Author: Rowan Kavner

Posted on

Who is Luisangel Acuña? Mets infielder dishes on food, family and brother Ronald

Rowan Kavner

Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

<!–>

–>

LOS ANGELES – Who is Luisangel Acuna? 

He’s a 23-year-old New York Mets infielder from Venezuela, April’s National League Rookie of the Month and the younger brother of Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. 

The younger Acuña was one of the Texas Rangers’ top prospects when the Mets acquired him in exchange for Max Scherzer in July 2023. The speedy, slick-fielding middle infielder made his Major League debut last September and has been with the Mets since Opening Day this year. 

Before the Acuña brothers get set to face each other for the first time later this month (Luisangel traveled to Atlanta with the Mets late last year, but Ronald was still recovering from his torn ACL at the time), we caught up with Luisangel during the Mets’ trip to Los Angeles this week to get to know him better. 

(Note: Questions and answers were through an interpreter and may be edited for clarity or brevity.) 

If you were to ask your family and friends to describe you as a person, what would they say? 

They would say I’m a happy guy, that I’m the type of person who will fight and do whatever to achieve their dreams. And that I’m a humble person, that’s what they would say.

What do you like to do when you’re not at the field? 

I like to be with family. I like to go out to the rivers where I’m from, because we’re kind of on the coast of Venezuela, so I like to go to the rivers with my family and spend time there.

ADVERTISEMENT

<!–>

What do you like to do there? 

Sometimes we’ll go there and have, like, a barbecue, grilling there and just hanging out.

What’s your go-to meal when you’re back home? 

Whenever I go to Venezuela, I have to have fish.

How does the fish compare here? 

Here, in the states, I just eat salmon.

Are you a cook yourself?

No, no. 

Who’s the best cook in your family? 

I think my grandmother’s the best one. My mom’s a close second, but I think my grandmother’s the best one.

How much do you miss that home cooking? 

I don’t miss it too much just because in New York there are a lot of Latin restaurants I can go to, and I can order arepas or whatever I want, so I can get my fix that way.

You won the NL Rookie of the Month Award in April. What did that mean to you or show you?

It felt good. I didn’t know I had won it until they told me when I got here. My brother called me, congratulated me, but it was definitely an honor to be able to win an award like that.

Ronald Acuna, Jr. and Luisangel Acuna are hoping to play against each other when the Mets visit the Braves in June. (Photo by Timothy Healey/Newsday RM via Getty Images) –> <!–>

You mentioned chatting with your brother. How much have you leaned on Ronald going through the ups and downs of a season? 

Yeah, whenever we’re in Venezuela, we train a lot together. The thing he always tells me is whenever I go out to play, be consistent, have the same type of discipline and work hard.

How competitive were you guys growing up? 

Yeah, I would say we’re competitive, but it’s like a fun competition. It’s one of those where he’s just challenging me to get better. For instance, whoever has more hits this month, the one who loses pays for a dinner or something like that. But it’s really just innocent competition.

I heard you liked basketball growing up. Who’s the better basketball player? 

My brother’s better than me. He’s taller than I am.

Do you have the edge anywhere? Is there an activity where you’re like, ‘I’m better than him’ in this?  

I’m faster than him.

Last September, Ronald was injured when you went to Atlanta. Now, you’re set to face him later this month. How much have you guys thought about that trip? 

Even before he came back from his injury this year, he had been telling me, ‘Hey, the Mets are going to come in June.’ So, I know he’s been really excited about that potential opportunity.

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
 

Mets vs. Nationals Highlights | MLB on FOX

Mets vs. Nationals Highlights | MLB on FOX

–>

Check out the best moments between the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals!

recommended

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Posted on

2025 MLB power rankings: Tigers jump, Dodgers best Yankees again

Rowan Kavner

Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

<!–>

The Phillies vaulted into the top spot in our power rankings for the first time … only to then crumble, ending this weekend on a four-game losing skid. 

Needless to say, they’ve been supplanted atop the rankings this week. 

Jesús Luzardo had to wear it in the worst start of his career Saturday, but that doesn’t negate what he did up to that point. He entered the debacle with a 2.15 ERA through his first 11 starts in Philadelphia, and he remains one of the best acquisitions of the offseason. 

More than a third of the way through the season, we have a much better idea now about how the moves made this winter are panning out. 

For this week’s power rankings, we take a look around the league at every team’s best offseason moves. 

All right, fine, we’re looking at 29 teams’ best offseason moves. Skip card, please? Carry on.

Shane Smith might go down as one of the all-time great Rule 5 picks. His 2.68 ERA is the 12th-lowest among all American League pitchers who’ve thrown at least 50 innings this year. In addition, Chase Meidroth — acquired in the Garrett Crochet trade — has been the sixth-most valuable AL second baseman by fWAR. 

At 38 years old, Andrew McCutchen is still hitting well above league average. That qualifies as a force in this Pittsburgh lineup. 

Quick reminder that the A’s were 22-20 when they beat the Dodgers 11-1 on May 13. They have won one of their 18 games since then. One game. One. Brent Rooker continues to rake after signing his five-year extension. The problem is they have MLB’s worst ERA, but their big offseason addition Luis Severino (3.89) has been solid.  

Score one for top Rule 5 draft picks this year. The Marlins took catcher Liam Hicks from the Tigers right after Smith went first to Chicago. Hicks, a 2021 ninth-round pick, has an .811 OPS in part-time work behind the plate. Miami is now trying him at first base, too. 

ADVERTISEMENT

–>

Tomoyuki Sugano has gotten to a productive 3.23 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in an atypical manner. He doesn’t strike anyone out — he has the lowest strikeout rate among all qualified American League starters — but he also doesn’t walk anyone. 

Remember that eight-game win streak? They’ve followed that by dropping seven of eight. Yusei Kikuchi hasn’t been as impactful as he was in the second half with the Astros last year — he leads the majors with 35 walks, and three of the top five MLB leaders in free passes are in the Angels’ rotation — but he nonetheless has a career-best 3.06 ERA. 

None of the notable offseason signings have worked out particularly well, but Mike Soroka’s underlying numbers are better than his 5.81 ERA would indicate. His walk rate is the lowest of his career, and he has a 3.49 expected ERA, but he’ll need to get his hard-hit rate down. 

The D-backs are losing their bite, having dropped nine of 11 games. And if losing series to the Pirates and Nationals weren’t bad enough, Corbin Burnes left his start Sunday with tightness in his elbow. After a slow start out of the gates, Burnes was pitching like the ace that Arizona envisioned with a 2.13 ERA in his last nine starts. 

The Braves are learning that the returns of Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider aren’t cure-alls. Acuña looks awesome, but Atlanta is 3-6 since he rejoined the club. It doesn’t help that their only notable offseason signing, Jurickson Profar, isn’t eligible to return from his performance-enhancing drug suspension until the end of the month. 

Nick Martinez, the only MLB player to accept the qualifying offer this winter, had a 2.25 ERA in May and went at least six innings in all five starts of the month before struggling Sunday in his first outing of June. He’s certainly not the only starter to stumble against the Cubs’ lineup. 

