Friday, February 13, 2026

Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2026

Friday was the first workout for the Dodgers’ pitchers and catchers. The majority of position players are at Camelback Ranch.

For once, everyone is healthy in Dodger spring training camp. Of course, Evan Philips and Kiké Hernández will miss significant time in the first half of the 2026 season.

As the Dodgers prepare for a rare three-peat, they want their players to take a slow, intentional ramp up for the season. This will be difficult for the Dodgers.

Baseball players are highly competitive and strive for perfection people. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t have reached the major leagues. During the last two seasons, the Dodgers have played many games. They started the previous two seasons in South Korea and Japan. Winning the World Series means a short and busy offseason for players.

Since the baseball season is long, players need rest and recovery to maintain their great skills and prevent injuries. I don’t expect a good record in the Cactus League.

Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Hyeseong Kim, Edwin Díaz, and Will Smith are participating in the World Baseball Classic. They have been at Camelback Ranch since last week.

For the first time as a Dodger, Ohtani isn’t rehabbing from surgery. Dave Roberts likes the way he looks. Though he won’t pitch in the World Baseball Classic, on Friday, he was throwing his third bullpen session of the spring. He has looked good in each. He hopes to have better control than last year, coming off his second Tommy John surgery. In a media scrum, Ohtani acknowledged that the 2025 season was a challenge when he was a two-way player in the postseason for the first time.

Yamamoto continues to amaze people. After what he did in the World Series, he is ready for another long season. According to Dave Roberts, Yamamoto might have faced hitters on Friday.

For the first time since he and his wife lost their newborn daughter, Alex Vesia addressed the media. He thanked everyone for their support. He and his wife, Kayla, are in therapy to help them recover from the unimaginable loss. We hope this baseball season will help them heal.