Dodgers news: Rick Monday honored by Feller foundation, Craig Driver hired by Marlins

Longtime Dodgers broadcaster and outfielder Rick Monday turned 80 on Thursday. One day earlier, he was presented with The Bob Feller Act of Valor Patriot Award in Washington D.C., an honor given by Feller’s foundation annually to “a former MLB player who demonstrates the Foundation’s 4 Pillars of Service, Sacrifice, Citizenship and Legacy.” Mark Langill at Dodger Insider has more.

Dodgers starting pitchers were the driving force to their championship run, including the entire rotation quartet of Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto all pitching in Game 7 of the World Series. The team also used starters Emmet Sheehan, Roki Sasaki, Clayton Kershaw, and Justin Wrobleski in relief roles in October. Wrote Joshua Rodrigues at Baseball Prospectus: “Starters are back, and nowhere is their impact more obvious than in October, when their flexibility and sheer quality swing entire series.”

Craig Driver, one of the Dodgers’ roving catching coordinators, will be hired as the Marlins first base coach, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid.

Marissa Vasquez, a Brawley native and the Dodgers’ director of primary care and head team physician the last six seasons, was profiled by Jessamyn Dodd at the Imperial Valley Press.

Timothy Jackson at Baseball Prospectus looked at data the last three years of pitchers who pitched in both the regular season and postseason, and saw an a median increase in October of about 0.4 mph each year. Among the notes from Jackson was that Roki Sasaki tied Aaron Nola of the Phillies for largest jump in average velocity from the regular season to postseason in 2025, of 2.7 mph.

Former Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp is among the 12 newcomers on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot. Here is Tyler Kepner’s annual look at the new names on the ballot, at The Athletic.

Marc Normandin at Baseball Prospectus wrote about the implausibility of MLB’s private claims that it lost $1.8 billion in 2024, and what it means for upcoming negotiations with the players union about the next collective bargaining agreement after 2026.