Los Angeles Dodgers vs Kansas City Royals

Dodgers at Cubs, 12:05 p.m.
Carl Crawford, LF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Chase Utley, 3B
Andre Ethier, DH
A.J. Ellis, C
Kiké Hernandez, SS
Trayce Thompson, CF
Rob Segedin, 1B
Micah Johnson, 2B
(Clayton Kershaw, P)

By Jon Weisman

Dan Haren, the one-time Dodger right-hander, has been nothing but fun since his retirement from baseball following the 2015 season. (If you want an extended sample, check out his recent appearance on the Jonah Keri Podcast.)

Anyway, when the Dodgers announced Brett Anderson’s surgery last week, it set Haren’s Twitter wheels in motion, as MLB.com’s Cut4 notes.

https://twitter.com/ithrow88/status/705453445642215424

But four days later, the wheels ever-so-shockingly ground to a halt.

So Haren will remained retired, with 2,419 2/3 innings, a 3.75 ERA, 110 ERA+ and lots of good times ahead with his family.

What else can I tell you?

  • Among those scheduled to pitch after Clayton Kershaw today are Joe Blanton, Carlos Frias, Jacob Rhame, Pedro Baez. Also suiting up for today’s game is Red Patterson, who made one start for the Dodgers during a Minnesota doubleheader in 2014, then later that year had Tommy John surgery.
  • Andre Ethier is back in the Dodger lineup, Alex Guerrero is close, and Howie Kendrick maybe next in line, writes Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.
  • Julio Urias is scheduled for a light bullpen session Wednesday, according to Bill Plunkett of the Register, with a Cactus League debut Friday against the Angels if all goes well.
  • Yaisel Sierra threw two innings of live batting practice today, tweeted MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick, paving the way for him to soon appear in a game.