The journey is long from over for the Nashville Predators, but for the first time this season, they are in a Wild Card spot.
Saturday's 4-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights pushed Nashville ahead into the Wild Card 2 spot with 73 points. However, it needed some help to stay there.
Los Angeles needed to lose to Buffalo in any fashion, while Seattle needed to lose to Columbus in regulation in order for the Predators to maintain possession of the final playoff spot.
The Sabres scored three unanswered goals in the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie and handing the Kings a 4-1 loss. That kept Los Angeles one point out of WC2 with 72 points.
Seattle fell into a 3-0 hole against Columbus and was unable to recover, losing 5-2 and trailing the Predators by two points with 71. If the Kraken were to win, they would've tied the Predators in points, but have the tiebreaker in regulation wins.
To add a cherry on top, San Jose (70 points) lost to Philadelphia, 4-1, and Winnipeg (68 points) lost to Pittsburgh in a shootout, 5-4.
The Predators were the worst team in the NHL for the first two months of the season before turning things around at Thanksgiving.
By New Year's Eve, following a 4-2 win over the Golden Knights, the Predators were just a point outside of Wild Card position, the first time they'd come within a game of a playoff spot.
However, for two and a half months, the Predators could not get past the threshold, coming within a point of WC2 multiple times. Saturday's win was the first time that Nashville has actually been in the playoff spot.
It's an exciting moment for Nashville, but there are still 13 games left in the regular season. There is still more than enough time for the Predators to clinch and lose the Wild Card.
Its biggest challenge will come in a six-game road trip from March 29 to April 9; it'll see Los Angeles twice, San Jose, along with Utah (WC1), Tampa (Atlantic 2), and Anaheim (Pacific 1).
The Sharks also come into town on Tuesday, trailing the Predators by three points for the final Wild Card spot.
Nashville has a quick turnaround from Saturday, playing the Blackhawks in Chicago at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
In November of 2023, Roby Jarventie had every reason to believe his Ottawa Senators' career was well on its way.
From November 4-24 that year, the Senators' 2020 second-round pick played in seven games, including their two Global Series games in Sweden that year. But after being returned to Belleville on Nov. 26, that when the injuries set in, and he hasn't been back in the NHL since.
29 months later, that will change on Saturday night.
After Leon Draisaitl's injury, Jarventie was recalled earlier this week and will skate on the Oilers' fourth line with Adam Henrique and Josh Samanski.
"Yeah, I always knew if I stayed healthy, I'd have a chance (to get back to the NHL)," Jarventie told the media. "So, yeah, just really happy to be here, just enjoying every day."
Jarventie was one of Pierre Dorion's top draft picks in 2020 (33rd overall), but a month after the big winger's seven-game run in Ottawa, Dorion was fired. Two months after that, Jarventie ended up having knee surgery to correct a problem that had been hampering him for several years.
"It's unfortunate for him," former Belleville head coach David Bell told the Belleville Sens Entertainment Network. "It's just a nagging knee that they've tried to band-aid along the last couple of years, and it just got to the point where he needed surgery to get this thing completely fixed.'
Five months later, new GM Steve Staios opted to package Jarventie up with a 2025 fourth-round pick (David Lewandowski) and sent him to Edmonton for forwards Xavier Bourgault and Jake Chiasson.
Jarventie was asked on Friday if he was given a fair shake in Ottawa, and trailed off a little as he tried to choose his words carefully.
"(My NHL debut) came pretty early in the year (2023), my first call-up," Jarventie said. "I remember I had a pretty good camp. I almost made a team out of camp and was probably the last one to get sent down. And then, yeah, pretty early, I got my call-up, so a couple of injuries, but, yeah..."
After the trade, in his first training camp with the Oilers in the fall of 2024, Jarventie's other knee began barking at him. As a result, he played all of two games in AHL Bakersfield last season.
So when this year rolled around, he was under strict load management orders. Early in the season, the. Condors treated him like a starting goalie, not allowing him to play back-to-back games. It seems to have worked out. He's had a career-high 36 points in 52 AHL games before his recall to Edmonton this week.
