For more photo highlights from Saturday’s game, visit LA Photog Blog.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, CF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Justin Turner, 3B
Darwin Barney, SS
Drew Butera, C
Dan Haren, P
By Jon Weisman
It’s been a frustrating 40 hours, with two defeats compounded by the recognition that practically every day, the Dodger roster gets thinner and thinner because of injuries. But in two weeks, the pendulum could swing the other way.
Hanley Ramirez, Juan Uribe, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Josh Beckett, Paco Rodriguez and Chris Perez will all be eligible to come off the disabled list before August 31, and while not all figure to, enough could to make a difference.
The following day, team rosters expand to up to 40 players, enabling the Dodgers to improve their overall depth. This could not only mean adding a third catcher like Tim Federowicz or extra arms in the bullpen, there could also be another bat off the bench like Alex Guerrero (though Guerrero has only OPSed .545 since his return from the minor-league disabled list).
Speedly slugger Joc Pederson is where the most intrigue for a September callup probably rests. Pederson offers multiple tools off the bench, though he isn’t currently on the 40-man roster.
For now, the Dodgers will hope to stop the bleeding — figuratively and literally. The team remains 4 1/2 games ahead of San Francisco in the National League West heading into play today.
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Saturday, the Dodgers sent infielder Jesmuel Valentin, the 51st overall pick in the 2012 draft, to the Phillies as one of two players to be named (or cash considerations in lieu of the second one) in the August 7 trade for Roberto Hernandez. The 20-year-old Valentin had a .349 on-base percentage and .430 slugging percentage with 24 steals in 31 attempts for Single-A Great Lakes this year.
oldbrooklynfan
It should be very interesting and exciting I may add to get another look at Joc Pederson in a Dodger uniform. I don’t know where they’ll find room for him except to pinch hit and maybe used in a double switch on occasion. The Dodgers can use all three catchers, maybe one of them can show some offense in September.The focus of course will be on the fight for the NL West and the wild card berth if the Dodger don’t make i past the Jints.