NL West

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow is "highly unlikely" to return this season after suffering a sprained elbow, manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Saturday.

He will be out "for a while" with the injury, Roberts said.

Glasnow was shut down 20 pitches into his warmup for a two-inning simulated game on Friday after Roberts said he reported "discomfort" in his right elbow, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com.

He has been on the IL since Aug. 16 with right elbow tendinitis.

The setback is a major blow for the Dodgers' starting rotation, which is also missing Clayton Kershaw as the club prepares for the postseason.

Kershaw was placed on the injured list on Aug. 31 due to bone spurs in his toe.

The Dodgers' rotation depth gets even thinner outside of the team's top five.

Gavin Stone was placed on the IL on Sept. 7 with shoulder inflammation, while Tony Gonsolin is continuing rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery.

Pitchers Dustin May, River Ryan and Emmet Sheehan are already set to miss the rest of the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, with May also set to work his way back from esophageal surgery.

Glasnow's setback will put more pressure on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who recently missed three months with a rotator cuff strain, at the top of the rotation. The deadline pickup of Jack Flaherty is looking more crucial than ever behind him.

Walker Buehler is also available, and the Dodgers will likely need to give more starts to Bobby Miller and Landon Knack in order to fill out the rotation in the final weeks of the season.

The elbow injury marks the second trip to the IL for Glasnow this season after the pitcher missed time in July with lower back tightness.

Despite the injuries Glasnow has pitched a career-high 134.0 innings and 22 starts while marking a 3.49 ERA, 0.948 WHIP and earning a 9-6 record.

His injury setback will test the already-thin Dodgers pitching depth this week as the team looks to clinch a postseason spot, which could happen as early as Tuesday, per MLB.com.

The Colorado Rockies' green and white city connect uniforms are going to be replaced after the 2024 season.

Prior to Friday's game against the Chicago Cubs, the Rockies announced they would be taking advantage of the agreement between Nike and MLB that allows teams to rotate in a new city connect jersey every three years to debut a new look in 2025.

Coming in 2025 👀 New City Connect

This is the final month of the inaugural green and white uniforms. As part of MLB and Nike's three year City Connect cycle, we will be debuting a new City Connect design next season. pic.twitter.com/dYOwbwKLsC

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) September 13, 2024

The Rockies have announced that they will be getting a new City Connect uniform in 2025

This will be the final month for their green and white uniforms pic.twitter.com/pgma64ulkK

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) September 13, 2024

The Boston Red Sox were the first team to use a city connect jersey in April 2021. A total of seven teams broke in the look later that same season.

Colorado was the 11th team to showcase its city connect jerseys, wearing them for the first time on June 4, 2022. The green and white color scheme with the Rocky Mountain logo was modeled after the state's car license plates.

The Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to retire their original city connects and debut a second one. Their original debuted in Aug. 2021 and featured "Los Dodgers" written on the cap and jersey.

Los Angeles retired that jersey in favor of a new look with a cream-base color and blue lettering. The Washington Nationals are also going to retire their current city connect look at the end of this season for a new model in 2025.

Details about the Rockies' next city connect uniform have not been made available at this point. The uniform is designed to have specific cultural aspects of the team's home city or state.

The Rockies' primary jerseys include home whites with pinstripes, road grays and a purple alternate that can be used for home or road games.

Since the city connect jerseys were introduced in 2021, 28 of MLB's 30 teams have used them in games. The only teams that don't have one are the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is not ruling out the possibility that two-way star Shohei Ohtani could pitch during the 2024 postseason.

"I just think like anything, I think that you should always leave some margin, a crack in the door, for any possibility," Roberts said in a Friday appearance on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio. "If things line up, and there's a need, and the game, his body, everything's telling us that it makes sense, then in that situation, great. And it would be storybook.

"But I think that to kind of count on that, bet on that, I think that's not a fair way to go about it. But Shohei's on board with just continuing his rehab process, and I wouldn't put it past him to have an eye on that, and we'll just see how he plays out."

