Season at a Glance Archives

3/23/26
The Crow-Flavored Edition

Less than twelve hours — twelve hours — after I confidently published my Opening Day roster thoughts, the Los Angeles Dodgers did what they do best:

They zagged the moment I zigged. 

Hyeseong Kim? Optioned to Triple-A.

Alex Freeland? Welcome to the big-league roster.

Me? Eating crow like it’s a team-issued postgame spread.

And as promised, I’m not hiding this. No burying it in the archives. No pretending I meant something else. No claiming I was misquoted by myself.

This one goes right on the shelf, spine out, next to “Predictions I Shouldn’t Have Made Before Breakfast.”

The Decision

Sunday morning brought the official word: Kim to Triple-A Oklahoma City, clearing the way for Freeland to make the Opening Day roster.

Freeland is expected to platoon at second base with Miguel Rojas while Tommy Edman continues rehabbing his ankle.

This is what the kids call a plot twist.

Why It Happened (The Actual Baseball Part)

For most of the spring, Kim looked like the frontrunner.

He had the speed.

He had the versatility.

He had the early swing adjustments.

He even had the Dave Roberts foot-race endorsement — which, in hindsight, I may have treated as binding law.
Then came the World Baseball Classic.

Kim’s swing didn’t just regress — it packed its bags, left the country, and forgot to leave a forwarding address. He went 1-for-12 with six strikeouts, and upon returning, Roberts described his swing as “out of sync,” which is manager-speak for this is not ideal.

Meanwhile, Freeland — despite hitting .116 in Cactus League play — quietly made his case. Eleven walks, eleven strikeouts, and a late-spring home run that, apparently, carried more weight than I gave it credit for.

Roberts even said, “The numbers aren’t there, but it’s still spring training,” which in retrospect was the baseball equivalent of a spoiler alert.

What It Really Means

This move says less about Freeland winning the job and more about what the Dodgers still want Kim to become.

Kim’s rookie season was a tale of two halves:

.383 over his first 37 games

.175 the rest of the way

Pitchers adjusted. The holes showed up. And this spring, some of those same issues resurfaced — eight strikeouts, one walk, and more than a few swings at pitches that had no business being swung at.

Triple-A gives him something Los Angeles can’t right now:

regular at-bats and the space to fix the foundation.

And Now… the Part Where I Admit I Was Wrong

I said Kim would make the roster.

I said Freeland was the long shot.

I said the Dodgers valued Kim’s speed and versatility too much to send him down.

I even said — and this is the one that lingers — “my gut tells me Kim has that last spot.”

Well… my gut was wrong.

My gut is now suspended for the remainder of spring training.

My gut will be undergoing its own swing-mechanics review in Oklahoma City.

But that’s baseball. It humbles everyone eventually — players, coaches, analysts…

…and yes, the guy writing My Season at a Glance.

Final Thought

Freeland earned his opportunity.
Kim will be back.

And I’ll continue making predictions with the confidence of a man who knows full well the Dodgers are standing just around the corner holding a frying pan labeled “plot twist.”

Crow consumed.

Receipt saved.

Season at a Glance updated.

03/22/26
Second Base, Sorted (Sort Of): Espinal Is In,
Miggy Is Forever, and Kim Has the Edge

If you stare at the Dodgers’ second base situation long enough, it starts to look less like a depth chart and more like one of those sliding puzzles where you keep moving pieces around, convinced it will eventually make sense.

​Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers seem perfectly content letting the rest of us squint at it while they sip coffee and insist everything is under control.

​Let’s start with what is clear: Santiago Espinal is in. Not “maybe.” Not “if things break right.” He’s in the way Kiké Hernández is in. The way Chris Taylor had been in for years. He’s the latest version of the Dodgers’ favorite archetype — the Swiss Army knife who makes a 26-man roster feel like it has a few extra compartments.

​Espinal is the guy you turn to when the baseball gods get restless and start testing your depth. He’s the human version of duct tape — reliable, flexible, and always where you need him. That alone gets him on the plane.

​Now to Miguel Rojas, who isn’t just making this team — he might as well already be leaning on the dugout railing. There is no version of this roster without him. What he did in Game 7 last year probably secured that, but even beyond the moments, Rojas brings something the Dodgers value just as much: presence.

​It doesn’t show up in the box score. It doesn’t need to. Everyone in that room understands what it means.

​That said, Miggy is 37. The mileage is real. Last season, there were days where the best thing he could do was not play. Expect him to be used with intention — starting against lefties, getting breathers against tough right-handers, and generally treated like something you want in peak condition come October.

​Which brings us to the real question: Hyeseong Kim or Alex Freeland?

​Two left-handed bats. Two different profiles. One spot.