The Senators got Bourgault up to Ottawa for two games this season, so we're a long way from adding the Jarventie trade to the Sens' list of regrets.
But his draft selection is a different story, and it's not exactly a tale of hindsight either.
When Jarventie was picked 33rd overall, John Peterka was sitting right there, chosen by Buffalo with the very next pick at 34. The Sens had just chosen Peterka's German teammate, Tim Stutzle, third overall and fans figured Peterka was the obvious selection.
On Saturday, as Jarventie prepares to play his eighth career NHL game, now with another organization, Peterka, now in Utah, has 192 points in 308 career NHL games.
Steve Warne The Hockey News
This article was originally published at The Hockey News. For more Senators news, analysis, and features, visit the Ottawa Senators site at The Hockey News.
The Buffalo Sabres picked up a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. With this, the Sabres have improved to a 44-20-6 record and have a six-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning for the top spot in the Atlantic Division standings.
New Sabres forward Sam Carrick played a big role in Buffalo's victory, as he scored the game-winning goal at the 11:12 mark of the third period.
Carrick's goal was a nice one, too, as he showed skill with the puck before beating Kings goalie Anton Forsberg with a sweet backhander. Sabres forward Zach Benson also deserves major props, as he took a big hit to set up Carrick.
With this clutch performance, Carrick now has five goals, six points, and a plus-4 rating in eight games for the Sabres so far. This is after he had four goals and 10 points in 60 games with the New York Rangers before the trade.
Clearly, Carrick is having an excellent start with the Sabres, and it will be fascinating to see how he builds on it from here.
Jarred Kelenic #24 of the Chicago White Sox swings during the spring training game against the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on February 23, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The downward slide continues for former top MLB prospect Jarred Kelenic.
Kelenic, who signed a minor league deal with the White Sox in December, was informed by the team on Friday that he would not be a part of the Opening Day roster, according to multiple reports.
The 26-year-old will remain in big league camp until Spring Training concludes, but will not be a part of the team’s 26-man roster.
Jarred Kelenic of the Chicago White Sox swings during the spring training game against the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on February 23, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Getty Images
This decision from the White Sox comes after the outfielder posted an abysmal Spring Training slash line of .179/.273/.359, which included striking out 12 times in 39 at-bats in 14 games.
Kelenic, who was selected by the Mets with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, was widely considered one of the league’s top talents during his early days in the minor leagues.
After spending less than one full season in the Mets’ organization, Kelenic was a part of the blockbuster trade for the Mets to acquire star closer Edwin Diaz and veteran second baseman Robinson Cano from the Mariners during the 2018 offseason.
Since being called up to the big leagues during the 2021 season, Kelenic has massively underperformed expectations, batting just .211 through 407 games across parts of five seasons.
Seattle Mariners’ Jarred Kelenic reacts after grounding out against the Minnesota Twins during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Seattle. AP
Kelenic was with the Braves last season, hitting .167 and striking out 23 times in 60 at-bats.
GLENDALE, AZ - MARCH 16: Brody Brecht #74 of the Colorado Rockies pitches during the game between the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago White Sox at Camelback Ranch on Sunday, March 16, 2025 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
As spring training winds down, the third annual MLB Spring Breakout is kicking off, featuring 16 matchups between rosters loaded with baseball’s up-and-coming stars. The Colorado Rockies’ prospects get their turn in a Saturday evening matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Rockies announced their 2026 roster earlier in the week. Among the group are familiar faces like Cole Carrigg (no. 4 PurP) and Zac Veen (no. 9 PuRP). Carrigg makes his third straight Spring Breakout appearance, while Veen rejoins the roster after being included in 2024 but not 2025 when he was busy battling for a spot on the Major League roster. The two headliners drumming up the most excitement, locally and nationally, are Charlie Condon (no. 1 PuRP) and Ethan Holliday (no. 2 PuRP).