Will we see Shohei Ohtani pitching in the postseason?#Dodgers | @Dodgers
🔗 https://t.co/6YbqEWG3tX pic.twitter.com/XD1yfPFkmI

— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) September 13, 2024

The Dodgers have previously stated that Ohtani was not expected to pitch until 2025 after undergoing elbow surgery last September. His last MLB pitching appearance took place with the Los Angeles Angels in August 2023.

Roberts' answer marks a change from Dodgers leadership's previous stance that Ohtani is definitely out for the postseason.

"He's not pitching for us this year. He's not," Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said about Ohtani last month, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. "We've got a lot of good pitchers. There's no world where he's pitching for us this postseason."

Gomes continued, per Plunkett: "It's not even big picture as much as – what if he pulls an oblique throwing a live BP and then we lose our DH for the postseason? The upside-downside of it is so out of whack on multiple levels that it's, 'Let's not even introduce that.'"

Ohtani started out his rehab with 30-foot pitches in late March, per ESPN's Alden Gonzalez.

By early August, that distance had increased to 150 feet as Ohtani had resumed throwing "at 85 percent intensity," per Gonzalez.

"Ahead of the playoffs, the hope is he can briefly face hitters in some capacity, be it through live batting practice or in a one- to two-inning simulated game, before shutting it down and restarting in the offseason," Gonzalez wrote in a story published Aug. 8.

The next major step in Ohtani's recovery was when he pitched off a mound on Aug. 24 for the first time since undergoing surgery.

Shohei Ohtani last night, 40/40.

Today, throwing off a mound for the first time since elbow surgery 👀 pic.twitter.com/jjQtSCqZkF

— MLB (@MLB) August 25, 2024

The Dodgers signed Ohtani to his record contract in January in the hope that he would eventually be able to resume his work as a two-way player after spending his 2024 campaign as the team's designated hitter.

Ohtani made MLB history while playing that role for the Angels in 2021 and 2022, marking an overall batting average of .265 while posting an ERA of 2.70 over the two seasons.

While playing at DH this season, Ohtani has batted .292 with an league-best 47 home runs and 104 RBI through 143 games.

The Dodgers headed into Friday with an 87-59 record, good for first in the NL West and putting the team on comfortable trajectory to make the 2024 postseason picture.

After this fall Roberts will have one year remaining on his current contract. Leading his team past the NLCS for the first time since the team's 2020 title could help further his goal of an extension. Hopes of a deep postseason run hinge on Ohtani's offense, so it seems likely he and the team will remain cautious with his return to the mound.

The San Francisco Giants' Logan Webb says he was hungover while pitching during the 2024 MLB All-Star Game.

Webb said the July 16 exhibition contest took place on "probably one of the more hungover days" of his life on JM Baseball's The Chris Rose Rotation podcast.

"I had a lot of Red Bulls, I got Tylenol in me, 'cause I'm trying to get the hangover out of me, and I think I wasted all of my good pitches in the bullpen," Webb said (39-minute mark). "It was all I had. I wasted all of them.

"Then I go from the bullpen, and I jog out to the mound. And the only thing I'm thinking is, 'Don't throw up, don't throw up, don't throw up, don't throw up, don't throw up.' And it's a long jog."

Webb allowed three hits, one walk and three earned runs in one inning pitched during the National League's 5-3 loss to the American League.

"I think my first pitch almost didn't make it to [Los Angeles Dodgers catcher] Will Smith, and I would've felt real bad about that," Webb said.

Webb said that he was worried about the reaction of his NL teammates when coming off the mound after his one inning of action.

"I got out of there, I got out of the game, and I felt so bad," Webb said. "I was like, seven million people watching, I said, 'This team is going to hate me,' and I'm walking into the dugout going, 'My bad guys, my bad guys.' And every superstar you could think of that was on that National team was like, 'Dude, who gives a f--k.'"

