era

Alan Roden hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high four runs, and Dean Kremer yielded one hit over six stellar innings in the Minnesota Twins’ 8-0 victory over the Angels on Sunday.

Josh Bell had three hits and two RBIs for the Twins (73-83), who have won three of five overall after splitting four games at Angel Stadium with two shutout victories. Brooks Lee added three hits and scored three runs.

Roden had three hits in his first major league game this month, punctuated by a shot to right in the seventh for his third career homer, his first since Aug. 6, 2025.

Kremer (3-1) shut down the Angels in the third consecutive strong start by Minnesota’s deadline acquisition. He walked three, but struck out eight for his most in a start since April.

Minnesota allowed just two singles by the Angels, with Bailey Ober pitching the final three innings to earn his first career save.

Ryan Johnson (5-9) yielded three runs on seven hits and couldn’t get out of the fifth inning despite striking out six for the AL-worst Angels (60-96) in the home finale of their 11th consecutive losing season and their 12th straight non-playoff campaign, both the longest active streaks in the majors.

The game also was likely their last at Angel Stadium during the 24-year tenure of owner Arte Moreno, who intends to sell the team to Rams owner Stan Kroenke before next season begins.

Bell and Roden singled in runs with two outs in the third, and Bell added another two-out RBI single in the fifth to chase Johnson.

Emmanuel Rodriguez got credit for a double in the sixth even though Jose Siri dropped his catchable fly ball to the warning track in center. Rodriguez beat Siri’s throw to score on a single by Ben Ross, who then stole second and scored when Zach Neto let the throw trickle into center.

Up next for the Angels: Yusei Kikuchi (1-6, 5.02 ERA) makes the 13th start of his injury-plagued season in West Sacramento against the Athletics on Tuesday night.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Thirteen division titles in 14 seasons, and in the year they didn’t win, they had 106 victories. We don’t have a lot to complain about.

Division titles and Ryan Ward

—The Dodgers won the division title again, clinching it Thursday with their win over the Reds. Remember the olden days of yesteryear when winning the division was a huge deal? Now it is blasé. Dodgers fans live in a time where they have an embarrassment of riches,

Let’s look at how many NL West titles each team has won since divisional play began in 1969:

Dodgers, 24
San Francisco, 9
Cincinnati, 7
Arizona, 5
Atlanta, 5
San Diego, 5
Houston, 2

There was no official winner in 1994, which was ended by a labor dispute.

I guess I’m feeling extra nostalgic today, but I remember growing up the Dodgers’ biggest divisional rival was the Cincinnati Reds, who moved to the Central division in 1994 and have since won a grand total of zero division titles.

If we narrow NL West titles since 2000, we get:

Dodgers, 16
San Francisco, 5
Arizona, 4
San Diego, 2

Poor Colorado.

—The Dodgers made room for pitcher Kris Bubic on the 40-man roster by designating outfielder Ryan Ward for assignment. Ward has been a favorite of newsletter readers for a couple of seasons now, but he really had no place on the team anymore. He’s too old (28) to really be a prospect and his best triple-A season came in his third season at that level. His numbers declined in triple-A this season (you can see his numbers here).

He’s not great defensively, and the team already has corner outfielders who aren’t great defensively. They passed him over for Josue De Paula when they needed someone to fill in for Shohei Ohtani, and there are several outfielders in the system who are considered better than Ward.

In all likelihood, another team will pick him up and give him more playing time in the majors, something he wasn’t going to get with the Dodgers. Hopefully we see him next season in the “There names seem familiar” section of this newsletter.

Evidence of Dave Roberts’ growth

One of the knocks on Dave Roberts has always been his poor postseason managing. But his postseason managing has dramatically improved the last few seasons, and I’m not just saying that because they won the last two World Series. His decisions appear to not always be guided by analytics, like they are during the regular season. And it appears Roberts has indeed learned some things during his tenure. He recently appeared on the 6-1-1 podcast, hosted by former major leaguers Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, and had this to say:

“When you’re talking about winning 11 games in October, I couldn’t believe more that it’s about people, and players you can bet on,” Roberts said. “The heartbeat that the analytics doesn’t line up with. I think that early on, my mistake was I continued to use that same method of the regular season in the postseason….

He also had high praise for two of his players.

“Mookie has said to me, ‘Doc, we wouldn’t have won the World Series if it wasn’t for Shohei and Yamamoto. And his point was, the discipline that they had every single day, how they worked with intention every single day … it raised the level even higher for our guys.”

Forgotten Dodger: Pete Reiser

Pete Reiser in 1941.

(Associated Press)

Pete Reiser never met an outfield fence he didn’t like crashing into and it may have cost him a Hall of Fame career.

Harold Patrick Reiser was born on March 17, 1919, in St. Louis. He loved westerns and as a child often walked around wearing a cowboy hat and carrying toy guns, so people started calling him Pistol Pete, which stuck with him throughout his baseball career.

After playing in 58 games with the Dodgers in 1940, Reiser came into his own in 1941 when he hit a league-leading .343 to go with 117 runs, 39 doubles, 17 triples, 14 homers and 76 RBIs. He also played great defense in center. That got him second place in NL MVP voting behind teammate Dolph Camilli (Reiser should have won). Reiser led the league in nine categories.

He followed that by hitting .310 with 33 doubles and 10 homers in 1942, leading the league with 20 steals and making his second straight All-Star team. However, on July 18 of that year, he crashed full speed into the center-field fence, which was made of concrete, while chasing a fly ball. He ended up with a separated shoulder and fractured skull. In those days though, you didn’t let little things like a fractured skull slow you down. He returned to the lineup a week later, but he wasn’t the same. He hit .244 the rest of the season.

He then enlisted in the Army and spent three years there. In 1944, after a long march in below-zero weather, Reiser was diagnosed with pneumonia. The Army decided to put him in Fort Riley, Kan., so he could play for the camp’s baseball team. With Reiser on the team, they were virtually unbeatable and Reiser was given his own room and excused from all other duties.

Reiser returned to the majors in 1946 and broke his leg while stealing second. He crashed into the fence in St. Louis and missed some time. But he still led the league with 34 steals, though his batting average dropped to .277.

In 1947, he was chasing another fly ball when he crashed into the wall face first. This caused another fractured skull. He was given the Last Rites by a priest in the hospital before making a miraculous recovery. He ended up playing 110 games that season.

He was a bench player the following season, as he had put on a little weight and had been slowed tremendously by his numerous injuries. The Dodgers traded him to the Boston Braves after the season for Nanny Fernandez and Mike McCormick.

By unofficial count, Reiser’s injuries over the years included four fracture skulls, multiple dislocated shoulders, two broken ankles, torn ligaments in both knees and and two beanings. He was carried off the field on a stretcher eleven times—five times when he was unconscious.

He retired after the 1952 season and came back to the Dodger organization as a roving minor-league hitting instructor. He joined Walter Alston’s coaching staff in L.A. in 1960 and helped tutor Maury Wills on how to steal bases. In an interview with this newsletter a few years ago, Wills made sure to give praise to Reiser as being a big part of his 104-steal season.

Reiser had a heart attack in 1965, went on to coach for other teams. He smoked a pack of cigarettes a day throughout his adult life and died of emphysema in Palm Springs in 1981. He was only 62.

The postseason race

Here are the postseason seedings as of Thursday’s games. The three division winners get the top three seeds, followed by the three teams with the best records. The top two division winners get a first-round bye. Milwaukee and the Dodgers have clinched division titles.

Division leaders
1. Milwaukee, 95-58
2. Dodgers, 93-60, 2 GB
3. Atlanta, 89-64, 6 GB

Wild cards
1. Chicago, 85-68
2. Philadelphia, 85-68
3. San Diego, 84-69
4. Arizona, 80-73, 4 GB

Remember, there are no extra games to break ties anymore. It all comes down to tiebreakers. Atlanta and Milwaukee have the tiebreaker over the Dodgers. For the wild card, the Cubs have the advantage over the Phillies, having won six of seven games against each other. The Diamondbacks and Padres have split 10 games, but their final three games this season are against each other, so that very well could determine the final wild-card spot.

These names seem familiar

How notable players who were with the Dodgers the last couple of seasons are doing with their new teams (through Wednesday). Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page:

Anthony Banda, Twins: 2-0, 4.46 ERA, 2 saves, 34.1 IP, 31 hits, 15 walks, 33 K’s, 95 ERA+, out for the season

Cody Bellinger, Yankees: .276/.351/.444, 533 PA’s, 25 doubles, 3 triples, 16 homers, 71 RBIs, 121 OPS+

Walker Buehler, Padres: 8-6, 4.58 ERA, 143.1 IP, 142 hits, 54 walks, 122 K’s, 88 ERA+

Mike Busch, Cubs: .238/.347/.393, 671 PA’s, 27 doubles, 2 triples, 19 homers, 76 RBIs, 104 OPS+

Michael Conforto, Cubs: .238/.336/.471, 286 PA’s, 15 doubles, 14 homers, 43 RBIs, 120 OPS+

Justin Dean, Cubs: .375/.500/.625, 10 PA’s, 1 triple, 3 RBIs, 209 OPS+, in the minors

Caleb Ferguson, Cardinals: 1-0, 5.18 ERA, 1 save, 33 IP, 37 hits, 19 walks, 31 K’s, 81 ERA+, released by Cardinals

Jack Flaherty, Tigers: 3-8, 4.59 ERA, 86.1 IP, 80 hits, 42 walks, 102 K’s, 92 ERA+, on the IL

Kenley Jansen, Tigers: 4-6, 3.43 ERA, 20 saves, 42 IP, 24 hits, 23 walks, 48 K’s, 123 ERA+

Craig Kimbrel, Royals: 1-5, 4.50 ERA, 1 save, 46 IP, 40 hits, 22 walks, 40 K’s, 94 ERA+

Gavin Lux, Rays: on the IL

Dustin May, Brewers: 7-9, 4.49 ERA, 138.1 IP, 132 hits, 46 walks, 133 K’s, 88 ERA+

Zach McKinstry, Tigers: .204/.289/.301, 411 PA’s, 15 doubles, 4 triples, 4 homers, 26 RBIs, 66 OPS+

James Outman, Tigers: .172/.235/.318, 157 PA’s, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers, 17 RBIs, 54 OPS+, in the minors

Joc Pederson, Rangers: .235/.329/.487, 432 PA’s, 12 doubles, 2 triples, 26 homers, 53 RBIs, 134 OPS+

Luke Raley, Mariners: .225/.284/.439, 287 PA’s, 9 doubles, 1 triple, 15 homers, 39 RBIs, 105 OPS+, on the IL

Corey Seager, Rangers: .234/.326/.436, 393 PA’s, 15 doubles, 18 homers, 46 RBIs, 120 OPS+

Justin Turner, Tijuana (Mexican League): .295/.395/.469, 263 PA’s, 21 doubles, 6 homers, 28 RBIs. Tijuana won the Mexican League title on Tuesday.

