dodgers

The Dodgers’ rotation order is set for the first homestand of the season.

To round out the series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, after Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound Thursday on opening day, he’ll be followed by Emmet Sheehan and Tyler Glasnow. Roki Sasaki is penciled in for Monday against the Cleveland Guardians, followed by Shohei Ohtani on March 31.

Off days on Sunday and April 2 make it possible for the Dodgers to give all their pitchers at least five days’ rest between their first and second starts without needing a sixth starter.

Left-hander Justin Wrobleski is pegged to be that additional starter when the schedule features less frequent days off. In the meantime, he’ll be available to throw multiple innings out of the bullpen.

After starting the season for the Dodgers in Tokyo last year, Yamamoto is looking forward to opening day at Dodger Stadium.

“It’s going to be a different game, and with a different atmosphere,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “And then we’re coming off the championship year, then this is the first time I’ll be pitching in front of the Dodgers fans [since then].”

Yamamoto, who was on the mound for the final out of the 2025 season, hasn’t pitched at Dodger Stadium since Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Sheehan claimed a regular spot in the rotation after returning last June from Tommy John surgery rehab. He had a 2.82 earned-run average through 15 appearances last season.

“I was maybe throwing bullpens right now a year ago,” Sheehan said after his last spring start. “So it’s definitely nice. That’s the main thing, to have my health. Grateful for that every time.”

Sheehan wrapped up Cactus League play with a 5.91 ERA in three starts, but he was encouraged by the progress he made in syncing up his delivery.

Glasnow capped his strong spring with five innings of one-run baseball against the Angels on Sunday.

“When everything’s lined up and feeling good … I think a lot of the other stuff follows,” Glasnow said. “And I was just able to go out and be myself.”

He recorded 11 strikeouts against the Angels, leaning on his curveball as his putaway pitch. It generated a 72% whiff rate, according to Statcast.

“Having my curveball feel so good, I kind of just leaned on it,” Glasnow said. “I’m sure things will change in-season, game to game. But tonight, it was a pretty obvious game plan for me.”

PHOENIX — By the time Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki reached the blue backdrop set up in the Surprise Stadium interview room, he’d diagnosed the issue.

“I think it’s because of the two-seamer,” Sasaki said through an interpreter. “It kind of caused my forearm to pronate a little more. Also my arm slot was a little down.”

Those arm-side misses had, after three straight walks, prompted manager Dave Roberts to temporarily pull Sasaki from his most recent spring training appearance. But even though that start, marred by a wild third inning, brought Sasaki’s Cactus League ERA to 13.50, he’ll enter his Freeway Series start Monday with a spot in the regular-season rotation already secured.

Roberts has repeatedly made that point clear.

However, when asked directly if Sasaki was one of the Dodgers’ 13 best pitchers right now, Roberts gave an indirect answer: “He is going to start the season in the rotation.”

Answering why the organization has been so bullish on the decision requires zooming out.

“As we look out two, three, four, five, six years, it is imperative for us to integrate talented young players under our roster,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said during an interview with The Times last week. “And that requires patience. And we have to have that even with the insanely high expectations we have.

“We have to be able to balance those two things, or there are a lot of cautionary tales of large-revenue teams who have had a run of success, and then they fall off the cliff.”

Sasaki, 24, is one of those young players the Dodgers are counting on to bridge the gap.

When Sasaki was posted by Nippon Professional Baseball’s Chiba Lotte Marines before last season, upward of 20 teams expressed their interest in the young phenom who was coming to the United States through amateur international free agency.

In his debut season, he produced a 4.72 ERA through eight starts — before an injury the Dodgers described as a right shoulder impingement sidelined him for much of the rest of the season. When Sasaki returned, it was as a reliever, a role he thrived in through the postseason.

Sasaki enters Year 2 with just 47 major-league innings under his belt, including the regular season and playoffs.

“On top of all those other things that you’re adapting to and learning, you’re also learning a new ball,” Friedman said. “Roki could really command his fastball in Japan, and right now it hasn’t been as good. So how much of that is the ball, how much of it is mindset, how much of it is delivery just getting out of whack? All of those are fair questions, but I think it speaks to, we have to have a level of grace with this and work with him to continue his development.

“Because we’ve seen it at an extremely high level, and now it’s on all of us to help him get back to that.”

NPB baseballs are slightly smaller, tackier and have higher seams than MLB baseballs. Players making the transition to MLB also have to adjust to a different strike zone, style of play and the off-the-field challenges of living in a foreign country.

The season before Sasaki signed with the Dodgers, his future teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga set the bar high with relatively smooth transitions. But they were also coming over at later stages in their careers.

“We’re very mindful that this guy is essentially two years, three years behind Yamamoto,” Roberts said, “as far as on the progression side, the development side.”

Sasaki has shown he can be effective out of the bullpen, but pigeonholing him in a relief role at this stage of his career would be a disservice to him and the organization.

The Dodgers have identified the addition of the two-seamer as a development that could help Sasaki stick as a major-league starter.

“It’s our job as coaches to get a player to understand the value of having a ball bear in and get in on right-hand hitters to keep them off the outside part of the plate,” Roberts said. “There’s a little bit of trying to pronate too much — trying to make the ball move, versus trusting his grip and his throw. But that’s a coach’s responsibility to [figure out,] how do we get him there, along with him feeling comfortable.”

The Dodgers have decided that, at least for now, the best setting for that growth is the major leagues. Across the industry, there’s an understanding that the gap between Triple-A and the big leagues is bigger than ever. That makes evaluating players in Triple-A all the more difficult.

“He’s not close to a finished product,” Roberts said. “But he’s 24. … You could look at a team that would potentially sign a veteran, turnkey starter, but we’ve got to get him to cut his teeth and deal with some things. That’s part of the growth.”

Season over for UCLA men

From Jon Marks: The question will remain unanswered.

Would UCLA have beaten Connecticut if Tyler Bilodeau was healthy? That’s what will haunt the Bruins and their fans for the rest of March Madness.

Even without their leading scorer the seventh-seeded Bruins battled valiantly, briefly taking the lead in the second half. But in the end they simply didn’t have enough firepower to knock off No. 2 Connecticut, which surged late in its 73-57 win in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday.

“My message to our team is no excuses,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “Somebody brought up Tyler. We didn’t bring it up. It’s five-on-five. Sadly, I’ve got a lot of practice in dealing with that in NCAA tournament play, but it sucks for him.

“At the end of the day, someone said to me what would have happened if you had your guy? You never know. But I thought the bottom line was they played harder than us. Their defense was better than our offense, and I take responsibility for that.”

UCLA (24-12) failed to reach the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season. The Bruins struggled with their shooting most of the night, going 19 for 49 (39%) in comparison to Connecticut’s 23 for 49 (47%). Both teams had the same number of free-throw attempts (21), but the Bruins made just 67% of their shots and the Huskies made 90%.

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UCLA box score

A future building win for USC?

From Chaunte’l Powell: When you look at the USC Trojans, one might think they’re setting the table for next year.

Buying time until JuJu Watkins returns. Keeping the ship afloat until the talented recruiting class that includes Saniyah Hall makes its way to campus.

But the Trojans showed Saturday that’s not the case. They’re making a plate and eating now.

The No. 9 seed Trojans gutted out a 71-67 overtime win over No. 8 seed Clemson in what USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb described as “a culture win.”

That game featured many tests for a young team in March and the Trojans responded well to the challenges. They are advancing on the back of freshman Jazzy Davidson’s 31 points and senior Kara Dunn’s 22.

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Why the Dodgers will not win the World Series

From Bill Plaschke: The truth of this Dodgers season was recently found in a place where all sports truths are clipped and tapered and styled into reality.

The barbershop.

Of course, the barbershop, where ball talk is real talk, and where the expectations around the Dodgers upcoming quest for a three-peat recently smothered me like a hot towel to the head.

I was sitting in the chair in mid-shave when a bald gentleman barged into the shop searching not for a cut, but a promise.

“Say it!” he shouted to me from just inside the door. “Say what everybody around here believes!”

What, that LeBron James is not a real Laker?

“No, say it about the Dodgers!” said the man, and he was serious. “Say that they have the best team in history and they’re going to win another championship! Say it, because that’s what everybody thinks!”

The shop quieted, chairs swiveled, and suddenly everyone was looking at me, at which point I said the one word I’ve never written in any of the last dozen or so Dodger preview columns.

“No.”

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Alex Freeland edges Hyeseong Kim for a Dodgers opening day roster spot

Luka Doncic avoids suspension

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: He’s the hottest player in the NBA. Not even the NBA’s technical foul rule can slow Luka Doncic down.

The NBA rescinded Doncic’s 16th technical foul, the league announced Sunday, allowing Doncic to avoid a mandatory one-game suspension that would have kept him out of Monday’s game against the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.

Doncic and the Lakers appealed the call after he was given a technical for taunting against Orlando Magic forward Goga Bitadze in Saturday’s Lakers win. Bitadze’s technical foul was also rescinded after the European players were arguing while Doncic was shooting free throws. Doncic claimed Bitadze made a vulgar comment toward Doncic’s family in Serbian while Bitadze said he first heard inappropriate comments from Doncic and only repeated what he heard the Lakers guard say.

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Kings lose to Mammoth

Nick Schmaltz scored his second goal of the game at 1:46 of overtime to give the Utah Mammoth a 4-3 victory over the Kings on Sunday night.

Schmaltz carried the puck in on a two-on-one rush with defenseman Mikhail Sergachev on his left and fired a snap shot between goalie Darcy Kuemper‘s legs.

After the Kings controlled play in the three-on-three overtime and nearly ended it on Alex Laferriere’s shot that went off the right post, Kevin Stenlund won a faceoff against Quinton Byfield to set up Schmaltz’s seventh winning goal of the season.

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Kings summary

NHL standings

Ducks rally past Sabres

Troy Terry scored on a breakaway 1:29 into overtime for his second goal of the game after Mikael Granlund tied it late in regulation and the Ducks rallied to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6-5 on Sunday night.

Anaheim ended Buffalo’s seven-game road winning streak when Tage Thompson couldn’t keep in the puck in the Ducks’ zone and Terry held on a 2-on-0 break to score on a backhander.

Granlund tied the score at 5 with 1:44 remaining in the third period on a power play with Ville Husso pulled for an extra attacker.

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Ducks summary

NHL standings

Galaxy draw with Portland

Portland’s Kristoffer Velde scored in the 13th minute and Timbers defender Kamal Miller picked up a red card seven minutes later, but James Pantemis surrendered only a João Klauss goal to help them hold on for a 1-1 draw with the Galaxy on Sunday.

Velde scored for the second time this season to give Portland (1-3-1) a 1-0 lead early. But things became difficult from the 20th minute on when Miller received his card for a foul on Klauss.

Antony Alves Santos notched his first assist this season on the score and Joao Ortiz picked up his second.

Klauss came up with the equalizer in the 30th minute with assists from Marco Reus and Gabriel Pec. It was the fifth goal for Klauss, who has certainly helped ease the loss of superstar Riqui Puig for a second straight season because of injuries. Klauss spent his first three seasons with St. Louis City, where he scored 25 goals in 79 appearances.

Galaxy summary

MLS standings

This day in sports history

1939 — Long Island University finishes the season undefeated after a 44-32 victory over Loyola of Chicago in the NIT championship.

1944 — Maurice Richard, playing in his second Stanley Cup playoff game, scores five goals in a 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup semifinals. Toe Blake has five assists.

1948 — Kentucky, behind Alex Groza and Ralph Beard, defeats Baylor 58-42 for the NCAA basketball championship.

1956 — Bill Russell leads San Francisco to an 83-71 victory over Iowa in the NCAA basketball championship.

1957 — North Carolina defeats Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas in triple-overtime to win the NCAA men’s championship. The Tar Heels win 54-53 to finish the season with a 32-0 record.

1968 — Lew Alcindor scores 34 points to carry UCLA to a 78-55 win over North Carolina in the NCAA basketball championship.

1974 — N.C. State ends UCLA’s streak of seven national championships with an 80-77 victory in double overtime of the NCAA tournament semifinals. David Thompson leads the Wolfpack with 28 points and 10 rebounds while teammate Tom Burleson scores 20 and pulls down 14 rebounds.

1991 — London beats Frankfurt 24-11 in the first World League of American Football game.

1994 — Wayne Gretzky scores his 802nd goal, passing Gordie Howe as the top goal scorer in NHL history. The Kings center scores in the second period for his 62nd NHL record.

1996 — Michelle Kwan caps a nearly perfect season by winning the women’s title at figure skating’s world championships for the United States’ first singles sweep since 1986.

2002 — Brendan Shanahan of the Red Wings scores his 500th goal, breaking a scoreless tie at 7:48 of the third period. Detroit beats Colorado 2-0.

2002 — Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson becomes the first undefeated four-time NCAA wrestling champion at the NCAA championships. Sanderson beats Lehigh’s Jon Trenge 12-4 to win at 197 pounds and finish his career with a 159-0 record.

