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 (5/13/2024-5/19/2024)
Giants Recap: The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their six-game road trip with a visit to Oracle Park in San Francisco to take on the Giants in a three-game series. The Dodgers, fresh off a series loss to the Padres, looked to rebound in a big way, and they did, winning two of three to kick off the beginning of the week.
The offense was nothing short of explosive to kick off the series, scoring a total of 16 runs in the first two games. The excitement reached its peak in an extra-inning affair, which saw Will Smith drive in the two winning runs in the 10th inning, sealing a thrilling victory for the Dodgers. However, Giants ace Logan Webb was dominant in the series finale, giving the Giants their lone win.
The Dodgers closed their road trip going 3-3, returning home to a slumping/disappointing Cincinnati Reds team.
- Game One: 6-4 W
- Game Two: 10-2 W
- Game Three: 1-4 L
Reds Recap: The Dodgers got off to a lukewarm start to kick off the series against the Reds in a sold-out 53 thousand crowd at Dodgers Stadium as fans were eager to get the highly anticipated Shohei Ohtani bobblehead.
However, the Dodgers would rebound nicely, winning three straight games and taking the series three games to one. The Dodgers were treated to a vintage Walker Buehler start, who went six shut-out innings while also seeing Ohtani deliver in the clutch with a walk-off single on Sunday’s finale.
- Game One: 2-7 L
- Game Two: 7-3 W
- Game Three: 4-0 W
- Game Four: 3-2 W
Sheehan’s surgery & more injury news
The Dodgers pitching staff took a massive blow this past week as the team announced that young right-handed pitcher Emmet Sheehan will miss the rest of the 2024 season due to Tommy John Surgery.
Sheehan was a massive piece for the Dodgers’ 2023 pitching staff, splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen. However, 2023 was a season when Sheehan’s arm was tested the most, pitching a career-high 123.1 innings between the minors and MLB, along with an extra 22 innings in the Arizona Fall League.
However, unlike last year, the Dodgers are in a good spot with the pitching staff due to the extra depth the team acquired via trade and free agency this past winter. The addition of Sheehan in the second half would’ve been a plus but not a necessity, as it was in 2023.
In other pitching news, right-handed starter Bobby Miller has continued his throwing program and is now facing a live hitter in Arizona, and he looks to rejoin the Dodgers in the coming weeks.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts already assured that when Miller is ready to return, he will have to go on a rehab assignment, as he has already missed an extensive amount of time. While it will not be the 5-6 starts that Walker Buehler underwent this season, one or two starts would seem ideal.
The Dodgers are in no rush to activate any of their starters on the IL. They currently have a “six-man” rotation with Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, James Paxton, Walker Buehler, Gavin Stone, and Ryan Yarbrough as the inning eaters in the bullpen.
On the offensive side, we’ve had a setback with 3B Max Muncy being placed on the 10-day IL due to a right oblique strain. However, the good news is that it’s not as serious as it sounds. The Dodgers, along with Roberts and Muncy, are all optimistic about his recovery, expecting him to be back in action in a week or so.
I think we got ahead of it; Certainly IL, as far as kind of giving him a handful of days to recover. I’m sure he’s not going to swing the bat for a couple, two, three days and the hope is he’ll be back on line on the 11th day.
Dave Roberts on Max Muncy’s injury
Muncy, who is having a terrific season overall, hitting .223/.323/.475 with a 125 OPS+, saw much of his numbers dip over the last ten games. He batted .189 with 7 hits, 4 homers, 10 RBIs, and 7 runs scored in that span.
Jason Heyward returns
Perhaps the Dodgers’ biggest move this past week was activating Jason Heyward, who has missed nearly the entire season with a back injury.
However, fans and reporters alike wondered what the Dodgers’ corresponding move would be when Heyward was activated. Well, everyone got their answer, as James Outman was the odd man out and was optioned to Triple-A OKC.
Outman, 27, finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2023, taking over the everyday center fielder role occupied by fan favorite Cody Bellinger the previous four seasons.
While Outman was a plus defender in the outfield this season, ranking above the 80th percentile in OAA (outs above average), his bat has not clicked, and having him sit on the bench getting around five at-bats a week will not fix anything.
With Andy Pages continuing to play an everyday role for the Dodgers, optioning him down was out of the question. While some fans will point the finger at Chris Taylor, we have discussed on the Bleed Los Podcast and on DodgersBeat that Taylor’s contract makes it hard to DFA or trade.
Heyward, an established veteran, revitalized his career with the Dodgers during the 2023 season. He batted .269/.340/.473 with a .813 OPS, 116 OPS+, 23 2B, 15 HR, 40 RBI, ranking 91st in OAA in right field, and only making the major league minimum (750k) after being DFA’d by the Cubs earlier that offseason.
Over his last three games since activation, Heyward has a .250 batting average with 3 hits, a home run, 2 RBIs, and 2 runs scored while also scoring the winning run in the Dodgers’ extra-inning walk-off win yesterday.
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