Muncy dodges the worst, Kiké is basically already on the plane home, and the bullpen just set a record. Not bad for a week that started in full panic mode. Welcome to Dodgers Daily — we've got the bullpen streak, now officially the longest scoreless run in 2026 major league baseball, a Muncy update that should let you sleep, and somehow a Skubal rumor with the Padres mixed in, so yeah, I have feelings. Let’s run through all of it — the 36-plus innings, what Dave Roberts actually said about Muncy’s wrist, and why a Bob Nightengale shortlist hits a lot differently than a columnist’s wish list. Here's Jack Harris at Yahoo Sports:
Entering Saturday’s game at American Family Field, the Dodgers hadn’t recorded a regular-season victory over Milwaukee since Aug. 13, 2024. Nine straight times since then, they had lost to their smaller-market –– and much less-well-funded –– fellow National League contenders, their longest active streak against any opponent.
The number to open on this Monday: 36-plus scoreless innings from the Dodgers bullpen, now the longest such streak in major league baseball this season. Yahoo Sports has it. And that’s the same unit that snapped a nine-game regular-season losing streak against Milwaukee — nine straight going back to August of 2024. Nine straight losses to the Brewers. Nine. Then the bullpen just wipes it out in one Saturday blowout. Down three after the first inning off Sasaki and still won 11-3. I’ve been saying all week that pen was carrying this team, and the record backs it up. The tension is real, though. Sasaki needed 35 pitches just to get through the first. The bullpen record is the counterpoint to the rotation math concern, but it’s also why that counterpoint mattered in the first place. You can’t build a rotation plan around a 36-inning scoreless streak forever. Sure, but you ride it while it’s working. And right now it’s working at a historic level — that’s the record, not a take. Here's Zachary Weinberger at ClutchPoints:
With the Los Angeles Dodgers experiencing an injury scare with Max Muncy in Friday's 5-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, as he deals with a wrist injury, fans are wondering what the next steps will look like for the slugger. As an injured list (IL) stint for the Dodgers star in Muncy is likely not needed, manager Dave Roberts would give insight into the latest update.
Dave Roberts on Muncy Sunday: best-case scenario is he starts swinging a bat once the swelling comes down. No IL expected. Last episode we said hold your breath — this is the exhale. After what Muncy’s wrist put us through in 2025, hearing Roberts say “best-case scenario” without any asterisk is — honestly, I’ll take it. Swelling is the last hurdle, not a fracture hiding on a second X-ray. I’d just say this: “best-case scenario, he starts swinging a bat” is not the same thing as “he’s fine.” Roberts is still managing the framing carefully. But Kiké activating Monday means the Dodgers don’t actually need Muncy on the field this week to fill that spot, and that changes the pressure on the timeline a lot. Right, the roster math just solved itself. Kiké’s been playing third base for nine innings in his final rehab game, so this isn’t even a patch job — it’s a real lineup option while Muncy gets the swelling down. Eric Stephen, writing in True Blue LA:
Kiké Hernández played nine innings at third base in his 12th and final rehab game with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday night. Hernández is expected to be activated off the injured list when the Dodgers return home, manager Dave Roberts told reporters in Milwaukee on Saturday.
Twelve rehab games, ten of them at third base, nine innings Saturday night — Kiké didn’t just check the box, he basically auditioned for the exact job Muncy can’t do right now. Dave Roberts said he’ll be activated when they get home, so the Colorado series lineup card just got a lot more interesting. Worth noting, he hit .214 in Oklahoma City, so the bat isn’t exactly screaming. But True Blue LA has Roberts on record — the activation is happening — and the depth argument we’ve been skeptical about all week just showed up on schedule for once. And remember last week we were still asking whether Kiké’s return was a real third-base answer or just a depth-chart footnote? Muncy comes back best-case scenario, Kiké slots in at third — that’s not triage anymore, that’s Roberts having actual options. Bob Nightengale, writing in USA Today:
According to Bob Nightengale, rival executives believe four teams have emerged as the primary contenders if the Tigers seriously entertain offers for Tarik Skubal: the Dodgers, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Padres Skubal would instantly transform any contender's rotation, but the prospect cost would likely be enormous.
Bob Nightengale, USA Today — rival executives, plural, naming four specific teams: Dodgers, Yankees, Blue Jays, Padres. Friday’s ClutchPoints piece was one columnist building a wish-list package. This is a different category of reporting, and we should treat it that way. I’m sorry — the Padres? The Padres are in the same sentence as the Yankees and the Dodgers bidding on a generational ace? Rival executives actually said that with a straight face? They did. And that’s the part worth sitting with — because if San Diego is genuinely in that room, the prospect cost is going to be obscene for everybody at the table, including us. Fine, the price goes up. I don’t care. You know what’s worse than an expensive Skubal? Watching the Padres land him and their smug fanbase acting like they built something. If you follow the Dodgers, you know L.A. is bigger than the box score. Try Los Angeles Politics and Urbanism Daily, covering City Hall, housing, homelessness response, Metro, public safety, and small-business permitting. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
If you want to dig a little deeper, we’ve put links to every story from today’s episode in the show notes. Tap through on the ones that caught your ear.
That’s Dodgers Daily Podcast for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.