last season

PHOENIX — By Game 7 of last year’s World Series, the Dodgers’ faulty bullpen issues were apparent even in the midst of dramatic triumph.

Not only did the Dodgers use all four starters in their postseason rotation — Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — they also tapped Justin Wrobleski and Emmet Sheehan, who combined to start 14 games in the regular season, to navigate the 5-4, 11-inning win that secured the team’s second consecutive championship.

The Dodgers shored up the bullpen over the winter, signing three-time all-star Edwin Díaz to a three-year, $69-million contract. With the closer role firmly defined for the first time since Kenley Jansen was on the team in 2021, how the rest of the bullpen falls into place remains a work in progress during spring training.

“Obviously, adding Díaz to the back end is huge for us and getting Alex Vesia [back] is going to be good, and also Blake [Treinen],” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Blake wasn’t right last year, clearly. He’s throwing the baseball really well. Having guys that you trust is everything for the pen. … You’ve got to count on those veteran guys for sure.”

Now included in that veteran group is left-hander Tanner Scott, who joined the Dodgers before last season on a four-year, $72-million deal. Scott struggled to find his footing, primarily as a closer, before a left elbow injury placed him on injured list in mid-July, causing him to miss a month of action. He returned the final week of August, and never looked quite right. Scott posted a 4.74 ERA across 61 appearances and 57.0 IP in his first year with the Dodgers.

On Saturday against the Chicago Cubs in a split-squad game at Camelback Ranch, Scott made his Cactus League debut and pitched a scoreless inning, recording a strikeout and giving up one hit on 17 pitches. With the ninth inning spoken for, Roberts believes this will allow for Scott to bounce back this season.

“I think being able to use Tanner in any inning of leverage, is going to be good for him,” Roberts said. “And it’s going to be good for us.”

Díaz, for his part, has settled in, making his second appearance of the spring on Saturday. He worked around two walks to pitch a scoreless inning, striking out one. Vesia, who missed the World Series due to the death of his newborn daughter, has pitched two scoreless innings while Treinen pitched a perfect inning on Thursday against the Chicago White Sox in his first Cactus League outing.

The 37-year-old Treinen, who’s been on all three of the Dodgers’ recent World Series teams and was a stalwart in the 2024 postseason, struggled last season, going 1-5 with a 9.64 ERA in September.

“You never know what the body throttles back,” Treinen said earlier in camp. “I had a UCL injury, so I don’t know if that’s part of the problem, but something was different. I mean, velocity was there, movements were there, execution wasn’t, and when pitches were in the zone, it was a harder-hit rate. So, that tells me something was different, how to handle hitters. So, just trying to go back and cleaning things up to where the ball does more of what it has done most of my career.”

On the flip side, right-hander Brusdar Graterol — who has not pitched since the 2024 World Series — remains in a holding pattern during spring training as he works his way back from right labrum surgery. And right-hander Evan Phillips is not expected back for several months after Tommy John surgery ended his season last June. But for the most part, the relievers who are healthy have shown glimpses of what it could look like this season.

“I don’t think that there’s one way to manage a pen,” Roberts said. “But when you have a guy like Edwin Díaz as your closer, I do think it frees up other guys. … I think that’s freeing for me and allows for getting the matchups we need in the prior innings.”

PHOENIX — For the first time since he grounded out to end the 11th inning in Game 7 of the World Series, Freddie Freeman stepped into the batter’s box in the first inning Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians at Camelback Ranch. Freeman was met with cheers by the thousands of Dodgers fans in attendance.

After popping out to third in his first at-bat, Freeman laced a double to left-center to drive in two runs in the third inning before he was lifted from the Dodgers’ 11-3 victory.

Freeman, who last season battled the lingering effects of a right ankle injury he suffered late in the 2024 season, said having a more typical offseason was crucial to regaining his fitness.

“It’s been in a good spot since I started hitting this offseason,” Freeman said of his swing. “Nice to be able to hit a ball to left-center already, that’s a good sign. … I hadn’t swung a bat till a day before FanFest last year. A normal offseason definitely helps.”

