{"id":802587,"date":"2026-09-11T20:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T20:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/802587\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T20:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T20:51:16","slug":"dodgers-need-others-to-compensate-for-shohei-ohtanis-shocking-absence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/802587\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers need others to compensate for Shohei Ohtani’s shocking absence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the California Post\u2019s\u00a0weekly Dodgers recap<\/a>, where we review the week that was, hand out very official awards and take stock of the state of the season.<\/p>\n

PLAYER(S) OF THE WEEK<\/p>\n

Teoscar Hernandez (10-for-19, 1 HR, 10 RBIs this week) and Mookie Betts (8-for-20, 2 HR, 7 RBIs this week)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no hotter hitter in baseball right now than\u00a0Hern\u00e1ndez, who has continued his late-season resurgence by batting an MLB-best .514 over the last 10 games.<\/p>\n

And outside of Hern\u00e1ndez, there is no more encouraging player in the Dodgers\u2019 lineup than Betts, who is mounting his own second-half turnaround with a .314 average and six home runs over his last 31 games overall.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts (50) celebrates with left fielder Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez (37) after hitting a two-run home run during the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Both have found consistency with their mechanics. Both have given the Dodgers some much-needed right-handed-hitting pop higher up the lineup.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a big reason why, even though Shohei Ohtani missed all but one game<\/a> last week with his ongoing injury, Freddie Freeman was slumping through his own knee problem<\/a>, Andy Pages remained out with a broken hand and Kyle Tucker continued his season-long struggles, the Dodgers won a season-high seven straight games<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In six of those seven games, Betts or Hern\u00e1ndez had the ultimately decisive go-ahead RBI.<\/p>\n

As long as Ohtani and others remain hampered, the Dodgers will need both to continue their surges.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani looks on from the dugout steps against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

QUESTION OF THE WEEK<\/p>\n

Can Hern\u00e1ndez and Betts actually do that?<\/p>\n

Both players, after all, have had similar flashes in the last two years.<\/p>\n

But both have also failed to sustain such production over a more extended period.<\/p>\n

This time, Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s return to form feels, at least, easier to explain. He was having a fine start to the year before going down with a hamstring strain. He made a mechanical tweak<\/a> that addressed resulting flaws in his lower-body mechanics. And he has replaced much of his midsummer frustration with a renewed infusion of confidence every time he steps to the plate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never stopped working,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew at some point it was going to click.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a three-run home run in the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on Monday, September 7, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Betts has also been buoyed by his recent improvements and the team\u2019s uptick in recent play overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the beauty of this ballclub,\u201d Betts said. \u201cJust figure out ways to win, whether we\u2019re hot or we\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winning, of course, will be much easier for the Dodgers if Hern\u00e1ndez and Betts keep hitting.<\/p>\n

PITCHER OF THE WEEK<\/p>\n

Edgardo Henriquez (3 scoreless appearances, 1 save, 5 strikeouts this week; 2.62 ERA, 69 strikeouts, 59 outings this year)<\/p>\n

The Dodgers might have a new closer option to consider over the rest of the regular season.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Edgardo Henriquez (60) celebrates the win with catcher Will Smith (16) against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Henriquez is not only throwing harder than ever, topping out at 104.5 mph this past week, but he\u2019s also showing consistency in late-game situations, giving up just one run over his last 16 appearances (all but two of which have come in games decided by two runs or less).<\/p>\n

It led to just his second ninth-inning save opportunity of the season on Sunday, when he worked around a walk with two strikeouts against the Nationals.<\/p>\n

And now, it might have him in line to be among the Dodgers\u2019 top right-handed leverage options in the playoffs, with his 2.62 ERA trailing only Tanner Scott in the team\u2019s bullpen this year among pitchers with at least 25 innings.<\/p>\n

PROSPECT OF THE WEEK<\/p>\n

James Tibbs III (.294 average, 28 home runs, 99 RBIs, .957 OPS in Triple-A this year)<\/p>\n

Tibbs may have gotten passed up by Double-A slugger Josue De Paula for a call-up<\/a> to the majors this week. But he continued a standout campaign in Triple-A, where he ranks second in the Pacific Coast League in home runs, RBIs and OPS.<\/p>\n

One factor that was working against Tibbs this week was his status as a non-40-man roster player.<\/p>\n

De Paula also wasn\u2019t on the 40-man but would have needed to be added this winter to be protected from the Rule 5 draft.<\/p>\n

The same won\u2019t apply to Tibbs until after next year, meaning the Dodgers could preserve a 40-man roster spot through this coming offseason by keeping him in the minors for now.<\/p>\n

That might not have been the sole reason for their call-up decision this week, but it complicated Tibbs\u2019 case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the California Post\u2019s\u00a0weekly Dodgers recap, where we review the week that was, hand out very official…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,2178,39,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4,1526,468,185,1528],"class_list":["post-802587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-baseball","tag-california","tag-dodgers","tag-la","tag-la-dodgers","tag-ladodgers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesdodgers","tag-mlb","tag-mookie-betts","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-sports","tag-teoscar-hernandez"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117254388704441865","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}