The Giants pitcher added that he knew some fans who were angry with his performance because it prevented Shohei Ohtani from earning an MVP nod after recording a three-run home run in the third inning.

"I do know some fans were mad at me, because a certain someone didn't get the All-Star Game MVP, 'cause they would have, if we had won the game," Webb said.

Webb said the hangover stemmed back to his celebrations the night before, when he joined a postgame players' celebration "for the players and their families" after the Home Run Derby.

"It was an experience, but definitely got to take it easy next time," Webb said.

Webb, who made his first All-Star appearance of his career in his sixth season with the Giants, is currently leading the NL in innings pitched for a second straight year.

During his league-high 30 starts and 189.2 innings pitched he has recorded a 3.45 ERA and 157 strikeouts to 46 walks so far this season.

The San Francisco Giants got an early start on their planning for 2025 and beyond by agreeing to a long-term contract extension with third baseman Matt Chapman.

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, Chapman will sign a six-year, $151 million deal with the Giants that will keep him under contract through the 2030 season.

Matt Chapman's deal with the San Francisco Giants starts in 2025, when he'll be 32 years old, and will run through 2030. It includes no deferred money and a no-trade clause. The $151 million comes on top of the $20 million he earned this season in the deal replaced by extension.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 5, 2024

This is a deal that provides security for both sides. The Giants keep one of the best third basemen in Major League Baseball under contract for the remainder of his prime years at a reasonable salary for a player of his caliber.

Chapman secures the long-term deal he has been seeking and avoids going through the uncertainty of free agency for a second consecutive offseason.

Matt Chapman says he’s already heard from players with other teams about their potential interest in playing for the Giants after he signed a six-year extension.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) September 5, 2024

Despite being arguably the best position player available last winter—Shohei Ohtani is in his own category—Chapman went unsigned until March. He ultimately landed a three-year, $54 million deal from the Giants that included player options after each of the first two years.

That contract also included a mutual option for 2027 that would have pushed the total value to $73 million over four years.

This new deal guarantees Chapman more than twice as much money as he would have earned had he played out the original contract.

Perhaps due to the extended offseason wait, Chapman got off to a slow start this season. He was hitting .205/.255/.331 in 161 plate appearances through May 10.

In 97 games since May 11, Chapman has a .265/.364/.493 slash line with 18 homers. His defense at third base remains stellar, ranking in the 93rd percentile in outs above average.

Chapman's 4.4 FanGraphs' wins above replacement ranks second among all third baseman, behind only Cleveland Guardians star José Ramírez (5.5).

The Giants still have a lot of work to do in the offseason if they want to build a playoff contender in the NL West. They are on track to finish .500 or worse for the third consecutive season with a 68-72 record entering play on Thursday.

But locking in Chapman now leaves the Giants with one less position they have to worry about as they start planning for free agency this winter.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will receive an important boost to their pitching rotation for the stretch run.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed Wednesday that the plan is for Yoshinobu Yamamoto to return for Tuesday's game against the Chicago Cubs, per ESPN's Alden González. Yamamoto hasn't pitched in a game since June 15 because of a triceps injury.

Don't expect the right-hander to work deep into the game.

As Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors pointed out, he didn't pitch more than two innings in either of his rehab starts at Triple-A Oklahoma City. He also struggled through 53 pitches in his final outing and will have to build up some arm strength before the playoffs.

Still, this is a welcome development for the Dodgers considering how well the rookie pitched prior to his injury.

Yamamoto posted a 2.92 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 84 strikeouts in 74 innings during his first 14 starts of the season and seemed well on his way to being a critical part of a playoff push.

Fortunately for Los Angeles, it has weathered the storm without him and leads the National League West over the San Diego Padres by 5.5 games. While it is battling with the Atlanta Braves for the best record in the NL, it has something of a cushion to play with in the division as it works Yamamoto back into the fold.