Trea Turner, Phillies: .240/.292/.382, 654 PA’s, 27 doubles, 1 triple, 19 homers, 57 RBIs, 79 OPS+

Miguel Vargas, White Sox: .249/.357/.473, 662 PA’s, 30 doubles, 1 triple, 31 homers, 84 RBIs, 131 OPS+

Kirby Yates, Pirates: 2-5, 3.40 ERA, 3 saves, 39.2 IP, 31 hits, 17 walks, 47 K’s, 125 ERA+, on the IL

Up next

Friday: San Francisco (*Cesar Perdomo, 0-1, 3.68 ERA) at Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 4-1, 3.50 ERA), 7:15 p.m., Apple TV, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: San Francisco (TBD) at Dodgers (*Tarik Skubal, 10-7, 2.70 ERA [3-2, 2.52 ERA with Dodgers]), 6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: San Francisco (TBD) at Dodgers (TBD), 1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

All times Pacific

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Dodgers clinch 13th NL West division title in 14 years: ‘Something I know we can build on’

Plaschke: No more bubbly — NL West champion Dodgers appear headed for early fall

Dodgers co-owners Mark Walter, Todd Boehly sell Chelsea shares

Dodgers might be forced to leave Edwin Díaz off postseason roster

And finally

Vin Scully is amazed by Clayton Kershaw‘s curveball. 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.

Iraola’s preference is to name the team on the morning of the game and he saves the post-match debrief with his players for the day after the match.

There is a sense of pragmatism with his media interactions, too, after a situation where his comments to LFC TV following a pre-season friendly against Monaco were widely reported.

Iraola conceded Liverpool had run out of steam after 30 minutes and did not have the energy levels at the time to play with the intensity that he wants. It wasn’t meant to be a dig at his players – rather an admittance that they were working on building that intensity up.

But there is a realisation that at a club like Liverpool, every word you say can end up shared across social media and taken in a different way than you meant. That said, Iraola comes across as calm in his news conferences and open to discussion.

It is very much a case of Iraola adapting to the club as much as the other way round.

One of the main reasons they went for Iraola was his ability to develop young talent and the average age of Liverpool‘s players in the Premier League this season is 25.3 – only five teams have a lower average.

Youngsters like Rio Ngumoha, 18, Trey Nyoni, 19, and Koumas, 20, all started against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup and all three will play bigger roles this season than last.

Intensity is a buzzword under Iraola and that is a non-negotiable but he is already aware that, with such a brutal schedule, Liverpool will need to find ways to adapt and occasionally win games with a set-piece or an individual moment of brilliance.

Going into this weekend, they have made the most sprints in the Premier League but looked flat against Fulham last weekend in a goalless draw, less than 72 hours after beating Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

Sunday’s game against Bournemouth will be a fourth in 12 days and, after the international break, Liverpool have a spell of four games in 10 days. Between 11 October and 7 November, they will play nine times.

Iraola would no doubt have had a smile seeing Bournemouth win on their Europa League bow against Real Sociedad on Thursday, in the Basque region where he grew up.

Perhaps he will have a moment on the flight down from Liverpool on Saturday to think about how far he has come.

Liverpool haven’t exactly had a dream start under Iraola but they are yet to lose. Becoming a team that is hard to beat is undoubtedly a step in the right direction after 12 league losses last term, but as vice-captain Alisson said last week, draws aren’t good enough for Liverpool.

And Iraola, who is unbeaten in the Premier League since January across his two clubs, knows that a win on familiar territory on Sunday would be the perfect way to head into the international break.

Chelsea announce that Clearlake will acquire the stakes of Todd Boehly and director Mark Walter.

Xabi Alonso said Chelsea’s ambition was “very clear” after Clearlake Capital took full control of the Premier League club, ending Todd Boehly’s chairmanship.

Chelsea announced late on Wednesday that Clearlake, led by co-founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose E Feliciano, would acquire the stakes of Boehly and director Mark Walter.

US billionaires Boehly and Walter partnered with Clearlake to buy the London club from Roman Abramovich in May 2022 in a sale mandated by the British government.

Prior to the new deal, private equity company Clearlake had owned 61.5 percent of the club, with Boehly and Walter carving up the remaining shares with another investor, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss.

Chelsea said Wyss would “remain an important stakeholder and partner in the ownership group”.

Boehly and Walter are among the co-owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, while Walter recently sold the Los Angeles Lakers basketball franchise for $12.5bn.

The Financial Times reported that the pair were set to receive 950 million pounds ($1.27bn) for their combined stakes in Chelsea, in a deal that values the club at about five billion pounds, including debt.

In a new statement on Thursday, Chelsea said: “Our ambition is clear: to compete at the highest level, to win major trophies, and to build sustained success”.

Blues boss Alonso, who started at Chelsea on July 1 , told reporters that the change was “an important day for the club”.

“Thanks to the former owners for what they’ve done. I was not here, but I know they played an important role,” he said on the eve of Chelsea’s Premier League match at Brentford on Friday.

“And now that Behdad is taking more control, almost full control, I think it’s good that the main one is clear.

“I have very good relations with Behdad. He was the one that came to Madrid to explain to me the project, to convince me and we are working well together.”

“We know where we want to be, we know that everything takes time, but the ambition for that is very clear,” the Spaniard added.

Since the takeover in 2022, Chelsea’s highest Premier League finish is fourth in 2024/25, when the club won the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup.

Former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen coach Alonso has a brief to revitalise the underachieving Chelsea squad, which finished a dismal 10th in the Premier League last season.

The Blues have made a mixed start to the new campaign, taking seven points from their four Premier League games to sit sixth in the table.

Boehly and Walter have also sold their stakes in Chelsea’s partner club, French Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, giving full control to Clearlake.

Brian Wolfe, a standout pitcher at Servite who played three seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, has died at age 45, his wife shared Tuesday on Facebook.

“I’m am sorry to write this but after a really really difficult and torturous battle Brian Wolfe passed away early this morning,” Rachell Wolfe wrote.

No other details have been provided.

Wolfe was one of Orange County’s most dominant high school pitchers during the late 1990s. After going 8-0 with an ERA of 0.27 as a sophomore in 1997, he was the Friars’ ace the next two seasons.

Honored both years as a member of The Times’ All-Orange County team, Wolfe went 11-2 with a 1.37 ERA and a county-best 139 strikeouts as a junior and was 12-0 with a 1.30 ERA and nearly 100 strikeouts as a senior.

After committing to Cal State Fullerton in the fall of 1998, Wolfe opted to sign with the Minnesota Twins organization after being drafted in the sixth round (179th overall) the following summer. He spent the next several years working his way up through the minor leagues with the Twins, Milwaukee Brewers and Blue Jays before making his major league debut with Toronto as a relief pitcher in 2007.

Wolfe appeared in 72 games over three seasons with the Blue Jays, compiling a 5-5 record and a 3.81 ERA in 82.2 innings pitched. He became a free agent after the 2009 season and spent the next nine years playing in Japan with Nippon Professional Baseball, playing for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (including the 2013 season as teammates with Shohei Ohtani), Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (winning the Japan League title in 2014 and 2015) and Saitama Seibu Lions.

Former MLB outfielder Brandon Barnes posted a tribute to Wolfe on Wednesday, calling his fellow Orange County native “one of my best friends and a mentor.”

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. There are only 13 games remaining in the regular season. Time flies when you are having fun.

A different opinion

Throughout the season, I like to occasionally reach out to others to see what they think of the Dodgers so the readers are not exposed to just my viewpoint. This time I reached out to two of my favorite sports people.

I have listened to sports talk radio for about 50 years. Bud Furillo, Superfan, Rick Talley, Joe McDonnell, Steve Edwards, Fred Wallin, Steve Somers and many, many others. For me, “The Mason and Ireland Show,” hosted by Steve Mason and John Ireland and currently on ESPN Radio, surpasses them all. They can talk knowledgeably about any of our local teams, and the Dodgers are no exception. They were kind enough to answer a few questions.

Q. With the postseason rapidly approaching, how would you assess the Dodgers’ season so far?

Ireland: Surprising, in this sense: the Dodgers are heavy favorites to win it all, but they rarely beat good teams. Since the All Star break, they are 6-16 against teams with winning records. That’s obviously not good, and doesn’t bode well for the postseason. But having said that, for the Dodgers, the regular season is basically a dress rehearsal for the playoffs. I’m not sure they’re motivated until October. Maybe they’ll “flip a switch” and turn it on when it counts. We’ll see.

Mason: The Dodgers seem to be in a good groove right now. Mookie is starting to look like Mookie. Teo has come around. But hard to judge this team without a healthy Andy Pages and with Ohtani on the IL. I worry that as an organization, they didn’t get Shohei off his feet sooner. He has wrestled with injury for the last couple of months, and his biggest at bats are coming in October. They still have a chance to win 100 games, and they’re in position to three-peat, but with the playoffs, it’s a crapshoot. It’s a historically good rotation, but will those bats be clicking at the right time?

Q. The Dodgers have won two World Series in a row. Winning a third would be great, but if they don’t, does winning two in a row make up for it?

Ireland: Absolutely. Let’s face it, most teams want to be the Dodgers. A seemingly unlimited payroll, best manager in baseball, best front office. It’s incredibly hard to win two World Series in a row, and almost impossible to win three straight. No National League team has ever done it. So if they pull it off, it’s icing on the cake. But the cake has been great.

