Dodgers Face Challenges Early in Season

SAN FRANCISCO – It’s time to pay attention, Los Angeles.

Baseball season – the real deal – kicked off sooner than many anticipated.

With over five months remaining before postseason play, the Dodgers have a crucial matchup looming.

Like their game on Wednesday, or the finale against the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.

Just a day after losing their closer, the Dodgers saw their division lead slip away.

Their 3-1 defeat to the Giants at Oracle Park ended a once-comfortable four-game advantage in the National League West. They’re now tied with the San Diego Padres, who, despite some offseason activity, haven’t made a major splash.

“I don’t think anyone is too worried about the Padres and what they’re doing,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

The Dodgers have navigated through tough times in the past two seasons, but with Edwin Diaz expected to be out until after the All-Star break, they might be facing another tough stretch.

If you take Diaz out of the equation, the Dodgers are left with pretty much the same bullpen that faltered last season, which led to them briefly losing the division lead to the Padres towards the end of the regular season.

Roberts downplayed concerns about another potential downturn and avoided discussing hypotheticals.

“It’s still early. Overall, I’m still seeing good baseball,” Roberts noted. “I think it’s time to reset, focus on tomorrow, and win.”

He’s got a point, but these upcoming games are crucial. If they struggle to secure saves in the next few days, the Dodgers could face significant setbacks, similar to last summer.

Although Roberts and the front office appear confident in their relief pitching, the reality is there’s uncertainty about how they’ll close games. The team has talented players, but potential doesn’t guarantee reliability. At this point, is there anyone we can genuinely trust other than Alex Bashear?

As the series opener against the Giants approached, Roberts was asked who might take the lead on save opportunities.

“If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably Tanner Scott,” he mentioned.

But he quickly added a note of caution.

“That may change,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t know. Tanner might pitch in the seventh tonight, and Blake could end up with a save. It’s really day-to-day.”

In reality, Scott took the mound in the eighth with the Dodgers behind by two runs.

Scott faced challenges as a ninth-round pick last season, but expectations rose with Diaz’s addition, allowing Roberts to utilize him in different situations.

One takeaway from Tuesday’s loss was that the Dodgers demonstrated they could manage without Diaz as a starting pitcher.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a rough first inning, giving up three runs on four hits and a walk. He seemed to struggle from the start, but he found his rhythm later, allowing no hits until the sixth and throwing a solid total of 75 pitches after the second inning.

“I think this shows why he’s an ace,” Roberts remarked.

Roberts also considered the bigger picture.

“Going forward in this series, I like what we have tomorrow. Yamamoto has helped reset the bullpen, putting them in a good position,” he stated.

Yamamoto reflected on Diaz’s injury, expressing that setbacks like this are part of a season. “It happened last year too, but we managed to fill gaps and win. Even if it’s just one more inning, those small things contribute to the bigger picture,” he said in Japanese.

With the season still young, Yamamoto didn’t seem overly worried about the Padres catching up.

“If we take it one game at a time, I believe we can come out on top,” he noted.

Roberts shared a similar sentiment.

“Honestly, we’re not focused on anyone else,” he said. “No disrespect to other teams, but we just need to play good baseball, and everything will work out.”

They have a point.

If the Dodgers handle their business, they’re likely to stay ahead of the Padres and others. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be bumps along the way.