The Dodger inflatable chair, presented by Coca-Cola, is scheduled to be given away to the first 40,000 fans at the May 8 game against the Giants.
– Jon Weisman
Month: April 2014 (Page 4 of 6)
See Jon SooHoo’s Wednesday photo gallery at LA Photog Blog.
By Jon Weisman
First, we’ll get the Kenley Jansen discussion out of the way. The Dodgers’ top reliever gave up a run for the second straight night (each one driven in by the Tigers’ Victor Martinez) and Wednesday, it cost the Dodgers with a 7-6 loss in the 10th, after Los Angeles had rousingly rallied for three runs in the ninth.
From Earl Bloom of MLB.com, in his game recap:
“He’s just a really good hitter,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “Today, it looked like they [Jansen and catcher Drew Butera] were trying to go in under his hands, and just didn’t get it there.”
Mattingly did not sound concerned about his closer giving up a lead and a tie on consecutive nights against the heart of the Tigers’ powerful lineup, citing Yankees great Mariano Rivera as an example.
“When guys struggle, it’s usually two in a row,” Mattingly said. “I’ve seen Mo do it many times. He [Jansen] is healthy — I’m not worried.”
“It’s tough, man,” Jansen told Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. “He’s a tough hitter and kept battling. I feel like I executed, and one pitch I go in there and he took me deep. He kept fouling me off away and I tried to go in there to back him off,” Jansen explained. “Nothing I can do about it. It’s a tough series, but I can’t worry about this. I just have to go now to Arizona and get it back together.”
One other statistical oddity about Jansen, however coincidental, is this: His career ERA before June 1 is 3.81. His career ERA from June 1 on … 1.32. There are a variety of factors that could be playing into this — his past health concerns for one — but early season stumbles have not previously meant anything perilous.
But as much as everyone’s focus will be on what happened late in Wednesday’s game, there was also a pretty big moment early on.
By Jon Weisman
Josh Beckett has officially come off the disabled list to pitch tonight’s game for the Dodgers against a player he was once in a trade with, Anibal Sanchez.
To make room for Beckett on the roster, Jose Dominguez was optioned to Albuquerque.
With Beckett’s return, the Dodger pitching staff crowds up some more, and Dominguez’s travels offer only a temporary respite. Brian Wilson (left) marked his 10th day on the disabled list with a bullpen session of about 20 pitches off the Dodger Stadium mound today.
Beckett is not expected to have a long first outing, Don Mattingly said, adding that Paul Maholm would be available out of the bullpen tonight.
What else can I tell you?
Tigers at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, RF
Matt Kemp, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Josh Beckett, P
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, RF
Matt Kemp, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Josh Beckett, P
- “The sensation that Dodgers right-hander Chad Billingsley felt while pitching Sunday in a rehab start was scar tissue breaking in his surgically repaired elbow and not a major setback in his comeback from Tommy John surgery,” reports Earl Bloom for MLB.com.
- Tuesday’s showdown between Kenley Jansen and Miguel Cabrera has been documented by Grant Brisbee of SB Nation as “the best at-bat in MLB so far” in 2014, while for Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, it was a reminder of “what makes baseball great.”
- A.J. Ellis is celebrating his 33rd birthday today by beginning his rehab from Tuesday’s knee surgery.
- Homerless streaks are in the news because of Kansas City’s early season drought. As Joe Posnanski notes for Hardball Talk, the 1963 and 1967 Dodgers had some of baseball’s biggest season-opening homer droughts.
- Briefly a Dodger Seth Rosin was designated for assignment by Texas. Rosin pitched in three games for Texas, allowing no runs in three innings across his first two, then three runs in one inning on Monday.
By Jon Weisman
It might be going too far to say tonight’s Dodgers-Tigers game had a World Series atmosphere, but it definitely had the right kind of atmosphere.
It was festive, with 53,131 in attendance. A little hot — 79 degrees at first pitch — but not too hot.
It had a fall intensity. When Matt Kemp scored a go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning, he did it with his fist in the air.
And though the Dodgers might have been underdogs on paper, given that they were facing the 2013 American League Cy Young Award winner, they gave their fans a treat, scratching out a 3-2, 10-inning victory over Detroit.
Five Dodgers were on the 15-day disabled list entering Tuesday’s game against the Tigers, including their own Cy Young honoree in Clayton Kershaw. But everywhere you looked, Dodgers were stepping up.
Kershaw technically was eligible to come off the disabled list today, so what could have been his start was instead taken by Dan Haren. All Haren did was throw six innings and allow only a home run by Austin Jackson, a walk and two singles. That’s the only earned run Haren has allowed in 12 innings so far in 2014.
