Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. For some reason, I’ve been wanting to listen to “Free Fallin’ ” by Tom Petty a lot lately. I wonder why?

So, here we are.

After the games of July 3, the NL West standings looked like this:

Dodgers, 56-32, .636
San Diego, 46-40, .535, 9 GB
San Francisco, 47-41, .534, 9 GB
Arizona, 43-44, .494, 12.5 GB
Colorado, 20-67, .230, 35.5 GB

Here are the NL West standing for the games after July 3:

San Diego, 23-12, .657
Arizona, 17-18, .486
San Francisco, 12-21, .364
Dodgers, 12-21, .364
Colorado, 12-22, .353

The NL West standings today:

San Diego, 69-52, .570
Dodgers, 68-53, .562, 1 GB
Arizona, 60-62, .492, 9.5 GB
San Francisco, 59-62, .488, 10 GB
Colorado, 32-89, .264, 37 GB

When you have basically the same record as the Rockies over a 33-game stretch, well, that’s not ideal.

So what happened? For a while it was starting pitching, but the return of Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell have stabilized that. For a while it was the offense, but Mookie Betts and company are hitting better now, stabilizing that.

The Dodgers caught all the breaks last season, this season it seems none of them go their way (for example, Edgardo Henriquez trying to field that double-play grounder in the eighth inning Wednesday, tipping the ball away for an infield single, loading the bases). There’s not much that can be done if the baseball gods are frowning upon you.

Let’s take a look at a couple of things:

Dodgers runs per game, 2024: 5.20
Dodgers runs per game, 2025: 5.17

Dodgers rotation ERA, 2024: 4.23
Dodgers rotation ERA, 2025: 4.13

Dodgers bullpen ERA, 2024: 3.53
Dodgers bullpen ERA, 2025: 4.22

So really, it’s the bullpen. It’s terrible. Let’s look at the Dodger bullpen at this moment:

Anthony Banda, 3.38 ERA
Ben Casparius, 4.78
Alexis Díaz, 7.71
Jack Dreyer, 2.90
Edgardo Henriquez, 0.00 (only 4.2 IP)
Blake Treinen, 4.26
Alex Vesia, 2.76
Justin Wrobelski, 4.09

Now, let’s look at the Dodger bullpen through much of the postseason last year:

Anthony Banda, 3.08 ERA last season
Ryan Brasier, 3.54
Ben Casparius, 2.16
Brusdar Graterol, 2.45
Brent Honeywell, 2.62
Daniel Hudson, 3.00
Landon Knack, 3.65
Michael Kopech, 1.13
Evan Phillips, 3.62
Blake Treinen, 1.93
Alex Vesia, 1.76

The Dodgers had anywhere from 6-8 shut-down guys in their bullpen last season. Right now, they have zero. The guy they acquired to help out, Brock Stewart, is on the IL with a bad shoulder. Hard to believe that you could acquire a guy with a history of shoulder problems and he gets sideline by … a shoulder problem. Alex Vesia, so strong last season, seems gassed from overuse.

Kirby Yates, signed to a one-year, $13-million deal, is on the IL.

Tanner Scott, signed to be the new closer for four years, $72 million, is on the IL.

Michael Kopech is on the IL.

Brusdar Graterol is on the IL, and it looks more and more unlikely that he will return this season.

Evan Phillips is on the IL, out for the year.

Ryan Brasier is pitching for the Cubs.

Daniel Hudson retired. (Hey, maybe the Dodgers can give him a call).

Remember Antonio Osuna? He pitched for the Dodgers in the mid- and late-90s and had electric stuff. Threw near 100 mph, and struck out more than a batter an inning back when it wasn’t as common as it is now. But every time they tried to make him a closer, he fell apart. Couldn’t do it. The whole bullpen right now reminds me of Osuna. From the fourth to seventh innings, they pitch fine, but when it comes down to the final two innings, especially when the Dodgers have a narrow lead, they fall apart.

