pitcher

When a pitcher purposely throws high and inside, the batter has four choices.

He can stare down the pitcher. He can charge the mound. He can get revenge by walloping the next pitch for a hit.

Or he can ignore the intimidation tactic and continue as if nothing happened.

The last choice is the wimp’s way out, since the batter will lose his teammates’ respect, while opposing pitchers will consider him a pushover and fire more brushback pitches at him.

Ever since the Dodgers visited the White House last spring to commemorate their 2024 World Series win, President Trump has launched a barrage of metaphorical fastballs trying to hurt Los Angeles — in the courts, in speeches and on social media, but especially via his deportation deluge that’s starting to simmer again.

So how have the Boys in Blue responded in defense of the metropolis they wear on their jerseys and the community that has sustained them for nearly 70 years, making Dem Bums one of the most valuable franchises in baseball?

They’re scheduled to visit the White House today so Trump can use them as a photo op and bask in their 2025 championship.

That’s like staying in the dugout during a bench-clearing brawl after a pitcher plonks a batter, then offering the offender a handshake the next inning.

Winning back-to-back titles and blazing through this season has brought Angelenos much-needed happiness during a terrible stretch for the city — but winning is what the Dodgers are supposed to do. They’re also supposed to do more.

This is the team of pioneers like Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax, Glenn Burke and Fernando Valenzuela. The squad whose mythology insists it’s a franchise apart from the rest of professional sports because the Dodger Way is kinder, braver and more willing to take moral risks that transcend baseball and make society better.

And yet manager Dave Roberts told Times sports columnist Bill Shaikin in February that he would gladly accept another White House invitation “to continue to try to do what tradition says and not try to make political statements, because I am not a politician.”

Well, thank God the Dodgers broke baseball’s longstanding tradition of segregation long before Roberts, who is Black and Japanese American, was born!

Manager Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on from the dugout during a 2025 game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego, California.

(Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Most of the Blue Crew fans I know — who are mostly Trump haters, by the way — roll their eyes every time a wokoso member of Dodger Nation complains about the team’s White House visits or the failure of players, coaches and executives to speak out more forcefully against Trump’s anti-immigrant campaign. Politics have no place in baseball, my friends and family members will say.

But standing up for L.A. by snubbing Trump or calling out his war against us isn’t political at all.

Angelenos need a champion on the Dodgers to say what needs to be said: The City of Angels is wonderful, and Trump is wrong to target it. If you can’t stand up for the simple belief that we don’t deserve to be Trump’s personal piñata, then you have no place playing for the Dodgers.

Only two players have announced they’re not going to the White House: superstar Mookie Betts and fan favorite Kiké Hernández. The latter, a native of Puerto Rico, endeared himself to the Dodger faithful last year during the height of the immigration raids with an Instagram post that read, “I cannot tolerate watching our community continue to be violated, attacked, abused and separated. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and their human rights.”

This time around, Hernández told the Times that he’s not going so he can focus on a rehabilitation stint in the minors. When pressed by reporter Maddie Lee, he said, “I’d rather take a day off than do team activities.”

Nice way to rhetorically strike out, Kiké.

Betts, meanwhile, said he wants to spend time with his newborn child — as legitimate a reason as any. But then he sat down for a short interview with Fox News.

“I don’t know why the world sees athletes as political figures or these people that can make change,” Betts said. The future Hall of Famer, who like Roberts owes a lot to Robinson for paving the way for him and other Black players, hemmed and hawed as if he didn’t quite believe what he was saying.

Dodgers past and present haven’t been averse to political stands — they just usually happen to be of the conservative variety.

After his retirement, Robinson campaigned for Richard Nixon’s unsuccessful 1960 presidential bid but left the GOP eight years later, accusing Nixon of “prostituting himself to the bigots in the South” to win the presidency.

Other Dodger legends, from former owner Peter O’Malley to Steve Garvey to Tommy Lasorda, were proud, vocal Republicans as well. Reliever Blake Treinen pitched in a game with “Charlie Kirk” written on his hat after the assassination of the far-right commentator — you know, the guy who lambasted L.A.’s response to Trump’s immigration hammer as “open rebellion to American sovereignty and authority … in a corrupt blue city.”

Treinen — who skipped the Dodgers’ 2021 White House visit when Joe Biden occupied the Oval Office — was at it again this year when he and teammate Alex Call declined to wear Pride Night-themed caps, choosing instead to play with the standard-issue one. They followed the example of Dodgers titan Clayton Kershaw, who wore a Pride cap last year but adorned it with a verse from the Book of Genesis commandeered by MAGA Christians to accuse LGBT+ people of appropriating rainbow colors to celebrate their supposedly wicked ways.

Dodgers management didn’t browbeat Treinen and Call, and that’s fine — ballplayers should be entitled to share their personal thoughts, however noxious. I even understand why the team might want to ham it up with Trump this week — that’s what multimillionaires seem to want to do these days, after all.

Federal agents stage outside Gate E of Dodger Stadium on June 19, 2025.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

What offends me most is that Dodgers owner Mark Walter knows what Trump is doing to L.A. is wrong, even if he’ll never publicly say anything.

Last June, the team announced that it had prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from entering the Dodger Stadium parking lot — the feds denied that this happened. The Dodgers also announced they would donate $1.1 million to nonprofits to assist people affected by the immigration raids — a response to community disgust about video of federal agents in front of a Dodger Stadium gate with people who had been detained at a nearby Home Depot.

Soon after, the Dodgers were hit with a federal civil rights complaint, filed by a legal group co-founded by Stephen Miller, accusing them of discrimination because of their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. This year, Walter’s investment firm rid itself of all shares in GEO Group, which runs immigrant detention centers on behalf of the federal government.

Yet now, the Dodgers are going to the White House.

