Yankees dustup escalates quickly, plus: Time to worry about Dodgers?

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The disagreement has escalated into a breakup in the Bronx.

Plus: Ken with Astros-Dodgers notes, and we check in on if it’s time to panic in L.A. Elsewhere, the All-Star Game will be the league’s biggest showcase yet … for the “robot umps.” I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup!

That Escalated Quickly: Yankees DFA DJ LeMahieu

In yesterday’s Windup, we told you that the Yankees had benched DJ LeMahieu — moving Jazz Chisholm, Jr. back to second base — and that the veteran wasn’t thrilled with the decision.

There has been an escalation.

Yesterday, news broke that the 36-year-old had been designated for assignment, despite the team owing him roughly $22 million through the 2026 season.

It’s speculation, of course. But it seems like this is a response to LeMahieu’s reaction to the benching. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they have just DFA’d him to begin with?

Chris Kirschner reports that LeMahieu did not ask to be released. However the decision was made, what comes next is likely a divorce between the two sides (there’s a complicated way he could stay in the org in the minor leagues, but … yeah, right).

At any rate, Cashman confirmed yesterday afternoon what we told you yesterday morning: The Yankees need pitching, “and, yeah, an infielder as well, if possible.”

More Yankees:

Ken’s Notebook: The latest unique situation for Ohtani

Some notes on the Dodgers and Astros:

Shohei Ohtani’s slow-burn return: There is no playbook for what he is doing, building up as a starter in the majors while coming off major elbow surgery and serving as an everyday DH. Last Thursday, coming off a game of nearly three hours the previous night, Ohtani was sluggish during his bullpen session. With a normal starting pitcher, teams can anticipate fatigue based on the pitcher’s workload. With Ohtani, any number of variables come into play — travel, schedule, how much he exerts offensively, whether he gets nicked up offensively. He might throw 30 pitches in a bullpen session. He might throw 10 or 12. Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said Ohtani is “brilliant” at communicating what he feels and what he needs.

Ohtani’s repertoire: So far, he is throwing more sweepers than in the past, fewer cutters and splits. Prior said Ohtani is simply trying to get an idea where he is with his various pitches. The Dodgers were stunned when he threw a 101.7 mph fastball, the fastest pitch of his career, during a recent start in Kansas City — it essentially came out of nowhere. In these short outings, Ohtani is simply leaning on what he has at the moment. As he starts pitching deeper into games, he will refine his usages, determine what is working and what is not.

Framber Valdez’s bright future: He’s heading for a monster payday in free agency. The eighth-year Astro has three straight top-10 Cy Young finishes. He has been on the injured list for arm trouble only once — and that stint, in April of last season, lasted all of 18 days. And while he will be 32 next season, a year older than Max Fried was entering free agency, his numbers are comparable to where Fried was at the end of 2024. Fried commanded an eight-year, $218 million deal from the Yankees.

• Fried through 2024: 3.07 ERA in 884 1/3 innings
• Valdez currently: 3.24 ERA 997 2/3 innings

Mookie Betts’ struggles: Prior to this season, his career OPS before the All-Star break was .892. This year, it’s .701. Betts said he can’t support the theory that his slide is due to playing shortstop. Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc said Betts is essentially in the same place as at the start of last year’s postseason, trying to break bad habits he created while trying to improve. “We fixed it then,” Van Scoyoc said. “If we could do it in the pressure cooker of the playoffs, we can probably do it again.”

Astros at the deadline: No team has gotten fewer plate appearances from left-handed hitters than the Astros, and general manager Dana Brown has spoken openly about his desire to add a left-handed bat. Ideally, he would stick that bat at second base, but few such players are expected to be available. The Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan, Rays’ Brandon Lowe and Brewers’ Brice Turang all fit the profile, but at this moment, it’s doubtful any of the three will be traded.

Optimist vs. Cynic: When do we panic about the Dodgers?

I mean … not yet. They’re still 56-38, which is still the best record in the NL (though if the Cubs had beaten the Twins yesterday, they’d be percentage points ahead).

