Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. The way I see it, the Dodgers needed to go 21-10 in their final 31 games to win the NL West (remember, they only have to tie the Padres), which meant the Padres would have to go 22-9. Right now the Dodgers are 3-0, the Padres are 1-2.

The Dodgers made a couple of changes since the last newsletter. Kiké Hernández was activated from the IL, which brings to an end the Buddy Kennedy era of the Dodgers. He was designated for assignment.

The Dodgers also activated relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates from the IL. If they return and pitch like they did last season, then it’s like the Dodgers acquired two great relievers at the trade deadline. We’ll have to wait and see. To make room for Scott and Yates, reliever Matt Sauer was sent to the minors and Blake Snell was added to the paternity list.

Snell spent a couple of days on the paternity list then was activated when the Dodgers put reliever Alex Vesia on the IL. Vesia has a strained right oblique, which is the same thing sidelining Max Muncy. The external oblique muscle is one of the outer abdominal muscles, extending from the lower half of the ribs around and down to the pelvis. These guys wouldn’t strain their obliques if they would insulate them in a nice layer or two of fat like I have.

Freddie Freeman is dealing with a neck issue, Alex Call has a sore back.

Right now, the Dodgers 26-man roster is:

Pitchers
*Anthony Banda
Ben Casparius
*Jack Dreyer
Tyler Glasnow
Edgardo Henriquez
*Clayton Kershaw
*Tanner Scott
Emmet Sheehan
*Blake Snell
Blake Treinen
*Justin Wrobleski
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Kirby Yates

*-left-handed

Two-way players
Shohei Ohtani

Catchers
Dalton Rushing
Will Smith

Infielders
Mookie Betts
Alex Freeland
Freddie Freeman
Kiké Hernández
Miguel Rojas

Outfielders
Alex Call
Michael Conforto
Justin Dean
Teoscar Hernández
Andy Pages

Beginning Monday, clubs can expand their rosters to 28, with no more than 14 pitchers. The Dodgers have the following players who could be coming off the IL in September: Vesia, Muncy, reliever Michael Kopech, pitcher Roki Sasaki, utility players Hyeseong Kim and Tommy Edman.

If all six of them are activated, which four players from the current roster go bye bye? Wrobelski, Dean. Who else? Or will there be an injury or two to open a spot? (Knowing the Dodgers, probably.) Which 26 players will make the postseason roster? Who will be the starting pitchers in the postseason?

It will be interesting to watch.

A different view

Once again, in the quest to give you some different voices to hear from during the season, I have reached out to Clint Pasillas, the host and creator of “All Dodgers,” a (mostly) daily YouTube live podcast (you can watch it here), and co-host of “Dodgers Territory” with Alanna Rizzo on the Foul Territory Network (you can watch it here). He’s been writing about, talking about, tweeting about the Dodgers online since 2008.

This interview was conducted via email.

Q. How did you become a Dodger fan?

Pasillas: Simply put, I became a diehard fan by going to my first game. It wasn’t an important game by any stretch of the imagination — Dodgers vs Marlins in some mostly meaningless late-August game in 2002. Up to that point, I had watched the team off and on when games were on KTLA 5 for years. But going to that first game… showing up late (like a true Dodger fan) and hearing this insane roar of the crowd from the stadium through my rolled down window in my car while looking to find spot in the parking lot. In that moment, I was hooked.

That crowd roar, by the way, was a Dodger homer off the bat of Mike Kinkade. The Dodgers won it on a walk-off that night. Shawn Green doubled home Adrian Beltré. Good times!

Q. How important do you think it is for the Dodgers to win the NL West this season?

Pasillas: I feel like it’s massive. Avoiding a short wild-card series will do wonders for my heart, for one. Of course, it’ll also be beneficial to get some rest after the grind of 162. At least now that the Dodgers have seemingly cracked the code to surviving those five days off. Plus, lining up the rotation the way they want never hurts.

Quieting Padres fans is a fun reason to win the division as well.

Q. A genie grants your wish and says you are the owner of the Dodgers and can make three immediate changes. What changes do you make? And keep in mind it doesn’t have to be player changes.

Pasillas: If I have a genie, I’m assuming I’m already immensely wealthy (having used a wish on mad cash). So, making money to me wouldn’t be as critical in this hypothetical. With that set up out of the way, as the magic, genie-wielding owner of the Dodgers, I would make the ballpark experience affordable for fans again. Parking prices down. Ticket prices reasonable. Concessions not insane. Is that three wishes or four?

Q. If the postseason started tomorrow, and assuming all the players who are expected back from the IL do come back from the IL, what would be your 26-man postseason roster?

Pasillas:

Pitchers
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (rotation)
Blake Snell (rotation)
Shohei Ohtani (rotation)
Clayton Kershaw (rotation)
Anthony Banda
Ben Casparius
Jack Dreyer
Tyler Glasnow
Edgardo Henriquez
Michael Kopech
Tanner Scott
Emmet Sheehan
Blake Treinen
Alex Vesia
(Sorry, Kirby)

Position Players
DH Shohei Ohtani
C Will Smith
1B Freddie Freeman
2B Kiké Hernandez
3B Max Muncy
SS Mookie Betts
LF Teoscar Hernandez
CF Tommy Edman
RF Andy Pages
Bench Dalton Rushing
Bench Miguel Rojas
Bench Hyeseong Kim
Bench Alex Call

Q. When would you have given up on Michael Conforto?

Pasillas: January 26, 1986, when the Bears won the Super Bowl (shout out Chris Farley for that one). My real answer… likely June?