Enjoy the trip, fellas. Hey, maybe one of you will shake Trump’s hand and tell him that multicultural, immigrant, Dodgers-blue Los Angeles is all right.

Hey, maybe the Angels will win the pennant.

NEW YORK — What if the Dodgers never get a full season of pitching from Shohei Ohtani?

In his first season with the Dodgers, he did not pitch at all. In his second, he did not pitch until June. And, halfway through this third season, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts admitted Sunday he could not say when Ohtani might pitch again.

“Don’t know yet,” Roberts said.

October might be your immediate concern, and it should concern the Dodgers too. Of the four starting pitchers they would plan to use in the postseason — Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Ohtani — Yamamoto is the only one pitching major league innings right now. It’s not Tarik Skubal or bust, but the Dodgers should trade for someone they would start in a playoff game.

Yet, for a player with seven years left on his $700-million contract beyond this one, there might be a lot fewer opportunities to celebrate Ohtani as a two-way player than the Dodgers and their fans envision.

Ohtani did not pitch in his first year and a half with the Dodgers as he recovered from elbow surgery. When his rehabilitation was complete, he was good to go.

This is different. Ohtani is battling irritation in his left knee. Roberts used three concerning words to describe it: “wear and tear.”

There is no easy fix. The lubricant injection Ohtani received a week ago relieves symptoms for a short period of time, usually a few months. It is repeatable, but its benefits are not always felt right away.

The Dodgers had announced Ohtani would start Wednesday. Roberts said Ohtani experienced discomfort while playing catch, and that was enough for the Dodgers to push back his next start to…

“I would say that it’s going to be some time,” Roberts said. “It’s not going to be a day-to-day thing.”

Shohei Ohtani warms up before facing the Tampa Bay Rays at Dodger Stadium on June 15.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

If it is a wear-and-tear thing, there might be no solution besides management over the remainder of his career.

“I think it’s a little bit, it’s just like all of us, all athletes, that kind of have wear and tear,” Roberts said. “That’s just part of it, and now it’s just kind of showing itself a little bit, and then you got to manage it. I think that it’s the years of sliding, pitching, hitting and all that stuff.”

Ohtani is aware of this. He is 32. This is his 14th professional season. He reported to spring training with the goal of winning the National League Cy Young award, in part because who knows how long you can do everything at an elite level on a baseball field?

“Inside, I’m assuming this is my last chance as a pitcher,” Ohtani told the Japanese sports magazine Number in an interview published last month.

In his first 10 starts this season, he posted a 0.74 earned-run average, never giving up more than two runs in a start. In the four starts since the knee irritation surfaced June 10, his ERA is 4.38, and he has given up at least three runs in each start.

Can he pitch effectively if he can tolerate the discomfort? Would he want to? Would the Dodgers want him to, given their investment in him as one of the most dynamic hitters in baseball history?

To this point, Roberts said, Ohtani has experienced the irritation only on the mound, not at bat. As a result, Roberts said, the Dodgers do not believe shutting down Ohtani as a hitter for a few days would help ease the discomfort.

Maybe this works, with the injection calming the knee long enough to get Ohtani through the season, or with the irritation waning. Even then, it’s going to take some time.

“The first step is getting him into a spot where he feels like, and we feel like, he can pitch and not regress,” Roberts said.

Ohtani has not pitched in 16 days, and let’s say he does not pitch for another 16. Then the Dodgers would be looking at building back Ohtani’s endurance as they ramp up for the playoffs. So, even if Ohtani can return, could he pitch deep into a postseason game?

Shohei Ohtani hits a home run against the Tampa Bay Rays at Dodger Stadium on June 16.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

The Ohtani Effect is real, and grand. It is measured in T-shirts and ticket sales, tourists and movie promotions, bobblehead dolls and international corporate sponsorships.

But all of that should not obscure Ohtani’s greatness as a player.

If Aaron Judge cannot hit, he cannot help the Yankees, and they entered play Sunday 18-20 since he suffered a rib injury.

If Ohtani cannot pitch … well, he has hit 11 home runs since then, for the team with the best record in the major leagues.

The Dodgers do not believe Ohtani’s viability as a pitcher is in jeopardy, but we can already hear the cynics: In a worst-case scenario, if he could not pitch well again, would the contract be worth it?

It already is: Two full seasons, two World Series championships.

The Dodgers have the best record in baseball, the highest run differential in baseball, the biggest lead in baseball.

And a pitching staff that recently required seven arms to get through a six-run loss in a game started by Kyle Hurt.

The Dodgers have the best player in baseball, the best manager in baseball, the best lineup in baseball.

And a starting rotation containing two cornerstones who have shown up for a total of eight games.

You know where we’re headed with this, right?

C’mon Dodgers, would you look in the mirror and ignore the noise and make the trade already?

Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal pitches against the Athletics on July 7 in Detroit.

(Duane Burleson / Associated Press)

Go get Tarik Skubal.

Go get the two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner and cement your October. Go get the marvelous Detroit Tigers left-hander and claim your three-peat.

Everyone will say you are ruining baseball, but you know what really would ruin baseball? If its reigning dynasty is wrecked by loose bodies or back spasms or a needle stuck in a left knee.

Everyone will say you don’t really need him, but unless you have some sort of time machine that can restore vitality to some of the veterans showing serious wear, you need him.

The 29-year-old Skubal is a pending free agent, so the Tigers have to trade him or lose him to a $400-million contract elsewhere. The Tigers could keep him for a possible pennant run, but Skubal is a pitcher, not a miracle worker, and his 44-52 team has to leapfrog six others to sneak into a wild-card spot.

He’s there for the taking and, more than any other team, the asset-rich Dodgers are in the best position to take him. They have the best minor leaguers. They have the best fringe major leaguers. Give the Tigers whatever anonymous talents they desire because, as Dodgers fans have learned, nobody will be lamenting the lost kids when the big leaguers are parading down Figueroa.

