The Dodgers finally got the result they needed Saturday night, but the push to end their season-worst skid may have started a little earlier than that. After Los Angeles dropped the series opener at Chase Field on a walk-off, Miguel Rojas sent a message to the team’s group thread that he later summed up in one word: “sprint.”
Rojas told David Vassegh on AM 570 L.A. Sports that he used that note to challenge the clubhouse after the loss, urging the Dodgers to stop waiting for October and start playing with that urgency now. The timing lined up with a rough stretch that had seen the Dodgers lose seven straight, their longest slide since July 4-11, 2025.
“We’re not always going to have all the luck, not everything is going to go our way. So we’ve got to be able to come out of these moments too and find ways to win games like we did last year.
We were against the wall, and that’s a good thing. This team, it’s not the first time we’ve been in this situation.
We’ve got to find a way to get out of it.
“As of now in the clubhouse, everybody is confident. We just need to continue to go one pitch at a time from now on.
That’s really hard to do because you have to do it for 162 games plus the playoffs. It’s a little bit easier to do it when the playoffs start, because you know it’s a sprint.
“But, I challenged the guys, I sent a quick message to the group [Friday] night, to start our sprint right now. Why not start when there’s 44 games left?
So we prepare for what is coming. I feel like if we put that little intensity on every pitch and forget about the past and forget about what the future looks like, I think we’re going to be in the moment more and give everything that we have in that moment.
“I think it’s important to remember those little things. When you go in the middle of the summer and you’re approaching the end of the season and you kind of want to get it over with so you can go to October.
But no one is going to give you anything for free. We’re going to have to earn it, and this is our time to start our sprint.”
The Dodgers are still in solid shape to win the National League West again, but the recent stumble has cost them ground to the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves in the standings. That means they’re also staring at the possibility of missing out on a first-round bye for a second straight year.
Rojas’ influence in the room showed up again with another honor. He was named the Dodgers’ winner of the 2026 Heart & Hustle Award, an annual recognition from the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association given to one player on each team who “best embodies the values, spirits and traditions of baseball,” with on-field production also part of the selection.
It’s the third time Rojas has won the team version of the award. He previously earned the honor with the Miami Marlins in 2019 and 2021.
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