Photo by Harry How/Getty Images The Dodgers and Astros resume their series on Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, with Shohei Ohtani set for his fourth start on the mound. Expect Justin Wrobleski to be involved as well. Framber Valdez starts for Houston. This is a game exclusively televised by Fox, with Joe Davis and John Smoltz on the call along with Ken Rosenthal reporting. Saturday game info Teams: Dodgers vs. Astros Ballpark: Dodger Stadium Start time: 4:15 p.m. TV: Fox Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Photo by David Durochiki/Diamond Images via Getty Images Stolen base attempts have skyrocketed as the game evolves to reward speed on the bases With the enlargement of the bases and recent rule changes limiting the times a pitcher can throw to first base, the stolen base is making a comeback in baseball after metrics took base-stealing out of vogue. In 2022, there were a total of 2,486 stolen bases in Major League Baseball. After the rule changes, that number ballooned to 3,617 in 2024, an almost 50-percent increase. The Dodgers, who trend at the top of baseball in both hitting and pitching statistics every year, have not particularly emphasized the stolen base as a strategy. In 2023, the Dodgers ranked 19th in baseball in stolen bases, in 2024, tenth, and so far this year, they are 23rd. However, as an apparent response to these rule changes, the Dodgers have renewed their emphasis on speed in the players they are bringing into their system, while also allowing them to run wild on the bases in the minor leagues. When analyzing the speed freaks in the Dodgers’ system, a few key points need to be considered. Total stolen bases need to be kept in context in relation to total attempts. A player who steals 40 bases in 60 attempts should be ranked lower as a stolen base threat than someone who steals 30 bases in 36 attempts. Additionally, stolen bases in the lower minor leagues are less predictive than stolen bases in the upper minor or major leagues. The lower the minor league level, the less skilled the pitchers and catchers are at preventing stolen bases. That said, let’s look at the numbers of the players that have stolen 20 bases or more in the Dodgers system this season, ranked by success rate: Hyeseong Kim: 21 steals, 0 caught stealing, 100-percent success rate (MLB & Triple-A) Jaron Elkins: 43 stolen bases, 4 caught stealing, 91.5 percent (Low-A) Esteury Ruiz: 39 stolen bases, 6 caught stealing, 86.7 percent (Triple-A) Josue De Paula: 25 stolen bases, 4 caught stealing, 86.2 percent (High-A) Jose Meza: 22 stolen bases, 4 caught stealing, 84.6 percent (Low-A) Kole Myers: 20 stolen bases, 4 caught stealing, 83.3 percent (High-A, Double-A) Elijah Hainline: 22 stolen bases, 5 caught stealing, 81.5 percent (Low-A, Triple-A) Kendall George: 34 stolen bases, 9 caught stealing, 79.1 percent (High-A) Taylor Young: 20 stolen bases, 6 caught stealing, 76.9 percent (Double-A) Eduardo Quintero: 33 stolen bases, 11 caught stealing, 75 percent (Low-A) For context, Tommy Edman is presently ranked seventh in the live-ball era in stolen base percentage at 86.5 percent (with an 80-steal minimum). Byron Buxton is the all-time leader in stolen base percentage at 90 percent. Those numbers are almost entirely under the old rules. With the new rules, the major league stolen base success rate increased from 75.4 percent in 2022 to 76.7 percent this season. Based on this year's performance (and recognizing half a season is a small sample size), four of these players have elite success rates. The 26-year-old Esteury Ruiz should be no surprise. He has already led the American League in stolen bases, with 67 in 2023 (83.7-percent success rate). Kim, who hasn’t been caught yet in 21 attempts, came to the team with the reputation of an elite baserunner. Jaron Elkins has been a stolen base machine down in Rancho Cucamonga, and leads the organization in total steals while only being caught four times. Josue De Paula, who is not a speedster but seems to have good natural baseball instincts, has had a very impressive 86.2-percent success rate on 29 attempts. HYESEONG KIM’S FIRST STOLEN BASE AS A MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYER!!#김혜성 pic.twitter.com/qJmM8KO4vI— Hyeseong Kim Muse 김혜성 (@HyeseongKimMuse) May 5, 2025 Kendall George stolen base pic.twitter.com/kj47O41WJ3— Follow @bnicklaus7 (@burce_media) April 6, 2024 There are two highly rated minor league prospects who have reputations as speedsters, but have not had success in the stolen base department this year. Mike Sirota, given a 60 scouting score for run (MLB Pipeline), has been caught five times in nine attempts, and Zyhir Hope, given a 55 scouting score for run, has been caught six times in 17 attempts.

Think you can figure out what Dodgers player we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out. We’re back for another day of the True Blue LA in-5 daily trivia game. If you missed any of this week’s games, you will find a link below. Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game! Feel free to share your results in the comments and feedback in the Google Form. Today’s True Blue LA In-5 game If you can’t see the game due to Apple News or another service, click this game article. Previous Games Thursday, July 3, 2025Wednesday, July 2, 2025Tuesday, July 1, 2025Monday, June 30, 2025 Play more SB Nation in-5 trivia games NFL in-5MLB in-5MMA in-5 True Blue LA in-5 instructions The goal of the game is to guess the correct Dodgers player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED PLAYERS this week. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it. The game will appear in the No. 3 slot of the True Blue LA layout each day this week and as noted above, will appear in this article exclusively. After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media. We won’t go into other details about the game as we’d like your feedback on it. How it plays, what you think of it, the difficulty level, and anything else you can think of that will help us improve this game. You can provide feedback in the comments of this article, or you can fill out this Google Form. Enjoy!

Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images In Dodgers minor league action, Tyler Glasnow took another step back toward the Dodgers rotation, Sean Linan had his best start for Great Lakes, and Ryan Ward continues to slug. Player of the day 20-year-old Sean Linan wasn’t on too many people's radar coming into this season. Last year, he pitched at Low-A ball, after a stint in the rookie League, starting four games and relieving in eleven, and had an overall ERA of 4.37 over 70 innings pitched. This year, he opened eyes when in his first 30 innings repeating Low-A ball, he had 50 strikeouts, a 0.843 WHIP, and a 1.21 ERA. Since then, he has settled into High-A ball, after being given two Triple-A starts that didn’t go that well. That continued Thursday with five scoreless innings for Great Lakes, with five strikeouts. Triple-A Oklahoma City The Comets pieced together three three-run innings to defeat the Las Vegas Aviators (Athletics) 9-5. Tyler Glasnow started the game for the Comets, making his third rehab appearance after getting shut down from pitching with shoulder inflammation. Glasnow threw 78 pitches (51 strikes) and lasted four and one-third innings, giving up three runs on six hits and one walk while striking out eight. 8 strikeouts for Tyler Glasnow, courtesy of the Peaky Blinders The @Dodgers hurler got 21 called strikes during his second @OKC_comets rehab outing: pic.twitter.com/Hn8DuB5NhG— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 4, 2025 Ryan Ward had a big game with three hits, including a home run, a triple, three runs scored, and three RBIs. Ward now leads the Pacific Coast League in home runs (22), RBIs (71), and is hitting .303. YEP, what he said! pic.twitter.com/TO8vFq3GJp— Oklahoma City Comets (@OKC_comets) July 4, 2025 Double-A Tulsa The score was tied 4-4 going into the ninth inning, but the Wichita Wind Surge (Twins) surged for six runs to win their game over the Drillers, 10-6. Christian Suarez took the loss, giving up six runs (five earned), two hits, three walks, and hitting a batter, without being able to record an out. Jackson Ferris started the game for the Drillers and pitched five innings, giving up three runs, three hits, five walks, and striking out four. High-A Great Lakes After Linan’s five scoreless innings for the Loons, but the West Michigan Whitecaps scored a run in the eighth inning to tie the game, and walked it off with a run in the tenth, winning the game 2-1. Zyhir Hope hit his eighth homer and drove in his 50th run for the Loons' only run. Zyhir Hope's summer heater continues MLB's No. 37 prospect (@Dodgers) is slashing .429/.452/.679 over his past seven games for the High-A @greatlakesloons after this roundtripper: pic.twitter.com/gnpEBfvU8B— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 4, 2025 Low-A Rancho Cucamonga The Quakes only had three singles, but it was enough to defeat the Visalia Rawhide 4-3. Consecutive sacrifice flies by Eduardo Quintero and Jaron Elkins in the seventh inning were the difference in the game. Aidan Foeller started the game for the Quakes and pitched three scoreless innings. Quintero, who leads the California League in home runs (13), OPS (.966), runs scored (61), and is second in batting average (.309), has fallen into his first slump of the season. He is one for his last 16, and four for his last 33. Thursday scores Oklahoma City 9, Las Vegas 5 Wichita 10, Tulsa 6 West Michigan 2, Great Lakes 1 Rancho Cucamonga 4, Visalia 3 Friday schedule Great Lakes (Maddux Bruns) at West Michigan (Hayden Minton), 4:05 PM PST Wichita (C.J. Culpepper) at Tulsa (Chris Campos), 4:35 PM PST Visalia (Junior Sanchez) at Rancho Cucamonga (Jhalbran Herder), 5:45 PM PST Oklahoma City (Landon Knack) at Las Vegas (Osvaldo Bido), 5:05 PM PST

Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images Dustin May last tossed seven full innings in a start back in his first outing of the 2023 season against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was a feat he wouldn’t accomplish for another 825 days, as he turned in his best start of the season against the Chicago White Sox. May carried a perfect game into the sixth inning on Thursday, with his efforts ultimately leading the Dodgers to their second three game sweep in their past nine games. The usually erratic May didn’t surrender a walk until the top of the seventh inning, and his nine strikeouts on the night matched a season-high. It’s the third straight game that Dodgers’ starters have gone six or more innings, a streak that has been foreign for the majority of the season. Dustin May has been the guy in the rotation to consistently eat innings despite the performance, with Dave Roberts recognizing his efforts in limiting the amount of stress on the bullpen, per Doug Padilla of the Orange County Register. “I think right now, being able to give us a length, go deep in games, he’s probably been our most dependable guy in that sense,” Manager Dave Roberts said. “And taking some workload off the (bullpen), kind of stabilizing the rotation, he’s been fantastic. And he just looks comfortable out there, managing his emotions and I feel good every time he takes a mound.” Links Kiké Hernández has been the most vocal Dodger in raising awareness for the ongoing deportations across the country, and the fanbase recognized his advocacy with a mural on the NoHo Tires & Wheels building in North Hollywood. Chuck Schilken of the Los Angeles Times delves into the story behind Hernández’s mural. Former Dodger Austin Barnes shared his thoughts on his former longtime battery mate Clayton Kershaw recording his 3,000th career strikeout, per Sam Blum of The Athletic. “I always took pride when I caught him... Obviously, (this milestone) means more to me because of how close I am with Kersh. But he did that. I think he’s one of the greatest pitchers of all time.”