While Brian Wilson dazzles the denizens of Rancho Cucamonga with rehab innings, Chris Withrow — a candidate to begin the season in the minors — extended his streak of perfection to 17 batters in a row. During that streak, he has thrown 22 balls — averaging 1.3 pitches out of the strike zone per batter, while fanning nine. Chris Perez added a scoreless eighth in Wilson’s customary spot.
Fresh from the minor leagues to replace the injured A.J. Ellis, catcher Tim Federowicz made his first MLB appearance of 2014, had a double in three at-bats and threw out the potential go-ahead run attempting to steal in the ninth innings.
Add in Dee Gordon’s continued superb play at what was considered the Dodgers’ weakest position (not to mention Justin Turner’s game-tying sacrifice fly), and you have a team that’s impressively weathering the injury storm.
Perhaps nothing summarized the Dodgers’ concentrated effort than the way they set down Miguel Cabrera four times in a row, bookending the feat by doing so with runners on scoring position in the first and ninth innings. Kenley Jansen fanned the two-time Tiger MVP with pitches each clocking 98 mph.
Detroit certainly did its part to match the intensity, coming back twice from one-run deficits to tie, the second time with two out in the ninth on Victor Martinez’s RBI single to center field off Jansen.Carl C
But in the bottom of the 10th, the Dodgers were sparked by the mesmerizing pitcher-destroying mojo of another reserve, Chone Figgins. For the third time in five plate appearances this year, Figgins walked. He took all six pitches thrown at him by Joba Chamberlain, meaning that of the 32 pitches he has seen in 2014, he has swung at only seven. In his three walks, he has seen 19 pitches and swung at one.
Gordon popped out bunting, but then Carl Crawford (3 for 5) came up and sliced a ball down the line that left fielder Rajai Davis could not cut off, allowing Figgins to score the winning run all the way from first base and kick off the Dodgers’ first on-field celebration of 2014.
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Not a bad time for a Tuesday night in April.
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By Jon Weisman
Dee Gordon’s April love continued tonight with a leadoff homer off 2013 American League Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer. It was Gordon’s third career home run and pushed his 2014 OPS over 1.000.
Gordon then had an infield single in his second at-bat that left Scherzer tumbling in a failed glove-flip.
By Jon Weisman
The interleague bogeyman let the Dodgers out of his clutches last year, allowing Los Angeles to go 12-8 against the American League — the team’s first winning performance since going 10-8 in 2004.
The Dodgers are actually 9-6 all-time against the Tigers in interleague play, including 6-3 at Dodger Stadium. (The teams have not met in the World Series.) Los Angeles travels to Detroit for two more games July 8-9.
Dan Haren enters tonight’s game not having allowed an earned run in his past 16 MLB innings. According to the Dodger press notes, Haren is the active leader in strikeout-walk ratio at 4.09.
Tigers at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, RF
Matt Kemp, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Dan Haren, P
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, RF
Matt Kemp, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Dan Haren, P
Some quick pregame notes:
- Yasiel Puig remains day to day. He is being fitted with a splint similar to what Hanley Ramirez used in early 2013 after his World Baseball Classic injury.
- A.J. Ellis is expected back in the clubhouse Wednesday and will help Tim Federowicz and Drew Butera prepare for games while he rehabs his left knee.
- Chad Billingsley was being examined again by Dr. Neal ElAttrache today, but there is currently no concern about his repaired ligament in his right arm.
- Josh Beckett is likely to be activated from the disabled list Wednesday to start for the Dodgers against Anibal Sanchez, but nothing official will be done on that front tonight. That would enable Hyun-Jin Ryu to start Friday in Arizona on six days’ rest.
Dr. Neal ElAttrache speaks at Monday’s celebration of the life of Dr. Frank Jobe. More photos from Jon SooHoo here.
By Jon Weisman
It’s still April, but sunshine has definitely found Southern California and Dodger Stadium this week. With Max Scherzer and the Tigers coming to town, things are heating up.
- Hours before A.J. Ellis’ pending knee surgery was revealed, Mark Saxon discussed his managerial potential at ESPN Los Angeles. Impossible not to agree, though when his retirement day comes (hopefully far off), the broadcasting world will no doubt offer itself to Ellis as well.
- Ellis underwent a 20-minute arthroscopic procedure today by Dr. Neal ElAttrache to debride (clean up) the medial meniscus of his left knee, the Dodgers’ PR department announced. Ellis will start his rehabilitation Wednesday, with recovery expected in four to six weeks.
- Brian Wilson made his second rehab appearance for Rancho Cucamonga, facing four batters and retiring three, with a strikeout. Dylan Hernandez of the Times has more on Wilson.