As for today’s pitching matchup, one of the last around the league in the current format before the league moves to a tournament in 2027, RHP Brody Brecht will kick things off against RHP Patrick Forbes, before the teams work through their stable of pitchers.
Brecht (No. 3 PuRP) was drafted 38th-overall by the Rockies in the 2024 MLB Draft out of the University of Iowa. He started 2025 in the ACL but was promoted to Low-A Fresno after just four games. In 16 games with the Grizzlies, he went 1-4 with a 2.60 ERA over 55.1 innings while giving up just two home runs. Some of that was due to a back injury that sidelined him twice — once in May and once in July — but he finished strong.
Brecht will face Dbacks’ right-hander Patrick Forbes. Forbes (MLB Pipeline #9) was drafted 29th overall in the 2025 MLB Draft out of Louisville.
First Pitch: 5:10 p.m. MDT
TV: MLB.com, MLB Network, MLB.TV, Rockies.TV
Radio: None
Lineups:
Look at these prospects 🤩
Our Spring Breakout Game will start 30 minutes following the completion of Arizona vs. Texas. pic.twitter.com/RE1t4H1cnV
After the two threw the requisite number of punches and were separated, Reaves showed his injured finger to the on-ice officials as he grimaced in pain.
Reaves pulled on his finger and went to the Sharks bench instead of immediately to the penalty box. A trainer appeared to try to get the forward's dislocated finger back in place.
Ryan Reaves dropped the gloves with Garrett Wilson and appeared to have DISLOCATED HIS FINGER in the scrap 😳
Reaves then skated to the penalty box to serve his five minutes, but went to the dressing room to get his finger examined.
He came out for one more shift, then didn't play in the second or third periods, though he stayed on the bench.
"Reavo's been doing that his entire career," Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow told reporters after the game. "He's a guy that brings it all, every night. Great friend."
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky didn't have an update on Reaves after the game.
The fight was Reaves' fifth of the season, according to hockeyfights.com. He has hit double figures in fights in two NHL seasons, plus three in more seasons in the American Hockey League.
Wilson was making his second appearance since being called up after seven years in the AHL.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Christian Dvorak scored a tiebreaking goal early in the third period and added an assist, Dan Vladar made 24 saves and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Saturday to complete a three-game West Coast sweep.
Owen Tippett scored in the second period and defenseman Travis Sanheim and Noah Cates added empty-net goals in the final two minutes as the Flyers won their third straight and for the fifth time in six games. Philly was coming off a 3-2 overtime win over Anaheim on Wednesday and 4-3 shootout victory over Los Angeles on Thursday. The Flyers completed a California sweep for the second time in franchise history and extended their road winning streak to seven games.
Dmitry Orlov scored for San Jose, which lost its fourth in a row and for the seventh time in nine games. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 24 of 26 shots.
After a scoreless first period, Tippett got the Flyers on the board with his 24th of the season 2:26 into the second. Tippett took a pass from Trevor Zegras, got past the Sharks' Nick Leddy and beat Nedeljkovic with a shot to the glove side.
Orlov evened the score with his third of the season on a power play at 13:12 with a shot from the slot off a feed from William Eklund. Macklin Celebrini also assisted.
Dvorak put the Flyers ahead 1:47 into the third, scoring on the power play after San Jose's Mario Ferraro was sent off for roughing. The assists went to Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov, who picked up the 100th point of his NHL career.
The Sharks pulled Nedeljkovic late and the Flyers capitalized. Sanheim scored his eighth of the season and Cates netted his 15th, matching his career high of 38 points set in 2022-23 when he had 13 goals and 25 assists.
Up next
Flyers: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
SATURDAY CUBS ROSTER MOVES: The Cubs returned BJ Murray Jr., Jefferson Rojas and Jeff Brigham to minor league camp. The current camp roster has 41 players, comprised of 22 pitchers (four non-roster invitees), four catchers (one non-roster invitee), eight infielders (two non-roster invitees) and seven outfielders (three non-roster invitees).
