pitchers

Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Somewhere in baseball heaven Fernando Valenzuela is saying to himself, “A complete game. What’s the big deal?”

The story of the postseason so far has been the starting pitching. Amazing. Let’s take a look at how the Dodgers’ starters have done:

NL wild-card series vs. Reds

Game 1: Blake Snell, 7 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, 9 K’s, Dodgers win 10-5
Game 2: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 6.2 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 2 walks, 9 K’s, Dodgers win 8-4

NLDS vs. Phillies

Game 1: Shohei Ohtani, 6 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 1 walk, 9 K’s, Dodgers win 5-3
Game 2: Blake Snell, 6 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 4 walks, 9 K’s, Dodgers win, 4-3
Game 3: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 4 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 1 walk, 2 K’s, Dodgers lose, 8-2
Game 4: Tyler Glasnow, 6 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 3 walks, 8 K’s, Dodgers win, 2-1

NLCS vs. Brewers

Game 1: Blake Snell, 8 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 0 walks, 10 K’s, Dodgers win, 2-1
Game 2: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 9 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 1 walk, 7 K’s, Dodgers win, 5-1

In eight games, starting pitchers have thrown 52.2 innings, giving up 24 hits and 13 walks while striking out 63 and posting a 1.54 ERA.

—It’s as if suddenly Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale are taking turns on the mound again. Of course, they always did it in the World Series, as there were no other rounds back then.

—In the 1963 World Series (a four-game sweep of the Yankees), Koufax, Drysdale and Johnny Podres combined to pitch 35.1 innings, giving up 21 hits and five walks while striking out 36 and posting a 1.02 ERA

—In the 1965 World Series, won in seven games against Minnesota, Koufax, Drysdale and Claude Osteen combined to pitch 49.2 innings, giving up 34 hits and 13 walks while striking out 48 and posting a 1.27 ERA.

—Pedro Martinez (can you believe he didn’t choose to wear a Dodger cap on his Hall of Fame plaque) had this to say on X about Snell: “I’ve been part of many postseason games, and I’ve done some great things, but in my career I haven’t seen someone do the amount of things he’s done. It gave me goosebumps to watch him. I think we can all learn from him. He deserves a lot of credit and respect.”

—That leadoff home run in Game 2 seemed to anger Yamamoto.

—Proving himself to be the master of the understatement, Yamamoto said this after the game: “I was able to pitch until the end. So I really felt a sense of accomplishment.”

—This has been like watching old-school baseball. Starting pitchers going deep into games. Dodgers bunting on occasion. Not every run coming on a home run. What is happening?

—Whatever it is, I like it.

—Let’s unpack that crazy Game 1 play. Bases loaded, one out, Max Muncy at the plate. He lifts a fly ball to deep center. Brewers center fielder Sal Frelick leaps, and the ball bounces off his glove and hits the fence on the yellow line before Frelick corrals it again. OK, let’s stop there:

In Milwaukee, the yellow line does not signify a home run. If a ball hits the yellow line, it means ball is in play. Visiting teams are reminded of this rule when they visit Milwaukee.

The left-field umpire immediately signals no catch, ball is in play. Unfortunately, it appears the only person paying attention to him is Brewers catcher William Contreras (also the only person on the field who is naturally facing the outfield to see all of this.)

As far as tagging up on a catch, the rule is you can run as soon as the ball hits the glove. Teoscar Hernández tagged up, started to run, saw the bobble, ran back, tagged up again, and by the time he made it home, the throw had beaten him. Because it wasn’t a catch and the bases were loaded, it was a force play at any base. Contreras, knowing it was a force play, didn’t even try to tag Hernández. He then ran to third to force Will Smith there. Smith, thinking the ball had been caught, had run back to second and told Tommy Edman, who had advanced to second, to go back to first. In the meantime, while Edman was doing that, Muncy passed him on the basepath. So really, the Brewers could have had a triple play, or even a quadruple play if such a thing were possible.

Third base coach Dino Ebel says he told Hernández to go. Hernández took full blame for the baserunning mistake the next day.

Hernández : “I just f— up. It’s that simple. It was one of those plays that if you would have asked me two days ago what would you do in this situation, I would say, as soon as the ball touched the glove, I would go. But in the moment, I got blocked, I think, and there’s not an explanation. I saw it when the ball hit the glove, I went. Then I saw it bounced off the glove. And I just reacted bad. Just one of those moments, you block your mind. But there’s nobody to blame but myself. And it happens.”

Smith also messed up by running back to second and telling Edman to run back to first. It was extremely loud in Milwaukee’s stadium, so apparently no one could hear Ebel.

Everyone on the field seemed confused (except Contreras). Both managers seemed confused at that moment. The TBS announcing crew was confused. People on social media were confused. We finally found something to unite us all: Confusion. It was crazy.

—In some years, the Dodgers would have fallen apart after that and lost the game.

—And then Snell marched out after that deflating half inning and mowed down the Brewers, 1-2-3 in the next half-inning. That’s what aces do.

—Who among you was screaming “Nooooooooooooooooooo!” when Blake Treinen came into Game 1? Roki Sasaki didn’t have it that night. But somehow Treinen got out of it.

—It seemed to make Dave Roberts think twice about pulling Yamamoto in Game 2 though.

—The offense isn’t quite clicking, but they are doing just enough to win. Baserunning gaffe aside, Teoscar continues to come up big in the postseason. As does Super Kiké.

—Now the baton passes back to Tyler Glasnow for Game 3.

—The last Dodger to pitch a postseason complete game was José Lima in 2004, when he shut out the Cardinals on five hits in Game 3 of the NLDS. It was the team’s first postseason win since Game 5 of the 1988 World Series. It was his only season with the Dodgers. He went 13-5 with a 4.07 ERA. His final season in the majors was 2006. He died of a heart attack in 2010. He was 37.

—To think, the Dodgers are doing this with basically a three-man bullpen.

—In Game 2, Muncy hit his 14th postseason home run, setting the all-time Dodgers record. It’s a little misleading, since guys such as Duke Snider only got one round of postseason play, and guys such as Steve Garvey usually got only two. But it’s still a nice accomplishment.

