snell

Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell, sitting next to soon-to-be free agent Tarik Skubal at their lockers in the aftermath of their team’s elimination from the National League Championship Series elimination, made a promise:

“I’ll be recruiting,” he interjected with a smile, as Skubal declined to comment on free agency, saying it was too soon to try to predict what the future would hold for him.

That would be Snell’s side project between rounds of video games — 2K specifically. (Skubal admittedly “sucks” at the game, but Snell says his teammate “has heart, though.” The rest can be taught.)

The Dodgers, after falling short of a three-peat, will look a little different next year. Skubal, whom they acquired at the trade deadline to boost their chances at a World Series title, is set to hit free agency. So are perennial postseason performer Kiké Hernández and high-leverage relievers Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips and Blake Treinen. On Thursday, clubhouse leader and 2025 World Series hero Miguel Rojas announced his retirement.

The expected lockout, and MLB’s insistence on a salary cap in their CBA proposals, have also cast doubt on what the system will look like next year — whenever the season begins.

Not to mention, the stars in the Dodgers’ lineup, already the oldest in the majors (weighted by at-bats and games played), will be another year older.

Could this be the end of an era?

“I don’t feel that at all,” Skubal said. “It’s hard to win the World Series, and this group has done it the last two seasons. Obviously, not this year, but … I think that this group is incredibly talented. And the preparation and the work ethic that this group has — I don’t buy into that narrative.”

Said Snell: “We’re only getting better.”

Plenty of people outside of the Dodgers’ downcast clubhouse Thursday evening saw the Brewers’ four-game sweep of the defending back-to-back champions as the fall of a dynasty. But the players inside fervently disagreed.

“When you have Shohei Ohtani on your team, Yoshinbou Yamamoto, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and the years ahead of these guys, you can never think that it’s going to be the end,” Rojas said. “And I know this organization so well, they’re not going to be satisfied with this loss. I think they’re going to move forward and continue to improve the team in any capacity, and I believe that we’re going to be even better next year.”

Said Hernández: “I don’t know what’s going to happen with me personally, moving forward for next year. But this team is well-positioned to keep winning and keep competing deep into October. So not only is this locker room very talented, but there’s a lot of guys knocking on the door in the minor-league system that can be really impactful players. So the organization is in good hands.”

Rookie Josue De Paula showed down the stretch, and with his plate discipline even in high-octane moments in the postseason, just how impactful the young players in the Dodgers’ system could be. And there are more behind him.

This offseason, the Dodgers front office will try to strike a balance between continuity and fresh faces. For some of their impending free agents, who spoke highly of the organization, that meant uncertainty in the immediate aftermath.

“I love this place,” Hernández said. “I’ve played for three other teams, but every time I look at my career, I obviously go back to this place. I’ve been here the longest. I hope I get back. I feel like I have a lot left. … I would love to have one more try, trying to win another one. But I don’t really know what’s going to happen.”

Vesia, too, said he’d love to return.

“From the coaching staff, to the front office, to the players that have taken me under their wing, have helped mold and shape me into who I am and how I carry myself, how I go about my business,” Vesia said of his six years in the organization. “And if it wasn’t for the people in this room, I would not be where I’m at today. So, very thankful. This whole experience has been life-changing.”

Skubal is in a unique situation. In line to be the top free agent pitcher in this year’s class, he held his cards closer to the vest. But he gave a glowing review of his time with the Dodgers.

“It was an honor and a privilege to be here and compete with these guys, and to wear L.A. across your hat and across your chest,” he said. “It’s something that I took a lot of pride in. And, obviously, didn’t end the way that I wanted it to. But that’s life. That’s baseball. I had a ton of fun here, and I loved competing with these guys.”

The quiet crowd had come alive. The quiet pitcher had become unhittable. The quiet catcher had loudly blasted a ball that sent Chavez Ravine into tremors.

In the sixth inning Wednesday night, with their pursuit of history on the line against those pesky Milwaukee Brewers, the somnolent Dodgers had finally come to life.

Moments later, they were dead again.

The Brewers’ Garrett Mitchell yells after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning off Blake Snell in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

And they will remain so next spring.

After an inspiring, two-run rally authored by a bases-loaded double from Will Smith, Dodgers starter Blake Snell allowed back-to-back homers to Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell to open the seventh and eventually close out the Dodgers’ season in a 6-2 loss in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.

It’s not over, but it is. The Dodgers aren’t done, but they’re so done.

The chase for a third consecutive World Series championship is historically and essentially and practically kaput. Their pursuit of a three-peat has been smothered by the Brewers’ own version of a three-peat, and nearly all hope is lost.

The Dodgers now trail the Brewers three-games-to-none in this best-of-seven series, a virtually impossible mountain to scale, achieved only once in major-league history.

Yes, Dave Roberts stole the base that spurred the Boston Red Sox to work out of a similar hole against the New York Yankees in 2004, but he’s no longer on the field and any of that inspiration has long since vanished.

“I don’t know if some of those guys even know I played,” said Roberts before the game..

They could have used some of his fire Wednesday in a game played against a background of apathetic embarrassment.

Namely, it wasn’t a sellout. How can an NLCS game in the most perpetually crowded baseball stadium in America not sell out?

The huge swaths of empty seats were perhaps a sign that, after watching their team slog through two losses in Milwaukee, Dodger nation had already given up. The 50,708 fans who did show up made lots of noise, but it was too late to reverse the optics of a team abandoned.

Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández reacts after taking a strike in the sixth inning of Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Not surprisingly, there were several standing ovations given to injured star Shohei Ohtani, who the Dodgers considered benching before allowing him to talk his way into staying in the lineup. Also not surprisingly, Ohtani did little to reward his devotees, He hit a soft flyout, he was hit by a pitch, he drew a walk to help fuel the Dodgers sixth-inning rally and he singled after the Brewers had taken a three-run lead. No heroics. No hard hits. No chance.

The injury-plagued season of Ohtani will end with the Dodgers surely realizing that they should have taken control of his situation instead of empowering him to dictate the terms of his participation. They shouldn’t have let him keep playing hurt, but they did because they didn’t want to upset him, and it was the team that ended up paying the price.

All this negativity swirling around Dodger Stadium Wednesday night and, to think, the Dodgers were just moments from saving themselves.

Snell was brilliant for six innings, allowing just a leadoff home run to Jackson Chourio.

The Dodgers then set him up for a victory by taking advantage of a terrible decision by Brewers manager Pat Murphy.

Entering the sixth inning Brewers starter Robert Gasser had allowed just three singles in five shutout innings and had thrown just 72 pitches. Yet he was stunningly pulled by Murphy in favor of heavily used Abner Uribe.

Sure enough, Uribe threw eight balls in his next nine pitches to walk Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker. After Max Muncy struck out, Ohtani drew a five-pitch walk in one of his best plate appearances this month.

Up stepped Smith, who entered the game with one hit in his previous 25 postseason plate appearances. But this night was going to be different, as it was hours after Will Smith’s wife, Cara, announced the birth of their third child.

Oh baby! Dad powered a two-run double off the left-center field fence to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

Snell took the mound in the seventh having retired the previous 14 Brewers and looking strong. But he had not pitched this deep all season. And the Chourio home run was the first he had allowed this season.

Should Roberts have pulled him? You decide. Snell opened the seventh by walking Andrew Vaughn and losing an 11-pitch duel to Bauers, who won the battle with a two-run homer. Two pitches later, Garrett Mitchell took Snell deep to almost exactly the same right-center field spot to give the Brewers a 4-2 lead they never lost.

Snell was gone, but it was too late and too much. The weary and distracted Dodgers never again showed much energy on a night when Dodger Stadium did its best.

There was Keith Williams Jr. hitting all the high notes — and even higher — during his usual incredible national anthem.

Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers hits a two-run home run during the seventh inning of Game 3 of the NLCS on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

There was past Brewers playoff nemesis Chris Taylor chanting, “It’s time for Dodger baseball!.”

Late in the game, there was even unofficial Dodger emcee Ice Cube on the video board saying “We ain’t backing down to no one.”

The hardest part of all this is that Cube is wrong. The Milwaukee Brewers are a good team but make no mistake.

Blessed with an opportunity to step up and make history, the Dodgers backed down.

Soon to be knocked out.

Michael Harris II shouldn’t have been 90 feet away from scoring the go-ahead run in the first place.

But he was, after Teoscar Hernández took a bad route to his line-drive triple. Then, to make matters worse, Dodgers left-hander Kris Bubic lost control of a sweeper. It flew high and outside, off the end of catcher Will Smith’s glove and to the edge of the grass behind home plate.

Harris scored standing up. And the Dodgers handed the lead back to the Atlanta Braves.

The Dodgers had every advantage heading into Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Braves. In a 3-2 loss to even the series at one win apiece, they gave away every edge they had.

“The advantage for us is we have an opportunity to not let their pitching staff come up for air,” manager Dave Roberts said this week, when asked about how taxed the Braves pitching staff was coming out of their wild-card series. “… We have an opportunity to really expose them if we take the right at-bats and the right approach.”

Braves left-hander Ray Kerr, who excelled out of the Braves bullpen down the stretch as a long reliever, served as the opener Sunday, in the Braves’ second straight bullpen game this series and third overall. And for the second straight day, the Dodgers failed to score against the Braves opener or even run up his pitch count to get him out of the game early.

The Dodgers managed just two hits off Kerr, each to open an inning. Freddie Freeman lined a single into right field to kick off the second inning. And Miguel Rojas sent a double into the left-field corner to begin the third.

The Dodgers stranded both.

The failure to bring in Rojas was especially egregious. Tommy Edman popped up a bunt immediately after. Then Mookie Betts, the Dodgers’ only other baserunner before Kerr handed over the ball with two outs in the third inning, drew a four-pitch walk. Shohei Ohtani came up to the plate with two runners on and popped up a high cutter on a full count. He was the last batter Kerr faced.

So, the Dodgers offense let the Braves come up for air. And Dodgers left-handed starter Blake Snell’s short start forfeited their starting pitching advantage Sunday.

His first inning could have been a bigger blow. With one out, Snell gave up a single to Ronald Acuña Jr. and then walked Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies to load the bases. He escaped with just one run scored, on a grounder up the middle from Mauricio Dubón. Betts made a diving stop but had no chance at throwing out Dubón at first.

Snell then struck out Sean Murphy to end the inning, finishing the at-bat with three straight curveballs for strikes.

The one-run deficit could be erased. But the damage on his pitch count, up to 27 in that first inning, was done.

Snell surrendered just one more hit, but when he issued his fifth walk of the game, with two outs in the fourth inning, his pitch count was already up to 90 pitches. Roberts strode from the dugout to pull him from the game. Snell had lasted just one inning longer than the Braves’ opener.

In the bottom half of the inning, Freeman, who was optimistic that he could shake off his September slump over the bye week, tied up the game with a solo homer. But in the fifth, the Dodgers handed the lead right back to the Braves.

With two outs, in an 0-2 count, Bubic got Harris to chase an outside sweeper moving away from him. Harris leaned over to get his bat out to it and send a line drive into the left field corner.

Hernández took a circuitous route to the ball, trying to cut it off and then having to adjust back when it became clear he was too shallow. He still only missed the ball by inches, and it carromed off the wall, allowing Harris to reach third base, in position to score on a wild pitch.

The Braves expanded their lead in the seventh inning against Dodgers hard-throwing right-hander Edgardo Henriquez, who gave up a single to Olson and an RBI double to Harris.

Then right-hander Roki Sasaki got himself into a bases-loaded situation in the eighth, with Ronald Acuña Jr. at the plate, but got out of it with a double play. Sasaki then retired the side in order in the ninth.

By contrast, the Dodgers offense barely threatened in the late innings. The Braves relievers retired 15 of the last 16 batters they faced to end the game, with Max Muncy’s solo home run in the ninth the only exception.

Rookie Josue De Paula made his psotseason debut as a pinch hitter, with two outs in the ninth. But he popped up in foul territory to end the game.

Next, the series heads to Atlanta, where the Braves will have home-field advantage for two games.

SAN FRANCISCO — The result of Blake Snell’s final pitch Saturday, a fastball that San Francisco Giants third baseman Shay Whitcomb lined into left field, mattered far less than the fact that the left-hander had passed the 75-pitch mark without incident.

Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández threw out Whitcomb at second. And Snell walked off the field to complete a four-inning start in the Dodgers’ 4-3 win.

“Definitely needed to pitch today,” Snell said of his first start in a week and a half. “Definitely showed that. I was trying to go up and in, I was missing up and away. Even the last pitch of the game, I try to go up and in and miss right down the middle. I don’t know the last time I did that. It’s been a while.”

The Dodgers (99-62) entered locked in as a No. 2 seed for the playoffs. So, the stakes of their last two games of the regular season boiled down to health and preparation for the postseason. There was no better example of that give-and-take than Snell’s five-hit, one-run start.

Because Snell left his previous start with tightness in his left groin, the Dodgers planned for a short outing Saturday, prioritizing his health for the postseason.

“We were confident,” Roberts said of Snell’s recovery from the injury. “But it’s still good to see it. And it’s good also that we got it out of the way, that rust off — versus whatever game in the postseason, then he’s rusty, and you’ve got to kind of pick up the pieces in a playoff game. So I thought today it was really best-case scenario.”

The only run Snell gave up was the result of a double, stolen base and sacrifice fly in the third. He had three strikeouts and no walks.

Snell’s changeup was about two miles per hour faster than usual, something he wants to address before his next start. And he wants to hone the release on his curveball. But his slider, the pitch he would be most worried about if his groin injury wasn’t resolved, had promising velocity and shape.

“To throw a 92 [mph] with good horizontal break, and to see the trust I had in the back leg when throwing that, that’s a really good sign,” Snell said.

Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell throws against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning Saturday.

(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

Snell said he thinks he’s fully past the injury, and didn’t even think about it during the start.

“Definitely happy about where I’m at,” he said. “Now, it’s a big week for me. Catch has to be great, bullpens have to be great. I’ve really got to focus on getting in my legs, and the consistency of every throw. So to be able to pitch today and learn all of that is bigger than I could ever really express.”

Snell, who missed time because of a late spring training build-up and arthroscopic surgery in May to remove loose bodies from his left elbow, finished the regular season with just 42⅔ innings pitched. But he posted an impressive 1.90 ERA in that time.

The team considered replacing Snell’s start Saturday with a live batting practice session, Roberts said, which would have still given Snell feedback from hitters, but in a more controlled environment.

“We gave him and the training staff every out to do so,” Roberts said. “But there was a lot of confidence that he’s in a great spot.”

Snell’s recent workload was another reason for the Dodgers to be conservative with his workload Saturday. Over the past two weeks, he’s only thrown one inning.

“So there’s a balance between getting your work in, making sure you feel good coming out of it,” Roberts said. “Even for example, I could’ve pushed Tarik [Skubal in his start Friday], given his efficiency. But to me, to what end?”

Snell should be full-go for the playoffs, Roberts said. But count Snell among the Dodgers players who can benefit from the wild-card bye.

“This is still an important one,” Roberts said of Snell’s start Saturday, “to go into it feeling good, to then take that extra six, seven, eight days.”

Six to eight days off would line Snell up to start Game 2 or 3 of the National League Division Series. But Roberts declined to tip his hand on rotation order. The days off give the Dodgers extra flexibility to line up their pitching.

Mookie Betts celebrates after hitting a home run for the Dodgers in the third inning Saturday against the Giants.

(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

“You’re looking at, the first series, who could pitch on regular [rest], who needs extra, how potentially the next series lines up,” Roberts said. “How you can … maximize those four guys. And I do think with those four guys, it doesn’t matter the opponent, so that’s not a variable.”

Roberts also said alternating between right- and left-handers was not a variable.

“To be honest with you, you could put them all in a hat, and you could make a case for any order you put them in,” Roberts said.

Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the stalwart of the rotation, certainly has performed to the level of a Game 1 starter, both this season and in a heroic World Series run last year.

For Game 2, it would make sense to choose a pitcher who’s comfortable starting on four days rest. Then, thanks to a pair of off days built into the series, both the Game 1 and Game 2 starters could be available to throw in an if-necessary Game 5.

Skubal has pitched on regular rest this season more than any of his rotation mates, making him a strong option to take the ball in the second game.

If the Dodgers do, indeed, go in that direction for Games 1 and 2, Snell would then be the natural choice for Game 3, on eight days’ rest. And right-hander Tyler Glasnow could take an if-necessary Game 4.

The Dodgers, however, don’t need to finalize their pitching decisions just yet.

“I love our starters,” Snell said. “I love the staff, the way we push for each other to be great and support each other. So, I can’t wait. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for, and now it’s time to prove it.”