While still an All-Star and a recipient of MVP votes, Freeman has had a slight decline in production over the last two seasons compared to his first two with the Dodgers. Freeman posted on-base percentages of .407 and .410, while raking a league-leading 47 and 59 doubles, respectively, in 2022 and 2023. His OBP dropped to .378 in 2024 and .367 in 2025.

But for Freeman, it is his contact numbers that have been a thorn in his side all offseason.

His .295 batting average was the third-best in the National League last season but still was not good enough for Freeman, a career .300 hitter.

“There wasn’t a 3 at the start of my batting average last year, and that irks me,” Freeman said last week. “That’s my goal always, to hit .300. I like hits. I’m a hitter. Three at the front of a batting average means a lot to me. I know batting average and those kinds of things don’t mean a lot to a lot of people these days, but it does to me. If you hit .300, it means you’re on base a lot, and you’re scoring runs for your team, so that’s the goal, .300 again.”

Freeman landed on the injured list at the start of last April after he aggravated his surgically repaired right ankle, causing him to miss nine games and setting the tone for a season in which he never felt quite right.

“I was taping my ankle till about August,” Freeman said. “It was never really in a good spot last year. There was a lot of treatment, and I think I played all right for that, and we won again, so I’m really looking forward this year.”

One area Freeman thinks he can improve is his defense. A former Gold Glover, Freeman rated as a below-average fielder in both the defensive runs saved (minus-7) and outs above average (minus-6) metrics.

“I didn’t like the way I played defense last year and I thought it was just because I wasn’t mobile enough,” Freeman said. “So, that’s a big, big goal of mine, to play better at first this year, get to more balls, be able to cover more things. So, that’s going to be a key for me.”

Manager Dave Roberts is optimistic about what his veteran first baseman can do, even at age 36.

“I think he takes such good care of himself,” Roberts said. “I think that age is an easy one to point to, but I really believe that he’s been dinged up for two years.

“Right now, today, it’s as good as I’ve seen his swing over the course of a week sample, [better] than I have [seen] in two years. So, he’s in a good spot physically, mechanically. So, if we can keep him healthy, I just don’t see why he can’t have the year that he expects, and with that, with everything that he went through the last couple years, he was still very productive.”

Freeman said last week he hopes to play four more years, through his 20th season as a big leaguer.

“In that fourth year, I turn 40,” Freeman said. “Four is just a number that’s floated. Is it less? Is it more? I don’t know, but that’s kind of just where I’m at. I feel good right now, so that was just floated because that would be an even 20 years, I’ll be 40. I got a family that I would like to go home to. I do love this game; I love playing it, but for me, if I can do four, that would be 20 years. I think that’s enough.”

Etc.

After major shoulder surgery in 2024 that forced him to miss all of last season, right-hander Gavin Stone made his return to the mound a smooth one, pitching a scoreless first inning and striking out two against the Guardians.

“It was awesome,” said Stone, who last pitched for the Dodgers on Aug. 31, 2024. “Definitely a lot of hard work over the previous year. Rehab was a grind, but it’s good to be back out there.”

Nicolás Fernández scored on a penalty kick in the second half and New York City FC tied the Galaxy 1-1 in a season opener on Sunday before a sellout crowd of 30,510 at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Newcomer João Klauss needed 90 seconds to win the hearts of Galaxy fans, scoring with assists from Marco Reus and Joseph Paintsil for a 1-0 lead. L.A. worked a cash-for-player trade with St. Louis City to acquire Klauss on a one-year deal, hoping he’ll ease the loss of superstar Riqui Puig for a second straight season after complications from a torn ACL.

Los Angeles maintained the lead until Emiro Garces was sent off the field for a second yellow card, setting up a successful PK for Fernández that tied it in the 66th minute and left the Galaxy a man short. Fernández scored five goals in 19 appearances with L.A. last season.

Novak Micovic did not have a save in his 25th career start for the Galaxy — 20 of them coming last season when the 24-year-old allowed 37 goals.

Matt Freese, the reigning goalkeeper of the year, saved six shots for NYCFC — four in the first half. Freese had eight clean sheets in 31 starts last season on his way to the award.