Mason: When the Yankees clinched their three-peat in 2000, they only won 87 games and lost 15 of their final 18. That shows you how hard it is. Honestly, the odds are strongly stacked against anybody winning three in a row, but if they fail, it is not a waste of a season. When you go back-to-back, you’ve got to show a lot of gratitude to the organization and to those players. A lot has to go right to win it all.

Q. Do you think Shohei Ohtani should just stop pitching altogether and focus on hitting the rest of his career?

Ireland: Selfishly, I hope he does both. That’s what makes him the best baseball player I’ve ever seen in person. But it’s obviously hard, and he’s had to shut down pitching at least three times since he came over from Japan. This year, it seemed to me that he was going for the Cy Young Award, while trying to keep up his offensive numbers, and it didn’t work. So maybe they do just let him hit moving forward, but I hope not. One thing that complicates things is that at least so far, the Dodgers have let Shohei do what he wants. And my sense is that he wants to continue to pitch and hit, so that figures into this too. It may not be a Dodgers decision — it might be Shohei.

Mason: I really want Shohei to do both, but in a specific way. He’s never going to give you 25 starts, and as good as he is, I cannot imagine him winning the Cy Young. He started 14 games to start the season this year — I say, instead, put those 14 starts at the end of the season. Ramp him up after the All-Star break, and have him ready to contribute on the mound in October. I was there for the magical night in the playoffs last year, when he hit three home runs and struck out 10. As a baseball fan, I really want to see him do both.

Q. If you were put in charge of the Dodgers and could make three immediate changes to the organization, be it on field, the stadium, whatever, what would you choose?

Ireland: For starters, I would address affordability. Most Dodgers fans have been priced out. They lead the league in attendance every year, so they have a business model that works. But I would take two or three sections in the upper deck and make those $5 tickets. They can afford it, and I think the gesture alone would score major points with fans.

On the field, they need to get younger. Freddie Freeman is 36, and so is Max Muncy. Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández, and Blake Snell are all 33. Andrew Friedman has been great at roster building, so they have the right guy. But it isn’t easy to say goodbye to great players as they age out, and he’s facing that now.

Finally, everybody I know thinks there’s a lockout coming. To me, that would ruin all of the progress baseball has made over the last five years. The game has never been better. All of the rule changes have worked, and the pitch clock has been brilliant. Most people feel the Dodgers are the main reason for the lockout. They outspend everybody, have a sweetheart TV deal, and most small market teams can’t keep up. The Dodgers need to lead the charge to avoid this lockout. I’m against a salary cap, but everything should be on the table. I would lock both sides in a room and tell them not to come out until they have a deal. It’s a huge story that we probably don’t talk about enough.

Mason: First I would expand the number of retired jerseys. It would be great to see guys like Maury Wills, Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Davey Lopes, Orel Hershiser and other Dodger greats receive that honor.

Andrew Friedman is a genius, but he has overspent on guys like Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz. I’d like to see them consider more of their minor league talent employed. Love that Rushing and Freeland have had strong moments this year, but instead of signing Tucker, why not find a way to use De Paula or Tibbs or Sirota. I know they are unproven, but once upon a time, so was Andy Pages.

Pet peeve of mind, but I don’t like the brand of Dodger Dogs being served. Farmer John hot dogs had a better taste and texture than the ones they are using now. Plus, Dodger Dogs are much better when grilled, so why are there so many boiled hot dogs at the stadium?

Q. Favorite Dodger of all time?

Ireland: Can I say Vin Scully, or is that cheating? I say all the time that I grew up going to Sportscasters School, but I just didn’t know it. For years, I listened to Vin call the Dodgers, Chick Hearn call the Lakers, Dick Enberg call the Angels and Bob Miller call the Kings. FOUR Hall of Fame announcers — I didn’t know what a bad announcer sounded like until I moved out of L.A. But I had this exchange with my Dad before he died in 2017:

Dad: “If you want to be a sports announcer, you better study more than just the sports page.”

Me: “Not necessary — I just need to call the games.”

Dad: “Listen to Vin Scully — he talks about EVERYTHING.”

Of course, my Dad was right. Listening to Vin was a history lesson every time he did a game. I learned more from him than I did from a lot of my professors at UCLA.

Mason: Back in the day, I would have said Sandy Koufax, who I had the pleasure of meeting at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, but nobody, in the history of the game has awed me the way that Shohei Ohtani has. His performance in NLCS Game 4 last year is the greatest I have ever witnessed in person. Better than any athlete in any sport. I have been a baseball fan all my life, and I could never have even imagined that was possible. I also love Ohtani’s Harada chart, basically his goals in life and career. One of his goals has been to “be someone people root for.” Hard to find anybody who is not amazed by both his talent and his humility.

Q. I have long said that the Mason and Ireland show is the best sports talk show of all time. Do you guys remember when you first met? First impressions? And remind the readers where they can listen to you now.

Ireland: Mason and I were kind of a weird shotgun wedding in the beginning. In the early ‘90s, he moved to XTRA in San Diego from Toledo, Ohio, to do mornings. After a few months, the station decided they didn’t like him. So they moved him to nights in an effort to try and get him to quit.

I was a TV guy in San Diego, who filled in on the radio station when they needed somebody. They called me and said, “We’re going to put you on at night with Steve Mason, but he’s not happy with us. Anything could happen.” On the first night, I walked in and Mason was working on a screenplay on his computer and he told me, “Just have fun and say anything you want — I won’t be here for long anyway.” So we just started goofing around, and I asked Mase on the air why he thought mornings didn’t work. He started making fun of himself, then me, and we just clicked.

After it was over, I called the program director and said, “You guys are idiots — Mason is fantastic. If you can’t build a show around him, you don’t get it.” The more Mason stopped caring, the better he got. They came back to him and said, “That’s the guy we thought we were getting from Ohio.” They told him they wanted him to stay, and told him he could pick his partner. He picked me, and we were off and running. The first week was pretty bad, but we were following a failed show, so they let us work through it, and we’ve been at it ever since.

We’re on every day from noon to 3 p.m. on ESPN LA, and we post a podcast of every show as soon as it ends. You can also listen live on the ESPN LA app from anywhere in the world, which is a free app that works great. Also, you can find Mason’s podcast, “Mason Plus,” on that app, which has some great deep dives with a lot of cool people in and out of sports.

Mason: Thank you for the kind words. John’s story of our meeting and partnership is right on. In radio, there is this idea that you can throw any two people in a studio and they will automatically do great radio. It just doesn’t work like that. John and I clicked immediately. The show has always been good because John and I are so different. He’s Corona del Mar, and I am a kid from Toledo. Even now, he’s very Manhattan Beach, and I’m very Venice. We see the world differently, which leads to healthy debate, but we have a deep respect for each other and for what we have built.

The postseason race

The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the NL West is four. Here are the postseason seedings as of Thursday’s games. The three division winners get the top three seeds, followed by the three teams with the best records. The top two division winners get a first-round bye. The division winner with the worst record plays the wild-card team with the worst record, and the other wild-card teams play each other in the best-of-three wild-card round that begins Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Division leaders
1. Milwaukee, 93-57
2. Dodgers, 90-59
3. Atlanta, 88-62

Wild cards
1. Chicago, 83-67
2. Philadelphia, 83-67
3. San Diego, 81-68
4. Arizona, 79-71
5. Pittsburgh, 75-75

Remember, there are no extra games to break ties anymore. It all comes down to tiebreakers. Atlanta and Milwaukee have the tiebreaker over the Dodgers. For the wild card, the Cubs have the advantage over the Phillies, having won six of seven games against each other. The Diamondbacks and Padres have split 10 games, but their final three games this season are against each other, so that very well could determine the final wild-card spot.

The Dodgers won it all last season without a first-round bye, but with all the injuries, it would be nice to get that bye this season. They have only three games remaining against a team with a winning record, so they really have no one to blame but themselves if they don’t get it.

Up next

Monday: Dodgers (*Tarik Skubal, 9-7, 2.84 ERA [2-2, 2.93 ERA with Dodgers]) at Cincinnati (*Nick Lodolo, 3-4, 5.12 ERA), 3:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Tuesday: Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 13-8, 2.62 ERA) at Cincinnati (Rhett Lowder, 6-10, 5.81 ERA), 3:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Wednesday: Dodgers (TBD) at Cincinnati (*Andrew Abbott, 6-11, 4.84 ERA), 3:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Thursday: Dodgers (TBD) at Cincinnati (Brady Singer, 6-14, 5.38 ERA), 9:40 a.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

All times Pacific

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Josue De Paula hits three-run homer, but Dodgers suffer walk-off loss to Marlins

Dodgers Debate: Is anyone on the Dodgers not injured?

‘He’s not supernatural.’ Shohei Ohtani’s injury management raises tough questions

Shaikin: Why it’s past time for MLB players, owners to get a 2028 Olympics deal done

And finally

Vin Scully is interviewed by the Braves announcers during his final season. 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.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. I hope you all had a nice Labor Day and took the time to celebrate all the pregnant women around you. Wait, I am being told now that that is not what Labor Day is for. That explains all the strange looks at my local hospital’s maternity ward.

Teoscar is back

On Aug. 23, Teoscar Hernández went 0 for 4 in a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out twice. That lowered his season numbers to .244/.305/.390, which, to go along with his poor defense, made him a below average player, with a WAR below zero.

The Dodgers were off the following day, and Dave Roberts gave Hernández the Aug. 25 game off for a mental reset. Which seems to have worked. Since Aug. 26, Hernández is hitting .440/.525/.660, going 22 for 50 with three doubles, one triple, two homers, 14 RBIs, seven runs, two steals and eight walks. His WAR has gone up to 0.7 and he is as responsible as anyone for the Dodgers’ seven-game winning streak.

And, strangely, his defense doesn’t seem quite as bad when he is hitting that well.

When asked about this resurgence by SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson after Tuesday’s win, Hernández did what he usually does, deflect the spotlight away from himself, saying:

“I feel really good at the plate. Now, it’s just being consistent with it, see good pitches and make contact. We’re going in a good direction, taking the right approach and it shows. I think everybody is doing what everybody expected us to do at the right time. Everybody is having good at-bats. The pitchers are throwing really good games. Everything is clicking right now for us.”

