Welcome to the California Post’s weekly Dodgers recap, where we review the week that was, hand out very official awards and take stock of the state of the season.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
What’s up with the Dodgers’ ABS, base-running and general fundamentals struggles?
The Dodgers pride themselves on being a smart, experienced, and poised veteran ball club.
But over the last several weeks, their fundamentals have looked like anything but.
Manager Dave Roberts has not been shy about highlighting the team’s recent deficiencies –– which have included everything from poorly-timed ABS challenge decisions, to outright baffling mistakes on the bases.
“[It’s] very correctable,” Roberts said. “[But] sometimes it just doesn’t seem like a recognizable team, the last couple weeks.”
The club’s use of MLB’s new ABS challenge system has been a particularly glaring issue. Though the Dodgers rank 10th in ABS success rate, they’ve recently fallen victim to a number of dubious failed challenges; many of them, from hitters reacting seemingly emotionally to borderline strike calls far too early in games.
Andy Pages has been the biggest culprit, losing twice as many challenges (14 out of 25 attempts) as anyone else on the team (Kyle Tucker is next closest with seven). On Monday, he burned a challenge in the third inning on the first pitch of one at-bat, then couldn’t challenge a clearly incorrect called third strike later in the sixth because the club had exhausted both of its ABS appeals already.
All of this led Roberts and the coaching staff to review ABS protocols with the team this week.
“Really understanding consequences,” Roberts said of the conversations. “Trying to really get clarity on leverage, when the right time to do it.”
When asked if the team could get to a point where it outright bars certain players from using the ABS system at certain points of the game, Roberts said yes, though added: “I feel like we got a much better handle on it.”
This week offered a quick progress update. On Wednesday, Pages again exhausted one challenge in the first inning, albeit this time on the kind of full-count pitch that Roberts said they are OK with players appealing (just, probably, not that early in the game).
“I’ll take the blame on that one,” Roberts said. “I’ve got to be more clear. So that was my fault.”
The next day, however, the Dodgers experienced an ABS success. Freddie Freeman turned a called third strike into a ball four walk in the sixth inning, putting two aboard for Max Muncy to belt a go-ahead three-run homer.
For now, such baby steps are needed.
Come October, the Dodgers will need to have such fundamentals cleaned up.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Mookie Betts (6-for-18, 2 home runs, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs this week; .239 average, 15 home runs, 39 RBIs, .712 OPS this season)
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Mookie Betts is starting to find his swing again.
So often over the last two years, of course, that has appeared to be the case. But every time, Betts has slipped back into a cold spell –– none more jarring than the recent 15-for-90 (.167) slump he endured in July and early August following a scorching hot tear through much of June.
Alas, Betts is on the upswing again now.
Ever since a blunt postgame address with reporters on Aug. 4, when he bemoaned that “I don’t even know what I’m doing here” and how he needed to “restore [my] hope-meter in order to keep myself going,” the 33-year-old shortstop has rediscovered some pop and consistency.
“We seem to have this story over and over again,” Betts said of his extreme highs and lows.
That’s why it’s anyone’s guess as to how long Betts can keep this run going.
Roberts said he liked the way Betts has been “carrying himself” lately, pointing to a renewed “swagger” in his demeanor. He hopes it can help the veteran slugger feel like the MVP threat he used to be, even if those days are quickly fading in the rearview.
“It’s just always trying to remind him who he is,” Roberts said. “The [pitcher] standing 60 feet, six inches from him understands the back of the baseball card, knows who’s in the box. It’s important that he not forget that, regardless of what the scoreboard might say.”
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Blake Snell (6 innings, 1 run, 10 strikeouts vs Royals; 2 starts, 5.00 ERA this season)
We covered Snell’s successful return from injury extensively on Tuesday night.
But still, there’s no understating how important his return –– not just to health, but Cy Young-caliber dominance –– will be to a Dodgers team likely to ride its rotation heavily come the playoffs.
If Snell can keep pitching the way he did this week, it will give the Dodgers three bona fide aces along with Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
And if the Dodgers have that, then they should still be World Series frontrunners, almost regardless of whether Shohei Ohtani returns to pitching.
PROSPECT OF THE WEEK
Gavin Stone (3 innings, 1 run, 5 strikeouts in triple-A this week)
Remember Stone? He might not technically be a prospect anymore (he led the Dodgers big-league staff in innings pitched in 2024, after all), but he could represent an intriguing late-season minor-league call-up option, as he progresses through a current rehab assignment in his long-awaited return from shoulder surgery.
Stone spent most of this season shut down from throwing, following a setback in his recovery during spring training. But after finally returning to the mound with triple-A Oklahoma City on Aug. 6 (for a brief 1 ⅔ innings reintroduction), Stone flashed some tantalizing stuff in this week’s outing.
His fastball ran up to 96 mph. His trademark changeup got seven whiffs out of 12 swings. And he mixed in all six of the pitches in his arsenal to retire nine of the 11 batters he faced.
Though the Dodgers are unlikely to have a rotation need down the stretch this year, the unsettled state of their bullpen could open the door for Stone to vie for a roster spot. After almost two years of waiting, he’s finally back on the verge of a return.