The Dodgers took a big lump Wednesday in Pittsburgh, losing a close game that was an Ohtani start in which he surrendered his first inning of multiple runs. And as always, there are always more bumps in the road.
Will Smith will be hitting the injured list, after his lingering neck issue isn’t getting better fast enough to return to the field. The Dodgers primary backstop has been out of the lineup since he was pulled in Saturday’s game.
Daulton Rushing was already slated to pitch all three games in Pittsburgh,
and the Dodgers cleared a roster spot on Wednesday by releasing utility player Tyler Fitzgerald.
The Dodgers have two options in Triple-A, Eliezer Alfonzo and Chuckie Robinson.
“We had Chuckie last year, and we had Eliezer all spring,” Roberts said. “So both those guys are confident. They’re kind of a little older, so they’ve been around, and we’re very familiar with both those guys, so it should be pretty seamless.”
The Dodgers chose Robinson, and he is expected to be in Pittsburgh on Thursday.
Maddie Lee of the L.A. Times has more details on the logistics here.
Freddie Freeman collected his 2500th hit on Tuesday, and now has his sights set on 3000. But, he acknowledges that it might not be in the cards.
Three big things could stand in his way – his age, his want to spend more time with his family, especially now having a newborn at home, and that another certain player will be occupying the DH position for the Dodgers for quite awhile.
“Over the last year or two, 3,000 is a number that I would love to get to. But I have one more year under contract. There’s still a lot of other factors that go into it. I have four kids now. We have to see what’s going on there. But I would love to get to 3,000 hits. I would love to. I’m not going to deny that. But do I know if I’m going to get there? I don’t know. But we’ll start the trek tomorrow and we’ll see if we can get some more numbers and we’ll see if people still want me to play after 2027.”
Only 33 players currently have more than 3,00o hits. Bill Plunkett of the OC Register discusses other implications of chasing that number here.
Jack Harris of the California Post has some more quotes from the multi-time All-Star on where his head is at at this point in his career.
