July 14th, 2024
Steve Kornacki
DETROIT -- The Dodgers enter the All-Star break after Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park with a 56-41 record that is the second-best in the National League. It isn’t the runaway mark some anticipated from a team that won 100 games in 2023 before adding free agent sluggers Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández as well as pitching stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow.
However, the club currently has six starting pitchers on the injured list along with All-Star shortstop Mookie Betts and third baseman Max Muncy.
“Regardless of the outcome today,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said prior to the game, “we’ve weathered a lot. So, I think -- looking where we’re at -- I feel really, really good about it.”
Los Angeles scored three runs in the first inning and pitcher Brent Honeywell, signed Saturday night to fill an immediate need, allowed only one single in three scoreless innings. But Detroit made it two consecutive walk-off wins by scoring twice in the ninth inning, when pitcher Yohan Ramírez made two errors on bunts. Ramírez made a wild throw to third base to allow the winning run to race home.
Roberts said Ramírez was the lone pitching option who remained due to recent demands on relievers and injuries. Daniel Hudson said he’d be back after the break. However, “back stiffness” kept him from pitching Sunday.
Honeywell, who had family members attending from nearby Brooklyn, Mich., was the bright spot, arriving at 1:15 a.m., and taking the mound about 12 hours later.
“He threw strikes,” said Roberts. “He kept guys off balance. …I give him a lot of credit. He flew in last night, threw up three zeroes and left the ballgame with the lead.”
Honeywell had 28 walks in 60 previous MLB innings, but didn’t issue any free passes.
“It’s been a long 24 hours,” said Honeywell. “But, I mean, you’re getting ready to pitch for the Dodgers and the Major Leagues, and you’ve got to be ready to go. Throwing the strikes was the main thing today.”
Despite the challenges, the Dodgers enter the All-Star break with over 50 wins for the 10th consecutive season -- easily the longest such stretch in MLB -- and with at least five players selected to the All-Star Game for the fifth straight year.
“It’s such a winning organization and that’s what attracts people to want to come play here,” said All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman, who left the Braves as a free agent for Los Angeles before the start of the 2022 season. “It starts at the top with the front office. They’re really, really good at what they do.
“And they’re engaged with us. This organization has a plan, and they let you in on that plan. The players and the coaches -- there are no egos. That gets checked at the door and you come in here with one goal -- to win tonight and win a World Series every single year. Everyone pulls on the same rope here. So, when you have everyone working together in the same collective mind-set with the same collective goal, good things and success happen.”
Pitching coach Mark Prior, in his seventh season with the club, credited Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who came to the Dodgers in 2014, for establishing the solid foundation with a supportive culture.
“You do what the Dodgers have done for 10 straight years and it’s pretty remarkable,” said Prior, noting that other teams don’t always live up to expectations. “I’ve been in baseball for a long time, and you just don’t see this. To be here year-in and year-out is a credit to the organization. They build for the future with an eye on the present.”
He said “putting a premium” on “being a good teammate and clubhouse guy” can be overlooked, but is central to the continued Dodger success. Prior said shortstop Miguel Rojas is one of those glue guys.
“For me,” said Rojas, “I take a lot of pride in being a good teammate. I try to make everyone around me better because if I do that, my job is going to be easier. So, I use a lot of communication to do that. I try to make everyone feel comfortable as well.
“When Mookie started playing shortstop this year, my job was to get him better so our team can get better, and we can accomplish what we can accomplish.”
And through all the trials of the first half, Roberts still has the only MLB lineup featuring four batters with at least 55 RBIs. Ohtani leads with 69, Hernández has 62, Freeman 61 and Will Smith 55.
“It starts with Ohtani,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. “When he hits you at the very top of the order, he sets an incredible tone. And, obviously, we’re catching this team when they don’t have their entire lineup together.”
Kershaw and Glasnow will return shortly after the break along with outfielder Jason Heyward. Betts, Muncy and Yamamoto likely will be back in August. And that’s why Roberts remains confident about what 2024 still holds. His healthy players have held the fort for another playoff-bound team.
