 32.7% strikeout rate across four NPB seasons. That includes an otherworldly 2023 where he pitched to a 1.78 ERA in 91 innings of work while striking out 39.1% of his opponents. Those huge strikeout numbers are particularly eye-popping when one considers the propensity towards contact found in NPB play, further adding to the pile of evidence that Sasaki’s future figures to be a very bright one.

All of that is why the Dodgers committed virtually their entire international bonus pool budget to signing him this winter in a sweepstakes that ultimately came down to Los Angeles, San Diego, and Toronto. While that investment hasn’t paid off yet, the young righty is still just 23 years old and will have plenty of opportunities to show off his talent in the future so long as he can get healthy enough to return to the mound. Perhaps that can happen as soon as later this season, but for now he’ll remain on the shelf alongside a bevy of other key Dodgers arms like Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Evan Phillips, and Brusdar Graterol. The Dodgers are currently relying on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Ben Casparius, and the soon-to-be-activated Emmet Sheehan to hold down the fort while most of the club’s Opening Day rotation is unavailable.

Angels Return Rule 5 Pick Garrett McDaniels To Dodgers

By Mark Polishuk | June 14, 2025 at 1:02pm CDT

The Angels announced that left-hander Garrett McDaniels has been returned to the Dodgers, as per his status as a Rule 5 Draft pick. McDaniels was designated for assignment earlier this week, and since he went unclaimed on waivers, the Angels were required to offer him back to the Dodgers for $50K (teams that select players away in the R5 give a $100K fee to the club losing the player).

Rule 5 picks must spend an entire season on their new team’s active roster before the new team can fully obtain their rights, and McDaniels’ stint in Anaheim ended after 10 relief appearances and an IL stint for biceps tendinitis that lasted over a month. McDaniels posted a 5.91 ERA over his first 10 2/3 career innings as a big leaguer, as he had never pitched above the Double-A level before making his MLB debut this season. In fact, even McDaniels’ Double-A resume consisted of only two appearances and three innings with the Dodgers’ Tulsa affiliate in 2024.

A 30th-round pick for the Marlins in the 2018 draft, McDaniels chose to attend Coastal Carolina instead of starting his pro career out of high school, and a subsequent Tommy John surgery limited his college ball experience. He went undrafted entirely and didn’t join the Dodgers until May 2022, but then made a relatively quick climb up their minor league ladder. McDaniels has a 3.43 ERA in 99 2/3 career minor league innings, and he recorded a good number of strikeouts while working mostly as a reliever, though he made a handful of starts in A-ball.

This was enough to get the Angels’ attention in the Rule 5 Draft, but McDaniels didn’t quite seem ready for the majors. He’ll now return to the Dodgers’ farm system to continue his development, and another trip back to the big leagues might not be out of the question in 2025 given how the injury-plagued Dodgers are constantly churning through arms.

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