But yesterday’s 3-2 loss to the Brewers completed a sweep — their second in a row, having been trounced by the Astros over the weekend. That’s a six-game losing streak, their worst since 2019. Not even the return of Tyler Glasnow could stop the bleeding.

Maybe it’s not time to panic — but is it time to worry?

With apologies for the mess, let’s venture inside my brain to consult my two life coaches.

Internal Optimist: Here’s what came before the losing streak: the Dodgers hadn’t lost a series since June 6-8 at St. Louis — seven straight series wins. It’s been a bad week, but take it in context.

Internal Cynic: Here’s some context: Those seven series wins were against the can’t-find-their-offense Padres (twice), the under-.500-in-both-May-and-June Giants, the Nationals, Rockies, Royals and White Sox. That’s one good team who sucks right now, one who might be OK and a four-series collection of baseball driftwood.

Optimist: Well, they did sweep the Tigers earlier this year.

Cynic: True! And with those three wins, they’re 14-18 against teams currently in a playoff position.

Optimist: [tallying up records] … Hm. You did the math right. Good job.

Cynic: Yeah. So here’s one last math question: How long does it take to recover from a torn meniscus?

OK that’s enough of that. Yes, they’re literally the Dodgers. But they’re not invincible, and those injuries keep piling up.

They’ll get a day off today before kicking off a series in San Francisco tomorrow.

Robot Debuts: ABS at the All-Star Game

When it was announced that the ABS (Automated Ball-Strike System) would be tested out in spring training this year, part of the accepted narrative was: “We won’t see it in the regular season in 2025.”

That’s still technically correct, but as Evan Drellich reports, it will be in place for the All-Star Game on Tuesday in Atlanta.

A quick refresher on how it works: Each team will have two challenges, which they will retain if the call is overturned. Only pitchers, catchers and batters can issue the challenge, and they must be made (by tapping their helmet) immediately after the ball or strike call is made by the umpire.

As we saw in spring training, the reviews don’t take long — a few seconds at most.

When the system was tested in spring training, walks increased a little, strikeouts went down a little, and scoring was up a bit as a result. Here’s a story from Jayson Stark in late March about what we learned during the spring experiment.

The All-Star Game isn’t known for being particularly controversial (unless you count that tie in 2002), but this will be the league’s biggest showcase for the technology. If the plan is to introduce it in the regular season — perhaps even by next year — this could be an easy way to show fans how it works on a big stage.

More Drellich: The MLBPA says Rob Manfred’s meetings with players are being met with “the right amount of skepticism”

Handshakes and High Fives

This is so, so good: Cody Stavenhagen tells us about the four-generation baseball lineage of potential No. 1 pick Ethan Holliday (you know: Jackson’s brother, Matt’s kid, Tom’s grandkid, Donald’s great-grandkid)

Yesterday’s round of All-Star replacement additions: Joe Ryan (Twins), Trevor Megill (Brewers), Zach McKinstry (Tigers), Isaac Paredes (Astros).

This was a fun one: Tim Britton sat down with Mets manager Carlos Mendoza to discuss the process of constructing a big-league lineup.

Baseball is weird: after sweeping the Dodgers, the Astros were swept by the Guardians — who came into the series with a 10-game losing streak.

Also, Jake Meyers was (re-)injured before yesterday’s first pitch, calling (again) the team’s return-to-play process into question.

The Blue Jays’ win streak ended at 10. Was it just a streak, or are they that good?

Justin Verlander is 0-7. Bryce Harper looked like Bryce Harper, getting four hits as the Phillies swamped the Giants 13-0 in San Francisco.

Jed Hoyer sat down for a Q&A about the Cubs’ trade deadline plans — and why it’s not easy to get started on them just yet. Buster Posey of the Giants answered similar questions in San Francisco.

Nats ownership made one big move, firing their GM and manager. Britt Ghiroli says we probably shouldn’t expect another.

On the pods: On Rates & Barrels, the crew predicts the future for five underperforming hitters.

Most-clicked in our last newsletter: Sam Blum’s story on the father of twin brothers who are MLB Draft prospects.

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(Photo: Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

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