TODAY’S TIME SCHEDULE: The Spring Breakout game at Sloan Park begins at 8:05 CT and the Cubs vs. Mariners game at Peoria begins at 8:10 p.m. CT.
Please visit our SB Nation Mariners site Lookout Landing and Padres site Gaslamp Ball. If you do go there to interact with Mariners or Padres fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
As we have done in the past, we’ll have a first pitch thread at five minutes to game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time. For today, that will be 8 p.m. CT and 9:35 p.m. CT.
These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked ”Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page. There will also be a StoryStream on the front page with all the game thread links, as well as the recap after the game is over. The pitcher photos and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust has been a tremendous player during his NHL career.
He broke into the NHL during the 2014-15 season and has never looked back, compiling 229 goals and 491 points in 12 NHL seasons. On Saturday, he hit a big career milestone, playing in his 700th NHL game against the Winnipeg Jets.
Rust's two assists helped the Penguins beat the Jets 5-4 in the shootout, giving the team 86 points for the season. Rust assisted on Rickard Rakell's goal in the first period and Erik Karlsson's goal in the third period.
Rust now joins Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang as the only Penguins to play in 700 or more games with only Pittsburgh. It's an incredible accomplishment and goes to show what a great Penguin he's been throughout his career.
His two points on Saturday extended his point streak to six games. He has five goals and 10 points on this point streak and 26 goals and 56 points in 62 games this year.
Rust will try to extend that point streak to seven when he plays in his 701st NHL game on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Los Angeles Kings (28-25-16) blew a game in what could've been their biggest win of the season, where they were competing wire-to-wire against the best team in the league, the Buffalo Sabres (44-20-6), until it came down to the final period.
LA's defense was great for the first 40 minutes of the game, before entering the third period tied, but the Sabres scored two goals in the final frame to hold on and get the 4-1 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Kings were great on the faceoff, winning 67.3% compared to the Sabres' 32.7%, and avoided the shutout, ending the Sabres' shutout streak since last Saturday.
But what this game showed was that there are levels to this: the mistakes Los Angeles made in the third period, Buffalo took advantage of to close out the game.
After suffering that heartbreaking loss on Thursday to the Philadelphia Flyers, where they gave up three goals in the second period, Los Angeles had an opportunity to pick up their biggest win of the season, but came up short in the final moments.
The game began with Artemi Panarin once again showing the Kings why he's a game-changer, especially on the power play, improving the stat to nearly 25% since he's been on the team.
LAK Goal - Breaking Bread!
Panarin opens the scoring on the power play. Heads-up work by Kopitar in the bumper spot, just enough on the shot to get in. 1-0.
Anze Kopitar found Panarin with a slick pass to earn his 700th point on home ice, tying Marcel Dionne for the most ever in Kings history.
It was an even first-period matchup for the most part. Despite the Kings getting on the board first to lead 1-0, the Sabres still weren't going away, outshooting Los Angeles 13-8 in the opening frame.
Both goaltenders were excellent in the game, Anton Forsberg once again showing why he should be the permanent starter over Darcy Kuemper, saving several shots that
Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen did a great job at limiting the Kings' chances of extending this lead, especially in the second period, when LA had a power play in the final minute of the period and failed to generate shots.
Buffalo finally got on board when Tage Thompson scored the nasty rebound goal after going around Forsberg and bringing the puck back to the net to tie the scoreboard 1-1.
BUF Goal - Tage Thompson ties the game at 1. Nasty goal, sheeeeeeeeesh.
The Kings were much better in the second period today, despite giving up a goal; the defense held the Sabres to just seven shots and got a lot of timely saves to end the period even.
The third period was quiet until the 8:48-minute mark when the Sabres scored to take their first lead. After Joel Edmundon stepped up for a big hit, Brandt Clarke was left alone to defend a 2-on-1, and the Sabres took advantage of that sequence to lead 2-1.
Los Angeles challenged the call for a potential high stick, but the goal would stand, and the delay would put the Sabres on the power play. And Buffalo would of course capitalize on the power play, scoring on the rebound after it went off defenseman Cody Ceci, giving Buffalo a 3-1 lead.
