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 –– publishing every Friday.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kyle Tucker (.381 average, .500 OBP, 1 HR, 6 RBIs this week)
Tucker’s first Dodgers home run might not have sparked a power surge. But after a slow first week, the $240 million offseason signing started showing his value.
During this week’s 5-1 road trip, Tucker had eight hits, six RBIs, six walks and a stolen base. Of his 28 trips to the plate, he reached safely in half of them.
The highlight moment came last Friday, when he went 3-for-6 with his first long ball of the season. Then, in three of his next four starts, he got aboard at least more three times. Between him and Shohei Ohtani, the team’s Nos. 1 and 2 hitters have nearly a .400 on-base percentage.
The Dodgers, of course, are hoping there’s still more slug in Tucker’s bat (he has just two extra-base hits). The right fielder also made his first defensive miscue of the season Wednesday, getting turned around on a fly ball that sailed over his head for a double.
However, if his primary job is to complement Ohtani atop the batting order, this week he started showing how to do it.
Even while getting booed by a Blue Jays fan base that remained upset over his free agent decision.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Alex Vesia (2 games, 0 runs, 1 hold this week; 0.00 ERA on season)
The last time the Dodgers visited Toronto, Alex Vesia wasn’t with them.
He was home watching Games 6 and 7 of the World Series, left touchingly stunned by what he was seeing.
During Game 6 of the Fall Classic –– which Vesia missed following the death of his newborn daughter –– every Blue Jays reliever who took the mound had his No. 51 written on their cap, following the lead set by the Dodgers’ own bullpen earlier in the series.
“I immediately texted Gus Varland and I asked him if I was seeing that correctly,” Vesia recalled this spring, while expressing his gratitude for the recognition. “We were very emotional. We were super overwhelmed.”
Varland, of course, is a former Dodgers reliever whose brother, Louis, pitches for the Blue Jays. And it was Louis who suggested the gesture to his Toronto bullpen mates, after hearing from Gus about Vesia’s situation.
“I mean, baseball is a game you just play,” said Gus, now a member of the Nationals, who was in the stands at Game 6 when Vesia’s text message arrived. “Life is way bigger than that.”
And five months later, in Vesia’s return to the Rogers Centre on Tuesday night, that humble truth was evident again.
Though Vesia made just two appearances this week, few were bigger than the bases-loaded, no-out jam he escaped in that night’s 4-1 Dodgers win.
It was [after a walk to his first batter to load the bases], the left-hander at his best.
His velocity ticked up. His fastball got swing and miss with deceptive rising movement. And he went shrieking off the mound after retiring the side unscathed, making his familiar transformation between stoic and ecstatic.
“What’s great about Alex is, there’s just no panic,” manager Dave Roberts said.
But that didn’t mean, this time, there wasn’t extra emotion.
Vesia acknowledged the trip to Toronto this week was difficult. What helped was having his wife, Kayla, there watching from the crowd.
“She was right behind the dugout tonight,” Vesia said. “I definitely was looking at her, especially after the outing.”
A highlight moment, in a season to this point he’s yet to yield a run.
PROSPECT OF THE WEEK
James Tibbs III (4 home runs this week; .413 average, 7 home runs, 1.481 OPS on season)
One day, we’ll find another winner here. But for a second straight week, it was the steal of an arrival from last year’s trade deadline.
In six games over the last week, Tibbs belted four more home runs for Triple-A Oklahoma City. That gives him seven on the season, in only 46 at-bats. It’s part of an overall heater that’s seen him collect 19 total hits, 13 RBIs and a 1.000 slugging percentage. It’s helping him elevate to the top of the organization’s deep crop of outfield prospects.
That doesn’t mean Tibbs is on the doorstep of a call-up. The 23-year-old, who was acquired in the Dustin May trade with the Red Sox, still has just 11 career games at the Triple-A level and no pathway to playing time looking at the Dodgers’ big-league roster.
However, the club can be quick with promoting hitting prospects when opportunities arise. Two years ago, remember, then 23-year-old Andy Pages was called up with just 25 games of Triple-A experience.
FUTURE DODGER OF THE WEEK
(Where we identify a potential Dodgers’ future acquisition –– sometimes far-fetched, sometimes not)
Tarik Skubal, LHP, Tigers (ETA: August)
The worse the Tigers play, the more likely they are to move impending free agent Skubal, and the Tigers are downright awful now. They went into their series finale against the Twins as the losers of four consecutive games.
The Tigers aren’t expected to pay the $400 million or so that would be required to re-sign Skubal, so if they’re out of contention by the trade deadline, they would be wise to deal him rather than to let him go for nothing. The Angels didn’t trade Ohtani in his walk year and refused to match the heavily deferred $700 million offer he ultimately accepted from the Dodgers, and look how that’s working out for them.
The Dodgers don’t need Skubal at the moment, as they’re hopeful they can once again enter the postseason with healthy versions of Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell. But situations change, and if they do, the Dodgers are the team that’s best positioned to strike a deal for Skubal because of their stockpile of prospects. The possibility of having to negotiate an extension with Skubal could make the Dodgers reluctant to trade for him. However, with a three-peat at stake, they would at least have to consider it.
ONE BIG QUESTION
What was the deal with those bill-less caps?
The Dodgers bullpen debuted a, uh, new fashion statement this week:
Standard-issue baseball caps — only with the entire bill chopped off.
Closer Edwin Díaz first flashed the look during his Tuesday pregame stretch, emerging with a Dodger blue hat that was completely missing the brim.
The idea, Díaz said, originated with left-handed reliever Tanner Scott, who (for reasons that remain unclear) decided to make the DIY modifications using a pair of medical-grade scissors.
“It was fun,” Díaz laughed about the extreme reactions the caps received.
That didn’t mean the look exactly caught on.
Outside of Díaz and Scott, only Miguel Rojas joined in on the trend, joking he was “a bullpen guy” now following his blowout-game relief appearance Monday.
As fellow reliever Blake Treinen noted, “Not all of us can pull that off.”
A member of the clubhouse also quipped, “We gotta get more inventory [of hats].”
Alas, the hats seem destined to be short-lived. According to Yahoo Sports, the league called the Dodgers to ask they leave officially licensed gear intact.
ICYMI
— Dodgers legends remember catalyst of stellar infield. Former second baseman Davey Lopes died Wednesday at age 80.
— Ohtani is taking advantage of a pitch-clock caveat. See what other MLB teams are saying about the rule.
— Miguel Rojas announces father’s passing. Here’s how the Dodgers honored their teammate.
— Yoshinobu Yamamoto is continuing march to be world’s best. He will start to peak around the end of summer, so that’s bad news for the rest of MLB.
— Mookie Betts’ injury offers unpleasant reminder: The Dodgers are old, yet they’re still the best team.