Cody Snavely
Happy Monday. Here at DodgersBeat, we hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day, even with the Dodgers dropping the series finale against the Padres.
However, there is a lot of news and notes on the Dodgers besides the on-field play, as Dave Roberts gave us updates on the IL status of players and their outlook for the next week.
Week recap (5/6/2024-5/12/2024)
Marlins Recap: The Los Angeles Dodgers hosted the underwhelming Miami Marlins, who entered play on Monday with only ten wins. However, this time around, the Dodgers took care of business, sweeping the fish in three games.
On Monday, the Dodgers saw the return of Walker Buehler, who pitched four innings in his first start since June 2022. The offense was relentless over the three games, with key contributions from Max Muncy, particularly his raising his OPS over .900 on the season.
- Game One: 6-3 W
- Game Two: 8-2 W
- Game Three: 3-1 W
Padres Recap: After back-to-back sweeps of the Atlanta Braves and the Miami Marlins, the Dodgers traveled to San Diego looking to extend that win streak. However, they ran into a brick wall offensively, dropping the series two games to one.
While the Pitching was nothing short of exceptional, with elite performances by Tyler Glasnow in game one and James Paxton in game two, Walker Buehler faced some challenges in his second start of the year.
After the Padres won game one with a walk-off, the Dodgers rebounded with a Teoscar Hernadez grand slam, which put them up 5-0. However, the Padres would take the series after a gem from former Dodger Yu Darvish.
- Game One: 2-1 L
- Game Two: 5-0 W
- Game Three: 4-0 L
Miller and Heyward nearing return?
The Dodgers are set for another waiver of reinforcements, who will hopefully rejoin the club in the next two to three weeks. Bobby Miller and Jason Heyward have taken huge steps forward in their recoveries on the IL.
Jason Heyward, who has been out since the beginning of the season due to back stiffness, has shown remarkable dedication in his recovery. He participated fully in pre-game, working on batting, fielding, and base running. Heyward even took live at bats in San Diego this past weekend, demonstrating his unwavering commitment to the team. On Sunday, Dave Roberts confirmed that the veteran left-hander would be heading to Triple-A OKC to begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday and Wednesday.
If all goes well and Heyward comes out of the games healthy, it is likely Heyward will be reactivated on the Dodgers’ next homestand against the Cincinnati Reds, but that is just speculation. However, when Heyward does return, it will be interesting to see who the Dodgers’ corresponding move will be.
It is likely down to two options: Chris Taylor and James Outman, both of whom are struggling. I wrote this past week about who the Dodgers will point to as the off-man out, and I still feel that James Outman, because he has minor league options remaining, will be the one to bite the bullet.
Bobby Miller began throwing off the mound during the Dodgers—Marlins series and is set to increase the intensity of his throwing program. Miller threw another bullpen prior to Sunday’s game and will face live hitters while the team is in San Francisco.
The following steps for Miller will likely be a rehab assignment, as Dave Roberts stated weeks ago that the longer Miller missed, the more time he would need to build up his arm again. While it won’t be the six minor league rehab starts Buehler went through, 1-3 starts would seem probable.
Struggles vs Padres?
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ performance against the San Diego Padres this season is in uncharted territory.
Entering the 2024 season, the Dodgers had a 518-417 lifetime record against the Padres, which translated to a .554 winning percentage. The Dodgers have dominated the Friars throughout their history, but everything changed in October 2022.
The Dodgers, who won the NL West, won a franchise record 111 games in the process but were bested by the 89-win Padres in the NLDS. The Dodgers had yet another 100-game win season in 2023, going 9-4 against the Padres in 13 games so far. In 2024, the Dodgers have a 3-5 losing record against San Diego.
The Dodgers have lost back-to-back series to the Padres, losing two of three in Los Angeles and, most recently, dropping another series in San Diego. The biggest takeaway is the offense, which went ice cold in the series, losing 2-1 in game one and getting shut out in game three 4-0.
However, the Dodgers had their own issues, such as deploying an Ohtaniless lineup in the series finale and arriving in San Diego with a hungry Padres team and fandom ready to welcome new hitter Luis Arráez to Petco Park.
Dodgers reach the 1/4 mark. How are they doing?
Believe it or not, the 2024 season is already a quarter of the way through, as we are fast approaching June and the beginning of summer. With that said, how are the Dodgers doing?
Well, our own Steve Webb shared his thoughts and dove into the numbers in his recent article, reviewing the entire Dodgers season up until this point.
While you should check it out for yourself, a few topics that stand out are the MVP race between Betts and Ohtani and the slumping bats involving Gavin Lux, Chris Taylor, and James Outman.
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