NYCFC is coming off a loss to eventual MLS Cup champion Inter Miami in the Eastern Conference Final last season.

The Galaxy are hoping to rebound from a disastrous season that saw them endure a league-record 16-match winless streak — one year after beating the New York Red Bulls to win the MLS Cup.

Joe Wyatt, the third-year basketball coach at Sun Valley Poly, said goodbye to his son, JD, at the end of last season. He was one of the leading scorers in the City Section at 28.5 points per game and left for prep school at Academy of Central Florida, where he’s averaging close to 20 points.

So how did Poly end up going 12-0 this season in East Valley League play and extend its league winning streak to 28 consecutive wins without JD?

“I can actually coach a little bit,” Wyatt said.

Sun Valley Poly basketball coach Joe Wyatt.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

With seniors Kevin Lara and Angel Guerrero leading the way, Poly is seeded No. 6 in the City Section Division I playoffs and will open at home on Wednesday against defending Open Division champion Westchester. Lara had a big three last season when Poly defeated Grant 50-49 to win the City Division I title.

Wyatt had success at El Camino Real, winning a City Section Open Division title in 2014, his first season as head coach. He’s provided stability to the Parrots and knows how to adjust to personnel changes.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

To say that DeAndre Cole inherited a difficult challenge when he became the boys’ basketball coach at Compton Centennial this season would be an understatement. The team went 1-23 last season and had a streak of seven consecutive losing seasons since finishing 13-13 in 2017-2018.

“The expectation was to bring the winning culture, to bring some excitement,” the 44-year-old Cole said.

Incredibly, Centennial has already finished its regular season with a 12-12 record and represents one of the biggest turnaround stories in Southern California. The .500 record means Centennial is eligible for a Southern Section at-large playoff berth.

This is a program where UCLA assistant coach Rod Palmer once had teams competing against the best when alumnus Arron Affalo was bombing in threes and delivering dunks before going on to UCLA and the NBA. Centennial won the 2004 state Division III championship. This year’s team went 1-6 in the Ocean League, where Inglewood and high-scoring Jason Crowe Jr. won the league title.

Cole once served as an assistant coach at Washington Prep and Manual Arts. He was set to be head coach at Morningside until the school closed last year.

He’s a Crenshaw grad who says he was kicked off the basketball team by legendary coach Willie West. Asked what he learned, Cole said, “It takes hard work and being dedicated buying into the program and no player is bigger than the program.”

He said his problem was not listening to West and thinking he was the next Stephen Curry.

Even though Centennial had only six players available much of the season for varsity action, Cole created a junior varsity team, so help is on the way if the team gets a playoff spot. The team’s best two players have been guards Jaden McDonald, a transfer from Detroit, and Edward Johnson, who used to be home-schooled.

Five of the six players have played football, including Joshua Crathers, who was the school’s quarterback for two years.

Asked what he learned after winning one game last season, Crathers said, “Don’t give up. When you lose, you get better.”

Cole had to be creative when he lost a player against St. Bonaventure, leaving the Apaches with four players. A student who was a friend of a Centennial player with minimal practices was asked to join the team for a single game.

“We need you to show up,” Cole told the student.

Cole remembers him being so out of shape that he needed a water break after the first play of the game. Centennial won 63-58.

McDonald said the team has no choice but to be in their best shape knowing players have to play the entire game.

“I feel everything that comes to us is deserving, but we have to work hard,” McDonald said.

There’s no reason the program can’t continue to grow considering the Compton area is filled with talent. Remember the city is where DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Christopher, Tyson Chandler and Corey Benjamin once played. It’s about keeping the neighborhood kids home and showing players can develop and explore their basketball dreams.

Considering how far Centennial plunged, a 12-12 record at this point is a stunning reward for the school, players, parents and fans. Let’s see where Cole can take them.

The school is about to go through a rebuilding phase, with the gym being torn down and replaced on a whole new campus.

The straight outta of Compton story is in its beginning stage, but it sure looks like things are changing fast.