​Freeland has the switch-hitting, the pop, the upside — the “maybe there’s more here” appeal. But he doesn’t bring speed. Not the kind that changes a game. Not the kind that makes pitchers rush or infielders think twice.

​Kim does.

​Kim has that burst — the kind that makes coaches lean forward and pitchers pay attention. And Dave Roberts has always had an appreciation for that style of play. He even challenged Kim to a foot race last year. Yes, Roberts ended up sprawled somewhere near second base, but the point still stands: he notices him.

​Managers don’t do that for players they don’t believe in.

​I’m not breaking news here. I’m just reading the room. And right now, the room says this: with only a few games left before Opening Day, Kim feels like the guy.

​Could it change? Of course. This is baseball. But unless something unexpected happens, the final spot appears to be leaning his way.

​Freeland will get his opportunity. But today? Speed matters. Fit matters. And Kim checks a box that’s hard to ignore.

​That’s how it looks from here — slightly amused, slightly skeptical, and fully expecting the Dodgers to wait until the last possible moment before telling anyone what they’ve decided.

​

03/04/26
The Roki Sasaki Conversation Begins Part 2
Roki Sasaki’s start Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians may have created more questions than answers.

​The first inning unraveled in a hurry: walk, single, walk — bases loaded, no outs. Kyle Manzardo then turned a 97-mph fastball into a grand slam, and just like that the Dodgers were staring at a 4–0 deficit. Another walk followed, and Dave Roberts went to the bullpen.

​But spring training has its quirks. Roberts reinserted Sasaki to begin the second inning — and what followed only deepened the discussion.

​After throwing 23 pitches and allowing four runs in the first, Sasaki needed just 22 pitches over the next two innings, striking out two and shutting Cleveland down. Two versions of the same pitcher in the span of 30 minutes.

​Sasaki attributed the rocky start to mechanical issues, saying his upper body fell out of sync. That may be true. But there’s another angle worth considering.

​It has long been my belief that Sasaki may ultimately be better suited for a relief role. Yes, he technically started the game. But once removed and reinserted, he essentially worked in relief — and he looked dominant.

​I understand that’s a stretch. Still, the contrast is hard to ignore.

​There is something different about the mindset of a starter — the rhythm, the pacing, the responsibility of setting the tone. At this stage, Sasaki appears far more comfortable attacking in shorter bursts.

​The Dodgers’ rotation picture only complicates the matter. With Gavin Stone managing shoulder inflammation and Blake Snell unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, Los Angeles would prefer Sasaki to seize a starting role.

​They will give him every opportunity to do so.

​But I’ll stick to my position: the electric arm plays best in high-leverage relief. Whether that’s now or later remains to be seen.

​The arm is electric. The learning curve is real. And what the Dodgers decide to do with Roki Sasaki next may become one of the most fascinating storylines of the spring.

​

2/25/26
The Roki Sasaki Conversation Begins

As stated when this page was first introduced, Season At A Glance is designed to go beyond the box score. As the season begins to take shape, this space will focus on effort, execution, and decision-making — the details that don’t always appear in the stat line, but often determine who wins in October. When something stands out, whether it deserves praise or scrutiny, it will be addressed here.

Spring training is only a handful of games old, and overreaction is always a danger this time of year. Still, certain performances spark larger questions. That was the case following Roki Sasaki’s first appearance of the year against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and it’s worth beginning the conversation now rather than waiting for the regular season to force the issue.

Let me say this clearly right out of the gate so there is no misunderstanding. Edwin Díaz is the Dodgers’ closer. He is worth every dollar of his three-year, $69 million contract, and he has been one of the premier closers in baseball over the past several seasons. Barring something unforeseen, he is the man who will be finishing games for the **Los Angeles Dodgers. Period.

That said, Sasaki’s outing against Arizona brought back memories of last season. Early in the year, his debut as a starter was inconsistent. His velocity fluctuated, command came and went, and eventually injuries disrupted his progress. But when he returned, something changed. In a high-leverage bullpen role late in the season, he became one of the Dodgers’ most dominant weapons — often at the moments when the team needed him most.

For reasons that are understandable, the Dodgers remain committed to developing Sasaki as a starter. Coaches have talked about a new pitch he’s working on this year. They don’t even have a definitive label for it yet. Pitch-tracking systems sometimes classify it as a slider and other times as a splitter. Whether that pitch becomes a difference-maker remains to be seen.

But new pitch or not, the question still lingers: is that the best use of his talent for this roster, right now?

Personally, I believe Sasaki could become one of the most dangerous late-inning weapons in baseball. Imagine him entering in the seventh or eighth inning, shutting down the heart of an opposing lineup for an inning or two before handing the ball to Díaz to finish the job. Last season, when the bullpen door opened and Sasaki’s walkout music "Bailalo Rocky" filled Dodger Stadium, the energy in the building changed. More often than not, hitters had little chance.