Hyeseong Kim — the guy who was listed as out Saturday — slides home with the go-ahead run, the bullpen streak finally snaps, and the farm system picks that exact moment to go supernova. Happy Memorial Day, Dodger fans. This is Dodgers Daily, and after the week we just had — Muncy scare, Milwaukee, all of it — we’re ending on a comeback win and Kike back in blue. I’ll take that all day. We’ve got the comeback, Kim’s moment, and a prospect pipeline that had a genuinely ridiculous Monday — Lindsey, Leiter, Harlan, De Paula, all on the same afternoon. We’ll sort through the fallout. And if the front office wasn’t watching, they should be, because those arms are not staying in the minors forever. From Steve Webb at Dodgers Beat:
Down two runs after Ezequiel Tovar’s solo homer ended the bullpen’s franchise-record scoreless streak at 38 innings, the Dodgers put together the kind of rally that turns a quiet night into a satisfying 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. It was not one thunderbolt swing. It was a long, patient, grinding inning where almost everyone had a hand in pulling the game back.
Thirty-eight innings — that’s how long the bullpen streak lasted before Ezequiel Tovar broke it with a solo shot in the seventh. And the Dodgers just answered with five runs and won it 5-3. Steve Webb at Dodgers Beat had the full game story, and the part that jumps out is the go-ahead run: Hyeseong Kim sliding home, after being scratched Saturday. Kim was the guy we spent two days arguing about — Espinal or Kim, who survives the roster crunch — and he settles it by sliding across the plate on Memorial Day. That’s not roster math anymore, that’s a boxscore. The rally was patient — no one thunderbolt swing, per Webb — and honestly, that’s the encouraging part, not the solo blast they gave up to the Rockies. Ohtani doubled in the first, Pages and Hernández loaded the bases in the fourth, and they just kept leaning on it until the seventh cracked open. That looks like an offense that knows what it’s doing. And look, the week started with the Muncy scare in Milwaukee, the Graterol whispers, the bad loss, and it ends with Kike activated, Kim scoring, and the bullpen streak at thirty-eight innings before anybody touched them. I’ll absolutely take that. The New York Times writes:
Thanks to seven innings of one-run ball from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers rolled to a 5-1 victory over the Brewers to cap a 7-2 record over a three-city swing that also featured stops in Anaheim and San Diego, Calif. They improved to a season-best 13 games over.500 and have played some of their most consistent baseball this season.
NYT’s Sunday wrap has the Dodgers finishing that road trip 7-and-2, Yamamoto going seven innings of one-run ball against Milwaukee, and the rotation sitting third in the NL with a 3.23 ERA. That’s the week on paper — and it holds up. Seven innings, one run, Yamamoto doing Yamamoto things — and Andy Pages goes yard to finish it off. I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t sweating that road trip after Milwaukee opened ugly. Roberts gave the best-case update on Muncy Sunday, and the team won Monday without him in the lineup — so that fire is out for now. The rotation math still exists, but 33-and-20 with a bullpen that hasn’t quit is not a crisis roster. Swept the Angels, took two of three from San Diego — and the Padres series especially, I want that one on a highlight reel I can show their fans every time they start talking. Dodgers Digest, with Josue De Paula:
JDP has been one of the best performers in the Texas League despite being one of its youngest players. In five games last week, De Paula had four multi-hit efforts, including a four hit performance on Friday that included a pair of doubles. Overall, he hit.476/.538/.810 with four doubles, a homer, four walks and four stolen bases.
Dodgers Digest dropped their prospect notes yesterday, and the headline is Josue De Paula — 21 years old, just turned it Sunday, hitting .476 with four doubles and a homer in five games for Tulsa. More walks than strikeouts, fourteen stolen bases on the season. That is a real line. And it’s the same day Dodgers Digest says River Ryan is inching closer to an MLB return, and Kellon Lindsey goes five-for-whatever in San Manuel. The farm lit up all at once on a Monday — pick a lane, guys. Which is the tension we’ve been circling all week, especially with the Ryan update. Dodgers Digest calling him “inching closer” is the clearest language we’ve gotten on that ramp. The question is whether the front office actually pulls the trigger or leaves him waiting while they chase something bigger. If Cam Leiter is putting up numbers in the minors while the rotation is held together with duct tape, and Ryan’s almost ready, at some point “impressive waiting room” stops sounding like a compliment and starts sounding like a front office problem. MLB, with Brian Murphy:
The highest-ranking member of that trio, infielder Kellon Lindsey, the Dodgers' No. 15 prospect, recorded a career-high five hits for Single-A Ontario in its 17-9 win over Inland Empire. No. 16 prospect, infielder Chase Harlan, went deep twice for his first multihomer game in pro ball. And on the mound, No. 21 prospect Cam Leiter struck out five batters over two scoreless innings.
MLB dot com flagged something worth dating: Sunday afternoon at San Manuel Stadium, three Dodgers prospects — Kellon Lindsey, Chase Harlan, Cam Leiter — all put up numbers in the same game. Lindsey went five-for-five, Harlan hit two home runs, Leiter struck out five over two scoreless. One park, one afternoon. Lindsey is hitting .429 on the season and has 80-grade speed — that’s a real scouting grade, not me hyping it. And Leiter’s the one I keep coming back to, because we spent all week talking rotation depth while he’s down in Single-A throwing up zeroes. Leiter is the 21st-ranked prospect in the system, which is fine — but he’s also a pitcher tossing scoreless innings while the MLB club is still patching the back of its rotation. The farm is impressive. Right now, it is also a very well-stocked waiting room. And that’s what makes me nervous about any Skubal-type deal — you look at that Sunday in San Manuel and think, don’t sell off the future when the future just went five-for-five and struck out the side. If Dodgers Daily is part of your routine, take a second to subscribe or leave a quick review wherever you’re listening. It really helps other Dodgers fans find the show, and we appreciate you being here.
If you want to dig further into anything we talked about today, you’ll find links to every story in the show notes. Check those out for the pieces that caught your ear.
That’s Dodgers Daily Podcast for this Tuesday, May 26th. This is a Lantern Podcast.