By Jon Weisman
It wasn’t the offensive display of 27 hours earlier, but the Dodgers still delivered when needed to win their second straight game over the Padres to start the season.
Month: April 2016 (Page 6 of 6)
By Jon Weisman
Scott Kazmir certainly likes to make a good first impression. And Dodger starting pitchers this season like to make good impressions twice over.
Echoing the season-opening seven innings of one-hit shutout pitching by Clayton Kershaw on Monday, Kazmir stymied the San Diego Padres in his debut performance as a Dodger with six innings of one-hit shutout ball tonight, handing a 3-0 lead to the Dodger bullpen.
Kazmir all but duplicated his seven innings of one-hit shutout ball in his own 2015 season debut. Though he pitched one fewer inning this evening, he walked none.
The only hit off Kazmir was an infield single by Cory Spangenberg near second base in the first inning. The 32-year-old lefty retired the final 17 batters he faced, finishing his night on 75 pitches.
Kazmir mixed in changeups as slow as 72 mph, but finished his night with 91 mph fastballs to strike out Melvin Upton Jr. and Jon Jay in the sixth.
In two nights, Dodger starting pitchers have thrown 13 shutout innings, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out 14.
“A lot was made of his spring,” Roberts said of Kazmir, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, “but he knew what it took to get ready for a Major League season. The fastball, the cutter, he threw great changeups tonight. He really executed the scouting report. I couldn’t have scripted it any better.”
Said Kazmir (via Gurnick): “I just wanted to have a good start to the season, get outs early and get us to the dugout as quick as possible. Location was the key, being able to get ahead. I was happy with my fastball location and worked the other pitches off that.”
Artifacts from Dave Roberts’ first win Monday as Dodger manager. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Dodgers at Padres, 7:10 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
Austin Barnes, C
Scott Kazmir, P
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
Austin Barnes, C
Scott Kazmir, P
By Jon Weisman
Having electrified Opening Day with a lights-out 15-0 victory over San Diego, the only thing the Dodgers needed to change in their lineup tonight was the battery.
Scott Kazmir will make his official Dodger debut on the mound, and he’ll be throwing to catcher Austin Barnes.
Weirdly, Clayton Kershaw’s seven shutout innings in the Dodgers’ season-opening rout this year nearly duplicated Kazmir’s first game a year ago. Pitching for Oakland on April 8, 2015, Kazmir also threw seven innings of one-hit shutout ball in a 10-0 victory. While Kershaw walked one and struck out nine, Kazmir walked two and fanned 10.
Kazmir had a 0.99 ERA in four April starts last year, with 30 strikeouts against 25 baserunners in 27 1/3 innings. He allowed one home run the entire month.
Beginning his second season in the organization, Barnes should no longer be a stranger to Dodger fans, but it’s true that he is making only his ninth career start (eighth at catcher). As a starter in 2015, Barnes went 5 for 20 with four walks and a hit-by-pitch for a .400 on-base percentage, striking out only four times in 26 plate appearances.
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
A historic day for the Dodgers began with something between a hunch and an observation by new manager Dave Roberts.
Chase Utley isn’t the Dodgers’ permanent leadoff hitter. He was simply the kind of hitter, based on his long history in the game, whom Roberts thought might do well batting first against Tyson Ross on Opening Day.
Coming up to start the 2016 season, Utley fell behind 1-2, worked the count to 3-2, and then stroked a simple, solid, sinking drive to left-center at which Jon Jay dove fruitlessly, good for a double.
No. 2 hitter Corey Seager, with almost none of Utley’s past but potentially all of his future and more, then boomed a double off the left-field wall on the fly, and it was on.
How on, we had no idea.
Their 15-0 victory (recapped by MLB.com) was the largest Opening Day shutout by any team in Major League history, according to Elias, breaking a 105-year-old record set by the Pirates at Cincinnati on April 12, 1911, 14-0.
“That first inning really set the tone for us,” Roberts said after the game. “After that, guys kept having good at-bats.”
The dominant performance created this cavalcade of conquest …
Photos by Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Every season, every single season in this glorious era of Clayton Kershaw, it’s impertinent to ask whether he can top himself. How can you demand more of someone who has perched at the summit so long, we’re all losing oxygen?
It seems gauche even to hope Kershaw can match his performance from previous years, during which he led the Majors in ERA for four of the past five seasons and had a 1.99 FIP in the year he didn’t.
And yet out comes Kershaw in San Diego, into the gloaming as he begins what unbelievably is his ninth big-league campaign. And as he has he before, he picks up the thread from the last season like it is one continuous stitch.
In the last meaningful regular-season game he pitched in 2015, he allowed one hit and one walk, pitching the Dodgers to a National League West-clinching victory.
In his seven innings tonight, while the Dodgers built a 15-0 lead, Kershaw allowed one hit and one walk, pitching the Dodgers toward a sixth consecutive Opening Day victory.