The Sabres defense picked up in the final period after getting that big stop in the second period, where they were all over the Kings' offense on the power play. Their intensity picked up in the final period, holding Los Angeles to single-digit shots.
Buffalo sealed the deal with an empty-net goal in the final two minutes of the match to take this game from the Kings on the road, ending their three-game road trip undefeated, while Los Angeles goes 0-1-1 in its two-game homestand.
Key Takeaways
With the loss now, the Kings fall out of the final playoff spot after the Nashville Predators won today, now holding a one-game lead over Los Angeles.
Give credit to the Kings for playing hard and staying in this game until the final period, but there are levels to this, and the Sabres showed Los Angeles why they're a championship contender and the Kings aren't.
Anton Forsberg was great, stopping 29 of 32 shots against the Sabres, coming up with big saves today, but in the final period, the Sabres flipped the switch.
Panarin scored the lone goal early on the power play to give the Kings that momentum lead, but that was all the offense could get against the Sabres' defense.
Luukkonen was also phenomenal on the crease for the Sabres, stopping 26 of the Kings' 27 shots, especially in the final period. He was huge for holding Los Angeles scoreless in the final 40 minutes of regulation.
FINAL - Kings 1, Sabres 4
0-1-1 on the homestand, three straight on the road begins tomorrow in Utah.
The Kings will play the Utah Mammoth tomorrow night at 6:00 PM PT, beginning their three-game road trip.
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A disastrous first inning did the Huskies (10-12) in on Friday night against San Jose State, as their evening was over before it really even started. The Spartans’ eight first-inning runs were more than UConn scored the entire game, as the Huskies were mercy ruled by the Spartans in seven innings, 16-6.
Husky starter Charlie West took a beating over two innings of work. He was removed without recording an out in the third inning, in which the Spartans put up another six runs. In total, the left-hander surrendered 12 runs (seven earned) on three home runs and three doubles on 10 hits. The junior’s ERA ballooned from 4.97 to 6.91.
Despite scoring just one run after the third inning, the Spartan offense was relentless in the early going.
After two of their first three batters reached base, Jake McCoy, who had walked it off earlier in the day in the team’s 3-2 extra innings win over San Diego State, slapped one over the left field fence. UConn outfielder Chase Taylor turned his back and waited for a ricochet off the wall that never came, as McCoy put three runs on the board.
Three out of the next four batters again reached, one on an error as the Huskies’ defense did the struggling West no favors. That round of runners culminated in a pair of RBI hits: a Neil Jansen double as part of a 3-for-3 game and an Alex Fernandes single up the middle. After an RBI base hit from Peyton Rowles, the Huskies were facing a seven-run deficit.
The Huskies made it a ball game again at the top of the second. Along with a Jackson Marshall RBI double from an inning earlier, UConn took advantage of RBI singles from Peyton Jemison and Tyler Minick, and a run-scoring groundout from Rob Rispoli to cut the Spartan lead to four.
That wouldn’t last long. The first Spartan batter in the bottom of the frame, JC Osorio-Agard, sent a big fly of his own over the fence in left field. An inning later, a Fernandes home run to center field, just right of the batter’s eye, made it an 11-4 ballgame. Run scoring hits from Brent Cota (two runs), Alan Ramirez, and Jansen left the Spartans up by more than 10 runs.
With their grave officially dug, the Huskies tried to climb out just a bit in the sixth inning. After a Nater Wachter single and a double from Evan Menzel that advanced the runner to third, Chase Taylor swatted a sac fly to left to make it 15-5.
The Huskies nearly avoided the mercy rule in the seventh inning, as Chris Polemeni continued his hot season with a homer to left center to bring the deficit back into the single digits.
The Spartans were seemingly set on going home early after their long day at the office, however. For the second time of the day, San Jose St. walked it off, this time under slightly different circumstances. Dylan Jackson sent the final pitch of the game deep to left field and over the fence to end it at 16-6.