The most postseason homers in Dodger history:

14
Max Muncy (one every 16.1 at bats)

13
Corey Seager (17.9)
Justin Turner (24.2)

11
Duke Snider (12.1)

10
Steve Garvey (18.2)
Kiké Hernández (21)

9
Cody Bellinger (26.9)
Joc Pederson (16.8)
Chris Taylor (25.2)

—The Dodgers seem to have another gear they have shifted into this postseason, while the other teams don’t have that extra gear as of yet.

—The Dodgers have gone 22-6 in their last 28 games.

—But this series is far from over.

Dodgers in the postseason

How the Dodgers are doing this postseason:

Batters

Alex Call, .750 (3 for 4), 2 walks
Ben Rortvedt, .429 (3 for 7), 1 double, 1 RBI, 3 K’s
Kiké Hernández, .379 (11 for 29), 4 doubles, 4 RBIs, 4 walks, 7 K’s
Miguel Rojas, .375 (3 for 8), 1 RBI
Mookie Betts, .303 (10 for 33), 3 doubles, 1 triple, 5 RBIs, 4 walks, 2 K’s
Tommy Edman, .296 (8 for 27), 1 double, 2 homers, 4 RBIs, 1 walk, 7 K’s
Teoscar Hernández, .295 (10 for 34), 1 double, 4 homers, 10 RBIs, 2 walks, 7 K’s
Max Muncy, .273 (6 for 22), 1 double, 1 homer, 1 RBI, 6 walks, 5 K’s
Freddie Freeman, .242 (8 for 33), 4 doubles, 1 homer, 1 RBI, 3 walks, 8 K’s
Will Smith, .238 (5 for 21), 2 RBIs, 2 walks, 7 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, .147 (5 for 34), 2 homers, 6 RBIs, 6 walks, 15 K’s
Andy Pages, .069 (2 for 29), 1 double, 1 RBI, 6 K’s
Dalton Rushing, .000 (0 for 1), 1 K

Note: Justin Dean has been in eight games but has not batted (he has scored one run); Hyeseong Kim has been in one game, has not batted and has scored a run

Pitching

Tyler Glasnow, 0.00 ERA, 7.2 IP, 4 hits, 5 walks, 10 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, 3-0, 0.86 ERA, 21 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 5 walks, 28 K’s
Roki Sasaki, 1.50 ERA, 2 saves, 6 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 1 walks, 5 K’s
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 2-1, 1.83 ERA, 19.2 IP, 13 hits, 4 ER, 4 walks, 18 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 6 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 1 walk, 9 K’s
Alex Vesia, 1-0, 6.00 ERA, 3 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 3 walks, 3 K’s
Blake Treinen, 6.75 ERA, 1 save, 2.2 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, 3 K’s
Emmet Sheehan, 10.80 ERA, 3.1 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 2 walks, 2 K’s
Clayton Kershaw, 18.00 ERA, 2 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 3 walks, 1 K
Edgardo Henriquez, infinity, 0 IP, 1 hit, 1 ER, 2 walks

Poll results

What will be the outcome of the NLCS (poll closed one minute before the first pitch of Game 1)?

After 11,709 votes:

Dodgers in six, 43.3%
Dodgers in five, 25.6%
Dodgers in seven, 19.6%
Brewers in six, 4.7%
Brewers in seven, 3.2%
Dodgers in four, 1.8%
Brewers in five, 1.3%
Brewers in four, 0.5%

Up next

Game 1: Dodgers 2, at Milwaukee 1 (box score)
Game 2: Dodgers 5, at Milwaukee 1 (box score)

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

Friday: Milwaukee at Dodgers (Shohei Ohtani, 1-1, 2.87 ERA), 5:30 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

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

x-Monday: Dodgers at Milwaukee, 2 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

x-Tuesday: Dodgers at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

x-if necessary

In case you missed it

Shohei Ohtani takes rare on-field BP amid playoff slump, downplays impact of two-way role

Shaikin: Dodgers starting pitchers proving to be the ultimate opposing crowd silencers

In this postseason, Dodgers’ offense starts from the bottom

Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws a complete game to NLCS Game 2 | Dodgers Debate

Hernández: The Dodgers’ latest starting-pitching flex? Make the bullpen a non-factor

Just how much are the Dodgers charging for World Series tickets?

Kiké Hernández and Will Smith talk NLCS Game 2 win, Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s big night

Shaikin: Blake Snell replicating what Sandy Koufax achieved 60 Octobers ago

It took some luck, but good things finally happen to Dodgers’ Blake Treinen

Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández avoids Milwaukee’s allegedly haunted hotel at wife’s insistence

And finally

Highlights from Game 1 of the NLCS. Watch and listen here. Highlights from Game 2. 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.

MILWAUKEE — First things first: The fans in an outdoor stadium in Philadelphia are louder than the fans in an indoor stadium in Milwaukee. No contest.

They are respectful and truly nice here. They booed Shohei Ohtani, but half-heartedly, almost out of obligation. In Philadelphia, they booed Ohtani relentlessly, and with hostility.

Here’s the thing, though: It didn’t matter, because the Dodgers have silenced the enemy crowd wherever they go this October. The Dodgers are undefeated on the road in this postseason: 2-0 in Philadelphia, and now 2-0 in Milwaukee.

The Dodgers have deployed four silencers. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani.

“It’s amazing,” Tyler Glasnow said. “It’s like a show every time you’re out there.”

The Dodgers won the World Series last year with home runs and bullpen games and New York Yankees foibles, but not with starting pitching. In 16 games last October, the Dodgers had more bullpen games (four) than quality starts (two), and the starters posted a 5.25 earned-run average.

In eight games this October, the Dodgers have seven quality starts, and not coincidentally they are 7-1. The starters have posted a 1.54 ERA, the lowest of any team in National League history to play at least eight postseason games.

“Our starting pitching this entire postseason has been incredible,” said Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations. “We knew it would be a strength, but this is beyond what we could have reasonably expected.

“There are a lot of different ways to win in the postseason, but this is certainly a better-quality-of-life way to do it.”

The elders of the sport say that momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher. In a sport in which most teams struggle to identify even one ace, the Dodgers boast four.

In the past three games — the clincher against the Phillies and the two here against the Brewers — the Dodgers have not even trailed for a full inning.

