The Dodgers got off to a slow start in the opener, with a single and a walk over the first four innings leading to a 2-0 deficit. Geraldo Perdomo crushed one of the few Yoshinobu Yamamoto mistakes, and Zac Gallen was dealing until he wasn’t. The offense broke through in a big way in the fifth on a three-run Andy Pages homer. They got another run on a single, two walks and an infield single to take a 4-2 lead, and they tacked on another four in the seventh as the top of the order showed what they’re capable of. After Shohei Ohtani was hit the first pitch of the inning, Kyle Tucker drove him in with his first Dodger hit (a double), Mookie Betts singled Tucker home and Will Smith hit a homer. The bullpen got off to a good start as Blake Treinen, Will Klein and Tanner Scott combined to allow one single for the Dodgers’ first win of the season.
 |
 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 7:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| 2B | Marte (S) | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| RF | Carroll (L) | RF | Tucker (L) |
| SS | Perdomo (S) | SS | Betts |
| C | Moreno | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| 3B | Arenado | C | Smith |
| 1B | Santana (S) | 3B | Muncy (L) |
| LF | Lawler | LF | T. Hernández |
| CF | Thomas (L) | CF | Pages |
| DH | Tawa | 2B | Freeland (S) |
| P | Nelson (R) | P | Sheehan (R) |
Emmet Sheehan gets the start in the second game of the season, which if you told me a month ago I’d assume the entire rotation was on the IL. Sheehan returned from Tommy John last June and was pretty dominant with a 2.82 ERA/2.93 FIP in 73 1/3 innings across 15 outings. Sheehan allowed fewer than three runs in 12 of his 15 outings and completed seven innings three times despite never reaching 100 pitches. His last full start of the season was the best of his career, as he tossed seven one-hit innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks against the Giants in a game the Dodgers lost thanks to an offense that went AWOL and Treinen allowing three runs while recording two outs. He did technically make one more regular season start in Seattle, but only went one inning with the Dodgers preparing for his bullpen role in the postseason. Sheehan struggled mightily for most of the postseason, allowing seven runs in 3 2/3 innings in his first four playoff outings with only two strikeouts. He did come up big after that, which started with 2 2/3 scoreless in the 18 inning Game 3 against the Blue Jays. He also pitched in Game 7 and allowed a single in an otherwise clean seventh, but stayed in for the eighth and allowed a leadoff double before giving way to Blake Snell, who kept Toronto off the board. Sheehan missed some of the Spring with the flu and only made three outings, but he did get up to 80 pitches in his final tuneup.
Ryne Nelson starts for Arizona coming off a bit of a breakout 2025 season. Nelson made three starts in 2022 before becoming a rotation piece in 2023. Nelson posted a 4.76 ERA/4.39 FIP in 52 starts in 2023 and 2024 which cost him his rotation spot to begin 2025. He made a couple spot starts but mainly pitched in long relief for the first few months of the season before taking a rotation spot in June. He made 20 starts after that and posted a 3.38 ERA/3.88 FIP in 112 innings. He’s not a huge strikeout guy (97 in those 112 innings and 132 in 154 total innings), but managed to get results despite having some pretty not great metrics. Among pitchers with 350+ batted balls allowed last season, Nelson’s 91.4 MPH average exit velocity was tied for the sixth worst in baseball. He paired that with a 21.6 percent whiff rate which landed him in the 20th percentile for whiff rate, which doesn’t seem to be a combination that should work. It did for him last season, and Arizona could really use it working out for him again this season. Nelson saw the Dodgers three times last season and the first two went really well. He threw two perfect innings for a save on May 10 in Arizona and made a start 10 days later in LA. Nelson allowed a run and three hits over five innings in a game the Dodgers would win in extras. Nelson ended his season against the Dodgers in Arizona and allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings, another game the Dodgers would end up winning in extras.
Among pitchers that threw more than 1500 pitchers last season (arbitrary numbers that I’m hoping does a good job filtering out relievers on Baseball Savant), Nelson’s 61.9 percent four-seamer usage rate was comfortably the highest in baseball (Antonio Senzatela‘s 57.6 percent was the second-highest). Nelson averaged 95.7 MPH on the fastball and outperformed his metrics again with that pitch, allowing a .207 average and .360 slugging off it despite a .244 xBA and .412 xSLG. 12 of the 17 homers Nelson allowed came off the heater. He also mixed in a slider (14.4 percent, almost exclusively to righties), curve (10.9 percent) and cutter (9.9 percent). He also threw 70 changeups, 69 of which came to lefties.
Only one change in the lineup for the Dodgers. Miguel Rojas got the honorary Opening Day start at second, but Alex Freeland starts tonight as the Dodgers stick with their platoon. The Diamondbacks roll out the same lineup as last night, which they had to change after my thread went up with Pavin Smith being scratched with an elbow issue. He’s still out today and the back half of the order all slides up a spot with Tim Tawa serving as the DH.
——
The Dodgers made a tiny trade today, sending minor leaguer Damon Keith to Milwaukee.
A trade! Brewers are acquiring Minor League OF Damon Keith from the Dodgers for cash. He’ll most likely join Double-A Biloxi.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) March 27, 2026
Something very funny to me about the Dodgers getting cash from Milwaukee. The 25-year-old outfielder had a rough 2025 with a .681 OPS in 89 games at AA Tulsa. He got in a couple Spring Training games and his lone hit was a triple.
——
Brock Stewart threw a bullpen session today as he continues his rehab. Snell and Evan Phillips also threw bullpens, but are farther away.
Brock Stewart threw a live BP today – 18 pitches, used his full mix.
Dave Roberts said the stuff looked really good. Another live is likely the next step in his rehab.
Blake Snell and Evan Phillips threw bullpens today as well.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) March 27, 2026
Snell and Phillips don’t figure to be back in the near future, but the report yesterday was that Stewart could be off on a rehab assignment soon. He’ll likely throw another bullpen before doing that.
——
Clayton Kershaw remains employed.
Kershaw was in the booth for NBC yesterday and he’s been brought on as a special assistant.
——
First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PT and will be on SportsNet LA. SNLA will also carry the World Series ring ceremony beginning at 6:30.