era

Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and we shouldn’t be so surprised that the Phillies came back strong in Game 3.

—After all, the Phillies didn’t win 96 games by accident.

—If Kyle Schwarber‘s bat is awake, then it got a lot harder for the Dodgers to win.

—Now, someone needs to wake up Shohei Ohtani‘s bat. He is one for 14 with six strikeouts in the NLDS.

—Some fans want the Dodgers to start Ohtani on the mound tomorrow. I disagree. Tyler Glasnow is the right call, with Blake Snell starting Game 5 if necessary. Game 4 isn’t enough rest for Ohtani.

—Ohtani is swinging at pitches well out of the zone, which is what he does when he’s in a slump. Hopefully it is short-lived.

—Ohtani is now hitting .214 in 21 career postseason games.

—The Dodgers had a chance to put the Phillies in a big hole in the first inning. Mookie Betts tripled with one out, and you need to score that run in the postseason. But Teoscar Hernández struck out, Freddie Freeman was hit by a pitch and Will Smith struck out.

—Betts is hitting .409 this postseason.

—I know I picked Dodgers in five, but you don’t really want to go back to Philadelphia after being up 2-0.

—Someone please let Andy Pages know that it’s OK to get a hit. When you have Miguel Rojas batting for you, it’s not a good sign.

—I still like the TBS announcers, but play-by-play man Brian Anderson can’t tell if a fly ball is a home run or not.

—Dodgers fans were taught this by Vin Scully: Don’t watch the ball, watch the outfielder.

—It was tough to see Clayton Kershaw left out there to take a beating.

—I didn’t have Kershaw penciled in as the man who would fill the Brent Honeywell role this postseason.

—For those of you irate that Dave Roberts apparently punted the game away by leaving Kershaw out there, have we already forgotten last season? He did the same thing during the postseason then, including during the World Series.

—Seems to me Kershaw deserves better than that role, but we have no idea what conversations took place between Roberts and Kershaw before the series, or Game 3. Perhaps Kershaw volunteered to take one for the team. He is the type of guy who would do that.

—“He just didn’t have a great slider tonight,” Roberts. “Clayton pitches off his slider. He was working behind, too. The command wasn’t there tonight.”

—One reason Kershaw was left out there: The Phillies have a lot of left-handed hitters, and Tanner Scott wasn’t available for personal reasons. Alex Vesia pitched the last two games. Kershaw was the only left-hander available at that time.

—Kershaw has a career 4.63 postseason ERA in 196.1 innings.

—Yoshinobu Yamamoto didn’t have it in Game 3. Only two strikeouts, and didn’t fool many batters. That’s what happens sometimes.

—It really isn’t, but for some reason Game 4 feels like a must-win game, doesn’t it?

—Maybe Ben Rortvedt is the Dodgers’ good-luck charm and needs to start every game, with Will Smith coming in around the fifth inning.

—Judging by the response I got, I indeed am the only person who like the Limu emu (and Doug).

—Anthony Banda looked strong in his brief outing.

—To beat Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez today, the Dodgers need to do what they did to him in Game 1 (and something they didn’t do in Game 3): Work the count, drive up his pitch count and get him out of the game by end of the sixth inning.

—“Obviously there’s still a lot of pressure on us, but pressure is a privilege,” Betts said. “We’re going to do what we always do. Tomorrow is a new day.”

—Remember, this is supposed to be fun.

Dodgers postseason stats

Through five games:

Batting
Alex Call, 2 for 2
Ben Rortvedt, .429, 3 for 7, 1 double, 1 RBI, 3 K’s
Miguel Rojas, .375, 3 for 8, 1 RBI
Mookie Betts, .409, 9 for 22, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 RBIs, 1 walk, 1 K
Teoscar Hernández, .333, 7 for 21, 1 double, 3 homers, 9 RBIs, 1 walk, 4 K’s
Kiké Hernández, .333, 6 for 18, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs, 2 walks, 3 K’s
Max Muncy, .286, 4 for 14, 1 double, 3 walks, 4 K’s
Will Smith, .250, 2 for 8, 2 RBIs, 1 walk, 4 K’s
Freddie Freeman, .222, 4 for 18, 2 doubles, 3 walks, 4 K’s
Tommy Edman, .200, 3 for 15, 2 homers, 3 RBIs, 5 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, .174, 4 for 23, 2 homers, 5 RBIs, 2 walk, 10 K’s
Andy Pages, .053, 1 for 19, 5 K’s
Dalton Rushing, 0 for 1, 1 K
Team, .278, 10 doubles, 1 triple, 7 homers, 14 walks, 44 K’s, 5.8 runs per game

Two position players on the NLDS roster, Justin Dean and Hyeseong Kim have not come to the plate yet.

Pitching
Roki Sasaki, 0.00 ERA, 2 saves, 2.1 IP, 1 hit, 3 K’s
Tyler Glasnow, 0.00 ERA, 1.2 IP, 2 hits, 2 walks, 2 K’s
Jack Dreyer, 0.00 ERA, 1.2 IP, 2 walks, 1 K
Anthony Banda, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP, 1 walk, 2 K’s
Blake Snell, 2-0, 1.38 ERA, 13 IP, 5 hits, 5 walks, 18 K’s
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 1-1, 2.53 ERA, 10.2 IP, 10 hits, 3 walks, 11 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 walk, 9 K’s
Blake Treinen, 7.73 ERA, 2.1 IP, 4 hits, 2 K’s
Alex Vesia, 9.00 ERA, 2 IP, 2 hit, 2 walks, 2 K’s
Emmet Sheehan, 11.59 ERA, 2.1 IP, 4 hits, 2 walks, 1 K
Clayton Kershaw, 18.00 ERA, 2 IP, 6 hits, 3 walks
Edgardo Henriquez, infinity, 0 IP, 1 hit, 2 walks
Team, 4-1, 4.00 ERA, 2 saves, 38 hits, 23 walks, 51 K’s

Up next

Thursday: Philadelphia (*Cristopher Sánchez, 13-5, 2.50 ERA) at Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 4-3, 3.19 ERA), 3 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

x-Saturday: Dodgers (TBD) at Philadelphia (TBD), 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

*-left-handed
x-if necessary

In case you missed it

Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dodgers quickly lose control in NLDS Game 3 loss to Phillies

Plaschke: Dodgers blow surefire win in NLDS Game 3 vs. Phillies, and now they could blow the season

‘You get a new game every day.’ Clayton Kershaw tries to put Game 3 debacle behind him

Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Betts talk losing NLDS Game 3

Dodgers are crushed in NLDS Game 3 as bats disappear | Dodgers Debate

Shaikin: Dodgers hope a very-rested Tyler Glasnow can pitch them into the NLCS

And finally

A mental palate cleanser for us all: Vin Scully reads a grocery list. 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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

A MAN lived with a transplanted pig liver for more than a month in the most successful operation of its kind, scientists say.

The terminally ill 71-year-old received the genetically modified organ in Anhui, China, last year.

1

It then functioned normally for 38 days – five weeks – before having to be removed due to blood clotting, a complication from the op.

The patient was the first living person to have the procedure and survived for 171 days, about six months, afterwards.

He had run out of treatment options for liver cancer and scarring caused by hepatitis B, and died from internal bleeding months after the transplant was removed.

His survival is not as long as the record for a patient with a pig’s kidney, at six months and counting.

But it was longer than the previous record for a liver, set by a brain-dead patient whose life support was turned off after 10 days.

Scientists have also experimented with transplanting a lung into a brain-dead patient.

A new era has started

Dr Heiner WedemeyerThe Journal of Hepatology

Surgeon and study author Dr Beicheng Sun, from Anhui Medical University, said: “This case proves that a genetically engineered pig liver can function in a human for an extended period.

“It is a pivotal step forward, demonstrating both the promise and the remaining hurdles.”

Scientists hope that organs from pigs could be used to save people at risk of dying on transplant waiting lists.

They are similar in size to human body parts and gene editing can cut the risk of the immune system rejecting them.

Writing in the Journal of Hepatology, Dr Sun said more experiments are needed to perfect the procedure.

Dr Heiner Wedemeyer, editor of the journal, said: “A new era of transplant has started.”

Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and the Dodgers were just trying to make Game 2 interesting for those watching at home.

—OK, the Dodgers won Game 2, but before we talk about that….

—Blake Treinen, thank you very much for what you did in 2024. The Dodgers might not have won the World Series without you. But I hope to never see you come into a game this season, unless it’s in a Brent Honeywell role.

—Bringing in Treinen was a big mistake. And this is not hindsight. Before the ninth inning, I was trading messages with friends saying they should either stick with Emmet Sheehan, or bring in Roki Sasaki. I’d have stayed with Sheehan, and if he gave up a hit, you go with Sasaki.

—Dave Roberts, on why he didn’t go with Sasaki: “I thought about it. He hasn’t gone two of three much, at all. Just figuring the run right there, Blake’s pitched some of the biggest outs, innings in the postseason for us. And felt really confident right there. And with Vesia behind him, if needed. So I didn’t want to just, kind of, preemptively put him in there. Again, I felt good with who we had with a couple of our highest-leverage relievers. Fortunately, he was ready when called upon. I liked him versus Trea and he got a big out for us.”

—Hey, at least Roberts brought in Alex Vesia and not Tanner Scott.

—Has anyone seen Scott lately?

—The Dodger bullpen is basically Sheehan, Vesia and Sasaki. If the starters don’t go into the sixth or seventh, trouble arises.

—The schedulers did the Dodgers a favor with an off day after Game 1. Let those three rest up and be ready for Game 2. Now a day off, so they can rest up again.

—And then Tommy Edman was seemingly possessed by Steve Sax on that final throw. My life flashed before my eyes. It was much too short.

—But what a scoop by Freeman at first. Great, great play.

—Of course, it was Vin Scully who always reminded us, “The Dodgers never do things the easy way.”

—What a play by Max Muncy to throw Nick Castellanos out at third in that pivotal ninth inning. And what a play by Mookie Betts to hustle over to third and make the tag while Castellanos was sliding into him.

—That play took some of the air out of the inning for the Phillies.

—That was the old “wheel play,” designed to get the runner at third. As the pitch is thrown, the third baseman and first baseman rush toward home plate, to be in position to field the bunted ball as quickly as possible. The shortstop rushes over to cover third, while the second baseman runs to cover first. The defense seeks to have defenders in position such that once the ball is bunted, it can be picked up quickly and thrown to the shortstop to retire the runner advancing from second base.

—Amazing that things taught 100 years ago in the game can still apply now, even with all the changes in baseball since then.

—“I’ve got to give that credit to Miggy Rojas,” Betts said. “We did it earlier in the year in Anaheim, and I remember asking him, ‘When’s a good time to do it?’ He said: In a do-or-die situation.”

—“When Doc came out and made the pitching change, we talked to him about it and he was all on board,” Muncy said. “I am going to credit Mook. It was his idea.”

—Phillies manager Rob Thomson: “Mookie did a great job of disguising the wheel play. “We teach our guys that if you see wheel, just pull it back and slash because you’ve got all kinds of room in the middle. But Mookie broke so late that it was tough for Stotty to pick it up.”

—Fun stat: The Dodgers didn’t have a 5-6 putout in the regular season, the only team in the majors without one.

—He gave up a run, but Emmet Sheehan looked like a totally different pitcher out there compared to his appearance against the Reds.

—Blake Snell pitched a brilliant game. One hit in six innings, four walks, nine strikeouts.

—I like the booking.com commercial features the New York family in Boston. Especially at the end, when the mom says “Those aren’t our kids.” and the little girl says “We’re not?” She says it so sadly.

—Also, I may be the only one who enjoys the Limu emu and Doug commercials.

—Just for the record, the Dodgers have outscored the Phillies 9-3 when my youngest daughter, Hannah, and her fiance Mason are watching, and they have been outscored 3-0 when they aren’t watching.

—Hannah says the Dodgers can send the World Series share directly to her.

—I predicted Dodgers in five, but let’s hope it doesn’t go to a Game 5, particularly with the next two games at Dodger Stadium.

—Yoshibobu Yamamoto pitches Game 3. Aaron Nola goes for the Phillies. Nola had a 6.01 ERA. Ranger Suárez, who most Phillies fans think should be starting Game 3, had a 3.20 ERA. It’s possible they start Nola, hope the Dodgers load their lineup with lefties, then bring in Suárez in the second inning. But we will see. The Dodgers did have the habit this season of making starters with high ERAs look like the second coming of Sandy Koufax.

—That play where Miguel Rojas ran to third and barely beat Trea Turner for the force was just bizarre. Even though it worked, it seemed like the wrong choice. Rojas had a similar play last postseason where he didn’t beat the runner.

—“I think it was the wrong decision,” Rojas said. “But after I went to third base, I felt like I needed to give it my 100% effort. I’m glad that I got there and [the inning] didn’t go farther than that.”

—Are the Dodgers capable of losing three in a row to the Phillies (or, better put, can the Phillies beat the Dodgers three in a row?) Sure. But it seems unlikely.

—But you can’t ask for much more as far as excitement in this series.

—”I’ll take off my Dodgers hat and just put on a fan hat,” Betts said. “I think that was a really, really dope baseball game. I think both of these games were really, really dope baseball games, fun to be a part of. Obviously, it’s a lot better when you’re on the winning side, but you can’t ask for better postseason baseball. It’s just fun. This is why we play.”

—Let’s hope the crowd Wednesday is as loud as the Philadelphia crowd was, and has no reason to be silent. And let’s hope those sitting behind home plate noticed that the Phillies fans behind home plate didn’t spent most of the game on their phone or contemplating their next drink order.

Dodgers postseason stats

Through four games:

Batting
Alex Call, 2 for 2
Miguel Rojas, .429, 3 for 7, 1 RBI
Ben Rortvedt, .429, 3 for 7, 1 double, 1 RBI, 3 K’s
Teoscar Hernández, .412, 7 for 17, 1 double, 3 homers, 9 RBIs, 1 walk, 3 K’s
Mookie Betts, .389, 7 for 18, 3 doubles, 3 RBIs, 1 walk, 1 K
Kiké Hernández, .313, 5 for 16, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs, 3 K’s
Freddie Freeman, .267, 4 for 15, 2 doubles, 3 walks, 2 K’s
Will Smith, .250, 1 for 4, 2 RBIs, 1 walk, 2 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, .222, 4 for 18, 2 homers, 5 RBIs, 2 walk, 9 K’s
Max Muncy, .200, 2 for 10, 1 double, 3 walks, 4 K’s
Tommy Edman, .091, 1 for 11, 1 homer, 1 RBI, 5 K’s
Andy Pages, 1 for 17, .059, 4 K’s
Team, .289, 10 doubles, 6 homers, 26 RBIs, 12 walks, 36 K’s, 6.75 runs per game

Three position players on the NLDS roster, Justin Dean, Hyeseong Kim and Dalton Rushing, have yet to bat.

