OKC Comets are PCL Champions

10:15 PM ET

Dodgers (97-62) Giants (65-94)

SP Tarik Skubal L 11-7 2.85 ERA SP Yunior Marte R 0-1 4.66 ERA

Confirmed Lineup DH S. Ohtani L SS Mookie Betts R 1B F. Freeman L C Will Smith R RF Kyle Tucker L LF T. Hernandez R 3B Max Muncy L CF Andy Pages R 2B E. Hernandez R

62° Wind 17 mph Out LINE LAD -336

Doc said it's possible they only carry 12 pitchers for the 1st round. Hmmm Book em

The Dodgers have reinstated catcher Dalton Rushing from the injured list and optioned IF Alex Freeland.

I have another theory...oh boy here he goes again! I think I can go along with the crapshoot mantra, but only to a point. Most rosters are built solely to make the postseason. That's noble. After all, that's what it's all about. Once they get there,they need to be hot and hope the deep powerful teams lose. Ergo crapshoot. But the Dodgers are unique. They've built a model that can withstand the rigors of the regular season. And basically, during this run of dominance, are guaranteed a playoff berth. With the unprecedented depth they have, they can slow play the regular season thus providing all players to be of sound mind and body come Oct. This is a strategy other teams are unable to use. And it allows the 'old guys' and the kids to gain valuable playoff experience, thus eliminating the crapshoot angle. Of course there are human factors and others, but it gives the boys a yuge advantage. Andrew Friedman has taken some of the difficulties of playoff baseball out of the equation. Therefore raising the odds of a Dodger championship. The Boys in Blue may not win it all, but it's also not a crapshoot for them. Book em

For those who pay attention to what AF says, perhaps you should believe him when he says that they view JDP as a DH, not as an OF for the October run. JJ Cooper, and outstanding baseball journalist with Baseball America, chronicled the adventures of JDP in the Tulsa OF this year. Cooper has more contacts in the scouting world than we have here (at least more than me), and he has spoken to many of them on JDP. Here is an article on his findings:

Just in case this is a paywall article, here is a brief commentary on JDP’s defensive struggles:

“Scouts from multiple organizations said that De Paula projects as a 30-grade defender on the 20-to-80 scouting scale. It’s not an athleticism problem, as, while not a speedster, he’s shown fringe-average speed in his brief MLB stint. His reads and routes, however, can be shaky. He’s not very rangy, either, but that would put him on even footing with Hernandez and Tucker.

The main problem for De Paula is that he’s yet to show he can be a reliable fielder on the balls he does actually get to. He struggles to catch the ball or even to pick it up when it’s slowly rolling. He has shown a knack this year for turning easy outs into hits.

De Paula committed six errors this season: five fielding errors and one throwing error. But that does not come close to summing up the issues he had in the outfield this year.

Here’s a sample of what will give the Dodgers pause when they consider playing De Paula in the outfield this October. Playing right and left field early in the season and left field exclusively from July 8 onward, De Paula had 172 total chances in 95 games in the outfield in the minors this year. He DH’d 29 times at Tulsa. In those 95 games, there were more than 15 plays in which his defensive issues turned outs into baserunners or allowed extra bases on hits.”

Cooper then reported on 19 games of misplayed balls by JDP. I watched a lot of Tulsa games this year and saw many of the plays Cooper reported on. JDP Is not a good or even a below average OF. Right now, he is a bad OF. That can change, but LAD is not going to play JDP in the OF if they do not have to, or unless a game is out of reach…THIS OCTOBER. Next year is next year.

This is an OF who has problems picking up balls on the ground, and fans want him to be a 1B? No thank you.

This has no bearing as to whether JDP should be added to the NLDS roster. IMO, he absolutely should. But as a LH bat coming off the bench. Who he replaces, I will leave that to AF/BG.

The AAA championship is a one game take all? Seems kind of dumb.

BA named the Top 10 Hitting Prospects after the 2026 season. The Dodgers had 2: DePaula and JT3. I think an argument could be made for Sirota as well.

Christian Zazueta was the only Dodgers named in the Top 10 Pitching Prospects.

This stat really shows how lucky we are to be going thru the best stretch in Dodger history:

The Chicago White Sox have been around since 1901, for a total of 126 years. In that time, including 2026 (they clinched a playoff spot yesterday), the White Sox have now made the playoffs 12 times in their history.

We've made the playoffs 14 times in the last 14 years. Absurd.

If we fail to three-peat, the modus operandi was on display last night. This was a very good game with a playoff atmosphere for 6 innings. But we don’t score runs. Wednesday, 1 run on 10 hits and 5 walks. Last night, disregarding the run scored on a balk, we waited to the 9th to make it look like a game.

We will get strong starting pitching and have strong bullpen pieces but they can’t be expected to throw up zeros all night while we can’t score runs.

Our ineffective hitting is our Achilles Heal.

