The second game of the Dodgers’ 2026 season was a tightly contested one, with the eventual winning run scored via an eighth inning single by Kyle Tucker to put the Dodgers ahead, followed by Edwin Díaz notching his first save in blue. Alex Freeland had a great game in his first start of the year with two extra-base hits, including his first homer of the season and a leadoff double in the bottom of the eighth. Mookie Betts added a three-run homer, an encouraging sign as he looks to rebound from his disappointing 2025 season. Emmet Sheehan struggled, allowing four earned runs in 3.1 innings with his recent inability to hold velocity proving problematic once again. This morning, Dustin wrote about Sheehan’s recent outings (including Spring Training) and the trend with his velocity. Despite his abbreviated outing, his bullpen backed him up, throwing 5.2 scoreless innings to secure the win. The Dodgers secured their first series win of the season last night, notching their eighth consecutive series victory dating back to last season, including the NL Wild Card series, NLDS, NLCS, and the World Series. The Dodgers will go for the sweep tonight, up against the left-handed Eduardo Rodriguez, while Tyler Glasnow gets the ball looking to secure the sweep.
6:10 P.M.
Los Angeles
2B
Marte (S)
DH
Ohtani (L)
RF
Carroll (L)
RF
Tucker (L)
SS
Perdomo (S)
SS
Betts
DH
Smith (L)
C
Smith
3B
Arenado
1B
Freeman (L)
CF
Thomas (L)
LF
T. Hernández
1B
Santana (S)
3B
Espinal
C
McCann
CF
Pages
LF
Barrosa (S)
2B
Rojas
P
Rodriguez (L)
P
Glasnow (R)
Arizona will switch things up tonight as they look to win their first game of the season. Jordan Lawlar will sit in favor of the switch-hitting Jorge Barrosa in left field. Gabriel Moreno will be on the bench today after catching the first two games of this series, while James McCann gets the start.
The top three in the order remain unchanged for the Dodgers, and will likely stay that way as long as everyone is healthy. Ohtani is just 1-for-6 thus far, but has walked twice and scored twice, as he’s likely to lead the league in runs scored for his third time in three years with LA. Tucker has come through with big hits in each of his first two games with the Dodgers, and looks to be fitting in seamlessly second in the order. He’s also done his job defensively in right field, racking up two outfield assists via relay to Alex Freeland last night.
Mookie’s homer to right-center was something he did just once last season, in early May also against Arizona. Whether it’s recovering some bat speed this offseason, an unusually hot March, slightly juiced balls early in the year, or a little of everything, it’s a great sign for Betts. Eventually Freddie Freeman will be rewarded for all the hard-contact he’s been making that simply hasn’t returned into results yet. He’s hitless in 2026, with all eight of his balls in play being hit at 91+ mph, including four over 100 mph. His batted-ball quality has been so strong, that his .581 xwOBA is good for 20th in the league despite not recording a hit. They’ll fall eventually and this offense will be even more potent when Fred gets on track.
Santiago Espinal will get his first start of the year at third base and batting seventh against the left-handed Rodriguez, while Miguel Rojas starts again at second base.
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Here’s how both Glasnow and Rodriguez performed last season, quite the contrast between the two.
Rodriguez had a challenging season last year, struggling with consistency nearly the entire season despite flashes of effectiveness on occasion. He had a nightmarish 5.94 ERA in the first half of the season across 80.1 innings, but got things trending in the right direction with a 4.01 ERA in the second half over 74.0 innings, very serviceable. He’s getting paid mid-rotation money, so that’s the type of results that Arizona will be counting on as he enters his third year of the four-year $80 million deal he signed prior to the 2024 season. On the surface, it would appear that the main difference between the first and second halves for Rodriguez was his BABIP going from an absurd .371 in the first half, down to .284 in the second half, much closer to his career average.
He looked great in the WBC, his velocity was up in his one Spring Training start as well, and there are reports that he’s shed some excess weight and is in a better spot physically for 2026, a clear candidate for a bounce-back season. Rodriguez faced the Dodgers twice last season, with one very tough outing early in the season where he allowed six earned runs across 2.2 innings, and a scoreless six inning performance where he earned the win in late August.
Glasnow was good last season in just 90.1 innings, but most importantly for the Dodgers, he was healthy when it mattered most. He posted a 1.69 ERA over 21.1 innings in the playoffs, showcasing his same swing-and-miss and dominance that we’ve become accustomed to seeing in the summer, but this time in October. He was pivotal in the World Series as well, recording his only professional save in Game 6, and then logging 2.1 innings in Game 7. His regular season was solid, but his postseason performance was the clear highlight of his 2025 campaign, and something that both he and the team will hope he can replicate this coming year.
If Spring Training is any indication, Glasnow looks poised for a huge 2026 season. He’s been dominant in each of his four appearances this Spring, with 26 strikeouts to just three walks in 15.2 innings pitched. Both his stuff and command look better than last season, two slight question marks heading into 2026. His most recent outing was against the Angels, where he struck out eleven batters in five innings, all on the curveball.
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In other news,
Enrique Hernández is on the 60-Day Injured List due to offseason elbow surgery, but is clearly trending toward returning on 5/24, when eligible.
It’s Will Smith‘s birthday and his bobblehead day, so he’s catching all three games this series. Moving forward, I’d expect Dalton Rushing to get one start behind the plate most series.
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First pitch is at 6:10 PT on SNLA.
