Clayton Kershaw, Will Smith Join 2023 National League All-Star Team

Despite an ugly series this weekend against the lackluster Kansas City Royals — in particular the lack of offense and ineffective pitching in the finale — the was a sliver of good news for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.

The MLB named pitcher Clayton Kershaw and catcher Will Smith as All Stars, allowing them to join teammates Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, who were all voted in as National League starters on Thursday. For the fourth straight season, the Dodgers will have five or more representatives at the game and the third-highest total of players going to Seattle, behind the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers.

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Dodgers News and Notes – All-Star Noms and Snubs, Injury Updates and More

Even though the Los Angeles Dodgers are only in third place in the NL West, they are sending three starters to the All-Star Game in Seattle.

Freddie Freeman will be the starter at first base, Mookie Betts in the outfield, and J.D. Martinez will be the starting designated hitter.

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Dodgers Roster: The Current State of the Starting Rotation

For all the injury turmoil the Los Angeles Dodgers had to deal with in the first half of the season, the team’s starting rotation isn’t in that bad of shape. Obviously, there’s still a long way to go to the playoffs, but there are seemingly a few legitimate options now that didn’t exist in the early stages of the year.

Of course, there are probably some other areas — like the bullpen and offense — that need to be addressed before the club even thinks about the postseason. However, for now, let’s take a close look at the current rotation to see how it stacks up.

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Are the Los Angeles Dodgers and Their Bullpen Finally Turning a Corner?

In the past few weeks, Los Angeles Dodgers have seen their standing in the NL West to go from first place to third. The bullpen was scuffing, if not full on imploding, almost every night. They suffered a humiliating 15–0 loss to the San Francisco Giants at home, ultimately getting swept by their rivals.

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Dodgers Show All Weaknesses in Latest Series Against Giants

Losing streaks happen — sometimes even long, horrific ones. But when a team clinches a playoff spot 10 straight seasons and has essentially controlled the National League West for a decade, fans begin getting impatient and overly frustrated when a club is at its worst.

There are so many things to digest about the 2023 Los Angeles Dodgers, and we’re not even at the halfway point of the season. Obviously, injuries have been a critical part in the way the season has played out so far, from Julio Urias’s hamstring issue and Dustin May’s elbow to Gavin Lux’s ACL injury to Max Muncy’s latest stint on the injured list.

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Dodgers Make Several Roster Moves Ahead of Series vs. Giants

The Los Angeles Dodgers made several roster moves ahead of the series against the San Francisco Giants on Friday, including recalling infielder Michael Busch and selecting the the contract of pitching prospect Emmet Sheehan. To make room on the active roster, the team option pitcher Michael Grove back to Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed Max Muncy on the injured list with a hamstring strain, retroactive to June 13.

The 23-year-old Sheehan will make his first MLB start Friday evening against the Giants. The right-hander was 4-1 with a 1.86 ERA and 88 strikeouts so far this year in 12 starts for Double-A Tulsa. He led the Texas League in ERA, strikeouts, batting average against (.131) and WHIP (0.88). Last season, he split the season between High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa, going a combined 7-2 with a 2.91 ERA and 106 strikeouts.

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How Will Dodgers Address Current Starting Pitching Dilemma?

Using your bullpen to pitch an entire game occasionally isn’t a completely bad idea, especially if your rotation is somewhat taxed and needs a break. However, when you count on your bullpen to throw two games in a hitter-friendly ballpark against one of the better offensive teams in the National League, you’re just asking for trouble.

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Dodgers Prospect Watch: A Closer Look at Jonny DeLuca

Although the news is not official at the time of this writing, it appears that the Los Angeles Dodgers will promote outfield prospect Jonny DeLuca to the big-league club in place of Trayce Thompson, who apparently suffered an oblique strain when he attempted to check a swing in Saturday night’s middle game against the Yankees.

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Dodgers Welcome New York Yankees to Dodger Stadium

For the most part, the Los Angeles Dodgers keep plugging away. Plugging in players and pitchers when another has a slump, or has inexplicably imploded on the mound.

And yet, the team is still tied for first in the NL West with the (still!) productive Arizona Diamondbacks, tied for best record in the NL, and third in all of the major leagues.

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Dodgers Prospect Watch: A Closer Look at Landon Knack

If you’re a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, looking at the current starting pitching injuries and the depth chart throughout the organization is borderline scary. Headlining the injury list right now is a quintet of relatively big names in Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Dustin May, Ryan Pepiot and Michael Grove, a group that could probably represent an entire rotation for a smaller market team.

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