By Jon Weisman
With less than an hour to go before first pitch, here are some last-minute Opening Day notes …
- Not that this move needed defending, but Dave Roberts explained his choice to bat Corey Seager second, saying that Seager a) was a good matchup with Padres starter Tyson Ross, b) would give good at-bats and c) had the experience of batting high in the order during last year’s National League Division Series. Roberts also noted that Seager was not up there to bunt.
- As for Chase Utley batting leadoff, Roberts said that he trusted the veteran’s at-bats and believes he can get on base.
- Howie Kendrick is soon moving back to live batting practice and continues to aim for a return to active duty at next week’s home opener.
- The Dodgers are facing five straight right-handed starting pitchers to open the season, but Roberts said right-handed batters Kiké Hernandez, Scott Van Slyke and Trayce Thompson would see action before they presumably start against Madison Bumgarner in San Francisco on Saturday.
- One quirk I liked about this year’s lineup: It’s the first in Los Angeles Dodger history where all four infielders batted before all three outfielders (with the catcher and pitcher finishing things off).
- Do you think of Petco Park as a tough place to play for the Dodgers? Los Angeles has won the majority of games there for five consecutive seasons, going 30-17 (.638) since 2011.
- Here’s a profile of Ross from Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
This next batch of notes is courtesy of the Dodgers’ public relations department …
- The Dodgers are 31-27 on Opening Day since moving to Los Angeles in 1958.
- With five consecutive Opening Day wins, the Dodgers and Orioles have the second-longest active streak in MLB, behind Seattle (nine).
- The Dodgers have an active six-game win streak against the Padres. The last time the Dodgers beat the Padres seven times in a row was when they won 16 in a row over the Padres from September 9, 1973-September 20, 1974.
- Clayton Kershaw’s career Opening Day ERA of 1.14 is the second-lowest in the big leagues for pitchers with at least five season-opening starts since 1920, behind Rick Mahler (0.92).
- Austin Barnes, Louis Coleman (who turns 30 today), Ross Stripling, Kenta Maeda, Seager, Thompson and Hernandez will take part in their very first Opening Day.
- Roberts and Padres manager Andy Green form the first Opening Day meeting of two rookie managers since Fredi Gonzalez (Florida) and Manny Acta (Washington) in 2007.
- Pitching matchups for the next two nights: Scott Kazmir vs. James Shields on Tuesday, Kenta Maeda vs. Andrew Cashner on Wednesday.
The last scorebook. #Vin pic.twitter.com/Lie39WypEv
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 4, 2016
Dodgers at Padres, 4:05 p.m.
Kershaw CCXLIII: Kershawtlight
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
Kershaw CCXLIII: Kershawtlight
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
By Jon Weisman
Watching Madison Bumgarner of the Giants issue a bases-loaded walk in the first inning today grooved me to remember not to invest too deeply in Opening Day.
That RWI was the set-up to a punchline. The next batter hit into an inning-ending double play, and as far as I was concerned, baseball began being baseball right away in 2016.
And we’ve got a lot of baseball ahead of us.
Clayton Kershaw opens the 2014 MLB season in Sydney, Australia.
Dodger road openers since 1988
(with starting pitchers)
4/3/89 (Belcher): Reds 4, Dodgers 2
4/10/91 (Belcher): Dodgers 5, Braves 4
4/5/93 (Hershiser): Marlins 6, Dodgers 3
4/25/95 (Martinez): Dodgers 8, Marlins 7
4/1/96 (Martinez): Dodgers 4, Astros 3
3/31/98 (Martinez): Cardinals 6, Dodgers 0
4/3/00 (Brown): Dodgers 10, Expos 4
3/31/03 (Nomo): Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 0
4/5/05 (Lowe): Giants 4, Dodgers 2
4/2/07 (Lowe): Brewers 7, Dodgers 1
4/6/09 (Kuroda): Dodgers 4, Padres 1
4/5/10 (Padilla): Pirates 11, Dodgers 5
4/5/12 (Kershaw): Dodgers 5, Padres 3
3/22/14 (Kershaw): Dodgers 3, Diamondbacks 1
By Jon Weisman
Since 1988, the Dodgers are 8-6 when they’ve opened the season on the road, including their farthest trip, which delivered a 3-1 victory over the designated host Arizona Diamondbacks in Sydney on March 22, 2014.
In San Diego, where the Dodgers begin the 2016 season Monday, the Dodgers won season-opening games at San Diego in 2009 (behind Hiroki Kuroda) and 2012, with Josh Lindblom getting the win after illness forced Clayton Kershaw from the game after three innings.
Before that, believe it or not, the only time the Dodgers opened a regular season in San Diego was 1973, when a three-run eighth lifted the Padres over Don Sutton, 4-2.
Sutton got revenge the following year, winning 8-0 at Dodger Stadium over the Padres on Opening Day 1974.