So, what’s the solution? Well, there won’t be any trades, because the deadline has past. What the Dodgers will do is wait, and hope that Scott, Yates and Kopech can come back at some point and pitch like they are capable of doing. And that Treinen rediscovers his form from last season.

So, it’s going to be frustrating. The offense is going to have to provide some bigger leads. They have had chances to do it recently but have failed. The starting pitching will have to remain consistent. And someone will need to step up in the bullpen. They need Vesia to pitch like the old Vesia, not the one from the last three games. They need someone to say “OK men, follow me.”

A lot of people are down on Dave Roberts, saying he has mismanaged the bullpen. Managing the bullpen has always been his biggest weakness, but he hasn’t had much to work with this year. It’s like playing BeanBoozled. You reach into the pile and hope you get the lime flavored jelly bean, not the garbage flavored.

I still believe the Dodgers will make the postseason, where anything can happen. Last season at this time, they had only a two-game lead of the Padres and Diamondbacks. Some Dodger fans were convinced this team didn’t have what it takes. They then won 11 of their next 14.

This weekend and next weekend against the Padres will be a real test. The Padres and their fans will be fired up. They’d love to stomp on the Dodgers right now. Will they? Time will tell. But the season isn’t over. Don’t give in to pessimism, be a realist. A lot can still happen, we don’t know how things will play out. That’s what makes it fun to watch.

Michael Conforto

Why is Michael Conforto still playing? Why isn’t Alex Call out there? Or Dalton Rushing?

That’s the question I get most frequently. We’ve talked about this subject before, but rather than hear me talk about it again, I asked Jack Harris, our Dodgers beat writer who is with the team almost every day, for his thoughts:

“Ah yes, the Michael Conforto discourse has returned. After a decent July (.273 average, .827 OPS), the $17-million offseason signing has indeed gone back into a deep freeze in August (three for 30). His struggles reached the point on Wednesday that manager Dave Roberts sat him against the Angels — in part because Angels right-hander Kyle Hendricks has reverse splits, but also, Roberts acknowledged, because of Conforto’s latest slump.

“ ‘I gotta try to find some combinations to get some production, some consistent production,’ Roberts said. ‘That’s just kind of where we’re at in this time of season. I’ve gotta do that.’

“Despite that, Conforto will still get regular at-bats for the time being (starting with Friday’s series opener against the Padres). Why?

“Well, for one, the Dodgers still don’t have many obviously better options. Alex Call is batting .150 since coming over from the Nationals. The team has closed the door on last year’s experiment with Dalton Rushing in the outfield (he is also hitting just .202 this season). And until Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández return, the club’s outfield depth is frankly too thin (yes, Ryan Ward is tearing it up in triple-A, but the team has already bypassed him multiple times when calling up outfielders, which probably tells you how much they think he could impact the big-league lineup).

“Also, the Dodgers were encouraged by Conforto’s performance in July. To at least some degree, it factored into their decision not to make a bigger addition to the lineup. The last couple of weeks have been bad, but they continue to believe he’ll be at least somewhat more productive down the stretch. I know many fans will disagree, but that remains the team’s stance.

“All that said, and as Wednesday epitomized, Conforto will have to heat up again at some point to remain a fixture in the lineup.”

“The guess here: You’ll start to see his playing time gradually decrease the rest of the way if he doesn’t turn things around, and as others on the roster get healthy. For now, however, the team’s lack of alternatives means he’ll continue to play.”

Thanks Jack. So there you have it. Learn to live with Conforto, at least for a little while longer.

The Padres

The Padres are up next, and they are playing very well. The Dodgers could be four games out of first by Monday, or two games ahead, or somewhere in between. That’s why they play the games and don’t just give the win to the hot team.

It would be a mistake to think the Padres are invincible. They had their own points in the season where they slumped. The went 5-11 at one point in June and had a losing record that month. They went 3-10 at one point in May. That’s how they fell nine games back. So, keep in mind that every team has had problems this season.

