Dodgers notes: Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, starting pitching success

Catching up on Dodgers news after an 8-2 road trip through Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Phoenix.

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Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman have been wreaking havoc in the top two spots in the Dodgers lineup, and the two players signed to the longest contracts on the team have become fast friends. “It’s just kind of been a bond that has been fun to go through with him for the first couple of months, especially when you know you’re going to be together for a while,” Freeman told Juan Toribio at MLB.com. “We’re just kind of on the same page in all areas.”

Betts, who called himself “just an average guy,” was profiled by Bob Nightengale at USA Today.

Dodgers starting pitchers are an MLB-best 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA that also tops baseball. Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register has more on the recent run of pitching success, which on Sunday was another Tyler Anderson gem.

Tony Gonsolin, who leads the Dodgers staff in ERA, got advice from Clayton Kershaw on how to more efficiently navigate through lineups. Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic has more.

Josh Thomas at Dodgers Digest looked closer at Bobby Miller’s recent run of success for Double-A Tulsa.

Former A’s (and Dodgers) pitcher Dave Stewart is part of a group trying to bring a major league team to Nashville, which if it comes to fruition would be the first majority Black-owned MLB club. Andrea Williams at the New York Times has more on Stewart’s latest foray into potential team ownership.