Q. Who are your three favorites to win the World Series?

Pasillas: Dodgers in 5, Dodgers in 4, Dodgers in 6.

A different race

The race for the NL batting title is going to be interesting to follow. Here are the top seven after Thursday’s games:

Freddie Freeman, .302 (.292 over last seven days)
Trea Turner, Philadelphia, .299 (.185)
Sal Frelick, Milwaukee, .298 (.280)
Will Smith, .295 (.118)
Nico Hoerner, Chicago, .290 (.318)
Geraldo Perdomo, Arizona, .290 (.429)
Ketel Marte, Arizona, .289 (.238)

Dropping out of the top seven since we last checked: Manny Machado, Xavier Edwards. Joining the list: Perdomo and Marte.

The postseason

Here’s how the postseason race pans out after Thursday’s games.

NL
1. Milwaukee, 83-52
2. Philadelphia, 77-57
3. Dodgers, 77-57

wild-cards
4. Chicago, 76-58
5. San Diego, 75-59
6. New York, 72-62

7. Cincinnati, 68-66
8. San Francisco, 66-68

AL
1. Toronto, 78-56
2. Detroit, 78-57
3. Houston, 74-60

wild-cards
4. Boston, 75-60
5. New York, 74-60
6. Seattle, 72-62

7. Kansas City, 69-65
8. Texas, 68-67
9. Cleveland, 66-66

The Dodgers have three games remaining with Philadelphia, which could be crucial in determining the No. 2 seed. Right now, the Phillies lead the season series, 2-1. Whoever wins the season series has the tiebreaker advantage. If they tie, 3-3, in games, then the second tiebreaker is record within their own division. Right now, the Dodgers are 25-11 against the West and the Phillies are 21-18 against the East.

The top two teams in each league get a first-round bye. The other four teams in each league play in the best-of-three wild-card round, with No. 3 hosting all three games against No. 6, and No. 4 hosting all three against No. 5.

The division winners are guaranteed to get the top three seeds, even if a wild-card team has a better record.

In the best-of-five second round, No. 1 hosts the No. 4-5 winner and No. 2 hosts the No. 3-6 winner. That way the No. 1 seed is guaranteed not to play a divisional winner until the LCS.

Comparing the innings

Just to show you how much baseball can change even in a period as short as 10 years, let’s look at the Dodgers innings-pitched leaders every 10 years starting in 1965:

1965
Sandy Koufax, 335.2 (8.14 innings per start)
Don Drysdale, 308.1 (7.32)
Claude Osteen, 287 (7.18)

Dodgers used 12 pitchers and had 58 complete games.

1975
Andy Messersmith, 321.2 (7.98)
Doug Rau, 257.2 (6.78)
Don Sutton, 254.1 (7.27)

Dodgers used 14 pitchers and had 51 complete games.

1985
Fernando Valenzuela, 272.1 (7.78)
Orel Hershiser, 239.2 (6.90)
Jerry Reuss, 212.2 (6.38)

Dodgers used 14 pitchers and had 37 complete games.

1995
Ramón Martínez, 206.1 (6.88)
Ismael Valdéz, 197.2 (6.96)
Hideo Nomo, 191.1 (6.83)

Dodgers used 21 pitchers and had 16 complete games

2005
Jeff Weaver, 224 (6.59)
Derek Lowe, 222 (6.34)
Brad Penny, 175.1 (6.05)

Dodgers used 20 pitchers and had six complete games

2015
Clayton Kershaw, 232.2 (7.1 innings per start)
Zack Greinke, 222.2 (6.94)
Brett Anderson, 180.1 (5.81

Dodgers used 31 pitchers and had six complete games.

2025
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 139.2 (5.59)
Dustin May, 104 (5.52)
Clayton Kershaw, 88.1 (5.2)

Dodgers have used 39 pitchers and have no complete games.

Odd stat alert

Will Smith has more sacrifice flies since 2020 than any other player in the majors.

1. Smith, 41
2. Eugenio Suarez, 40
3. Xander Bogaerts, 35
4. Cody Bellinger, 33
4. Ryan Mountcastle, 33

The next highest Dodger is Freddie Freeman, tied for 18th place with 27

The new schedule is here!

You hopefully read that headline for this topic in the same manner as Steve Martin when the new phone book arrived in “The Jerk.”

The 2026 Dodgers schedule was released earlier this week. They open at home on March 26 against Arizona and their final game is Sept. 24 against San Diego before they close the season with three games at San Francisco. No game times have been announced, but you can check out the schedule by clicking here.

Up next

Friday: Arizona (Zac Gallen, 9-13, 5.13 ERA) at Dodgers (*Blake Snell, 3-2, 1.97 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: Arizona (*Eduardo Rodriguez, 5-8, 5.67 ERA) at Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 1-2, 3.36 ERA), 6:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: Arizona (Brandon Pfaadt, 12-8, 5.24 ERA) at Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 11-8, 2.90 ERA), 1:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Dodgers draft pick Sam Horn is also competing for Missouri’s starting quarterback job

Shaikin: How Shohei Ohtani turned the Dodgers into a global entertainment gateway

Shaikin: The National League has one .300 hitter. What’s up with that?

BTS singer V surprises broadcasters at Dodger Stadium by being athletic

10 things to know about the Dodgers’ 2026 schedule. When do they play the Padres?

MLB relief pitcher of the year award to honor an essential role — just ask the Dodgers

And finally

Rick Monday hits a clutch home run against Montreal in Game 5 of the 1981 NLCS. 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.