Let’s compare the two teams and where they rank among the 30 MLB teams:

Runs per game
1. Dodgers, 5.17
22. Padres, 4.21

Batting average
4. Dodgers, .255
10. Padres, .252

OB%
3. Dodgers, .332
8. Padres, .323

SLG%
2. Dodgers, .441
25. Padres, .383

Batting avg. with 2 out/RISP
4. Dodgers, .267
11. Padres, .238

Doubles
14. Dodgers, 195
17. Padres, 190

Triples
T12. Dodgers, 16
T12. Padres, 16

Home runs
2. Dodgers, 180
29. Padres, 103

Stolen bases
T16. Padres, 81
20. Dodgers, 72

Batter walks
2. Dodgers, 450
11. Padres, 399

Batter Strikeouts
13. Dodgers, 1,027
28. Padres, 840

Pitching

ERA
2. Padres, 3.55
19. Dodgers, 4.17

Home runs allowed
10. Dodgers, 146
28. Padres, 116

Fewest walks per 9 IP
17. Padres, 3.30
23. Dodgers, 3.53

Strikeouts per 9 IP
5. Dodgers, 9.02
8. Padres, 8.71

Saves
1. Padres, 40
T3. Dodgers, 35

Blown saves
T6. Dodgers, 20
T24. Padres, 15

Inherited runners who scored %
2. Dodgers, 25.6%
6. Padres, 28.2%

Rotation ERA
13. Padres, 3.99
18. Dodgers, 4.13

Bullpen ERA
1. Padres, 2.97
20. Dodgers, 4.22

By the way

Scott is expected to throw to hitters this week and hopefully go to the minors for some rehab work after that.

Yates is a step ahead of Scott, having thrown to hitters already this week.

Kopech was set to begin a minor-league rehab assignment Thursday at triple-A Oklahoma City.

Tony Gonsolin had surgery and will not return this season.

This feels more like a MASH unit than a baseball team at times.

How does this compare?

Where were the Dodgers in the standings each Aug. 15 since they started their postseason streak in 2013? Let’s look:

2013
70-50, First place, 7.5 games ahead of Arizona

2014
70-54, First place, five games ahead of San Francisco

2015
66-51, First place, 2.5 games ahead of San Diego

2016
65-52, Second place, 0.5 game behind San Francisco

2017
84-54, First place, 18.5 games ahead of Colorado and Arizona

2018
65-57, Tied for second, 1.5 games behind Arizona

2019
81-42, First place, 19.5 games ahead of Arizona and San Francisco

2020
COVID shortened year

2021
72-46, Second place, four games behind San Francisco

2022
80-34, First place, 17 games ahead of San Diego

2023
72-46, First place, nine games ahead of San Francisco

2024
71-51, First place, two games ahead of San Diego and Arizona

So this isn’t even the most they’ve trailed at this point. In 2021, they ended up 106-56, one game behind the Giants. They beat St. Louis in the wild-card game, beat the Giants in the NLDS, before losing to Atlanta in the NLCS.

Up next

Friday: San Diego (TBD) at Dodgers (*Clayton Kershaw, 6-2, 3.14 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: San Diego (Dylan Cease, 5-10, 4.52 ERA) at Dodgers (*Blake Snell, 2-1, 2.37 ERA), 6:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: San Diego (Yu Darvish, 2-3, 5.61 ERA) at Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 1-1, 3.08 ERA), 1:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Mookie Betts has a playoff soundtrack infused with ‘the relaxing vibe of the beach’

Shohei Ohtani focused ‘on the field,’ not distraction of Hawaii real estate lawsuit

Hernández: Dodgers’ failure to improve their bullpen spurred free fall with no end in sight

Shaikin: Will Smith could win a batting title. Could the Dodgers stop him?

More bad news for Dodgers’ bullpen: Brock Stewart goes on the IL

After one year, this MLB postseason schedule innovation is no longer

Shohei Ohtani and his agent accused of sabotaging $240-million real estate project

And finally

Wally Moon discusses the origin and the art of hitting a “Moon Shot.” 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.