Yes, agreed, this is an insane column to write … if it hadn’t already been written.

In June 2023, this space begged the Dodgers to bolster their weak starting rotation at the trade deadline.

“They need to surrender prospects and take on debt and do whatever it takes to trade for an ace starting pitcher or they have zero shot at a championship,” I wrote at the time. “They need to find somebody who can take the ball in one of the first two games of what could be a three-game wild-card playoff series or they have zero shot at surviving that series.”

One month later, failing to improve the team for one of the rare times in his brilliant career, Andrew Friedman struck out.

Three months later, they were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round of the playoffs while rolling out a rotation of noodle-armed Clayton Kershaw, massively disappointing Bobby Miller and a human dinger machine named Lance Lynn.

Three years later it feels like it’s happening all over again, the Dodgers once again faced with a nightmare they’d rather ignore.

Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani puts on his batting gloves after pitching against the Padres at Dodger Stadium on July 3.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The team with four aces needs an ace. The team that began the season with two Cy Young candidates needs a third. The supernatural pitching staff needs help.

Start with Shohei Ohtani. They’re understandably acting like the knee-draining procedure he underwent last weekend was no big deal, but it pulled him off the mound and there has been no definitive word when he’ll return.

“We all know with where we’re at, who he is as a player, if there’s opportunities to be extra cautious and mindful, it’s just prudent,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the media.

In less than three months, will “cautious and mindful” become “ready to roll?” Who knows? Ohtani is 32 with slowly diminishing tread on those overworked wheels. Then there are Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, the injured starters who everyone thinks will just magically appear at full strength in the playoffs.

Believe that, and I’ve got some loose bodies to sell you.

Snell, 33, hasn’t lasted a full season in three years, and even though he’ll be pitching again soon, any season that includes even the most minor of elbow surgeries can have a problematic ending.

Glasnow, who turns 33 next month, has made but 25 starts in the last two seasons and missed the playoffs completely two years ago, and by now it feels like back spasms are the least of his problems.

The surprise bright spot of the rotation has been Justin Wrobleski, and last season he didn’t give up a run in four World Series relief appearances, but can he be trusted with the start? In Tuesday’s All-Star Game, deep-bombing Miguel Vargas reminded him how the heat increases when the expectations are higher.

The starting pitcher fears are heightened by the vulnerability of the man who is catching them. Will Smith will be back from his neck injury, but he’s lately shown some of the strain of his record-setting postseason workload. And do you really want Dalton Rushing talking trash behind the plate for pressure playoff battles?

To all these worries, add the bullpen, which has fallen back to earth after its club-record 38-inning scoreless streak. Edwin Díaz can’t come back soon enough and, oh wait, does that 10.50 ERA really belong to him?

Into this tightrope-walking atmosphere would step Skubal, who underwent a minimally invasive elbow procedure in May but came back stronger than ever. He has gone 36-15 over the last three seasons with two full years of sub-3.00 ERAs while being generally regarded as the best pitcher in baseball.

He might be a rental. So what? A third consecutive championship would be forever. The rest of the baseball world would cry foul. Who cares? The only sound that matters around here is the cheers accompanying one more title before the game goes dark.

The Dodgers’ rotation is hurting. The Dodgers’ window is closing. The Dodgers are on the verge of a three-peat, yet still one player away.

Go get Tarik Skubal.

Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski, caught in limbo for the last week, didn’t make any plans for the All-Star break.

Good thing because on Saturday morning, manager Dave Roberts called to tell him he was added to the National League All-Star Game roster as a replacement player.

“I was actually playing nine holes this morning, just a normal day,” Wrobleski said. “And Doc called me, and [I] actually missed the first call.”

But when Wrobleski called back later, he thanked Roberts for how much the manager lobbied for him to be an All-Star. Then the left-hander called his mom and picked up a call from his dad.

“Everybody’s excited,” Wrobleski said. “I’m excited too. So everybody had good reactions. The team was excited for me. Had a bunch of friends reach out, a bunch of family reach out. Just great.”

A week after being snubbed from the initial All-Star rosters, Wrobleski will replace Reds right-hander Chase Burns.

“I was not happy that I wasn’t going to be a part of it,” Wrobleski said. “And obviously, getting the news that I’m going to be able to go there and do it, it’s super exciting. Wide range of emotions.”

Wrobleski is the sixth Dodger to be named a 2026 All-Star, joining Shohei Ohtani (who won’t be attending), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (also not playing), Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Andy Pages.

This is Wrobleski’s first All-Star selection, in his first full season in the Dodgers rotation. His 2.69 ERA ranked No. 8 among qualified NL pitchers entering Saturday. And his 10 wins was tied for No. 2.

“I was elated,” Roberts said. “The game honors you and today the game honored Justin.”

Wrobleski began the season in the bullpen, waiting to join the rotation as its sixth pitcher after the first turn. He and Yamamoto have carried the brunt of the workload for the Dodgers’ rotation over the first half of the season, consistently pitching deep into games.

“I haven’t really had the chance to think about everything yet,” Wrobleski said about his season. “But I’m sure this offseason or whenever, it’s going to hit me.

“It’s super cool. I’m super excited. I’m super lucky and blessed to just have the chance that I’ve gotten this year. And thankfully I’ve thrown the ball well.”

Yamamoto not pitching in All-Star Game

With Yamamoto making his last start before the All-Star break on Saturday, it seemed unlikely he would pitch in the All-Star Game. Roberts made that official on Saturday.

“He’ll get a week off,” Roberts said, noting that he believes the two-time All-Star still plans to travel to Philadelphia for the event.