In the division series clincher, the Phillies scored one run in the top of an inning, but the Dodgers scored in the bottom of the inning.

On Monday, the Brewers never led. On Tuesday, the Brewers had a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first, but the Dodgers scored twice in the top of the second.

On Monday, as Blake Snell spun eight shutout innings, the Brewers went 0 for 1 with men in scoring position — and that at-bat was the last out of the game. On Tuesday, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a complete game, the Brewers did not get a runner into scoring position.

That is momentum. That is also how you shut up an opposing crowd: limit the momentum for their team.

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the Brewers in the fifth inning Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“I do think, with what we’ve done in Philly and in coming here, it doesn’t seem like there is much momentum,” Glasnow said.

Of the four aces, Glasnow and Ohtani were not available to pitch last fall as they rehabilitated injuries, and Snell was pitching for the San Francisco Giants.

In the 2021 NLCS, the Dodgers started Walker Buehler twice and Julio Urías, Max Scherzer and openers Joe Kelly and Corey Knebel once each. Scherzer could not make his second scheduled start because of injury.

Said infielder-outfielder Kiké Hernández: “We’ve had some really good starting pitchers in the past, but at some point we’ve hit a roadblock through the postseason. To be this consistent for seven, eight games now, it’s been pretty impressive. In a way, it’s made things a little easier on the lineup.”

In the wild-card round, the Dodgers scored 18 runs in two games against the Cincinnati Reds. Since then, they have 20 runs in six games.

“We said before this postseason started, our starting pitching was going to be what carried us,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “And so far, it’s been exactly that.”

The starters started their roll in the final weeks of the regular season — their ERA is 1.49 over the past 30 games — not that Hernández much cared about that now.

“Regular season doesn’t matter,” he said. “We can win 300 games in the regular season.

“If we don’t win the World Series, it doesn’t matter.”

The Dodgers are two wins from a return trip to the World Series. If they can get those two wins within the next three games, they won’t have to return to Milwaukee, the land of the great sausage race, and of the polka dancers atop the dugout.

There may not be another game here this season. They are kind and spirited fans, even if they are not nearly as loud as the Philly Phanatics.

“That,” Glasnow said, “is the loudest place I’ve ever been.”

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Here’s a bonus edition of the newsletter as we continue to look at the top 10 Dodgers at each position.

Top 10 relief pitchers

Here are my picks for the top 10 relief pitchers in Dodgers history, followed by how all of you voted. Numbers listed are with the Dodgers only. Click on the player’s name to be taken to the baseball-reference.com page with all their stats.

1. Kenley Jansen (2010-21, 37-36, 2.37 ERA, 350 saves, 164 ERA+, 3-time All Star)

Really, it’s hard to find anyone else who should be named the best Dodgers reliever. Let’s look at his 2017 season: 68.1 innings, 41 saves, 5-0, 44 hits, only seven walks, 109 strikeouts. He finished fifth in Cy Young voting and 15th in MVP voting. He pitched in 701 games in relief for the Dodgers; the next closest is 250 games behind him.

I wrote a lot about Jansen when he was with the Dodgers. Suffice to say he had an incredible career with the team and it’s nice to see him having a good season with the Angels this season. He has pitched in 928 games and has 473 career saves, Hall of Fame numbers.

2. Ron Perranoski (1961-67, 54-41, 2.56 ERA, 100 saves, 132 ERA+)

For all the praise (much deserved as it is), Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale get for pitching the Dodgers to three World Series appearances and two titles in the 1960s, people sometimes overlook the fact that waiting in the wings in case one of them, or some other starter, faltered late was Perranoski. He finished fourth in MVP voting in 1963 after going 16-3 with a 1.67 ERA and 21 saves in a league-leading 69 games and led the league in games pitched three times, often pitching more than 100 innings. When the Dodgers swept the Yankees in the 1963 World Series, they used only four pitchers: starters Koufax, Drysdale and Johnny Podres, and Perranoski in relief.

He later served as Dodger pitching coach from 1981-94. He died in 2020 at 84.

3. Jim Brewer (1964-75, 61-51, 2.62 ERA, 126 saves, 127 ERA+, 1-time All Star)

Brewer became the closer in 1968 and remained in the job through the 1973 season.

Brewer had four terrible seasons for the Cubs before the Dodgers acquired him before the 1964 season. He wasn’t expected to make the team, but had such a good spring training that the Dodgers traded reliever Larry Sherry to make room for him

He had a good season, but didn’t pitch in too many games where the Dodgers were leading. He had two pitches, a fastball and curve, neither of which set the world on fire. In spring training in 1965, he was experimenting with a screwball, but couldn’t make it work. The Dodgers played the Braves in an exhibition game, and Brewer asked legendary Braves left-hander Warren Spahn how he threw the screwball.

“I had been working on a screwball but never felt confident enough to use it in a game. I approached Spahn and asked him for some advice,” Brewer told the Sporting News in 1968. “He never said a word. He just took a baseball out of his pocket, showed me his grip and how he released it. I had been releasing the ball off my middle finger, but he showed me how he let the ball go off his index finger which gave much more velocity to the pitch.”

Elbow pain, perhaps from his new pitch, limited him in 1965 and 1966, but in 1967 he was a new pitcher. Used as a setup man, he pitched 100 innings and had a 2.68 ERA. The next season he became the closer and had sub-two ERAs in 1971 and 1972.

Despite a strong 1973 season, when he made the All-Star team, injuries were beginning to pile up for Brewer. So, before the 1974 season the Dodgers acquired Mike Marshall and named him the new closer. After the season, Brewer asked to be traded. In July 1975 the Dodgers sent him to the Angels for reliever Dave Sells. He retired after the 1976 season because of a torn elbow ligament.

Brewer died two days after his 50th birthday, when, on Nov. 14, 1987, he was killed in a head-on collision.

4. Eric Gagné (1999-2006, 25-21, 3.27 ERA, 161 saves, 125 ERA+, 3-time All Star, 2003 Cy Young Award)

The numbers above are a little misleading, because they include his time as a poor starting pitcher. If you limit it to just his seasons as a reliever, his ERA drops to an amazing 1.82, a 221 ERA+.