Hernández told reporters after the game that his injuries the last two seasons made him adjust his swing and he’s finally feeling close to 100%.

“Last year, I used [my regular swing] before I had the [adductor] injury. That’s the way I was hitting. Then when I came back, I was doing the same thing, but I was feeling it in my [injured] leg, so that’s why I stopped.”

“This year when I got my hamstring issue, I had to get rid of [the swing] because it was putting so much pressure on the hamstring. Little, little things that people barely notice or realize can change the swing and the results in games.”

And let’s point something else out. Despite the subpar season, who was the first Dodger to leap out of the dugout to celebrate a teammate’s success? Hernández. He didn’t sit around and brood and feel sorry for himself. He was there for his teammates. There are some things that aren’t measurable by OPS+, WAR or any other stats, and in some of those areas, Hernández is a superstar.

In 2024, there were two things that helped the Dodgers find a gear they never had been able to reach before: Shohei Ohtani and Hernández. They both rose to every occasion, where in the past it seemed the Dodgers would shrink in the big moments. Ohtani and Hernández had big hit after big hit during the season and postseason. The same last season, even with Hernández having a down year. This year, however, Hernández had been mainly a nonfactor. Until Aug. 26. The Dodgers can only hope it continues, because if it does, their chances to win the World Series get a lot better.

Ohtani heads to the IL

The Dodgers announced after Wednesday night’s game that they put Ohtani, who is dealing with soreness in seemingly every part of his body (left knee, right biceps, neck and left hip), on the injured list. Two-way players have to go on the 15-day IL, so he will be out until the final week of the season.

“Talking to Shohei, the doctors, the training staff, it’s the right thing to do,” Roberts told reporters after Wednesday’s game. “We tried to kick the can as much as we could. It’s more of let’s take the 15 days and get him reset, get him feeling better, and then build him back up to get the best of him for the postseason.”

With the Dodgers’ penchant to obfuscate when it comes to injuries, the fear here is he is hurt worse than they are saying. We won’t know for sure until he comes off the IL and starts playing again.

To replace Ohtani on the roster? In a bit of a surprise, the Dodgers are turning to their top prospect, Josue De Paula, who never has played above double A. The Dodgers never had promoted a player from double A to the majors since Andrew Friedman took over the front office before the 2015 season.

De Paula, 21, has spent the season with double-A Tulsa, hitting .303/.401/.547 in 588 plate appearances, with 37 doubles, 27 home runs, 104 RBIs and 31 stolen bases. That’s extra impressive considering he is about three years younger than the average double-A player.

He will start at DH tonight, so the Dodgers are throwing him right into the fire.

De Paula has walked 81 times and struck out 87 times this season, so he has a decent eye at the plate. He is considered a subpar fielder though, with one scout telling me during a game De Paula played with Rancho Cucamonga two seasons ago, “As an outfielder, he makes for a hell of a DH.”

The intriguing thing is — and I know I’m putting the cart about a mile ahead of the horse — that if De Paula plays well, he could be added to the postseason roster. Unlike the old days, you don’t have to be on the 40-man roster by Sept. 1 to be considered for the postseason, you just have to be with the organization by that date. The Dodgers would need to petition MLB to allow De Paula to be on the postseason roster, but that type of petition generally is approved.

The Dodgers will have to make room on the 40-man roster for De Paula, either by removing a player or putting someone, such as Dalton Rushing, on the 60-day IL.

Injuries R Us

The Dodgers have another injury concern as the season winds down: Freddie Freeman.

Freeman is bothered by a troublesome knee. He sat out Wednesday’s game.

“The right knee has been bothering him, and so just on the heels of an off day [Thursday], we felt it was best to just give him [the day off] and then see how he is on Friday,” Roberts said.

There are 16 games left in the season, and the Dodgers are without Ohtani, Freeman, Rushing and Andy Pages. That’s not ideal. It seems unlikely Rushing will be back, and you really need two of the other three back for the postseason.

The postseason race

The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the NL West is six. Here are the postseason seedings as of Thursday’s games. The three division winners get the top three seeds, followed by the three teams with the best records. The top two division winners get a first-round bye.

Division leaders
1. Milwaukee, 91-56
2. Dodgers, 89-57
3. Atlanta, 86-61

Wild cards
1. Philadelphia, 82-65
2. Chicago, 81-66
3. San Diego, 78-68
4. Arizona, 78-69
5. Pittsburgh, 74-73

Remember, there are no extra games to break ties anymore. It all comes down to tiebreakers. Atlanta and Milwaukee both have the tiebreaker over the Dodgers. For the wild card, the Cubs have the advantage over the Phillies, having won six of seven games against each other. The Diamondbacks and Padres have split 10 games, but their final three games this season are against each other, so that very well could determine the final wild-card spot.

The Dodgers won it all last season without a first-round bye, but with all the injuries, it would be nice to get that bye this season. They have only three games remaining against a team with a winning record, so they really have no one to blame but themselves if they don’t get it.

These names seem familiar

How notable players who were with the Dodgers the last couple of seasons are doing with their new teams (through Wednesday). Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page:

Anthony Banda, Twins: 2-0, 4.46 ERA, 2 saves, 34.1 IP, 31 hits, 15 walks, 33 K’s, 95 ERA+, out for the season

Cody Bellinger, Yankees: .264/.343/.418, 502 PA’s, 23 doubles, 3 triples, 13 homers, 63 RBIs, 111 OPS+

Walker Buehler, Padres: 8-6, 4.61 ERA, 138.2 IP, 135 hits, 53 walks, 121 K’s, 88 ERA+

Mike Busch, Cubs: .235/.345/.388, 647 PA’s, 26 doubles, 2 triples, 18 homers, 72 RBIs, 102 OPS+

Michael Conforto, Cubs: .242/.342/.489, 266 PA’s, 14 doubles, 14 homers, 40 RBIs, 126 OPS+

Justin Dean, Cubs: .375/.500/.625, 10 PA’s, 1 triple, 3 RBIs, 209 OPS+, in the minors

Caleb Ferguson, Cardinals: 1-0, 5.18 ERA, 1 save, 33 IP, 37 hits, 19 walks, 31 K’s, 81 ERA+

Jack Flaherty, Tigers: 3-8, 4.59 ERA, 86.1 IP, 80 hits, 42 walks, 102 K’s, 93 ERA+, on the IL

Kenley Jansen, Tigers: 4-6, 3.63 ERA, 18 saves, 39.2 IP, 24 hits, 22 walks, 44 K’s, 118 ERA+

Craig Kimbrel, Royals: 1-4, 4.43 ERA, 1 save, 44.2 IP, 39 hits, 20 walks, 40 K’s, 96 ERA+

Gavin Lux, Rays: on the IL

Dustin May, Brewers: 6-9, 4.69 ERA, 132.1 IP, 130 hits, 45 walks, 127 K’s, 84 ERA+

Zach McKinstry, Tigers: .211/.291/.311, 395 PA’s, 15 doubles, 4 triples, 4 homers, 26 RBIs, 69 OPS+

James Outman, Tigers: .172/.235/.318, 157 PA’s, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers, 17 RBIs, 54 OPS+, in the minors

Joc Pederson, Rangers: .234/.329/.481, 421 PA’s, 11 doubles, 2 triples, 25 homers, 50 RBIs, 133 OPS+

Luke Raley, Mariners: .225/.284/.439, 287 PA’s, 9 doubles, 1 triple, 15 homers, 39 RBIs, 105 OPS+, on the IL

Corey Seager, Rangers: .230/.325/.435, 366 PA’s, 14 doubles, 17 homers, 40 RBIs, 120 OPS+

Justin Turner, Tijuana (Mexican League): .295/.395/.469, 263 PA’s, 21 doubles, 6 homers, 28 RBIs

Trea Turner, Phillies: .243/.295/.391, 628 PA’s, 27 doubles, 1 triple, 19 homers, 56 RBIs, 82 OPS+

Miguel Vargas, White Sox: .249/.359/.479, 630 PA’s, 30 doubles, 1 triple, 30 homers, 79 RBIs, 133 OPS+

Kirby Yates, Pirates: 2-5, 3.40 ERA, 3 saves, 39.2 IP, 31 hits, 17 walks, 47 K’s, 125 ERA+, on the IL

Up next

Friday: Dodgers (TBD) at Miami (Ryan Gusto, 1-4, 4.23 ERA), 4:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: Dodgers (TBD) at Miami (Tyler Phillips, 5-6, 3.51 ERA), 1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: Dodgers (TBD) at Miami (Eury Pérez, 7-11, 3.94 ERA), 10:40 a.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

All times Pacific

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

‘He’s not supernatural.’ Shohei Ohtani’s injury management raises tough questions

What Shohei Ohtani’s latest injury scare reveals about Dodgers’ late-season plans

Will Smith and Dalton Rushing among Dodgers activated as rosters expand for September

Plaschke: No two ways about it — Shohei Ohtani should not pitch again this season

Shohei Ohtani still ‘not 100%’ and will not pitch Sunday against the Tigers

And finally

Vin Scully calls Hank Aaron’s 715th home run. 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.

MANCHESTER, England: Pep Guardiola’s departure was expected to shift the balance of power in Manchester.

The early signs suggest otherwise.

For the first time in 10 years on Sunday, Manchester United goes into the derby against a Manchester City no longer guided by the genius of Guardiola.

Yet, if City wins at Old Trafford, the team of new manager Enzo Maresca would open a 12-point lead on United only four rounds into the Premier League.

Even this early in the campaign that would be a huge gap for United to make up.

While City is still getting used to change at the top after a decade of Guardiola, United has endured a carousel of managers at the same time in a desperate bid to return it to former glories.

Michael Carrick is the seventh permanent manager since the retirement of Alex Ferguson in 2013.

United fans will hope Guardiola’s exit will prove as profound as Ferguson’s. United has not won the Premier League since Ferguson’s final season in charge.

In theory, Guardiola’s exit has removed the biggest barrier standing in the way of United’s route back to the top following his dominance of English soccer. Though he left without the title in his last two seasons, his run of six league crowns in seven years underlined City’s supremacy for the majority of his time at the club.

