The Los Angeles Dodgers keep chugging along, having just completed their ninth straight series win.
But now, they face a huge test as they start a four game series against the Atlanta Braves, they of the best record in the majors.
If all goes well, these two teams would meet in the NLCS. Manager Dave Roberts said he looked at the series as an information gathering exercise hoping that such a scenario happens.
The Dodgers are currently four games behind the Braves for best record in the National League. A series sweep by either team would make huge swings in either direction in that regard. But as well as the Dodgers are playing now, that doesn’t seem likely.
The series will feature the top four players for NL MVP, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman for the Dodgers, and Ronald Acuña Jr and Matt Olson for the Braves. Acuña had been in the lead for most of the season, but lately Mookie and Freddie are making strong pushes of their own.
Pitching matchups for the series are Thursday, Spencer Strider and Lance Lynn; Friday, Max Fried and Julio Urías; Saturday, Bryce Elder and TBD; and Sunday, Charlie Morton and Bobby Miller.
The Dodgers have quite a few pitching updates. Shelby Miller has been reinstated from the injured list. He has been out since mid-June, dealing with neck pain stemming from a herniated disc. That also caused numbness down his left arm. He made three starts in the Arizona Complex League, and five relief appearances in Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Ryan Pepiot was optioned back to OKC in the corresponding move.
Blake Treinen continues to deal with soreness and his rehab assignment progression is day-to-day. He still seems unlikely to return this season.
Joe Kelly threw a bullpen session Tuesday, and will throw another on Friday. Dave Roberts said Kelly will throw a simulated game next Tuesday and then the team will determine his next step after that.
But perhaps the most anticipated return could be that of Walker Buehler. Thursday Roberts announced that Buehler will go out on his rehab assignment on Sunday with Oklahoma City.
Walker has been on the IL recovering from his second Tommy John surgery. His return this season was never certain. Buehler set a return date of September 1st in his mind, and has been working hard towards that goal.
Roberts said that Buehler will start by throwing one to two innings in his first start, and will need at least three outings before they consider activating him to the major league roster. No doubt Walker will not be built back up enough for full starts before the postseason, but he could be in a piggy back scenario with another starter or long relief pitcher.
And lastly, Tony Gonsolin will undergo his own Tommy John surgery Friday. Gonsolin had been pitching injured most of the season, but tried to battle through as long as he could as most of the starting rotation was injured. He is not expected to return until 2025.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Shelby Miller returning along with Kelly eventually is great. I am not convinced Buehler can make it back and be the dominating force he has been in the playoffs in the past. I am surprised they optioned Pepiot as he threw a masterful 5 innings and has been very effective since his return. But options and roster spots is a weird 3D chess game. I think the playoffs may come down to the bottom of the line up and if they can contribute. You know that the opposition will pitch around the big 3 as much as possible. Kershaw has been building his innings and control. THe Dodgers have a few pitchers in Urias and Miller that can be inconsistent. But it should be a interesting series that doesn’t mean much as the Dodgers will make the playoffs. And then it depends on momentum, injuries and luck. I still say we can trust Roberts to lose a game a series due to poor ingame decisions.
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The information on Gonsolin knowing he needed Tommy John since June blows my mind. The Dodgers on the surface have a group of young pitchers that started this year at AA in Knack, Sheehan, Hurt etc. Some of them are eligible for the Rule 5 draft in 24. Why would you have a pitcher that is injured and impaired pitch when you have all that supposed talent? The talent is lacking? Sheehan showed talent. All the young pitchers need to pitch at the MLB level to adjust. Kershaw’s first year he had a 1.5 WHIP. It takes time. Knack, Stone, Sheehan etc all appear to possess MLB talent why would you not use them?
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I’ve though all along that Lance Lynn’s hype since joining the Dodgers has been over blown. As we see tonight he is still giving up homers and just doesn’t have the consistent stuff to beat great teams or even good ones.
It will be very difficult to get past the Braves in the playoffs.
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Lynn was billed as an inning eater and he has done that. He is obviously off tonight. But he does give up the HR and the Braves are great at going Yard. Not a good match up.
I would love to see Pepiot, Stone or even Knack pitch against them as they all have high heat and movement. And they need the experience of pressure baseball against the best. You grow or get destroyed.
I still don’t understand why they had Gonsolin pitch with a bad arm. Seems to have been a bad choice.With no gain. Why not use one of the kids?
This might tell the Dodgers Lynn is not a good match.
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I think that this is good for Lynn, and the Dodgers as a whole. They’ve been cruising all of august and need to be challenged again, I think. Last year they cruised into the playoffs and fell flat and they need a reminder what it takes to win in the playoffs.
Lynn beat these Braves just a few weeks ago when he was in Chicago. They made adjustments. Let’s hope he learns from this too and makes his own
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They have already told us these young pitchers are not part of the future and will be gone in the rule 5. And it does take 1 or 2 years for young prospects to adjust. Kersh was 20/21, same as May, Buehler and Urias but they pretty much know at thet age if they are major leaguers. .
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Yes, they may know by age 20/21 that some pitchers are major leaguers, but of the four you mentioned, three of them were drafted out of high school. Buehler was the only college guy and at the age of 21 he pitched exactly 5 innings in rookie ball. I doubt they could conclude that he was a major leaguer from that.
With college draftees, who tend to be somewhere in the 21/22 age range, I think you have to say they haven’t drawn any conclusions about their MLB futures at the age of 20/21.
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Do not know Jeff, guess it might just be a coincidence that the guys I mentioned, and you could include Kersh if you want, were all in dodger uinforms in their very early 20’s. They makeup one of the best rotations in baseball when healthy. Dodgers knew that. Your prospects are all in their mid twenties and aren’t trusted and
probably never were. Thus other teams 36 year old rejects ie Lynn, Brasier, garland, Yarborough etc, etc. They know Jeff. My point wasn’t their age when drafted/ signed but their age when brought up, compared to your 25 year old prospects. Listen to what they do not what they say.
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I thought we were talking about starters here.
Brasier, Yarbrough and Garland (Gus Varland, nice contraction there) are all bullpen pieces so probably shouldn’t even be in this conversation.
I agree, it’s better to identify a stud pitcher at an early age (20-21) but there are lots of very successful major league pitchers who came out of college which cost them anywhere from 1 to 4 years extra and have still been very successful at the MLB level.
You talk about trust. Trust has to be earned and that comes from pitching success. A high schooler starts on that road substantially earlier than a college pitcher but both can and have been successful.
Except for the fact that we like to argue with each other (sorry, have deep philosophical discussions with each other), I’m not sure we have any major disagreement here. I will agree (without checking stats) that probably more true stud pitchers reached the majors at 20-21 than at 24-25, but I won’t agree that if someone hasn’t proven himself in the majors by 24 there is no hope for him. As I keep saying, many college pitchers turn into very successful MLB pitchers and they are not going to be in the majors at 20-21.
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There is also the pandemic. For any of these prospects drafted prior to 2021, they basically lost development time not being able to compete in 2020. Well even if drafted in 2021-2023 they probably weren’t playing in 2020 whether in HS or College.
Look at Tom Glavine: came up at age 21, 2-4 5.54 ERA.
Age 22 7-17 4.56. Pitched well at age 23 before regressing the next year. At age 25 won 20 with sub 3 ERA.
Too early to write these guys off.
Didn’t
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One thing u can bet on is everything changes. The trend with pitchers the last several years is to go to college to physically mature, learn repeatable mechanics and the art of pitching. The mental game is at least as important as the physical. I no longer look at age as much as previously.
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