Dodgers Dugout: Division title is here, so now the fun begins

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. I wonder if the makers of Tums, Rolaids, Mylanta and Pepto Bismol have extra profits during the baseball postseason.

It wasn’t easy, but the Dodgers are your NL West champions again and will be at least the No. 2 seed, which means they won’t play in the postseason until next Saturday against an opponent to be determined in the best-of-five NLDS.

The Dodgers have won 11 of the last 12 NL West titles, only missing in 2021, when they went 106-56 and finished a game behind the Giants.

The good news is that this means the Dodgers don’t have to tax their pitching staff in Colorado over the season’s final three games and they get four days off to rest the bullpen, which has pitched more innings in September than the rotation.

The bad news is Freddie Freeman twisted his ankle during Thursday’s game and had to come out (It didn’t look good. You can watch it here.) and Miguel Rojas aggravated an adductor injury and might not play again until the postseason. So, winning the division is the best-case scenario for the Dodgers, because they get some time to rest everyone. The big question is, who will they play? The next edition of this newsletter will be next Friday, when we breakdown the NLDS matchup. There’s a survey below as to who you would like to see them play.

Most NL West titles

Dodgers, 22
San Francisco, 9
Cincinnati, 7
Arizona, 5
Atlanta, 5
San Diego, 5
Houston, 2

Remember the old days when the big rivalry was Dodgers-Reds every year?

The Padres Series

What a good series between two evenly matched two teams. And what an amazing ending to the first game. A triple play! Who saw that coming?

A lot of people were critical of Dave Roberts after the loss Tuesday, saying he should have had Miguel Rojas bunt with runners on first and second and no one out and Shohei Ohtani on deck. I disagree.

Rojas was bunting on the first pitch and missed. The Padres set up the wheel play after that, meaning they were expecting the bunt now and were going to try to get the runner at third. So Roberts called off the bunt and had Rojas swing away. Keep in mind that Rojas has been one of the Dodgers’ best clutch hitters this season, and that a hard-hit ball had a good chance of getting through the infield, which was playing for a bunt. The chance of a triple play in that situation, according to most simulation sites, was 0.52%, meaning there was a 99.48% chance something else could happen (including a hit or a double play).

Rojas hit a hard grounder to the one spot he shouldn’t have hit it, right at Manny Machado at third, who just stepped on the bag, threw to second, over to first, triple play. That’s just baseball. If the ball is hit a couple of feet over, Roberts is proclaimed as a genius for letting Rojas hit. It just didn’t work out in the most unlikely way possible.

Roberts has weaknesses as a manager. Handling the bullpen being one of them. But you can’t fault him for this one. The frustration from fans with how it ended was understandable. But it wasn’t on Roberts.

And how classy is Rojas? He took full blame for the loss, saying he let the team down. Which is nonsense. It wasn’t his fault either. The Dodgers aren’t in first place this season without Rojas. There are some players in all of sports who hide from the media after a tough loss. Rojas stood there and answered every question. Tuesday’s loss was just one of those wacky things that happen in baseball.

Wednesday’s game reminded us why Ohtani gets the big bucks. He has come up big consistently in September and should be the unanimous NL MVP. And look at the joy he has playing. My brother is a big Angels fan, and it’s such a shame that they couldn’t capitalize on Ohtani when they had him.

In Thursday’s game, Walker Buehler walked the tightrope and reached the other side safely, giving up only one run and five hits in five innings, with a walk and a strikeout. Mookie Betts emerged from a slump with two hits, Will Smith seems to be finally reawakening and had a key two-run homer. The only bad part was Freeman’s injury, which looked better than feared in the clubhouse after the game, but we will learn more about in the upcoming days. He gets a week to rest the ankle, and hopefully it’s a mild sprain. Maybe Ohtani can pitch and play first base.

Does anyone have any doubt Ohtani will play well in the postseason? The Dodgers have had three position players this season who have consistently been there when big situations arise: Ohtani, Rojas and Teoscar Hernández. Last season, the Dodgers were swept out of the playoffs because their hitters all went to sleep at the same time. That doesn’t seem as likely this year.

By the way, not to jinx things, but Ohtani is hitting .305. Luis Arraez leads the NL at .312. So, with the Dodgers playing in Denver, a Triple Crown for Ohtani is on the table again, since he has a commanding lead in the home run and RBI race.

