Welcome to The California Post’s weekly Dodgers recap, where baseball writers Dylan Hernández and Jack Harris review the week that was, hand out very official awards and take stock of the state of the season.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Mookie Betts (.378 average, 3 HR, 1.061 OPS over last 11 games; .230 average, 9 HR, 21 RBI, .705 OPS on season)
A couple weeks ago, Mookie Betts was looking like the unluckiest hitter in baseball.
Now, the former MVP might just be one of the hottest hitters in the sport.
In 11 games since June 13, Betts has finally unlocked something in his long-slumping swing, going 17-for-45 with three homers, six extra-base hits, a .417 on-base-percentage and the kind of consistent impact the Dodgers had been missing from him offensively much of the last two calendar years.
His best performance in that stretch came Wednesday night in Minnesota, when Betts went 3-for-4 with a double and a homer –– the 300th of his career –– while also saving a couple runs defensively with a spinning snare and throw from shortstop.
Even at 33 years old, it was a reminder of the way he can still put his mark on a game.
“We’ll take it one game at a time, but I do feel … pretty good, pretty normal, like I can just go just kind of be myself and good things will happen,” Betts said. “I don’t even know really what I found. After the home run the first at-bat, I wasn’t sure what I did, but I just kind of stayed there. I think that was the beauty of it: Not really fully knowing and just kind of going to play, I think, kind of let me know, my training is paying off.”
Granted, this recent turnaround is still a small sample.
On the year, Betts’ .230 average and .705 OPS both easily remain career-worst marks.
However, those numbers had always seemed low, especially when considering Betts’ better-than-league-average analytical metrics in expected batting average and exit velocity.
That’s why, even when he was slumping, he had professed confidence he would turn things around.
Suddenly, it’s finally starting to happen, with the Mookie Betts old making his first re-appearance in recent memory.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Justin Wrobleski (7 innings, 2 runs, 3 strikeouts; 9-2 record, 2.71 ERA on season)
As if Wrobleski’s season couldn’t have gotten any better, the left-hander received some high praise on social media this week from Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martínez –– in the form of, all things, a catchy new nickname.
“They have a lot of Great Whites in LA,” Martínez posted on X, “and now Justin ‘The Shark’ Wrobleski is one of them.”
The origin of the moniker, as Martínez detailed in other posts, came from the way Wrobleski “went after” hitters while pitching with a lead in Tuesday’s seven-inning, two-run start against the Twins.
“He was like a shark out there!” Martínez, who was a studio analyst for TBS’ broadcast of the game, reiterated in another post.
Consider it the latest feather in Wrobleski’s cap this season, as he continues to build a case to make the All-Star Game.
His nine wins are one off the MLB lead, while his 2.71 ERA ranks 10th among qualified big-league pitchers.
As for the new nickname?
“That’s a mic drop,” manager Dave Roberts joked when informed of it this week. “That’s great.”
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
How much time exactly will Will Smith miss?
Some important context regarding the Dodgers’ current catching situation: Several pitchers have praised second-year backstop Dalton Rushing for his work with them behind the plate –– from Wrobleski to Alex Vesia and others on down.
However, Rushing and the team’s most important pitcher, Shohei Ohtani, continue to have growing pains, as evidenced by this week’s near-disaster in Minnesota.
Which raises the question: Just how serious is this neck injury to Will Smith, which has prompted Rushing to be behind the plate for each of Ohtani’s last three starts?
Remember, initially, Smith was only supposed to miss a couple days. Then, once he went on the injured list, he was supposed to be back when eligible last week.
And yet, three weeks on from his last appearance, Smith is still out, with a timetable to return that remains unclear.
In his stead, Rushing has not only had problems syncing up with Ohtani, but is also hitting just .200 as the team’s fill-in starter.
The sooner the Dodgers get Smith back, the better.
But when that will be is starting to become a more foreboding unknown.
PROSPECT OF THE WEEK
Christian Zazueta (5 innings, 0 runs, 8 strikeouts in his double-A debut this week; 2-2 record, 3.25 ERA this season in high-A and double-A)
The Dodgers’ reigning minor-league pitcher of the year got a highly-anticipated call-up to double-A Tulsa this week. And in his debut performance at his new level, he delivered an immediate gem.
Over five innings on Thursday night, the 21-year-old right-hander gave up just one hit, struck out eight batters, and never came close to allowing a run, negating two of his three baserunners (he did hit two batters) on a strikeout-caught stealing double-play and pickoff from the mound.
It was yet another encouraging sign from the Mexican product, who burst onto the scene last year with a 2.41 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 67 ⅓ innings across single-A and high-A.
So far this year, he has picked up where he left off, having struck out 74 batters (with only 12 walks to boot) in 53 ⅔ innings.
After River Ryan, he is the highest-ranked pitcher in the team’s farm system, according to MLB Pipeline.
FUTURE DODGERS OF THE WEEK
(Where we identify a potential Dodgers’ future acquisition — sometimes far-fetched, sometimes not)
Ben Rortvedt, Mets (ETA: July)
With all due respect to Rushing, the last couple weeks have shown that the Dodgers could use more catching depth.
And with all due respect to minor-league call-up Chuckie Robinson, someone else who can actually be trusted to play on a regular basis wouldn’t be the worst thing as the team enters the second half of the season.
Thus, who better to get than last year’s unexpected postseason savior, Ben Rortvedt –– who supplanted Rushing as the team’s go-to fill-in when Smith was hurt at the start of the postseason.
The Dodgers tried their hardest to keep Rortvedt in the organization this winter, even re-claiming him off waivers days after he was DFA’d in February amid an extended 40-man roster crunch.
Alas, they had to cut him loose again before the start of spring training. And ever since, he has been serving as a depth option with the Mets’ triple-A affiliate.
So, maybe now is the time for the Dodgers to explore a trade to bring him back –– especially if Smith winds up facing a more prolonged absence.
After all, no other external catching option in the game is more familiar with this Dodgers’ pitching staff. And if he was good enough to guide them through four games last October, he’s worth bringing back to at least provide some short-term depth.