The Huskies will look to get a little revenge tomorrow as they get another chance at San Jose State (9-12) later. For now, they’ll shift their focus to San Diego State (11-11), who they play today at 3 p.m. EST.
The San Jose Sharks were back in action on Saturday afternoon as they looked to get back in the win column against the Philadelphia Flyers following three straight losses.
Just a couple of minutes into the game, Garrett Wilson and Ryan Reaves dropped the gloves to get the energy going in the SAP Center. After the fight, Reaves skated over to the Sharks’ trainer with an apparent hand injury and went to the dressing room.
Collin Graf was called for holding just over five minutes into the first period, giving the Flyers the first power play opportunity of the night. During the penalty kill, Shakir Mukhamadullin blocked a shot with his left leg which caused him quite a bit of discomfort. Despite an attempt to skate it off during the TV timeout, he ended up going down the tunnel shortly afterwards.
Around the halfway point in the period, Trevor Zegras was called for kneeing Sharks forward Alexander Wennberg, giving the Sharks their first man advantage of the afternoon. During the stoppage in play, Mukhamadullin returned to the Sharks’ bench. The Flyers nearly scored a shorthanded goal, but they were denied by Kiefer Sherwood, who had hustled back to make a goal-line save.
Reaves went back down the tunnel shortly after the power play expired.
The Flyers were called for too many men on the ice with 4:20 remaining in the period. The Sharks were unable to get much going on the man advantage, but did hit the post with just under a minute remaining in the first.
Overall, the Sharks left much to be desired in the first period. They were very sloppy, specifically with passing and puck control.
Reaves once again returned to the Sharks’ bench to start the second period. At 2:26 in the second period, Owen Tippett opened the scoring for the Flyers, giving them a 1-0 lead. Philipp Kurashev took down Rasmus Ristolainen behind the Philadelphia net, giving the Flyers their second power play of the night a quarter of a way through the second period.
The Sharks then got their second power play of the night with 7:41 remaining in the second, as Emil Andrae sat in the penalty box for delay of game. During the power play, Dmitry Orlov scored his third of the season off of a nice pass by William Eklund, tying the game at 1-1.
Another fight broke out late in the second period after Barclay Goodrow threw a hit on Trevor Zegras. Noah Cates stepped up for his teammate and immediately threw off the gloves. John Klingberg and Travis Konecny were chirping at one another quite a bit late in the period, but nothing came of it before the teams went to their locker rooms for the second intermission.
Garnet Hathaway threw a heavy hit on Celebrini early in the third period, causing Mario Ferraro to go after him. Ferraro got the only penalty on the play, giving the Flyers their fourth power play of the night. While it was a costly penalty, the Sharks had to show that they weren’t going to let anything happen to their young superstar. The Flyers scored on the power play, with Christian Dvorak getting the goal and making it 2-1 for the visitors.
Michael Misa had a prime opportunity to restore the tie, but his stick broke on his shot attempt, and the puck floated softly toward Dan Vladar. Celebrini drew a penalty behind the Sharks’ net when he got tripped up by Zegras, giving the Sharks a key power play chance. The Sharks looked phenomenal on the power play, generating shot attempt after shot attempt, but the Flyers were able to keep the puck out of the net despite the heavy pressure.
Moments after the penalty expired, Celebrini was penalized for slashing. The Sharks killed off the penalty with little issue and immediately started putting pressure back on the Flyers.
Ryan Warsofsky pulled Alex Nedeljkovic out of the net with two minutes remaining, sending Will Smith over the boards as the extra attacker.
Travis Sanheim put away an empty-net goal to put the final nail in the coffin, as the Flyers took a 3-1 lead with 1:12 remaining. Cates then added a second empty-netter for the Flyers, making it 4-1.
The Sharks have now lost four straight games, and they'll have to try to get momentum back on their side while on the road. They'll head to Nashville to face the Predators in their next game on Tuesday.
PHOENIX –– The most boring camp in baseball is over.
On Saturday, the Dodgers packed up their Camelback Ranch clubhouse into cardboard boxes, portable storage crates and moving vans bound for Los Angeles, departing Arizona after six largely unremarkable weeks of spring training.