It would be asking a lot for Maresca — or anyone else for that matter — to emulate that level of success. Maresca, however, could not have made a better start to the season after a 100% winning record in the league and victory in City’s opening Champions League game this week.

Erling Haaland also looks at the top of his game with five goals in his last three appearances.

It’s been a different story for United after its resurgence under Carrick in the second half of last season led to a third place finish.

The opening day defeat to newly promoted Hull was an early blow. There was a win against another newcomer in Ipswich but a 2-2 draw at Everton after leading twice.

It is the type of inconsistency that has hindered United throughout the post-Ferguson years and something Carrick will need to quickly stamp out.

He has recent good memories of the derby. His first match in charge when appointed as Ruben Amorim’s replacement was a 2-0 win against City in Guardiola’s final Manchester derby.

Key matchups

The Manchester derby is the big one of the weekend, with pressure on United to get the season going, while it would be a first statement win for Maresca at City. Defending champion Arsenal is at Sunderland on Saturday.

Players to watch

Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard is in outstanding form with four goals in five games in all competitions. Haaland also has five goals and looks unstoppable.

Out of action

Cody Gakpo missed Liverpool’s game against Atletico Madrid because of an adductor issue. Bradley Barcola limped out of that match after appearing to hurt his calf, but coach Andoni Iraola said it was cramp.

Off the field

Manchester United fans plan to stage a protest ahead of the derby in opposition to a clampdown by the club on ticket touting.

The 1958 supporters group claims “loyal, generational” fans are being sanctioned or banned “without, clear and compelling evidence.”

United says its investigation has “uncovered significant and organized touting”.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. A set of jumper cables walks into a bar and orders a beer. The bartender eyes it suspiciously and says “I’ll serve you as long as you don’t start anything.”

This just in

The big news is whatever is going on with Shohei Ohtani. He went 0 for 4 with four strikeouts against St. Louis on Wednesday and seemed to be in pain. He didn’t play Thursday. He’s not talking to reporters and Dave Roberts said, “He definitely doesn’t want to take the day [off]. Speaking for him, I know he feels that he needs to post and be in the lineup, and if he’s upright, he should play. I respect that. But if he’s feeling the way that it visibly looks, then it’s really not helping anyone. So that’s the conversation I’ll have with him.”

I’m sure we’ll have more to discuss on this in the next newsletter, once we have more clarity.

Most and least valuable?

Who have been the most valuable Dodgers this season? Well, if you go by WAR, which considers pitching, hitting, fielding and base running, the most valuable have been:

Shohei Ohtani, 6.5
Andy Pages, 5.4
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 4.8
Max Muncy, 3.9
Freddie Freeman, 3.9
Mookie Betts, 2.6
Tommy Edman, 1.8
Justin Wrobleski, 1.8
Tanner Scott, 1.7
Tyler Glasnow, 1.6
Dalton Rushing, 1.4
Jack Dreyer, 1.2

The least valuable
Edwin Díaz, -1.3
Cole Irvin, -0.4
Chuckie Robinson, -0.4
Kyle Tucker, -0.3
Emmet Sheehan, -0.3
Eliezer Alfonzo, -0.2
Ben Casparius, -0.2
Jonathan Hernández, -0.2
Will Klein, -0.2
Ben Rortvedt, -0.1
Teoscar Hernández, -0.1
Kiké Hernández, -0.1
Alek Thomas, -0.1
Charlie Barnes, -0.1
Kyle Hurt, -0.1

I think we can safely call last offseason the worst free-agent signing group of the Andrew Friedman era. Two guys are getting a combined $80 million this season and have a combined -1.6 WAR. Do I have to say their names?

Then you factor in Teoscar, and the outfield is a mess, especially with Pages out.

And if your last name is Hernández, this is not a good year for you to play for the Dodgers.

Some might be surprised to see Betts so high, considering he is having a poor year offensively. But Betts gets a strong boost from his defense. He is in the top three in most defensive metrics.

Which brings us to his hitting. He has had some injuries the last two seasons, so we could blame his decline on that. We could blame it on moving to shortstop. Or it could be both those things. Or neither. Some things just don’t have a provable cause.

But let’s look at how Betts has hit in his career at different defensive positions:

DH (55 plate appearances), .319/.400/.574
Second base (446), .309/.406./.550
Right field (4,458), .293/.372/.528
Center field (968), .287/.349/.492
Shortstop (1,421), .265/.337/.436
PH (17), .267/.353/.267

To be clear, the Dodgers are not moving Betts back to right unless something unexpected happens. It’s also true that Betts has hit much better as the leadoff hitter in his career than anywhere else. These are just things to make you think.

Back to WAR for a moment. Is it a perfect stat? No. There is no perfect stat. It’s just one tool in a drawer of tools. A mechanic never uses one tool for all jobs. A chef doesn’t use one kitchen utensil. And when looking at stats, you shouldn’t make a determination based on just one stat. But it can give an indication of how things are going.

Here’s how WAR basically grades out:

Replacement player 1 or fewer WAR
Role Player 1-2
Solid Starter 2-3
Good Player 3-4
All-Star 4-5
Superstar 5-6
MVP 6+

Chris Taylor returns

Chris Taylor, his wife Mary and son Theo watch a tribute video of his career as a Dodger on Wednesday.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

Former Dodger Chris Taylor returned to Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, where he received his 2025 World Series ring and threw out the first pitch before the game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Taylor is one of those guys who become a fan favorite because they seem to be wringing every ounce of athletic ability out of their body. We could identify with Taylor, because we could imagine us playing the way he did. Play like Ohtani? No. But play like Taylor? We could fool ourselves into believing that if we just stuck with it, we could have been Chris Taylor. He was us on the field.

This newsletter began a couple of weeks before the 2015 season. And I believe the first group of angry emails I got about something the Dodgers did was June 19, 2016, when the Dodgers traded pitcher Zach Lee to Seattle for some guy named Chris Taylor.

Lee had been touted as one of the best Dodgers pitching prospects in years. In the minors in 2015, he went 13-6 with a 2.63 ERA. Sure, he had a terrible outing in what turned out to be his only start with the Dodgers (4.2 IP, 11 hits, one walk, three strikeouts, 13.50 ERA), but that could happen to anyone. He was the pitcher of the future. Until he wasn’t. And to trade him for this Taylor guy, who in three seasons with the Mariners hit .240/.296/.296? Surely they could have gotten more for him than that! (They couldn’t and don’t call me Shirley.)

Here’s a guy who was with the team from 2016-25, and what do we know about him? Not much. He never sought the spotlight, just did his job every day to the best of his abilities.

“He is the consummate pro, the way he did a trust fall when he got here,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said when the Dodgers released Taylor last season. “He came in hungry and wanting to get better, and dove in with our hitting guys, with our position coaches. … He was a huge part of so much success that we’ve enjoyed. Can’t say enough about the human, the worker, the teammate, the player.”

Before Wednesday’s game, Mookie Betts told Cary Osborne of Dodgers Insider, “Having CT on the team was like having a Swiss Army knife. I think he was one of the first Swiss Army knives (in the majors). He made an amazing career out of it. It’s really hard to do, to be essentially a utility player and make a full career and be an elite utility player. He did it with flying colors.”

And it was fitting that he threw out the first pitch before the game against the Cardinals. His most important homer may have been his walk-off in the 2021 wild-card game against St. Louis. You can watch that here.

He made an incredible catch in Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS against the Brewers. You can watch that here.

He hit three home runs in Game 5 of the 2021 NLCS against Atlanta. You can watch that here.

Odds and ends

—Rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players on Sept. 1, and the Dodgers activated catchers Will Smith and Dalton Rushing and pitcher Justin Wrobleski from the IL. They also brought infielder Alex Freeland up from the minors and designated catcher Ben Rortvedt for assignment.

Rushing, who has a torn UCL, isn’t expected to catch but will be available as a hitter off the bench.

“From a hitting side, I think they felt comfortable with how much I’ve been hitting off [the pitching machine] and how much I’ve just really just been hitting over the last three weeks,” Rushing said. “The swing never really took a break. Usually, you hit the IL and it’s like you do nothing for a week or two, and thankfully for me, it was just no throwing, so I was able to still progress with the bat and feel as comfortable as possible. So I think making this call to allow me to obviously help us off the bench, I think, is an easier call for them.”

As for Smith, it turns out he had an annular tear in his neck. An annular tear is a small crack in the outer fibrous ring of a spinal disc. That doesn’t sound pleasant at all.

“It was frustrating early, just looking for answers why it was taking longer,” Smith said. “But we finally got those answers. And then it was kind of a pretty straightforward process from there. So last month or two hasn’t been too bad.”

Forgotten Dodger: Babe Herman

Babe Herman in 1933 with the Cubs.

(Associated Press)

Babe Herman was a great hitter and a lousy fielder who will always be remembered for doubling into a double play.

On Aug. 15, 1926, the Dodgers were playing the Boston Braves. With one out and the bases loaded, Herman launched a flyball to right that looked like it would be caught, but it hit the wall. The runner on third scored, but the runner on second, Dazzy Vance, rounded third and stopped, unsure if the ball had been caught. The runner on first, Chick Fewster, saw Vance round third and assumed he was going to score, so Fewster rounded second and continued to third, where he met the confused Vance. Meanwhile Herman, head down all the way, came sliding into third with what he thought was a triple. The base belonged to Vance, so Fewster and Herman were tagged out, inning over.

What often gets overlooked, the run Herman did knock in turned out to be the winning run in the game.

It also led to a story, possibly apocryphal, of a Brooklyn man hailing a cab. The driver has the Dodgers game on the radio and the passenger asks “What’s going on with the Dodgers?” the driver answers “they have three men on” and the passenger responds, “Oh yeah? Which base?”

Also, Herman played so well that season that the Dodgers released aging future Hall of Famer Zack Wheat, convinced Herman could replace him.

Herman’s best season came in 1930, when he hit .393 with 48 doubles, 11 triples, 35 homers and 130 RBIs. Tempering those numbers a bit is the fact the entire league hit .303 in 1930 and despite those lofty numbers, Herman amazingly didn’t lead the league in anything. Herman led the team in homers in RBIs in 1931 and hit for the cycle twice. He got into a salary dispute after the season and the Dodgers traded him to Cincinnati.