Pitching
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.2 IP 4 hits, 2 walks, 9 K’s
Roki Sasaki, 0.00 ERA, 2 saves, 2.1 IP, 1 hit, 3 K’s
Tyler Glasnow, 0.00 ERA, 1.2 IP. 2 hits, 2 walks, 2 K’s
Jack Dreyer, 0.00 ERA, 0.2 IP, 1 walk, 1 K
Blake Snell, 2-0, 1.38 ERA, 13 IP, 5 hits, 5 walk, 18 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 walk, 9 K’s
Alex Vesia, 9.00 ERA, 2 IP, 2 hit, 2 walks, 2 K’s
Emmet Sheehan, 11.59 ERA, 2.1 IP, 4 hits, 2 walks, 1 K
Blake Treinen, 13.53 ERA, 1.1 IP, 4 hits, 2 K’s
Edgardo Henriquez, infinity, 0 IP, 1 hit, 2 walks
Team, 4-0, 3.25 ERA, 2 saves, 26 hits, 17 walks, 47 K’s

Three players on the NLCS roster, Anthony Banda, Clayton Kershaw and Tanner Scott, haven’t pitched in the postseason yet.

Up next

Wednesday: Philadelphia (Aaron Nola, 5-10, 6.01 ERA) at Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 12-8, 2.49 ERA), 6 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

x-Thursday: Philadelphia (TBD) at Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 4-3, 3.19 ERA), 3 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

x-Saturday: Dodgers (TBD) at Philadelphia (TBD), 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

*-left-handed
x-if necessary

In case you missed it

Dave Roberts explains why the Dodgers didn’t use Roki Sasaki earlier in Game 2

Shaikin: Inside the Mookie Betts play call that won NLDS Game 2 for the Dodgers

Hernández: The Phillies are done, and the Dodgers’ path to the World Series looks clear

‘Pass the baton.’ Dodgers finally get to Jesús Luzardo in pressure-packed seventh inning

Dodgers take NLDS Game 2 and are on the verge of the NLCS | Dodgers Debate

Mookie Betts and Max Muncy talk wheel play in the 9th inning of NLDS Game 2

Shaikin: Clayton Kershaw isn’t first Hall of Fame-bound pitcher to finish career in Dodgers bullpen

And finally

Game 2 highlights. 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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and that was an exciting Game 1.

—Two great teams, making it interesting every inning. That was a great game.

—The Dodgers should think about signing every player who has Hernández as a last name.

—Or, should I say, Super Kiké.

—Shohei Ohtani has one rough inning, but then seemed to say “Enough!” After J.T. Realmuto‘s triple, he retired the next 10 batters. And he could have given up only two runs, but Teoscar Hernández seemed particularly slow in right field and let Realmuto’s ball get past him, allowing Realmuto to take third, where he scored on a sacrifice fly.

—Then, in the fifth, Ohtani retired a batter, then hit Harrison Bader with a pitch and gave up a single to Bryson Stott, putting runners at first and second. Dave Roberts stayed in the dugout, which he might not have done in a regular-season game. Ohtani got Trea Turner to line to short and struck out Kyle Schwarber on a full-count pitch. It felt like a momentum shift.

—“I think it might have been a scene that decided the direction of the game,” Ohtani said.

—The only drawback: Ohtani struck out four times at the plate.

—“I use the word compartmentalize a lot, but this epitomizes compartmentalizing,” Roberts said of Ohtani. “To go out there and give us six innings, keep us in the ball game, I just don’t know any human that can manage that, those emotions. How do you not take [the hitting struggles] to the mound?”

—The Dodgers scored two runs in the next inning when Freddie Freeman walked, Tommy Edman singled and Kiké doubled.

—Then Teoscar hit his three-run shot in the seventh, and that was enough.

—“When you can hear a pin drop in the stadium, that’s the ultimate feeling in baseball,” Max Muncy said of the home run. “I felt like the people in the upper deck could hear us cheering in the dugout.”

—That Dodgers bullpen we were all worried about? With Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki out there, it looks a lot better. Glasnow won’t be available the next two games because he will start Game 4 if it is needed.

—Sasaki wasn’t quite as dominant as he was against the Reds, but he is facing a much better team.

—By the way, TBS announcers Brian Anderson, Jeff Francoeur and Lauren Shehadi are much better than the ESPN crew.

—But let’s not get carried away. The Phillies will not go down quietly. This will be a fight to the finish (Gee, how many cliches is the writer going to use?)

The NLDS roster

There were only two changes for the Dodgers on the NLDS roster. Clayton Kershaw and Anthony Banda were added, while Edgardo Henriquez and Justin Wrobleski were removed. Justin Dean remains on the roster and Michael Conforto remains off the roster.

Counting the postseason, Dean has appeared in 21 games with the Dodgers and has only two at-bats. He’s 0 for 2 with a stolen base and a strikeout.

In the history of baseball, there have been only three players to appear in at least 21 games and have two or fewer plate appearances. They are:

Gary Cooper, 1980 Atlanta Braves. Cooper went 0 for 2 with two stolen bases and three runs scored. He was used as a pinch-runner and for late-inning defense.

Allan Lewis, 1973 Oakland. Lewis appeared in 40 games (counting the postseason) and had no plate appearances. He was used as a pinch-runner and scored 16 runs while also stealing seven bases. He appeared in five postseason games and scored two runs.

Herb Washington, 1974 Oakland. Washington appeared in 92 games, all as a pinch-runner. As you can tell, having a pinch-runner on the team was an obsession of A’s owner Charlie Finley. Washington stole 29 bases, was caught 14 times, and scored 29 runs. In track, he still holds the record for the fastest 50-yard and 60-yard dash. That’s why Finley wanted to sign him, thinking he would be an unstoppable base stealer. He wasn’t, since there’s more to base stealing than just being fast. In his short career, Washington played in 105 games without batting, pitching or fielding.

Money talks?

Where the 12 postseason teams rank among team payrolls this season:

1. Dodgers, $350,300,236
3. NY Yankees, $300,187,616
4. Philadelphia, $290,286,320
5. Toronto, $255,380,936
9. San Diego, $216,835,142
10. Chicago Cubs, $211,947,613
12. Boston, $200,904,575
15. Seattle, $164,517,201
17. Detroit, $157,566,294
22. Milwaukee, $121,674,704
23. Cincinnati, $119,523,192
25. Cleveland, $100,365,031

Teams ranked in the top 15 for payroll that did not make the postseason:

2. New York Mets, $342,377,486
6. Houston (no relation), $232,884,232
7. Texas, $226,026,491
8. Atlanta, $218,842,260
11. Angels, $206,688,366
13. Arizona, $178,987,367
14. San Francisco, $178,312,152

Numbers provided by spotrac.com.

Poll time

We asked, “Who do you think will win the Dodgers-Phillies series?”

The results, after 8,632 votes:

Dodgers in five, 49.8%
Dodgers in four, 32.9%
Phillies in five, 8.2%
Phillies in four, 7%
Dodgers in three, 1.7%
Phillies in three, 0.6%

Up next

Monday: Dodgers (*Blake Snell, 5-4, 2.35 ERA) at Philadelphia (*Jesús Luzardo, 15-7, 3.92 ERA), 3 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

Wednesday: Philadelphia (TBD) at Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 12-8, 2.49 ERA), 6 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

x-Thursday: Philadelphia (TBD) at Dodgers (TBD), 3 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

x-Saturday: Dodgers (TBD) at Philadelphia (TBD), 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

*-left-handed
x-if necessary

In case you missed it

Shaikin: ‘I try to put it in the trash.’ How Teoscar Hernández’s mindset delivered October magic

Hernández: Dodgers save Shohei Ohtani, not the other way around, in monumental Game 1 NLDS win

NLDS Game 1: Dodgers steal home field advantage

Tyler Glasnow talks relief pitching in NLDS Game 1

Clayton Kershaw added to Dodgers’ NLDS roster as expected, Will Smith remains active

‘Better late than never.’ How Mookie Betts salvaged the worst season of his career

And finally

Game 1 highlights. 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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Those Rangers fans who are almost as old as the Campsie Fells, the hills sitting above the club training ground just north of Glasgow, will tell you that Martin was the worst manager they’ve ever known. And that’s saying something.

One of his predecessors, Pedro Caixinha, once lost to Progres Niederkorn, the fourth best team in Luxembourg at the time, and ended the night by rowing with Rangers fans while standing in a bush.

Martin’s end was chaotic. A draw at Falkirk saw fans once again screeching for his sacking, a pretty much constant and venomous refrain in recent times. He was smuggled out a back exit at the Falkirk Stadium with a police escort. It was unseemly. It couldn’t go on.

The draw with Falkirk followed on from other league draws against Motherwell, Dundee, St Mirren and Celtic. Hearts beat them at Ibrox. Brugge beat them 6-0 and 3-1 in Europe. Rangers had the devil’s own job in defeating Livingston. Every game was the football equivalent of fingernails down a blackboard. It was excruciating.

As were the Martin explanations in the aftermath. He ran the gamut. He spoke about his players being anxious and scared, he talked about them not doing the things they were doing in training and not listening to the messages they were being told. It was impossible to avoid the conclusion that Martin thought it was always the fault of others.

After the Falkirk draw, he mentioned Falkirk’s deflected goal and their artificial pitch. After the loss to Sturm Graz on Thursday night he banged on about a throw-in that went wrong and cost Rangers a goal. “Somebody didn’t do their job,” he said.

The excuses flowed like lava. The one person he singularly failed to put in the frame was himself. Ibrox turned against him in the most vicious way, He was booed on and booed off. When Rangers scored a late winner against Livingston the cry that went up from fans seconds later was about Martin. It wasn’t nice, put it that way.

When you win a game and they still want your head on a spike, there’s no coming back from that. He lasted 17 games. It doesn’t seem like a lot but in the world of the Old Firm it really is. Old Firm managers get judged early. Gordon Strachan once said that there were calls for his head after a friendly prior to his first season as Celtic manager.

Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and our long regular-season journey has ended with more October baseball.

The Cincinnati Reds won the final wild-card spot and will face the Dodgers in a best-of-three wild-card series starting today at 6 p.m. at Dodger Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN; in fact, all three games will be at 6 p.m. on ESPN (and on the usual Dodgers radio stations).

On paper, the Dodgers should beat the Reds, but we all know what that is worth.

Let’s take a look at how the two teams compare and where they ranked among the 30 teams:

Batting

Runs per game
Dodgers, 5.09 (2nd)
MLB average, 4.45
Reds, 4.42 (14th)

Batting average
Dodgers, .253 (5th)
MLB average, .245
Reds, .245 (18th)

On-base %
Dodgers, .327 (5th)
MLB average, .315
Reds, .315 (16th)

Slugging %
Dodgers, .441 (2nd)
MLB average, .404
Reds, .391 (21st)

Doubles
MLB average, 258
Dodgers, 257 (13th)
Reds, 250 (18th)

Triples
Reds, 23 (10th)
MLB average, 21
Dodgers, 21 (T12th)

Home runs
Dodgers, 244 (2nd)
MLB average, 188
Reds, 167 (21st)

Walks
Dodgers, 580 (2nd)
Reds, 527 (12th)
MLB average, 513

Strikeouts
Reds, 1,415 (9th)
MLB average, 1,355
Dodgers, 1,353 (16th)

Stolen bases
MLB average, 115
Reds, 105 (19th)
Dodgers, 88 (T21st)

Sacrifice bunts
MLB average, 19
Dodgers, 13 (T20th)
Reds, 12 (24th)

Batting average with two out and runners in scoring position
Dodgers, .271 (1st)
MLB average, .233
Reds, .208 (28th)

Pitching

ERA
Reds, 3.86 (12th)
Dodgers, 3.95 (16th)
MLB average, 4.15

Rotation ERA
Dodgers, 3.69 (5th)
Reds, 3.85 (9th)
MLB average, 4.21

Bullpen ERA
Reds, 3.89 (14th)
MLB average, 4.08
Dodgers, 4.27 (20th)

FIP (click here for explainer)
Dodgers, 3.93 (7th)
Reds, 4.11 (18th)
MLB average, 4.16

Walks
Dodgers, 563 (5th)
MLB average, 513
Reds, 494 (20th)

Strikeouts
Dodgers, 1,505 (1st)
MLB average, 1,355
Reds, 1,380 (13th)

Saves
Dodgers, 46 (5th)
Reds, 41 (T15th)
MLB average, 40

Blown saves
Dodgers, 27 (T7th)
MLB average, 24
Reds, 22 (16th)

Inherited runners who scored %
Dodgers, 26.1% (3rd)
MLB average, 31.8%
Reds, 31.8% (14th)

Relief innings
Dodgers, 657.2 (1st)
MLB average, 595
Reds, 569.1 (25th)

Relief wins
Dodgers, 44 (T1st)
MLB average, 33
Reds, 30 (20th)

Relief losses
Dodgers, 33 (T7th)
Reds, 30 (11th)
MLB average, 29

The players

When comparing the main players on the teams, keep in mind that players can move around depending on who is starting and managerial whim. Gavin Lux, for example, has started at left field, DH and second base for the Reds. For a full look at the Reds statistically, click here.

DH
Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani. .282/.392/.622, 25 doubles, 55 homers, 102 RBIs
Reds, Miguel Andujar, .359/.400/.544, 7 doubles, 4 homers, 17 RBIs

Catcher
Dodgers, Will Smith, .296/.404/.497, 20 doubles, 17 homers, 61 RBIs
Dodgers, Ben Rortvedt, .224/.309/.327, 2 doubles, 1 homer, 4 RBIs
Reds, Jose Trevino, .238/.272/.351, 20 doubles, 4 homers, 22 RBIs
Reds, Tyler Stephenson, .231/.316/.421, 18 doubles, 13 homers, 50 RBIs

First base
Dodgers, Freddie Freeman, .295/.367/.502, 39 doubles, 24 homers, 90 RBIs
Reds, Spencer Steer, .238/.312/.411, 21 doubles, 21 homers, 75 RBIs
Reds, Sal Stewart, .255/.293/.545, 1 double, 5 homers, 8 RBIs

Second base
Dodgers, Miguel Rojas, .262/.318/.397, 18 doubles, 7 homers, 27 RBIs
Dodgers, Kiké Hernández, .203/.255/.366, 8 doubles, 10 homers, 35 RBIs
Reds, Matt McLain, .220/.300/.343, 18 doubles, 15 homers, 50 RBIs

Third base
Dodgers, Max Muncy, .243/.376/.470, 10 doubles, 19 homers, 67 RBIs
Reds, Ke’Bryan Hayes, .234/.315/.342, 6 doubles, 3 homers, 13 RBIs

Shortstop
Dodgers, Mookie Betts, .258/.326/.406, 23 doubles, 20 homers, 82 RBIs
Reds, Elly De La Cruz, .264/.336/.440, 31 doubles, 22 homers, 86 RBIs

Left field
Dodgers, Michael Conforto, .199/.305/.333, 20 doubles, 12 homers, 36 RBIs
Reds, Gavin Lux, .269/.350/.374, 28 doubles, 5 homers, 53 RBIs

Note: Lately, when a left-hander is on the mound, Steer moves from first to left, Stewart starts at first and Lux hits the bench.

