Milwaukee, WI
Alexander: A Dodgers’ crisis, or just a small sample size?
LOS ANGELES – Too soon to panic, Dodger fans?
It’s probably fair to suggest that the past week, when the Dodgers were 3-4, lost two games off an 8½-game division lead and had their starting pitchers compile a 9.00 ERA in those seven games, represented a short sample size in a long season rather than a troubling trend.
Calm down, folks. Crisis averted. For now.
James Paxton made it through five innings Saturday, reinventing himself as he goes. And some late inning thunder and a managerial move that almost backfired but didn’t – we’ll explain – gave the Dodgers a 5-3 win over Milwaukee, the NL Central leader, and cinched their first series win in over a week.
If you’re seeking a reason why spirits have been so down – or at least up and down – among certain segments of the fan base, here’s a hint: The first 12 questions manager Dave Roberts fielded in his pre-game briefing Saturday involved injury updates. Among the revelations: Max Muncy has stopped swinging the bat in his rehab process, because the oblique injury that has kept him out of the Dodgers’ lineup since May 15 just won’t allow him to do so freely.
“Everything he does, turning and rotating, is good except swinging the bat,” Roberts said.
Given that swinging the bat is what Muncy does best, and is not only his best contribution to a Dodgers lineup but creates a giant chasm when he’s not in it, that’s a problem.
Go down the list. Clayton Kershaw has another simulated game lined up Sunday, as he tries to regain momentum after a slight rehab setback of his own. Joe Kelly is getting hitters out for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes but is probably still at least a couple more outings away from returning. MVP candidate Mookie Betts, recovering from a broken left hand, is doing some baseball-type activities but is still a few weeks away – and he, too, can’t swing a bat yet. (But his appearance in the Dodgers’ TV booth Wednesday night suggested he could have a post-career future in the booth if he wants it).
Meanwhile, relievers Brusdar Graterol and Ryan Brasier are still working out at Camelback Ranch, Michael Grove and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are in various stages of their rehabs … and the list goes on. The upshot: A team that still has a healthy division lead also has plenty of needs as the July 30 trading deadline approaches. Clearly, $1.1 billion doesn’t guarantee health.
Layered over all of this is the realization, within the organization as well as among its fan base, that the only achievement that means anything has to come in October.
So on social media, our current bastion of learned discourse, Dodger fans are chill, nobody’s suggesting any outlandish trades and Roberts isn’t getting hammered for his in-game decisions, right?
Right??
Hey, if you allow it to, following baseball can be a nightly nervous breakdown.
To be sure, Roberts gave the wannabe managers more ammunition Saturday. Nursing a 3-2 lead, he used Daniel Hudson in the sixth, Blake Treinen in the seventh and normal closer Evan Phillips in the eighth, guessing that Phillips could handle the middle of the order in that inning and Alex Vesia could pitch the ninth for the save. Roberts had done so at the start of the last road trip against the woeful White Sox and got away with it.
This time, Christian Yelich sent a 2-2 pitch into the net above the kids’ play area in dead center field off Phillips to tie the game 3-3.
But Roberts ultimately got away with it again. Miguel Vargas pinch-hit for Gavin Lux leading off the bottom of the eighth and hit a paint-scraper that just cleared the left field fence to break the tie. Two hitters later Shohei Ohtani left no doubt with his 28th homer of the year, a 430-foot cannon blast (one estimated foot longer than Yelich’s). And Vesia retired the Brewers in order in the ninth, so what could the critics say?
“It was a right, left, right” situation, Roberts said afterward, given that righties William Contreras and Willy Adames bookended the left-handed Yelich. You could make the counter argument that the dominant hitter in the eighth, Yelich, was left-handed, while right-handed Rhys Hoskins – who had already homered in the fourth Saturday, after hitting a grand slam Friday night – was likely due up in the ninth.
“I feel confident with Alex versus either, but I think that for me, just having the righty on Contreras and Adames, I like that,” Roberts said. “And, you know, (Phillips) had count leverage on Yelich (it was 2-2) and left a sweeper middle, middle. But if I had to do it over again, I’d do the same thing.”
Footnote: Vesia struck out Hoskins on a 2-2 slider to start the ninth.
Meanwhile, maybe Paxton provided a sliver of hope by battling his way through five innings and 83 pitches and leaving with a 3-2 lead.
He acknowledged he’s not the same pitcher he was before Tommy John surgery in 2021, and Saturday he was working with a four-seam fastball that topped out at 93.9 mph and averaged 92.8, a couple of ticks below his 93.3 average for the year. He’s thrown mostly four-seamers and knuckle curves this season, with a few changeups and very few cutters (Saturday he threw two). Three years ago he was throwing the cutter nearly 30 percent of the time according to Baseball Savant; this year, less than four percent.
“I think I’m just evolving as a pitcher,” he said. “You know, my stuff isn’t what it used to be, but I’m pitching differently, pitching to weak contact, and still trying to give us a chance to win.
“I kind of figure it out as I go.”
That’s sort of the way baseball works in general. In this case, they’ll be figuring it out not only on the field and in the dugout but in the executive suite as July 30 approaches.
Meanwhile, after this series the Dodgers head to Philadelphia to play the team with baseball’s best record. So if your daily mood depends on the previous night’s results, you might want to hold on tight for a while.
jalexander@scng.com
MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating a critically missing man, 33-year-old Nicolas Blakely.
