New-look Dodgers provide plenty of optimism in season-opening victory
When Dodgers players walked into their home clubhouse on Thursday afternoon, they each found a bottle of wine waiting in their locker, an aged 2020 cabernet sauvignon from Caymus Vineyards in Napa Valley.
The gifts were courtesy of Jason Heyward, the 13-year veteran entering his first season in the Dodgers outfield.
They were more than a simple gesture of goodwill, too, serving instead as a subtle reminder for a transitioning Dodgers squad shrouded in uncertainty at the start of a new season.
“To make wine, you start off knowing it’s gonna take time,” Heyward explained, drawing a parallel to this year’s Dodgers campaign.
Dodgers open season with an impressive win over Diamondbacks
⚾ Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 2 — FINAL
Yency Almonte pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to secure the Dodgers’ season-opening win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on a chilly night at Dodger Stadium.
Will Smith led the way, driving in four runs on three hits. Rookie center fielder James Outman hit a two-run home run and starting pitcher Julio Urías allowed four hits and two earned runs over six solid innings.
“It felt good. I got a couple knocks,” Smith said. “I’m just happy to be back at Dodger Stadium. It’s great to play in front of our fans.”
The Dodgers continue their four-game series against the Diamondbacks on Friday at 7:10 p.m. PDT.
Will Smith earns his fourth RBI as Dodgers extend lead
⚾ Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 2 — End of the eighth
Will Smith drove in his fourth run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to give the Dodgers eight unanswered runs and a commanding lead heading into the ninth inning.
James Outman led off the inning with single but managed to sprint to second on a fielding error by right fielder Jake McCarthy. Miguel Rojas then singled off the third-base umpire before Freddie Freeman drew a one-out walk to load the bases.
Diamondbacks reliever Kevin Ginkel then was called for a pitch-clock violation for preparing to deliver before Smith was set in the box. Home plate umpire Marvin Hudson issued a ball and spoke with Ginkel and Arizona manager Torey Lovullo. Smith then hit the ball into deep center field to drive in Outman.
Max Muncy then struck out for the fifth time — the first time he’s ever struck out five times in his major-league career — to send the game into the ninth.
In the top of the inning, Dodgers reliever Shelby Miller retired the Diamondbacks in order on 13 pitches.
Dodgers hold onto 7-2 lead heading into eighth
⚾ Dodgers 7, Diamondbacks 2 — End of seventh
Max Muncy struck out for the fourth time tonight to lead off the inning and Diamondbacks reliever Carlos Vargas struck out Miguel Vargas to end the scoreless inning.
Dodgers reliever Phil Bickford retired the Diamondbacks in order, getting Christian Walker and Evan Longoria to fly out before striking out Nick Ahmed on four pitches.
James Outman hits two-run home run in the sixth inning
⚾ Dodgers 7, Diamondbacks 2 — End of the sixth inning
James Outman hit a two-run home run — his first major league homer at Dodger Stadium — to extend the Dodgers’ lead.
Outman’s homer to left center field off Diamondbacks reliever Cole Sulser came after Miguel Vargas led off the frame with a walk.
Freddie Freeman hit a two-out single to right before Will Smith grounded out to first to end the inning.
Phil Bickford will relieve Julio Urías on the mound in the seventh. Urías allowed four hits and two earned runs while striking out six over six innings.
Dodgers fans divided on MLB’s new pitch clock rules
Dodgers fans share their opinions on the pitch clock and whether it makes the game better or not.
The pitch clock is speeding up games across the major leagues this season, but not everyone is a fan of shorter outings at the ballpark.
Dodgers fans gave polarizing assessments of the pitch clock at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, with folks divided on whether it enhances or hurts the game.
Will Smith and J.D. Martinez drive in runs to give Dodgers lead
⚾ Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 2 — End of the fifth inning
Will Smith picked up his third RBI of the night with a golf shot to shallow right field, bringing in Mookie Betts to give the Dodgers their first lead.
J.D. Martinez followed with a single two at-bats later to drive in Freddie Freeman, who reached base on a drive to right field. Martinez’s hit ended Arizona starter Zac Gallen’s night. He allowed six hits and five earned runs while striking out seven over 4 2/3 innings.
David Peralta then plated Smith on a single to left field off reliever Cole Sulser, but Martinez was tagged out at third on a throw by Arizona left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to end the inning.
Smith is three for three tonight.
It was another 1-2-3 inning for Julio Urías and the Dodgers in the top of the fifth. Corbin Carroll lined out before Gabriel Moreno struck out. Jake McCarthy then flied out to center. Urías is managing the game well at 60 pitches so far.