Center field
Dodgers, Andy Pages, .272/.313/.461, 27 doubles, 27 homers, 86 RBIs
Dodgers, Tommy Edman, .225/.274/.382, 13 doubles, 13 homers, 49 RBIs
Reds, TJ Friedl, .261/.364/.378, 22 doubles, 14 homers, 53 RBIs

Right field
Dodgers, Teoscar Hernández, .247/.284/.454, 29 doubles, 25 homers, 89 RBIs
Reds, Noelvy Marté, .263/.300/.448, 17 doubles, 14 homers, 51 RBIs

The three probable starting pitchers

Dodgers
*Blake Snell, 5-4, 2.35 ERA, 61.1 IP, 51 hits, 26 walks, 72 K’s
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 12-8, 2.49 ERA, 173.2 IP, 113 hits, 59 walks, 201 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, 1-1, 2.87 ERA, 47 IP, 40 hits, 9 walks, 62 K’s

Reds
Hunter Greene, 7-3, 2.76 ERA, 107.2 IP, 75 hits, 26 walks, 132 K’s
*Andrew Abbott, 10-7, 2.87 ERA, 166.1 IP, 148 hits, 43 walks, 149 K’s
*Nick Lodolo, 9-8, 3.33 ERA, 156.2 IP, 138 hits, 31 walks, 56 K’s

The main relievers

Reds
Emilio Pagán, 2-4, 2.88 ERA, 32 saves, 68.2 IP, 41 hits, 22 walks, 81 K’s
Tony Santillan, 1-5, 2.44 ERA, 7 saves, 73.2 IP, 53 hits, 29 walks, 75 K’s
*Brent Suter, 1-2, 4.52 ERA, 67.2 IP, 69 hits, 18 walks, 53 K’s

Dodgers
Tanner Scott, 1-4, 4.74 ERA, 23 saves, 57 IP, 54 hits, 18 walks, 60 K’s
*Alex Vesia, 4-2, 3.02 ERA, 5 saves, 59.2 IP, 37 hits, 22 walks, 80 K’s
Emmet Sheehan, 6-3, 2.82 ERA, 73.1 IP, 49 hits, 22 walks, 89 K’s
Blake Treinen, 2-7. 5.40 ERA, 26.2 IP, 30 hits, 19 walks, 36 K’s

The wild-card roster

We know Clayton Kershaw will not be on the wild-card roster, as Dave Roberts announced that over the weekend.

Will Smith is still dealing with a hairline fracture of his right hand. Will he be able to play in the wild-card series? That’s a big question. And if they put him on the roster and have to take him off because he is too injured, then he would also have to sit out the next round.

Max Muncy is ready for the wild-card series; they were just being judicious with his playing time to protect the various sore body parts he has right now.

Brock Stewart won’t be on it. He’s having season-ending shoulder surgery.

Who makes it among Alex Call, Michael Conforto and Hyeseong Kim? If Smith makes the roster, do they add Dalton Rushing as a third catcher? Do they put Tyler Glasnow in the bullpen for this round or go with a true reliever?

Who’s going to win?

The Dodgers have been playing some of their best baseball lately, going 15-5 in their last 20 games. The Reds are a good team, but I think the Dodgers will get past them. Prediction: Dodgers in two.

The folks at baseball-reference.com simulated the postseason 1,000 times, and this is how many times each team won the World Series:

Milwaukee, 216
Philadelphia, 191
Toronto, 134
Seattle, 125
Boston, 68
New York, 52
San Diego, 46
Dodgers, 44
Cleveland, 38
Chicago, 37
Cincinnati, 25
Detroit, 24

Nice moment

Since he is not on the wild-card roster, Clayton Kershaw pitched what could be his final game Sunday in Seattle. He struck out the final batter he faced.

Striking him out seemed apropos, since a strikeout is what put Kershaw on the scene with Dodgers fans.

It was spring training of 2008, and the game was on TV, on a station where everyone could watch it (the good old days). Most fans knew Kershaw was a highly touted prospect, the seventh overall pick in the 2006 draft. But that’s all they knew.

And then Kershaw came in to pitch. Back then, fans didn’t trust anything unless it was told to them by Vin Scully, who was in the booth for the game. Kershaw was wearing not No. 22, but No. 96, as he wasn’t expected to make the team.

Scully was recounting Kershaw’s many accomplishments in high school and the minors when Sean Casey of the Boston Red Sox came up to the plate. Casey was a career .302 hitter, so he was no slouch at the plate. Kershaw got two strikes on him, then broke off his famous 12-to-6 curve. Casey’s knees buckled. Scully said

“Oh, what a curveball. Holy mackerel! He just broke off Public Enemy No. 1. Look at this thing. It’s up here, it’s down there and Casey’s history.”

People were talking about it the next day. “Did you see Kershaw yesterday? Did you hear what Vin said?”

That began the legend of Clayton Kershaw. Hopefully, there’s at least one more magical moment left.

Remember them?

The Dodgers used 25 position players and 40 pitchers this season (some, such as Kiké Hernández and Shohei Ohtani, did both). Do you remember them all? Here’s they are, listed in order of plate appearances and innings pitched.

Position players
Shohei Ohtani
Mookie Betts
Freddie Freeman
Andy Pages
Teoscar Hernández
Michael Conforto
Will Smith
Max Muncy
Tommy Edman
Miguel Rojas
Kiké Hernández
Hyeseong Kim
Dalton Rushing
Alex Freeland
Alex Call
Ben Rortvedt
Austin Barnes
James Outman
Chris Taylor
Esteury Ruiz
Buddy Kennedy
Eddie Rosario
Hunter Feduccia
Chuckie Robinson
Justin Dean

Pitchers
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Clayton Kershaw
Dustin May
Tyler Glasnow
Ben Casparius
Jack Dreyer
Emmet Sheehan
Justin Wrobleski
Anthony Banda
Blake Snell
Alex Vesia
Tanner Scott
Shohei Ohtani
Kirby Yates
Landon Knack
Roki Sasaki
Tony Gonsolin
Matt Sauer
Luis García
Blake Treinen
Lou Trivino
Edgardo Henriquez
Will Klein
Michael Kopech
Alexis Díaz
Noah Davis
Evan Phillips
Kiké Hernández
Miguel Rojas
Bobby Miller
Yoendrys Gómez
Chris Stratton
Brock Stewart
Jack Little
José Ureña
Ryan Loutos
Paul Gervase
J.P. Feyereisen
Julian Fernández
Andrew Heaney

Up next

Tuesday: Cincinnati (Hunter Greene, 7-4, 2.76 ERA) at Dodgers (*Blake Snell, 5-4, 2.35 ERA), 6 p.m., ESPN LA, AM 570, KTMZ 1220

Wednesday: Cincinnati (TBD) at Dodgers (TBD), 6 p.m., ESPN, AM 570, KTMZ 1220

Thursday: Cincinnati (TBD) at Dodgers (TBD), 6 p.m., ESPN, AM 570, KTMZ 1220

*-left-handed

The other postseason games

In case you want to watch how the other teams are doing:

Tuesday
Detroit at Cleveland, 10 a.m., ESPN
San Diego at Chicago, noon, ABC
Boston at New York, 3 p.m., ESPN

Wednesday
Detroit at Cleveland, 10 a.m., ESPN
San Diego at Chicago, noon, ABC
Boston at New York, 3 p.m., ESPN

Thursday*
Detroit at Cleveland, 10 a.m., ESPN
San Diego at Chicago, noon, ABC
Boston at New York, 3 p.m., ESPN

*-if necessary

Note: Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Toronto and Seattle have first-round byes.

In case you missed it

Dodgers feel an urgency to deliver another World Series title to L.A.

‘That’s why I came here.’ Dodgers bet on Blake Snell’s potential as a postseason ace

Dodgers-Reds wild-card preview | Dodgers Debate

Nine concerns the Dodgers should have about facing the Reds in the NL wild-card series

Plaschke: Dodgers hero Kirk Gibson now tries to be a hero for those battling Parkinson’s disease

Dodgers find out Brock Stewart won’t return this season before win over Mariners

World Series hangover? Dodgers feel battle-tested for October by repeat challenges

And finally

Freddie Freeman removes Clayton Kershaw from his final regular-season start. 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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

PARADISE, Calif. — When Jen Goodlin visited Paradise six months after the 2018 Camp fire, she thought she was saying goodbye.

A town native, Goodlin was living in Colorado with her husband and four children. She wanted to witness the devastation that wiped out 10,700 homes, including the small white cottage where she grew up, and turned the dense forest of her youth into a bleak landscape. But once she arrived, she was surprised at her reaction. She could envision so much more than the burned trees and abandoned businesses around her.

Here, she saw, her family could live on a big piece of land as they’d always wanted. Her husband thought she was crazy, but they ran the numbers, bought a 1.2-acre vacant lot and put a trailer on the property. A few years later, they moved into a new, four-bedroom house.

“It took the fire to bring me home,” said Goodlin, 43, who now runs a local wildfire recovery nonprofit.

Jen Goodlin, executive director of the Rebuild Paradise Foundation, in Paradise, Calif., in June 2024.

(Nic Coury / Associated Press)

Young families like Goodlin’s are coming to Paradise, shifting the town’s demographics away from the retirees who once lived there. Attracted by cheap land — lots cost less than a mid-range car— newcomers can build a larger home on larger parcels for less than buying a house in Chico, a city of 100,000 people 15 miles away.

Though Paradise’s current population is less than half of what it was, the local Little League already has more kids than before the fire.

Nearly a decade of megafire in California has brought profound changes to recovering communities. Paradise has become younger. Some rebuilt areas have become wealthier. Renters and people on fixed incomes have found themselves pushed to more urban locales. Both devastated neighborhoods and fire survivors face an unpredictable future that, given the recent intensity of wildfires in California, many more areas will have to face.

Reminders of fire are inescapable in Paradise, from the roadside signposts that designate evacuation routes to the alarm that blares at noon on the 15th of every month, a test of the system that will tell everyone if they need to flee once again. At the same time, the activity in the town belies the desolation implied by building data that show only 30% of destroyed homes have been replaced. Dog walkers and parents with small children play in refurbished parks. At lunchtime, construction workers in reflective vests gather around taco trucks.

A deer treks over an empty lot as homes continue to be built throughout Paradise years after the Camp fire.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Local boosters tout that for every year after the fire, Paradise has been one of the fastest-growing communities in California. Another half-dozen homes are being rebuilt each month, according to a Times data analysis.

But as shown in Paradise, the statistics tell only part of the story. The Times found that of the nearly 22,500 homes lost in the Camp fire and California’s four other most destructive wildfires from 2017 to 2020, just 8,400, or 38%, have been rebuilt.

Given the time that has already passed, it’s unlikely that some places — the forests below the northern Sierra Nevada, parts of the Santa Monica Mountains, pieces of old Shasta County mining towns — ever will have the same number of homes as before. In Paradise, it’s essentially guaranteed. Many returning homeowners purchased their neighbors’ burned out lots to build a larger house or simply expand the size of their property.

Instead of simply repopulating these areas, there has been a subtle shift toward living in more urban communities, especially for renters or homeowners who couldn’t afford to rebuild. In Butte County, disaster relief dollars from both the Camp fire and North Complex fire, which destroyed 1,500 homes in even more rural areas two years later, have been funneled toward affordable housing projects largely in Chico and smaller nearby cities untouched by the blazes. Not one such development has been proposed in the North Complex burn scar.

The rationale is straightforward: More people can be housed more safely and sustainably in cities than in mountainous, fire-prone tracts with little public infrastructure. The urban developments also provide access to grocery stores, public transit and other amenities that give them a higher chance of winning state financing competitions and being completed.

Local officials welcome the investments but feel uneasy about what’s happening. Katie Simmons, deputy chief administrative officer overseeing recovery efforts for Butte County, said many rural fire survivors don’t want to move to the city. She called the new developments “displacement housing” that doesn’t address the needs of those in remote areas who continue to “flounder in disaster-caused homelessness.”

As time wears on, fewer and fewer people find themselves in positions to return, sometimes despite extraordinary efforts to allow them to do so.

Palm trees rising over the vacant lot in November 2020 where Journey’s End Trailer Park once stood in Santa Rosa.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

In Santa Rosa, the 2017 Tubbs fire wiped out Journey’s End, a 162-space mobile home park next to a hospital and the 101 Freeway. A partnership between the landowner, the city and for- and nonprofit developers led to plans for more than 400 apartments on the site, including full replacement of 162 units for low-income seniors.

But it wasn’t until summer 2023 that the first apartments opened. Journey’s End residents, so long as they qualified under the age and income restrictions, could return if they wanted.

Few did. About three dozen expressed interest, 12 initially moved in, six of whom remain.

A lot of her former neighbors from the mobile home park died waiting, said Pat Crisco, 75, one of the Journey’s End residents who came back. Others didn’t want to live in apartments. More had settled elsewhere and didn’t want to uproot themselves again, she said.

Pat Crisco is a former resident of the Journey’s End mobile home park that burned in the Tubbs fire. Crisco is now living in the affordable housing apartment development that was built on the site.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The stray cats Crisco used to feed at Journey’s End are gone and when the hot wind blows outside her apartment building she gets the “heebie jeebies.” But she feels great about her decision to return. The location is close to the bus, her doctors and grocery stores.

“This is brand spanking new,” Crisco said. “And everything is very convenient.”

Research shows that communities that rebuild more fully tend to end up wealthier than they used to be. Homeowners who come back are the ones able to afford to navigate the process, and brand-new houses in established areas attract outsiders.

Before the Tubbs fire, Santa Rosa’s Coffey Park subdivision was middle-class, with its tract homes routinely going for around $500,000. Nearly all the 1,300 houses lost have been rebuilt. Residents were astounded recently when they began selling at more than $1 million.

Jeff Okrepkie, 46, a Coffey Park renter who used his insurance payout as a down payment for a new home on his old street, said it’s undeniable that the neighborhood is more upscale now, with amenities hard to find elsewhere.

“This is the cliche, Americana, suburban single-family-detached homes,” Okrepkie said. “It’s 1980s-style lots, 1980s-style streets with 2020s-style houses.”

Jeff Okrepkie outside his rebuilt home, second from left, in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa.

(Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

What’s happening in Paradise and Santa Rosa provide continually evolving answers to weighty questions: When has a community recovered? And what does recovery even mean?

In 2019, Paradise received a $270-million settlement from Pacific Gas & Electric, whose power lines caused the Camp fire. The town is using the money to backfill lost tax revenue. But it won’t last forever.

That’s why local leaders are pushing for a new sewer system as part of an expanded town center to attract restaurants and business that would make more young families want to live there. The lack of one limited the commercial district in the past.

For Paradise officials, recovery is when the community can sustain itself once again.

“It looks like it’s going to serve us for 25 years,” said Colette Curtis, the town’s recovery and economic development director, of the PG&E settlement.

Some residents of communities reshaped by fire have found themselves both drawn and repelled by the place they call home.

