Dodgers Preview: After Winning Road Trip, Los Angeles Returns Home for Series vs Cards

LOS ANGELES, CA—For the first time in what seems like a while, the Los Angeles Dodgers return home after a winning road trip, collecting five wins over their last nine games, including back-to-back series wins in Cincinnati and Tampa. 

Now, the team will return to Los Angeles for a short six-game homestand, kicking it off with a three-game set against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Dodgers’ offense has struggled the last several weeks, but with Freddie Freeman seemingly out of his slump, the rest of the lineup (minus Mookie Betts) has followed.

However, while the team is likely to lose Tommy Edman for the foreseeable future, they’ll welcome back third baseman Max Muncy, who has missed the last month after suffering a left knee bone bruise.

Entering play today, the Dodgers still maintain a three-game lead over the San Diego Padres, but now every loss means that much more, as the Friars are hot coming into August, having won seven of their last ten games.

As for Los Angeles, they’ve won six of their last ten games, and look to keep their winning momentum into August after posting their worst record in a calendar month in July.

As for the St. Louis Cardinals, the team got off to a hot start to the season but has since fizzled out of postseason contention, opting to trade away key assets such as closer Ryan Helsley on Thursday.

St. Louis now sits in fourth place in the National League Central, twelve games back of the leading Milwaukee Brewers and six games back of the final National League Wild Card spot.

Pitching match-ups

Game One: Tyler Glasnow (1-1, 3.38 ERA) vs Sonny Gray (10-5, 4.38 ERA)

Game Two: Emmet Sheehan (2-2, 3.60 ERA) vs Miles Mikolas (6-8, 4.83 ERA)

Game Three: Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 2.40 ERA) vs Matthew Liberatore (6-9, 3.96)

Game Times

Game One: 7:10 PM PT, SportsNet LA, FanDuel Sports Network Midwest

Game Two: 7:10 PM PT, SportsNet LA, FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, MLB Network (out-of-market-only)

Game Three: 1:10 PM PT, SportsNet LA, FanDuel Sports Network Midwest

Who’s in & who’s out?

While the Dodgers’ pitching staff has suffered the most injuries of any Major League team this season, it has been the position player group for Los Angeles that has taken a beating in recent weeks.

The latest domino to fall is utilityman Tommy Edman, who is expected to hit the injured list prior to the start of tonight’s series.

Edman, 30, has been dealing with a lingering ankle issue since mid-summer of 2024, after spraining it during his minor league rehab assignment for a fractured wrist prior to his trade to the Dodgers.

In yesterday’s 4-0 win, Edman was seen hobbling after legging out a single and was removed from the ballgame. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed it was an ankle sprain.

The likely move for Edman going to the injured list will be the return of third baseman Max Muncy, who has been on his own rehab assignment with the Triple-A OKC Comets this past week.

Despite a slow start, Muncy went 5-for-6 in the final two games over the weekend with nine total bases, including a home run.

The return of Muncy will be a significant boost to the Dodgers’ lineup, which posted its worst month statistically in his absence with a collective 82 wRC+ in July.

The injury to Edman also means that young prospect Alex Freedman will stay with the big league club. The top prospect has hit well so far in his limited chances, posting a .708 OPS in thirteen at-bats.

Roki Sasaki is the latest arm working his way back to the starting rotation with the 23-year-old righty heading to Arizona to face live hitters this past week, per Dave Roberts.

Sasaki has been on the injured list since May 13th and was transferred to the 60-day IL in June. However, his season is not over yet, with the Dodgers hoping for a late-August return.

Over the weekend, the Dodgers also placed veteran right-handed relief pitcher Kirby Yates on the 15-day injured list with lower back pain. Yates has been dealing with the issues for a couple of weeks, and he’ll return to Los Angeles for further testing.

Day-to-day (1): Tommy Edman

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

15-day Injured List (2): Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates

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

Unlike most teams at this point in the season, the Cardinals are relatively healthy with just three players on their injured list.

However, one big name that was recently placed on the 10-day injured list just after the 2025 trade deadline was All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado.

Arenado, 34, got off to a hot start in the first three weeks of the season, but since then, it’s been more of the same regression that has plagued the ten-time Gold Glove Award winner.

The latest issue is a right shoulder strain, which he stated has been bothering him for weeks. In his absence, the Cardinals have turned to Nolan Gorman, who returns to the position he played throughout the minor leagues. Could this symbolize the end of Arenado’s tenure with the Cards?

Left-handed pitcher John King is another player on the injured list after suffering a left oblique strain in late July.

The season is not over for the Southpaw just yet, as King and the Cardinals are eying a mid-August return.

Day-to-day (00):

10-day Injured List (1): Nolan Arenado

15-day Injured List (1): John King

60-day Injured List (1): Zack Thompson

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