In 1999, Gagné was the top pitching prospect in the Dodgers organization as a starting pitcher. He looked like he would be a solid No. 2 or 3 man in the rotation for many years. However, he struggled in the majors, going 4-6 with a 5.15 ERA in 19 starts in 2000 and 6-7 with a 4.75 ERA in 24 starts in 2001. He gave up a hit an inning and his strikeout rate was 7.7 per nine innings. A far cry from what he eventually would do.

Jeff Shaw retired before the 2002 season, leaving the Dodgers without a closer. Manager Jim Tracy had an idea: What about Gagné? People often forget what a controversial move it was at the time. Take one of your top starting pitcher prospects and make him the closer?

Then Gagné immediately became the best closer in the game. He dominated in spring training. He started the season with 10 consecutive saves. He was named to the All-Star team. He finished the year with 52 saves.

And he captured the imagination of Dodgers fans, because he was the first closer the team ever had who could come in and just dominate batters, blowing the ball by them. He struck out 114 in 82 1/3 innings.

When Gagné was in his prime, no one left the game early because they wanted to see him close it out. If the Dodgers had a narrow lead, people would stand as soon as the eighth inning ended, anticipating his arrival. As soon as Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” started playing, the stadium would erupt in cheers and whistles. Very few Dodgers in history received that type of reception every time. Gagné became known as “Game Over,” with Game Over T-shirts worn throughout the stadium.

In 2003, Gagné finished with a 1.20 ERA, 55 saves (no blown saves), 137 strikeouts and only 20 walks in 82.2 innings. He gave up only 37 hits. He was named the NL Cy Young winner. It is still the greatest season by a closer in history. From 2002-04, Gagné had 84 consecutive saves, still the record.

Gagné’s career quickly unraveled though. He hurt a knee in spring training before the 2005 season. He came back, hurt his arm and had season-ending Tommy John surgery. He pitched in only two games in 2006 and then hurt his back, needing season-ending surgery for two herniated disks.

After the season he became a free agent and bounced around to three teams. His last season was in 2008 with Milwaukee. He made a comeback attempt with the Dodgers in 2010, but after six runs in two spring training innings, he retired.

Some shine of the streak was dulled when he was named in the Mitchell Report as a player who had used performance-enhancing drugs. He said he used human growth hormone and apologized to the fans, saying he started using it when he was injured in 2005, after the streak. Gagné talked about it in 2010.

“It changed it a lot for a couple of years,’’ Gagné said. “But now, you come to grips, where you know what, it is what it is. You have to accept it and just go on. You have to keep going and enjoy baseball, get people out and get back to basics. There are a lot of regrets. But the whole time I was with the Dodgers, it was an unbelievable time. The Mitchell Report and everything is negative. It’s always going to be on my resume for the rest of my life.”

5. Hugh Casey (1939-42, 1946-48, 70-41, 3.34 ERA, 49 saves, 115 ERA+)

It’s hard to compare relievers before the modern era of closer to relievers since that era began. Back then, saves weren’t even a stat (they were rewarded retroactively) and relievers would regularly pitch multiple innings.

Which brings us to Casey, who was the first real “closer” in Dodger history. He led the NL with 13 saves in 1942 before losing three seasons to World War II. He came back to go 11-5 with five saves in 1946 and then led the NL with 18 saves in 1946. Casey was a starter until manager Leo Durocher switched him to relief midway through the 1941 season. It made all the difference in the world for Casey, who thrived in the role. In 1942, the Dodgers were training in Cuba and author Ernest Hemingway was there. Some team members and Hemingway were having some drinks when Hemingway challenged Casey to a fight. Casey refused, so Hemingway sucker punched him. Casey then pretty much beat up Hemingway until the author punched Casey in the groin and declared the fight a draw.

Casey had a difficult life after baseball, and died at 37 in 1951. For a great bio of Casey, click here.

6. Jay Howell (1988-92, 22-19, 2.07 ERA, 85 saves, 170 ERA+, 1-time All Star)

Howell, who had been Oakland’s closer for two seasons, had a terrible 1987, going 3-4 with a 5.89 ERA. After the season, he was part of the three-team deal in which the Dodgers traded Bob Welch, Matt Young and Jack Savage and received Howell, Alfredo Griffin and Jesse Orosco.

Those who followed the pitchers and “sticky substances” controversy a couple of season ago and were fans of the 1988 Dodgers had to be reminded of Howell, who was suspended during the NLCS for using pine tar on his glove. It had been cold and rainy in New York, and Howell did it to get a better grip on the ball. He was suspended for three games (it was reduced to two the next day), an event that seemed to anger the team rather than make them fall apart. He had 21 saves that season. He pitched in Game 3 of the World Series in Oakland, and after retiring the first batter in the bottom of the ninth, gave up the game-winning homer to Mark McGwire. Afterward, some of the A’s said how happy they were to see Howell and his “Little League curveball” come into the game. That was bulletin board material from Tommy Lasorda, who didn’t hesitate to bring in Howell the next day. He was brought in with the Dodgers leading, 4-3 with two out in the seventh inning. The A’s had runners on first and second. Griffin made an error on a ball hit to short, loading the bases, bringing up McGwire, who popped to first on the first pitch. Howell finished out the 2-1/3 inning save. Can you imagine a closer pitching that long today?

Howell put together five good-to-great seasons with the Dodgers, then pitched a season with Atlanta and a season with Texas before retiring.

7. Clem Labine (1950-60, 70-52, 3.63 ERA, 81 saves, 113 ERA+, 2-time All Star)

Labine relied on a sinker as his main pitch, telling Peter Golenbock in the book “Bums,” “They go to swing at it, and it drops on you, and you get the top of the ball. So, you’re not gonna hit a lot of line drives off of me, just a lot of groundballs. And don’t forget who we had scooping them up: Gilly, Robinson, Reese and Cox.” Labine pitched in four games in the 1955 World Series, winning one and saving one.

