Dodger Blue

The Los Angeles Dodgers activated pitcher Bobby Miller from the 60-day injured list prior to Saturday’s game against the Washington Nationals. Kyle Hurt was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City, and Alek Thomas was designated for assignment in order to make room for Miller on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster. Hurt had been up with the team since Aug. 16, when he was recalled as the corresponding move to Justin Wrobleski landing on the injured list.

It’s no secret to that Kyle Tucker has been a massive disappointment in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. After signing a four-year, $240 million contract with the Dodgers at a record $60 million average annual value, Tucker has posted just a .686 on-base plus slugging while hitting .226. He’s also been among the worst defenders in baseball.

Shohei Ohtani is out of the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup for a third consecutive game as he remains limited by left knee soreness, right bicep discomfort and neck trouble as well. The Dodgers have sat Ohtani since he went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in an extra-innings loss against the St. Louis Cardinals. “I saw the same thing that everyone saw,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “I saw the shaking of the arm, I saw the wincing, and clearly the swings aren’t who he is.

On Sept. 5, 1955, Don Newcombe hit his seventh home run of the season to set a National League record for a pitcher, breaking the previous mark shared by Hal Schumacher (New York Giants, 1934) and Jim Tobin (Boston Braves, 1942). Additionally, Brooklyn’s 11-4 win over the Phillies at Ebbets Field marked the second of three seasons that Newcombe recorded 20 or more victories for the team in a season.

Ben Rortvedt has had an eventful tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers despite only playing in 34 career games for the organization over parts of two seasons. The 28-year-old journeyman has been designated for assignment and claimed by the Dodgers multiple times this season alone. He was most recently DFA’d by L.A. on Tuesday, with Will Smith and Dalton Rushing activated from the injured list. Rortvedt cleared waivers on Thursday and was outrighted to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets.

The Los Angeles Dodgers don’t yet have their starting rotation fully healthy as Shohei Ohtani’s return to pitching was delayed, but the group nevertheless is at its strongest point so far this season. That’s due in large part to Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow both coming off the injured list last month, and the Dodgers’ trade for Tarik Skubal. “Yeah, definitely excited about it,” Snell recently said about the Dodgers’ rotation.

The Los Angeles Dodgers placed Eric Lauer on the 15-day injured list one day after his disastrous start against the St. Louis Cardinals. He labored to the tune of 63 pitches over just three innings, allowing eight hits and seven earned runs in the process. The official diagnosis for Lauer is left elbow inflammation. “It was an elbow, arm kind of thing, that he just didn’t feel good. And through the start, it was kind of showing itself a little bit,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained.

The Los Angeles Dodgers reached arguably the lowest point of their season after stranding 13 baserunners in their extra-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday. The team blew multiple three-run leads and went just 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position, which has been a weakness over the past two months. That was followed by a similar effort on Thursday, but the Dodgers avoided being swept thanks to Teoscar Hernández’s walk-off, two-run double.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have turned to Tommy Edman as their primary center fielder in place of Andy Pages, who has been on 10-day injured list since Aug. 22 with a left hand fracture. The 25-year-old’s recovery has progressed well and he will begin swinging a bat in the next couple days. “I think he starts swinging pretty soon,” Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates said in an interview with David Vassegh on AM 570 L.A. Sports.

After avoiding a sweep on Thursday night with a walk-off win, the Los Angeles Dodgers tried to continue building on their momentum with the opener of a three-game series on Friday night against the Washington Nationals. The Dodgers swept the Nationals earlier this season at Nationals Park (April 3-5), outscoring them 31-17 during that series. Seven different Dodgers homered in the three-game set, while the team hit nine total home runs.