By Jon Weisman
The pieces have been falling together for the past several days, and now, the puzzle is in place. Here’s the Opening Day roster, the first under manager Dave Roberts, for the 2016 Los Angeles Dodgers …
Starting pitchers (5): Scott Kazmir, Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, Ross Stripling, Alex Wood
Relief pitchers (7): Pedro Baez, Joe Blanton, Louis Coleman, Yimi Garcia, Chris Hatcher, J.P. Howell, Kenley Jansen
Catchers (2): Austin Barnes, A.J. Ellis
Infielders (6): Charlie Culberson, Adrian Gonzalez, Kiké Hernandez, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Chase Utley
Outfielders (5): Carl Crawford, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Trayce Thompson, Scott Van Slyke
Disabled list (10): Brett Anderson (60-day), Mike Bolsinger, Andre Ethier, Yasmani Grandal, Alex Guerrero, Howie Kendrick, Brandon McCarthy(60-day), Frankie Montas(60-day), Josh Ravin, Hyun-Jin Ryu
Dodgers at Angels, 6:05 p.m.
Carl Crawford, LF
Chase Utley, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, DH
Yasiel Puig, RF
Corey Seager, SS
Joc Pederson, CF
Scott Van Slyke, 1B
Austin Barnes, C
(Alex Wood, P)
Carl Crawford, LF
Chase Utley, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, DH
Yasiel Puig, RF
Corey Seager, SS
Joc Pederson, CF
Scott Van Slyke, 1B
Austin Barnes, C
(Alex Wood, P)
By Jon Weisman
Dave Roberts told reporters this afternoon that he expects the Dodgers to announce their Opening Day 25-man roster after tonight’s exhibition season finale.
That roster for Monday’s opener doesn’t figure to include Yasmani Grandal or Howie Kendrick, both of whom seem destined for the disabled list, with activation on or before the Dodgers’ home debut April 12.
One interesting tibdit: Austin Barnes, who can back up at second and third base as well as catcher, might stay with the team even after Grandal is activated, Roberts said.
By Jon Weisman
In his own words, here’s Ross Stripling on being named the Dodgers’ No. 5 starter:
Yimi Garcia and Pedro Baez in October 2015. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Angels at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kiké Hernandez, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Carl Crawford, LF
A.J. Ellis, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Corey Seager, SS
Kenta Maeda, P
Kiké Hernandez, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Carl Crawford, LF
A.J. Ellis, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Corey Seager, SS
Kenta Maeda, P
By Jon Weisman
Ross Stripling has been named the Dodgers’ No. 5 starter and will take the mound April 8 at San Francisco, Dave Roberts announced, adding that Carlos Frias will be optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
We’ll have more on Stripling shortly in a separate post. In the meantime, here are some more news and notes …
By Jon Weisman
Rob Segedin double-majored in finance and business management in college. That college happened to be Tulane, the alma mater of a certain Dodger president of baseball operations, also known as Segedin’s boss.
Segedin said he first learned about Andrew Friedman while in school because Chad Sutter and Jack Cressend, his coaches at Tulane — where he was the school’s 2008-09 student-athlete of the year, during the time Friedman was a Tampa Bay Rays executive — were previously teammates of Friedman on the Green Wave baseball team. While the 27-year-old infielder isn’t necessarily following in Friedman’s footsteps, you could say he’s walking in proximity.
“Yeah, right now I’m currently getting my MBA from Indiana online,” Segedin said, “so when I get done with baseball, I can stay in the game as long as possible, whether it’s in a coaching role or front-office role.”
Getting a graduate degree in business while pursuing a graduate degree in baseball can’t be the easiest thing in the world, but it has certainly set up Segedin for a fulfilling present and a bright future.
“All my electives for my MBA are in business analytics, because it’s gonna transition, whether it’s in baseball or whether it’s in the real world,” he said. “That’s the way the game is going, so if you want to be in those roles in the future, you’re going to have to have some type of background in that. It’s the new wave of baseball.”
Segedin isn’t ready to trade in his baseball jersey for the button-down shirt, however.
By Jon Weisman
You’re supposed to know better than to fall in love with players like these, but …
With one out separating the Dodgers from a 2-1 loss to the Angels on Thursday, Charlie Culberson hit a soft grounder to the left of first base. C.J. Cron ranged to his right as Javy Guerra ran from the pitcher’s mound to catch Cron’s throw and cover the bag. Somehow, Culberson outraced Guerra to first base, beating Guerra for an infield single.
For those few suspenseful seconds, you rooted for Culberson as he pushed with all his speed and will to get there, get there, get there … and when he actually got there, you smiled, even as you couldn’t quite believe it.
One batter later, the Dodgers lost the game. And despite the single raising his March OPS to .907, accompanying near flawless fielding at three infield positions, Culberson remained on the same precipice where he began the day — on the yes-or-no fringe of the Opening Day roster, at the whim of teammate health and the Dodger front office’s broader view of how to construct the team out of the gate.
So what did it all mean?