Díaz on rehab assignment

In a promising sign for Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz’s recovery timeline, he is scheduled to make a rehab assignment with single-A Ontario on Saturday. Díaz made just seven appearances for the Dodgers before undergoing an operation to remove loose bodies from his right elbow in late April.

Blake Snell, who also had loose bodies removed from his pitching elbow, progressed to throwing live batting practice on Saturday.

Roster moves

The Dodgers made a series of moves to add a fresh arm to the bullpen before Saturday’s game.

They reinstated pitcher Landon Knack from the injured list (strained oblique). In a pair of corresponding moves, the Dodgers optioned pitcher Kyle Hurt to triple-A Oklahoma City and designated pitcher Charlie Barnes for assignment.

MLB draft

With their first pick of the MLB draft, No. 40 overall, the Dodgers selected infielder Bo Lowrance out of Christ Church Episcopal School in Greenville, S.C.

“We are ecstatic about landing Bo Lowrance,” Dodgers’ amateur scouting director Zach Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “He was our main target. Bo has the size, the swing, the projection and the drive to be a high-level Major League shortstop.”

The Dodgers only had two picks Saturday. They selected right-handed pitcher Russell Sandefer out of the University of Florida with the 132nd pick.

The draft continues Sunday with rounds five through 20.

PHILADELPHIA — “It just means more” is a fine slogan. When it comes to the baseball draft, however, the Southeastern Conference can take a back seat to our oceanfront pitching factory.

First pitcher selected in last year’s draft: Tyler Bremner, UC Santa Barbara, taken second overall by the Angels.

First pitcher selected in this year’s draft: Jackson Flora, UC Santa Barbara, taken fourth overall by the San Francisco Giants.

Bremner followed the first round of Saturday’s draft from an airplane, watching from the screen on the back of the seat in front of him.

“It was cool to see someone I knew get picked that high,” Bremner said. “He’s stoked.”

Under former general manager Perry Minasian, college players would be stoked to be drafted by the Angels, who did not hesitate to promote top prospects to the major leagues after the briefest of stints in the minor leagues.

American League catcher Nathan Flewelling greets American League pitcher Tyler Bremner, left, during the MLB All-Star Futures game on Sunday in Philadelphia.

(Chris Szagola / Associated Press)

Bremner has yet to rise above Class A, but he did participate in Sunday’s Futures Game. He retired the only batter he faced.

The pitchers the Angels might well have taken in place of him, Kade Anderson and Seth Hernandez, each pitched a scoreless inning in the Futures Game.

After the Angels drafted Bremner with the second pick, the Seattle Mariners selected Anderson, an LSU product considered the most polished pitcher available. Anderson is 8-1 with a 1.36 ERA at double-A, likely the next man up should the Mariners’ rotation need one.

The Mariners had alerted him after the first pick — infielder Eli Willits, by the Washington Nationals — that they would take him with the third, he said.

“I got to watch the Angels make their pick, and then it was my turn,” Anderson said. “I never talked to them.”

Anderson signed for $8.8 million, Bremner for $7.7 million. Under Minasian, the Angels chose to spend less on the first-round pick and spread the savings among players drafted in lower rounds.

The first high school pitcher selected last year, Seth Hernandez, played at Corona High, about 20 miles from Angel Stadium. Hernandez is 6-foot-1 with a 2.61 ERA at Class A for the Pittsburgh Pirates, with 111 strikeouts in 69 innings.

He said he had talked with the Angels but did not expect them to select him because he “knew what direction they were going.” (Translation: trying to save money in the first round.)

“It would have been cool to go there,” Hernandez said, “but I’m happy with where I’m at with the Pirates.”

Whatever success the Angels might have in developing players drafted in the lower rounds, their 2025 draft will be remembered for this: They had their choice of any pitcher in America, and they chose Bremner.

Today, the league website ranks Anderson and Hernandez as the game’s top pitching prospects, and among the top six overall. Bremner ranks 44th overall, the only Angels prospect among the top 100.

His season started well, with a 1.08 ERA over five starts. He then missed a month because of illness and arm fatigue. Since his return, he has a 5.63 ERA over six starts.

The 48 strikeouts over 34 total innings is good news. The 34 innings to this point means his season grade can only be marked as incomplete.

“I’m just trying to stay on the field the rest of the year,” Bremner said. “That’s the main goal.

“I think it all comes down to how I perform and how I execute. They gave me all the opportunity in the world this year.”

In addition to adjusting to the first season of his professional career, Bremner is playing his first full season without his mother, who died from breast cancer last June.

“I feel like I am still dealing with that a good amount,” he said.

“It’s not something that gets brought up too much. I don’t want to say people move on, but it has been a year, and people start looking toward the next thing. That’s just how life moves.

“It’s still on my mind a lot. I’m trying to focus on what I need to be focusing on, and that’s being present and competing and having success in the sport. It’s my job right now. It’s not easy, but I’m getting through it.”

Same, really, for his pitching.

In a year in which three of the starters in the Angels’ opening rotation have been (a) injured; (b) demoted; or c) demoted and recalled, it’s hard not to imagine that a healthy and productive Bremner might have made the majors by now.

“I think about it sometimes,” he said, “but I’m content: not really contentment with where I’m at, but content going day to day and figuring out the process as I go through it.

“You can’t really think about getting to the big leagues before going through the other steps. Just kind of enjoying where I’m at right now, and realizing I need to have success here to make it there.

“You can’t just expect it to be handed to you. That’s something they made clear to me: It’s not going to be handed to me. It needs to be earned. I think I have a little ways to go, but I’m confident I can get there.”

He is confident, too, that Santa Barbara was an optimal launching pad toward getting him there.

“They develop pitchers well,” he said. “It’s a good location. It’s a fun school. I can’t say enough about my time there.