Roger and Lindy Brown lived in Paradise with their daughter before the fire and their home burned. Their daughter went to Chico State, and Roger and Lindy moved to Oregon. Roger and Lindy moved back to a rebuilt home near their old one a couple of years ago.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Roger and Lindy Brown had lived in Paradise for 12 years when the Camp fire struck. After the blaze, the Browns rented an apartment in Chico so their daughter could finish her last year at Paradise High School, which held classes in a mall and then a warehouse in Chico.

Roger, 60, worked in heating and air conditioning and had to return to the town often. He couldn’t take seeing the burned-out trees, cars and homes. The couple took their insurance money and moved to a small town in Oregon. From a distance, the upkeep on their vacant lot proved to be too much so they sold that too.

But Paradise pulled at them, especially Lindy, 66. Their daughter never left, attending Chico State, where she recently graduated. Some of their friends had rebuilt. To her, Oregon felt lonely. Paradise, she said, was their community.

Tom and Diane Boatright built back their home in the second-fastest time after the Camp fire using a modular homebuilding company.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Last year, Roger and Lindy bought a house in Paradise, a newly built, blue, two-bedroom with a white picket fence. The home had all they wanted. Solar power. A large lot. Apple, cherry and peach trees in the back. And they were overwhelmed with the thought of starting from scratch.

They’ve kept a Little Free Library on their lawn stocked with books. In the spring, they traded their extra peaches for eggs from their neighbor’s chickens.

On a recent weekday afternoon, Roger and Lindy stood in their frontyard admiring the finishing touches on their only major construction project. They were replacing some of the landscaping with gravel, a decision that made their home more fire-resistant and cut their insurance costs in half.

Roger still felt unsure about returning. Before the fire, he would go to breakfast with the town’s classic car club every Saturday. The 1971 Chevy Nova Roger had restored was lost in the blaze and the car club was no more.

“It’s never going to be the Paradise it was,” Roger said to Lindy.

His wife turned to him. “It doesn’t have to be,” she said.

Blake Snell did not sound bitter. Somehow, he was not racked with regret.

Rather, when asked at his introductory Dodgers news conference this past offseason about the most infamous moment of his career, he took a brief moment to think. Then, unexpectedly, he expressed gratitude instead.

Five years ago, Snell was pitching the game of his life in Game 6 of the 2020 World Series. With his Tampa Bay Rays facing elimination against the Dodgers, he had answered the bell with five one-hit, nine-strikeout, virtually flawless Fall Classic innings.

What happened next remains controversial to this day. Snell gave up a one-out single in the sixth inning to Austin Barnes. Rays manager Kevin Cash came to the mound with a stunningly quick hook. The Dodgers went on to mount a rally against the Tampa Bay bullpen, ending a three-decade title drought while the left-handed ace watched from the bench. And in the aftermath, the second-guessing of the decision was as immediate as it was decisive.

Almost everyone else in the baseball world thought Snell should have stayed in.

Over time, however, the pitcher himself came to view it as a valuable lesson.

“It was a moment in my life that I’m very appreciative of,” Snell said last winter, donning a Dodger blue jersey for the first time after signing with the club for $182 million as a free agent.

“If I wanted to stay out there longer, I should have done a better job before that game to make that decision easier on Kevin. It’s ultimately up to me to be a better pitcher there in that moment.”

Five years later, he’s about to get his chance for postseason redemption.

Snell’s debut season in Los Angeles did not go as planned this year. He made two underwhelming starts at the beginning of the campaign while quietly battling shoulder soreness. He spent the next four months sidelined on the injured list, returning in time to make only nine more starts down the stretch.

Although his final numbers were strong (a 2.35 ERA, 72 strikeouts in 61⅓ innings, and Dodgers wins in seven of the 11 games he did pitch), his injury left his overall impact limited.

To Snell and the team, though, none of that matters now. Their union was always rooted in postseason success. And on Tuesday night, when the Dodgers open a best-of-three wild-card series against the Cincinnati Reds, it is Snell who will take the bump for Game 1 at Dodger Stadium.

“That’s why I came here,” Snell said amid the Dodgers’ division-clinching clubhouse celebration last week. “Get to the postseason, and see how good I can be.”

It’s an opportunity that’s been half a decade in the making.

Ever since breaking into the majors in 2016, and winning his first Cy Young Award with an immaculate 21-win, 1.89-ERA season two years later, Snell’s raw talent has never been in question. No starting pitcher in the history of the sport (minimum 1,000 career innings) has averaged more strikeouts per nine innings than his 11.2 mark. Even in the game’s modern era, few have possessed such a wicked arsenal, with Snell’s slider and curveball alone boasting a whopping career whiff rate of roughly 50%.

What Snell hasn’t done, however, is prove himself to be a workhorse. He has never had a 200-inning season. He has never gone six full frames in any of his 10 playoff starts. Through the years, he has been dogged by high walk rates and inefficient outings and a tendency to simply waste too many pitches. When Cash came to the mound in that sixth inning of the 2020 World Series, it only reinforced his five-and-dive reputation.

That’s why, when Snell looks back on that moment now, he views it through a lens of valuable perspective.

“I just learned, the manager’s job is to do whatever he thinks is gonna help the team win, and my job is to make him believe I’m the best option for us to win,” Snell said this past weekend, when asked about that ignominious Game 6 again. “And I didn’t do a good job of that, because he took me out.”

Thus, Snell has been on a different mission over the five years since. He not only wants to get back to the World Series and win his first championship. But he wants to do so as a bona fide October ace, the kind of anchor of a pitching staff that can get deeper into outings.

“[The playoffs are] where you want to see: What kind of player are you? How do you handle pressure situations? When everything is on the line,” Snell said. “That’s why I like it. It really allows you to understand who you are as a pitcher, where you’re at, and where you need to grow … How to find advantages to push yourself deeper in the game.”

The last time Snell pitched in the playoffs, such goals remained a work in progress. As a member of the San Diego Padres in 2022, he amassed just 13⅔ innings over three postseason starts, recording a 4.61 ERA while walking nine total batters.

Over the three seasons since then, however, he feels he has made more tangible strides. In 2023, he won another Cy Young by going 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA, averaging close to six innings per start despite a major-league-leading 99 walks. Last year might have been even more transformational, even as he battled injuries with the San Francisco Giants.

During his lone season in the Bay, Snell picked the brain of Giants ace Logan Webb, who has led the National League in innings pitched over each of the last three seasons. Their talks centered on the value of short at-bats, the importance of “dominating the inside part of the plate,” and the significance of executing competitive misses on throws around the edge of the zone.

“That was probably one of my biggest years of growth and development, in the sense of how to go deeper into games,” Snell said.

The results certainly backed that up, with Snell rebounding from an injury-plagued first half to post a 1.23 ERA over his final 14 starts. In an early August trip to Cincinnati (his last time facing the Reds ahead of this week’s playoff series), he threw his first career no-hitter on just 114 pitches.

“That no-hitter was insane,” said current Dodgers outfielder and former Giants teammate Michael Conforto, who like Snell went from San Francisco to Los Angeles as a free agent last offseason. “He just had everything working. He was hitting every corner. He knew exactly where he wanted to put it, and he put it there every time.

“That’s the kind of performance he’s capable of every time he goes out,” Conforto added. “It’s just a very, very tough at-bat. Especially when he’s throwing strikes.”

This year, Snell’s evolution has continued around the Dodgers — where manager Dave Roberts has lauded him as a “next-level thinker” for the way he can read opponents’ swings, figure out their tendencies in the batter’s box, and adapt his plan of attack to what he feels a given matchup requires.

Since returning from his early-season shoulder injury, Snell has increasingly tapped into top form. He has cut down on walks and wasted pitches. He has posted a 2.41 ERA over his nine second-half starts. His last three outings in particular: 19 innings, one run, 28 strikeouts and only five free passes.

The most important development has been his relationship with Roberts, who left Snell in the game after late-inning mound visits in each of his last two starts, and watched him escape high-leverage jams.

Those moments could be invaluable as the Dodgers enter the playoffs, giving Roberts a level of confidence to push his Game 1 starter and cover for what has been an unreliable bullpen.

“He understands his role on this ball club,” Roberts said. “When you put a starter in a position where they know they have to go deeper, you’ve got to just naturally be more efficient.”

It’s a skill Snell has been honing ever since that fateful October night five years ago. Starting Tuesday night, it’s about to be tested again.

“That’s everything,” Snell said of pitching in the postseason again. “To face the best when the stakes are highest, that’s what I’ve always wanted.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he would be scoreboard watching on Sunday afternoon.

But he insisted he didn’t care how things played out.

His team, of course, had already been locked in as the National League’s No. 3 seed, set to host a best-of-three wild card series at Dodger Stadium starting Tuesday.

What wasn’t clear until the end of play on Sunday, however, was whether the Dodgers would be facing the Cincinnati Reds or New York Mets to open the postseason.

“I honestly don’t really care, I really don’t,” Roberts said. “I think the way we’re playing right now, it doesn’t matter who we play.”

In a photo finish for the NL’s final wild-card berth, it was the Reds who earned the final ticket to the postseason, clinching in spite of their Sunday loss to the Milwaukee Brewers thanks to the Mets’ defeat in Miami at the hand of the Marlins.

Thus, it will be the Reds coming to Chavez Ravine this week, trying to halt the Dodgers’ defense of last year’s championship.

“It’s a gritty group. It’s a hungry group. It’s certainly a younger group,” Roberts said after the matchup was set. “These guys are going to be coming in to win a series. They’re feeling really good about themselves. So we’ve got to focus on ourselves and take it to them.”

Here are nine things to know about the Reds ahead of Game 1 at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday at 6:08 p.m. (ESPN):

Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, reminding you to stock up on your favorite antacid before the postseason begins.

It was a lot closer than most expected, and it was quite a struggle, but the Dodgers have won the NL West. Some would have been disappointed if they didn’t win it by the All-Star break, but with three games left, the NL West is secure.

This is the 12th time in the last 13 years that the Dodgers have won the NL West. And, despite the travails of the season, that is a remarkable accomplishment. Of course, winning the division guarantees nothing except home-field advantage in the first round, but everyone should take a moment to enjoy it.

We still don’t know who the Dodgers will play starting Tuesday. The first round is three games, Tuesday-Thursday, all at Dodger Stadium. Of course, they will play the third game only if necessary.

Let’s take a look at the other times the Dodgers won the NL West (divisional play began in 1969):

1974: 102-60, lost in World Series to Oakland
1977: 98-64, lost in World Series to New York
1978: 95-67, lost in World Series to New York
1981: 63-47, won World Series over New York
1983: 91-71, lost in NLCS to Philadelphia
1985: 95-67, lost in NLCS to St. Louis
1988: 94-67, won World Series over Oakland
1995: 78-66, lost in NLDS to Cincinnati
2004: 93-69, lost in NLDS to St. Louis
2008: 84-78, lost in NLCS to Philadelphia
2009: 95-67, lost in NLCS to Philadelphia
2013: 92-70, lost in NLCS to St. Louis
2014: 94-68, lost in NLDS to St. Louis
2015: 92-70, lost in NLDS to New York
2016: 91-71, lost in NLCS to Chicago
2017: 104-58, lost in World Series to Houston*
2018: 92-71, lost in World Series to Boston
2019: 106-56, lost in NLDS to Washington
2020: 43-17, won World Series over Tampa Bay
2022: 111-51, lost in NLDS to San Diego
2023: 100-62, lost in NLDS to Arizona
2024: 98-64, won World Series over New York
2025: 90-69, ?

*-Houston (no relation) cheated

Most NL West titles

Dodgers, 23
San Francisco, 9
Cincinnati, 7
Arizona, 5
Atlanta, 5
San Diego, 5
Arizona, 3
Houston, 2

When I was a kid, it seemed to always come down to either the Dodgers or Cincinnati for the NL West title. I miss those days.

The Dodgers did a full clubhouse celebration after winning the title. I have done a full 180 on this. A few years ago I wrote they shouldn’t celebrate these things. But they should. Life is to be celebrated, and celebrating a division title is fine. For some of these guys, it is the first time, and it might be the only time, they won a division title. For someone like Clayton Kershaw, it’s the last time. Enjoy it. It doesn’t mean their focus is off the big prize.

Quotes about winning the division

Dave Roberts: “I do feel that in totality, we’re playing our best baseball of the season. The win-loss hasn’t reflected it, but I think that’s what’s most important. There’s just been a lot of good things and a lot of growth from a lot of players, which has been fun to see.”

Max Muncy: “This year was harder than ever, to get to this point. We went through a lot. We had a lot of injuries. We had a lot of ups and downs.”

Blake Snell (on guys coming together as a team): “That’s what’s going to make us stronger during October. It’s what we needed.”

Clayton Kershaw: “It’s been a weird year for everybody, but we’re here, we won again. Obviously, we’ve got a lot more to accomplish. But you’ve got to enjoy this moment. We are. It’s a great group of guys. And we’re going to have a ton of fun.”

The bullpen

Last time, we tackled the topic of “Is this the worst bullpen in L.A. Dodgers history?” and many of you wanted more stats to prove it is indeed the worst. So here come some more stats.

But first things first: Considering the amount of money sunk into this season’s bullpen, it seems like it’s the worst, no matter what the numbers say.

Most blown saves by an L.A. Dodgers bullpen

1. 29 (2024)
1. 29 (2019)
3. 27 (2025)
3. 27 (2021)
3. 27 (2018)
3. 27 (2001)
3. 27 (1998)
8. 26 (2009)
9. 23 (2000)

Amazing when you see last season’s bullpen, considered the team’s savior, shares the record for most blown saves.

The fewest is eight, for the 2003 team that finished 85-77.

Bullpen losses

1. 33 (2025)
1. 33 (2018)
3. 30 (2005)
4. 29 (1992)
4. 29 (1975)
6. 28 (2021)
6. 28 (2015)
6. 28 (1986)
9. 27 (1996)
9. 27 (1980)

Last season’s bullpen lost 24 games. The record for fewest in a full season is 12 in 1968.

Inherited runners who scored %

1. 43%, 64 of 149 (1994)
2. 41.6%, 72 of 173 (1979)
3. 41%, 110 of 268 (2010)
4. 40.6%, 58 of 143 (1974)
5. 40.3%, 60 of 149 (1966)
6. 39.4%, 56 of 142 (1971)
7. 39.2%, 74 of 189 (1966)
8. 39.1%, 93 of 238 (1959)
9. 38.3%, 110 of 287 (1958)
10. 38.2%, 76 of 199 (1998)

55. 26.2%, 60 of 229 (2025)

Looked at in the other order, the Dodgers this year are 14th-best in L.A. Dodgers history in this category. Seems wrong, but the numbers are the numbers. Maybe Dave Roberts should bring relievers in with runners on, not to start an inning.

