The deadline to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft was today, and surprisingly the Dodgers only added a left-handed pitcher. Ronan Kopp despite there being two open spaces.
The Dodgers added LHP Ronan Kopp to the 40-man roster.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (Flounder is back!) (@dodgersbot.bsky.social) November 18, 2025 at 3:24 PM
The 23-year-old lefty reliever was a 12th-rounder in the 2021 draft and spent 2025 at both AA and AAA, posting a 3.43 ERA in 57.2 innings, with an impressive 36% strikeout rate, but 17% walks among those he faced.
Ronan Kopp clip since Twitter embed sucks right now.
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— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) November 18, 2025 at 5:29 PM
It appears a lefty reliever will be added to the 40-man roster Jack Dreyer from last year, but they are not comparable jars.
Kopp is a pure relief, but he could be a good one. The lefty works with two pitches: a mid-90s fastball with an average of 18.4 inches of induced vertical break and a hard slider in the high 80s. Together, these offerings helped him strike out 91 batters in 57.2 innings between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. He needs to find the strike zone more often, as evidenced by his 16.6% walk rate, but the stuff is good enough to protect and develop.
Previously, Ryan Ward was added to prevent him from becoming a minor league free agent. The 40-man ranks at 39.
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Not that there was any real doubt, but Roki Sasaki will be start againas confirmed by Andrew Friedman.
“I think for us it was about getting his delivery back. I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress on that,” Friedman said. “So for us, we definitely consider him a starter and a very good one. We’ll continue to work this season and put him in the best position to be ready in spring training and help us win again.”
He was much better as a reliever in the playoffs, although the results started to become uneven again as the book came out on him and/or his stuff faltered a bit after being used in the new role.
If he can consistently return to the form he showed in the NLWCS and NLDS, Roki can make an impact in the rotation next year.
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As we probably expected, Tommy Edman will undergo ankle surgery to repair an issue that sent him to the DL twice this season and kept him from playing off the field if the Dodgers could do anything about it.
While the hope is that Edman will be ready around the start of Spring Training, the Dodgers won’t see his recovery timeline until he actually undergoes the procedure and begins his rehabilitation process. That raises some questions around his primary positions, second base and center field.
Speaking of the broken team, Enrique Hernández had surgery on his elbow.
Hernández first injured his elbow while sliding headfirst toward home plate in late May while still a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. That damage to the muscles responsible for extending his left arm was severe enough that Hernández thought he might need surgery at the time, but instead he was placed on the injured list on July 5 and returned on August 26. Continuing to play through it, Hernández said, resulted in the muscle releasing from the bone.
Confirmed.
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— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) November 15, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Enrique Hernandez’s daughter Penelope helps him rehab with a makeover. instagram.com/kikehndez/
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— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) November 17, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Will you come back too? River Ryan And Gavin Stonewho are at pace before the start of the season.
Pitchers River Ryan And Gavin Stoneboth returning from surgery are expected to be ready for spring training and a “normal” build-up, Gomes said. “We expect them to have a fairly normal year regardless of a normal year after surgery.” …
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As for the now-retired Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw rejected an offer from Andrew Friedman to join the front office.
In the twilight of Kershaw’s career, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman approached him with an offer to stay on as a member of the baseball operations department. Kershaw was flattered by the offer. “I don’t think I’ll have a full-time job in the future,” he said. “Except as a full-time father.”
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Freddie Vrijman kills me.
Freddie peer was pressured to do the worm at Lux’s wedding with his walk-up music, lmao. At this rate he will remain on the IL until August. pic.twitter.com/tcdYDDkSW6
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) November 16, 2025
A second video has appeared on social media.
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— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) November 17, 2025 at 6:44 PM
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