2007 — Kobe Bryant becomes the second NBA player to score at least 50 points in four straight games when he has 50 in the Lakers’ 111-105 win at New Orleans. Only Wilt Chamberlain has more, scoring at least 50 points in seven consecutive games during the 1961-62 season.

2010 — The NFL changes its overtime rules for playoff games to give both teams an opportunity to get the ball.

2014 — Quardell Young drives the length of the court for a go-ahead layup with 0.9 seconds left and Wisconsin-Whitewater holds off Williams to win the NCAA Division III men’s championship 75-73. The Warhawks (29-4), whose football team took the national championship in December, win the basketball championship for the second time in three years and fourth time in four trips to the final.

2016 — Guard Russ Smith of the Delaware 87ers scores an NBA D-League-record 65 points in a 140-129 loss to the Canton Charge.

2022 — After 114 consecutive weeks as world #1 female tennis player, 25 year old Australian Ash Barty makes unexpected retirement announcement.

2023 — Harry Kane overtakes Wayne Rooney’s record to become England’s all-time greatest goalscorer in 2-1 victory over Italy with his 54th goal.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Robert Vargas is in a bit of a time crunch.

The Los Angeles-based artist has embarked on one of his most ambitious murals. Titled “Samurai of the Diamond,” it features the Dodgers’ trio of Japanese stars — two-way player Shohei Ohtani and pitchers Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — in larger-than-life fashion on a 12-story wall of the DoubleTree Hotel in Torrance.

Artist Robert Vargas takes a break from painting Saturday to show his progress on his newest mural.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

As of early Saturday afternoon, Vargas still had a lot of painting to do in order to have the mural finished by the official unveiling at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Anyone familiar with Vargas and how he works, however, knows he will get it done.

“It may be finished at 9:59, but at 10 o’clock we will unveil this,” Vargas said

Koreatown resident Diego Guerrero is one of those who knows Vargas’ style. After witnessing the artist working on his massive Fernando Valenzuela mural in Boyle Heights during the fall of 2024, Guerrero said he had “full faith” Vargas would meet his deadline this time around.

“I know he’s got this,” Guerrero said while visiting the DoubleTree site Saturday. “Last time he was doing this, it was raining and even that time he pulled it off. So I have no doubt he’ll finish it.”

Vargas said the new piece was conceived as a follow-up to the massive mural of Ohtani he painted on the side of the Miyako Hotel in Little Tokyo soon after the former Angels pitcher signed with the Dodgers prior to the 2024 season. In two seasons with L.A., Ohtani has won two National League MVP awards and helped the Dodgers win two World Series championships.

The Dodgers signed Yamamoto during the same offseason and Sasaki a year later. Both pitchers played key roles in the team’s 2025 postseason run. Yamamoto went 7-1 with two complete games and pitched for the final out in Game 7 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Sasaki moved to the bullpen for the playoffs and recorded three saves and two holds.

“If [the Ohtani] mural was about ushering in a new era and a new face here in Los Angeles, this mural is about building a cultural bridge from Los Angeles to Japan and really emphasizing the greatness that these foreign-born Japanese players are contributing not only to the team, but to this community’s identity,” Vargas said. “And also inspiring to kids who can look up and see heroes that look like them from this community.”

Robert Vargas paints an image of Shohei Ohtani as part of the local artist’s ‘Samurai of the Diamond’ mural Saturday at the DoubleTree Hotel in Torrance.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Known for its large Japanese American population and concentration of Japanese businesses, Torrance signed friendship city agreements with Bizen (Yamamoto’s hometown) in August 2024 and Oshu (Ohtani’s hometown) in October 2024.

Vargas, who has a home in Japan because of the frequent mural work he does there, came up with the idea of a Torrance mural honoring the Dodgers’ Japanese stars around that time.

“I feel that they are examples of how to do things right on and off the field,” Vargas said of the three players. “Their work ethic is really reflected in the culture. That’s why Ohtani is so respected out there on the field, not just for what he’s doing with the bat or with the baseball but just how he conducts himself. It’s refreshing.”

His idea received support from local leaders, such as Mayor George Chen and city council member Jon Kaji.

“Ever since the Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani in December, 2023, the community has rallied around Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki giving us all a sense of pride,” Kaji said in an email to The Times. “…’Samurai of the Diamond’ exemplifies the unifying power of sports that transcends borders and nationalities.”

Chen wrote in a separate email: “There are many Dodgers fans in the City of Torrance and the greatness of these 3 players have been great role models to young and old. They are performing at the highest levels in MLB, yet they have shown us that even great athletes and celebrities can maintain a certain level of maturity, respectful to others, picking up trash, not retaliating when attacked, and always showing great sportsmanship.”

The wall will include an interactive feature: When visitors scan a QR code, they will see each player come to life and throw a strike, with animation provided by the AR Firm. Also, lights are being installed in the parking lot to illuminate the mural at night.

“It’s going to be a destination,” Vargas said.

DoubleTree general manager Linda Amato, who is also the executive chairperson of the Discover Torrance visitors bureau, said the hotel plans to create “opportunities for guests to gather outdoors, enjoying [Dodgers] games under the stars alongside the interactive mural.”

“The response from the community has been incredible,” Amato said in an email. “There’s a real sense of excitement — people are stopping by daily to watch the progress and engage with the project. It’s brought a new energy to the city. Robert Vargas has been amazing throughout the process, often speaking with visitors about his vision and techniques, which adds to the overall experience.”

Vargas hand-picked the DoubleTree Hotel in Torrance as the location for his latest mural, despite the wall’s deep ridges, which make it difficult to paint.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Vargas hand-picked the DoubleTree as the site, even though he said the hotel’s exterior “presents the most difficult surface challenge” he has faced. The wall is lined with thick, vertical grooves, described by Vargas as “almost like a lattice surface because the corrugation is so deep.”

Because of that, Vargas — who always works freehand and does not use spray paints — has to carefully paint each section with a brush, as even a roller will not work on that surface. He calls the process “very exciting.”

Actor Edward James Olmos, who was visiting Vargas at the site Thursday morning, thinks his longtime friend is nuts.

“That’s the worst f— texture I’ve seen in my life,” the 79-year-old “Stand and Deliver” actor said of the wall’s surface. “Not one artist I’ve ever known would even want to try to do this. He chose it. I told him he’s off his a—. Have you ever seen that texture before? Never.”

Vargas he said he’s not thinking about that or any other challenges when he’s several stories in the air working on a project he knows will mean a lot to many people.

“When I’m up there and I think about the community that’s down here and how excited they are to see an image like this — not only because of what the content is, but that it’s happening here in Torrance and not just in Little Tokyo — they feel very, very proud,” Vargas said. “So the wind conditions, the heat conditions, the scaling, all of that becomes secondary when you think about why you’re creating it.”

On Saturday afternoon, East Los Angeles resident Edgar Reyes came out to see the super-sized artwork being created in real time.

“It’s just amazing to be able to witness it and see how people are coming together,” said Reyes, who described himself as a “big Robert Vargas fan.” “I think for Torrance this is a good thing because you see a lot of murals in the east side of L.A. because there’s a lot of graffiti artists and all that, compared to over here. So it’s something really huge for Torrance, I believe.”

Koreatown resident Diego Guerrero, who also visited the site on Saturday, said it is “mesmerizing” to watch Vargas work and called the mural “mind-blowing.”

“It’s so huge,” Guerrero said. “You could see it from miles away. And it’s like, hey, I know them — they’re part of the Dodgers. But not just that. They’re part of the minority. They’re Japanese players, we’re Hispanics, but we’re the same. We want to feel like we’re represented and we’re here. The world will see us, you know?”

Robert Vargas plans to finish his ‘Samurai of the Diamond’ mural in time for its official unveiling Tuesday at 10 a.m.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Around midday Saturday, Vargas faced another delay when high winds caused him to temporarily come down from the wall. He had already made arrangements to be able to work through the night on Saturday and said he was prepared to work nonstop, if necessary, to be finished in time for the unveiling two days before the Dodgers’ season opener Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“I’m going to get it done,” he said.

“My time frames are pretty ambitious, but I also know what I’m capable of when it comes to my speed,” Vargas added. “And also I think that my process is really charged by my intention of why I’m creating these pieces, and that is what fuels me to completion.”

When UCLA baseball coach John Savage scouts prospects, he looks at their projections and skill upside. Most important, he wants players dedicated to the culture he’s developed during his 22 years as a coach.

“We want people that fit into our program, that want to be a part of a winning culture,” he said.

Most of his current roster consists of players who came up short in last year’s College World Series. This year, the No. 1 team in the country has its eyes set on winning a national title in Omaha. The Bruins (21-2 overall, 9-0 in the Big Ten) are coming off a three-game weekend home sweep of Maryland.

The Times spoke to Savage about the expectations the Bruins set for themselves and his longevity with UCLA. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Your team entered the year ranked No. 1 nationally and has gotten off to a strong start. How have you managed expectations?

Savage: It’s really about the people you have in the clubhouse. They’ve been born and raised through our program. Now it’s their junior years. They went to Omaha their sophomore year. They had a difficult year their freshman year. It’s been a work in progress, and I think the expectations are probably the heaviest inside our room. Everybody’s held to a very high standard and they believe in one another, they believe in the program. It’s refreshing to coach people that want to be coached, and to have people that love UCLA, and want to stay at UCLA.

After returning a large percentage of last year’s production, what differences have you noticed in this roster compared to previous teams?

UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky.

(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)

Savage: I think the leadership is fantastic. Roch Cholowsky, Cashel Dugger, Michael Barnett, Jack O’Connor — our captains, they do a wonderful job of making sure guys are accountable. Everybody’s a year older. Everybody’s a little stronger. Everybody’s a little faster. A lot of guys that work extremely hard to upgrade their physicality, and then certainly it’s a mental game. We’ve worked really hard on the mental side of things to make sure that we’re combining both phases.

What has allowed your program to retain so much of its core talent year to year?

Savage: I would say loyalty, personal relationships, wanting to be at UCLA, to get a degree from UCLA, coaching staff, facilities, location. But, I would say most importantly, relationships. We didn’t win a national championship last year and these guys seem to be on that sort of mission.

Last season’s run to Omaha ended just short of the championship series. How much has that experience motivated this year’s group early in the season?

Savage: You see where you’re going. People always talk about Omaha, but if you never go, it’s hard to really envision what it looks like. It’s something that if you experience, you want to go back. It’s the mecca of college baseball and the city of Omaha has done a wonderful job of developing this tournament over 75 years. It’s an experience that you go and you definitely want to go back as a player and certainly as a coach.

How has recruiting or roster construction changed, if at all, now that UCLA is competing in the Big Ten instead of the Pac-12?

Savage: It’s still UCLA. I’ve been here 22 years, we’ve produced 30 major leaguers. It’s a place that you certainly could go and enjoy your college life and go play in the major leagues. The Big Ten is getting better in baseball, with the addition of UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington. Obviously, it has helped the baseball side of things quite a bit. But there’s a lot of programs that are investing throughout the Big Ten in baseball and it’s only going to get better. Baseball is baseball. You gotta go play any time, anywhere.

With the travel demands that come with a conference like the Big Ten, what adjustments have you made to keep players fresh and focused?

Savage: We don’t charter. We’re all commercial. We fly out of LAX on Wednesday morning and we get back late Sunday night. It’s a challenge and it’s certainly one that it’s a daily and weekly operation. In terms of managing school, they all go to class. Not a lot of remote classes, really, so we love the challenge and the opportunity to grow as a young player and a young person.

You’re now in your 22nd season leading the Bruins. What has kept you motivated to continue evolving as a coach after more than two decades in Westwood?

Savage: I love being at UCLA. I love what it stands for. It’s a combination that I’m really looking for in terms of baseball, schedule, league, school — it’s just an elite combination. You have to make sure you’re grounded. You have to make sure you’re very consistent. You have to make sure that you have true values that are consistent with the university and that equates to winning. Winning is really, really difficult, especially now at the Power 4 level.

When players leave UCLA after their careers — whether they go to pro baseball or move on to other careers — what do you hope they carry with them from their time in your program?

Savage: That they understand how to be a contributor to an organization, to a business, how to lead a family, how to lead a group in work. Just be a person that people like to be around and a person that has a vision, that they want to get better and they want to do well in their lives and they want to have impact on other lives. That’s ultimately what we’re looking for, that they can handle themselves in any phase of life.

UCLA men are out, UCLA women stay strong

UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr. tries to get through UCLA’s Trent Perry, from left, Donovan Dent and Eric Dailey Jr. in the first half Monday.

(Matt Rourke / Associated Press)

UCLA coach Mick Cronin never wavered.

If senior forward Tyler Bilodeau felt any pain, he was not playing the NCAA tournament.

The No. 7 seed Bruins could not overcome No. 2 seed UConn’s interior game and suffered a 73-57 loss. The Bruins kept it close early, trailing by just five at halftime.

Cronin will help UCLA cope with the sudden end to its season and then immediately work on sorting out next season’s roster.