Indeed, the Dodgers return home in about as strong a shape as they could have possibly hoped ahead of their World Series three-peat bid.
Roki Sasaki struggled during Cactus League play. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
They encountered only one unexpected injury this spring, when Gavin Stone suffered a setback in his surgically repaired shoulder. They got all five of their World Baseball Classic participants back from the tournament unscathed. They have only one roster spot left up for grabs, with Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland waiting to learn who earned the final bench spot to begin the season.
Most importantly, the team largely played well, too, posting a Cactus League-best 19-8-1 record after a 5-5 tie against the Athletics on Saturday.
However, some lingering questions remain ahead of Opening Day on Thursday. Even six long weeks of spring haven’t brought total clarity to the state of the team yet.
Here are the three most pressing, as the regular season nears:
Rotation depth
The top of the Dodgers’ rotation looks dominant. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start on Opening Day after an impressive WBC showing. Tyler Glasnow became a spring standout with his improved mentality and delivery. Even Shohei Ohtani has seemed to handle his rushed pitching build-up following the WBC well. Add in the progress Blake Snell made this spring in his return from offseason shoulder problems –– putting him on track to return within the first couple months of the season –– and the Dodgers might have four potential aces before long.
The team’s rotation depth, however, is a potential red flag. Roki Sasaki’s spring training struggles were well-documented. Emmet Sheehan quietly struggled for much of camp, as well, finishing the spring with a 5.91 ERA after a 4 ⅔-inning, four-run, five-strikeout start Saturday.
For now, they will likely be the Nos. 4 and 5 arms in the rotation, with swingman Justin Wrobleski capable of piggybacking with them or being a spot sixth starter when needed (the Dodgers can get away with a five-man rotation for the first couple weeks of the season thanks to an abundance of off-days).
Last year, the Dodgers’ inability to get length from their starters incurred season-long costs on the bullpen. And until Sasaki, Sheehan or someone else beyond them can show consistent efficiency, the risk of overburdening the bullpen with repeatedly short starts will be a concern.
No matter how good the team’s top arms look.
Blake Treinen struggled during his final five Cactus League outings. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Right-handed relief
The Dodgers now boast one of the best right-handed relievers in baseball in new closer Edwin Díaz. How they get to him in the ninth inning, though, is something of a question.
While Alex Vesia, Jack Dreyer and a seemingly improved Tanner Scott provide plenty of left-handed weapons, the Dodgers’ righty middle relievers did not inspire much confidence this spring.
Blake Treinen was the biggest concern, allowing seven hits, seven walks and six runs over his final five Cactus League outings. Youngster Ben Casparius and Edgardo Henriquez also battled command issues.
Outside of Kyle Hurt, who had a strong camp but like Ryan was optioned as he returns from Tommy John, the most consistent right-handed reliever this spring might’ve been Will Klein, who followed up his heroics in last year’s World Series by allowing just one earned run and one walk in nine spring appearances while striking out nine batters.
Still though, Klein has just 22 career MLB appearances and was a journeyman before last year.
Thus, while the ninth inning might no longer be of concern for the team, building a bridge there –– especially against right-handed-heavy portions of opposing lineups –– could be a challenge barring some rapid individual improvements.
Staying healthy
The Dodgers might have gotten through this spring healthy. But staying that way will nonetheless be a task.
Their rotation still has to manage the heavy mileage they took on in last year’s playoffs. The lineup is full of 30-somethings who are coming off two consecutive grueling Octobers.
That’s why, in this year’s camp, the Dodgers were cautious with playing time, slowing the progressions of virtually everyone except Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages. Once the regular season begins, they will no longer have that luxury. And whether they can keep everyone healthy over another 162-game marathon could be the defining question of their entire season.
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English cricket chiefs Rob Key and Richard Gould will speak to the media at Lord’s on Monday regarding a post-Ashes review into the team’s series loss in Australia, with coach Brendon McCullum set to keep his job.