Most blown saves by an L.A. Dodgers reliever

12
Mike Marshall, 1974

11
Scott Radinsky, 1998

10
Jim Brewer, 1969
Tanner Scott, 2025

9
Steve Howe, 1980
Steve Howe, 1982
Ken Howell, 1986
Phil Regan, 1967
Jeff Shaw, 2001
Todd Worrell, 1996
Todd Worrell, 1997

On Wednesday, the Dodgers got two new bullpen members: Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw. Not sure where they came from. Must be a couple of late trades. But they each pitched a scoreless inning, giving us a preview of what the postseason bullpen could look like. Unlike his first stint with the Dodgers, Sasaki was attacking hitters, striking out two. Kershaw was Kershaw.

They both could be big upgrades in the postseason. It doesn’t mean the problem is solved by any means. But if Sasaki can pitch like he did Wednesday, then he could be the guy the Dodgers rely on in the postseason.

My new dream is Game 7 of the World Series, Kershaw gets the save.

For a good cause

Four years ago, this newsletter mentioned Makenna Martin, a then-college student who was holding an online bracket (much like the NCAA bracket) where people could fill out their choices for the best-looking Dodger. She added a charitable aspect to it, raising money for a charity for women who are the victim of domestic violence.

Martin, now a college graduate, has continued the bracket, and this year is using it to raise money for “Peace Over Violence,” another charity that helps victims of domestic abuse. You do not have to donate to take part in the bracket challenge. Whether you donate or not, it’s a lot of fun to do. There’s also a raffle to raise funds, with a lot of Dodgers prizes to win. A tip of the cap to Martin and to all young people who try to make the world just a little bit better.

Martin answered a few question via email:

Q: When did you come up with the hottest Dodger bracket and how has it grown over the years?

Martin: It mostly started as a joke with some of my friends on Twitter when I was a senior in high school (8 years ago now!) but it really blew up unexpectedly so I have done it every year since given that everyone has so much fun with it. Four years ago I had the idea to add the fundraiser aspect given the allegations against Trevor Bauer and later on Julio Urías, so we have been able to use our silly annual tradition to bring real change to our community.

Q. What charity is the bracket benefitting this year?

Martin: We are once again supporting Peace Over Violence this year, an organization focused on supporting survivors of domestic violence with the resources they need to heal and thrive.

Q. How much money have you raised for charity over the years?

Martin: We are up to over $33,000 total over the last four years!

Q. Cody Bellinger won your bracket a couple of times, and Chris Taylor has won. Now they are gone. Who’s the odds-on favorite this year?

Martin: I think you can never bet against Shohei [Ohtani], he’s just too good at everything!

Q. Last time we talked, you were in college. What are you up to now?

Martin: I graduated from UC Davis in 2023 and for the last two years I have worked on campus in nutrition research.

Q. Your prediction for the playoffs this year?

Martin: I predict that the bullpen is going to give us all a heart attack.

Q. Finally, for people who want to fill out a bracket and learn more, where should they go?

Martin: All of the information and links can be found on my Twitter (makenna_m19) which is most likely to be up to date, or on Bluesky ([email protected]).

Poll time

We asked, “If all goes as expected this week and the Dodgers win the West, which team would you prefer the Dodgers play in the first round, New York, Cincinnati or Arizona?”

The results, after 8,130 votes:

Cincinnati, 55.9%
New York, 30.1%
Arizona, 14%

Up next

Friday: Dodgers (Emmet Sheehan, 6-3, 2.86 ERA) at Seattle (George Kirby, 10-7, 4,24 ERA), 6:40 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 4-3, 3.30 ERA) at Seattle (Logan Gilbert, 6-6, 3.43 ERA), 6:40 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: Dodgers (*Clayton Kershaw, 10-2, 3.52 ERA) at Seattle (Bryce Miller, 4-5, 5.53 ERA), 12:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Shaikin: Dodgers fans should take a moment to appreciate team’s success before anxiety returns

Can Roki Sasaki’s return provide Dodgers trustworthy relief? Early signs were promising

How Bill Russell stayed connected to baseball, and reconnected with the Dodgers

MLB will use robot umpires in 2026, ushering in a new era for calling balls and strikes

And finally

The Dodgers celebrate winning the NL West. 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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Dave Roberts often refers to his bullpen hierarchy as something of a “trust tree,” with branches of relievers he can trust in leverage spots.

Right now, however, it’s been more like a shriveled-up houseplant. Barren, depleted and long-shunned from the sun.

On the season, the Dodgers’ 4.33 bullpen ERA ranks 21st in the majors. Since the start of September, that number has climbed to a stunning 5.69 mark. Closer Tanner Scott has converted less than one-third of his save opportunities, his ERA rising to 4.91 after his latest meltdown on Tuesday. Top right-hander Blake Treinen had been the losing pitcher in each of the Dodgers’ five defeats before that, sending his ERA to a career-worst 5.55.

Plenty of others have been responsible for the Dodgers’ late-game incompetence. Kirby Yates has flopped as a veteran offseason signing. Michael Kopech has struggled through injuries and a lack of reliable command. Rookies like Jack Dreyer, Edgardo Henriquez and the since-demoted Ben Casparius have regressed after promising flashes earlier this summer. And the lone reinforcement the front office acquired at what now feels like a regrettably quiet trade deadline, Brock Stewart, is uncertain to return from a bothersome shoulder problem.

It leaves the Dodgers with only one full-time relief arm sporting an ERA under 3.00 this season — Alex Vesia, who has a 2.62 mark in 66 appearances.

It has turned the final days of the regular season into an all-out manhunt for even the slightest of trustworthy playoff options.

“What does that mean?” manager Dave Roberts said, when asked what qualifies as “trust” right now. “It means guys that are gonna take the mound with conviction. That are gonna be on the attack. That are gonna throw strikes, quality strikes, and compete. And be willing to live with whatever result.”

On Wednesday, that’s the backdrop against which Roki Sasaki rejoined the Dodgers’ active roster — the raw and developing 23-year-old rookie pitcher, coming off a five-month absence because of a shoulder injury, returning in hopes of supplying Roberts’ crippling trust tree with an unexpected limb.

Sasaki’s return was not supposed to be this important. Up until a couple weeks ago, his disappointing debut season seemed likely to end with a stint in the minors.

Yet over the last 15 days, circumstances have changed. Sasaki rediscovered 100-mph life on his fastball. He excelled in two relief appearances with triple-A Oklahoma City. And suddenly, he seemed like a potentially better alternative to the slumping names that have repeatedly failed on the Dodgers’ big-league roster.

Thus, the Japanese phenom is back again, activated from the IL before Wednesday’s game as Yates, who has a 5.23 ERA this year and was slipping out of the Dodgers’ postseason plans, was placed on the IL with a hamstring strain.

“I just think [he needs to focus on] giving everything he has for an inning or two at a time, and let the performance play out,” Roberts said of Sasaki. “Just go after guys, and be on the attack.”

Sasaki’s revival began earlier this month, when he went to Arizona after four poor starts in a minor-league rehab assignment to work with the organization’s pitching development coaches.

At that point, Sasaki had lost his tantalizing velocity, hardly even threatening 100 mph since his adrenaline-fueled debut in Tokyo back in March. His command was just as shaky, averaging more than 5 ½ walks per nine innings in his first season stateside. Even his pitch mix required an examination, after his predominantly fastball/splitter arsenal was hammered in both the majors (where he had a 4.72 ERA in eight starts to begin the season) and the minors (where he had a 7.07 ERA in his first four rehab starts) by hitters who could too easily differentiate his stuff.

“Me, him and his translators went in the lab and sat down and watched video for a few hours, and just talked,” said Rob Hill, the Dodgers’ director of pitching who worked with Sasaki at the club’s Arizona facility. “It wasn’t as much solving this like, master plan or whatever. It was moreso helping him actualize the things that he was seeing.”

In Hill’s view, Sasaki’s mechanics had suffered from a shoulder injury that, even before this year, had plagued him since his final season in Japan.

While the two watched film, Hill said they found discrepancies between things Sasaki “still almost thought he was doing” in his delivery, but weren’t translating in how he actually threw the ball.

“I think a lot of it just came from his body changing, the way he was throwing due to throwing hurt for probably a couple years,” Hill said. “He knew what he wanted to do, but he couldn’t quite tap into the way to do it.”

What followed was a series of mechanical tweaks that got Sasaki’s fastball back around 100 and his trademark splitter to more closely mirror his four-seamer when it left his hand. Sasaki also added a cutter-like slider, giving him another weapon with which to confuse hitters and induce more soft contact.

When the right-hander returned to the minors, he struck out eight batters over a solid 4 ⅔-inning, three-run start on Sept. 9. He then impressed with two scoreless appearances in relief last week, after club executives asked Sasaki to experiment in the bullpen.

Now, he is rejoining the Dodgers for the final five games of the season. The team is hopeful that his small sample size of recent success has made him a legitimate postseason relief option.

“I guess it’s fair to say I’m just going to throw him in on the deep end,” Roberts said of how he will use Sasaki going forward, noting there aren’t many “low-leverage” opportunities in an end-of-season division race.

“If we’re expecting him to potentially pitch for us in the postseason, they’re all leverage innings. So I don’t think we’re going to run from putting him in any spot.”

Odds are that Sasaki won’t be a cure-all for the Dodgers’ late-game woes. A pitcher of such little experience and developmental uncertainties is anything but a lock to post zeroes in the playoffs.

Still, the team will take whatever bullpen help it can get. Already, Clayton Kershaw has made himself available for relief appearances and could pitch in late-inning leverage spots in October. Emmet Sheehan also will join the bullpen mix come the playoffs, likely as a multi-inning option to piggyback with starters.

In the meantime, the club is searching for even a couple more reliable arms — just one or two branches on the bullpen’s hierarchy tree for Roberts to trust.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Dodgers’ sudden need for someone like Sasaki is a reflection of the roster’s underlying flaws. But he will try taking on a potentially critical role in a rookie season that once seemed lost.

“He’s been in the ‘pen for the triple-A team, and he’s been really good,” Roberts said. “So I’m looking forward to seeing it with our club.”

NEW YORK — Robot umpires are getting called up to the big leagues next season.

Major League Baseball’s 11-man competition committee on Tuesday approved use of the Automated Ball/Strike System in the major leagues in 2026.

Human plate umpires will still call balls and strikes, but teams can challenge two calls per game and get additional appeals in extra innings. Challenges must be made by a pitcher, catcher or batter — signaled by tapping their helmet or cap — and a team retains its challenge if successful. Reviews will be shown as digital graphics on outfield videoboards.

Adding the robot umps is likely to cut down on ejections. MLB said 61.5% of ejections among players, managers and coaches last year were related to balls and strikes, as were 60.3% this season through Sunday. The figures include ejections for derogatory comments, throwing equipment while protesting calls and inappropriate conduct.

Big league umpires call roughly 94% of pitches correctly, according to UmpScorecards.

“Throughout this process we have worked on deploying the system in a way that’s acceptable to players,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “The strong preference from players for the challenge format over using the technology to call every pitch was a key factor in determining the system we are announcing today.”

ABS, which utilizes Hawk-Eye cameras, has been tested in the minor leagues since 2019. The independent Atlantic League trialed the system at its 2019 All-Star Game and MLB installed the technology for that’s year Arizona Fall League of top prospects. The ABS was tried at eight of nine ballparks of the Low-A Southeast League in 2021, then moved up to Triple-A in 2022.

At Triple-A at the start of the 2023 season, half the games used the robots for ball/strike calls and half had a human making decisions subject to appeals by teams to the ABS.

MLB switched Triple-A to an all-challenge system on June 26, 2024, then used the challenge system this year at 13 spring training ballparks hosting 19 teams for a total of 288 exhibition games. Teams won 52.2% of their ball/strike challenges (617 of 1,182) challenges.

At Triple-A this season, the average challenges per game increased to 4.2 from 3.9 through Sunday and the success rate dropped to 49.5% from 50.6%. Defenses were successful in 53.7% of challenges this year and offenses in 45%.

In the first test at the big League All-Star Game, four of five challenges of plate umpire Dan Iassogna’s calls were successful in July.

Teams in Triple-A do not get additional challenges in extra innings. The proposal approved Tuesday included a provision granting teams one additional challenge each inning if they don’t have challenges remaining.

MLB has experimented with different shapes and interpretations of the strike zone with ABS, including versions that were three-dimensional. Currently, it calls strikes solely based on where the ball crosses the midpoint of the plate, 8.5 inches from the front and the back. The top of the strike zone is 53.5% of batter height and the bottom 27%.

This will be MLB’s first major rule change since sweeping adjustments in 2024. Those included a pitch clock, restrictions on defensive shifts, pitcher disengagements such as pickoff attempts and larger bases.

The challenge system introduces ABS without eliminating pitch framing, a subtle art where catchers use their body and glove to try making borderline pitches look like strikes. Framing has become a critical skill for big league catchers, and there was concern that full-blown ABS would make some strong defensive catchers obsolete. Not that everyone loves it.

“The idea that people get paid for cheating, for stealing strikes, for moving a pitch that’s not a strike into the zone to fool the official and make it a strike is beyond my comprehension,” former manager Bobby Valentine said.

Texas manager Bruce Bochy, a big league catcher from 1978-87, maintained old-school umpires such as Bruce Froemming and Billy Williams never would have accepted pitch framing. He said they would have told him: “‘If you do that again, you’ll never get a strike.’ I’m cutting out some words.”

Management officials on the competition committee include Seattle chairman John Stanton, St. Louis CEO Bill DeWitt Jr., San Francisco chairman Greg Johnson, Colorado CEO Dick Monfort, Toronto CEO Mark Shapiro and Boston chairman Tom Werner.

Players include Arizona’s Corbin Burnes and Zac Gallen, Detroit’s Casey Mize, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh and the New York Yankees’ Austin Slater, with the Chicago Cubs’ Ian Happ at Detroit’s Casey Mize as alternates. The union representatives make their decisions based on input from players on the 30 teams.

Bill Miller is the umpire representative.

Blum writes for the Associated Press.

Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, reminding you to return your tray table to its full upright and locked position before the regular season comes to a landing.

So, what do we talk about as we prepare for another postseason? The same thing we’ve been talking about pretty much all season. The bullpen. It hasn’t been all that great this year. There have been flashes of solid work, but for the most part, you hold your breath any time a reliever comes into the game.

And that’s the way it’s going to be all postseason. It doesn’t matter if the relievers don’t give up a run in the final six games of the season. It will still be nervous time once Game 1 against whomever begins.

One thing readers ask me often is, is this the worst Dodgers bullpen ever? Well, no, but let’s take a look:

Worst bullpen ERAs since the Dodgers moved to L.A.:

1. 1958, 4.74 (team record: 71-83)

2. 2001, 4.70 (86-76)

3. 1994, 4.69 (58-56)

4. 2005, 4.42 (71-91)

5. 1999, 4.37 (77-85)

6. 2025, 4.28 (88-68)

7. 1995, 4.22 (78-66)

8. 1979, 4.17 (79-83)

9. 1961, 4.15 (89-65)

10. 2006, 4.12 (88-74)

11. 2010, 4.07 (80-82)

Those are the only L.A. Dodger teams with a bullpen ERA over four. This year’s Dodgers are the sixth-worst among the 68 L.A. Dodger bullpens.