Sadness seemed to be a constant in Labine’s life after he retired. He once told Roger Kahn, “You heard about Jay? My son Clement Walter Labine Jr. He stepped on a mine in Vietnam and blew his leg off. The Marines sent a car to our house. Barbara [Clem Sr.’s wife] was away. I was out playing golf. My brother-in-law saw this Marine car and went over and said, ‘Is this about Jay, Clem Labine, Jr.?’ The Marine officer was very polite. He asked who was he talking to and my brother-in-law said he was Jay’s uncle and the Marine said that under the rules he couldn’t say anything. Next of kin only. So when they came and got me off the golf course, the first thing they said was, ‘Jay’s been hurt, but he’s alive’. He wrote me a letter from the hospital. It was so calm and matter-of-fact. If I hadn’t been a ballplayer, I wouldn’t have been away all the time. But the traveling cost me all of it, Jay growing up. If I hadn’t been a ballplayer, I could have developed a real relationship with my son. The years, the headlines, the victories, they’re not worth what they cost us. Jay’s leg.”

“Clem Labine was one of the main reasons the Dodgers won it all in 1955,” Vin Scully said after Labine died at age 80 in 2007. “He had the heart of a lion and the intelligence of a wily fox. And he was a nice guy, too.”

8. Tom Niedenfuer (1981-87, 30-28, 2.76 ERA, 64 saves, 128 ERA+)

Some Dodger fans just remember Niedenfuer as the guy who gave up that home run to Jack Clark. But they are missing the big picture. Niedenfuer was a quality relief pitcher and threw 106 innings that year. He also gave up a game-winning homer to Ozzie Smith earlier in the series. “Looking back on it,” Niedenfuer said in a 2010 interview, “it’s a very proud feeling that your manager had enough confidence in you to be the guy he put in that situation. I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world because I loved being out there. But when it happened, all I can remember is … you let the team down.”

Niedenfuer was also a key reliever on the 1981 World Series champs, pitching five innings in the World Series, giving up three hits and no earned runs. Niedenfuer lives in Florida with his wife, actress Judy Landers. They have two daughters.

The one thing I remember most about Niedenfuer: After he gave up Clark’s homer, he answered every question from the media after the game. He didn’t hide or go home before reporters arrived. As he said, “Just because I didn’t do my job doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to do yours.”

The Dodgers traded Niedenfuer to the Baltimore Orioles on May 22, 1987, for outfielder John Shelby and pitcher Brad Havens.

Niedenfuer took part in our “Ask….” series. You can read that here.

9. Mike Marshall (1974-76, 28-29, 3.01 ERA, 42 saves, 114 ERA+, 2-time All Star, 1974 Cy Young Award)

Marshall was a man of strong opinions. He felt he could pitch pretty much every day, but most of his managers thought he was a nut. Until he hooked up with Walter Alston, who trusted Marshall and told him to just tell him if he couldn’t pitch, otherwise he’d use him as much as possible. And that set the stage for an incredible 1974 season, where Marshall appeared in 106 games, pitching an amazing 208.1 innings in relief, going 15-12 with a 2.42 ERA and 31 saves. He won the Cy Young Award, becoming the first reliever to do so. But because Marshall was so outspoken, and a big proponent for the burgeoning union, he was usually sent packing quickly by teams. The Dodgers traded him in 1976. In all, Marshall spent 14 seasons in the majors, playing for nine teams. He is also a key background character in Jim Bouton’s book, “Ball Four.”

10. Steve Howe (1980-85, 2.35 ERA, 59 saves, 150 ERA+, 1-time All Star, 1980 NL Rookie of the Year)

The tragic story of Steve Howe in 10 sentences:

1. Won Rookie of the Year award in 1980, then developed a major drug problem when given cocaine at the new conference to announce his award.
2. Was on the mound for the final out of the Dodgers’ 1981 World Series title.
3. Had his best season in 1983, when he had 18 saves and a 1.44 ERA in 68.2 innings.
4. Was suspended for the entire 1984 season.
5. Dodgers finally gave up on him midway through the 1985 season.
6. He bounced in and out of baseball for the rest of the 80s before finally appearing to clean himself up.
7. Pitched for six seasons for the Yankees from 1991-96.
8. Was suspended seven times in his career for substance abuse.
9. In 2006, he was killed in a single-car accident when his truck rolled over in Coachella.
10. An autopsy report found meth in his system.

The next 10: Takashi Saito, Larry Sherry, Phil Regan, Joe Black, Alejandro Peña, Jonathan Broxton, Jeff Shaw, Todd Worrell, Ed Roebuck, Vito Tamulis.

The readers’ top 10

There were 2,302 ballots sent in. Thirty-six relievers received at least one vote, the most diverse ballot of all the positions. First place received 12 points, second place nine, all the way down to one point for 10th place. For those of you who were wondering, I make my choices before I tally your results. Here are your choices:

1. Kenley Jansen, 1,088 first-place votes, 22,027 points
2. Eric Gagné, 953 first-place votes, 21,575 points
3. Ron Perranoski, 153 first-place votes, 14,579 points
4. Mike Marshall, 90 first-place votes, 12,052 points
5. Jim Brewer, 9,659 points
6. Steve Howe, 5,868 points
7. Larry Sherry, 10 first-place votes, 5,732 points
8. Clem Labine, 4,017 points
9. Charlie Hough, 3,972 points
10. Jay Howell, 5 first-place votes, 3,965 points

The next 10: Phil Regan, Tom Niedenfuer, Blake Treinen, Todd Worrell, Jeff Shaw, Jonathan Broxton, Takashi Saito, Alejandro Peña, Joe Black, Evan Phillips.

Top 5 managers

Who are your top five Dodgers managers of all time (including Brooklyn)? Email your list, in order from 1 (your selection as the best) to 5 (the fifth best) to [email protected] and let me know. Remember, we are considering only what they did with the Dodgers.

Many of you have asked for a list of people to consider for each position. Here is every person who managed the Dodgers for at least 81 games:

Walter Alston, Billy Barnie, Charlie Byrne, Max Carey, Bill Dahlen, Chuck Dressen, Patsy Donovan, Leo Durocher, Charlie Ebbets, Dave Foutz, Burleigh Grimes, Ned Hanlon, Glenn Hoffman, Davey Johnson, Tommy Lasorda, Grady Little, Harry Lumley, Don Mattingly, Bill McGunnigle, Dave Roberts, Wilbert Robinson, Bill Russell, Burt Shotton, Casey Stengel, George Taylor, Joe Torre, Jim Tracy, John Ward.

And finally

Steve Howe gets the final out of the 1981 World Series. Watch and listen here.