While fans questioned Cronin’s aggressive coaching style, the Bruins did play significantly improved defense through the final four weeks of their season and his players never wavered in their support of him.

Now Cronin will start over, working to forge comparable buy-in from the next wave of players.

The UCLA women walk to the bench during a time out against Cal Baptist.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

It’s rare for a No. 1 seed in the women’s NCAA tournament to miss the Sweet 16, but the Bruins (32-1) say they expect a big test when they face No. 8 seed Oklahoma State (24-9) at 7 p.m. Monday night at Pauley Pavilion.

It will be the final game the Bruins’ celebrated senior class will play at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA coach Cori Close provided the following scouting report on Oklahoma State.

“I think that what stands out is their ability to shoot the three, their versatility, their work down the tunnel with the high ball screen,” Close said. “They’re extremely good in transition. It’s going to be so important for us to make them play later into the shot clock, which is going to be easier said than done. But I guess with the exception they don’t have like a really tall big, but they actually remind me in terms of their style and some of the actions that they run of Oklahoma. Their guard play.

“And one of the big things that we talk a lot about is trying to make them play later in the clock than they’re comfortable with. Now we go through all the analytics, and the later you have them play in the shot clock, the less efficient they become. They’re 13th in the country in offensive efficiency. They’re really, really good.

“Defensively I think that we obviously need to really hunt the paint. We’ve got some advantages with our size there. But they’re a really good team.”

Survey says

We asked “How far will the UCLA men advance in the NCAA men’s tournament. After 648 votes, the results:

They lose in the second round, 36.5%
They lose in the Sweet 16, 27.5%
They lose in the Elite Eight, 17.3%
They win it all, 12.6%
They lose in the first round, 3.2%
They lose in the Final Four, 2.5%
They lose in the championship game, 0.4%

In case you missed it

UCLA overcomes slow start to open NCAA tournament title bid with a blowout win

Jordan Chiles goes perfect again as UCLA sweeps Big Ten gymnastics titles

UCLA freshmen draw on their elite gymnastics roots to help Bruins push for championships

Without Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA edges Central Florida to advance at NCAA tournament

How UCLA guard Kiki Rice became the Bruins’ ace and top WNBA draft prospect

UCLA men’s basketball eager to mount deep tournament run

March Madness women’s tournament analysis: Teams and players to watch

UCLA was snubbed by women’s NCAA tournament selection committee

Have something Bruin?

Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

It’s the Dodgers, and everyone else, in the National League West this season.

The two-time defending World Series champions ponied up a combined $309 million to sign two free agents, world-class closer Edwin Díaz and four-time All-Star corner outfielder Kyle Tucker.

The second-place San Diego Padres continued to cut payroll, bidding farewell to free agents Dylan Cease, Robert Suarez, Luis Arraez and Ryan O’Hearn. The San Francisco Giants’ offseason highlight: becoming the first MLB team to make a college coach with no professional baseball coaching experience their manager. The 47-year-old Tony Vitello comes on board after coaching the Tennessee Volunteers for the past eight seasons.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are attempting to bounce back after following up a 2023 World Series appearance with two underwhelming seasons. And the Colorado Rockies are starting fresh yet again, replacing general manager Bill Schmidt with Paul DePodesta, who, after working for the Dodgers and other MLB teams, most recently served as the Cleveland Browns’ chief strategy officer for the past 10 years.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. One month into the high school baseball season, the top teams in the City Section are becoming clear.

Top City teams emerge

With league play having begun, top teams are stepping forward in City Section baseball one month into the season.

To no one’s surprise, West Valley League rivals Birmingham (10-1, 3-0) and El Camino Real (9-3, 3-0) deserve to be ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the City Section going into their first matchup of the season Tuesday at Birmingham. They are slated to play three league games. Both teams’ pitching has been outstanding.

Birmingham junior Nathan Soto is 3-0 with an 0.34 ERA. Sophomore Carlos Acuna is 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA. El Camino Real’s Jackson Sellz is 3-0 with an 0.54 ERA. Hudson December and Andrew Katz have also contributed on the mound. Look for a low-scoring game with some bunts Tuesday.

Bell (12-1, 2-0) is back to playing the way the Eagles performed in 2024 when they won the City title. Jayden Rojas, the City player of the year as a sophomore, is batting .421 and 4-0 on the mound with an 0.32 ERA. The Eagles are the heavy favorite to win the Eastern League.

Carson (9-1-1, 3-0) has taken early charge of the Marine League race, getting some clutch hits from Skylar Vinson.

Sun Valley Poly (6-3, 3-0) already has wins over Sylmar, North Hollywood and Kennedy in the Valley Mission League. Fabian Bravo is the pitcher/hitter to watch.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is Monroe at 11-0 and now the favorite to win the East Valley League. Four-year varsity pitcher Miguel Gonzalez is 4-0 with an 0.85 ERA and 32 strikeouts and only three walks in 24 2/3 innings. The leading hitter with 21 hits is junior Luis Martinez. The Vikings have yet to face a top opponent, so it remains to be seen which playoff division they will end up in.

Garfield, Sylmar, San Fernando, Cleveland and Narbonne are all capable of working their way into an Open Division playoff berths after slow starts.

Basketball awards time

Maxi Adams of Sierra Canyon was The Times’ boys’ basketball player of the year.

(Craig Weston)

During a season in which the individual talent for boys and girls basketball was extraordinary, earning all-star recognition became quite an achievement.

The Times’ boys’ basketball player is Maxi Adams of Sierra Canyon. Here’s the report.

Here’s the 10-player All-Star team for boys.

Coach Mike LeDuc of Damien holds up his granddaughter after guiding his team to the state Division I championship.

(Greg Stein)

The boys’ coach of the year is Mike LeDuc of Damien. Here’s the report.

Here’s the final top 25 rankings.

The Times’ girls’ basketball player of the year is Kaleena Smith of Ontario Christian.

Here’s the 10-player girls All-Star team.

The girls’ coach of the year is Alicia Komaki of Sierra Canyon.

Here’s the links to the complete all-star package.

Baseball

Corona’s Anthony Murphy is fired up.

(Nick Koza)

The versatile Anthony Murphy of Corona showed off his speed and power in 8-3 win over King, getting a home run, triple, double and single. That’s called hitting for a cycle. And he almost did it again in the next game with a home run, a double and two singles. He also struck out all three batters he faced in a relief role.

Corona (7-0) is set to face Corona Santiago (9-2) in a three-game series this week. To say scouts will be out en masse when Santiago’s Striker Pence pitches Wednesday might be an understatement. He’s only a sophomore with a fastball that can reach 100 mph. The games are Monday at Santiago, Wednesday at Corona and Friday at Santiago.

Santa Margarita has lost standout shortstop Brody Schumaker for the rest of the season because of a shoulder injury. Freshman Cooper Holland provided a lift in Las Vegas with 11 RBIs. The new shortstop is sophomore Warren Wulfemeyer, whose grandfather, Mark, is one of the most recognizable names in Orange County basketball history.

Former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame pitcher Justin Lee, the 2023 player of the year by The Times, was clocked throwing his fastball between 97 and 99 mph pitching for UCLA.

Two unbeaten teams, St. John Bosco and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in this week’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times. St. John Bosco has shut out five of its seven opponents. Jack Champlin is creating options for the St. John Bosco coaching staff. He continues to be a great closer but is also effective as a starter.

The National High School Invitational begins Wednesday in Cary, N.C. Southern California is well represented with Orange Lutheran, St. John Bosco, Aquinas and Harvard-Westlakek participating.

Friday marks the end of the sit-out transfer period in the Southern Section. Players who did not move become eligible. Bishop Alemany could be the team to watch. Mikey Martinez, who helped Crespi win the Mission League title last season as a pitcher and outfielder, will join the Warriors.

Softball

Murrieta Mesa continues to dominate with 14 consecutive wins to start the season. Sophomore Tatum Wolff is hitting .533 with 24 hits, including eight doubles.

Chaminade is 9-0 and came through with a break-through win over defending Mission League champion Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 7-6, scoring five runs in the seventh. The Eagles have an outstanding sophomore pitcher in Finley Suppan, the daughter of former major leaguer Jeff Suppan. Here’s the report.

JSerra (13-2), Fullerton (11-1), Norco (9-2), Oaks Christian (10-1) and Etiwanda (14-1) continue to be teams on the rise.

City Section softball is wide open as teams test themselves against Southern Section opponents. Defending champion Granada Hills is 5-5.

Banning is 7-6. Carson is 7-5. They will join San Pedro in another tough Marine League battle.

Track and field

The impressive early marks in the 100 meters for boys signals some real fast times will be coming later in the spring.

Benjamin Harris of Servite leads the way at 10.23 seconds. Next are Quran Clayton Jr. of Oak Hills and Jorden Wells of Servite at 10.28. Others include Nicolas Obimgba of Torrance (10.34), Zion Phelps of Loyola (10.39), Jaden Griffin of Newbury Park (10.43), Wesley Ace of Gardena Serra (10.51), Quincy Hearn of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (10.52) and AJ McBean of Mira Costa (10.55).

Many are football players using track to get faster, and college recruiters are noticing.

Ejam Yohannes of Loyola has stamped himself the favorite in the 400 with a time of 46.11. Imagine if he improves a little what he might be running coming June.

Dean Guzman of Moorpark cleared 6-9 in the high jump at the Maurice Greene Invitational.

For girls, Olivia Kirk of Calabasas ran a state-leading 11.51 in the 100 meters at Oaks Christian. Teammate Malia Rainey ran 11.76. Kirk also has the leading 200 time at 23.46.

Sophomore Grace Smith from Claremont ran the 800 in 2:08.80 at the Hi-Racer Meet of Champions.

Volleyball

Loyola’s JP Wardy, left, tries to tip the ball past Mira Costa’s Colby Graham, center, and Miles Crotty during a match at Mira Costa in Manhattan Beach on March 20, 2026.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Always expect drama and excitement when volleyball rivals Loyola and Mira Costa meet. It happened again Friday, with Mira Costa rallying from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Cubs in five sets. It was a remarkable performance turned in by junior Mateo Fuerbringer, who recorded 37 kills. He’s committed to UCLA.

Here’s the report.

Saugus defeated the host Chancellors to win the Chatsworth tournament championship.

So long Angelo Gasca

Venice coach Angelo Gasca showing off City Division I title trophy in 2021.

(Cliff Kensinger)

The high school sports community was in mourning after the death of Venice football coach Angelo Gasca. He was 65.

Few have made a bigger impact for their community on and off the field than Gasca, who was involved as a coach at Venice for 36 years and also played for the Gondoliers.

Here’s a look at the impact he made.

Notes . . .

Todd Quinsey is the new football coach at Ayala. . . .

Christian Collins of St. John Bosco, a McDonald’s All-American, has committed to USC. . . .

Inglewood guard Jason Crowe Jr. was selected the Gatorade state player of the year. . . .

Jon Palarz has resigned after 17 years as basketball coach at Calabasas. . . .

Former Granada Hills Kennedy football coach Dion Lambert is the new defensive coordinator at Simi Valley. . . .

Brandon Clifford has been named the basketball coach at Campbell Hall. He last coached in Greensboro, N.C. . ..

Derek Allen is the new boys water polo coach at Agoura. . . .

United Teachers Los Angeles has announced members would strike on April 14 if no deal is reached with the Los Angeles Unified School District. That would disrupt spring sports in the City Section, likely forcing games to be postponed or canceled based on previous strikes. Charter schools such as Birmingham and Granada Hills would not be affected since their teachers have separate contracts. . . .

Dylan O’Leary is the new football coach at San Dimas after being an assistant at South Hills. . . .

Quarterbacks continue to transfer in preparation for the 2026 high school football season. Here’s the latest from the transfer portal.

From the archives: Gage Jump

In 2021, JSerra pitcher Gage Jump delivers a pitch against Harvard-Westlake.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Former JSerra pitcher Gage Jump has become one of the top pitching prospects in the Oakland Athletics organization. The left-hander originally signed with UCLA before transferring to LSU. He was drafted No. 74 overall in 2024. He’s listed at 6-feet tall but throws with power.

Here’s a story from 2020 on opening day.

Recommendations

From On3, a story on the controversy in Nevada, where public schools in Clark County are moving to independent status as protest against Bishop Gorman’s powerful football program.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

Did you get this newsletter forwarded to you? To sign up and get it in your inbox, click here.

ANAHEIM — Dodgers infielder Alex Freeland punctuated his case to make the opening day roster with a home run in the team’s last Cactus League game Saturday.

Then on Sunday, before the first game of the Freeway Series with the Angels, the Dodgers announced the results of the spring training position battle between Freeland and Hyeseong Kim: the team optioned Kim to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

“It’s one of those things that you could argue both sides of either decision, as far as Alex or Hyeseong,” manager Dave Roberts said Friday. “And so I just don’t think it’s clear cut. We still haven’t seen Hyeseong a bunch. Alex, I think he’s taken great at-bats, the numbers, the surface line certainly isn’t there, but it’s still spring training. There’s just deeper conversations that are going to be had.”