Missing man
What we know:
Blakely was last seen around 9:45 p.m. on Monday, March 9 in the area of Teutonia and Good Hope.
Blakely is described as a male, black, 6’1″ tall, 160 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue puffy jacket over a white hooded sweatshirt, with tan Nike sweatpants.
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Police tips
What you can do:
Anyone with information is asked to call the Milwaukee Police Department District 4 at 414-935-7242.
The Source: The information in this post was provided by the Milwaukee Police Department.
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A 23-year-old Milwaukee man has been charged in a hit-and-run crash that killed a 44-year-old motorcyclist during the summer last year.
Jarvis L. Walker was charged March 7 with four counts: hit-and-run resulting in death, knowingly operating a vehicle without a valid license causing death, fleeing an officer and first-degree recklessly endangering safety.
The crash occurred June 7, 2025, at the intersection of North 76th Street and West Florist Avenue. Walker crashed into Wyman Kemble on his 2002 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and fled the scene, according to a criminal complaint.
Kemble suffered severe injuries in the crash and died at the scene.
Police said nearby security footage video shows Kemble was traveling northbound on 76th Street and had a green light when Walker, traveling southbound on 76th Street, crashed a rental car into Kemble while trying to make a left turn onto Florist Avenue.
Walker then exits the vehicle, grabs a backpack from the backseat and leaves the scene, the complaint said.
But a witness’ cellphone footage shows Walker return, yell something, and turn around and walk away before getting into another vehicle that just pulled over, according to the complaint.
The rental car came back to a person only identified in the complaint with the initials EW. The rental car customer told police that Walker had the vehicle during the time of the crash and Walker called him and told him that he had just been in a crash after a motorcycle ran a red light.
Ten months would pass before investigators zeroed in on Walker to arrest him.
On March 3, police had reason to believe that Walker was in the area of the 7200 block of West Marine Drive, the complaint said. Two undercover officers observed Walker get into an SUV, which exited a nearby parking lot and then immediately pulled over because the trunk was open, the complaint said.
Different officers in full uniform and an MPD squad moved in to try and arrest Walker, who was at the rear of the vehicle in the trunk, according to the complaint.
Walker then made his way back to his seat before one officer activated the squad lights and siren and exited the squad to say “Hey Jarvis, don’t do it” and “Jarvis get out of the car,” the complaint said.
But Walker fled the scene and led police on a nearly 10-mile pursuit in excess of 115 miles per hour, according to the complaint.
Police lost visual sight of Walker’s vehicle near North Teutonia Avenue and North Green Bay Avenue, but Glendale police observed the vehicle traveling southbound on West Green Bay Road and another short pursuit ensued before officers lost sight of Walker again, the complaint said.
Later that evening, Walker’s vehicle was observed unoccupied and running in the 4800 block of North 19th Place, according to the complaint. Police found Walker inside a nearby residence and arrested him.
Walker made his initial appearance in court on March 9, where bail was set at $25,000. If convicted on all counts, he faces decades behind bars.
Wyman Kemble remembered as mother’s rock
Leanne Kemble, Wyman Kemble’s mother, previously told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at the time of the crash that Wyman was her oldest child and her “rock.”
She said her son loved the motorcycle he was riding at the time of his death. She described him as one of the most “kind, caring and fun-loving people you’d ever meet.”
Leanne Kemble said her son graduated from Riverside High School, where he played on the football team, and was a graduate of Milwaukee Area Technical College. Volleyball was now his sport of choice, and he played year-round, she said.
“He was always helping people with their car repairs, or just doing odd jobs to help out our neighbors,” she said. “He was an all-around great person. Everybody loved him.”
MILWAUKEE – MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius proposed cutting more than 263 non-classroom positions to help bridge a $46 million structural budget deficit.
A special meeting of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors is scheduled to take place on Monday night, March 9, to vote on this proposal.
Shifting resources
What we know:
The district said the reductions, which would take effect for the 2026–27 school year pending school board approval, would save about $30 million.
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“It is an extremely difficult day for us here in Milwaukee Public Schools, but in the end, I’m still hopeful. I’m hopeful for our students, I’m hopeful for all of the employees we have, and every single employee matters to us,” said Cassellius. “This is hard, and we’ll get through it.”
Officials said no classroom teacher positions are being cut to close the budget gap. That said, the district may need fewer teachers where there is lower enrollment. About 40 of the 263 positions being eliminated are already vacant, meaning that not all reductions will result in layoffs. Affected employees eligible for classroom-based roles will be encouraged to apply for available positions.
Cassellius stressed that MPS faces rising costs while receiving a $0 state increase in general aid for 2026-27 public school students. While the recent referendum has helped to support arts, physical education, mental health services, and career exploration, the superintendent indicated it does not make up for the lack of state-funded inflation increase
Proposed reductions
By the numbers:
The approximately 263 position reductions include the following, according to the school district:
- MPS Central Services: About 116 positions from the offices of Academics; Communications; Family, Community, and Partnership; Finance; Human Resources; Operations; Schools office; and the Superintendent’s office
- Non‑classroom school‑based roles: About 147 positions, including assistant principals, deans of students, and implementers.
The Source: Milwaukee Public Schools released information about its proposal.
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