Just to complete the thought, here’s the 10 best bullpen ERAs since they moved to L.A. before the 1958 season:

1. 1968, 2.14 (76-86)

2. 1988, 2.35 (94-67)

3. 1966, 2.38 (95-67)

4. 2003, 2.46 (85-77)

5. 1983, 2.50 (91-71)

6. 2020, 2.74 (43-17)

7. 1989, 2.75 (77-83)

8. 1980, 2.83 (92-71)

9. 1978, 2.84 (95-67)

10. 1964, 2.86 (80-82)

Last season’s World Series champion team had a bullpen ERA of 3.53, which puts them around the middle of the pack, 30^th-best in L.A. Dodger history.

Now let’s look at the 10 worst again, but compare them to the league ERA that season. After all, a team with 4.10 ERA in a league that averages a 3.90 ERA is better than a team that has a 4.10 ERA in a league that averages a 3.20 ERA.

1958
Bullpen ERA: 4.74
League ERA: 3.95
Difference: +0.79

2001
Bullpen ERA: 4.70
League ERA: 4.36
Difference: +0.34

1994
Bullpen ERA: 4.69
League ERA: 4.21
Difference: +0.48

2005
Bullpen ERA: 4.42
League ERA: 4.22
Difference: +0.20

1999
Bullpen ERA: 4.37
League ERA: 4.56
Difference, -0.19

2025
Bullpen ERA: 4.28
League ERA: 4.24
Difference: +0.04

1995
Bullpen ERA: 4.22
League ERA: 4.18
Difference: +0.04

1979
Bullpen ERA: 4.17
League ERA: 3.73
Difference: +0.44

1961
Bullpen ERA: 4.15
League ERA: 4.03
Difference: +0.12

2006
Bullpen ERA: 4.12
League ERA: 4.49
Difference: -0.37

That 1958 bullpen, featuring Clem Labine, Fred Kipp and Johnny Klippstein was pretty bad, while the 1999 bullpen (Jeff Shaw, Alan Mills, Onan Masaoka) and the 2006 bullpen (Takashi Saito, Jonathan Broxton, Joe Beimel) don’t belong in the discussion of worst Dodger bullpens.

But we’re looking at this year’s bullpen, and while they are about league average, the fact is the Dodgers spent a lot of money in the offseason to make it one of the league’s best. Tanner Scott got four years, $72 million, a signing that at this moment looks pretty terrible. Kirby Yates (one year, $13 million) is worse than Scott on the mound. Most of the usual stalwarts are either not pitching well (Blake Treinen) or injured (Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol). The best, most consistent relievers have been Jack Dreyer and Alex Vesia, both lefties. Edgardo Henriquez has been good, but is still very green and has pitched only 17 innings this season. Anthony Banda has been solid. Michael Kopech can’t find the strike zone (13 walks in 11 innings) and is back on the IL. And so on. In short, there is no one you really say “I’m glad he’s in the game.”

By the way, an interesting stat: In the last five Dodger losses, the pitcher of record (which means he got the loss) was Treinen. A Dodgers starting pitcher hasn’t recorded a loss since Sept. 4.

Are reinforcements on the way? Maybe, but what can we expect out of those reinforcements, namely Roki Sasaki and Brock Stewart? It would be hold your breath time if they came in too.

The good news is that, especially for the first round, which lasts only three games at most, a couple of starters can go into the bullpen. Having Emmet Sheehan coming in for relief could be a welcome sight.

But basically, if you have feelings of dread over the bullpen, they won’t be going away before October. Think of it as the perfect Halloween feeling. Frightened and anxious.

This week

This week is about winning the division and securing home-field advantage in the first round. The Dodgers have a 2 1/2-game lead over San Diego with six to play. In effect, it is a four-game lead (the Dodgers are three games up in the loss column), because if the two teams tie, the Dodgers have the tiebreaker. The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the West is three.

The Dodgers close with three games at Arizona and three games at Seattle. The Diamondbacks are fighting for the final wild-card spot, while the Mariners are fighting for the AL West division title.

The Padres close with six games at home. Three with Milwaukee, which has clinched the NL Central division title and is 2-1/2 games up on Philadelphia for the best record in baseball, and three with Arizona. The Padres beat the Brewers in extra innings Monday. They have a day off Thursday, while the Dodgers have no days off remaining.

The first round starts a week from today, with the Dodgers (hopefully) playing host against either New York, Cincinnati or Arizona.

Poll time

If all goes as expected this week and the Dodgers win the West, which team would you prefer the Dodgers play in the first round, New York, Cincinnati or Arizona?

Click here to vote.

It wasn’t the Dodgers’ fault

The Dodgers have received a lot of criticism recently for being money hungry in “putting Clayton Kershaw‘s final home game on Apple TV+.” And while there are times the Dodgers seek the almighty dollar, this wasn’t one of them.

As Bill Shaikin explains in this story:

“The exclusive broadcast rights for the game belong to Apple TV+, as part of a package of Friday night games bought from Major League Baseball. Apple is guaranteed a minimum of four exclusive broadcasts for whatever teams it chooses to air, according to a league official. Friday’s game will be the Dodgers’ fourth on Apple TV+ this season, so it remains exclusive to Apple.”

People close to the situation not authorized to speak publicly have said that the Dodgers asked for permission to put the game on a local channel so everyone could watch, but Apple was not keen on that idea.

Will Smith

The worst thing for the Dodgers in the postseason might not be the bullpen, it might be the fact that Will Smith has a hairline fracture of his right hand. He won’t play this week, and the Dodgers are hoping he will be back for the postseason. The Dodgers have played well in his absence, but it would still be nice to have one of your best hitters in the lineup.

He will be replaced as a starter by Ben Rortvedt, who has usurped Dalton Rushing in the catcher hierarchy for the moment. Why, well, as Jack Harris recounts in this story, the pitchers love the guy. The Dodgers have a 2.92 ERA in 14 games with Rortvedt behind the plate, compared to 4.00 for Rushing and 4.04 with Smith. Granted, it’s a small sample size and the rotation was beginning to surge before Rortvedt took over for Smith, but it’s still impressive for someone to come from outside the organization and fit in as seamlessly as he has.

Rortvedt is also hitting .270.341/.324 with the Dodgers, far ahead of his career numbers of .192/.280/.269.

Up next

Tuesday: Dodgers (Shohei Ohtani, 1-1, 3.29 ERA) at Arizona (Brandon Pfaadt, 13-8, 5.02 ERA), 6:40 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Wednesday: Dodgers (*Blake Snell, 5-4, 2.44 ERA) at Arizona (Ryne Nelson, 7-3, 3.34 ERA), 6:40 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Thursday: Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 11-8, 2.58 ERA) at Arizona (Nabil Crismatt, 3-0, 2.61 ERA), 12:40 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Hernández: Roki Sasaki a playoff reliever? Don’t put it past desperate Dodgers

Shaikin: Clayton Kershaw was always at the heart of the Dodgers’ franchise revival

‘I’m really at peace.’ Why Clayton Kershaw decided to make resurgent 2025 season his last

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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. This is a special bonus edition of the newsletter, because it is the one-year anniversary of something that should be remembered. Special note: I wrote most of the below newsletter Wednesday. On Thursday, Clayton Kershaw announced he is retiring at the end of the season.

Kershaw is one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, not just Dodger history. He is a first ballot Hall of Famer. We have had a tendency to focus on his shortcomings the last couple of seasons and sometimes let it overshadow the fact he is one of the greatest Dodgers ever. It’s unlikely we will ever see such a great player spend 18 seasons in a Dodger uniform again.

I have other duties here at The Times that make it difficult to write the kind of newsletter tribute Kershaw deserves and have it ready for you to read early Friday morning. So I’m not going to try and I ask for you grace and patience on that. We will have coverage throughout the weekend from our great Dodgers beat writer Jack Harris, and from our columnists such as Bill Plaschke. So I invite you to visit latimes.com/sports this weekend to read what they have to say. We will have a full newsletter devoted to Kershaw next week.

In the meantime…. Kershaw is scheduled to start tonight against the Giants. It will be his final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium. Depending on how the postseason goes, it could be his final Dodger Stadium start ever. He deserves a lengthy standing ovation when he takes the mound. And, hopefully all goes well and he can be removed during the game after a nice start, and get a lengthy standing ovation as he walks off the mound. Dodgers fans won’t see a pitcher like him again.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled bonus newsletter.

Ohtani or Schwarber?

One year ago today, Shohei Ohtani created the 50-50 club. While having perhaps the greatest day on offense (Ohtani was six for six with two doubles, three homers, four runs, two stolen bases and 10 RBIs) in major league history, Ohtani stole his 50th base in the first inning (after doubling to lead off the game). Then after singling, doubling again and homering, he came up in the seventh inning against Miami’s Mike Baumann and hit his 50th home run of the season. You can watch each of his at-bats from that game by clicking here.

It was the first time in the majors anyone had hit 50 homers and stolen 50 bases in the same season. Ohtani had never hit 50 homers (his high was 46 with the Angels in 2021) or stolen 50 bases (26 in 2021). It was part of a magical season that ended with a World Series title.

This season hasn’t been as magical, but Ohtani is having another outstanding season. As good as last season? On offense, no. But any team in the majors would take Ohtani’s offense this season. Ohtani leads the league in runs scored, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, OPS+, plate appearances, total bases and intentional walks. Let’s compare the two years:

Plate appearances
2024: 731
2025: 691

Batting average
2024: .310
2025: .283

On-base %
2024: .390
2025: .395

Slugging %
2024: .646
2025: .617

Runs scored
2024: 134
2025: 138

Doubles
2024: 38
2025: 24

Triples
2024: 7
2025: 8

Home runs
2024: 54
2025: 51

RBIs
2024: 130
2025: 95

Walks
2024: 81
2025: 105

Strikeouts
2024: 162
2025: 175

Stolen bases
2024: 59
2025: 19

OPS+
2024: 187
2025: 179

WAR
2024: 9.2
2025: 6.7

Stolen bases are down, because pitchers have to protect their legs. But it’s another great season from Ohtani.

And the above doesn’t include the fact that on the mound he is 1-1 with a 3.29 ERA, giving up 35 hits and walking nine in 41 innings while striking out 54. By the way, no one has struck out 50 batters and hit 50 homers in a season until Ohtani this year. Another 50-50 club he has created.

The question is not “Is Shohei Ohtani having a disappointing season?” It’s “Should Ohtani win his third consecutive MVP award? His main competition is Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber. Let’s compare the two:

Plate appearances
Ohtani: 691
Schwarber: 684

Batting average
Ohtani: .283
Schwarber: .243

On-base %
Ohtani: .395
Schwarber: .370

Slugging %
Ohtani: .617
Schwarber: .567

Runs scored
Ohtani: 138
Schwarber: 106

Doubles
Ohtani: 24
Schwarber: 21

Triples
Ohtani: 8
Schwarber: 2

Home runs
Schwarber: 53
Ohtani: 51

RBIs
Schwarber: 128
Ohtani: 95

Walks
Ohtani: 105
Schwarber: 104

Strikeouts
Schwarber: 181
Ohtani: 175

Stolen bases
Ohtani: 19
Schwarber: 10

OPS+
Ohtani: 179
Schwarber: 152

WAR
Ohtani: 6.7
Schwarber: 4.8

On the mound, Schwarber has … not pitched. Schwarber is a DH, so he doesn’t get bonus points for his defense.

The four favorites according to Vegas are Ohtani, Schwarber, New York’s Juan Soto and Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong. I would include Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo in that list, since he leads the NL in WAR and is having a very good season.

The only way Ohtani doesn’t win is if voters decide not to give it to the best player on a disappointing team and instead give it to Schwarber, who is having his best season on a strong Phillies team. Stats don’t always decide it. In 1988, a handful of players had better stats than Kirk Gibson, but Gibson was the most valuable player.

And finally

Some of Vin Scully‘s greatest calls. 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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Last year, in the middle of a World Series celebration he had spent two decades dreaming about, Clayton Kershaw took the mic at Dodger Stadium and made a declaration.

“I love you guys, thank you!” he shouted to an adoring Chavez Ravine crowd.

“Dodger for life!”

On Thursday, that distinction was cemented.

After 18 seasons, three Cy Young Awards, an MVP, more than 3,000 strikeouts and two World Series titles, Kershaw announced he will retire from Major League Baseball after this season.

Kershaw’s announcement, which came in a press release from the team, preceded what could now be his final Dodger Stadium start scheduled for Friday night.

That game will mark his 246th time taking the bump at the only ballpark he has ever called home. Depending on what happens in October, when Kershaw will make one more run at one more championship, it could be his last.

After 222 wins, more than 2,800 innings, and a career 2.54 ERA, his countdown to Cooperstown will begin this winter.

After serving as the face of the franchise during one of the most successful runs in club history, the book will finally be closing on his illustrious Dodgers career.

Kershaw’s retirement had been a long time coming. Over each of the past four offseasons, he contemplated whether or not to walk away from the game. An 11-time All-Star and five-time ERA champion, he long ago ensured his spot as a future Hall of Fame pitcher. As the franchise’s all-time strikeout leader, his place in club lore had already been enshrined.

Yet, the 37-year-old Kershaw never lost his desire to play.

Despite an elbow injury at the end of the 2021 season, a shoulder surgery after the 2023 campaign, and foot and knee procedures this past offseason, he came back to continue his Dodgers career — never ready to give up another title chase.

This year, he has authored the kind of renaissance season that once felt beyond him. He is 10-2 in 20 starts with a 3.53 ERA, succeeding despite diminished fastball velocity and a decline in overall stuff. He has been an integral member of a first-place Dodgers team. And though one more postseason run lies ahead, with the Dodgers trying to defend last year’s World Series title, he decided his time in baseball was finally up.

“On behalf of the Dodgers, I congratulate Clayton on a fabulous career and thank him for the many moments he gave to Dodger fans and baseball fans everywhere, as well as for all of his profound charitable endeavors,” Dodgers owner Mark Walter said in the team’s release. “His is a truly legendary career, one that we know will lead to his induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Originally drafted seventh overall by the Dodgers out of Highland Park High School in Texas in 2006, Kershaw has spent the entirety of his professional life in the organization, going from top prospect to young sensation to Cy Young winner to pitcher of his generation.

He made his MLB debut in 2008, and broke out as a star the following year. By 2011, he had earned his first All-Star selection, his first ERA title and his first Cy Young Award. The accolades would keep coming after that — with Kershaw leading the majors in ERA each season from 2011-2014, winning two more Cy Youngs in 2013 and 2014, and becoming only only the 22nd pitcher to ever win MVP honors with his 21-3, 1.77-ERA season in that historic 2014 campaign.

The back half of Kershaw’s career was plagued by injuries, starting with a bad back that sidelined him for part of 2016.

Still, he earned another ERA in 2017, while helping the Dodgers win their first pennant in 29 years. He had a resurgent performance in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, going 6-2 in the regular season with a 2.16 ERA before finally experiencing a World Series title.