For all the chaos in Boston this year, their biggest offseason signings have been terrific. Unfortunately, one of them is on the shelf for a while. Alex Bregman looked like the best third baseman in MLB before he went down with a quad strain. Crochet, meanwhile, has the most strikeouts in the American League. 

Bringing back Nathan Eovaldi looks like one of the best moves any team made this offseason. Eovaldi ranks second in MLB in ERA (1.56) and WHIP (0.81), and while he’s on the IL now, his triceps issue does not seem to be a long-term concern at the moment. Baltimore sure could’ve used someone like him. 

Michael Wacha earned a three-year extension after posting a 3.35 ERA in one of the best seasons of his career in 2024. This year, his ERA (2.88) is even better. The Royals’ rotation is again one of the best in MLB…and their lineup one of the least forceful. Time to see what top prospect Jac Caglianone can do! 

Closer Jeff Hoffman couldn’t have had a much different April (1.17 ERA) and May (13.50). He’s still racking up strikeouts, and better days are likely ahead. One interesting note: Toronto took on Myles Straw’s contract to add international bonus pool money in an effort to land Roki Sasaki. That didn’t end the way the Blue Jays hoped, yet Straw has coincidentally provided more value in Toronto than Sasaki has in Los Angeles this year. 

Aside from one blow-up outing against the Cubs, Jose Quintana has allowed a combined six earned runs in his six other starts this year while helping stabilize the Milwaukee rotation. Quintana started Sunday’s win, which was the seventh straight for the hottest team in MLB. 

Among Twins hitters with at least 100 at-bats this year, Harrison Bader has the second-highest OPS (.787) behind only Byron Buxton (.823). 

We could talk about Danny Jansen and Ha-Seong Kim, who started a rehab assignment as he prepares for his return from shoulder surgery. But the best example of what the Rays do was their trade of Jose Siri for Eric Orze, a 2020 fifth-round pick of the Mets who had allowed four runs in 1.2 career innings before this year. Orze has a 0.81 ERA in 22.1 innings out of Tampa Bay’s bullpen this year. 

At 39 years old, Carlos Santana is still getting it done. The Guardians set up the reunion after trading away Josh Naylor, and now the two are providing similar value for their respective clubs. Santana has his highest OPS+ since his 2019 season and is again grading out as an above-average defensive first baseman. Also, keep an eye on the expected summer return of Shane Bieber. 

The Mariners brought back Jorge Polanco after one of the worst seasons of his career. At the end of April, the only American League player with a higher wRC+ than Polanco was Aaron Judge. Polanco’s numbers have plummeted since, but he’s still hitting 30% above league average. 

Watching Tucker in Chicago and Bregman in Boston still can’t feel great for Houston fans, but having Isaac Paredes at least provides some relief. Paredes has hit as many homers as Bregman this year, though the Astros’ new third baseman is currently mired in a 1-for-22 slump. 

The entire offseason was centered around trading Nolan Arenado, which… never happened. Midway through spring, they added Phil Maton on a one-year deal, and it has been $2 million well-spent. Maton has 28 strikeouts and six walks this year and hasn’t allowed a run in his last eight outings. 

Neither of the Giants’ big offseason signings are going quite as planned. Willy Adames is playing below replacement level, and Justin Verlander (who’s now on the IL) is still looking for his first win of the year after posting a 4.33 ERA in 10 starts. He did, however, have a 2.97 ERA in his last six outings, and it doesn’t seem like he will be out long term. 

You have to wonder how long Nick Pivetta would’ve been lingering in free agency had he not had a qualifying offer attached. Regardless, the rest of the league’s inaction was San Diego’s gain. Pivetta has allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven of his 11 starts and has a 2.00 ERA in his last three starts. That production has been huge for a San Diego rotation lacking much depth.

Well, that time atop the standings was short-lived. The Phillies had taken care of business against weaker competition until running into the juggernaut…uh, Brewers? Luzardo’s ERA ballooned from 2.15 to 3.58 after Milwaukee tagged him for 12 runs, but he had allowed just 16 earned runs in his first 12 starts combined. Despite how this weekend went, getting Luzardo via trade was one of the best moves of the winter. 

Pretty good offseason Plan B! Max Fried was pitching like the best starter in the American League until he got tagged for six runs in Los Angeles this weekend. Still, the Juan Soto backup plan looks like a huge win. Paul Goldschmidt has turned back the clock, Cody Bellinger has been productive across the outfield, and after a rough start that forced Devin Williams out of the closer role, he has been better lately as well. They had won seven straight series before the Dodgers had their number again. 

For all the money spent on their new additions, it looks like the Dodgers’ best move was bringing back Teoscar Hernández, who leads the club in RBI coming off an All-Star season in Los Angeles. It’s a perfect match. Keep an eye on Hyeseong Kim, too. The biggest question was his bat in his move to the majors, and the rookie hit .422 in May. 

For years, the Cubs needed a star player to build the lineup around. They added Tucker, and now they have the second highest-scoring offense in baseball. Considering the state of the rotation, $29 million for Matthew Boyd looks like money well spent, too. 

Even with year 1 of 15 of the Juan Soto era not quite starting as anticipated, the Mets are rolling. The (healthy) free-agent pitching additions, from Clay Holmes to Griffin Canning, have exceeded expectations. But the biggest win thus far is the triumphant return of Pete Alonso, who has been the Mets’ best hitter and is trending toward a more lucrative payday ahead. 

A sweep of the Giants and a series win against the Royals vaults the Tigers back up to No. 1. I’d still feel a little better about their future outlook had they reeled in someone like Bregman this winter, but Gleyber Torres has provided an undeniable boost to an offense that needed help after his New York tenure ended on a sour note. He has cut his strikeout rate in half, doubled his barrel rate and upped his walk rate to a career-high level in Detroit. Just look how red this page is.

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

<!–>

recommended

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

–>

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Posted on

‘Gibby, meet Freddie’ revisited: Joe Davis on broadcasting and calling an epic World Series

Rowan Kavner

Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

<!–>

Joe Davis isn’t sure if it will ever fully sink in that his voice, much like Vin Scully’s on Kirk Gibson’s iconic blast, will forever be the soundtrack to one of the biggest moments in World Series history. 

Even seven months later, it still does not feel real. 

“I’m still the kid from Potterville, Michigan, who dreamt of doing this,” the MLB on FOX broadcaster said earlier this week. 

But the more time that passes, the more Davis recognizes the magnitude of what transpired in Los Angeles on the evening of Oct. 25, 2024, when Freddie Freeman — 36 years after Gibson made the impossible happen — wrote a new chapter in Dodgers lore with his Game 1 walk-off grand slam. 

When people see Davis now, Freeman’s hit and his call — “Gibby, meet Freddie” — are what they want to talk about. 

The same way that Freeman grew up dreaming of coming through in a moment like that, Davis grew up dreaming of narrating it. 

“The more distance I get from it, the greater appreciation I have for where the moment — and forget what I said or the call or anything — just where the moment stands in baseball history,” Davis said. “It was impossible to fully appreciate that in the immediate aftermath, but the more distance I get from it, the more mind-blowing it is that I got to be in the chair for that moment. I’m, more and more, appreciating what that moment was.” 