Kim started off the spring swinging a hot bat. But he went 1-for-12 in the World Baseball Classic. Freeland finished Cactus League play with a .116 batting average.

Utility player Tommy Edman’s offseason ankle surgery left open the roster spot. He’s progressing but set to start the season on the injured list.

The Dodgers also reassigned utility man Nick Senzel, outfielder Jack Suwinski and catcher Seby Zavala to minor-league camp.

The Angels released utilityman Chris Taylor and right-handed pitcher Hunter Strickland from their minor league contracts on Saturday.

Taylor, 35, hit .186 with a .256 on-base percentage, two homers, 12 RBIs and two steals in a combined 58 games with the Dodgers and Angels last season.

He batted .248 with a .327 on-base percentage, 110 homers and 443 RBIs during a 12-year career. Taylor made the NL All-Star team while playing for the Dodgers in 2021.

Strickland, 37, went 1-2 with a 3.27 ERA and one save in 19 relief appearances for the Angels last season. He has a 26-25 record with a 3.39 ERA and 30 saves in 499 career major league appearances, all in relief.

PHOENIX — Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto went into his final start of the spring with a focus on throwing first-pitch strikes, while also hoping to test his composure with men on base.

He achieved both Friday, limiting the traveling half of the Padres’ split squad to three hits in five scoreless innings. The next time Yamamoto takes the mound for a game, it’ll be on opening day at Dodger Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

“There were a few things I wanted to try,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter after his part of the Dodgers’ 4-3 win. “And [Friday] I was able to get into the game very nicely.”

The game featured a possible preview of the Dodger’s opening-day lineup — “I don’t know, we’ll see, it’s some good players,” manager Dave Roberts said with a smile.

Few roster decisions remained, after camp cuts Wednesday included right-handers Kyle Hurt and River Ryan, and infielder Ryan Fitzgerald.

“They’re always difficult with guys hoping, expecting to break with us,” Roberts said of his conversations with cut players. “There’s obviously some good ones where you tell a guy that he’s going to make the club. But I think the main thing that just shouldn’t get lost is, it’s not always just about starting. It’s where you finish.”

As of Friday, Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland were still locked in a second-base battle. And the Dodgers had to sort out roles at the back end of the rotation.

Roberts said he expected to carry a swingman who would likely pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen early in the season, when the Dodgers’ schedule includes frequent off days, and later serve as a sixth starter.

Yamamoto, however, had been the clear choice to lead the rotation, long before Roberts made it official Monday.

“It’ll be nice to hand the ball to him and it’s not an elimination game,” Roberts said, referencing Yamamoto’s World Series MVP performance. “That’ll be fun for me.”

Coming off pitching meaningful games in the World Baseball Classic, Yamamoto had one last chance Friday for a tuneup.

He struck out the first three batters he faced, with first-pitch strikes to each.

The next inning, Yamamoto gave up back-to-back one-out singles. He escaped the jam with two more strikeouts. Yamamoto tallied seven strikeouts in an overall smooth performance.

“He came out, really, with a purpose,” Roberts said. “And I thought everything looked good, the fastball — the life to it, the command of it — the cutter, slider, curve ball was good, the split, everything was good. And very efficient. And pretty effortlessly got through five innings, so that was really good to see.”

PHOENIX — Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman went into the offseason expecting outfielder Kyle Tucker to sign elsewhere.

Sure, Friedman was confident in what the Dodgers could provide on and off the field to the 29-year-old four-time All-Star. And Tucker was a rare hitter who could actually elevate an already star-powered Dodgers lineup. But with the team unwilling to offer a super long-term deal, their chances at landing the best free-agent hitter available this past offseason felt “incredibly low.”

“I can’t remember a time where a player has taken a shorter-term, higher-AAV deal when they’ve had an actual long-term contract on the table,” Friedman said Wednesday.

The Dodgers, however, had already pulled off a bigger surprise when closer Edwin Díaz chose them over returning to the Mets this past December.

The team’s pitch, which included a conversation with the Dodgers’ director of family programs Patricia Romero, discussions about preparation and player resources, and a championship track record, helped land both top-tier free agents.

Of course it didn’t hurt that though Tucker’s contract was only four years, it was worth $240 million. Taking deferrals into account, the net-present day value set an MLB record at about $57 million per year.

The Dodgers’ aggressive offseason, coming off consecutive World Series titles, once again makes them the favorite entering the 2026 season.

They wrap up their Cactus League schedule this week, as World Baseball Classic participants trickle back into camp, and baseball operations leadership make final opening day roster decisions.

Before Friedman headed back to Los Angeles, he spoke with The Times on a range of topics. Here’s part of that conversion, edited for length and clarity.

Q: When it comes to the WBC, there’s variance on how supportive teams are. You have Shohei Ohtani participating as a position player, Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching after an extra-short offseason, Kiké Hernández supporting Puerto Rico in person while rehabbing. How have you landed in being highly flexible?

Friedman: Obviously everything is case by case. But in a vacuum, we are incredibly supportive of the World Baseball Classic and what it does for our game worldwide. We saw it in ‘23, we saw it this past year, with just how important this is to the players, the staff, the fans — and just how exciting it is for baseball.

So that part’s easy. Now you layer on our situation, us trying to win a World Series. For position players, it’s easier to justify. For pitchers, it’s way harder. Throwing at that intensity in March is really, really challenging. And so we feel like our role is to work with each of our players and have conversations and share our thoughts, listen to their thoughts, and then answers kind of fall out of that.

Q: It’s such a cliche to say you can never have too much pitching, but with this group, are you close?

Friedman: I’ve learned my lesson to never say that we have enough pitching. But I do feel like we are breaking camp with the most talented one through 20 arms — which gets at, obviously, who we’ll break with, and then depth behind it — that we’ve ever had.

Q: Between Díaz, who’s part of that equation, and Tucker, you signed two players this offseason who you didn’t necessarily expect to land. What does that say about this organization and what you’ve done the last few years?

Friedman: Our biggest, most overarching goal is to be a destination spot, where our own players don’t want to leave, where players on other teams are looking longingly, because we feel like championships fall out of that. By having the right environment, having the right culture, that helps your star players want to stay, it helps in the recruitment of others. So we’re way better at it today than we were five years ago. But it’s like a living organism that we have to continue to foster and nurture and develop. And we hope we’re way better at it five years from now.

Q: On that note, the Dodgers are very much caught in the middle of CBA posturing with the current agreement expiring this year. You hear a lot of players saying the Dodgers are doing it the right way and other teams could be doing something similar. On the other hand, the league appears to be floating a salary cap, and plenty of fans are accusing the Dodgers of “ruining baseball.” What’s it been like to see those conflicting narratives?

Friedman: Obviously see it, come across it, hear it quite a bit. But we’re just not that focused on it. We’re a really healthy organization, and the partnership we have with our fans is our guiding light. And we’re doing everything we can to put a team out there that our fans really connect with, and that they feel that partnership with all that they pour into us, and don’t really think about it in any other terms.

And so obviously, there’s a lot of narratives that get extrapolated from that. But our sole focus is on ourselves and the partnership we have with our fans and the rest of it to us, it’s kind of just noise.

Q: You guys raised the bar years ago to, “We’re going to be in the postseason every year.” But there were clear frustrations from the fan base when that wasn’t consistently leading to championships. Is it fair to say that this continued push is almost a response to that frustration?

Friedman: Each year we’ve poured everything we have into winning. And in October, you need a really talented roster, and you need some good fortune. And there’s years where we haven’t been as talented as we wanted to be, whether it’s injuries or lack of performance. There’s years we’ve had really bad fortune, there’s years we’ve had good fortune. And a lot of that is the game, and it’s what I both love and hate about it.

I wouldn’t say our mindset is all that different. But obviously, when you’re in a moment in time with an incredibly talented roster, I think the mindset is, ‘Don’t sit back on your heels, be aggressive, and don’t be nonchalant about the opportunity that we have in front of us.’ And so it’s more the idea of pressing an advantage and being aggressive on that front.

Q: I’m sure when you were pursuing Ohtani, you looked into the revenue ramifications of signing him. Has this been about what you expected? Has it exceeded your expectations?

Friedman: Oh, it’s far exceeded. I don’t think the human brain could have comprehended it correctly. It’s been a perfect storm on a lot of levels, and something that has definitely far exceeded our expectations.”

Q: A three-peat seems to be the goal. Is there such a thing as a successful season without winning a championship, or has this team gotten to a point where you really have to win a World Series in order to claim success?

Friedman: Everything for us, all of our energy and focus, is on doing everything we can to win a championship this year. And our first goal is to win the division and be in position to have a bye. Last year, we added to the degree of difficulty [by winning the division but having to play in the wild-card round] in a way that I’d like to avoid this year.

So that’s the first goal. And then obviously that puts you in the best position to accomplish our ultimate goal, which is winning a World Series. So that’s what all of our energy and focus is on.

And, obviously, if we win the World Series this year, it will be a three-peat. But it’s not how my brain processes it. We’ve won back-to-back, and those are in the bank. And now it’s, do everything we can to win this year, and it’s its own unique, disparate year.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Today we continue our series looking at the NL West, position by position.

NL West, the third basemen

Let’s look at the third basemen and shorstops, ranked from best to worst. Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page.

San Diego
Manny Machado
Last season: .275/.335/.460, 33 doubles, 27 homers, 95 RBIs, 118 OPS+
Career: .279/.338/.486, 94 OPS+, 124 OPS+

Though, as Yogi Berra famously said, “Nobody likes Manny Machado,” you have to give the devil his due. Machado is one of the best third basemen in the game, not just the NL West. He hits for average and power and is a defensive stalwart at third. It has already been eight years since he was with the Dodgers.

San Francisco
Matt Chapman
Last season: .231/.340/.430, 23 doubles, 21 homers, 61 RBIs, 120 OPS+
Career: .240/.330/.458, 119 OPS+

Similar to Max Muncy offensively, Chapman gets the nod because he is a five-time Gold Glove winner at third and stays in the lineup more consistently.

Dodgers
Max Muncy
Last season: .243/.376/.470, 10 doubles, 19 homers, 67 RBIs, 136 OPS+
Career: .229/.354/.474, 124 OPS+

There will come a time this season when Muncy will go on one of his notorious cold streaks. Some will say the Dodgers should dump him. Nonsense. He is one of the 10 best third basemen in the league and is a steal at only $10 million this season.

Arizona
Nolan Arenado
Last season: .237/.289/.377, 18 doubles, 12 homers, 52 RBIs, 87 OPS+
Career: .282/.338/.507, 119 OPS+

He finished third in MVP voting in 2022, but has been in decline since then. Can a new team help him recapture some former glory?

Colorado
Kyle Karros
Last season: .226/.308/.377, 4 doubles, 1 homer, 9 RBIs, 58 OPS+
Career: .226/.308/.377, 58 OPS+

Yes, he’s the son of former Dodger Eric Karros. Don’t let those offensive numbers fool you, they were in limited playing time. He is one of the Rockies’ top prospects and has a bright future. He is only 23.

Shortstop

Dodgers
Mookie Betts
Last season: .258/.326/.406, 23 doubles, 20 homers, 82 RBIs, 104 OPS+
Career: .290/.369/.512, 135 OPS+

I’ve been writing this newsletter for 12 seasons now, and sometimes I get things very, very wrong. I was against moving Betts to short. But I was wrong. He’s already Gold Glove level there, and here’s guessing his bat rebounds to elite levels this season, because one thing I have learned is to not bet against Mookie Betts.

Arizona
Geraldo Perdomo
Last season: .290/.389/.462, 33 doubles, 20 homers, 100 RBIs, 136 OPS+
Career: .253/.348/.374, 101 OPS+

If his new level of offense reached last season is for real (his previous high in homers was six), then he could easily move up to No. 1 on this list.

San Francisco
Willy Adames
Last season: .225/.318/.421, 22 doubles, 30 homers, 87 RBIs, 111 OPS+
Career: .244/.321/.440, 109 OPS+

He signed a seven-year, $182-million deal with the Giants before last season, then got off to a horrible start, dampening his overall numbers, which were pretty good despite that. There are a lot of good shortstops in the NL West.

San Diego
Xander Bogaerts
Last season: .263/.328/.391, 30 doubles, 11 homers, 53 RBIs, 99 OPS+
Career: .287/.350/.446, 114 OPS+

Still a good fielder, but his offense has regressed, as he has been below average the last two seasons.

Colorado
Ezequiel Tovar
Last season: .253/.294/.400, 18 doubles, 9 homers, 33 RBIs, 83 OPS+
Career: .258/.291/.429, 88 OPS+

Tovar has never met a pitch he wouldn’t swing at, but when he does connect he hits it hard. He won the Gold Glove in 2024, but last season was a setback for him, in part due to injuries.