There are still plenty of questions about the pitching staff, though, and the return of Yamamoto is yet another variable.

Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register noted Tyler Glasnow is slowly working his way back from elbow tendonitis while Clayton Kershaw is wearing a walking boot with an unclear timeline.

Throw in some inconsistency from Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller and the status of Yamamoto, and "only Jack Flaherty and Gavin Stone in the current rotation appear certain to start games in October."

But Tuesday's start will be a critical step for Yamamoto, even if he is limited to a handful of innings.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler poked fun at the Los Angeles Angels' decision to intentionally walk Shohei Ohtani to get to Mookie Betts in the 10th inning of Tuesday's game.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Buehler joked there was "more enthusiasm" for fans at Angels Stadium to watch the Dodgers before talking about trying to decide between facing two of the best hitters in MLB.

#Dodgers Walker Buehler throws shade at Anaheim then does financial breakdown on intentional walk: "I think there were a little more people and more enthusiasm than typical down here. ... But Shohei playing for us now, I think is really cool. ..." 1/2

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) September 4, 2024

"Yeah it’s a tough situation to walk a guy that got 700 (million dollars) to get to the guy that got 350. He’s pretty good at baseball, too.” 2/2

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) September 4, 2024

The Dodgers took a 3-2 lead on Miguel Rojas' one-out RBI single in the top of the 10th. After Gavin Lux grounded out, Angels manager Ron Washington intentionally walked Ohtani to put runners on first and second with two outs.

Betts made the move backfire by hitting a three-run homer to break the game open, as the Dodgers went on to win 6-2.

Walking Ohtani because "he'd rather face Mookie Betts" 😅

🎥: @SportsNetLA pic.twitter.com/PyaQd8MX5P

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 4, 2024

Even though the end result was bad for the Angels, their process wasn't totally flawed. Lux's groundout advanced Kevin Kiermaier to second base, leaving first base open.

The issue is Washington allowed reliever Roansy Contreras to face the right-handed hitting Betts. Even though Contreras is also right-handed, he has a huge reverse platoon split this season.

Contreras has held left-handed hitters to a .204/.296/.323 slash line with three homers allowed in 108 plate appearances. Righties have lit up Contreras to the tune of a .264/.354/.472 slash line in 145 plate appearances.

If Washington wanted to avoid pitching to Ohtani, he should have had a better plan than to leave Contreras in that spot. It wasn't like he had to exhaust his bullpen because Reid Detmers turned in a terrific start with 10 strikeouts and two earned runs allowed over six innings.

There are no good answers when the choices are facing Ohtani or Betts, but Washington waited one batter too long to make a move. He brought in lefty Brock Burke after Betts homered. Burke gave up a single to Freddie Freeman before striking out Teoscar Hernández to end the inning.

The bigger story is that the Dodgers, even with all of their rotation concerns, are playing as well as they have all season. After going 11-13 in July, they have won 21 of 30 games since the start of August.

Los Angeles has the best record in MLB at 84-55 and opened up a 5.5-game lead over the San Diego Padres (79-61) in the NL West.

Shohei Ohtani received a tribute video from the Los Angeles Angels in his first game at Angel Stadium as a visitor on Tuesday night.

The Angels tribute video for Shohei Ohtani ❤️

He returns to Anaheim for the first time since signing with Dodgers

(via @Angels)pic.twitter.com/SjkqwGtFXK

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 4, 2024

The Los Angeles Dodgers star returned to his old home ballpark exactly one year after playing his final game as a member of the Angels.

Shohei Ohtani returns to Angel Stadium exactly one year after his final game played with the Angels 👏 pic.twitter.com/avzOtQki92

— MLB (@MLB) September 4, 2024

Ohtani spent the first six years of his career in Anaheim before joining the Dodgers in free agency following the 2023 season.

There was some uncertainty regarding a potential tribute video, as The Athletic's Sam Blum reported that the Angels didn't plan to honor Ohtani as of Monday. However, Blum also noted that a spokesperson for the team didn't rule out a change to the plans.