He left the majors after the 1937 season and returned to the minors, playing several seasons with the Hollywood Stars. If you have ever watched the move “The Pride of the Yankees” starring Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig, then you’ve seen Herman. He served as the movie’s technical consultant and was a stand-in for Cooper in long shots of Gehrig hitting.

In 1945, with the Dodgers in a pennant race and players scarce because of the war, general manager Branch Rickey asked Herman, who had been playing in the Pacific Coast League, if he would like to return to the Dodgers. Herman, 42, said sure and hit .265 with a double, homer and nine RBIs in 34 at-bats. He retired for good and became a longtime scout for various teams, as well as raising turkeys and owning an avocado farm. Herman died in Glendale on Nov. 27, 1987, at age 84.

Dodgers poll

We asked, “How do you think the Dodgers will do in the postseason this year?”

After 11,146 votes:

They will win the World Series, 40.7%
They will lose in the NLCS, 32.9%
They will lose in the NLDS, 16.6%
They will lose in the wild-card series, 5.4%
They will lose in the World Series, 3.9%
They won’t make the postseason, 0.5%

Up next

Friday: Washington (*Jackson Kent, 1-2, 5.59 ERA) at Dodgers (*Blake Snell, 2-1, 2.42 ERA), 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: Washington (Cade Cavalli, 12-5, 3.12 ERA) at Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 4-0, 2.79 ERA), 6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: Washington (*Andrew Alvarez, 2-6, 3.47 ERA) at Dodgers (TBD), 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

All times Pacific

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

What Shohei Ohtani’s latest injury scare reveals about Dodgers’ late-season plans

Will Smith and Dalton Rushing among Dodgers activated as rosters expand for September

Plaschke: No two ways about it — Shohei Ohtani should not pitch again this season

Shohei Ohtani still ‘not 100%’ and will not pitch Sunday against the Tigers

And finally

Vin Scully discusses Madison Bumgarner, his wife and snakes. 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.

Cam Schlitter gave up one run and two hits in eight superb innings, and the New York Yankees scored five two-out runs in the 10th in a series-clinching, 6-3 victory over the Angels on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.

New York loaded the bases with one out in the 10th when Jose Caballero singled, the automatic runner holding at third, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked against reliever Luke Murphy (0-2).

Murphy got Luis Garcia Jr. to pop out, but Austin Wells stroked a two-run single to right, Cody Bellinger hit an RBI single to center, Trent Grisham hit an RBI single to left, and Ben Rice had an RBI single to right for a 6-1 lead.

David Bednar (7-3) struck out three in a scoreless ninth for the win. Yankees reliever Michael Fulmer gave up a two-run homer to Moisés Ballesteros in the bottom of the 10th, but New York won its second straight after dropping the opener, despite enthusiasm in Anaheim over an announced agreement for Arte Moreno to sell the team to Rams owner Stan Kroenke.

A marquee matchup between two of baseball’s best pitchers did not disappoint, Schlittler striking out nine and walking none, and Angels left-hander Reid Detmers giving up one run and six hits in seven innings, striking out eight and walking none.

Schlittler, who has an American League-leading 2.04 ERA, retired 20 of the first 21 batters he faced, his only blemish a soft single to left by Vaughn Grissom in the second inning.

But Schlittler grooved a 95-mph cutter to Grissom in the seventh, and the Angels first baseman drove it over the center-field wall for a a 1-1 tie.

It was Schlittler’s franchise-record 19th start this season in which he has given up one or no runs, moving him ahead of Ron Guidry (1978), Whitey Ford (1964) and Jack Chesbro (1904), who had 18 each.

Detmers, who has a major league-best 1.52 ERA since the All-Star break, gave up a run in the fourth on Amed Rosario’s double.

The game was delayed for about 10 minutes in the sixth when a 79.5-mph line drive off the bat of Rice hit a photographer in the head in the first-base camera well. The photographer was able to walk to a medical emergency vehicle and shake Rice’s hand before being carted away.

For a player who has been so improbable, the Dodgers must now do the impossible.

When it comes to pitching, they must shut Shohei Ohtani down.

Despite suffering a knee ailment and biceps soreness this season, Ohtani is slowly trying to take the mound for the first time in more than two months.

Stop. Just stop.

The Dodgers have no business sticking Ohtani back on the mound. He belongs out there no more than Kiké Hernandez does.

There’s no two ways about it — the Dodgers should not plan on jamming Ohtani back into the starting rotation.

The Dodgers should thank him for his passion, applaud him for his 1.79 ERA in his first 14 starts, promise to return his resin bag next season, and ask him to go to work on that bat.

As much as the fans want to see all Ohtani, all of the time, the next couple of months are not about celebrating a novelty, they’re about winning a championship, and Ohtani can best get that done by avoiding another injury to himself on the mound and directing all of his efforts at the plate.

Recently, his hitting needs all the help it can get. After Saturday’s loss in Detroit, it had been a startling nine games since Ohtani homered or collected an RBI. During that span he had more than twice as many strikeouts as hits (13-5).

In this final month he needs to concentrate on getting his swing right and not worry about bullpens or openers or piggy-backs or any of the numerous machinations involved in getting him back on the mound.

Bottom line, the Dodgers need him more at the top of the order than in the middle of the diamond, and for now, he shouldn’t be in two places at once.

Bottom, bottom line, there is a sense that the Dodgers agree.

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani follows through on a pitch during a game last month at Dodger Stadium.

(Harry How / Getty Images)

Ohtani threw about 20 pitches in a bullpen session Friday and wasn’t 100%, and that set off alarm bells with the Dodgers’ bosses.

While guessing that Ohtani’s balky left knee would not allow him to be 100% by October, manager Dave Roberts openly wondered Saturday whether a pitching comeback is worth the effort.

“Obviously, where we’re at right now with the pitching, the starting pitching certainly being a strength, his value offensively is hugely important, and so we can’t compromise that in any fashion,” Roberts told reporters in Detroit. “So, if throwing potentially cuts into that, that’s not worth the squeeze. So that’s something for me. Very, very bullish on making sure we don’t compromise the hitting.”

Did you hear that? Not worth the squeeze? Exactly.

Are you listening, Ohtani? He’s always been the ultimate team player, so if the Dodgers asked his permission to shut him down, he would agree, right? Right?

Keeping Ohtani off the mound for the rest of the season is a radical view, certainly — c’mon, you’re paying the dude $700 million to hit and pitch! — but it’s a view backed by common sense.

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani prepares to bat during a game earlier this month as Dodger Stadium.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Point One: The Dodgers won a World Series in 2024 with Ohtani strictly hitting, so it can be done.

Point Two: Last postseason, even with his three-homer, 10-strikeout gem in the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Ohtani had a playoff ERA of 4.43.

Playing in the postseason is hard. Pitching and hitting in the postseason is nearly impossible. That magical Brewers clincher was his only shining moment.

Point Three: They recently acquired Tarik Skubal specifically to reduce the need for Ohtani, and they now have a nearly unbeatable rotation without Ohtani.

With Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow having returned strong from injuries, they have four starters who easily can dominate a series.

Check out the current seven-game span of games started by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Skubal, Snell and Tyler Glasnow.

They gave up as many as three runs only twice. They pitched less than six innings only once. Their ERA was 2.38.

Point Four: The struggling Dodgers offense desperately needs Ohtani to get right at the top. Who is going to get the big hit if he doesn’t? Entering the last month, the candidates are few.

Not a slowing Mookie Betts. Not psyched-out Kyle Tucker. Not aging Teoscar Hernández. Maybe Freddie Freeman, but he hasn’t hit a home run since July 4. And maybe Max Muncy, if they pitch to him.

Will Smith will be returning this week after a prolonged absence, and that will help, but not enough.

If anything happens to sideline Ohtani the hitter, the Dodgers are sunk, period.

And if he pitches, lots could happen to him.

The knee. The elbow. Whatever it was that has kept him off the mound since July 3. So much can go wrong if he’s pitching, and any pitching injury could have the double whammy of sidelining him as a hitter.

“I think 100% for me as far as an offensive player, that’s very important,” Roberts said. “As a pitcher, for me, given the strength of our staff, our team, I don’t think that’s as important. I think it’s important for us not to compromise his health in any capacity. But for me, it’s just his presence in the batter’s box is hugely important to him.”

Yes, Ohtani wants to pitch. Yes, the Dodgers promised him he could pitch. But that was before the injuries and the acquisitions and the slump.

Everything is different now. The landscape has changed.

The Dodgers no longer need the arm so badly that they can risk the bat.

Barely 20 bullpen pitches at the end of August? He’s clearly not going to be 100% by October, so shut him down and let him swing.

Shohei Ohtani is 32 and finishing his ninth season. He’s not a kid anymore.

He’s not infallible anymore.

Having him pitch and hit for a second consecutive October indeed would be a great story.

But having him use his bat to lead the Dodgers to a three-peat would be a better one.

King Harald, Europe’s oldest monarch, was viewed as a reformer who embraced inclusivity.

Norwegians are saying goodbye to King Harald ⁠⁠at ⁠⁠the Royal Palace in Oslo where he lies in state, with many well-wishers remembering a unifying leader who was on the throne for 35 years.

A national period of mourning was declared in the Nordic kingdom following the death of Europe’s oldest monarch on Friday, aged 89. Thousands have gathered in the capital since then to pay their respects and lay flowers. He was known in Norway as a reformer and the embodiment of a tolerant and open nation who embraced inclusivity.

“He has meant a great deal and has been a unifying king,” Line Stousland, 49, told AFP news agency. “He has been a king of the people, like a grandfather to the whole nation”.

King Harald died in Oslo University Hospital where he had been since August 17. He was suffering from haemolytic anaemia, a condition caused by an abnormally rapid destruction of red blood cells that leads to fatigue and shortness of breath.

A date for the funeral has not yet been set.

Flags are flying at half-mast throughout Norway with portraits of him in gala uniform spotted everywhere, from bus stops to offices, shops and public buildings.

As Norwegians mourned, the transition to a new reign began immediately. Harald’s 53-year-old son, who will be known as King Haakon VIII, became Norway’s new ‌‌monarch the moment his father passed away. He is due to ‌‌take the oath in front of parliament on Tuesday, when he will swear to defend Norway’s constitution and laws.