- Is Kenley Jansen throwing harder this year? Dave Cameron asks and explores the question at Fangraphs.
- Chad Moriyama captured the best pitches thrown by Dodgers in 2013 at Dodgers Digest. (And to be fair, he also captured the least best.)
- In his past three games with Albuquerque, Joc Pederson is 6 for 11 with two HR, three walks, two SB. In 14 trips to the plate, he has touched 17 bases on his own.
- Lindsey Caughel might have less notoriety than his teammates on the Rancho Cucamonga staff, but he deserves attention, opines Ron Cervenka at Think Blue L.A.
- Former Dodger general manager Fred Claire discussed his efforts to promote and develop baseball in New Zealand.
- Warren Spahn went 298 wins and 15 years between road victories over the Dodgers, notes John Lowe of the Detroit Free-Press.
- Today is the 40th anniversary of the first baseball game I can remember. Here’s to Henry Louis Aaron, whose 715th home run I watched on TV during spring break from first grade, 1974.
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By Jon Weisman
Friends and family paid wonderful tribute to Dr. Frank Jobe today at Dodger Stadium, as Ken Gurnick recaps at MLB.com. Dr. Neal ElAttrache became choked up as he described how Jobe, who died March 6, “touched and affected us in very profound ways.”
But at the risk of telling you exactly what you’d expect, there was something about Vin Scully’s words that transcended. Whatever your expectations might have been, Scully topped them. Paraphrasing Albert Schweitzer, Amos Bronson Alcott, William Wordsworth and the Bible, Scully at once spoke about Jobe and about life itself.
So I requested that we be able to post the entirety of Scully’s remarks online, in the video above.
“Success can be measured by what you receive from your fellow man, but the value of a man is what he gives back,” Scully said. “Frank was successful, but more importantly, he was a man of substance and most certainly of value. He spent a lifetime giving back.
“The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives. But the triumph of life is to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful and keep the heart unwrinkled. Frank kept his heart unwrinkled, and for that he was triumphant. What then do we ask of life, but to serve, to love, to commune with our fellow man and with ourselves, and from the lap of earth look up into the face of God. The best portion of a good man’s life is his little nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love.”
By Jon Weisman
Another injury has bitten the Dodgers, as it has been announced that A.J. Ellis will undergo surgery Tuesday for a torn meniscus in his left knee.
It was not said how Ellis, who had four singles and four walks in 28 plate appearances to start the 2014 season, suffered the injury. Ellis was out in a bang-bang play at the plate Saturday but remained in the game, though he did not play Sunday. Thanks to off days, he had caught the Dodgers’ first 62 innings this season.
Ellis previously had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee in October 2012. It was reported that he arrived at Spring Training about 15 pounds lighter than the year before.
No official roster move has been announced, but Tim Federowicz, who was the regular backup catcher to Ellis last year but started this year in Albuquerque because of a roster crunch, is the most likely candidate to see action in place of Ellis, alongside current reserve catcher Drew Butera.
Photo: Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Chad Billingsley provided something of a scare when he felt a sensation in his surgically repaired right elbow during his first rehab assignment Sunday, according to media reports, but Dr. Neil ElAttrache has examined Billingsley and said there is no issue.
By Jon Weisman
After Hanley Ramirez hit a double and two home runs in their 6-2 victory over San Francisco on Sunday, the Dodgers are 31-3 this century when a player gets at least 10 total bases in a game. The three losses were each by one run.
By Jon Weisman
The tweets and comments you would see ridiculing Matt Kemp over the past year and a half were predictable, given the wave of negativity that can flourish online, but still plenty vexing.
Kemp would get torched for not being productive enough, regardless of how healthy he was. He would get torched for struggling to stay healthy at all.
His track record, seemingly, was worth nothing. The “What have you done for me lately?” gang never had it so good.
Tonight’s two home runs, two rousingly authoritative home runs in the Dodgers’ 6-2 romp over the Giants (recapped by Earl Bloom for MLB.com) don’t ensure that Kemp will regain his near-MVP form over the long haul. But it does put a spotlight on how silly it was for anyone to give up on him.
Kemp, who had played 399 consecutive games before the series of injuries began, could arguably be his own worst enemy — racing into walls, sliding awkwardly into home, trying to come back too soon. None of these plays spoke poorly of his desire or the fundamental talent he brings to the field.
As his comeback entered its most trying phase, over the winter when he couldn’t even run, the catcalls might have reached their peak. How frustrating it must have been for Kemp, to have to issue “Bull Durham”-esque “I’m just working” quotes for the most part because anytime he expressed a feeling about his true value, he risked being labeled selfish.
