Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

With Spring Training barely a fortnight away, workouts at Dodger Stadium are gaining steam, as you can see from this photo by Jon SooHoo. More at LA Photog Blog.

What else is going on? See below …

  • Hyun-Jin Ryu is already in Arizona, according to Jae-Ho Kim of MK Sports, working out before Spring Training, notes Ernest Reyes of Blue Heaven. Ryu had his first batting-practice session off the mound, throwing 30 pitches at half-strength, the Dodgers’ Martin Kim tells me. This is an earlier start for Ryu than the previous two seasons.
  • Charlie Sifford, considered by many to be the Jackie Robinson of golf, died Tuesday at 92.
  • Two weeks before he was drafted by the Dodgers in 2006, Alan Matthews did a lengthy feature on 18-year-old Clayton Kershaw for Baseball America. “Clayton is not one of those kids who was always a hoss in baseball,” his mother Marianne said. “He had a period before puberty when he wasn’t doing that well. So he cherishes this now because he knows what it’s like to not be on top.”
  • Joc Pederson ranked No. 2 in the ZiPS top 100 prospect projections, writes Dan Szymborski at ESPN Insider.
  • Ken Gurnick has more on Pederson at MLB.com.
  • Here’s an Angels-Dodgers comparison from David Schoenfield at ESPN.com’s Sweet Spot.
  • Bill Shaikin of the Times writes at length about MLB’s future, a story accompanied by a full Q&A with new commissioner Rob Manfred.
  • Jay Jaffe follows up our tribute to the late Rocky Bridges with one of his own at the Futility Infielder. Here’s another from Tim Grobaty at the Press-Telegram.
  • Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. takes a long look back at the Dodgers’ acquisition of the only No. 0 in team history, Al Oliver, 30 years ago today.
  • Mike Petriello offers some uncomplicated solutions to improve baseball’s pace of play at ESPN the Magazine.
  • Adrian Gonzalez loves his 2015 bobblehead.

  • And finally, Dodger social media coordinator Matthew Mesa, doin’ work:

#DodgersFF by you, the fans. #WeLoveLA

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