Shohei Ohtani is now on the IL. Freddie Freeman is banged up. Andy Pages might not be back any time soon. And more players are ailing. Can they heal in time for October? Is Bill Plaschke correct saying the team is too old? Los Angeles Times beat writer Maddie Lee and columnists Bill Plaschke and Mirjam Swanson go back an forth about the team’s chances to not only get healthy for October, but how long they can last in October.
Maddie Lee covers the Dodgers for the Los Angeles Times. She joined the paper in March 2026 after six years in Chicago, where she was a Cubs beat writer for the Chicago Sun-Times and NBC Sports Chicago. Her previous stops include the Oklahoman, the Clarion-Ledger, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer.
Mirjam Swanson is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she worked for the Southern California News Group, as a sports columnist and an NBA and WNBA beat writer. A Southern California native, she earned the distinction of a top 10 APSE honor for columns in 2023. At prior stops, she covered golf, action sports, city government, education and the occasional unexpected bear visit.
Bill Plaschke, an L.A. Times Sports columnist since 1996, is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame and California Sports Hall of Fame. He has been named national Sports Columnist of the Year nine times by the Associated Press, and twice by the Society of Professional Journalists and National Headliner Awards. He is the author of six books, including a collection of his columns entitled “Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoilsports, Foul Balls and Oddballs.” Plaschke was also a panelist on the popular ESPN daily talk show, “Around the Horn.” He is in the national Big Brothers/Big Sisters Alumni Hall of Fame and has been named Man of the Year by the Los Angeles Big Brothers/Big Sisters as well as receiving a Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth.
Mark E. Potts is a former senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times. A native of Enid, Okla., Potts graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in broadcast journalism. He has created and edited video for DreamWorks, YouTube, Microsoft, Sony and BET.