Dodgers and Diamondbacks head into fifth inning tied 2-2
⚾ Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 2 — End of the fourth
Julio Urías retired the Diamondbacks in order in the fourth, striking out Nick Ahmed on a 92-mph fastball to end the frame. Urías stands at 49 pitches.
Arizona starter Zac Gallen walked Miguel Vargas on four pitches with two outs before striking out James Outman on an 88-mph cutter to end the inning.
Something that never swings and misses is the Dodger Dog. Here’s a quick history lesson on one of baseball’s culinary masterpieces:
A quick look at the history of the Dodger Dog
Will Smith’s two-run single ties up game in third
⚾ Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 2 — End of third
Will Smith drove in a pair of runs on two-out single down the right-field line to tie the game in the bottom of the third.
James Outman led off the inning with a walk before Miguel Rojas bounced a ground-run double just inside the right-field line. Both scored on Smith’s second hit of the game. Max Muncy struck out on a foul tip to end the rally.
In the top of the inning, the Dodgers overcame a fielding error by shortstop Miguel Rojas with a 5-4-3 double play to cap an eight-pitch inning for Julio Urías.
Diamondbacks extend lead on Gabriel Moreno’s sacrifice fly
⚾ Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 0 — End of the second
Gabriel Moreno drove in Nick Ahmed off a sacrifice fly in the second inning to extend Arizona’s lead.
Ahmed led off with a double before moving to third on a Corbin Carroll popup to center. Jake McCarthy grounded out.
Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías has allowed three hits and two runs on 26 pitches.
Arizona pitcher Zac Gallen retired the Dodgers in order on 11 pitches.
Diamondbacks jump out to lead in the first inning
⚾ Diamondbacks 1, Dodgers 0 — End of the first
Christian Walker, who drove in 94 runs last season, plated the Diamondbacks’ first run of 2023 on a single to left field off Dodgers starter Julio Urías, giving Arizona the early lead.
Ketel Marte scored on Walker’s single after being hit by a pitch.
Urías got Evan Longoria to ground out into a 5-4-3 double play to end of inning.
In the bottom of the frame, Arizona’s Zac Gallen struck out Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman before Will Smith hit a double down the right-field line. Max Muncy then took a called third strike on an 88-mph cutter to end the inning.
Rookie James Outman plays it cool when notified of opening-day start
James Outman’s insides did not match his outsides when the rookie was informed by manager Dave Roberts that he would make the opening-day start in center field against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night. While his head and heart did cartwheels, Outman’s expression remained stoic.
“I think he sort of straight-faced me,” Roberts said. “We were in Anaheim [on Tuesday] and I told him he was starting opening day, and he kind of gave me a nod while chewing his bubblegum. And that was it. It was good. I liked that. … He does a good job of getting the emotions through that gum he is always chewing.”
Outman, a seventh-round pick out of Sacramento State in 2018, isn’t acting like he belongs here. He showed he does with a superb spring in which he hit .283 (15 for 53) with a team-leading eight extra-base hits, three of them homers, and 11 RBIs in 23 games to win a job as the left-handed-hitting part of an outfield platoon.
“I feel ready for this moment,” Outman said before the game. “Guys have said you only get one first opening-day start, so really enjoy it, soak it all in. This is awesome. It’s a dream come true.”
When Roberts told him he would be starting on opening day, Outman acted like it was no big deal.
“I just said, ‘All right, sounds good, let’s win a ballgame,’ ” Outman said. “We’ve been playing this game our whole lives, so it’s just a bigger stage at this point.”
Outman had no stage fright during a big-league cameo last July and August, when he became the first player in franchise history to homer in his first plate appearance, record three hits, three RBIs and score two runs in his major league debut and hit .462 (six for 13) in four games.
But all four of those games were on the road. Thursday night marked Outman’s first start in Dodger Stadium and first appearance in center field.
“I’ve been taking reps during [batting practice], trying to get a feel for the warning track, the wall,” Outman said. “That’s the biggest thing when you’re adjusting to an outfield, trying to figure out sightlines, things like that.”
Outman did have one plate appearance in Dodger Stadium. He crushed a potential confidence-boosting, pinch-hit homer to right field in a Freeway Series exhibition game against the Angels last Sunday night.
“I guess the only thing that tells me is it’s possible,” said Outman, who has a .263 career average, .859 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 79 homers and 249 RBIs in 403 minor league games.
“You know, there are some yards where you feel like you hit something [good] and it just doesn’t go anywhere. But it was definitely good to get that under my belt, and hopefully we can do some more of that.”
