By Jon Weisman
When a foul ball fractured the leg of starting left fielder Andre Ethier in March, knocking him out of action for approximately three months, his position fell primarily to Carl Crawford and Scott Van Slyke.
By the time the Dodgers played their first home game, Crawford and Van Slyke were on the disabled list as well. But the Dodgers have thrived in left field, thanks largely to the fast starts of Trayce Thompson and Kiké Hernandez.
By Jon Weisman
Frankly, I’m not convinced Ross Stripling didn’t do himself a solid by allowing a single to Arizona leadoff batter Jean Segura tonight.
If he weren’t going to have another no-hit performance to match his MLB debut a week ago, it was probably best to get the tension and suspense out of the way immediately. And with the next batter, Socrates Brito, grounding into a double play. Stripling got Segura out of the way nearly as fast.
Paul Goldschmidt then grounded out himself, and Stripling was on his way to another strong start.
The 26-year-old rookie pitched four shutout innings, gave up single runs in the fifth and sixth, and left with his head held high. He has a 2.03 ERA and 0.75 WHIP, 13 1/3 innings into his big-league career.
What Stripling doesn’t have is a win, though the night ended happily for Stripling and the Dodgers just the same.
Welcome to the world,
Jensen Thomas Hatcher 7 lb 5 oz, 20", 1:04 pm. Mom and baby are doing great. pic.twitter.com/cRMukv8e5p— Chris Hatcher (@handlebars41) April 14, 2016
By Jon Weisman
With Chris Hatcher going on paternity leave (Congrats!) shortly before or after 1:04 p.m. today, Adam Liberatore has been called up by the Dodgers from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
The 28-year-old Liberatore, who most recently threw 33 pitches on Tuesday, walked two and struck out eight in four scoreless, hitless innings in the minors to start the season. He made his MLB debut for the Dodgers on April 17 last year, and allowed no runs or inherited runs in 13 of his first 15 appearances (0.71 WHIP) before finishing his rookie season with a 4.25 ERA.
By Jon Weisman
Howie Kendrick, who shifted from second base to left field late in Tuesday’s game, is making his first start in left since August 13, 2011 and 21st overall.
“In a perfect world, we would’ve gotten him more repetitions (in left field) this spring,” Dave Roberts said, according to J.P. Hoornstra of the Daily News. “The way Chase (Utley) is playing, I want to keep him in the lineup.”
Hoornstra added that Roberts believes that left field might be easier than second base physically for Kendrick, who fought off groin and calf issues to make his 2016 debut Tuesday.
Kendrick isn’t by any means the most unusual Dodger left fielder in recent years. Consider these …
By Jon Weisman
Terry Crews is as big as they come, but his heart is even bigger. And Dodger Stadium has played a not-so-small part in that.
Kenta Maeda pitched six shutout innings for the second straight game. (Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
Dave Roberts preached faith in the Dodger bullpen after its latest tough outing.
For the third time in the past four games, Dodger relievers surrendered a lead, with Pedro Baez and Chris Hatcher each allowing home runs in a 4-2 loss today to Arizona in the Dodger Stadium home opener (recapped by MLB.com).
With his team at 4-4 after eight games, Roberts said it was too early to contemplate changes to the bullpen.
[mlbvideo id=”585753483″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]
By Jon Weisman
In a breathtaking experience that traversed Dodger history from Don Newcombe to Clayton Kershaw, Vin Scully received an emotional tribute before the first pitch of his final Opening Day at Dodger Stadium as the team’s broadcaster.
Al Michaels, who was considered by some a possible successor to Scully four decades ago, hosted the tribute that mixed video (including messages from Henry Aaron and Kirk Gibson) with live presentations.
The roll call of Dodgers that took the field went as follows: Newcombe, Maury Wills, Sandy Koufax, Al Downing, Rick Monday, Ron Cey, Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Tommy Lasorda and Kershaw, with Magic Johnson and Peter O’Malley then escorting Scully on to the hallowed stadium grass, before an enormous standing ovation from the crowd.
Top series by Jon SooHoo, bottom by Juan Ocampo
A baseball autographed by every participant was then passed down the line to Scully, who truly looked moved by the moment and said afterward he was “overwhelmed.”
Watching him from ground level, as the scoreboard camera circled around him for its closeup, I never felt more how much of a living legend we were privileged to know, and to call our own.