Up to that point, the postseason was the only area were Kershaw struggled. In 32 playoff outings from 2008-2019, he was 9-11 with a 4.43 ERA — mediocre numbers underscored by excruciating collapses against the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros and Washington Nationals along the way.

But in 2020, Kershaw vanquished such demons, making five starts and going 4-1 with a 2.93 ERA in the Dodgers’ first victorious World Series run since 1998. The title, Kershaw has said since, meant more than even he could have ever imagined.

“I think having that [World Series] definitely started letting me relax a little bit more,” Kershaw said in 2023. “I didn’t realize I had been carrying that weight that much.”

And once he won it once, the notoriously competitive left-hander craved to do it again.

That’s why, even as his body has continued to break down in recent years, Kershaw kept coming back every spring. He believed, when healthy, he could still contribute to a World Series roster. And despite numerous free-agent flirtations with his hometown Texas Rangers, he always saw the Dodgers as the best way to get there.

It made last year’s World Series title a sentimental one for the iconic left-hander. Kershaw was a limited participant, making only seven starts in the regular season before missing the playoffs with his foot and knee problems. But he relished in the celebration, especially the title-winning parade that the 2020 team had been denied by the pandemic.

He knew then that he would be a Dodger for life.

On Thursday, it finally became official.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Don Stanhouse would have been a perfect fit for this bullpen.

The big news this week (besides the continuing collapse of the bullpen, which barely qualifies as news anymore): Shohei Ohtani removed after five innings while pitching a no-hitter. He was replaced by Justin Wrobleski to start the sixth with the Dodgers leading the Phillies 4-0. Wrobleski had not given up a run this month. He gave up five in the sixth inning. Whoops.

This was followed by fans on social media and a certain newsletter writer’s inbox to complain about Dave Roberts, how he doesn’t know how to handle a bullpen and how he needs to be fired for general incompetence. The fired part is silly, so we will ignore that. But did Roberts mishandle the situation?

If you were mad about it, ask yourself this: Would you have been mad if the Dodgers had won 6-0, or 6-2? If not, you aren’t mad that he caused Ohtani to miss out on a no-hitter, you are mad the Dodgers lost. Let’s reexamine the situation.

—Ohtani is coming off of his second Tommy John surgery and the Dodgers have been very careful with him. A couple of weeks ago, they decided, in consultation with Ohtani, that he would not pitch more than five innings the rest of the season.

—Roberts: “He’s two players in one. If something happens, then we lose two players. … We haven’t done it all year. So, I’m not gonna do it tonight.”

—Roberts had Wrobleski ready, and Wrobleski has been his best reliever this month. Who else was he supposed to bring in?

—Even if Roberts had let Ohtani pitch the sixth, there is no way he would have been left in for nine innings to complete a no-hitter. And we don’t know how the cards would have played out if Wrobleski had started the seventh inning instead of the sixth.

—The Dodgers fought back to tie the score, until Blake Treinen gave up a three-run homer in the top of the ninth. The same Treinen who was a stud in last year’s postseason.

—The culprit, as it has been all season, was the bullpen, not Roberts. Please tell me what reliable reliever should have pitched. Wrobleski was the most reliable guy on that day, and he failed. Roberts can’t throw the pitches for them.

—When Roberts calls down to the bullpen, he must be thinking, “How should we die today? Should I choose slow poison? Electric shock?” There are no great options. The bullpen is the problem. You could have the greatest manager in major league history, and it won’t matter if everyone in his bullpen is as unreliable as the Dodger bullpen is at this moment.

So, it’s hard to see what Roberts did wrong here. The anger some have at him is misplaced on this occasion.

Roberts’ biggest weakness has always been his handling of the bullpen, no question about it. But this one wasn’t on him.

A trend?

This isn’t the first time Roberts has removed a pitcher who had a no-hitter going into the fifth inning or beyond. A look (click on the result line to be taken to a box score of the game):

April 8, 2016: Ross Stripling, 7 1/3 no-hit innings against San Francisco in his major league debut

Number of pitches: 100

Stripling was coming off elbow surgery and had walked his fourth batter of the game when, with one out in the eighth, Roberts removed him. Reliever Chris Hatcher gave up a two-run homer to the next batter.

Result: Dodgers lose to Giants, 3-2, in 10 innings.

Roberts quote: “I wanted to see him throw a no-hitter. It’s a special moment. But we’re looking at the long term. We’re looking at the long view. Ross can help us win many more games. If it would have gone south and something would have happened, I would have never been able to live with myself. Because this is this kid’s livelihood. That’s my job.”

Stripling quote: “I have no ill feelings toward the decision one bit. I’m thinking that’s just the right choice.”

Sept. 10, 2016: Rich Hill, seven perfect innings against Miami.

Number of pitches: 89

Wary of exacerbating the blisters that were forming on Hill’s left hand, Roberts removed him after seven perfect innings. Reliever Joe Blanton gives up a hit with two out in the eighth. Blanton, Grant Dayton and Kenley Jansen finish off the shutout.

Result: Dodgers defeat Marlins, 5-0.

Roberts quote: “I’m very, very sensitive to his personal achievements. I really am. But nothing should get in the way, or compromise, our team goal…. I’m going to lose sleep tonight. And I probably should.”

Hill quote: “I get it. I’m very adamant about living in the moment. I did not want to come out of the game.” (Note: Hill was shown slamming a bat into the dugout bench after being told he was coming out). “But I think there’s a bigger picture here, and we all know what it is.”

May 4, 2018: Walker Buehler, six no-hit innings against San Diego

Number of pitches: 93

Buehler had thrown 93 pitches, one shy of his professional high, and was operating under an innings restriction because of Tommy John surgery. Tony Cingrani, Yimi Garcia and Adam Liberatore finished off the no-hitter.

Result: Dodgers defeat Padres, 4-0.

Roberts quote: “He was totally complicit. Just understood where I was coming from, understood where the organization was coming from, what impact he has, how important he is for the organization this year, and going forward.”

Buehler quote: “Obviously, I wanted to keep going. But obviously, it’s above my pay grade. They made the choice. And for these guys to finish it out, it’s pretty cool…. It was the toughest conversation I’ve ever had.”

April 13, 2022: Clayton Kershaw, seven perfect innings against Minnesota

Number of pitches: 80

Coming off an elbow injury the previous season, and with a lockout shortened spring training, Kershaw was on an 80-pitch limit. Alex Vesia gave up a hit with one out in the eighth. Vesia and Justin Bruihl finished off the shutout.

Result: Dodgers defeat Twins, 7-0.

Roberts quote: “There’s a lot of people that are cheering for the Dodgers, not only just for today and Clayton to throw a no-hitter, but for the Dodgers to win the World Series. For us to do that, we need him healthy.”

Kershaw quote: “I knew going in that my pitch count wasn’t going to be 100, let alone 90 or whatever. So I don’t know. It’s a hard thing to do to have to come out of the game when you’re doing that. But we’re here to win and this was the right choice.”

Sept. 16, 2022: Dustin May, five no-hit innings against San Francisco

Number of pitches: 69

May had some arm soreness after his previous start, prompting the team to push back his outing a few days and limit his pitch count. Vesia gave up a hit with two out in the sixth. Vesia, Caleb Ferguson and Phil Bickford finished the shutout.

Result: Dodgers defeat Giants, 5-0.

Roberts quote: “Getting him out of the game, feeling good, is the win. Considering how he threw the baseball the last couple times, building off tonight and [knowing he’s] going on regular rest his next turn, it was the smart decision.”

May quote: “I didn’t even realize I had a no-hitter going.”

June 16, 2023: Emmet Sheehan, six no-hit innings against San Francisco in his major league debut

Number of pitches: 89

Sheehan had been rushed up from double-A to make the start because of injuries. He was averaging fewer than five innings a start in the minors and had never pitched in more than six innings in a game in the minors. He was replaced by Brusdar Graterol, who gave up two runs, then Victor González gave up three runs and Vesia two runs in the loss.

Result: Dodgers lose to Giants, 7-5.

Roberts quote: “I was actually contemplating it after five innings, given the usage he’s had. But where the state of the ‘pen has been, I was trying to squeeze another inning. So to get him through the sixth, I thought was huge.”

Sheehan quote: “To have the Dodger fans and my family behind me, I couldn’t have asked for a better debut. Besides a Dodger win.”

Sept. 21, 2023: Emmet Sheehan, 4 2/3 hitless innings against San Francisco

Number of pitches: 93

It was a tough outing, as Sheehan walked four, hit a batter and gave up a run on a bases-loaded walk. Vesia replaced Sheehan in the fifth, and the first hit was a home run by Joc Pederson off Vesia with one out in the sixth. Shelby Miller, Ryan Brasier, Joe Kelly and Evan Phillips finished off the victory.

Result: Dodgers defeat Giants, 7-2.

Roberts quote: “I think when he got to that fifth inning, there was a little bit of running low on the fuel in the tank, some close misses. … But he pitched a heck of a ballgame.”

Sheehan quote: “I think I definitely build confidence every start.”

Sept. 8, 2025: Tyler Glasnow, seven no-hit innings against Colorado

Number of pitches: 103

Glasnow was pitching for the first time in 10 days because of a sore back. He gave up a run in the second inning on a walk, stolen base, a deep fly ball advancing the runner to third, and a sacrifice fly. He stuck out 11. Blake Treinen pitched a perfect eighth. Tanner Scott gave up a leadoff double in the ninth before getting the save.

Result: Dodgers defeat Rockies, 3-1.

Roberts quote: “I do think that there’s certain times, if [the starters] give me the opportunity as far as efficiency and how their stuff is playing, to push them a little more.”

Glasnow quote: “My pitch count was pretty high. I don’t know how many pitches I was going to be allowed to throw. Obviously I want to stay in, no matter what my pitch count is, but given my, like, track record, I kind of understand why. I respect the decision.”

Sept. 16, 2025: Shohei Ohtani, five no-hit innings against Philadelphia

Number of pitches: 68

Ohtani was limited to five innings because he had his second Tommy John surgery in 2023. He was relieved by Justin Wrobleski, who gave up five runs in the sixth, and Edgardo Henriquez, who gave up a run in the sixth. After scoreless innings by Jack Dreyer and Anthony Banda, Blake Treinen gave up three runs in the ninth.

Result: Dodgers lose to Phillies, 9-6.

Roberts quote: “We’ve been very steadfast in every situation as far as innings for [Ohtani’s] usage — from one inning to two innings to three to four to five. We haven’t deviated from that. He wasn’t going to go back out.”

Ohtani quote: “The decision of whether to take me out is something I leave completely to the manager.”

The postseason

Here’s how the postseason race pans out after Wednesday’s games:

NL
1. Milwaukee, 93-59
2. Philadelphia, 91-62
3. Dodgers, 85-67

Wild-cards
4. Chicago, 88-64
5. San Diego, 83-69
6. New York, 78-74

7. Arizona, 77-76
8. San Francisco, 76-76
9. Cincinnati, 76-76

The Phillies have clinched the AL East title. The Brewers and Cubs have clinched a playoff spot. Washington, Pittsburgh amd Colorado have been eliminated from playoff contention.

AL
1. Toronto, 89-63
2. Detroit, 85-67
3. Houston, 84-69

Wild-cards
4. New York, 85-67
5. Seattle, 83-69
6. Boston, 83-69

7. Cleveland, 80-71
8. Texas, 79-74
9. Kansas City, 76-76

Baltimore, Minnesota, Chicago, the Athletics and the Angels have been eliminated from playoff contention.

The top two teams in each league get a first-round bye. The other four teams in each league play in the best-of-three wild-card round, with No. 3 hosting all three games against No. 6, and No. 4 hosting all three against No. 5.

The division winners are guaranteed to get the top three seeds, even if a wild-card team has a better record.

In the best-of-five second round, No. 1 hosts the No. 4-5 winner and No. 2 hosts the No. 3-6 winner. That way the No. 1 seed is guaranteed not to play a divisional winner until the LCS.

Up next

Thursday: San Francisco (Logan Webb, 14-10, 3.34 ERA) at Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 11-8, 2.66 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Friday: San Francisco (*Robbie Ray, 11-7, 3.50 ERA) at Dodgers (*Clayton Kershaw, 10-2, 3.53 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Apple TV+, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: San Francisco (Kai-Wei Teng, 2-4, 6.41 ERA) at Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 3-3, 3.06 ERA), 6:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: San Francisco (TBD) at Dodgers (Emmet Sheehan, 6-3, 3.17 ERA), 1:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Hernández: If Shohei Ohtani is open to playing in the outfield, the Dodgers have failed him

Plaschke: Dodgers are blowing their bye, and hopes for deep playoff run, thanks to familiar issue

Will Shohei Ohtani boost the bullpen in the playoffs? Dodgers weigh complex options

Q&A: Here’s what’s at stake for the Dodgers over the final two weeks

Shohei Ohtani’s lawyers claim he was victim in Hawaii real estate deal

Shaikin: Why Andrew Friedman’s October test is looming with Dodgers

Can the Dodgers fix their ailing offense? It starts with better health — and team at-bats

And finally

Nineteen years ago today, the Dodgers hit four home runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie San Diego, win it on Nomar Garciaparra‘s home run in the 10th. 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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

“Wait your turn.”

Those three words are repeated again and again by parents trying to teach their young sons and daughters good manners, whether it’s at the dinner table, the amusement park or the ice cream shop.

So why do parents suddenly forget or ignore their words of wisdom when their kids become teenagers, find themselves in sports competitions, lose out on a starting job or don’t receive the attention they think they deserve and decide to flee rather than “wait your turn.”

At least the Lee family stuck to old-time parenting. Taylor Lee was a huge talent at quarterback after enrolling at Oxnard Pacifica as a freshman. He got to play a little when needed as a freshman and sophomore, but he wasn’t the starter. He stayed and waited his turn and what a reward he’s received.

In the last two games, the junior has thrown 15 touchdown passes for 4-0 Pacifica. He’s passed for 1,356 yards and 22 touchdowns with no interceptions this season. He’s picking up scholarship offers. He’s become an example for his coach, Mike Moon, though who knows how many will learn the lesson.

“For all these kids who transfer around and with not a ton of success, maybe the old-school way of grinding and waiting for your time is best,” he said.

Yes, patience is hard. Passing up an opportunity offered elsewhere is hard. Accepting the decision of a coach is hard. Listening to third parties with agendas speak glowingly of your talent is hard.

As many stories as there are of successful player movements, there’s many others of those who remember the wisdom, of “wait your turn.”

Luke Fahey of Mission Viejo.

(Craig Weston)

The No. 1 quarterback in Southern California, Ohio State-bound Luke Fahey of Mission Viejo, accepted sharing time for two seasons, trading off every other series with his teammate. He and his parents were patient and supportive. This season, on his own, he’s led the Diablos to an unbeaten record and keeps adding to his reputation as a great quarterback with great character.

Years ago, in a different era, Matt Cassel became an NFL starting quarterback without ever starting a game at USC as the backup to Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.