In case you missed it

Andrew Friedman on team culture, the upcoming season and ‘noise’ around the Dodgers

Shohei Ohtani pitches effectively in first spring training start. ‘He expects perfection’

‘It wasn’t just my name.’ Why Miguel Rojas was bothered by erroneous suspension report

And finally

Max Muncy hits an important home run in Game 7 of the 2025 World Series. Watch and listen here.

Until next time….

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Luka scores 60, LeBron ties record

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: On the same night he tied Robert Parish for the NBA record in regular-season games played, ageless wonder LeBron James had a 19-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in Thursday’s 134-126 win over the Miami Heat. The 41-year-old playing in his 1,611th game helped the Lakers (45-25) win their season-best eighth consecutive game while star guard Luka Doncic poured in a season-best 60 points, including 20 points in the final quarter.

James became the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double, besting the mark he set last month.

“He’s a psycho,” coach JJ Redick said with affection, awe and respect.

James, Doncic and guard Austin Reaves were all questionable to play in their second game in as many nights. Doncic was dealing with right hip soreness and Reaves was battling a right forearm contusion after Wednesday’s physical win over Houston. James, who took a hard spill in the fourth quarter and banged his right elbow, was officially nursing left foot arthritis. Earlier this season, James characterized his ailments as being simply “old.”

But before Redick could even check on the status of his stars Thursday afternoon, he learned they already decided on their availability. The players huddled in the locker room after Wednesday’s game before the coaches entered and decided they would all play against Miami (38-32).

“When he said he was playing, I was like, I can’t let a 41-year-old play and I not play,” said Reaves, who battled through a bruise on his shooting wrist to finish with 18 points. “So [I] signed up to play and so did Luka and we went and grinded the win out.”

Continue reading here

Lakers box score

NBA standings

Clippers lose to Pelicans again

Trey Murphy III scored 27 points and the New Orleans Pelicans extended their home winning streak to seven games with a 105-99 victory over the Clippers on Thursday night.

Saddiq Bey had 20 points and Zion Williamson added 15 for the Pelicans, who swept the two-game set against the Clippers after a 124-109 win, also at home, on Wednesday night.

Dejounte Murray was held out to rest as part of his comeback from a ruptured Achilles tendon. He had 17 points and a season-high 11 assists Wednesday night in his ninth game since making his season debut last month.

Derrick Jones Jr. scored 22 points, John Collins had 18 and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 for the Clippers, who lost their fourth in a row.

Continue reading here

Clippers box score

NBA standings

Kings lose to Flyers

Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov scored in a shootout to give the Philadelphia Flyers their fourth victory in five games, 4-3 over the Kings on Thursday night.

Noah Cates had a goal and an assist, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 22 saves. The Flyers remained six points behind Boston and Detroit for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.

On Wednesday night against the Ducks, Cates scored in overtime in the Flyers’ 3-2 victory.

Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin failed on their shootout attempts for Los Angeles, though the Kings still moved into the second wild-card in the Western Conference.

Continue reading here

Kings summary

NHL standings

USC reaches settlement

From Ryan Kartje: USC has settled a lawsuit with a former high-ranking athletic department official who alleged the university allowed former athletic director Mike Bohn to racially harass and discriminate against her, then fired her when she voiced concerns about Bohn’s behavior.

Joyce Bell Limbrick was the highest-ranking Black and female official in USC’s athletic department when she was fired by the university in September 2023, four months after Bohn resigned amid an internal investigation into his conduct and the culture of the department. Bell Limbrick filed suit early last year, accusing USC of wrongful termination.

That dispute was settled out of court this week. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1897 — Yale beats Penn 32-10 in New Haven, Conn., in the first men’s intercollegiate basketball game.

1918 — The Toronto Arenas (who would become the Maple Leafs) are the first NHL team to play in the Stanley Cup Final. Toronto’s Reg Noble scores two goals with an assist in the first period of a 5-3 win over Vancouver of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association.

1939 — In a game of unbeaten teams, Long Island U. defeats Loyola of Chicago 44-32 to win the National Invitation Tournament title.

1954 — In the first televised NCAA championship game, La Salle defeats Bradley 92-76 and sets a record for most points in the title game.

1965 — Gail Goodrich’s 42 points lead UCLA to a 91-80 victory over Michigan in the NCAA basketball championship.

1965 — St. John’s sends Joe Lapchick out a winner, as the Redmen beat Villanova 55-51 to win their fifth National Invitation Tournament championship.

1965 — Bill Bradley scores 58 points to lead Princeton to a 118-82 rout of Wichita State in the NCAA third-place game. UCLA beats Michigan 91-80 to win its second National championship.

1968 — Dave Bing of the Detroit Pistons finishes the season with a league-leading 27.1 average, becoming the first guard in 20 years to lead the NBA in scoring.

1969 — Less than two months after she becomes the first woman to ride in a pari-mutuel race in America, Diane Crump rides her first winner at Gulfstream Park.

1976 — Boston’s John Havlicek becomes the first NBA player to score more than 1,000 points per season for 14 consecutive years.

1988 — Mike Tyson knocks out Tony Tubbs in the second round to retain his world heavyweight title in Tokyo.

2005 — Liz Johnson becomes the first woman to advance to the championship match of a Professional Bowlers Assn. tour event, but loses by 27 pins to Tommy Jones in the final of the PBA Banquet Open.

2005 — LeBron James, 20, becomes the youngest player to score 50 points in an NBA game, when he scores 56 in the Cavaliers’ 105-98 loss to the Raptors.

2006 — Japan beats Cuba 10-6 in the title game of the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

2010 — Northern Iowa pulls off one of the biggest NCAA upsets in years by knocking No. 1 overall seed Kansas with a 69-67 win. Ali Farokhmanesh buries an open three-pointer with the shot clock still in the 30s to give the Panthers a four-point lead with 35 seconds left.

2014 — Bernard Tomic loses the shortest completed ATP match on record, lasting only 28 minutes at the Sony Open in his first tournament since having surgery on both hips. Ending a two-month layoff, Tomic wins just 13 points and loses to Jarkko Nieminen 6-0, 6-1. It’s the quickest match since the ATP started keeping such records in 1991.

2020 — After 20 years with the New England Patriots, six-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady officially agrees to move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Luka (40 points), LeBron (30) lead Lakers

From Broderick Turner: The combination of Luka Doncic and LeBron James was overpowering and enthralling for all to see during the Lakers’ dynamic 124-116 win over the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on Wednesday.

Doncic was masterful with his near triple-double of 40 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

“I thought he definitely put on a clinic down the stretch,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Whether it was in isolation, versus fires in isolations, versus the shock with (Alperen) Segun, he just got us good offense whether for himself or for his teammates every single time down the floor….We moved the basketball, so that kind of got us going and then when Luka came back in he was just fantastic.”

James was a force with 30 points, five rebounds and two assists.

He was super efficient, missing just one of his 14 shots and making both of his three-pointers.

“Look, he was awesome tonight and I think two, part of the evolution of him on this team has been, particularly in this stretch, it’s just been his patience,” Redick said. “His patience, knowing he’s going to get the ball and he’s going to have transition opportunities and he’s going to have plays called for him and he’s going to play off-ball and get a corner three…He was great.”

Continue reading here

Plaschke: ‘Yeaaaaaah!’ A child’s cheer inspires surging Lakers

Lakers box score

NBA standings

Clippers lose to Pelicans

Saddiq Bey scored 25 points, Trey Murphy added 23 and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame an early 18-point hole to beat the Clippers 124-109 on Wednesday night.

Dejounte Murray had 17 points and 11 assists, while Zion Williamson and rookie Derrick Queen each scored 14 for the Pelicans, who received a standing ovation as the final seconds wound down on their sixth straight victory at home and ninth win in their last 13 games overall

Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and John Collins added 18 for the Clippers, who dropped a game below .500 (34-35), but maintained a tenuous hold on the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference standings, a half-game ahead of Portland.

Continue reading here

Clippers box score

NBA standings

Ohtani looks good in start

From Maddie Lee: A sparse crowd braved the heat, which was approaching 100 degrees when Dodgers right-hander Shohei Ohtani walked off the mound at Camelback Ranch. But those who did were treated to a dominant pitching performance from the four-time MVP in his first start of spring training.

They repaid the favor with a standing ovation.

“I’ve learned that you don’t ever underestimate or try to make predictions on what Shohei’s going to do,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s always going to deliver. Yeah, I thought he would be a little bit more rusty than he was today. The breaking ball was good, got some swing and miss. The fastball command, he was working ahead in the count today. So across the board, really good.”

Ohtani limited the San Francisco Giants to one hit and overshot the innings goal Roberts laid out Wednesday morning by pitching to one batter in the fifth inning. Ohtani didn’t give up a run in those 4 ⅓ innings, and the only other blemishes on the performance were a pair of walks and a hit batter.

Continue reading here

‘It wasn’t just my name.’ Why Miguel Rojas was bothered by erroneous suspension report

Shaikin: The big hit? The WBC. Still looking for that big hit? Team USA.

WNBA, union, reach accord

From Marisa Ingemi: There will be a 2026 WNBA season.

After over more than 100 hours of in-person negotiations since March 10 in New York, the WNBA and its players union came to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning.

The deal will allow the season to begin on time, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said, and training camp to kick off at the end of April.

Before that, though, there is a lot to get done.

Continue reading here

Ducks fall to Flyers

Noah Cates scored on a deflection off goalie Lukas Dostal’s skate at 2:17 of overtime and — after a review for offsides on the play — the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Ducks 3-2 on Wednesday night.

The Pacific Division-leading Ducks forced overtime on Leo Carlsson’s goal with 1:54 left in regulation.

Dan Vladar made 34 saves to help Philadelphia rebound from a 2-1 shootout loss to Columbus at home Saturday night. The Flyers are six points behind Boston and Detroit for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.

Continue reading here

Ducks summary

NHL standings

March Madness analysis

The NCAA men’s tournament bracket is set and the games are set to begin Tuesday with the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential underdog teams and what to know about the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Click here to continue

————

The NCAA women’s basketball tournament bracket is set and the games will begin Wednesday with the start of the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential dark horse teams and game previews for every region in the 2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

Click here to continue

This day in sports history

1942 — The Thoroughbred Racing Associations of the United States is formed, with John C. Clark president.

1950 — Babe Didrikson Zaharias shoots a record 298 and beats Clair Doran by eight strokes to capture the U.S. Women’s Open.

1950 — The Rochester Royals win their 15th consecutive game, 97-66 over the Baltimore Bullets to set an NBA record for consecutive victories to close a season.

1955 — San Francisco wins the NCAA basketball championship with a 77-63 victory over La Salle.

1955 — Dick Ricketts and Si Green combine for 56 points to lead Duquesne to a 70-58 triumph over Dayton in the NIT championship.

1956 — The Minneapolis Lakers defeat the St. Louis Hawks 133-75 for the biggest rout in NBA playoff history.

1960 — Ohio State wins the NCAA basketball title with a 75-55 victory against California.

1960 — Mach Herndon’s 26 points leads Bradley to a 88-72 triumph over Providence for the NIT title. Lenny Wilkens scores 25 points for the Friars.

1966 — Texas Western, starting five Black players, wins the NCAA basketball championship with a 72-65 upset of all-white Kentucky.

1966 — BYU beats New York University 97-84 for the NIT championship.

1972 — The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women holds its first basketball championship and Immaculata beats West Chester State 52-48.

1972 — The Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors 162-99 for the most lopsided victory in NBA history.

1987 — Bonnie Blair skates ladies’ world record 500 m (39.43 sec)

1994 — Hartford’s Brian Propp reaches the 1,000-point mark with a goal in a 5-3 win over Philadelphia.

1995 — Chicago’s Michael Jordan returns from his 17-month retirement. Wearing No. 45, he shoots 7-of-28 from the field and scores 19 points in the Bulls’ 103-96 overtime loss at Indiana.

1998 — The U.S. women’s soccer team sustains the worst loss in its 13-year history, falling 4-1 to reigning World Cup champion Norway in the Algarve Cup.

2006 — Tennessee’s Candace Parker is the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game, jamming one-handed on a breakaway 6:12 into the second-seeded Lady Vols’ 102-54 victory against an Army team that was making its NCAA tournament debut.

2011 — Duke gives coach Mike Krzyzewski his 900th victory, a 73-71 win over Michigan, and the Blue Devils advance to the round of 16 for the 12th time in 14 years.

2014 — Chris Eversley scores 19 points to help Cal Poly become the first team in 59 years with 19 losses to win an NCAA tournament game, beating Texas Southern 81-69 in the First Four.

2015 — Lindsey Vonn wins the final super-G of the season and with it her 19th crystal globe trophy — equaling the record of Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.

2015 — R.J. Hunter’s three-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining caps a comeback from a 12-point deficit and lifts 14th-seeded Georgia State over third-seeded Baylor 57-56 in the NCAA Tournament.

2015 — William Lee scores the last four points for 14th-seeded UAB in its 60-59 upset of Iowa State.

