Gonna be some time when we will see an epic 7 game series again just moment after moment 😭

Ohtani’s determination to pitch and the Dodgers’ dubious decision to let him push his return from injury left their best player compromised for the playoffs. Ailments that arose in early summer carried into October, with Ohtani physically absent from the mound and figuratively so from the plate.

It was exactly the scenario the Dodgers pledged to avoid, and it ultimately played a key role in their downfall.

It’s fair to wonder why neither party surrendered to the obvious need to rest the four-time MVP, especially given the Dodgers’ jarring elimination by the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series.

The club was right to give Ohtani the benefit of the doubt when he identified knee soreness in June. Where the Dodgers erred was allowing him to try to pitch through those injuries when the workload was clearly becoming detrimental.

Friedman spent most of his news conference reflecting on those choices.

“How do we manage through a long season and have him at his best going into October? That’s a challenge,” Friedman said. “We have to figure that out together, and I’m confident that we will continue to learn from things as we go and continue to make it better.”

10-0 in the 5th inning after winning the first two games… But hey, at least the Dodgers didn’t three-peat and we’re getting that salary cap soon!

What a great WS. Ohtani got on base 9 times. Also had two doubles.

Not counting Skubal, who do the Dodgers re-sign?

Kris Bubic

Eric Lauer

Alex Vesia

Evan Phillips

Blake Treinen

Brusdar Graterol

Kiké Hernández

Dodgers have enough starting pitching.
Bubic and Lauer are basically starters. Bubic was not effective in the playoffs, Lauer didn't even play.
Treinen will be 39. I think he hangs up the cleats.
Graterol is continually on IR.

Who gets re-signed?

Does Kiké come back?
Would Lauer or Bubic accept bullpen roles if re-signed?

Bullpen arms still on the roster:
Diaz (R)
Scott (L)
Wrobleski (L)
Dreyer (L)
Henriquez (R)
Stewart (R)
Hurt (R)
Klein (R)
Casparius (R)

This is either Teo or his doppelganger! Hey, if I was making 22 million a year I'd probably be sitting there watching the game too!

​

Vin got one in retirement, two posthumously. Like Bob getting one too.

Or would you rather have the Dodgers go after other players? Imo I think we have to because that would mean we gave up Hope and River for nothing

Despite failing to win it all this season, there are still quite a lot of things that we could be grateful for this season.

My personal favorite is Yoshi really cemented himself as Dodgers ace and GOAT level of endurance pitcher. This season he once again recorded elite stats with 2.53 ERA (3rd in NL and 5th in all MLB), 0.87 WHIP (2nd in both NL and MLB), and .182 BAA (2nd in both NL and MLB) within a very respectable volume in 185 IP (4th in both NL and MLB) and 28 Game started.

Not enough to make him win the Cy Young this season, but he was selected to the All Star for the second year in a row (despite once again not pitching there) and might put up a very solid argument for his second All MLB 1st Team.

All that by bein totally healthy with 0 injury (even minor) for the last 2 seasons, pitching to the very last out of the 2025 World Series, and started the seasons earlier than most pitchers with the 2025 Tokyo Series and 2026 World Baseball Classic.

He really cemented himself as a future Dodgers legend despite only playing with us for 3 seasons.

Honorable mention for me is how well our young talent is developed, especially the pitching unit. Roki, Sheehan, and Wrobbo definitely have a very promising future. Yes they still lack consistency, but they looks very promising. Rush also showed a very great result backing up Will for half of the season. Still needs to learn a lot, especially in managing starters (like the Ohtani case, lol) but he has the right learning attitude. JDP also showed the maturity level above his age on the plate despite the needs of learning how to field more.

What is yours?

“I don’t feel that at all,” Skubal said. “It’s hard to win the World Series, and this group has done it the last two seasons. Obviously, not this year, but … I think that this group is incredibly talented. And the preparation and the work ethic that this group has — I don’t buy into that narrative.”

In another excerpt:

Skubal is in a unique situation. In line to be the top free agent pitcher in this year’s class, he held his cards closer to the vest. But he gave a glowing review of his time with the Dodgers.

“It was an honor and a privilege to be here and compete with these guys, and to wear L.A. across your hat and across your chest,” he said. “It’s something that I took a lot of pride in. And, obviously, didn’t end the way that I wanted it to. But that’s life. That’s baseball. I had a ton of fun here, and I loved competing with these guys.”

As per Forbes, both owners are worth at least $1B, with the Rays owner having a financial downturn in the last year.

Good morning, r/Dodgers!

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On this day in 2025...

Blue Jays @ Dodgers, TOR 5 LAD 5, top 12, 2 out, Nathan Lukes facing Clayton Kershaw...
Nathan Lukes grounds out, second baseman Tommy Edman to first baseman Freddie Freeman. VIDEO

Win Probability Added: 17.8

Questions of the Day

1. What is your favorite piece of technology that you own?

2. If you could switch two movie characters, what switch would lead to the most inappropriate movies?

3. What was the last song you listened to?

Have a great day, r/Dodgers.

Photo courtesy of Jon Soohoo:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DQR4lDTEaYC/?psln=MWxpYWs4YXpwaWc0aQ==

Did you stay up until the end, watching this game unfold, like I did?