Why tempers might flare in newest Dodgers-Padres rivalry collection
Welcome to The California Submit’s weekly Dodgers recap, the place baseball writers Dylan Hernández and Jack Harris overview the week that was, hand out very official awards and take inventory of the state of the season.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Will tempers flare in Padres rematch?
Round this time final 12 months, the Dodgers-Padres rivalry reached its boiling level, after a flurry of hit batters amid a stretch of seven video games in 10 days between the golf equipment led to a benches-clearing incident at Dodger Stadium.
This weekend, comparable circumstances may very well be in place.
The groups, contemporary off the Dodgers’ collection win in San Diego final weekend, are once more engaged in a seven-games-in-10-days stretch. And final Sunday’s finale at Petco Park noticed 5 batters get hit –– together with Fernando Tatis Jr., whose repeated plunkings final 12 months served as kindling to the rivalry’s eventual blowup.
Granted, tempers didn’t flare then. And a key piece of final 12 months’s hot-blooded equation — former Padres supervisor Mike Shildt, who confronted Dave Roberts throughout the June 2025 melee — is now not within the image.
One other key distinction now: The Dodgers have pulled away within the Nationwide League West race, coming into with a 12-game division lead that already feels nearly insurmountable.
Nonetheless, if the Padres are going to get again into the division image, this four-game journey to Chavez Ravine represents their greatest alternative. That might improve the stakes of the collection and maybe the feelings of a quick-turn rematch, too.
“We attempt to take each collection with the identical significance,” Roberts mentioned on the eve of this weekend’s collection. “However clearly profitable that collection could be [big]. That’s the aim.”
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tommy Edman (.366 common, 1 residence run, 8 RBIs in 12 video games again from offseason ankle surgical procedure)
After he performed via — and was clearly hampered by — an ankle harm for many of final 12 months, it was straightforward to overlook how impactful a wholesome Edman could be.
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The switch-hitting utility man has provided a fast reminder these days, nevertheless, returning to motion with a flurry of manufacturing after lacking the primary three months of the 12 months recovering from offseason ankle surgical procedure.
Edman has taken his typical high quality at-bats (getting on base at a .435 clip) whereas additionally flashing the type of energy he failed to keep up final 12 months as soon as his ankle started bothering him (two doubles, one triple and one residence run that traveled 428 toes, his longest since 2021).
Of all Dodgers hitters since his return, his .971 OPS trails solely Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts.
“Only a continuation of constructing certain I’m conserving a great method, dictated by the state of affairs,” Edman mentioned after a four-hit, four-RBI recreation Tuesday. “I simply really feel like I’ve been fairly constant this far.”
That has additionally been true of Edman’s switch-hitting talents, as he’s hit higher than .350 from each side of the plate.
In Edman’s first couple seasons with the Dodgers, his left-handed swing had been noticeably weaker. However up to now this 12 months, he’s gone 10-for-27 from that facet of the plate.
“I really feel like that is type of one of many uncommon occasions the place each swings really feel good, each from the suitable and left,” he mentioned. “It’s actually robust to keep up each swings over the course of the season, so simply glad that I really feel that method proper now.”
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Emmet Sheehan (5 innings, 1 run, 5 strikeouts in win vs. Padres; 4-5, 5.08 ERA on season)
The third-year right-hander not solely reaffirmed his place within the Dodgers’ beginning rotation with a powerful outing in San Diego final weekend, however extra importantly, he might need unlocked a brand new pitch.
After working with assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness on a brand new curveball grip in a pair of between-starts bullpen classes, Sheehan showcased the modifications successfully whereas navigating what was arguably his greatest begin in months.
The brand new model of the pitch was more durable (averaging 79.3 mph in contrast with 76.8 mph earlier than) and had rather less drop (5 inches fewer, to be exact, in response to MLB’s Baseball Savant information).
The end result was a breaking ball that was simpler to maintain within the zone and harder for opposing hitters to put off.
Even whereas throwing it over the plate greater than 70% of the time, Sheehan received six whiffs off 9 swings in opposition to the pitch (a dramatic shift from the 28% whiff price it had been inducing this season), and just one ball was put in play in opposition to it.
“I believe attempting to alter speeds and make them respect stuff in zone that’s not the fastball is basically vital,” Sheehan mentioned.
Perhaps it’s the factor that can assist him flip his beforehand disappointing season round.
PROSPECT OF THE WEEK
Eduardo Quintero (.294 common, 5 residence runs, 37 RBIs, .834 OPS this 12 months in Excessive-A Nice Lakes)
The Dodgers’ reigning Minor League Participant of the Yr received off to a gradual begin following an offseason promotion to Excessive-A, hitting simply .195 in April.
Ever since then, although, Quintero has rediscovered his scorching kind from final season, hitting .372 with a .941 OPS in Might and .333 with a 1.011 OPS in June. These latter stats had been boosted by three residence runs, together with his first profession grand slam earlier this week.
And now, the 20-year-old prospect is turning into simply the most recent outfielder within the membership’s pipeline to place collectively a powerful season.
Their depth on the place is so deep, it figures to be an space for them to commerce from because the deadline approaches subsequent month.
FUTURE DODGER OF THE WEEK
(The place we speculate about potential future Dodgers acquisitions — generally far-fetched, generally not)
Sonny Grey, Pink Sox (ETA: August)
Tyler Glasnow has began throwing once more, however the deliberate tempo of his restoration stays disconcerting. Glasnow has already missed practically two months with again issues.
The Dodgers had been lucky to have their 4 greatest beginning pitchers wholesome for the postseason final 12 months, however there’s no assure that would be the case once more. Until the staff is comfy with Roki Sasaki or Justin Wrobleski beginning video games in October, it ought to monitor the marketplace for starters.
The Tigers’ Tarik Skubal is the grand prize of this commerce market, however the price for him shall be extraordinarily excessive. Grey, 9-1 with a 2.69 ERA, is a possible different. Grey’s contract features a $30 million mutual possibility for subsequent 12 months that encompasses a $10 million buyout. That added price would pressure the Pink Sox to ask for much less in return since simply getting his deal off the books would depend as a victory for them. So far as the free-spending Dodgers are involved, it’s simply cash.
