Dodgers, San Diego Padres and NL West
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Pitching staff’s jack-of-all-trades says October’s outing against the Yankees in New York was “key to being able to settle in for the most part this year.”
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SB Nation on MSNDodgers notes: Ben Casparius, Shohei Ohtani, Michael Conforto
Ben Casparius has been asked to do more than what most rookies could imagine through their first year at the big league level. After just three appearances with the Dodgers during last year’s regular season,
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a lot of players set to return to the big league roster from injuries, which is going to create quite a roster crunch.
After an uneventful first inning, San Diego – which also saw their five-game win streak go by the wayside – was the first team to put numbers on the board. In the top of the second, Ramón Laureano, the outfielder sent to the Padres by Baltimore at the July 31 trade deadline, homered to left field to make the score 1-0.
Absurdly talented Dodgers are paying for the front office's trade deadline decisions, as the team struggles to hold leads and losses pile up.
Casparius recorded the final out in Sunday's 3-0 win over Tampa Bay to earn his second save of the season. The Dodgers initially turned to Blake Treinen in the ninth inning, though he was only able to record two outs while allowing a hit and a pair of walks.
With the Dodgers' lead in the NL West gone, this player will make or break Los Angeles' 2025 World Series chances.
The most expensive roster in MLB history has been an oft-injured, underperforming husk of itself. Panic feels premature, but concern feels warranted.