Until next time…

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

SACRAMENTO — Colby Thomas, Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz homered, rookie Jack Perkins had seven strikeouts in five solid innings and the Athletics beat the Angels 10-3 on Friday night.

The Athletics (55-69) snapped an eight-game losing streak, which included seven this season, against the Angels.

Thomas and Kurtz each had three hits and drove in three runs. Thomas, a 24-year-old rookie, hit a three-run homer in the third inning and Kurtz hit a three-run shot that capped the scoring in the eighth.

Perkins (2-2) made his third career start and allowed three runs on five hits with three walks. He allowed three runs on three hits in six innings to beat Orioles 11-3 for first win as a starter his last time out.

Langeliers hit solo homer off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (6-8) and added an RBI single. Kikuchi gave up five hits and four runs in four innings.

Travis d’Arnaud doubled to drive in Yoán Moncada in the second for the Angels (59-63). Zach Neto homered after Bryce Teodosio walked on four pitches to lead off the fifth to trim their deficit to 4-3.

Key moment: Brent Rooker doubled to lead off the third and moved to third on a single by Kurtz before Thomas hit a first-pitch curveball over the wall in left center field to make it 4-1.

Key stat: The Athletics were six for nine with runners in scoring position while the Angels were one for seven.

Up next: Angels LHP Tyler Anderson (2-7, 4.63 ERA) starts Saturday opposite Athletics RHP Luis Morales (0-0, 1.93).

The Dodgers’ recently slumping offense was better Saturday night.

But for a team that has struggled to gain traction and string together wins for almost a month, even a seven-run, 10-hit performance wasn’t quite enough.

In an 8-7 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Dodgers put a badly-needed crooked number on the board early, scoring four runs in the bottom of the third to answer the Brewers four-run rally in the top half of the inning.

The Dodgers manufactured another run in the sixth, keeping the game close on a night Emmet Sheehan struggled in a season-worst start and the bullpen yielded three costly runs late. They even hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth, trimming what had grown to a three-run deficit back to one.

But every time it seemed like they were truly ready to break out, like their long-slumbering lineup was about to roar back to life, the Dodgers still came up ever-frustratingly short.

And no sequence epitomized those headaches like the end of the third.

After a Shohei Ohtani two-run homer, a Teoscar Hernández RBI double and a run-scoring wild pitch from Brewers starter Freddy Peralta, the Dodgers had the go-ahead run at third with no outs. They were 90 feet away from flipping the momentum entirely, and completing the kind of ruthless offensive onslaught that has evaded their $400-million roster for the last several weeks.

But then, in an immediate return to their uninspired form of late, the lineup went missing, squandering the opportunity with three quick outs — moments before the Brewers retook a lead their premium pitching staff wouldn’t again relinquish.

So goes life for the Dodgers these days, when even a largely productive day at the plate couldn’t prevent another series defeat to the Brewers or a ninth overall loss in their last 11 games.

Saturday could have been a more profound breakthrough. A game of not just incremental progress, but a total offensive turnaround.

Ohtani had a three-RBI day, starting with his towering 448-foot opposite-field blast. Hernández’s double was one of the best swings he has taken in the last couple months, a line drive into the right-center field gap that one-hopped off the wall. Tommy Edman broke an 0-for-29 skid with a sixth-inning single and eighth-inning home run. Miguel Rojas, one of the few who has impressed during the Dodgers’ recent struggles, followed Edman’s solo blast with one of his own in the next at-bat, completing a two-hit night that also included a walk.

But every time the Dodgers put the Brewers on the ropes, they failed to land the necessary knockout blow.

In a game they needed their lineup to pick up the slack left by a lackluster pitching performance, they repeatedly ran out of rope.

On the verge of taking the lead in the third, the Dodgers instead watched Andy Pages take a called third strike (which he reacted angrily to, despite the pitch being well in the zone), Michael Conforto ground out against a drawn-in infield and Edman hit a can of corn to left to retire the side.

The 4-4 tie was broken in the next inning, when Isaac Collins hit a leadoff home run over the short wall in right field to chase Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan from the game.

Trailing by two in the sixth, the Dodgers threatened again. Edman and Rojas both singled, setting up Ohtani for an RBI knock in left field. But then Will Smith grounded out to second to retire the side.

The final tease came in the eighth, after the Brewers opened up an 8-5 lead.

Edman lifted his home run to the left-field bullpen. Rojas went deep on a similar trajectory.

That brought up Ohtani, representing the potential tying run. But he watched a soaring fly ball die at the warning track in center.

Close, but not enough. Too little, once again coming frustratingly too late.

The bats, of course, were not the Dodgers’ primary problem Saturday.

Sheehan saw his recently promising return from Tommy John surgery derailed in a five-run, three-plus inning outing. During the Brewers’ four-run third, he missed wildly with an array of breaking pitches, and was punished for several sliders that failed to induce a whiff.

The defense wasn’t sharp either, with both Hernández and Pages failing to cut off balls in the gaps at various points.

And generally, the Dodgers have reverted to the overall shoddy play that led to a seven-game losing streak shortly before the All-Star break (three of which came in Milwaukee to the Brewers, who can complete a six-game season sweep of the Dodgers on Sunday).

But the lack of consistently timely offense remains the most confounding issue for the Dodgers.

That was the case even before the game, when manager Dave Roberts gave Mookie Betts — the most glaring underperformer among Dodgers hitters this season — a day off just two games into the second half in hopes it would allow him to clear his mind and work on his swing.

It felt just as prescient in the aftermath of yet another defeat, with the team still searching for a winning formula amid its most disappointing stretch of the year.

Marcus Semien went four for five and Corey Seager hit a two-run single in a seven-run third inning to help the Texas Rangers rout the Angels 11-4 on Thursday night for a split of their four-game series.

Patrick Corbin (6-7) allowed two runs and seven hits with six strikeouts in five innings to win his second consecutive start. Jacob Latz allowed a run over 3 1/3 innings of relief with six strikeouts.

Semien had three hits with an RBI and two runs scored in the first three innings. Seager went two for three as seven of nine starters drove in at least one run for Texas during a 13-hit outburst.

Adolis García launched his 11th homer — a two-run shot off Carson Fulmer in the eighth for the Rangers’ final runs.

