The Dodgers had a sweep in their hands and let it slip — 13-5 to the Angels, and now we've got a Will Smith neck watch on top of the loss. This is the Dodgers Daily Podcast. Today: the loss, Dave Roberts' quick hook of Emmet Sheehan, and a catcher update that might matter more than the score. Man, we opened this week with a nine-run inning and ended it watching Sheehan get yanked into a rout. That whiplash is real. So let's start exactly where the manager wants to control the story — Roberts on his starters after the loss. Roberts came out and made one thing clear — he doesn't sound too worried about the rotation after a 13-5 beatdown. That's a manager doing damage control, and I'm gonna judge the quote like any other spin. Not much concern? Dave, you pulled Sheehan early and the Angels hung a touchdown-plus on the bullpen. Per Yahoo, that hook is the reason this thing blew open — own it. And that's the tension here. All week, the quick hook looked like a feature — get the starter out, let the formula take over. Saturday, it backfired with names attached. I've been saying the pen had a hole all week, but this one's on the call, not the arms. Roberts gets the credit when it works — he eats this one. I'll just note we're one bad afternoon removed from this same guy doing no wrong. The McCourt-era version of me is not ready to torch the manager over one Angels game. Course you're not. But pre-2020 me has seen exactly how these afternoons snowball, Kirk. Here's the piece that could matter more than the loss — Will Smith got a crucial update after the series. He was pulled mid-series, and the catcher health story is suddenly live. Neck watch on Smith — that's the one I'm actually sweating. If that update's positive, fine, one dodged. If not, the injury board just got uglier. We haven't touched the catcher spot all week, so any positive context there matters — don't let the scoreboard bury it. Okay, give me something good — Eduardo Quintero. Thirty-one straight games reaching base at High-A Great Lakes, a franchise record. The kid's a machine. And the timing's almost funny — the big club bleeds runs while the system quietly sets a team record. Thirty-one games on base is no accident. That's the release I needed after watching that rout. Quintero doesn't care about Dave Roberts' bullpen math — he just keeps getting on. Bank that one. We'll see if Smith's update holds up tomorrow — that's the one that could actually move the season. From Fredo Cervantes at Yahoo Sports:
With Emmet Sheehan laboring through a stressful inning and already at 35 pitches in the inning, Roberts emerged from the dugout and removed his starter after just 1⅓ innings. Sheehan's final line wasn't pretty, three hits, two runs, two walks and two strikeouts on 49 pitches. But the move ultimately opened the floodgates for an Angels offense that battered six Dodgers relievers the rest of the afternoon.
One-and-a-third innings. Forty-nine pitches. Sheehan's laboring, sure, but Roberts walks out in the second and the whole thing detonates — 13-5 to the Angels. A season sweep on the table and we hand it back. The line wasn't clean — three hits, two walks, two runs at 35 pitches in that inning. So the hook isn't crazy on paper. The problem is what came after it, in front of 49,535. What came after it is the whole ballgame, Kirk! You pull a starter in the second and your bullpen's got a hole — I've been saying it all week — and there it is, exposed on a Sunday. I'll give you this one. When the manager makes the call himself, the manager owns the rout. That's a fair receipt. Christopher Hennessy, writing in ClutchPoints:
Dodgers catcher Will Smith left Friday's game with a neck injury. Manager Dave Roberts provided an update after Sunday's loss, per Matthew Moreno of Dodger Blue. “‘It’s not serious but it’s preventing him from playing.' – Dave Roberts on Will Smith’s stiff neck. Smith got imaging on his neck, which didn’t reveal anything. His status for Tuesday is TBD,” Moreno reported.
Will Smith was pulled Friday with a neck injury, and after Sunday's loss Roberts gave the update — imaging revealed nothing, and Tuesday's TBD. That's per Matthew Moreno of Dodger Blue. Clean scans, stiff neck — okay, I'll take that. After the week I just had, I was bracing for the injury board to grow again. Roberts' words were specific: not serious, but it's preventing him from playing. Which is the manager's way of saying don't panic and also don't expect him Tuesday. This is the guy with the Game 7 homer last October. A .901 OPS catcher you do not want sitting any longer than a stiff neck demands. Jedd Pagaduan, writing in ClutchPoints:
Nonetheless, for manager Dave Roberts, he is not concerned whatsoever regarding the Dodgers' starting rotation situation. And quite frankly, there's not much cause for concern for a team that is still leading the division by 7.5 games. “I feel really good about the starters going forward,” Roberts said in his postgame presser, via SportsNet LA.
So Roberts goes on record after the 13-5 loss and says he's not concerned about his starters. And on paper, the man has a case: Sheehan had gone six-plus in six of his eleven starts this year. Not concerned. He pulls Sheehan after one and a third innings — a guy who threw six in each of his last two — and then the dam breaks. Jonathan Hernandez gives up six in the seventh. I'll give Roberts this: Sheehan only gave up two earned in that short stint. More than the hook itself, the bullpen turned it into a 13-5 rout. Sure, but the hook is what put the bullpen in there in the second inning! You yank a starter that early, you better have the arms — and after a week of me saying the pen had a hole, there it is on the scoreboard. I lived through the McCourt years, Joey. One blowout to the Angels after winning the first two ten-to-two is not a constitutional crisis. I'm not panicking about the season! I'm just done handing Roberts a medal every time his decisions don't blow up. Today, one did. MLB, with Thomas Harrigan:
The Dodgers No. 3 prospect(No. 36 overall) had another big performance for the Loons, going 2-for-6 with a pair of doubles, four RBIs and a steal in Great Lakes’ 16-6 win over Lansing at Dow Diamond. Quintero has posted a.350/.458/.467 slash with 11 doubles, one homer, 21 RBIs, 23 walks, 34 runs scored and 22 steals during his streak.
After a 13-5 loss, here's something quietly going right — Eduardo Quintero just set the longest on-base streak in Great Lakes franchise history. Thirty-one games, and Saturday he went 2-for-6 with two doubles and four RBIs. Okay, this I needed. The big club's bleeding runs to the Angels and the kid at High-A is hitting .350 with a .458 on-base over the streak. Last time he didn't reach base? April 19th. And he's the No. 3 prospect in the system. One of five Dodgers outfielders inside Pipeline's Top 100 — that's an absurd concentration at one spot. The rotation's the hole everyone's screaming about, but the position depth keeps stacking up. Twenty-two steals during the streak too — at an 82 percent clip for his career. The man gets on and then he's just gone. Twenty years old. Give me ten minutes to enjoy something today, Kirk. If you follow the Dodgers, you probably care about what's happening around the stadium too. Check out Los Angeles Politics and Urbanism Daily. It covers City Hall, housing abundance, homelessness response, Metro, public safety, and small-business permitting. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
You’ll find links to everything we covered today in the show notes, so if a story caught your ear, you can head there and read more.
That’s Dodgers Daily Podcast for Monday, June 8. This is a Lantern Podcast.