Thirty-one runs in three games, Ohtani’s first season-high in RBIs, and the front office already made a move — and the Padres series hasn’t even started yet. Welcome to Dodgers Daily. The Angels just got flattened, Sasaki finally punched through, and San Diego is next — I’ve been waiting on this one all week. We’ve got the Lauer pickup, the rotation shuffle, and a Padres pitching chart that goes from funny to actually annoying fast. We’ll go through it. Griffin Canning at a 10.64 ERA and Michael King at 2.63 — that middle game is a gift, and the finale is the real test. I’m here for both. From Locked On Dodgers:
Then they got to Anaheim and absolutely flattened the Angels. A 10 to1 win on Sunday, a three-game sweep by a combined score of 31-3. That's complete control from start to finish. And in my opinion, it starts with Show Otani.
Thirty-one to three, combined, over a weekend. The rest-day plan Dave Roberts kept defending all week — that whole ‘compromise and openness to read and react’ framework — and then Ohtani goes out and puts up a season-high five RBIs in a 15-2 game. That’s the payoff, right there. And Sasaki too. I’ve spent three days listening to rotation panic, and Roki goes out and breaks through in Anaheim. That’s not the offense carrying the pitching — that’s the third starter saying, hey, I’m here. Padres fans saw that and I hope it ruined their afternoon. The Lauer acquisition landed the same weekend the rotation restructure became official, so yeah, the front office acted instead of sitting on its hands. Whether a Blue Jays castoff can really cover a Snell-and-Glasnow double absence is the bigger question, but at least they moved. Now the first real test is Yamamoto opening against Michael King, 2.63 ERA. Anaheim was Anaheim. Sheehan getting Griffin Canning at 10.64 is almost unfair. But Ohtani closing against Vázquez at 2.68? That’s where the Padres fans who spent all week laughing at our rotation figure out the joke didn’t land. r/Dodgers (123 upvotes), weighing in:
ALWAYS PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!!! Love how the Dodgers are hustling and not playing Umpires themselves. First Muncy to score an out yesterday, and now Ohtani with the heads up play to not assume a ground rule double and run it out!
Muncy hustles to expose a missed call, then Ohtani doesn’t assume the ground-rule double and runs it out — that’s two separate plays in two days. This team is locked in. Hustle plays don’t show up in the box score, but they do end up in a 31-3 combined score. I’ll take it. From r/baseball (299 upvotes):
I strongly believe this would only happen against the Angels
Two-ninety-nine upvotes for ‘this would only happen against the Angels’ — sure. The Padres are not handing out 31 runs in a weekend, which is exactly why King and Vázquez matter. That’s fair, and it’s also a little unkind to Anaheim. San Diego opens Tuesday, and we’ll find out pretty quickly how much of this was the opponent. Here's one from r/baseball (122 upvotes):
I think this year proves that Shohei loves pitching more (than hitting). It’s just a happy accident that he’s a reluctant 50/50 MVP DH when he can’t pitch.
That ‘reluctant fifty-fifty MVP DH’ framing actually tracks. Roberts has been managing Ohtani’s days around a pitching schedule that doesn’t really exist yet. Five RBIs on Sunday is what that patience buys you. Happy accident? The man had five RBIs and we’re calling it a happy accident. I’ll take that accident every single day. Dan Greenspan, writing in ABC News:
With another large contingent of Dodgers fans in attendance for the second game of the three-game Freeway Series, Ohtani got back to his highlight-reel self late in the game.
He ripped a ball into the right field corner in the eighth and it took an awkward bounce off the netting down the first-base line. Jo Adell didn't play the ball at first, calling for a ground-rule double.
Dave Roberts said all week the rest days were about getting a reset, and then Saturday night Ohtani goes 2-for-4, walks twice, drives in five, scores twice, and basically wins a footrace around the bases on an Angel Stadium ground-rule mess. That’s the payoff on the framework Roberts was defending. Five RBIs against the Angels — his old team — in a 15-2 game. I don’t want to hear another word about the slump. He’s back, the offense dropped 31 runs over the weekend, and the Padres are next. The number that actually matters to me isn’t the 15-2 — it’s whether this holds when Michael King, with that 2.63 ERA, is on the mound Tuesday instead of an Angels bullpen game. Anaheim is a nice data point. San Diego is the test. Cassidy, the man hit a Little League home run because Angel Stadium put up new netting and their own outfielder didn’t know the rules. I’m going to enjoy this for at least one more day before you make me worry again. Info Nasional writes:
The Los Angeles Dodgers are reevaluating their pitching rotation strategies in Anaheim after left-handed pitcher Blake Snell was placed on the injured list Friday due to loose bodies in his left elbow. The roster move comes shortly after fellow starter Tyler Glasnow was sidelined with lower back spasms, leaving the team with five healthy starting pitchers during a challenging stretch of 13 consecutive games without an off-day.