Maybe Kemp doesn’t want to sit on the bench. Maybe he doesn’t express that feeling well 100 percent of the time. Should that, or the injuries, have meant that he should be tossed aside like garbage?
Kemp had earned some rope, some patience, some faith, more than some people were willing to give him.
It was just one game of two homers tonight. It was just one series with 10 total bases, a walk and a 1.242 OPS. No one knows how many games he will play this year. But I bet more than a few people who doubted him are thinking twice now.
* * *
Tonight’s game generated one prize-winning bit of trivia. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Dodgers had their most hits since at least 1900 without a single. The Dodgers had three doubles and four homers, evaporating their previous record of three doubles and two homers on June 25, 2002 in a 4-0 win over the Rockies at Dodger Stadium.
Not only that, the Dodgers struck out no fewer than 16 batters — half by Zack Greinke, the last four of them on a called third strike.
Can’t remember when I last saw this many backward Ks in a row. pic.twitter.com/BBerWp5kek
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) April 7, 2014
Chris Withrow added three more while nearly tying a record himself, using only 10 pitches to strike out the side. And how about Withrow this season? For a guy who was considered likely to start 2014 in the minors, allowing a single and a walk to the 17 batters he has faced while striking out eight looks pretty good.
Kenley Jansen also struck out the side in wrapping up the victory.
* * *
Yasiel Puig is day to day with a strained thumb ligament, according to MLB.com.
By Jon Weisman
Andre Ethier has faced Matt Cain more than any other pitcher during his nine-year big-league career and has gone 30 for 68 with four doubles, a triple, a homer, five walks and a 1.040 OPS against the righthander. Ethier has a .385 on-base percentage and .419 slugging in 26 plate appearances for the Dodgers in 2014.
Giants at Dodgers, 5:05 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, RF
Matt Kemp, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Zack Greinke, P
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, RF
Matt Kemp, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Zack Greinke, P
Zack Greinke has made 13 consecutive starts of at least five innings without allowing more than two runs. According to the Dodger press notes, only three pitchers since 1914 have longer streaks, led by Mat Latos with 15 in 2010.
Yasiel Puig’s thumb X-rays were negative, but he is having an MRI exam today. Ken Gurnick has more at MLB.com.
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By Jon Weisman
Colt Hynes, a 28-year-old lefthander who had 58 strikeouts and two walks in 47 1/3 innings in Triple-A last season, has been acquired by the Dodgers from Cleveland in exchange for Double-A righty Duke von Schamann.
Hynes was added to the 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque, forcing the Dodgers to designate Mike Baxter for assignment.
Hynes has been a reliever all of his career, except for 21 starts for Tucson in 2012. Hynes pitched 17 innings for San Diego with a 9.00 ERA and 13 strikeouts before being acquired by Cleveland on the last day of October.
Von Schamann, who pitched seven innings of two-hit shutout ball with two strikeouts for Chattanooga on Friday, had a 4.67 ERA with 100 strikeouts in 131 innings split between Rancho Cucamonga and Chattanooga last year.
Baxter, an outfielder and pinch-hitting specialist acquired in October from the Mets, went 0 for 7 in four games this year for Los Angeles.
By Jon Weisman
Another deficit, another comeback attempt thwarted by a close play — in this case, A.J. Ellis removed by an inch at home plate from becoming the Dodgers’ third run in what ended up Saturday’s 7-2 loss to San Francisco (recapped by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com).
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In the past two games, Don Mattingly has used 10 relievers, who have combined to allow only two runs over 11 2/3 innings while striking out 14. But the Dodgers have been victimized by big innings — six runs in the first on Friday, four in the fifth on Saturday.
Paul Maholm was hanging with Madison Bumgarner until he faced Pablo Sandoval with two runners on in that fifth inning. With Jose Dominguez warming up in the bullpen, Maholm gave up a three-run home run. As if to illustrate the rock and hard place Mattingly arguably found himself between, Dominguez then entered the game and immediately gave up a home run to Buster Posey.
Maholm told Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. that the pitch to Sandoval was “a cutter that didn’t cut.”
Yasiel Puig didn’t come out for a relief outfielder, even though he injured his thumb on a head-first slide to first base. Still, the injury was enough for the Dodgers to have it X-rayed. There was no immediate word that Puig would have to miss a start, though he could obviously be the fourth outfielder tonight for the Dodgers when Zack Greinke challenges Matt Cain in a fine Sunday Night Baseball matchup.
Later, Brian Wilson was back on a mound, throwing a perfect inning with one strikeout for Rancho Cucamonga.
* * *
Jon SooHoo’s Saturday photos can be found at the LA Photog Blog.