The postseason race

A look at how the teams stack up. The division winner plus the next three teams with the better record advance to the postseason:

Division leaders

x-Dodgers, 95-64
x-Philadelphia, 94-65
x-Milwaukee, 91-68

Wild-card standings

x-San Diego, 91-67
Arizona, 88-71
NY Mets, 87-70
Atlanta, 86-71, 1 GB

x-clinched postseason

If the season ended today, the Dodgers and Phillies would get first-round byes. Milwaukee would host the Mets in one best-of-three wild-card round, with the winner advancing to play the Phillies in the best-of-five division series. San Diego would host Arizona, with the winner playing the Dodgers.

The battle for the final wild-card spot got interesting, as the Mets were scheduled to play the Braves on Wednesday and Thursday but the games were postponed because of Hurricane Helene. The Mets have three games in Milwaukee over the weekend while the Braves play host to Kansas City, who is battling for an AL wild-card spot. And who knows if they will be able to get all three of those games in because of the hurricane. If need be, the Mets and Braves will play a doubleheader on Monday to decide the final wild-card spot in the NL.

Clayton Kershaw isn’t ready

Those hoping that Clayton Kershaw would return in a blaze of glory and pitch the Dodgers to a World Series title are in for a disappointment. Kershaw still isn’t ready to face hitters and won’t be back until at least the NLCS, and let’s be honest, he probably isn’t going to be back this season at all.

“We’re in a holding pattern with Clayton,” Dave Roberts said Tuesday. “I don’t think there’s been improvement. I don’t see him facing hitters this week … and that is pretty telling in itself. Hopefully in the next few days, we’ll get a little bit more clarity on how he’s feeling.

“It’s the toe … it’s just the body,” Roberts said. “From what I understand, he’s playing catch. He was out there playing catch today. But there’s something that’s holding him up from progressing to face hitters. So for me, for the training staff, I was told that we’re kind of status quo on not moving forward.”

On Thursday, Kershaw said, “I’m going to keep trying every day. Maybe it’ll feel better one day. I’m just waiting for that day to happen.”

Kershaw has a player option for next season, so hopefully he can regroup over the offseason and be at 100% in 2025.

Result: Should the Dodgers play in the wild-card round?

Some readers emailed in last week saying the Dodgers would be better off playing in the wild-card round, because a long layoff before the NLDS would hurt their competitive edge. I thought that was crazy talk, but put it in a survey to let the readers decide.

After 11,192 votes, Would the Dodgers be better off playing in the wild-card round?

No, 94.2%
Yes, 5.8%

Who would you like the Dodgers to play in the NLDS?

The Dodgers have clinched the division and at least the No. 2 seed in the NL, meaning they won’t play Philadelphia in the NLDS. But they could still play either Arizona, Atlanta, Milwaukee, New York or San Diego in the best-of-five series. Who would you like to see them play? Personally, I’ll take anyone except San Diego.

Click here to vote.

Should Shohei Ohtani pitch in the postseason?

The Dodgers could have a secret weapon on the mound in the postseason: Ohtani, who has been working his way back from elbow surgery.

The Dodgers met with Ohtani this week to discuss his pitching rehab and as far as pitching in the postseason, “It just wasn’t even talked about,” Andrew Friedman said, “because it’s not a thought.”

“I just don’t see it happening; it’s very unlikely,” Roberts said. “But the meeting is gonna happen for Shohei to kind of figure out a plan of action over the next week or two. You could argue to shut him down for rest, and there’s also an argument to continue to build up, face hitters and build up a little more going into the offseason. But that’s more for the training staff and the doctors.”

So, here’s today’s survey. If the doctors say it’s OK and Ohtani is willing, would you let him pitch this postseason?

Click here to vote.

The last two weeks

How the Dodgers hitters and pitchers have fared the last two weeks (through Wednesday):