“Playing a lot of guys who have played in those big stadiums and in those big settings — Omaha, whatever — you do realize it’s the same game once you get here. It’s an even playing field. I feel like I fit in just fine.”

He should. The number of Cy Young winners this decade from the SEC is the same as the number from UCSB: one.

Corona High baseball coach Andy Wise has pulled off the most intriguing acquisition of the summer season.

Former Dodgers relief pitcher Joe Kelly, a Corona graduate, is joining the program as an assistant coach to help guide pitchers.

Known for his quirky personality and ability to thrive under pressure, Kelly has followed the program in recent years after retiring as a player and jumped at the chance to help the pitchers, Wise said.

“My conversations with him over the years have been incredible,” Wise said. “What an asset for the pitching staff and the whole program. He’s got the time and he’s got a lot of kids. He’s not going to be here six days a week. He’s excited.”

The plan came together after Wise went up to Northern California to speak with a group of players with Kelly.

“No stress, no pressure, anything you might help us with would be awesome,” Wise said he told him.

Wise said Kelly has been following the team in person and on GameChanger and offering ideas.

Just having around a 13-year former MLB pitcher should be inspiring to players next season.

“Joe is Joe and I expect him to be Joe,” Wise said.

SACRAMENTO — The Dodgers scratched Shohei Ohtani from his scheduled Wednesday start against the Athletics and said he would instead start Friday at Dodger Stadium against the San Diego Padres.

The Dodgers did not immediately say why they delayed Ohtani’s start or who would start in his place Wednesday. Ohtani is in the lineup at designated hitter for Tuesday’s game.

This series marks the Dodgers’ lone scheduled visit to Sacramento during the A’s three-year stay here. The A’s plan to move into a new ballpark in Las Vegas in 2028, the next time the teams are scheduled to face off.

Ohtani would have been starting on his usual six days rest. However, with the Dodgers on a run of 13 consecutive games without an off day, pushing Ohtani back at some point would allow the Dodgers to better manage his workload.

He is 8-2 with a 1.58 earned-run average this season. Among National League pitchers with at least 70 innings, his ERA is bettered only by Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers (1.46).

Ohtani already has pitched 79-2/3 innings this season, his most in three years. He spent all of the 2024 season and the first half of the 2025 season rehabilitating from elbow surgery.

On Monday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani, already elected as the NL designated hitter for next month’s All-Star Game, would not pitch in that game if he were not the starting pitcher.

“He’ll obviously DH and then we’ll go from there,” Roberts said. “I don’t know where he is with the pitching thing. We’ll see.”

The Dodgers have carefully managed Ohtani’s workload as a pitcher and might well prefer he be limited to DH in the game. It also would be impractical to have him warm up during a game in which he were hitting, and Misiorowski and Cristopher Sanchez of the host Philadelphia Phillies are top candidates to be the NL starting pitcher.

Amid the first days of grief after Alex Vesia and his wife lost their newborn daughter last fall, Vesia noticed something as he watched the World Series on television. He paused the broadcast, then checked the video, then texted another player to make sure.

51.

Dodgers teammates wore his number on their caps. So did players from the Toronto Blue Jays.

“It was awesome,” Vesia said. “It was a very heartwarming moment.”

Moving.

Touching.

And, under baseball’s rules, illegal.

Who knew, really, until this week? Three pitchers from the San Francisco Giants wrote the name of a Bible verse on their Pride Night caps and, amid an uproar, Major League Baseball said it had warned the players that “writing of any kind, with any message” on any playing apparel is not permitted. The issue, the league said in a statement, was not what they wrote on their caps but simply that they wrote on them at all.

Said MLB in the statement: “We have given the same warning numerous times in the past to players for messages such as ‘Dad’, ‘Happy Mother’s Day, I Love Mom’ and names of family members.”

To its credit, the league did not enforce the rule when Vesia’s number started appearing on caps in the World Series. But, if you’re going to draw a line on enforcement, where should you draw it?

In San Francisco, the actions of the Giants’ pitchers were widely condemned.

“They were in for a rude awakening with the response, and it wasn’t just from the gay community,” Giants broadcaster and former pitcher Mike Krukow told KNBR, the team’s flagship radio station. “It was from the Northern California community that supports the gay community.”

In response to media inquiries, and as first reported by Outsports, MLB confirmed it had warned the three players. I asked the league whether warnings had been issued in two other instances in which players had written on their caps, including Clayton Kershaw last year writing the same Bible verse on his Pride Night cap that the Giants’ pitchers wrote this year. MLB declined to comment.

“I got chastised by the league when I put Charlie [Kirk]’s name on my hat last year, because a man was murdered in cold blood,” Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen told me, “and now these gentlemen who are relievers in San Francisco are getting chastised by the league for putting a Bible verse on their hat. It’s crazy to me.”

Treinen said league officials had told him the rule is strictly enforced.

“I straight up asked Clayton last year, ‘Did they call you when you put that on your hat?’” Treinen said. “He said, ‘No.’”

The Pride caps feature team logos decorated in the colors of the rainbow, a symbol long associated with the gay community. In the Bible verse cited by the pitchers (Genesis 9:12-16), the rainbow represents “the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures.”

That the league would warn players against writing a Bible verse on their caps ignited a wave of conservative outrage, from Vice President JD Vance to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley fired off a letter to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, alleging apparent discrimination “against baseball players who profess their Christian faith” and threatening the league’s antitrust exemption. Assistant U.S. Atty. Gen. Harmeet Dhillon said on national television that players might be able to file a claim for employment discrimination.

That is complete nonsense. This is what you want: When employees raise an issue to their employer, the employer listens and addresses their concerns.

In 2023, the year after five Tampa Bay Rays players declined to wear rainbow logos for Pride Night, Manfred said the league would no longer compel players to do so.

