Shohei Ohtani‘s Dodger pitching debut went mostly okay as the Dodgers won the opener against the Padres 6-3. Ohtani clearly showed the potential of his stuff, but struggled a bit with command and needed 28 pitches to get through his one inning of work. He faced five batters and went to a full count three times, allowing two hits and a run after a pretty blatantly missed check swing call on Manny Machado (the Dodgers would go on to benefit from a blatantly missed check swing later in the game, rough day for the 1B ump). It looked like another rough day early on for the offense against Dylan Cease, who struck out five of the first six batters before Andy Pages led off the third with a double. San Diego took a 2-1 lead into the fourth, and the Dodgers singled their way to five runs in the inning. Ben Casparius was solid and the back end of the bullpen remained strong, holding the Padres to one single over the final 3 2/3 innings. It was a good start to a four-game set, which continues today with a bullpen game.
7:10 P.M.
Los Angeles
RF
Tatis Jr.
DH
Ohtani (L)
1B
Arraez (L)
SS
Betts
3B
Machado
1B
Freeman (L)
LF
Sheets (L)
C
Smith
DH
Bogaerts
RF
T. Hernández
2B
Cronenworth (L)
3B
Muncy (L)
SS
Iglesias
CF
Pages
CF
Lockridge
LF
Conforto (L)
C
Maldonado
2B
Edman (S)
P
Vásquez (R)
P
Dreyer (L)
It’s pretty much a second straight bullpen game for the Dodgers, who used six relievers and one Ohtani to cover last night’s game. Casparius gave them 3 2/3 innings, so now they enter tonight’s bullpen game without that bulk option. Emmet Sheehan starts tomorrow and maxed out at 63 pitches in his four rehab starts, so that might also require some heavy bullpen usage. Eric broke down the pitching usage heading into tonight.
Jack Dreyer gets the start today. He hasn’t pitched since Wednesday in San Diego and has thrown 30 or more pitches in six of his 27 outings this year. He has started bullpen games twice and completed two innings both times, so he should be able to give the Dodgers more than one tonight. Matt Sauer figures to be a part of the bullpen game, having thrown 111 pitches a week ago in San Diego. The outing was brutal, but he took down 4 2/3 and allowed the Dodgers to deploy Enrique Hernandez, saving rest the bullpen. Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Alex Vesia have each thrown back-to-backs. Scott and Vesia might be available as each threw fewer than 10 pitches yesterday (Scott has thrown 20, Vesia 21 over the last two days) but Yates threw 10 yesterday and 26 total so he’s probably less likely.
Like Cease yesterday, Randy Vasquez gets his second consecutive start against the Dodgers. Vasquez started last Wednesday and held the Dodgers to two hits and a run over 4 2/3 innings. The Padres pulled him before facing the lineup a third time, but he served up a fifth-inning Michael Conforto homer to lose his shutout. Instead of rehashing Allan’s thread last week, here’s the part on Vasquez.
The right-handed Vasquez has been solid this year, as his 3.69 ERA has played an important role in San Diego’s early season success. The issue for them is that the way he’s reached that ERA is unlikely to continue, but it’s hard to argue the results haven’t been good. Across 63.1 innings pitched, he has just 37 strikeouts to 34 walks, which will generally never lead to good results given enough time for regression to kick in. He has a 5.35 FIP, 5.84 expected ERA, 5.68 SIERA … you get the idea. His strikeout minus walk rate (1.1%) is the worst in baseball among 100 pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched, as his 13.4% strikeout rate is the second lowest in the game, while his 12.3% walk rate is the third highest. It’s incredible he’s made it this far with a 3.7 ERA honestly. Hopefully the Dodgers take advantage of this matchup and help the regression kick in.
The Dodgers roll out nearly the same lineup as last night, flipping Will Smith and Teoscar Hernandez in the order. Xander Bogaerts DH’s for San Diego tonight, with Jose Iglesias starting at short.
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Tyler Glasnow threw two simulated innings, and it could be his final step before a rehab assignment.
Tyler Glasnow went 2 IP and about 40 pitches in a live BP today
Dave Roberts said it looked “really good” (even though, he joked, Jerry Hairston Jr. grabbed a bat & got a hit off him)
A rehab assignment could be next. Glasnow will likely need 3 rehab outings before returning
— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) June 17, 2025
Glasnow threw around 40 pitches and they’re deciding whether he’ll throw another sim game or begin his rehab assignment. He might need three rehab outings before returning to the bigs, which depending on the timeline could have him back just before the All-Star Break. I am concerned that Jerry Hairston Jr. apparently singled off Glasnow.
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Ohtani could make his next appearance on the mound this weekend.
Dave Roberts suggested Shohei Ohtani’s next pitching outing could be a soon as Saturday or Sunday against the Nationals. They’ll know more after he throws a bullpen session this week.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) June 17, 2025
He’ll throw another bullpen this week and could pitch this weekend when the Nationals come to town. They begin next week in Colorado, please keep him away from that godforsaken stadium.
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First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PT and will be shown on SportsNet LA and TBS (outside of LA)