Shohei Ohtani, .438/.509/.938, 48 at-bats, 6 doubles, 6 homers, 21 RBIs, 6 walks, 16 K’s
Andy Pages, .412/.444/.647, 17 at-bats, 1 double, 1 homer, 4 RBIs, 1 walk, 1 K
Hunter Feduccia, 3 for 9, 1 RBI, 1 walk, 1 K
Chris Taylor, 3 for 9, 3 RBIs, 1 walk, 2 K’s
Kiké Hernández, .318/.318/.636, 22 at-bats, 1 double, 2 homers, 6 RBIs, 6 K’s
Teoscar Hernández, .293/.383/.585, 41 at-bats, 3 doubles, 3 homers, 7 RBIs, 5 walks, 15 K’s
Freddie Freeman, .289/.365/.422, 45 at-bats, 3 doubles, 1 homer, 6 RBIs, 6 walks, 5 K’s
Will Smith, .258/.351/.419, 31 at-bats, 1 triple, 1 homer, 2 RBIs, 4 walks, 3 K’s
Max Muncy, .257/.422/.429, 35 at-bats, 3 doubles, 1 homer, 7 RBIs, 8 walks, 8 K’s
Miguel Rojas, .208/.387/.458, 24 at-bats, 2 homers, 3 RBIs, 5 walks, 5 K’s
Tommy Edman, .205/.300/.409, 44 at-bats, 3 doubles, 2 homers, 6 RBIs, 6 walks, 9 K’s
Mookie Betts, .184/.192/.347, 49 at-bats, 1 triple, 2 homers, 7 RBIs, 1 walk, 6 K’s
Gavin Lux, .160/.364/.160, 25 at-bats, 2 RBIs, 8 walks, 7 K’s
Kevin Kiermaier, 0 for 5, 1 walk, 3 K’s
Austin Barnes, 0 for 2

Team, .271/.361/.485, 20 doubles, 2 triples, 21 homers, 53 walks, 87 K’s, 6.58 runs per games

Pitching

Brusdar Graterol, 0.00 ERA, 6 IP, 1 walk, 7 K’s
Blake Treinen, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6 IP, 8 K’s
Edgardo Henriquez, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP, 1 hit, 2 K’s
Kiké Hernández, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP
Miguel Rojas, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP, 1 hit
Alex Vesia, 2-0, 1.50 ERA, 6 IP, 2 hits, 3 walks, 8 K’s
Brent Honeywell, 2.00 ERA, 9 IP, 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 K’s
Michael Kopech, 1-0, 2.25 ERA, 2 saves, 4 IP, 3 hits, 3 walks, 4 K’s
Ben Casparius, 3.00 ERA, 3 IP, 3 hits, 2 walks, 5 K’s
Joe Kelly, 3.00 ERA, 3 IP, 1 hits, 2 walks, 4 K’s
Walker Buehler, 0-1, 3.97 ERA, 11.1 IP, 8 hits, 6 walks, 14 K’s
Ryan Brasier, 4.91 ERA, 3.2 IP, 4 hits, 1 walk, 6 K’s
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 5.14 ERA, 7 IP, 9 hits, 5 walks, 7 K’s
Jack Flaherty, 1-1, 6.43 ERA, 14 IP, 14 hits, 9 walks, 14 K’s
Michael Grove, 0-1, 7.36 ERA, 3.2 IP, 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 K
Landon Knack, 1-2, 7.36 ERA, 11 IP, 14 hits, 5 walks, 13 K’s
Daniel Hudson, 7.50 ERA, 6 IP, 7 hits, 2 walks, 7 K’s
Evan Phillips, 1-0, 10.38 ERA, 4.1 IP, 4 hits, 3 walks, 3 K’s
Zach Logue, 18.00 ERA, 2 IP, 6 hits, 4 K’s
Bobby Miller, 18.00 ERA, 2 IP, 7 hits, 1 walk, 2 K’s

Team, 7-5, 4.89 ERA, 2 saves, 105 IP, 94 hits, 46 walks, 11 K’s

Up next

Friday: Dodgers (TBD) at Colorado (Cal Quantrill, 8-10, 4.72 ERA), 5:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, 1020 KTNQ

Saturday: Dodgers (TBD) at Colorado (Antonio Senzatela, 0-, 3.38 ERA), 5:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, 1020 KTNQ

Sunday: Dodgers (TBD) at Colorado (Ryan Feltner, 3-10, 4.66 ERA), 12:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, 1020 KTNQ

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Dodgers defeat Padres to clinch their 11th NL West crown in 12 seasons

What was (and wasn’t) discussed in Dodgers’ pitching meeting with Shohei Ohtani

Clayton Kershaw isn’t giving up on a return, but he could still be out for weeks

Teen says Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball was stolen from him. He files lawsuit to stop auction

Plaschke: Who else? What else? Shohei Ohtani slugs Dodgers to the verge of a division title

Gavin Lux rewards Dave Roberts’ patience with key hits in Dodgers’ win over Padres

Shaikin: L.A. wants a parade, but can anyone on Dodgers pitch six innings?

‘Doing it for Peter.’ Padres see divine help from late owner in game-ending triple play

Shohei Ohtani had only 16 stolen bases in June. Then he made it ‘a really special season’

And finally

Bugs Bunny in “Baseball Bugs.” Watch and listen here.