“We have told teams, in terms of actual uniforms, hats, bases that we don’t think putting logos on them is a good idea just because of the desire to protect players: not putting them in a position of doing something that may make them uncomfortable because of their personal views,” Manfred said then.

Teammates congratulate Freddie Freeman after his walk-off home run gave the Dodgers a 1-0 win on June 5, when the Dodgers held their annual Pride Night. Blake Treinen, the winning pitcher that night, elected to wear his regular Dodgers cap instead of the Pride version.

(Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)

Manfred said the Pride Night celebrations could go on, however a team wished to stage them — or not, in the case of the Texas Rangers, the only one of the 30 MLB teams that declines to hold a Pride Night. And the league still sells Pride gear on its website for all teams, including the Rangers.

In the cases of the Giants and Dodgers, MLB grandfathered each team’s long-running use of a rainbow logo on the cap, with this accommodation to players: If you don’t feel comfortable wearing the Pride cap, just wear your regular cap.

That is what Treinen and outfielder Alex Call did when the Dodgers celebrated Pride Night. That is also what a fourth Giants pitcher did.

“My job is to abide by the rules,” Treinen said. “Ultimately, the only rule we have is to wear our team-issued uniform. So that’s what I chose to do.”

To Treinen, the decision over whether to wear a Pride cap is not about passing judgment on anyone else but about what he sees as the push “to force something on people that you know that is controversial to their faith — and, in fact, straight up against their faith.”

He expressed his support for the Giants pitchers.

“Kudos to those men over there who are standing strong in their faith,” he said. “It’s a sad thing to corner someone and try to make them feel bad about their convictions.”

I respect Treinen for explaining his viewpoint. To me, wearing a Pride cap for one night does not diminish your faith at all. It might sharpen your convictions. More important, it signals a welcome to everyone in the community that buys the tickets and broadcast subscriptions that help pay your salary.

“I think a few people made it about themselves and not about the community,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie told the Bay Area Reporter.

We always proclaim the life lessons of sports. One of them: Sometimes you have to put the team’s interests ahead of your own.

Freddie Freeman battled in the batter’s box.

No stranger to coming through in a big moment, the Dodgers star was hoping to see a fastball up in the zone from Angels reliever Kirby Yates.

So Freeman stayed patient, working his way into a full count.

Then Yates gave him what he wanted — and Freeman delivered the 20th walk-off hit of his career.

The Dodger Stadium crowd erupted in celebration as Freeman watched the ball soar over the right-center field wall in the ninth inning of a 1-0 victory over the Angels.

Freddie Freeman hits a walk-off home run for the Dodgers in a 1-0 win over the Angels at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

Freeman grinned as he rounded the bases. He threw a thumbs up at his teammates before they swarmed him in celebration. He finally had given the Dodgers something to cheer for after being held to just two hits over 25 at-bats.

“I’ve been feeling good lately,” Freeman said. “I was tweaking things early on, just trying to find a consistent feel for things. Sometimes it’s just get a couple of hits, get confidence and get going. Nothing really crazy. It’s the same routine, hitting some soft line drives at the shortstop, and things have been working.”

Through most of the game, the excitement was contained to a pitcher’s duel — a chess game of defensive plays, waiting to see who flinched first.

Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki was red hot in what would tie for his longest outing of the season. Sasaki, for the first time this season, threw triple digits in back-to-back appearances, topping 100.6 mph. The Japanese pitcher threw all three of his pitches harder than his yearly average.

Freddie Freeman watches his walk-off home run clear the wall in right-center field to cap a 1-0 win over the Angels at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

“I’ve been experiencing a lot of good and bad since 2024,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. “But I feel like I’m able to maintain this velocity. I think I’m confident about that, but I’m just keeping working on it to make sure I’m in a better place.”

With the speed uptick, Sasaki has also seen an inverse downtick in the earned runs column on his statline. His monthly ERA reached its zenith at 7.23 in his April starts, descending to its current 4.03 ERA.

In Sasaki’s best starts, the elevated velocity and pitch mix makes the right-hander lethal, giving him extended runway to pitch further into the game. Against the Angels (24-40), the elevated velocity allowed him to throw 4⅓ hitless innings in his career-high 11th appearance of the season. He pitched seven innings, giving up two hits and two walks while striking out 10.

It’s a return to how Sasaki looked when he played in Japan, manager Dave Roberts said. Confidence might be the clearest sign things are clicking. Sasaki thumped his chest after striking out Adam Fraizer in the fifth inning, a rare show of emotion.

“I certainly think we can all agree that the floor for Roki is much higher, and the expectation every time he takes the ball is high, and he’s earned that,” Roberts said. “If you look at the last six or seven stats, it’s been as good as any starter in the big leagues in the consistency of performance. So really proud of him and I know that he wants more, and the floor has just been raised.”

Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki delivers in the first inning of a 1-0 win over the Angels at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

Some quick thinking from second baseman Miguel Rojas also helped preserve Sasaki’s strong start. On Nick Madrigal’s sharp line drive in the third inning, the pitcher reached for the ball and popped it up with the tip of his glove. The ball ricocheted off its intended course, but Rojas nabbed it with his bare hand, throwing it to first where a lunging Freeman caught it. The play was initially ruled as an infield single, but it was overturned on review.

“When it hits off a pitcher — you’re already going, committed to one way, then you gotta make another,” Freeman laughed. “The old guy’s still got it.”

Madrigal would break the Angels’ hitless run in the fifth with a double off the left-field wall. But, he was left stranded when Sasaki induced a groundout before his strikeout of Frazier.

The Dodgers (41-23) didn’t fare much better against Angels starter Reid Detmers. In the fourth, Freeman singled and moved to third on a forceout on Kyle Tucker. But, with two outs on the board, Will Smith struck out.

