As most sports fans know, many of today’s professional athletes are often quite active on Twitter; some more so than others and some very much so. And from a fan’s perspective, there is nothing more exciting than when a professional athletes whom they follow on Twitter follows them back.

It is certainly understandable why most sports figures – professional baseball players in this case – elect not to follow many of their following fans back (unless, of course, it happens to be former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder and now now free agent Jose Bautista (@JoeyBats19), who follows nearly everyone back), for no other reason than they simply do not have time to interact with their fans on social media. I mean, let’s face it, most professional athletes and celebrities who are active on social media have (literally) millions of followers. But regardless, there are some who indeed follow their fans back … unless, of course, those fans give them a reason not to.

And then there are the significant others of those professional baseball players who, often times, bear the brunt (so to speak) of the hundreds or perhaps even thousands of tweets that flow in daily about their loved ones. But even here it is somewhat rare for the spouse or girlfriend of a major or minor leaguer to follow their husbands’ or boyfriends’ followers (or their own), again, simply because of the sheer volume of tweets involved.

And then there are the exceptions.

It’s no secret that Justin Turner‘s wife Kourtney (@court_with_a_K ) and former Dodgers and now Atlanta Braves right-hander Brandon McCarthy‘s wife Amanda (@Mrs_McCarthy32) are very active on Twitter and are hysterically funny, and are recommended follows.

But there’s a new kid in town – or rather a new kid back in town – who absolutely needs to be followed by every Dodger fan; this in spite of the fact that her husband has yet to even make one appearance with his new team. That ‘must-follow’ is Ashley Koehler (@smashbomb07), wife of recently-acquired Dodgers right-handed reliever Tom Koehler, whom the Dodgers signed to a one-year / $2 million contract on December 20, 2017.

Here is a brief Twitter interaction by Ashley with another lifelong Dodger fan – who also happens to be a Dodger blogger that you might be familiar with, this in response to an article written by 17-year-old ThinkBlueLA staff writer Jacob Rudner (@Jacob_Rudner):

But wait, there’s more!

On Saturday morning, Ashley, who in addition to being Tom’s wife and number one fan, is also the mother of two, yet again showed off her sense of humor … not to mention her obvious T-shirt-making skills:

All of this Twitter stuff aside, the Dodgers signed the 31-year-old Bronx, New York native (as noted in Ashley’s last tweet on the subject) in hopes that he will help fill the shoes of fellow right-hander Brandon Morrow, whom the Dodgers lost to free agency and subsequently to the Chicago Cubs shortly after the World Series. Morrow was seeking – and received – a 2-year / $21 million contract (with a $12 million vesting option for 2020) to be the Cubs closer; a term and amount that the Dodgers were unwilling to match since they already have one – if not the – best closers in the game in Kenley Jansen, who they signed to a lofty and lengthy 5-year / $80 million contract in December of 2016.

But the real reason why the Dodgers signed Koehler (sorry Ashley) was because of his impressive 2.65 ERA in the 14 relief appearance (and one start) with the Toronto Blue Jays last season. And while the 6′-3″ / 235-pound right-hander struggled in his 12 starts with the Marlins and 1 with the Blue Jays in 2017, he was very good in his 12 innings out of the bullpen.

That being said, Koehler’s experience as a starter and his ability to go multiple innings in relief make him an excellent candidate to be used as a spot starter for the Dodgers, if needed. This allows Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt the option of returning right-hander Ross Stripling back into the Dodgers starting rotation in 2018; a role that the extremely popular 6′-2″ / 210-pound Blue Bell, Pennsylvania native and Dodgers 2012 fifth-round draft pick out of Texas A&M has indicated is his number one goal this coming season.

Is it time for Dodger baseball yet?