So we closed out last week wondering whether the front office would actually do something about rotation depth, and by Sunday they had Eric Lauer on the roster. Roberts said Friday he didn’t know if he had six rotation candidates. He does now, even if that sixth is a Blue Jays castoff. And look, I was fully in alarm mode Thursday when Snell’s elbow came back structural. But Sasaki goes out and handles business in Anaheim, the offense puts up 31 runs in a weekend, and suddenly the ‘we only have five starters’ math feels a lot less catastrophic. What I’m not letting go of is the 19 games in 20 days starting May 29th. Roberts specifically flagged keeping the remaining starters on their normal rest schedules. Lauer buys innings, but Michael King opens the Padres series at 2.63 ERA. That’s the first real audit. Yamamoto draws King and I’m not thrilled, but the middle game? Sheehan against Griffin Canning at a 10.64 ERA? That’s not a matchup, that’s a mercy ruling. Padres fans spent all week watching us bleed pitchers, and now the schadenfreude window just slammed shut. Jack Harris, writing in Yahoo Sports:
Amid a wave of recent pitching injuries, the Dodgers are adding some depth by acquiring a longtime nemesis.
Veteran left-hander Eric Lauer was traded by the Blue Jays, the team announced, after he was designated for assignment last week.
The Dodgers sent cash considerations back to Toronto for Lauer, whose role in Los Angeles wasn’t immediately clear.
The Lauer acquisition is official — cash considerations to Toronto, and Graterol goes to the 60-day IL to clear the 40-man spot. So yesterday’s injury math is at least settled on paper. A guy who just allowed a league-most 11 home runs in eight starts is the answer? I mean, I’ll take ‘the front office moved’ over ‘the front office shrugged,’ but let’s not pop champagne over a DFA pickup. His career ERA against the Dodgers is 2.90 — third-best against any team he’s faced more than five times. That’s a real number worth sitting with. Whether that turns into production for them is a different question, but the homework was clearly done. So the Blue Jays DFA’d him and the Dodgers said, yes please, we’ll take our old nemesis. That’s either smart recycling or a Snell-and-Glasnow-sized hole dressed up in a veteran lefty costume. Probably the second one, honestly. Lauer isn’t the deadline move — he’s the placeholder that buys the front office time to find one. The real question is whether this is the first acquisition or the only one before July. Here's r/Dodgers (231 pts, 34 comments):
Dodgers are riding high heading into SD for their highly anticipated first meeting of the season, after sweeping the Angels. This series will wrap up this 13-game stretch, and notably, Shohei's start has been swapped with Emmet's to align the day off after his start.
Here are the matchups:
1. Yamamoto vs. Michael King (RHP, 2.63 ERA)
The Padres series opens tonight, and the matchup chart out of r/Dodgers is actually useful here. Yamamoto gets Michael King at 2.63, Ohtani closes against Randy Vázquez at 2.68. Two real arms on the ends of this thing. Game two, Sheehan versus Griffin Canning at 10.64, is the gift in the middle. Canning at a 10.64 ERA is almost too easy. Padres fans spent all week watching us bleed pitchers, and somehow Griffin Canning is their answer for game two? I’ll take it. But Ohtani closing against Vázquez at 2.68 — that’s the one I want to see him carve up after the five-RBI game Saturday. Worth noting, they swapped Ohtani’s start with Emmet’s specifically to build in a day off after Shohei’s outing. Roberts said all week he’d read and react on the rest management. Five RBIs against Anaheim later, he’s still building the schedule around it. The question now is whether that holds when you’re asking Ohtani to close a series against a pitcher with a sub-three ERA. The Angels were one thing. King and Vázquez are a totally different conversation, and that’s exactly why this series matters more than the 31-3 scoreboard from the weekend does. If you follow California as closely as you follow the Dodgers, try California Governor's Race — daily 2026 coverage of candidates, polling, debates, fundraising, and policy, for voters who want more than horse-race takes. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
You’ll find links to all the stories we covered today in the show notes, so if one caught your ear, it’s easy to dig in a little more there.
That’s Dodgers Daily Podcast for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.