Sunny sky above Dodger Stadium 90 minutes before first pitch
Clearer skies at Dodger Stadium ahead of season opener
As anticipated, the sky is starting to clear around Dodger Stadium after some mid-afternoon showers.
Unless the forecast fails to hold, tonight’s season opener between the Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks should start as scheduled at 7:10 p.m. PDT.
Dustin May’s mound maturity is improving, even if his cursing is a work in progress
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — There is the way Dustin May feels when he’s on the mound, and there is the way the fiery Dodgers right-hander outwardly expresses it.
On the inside, May has been quietly pleased with his progress this spring, continuing to regain strength and stamina he didn’t realize he was missing last year in his initial return from Tommy John surgery — as well as a newfound level of mental fortitude to go along with it.
“I would say right now is probably the closest I’ve been to pre-surgery, feel-wise,” May said. “I’m in a pretty good spot.”
It’s just that, based on May’s often-emotional in-game demeanor, it sometimes can be hard to tell.
Tarp on the field at Dodger Stadium
L.A. has seen its share of rainy days this winter, but will inclement weather derail the Dodgers’ season opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks?
Don’t bet on it. Grounds crews deployed a tarp onto the field roughly three hours before the scheduled 7:10 p.m. PDT start of the game, but the forecast calls for rain-free skies by first pitch.
Dodgers want to build next era of great teams. But can they be great in 2023, too?
Andrew Friedman sat with his newest star acquisition to his left, a group of enthusiastically trustful fans screaming his praises from nearby, and smiled as he made a bold proclamation about the Dodgers’ fortunes 12 months ago.
“I can argue that the next five years’ outlook,” Friedman said last March, during an introductory news conference for Freddie Freeman at the Dodgers Camelback Ranch spring-training complex, “is better than what we accomplished over the previous five.”
In other words, even after a run in which the Dodgers won one World Series, three National League pennants, and more games than any other club in Major League Baseball, Friedman envisioned a future that could be even better.
Here’s the Dodgers’ starting lineup for opening day
Here’s the starting lineup for Game 1 between the Dodgers and visiting Arizona Diamondbacks:
And here’s the starting lineup for the Arizona Diamondbacks:
Dodgers TV schedule for the 2023 MLB season
Here’s the regular-season TV and streaming schedule for the Dodgers. Some of the channels and streaming options are subject to change.
Is the MLB pitching clock a good idea? Dodgers discuss the topic
Julio Urías earns his first opening day start for Dodgers
PHOENIX — Major League Baseball asked its teams to wait until Friday to reveal their opening day starters, hoping to turn the annual announcements into a leaguewide event.
For the Dodgers, however, the choice had been evident for a while now.
Julio Urías will get the nod for the first time in his career — a fitting honor for a left-hander who has emerged as one of the best pitchers in the sport over the last several seasons.
“I think he’s earned this opportunity,” manager Dave Roberts said, with the pitching matchup for the team’s March 30 opener against the Diamondbacks finally officially set. “He’s checked a lot of boxes and this is one of the last for him; something that from his teammates to all of us, we’re excited for him to have this opportunity.”
Ryan Pepiot on injured list with oblique strain; Michael Grove makes opening day roster
The Dodgers opening day roster came with one unexpected — and, for the team, an unwelcome — surprise.
Ryan Pepiot, the rookie right-hander who was supposed to replace injured starter Tony Gonsolin in the opening day rotation, will instead begin the season on the injured list himself with what the club called a left oblique strain.
Michael Grove, another rookie right-hander who was the other finalist for the last rotation spot coming out of spring camp, was put on the 26-man roster and will start on Monday in Pepiot’s place.
“It was pretty disappointing coming in yesterday and getting the news,” Pepiot said from his locker on Thursday afternoon. “Like I said, it was a dream come true being told I made the roster. But I’m just happy we caught it pretty early so it would linger too long.”
While Pepiot left a March 17 Cactus League game against the Chicago Cubs after three innings with side/back discomfort, it wasn’t until his next outing a week later that he first felt a problem with his oblique.
Though Pepiot completed that outing, then another on Tuesday night in Anaheim against the Angels, the 25-year-old was struggling to finish his pitches and spent an extended period in the training room afterward.
Pepiot said the team decided on Wednesday that he would open on the IL. And while he’s hopeful he won’t miss much time, neither he nor manager Dave Roberts knew when Pepiot would be back on a mound — leaving his prospects of returning immediately to the Dodgers rotation in doubt with Gonsolin expected back at the end of April.
“Right now he’s shut down for a few days and then we’ll pick it up from there,” Roberts said. “I think when you hear oblique, you have to be extra careful so it doesn’t linger.”
