3 Dodgers who are playing their way out of the team's 2026 plans

Even though the Dodgers seem poised to finish the regular season with another National League West crown, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Shohei Ohtani’s in the midst of another MVP season, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has solidified himself as frontline starter and Andy Pages has finally broken out. But there are also plenty of players on the roster - some of whom signed contracts that "broke baseball" in the offseason, for example - who have struggled mightily in an otherwise acceptable season. Here are three Dodgers who fit that bill. 

These three Dodgers’ struggles could result in them playing elsewhere next season 

Dalton Rushing

Rushing’s in the rare spot where he’s a developmental rookie on one of the most experienced rosters in baseball. He was getting everyday at-bats in August thanks to Will Smith’s hand injury before he went on the shelf himself with a shin injury, though he returned earlier this week.

In total, Rushing has only hit .189 in 122 at-bats this year. It’s not the kind of production the Dodgers expected from him this season, but it’s hard to expect him to be a productive major leaguer when he’s getting sporadic at-bats. 

But even with that, this seems like it’s going to be Rushing’s only season in Los Angeles. He garnered some interest from other teams at this year’s trade deadline, and it’s hard to imagine it’ll be any different during the offseason. Smith still has eight years remaining on the 10-year, $300 million contract he signed before the 2024 season, and it’s hard to believe the Dodgers would want to keep Rushing around as a backup catcher when he still has some value on the trade market as a potential starter and star. 

Ben Casparius

While Casparius has pitched in a variety of roles for the Dodgers so far this year, he has a 4.64 ERA in 77 2/3 innings and has been 9% worse than league average by ERA+. 

You can never have enough pitching (especially if you’re the Dodgers), but Casparius’ high usage this year has been a symptom of the team’s injuries, which means he should be the odd man out if everyone’s healthy next year. 

He’s only in the 40th percentile in strikeout rate and in the 12th percentile in ground-ball rate, so he doesn’t have the kind of makeup the Dodgers tend to want in their relief pitchers. Yes, his expected ERA is more than a full point below his actual ERA (3.57), but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s been a negative pitcher by bWAR and hitters are hitting .269 against him in situations that Baseball Reference defines as medium-or-high-leverage. 

Casparius is still a talented swingman, but that doesn’t mean he needs to fill that role for the Dodgers next season. He’s another guy who could end up being packaged in a deal in the offseason if the Dodgers elect to go hunting for a big fish. 

Roki Sasaki

This wasn’t how this season was supposed to go for Sasaki. After the Dodgers upset all of baseball in the offseason by inking Sasaki to a minor league deal despite the fact that was he was one of the best pitchers in JAPAN’S HISTORY, Sasaki put together a strong spring training, which had everyone in Los Angeles dreaming of how he could blossom into the Dodgers’ next great ace. 

That hasn’t been the case. Sasaki’s posted a 4.72 ERA in 34 1/3 innings this year, and he hasn’t pitched since the middle of May due to a right shoulder injury. He was due to return from the injured list earlier this week, but his rehab assignment got extended due to a calf strain, which seems like a bit of a loophole. 

And, if he does return this year, it looks like he’ll be pitching out of the bullpen now that everyone else in the Dodgers’ rotation is healthy. Not exactly what the team expected when they advertised him as one their marquee signings in a busy front office. 

Even if Sasaki returns this season, this year has been an abject failure for him, which could lead the Dodgers to consider moving him out of the rotation — if not moving him to another team altogether. 

He still has two more seasons left before he’s eligible for arbitration, so his value as a trade chip may never be as high as it is right now. It would be a tough pill to swallow a year after the Dodgers signed him, but it may be the best thing for the future of the franchise. If he isn't literally gone next season, he has at least shown that he cannot be counted on or penciled into any formal plans. The rotation has been just fine without him.