With the Dodgers and Yankees reuniting this weekend for the first time since the Fall Classic, and with FOX Sports celebrating its 30th season of MLB coverage this year, Davis discussed the call, the aftermath, Gibson’s reaction, how he critiques and learns from his broadcasts, why a picture in his office reminds him that every night could be the one people talk about forever and much more.

ADVERTISEMENT

–>

(Note: Some questions and answers may be edited for brevity and clarity.) 

Has it hit you yet that the same way we associate Vin’s call on the Gibson homer, your voice and your call now will forever be linked to one of the biggest moments in World Series history? 

JD: “I don’t know if it ever will. I swear, man. And I think that that’s a good thing. That’s kind of how I want it. I never want, and I talk to my kids about this all the time, too, let’s never take for granted how cool it is to have the things we have and to do the things we do. I think that’s a great example of that, where I can kind of practice what I preach to my kids. I’m still the kid from Potterville, Michigan, who dreamt of doing this.

“In the same way Freddie stepped into the box and might not have thought to himself, ‘This is the moment I’ve prepared my whole life for,’ but you ask him now, yeah, that’s the moment every baseball player dreams of having. I even said that right before he stepped in, on the broadcast, in the same way that that was the moment that he grew up dreaming of, as he stepped into the box, that’s the moment I grew up dreaming of, too. So I don’t lose that perspective. Because of that, it’s hard to really wrap my mind around logically where that moment stands and what it means to be tied to that moment. I don’t allow any of it to feel real. It’s too crazy, too preposterous, for me to really allow it to feel real, even with the distance that we have.”

You mentioned using this moment kind of as a life lesson for your kids. As they get older, do they have an understanding for how big that moment was and an appreciation for what their dad got to do? 

JD: “Well they have the T-shirt, the ‘Gibby, meet Freddie’ T-shirt. Charlotte turns 9 in a couple weeks. Blake is 6, and Theo turns 4 on July 1. I think they see me get recognized a little bit more, and still it’s often followed by the question, ‘You know him?’ More and more, they’re like, ‘Wait, no, they know you, don’t they, Dad?’ So, I think they see a little bit more of that. My daughter, she’s always been mature for her age, so even when I got the World Series job in the first place, she seemed to have an appreciation — she was in like kindergarten at this point — she seemed to grasp what it meant to daddy to live his life dream. My son, the 6-year-old, is baseball obsessed. So, he gets what a big deal it is that I get to do the World Series. He gets it from that perspective. But I always tell them, too, ‘Hey guys, this stuff’s cool, but I’m just your dad. This is something I do, but this is not who I am. This stuff is amazing, we’re so lucky that we have it, but I’m just your goofy daddy, right?’ And the other thing is, they get it with their friends at school, ‘I saw your dad on TV,” and Blake’s Little League teammates and things like that. But it’s possible to embrace it and love it and realize how fortunate we are while at the same time be like, ‘It’s no big deal.’ That’s what we try to do.”

Everyone remembers the “Gibby, meet Freddie” part. I don’t know if everyone caught the “she is gone” nod to Vin before it as well. It seemed like a pretty perfect call, but as someone who I’m sure is a perfectionist with this sort of thing, and now with months to reflect, is there anything you would have done differently? 

JD: “It’s a great question. I stayed up, not through the night but lost a little sleep laying there asking myself that question —and this got blown out of proportion a little bit I think in the immediate aftermath when I did an interview talking about this — going back and critiquing it in my head. I’m always going to do that. That didn’t mean I went back and was like, ‘You stink, that wasn’t good.’ I just, I’m always going back trying to think about how maybe it could have been a little bit better. In the immediate aftermath, the one thing I had thought to myself was I know on Vin’s call of the Gibby home run, his line that everybody talks about — ‘In a year that has been so improbable’ — that came after Gibby had rounded the bases. It was just, ‘She is gone,” and then a long layoff while he rounded the bases and even began the celebration at home, and then came Vin’s line. So I thought to myself for a bit, went back and rewatched it, rewatched it, rewatched it, should ‘Gibby, meet Freddie’ have waited? Did I talk over the crowd? Did I talk over the moment? But that’s just how I always am on my calls, whether it’s that or something that happens this time of year. I go back and have fun looking at it that way, kind of picking it apart. I think what I decided is that having it right there, having the ‘Gibby meet Freddie’ line follow the ‘She is gone,’ it probably worked that way. Not that it wouldn’t have worked otherwise.”

Part of what made Joe Davis’ iconic World Series call was the nod to broadcasting legend Vin Scully. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) <!–>

–>

So, do you go back often then to listen and learn from your calls? Or, with so many games in a baseball season, do you prefer to kind of put it away afterward? 

JD: “Every night I watch the highlights, just to calibrate where I’m at energy level on them. I may, just to see, ‘OK, I felt like I was really getting to the level I needed to be on Ohtani’s home run today.’ So, let’s play the highlight while I still have that feeling fresh and let’s see if it matched up. Let’s see if the way I felt making that call translated, and if I was maybe a little flat or over the top, I take the memory of that feeling and try to apply it the next day. So I do the highlights each day, and I try to — once every week to 10 days — go back and do a deeper critique of myself and go back and listen to several innings of a game and take notes down, and I’ll bring that piece of paper with those notes on what I want to work on, what I want to focus on and have that sit right in front of me for the next week up until I do the next critique.”

Freddie talked about this right after it happened. You have this big moment, but you need to win three more games or no one’s going to care anymore. For you, you have this big moment, you mention you’re laying in bed thinking about it, how do you unwind after something like that? And how odd is it to then immediately have to turn the page to another game? 

JD: “Yeah, so it was unique because it came in L.A., which is where I live. And I went back to my house, whereas usually in this business we’re going back to the hotel. I went back to my house, and in my office there’s one piece of artwork, and it is a picture of the moment Kirk Gibson leaves the on-deck circle to head up for his game-winning home run in ‘88. And you can see in the backdrop the umpire reaching into his shirt to pull out the line-up card and make the change, and the bigger backdrop is just the wall of people at Dodger Stadium. I’ve had it in my office as long as I’ve had my office, because it represents everything I love about the job. The next moment could be the moment. Big crowd in the background, thinking about the noise they make. So, I love that picture, and it’s always been there. 

But to come back home and walk into my office, thinking like, ‘Wow what just happened?’ I hadn’t thought about it on the drive home, what I was going to see when I sat down in my home office. But I sat down and looked up and was like, ‘Oh man, that’s right. Holy cow, that just happened again… I was there when it happened.’ I didn’t sleep great that night just because of the energy of having done that game. And then to your point, I’m up early the next day, ‘OK, let’s get ready for Game 2. This is amazing, but now let’s go get ready for Game 2, and what’s going to happen tonight?’ But that’s the core of what I love about this job, getting ready for the next game not knowing what you’re going to see, knowing tonight could be the night you talk about forever each time.” 

Do you know what Gibson thought about the call? Or what’s the coolest feedback you’ve gotten since that moment? 

