Look away, people—this series against the Pirates got ugly. Have some healthy distraction from the chaos in the Dodgers’ clubhouse and take a look at what else is happening.
Dodgers Notes
Blink, and you may have missed it. Shohei Ohtani debuted a new version of his curveball last Wednesday with a harder break and better spin, and it’s even more impressive than the curve he threw in his last healthy season as a pitcher, writes Mike Axisa at CBS Sports. After throwing 11 curveballs all season, Ohtani loosed 23 against
the Reds in a single game.
And speaking of Ohtani: His 1o0th home run with the Dodgers was historic in two respects. Not only is he the fastest to reach the milestone in team history, the ball was also the hardest-hit for the Dodgers in the Statcast era, according to Ryan Young at Yahoo Sports.
It’s no secret that Teoscar Hernández has been having a tough go of it this season, but his benching against the Arizona Diamondbacks recently was still a bit of a surprise, writes Jack Harris at the Los Angeles Times. It wasn’t a disciplinary measure—manager Dave Roberts just thought a couple extra days of rest might help. “I want to see that edge, that fight, that fire, and I’ll bet on any result. I just want to see that,” Roberts said.
Hyeseong Kim rejoined the Dodgers yesterday after a rehab assignment in Oklahoma City, but it wasn’t easy, reports Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register. Kim and his interpreter were stuck at the airport for about 15 hours after a series of delays and missed connections, but it was all worth it in the end. “I kept practicing the same routine during the rehab process, just working on the same things over and over again trying to perfect my swing. I’ve felt a lot better recently,” Kim said.
