Mark Timmons

The Dodgers needed seven pitchers in a game in which Atlanta started a reliever. Somehow, the team with Blake Snell ended up using more pitchers than the team with the bullpen game.

The Dodgers beat Atlanta 5-3 in Game 1 of the NLDS, and in the process provided another reminder of something baseball fans should know by now:

The 2022 Dodgers-Padres series may be the modern equivalent of 1988. Los Angeles went 111-51, finished 22 games ahead of San Diego, and absolutely owned the Padres, going 14-5 against them and winning all six regular-season series. Then San Diego lost Game 1 of the NLDS and proceeded to win the next three.

The Dodgers went 1-5 against the Braves, including getting swept in Atlanta. Atlanta also finished with one of the stronger run differentials in the NL.

I was surprised to hear Aroz, Horn and Morse were also on the roster as initially the Dodgers had just listed the first six players. So, here’s the skinny on those three, and they’re a more interesting trio than their lack of prospect-list buzz suggests.

Will they be able to flip the switch? I still think so, but we have to wait and see. It is not a given. As you may or may not know, "switch flipping" is not an exact science.

The Dodgers then have an extraordinary six-man upper tier: De Paula, Quintero, Sirota, Zazueta, Morales and Davalan, with Root right behind them. Baseball America had seven Dodgers in its overall Top 100 in August: De Paula, Quintero, Sirota, Zazueta, Morales, Root and Davalan.

That’s what makes the Dodgers’ 2026 pursuit historically significant. After winning in 2024 and 2025, a 2026 championship would make them the first NL team ever to three-peat.

"Did the bunt actually increase our chances of scoring or winning?” Most of the time, the traditional sacrifice bunt fails that test.

Andrew Friedman has made his reputation (in part) by acquiring relief pitchers for almost nothing and turning them into closer-quality, late-inning relievers.

Is this the Master Plan? To have everyone ready for the playoffs? Mookie Betts is suddenly hot. Will the Dodgers catch Lightning in a Jar? The stars are getting aligned... we shall see.

You can defend it all you want, but even Ray Charles can see that Kyle Tucker, Tanner Scott, and Edwin Diaz were not the normal Andrew Friedman moves. What is an Andrew Friedman move? Well, there are three (3) types: (1) Free Agent Signings; (2) Trades; and (3) Waiver Wire Pickups.

The Dodgers will pay Tanner Scott and Edwin Diaz a COMBINED $142 million for much less production unless they suddenly turn into Eric Gagne. Edwin Diaz and Tanner Scott (to say nothing of Kyle Tucker) are a testament to what happens when you say, "Let's be pigs!"

Your three best hitters should generally occupy the #1, #2 and #4 spots. The #2 spot is more important than the traditional #3 spot, and you generally want OBP emphasized at #1 and power emphasized at #4.

It was both surprising and not surprising to me that the Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker. That they can make it work is a tribute to the true genius of Mark Walter and Andrew Friedman. Enjoy it while you can, because it will end soon. In the upcoming CBA and talks among owners, MLB…

The Dodgers aren't just an older team because they have a couple of graybeard pitchers. The offense is where the age discrepancy really lives.

The Dodgers are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Still, they are not hitting on all cylinders. The next time the Dodgers play, Will Smith should be the catcher, and Ben Rotverdt should be gone.

But I am beginning to wonder whether something different is happening in Major League Baseball in 2026. I think the pitchers, aided by an astonishing amount of information, may have gotten ahead in the arms race.

Spin it however you want it, but the better team won the last two games! Now, I fully understand that the Dodgers are without Andy Pages, Will Smith and Dalton…

There are players who look terrific against the Rockies on June 12 and suddenly develop rigor mortis when there are 54,000 people screaming and their season is three outs from ending. Kiké seems to have the opposite disease.

I'm going to attempt to list every significant player acquired from outside the organization who either reached the Dodgers' MLB roster or was a meaningful prospect acquired in a trade.

In 2024, I was driving the bandwagon while some of you were standing alongside the road screaming that the wheels were coming off. Same thing in 2025. I remained confident.

Van Scoyoc has pointed out that launch angle is really a measurement, not necessarily a hitting philosophy. His stated goal is to develop an adjustable swing capable of matching different pitch planes, rather than teaching hitters to simply swing upward at everything.

I do not see the glass as half empty or half full. I see what the glass is: simply a vehicle to show what is inside it. What's inside the glass is sometimes…

Sorry about that. The new LADT has had so many visits and comments that we exceeded our monthly plan, and the damn machines turned it off. So we upped the…

You never know what to expect when a pitcher comes back from an extended stay on the IL, but Blake Snell came back with an eye-popping 10 strikeouts in 6 IP.…

When you keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results, you are a moron... and insane!

NOTE: We are running two blogs today. This one and the MiLB Blog by Jeff. The six losses in a row were embarrassing, but last night's game was more than…

I went to London for nine days, and look what you guys did! THE DODGERS ARE STINKING UP THE JOINT. They can't hit, pitch, or field, but otherwise they are fine!

Kike Hernandez and Edwin Diaz will be back next week (barring a setback). Alex Freeland will have to go back to OKC when that happens... or be traded. That…