Dodgers Preview: 9-Game Road Trip Concludes in Tampa

TAMPA, FL—After taking two of three in Cincinnati against the Reds, the Los Angeles Dodgers will conclude their nine-game East Coast road Trip in Tampa, Florida, with a weekend interleague series versus the Rays.

However, the Dodgers won’t just be battling the revamped Rays, but also the elements as they’ll be playing outside with no roof in Florida at the start of August in the hot, humid East Coast Florida air.

Due to the Rays’ home ballpark, Tropicana Field, being damaged during Hurricane Milton, the Rays have been playing their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees.

Despite the weather, the Dodgers are hoping their bats will wake up and turn the page on a rough July, during which the team went 11-13, their worst month of the 2025 season.

Overall, the Dodgers have won five of their last five games, and with only a three-game lead in the National League West over the San Diego Padres, every game is that much more meaningful.

Perhaps the most significant storyline for Los Angeles this weekend is the return of the left-handed starting pitcher, Blake Snell, who will be making his third start in Dodger Blue against his former team.

Snell, 32, inked a massive 5-year, $182 million deal with Los Angeles over the winter but has missed the last few months due to left shoulder discomfort.

Snell’s return will now solidify a Dodgers rotation that resembles what Andrew Friedman and Brandon Gomes envisioned this past offseason.

Joining Snell in Tampa will also be the two new additions the Dodgers made during yesterday’s trade deadline: outfielder Alex Call and right-handed pitcher Brock Stewart.

As for the Tampa Bay Rays, they’ve been cold over their last ten games, collecting just two wins with eight losses.

A few weeks ago, the Rays were in a prime position to take the lead in the American League East possibly; now they sit in fourth place, ten games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays.

Despite that, the Rays, in typical Rays fashion, still added multiple key additions to their roster this trade deadline, including Adrian Houser from the Chicago White Sox and Griffin Jax from the Minnesota Twins.

Pitching match-ups

Game One: Clayton Kershaw (LHP) (4-2, 3.62 ERA) vs Shane Baz (8-7, 4.61 ERA)

Game Two: Blake Snell (LHP) (1-0, 2.00 ERA) vs Drew Rasmussen (8-5, 2.96 ERA)

Game Three: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (9-7, 2.63 ERA) vs Joe Boyle (1-1, 2.82 ERA)

Game Times

Game One: 4:35 PM PT, SportsNet LA, FanDuel Sports Network Sun, MLB Network (out-of-market-only)

Game Two: 10:10 AM PT, SportsNet LA, Fan Duel Sports Network Sun

Game Three: 11:10 AM PT, SportsNet LA, Fan Duel Sports Network Sun

Who’s in & who’s out?

The Dodgers will activate another significant arm in their starting rotation this weekend with left-hander Blake Snell slated to start Saturday in Tampa.

Snell, 32, has only made two starts for Los Angeles this season after missing the last several months on the injured list with left shoulder discomfort.

Now the lefty will return to a Dodgers rotation that has been solidified in recent weeks thanks to the activation of Tyler Glasnow and the return of Emmet Sheehan, Clayton Kershaw, and Shohei Ohtani.

Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy started a minor league rehab assignment this past weekend and should rejoin the Dodgers on their next homestand on Monday, per Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

Hyeseong Kim, who was placed on the 10-day injured list earlier this week, received injections in his shoulder and hopes not to miss too much time on the IL. In the meantime, top prospect Alex Freeland will take his spot on the team’s active 26-man roster.

Kiké Hernández, who was placed on the injured list before the All-Star break, has yet to resume baseball activities, per Dave Roberts; however, the skipper does expect him to return this season.

Heading down to Arizona while the team finishes out their nine-game road trip will be 23-year-old Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki, who is set to face hitters for the first time since hitting the injured list.

Sasaki, like Snell and Glasnow, has missed the last several weeks due to a shoulder issue, but the Dodgers coaching staff also took the opportunity to tweak Sasaki’s mechanics.

Sasaki and the Dodgers are eying a late-August return, but his availability for October remains to be seen.

Staying on the pitching side of things, lefty Tanner Scott has resumed his throwing program after landing on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation.

The Dodgers don’t believe the injury would sideline Scott for long, but don’t know when he’ll throw a bullpen, face hitters, or potentially go on a rehab assignment.

10-day Injured List (3): Max Muncy, Kiké Hernández, Hyeseong Kim

15-day Injured List (1): Tanner Scott

60-day Injured List (10): Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin, Michael Kopech, Blake Snell, Brusdar Graterol, Michael Grove, Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Evan Phillips

As the Dog Days of summer continue in Tampa, the Rays are dealing with a wide variety of injuries as we flip the calendar to August.

During yesterday’s game in the Bronx, Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda left the game with a left wrist injury after colliding with Giancarlo Stanton at first base.

The Rays have yet to make a move, but all signs point to a lengthy injured list stint.

Another key player injured during the series versus the Yankees was Rays infielder Yandy Díaz, who was hit with two outs in the first inning by Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman.

Díaz finished the inning but would later be removed in the fourth inning with the Rays listing him as day-to-day for their upcoming series versus Los Angeles.

Yet another player banged up over the last few days was young outfielder Chandler Simpson, who suffered a left index finger sprain after grounding out in the third inning yesterday.

After signing utility infielder Ha-Seong Kim this winter, the Rays were delighted to finally activate him after he had missed most of the season recovering from shoulder surgery last season.

However, that didn’t last long as Kim was placed on the injured list on July 25th after suffering a lower back strain on a slide to second base.

On the pitching side, the Rays are expecting to activate left-handed pitcher Shane McClanahan this month after the lefty has missed most of the summer recovering from left triceps nerve irritation and biceps tendonitis.

The lefty played catch at 60 feet on July 28th and “felt OK, nothing great,” per manager Kevin Cash. Had pulled back from rehab due to soreness in his left biceps following a ten-pitch bullpen on July 21st

Day-to-day (3): Jonathan Aranda, Yandy Díaz, Chandler Simpson

10-day Injured List (2): Ha-Seong Kim, Stuart Fairchild

15-day Injured List (00):

60-day Injured List (6): Nate Lavender, Alex Faedo, Shane McClanahan, Richie Palacios, Hunter Bigge, Manuel Rodríguez

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