Ohtani welcomed, helps Betts, Freeman drive win
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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani was pleased with the quality of his at-bats and “grateful” for the warm reception he received from the sold-out Dodger Stadium crowd on Opening Day — but he came away from it all with one regret.
“I was the only guy who couldn’t hit a homer,” Ohtani, speaking through an interpreter, said with a slight chuckle after the Los Angeles Dodgers breezed to a 7-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday afternoon.
Ohtani was referring to the superstar trio atop the Dodgers’ lineup, of which he is at the center. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, the two hitters who flank Ohtani, each homered off Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas in the third inning. But all three of them placed their imprint on the Dodgers’ home debut, combining for 5 hits, 4 walks and 4 RBIs while scoring each of the Dodgers’ first six runs.
Through the season’s first three games — the team opened with a two-game series against the San Diego Padres in South Korea last week — Betts, Ohtani and Freeman are slashing .455/.578/.788 while driving in 13 of the Dodgers’ 23 runs.
“There’s been a lot of expectations on the outside,” Betts said, “but internally nobody expects anything more than what Freddie, Mookie, Shohei and everybody down the lineup can do. We’re just going to do what we can.”
Betts, Ohtani and Freeman mark the fifth time in major league history that three players who finished within the top three in voting for the previous year’s MVP have begun the ensuing season on the same team, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Ohtani was the unanimous choice in the American League for the second time in three years in 2023; Betts and Freeman finished second and third, respectively, in National League voting.
Betts began the game with a walk, then moved to third on a double by Ohtani — who thought Betts would attempt to score but instead got caught between second and third base — and scored on Freeman’s single. Two innings later, Betts smacked a homer to left, Ohtani drew a walk and Freeman homered to right-center field, giving the Dodgers five runs before recording their seventh out.
“I think in any discussion you can argue that they’re the best hitter in baseball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Betts, Ohtani and Freeman. “When you talk about those three guys, and you lump another handful or 10 players, they’re in that conversation. We’re fortunate to have three at the top of the order. The first word that comes to mind is ‘daunting.'”
“Daunting” can also be used to describe the events of the past week for Ohtani, amid a betting scandal centered on at least $4.5 million in wire transfers from his bank account to a bookmaking operation that is under federal investigation. Ohtani’s longtime interpreter and good friend, Ippei Mizuhara, was fired by the Dodgers after Ohtani’s camp alleged that he transferred the money without Ohtani’s knowledge, which Ohtani repeated while addressing the matter Monday. Three days later, Ohtani emerged from the center-field fence and strolled down a long blue carpet to punctuate opening ceremonies. He was cheered more loudly than any of his teammates. A similar reception awaited him as he prepared to take his first at-bat.
“Obviously I’ve been here before as an [opposing] player, so it was a little intimidating,” Ohtani said through his new interpreter, Dodgers manager of performance operations Will Ireton. “But I’m very grateful for the fans. And there were a lot of them.”
Dodger Stadium was stuffed with 52,667 fans for one of the most anticipated home openers in recent memory, a reaction to an offseason spending spree that totaled more than $1.2 billion. The focus was on Ohtani and his place within what has been casually referred to as the Big Three. But Tyler Glasnow, another major addition this winter, pitched six innings of one-run ball. And other hitters — specifically Will Smith, Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernandez and James Outman, making up the 4 to 7 spots — also made contributions.
Freeman, speaking from a home clubhouse overflowing with media largely because of Ohtani, wanted to make that clear.
“It’s not just the top of the order,” Freeman said. “There’s nine guys in this lineup. I will deflect that for every single question from here on out. It is nine guys in this lineup. We did a good job today.”
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs righty Jameson Taillon was placed on the injured list on Friday with a right calf strain, the team announced before its game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s expected to miss “more than a month,” according to manager Craig Counsell.
Taillon, 33, injured his calf on his last wind sprint after a bullpen session on Thursday.
“He’s going to miss a pretty significant amount of time,” Counsell said.
Taillon was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 17 starts for the Cubs this season who just got lefty Shota Imanaga back from a hamstring injury. Now they’ll have to navigate at least the rest of this month without one of their other key starters.
“There’s a little room for us to be flexible right now,” Counsell said citing the upcoming All-Star break. “We’ll use that to our advantage and we’ll go from there.”
The team recalled left-hander Jordan Wicks to take Taillon’s spot on the roster, though he won’t go directly into the rotation. Instead, the Cubs will throw a bullpen game on Saturday against the Cardinals and “go from there,” according to Counsell.
Wicks, 25, went 1-3 with one save, a 4.06 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 12 appearances (11 starts) with Triple-A Iowa this season. In his past five starts dating to May 18, he posted a 1.65 ERA with 20 strikeouts, compared to just three walks, a 0.86 WHIP and a .186 opponent batting average.
The team might also consider a bigger role for righty Chris Flexen who has been fantastic for them out of the bullpen. Flexen, 31, has a 0.62 ERA in 16 games, including a four inning stint late last month.
“He’s a candidate to be stretched out for sure,” Counsell said. “He’s prepared to do a little bit more.”
Cubs brass have already stated they are looking for starting pitching before the trade deadline later this month. Counsell was asked if Taillon’s injury increases that need. He didn’t take the bait.
“The trade deadline isn’t until July 31,” he said. “I’m focused on the next week or 10 games before the All-Star break.”
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