Haakon takes over a monarchy hailed for its modernity and modesty, but which has been beset by a series of recent scandals. Earlier this year, two high-profile Norwegian politicians and the crown princess were linked to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

A police investigation was opened into former Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland on suspicion of corruption, while the princess’ 29-year-old son, Marius Borg Hoiby, the new king’s stepson, was sentenced in June to four years in prison on two counts of rape and 32 other charges, including domestic violence.

“An era has ended. A new one begins. The king is dead. Long live the king,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a speech shortly after meeting the new monarch. “We will remember King Harald for his love for his people, for his humour and warmth and for his unwavering faith in us.”

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell.

As we await the postseason and wonder if the Dodgers will get a first-round bye, here are some random thoughts.

—It was very disappointing to get swept by the Braves. If someone forced me right now to bet on the World Series winner, I’d bet on the Brewers. But none of that means the Dodgers aren’t going to win.

—However, there is no doubt they are playing poorly right now. Defensive miscues that don’t always show up in the box score. Poor situational hitting. A couple of bad games by Tanner Scott.

—E-mails I have received:

“You need to stop going easy on this team. They will not win the World Series this year.”

“This team is a disgrace and plays with no heart.”

“Knowledgeable fans know that this team is going nowhere.”

“They can’t beat the good teams, so what chance do they have in the postseason?”

“There won’t be any World Series dramatics this year. They are toast.”

When did I get these emails? Last season in late August/early September, when they had lost seven of eight to Arizona, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

I got another flurry of them after each of the losses to Atlanta. Some people never learn. What happens in the regular season has no bearing on what happens in the postseason. Two of the Atlanta games were started by a blister-hampered Roki Sasaki and and a first-game-back-in-weeks Tyler Glasnow. That won’t be the case in the postseason. So, yes, be disappointed, but don’t throw in the towel.

—Clayton Kershaw did an excellent job in the broadcast booth with Joe Davis on Tuesday. It would behoove the Dodgers to bring him back as often as he wants. (Editor’s note: Behoove? Was the author of this newsletter born in the 1800s?)

—OK, I’ve said this before, but when you can’t have a conversation with the person you are sitting next to at Dodger Stadium, then the in-game entertainment is too loud.

—You know what the best in-game entertainment is? The actual game. Never has a sport had such a lack of faith in its own product that they feel the need to fill every moment with something so the actual game doesn’t bore you.

—And again, where are my Cool-A-Coos?

—One of the big problems Kyle Tucker has faced with fans this season is that he gives the appearance of not caring. He does care, but he looks like he doesn’t.

—The Dodgers have played 13 one-run games this month. They are 6-7 in those games. They are 26-21 during the season in one-run games.

—Teoscar Hernández is actually getting worse as a fielder.

—The Dodgers schedule the rest of the season:

at Detroit (3)
vs. St. Louis (3)
vs. Washington (3)
vs. Cincinnati (3)
at Miami (3)
at Cincinnati (4)
vs. San Francisco (3)
vs. San Diego (3)
at San Francisco (3)

—The Dodgers are 40-26 at home, 40-28 on the road.

—The Dodgers are 11-13 in August. Last August they were 15-13.

—Hunter Feduccia has become this season’s Ben Rortvedt. He’s hitting .282/.364/.410 since joining the Dodgers and has had a few crucial hits.

—How does ESPN manage to find the worst baseball announcers every season? The network is very good at it. It must be difficult to wade through all the candidates and pick the very worst ones.

—One of the problems with the gondola that one day might take fans to Dodger Stadium: Do you really want to be in a gondola a couple of hundred feet over the sidewalk with a bunch of drunk Dodgers and Giants fans?

—Kiké Hernández was four for four before going on the IL. He is four for 33 since coming back.

—If the season ended today, Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs would win the NL MVP award, with Shohei Ohtani finishing second.

—Does anyone else still cringe a little when Ohtani slides, thinking of his injury in the 2024 World Series? Just me? OK.

—It’s still a shame the Dodgers never put a patch on their uniforms for Davey Lopes.

—With Sasaki going on the IL because of a blister, Eric Lauer goes back into the starting rotation and reliever Seth Halvorsen comes back from the minors.

—Mookie Betts has made only five errors at shortstop this season in 96 games. Hyeseong Kim made four in 24 games. Miguel Rojas has made no errors in 58 games in the infield.

—When Will Smith last played, the Dodgers were 41-23, a winning percentage of .640, on pace to win 104 games. Since then, they have gone 39-31, a winning percentage of .557, which would put them on pace to win 90 games. Coincidence? I think not. Smith stabilizes the lineup and the pitching staff.

—Key Dodgers’ batters with two out and runners in scoring position this season:

Alek Thomas, .667, 2 for 3
Hunter Feduccia, .500, 3 for 6
Kiké Hernández, .333, 1 for 3
Hyeseong Kim, .316, 6 for 19
Dalton Rushing, .304, 7 for 23
Alex Call, .304, 7 for 23
Andy Pages, .294, 15 for 51
Kyle Tucker, .283, 15 for 53
Freddie Freeman, .282, 11 for 39
Shohei Ohtani, .263, 10 for 38
Ben Rortvedt, .250, 1 for 4
Tommy Edman, .250, 6 for 24
Miguel Rojas, .200, 3 for 15
Mookie Betts, .178, 8 for 45
Teoscar Hernández, .171, 7 for 41
Max Muncy, .170, 9 for 53
Will Smith, .118, 2 for 17
Team, .242
MLB average, .230

That’s not good

How the Dodgers have fared against teams with winning and losing records:

.500 or better: 33-36
Below .500: 47-18

Forgotten Dodger: Dazzy Vance

Vance pitched for the Dodgers so long ago (1922-32) that he has been forgotten by many. The best comparison to Vance is Don Drysdale.

Consider where he ranks among starting pitchers in Dodgers history: Second in WAR, eighth in ERA+, fourth in wins, fifth in strikeouts. If you were picking the all-time Dodgers rotation, he would have to be given strong consideration for a spot.

Charles Arthur Vance was born March 4, 1891, in Orient, Iowa. His family moved to Pleasant Hill Township, Neb., when Vance was little. When he reached high school, he started pitching for a semipro team in the area and had what was described as a dazzling fastball. That’s where he got his nickname, Dazzy.

Vance started playing professionally in 1912 in the class D Nebraska State League and quickly moved up the ranks, winning 26 games for St. Joseph (Mo.) of the class A Western League in 1914. Near the end of the season, he started four games in six days and hurt his arm. There were no MRIs then to determine his injury, but, because of how he described the way his arm felt, it is believed he suffered a torn UCL. Back then, the solution for these things was to rest your arm for a couple of weeks and try again.

Before the 1915 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates purchased his contract from St. Joseph. It is not known if they knew about his arm injury. Vance started one game for the Pirates and gave up three runs in 2 2/3 innings. The Pirates then traded him to the New York Yankees and he pitched better, with a 3.54 ERA in 28 innings. But he went 0-3, and wins and losses were all that mattered back then, so the Yankees sent him back to St. Joseph.

His arm still was hurting, and he bounced around that decade’s version of the minors for a few years. He returned to the Yankees in 1918 and had a 15.43 ERA. They got rid of him quickly and he ended up pitching in New Orleans.

And that’s when fate stepped in. Vance was playing poker and after winning a hand, he banged his elbow against the edge of the table while celebrating. The result was immediate excruciating pain. He couldn’t straighten his arm and couldn’t stand the pain. The only option was exploratory surgery. What the surgeon did has been lost to the annals of time, but after he was done and Vance recovered, his arm was 100% again. No pain when he threw. “It was an odd thing,” Vance said. “My arm came back just as quickly as it went sore on me in 1915. I awoke one morning and learned I could throw without pain again.”

Vance won 21 games for New Orleans in 1921.

After the 1921 season, the Brooklyn Dodgers were interested in a New Orleans player, but it wasn’t Vance. They wanted catcher Hank DeBerry. The Dodgers sent scout Larry Sutton to attempt to get DeBerry from the Pelicans, who told Sutton they had to take Vance too in order to get DeBerry.

According to the book “The Brooklyn Dodgers: An Informal History” by Frank Graham, this is what happened: “When he found out that the pitcher in question was Vance, Dodgers owner Charles Ebbets rebelled. ‘Oh, no. I could have drafted him long ago if I wanted him. You go back and tell them if we have to take Vance, the deal is off.’ Soon Sutton called his boss back. ‘They say, no Vance, no DeBerry.’ ‘In that case,’ Ebbets replied, ‘tell them they can …’ Sutton interrupted: ‘Wait a minute, Mr. Ebbets. I just talked to DeBerry. He wants to go to Brooklyn, naturally, but he says he don’t want to go without Vance. He says to tell you that if he looks good down here, it’s because Vance makes him look good. And, really, Daz is hot. He’s knocked around a long time and he’s learned how to pitch. And he has a fastball. A real good fastball. He’s the best pitcher in the league.’”

Ebbets acquiesced and agreed to take Vance too. And with that, the Dodgers acquired one of their best pitchers ever, a pitcher who didn’t really star in the majors until he was 31. Starting in 1922, Vance led the NL in strikeouts for seven straight seasons. He led in wins twice and ERA three times. He went 28-6 with a 2.16 ERA and 30 complete games in 34 starts in 1924 and was named NL MVP. If the Cy Young had existed back then, he would have won at least three. With Brooklyn from 1922-32, he completed 213 of 328 starts, with a 190-131 record and a 3.17 ERA. He also had eight saves.

Vance also used a secret weapon: He wore the same sweatshirt for every game and had cut the sleeves into several strips lengthwise, so when he released the ball, the batter often lost sight of it briefly as the tattered sleeves flapped with the pitch. Vance, of course, denied doing this on purpose. When opponents demanded he buy a new shirt, as Graham recounts in his book, Vance responded, “Oh, no! This is my lucky shirt. I’ve had it since I was in New Orleans, and I ain’t even washed it.”