My confidence level is sky high! This last series was only important to the Madres. They were fighting to just make the postseason. The Dodgers are the ones sending a message..... We are healthy We are the most experienced We have depth We are ready The front office has given them everything they need to succeed. All they have to do is perform just a little better than the other team. Dodger fans unite! We are about to tread on hallowed ground. It's a shame Vinnie isn't able to share this era of Dodger greatness with all of us. I'm sure Mr. Scully and Tommy will be watching from the cloud. Book em

D-Backs can still make the playoffs, but it depends on how they play against the Padres, and how the Phillies do against the Rays. Right now, Dodgers play the winner of the Braves-Phillies. Brewers would play the winner of the Cubs-Padres. I know the season record is not supposed to mean bupkis, but the Cubs are 5-1 against the Madres. LA is 1-5 against Atlanta and 4-2 against the Phillies. Brewers are 9-4 against the Cubs and 2-4 against the Padres.

I watched most of this game. It was nice to see these guy's win. Personally, I would rather see Ryan Fitzgerald on the active Dodger roster than Freeland.

The Dodgers surpassed the 4 million attendances with 4,034,2119 last night surpassing last year's attendance of 4,012,470. The Dodger cash register keeps ringing nonstop.

Ok, Again, I understand JDP sent down so he can get some abs before playoffs. But what value was there in activating Rushing?

JDP HAS to be on the playoff roster! Other than Rojas what other options do they have to pinch hit? Call? Kike? Let’s face it, between the two of them do they have 3 hits in the last month? Dalton? Can’t play the field, not much help. Besides, who would you rather have at the plate in a “critical “ situation. JDP has proved himself to have a great eye at the plate. Not dissing Dalton, but if he can’t catch, JDP is the obvious choice. Glasnow was not out pitched last night. One base runner allowed into the sixth? A little dinger to the opposite field and a grounder to the right side. He was extremely sharp I thought. Wrobleski? I have no clue if he’s on the playoff roster, but I won’t be surprised if he is. Once again, the Dodgers offense let the pitching down. (Not including Mookie). Once again, is Diaz fixed, or fool’s gold? Phillips sure looks fine. Also good news, Henriquez says he will be back for the playoffs. Pen should be just fine. Starters will be fine. Offense? I guess we will have to wait and see. Everyone in that lineup can hit. If only they could hit with runners on!

Congratulations to the Dodgers on obtaining the second NL playoff bye with a Braves' loss and to the Oklahoma City Comets on winning the PCL Championship. Also, what was encouraging last night, was Ohtani's hard hit double to left center nearly off the wall against RP Mason Miller in the 9th inning. This year's bye will give an extra week to help heal the walking wounded and to set up our pitching for the 5-game series as of today against either the Braves or Phillies, In my opinion the weaker bracket than the Brewers, Cubs and Padres.

NLDS Game 1 and 2 will be next weekend, Saturday Oct 3, and Sunday Oct 4, at Dodger Stadium

I got a Jonny DeLuca comp on Ehrhard and I hope Gervase throws meaningful bullpen innings for us next year. Tibbs and Sirota could both start next season back at AAA. Maybe Tibbs will convert to 1B full-time and the season be a rehearsal for 2028.

My confidence level isn’t running high this morning. A Wild Card team just took an important series from the Dodgers.

I know some don’t believe this was an important series, but I do. The Dodgers could have sent a message, but the message sent was from the Padres. Pivetta just out pitched Glasnow. And could anyone from OKC made a difference? Who knows but I doubt it.

Will the offense be able to turn it on anytime soon? We all hope so.

Great to have our full lineup back just in time for October. Bats ablazing!

OKC is OK--and then some. Seriously, I think this team might be able to beat the Rockies or the Angels.

Meanwhile, in The Show, I sense a couple of silver linings in the Dodgers' loss to the Padres today. First, it's a reminder not to be cocky of overconfident. I don't think the Dodgers are really in danger of that--but a reminder can't hurt. Second, Glasnow was absolutely dominant... until he wasn't. In the postseason, I think he'd get the hook a bit earlier. Third, they managed to scratch a couple of late runs--one each--off Morejon and Mason Miller, probably the best one-two bullpen punch in the game now. The last time Miller faced Shohei, he struck him out on three pitches. This time, Shohei doubled.

With the second seed now secured it will be interesting to see how Roberts will handle workload and at bats for the last three games. Good to see Diaz returning to his old self. That could be THE difference in the postseson. DePaula keeps hitting no matter where he plays. Can simply not leave him off the postseason roster.

Congratulations to the Comets. The future looks bright!!

Glasnow deserved better. I thought that during our winning run our ABs had looked a lot more professional. These last couple of nights less so. Does this correlate to the reintroduction of Shohei?

Diaz pitching his way to the Post Season. Wrobo pitching his way onto to the Taxi Squad.

Good to see that Snell is deemed fit enough to take the ball on Saturday. Gonna need stellar pitching to win it all with this scuffling offense.