This is Dodgers Today Top Five Today for Wednesday, April 22, 2026. We’re bringing you the biggest Dodgers stories, game recaps, and fan reactions.
Today feels like one of those days where everyone’s trying to tell you to relax, and then the Dodgers immediately give you a reason not to.
Alright, let’s jump in.
From Matt Borelli: Dodgers GM gives clarity to Roki Sasaki possibly filling in for Edwin Díaz
And this is the first obvious fan question: with Edwin Díaz headed for elbow surgery and expected to miss about three months, could the Dodgers just shove Roki Sasaki back into the bullpen like they did in the 2025 postseason? Brandon Gomes shut that down fast.
Brandon Gomes had an expected one-word answer to the suggestion that Roki Sasaki could shift back to the bullpen with Edwin Díaz's injury: "No."
Good. Just because a guy can rescue you in relief doesn’t mean you should keep throwing him into the fire every time the bullpen gets messy.
Exactly. The Dodgers clearly still see Sasaki as a starter long term, and for a team that’s thinking about October already, moving him back and forth would solve one problem and create a bigger one later.
And honestly, if every roster issue turns into “let the phenom bail us out,” then yeah, something in the planning needs fixing.
Fair, though the Dodgers would say this is exactly why they stockpile arms. Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia, and the rest now have to absorb more of the ninth-inning work, and the front office seems fine patching the leverage spots without touching Sasaki’s development plan.
From Yahoo Sports, Sam Garcia: Dodgers’ Edwin Díaz Out for First Half of Season Following Elbow Surgery
And now the tougher part. The Dodgers announced Díaz will have surgery Wednesday to remove loose bodies from his right elbow, and the expectation is that he won’t be back until the second half. That’s a real loss, not just because of the role, but because of how dominant he looked before the warning signs popped up.
Los Angeles Dodgers RHP Edwin Díaz will have surgery on Wednesday to remove loose bodies from his elbow. He is expected to return during the second half of the season.
“Second half” is baseball’s favorite way of saying, “please stop asking us for an exact date.”
It is broad on purpose, and teams usually keep it that way with elbow procedures, even the relatively minor ones. But the key thing here is that they’re not treating it like a season-ending injury, and for a contender with depth, surviving three months is a different problem than replacing your closer for six.
Still hurts. You don’t lose that kind of arm and just shrug because the roster spreadsheet says “depth.”
No, you don’t. And that’s where the pressure shifts to the rest of the bullpen, plus the lineup, to create more breathing room so every late lead doesn’t feel like a one-run cliff.
From Chris Walker: Mookie Betts Injury Update: Dodgers Star Begins Swing Progression, Eyes May Return
There is some encouraging news on the health front. Mookie Betts has started a swing progression while recovering from a right oblique strain. Dave Roberts said Betts began swinging over the weekend and is also throwing and doing med ball work, though he still hasn’t moved on to tee work or soft toss. So, progress — just careful progress.
Mookie Betts has begun a swing progression in his recovery from a right oblique strain, offering the most encouraging update yet since he was placed on the 10-day injured list earlier this month, though manager Dave Roberts cautioned that a return to the lineup remains weeks away.
Oblique injuries are fake-healthy. The second everybody gets hopeful, one bad swing and you’re right back to square one.
That’s exactly why Roberts is being careful about it. Betts is too important, and obliques are notorious for hanging around if a player ramps up too fast, especially someone whose game depends on rotational force at the plate.
Translation: do not let Mookie hero-ball his way back by the weekend.
Right. The Dodgers need the version of Betts who’s fully functional in May and beyond, not a rushed cameo that turns into another shutdown.
From Si: Dodgers Lineup vs Giants: Andy Pages and Will Smith Out
And this one fed straight into Tuesday night’s result in San Francisco. The Dodgers rolled out a lineup without Andy Pages or Will Smith against Giants right-hander Landen Roupp, with Dalton Rushing behind the plate and Freddie Freeman back in the order. That mattered because the offense then went quiet in a 3-1 loss, finishing with just three hits and going hitless in key run-producing spots.
The Dodgers are continuing their National League West road trip as they're back in California for a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.
The article itself was mostly a lineup note, but the game that followed made it feel a lot more important. Yoshinobu Yamamoto settled in after a rough first inning, but San Francisco’s early three-run burst was enough because the Dodgers couldn’t cash in later chances.
And if you score one run and leave traffic out there all night, the lineup card starts looking like evidence.
Sure, but it’s not always that simple. Rest days happen, catcher workloads matter, and over a full season a manager can’t run every premium bat into the ground in April just because a division rival is on the other side.
Sure — but rivalry games at Oracle are not where fans want to watch the “maintenance plan” lose 3-1.
And fans are reacting exactly that way this morning. The sharper concern wasn’t just the loss, but the combination of missed chances with runners in scoring position and some sloppy defensive moments that made a low-scoring game feel more preventable than inevitable.
From True Blue LA, Eric Stephen: Dodgers roster: Freddie Freeman activated, Ryan Ward optioned to OKC
Finally, a straightforward roster move with a human angle. Freddie Freeman was activated from the paternity list after missing two games for the birth of his daughter, London Rosemary Joy Freeman. Ryan Ward was optioned back to Triple-A Oklahoma City after making his major league debut and picking up two hits across his brief call-up.
Freeman missed 2 games for the birth of his daughter.
Freeman came back Tuesday and went right back into first base, batting third. As for Ward, that’s the kind of shuttle move contenders make all the time, but it doesn’t erase that his first taste of the majors was productive and, for him, pretty memorable.
Two hits in your first cup of coffee and then it’s back on the bus. Baseball is ruthless.
It is, but that’s also what a deep roster looks like. Ward didn’t really lose a job so much as run out of temporary space once Freeman returned, and those productive little stints are often how a player earns the next shot.
A couple fan reactions are worth noting today. In the postgame thread on r slash Dodgers, the mood was blunt after the 3-1 loss. One of the most upvoted summaries was
Welp. We can’t win if we are 0-4 with RISP. Terrible batting overall on top of uncoordinated and horrific defense tonight. Yoshinobu Yamamoto did have a solid start after a bad 1st inning.
That’s interesting because it captures the split-screen reaction: frustration with the offense and defense, but still recognition that Yamamoto gave them a chance after the shaky opening.
There was also a notable appreciation post for Alex Vesia that picked up real traction, centered both on his performance and on sympathy for what he and his family have endured personally. That’s a reminder that when the bullpen conversation shifts after a Díaz injury, fans aren’t just talking about leverage charts. They’re talking about people they trust, and people they want to root for beyond the box score.
Exactly. That’s why the bullpen replacement debate gets loud so fast. Fans don’t just want outs — they want somebody they believe in when the game gets nasty.
And right now, that belief is getting tested a little more than anyone expected a week ago.
That’s Dodgers Today Top Five Today. This is a Lantern Podcast.