JD: “Oh, man, people have been so nice. Texted with Freddie that night, just the kind of guy he is, he probably had 9,000 text messages but he thought to text me. I talked to [Gibby on] Opening Day when he was there, and I actually had a couple people who had talked to him to do stories on the connection who had talked to him who then reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, you should know, Gibby really thought your call was cool.’ That’s up there as far as the most special things I heard coming out of that, the fact that Gibby appreciated the call and took some enjoyment out of it. That was really neat.”

Freddie Freeman and Kirk Gibson are forever etched in Dodgers lore for their respective World Series performances. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images) <!–>

–>

What are the difficulties that come with calling a World Series when you’ve been the broadcaster all year for one of the teams involved?  

JD: “The hardest part is kind of unlearning, or at least rewiring, everything I know about the team I cover every day. Because the way of presenting that team is totally different when you get to the national audience, especially in the postseason and the World Series, than it would be covering a regular season game. So reframing in my mind how I know that information and present that information takes time. Yeah, it’s not a fun thing that everybody thinks you hate their team, but it’s part of the territory. Then it gets amplified when one of the teams you cover on an everyday basis. So, I think that part of it, it stinks, but it’s as big of a deal as you allow it to become, and I think the only way I know how to handle it is sort of bury my head in the sand on it. I know no matter who the teams are, it comes with the territory that half the audience is going to think you don’t like their team and half the audience is going to think you don’t like their team, and that’s OK, right? These are the biggest games, where emotions are heightened. And it’s what makes sports great, that people care that much. And, you know what, fine, if that’s the tax you gotta pay to do this gig, I’m totally fine with it.”

Joe Davis, conversing with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, has called the team’s games for 10 seasons and became the lead MLB on FOX broadcaster in 2022. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) <!–>

–>

I’ve gone too long without congratulating you on winning a sports Emmy for your play-by-play work. Now I’ve got to ask, winning an Emmy or having that World Series moment, what’s the bigger accomplishment? 

JD: “Ooo, I don’t know. I don’t know if I win that Emmy if that moment doesn’t happen. That’s something in this business, specific to play-by-play announcing, there’s a certain amount of luck in it in that the moment has to happen in front of you. I can’t create that moment. I just have to be the lucky son of a gun that’s sitting there when it happens to happen. Like we said earlier, what is going to go down as one of the great moments in sports history, I just happened to be the guy lucky enough to be sitting there.”

Lastly, I know calling a World Series was a dream of yours. You’ve obviously accomplished that. Is there anything left now on the Joe Davis bucket list? 

JD: “I’m doing everything I dreamt of doing and more. For me, it’s just been some soul searching for how to keep pushing and growing within what I’m doing. For so much of my life, it’s been these big dreams and striving to get there. Now that I’ve gotten to where I’ve always dreamt of going, how do I, within the confines of those jobs, bring people joy? How do I make each night something that people look forward to tuning into? Baseball’s such a wonderful thing because it’s every day, and it’s something people can count on. I just spend a lot of time thinking about how I can, in my role, look at that as a responsibility to make people smile and bring them some joy, bring them a distraction if they need it, give them something to look forward to. Whatever little role I can play in their lives like that, I think that’s a pretty special gift that my job has in it for me. That’s something that, no matter how long I do this, I can keep leaning into and can give meaning to this job. So, no, there is nothing else I want to do. I just want to keep doing what I’m doing right now and be the best I can be at it.” 

Los Angeles Dodgers: MINI-MOVIE of 2024 Postseason | MLB on FOX 🎥

Los Angeles Dodgers: MINI-MOVIE of 2024 Postseason | MLB on FOX 🎥

Experience the excitement of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ unforgettable 2024 postseason journey. From their intense showdown with the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, to their clash with the New York Mets in the NLCS, and culminating in their epic World Series battle against the New York Yankees, the Dodgers’ run is etched in history as one of the most legendary in MLB playoff lore.

 Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

 

recommended

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Posted on

‘He’s our ace’: Inside Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s crucial second-year rise with the Dodgers

Rowan Kavner

Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

<!–>

One of the early contenders for the National League Cy Young Award stands under 6 feet tall. He defies convention, not only with his size but also with the way he eschews traditional training methods in favor of more unorthodox routines. 

In the time between Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s starts, every throw is calculated, every move treated with precision and care. He favors flexibility, movement and coordination over brawn. 

You won’t find him lifting weights, but you might see him on the warning track launching javelins through the sky or treating long-toss sessions as if he were on the mound finishing off a complete-game shutout. 

That hasn’t happened yet through 29 career big-league starts, though he’s getting increasingly closer. 

This month alone, Yamamoto has taken one no-hitter into the sixth inning and another into the seventh. He has gone at least six innings in seven of his last nine starts, amassed the lowest ERA among qualified National League starters and become the steadying force a beleaguered rotation needs him to be. 

ADVERTISEMENT

–>

He is developing into the star the Dodgers envisioned when they made him the highest-paid pitcher in the sport a year ago. 

“He’s our ace,” Dave Roberts put succinctly.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts embraces pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto after holding the Yankees to one run in Game two of the World Series at Dodger Stadium. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) <!–>

–>

The Dodgers manager is careful not to throw that term around flippantly. He knows how few of them there are in the big leagues and the expectations the label brings. An ace needs a track record of success. An ace needs to handle both lefties and righties with aplomb. An ace needs to go deep into games. 

And, sometimes, an ace needs to be the stopper. 

That’s the role Yamamoto played on May 20, with the Dodgers on a four-game losing skid during which their starters had allowed 16 runs in 15 innings. Most of the pitchers comprising that group were not the ones the Dodgers envisioned on the mound when they retooled this winter. Yamamoto and Dustin May are the only active starters remaining from the team’s season-opening rotation.

“You just can’t lose on nights that Yamamoto throws,” Roberts said. 

That night, Yamamoto did his part to ensure they didn’t. 

Clinging to a 1-0 lead after holding the Diamondbacks hitless through six innings, trouble struck for Yamamoto when Ketel Marte roped a single off the wall to start the seventh. A wild pitch and a couple groundouts moved Marte to third before Yamamoto issued a four-pitch walk to Gabriel Moreno.  

The go-ahead run was on, Yamamoto’s pitch count had risen over 100, and a decision loomed for Roberts. 

“It’s not about pitch count, it’s not about third time through,” Roberts reasoned. “It’s about, ‘He’s our best option.’”

In a choice he probably wouldn’t have made a year ago, Roberts left him in. 

One batter later, Yamamoto rewarded his manager’s faith. 

On his career-high 110th pitch, Yamamoto finished off his seventh scoreless inning with his ninth strikeout of the night, a 92-mph cutter at the bottom of the zone that glanced off the bat of Pavin Smith and into the glove of catcher Will Smith. Yamamoto strolled off the mound to chants of “Yo-shi” echoing throughout Dodger Stadium.

It was one of five starts this year in which Yamamoto has gone at least six innings without allowing an earned run; he had three such starts all of last season. 

“He’s a completely different guy now,” Roberts told me. “The demeanor on the mound, there’s just an even-keeled heartbeat out there. I watch our pitchers and players very closely, and there’s a lot of things that he does after a big inning or a big out or a certain situation that he’s always looking for more. It’s palpable. I can see it.” 

What does that look like? 

“He’s standing a little bit taller,” Roberts explained. “I really do see it. I know that’s figurative, but he’s standing taller.”

It took time for that confidence to develop. 

Yamamoto enjoyed a strong debut season last year, though the $325 million price tag begged for more. The pinpoint command that helped him win three straight Sawamura Awards — Nippon Professional Baseball’s equivalent to the Cy Young Award — fluctuated. Yamamoto finished the year with a 3.00 ERA, but he went more than six innings only twice and threw fewer than 100 innings in the regular season after missing nearly three months with a rotator cuff strain. 

Still, he was at his best when the Dodgers needed him most. 

Specifically, he was at his best against the team he’ll see again Sunday. 

<!–>

The first time Yamamoto faced the Yankees was a turning point in his rookie year. Many of his teammates and coaches recall his seven shutout innings in the Bronx last June as the moment that demonstrated his ability to handle the pressure of baseball’s biggest stage. 

It might have convinced Yamamoto, too. 

“It just provided him the confidence to know that he can pitch in any sort of game environment or setting,” Dodgers assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness said. 

The second time he faced the Yankees, Yamamoto proved it. 

In his lone start of the World Series, he delivered 6.1 innings of one-run ball in a 4-2 win. 

That elite version of the Japanese sensation is becoming the norm now, all the more important for a Dodgers rotation that ranks 22nd in ERA. Yamamoto is the only healthy starter on the Dodgers roster with an ERA under 4.00. 

“He has, quite honestly, some of the best command I’ve ever seen,” McGuiness said. “The comfort level’s through the roof with the ball, the environment, the pitch clock, the catchers, everything.”

Yamamoto is inducing more whiffs and soft contact than he did last year and has the third-highest year-over-year increase in groundball rate among qualified starters. He’s commanding his fastball more expertly, and he’s devastating opponents with his splitter, which has become one of the nastiest offerings in the sport.

“I’m kind of in awe of how well he executes,” Tommy Edman said. “He’s able to dot the outside corner whenever he wants, and once he hits that corner, he has the splitter off of it. I don’t really know how I’d attack him as a hitter.”

Yamamoto’s consistency and comfort have risen in conjunction.

Many Dodgers players, coaches and personnel have noted how much more at ease Yamamoto appears both on and off the field compared to where he was early last year as a 25-year-old in a new league, with a new team, learning a new language, throwing a new baseball and adjusting to a new schedule.  

“I think he’s more relaxed now,” Teoscar Hernandez said. “He makes jokes. He plays around.”

“He’s just a guy that’s very comfortable in his own skin,” Kike Hernandez added. “He’s got a little bit of an unorthodox routine, but he doesn’t really care. He’s just confident.” 

Yamamoto’s singular routine hasn’t changed, but it’s one that now has proof of concept.

“The first year I think everybody kind of spent staring at each other, like, ‘Are you judging me?’” said Brandon McDaniel, Dodgers vice president of player performance. “Obviously, we want everybody to feel super comfortable when they come in here and do the things they can do to be successful, and obviously he was extremely successful. So, it’s been really cool to see that fit in now, where it’s just like, that’s how he goes about his business. And it works really, really well.”

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the only healthy starter on the Dodgers roster with an ERA under 4.00. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) –> <!–>

Interest gets piqued when a player Yamamoto’s size — around 5-foot-10, no more than 180 pounds — is routinely pumping fastballs over 95 mph. Occasionally, both Dodgers players and personnel will try out his javelin toss. 

“Especially in the minor leagues,” McDaniel said. “I went on a rehab assignment with him last year and saw a clubbie go out and do it. I think everybody’s super curious about what it does and how to go about it. I don’t think anybody’s, like, doing them regularly, but I think there’s a lot of curiosity, like, ‘That little guy throws that hard, that much?’”

That intrigue extends to the teams who visit Dodger Stadium. 

When the Brewers traveled to Los Angeles last July, Clayton Kershaw suggested to Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy that he watch Yamamoto’s catch play. Murphy studied intently and marveled at the precision. 

“It’s, f-ing, an art,” Murphy said. “It’s like Steph Curry shooting.” 

Yamamoto knows what works for him. 

Now, after a year in the majors, those around him do, too. 

“We understand it better,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. “He gets how it all works within the day, because our schedules are so different between here and the NPB, with travel and day games and all that. Overall, his level of comfort with what’s going on, everything leading up to the game and in between starts, is at a much higher level.”

After a year of experience, Gomes also believes that Yamamoto has a better feel now for when to dial in and when to let loose. Gomes always thought Yamamoto had a welcoming nature to him that made him easy to gravitate toward, even with the language barrier, which is becoming less of an impediment. 

Teoscar Hernández said Yamamoto clearly knows a lot more English this year compared to last. Now, he can ask Yamamoto short questions and get a response. 

Yamamoto’s teammates notice the effort he is putting in. 

“I know for a fact sometimes after games at night he’ll do a one-hour English lesson,” Kiké Hernández said. “He can kind of get by with what he has. I would say I played with like seven Japanese players, maybe more, and he is by far the most dedicated with English class. I think that by next year he’s going to be able to pretty much be fluent.”

“I was told that he does English classes like three times a week,” reliever Alex Vesia added. “You can have a long conversation with him. It’s very normal, and he understands the English jokes and sarcasm. So, you can go back and forth and have a fun conversation.”

It remains a work in progress. Others have not found it quite so easy to communicate just yet. 

“You can kind of see a little personality on the field, but even then, there’s so many guys that are completely different on the field than off the field,” Mookie Betts said. “To be honest, I know he’s a great dude, but it’s hard to really get to know him because of the language barrier.

“Maybe one day,” Betts continued. “We’ve got a long time together.” 

Betts signed a 12-year extension in 2020 and immediately helped lift the Dodgers to a World Series championship. 

Last year, Yamamoto did the same, thriving on the biggest stage in October as the last standing member of the team’s season-opening rotation. 

This year represents another leap forward. Gomes has noticed Yamamoto developing a better understanding for gameplanning. Yamamoto said he can move 

As scrupulous as he is with his preparation, Yamamoto can be similarly meticulous when critiquing his performance. 

“He’s been frustrated by a few pitches here and there,” McGuiness said. “It’s like, my goodness, man, take a step back and look at what you’ve done.”

Given all the injuries in the Dodgers’ rotation, there’s an argument to be made there’s no player more vital to the team’s success. You could double Yamamoto’s 1.97 ERA, and he would still have the lowest mark among active starters on the roster.

His work in March and April, when he posted a 1.06 ERA over his first six starts of the year, earned him his first career Pitcher of the Month Award. 

Eleven starts into the season, he is still pitching at a Cy Young level. 

He struck out 10 batters in seven scoreless innings in Texas on April 18. He allowed one hit in six scoreless innings in Atlanta on May 2. Over his last two starts, he has allowed two runs on four hits with 16 strikeouts in 13 innings. 

And on Sunday, for the first time in 2025, he’ll match up again against the team that helped build his belief and reputation. 

“In his first year, he pitched on the biggest stage,” Max Muncy said, “and he was great. For him to know he can do that, it has to add a ton of confidence.” 

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience

Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Los Angeles Dodgers

Major League Baseball

–>

recommended

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Posted on

2025 MLB power rankings: Another change at No. 1, plus one pitching standout on every club

Rowan Kavner

Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

<!–>

The hardest pitch of Tarik Skubal’s career left his hand with two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning of Sunday’s matinée, darted past the bat of a swinging Gabriel Arias and completed a performance for the ages. 

The first complete game of Skubal’s career was also the first ever Maddux — a complete-game shutout on fewer than 100 pitches — in which a pitcher recorded at least 13 strikeouts. Skubal needed only 94 pitches to finish the job, the last of which clocked in at 102.6 mph. 

Skubal’s pristine work prevented a Guardians sweep and provided a reminder of the Tigers ace’s place atop MLB’s pitching pecking order. 

In honor of Skubal’s historic work, this week’s power rankings include one pitching standout from every club. 

Rookie Zach Agnos has a 1.29 ERA and is a perfect 3-for-3 in save chances through his first 12 MLB appearances. 

ADVERTISEMENT

–>

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

<!–>

recommended

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

–>

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Posted on

How former top pick Spencer Torkelson found his way after getting ‘humbled’

Rowan Kavner

Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

<!–>

Five years after being drafted as the No. 1 overall pick, and just two years after blasting 31 home runs in Detroit, Spencer Torkelson entered this spring on the brink. 

A spot on the Tigers‘ roster hung in the balance. 

Torkelson regressed enough in 2024 that nearly 42% of his plate appearances came at Triple-A Toledo. He finished the year back up with the big-league club and started each of the Tigers’ seven playoff games, but the steep decline invited questions about the long-term viability of sticking with him on an ascending squad that appeared ready to take the next step. 

Those questions intensified after Detroit signed second baseman Gleyber Torres and intended to bump 23-year-old second baseman Colt Keith over to Torkelson’s spot at first base. Torkelson understood the reality and the reasoning. He hadn’t performed. 

He also recognized he could no longer continue down the same path and expect different results. 

“Something needed to change,” Torkelson said. 

And it has. 

Two months into the 2025 season, after a series of mechanical adjustments designed to make him more athletic in the box, Torkelson has been the best hitter on the best team in baseball. With Torkelson pacing the offense in OPS, extra-base hits and RBI, the Tigers have 33 wins through 50 games and a 5.5-game lead in the American League Central. 

A below-league-average hitter last year, Torkelson is batting 50% above league average in 2025. His .889 OPS puts him among the top four first basemen and top 20 qualified hitters in the game. 

ADVERTISEMENT

–>

“I feel dangerous at the plate,” Torkelson said. “As a hitter, that’s all you can ask for. You’re not going to hit 1.000, but when you’re feeling dangerous, and you’re seeing the ball well, you feel like you can’t be beat.” 

The turnaround was sparked more by a return than a reinvention. He had to get back to what worked before he became the top overall pick. 

Torkelson’s power at Arizona State was prodigious enough for the Tigers to make him the first corner infielder to be selected first overall in the draft in 20 years. The choice did not come as a surprise. He launched 54 homers in 129 college games. 

“In college and high school, they teach guys, ‘Throw it at the knees,’” Torkelson said. “So, you can just kind of look down there. Then you get to pro ball, and it’s changing eye levels, and you’re like, ‘I need to cover that.’”

In an effort to catch up to the high fastball after getting drafted, Torkelson began to stand up taller in his stance. 

“Let’s kind of like make the high fastball not as high,” Torkelson thought. “And it worked. I got away with it. I hit 31 homers [in 2023], and I didn’t even feel that great.” 

But there were opportunity costs. Success would come and go. He lacked the consistency he needed to live up to expectations and began to veer off course from what made him such a prolific offensive force. 

Torkelson performed below replacement level as a rookie in 2022. Even when he mashed those 31 homers a year later, he was still barely a league-average hitter. Both years, he struggled to cover fastballs on the outer half. Last year, he improved that issue only to then falter against heaters on the inner half. His hard-hit rate plummeted, he struggled to find the barrel, and his strikeout rate rose. 

“As a hitter, when you try to cover everything, you cover nothing,” Torkelson said. “When you’re simple, and you try to cover one pitch in one spot, you cover a lot. I think early in my career, I was trying to be a hero.”

How much of that was trying to live up to being a No. 1 pick? 

“Maybe, yeah, definitely,” Torkelson said. “Coming out of college, too, I felt like I had it figured out. ‘Greatest hitter ever.’ I got humbled.” 

Last summer marked a low point. 

On June 1, 2024, after going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, mired in a 3-for-37 funk, he was sent down to Triple-A. He would remain there for more than two months. At that point, he didn’t feel comfortable making wholesale changes in the middle of the season. 

“I just tried to put a Band-Aid on it and compete and have fun,” Torkelson said. 

This offseason provided more time to repair his approach. He was challenged to make adjustments and sought to rediscover the setup and swing that had garnered so much acclaim as an amateur player. 

“It was just kind of getting back to what I’ve always done my entire life,” Torkelson explained. 

For his numbers to get up, he had to get low. 

He thought about how one of his favorite hitters, three-time MVP Mike Trout, had struggled throughout his career against elevated heaters. 

“We don’t get paid to hammer the high fastball, we get paid to hammer the mistakes,” Torkelson realized. “If you’re kind of wasting too much energy worrying about that, you miss that.”

Torkelson started to sink deeper into a more athletic and open stance. He moved slightly off the plate and farther back in the box in an effort to see pitches longer. 

But the biggest adjustment was narrowing the space between his feet. Last year, that distance was 36.7 inches. This year, it’s nearly a foot less. 

“It wasn’t crazy, but it felt crazy for about two weeks,” Torkelson said. “Then it felt like myself, and I kind of stuck with that since November, December. When you feel comfortable and athletic in the box, you see the ball better and can actually trust that approach.”

It may not look quite as drastic as all of that sounds, but the uptick in production is staggering. Torkelson already has more home runs and RBI than he did all of last season. He’s averaging one homer every 14 at-bats in 2025 after averaging one every 34 in 2024. 

Coincidentally, he is producing significantly better on pitches at the top of the zone with a less upright stance this year and is pummeling fastballs basically anywhere they’re thrown. His expected slugging percentage last year was .351. This year, it’s over .550.  

He’s pulling the ball in the air significantly more often than ever before while still demonstrating power to all fields — four of his 12 homers have gone the other way — and registering both the highest barrel rate and walk rate of his career. 

“I’ve always had a good eye, always known the strike zone,” Torkelson said. “Now, my approach lets me see the ball better.” 

This spring, his teammates could tell immediately that something was different. Beyond the better results, there appeared to be a renewed level of confidence. 

“A little bit of a chip on his shoulder,” Zach McKinstry explained, “which we hadn’t seen — for me, anyway. It was cool to watch. He’s a really good dude to be around. He was a little bit quiet in spring and just kind of let himself kind of grow back into it.”

As questions lingered about where he would play in the field or whether he’d make the team at all, Torkelson kept raking. 

After hitting .340 with five homers in the spring, his 2025 regular season debut at Dodger Stadium epitomized his improvements. He went 1-for-1 with a home run and four walks as the Tigers’ designated hitter. Two days later, Torkelson was back at his usual spot at first base, where he now remains while starring on a young Tigers offense that is far exceeding expectations. 

He has the third highest slugging percentage among all qualified first basemen this year, trailing only Freddie Freeman and Pete Alonso. 

“He’s always been open-minded, he’s always been someone easy to work with, and he’s always been someone who has the burden of expectation on him from the minute he showed up in the big leagues to be perfect,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “And even though it hasn’t been a perfect ascent, I’m very proud of the person, very proud of the player, to continue to endure the rigors of the challenge of playing up here.”

With that success, questions about his future with the club have subsided. 

Considering the raw power he has always possessed, this level of play always seemed possible for the 2020 top overall pick. 

Now, the only question is whether he can sustain it and weather the inevitable ups and downs to come. 

“I always had that internal belief that I’m going to figure it out, and I’m going to find my way,” Torkelson said. “I still don’t have all the answers, but I definitely feel that I’m on the right track.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

<!–>

recommended

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

–>

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Posted on

2025 MLB Power Rankings: There’s a new No. 1 as Tigers, Yankees, Twins lead AL upswing

Rowan Kavner

Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

<!–>

–>

You’re not going to believe this, but Aaron Judge is demolishing the baseball. 

OK, so everyone knows the reigning MVP looks especially extraordinary this year. 

But the Yankees’ dynamic offense and spot atop the American League East goes beyond his .401 average and otherworldly start. 

This week’s power rankings include a new team in first place — no, not the Yankees, though they do continue making leaps forward — and focus on the supporting cast around the league, featuring one player from every team who deserves more attention. 

Over in Colorado, it’s not good, man. But it is Goodman. After two seasons in which he played below replacement level, 25-year-old Hunter Goodman is enjoying a breakout season with an .858 OPS that ranks in the top 15 in the National League. 

ADVERTISEMENT

<!–>

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the LA Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

–>

recommended

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Posted on

Why Clayton Kershaw’s impending return once again matters more than expected

Rowan Kavner

Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

<!–>

For the second straight year, Clayton Kershaw’s season debut will take place more than a month into the season with the Dodgers needing their all-time strikeout leader more than they could have possibly imagined. 

The prevailing feeling for the 37-year-old future Hall of Famer is one of thankfulness as he prepares to embark on his 18th season with the Dodgers. He will take the mound Saturday at Dodger Stadium for the first time in nearly nine months following offseason surgeries to his left knee and foot, helping reinforce another depleted Dodgers rotation that wasn’t supposed to look the way it does now. 

“I think when you haven’t done something for a long time and you realize you miss competing, you miss being a part of the team and contributing, I think there’s a lot of gratitude and gratefulness to get back to that point,” Kershaw said Thursday. “So, I definitely feel that. Now, if I go out there and don’t pitch good, it’s going to go away real fast.”

If all went to plan, there wouldn’t be much pressure on the longest-tenured Dodgers pitcher of all time to perform. 

When the Dodgers signed Kershaw to yet another one-year deal this February, they did so knowing he wouldn’t be available at the start of the season. The move was an example of their opulence and abundance. He would be part of one of the most talented rotations ever assembled, and his inclusion was supposed to be more luxury than necessity.

ADVERTISEMENT

–>

Yet again, those plans have gone awry. 

A year ago, the Dodgers were coming off a disappointing 2023 season in which their starters produced a 4.57 ERA, the worst mark in the team’s Los Angeles tenure, before a second straight first-round exit. They sought to change that by revamping the rotation, making Yoshinobu Yamamoto the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history, trading for Tyler Glasnow, adding veteran James Paxton, awaiting the anticipated early-season return of Walker Buehler from Tommy John surgery and expecting the further development of young standouts Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan and Gavin Stone. 

In theory, they should have had plenty of formidable options regardless of how Kershaw looked coming off the first surgery of his career, a shoulder procedure that would sideline him until summertime at the earliest. When he returned to the fold in late July, his presence was needed. 

Yamamoto had strained his rotator cuff. Paxton had already been designated for assignment. Buehler was on the injured list with hip inflammation after underperforming. Miller was back in Triple-A after failing to replicate a breakout rookie year the season prior. The Dodgers were using a bevy of rookies and openers to fill the voids. 

Kershaw entered the 2024 season just 56 strikeouts short of 3,000. He would not reach the mark, nor would he make it to September. He gritted through seven starts before the pain in his left big toe became too unbearable. He was dealing with a bone spur, arthritis and a ruptured plantar plate in his left foot and a torn meniscus in his left knee. Both injured body parts would eventually require surgery. 

He made his final start of the year on Aug. 30, then watched the rest of the championship season from the sideline. 

“I don’t take it for granted anymore to get to go out there and pitch at Dodger Stadium,” Kershaw said.

This year was supposed to be different for a Dodgers team that had learned from seasons past. 

They didn’t want to have to buy at the deadline to fill their needs, the way they did last year when they added Jack Flaherty for the stretch run in order to employ just three capable, healthy starting pitchers come October. A year after committing more than $1 billion in contracts, they splurged again this past offseason, adding two of the most prized arms on the market in Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki. 

Yet no matter the year, no matter the amount of money spent in the offseason or the talent assembled in Los Angeles, the importance of Kershaw persists.

Snell, Glasnow and Sasaki are all on the injured list. Despite all the moves they made, their starting pitchers have combined for a 4.14 ERA that ranks 20th in MLB. Navigating the season has once again required bullpen games and bulk innings from depth pieces. They’ve needed more innings from their relievers this year than any team in baseball. 

The Dodgers are in first place despite the litany of injuries — as of Friday morning, they have 14 pitchers on the IL not including Shohei Ohtani, who has yet to pitch for the club — though multiple division rivals are breathing down their neck. 

That’s the unexpected reality as Kershaw readies for his return. 

“Unfortunately, I think it comes at a time when we do need some starters,” Kershaw said. “Obviously, we’ve got some guys down right now. It seems like everybody’s on the mend and doing better — especially Snell and Glas, I feel like they’re trending up — so that’s good. But at the end of the day, you just want to be a contributing factor to the Dodgers. You don’t want to just be on the sidelines.” 

Kershaw was determined not to let last season’s foot injury end his career. As the years pass, his presence at Dodger Stadium remains a constant. The same can no longer be said for the longest-tenured Dodgers position player. 

For the first time since 2014, when Kershaw won his first MVP and third Cy Young Award, he will return to a team that no longer includes veteran Austin Barnes, one of his closest baseball friends. The Dodgers designated the 35-year-old veteran catcher — who has caught more Kershaw starts in his career than any catcher other than A.J. Ellis — for assignment to bring up top prospect Dalton Rushing this week in a move that surprised Kershaw and others. 

“I think a lot of people forget, he was starting a lot of playoff games and winning a lot of games for us, getting big knocks,” Kershaw said. “So, it’s sad to see someone like that go who’s been here that long. I think we all kind of feel it. It’s no disrespect to Dalton. I know he deserves it, and he’s going to be a great player. But for me personally, I think for a lot of guys on the team, it was disappointing to see him go.” 

Three days after the Dodgers let their longest-tenured position player go, the most-tenured player on their roster will take the mound. Injuries throughout the years have sapped Kershaw’s velocity, but they have not prevented him from producing. Over the last three years, with a fastball that averaged a tick over 90 mph, Kershaw tallied a 2.59 ERA. And while last season was more of a slog as he amassed a 4.50 ERA, neither the pain nor the struggles eroded his desire to keep pitching. 

In five rehab starts this year, Kershaw compiled a 2.57 ERA despite a fastball that averaged 87.5 mph. He knew he turned a corner over his last few rehab starts when he became more concerned about throwing well than how his surgically-repaired foot felt. 

“Now, it’s just a process of figuring out how to get guys out consistently again and perform,” Kershaw said. “That’s a much better place to be.” 

Kershaw can still outmaneuver opponents with a slider and curveball that will eventually land him in Cooperstown, even if he can’t overpower them the way he once did. He will enter the 2025 season just 32 strikeouts away from 3,000, a milestone only 19 pitchers before him have reached. 

“I haven’t really thought about that a whole lot,” Kershaw said. “For me, just getting back out on the mound is a big first step. Then it’s the rest of the season, obviously. Just making it through Saturday and getting back out there is what I’ve thought about so far.”

 Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience

Clayton Kershaw

Los Angeles Dodgers

Major League Baseball

<!–>

recommended

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

–>

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Posted on

2025 MLB power rankings: Phillies, Cardinals and AL Central are heating up

Rowan Kavner

Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

<!–>

In honor of Mother’s Day, this week’s edition of power rankings features one person from every team worth recognizing. And in honor of the Cardinals and Twins, who each enter the week having won eight straight games, that person will be someone who’s surging. 

Both St. Louis and Minnesota have understandably taken sizable jumps forward, though neither has quite cracked the top 10, which still features plenty of movement this week. 

Here are the latest FOX Sports MLB power rankings. 

For a while, about the only good thing that happened to the Rockies was when Jordan Beck hit five homers in three games last month (all three of those, however, were losses). Now, at least 2024 All-Star Ryan McMahon is heating up. McMahon was hitting .147 at the end of April, but he has four homers and an OPS over 1.400 in May. Of course, that hasn’t prevented a minus-128 run differential or the manager getting fired or a 21-0 shellacking this weekend, but it’s something positive. 

ADVERTISEMENT

–>

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience

Major League Baseball

<!–>

recommended

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

–>

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Posted on

Why changing managers won’t fix the Pirates’ bigger problems

Rowan Kavner

Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

<!–>

–>

Off to the same miserable record they had through 38 games five years ago, in what was supposed to represent the start of a rebuild in Pittsburgh, the Pirates tossed manager Derek Shelton overboard on Thursday.  

At the end of the 2019 season, new general manager Ben Cherington tabbed Shelton as the skipper to right the ship of a Pirates team that had not been to the playoffs since 2015. In year one under the new regime, Pittsburgh began the COVID-shortened 2020 season 12-26 and finished it 19-41. 

Five seasons later, in the midst of another 12-26 start, with the Pirates still in search of their first winning season since 2018 after finishing no better than fourth place since the front-office shakeup, they relieved Shelton of his duties. 

The decision was understandable.  

ADVERTISEMENT

<!–>

Taking over for Clint Hurdle — who amassed a winning record (.505) over nine seasons in Pittsburgh despite the club’s crippling limitations stemming from its unwillingness to spend — Shelton went 306-440 (.410) over parts of six seasons at the helm of a perennially overmatched and insufficient roster. Over that time, the Pirates’ offense ranked last in the majors in runs, home runs and OPS. 

Amid the team’s abysmal start this year, Pirates fans deplored Shelton’s lineup tinkering and bullpen management as he attempted to find any kind of recipe to help an offense that again sported the lowest OPS in the National League and a team trending toward its worst season since his tenure began. To call it underperforming would imply a level of talent that Shelton’s clubs never possessed, but he did little to help his cause.

Toiling through a seven-game losing skid, with the Pirates already 10 games back just 38 games into the year, Shelton walked the plank. 

Both laughably and predictably, owner Bob Nutting then tried to talk about “urgency.” 

“We need to act with a sense of urgency and take the steps necessary to fix this now to get back on track as a team and organization,” Nutting, the man who has never handed out a free-agent contract of $40 million or more and is again overseeing a club with a bottom-five payroll, said as part of a team statement.

Nutting and Cherington, meanwhile, continue on. Nutting, after all, was not going to fire himself, despite being the primary reason for the Pirates’ ineptitude. 

Since he became the club’s principal owner in 2007, the team’s payroll has never been higher than 20th, according to Cot’s Contracts. The Pirates’ Opening Day payroll this year ranked 26th in MLB…and that was the highest it had been at any point during Shelton’s tenure. The years preceding it: 29th, 27th, 28th, 30th, 30th. 

In related news, the Pirates followed their dismal 2020 season by winning 61 games in 2021, 62 in 2022, then 76 each of the last two years. 

But with Paul Skenes, [the now-injured] Jared Jones and Mitch Keller atop the rotation, and with highly-regarded prospect Bubba Chandler waiting in the wings, there were at least reasons for optimism entering the 2025 season. Skenes was coming off a Rookie of the Year season in which he started the All-Star Game and finished third in Cy Young Award voting despite not getting called up until around this time last year. The Pirates had a record over .500 at the trade deadline last year before a late-season collapse led to their fourth last-place finish in the last six years. Their starters finished the season with a respectable 3.95 ERA. 

Their offense, meanwhile, ranked 24th in runs scored and 27th in OPS, with little help coming from a farm system that appears unable to draft and develop hitters or successfully supplement those deficiencies on the trade market. 

Needless to say, the needs were clear after nine straight seasons missing the playoffs. 

And Nutting did … basically nuttin’. 

Neither the team’s struggles nor having the most intriguing young arm in the sport prompted the Pirates to spend to fix their offense in an indefensible farce of an offseason. They signed 38-year-old Andrew McCutchen and 37-year-old Tommy Pham to one-year deals. Their most notable offensive move was a trade for Spencer Horwitz, a 27-year-old who hit 22% better than league average over parts of two seasons with the Blue Jays. McCutchen is now the three-hole hitter in one of MLB’s most predictably feeble lineups, while Horwitz has yet to debut with his new club after undergoing wrist surgery. 

Once he returns, he can only do so much. 

Skenes has a 2.77 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and .192 batting average against, all of which rank in the top 20 among qualified starters this year. And he is 3-4, having received four runs of support or fewer in six of his seven starts.

Now, the response is a rearranging of deck chairs on the Titanic. 

That’s nothing against bench coach Don Kelly, the man now tasked with leading the Pirates’ sinking ship forward. Letting Shelton go can change the voice in the clubhouse, but it can’t change the fact that the roster is inadequate. 

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience

Pittsburgh Pirates

Major League Baseball

Paul Skenes

–>

recommended

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports