\u2014 San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Miller said the Padres told him, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about roles going forward. Just worry about performing and helping us win games.\u201d Easy for a team to say, perhaps, particularly when saves are more lucrative for a reliever in arbitration than postseason performance. But since A.J. Preller took over as general manager in August 2014, the Padres have never taken a player to a hearing.<\/p>\n Robert Suarez, a potential free agent, also told the Padres after the acquisition of Miller that he would pitch in any role the team desired. He remains the closer, but Jason Adam, heading into his final year of arbitration, is another Padres reliever who has willingly accepted pitching earlier in games.<\/p>\n First baseman\/DH Ryan O\u2019Hearn, a potential free agent, has taken the same team-first approach as the relievers, even though he is playing less against left-handers than he did before the Baltimore Orioles traded him to the Padres.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I go to the playoffs and World Series, I figure I\u2019ll be fine in free agency,\u201d O\u2019Hearn said. \u201cTeams want to see you perform in the postseason. This team is going to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 O\u2019Hearn thought he would be traded to one of four teams \u2014 Boston, Milwaukee, Texas or Houston. He actually asked Orioles GM Mike Elias if he could be sent to one of the Texas teams so he could be closer to his home in Dallas, but knew his request carried only so much weight.<\/p>\n \u201cWhich I get,\u201d O\u2019Hearn said. \u201cHe\u2019s got to do his job.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Hearn said lefty DL Hall and other players with the Brewers texted him, saying, \u201cHey, we put in a good offer for you.\u201d So, on the eve of the deadline, he chose to remain in Baltimore rather than fly with the Orioles to Chicago. Right-hander Charlie Morton, who ultimately was traded to Detroit, also stayed back.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were so many rumors,\u201d O\u2019Hearn said. \u201cI was thinking it could be Boston. Boston was right up the street. Why am I going to fly to Chicago? I was just like screw it, I\u2019ll stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n Outfielder Ram\u00f3n Laureano, on the other hand, figured that if he was traded while in the middle of the country, he would have easy access to either coast or anywhere in between.<\/p>\n Entering Sunday, Laureano was slashing .338\/.393\/.584 with four home runs in 21 games for the Padres. (Harry How \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Laureano, it turned out, made the better choice. O\u2019Hearn, after getting news of the deal, had to fly from Baltimore to San Diego. Both were surprised the Padres acquired them. Laureano was especially surprised to be packaged with O\u2019Hearn.<\/p>\n \u201cElias told me, \u2018You and Ryan.\u2019 I was like, \u2018What the f\u2014? That\u2019s crazy, bro.\u2019\u201d Laureano said. \u201cI told A.J. (Preller), \u2018You\u2019re nuts, bro. That\u2019s nuts.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In return for O\u2019Hearn and Laureano, the Orioles acquired six 2024 Padres draft picks, including 19-year-old left-hander Boston Bateman, a second-rounder who now ranks as their No. 9 prospect, according to MLB.com.<\/p>\n \u2022 Sears expected to be moved, figuring he most likely would land with a large-market club. Like Laureano, he was surprised to be part of a package. He described being traded with Miller as \u201ccrazy,\u201d but was grateful it ended up that way.<\/p>\n Sears\u2019 wife, Aileen, and Miller\u2019s wife, Jordan, are close. Sears was traded once before, from the New York Yankees to the A\u2019s as part of the Frankie Montas deal at the 2022 deadline. Getting dealt with Miller, \u201ceased it mentally for my wife, for the little logistical things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s one cool thing about the A\u2019s, the last two or three years,\u201d Sears said. \u201cThe biggest thing I\u2019ll miss is we had a really great group of guys there. It was a younger group. Everybody was at the same age, newly married, or newly started dating. All our wives were really good friends.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 The day before facing the Dodgers, Padres left-hander Nestor Cortes said, \u201cObviously with this bullpen, it\u2019s hard to get into the fifth or sixth inning. If the game is close and you\u2019ve got some type of traffic, they\u2019re going to be quicker to unload these guys out of the \u2018pen.\u201d<\/p>\n Cortes pitched 4 2\/3, 4 2\/3 and 5 2\/3 innings in his first three starts with the Padres, respectively. On Saturday he took matters into his own hands, retiring the first 16 hitters before Miguel Rojas broke up his perfect game with a single in the sixth. Cortes retired the next two hitters, then was removed after 81 pitches.<\/p>\n It was the first time he faced the Dodgers since last year\u2019s World Series, when he allowed a walkoff grand slam to Freddie Freeman on a first-pitch fastball in Game 1 and recovered to pitch 1 2\/3 scoreless innings in Game 3.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is what it is,\u201d Cortes said of the Freeman slam. \u201cIt happens in baseball. It sucks that it happened to me and it happened in the biggest stage of the game. But it\u2019s just another learning experience for me.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to be more mindful of the type of hitter Freddie Freeman is, the legend that he is, future Hall of Famer. I think if I make my pitch there, maybe I get a better result. But the thing about this game is you always have opportunities to redeem yourself. Here I am with a chance to redeem myself again.\u201d<\/p>\n His performance Saturday won\u2019t erase the memories of the Freeman slam, one of the most indelible moments in recent baseball history. But Cortes retired Freeman and Mookie Betts twice each and Shohei Ohtani three times.<\/p>\n Now, the Dodgers:<\/p>\n \u2022 Earlier this month<\/a>, Mookie Betts told reporters, \u201cMy season\u2019s kind of over,\u201d saying it will be impossible to reach his normal numbers, and that he will just try to do what he can to help the team.<\/p>\n Those comments seemingly liberated Betts \u2014 he has batted .348 with two homers and an .874 OPS in his last 17 games. But Betts was dismissive of that notion, saying he simply has found a cue that is working for him. After recovering from his early-season illness, he tried too hard to generate power. Now that he\u2019s focusing on singles, he\u2019s in a better place.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m slapping some singles around, hit a couple of homers,\u201d Betts said. \u201cStill not normal. But anything is better than what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Betts, though, looks better and better defensively at shortstop, defying some even in the Dodgers\u2019 organization who were skeptical he could succeed at the position.<\/p>\n Entering Sunday, he was tied for second among shortstops in Defensive Runs Saved, trailing only the Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 Taylor Walls. In Outs Above Average, he was tied for 10th.<\/p>\n Has he proven to himself that he could play short?<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like that was mostly to y\u2019all, not to me,\u201d Betts said. \u201cI know what I\u2019m capable of, what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 After scoring just two runs in their first two games against the Padres over the weekend, the Dodgers avoided a sweep Sunday with an 8-2 victory. Looking back, their sweep of the Padres last weekend at Dodger Stadium is all the more surprising, considering the bottom of their lineup recently has resembled the bottom of the Padres\u2019 lineup before the deadline.<\/p>\n SHOTIME. pic.twitter.com\/AIYilF058d<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 24, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Starting with the return of Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez early next week, the Dodgers will start to look more whole. Hyeseong Kim, Max Muncy and Tommy Edman are in various states of recovery from their respective injuries. Once all are back, the Dodgers will be better positioned to address their offensive deficiencies<\/a>, particularly in left field, where they entered Sunday ranked 23rd in OPS.<\/p>\n The pending returns of the injured players will jeopardize the roster spot of Michael Conforto, whom the Dodgers signed last offseason to a one-year, $17 million contract. Conforto, manager Dave Roberts\u2019 \u201cpick to click\u201d during spring training, is batting .183 with a .606 OPS.<\/p>\n \u2022 One option for the Dodgers is to move Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez from right to left, where he made the majority of his starts last season. It\u2019s somewhat of a case of pick your poison: Do the Dodgers want opponents stretching singles to doubles if Hern\u00e1ndez is in left, or going first to third when he is in right?<\/p>\n Hern\u00e1ndez, 32, was on the injured list from May 6-18 with a left groin strain. Roberts said he is playing with a \u201cgovernor,\u201d at times exerting less than full effort, so he can keep himself in the lineup. But, the manager added, \u201cAs we get to this point in the season, the governor is put in the garage.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to condemn him for it. His value is to be out there,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cHe\u2019s 32. He\u2019s playing outfield. You can\u2019t have every NFL receiver who is 30 years old run perfect full-on routes. They\u2019ve got to manage it a little bit. I could say, everything is the last play of the World Series or the Super Bowl. But I\u2019m trying to have a little more sympathy and understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n Hern\u00e1ndez said he has faced questions about his defense his entire career.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are always going to say something when something bad happens,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to deal with it, try to get better, try to make the plays. That\u2019s the only thing I can do \u2014 try, try, keep trying, try harder if I have to. Keep moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 With 20 home runs in nearly 1,000 major-league plate appearances, outfielder Alex Call isn\u2019t exactly known as a slugger. Yet his only home run as a Dodger, a 453-foot shot at Coors Field on Tuesday, stands as the team\u2019s longest of the season. Call, 30, was tickled by his achievement:<\/p>\n For real?? pic.twitter.com\/5PVFYX3kDU<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2230365689-scaled.jpg\")
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