Dodgers Preview: Dodgers Continue Homestand with Four-Game Set Against Padres

LOS ANGELES, CA — For the third consecutive series, the Los Angeles Dodgers will play a National League West foe, this time welcoming the third-place San Diego Padres to Dodger Stadium for a four-game weekday series.

It’s the second meeting between both teams this season, with the first coming last week in San Diego, in which the Dodgers took two of three and forced the Friars out of second place in the highly competitive National League West.

The Dodgers are a modest 6-4 over their last ten games but took back-to-back series against the Padres and the San Francisco Giants to maintain a tight two-game lead in the division.

The Padres have been skidding over their last ten games, winning just four, and have just seven wins in fourteen games in June.

However, all eyes will be on the Dodgers and two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who is set to take the mound as tonight’s Game One starter, his first pitching appearance as a Dodger and the first since August of 2023.

Over the last several days, the buildup and return of Ohtani have been hinted at through Ohtani and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, with multiple MLB insiders reporting a general sense that Ohtani would pitch for Los Angeles before the All-Star break.

Well, that is now the reality for the Dodgers, who view any innings coming from Ohtani as an added benefit to his two-way player roster status, giving the team ultimate flexibility.

Ohtani will also be joined by young right-hander Emmet Sheehan who is set to be activated off the 60-day injured list either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Pitching match-ups

Game One: Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Dylan Cease (2-5, 4.28 ERA)

Game Two: TBD (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Randy Vásquez (3-4, 3.57 ERA)

Game Three: TBD (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Stephen Kolek (3-2, 3.50 ERA)

Game Four: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-5, 2.64 ERA) vs TBD (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Game Times

Game One: 7:10 PM PT, SportsNet LA, Padres Television Network, MLB Network (out-of-market-only)

Game Two: 7:10 PM PT, SportsNet LA, Padres Television Network, TBS

Game Three: 7:10 PM PT, SportsNet LA, Padres Television Network, MLB Network

Game Four: 7:10 PM PT, SportsNet LA, Padres Television Network

Who’s in & who’s out?

It has been a great few days of updates for the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff with Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, and others moving forward in their throwing programs and rehab.

As mentioned earlier, the Dodgers are set to have Shohei Ohtani return to the starting rotation; however, today’s game is more of an opener role as the righty will get built up in real games rather than simulated live at-bats or a minor league rehab assignment.

Sheehan, 25, is also set to return this week off the 60-day injured list either Tuesday or Wednesday, per Dave Roberts. The righty missed all of last season due to Tommy John surgery but has looked great in the four minor league rehab starts, collecting over twenty punchouts in eleven innings.

Joining Snell and Glasnow with a bullpen session over the weekend was right-handed pitcher Blake Treinen, who has been sidelined since late-April with a right forearm strain.

The lone bump in the road for the Dodgers’ pitching staff is 23-year-old Japanese rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki, who has been shut down from throwing with no timetable for a return.

When asked if the Dodgers are preparing for life without Sasaki for the remainder of this season, Roberts admitted that it was a fair point.

15-day Injured List (3): Roki Sasaki, Luis García, Tony Gonsolin

60-day Injured List (11): Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Brusdar Graterol, Michael Grove, Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Emmet Sheehan, Edgardo Henriquez, Blake Treinen, Evan Phillips

Not much has changed on the injury front for the San Diego Padres since their last meeting with the Dodgers; however, one massive loss is the head injury to young star center fielder Jackson Merrill.

Merrill, 22, was placed on the 7-day concussion injured list after leaving the game early in the seventh inning on June 14 after taking a forceful tag to the front of the helmet on a stolen base attempt.

The young outfielder will miss the entire four-game set versus the Dodgers this week, a massive loss for the Padres as they look to climb the NL West ladder.

The two most significant injuries have been to right-handed starters Yu Darvish (elbow) and Michael King (shoulder), creating two holes in their starting rotation.

Darvish, 38, started a minor league rehab assignment on May 14 but felt soreness. However, the veteran righty has progressed well since he resumed throwing. Darvish threw a twenty-pitch bullpen session on June 3, and the Padres are eying a July activation date.

King, 30, has not progressed much since landing on the injured list last month, just throwing light catches. His MRI on May 24 showed that despite the injury, his shoulder is structurally sound and he should not require season-ending surgery.

On the position player side, the Padres will continue to be without former Dodger and Freddie Freeman‘s best friend Jason Heyward as the veteran outfielder was placed on the 10-day IL due to a left oblique strain.

Heyward, 35, is expected to be out most of the summer with a possible August return date. It was his second stint on the IL this year, the first being left knee inflammation in April.

7-day Injured List (1): Jackson Merrill

10-day Injured List (1): Jason Heyward

15-day Injured List (3): Logan Gillaspie, Michael King, Yu Darvish

60-day Injured List (3): Joe Musgrove, Bryan Hoeing, Jhony Brito

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