The environment has changed with the introduction of the college transfer portal. No one is saying there’s anything wrong with switching schools while looking for an opportunity when someone’s path is blocked, but there’s also the old-fashioned way of staying and competing, waiting your turn, trying to get better and being ready when opportunity beckons.

It’s the quarterback position, in particular, where athletes and their parents are unwilling to be backups. Only one person gets to start. But the failure to recognize there’s other positions to try (tight end, receiver, defense?) is also a forgotten alternative.

The responsible thing is to never try to take away a dream from a passionate, committed teenager. Let them keep grinding if that’s what they want to do. But sometimes someone has to be the adult in the room, just like when they were four or five and rushing ahead in the line for an ice cream cone and mom or dad says, “Wait your turn.”

There’s proof that option still works.

It was the end of an era on Friday night at Canoga Park High, where Mark Nogy completed his final high school football home game as the public address announcer on the 30th anniversary of his debut.

He’s a Canoga Park graduate who later became a school counselor and also announced Pierce College football games.

Former Canoga Park principal Denny Thompson wrote on Facebook, “Mark has never been shy about telling anyone who will listen just how great the community, staff, and students are. Thank you for being such a great Ambassador for our school. We will miss you on the mic at games. You are one of the reasons that ‘every day is a GREAT day at Canoga Park High.’”

The person who has been sitting next to him for 30 years in the press box running the scoreboard clock, Anthony Villalobos, will take over announcing for the rest of the season.

Canoga Park is set to get a new grass field, new scoreboard and new all-weather track next year.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Now you can be a cord-cutter and a TV news junkie too.

That’s because consumers who are giving up pay TV are finding a growing array of options outside the cable bundle providing national and local news.

Look up at the screen at the local nail salon or bagel shop, and where you once might have seen CNN, Fox News or CNBC might be a free channel serving up headlines.

For purveyors of TV news, the streaming channels have become a bigger part of their future as the habit of traditional viewing fades and a new generation relies on information from TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms.

More consumers are discovering national and local news content on what the media industry calls free ad-supported streaming television — or FAST — channels. Internet-connected television sets with free streaming TV platforms such as Tubi, Pluto TV, Roku and Samsung TV Plus built into them are making the offerings easier to find.

Ethan Cramer-Flood, a principal forecast writer for the media research firm Emarketer, tracks the growth of FAST channels. But it wasn’t until he recently cut the cord himself that he realized he could get his local news from New York stations such as WABC-TV anytime he wanted streamed through his Roku device.

“After cutting the cord, one of the things I had been missing was news,” Cramer-Flood said. “The channels are all right there. They are showing their news segments and newscasts all day long. You can just go on it and catch a half-hour.”

The news-viewing habit is growing as FAST channel usage steadily increases. Emarketer data put the number of U.S. consumers watching FAST at 116.8 million, and the figure is projected to reach 130 million by the end of the decade.

Cramer-Flood said that internet-connected TV sets are making FAST channels as convenient to watch as cable channels.

“The barrier to entry is zero,” Cramer-Flood said. “They don’t even make you sign up. It doesn’t cost anything. In one click you’re in the same exact experience as cable.”

Broadcast networks including ABC, CBS and NBC and TV station ownership groups such as Fox, Nexstar and Scripps have had streaming news channels for years, enabling them to reach younger viewers who have turned away from traditional television. They carry repeats of TV newscasts, morning shows and newsmagazines, but over time have added original streaming programs as well, where emerging on-air talent can get experience at the anchor desk.

“NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas put in four years at streaming channel NBC News Now before taking over for Lester Holt in June. But he has remained with his nightly streaming newscast, “Top Story,” to maintain a presence with an audience that is about 20 years younger than the one watching traditional TV.

ABC News chose Linsey Davis, the anchor of its signature streaming news program on ABC News Live, to be co-moderator of its 2024 presidential debate alongside David Muir of “World News Tonight.”

As the audience migration to streaming continues, outlets such as CNN and BBC News are joining the FAST channel fray even though they are still dependent on pay TV revenue.

CNN recently launched CNN Headlines, a free streaming channel that provides fast-paced delivery of national and international stories culled from the network’s reporting. There are no live guests, panel discussions or debates that are a trademark of the flagship cable channel. The channel’s lead anchor, Brad Smith, is often seen in a leather jacket rather than a suit and tie, a nod to the notion that the conventions of traditional TV news are less important to younger viewers.

“It’s more informal than it is on cable,” Eric Sherling, executive vice president, U.S. programming for CNN.

The arrival of CNN Headlines comes ahead of the network’s plans to offer a subscription-based direct-to-consumer product that will give consumers the chance to get CNN’s cable feed without a pay TV subscription for the first time.

Sherling said the two services will appeal to different audiences, with CNN Headline viewers looking for brevity while paying customers get the breadth and depth they expect from the cable channel.

CNN Headlines replaced a previous FAST channel that played segments that aired on cable. It was barely curated, but “a ton of people watched it,” Sherling said.

Early response to CNN Headlines has been strong, the network said, reaching 30 million users a month and more than 2 million daily.

Viewers have also quickly discovered a streaming version of BBC News, which is distributed on cable in the U.S. by AMC Networks. The service hit a high of 258.5 million streamed minutes in June, up 153% from the same month in 2024, according to AMC’s data.

AMC Networks has been aggressive in putting its programming on FAST channels, as cord-cutting puts the squeeze on its cable outlets. The company has 20 FAST channels in all, with BBC News being the latest entry.

The stream is identical to the BBC News feed offered to pay TV subscribers. But Amy Leasca, executive vice president of partner management for AMC Networks, said the company hasn’t seen any cannibalization of the cable audience.

BBC News presenters Caitríona Perry, left, and Sumi Somaskanda in Washington, D.C.

(AMC Networks)

Data indicate streaming viewers are showing up for specific scheduled programs on BBC News, mirroring the habits of traditional TV users, Leasca said.

Fox Television Stations takes a different approach with LiveNOW, a channel that delivers raw footage of breaking news coverage, with on-air journalists who are there to guide viewers from one event to the next. The video journalists deliver straightforward introductions of live video without commentary.

President Trump addressing Congress on March 4, 2025.

(Fox Television Stations)

“There are no prompters or scripts,” said Emily Stone, vice president of digital content and LiveNOW at Fox Television Stations.

Most companies release sparse internal data on exactly how many viewers are watching their FAST news channels. But LiveNOW puts its viewing numbers right on the screen in real time. Jeff Zellmer, executive vice president of digital operations for Fox Television, said the figures help the service determine what to cover.

On Friday, LiveNOW showed an empty lectern ahead of the press conference announcing the arrest of the alleged shooter of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. The screen showed more than 345,000 were watching, and it surged to 400,000 when law enforcement officials took the microphone.

LiveNOW’s reached its largest audience in February when its coverage of President Trump’s address to Congress in hit 1.95 million viewers

LiveNOW started as an experiment in 2014 when Fox Television Stations President Jack Abernethy challenged his outlets to come up with a low-cost streaming service using their existing resources.

“The Phoenix station decided they were going to start a YouTube channel and put a person in front of a switcher with a bunch of live feeds and see what happens,” Stone said.

The stream showed live coverage of local events and picked up an occasional car chase from California.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic and protests over the police killing of George Floyd hit in 2020, the public was desperate for up-to-date information from officials. LiveNOW gained a following.

“There was a press conference every second from every city,” Zellner said.

LiveNOW’s video journalists are not the high-paid anchors that have long been the staple of network news. The 10 staffers who run the operation toil on minimalist sets in Phoenix and Tampa, Fla., which helps keep the service profitable.

Kate O’Brian, who oversaw Scripps’ streaming news operation until late last year, said the less formal approach of streaming news channels is likely to be the norm going forward.

“I think there’s something viewers appreciate about the unvarnished part of it,” O’Brian said. “It doesn’t look pretty sometimes. But I think post-pandemic — when every reporter was sitting in their basement or their garage — the audience’s patience and adaptability completely changed.”

Two assassination attempts on President Trump. The assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband and the wounding of others. The shooting death of a top healthcare executive. The killing of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington. The storming of the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob intent on forcing the nation’s political leaders to their will.

And, on Wednesday, the fatal shooting of one of the nation’s most prominent conservative political activists — close Trump ally Charlie Kirk — as he spoke at a public event on a university campus.

If it wasn’t already clear from all those other incidents, Kirk’s killing put it in sharp relief: The U.S. is in a new era of political violence, one that is starker and more visceral than any other in decades — perhaps, experts said, since the fraught days of 1968, when two of the most prominent figures in the civil rights movement, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, were both assassinated in a matter of months.

“We’re very clearly in a moment where the temperature of our political discourse is extremely high,” said Ruth Braunstein, an associate professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University who has studied religion and the far right in modern politics. “Part of what we see when that happens are these outbursts of political violence — where people come to believe that violence is the only solution.”

While the exact motives of the person who shot Kirk are still unknown, Braunstein and other experts on political violence said the factors shaping the current moment are clear — and similar to those that shaped past periods of political violence.

Intense economic discomfort and inequity. Sharp divisions between political camps. Hyperbolic political rhetoric. Political leaders who lack civility and constantly work to demonize their opponents. A democratic system that many see as broken, and a hopelessness about where things are headed.

“There are these moments of great democratic despair, and we don’t think the political system is sufficiently responsive, sufficiently legitimate, sufficiently attentive, and that’s certainly going on in this particular moment,” said Jon Michaels, a UCLA law professor who teaches about the separation of powers and co-authored “Vigilante Nation: How State-Sponsored Terror Threatens Our Democracy.”

“If we think there are no political solutions, there are no legal solutions, people are going to resort to forms of self help that are really, really deeply troubling.”

Michaels said the country has been here before, but also that he worries such cycles of violence are occurring faster today and with shorter breaks in between — that while “we’ve been bitterly divided” for years, those divisions have now “completely left the arena of ideas and debate and contestation, and become much more kinetic.”

Michaels said he is still shaken by all the “defenses or explanations or rationalizations” that swirled around the country after the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City in December — which some people argued was somehow justified by their displeasure with UnitedHealthcare’s policies or frustration with the American healthcare system.

That the suspect, Luigi Mangione, would attract almost cult-like adoration in some circles seemed like an alarming shift in an already polarized nation, Michaels said.

“I understand it is not the beliefs of the typical person walking down the street, but it’s seeping into our culture slowly but surely,” he said — and in a way that makes him wonder, “Where are we going to be in four or five years?”

People across America were asking similar questions about Wednesday’s shooting, wondering in which direction it might thrust the nation’s political discourse in the days ahead.

How will Kirk’s many conservative fans — including legions of young people — respond? How will leaders, including Trump, react? Will there be a shared recognition that such violence does no good, or fresh attempts at retaliation and violence?

Leaders from both parties seemed interested in averting the latter. One after another, they denounced political violence and defended Kirk’s right — everyone’s right — to speak on politics in safety, regardless of whether their message is uplifting or odious.

Democrats were particularly effusive in their denunciations, with Gov. Gavin Newsom — a chief Trump antagonist — calling the shooting “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible.” Former President Obama also weighed in, writing, “We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy.”

Many seemed dismissive of such messages. In the comments on Obama’s post, many blamed Obama and other Democrats for rhetoric demonizing Republicans — and Trump and his followers in particular — as Nazis or racists or fascists, suggesting that the violence against Kirk was a predictable outcome of such pitched condemnations.

Trump echoed those thoughts himself Wednesday night, blaming the “radical left” for disparaging Kirk and other conservatives and bringing on such violence.

Others seemed to celebrate Kirk’s killing or suggest it was justified in some way given his own hyperbolic remarks from the past. They dug up interviews where the conservative provocateur demonized those on the left, suggested liberal ideas constituted a threat to Western civilization, and even said that some gun violence in the country was “worth it” if it meant the freedom to bear arms.

Experts said it is important to contextualize this moment within American history, but with an awareness of the modern factors shaping it in unique ways. It’s also important to understand that there are ways to combat such violence from spreading, they said.

Peter Mancall, a history professor at USC, has delved into major moments of political violence in early American history, and said a lot of it stemmed from “some perception of grievance.”

The same appears to be true today, he said. “There are moments when people do things that they know are violating their own sense of right or wrong, and something has pushed them to it, “ he said. “The trick is figuring out what it is that made them snap.”

Braunstein said that the robust debate online Wednesday about the rhetoric of leaders was a legitimate one to have, because it has always been true that “the way our political leaders message about political violence — consistently, in public, to their followers and to those that don’t support them — really matters.”

If Americans and American political leaders truly want to know how we got here, she said, “part of the answer is the intensification of violent political rhetoric — and political rhetoric that casts the moment in terms of an emergency or catastrophe that requires extreme measures to address it.”

Democrats today are talking about the threats they believe Trump poses to democracy and the rule of law and to immigrants and LGBTQ+ people and others in extremely dire terms. Republicans — including Kirk — have used similarly charged rhetoric to suggest that Democrats and some of those same groups, especially immigrants, are a grave threat to average Americans.

“Charlie Kirk was one of many political figures who used that kind of discourse to mobilize people,” Braunstein said. “He’s not the only one, but he regularly spoke about the fact that we were in a moment where it was possible that we were going to see the decline of Western civilization, the end of American society as we know it. He used very strong us-vs.-them language.”

Particularly given the wave of recent violence, it will be important moving forward for politicians and other leaders to reanalyze how they speak about their political disagreements, Braunstein said.

That’s especially true of Trump, she said, because “one of the most dangerous things that can happen in a moment like this is for a political leader to call for violence in response to an act of violence,” and Trump has appeared to stoke violence in the past, including in the lead-up to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and during racist marches through Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.

Charlie Kirk speaks during a town hall meeting in March in Oconomowoc, Wis.

(Jeffrey Phelps / Associated Press)

Dr. Garen Wintemute, director of the Centers for Violence Prevention at UC Davis, agreed messaging is key — not just for responding to political violence, but for preventing it.

Since 2022, Wintemute and his team have surveyed Americans on how they feel about political violence, including whether it is ever justified and, if so, whether they would personally get involved in it.

Throughout that time frame, a strong majority of Americans — about two-thirds — have said it is not justified, with about a third saying it was or could be.

An even smaller minority said they’d be willing to personally engage in such violence, Wintemute said. And many of those people said that they could be dissuaded from participating if their family members, friends, religious or political leaders urged them not to.

Wintemute said the data give him “room for hope and optimism,” because they show that “the vast majority of Americans reject political violence altogether.”

“So when somebody on a day like today asks, ‘Is this who we are?’ we know the answer,” he said. “The answer is, ‘No!’”

The job of all Americans now is to reject political violence “out loud over and over and over again,” Wintemute said, and to realize that, if they are deeply opposed to political policies or the Trump administration and “looking for a model of how to resist,” it isn’t the American Revolution but the civil rights movement.

“People did not paint over how terrible things were,” he said. “People said, ‘I will resist, but I will resist without violence. Violence may be done to me, I may die, but I will not use violence.’”