The Dodgers traded Vance to St. Louis before the 1933 season. He was 42 and his best pitching days were behind him. He went 6-2 with a 3.55 ERA but pitched only 99 innings. He was released after the season and signed with Cincinnati, which released him after he had a 7.50 ERA in six games. The Cardinals re-signed him and he finished the season with them. His final season was in 1935, when he returned to Brooklyn, going 4-2 with a 4.41 ERA in 20 games, all in relief. He was 44. He retired after the season.

Before he retired, Vance moved himself and his family (wife Edythe, son Donald and daughter Dorothy) to Homosassa Springs, Fla., where he opened a hunting and fishing camp and a hotel. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955. He learned he was elected when a highway patrolman pulled him over while he was driving near his home. The policeman told him people were waiting at his house to tell him the news.

Vance died of a heart attack on Feb. 16, 1961 and is buried at Stage Stand Cemetery just outside Homosassa Springs.

Dodgers poll

Let’s take the temperature of the readers. How do you think the Dodgers will do in the postseason this year?

They will lose in the wild-card series
They will lose in the NLDS
They will lose in the NLCS
They will lose in the World Series
They will win the World Series
They won’t make the postseason

Click here to vote in our survey.

Up next

Friday: Dodgers (*Tarik Skubal, 8-7, 2.91 ERA [1-2, 3.38 ERA with Dodgers]) at Detroit (Drew Anderson, 4-5, 4.09 ERA), 3:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: Dodgers (*Blake Snell, 2-1, 2.57 ERA) at Detroit (Keider Montero, 9-8, 3.30 ERA), 4:15 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 3-0, 3.02 ERA) at Detroit (*Framber Valdez, 8-9, 4.35 ERA), 10:40 a.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

All times Pacific

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Tarik Skubal returns to Detroit to face the Tigers. His focus is on the task at hand

Mark Walter’s company TWG Global defends Dodgers financing and Lakers sale

How two decades of friendship have shaped Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward

And finally

Rare footage of Dazzy Vance, demonstrating his pitches. 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.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. How hot is it? It’s no longer microwave popcorn, it’s just popcorn.

Series with Braves is important

Just like the recent series with the Brewers was important as far as postseason positioning goes, so is this series with the Atlanta Braves. Remember, the three division winners automatically qualify for the postseason, but the division winner with the worst record will have to play in the first round, while the other two skip the first round. And, if teams are tied, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head record. The Brewers hold the tiebreaker over the Dodgers after beating them in four of the seven games this season.

Let’s look at those three teams as of Monday night:

1. Milwaukee, 81-50
2. Dodgers, 80-51
3. Atlanta, 76-55

The Braves are struggling right now, having lost seven of 10, but this time last week the Dodgers were struggling before they reeled off six straight wins. Baseball.

The Dodgers are 1-2 against Atlanta. So, they will need to win at least two of three games to go to the second tiebreaker, which is intradivision record (yes, even for teams in different divisions.) As of Monday night, the Dodgers are 26-17 against the NL West and the Braves are 27-13 against the NL East. The Braves have a 2 1/2-game lead there, but there are plenty of intradivision games left to play. It would be great if the Dodgers swept the Braves and didn’t have to worry about that.

Let’s take a look at how the Dodgers and Braves compare this season, through Sunday.

Runs per game
Dodgers, 4.98 (third in the majors)
Atlanta, 4.69 (eighth)
League average, 4.47

Batting average
Dodgers, .258 (second)
Atlanta, .246 (11th)
League average, .244

On-base percentage
Dodgers, .335 (third)
League average, .318
Atlanta, .311 (23rd)

Slugging percentage
Dodgers, .426 (second)
Atlanta, .411 (fifth)
League average, .400

Doubles
Dodgers, 213 (ninth)
Atlanta, 209 (12th)
League average, 202

Triples
League average: 18
Dodgers, 14 (T18th)
Atlanta, 9 (29th)

Home runs
Atlanta, 168 (seventh)
Dodgers, 167 (eighth)
League average, 150

Stolen bases
League average, 88
Atlanta, 65 (T24th)
Dodgers, 52 (28th)

Sacrifice bunts
League average, 18
Dodgers, 12 (22nd)
Atlanta, 7 (T26th)

ERA
Atlanta, 3.60 (fourth)
Dodgers, 3.67 (sixth)
League average, 4.16

Rotation ERA
Dodgers, 3.48 (third)
Atlanta, 3.72 (seventh)
League average 4.22

Bullpen ERA
Atlanta, 3.44 (fourth)
Dodgers, 3.98 (13th)
League average, 4.11

Pitcher strikeouts
Dodgers, 1,193 (fifth)
Atlanta, 1,112 (T12th)
League average, 1,095

Pitcher walks
Dodgers, 409 (10th fewest)
League average, 442
Atlanta, 445 (17th)

Home runs allowed
Atlanta, 146 (15th fewest)
Dodgers, 148 (16th)
League average, 150

Saves
Atlanta, 40 (fourth)
Dodgers, 37 (T9th)
League average, 34

Blown saves
Dodgers, 19 (15th)
League average, 19
Atlanta, 17 (T18th)

Inherited runners who scored%
Atlanta, 22.5%, 32 of 142 (third)
League average, 31.8%, 57 of 179
Dodgers, 35.3%, 53 of 150 (21st)

Keep in mind, it is not imperative to finish in the top two. The Dodgers had to play in the first round last season and that worked out OK. In fact, this season is looking amazingly like last season, with the shaky bullpen and strong starting pitching.

Meet the new Dodger

Alek Thomas gestures toward the dugout after reaching second base on Saturday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

With Andy Pages sidelined by a broken hand, the Dodgers turned to their minor-league system for his replacement: former Arizona Diamondback Alek Thomas.

You may be asking, “Why not James Tibbs III, who is hitting .303/.422/.566 with triple-A Oklahoma City?” Well, Tibbs has not played center in the minors or in college, so that would be a big ask to play center for the first time in the majors in the middle of a postseason run.

Also, teams are not in a rush to get the major league service time running for players. That way they can keep them under team control longer.

Thomas was drafted by Arizona out of Mount Carmel High in Chicago in the second round in 2018. He made the majors in 2022 and hit .231/.275/.344 in 113 games. He hit about the same in 2023 (.230/.273/.374) but hit a key pinch-hit home run in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series against Philadelphia. He missed most of 2024 because of a torn hamstring and hit .249/.289/.370 in 2025, when Arizona began to sour on him.

He doesn’t draw many walks, but plays a good center field. This season, he hit .181 for the Diamondbacks when they designated him for assignment, and the Dodgers sent Arizona minor league outfielder Jose Requena for Thomas. He has been with Oklahoma City since then, where he hit .296/.362/.493 in 55 games.

Thomas played for Mexico in this year’s World Baseball Classic. After his first game as a Dodger, he said, “It’s funny, because they always hated me whenever I came out there in center field. I was, like, ‘Come on, guys, I’m Mexican too. You don’t have to yell at me; like, we’re on the same side here.’

“But, obviously … it doesn’t matter where you’re from. ‘If you’re not a Dodgers guy, you’re not my guy.’”

Thomas is wearing No. 9 with the Dodgers, last worn last season by Eddie Rosario. Gavin Lux wore it before that. It has also been worn by, among others, Yasmani Grandal, Mickey Hatcher, Greg Brock, Wally Moon, Gino Cimoli and Babe Phelps.

Injury update

Edwin Díaz, P, neck: An MRI exam of his neck showed no damage, so he could come off the IL as soon as he is eligible in the first week of September. When he comes back, he won’t be closing and will be used in low-leverage situations until he shows he is 100%.

Tyler Glasnow, P, back: He is ready to go and should start tonight against Atlanta.

Will Klein, P, elbow: He has resumed playing catch, but there’s not much time left in the season for him to come back.

Bobby Miller, P, shoulder: He is on rehab assignment with Oklahoma City.

Shohei Ohtani, P, knee: He pitched a live batting practice session Saturday. He will probably have to throw another session before returning to the rotation.

Andy Pages, CF, broken hand: Had a screw inserted into the bottom bone in the pinkie of his left hand. The Dodgers expect him back for the postseason, but we’ve heard that before. It all depends on how quickly he heals.

Dalton Rushing, C, UCL tear: Could begin a rehab assignment next week, but it’s still unlikely he catches again this season, making his postseason chances very small.

Will Smith, C, neck: He is set to go on a rehab assignment with Oklahoma City on Tuesday. He could be back next week.

Gavin Stone, P, shoulder: Pitched three perfect innings in his most recent rehab start.

Blake Treinen, P, elbow: He is currently on rehab assignment with Oklahoma City and pitched a scoreless inning Sunday for the Comets.

Justin Wrobleski, P, forearm: He could be back in early September, but when he does return, it will be to the bullpen because there is no room in the rotation anymore.

The problem for guys such as Stone and Miller is that there’s not much time left this season, and it seems they have little possibility to have meaningful contributions because they haven’t pitched in so long. Same goes for Ben Casparius, who is injured, and Brusdar Graterol, who hasn’t pitched at all this season.

Up next

Tuesday: Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 3-0, 2.72 ERA) at Atlanta (Bryce Elder, 8-7, 3.92 ERA), 4:15 p.m., SportsNet LA, TBS, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Wednesday: Dodgers (Roki Sasaki, 5-5, 4.42 ERA) at Atlanta (AJ Smith-Shawver, 0-0, 6.23 ERA), 4:15 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Thursday: Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 12-7, 2.61 ERA) at Atlanta (*Chris Sale, 12-9, 2.20 ERA), 4:15 p.m., FS1, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

All times Pacific

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Plaschke: Beneath the Dodgers’ latest sweep, the scary rumblings of a team sale persist

Shaikin: Amid Dodgers’ uncertainty, Padres’ new owners promise to ‘win it all!’

‘I haven’t done my job.’ Edwin Díaz accepts low-leverage role with Dodgers — for now

Shohei Ohtani takes ‘really positive’ step in push to return to Dodgers’ rotation

Swanson: Struggling Dodgers outfielder Kyle Tucker simply needs to relax

Dodgers president Stan Kasten reiterates ‘Dodgers are not being sold’

If Dodgers are put up for sale, previous runner-up Patrick Soon-Shiong is interested

And finally

MLB Network honors Vin Scully. 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.