Does it get any better than this? #VIN pic.twitter.com/Fj2c4dUnx8
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 12, 2016
Scott Van Slyke, before the pain. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
The Dodgers lost one more player to the disabled list but gained two back today.
Howie Kendrick and Yasmani Grandal have returned to the active roster for the Dodgers, who placed Scott Van Slyke on the DL with lower back irritation.
Kendrick is starting today at second base, but Dave Roberts added that he could see some time in left field in the short term (given the Dodgers’ quantity of injured outfielders and the strong start by infielder Chase Utley). Kendrick has 26 career MLB games in left, most recently in with the Angels.
“We were talking about when Howie resigned with us, he was open to playing some outfield, so we might be dipping into that well,” Roberts said.
By Erin Edwards
For Dodger fans, 2016 is promising to be an exciting year on and off the field. While our Boys in Blue battle for a title, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation will launch and renew a number of fundraisers for the 2016 season, giving fans an opportunity to support programs that benefit children and families in Los Angeles.
There are multiple ways that you can support programs that not only help kids stay active, but aid them in being successful academically.
Take a look at what is taking place in 2016:
With the expectation of activating Howie Kendrick from the disabled list Tuesday, the Dodgers have optioned second baseman Micah Johnson to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Johnson went 0 for 3 in two games for Los Angeles.
Kendrick and Yasmani Grandal are both expected to return to active duty in time for the home opener, though Grandal is not expected to start. Arizona is scheduled to throw left-hander Patrick Corbin against the Dodgers’ Kenta Maeda.
— Jon Weisman
Vin Scully on Opening Day at San Diego on April 4. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
The final Friday home game of the regular season, September 23 against Colorado, will be Vin Scully Appreciation Day, the team announced today, honoring the legendary broadcaster in his final season.
Individual seats for the game that night are not yet on sale, though you can get tickets for it now via a special 11-game mini plan at dodgers.com/miniplans. Any game after Opening Day is eligible for the 11-game plan.
— Jon Weisman
Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
One week from today, A.J. Ellis’ wife Cindy will run in the Boston Marathon to raise money for research into the fight against pediatric cancer. The Ellis family will match all donations up to $26,200.
They have made the effort in honor of their family friend Rhyan Loos, who has stage 4 neuroblastoma, a rare form of pediatric cancer, but their hope is to make an impact far beyond one person.
… We are desperate for a cure and have come to find how important yet underfunded Pediatric Cancer research actually is.
Each year in the United States approximately 15,780 children between the ages of birth and 19 years of age are diagnosed with cancer.
In the U.S., more children die of childhood cancer than any other disease —yet all types of childhood cancers combined receive only 4% of the U.S. federal cancer research funding – of over $5 billion. …
Learn more and offer your support at the Ellis family site, teamellisfamily.com. You can also donate directly here.
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
At the end of the street formerly known as Elysian Park Avenue, we witnessed today what happens when an unstoppable force meets a moved city.
In the driveway of his home away from home at Dodger Stadium, a broadcaster without equal acknowledged the formal dedication of Vin Scully Avenue, thanking the grateful fan base that has hung on his words since 1950.
By Jon Weisman
Tonight, the two-night, four-hour documentary “Jackie Robinson” premieres on PBS. In this piece for Dodger Insider magazine, I interviewed Ken Burns about how the documentary seeks to humanize a figure that time has made more mythological.
With each passing year, the stature of Jackie Robinson looms larger in the history of baseball and the United States.
But it has been nearly 70 years since Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier, nearly 60 years since he retired from baseball and well over 40 years since he passed away. And in that time, the flesh-and-blood Robinson has only grown more and more remote.
“This is a person who has become kind of one-dimensional, [because] heroism in our media culture tends to make you just one-dimensional — perfect,” said famed documentarian Ken Burns, who with his daughter Sarah and son-in-law David McMahon directed and produced the four-hour “Jackie Robinson,” airing in April on PBS. …
Read the entire article here, or in Dodger Insider magazine, which officially launches its new edition at Dodger Stadium’s Opening Day on Tuesday.
What happens when three old friends in crisis fall into an unexpected love triangle? In The Catch, Maya, Henry and Daniel embark upon an emotional journey that forces them to confront unresolved pain, present-day traumas and powerful desires, leading them to question the very meaning of love and fulfillment. The Catch tells a tale of ordinary people seeking the extraordinary – or, if that’s asking too much, some damn peace of mind.
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