Andy Pages squandered a potential scoring opportunity when he was caught stealing in the sixth. The center fielder, who went one for four, has struggled at the plate in recent games. Against Arizona this week, Pages batted .176, collecting only three hits.

As the innings dragged, both the Dodgers and the Angels failed to find momentum. Reliever Chase Silseth took over in the seventh for Detmers, who gave up just two hits, walked two and struck out six. Silseth silenced the opposing batters, issuing only a walk to Smith.

Edgardo Henriquez took over in the eighth, striking out the first two batters he faced. Then, he hit Zach Neto with a pitch, and after Neto stole second, the Dodgers found themselves in a precarious position with Mike Trout at the plate. Not for long, though, as Henriquez struck out Trout.

Roberts, who had watched Rojas and Santiago Espinal go a combined 0 for 4, pinch-hit for both in the eighth. To a roaring applause, Max Muncy entered the batter’s box, his first plate appearance since a scary collision with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Ildemaro Vargas on Thursday. Muncy, though, went down swinging.

Tanner Scott took the mound in the ninth a day after he gave up a walk-off home run to Arizona’s Ketel Marte. Jo Adell hit a one-out single then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Donovan Walton. Roberts then put Blake Treinen into the game, and he got Oswald Peraza to ground out to first.

With Freeman’s sixth career walk-off home run, the Dodgers beat the Angels for the fourth consecutive time this season.

“Freddie just has aura,” Roberts said. “There’s not too many guys in baseball that you’d want in a game-winning situation, and Freddie does it once again.”

Angels second baseman Oswald Peraza walks back to the dugout after grounding out during the ninth inning against the Dodgers.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

Week by week, freshman left-handed pitcher Sheriff Hall of Loyola High has gotten better and better. It sets up for an intriguing Southern Section Division 2 baseball final on Saturday when Hall goes against Ganesha at 5:30 p.m. at the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes’ diamond.

He’s expected to face unbeaten left-handed pitcher Logan Schmidt after the Pomona Unified School District indicated that issues about top Ganesha players participating in an out-of-state camp have been resolved.

Whatever happens, Hall is ready. Coach Keith Ramsey has been preparing him for this moment. Hall is 7-3 with a 2.53 ERA while pitching mostly in the tough Mission League.

If Hall ever needs someone to put together a highlight tape, he knows whom to ask. His father, Jason, is a screenwriter and director who also played a recurring character in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Let’s see if Hall can be his own slayer on Saturday.

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

Mason Edwards has first-round hype ahead of July’s 2026 MLB draft for a reason.

USC’s ace takes the mound like a boxer enters the ring, eager to land blow after blow. And as the Trojans (43-15) open the NCAA tournament in College Station, Texas, at 6 p.m. PDT Friday (ESPNU), the southpaw packs a serious punch. He carries a nation-leading 160 strikeouts and the second-best 1.43 ERA.

“They’re getting a competitor,” Edwards said of what people can expect when he pitches. “There have been a lot of situations where I’ve had to battle and fight adversity. So, I think you’ll see a good fight when I toe the rubber. I’m not going to shy away from any type of competition.”

If anything, the competition probably shies away from Edwards.

Named the Big Ten 2026 Pitcher of the Year after stacking a record 113 strikeouts in conference play, Edwards is integral to what has been USC’s best team since the early 2000s.

The junior enters Friday’s regional matchup against Texas State with a perfect 8-0 record through 15 starts and 88 1/3 total innings and has collected nine-plus strikeouts in all but two games during the 2026 season — earning a career-high 16 in a 9-2 home win over Iowa on April 10.

MLB.com ranks Edwards No. 36 in its latest draft prospect rankings. Despite being on his way to becoming a professional baseball player, Edwards remains focused on helping the Trojans pursue their first national title since 1998.

“It’s important to stay present,” Edwards said. “I still play at SC, so I’m still concerned with how USC’s doing and how our team is doing. At the end of the day, that’s what’s important right now. It’s a team sport, it’s not tennis or golf. Got to stay grounded with what’s important. Team winning; going to a regional, winning that; trying to take this team to Omaha. That’s the biggest thing.”

Edwards, 20, is having fun while focusing on the Trojans.

Describing himself as playful, “cool with everyone” and as an “all-around happy” person, Edwards is enjoying his third year at USC, particularly as a teammate everybody can rely on.

Underrecruited during his prep career at Palisades Charter High, Edwards was inconsistent during his first season with the Trojans. He had some promising outings but finished with a 7.88 ERA and 1-3 record through 37 2/3 frames.

Edwards improved as a sophomore, serving as a starter and reliever, finishing with a 3.86 ERA and 3-0 record over 32 2/3 innings. However, he dealt with minor arm injuries and still didn’t have a clear-cut role.

Today, though, Edwards is one of the best pitchers in the country. And his skipper couldn’t be prouder.

“His development’s been really good,” USC coach Andy Stankiewicz said of Edwards. “He’s gotten better. That’s the thing we’re proud of. He’s a guy that’s been in our program for three years. Mason was trying to figure out who he was gonna be. ‘Is he going to be a starter? Is he going to be a reliever? So, he was kind of that spot starter … When he was a youngster, sometimes his misses [were] really big, and they really weren’t competitive pitches. Now, every pitch is pretty competitive.”

Stankiewicz credited Trojans pitching coach Sean Allen for helping Edwards, known for his rising heater, improve his curveball and develop his breaking ball.

The four-year head coach also praised Edwards for being an increasingly confident leader.

“Guys like him,” Stankiewicz said. “Guys enjoy being around him. I enjoy his growth. I enjoy being around him. He’s fun. We can tease each other pretty well and have fun with it. [Edwards was] a typical young man his freshman year, doesn’t say much. And then by the junior, senior year, they just grow up.”

The ace said he appreciates Stankiewicz, noting the coach’s emphasis on making sure players leave the program as “good men.”

Edwards also shouted out Trojans director of player development Josh Goossen-Brown, for being in his corner for years.

“He’s been through it all,” Edwards said of Goossen-Brown. “Been working with him since high school — very early high school — and he works here now. So, very small world, that he was able to get a job here.”

It’s hard not to see how the stars have aligned for Edwards.

While he didn’t consider USC his dream school growing up, Edwards is achieving Trojans royalty status, with loved ones nearby to support his journey in the same threads as great Trojans he idolized such as Randy Johnson and Seth Etherton.

Already named his conference’s best pitcher, Edwards is a semifinalist for both National Pitcher of the Year and for the Golden Spikes Award — given to the best amateur baseball player in America — after becoming the first USC pitcher to surpass 140 strikeouts in a single season since Ian Kennedy in 2005.

Edwards said he has always believed in himself, especially after a particularly rocky freshman campaign when his future appeared far from clear.

“When you’re your own person, you kind of see more than something other people might see,” Edwards said. “But yeah, freshman year, I flashed stuff that I really held onto. It was definitely a roller coaster … but you just hold on to the good things. Really holding on to those positives and trying to take them into the following years has been a big part of why you see that development process.”

Freshman pitcher Ainsley Jenkins is a big reason Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has advanced to the Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals in softball. In the Knights’ first two playoff victories over Anaheim Canyon and Oaks Christian, she has been called out of the bullpen to pitch exceptionally well in relief.

Next up is a quarterfinal showdown with No. 2-seeded Norco on Wednesday at Encino’s Franklin Fields.

If Jenkins needs any help with writing for school work, she has two parents with distinguished writing backgrounds. Her father, Lee, was a highly regarded reporter at Sports Illustrated before becoming an executive with the Clippers. Her mother, Elizabeth, is a magazine writer.

Notre Dame is expected to face Norco’s top one-two pitching duo of Coral Williams and Peyton May. Jenkins will be available if needed. Mom and Dad are also available to write up a pleasing ending if the Knights pull off the upset.

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

The Dodgers opened MLB rivalry weekend with a blast — three to be exact — in a 6-0 win over the Angels on Friday at Angel Stadium.

The Dodgers also achieved something last year’s World Series-winning team couldn’t — they beat the Angels. The Angels had won seven consecutive games against the Dodgers, the franchise’s longest winning streak against its crosstown rival.

“Couldn’t beat these guys last year, couldn’t beat the Brewers last year [in the regular season],” manager Dave Roberts said with a large smile. “So it was nice to beat these guys.”

What changed? The Dodgers’ offense took command. They lit up Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz’s fastball. Andy Pages hit a three-run home run and Max Muncy hit his 12th homer of the season on the next at-bat to break a scoreless game in the fourth inning. Both home runs came off four-seamers Kochanowicz left too far over the center of the plate.

Roberts praised Pages’ ability to recover from slumps and not dwell too much on being uncomfortable.

“A young player, when it starts to go south, you can’t stop it,” Roberts said. “The 0-4 turns into a one for 20 pretty quickly. That’s what happened last year at the end of the year. Now, he had a little swoon and found a way to let it be, take walks or get a hit here to there to do some damage control until you get back to swinging long.”

During Pages’ at-bat, a pitch ricocheted off Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe’s left hand. Playing in his first game since returning from the injured list, O’Hoppe stayed in the game despite appearing to be in pain. He left in the sixth because of irritation in his left wrist — the same wrist he fractured on April 25.

In the sixth, Teoscar Hernández tacked on two more runs with an opposite-field home run after an errant sinker from Kochanowicz. The 33-year-old wore a big smile after he crossed home and was showered in sunflower seeds.

“Just getting the confidence back there,” Hernández said. “Getting better pitches to hit, hitting the ball harder, getting on base, taking a lot more walks, just do[ing] the positive things for the team.”

Hernández had gone 23 days without a home run, and had been moved down in the lineup. The left fielder said he wasn’t bothered by the change, though he joked about Pages taking his place as the sunflower seed shower manager.

“It’s getting better,” Hernández laughed. “He’s going to have my job when I’m not here.”

Dodgers pitcher Will Klein delivers during the first inning against the Angels at Angel Stadium on Friday.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

Shohei Ohtani also put together good at-bats. He walked and had a double, but he also struck out twice.

Freddie Freeman was notably absent. Roberts texted Freeman a couple nights ago and told him he would give him Friday off. Freeman, ever the competitor, tried to get Roberts to reconsider, but the Dodgers manager held firm.

Freeman is expected to return to the lineup Saturday with Kyle Tucker taking the day off.

“Tucker’s been trending for a while, Will’s been consistent, I think Teo’s on the way back too,” Roberts said. “We got a lot of guys that are swinging well, and to get Freddie off his feet tonight, I think it was a good thing in the midst of 13 in a row.”

The Dodgers (27-18) didn’t need Freeman with the way their bullpen was pitching. Will Klein opened after Blake Snell was placed on the injured list because of loose bodies in his left elbow. The Dodgers recalled left-hander Charlie Barnes to take Snell’s place on the active roster.

The quick pivot didn’t affect the Dodgers much. The team relied on eight pitchers — Klein, Edgardo Henriquez, Blake Treinen, Wyatt Mills, Kyle Hurt, Alex Vesia, Jack Dreyer and Barnes — to hold the Angels to two hits. No one ate up more innings than Klein, who struck out two and surrendered one hit across two innings. They also kept Tanner Scott fresh in case he’s needed Saturday.

“The only guy that went multiples was Klein, but, again, coming out of tonight the offensive run production allowed us to do that and give us a little coverage,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers now have a chance to do something last year’s team couldn’t: win a series against the Angels (16-29).