Jack Kochanowicz (3-9) lasted just 2 2/3 innings for the Angels, allowing eight runs. Fulmer gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings of relief.

Seager, Semien, García and Jonah Heim had four straight singles for a 2-0 lead in the first.

Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter had RBI singles and Jake Burger added an RBI double in Texas’ big inning.

Zach Neto doubled off Corbin and scored on Taylor Ward’s 21st homer to cut it to 9-2 after five. Lamonte Wade Jr. had an RBI single in the sixth and Neto hit his 14th homer — a solo shot off Dane Dunning in the ninth.

Key moment: Corbin gave up three first-inning singles, but the Angels failed to score when Mike Trout hit into a double play and Ward was thrown out at home by García on Jo Adell’s single to right field.

Key stat: The Rangers’ 3.30 ERA leads the majors, while the Angels’ 4.59 ERA ranks 24th among 30 teams.

Up next: The Angels host the Diamondbacks beginning Friday. Neither team had announced a scheduled starter.

Kyle Hendricks knows what it takes to make it in Major League Baseball.

The 162-game trek of the regular season is familiar to the 35-year-old Southern California native across his 12-year career. With Joe Maddon as his manager for the first half of his career, Hendricks was provided room to screw up — messing around with his mechanics and pitch arsenal — to become a top-end starting pitcher that helped the Chicago Cubs claim the 2016 World Series.

“It established a lot of confidence in me,” said Hendricks, who started more than 30 games four times in five seasons from 2015-19. “The organization handing you the ball every fifth day, having that confidence in you to give the team a chance to win. That’s how you learn.”

Learning has arrived in spades for the Angels pitching staff. The starting rotation owns a 4.22 earned-run average, fostering a crop of middle-of-the-pack pitchers that doesn’t feature a traditional ace, nor former Cy Young Award winners. (The Angels’ overall staff ERA of 4.58 ranks 24th in MLB entering Monday.)

But there’s something that makes this group stand out from the rest of the league: pitching every fifth day.

The Halos feature the only pitching staff in baseball to have their season-opening rotation — of Yusei Kikuchi, Jack Kochanowicz, José Soriano, Tyler Anderson and Hendricks — make every start of the season as the All-Star break approaches. The Angels (41-42) set a team record over the weekend for most games to begin a season using no more than five starters, surpassing the mark of 80 games set in 1999.

The only other team close to the Angels? The Tampa Bay Rays, who have used just six pitchers to start — a singular spot start mixed in for the AL East contenders.

As the ulnar collateral ligament epidemic has grown over the last decade — forcing players with elbow injuries under the knife for Tommy John surgery — and as openers and bullpen games have become more normalized in MLB, having the same five pitchers throw every fifth day has become a rarity.

For instance, up the highway at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers have used 13 traditional starting pitchers in 2025.

“That’s huge,” catcher Travid d’Arnaud said, adding that it’s helpful for him and Logan O’Hoppe to work with the same crop of starting pitchers week-by-week, building camaraderie and chemistry. “Games started is one of the most valuable things you could do over a year, especially when you’re getting 30 to 35 starts. For everyone to not miss one and just keep going every fifth day, especially when things aren’t going well, I think that’s when you learn the most, regardless of good or bad.”

Kochanowicz, for example, has a 6.44 earned-run average over his last eight starts and has only struck out 61 batters in 86 innings while opponents have hit .289 against him this season.

But for interim Angels manager Ray Montgomery, the ability for the 6-foot-7 sinkerballer to learn from failure and learn to adjust in the big league environment has caused Kochanowicz to show extra mettle on the mound.

Against the Red Sox on June 22, Kochanowicz faltered in the first inning, giving up three runs. But the second-year Angels starter pitched into the fifth, gave up just one more run, and worked longer than big-league veteran Walker Buehler did for Boston.

Kochanowicz, 24, didn’t have his best stuff, striking out one, but battled early adversity to keep the Angels in the ballgame — a game they’d eventually win, 9-5.

“I think this is the time of year to your point where they’re going to see the difference,” Montgomery said, adding that every pitcher in the league is dealing with wear or tear in the middle months. “I think mentally is where you have to see it. And that’s where I credit Jack … for getting even through five [innings]. Just that was a mental grind from him.”

It’s not just Kochanowicz. Soriano has produced a sneaky-good campaign in his third MLB season — and second in the starting rotation. The 26-year-old Dominican-born righty holds a 3.99 earned-run average across 17 starts. In four of his last six starts, he’s allowed one or fewer runs.

Going out every five days, no matter the results, has begun to show its dividends. Against the Athletics on June 10, Soriano struck out 12 in a seven-inning, one-run outing. Pitching versus the Astros on June 21, he struck out 10 across 6 ⅔ innings. However, there have been bumpy moments — like when he gave up eight runs in four innings on Friday against the Nationals.

“I just keep my head up,” Soriano said in Spanish through team interpreter Manny Del Campo when asked after the game about how knowing he’ll be back starting in five days helps him prepare after less-than-ideal appearances. “Don’t get frustrated with those kind of outings and be good, and keep working hard and be ready for those big outings.”

The velocity is there for Soriano — averaging 97 mph on his fastball and sinker — but the pitchability is a skill that comes with time, Hendricks said.

The first-year Angel and long-time big leaguer added that routine building takes time and for Soriano and Kohcanowicz, they’ve been provided a runaway for experimentation — which can lead to success.

“It really helps their confidence,” Hendricks said. “‘You can see this year with Jack and José, they’re just learning how to go about their routine. What they need in between starts — it changes depending on how you feel and what you’re working on from the last start. So just to see all those adjustments that they’re making is truly how you learn yourself.”

He continued: “I think they’re doing so well right now, but it’s going to be even better for them the longer they go in their careers.”

Dodger Stadium is the proud owner of the most home runs in baseball this season. The long-ball trend might not be an anomaly.

On Saturday night, the Dodgers and Washington Nationals combined for eight home runs, the most in a Dodgers game this season, but only three came off L.A. bats.

Dodgers right-hander Dustin May gave up three of those home runs, all solo shots, in a 7-3 loss to the Nationals. Andy Pages, Will Smith and Teoscar Hernández hit home runs in the fifth, sixth and ninth innings, respectively.