The change ended up being made, and Ohtani's video highlighted his Angels career. In six seasons with the organization, he recorded 171 home runs and 437 RBIs to go along with a .274/.366/.556 slash line.

He also established himself as a two-way star, finishing with a 38-19 record in 86 starts and posting a 3.01 ERA. Ohtani also racked up 608 strikeouts compared to just 173 walks in 481.2 innings of work.

After signing a historic 10-year contract with a total value of $700 million with the Dodgers, the two-time MVP hasn't slowed down in 2024. Ohtani earned the fourth All-Star nod of his career, hitting 44 homers and 98 RBIs as well as stealing 46 bases entering Tuesday's action.

As he prepares to make the first postseason appearance of his career with the Dodgers sitting at 83-55, he received recognition for his past accomplishments from his former team.

Shohei Ohtani won't receive any acknowledgement from the Los Angeles Angels when he returns to Angel Stadium as a visitor on Tuesday night.

The Angels said that they have no plans to honor Ohtani as of Monday, per Sam Blum of The Athletic. However, a spokesperson for the team revealed that a potential change is still possible.

Ohtani left the Angels in free agency following the 2023 season, signing a massive 10-year contract with an overall value of $700 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Angels didn't appear to be a serious contender to bring back the 30-year-old. Team owner Arte Moreno told Ohtani's representatives that he was out on the two-way superstar early in free agency and figured that his contract would "start" at around $400 million, according to Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci.

Ohtani doesn't appear to feel any animosity towards his old team, thanking them during his American League MVP acceptance speech on Jan. 27.

"To the Angels organization -- ownership, front office and the entire staff -- thank you for the past six years," he said, via Manny Randhawa of MLB.com. "I always appreciated your support and allowing me the opportunity to play this game I'm so passionate about."

While he wasn't able to make a postseason appearance with the Angels during his tenure with the team, Ohtani still established himself as a star on the mound and at the plate. He ranks No. 8 on the organization's all-time home run leaderboard and also holds the No. 19 spot on the Angels' all-time strikeout list.

Ohtani's been limited to strictly hitting in 2024, but that hasn't stopped him from putting together another historic season. He's hitting .292 with 44 homers and 98 RBIs to go along with an National League-leading .993 OPS.

SHOHEI OHTANI MASHES NO. 43 🔥

First 43/43 season in MLB history

(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/iTXfZxnkSc

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) August 31, 2024

He's also recorded 46 steals and could become the first player in MLB history to reach 50 home runs and 50 steals in a single year by the end of the season.

Ohtani will return to his old stomping grounds on Tuesday at 9:38 p.m. ET.

After 72 days on the injured list, Fernando Tatis Jr. is set to make his return.

Per The San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee, Tatis will be activated from the injured list and in the lineup for the Padres' series opener against the Detroit Tigers on Monday.

The Padres officially announced Tatis had been removed from the 60-day injured list after Acee's report:

We have made the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/BeeYCaPx5S

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 2, 2024

Tatis has been on the injured list since June 21, while dealing with a quad strain.

Before his injury, Tatis had 14 home runs, 36 RBI and a .279 batting average in 80 games. His homer numbers led the Padres at the time of his injury and he had a .821 OPS, which was good for 13th in the National League.

Tatis spent the past week getting at-bats against minor-league pitchers, and "the reports were good regarding how he looked and felt," according to Acee, and that was enough for the Padres to reinsert him into the lineup.

Even in their star's absence, the Padres have managed to stay afloat, going 38-21 without Tatis.

His return comes at the perfect time as San Diego looks to make a push for the playoffs in the final month of the season. The Padres are 78-61 on the year, tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the top wild-card spot in the National League.

With Tatis back in the mix, the Padres will look to bolster their record over the next few weeks to ensure a postseason berth after missing the playoffs a year ago.