2019 — Houston Rockets guard James Harden becomes first player in NBA history to score at least 30 points against all 29 opponents in a single season with 31 in a 121-105 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

2022 — LeBron James moves past Karl Malone (36,909) into second on NBA’s all-time scoring list with 38 points in Lakers’ 127-119 loss to Washington Wizards.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

PHOENIX — Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas addressed an erroneous report from earlier in the week with understanding while also making his feelings clear.

On Monday, a senior baseball writer at the Athletic misidentified Rojas as the recipient of an 80-game suspension for the use of a banned substance on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. It was in fact Phillies outfielder Johan Rojas who had tested positive for Boldenone. The writer, Evan Drellich, quickly deleted the post and corrected it.

“I’m not frustrated because of the report, because we are all humans and we make mistakes,” Rojas said Wednesday morning in front of his locker at Camelback Ranch. “I was expecting a little bit more of an apology, not just to me, but the organization. Because it wasn’t just my name, it was pretty clear that it says, ‘Miguel Rojas from the Los Angeles Dodgers.’ And I don’t think anybody in this organization should be kind of freaking out and jumping out of their seats for the six or seven minutes that it happened.”

Rojas saw the correction post as an opportunity to issue that apology.

“It wasn’t just my name, it was the organization that I represent too, and that’s really important to me,” he said. “So that’s the only thing that I’m kind of bothered [by].”

Later on Wednesday, Drellich followed up with another post: “To Miguel Rojas and the Dodgers, I sincerely and publicly apologize. I’ve reached out to Miguel, the Dodgers and Miguel’s agent to say the same. Once again, I’m sorry.”

In the midst of the fallout from the report, Rojas watched Team Venezuela, who he would have represented in the World Baseball Classic if it weren’t for insurance issues, win the tournament with a victory against the United States in Tuesday’s final.

“It was really special to see my kids kind finding joy in that moment that the third strike was called,” he said, noting that his children were born in the United States. “And they felt Venezuelan the same as I did, and every other family in Venezuela.”

Rojas said he’d moved on after the insurance snag.

“When I made my last post, when I came to spring training, I made a decision of being another fan and supporting from any anywhere that I was going to be,” he said. “Because I knew I wasn’t going to be there anymore. So I had to kind of remove myself from the possibility of playing, and now I’m just becoming another Venezuelan pulling for a team that are getting ready and preparing for something like that.”

Phoenix — A sparse crowd braved the heat, which was approaching 100 degrees when Dodgers right-hander Shohei Ohtani walked off the mound at Camelback Ranch. But those who did were treated to a dominant pitching performance from the four-time MVP in his first start of spring training.

They repaid the favor with a standing ovation.

Ohtani limited the San Francisco Giants to one hit and overshot the innings goal manager Dave Roberts laid out Wednesday morning by pitching to one batter in the fifth inning. Ohtani didn’t give up a run in those 4 ⅓ innings, and the only other blemishes on the performance were a pair of walks and a hit batter.

“I was pretty happy with the pitch count today,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “In terms of the next outing, I do want to be better at executing in two-strike counts. I just didn’t finish off hitters as much as I wanted to.”

Ohtani is scheduled to make a start in the Freeway Series against the Angels before his first start of the season. If the rest of spring training goes smoothly, Roberts said he expects Ohtani to be ready to throw about five innings in his first regular-season start.

At that length, the Dodgers won’t need to designate long relievers to piggyback Ohtani’s starts. But Roberts stressed the importance of still carrying relievers who can throw multiple innings as the starters continue to build up early in the season.

“Once the season starts you’ve got to see how he’s feeling, how his stuff looks, how he’s throwing the baseball,” Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 5-1 win that was stopped after the eighth inning due to the heat.

Most of Ohtani’s build-up has taken place outside of competition, as he balanced playing in the World Baseball Classic for Team Japan as a position player, and addressing pitching on the side. By last week, he’d ramped up to a four-inning live batting practice session against his teammates on the national team in Miami.

“It actually didn’t feel like it was my first spring training outing,” Ohtani said. “I do see this as more of an extension of a live BP situation. So it didn’t feel too bad going into this game.”

Ohtani didn’t hit on Wednesday. With the heat and his unique spring, the team wanted to let him focus on pitching. He’s expected to be the designated hitter in Cactus League play Friday.

“In terms of the hitting, it did help that I played in an atmosphere that was pretty intense and competitive,” Ohtani said. “So the fact that I had to get things going earlier in the offseason maybe was the only thing that really affected my preparation. But I think it helped me more so than it hurt me, as I played through these meaningful games in the World Baseball Classic.”

Ohtani used a wide range of his arsenal Friday, landing an especially effective curveball for a called third strike against Heliot Ramos in the fourth inning.

“Never really surprised with him,” catcher Dalton Rushing said. “Everyone knows what he’s capable of. Everyone knows his main goal when he goes out there. He expects perfection every single time. And I think he was very, very close to it today.”

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Today we continue our series looking at the NL West, position by position.

NL West, the first basemen

Let’s look at the first and second basemen, ranked from best to worst. Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page.

Dodgers
Freddie Freeman
Last season: .295/.367/.502, 39 doubles, 24 homers, 90 RBIs, 141 OPS+
Career: .300/.386/.511, 142 OPS+

Freeman’s ankle never seemed 100% last season, and he still put up solid numbers. He has said he wants to hit .300 again after failing to do so the past two seasons. There are only three current players (minimum 2,000 plate appearances) with a career batting average of at least .300: Freeman, Luis Arráez (.317) and Jose Altuve (.303). The top 10 in career batting average among active players:

1. Arráez, .317
2. Altuve, .303
3. Freeman, .300
4. Trea Turner, .297
5. Yordan Alvarez, .297
6. Bo Bichette, .294
7. Mike Trout, .294
8. Aaron Judge, .294
9. Mookie Betts, .290
10. Yandy Díaz, .290

San Francisco
Rafael Devers
Last season: .252/.372/.479, 33 doubles, 35 homers, 109 RBIs, 140 OPS+
Career: .276/.349/.506, 129 OPS+

Devers was acquired at the trade deadline from Boston. Oracle Park didn’t seem to dampen his numbers as much as it does to others, as he hit 11 homers there and 20 overall with the Giants. He’s not exactly Wes Parker at first base, but he is a solid run producer.

San Diego
Gavin Sheets
Last season: .252/.317/.429, 28 doubles, 19 homers, 71 RBIs, 105 OPS+
Career: .236/.301/.397, 94 OPS+

Sheets was a big surprise for the Padres last season, hitting better than he had in four seasons with the White Sox. He will get the majority of starts against right-handers, but could sit against tough lefties.

“The big thing for me has been controlling the strike zone, getting walks and being disciplined,” Sheets said about his improved hitting this spring. “You get swings like this and you build off the two of those things, you can really put the two of those things together.”

Arizona
Carlos Santana
Last season: .219/.308/.325, 11 doubles, 11 homers, 54 RBIs, 77 OPS+
Career: .241/.352/.425, 112 OPS+

How old is Carlos Santana? He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers in 2004. He was traded to Cleveland in 2008 for Casey Blake, who retired in 2011. He was a solid player for the then Indians, twice finishing in the top 20 in MVP voting, but he is well into his decline stage now.

Colorado
Edouard Julien
Last season: .220/.309/.324, 10 doubles, three homers, 12 RBIs, 76 OPS+
Career: .232/.336/.382, 99 OPS+

Julien finished seventh in rookie of the year voting in 2023 when he hit .263/.381/.459 for the Minnesota Twins in a little over half the season. It has been all downhill since then. The Twins traded him to Colorado in January, and the Rockies get to see if they can unlock whatever was working for him three years ago.

Second base

Arizona
Ketel Marte
Last season: .283/.376/.517, 28 doubles, 28 homers, 72 RBIs, 145 OPS+
Career: .281/.351/.472, 121 OPS+

He has won back-to-back NL Silver Sluggers, finished third in 2024 NL MVP balloting and had an OPS+ of 145 last season. He is the key to the Diamondbacks’ offense and one of the more underrated players in the game.

San Diego
Jake Cronenworth
Last season: .246/.367/.377, 20 doubles, 11 homers, 59 RBIs, 108 OPS+
Career: .247/.335/.406, 107 OPS+

Cronenworth is one of those guys who don’t make the headlines but quietly puts up steady production every day. Every team needs a player or two such as Cronenworth, a guy you can pencil into the lineup every day and not have to worry about him.

Dodgers
Miguel Rojas
Last season: .262/.318/.397, 18 doubles, seven homers, 27 RBIs, 100 OPS+
Career: .260/.314/.362, 86 OPS+

He apparently had some sort of big hit in the World Series last season. I must have missed it. Hyeseong Kim and Santiago Espinal could also get playing time at second until Tommy Edman is able to return.

San Francisco
Luis Arráez
Last season: .292/.327/.392, 30 doubles, eight homers, 61 RBIs, 99 OPS+
Career: .317/.363/.413, 115 OPS+

How valuable is a guy whose value lies almost entirely in his batting average? Arráez has won three batting titles, three years in a row, with three different teams. He is with a new team again this year. He has mild power, draws few walks, is terrible on defense. But he can get line drive singles all day long.

Colorado
Tyler Freeman
Last season: .281/.354/.361, 20 doubles, two homers, 31 RBIs, 92 OPS+
Career: .247/.324/.342, 85 OPS+

It appears, according to MLB.com, that Freeman has edged out Willi Castro for the job. Either one can play multiple positions and will probably get plenty of time everywhere on a team that is expected to lose 100 games again.

In case you missed it

Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s lead-up to Dodgers opening day ‘hard to put into words’

‘There’s endless possibilities.’ Mookie Betts embraces Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s training methods

And finally

Freddie Freeman hits the walk-off homer in Game 3 of the 2025 World Series. Watch and listen here.

Until next time….

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Yamamoto is honored

From Maddie Lee: The first pitch of the Dodgers’ 2026 season won’t capture the exuberance of the last pitch of 2025. But it will be meaningful in its own right, as the official first step of the team’s quest for a third straight championship.

How poetic that the same arm should deliver both pitches.

“It’s an honor for me,” Dodgers opening day starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto said Tuesday through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “And then it’s opening day at a Dodger Stadium home game, and that’s very [much an] honor to me. I also feel the responsibility.”

Yamamoto is scheduled to make one more Cactus League start, against the Padres on Friday, before taking the Dodger Stadium mound next Thursday when the Diamondbacks come to town. It will be the second opening-day start of Yamamoto’s MLB career, and his first at home.

It will also mark the end of a whirlwind offseason and spring training for Yamamoto, who not only shouldered a demanding postseason workload, but also navigated an especially quick turnaround to pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic.

“It’s hard to put into words,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He is just very driven, he’s very disciplined in his work. That’s some of the things that allows him to compete at a high level. Where most people would feel that you win the World Series MVP, you don’t have enough to pitch in the WBC. He wanted to pitch for his country, and now he’s really excited about the start of 2026.

“He is a very determined person. He really is. We’re just lucky he’s on our team.”

Continue reading here

‘There’s endless possibilities.’ Mookie Betts embraces Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s training methods

March Madness analysis

The NCAA men’s tournament bracket is set and the games are set to begin Tuesday with the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential underdog teams and what to know about the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Click here to continue

————

The NCAA women’s basketball tournament bracket is set and the games will begin Wednesday with the start of the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential dark horse teams and game previews for every region in the 2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

Click here to continue

Alabama guard Aden Holloway arrested on felony drug charge days before NCAA tournament

NFL mock draft

From Sam Farmer: NFL teams are living on the edge.

Sure, it’s a quarterback’s league, but a major focus of the upcoming NFL draft will be about getting to the quarterback. This class is loaded with talented pass rushers, and teams figure to take advantage of that early and often. This mock draft has edge rushers off the board with the second, third and fourth selections.

How appropriate that the April 23-25 draft will be held for the first time in Pittsburgh, birthplace of the Steel Curtain.

The Steelers, incidentally, take a receiver in this mock — and there are lots of talented prospects at that spot, too. This contemplates the Rams selecting USC receiver Makai Lemon, although it’s entirely possible that the sure-handed Trojans star will already be gone by the time the 13th pick rolls around.

The Chargers, meanwhile, take an offensive lineman to address the need that haunted them all last season after they were ravaged by injuries up front.

One look at how the draft could unfold:

Continue reading here

Venezuela defeats the U.S. to win the World Baseball Classic

Venezuela won the World Baseball Classic for the first time, rebounding from a blown eighth-inning lead to beat the United States 3-2 Tuesday night on Eugenio Suárez’s tiebreaking double in the ninth.

Maikel Garcia’s third-inning sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu’s fifth-inning homer off rookie Nolan McLean built a 2-0 lead before a roaring pro-Latin America crowd. Meanwhile, left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez and lights-out relievers limited the Americans to two hits through the seventh.

Bobby Witt Jr. walked with two out in the eighth and Bryce Harper drove the second straight changeup from Andrés Machado over the center-field fence for a two-run homer that tied it. Harper slowly trotted around the bases and took time at third to salute coach Dino Ebel.

Luis Arraez walked against Garrett Whitlock starting the ninth. Pinch-runner Javier Sanoja stole second just ahead of catcher Will Smith’s throw and came home when Suárez doubled to the left-center gap. Suárez spread his arms wide and pointed to the sky at second base while teammates streamed from the dugout to greet Sanoja at the plate.

Daniel Palencia struck out two in a perfect bottom half to finish a three-hitter and get his third save of the WBC, striking out Roman Anthony to end the game. Venezuelans ran onto the infield to celebrate as the Americans stared while leaning on their dugout railing.

Continue reading here

Shaikin: U.S. showing class at WBC no matter how the White House might react to a title

This day in sports history

1945 — Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens becomes the first NHL player to score 50 goals in a season during a 4-2 triumph over the Boston Bruins in the final game of the season.

1950 — CCNY beats Bradley 69-61 for the NIT championship.

1953 — Don Schlundt scores 30 points to lead Indiana to a 69-68 victory over Kansas for the NCAA basketball championship.

1990 — Jeff Fryer’s 41 points leads Loyola Marymount to a 149-115 victory over defending national champion Michigan in the highest-scoring game in NCAA tournament history.

1993 — Santa Clara beats Arizona 64-61 to become the second 15th-seeded team to win a first-round game in the NCAA tournament.

1995 — Michael Jordan announces he is ending his 17-month NBA retirement.

2001 — Indiana’s Reggie Miller becomes the first player in NBA history to accumulate 2,000 three-pointers after hitting four in a 101-95 win over Sacramento.

2008 — The Houston Rockets’ 22-game winning streak comes to an end. Kevin Garnett scores 22 points and Paul Pierce adds 20 as the Celtics beat the Rockets 94-74, stopping Houston’s remarkable run.

2009 — New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur breaks Patrick Roy’s NHL record for career wins by a goaltender. Brodeur records his 552nd win in a 3-2 decision over the Chicago Blackhawks.

2013 — LeBron James and the Miami Heat escape Boston with their 23rd win in a row, the second longest win streak in NBA history. James scores 37 points and makes the go-ahead basket with 10.5 seconds left in Miami’s 105-103 victory.

2015 — Lindsey Vonn wins the World Cup downhill title for the seventh time, winning the last race in the discipline at the World Cup finals in Meribel, France.

2016 — Middle Tennessee State sends a big shock through the men’s NCAA Tournament, topping second-seeded Michigan State 90-81 in the first round. Middle Tennessee never trails the Spartans (29-6) in one of the biggest upsets since the tournament began seeding teams in 1985.

2016 — Thomas Walkup scores 33 points and 14th-seeded Stephen F. Austin takes down West Virginia’s full-court pressure with some of its own in-your-face defense, pulling off a 70-56 first-round upset of the third-seeded Mountaineers in the NCAA Tournament.

2017 — Kalani Brown scores 21 points and top-seeded Baylor overwhelms much smaller Texas Southern 119-30, the most lopsided women’s NCAA Tournament game. The 89-point margin breaks the previous record 74-point win by Tennessee over North Carolina A&T (111-37) in 1994. Baylor’s 119 points are the most scored in regulation of a women’s NCAA Tournament game, surpassing the previous record 116.

2017 — Texas A&M pulls off the biggest comeback in women’s NCAA Tournament history, rallying from a 21-point deficit for a 63-61 victory over Penn to close out the first round of the NCAAs. The fifth-seeded Aggies finish the game on a 25-1 run to beat the 12th-seeded Quakers.

2018 — Tennessee loses for the first time at home in women’s NCAA Tournament history. Marie Gulich has 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead sixth-seed Oregon State to a 66-59 win. The third-seeded Lady Vols had been 57-0 at home, with most of those victories coming under late Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt.

2019 — 40-year old Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki overtakes Wilt Chamberlain to move into sixth place with 31,424 points on the NBA scorers’ list; Mavs suffer 129-125 OT loss to New Orleans Pelicans.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

PHOENIX — The first pitch of the Dodgers’ 2026 season won’t capture the exuberance of the last pitch of 2025. But it will be meaningful in its own right, as the official first step of the team’s quest for a third straight championship.

How poetic that the same arm should deliver both pitches.

“It’s an honor for me,” Dodgers opening day starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto said Tuesday through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “And then it’s opening day at a Dodger Stadium home game, and that’s very [much an] honor to me. I also feel the responsibility.”

Yamamoto is scheduled to make one more Cactus League start, against the Padres on Friday, before taking the Dodger Stadium mound next Thursday when the Diamondbacks come to town. It will be the second opening-day start of Yamamoto’s MLB career, and his first at home.

It will also mark the end of a whirlwind offseason and spring training for Yamamoto, who not only shouldered a demanding postseason workload, but also navigated an especially quick turnaround to pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic.

“It’s hard to put into words,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He is just very driven, he’s very disciplined in his work. That’s some of the things that allows him to compete at a high level. Where most people would feel that you win the World Series MVP, you don’t have enough to pitch in the WBC. He wanted to pitch for his country, and now he’s really excited about the start of 2026.

“He is a very determined person. He really is. We’re just lucky he’s on our team.”

No one needs to be reminded that Yamamoto was a playoff hero last year, but let’s really break down his efforts.

On Oct. 14, Yamamoto made his third start of the postseason and threw a complete game against the Brewers to put the Dodgers ahead 2-0 in the NL Championship Series.

Eleven days later, he tossed another nine innings to help the Dodgers even the series against the Blue Jays. And he wrapped up the World Series with appearances on back-to-back days, starting Game 6 and finishing Game 7.

Yamamoto threw 526 pitches in the postseason, 235 in the World Series alone, and he still touched nearly 97 mph in his final inning of work.

Most pitchers would need at least a full offseason to recover. When Blake Snell slow-played his offseason because of lingering shoulder discomfort after the World Series run, the decision made all the sense in the world.

Yamamoto, however, was already pitching in meaningful games by March 6.

In Yamamoto’s first start of the WBC, he held Chinese Taipei hitless for 2 ⅔ innings. Then in the quarterfinal game against Venezuela last Saturday, he surrendered a leadoff homer to Ronald Acuña Jr. and a second-inning RBI double to Gleyber Torres before settling in for two scoreless innings. The eventual 8-5 loss eliminated Team Japan from the WBC.

“As Team Japan, the result was not what we were aiming for,” Yamamoto said. “But at a personal level, my condition was good.”

The season will be the true test for Yamamoto’s training methods, which have been infamous since before his transition from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, and are already spreading across the Dodgers’ clubhouse. Look no further than shortstop Mookie Betts this week lauding the effects of throwing a javelin.

If they continue to work, Yamamoto could be in the running for the Cy Young Award, after finishing third in National League voting last year.

“There’s high competition, there are a lot of great pitchers out there,” Yamamoto said, “but I hope that I get there.”

Yamamoto’s offseason work, however, wasn’t simply geared toward getting to opening day or winning an individual award. He knows as well as anyone that this team has set a high bar with back-to-back championships.

“The same goal,” Yamamoto said of 2026, “winning a world championship with this team.”

Now over four months removed from that final pitch of the 2025 World Series, one lesson has stuck with Yamamoto.

“I learned how difficult [it is] to get one win,” he said. “As a team, I want to be able to share that joy.”

PHOENIX — After a few days away, Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts returned to Camelback Ranch over the weekend, now a father of three after his wife, Brianna, gave birth.

The 33-year-old Betts said earlier in camp he was looking to ease into spring training ahead of his 13th major league season in an effort to turn the page from a career-worst statistical year in 2025. There have been encouraging signs as he’s hitting .316 in Cactus League play, which includes a home run in Sunday’s split-squad win over the Chicago Cubs.

“I just want to get better,” Betts said. “I’m not content with being where I’m at. I want to continue to get better in life and everything, and you know, be able to kind of teach my son how to be great. You know, I’ve got to go through it first. When you’re open-minded, there’s endless possibilities.”

Betts kept an open mind when he first learned of teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s unique workout routine, which includes javelin throwing, yoga, and working with personal trainer Osamu Yada. Betts credits his improved defense at shortstop to the new training methods that he’s adopted.

“I’m not fully in his whole routine,” Betts said of Yada, who is often referred to as Yada Sensei. “But I wake up every morning and do my stretch routine that Sensei showed me, throwing the javelins every day. I think throwing javelins is the reason why I can make a play in the hole like that and throw it in the air on a line. I’m really grateful for Yoshi and Sensei, because they have definitely changed my perspective, changed my life, changed my game.”

Betts graded as a below-average defender in his first season at the shortstop position in 2024, posting a minus-6 in Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-3 in Outs Above Average. Last season, he saw a sizable improvement, leading MLB shortstops in DRS (+17) and placing in the top-third in OAA (+6).

It wasn’t hard for Betts to look at Yamamoto and think that the Japanese superstar may have been onto something.

“So I mean, Yoshi came over and [got] $300 million, and he hadn’t even thrown a pitch over here,” Betts said. “So, I’m pretty sure he does something right.”

Betts has yet to see the workouts translate offensively, but expects that to come in due time.

“He said eventually I’ll feel where it helps me hitting, but I haven’t gotten to that point yet,” Betts said. “I think he should be back, so you’ll see us back working, and eventually I’ll get it, but he said it will take a little time.”

In the meantime, Betts believes he’s found an easy fix that should return him to the MVP-caliber player he had been for close to a decade. Betts says he lost 10 mph in bat speed last season.

“I think the most important part is now that I think I’m 178 [pounds] now, almost 180 [pounds], so I’m able to just have speed,” Betts said. “When I lost all the weight, I was down 10 mph in speed. You’ve got guys throwing 100 mph with a slow bat, it’s going to be hard to do. It’s not an excuse, but it’s a fact. So, now I’ve got my speed back, I don’t have to hurry up and make decisions so fast.”

Said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts: “I like where he’s at physically. He looks stronger.”

A stomach illness prompted Betts to lose 15 to 20 pounds . last spring, putting him behind the eight-ball, and he never quite caught up after that.

“[I was] down 10 mph in bat speed,” Betts said. “Do you know how hard it is for somebody that weighs 160 lbs. to gain bat speed, to gain strength and play a game all at the same time during the season? It’s tough to do. I tried it. I failed at it. But we’re in a new spot now, and we’ll try to stay here.”

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Today we start a series looking at the NL West, position by position, and we meet our new sports columnist.

NL West, the catchers

It seems like a good time to look at the starting lineups for all the teams in the NL West. The Dodgers are prohibitive favorites to win the division, with some prognosticators thinking they will be the only team in the division to finish above .500.

Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projection has the NL West finishing like this.

1. Dodgers, 105-57
2. San Francisco, 81-81
2. San Diego, 81-81
4. Arizona, 79-83
5. Colorado, 61-101

It seems to me at least one other team will finish above .500, but, that’s why they play the games. A lot of projections had Toronto not even making the postseason last year. So take it with a grain of salt.

Now, let’s look at the catchers, ranked from best to worst. Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page.

Dodgers
Will Smith
Last season: .296/.404/.497, 20 doubles, 17 homers, 61 RBIs
Career: .264/.358/.476, 128 OPS+

Smith, who turns 31 on March 28, is the best catcher in baseball and he is a steal at only $14 million a season through 2033. Of catchers who started at least 81 games last season, he was eighth in caught stealing at 25.5%. Some will argue that Cal Raleigh or Alejandro Kirk are better, but when you consider the total package, I put Smith first. Of course, if Raleigh’s huge step up in offense that he took last season is for real, then he could certainly slot ahead of Smith.

Arizona
Gabriel Moreno
Last season: .285/.353/.433, 12 doubles, nine homers, 40 RBIs
Career: .281/.349/.404, 108 OPS+

Moreno has inflammation in his right elbow, but it appears he will be ready for opening day. He has had quite a few injuries the last couple of seasons.

Colorado
Hunter Goodman
Last season: .278/.323/.520, 28 doubles, 31 homers, 91 RBIs
Career: .248/.292/.482, 102 OPS+

Goodman was one of the few bright spots for the Rockies, who lost 119 games last season. Last season was his first good season at the plate. He was an All-Star and won the Silver Slugger award. Earlier this spring training, he had this to say about his defense: “I mean, last year for the whole first half, was kind of like I was in fight-or-flight mode the whole game behind the dish. So just trying to get to where I’m comfortable on the plate and working to get these guys strikes and call better games and stuff like that.”

San Francisco
Patrick Bailey
Last season: .222/.277/.325, six homers, 55 RBIs
Career: .230/.287/.340, 78 OPS+

Bailey is solid defensively, and has proven to be a master at when to challenge a ball/strike call under the new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System (more on that in a future newsletter). Bailey has also focused on his swing in the offseason and has been a much better hitter this spring.

San Diego
Freddy Fermin
Last season: .251/.297/.339, 13 doubles, five homers, 26 RBIs
Career: .264/.309/.376, 91 OPS+

The Padres acquired Fermin from the Royals at the trade deadline last season, and loved how he handled the pitching staff, much like the Dodgers with Ben Rortvedt. He will be backed up Luis Campusano, who hit .336 in triple A but isn’t exactly Johnny Bench behind the plate.

Meet our new columnist

We have a new columnist at The Times, Mirjam Swanson. She will be covering all sports, but here’s guessing she will be writing quite a bit of opinion about the Dodgers. So, let’s get to know her.

Q. Welcome to The Times. What was the road that led you here?

Swanson: Thank you! Oh, it’s been a long and windy road, scenic let’s say. I grew up in Southern California, so it was always my dream to work for the L.A. Times. But journalism is a tough business. And I know I’m not the only mom out there who has turned down and/or taken jobs based on what was best for her children. Plus, I’ve always had this problem of getting really into whatever I’m covering, whether it was action sports or local politics or World Series runs. So while the dream of working at the Times persisted, I was also always happy with what was right in front of me, never desperate to move on. But here I am now, finally, better for the journey, I think.

Q. You will be an all-sports columnist, but we’ll focus on the Dodgers since this is a Dodgers newsletter. Do you have a favorite moment in Dodger history?

Swanson: The moment in Dodgers history that will stick with me most is …

… hmm. The Dodgers’ history books could fill a library — where to start?

I was in the backseat of the family car on a freeway somewhere in Southern California listening to Kirk Gibson put his signature on the improbable 1988 season with his impossibly clutch pinch-hit home run in Game 1 of the World Series. And I was in the ballpark when Gibby met Freddie in 2024, feeling the stadium shake and watching on a TV in the overflow media workspace, feeling awe and angst. Freddie Freeman with grand timing that night, right on deadline.

Watched Shohei Ohtani turn Game 4 of the 2025 NLCS into a Little League game with 10 strikeouts and three home runs. There might never be a greater individual game — or there might be. Put nothing past Ohtani, including the inconceivable.

And I won’t forget my L.A. neighborhood erupting over Miguel Rojas’ “no-way!” ninth-inning solo shot in Game 7 of last season’s World Series.

But all of that is a long and windy way to arrive at this: It’s Andy Pages’ catch.

That’s not recency bias, either. It’s that the play was so confounding, so unexpected, the plot twist no one saw coming. Violent and athletic and hilarious. A whole movie in 10 seconds.

We might not have expected it to be Rojas to hit that season-saving home run, but our brains are trained to accept seeing a home run in such a moment. But an outfielder coming out of nowhere, running down and over his own teammate to make an improbable, impossible season-saving catch for the final out in the ninth inning of Game 7? Wasn’t on my bingo card.

I think about that play daily, it was so cool.

Q. What do you see as the biggest obstacle for the team this season?

Swanson: The answer is health, of course. But the Dodgers are so deep, they’ve done as much as a club can to fortify itself against inevitable injuries and ailments throughout a season, so it feels like less of a concern than it’s supposed to be.

So it’ll be mental. Having to handle the weight of trying to three-peat, of everyone either desperately wanting to see them do it or rooting desperately against them doing it. Every other team is going to treat their games against the Dodgers like it’s the World Series. That should make for good baseball, but it also will test these guys’ psychological stamina.

Manager Dave Roberts said the other night that he felt more pressure to repeat than three-peat, and that at this point, the Dodgers are playing with house money. That might be true, but there’s no ignoring the historic opportunity, either. Heady stuff for a team that’s set up as well as a team can be to do it if players can keep their edge.

Q. I get quite a bit of email from fans saying Roberts is overrated and that anyone could manage this team to the World Series. What are your thoughts on Roberts as a manager?

Swanson: I know some of these people.

And I hope they’re on no one’s jury, because evidence evidently means nothing to them.

A guy I know, an otherwise relatively rational dude, told me after the Dodgers repeated: “The only bad thing about this is Dave Roberts is going to be around longer.”

As if there was any bad thing for fans of the team about the Dodgers’ repeating. You really have to want to be unhappy about something if you’re anti-the manager who has won three World Series crowns in six seasons.

As if it’s automatic to pilot a team with so many talented players, to keep them happy and motivated and locked in, to manage these millionaires with understandable egos. That’s actually so much harder to do than to coach up a team of prospects with modest expectations.

And to pull so many of the right levers along the way, too?

Yeah, Roberts is elite at what he does. And apparently his haters are elite at what they do too.

Q. Is a lockout inevitable after the season, and does baseball need a salary cap?

Swanson: Sigh.

Yes, probably.

No, probably not.

All the salary cap is going to do is save the smarter-than-you Dodgers’ ownership group money while everyone keeps chasing them. It won’t level the playing field, but it will give owners cover for not paying their players as much as they could — and possibly cost us all priceless opportunities to watch Ohtani play baseball while the owners and players arm wrestle over finances offstage.

Sigh.

Q. Lastly, how many games will the Dodgers win this season?

Swanson: Fewer than 100.

Yes, they’re the most talented team money could buy. But every other team is going to give everything it has in every game against the Dodgers. And the Dodgers aren’t going to match that energy every time out — or 117 times out, if you’re hoping the major league record + World Series three-peat combo is on the menu.

The regular season isn’t what it’s really about for the Dodgers. They’ll be conservative with their approach, they won’t push anyone to do anything that could diminish their performance in the postseason. They’re going to play it cool … until they’re not.

And it’s going to drive observers along the way nuts, because it will cost them some games. But let’s try not to fret too much, Dodgers fans. Try not be too hard on Roberts.

Because only one number really matters: Three.

Dodger Stadium has a new field name

The Dodgers agreed to a deal granting Uniqlo naming rights to the field at Dodger Stadium. Though not officially announced by the Dodgers, the name likely will be Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium.

Uniqlo is a Japan-based clothing brand. This is just another example of the revenue the Dodgers are generating because of Shohei Ohtani.

But here’s guessing that no one will call it Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium.

Opening day starter will be…

Dave Roberts said Monday that Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be the opening day starter on March 26 against Arizona at Dodger Stadium. It will be the second straight opening day start for Yamamoto, and after all he did in the postseason last year, it is much deserved.

And the number is….

Some of you who haven’t seen any spring training games have asked what numbers the new Dodgers are wearing.

Edwin Díaz is wearing No. 3, last worn by Chris Taylor and also worn by such Dodger luminaries as Steve Sax, Willie Davis and Billy Cox. He becomes the 40th Dodger to wear No. 3.

Kyle Tucker is wearing No. 23, last worn by Michael Conforto (I hope that’s not a bad omen) and also worn by, among others, Adrián González, Eric Karros, Kirk Gibson, Jim Wynn, Claude Osteen and Don Zimmer.

In case you missed it

Yoshinobu Yamamoto named Dodgers’ opening-day starter for second straight season

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani apologizes for ‘shortcomings’ in Japan’s early exit from WBC

Dodgers reportedly agree to deal with Uniqlo for naming rights to Dodger Stadium field

Swanson: Yoshinobu Yamamoto might not wear a cape, but he has super powers

‘Bigger than baseball.’ Why being in Puerto Rico for WBC meant so much to Kiké Hernández

Blake Snell throws first bullpen session of spring training, taking key step forward

Dodgers prospect James Tibbs III attempts to show staying power after multiple trades

And finally

Kyle Tucker hits his first home run with the Dodgers. Watch and listen here.

Until next time….

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Resilient win for the Lakers

From Broderick Turner: In their first meeting of the season on Christmas Day, Lakers coach JJ Redick said the Lakers were “punked” by the Houston Rockets and vowed not to let it happen again.

On Monday, the Lakers displayed their toughness in a 100-92 win over the Rockets at Toyota Center.

Even when they missed 14 straight shots at one point in the fourth quarter, the Lakers showed their resilience with a gritty defensive effort that kept them in the game. The Lakers scored just 17 points in the fourth, but they held the Rockets to just 12 points en route to their sixth consecutive win.

“They’re a really good basketball team and they make you either play hard and match their physicality, and how they muck the game up, or you can lay down,” Redick said. “And we didn’t lay down tonight. Had a deficit there in the third quarter. Our guys just kept playing.”

Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 36 points, six rebounds and four assists. LeBron James scored 18 points and Austin Reaves had 15 points.

But three big baskets from Deandre Ayton (seven points, 11 rebounds) and a big three-pointer by Marcus Smart (11 points) helped the Lakers open their six-game trip with a win.

Continue reading here

Lakers box score

NBA standings

Clippers edged by Spurs

Victor Wembanyama had 21 points and 13 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs overcame an early 14-point deficit before blowing most of a 24-point lead and recovering to hold off the Clippers 119-115 on Monday night at Intuit Dome.

Stephon Castle had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead the Spurs (50-18), who reached 50 wins for the first time since 2016-17 and trail the first-place Thunder by three games in the West. Devin Vassell added 20 points.

Fighting to secure a spot for the play-in tournament, the Clippers’ second straight loss dropped them back to .500 with Kawhi Leonard watching from the bench. The NBA’s sixth-leading scorer sat out with a sprained left knee.

Continue reading here

Clippers box score

NBA standings

Yamamoto to start on opening day

From Jack Vita: It’s only fitting that the pitcher who recorded the Dodgers’ final eight outs of the World Series will take the mound on opening day, as the club tries to pick up where it left off in 2025 and chase a third straight championship in 2026.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday that World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto will toe the rubber for the March 26 opener at Dodger Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks — the second straight year he’s had the honor and the first time at home, after pitching last season’s opener in Tokyo against the Chicago Cubs.

Roberts added Yamamoto is expected to return to Camelback Ranch soon, after participating in the World Baseball Classic with Team Japan. The Samurai Warriors, seeking a second straight WBC title, were eliminated by Team Venezuela Saturday night in the quarterfinals.

Continue reading here

Dodgers reportedly agree to deal with Uniqlo for naming rights to Dodger Stadium field

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani apologizes for ‘shortcomings’ in Japan’s early exit from WBC

Venezuela defeats Italy to set up WBC title showdown with U.S.

March Madness analysis

The NCAA men’s tournament bracket is set and the games are set to begin Tuesday with the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential underdog teams and what to know about the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Click here to continue

————

The NCAA women’s basketball tournament bracket is set and the games will begin Wednesday with the start of the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential dark horse teams and game previews for every region in the 2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

Click here to continue

Kings defeat Rangers

Alex Laferriere had a goal and two assists to lead the Kings to a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers on Monday night.

Drew Doughty, Mikey Anderson and Trevor Moore also scored for the Kings, who have won three of five.

Darcy Kuemper stopped 21 shots.

Despite 22 saves from Igor Shesterkin, New York’s four-game winning streak ended.

Continue reading here

Kings summary

NHL standings

This day in sports history

1897 — Bob Fitzsimmons knocks out Jim Corbett in the 14th round to win the world heavyweight title in Carson City, Nev. It’s the first boxing match photographed by a motion picture camera.

1908 — Tommy Burns knocks out Jene Roche in 80 seconds at the Royal Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, to retain the world heavyweight title.

1939 — Villanova wins first game of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament, defeating Brown 42-30 in Philadelphia. Ohio State beats Wake Forest 64-52 in the second game of the doubleheader.

1940 — For the first time in NHL history, one line — The Kraut Line of Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer — finish 1-2-3 in NHL scoring when the Boston Bruins score five goals in the third period to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 7-2.

1955 — Canadien fans riot in the streets of Montreal protesting NHL President Clarence Campbell’s suspension of Maurice “Rocket” Richard the previous day. The Canadiens forfeit the game to the Detroit after a smoke bomb goes off in the Forum and crowds spill into the streets, setting fires, smashing windows and looting.

1961 — Manhattan District Attorney Frank S. Hogan arrests two pro gamblers, Aaron Wagman and Joseph Hacken, and implicates Hank Gunter and Art Hicks of Seton Hall in a collegiate point shaving scandal.

1993 — Dallas snaps a 19-game losing streak with a 102-96 win over visiting Orlando. The Mavericks were one game away from tying the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers for the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history.

2001 — Connecticut cruises to a 101-29 win over Long Island University in the first round of the East Regional, the best defensive effort in the history of the women’s NCAA tournament. Connecticut’s 72-point victory also ties the second-biggest margin in tournament history.

2006 — Jermaine Wallace hits a fadeaway three-pointer with a split-second left, and little Northwestern State pulls off a shocker with a furious rally, beating No. 3 seed Iowa 64-63 in the first round of the men’s NCAA tournament.

2012 — Lindsey Vonn sets a women’s record for the most World Cup points in a season after finishing eighth in a slalom won by Austria’s Michaela Kirchgasser at Schladming, Austria. Vonn reaches 1,980 points to beat the mark of 1,970 set by Janica Kostelic of Croatia in 2006.

2016 — Little Rock advances with an out-of-nowhere comeback that leads to an 85-83 double-overtime victory over Purdue in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

2018 — The UConn Huskies open their NCAA Women’s tournament with a record-setting 140-52 rout of Saint Francis (Pa.). The tournament’s top seed sets a record for points in a tournament game and all-time NCAA records for points in a period (55 in the first) and a half (94 in the first).

2020 — French Open becomes first Grand Slam tennis tournament to be postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.