In the fourth inning, Nationals slugger James Wood used all of his 6-foot-7, 234-pound frame to launch a sinker from May to break a scoreless game. Pages only took one step from his position in center field as he tracked the ball off Wood’s bat — he knew where it was headed.

The 451-foot solo blast gave the Nationals a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Three-hole hitter Luis Garcia Jr. followed Wood with a solo home run.

For being middle of the pack offense — ranked 18th overall in runs scored — the Nationals flexed their muscle with their young stars. CJ Abrams socked a two-run home run in the seventh off Dodgers reliever Jack Dreyer, his second in as many games.

Washington’s Nathaniel Lowe celebrates in the dugout after hitting his second home run of the game in the eighth inning Saturday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Wood and Abrams were acquired by the Nationals in the Juan Soto trade with San Diego in 2022.

May gave up a home run in the sixth to Nathaniel Lowe — who also hit a homer in the eighth inning for his first multi-home run game. May gave up five hits, struck out five and walked two, tossing six innings for the third time in his last five starts.

Outside of Pages, Smith and Hernández’s home runs, the Dodgers (47-31) threatened to score when Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman reached via singles in the fifth. Nationals starting pitcher Jake Irvin, however, struck out Freddie Freeman to end the threat. Irvin struck out seven and walked none in 5 ⅓ innings.

Shohei Ohtani, who will start on the mound Sunday against the Nationals (32-45) in his second pitching appearance of 2025, went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.

Eight home runs at Dodger Stadium is unusual, but low humidity in L.A. could be a factor in helping hard hits soar. Climate change researchers have even pondered the effect that warmer climates could have on home runs, with a 2023 study in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society stating that more than 500 home runs since 2010 could be credited to global warming.

Across the last six seasons, Chavez Ravine has ranked top five in home runs on five occasions. In the 43 games the Dodgers have played at home in 2025, there have been an average of 3.39 home runs per game (146 home runs overall and 23 more than second-place George M. Steinbrenner Field).

Glasnow update

Tyler Glasnow (right shoulder) is scheduled to pitch two innings for triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday. Relief pitcher Luis Garcia (right adductor) is set to appear for single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday as well.

Both rehabilitation outings are their first since joining the injured list.

Even as their pitching injuries have mounted in recent weeks, the Dodgers haven’t panicked.

On multiple occasions, team officials have noted how none of the seven pitchers who have gotten hurt since the end of spring camp suffered relatively serious injuries. In time, they promised, the staff would get back close to full health.

On Tuesday, signs of that optimism finally began to appear.

Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell (both out with shoulder inflammation) continued their throwing progressions, with Glasnow making some light pitches off a mound slope for the first time since going on the injured list last month, according to manager Dave Roberts.

Kirby Yates (hamstring strain) began playing catch just days after hitting the IL, raising his hopes of being back within the two-to-four week time frame the team has targeted. Blake Treinen (forearm sprain) also continued his catch play, while Michael Kopech (shoulder impingement) was set to make a rehab outing with triple-A Oklahoma City.

Most of all, though, Shohei Ohtani checked off another important box in his return from a 2023 Tommy John surgery, taking another step closer to resuming two-way duties for the first time as a Dodger.

In a flat-ground throwing session Tuesday afternoon, Ohtani mixed in some breaking pitches for the first time in his throwing program this year, Roberts said, a notable development after the right-hander had been limited to fastball and splitters previously in pitching activities.

Already in recent weeks, Ohtani had been ramping up his pitching work in other ways. He had steadily increased the number of throws in his weekly bullpen sessions, getting up to 50 last Saturday. He has been doing up-downs in his bullpens, too, to simulate the downtime he will experience between innings when he returns to a big-league mound.

Roberts confirmed it is all a sign that Ohtani is finally getting closer to facing live hitting again for the first time since he underwent his second Tommy John procedure two offseasons ago.

Roberts said he was still unsure exactly when that might happen, but indicated that Ohtani and Snell are on similar timelines to return — with Glasnow a tick ahead of each of them.

“It is progressing,” Roberts said of Ohtani’s pitching rehab, which had been in more of a static stage with weekly 20-pitch bullpen sessions earlier this year. “I’m not sure when [he’s] going to take that slider from the flat ground to the bullpen, but that is progress. Yes.”

Right now, the Dodgers could use all the pitching help they can get.

Over their last 11 games, the team’s shorthanded pitching staff has struggled mightily, posting a 6.31 ERA over a 4-7 stretch that included a four-game losing streak entering Tuesday.

Among the opening day rotation, only Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dustin May have stayed healthy through the first two months. And outside of Yamamoto — an early-season Cy Young candidate who was needed to be a stopper Tuesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks — no Dodgers pitcher with more than three starts has a sub-4.00 ERA to this point of the campaign.

The rotation’s struggles have bled into the bullpen, where Dodgers relievers have combined for an MLB-high 207 2/3 innings this season, 19 more than any other team. Closer Tanner Scott has been solid, with a 1.74 ERA and nine saves in 11 opportunities. But many of the Dodgers’ other top relief arms have gotten hurt, including virtually all of their most trusted right-handers.

“It’s not the staff we thought we’d have this season,” Roberts acknowledged Monday night.

Before long, however, the Dodgers are hopeful it will be again.

In addition to Ohtani, Snell and Glasnow, the Dodgers will also eventually get Roki Sasaki (shoulder impingement) and Emmet Sheehan (Tommy John recovery) back as rotation options. Sasaki is expected to begin throwing again during the team’s upcoming trip. Sheehan has been throwing live sessions against hitters for the last several weeks as he works back from last year’s elbow procedure.

Brusdar Graterol (offseason shoulder surgery) is also scheduled to return during the second half of the season.

About the only injured pitcher who hasn’t made recent progress is Evan Phillips, whose original 15-day diagnosis now looks likely to stretch far longer than that.

Still, no one’s return has been more eagerly anticipated than Ohtani’s. After almost a year and a half of waiting, the Dodgers are hopeful his return, which has been expected to come around the All-Star break, is finally on the horizon.

His next step will be facing live hitting. And given his recent workload increases, it’s possible it could come soon.

“I really wish I had an answer [on when it will be],” Roberts said. “I’m just waiting for the green light from people that are sort of managing the Shohei rehab, day to day.”