Outside of Pepiot’s absence, the rest of the Dodgers season-opening roster looked as expected.
Daniel Hudson, Jimmy Nelson and Alex Reyes were all also placed on the 15-day injured list to open the campaign. Shortstop Gavin Lux was put on the 60-day IL — he is set to miss the year because of a torn ACL — to make room for Jason Heyward on the 40-man roster.
Here is the full 26-man group:
Healthy and motivated, Max Muncy out to prove he’s no baseball bum
PHOENIX — The chip on his shoulder that fueled Max Muncy’s early years with the Dodgers — implanted during the month he spent out of baseball after being released by Oakland in 2017 — remains, though it has been reprogrammed.
Proving he belongs in the big leagues is no longer the main driver for Muncy, who established himself as a perennial All-Star by hitting at least 35 homers with an .889 on-base-plus-slugging percentage or more during each of his first three full seasons.
What’s motivating Muncy this spring is a burning desire to show he’s not the bum he suspects many felt he was last season, when his slow recovery from a left-elbow injury caused his swing to malfunction and his production to plummet.
“You feel like you get forgotten a little bit,” said Muncy, who had a career-worst .196 average, .713 OPS, 21 homers and 69 RBIs in 2022. “You have a bad year, and suddenly no one thinks you’re a good player anymore. So I feel like I have a lot to prove this year, and I like it that way. That’s how it’s been my whole career.”
Plaschke: Dodgers open MLB season unsettled and uncertain. And that’s a good thing
They lost their cornerstone, their shaggy leader, Justin Turner heading off to hated Boston.
They lost their spark, their infield core, Trea Turner fleeing for Philly.
They lost their MVP, their homegrown hero, Cody Bellinger scooting over to Chicago.
They lost their hope, Gavin Lux, knee injury, gone for the season.
They lost their minds, this winter, failing to land any of baseball’s top free agents, bystanders to the San Diego Padres’ impressive shopping spree.
For the first time in more than a decade, the team with nine National League West Division crowns in those last 10 years enters a season with an overwhelming sense of loss.
So much loss, in fact, that one might miss what they gained.
Uncertainty. Suspense. Chaos. Fun.
Why the long face? Why the dark cloud?
Two years after using this column to predict the Dodgers would be the best team in baseball history, your humble prognosticator would like to tweak that, but only slightly.
This season, the Dodgers could be the most exciting team in club history.
‘We’ve just got to figure it out.’ Dodgers, Angels brace for pitch clock implications
Bases loaded, two outs, bottom of the ninth inning, home team down by a run, full count on the batter, who steps out of the box to take a deep breath and gather himself while the pitch clock winds down from nine seconds, to eight seconds, to seven seconds …
Strike three! Game over!
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did not hesitate this week when asked how he liked baseball’s new pitch clock, which requires pitchers to start their delivery within 15 seconds of receiving the ball with the bases empty and 20 seconds with a runner on, and batters to be set and looking at the pitcher with eight seconds left on the clock.
“Love it,” Roberts said enthusiastically. “I think the players are adjusting to it, but just the rhythm of the game, the time of the game … all that is going to leave everyone wanting for more the next day, and I think that’s a good thing.”
But Roberts might not be praising the pitch clock in late September if an automatic strike ends a one-run Dodgers loss that has National League West race implications.
After 15 seasons, Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw has perfected his control
PHOENIX — Clayton Kershaw first confronted the conundrum almost 10 years ago.
On the verge of free agency ahead of the 2014 season, and having already become entrenched as the face of the Dodgers franchise following his second of three Cy Young Award wins, the left-hander faced a crossroads during contract negotiations with the club that offseason.
For one of the first times as a major leaguer, Kershaw was forced to take a hard look at his long-term future — to start mapping out his career in a way the surefire Hall of Famer hadn’t needed to before.
At times during that process, Kershaw recalled, “There were talks of doing 10, 15 years,” the kind of ultra-length deal likely to span the rest of his playing days.
The only problem?
“I just never was comfortable committing to be good for that long,” Kershaw said.
Six biggest questions the Dodgers face as they open an unpredictable season
For many teams, opening day is the most exciting time of the year. For the 2023 Dodgers, it might be the most anxious.
Despite an underwhelming offseason and unmistakable loss of talent from last season’s 111-win club, the Dodgers enter the new season confident they can remain a World Series contender and continue their decade of dominance in the National League West.
But this year, perhaps more than any in recent memory, they can’t be certain of it.
As they get ready for their opener Thursday night at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks, major questions remain about the upcoming campaign, from their lineup depth to the health of their pitching to their reliance on the farm system. Here are the top six: