The Dodgers on Saturday tied the Athletics 5-5 in nine innings at Camelback Ranch to close out the Arizona portion of their spring training. What a way to make a living.
It marked the first Dodgers tie in 756 days, since February 24, 2024 against the Angels.
Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski are both ticketed for the Dodgers roster, and given that Sheehan started Saturday, he’ll be the one in the rotation at first, possibly in line to start next weekend against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sheehan said
as much after his outing on Saturday:
It hasn’t been smooth sailing at all this spring for Sheehan, who was sidelined a bit with the flu, and was forced to play catch up. His first three games were a mess, needing 149 pitches to get through his 7 1/3 innings, with as many walks (six) as strikeouts in his 38 batters faced.
Saturday provided more stability for Sheehan, who threw 80 pitches in 4 2/3 innings for his longest outing to date, with five strikeouts and a pair of walks. But even that came with some troubles in the second inning.
Colby Thomas doubled and stole third base. Henry Bolte stole second base because Sheehan’s pickoff throw to first took too long. He would have stolen third with an incredible jump had Leo DeVries not made contact and tripled him home. Rick Monday on the SportsNet LA telecast multiple times in the inning described Sheehan as falling asleep on the mound. Sheehan then wild-pitched De Vries home, capping a largely forgettable three-run frame.
De Vries singled again in the fifth inning, and Sheehan threw twice to first base, then stepped off the mound for a third time, triggering a disengagement violation. De Vries after getting balked to second base later scored. In his two years in the majors, Sheehan has only allowed four steals in eight attempts in 133 2/3 innings, so him getting caught flat-footed on Saturday was surprising.
One battle remaining
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Friday at Camelback Ranch that the lone position-player roster battle remaining this spring is between Hyeseong Kim and switch-hitter Alex Freeland, as the likely left-handed side of a platoon at second base, plus potential extra work around the infield.
It’s been a rough spring for Freeland, who was in an 0-for-18 skid when he hit a two-run home run on Saturday, his first home run this spring.
That was only the second hit this month for Freeland, who has five hits in 43 at-bats this spring, with a team-leading 11 walks while hitting .116/.286/.233.
Worth the wait?
Most of Jack Suwinski’s work in Dodgers camp this spring, after getting claimed off waivers on February 21, has come on the backfields and in the team facilities at Camelback Ranch. After getting sent outright to the minors and off the 40-man roster, Suwinski finally got into a game last Sunday and played a total of three Cactus League games over the last seven days. Suwinski homered in all three games, including a solo shot to dead center field.
Suwinski is tied for the Dodgers’ team lead with three home runs. He batted 11 times.
Only in spring
We’ve seen the re-entry rule exercised a few times this spring, when a starting pitcher is removed in a struggling inning to avoid running up stressful pitches, then allowed to resume pitching the following inning. That happened on Saturday, when A’s starter Jacob Lopez was taken out with the bases loaded and two outs in the first inning. He pitched a scoreless second, then allowed a run and loaded the bases again in the third, this time removed for good with one out.
Both relievers — CD Pelham in the first inning, Justin Steiner in the third inning — escaped those unenviable jams unscathed, giving Lopez an otherwise impossible six bequeathed runners in one game, and none of them scored.
Up next
No more games in Arizona for the Dodgers, at least not until June 1-4 when they are back in Phoenix to play the Diamondbacks. Just three spring training games remain, with the Freeway Series against the Angels beginning in Anaheim on Sunday night (6:07 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network). Tyler Glasnow starts the opener, with George Klassen going for the Angels.
