Shohei Ohtani is back in the lineup and the Dodgers saved their best starting lineup for the final five games of the regular season. So far, the team has gone 2-18 with runners in scoring position while scoring just three runs over their two consecutive losses to the San Diego Padres.
Ohtani was one of three Dodgers with an extra-base hit over their last two games, as the two-way superstar is 3-9 with a double, an RBI and a walk since returning. Thursday’s game in particular saw connect for two hits while smacking two deep fly balls that died on the center field warning track in their 4-2 loss, and the three weeks off have evidently helped him mitigate the unease he felt at the plate at the start of the month.
Andrew Friedman admitted the obvious, that the injuries to both his biceps and knee hampered his production at the plate, reports Jack Harris of the California Post, and he noted that he isn’t the most transparent when it comes to his physical health.
“There’s no question [the injuries] affected him,” Friedman said. “I think the fact that he feels as good as he does right now is certainly encouraging. Now it’s about making sure that holds.”
“He’s not always the best reporter of how he feels,” Friedman said. “Freddie [Freeman is] the same way. Clayton Kershaw. I’ve been around a lot of these guys that feel like their job is to be out there to help the team however they can, and sometimes will downplay some things that are bothering them.”
Despite Tyler Glasnow being dealt the loss in his final tune-up on Thursday, he impressed early on by flirting with a no-hitter through his first five innings while also racking up a season-high 11 strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings.
As the Dodgers begin to construct their ideal postseason pitching staff, Glasnow’s name is all but certain to be fixed into the rotation, and the right-hander stated that he’s in a good rhythm entering October while speaking to with the media postgame.
Last postseason, the Dodgers weren’t as fortunate to obtain a first-round bye, having to embark on a four-series gauntlet in their eventual success of becoming baseball’s first repeat champions in a quarter century.
With a much stronger regular season this time around, the Dodgers for the first time since 2024 will have that extra period of rest to prepare for their quest for a three-peat. The most significant factor for their first-round bye will be allowing players dealing with nagging issues to become as healthy as can be come October 3, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.
“I think we all know why it’s important,” Freeman said earlier this week. “There’s a lot of us kind of limping toward the end here, a lot of aches and pains this year. It’s good to get those guys back on the field, get some ABs in them and then rest up and get some more ABs during the lives and whatever we do here in that week to get us ready for [NLDS Game 1].”
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