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Vin Scully and a montage of baseball history meet the memorable James Earl Jones monologue from “Field of Dreams” in the above video.
— Jon Weisman
Month: May 2016 (Page 2 of 7)
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/735882899187060736
By Jon Weisman
Once Julio Urias takes his big-league ready stuff (detailed here by Ben Badler of Baseball America) to the mound Friday and throws his first pitch at Citi Field against the New York Mets, the immediate question will be — how many more pitches will he throw?
Urias’ season high in the minors this year is 82 pitches. That was spread across six innings, or 13.6 pitches per start — which is basically a Clayton Kershaw level of efficiency that you can only hope he might approach in his MLB debut. His Double-A high with Tulsa in 2015 was 89 pitches.
Someday, Urias will be allowed to break the restraints, but for now, you can’t imagine the 19-year-old hitting triple digits, and the Mets will no doubt be on a mission to make him build up that pitch count as early as possible.
To that end, I asked New York-based MLB.com columnist, Statcast expert and longtime Dodger blogger Mike Petriello what to expect from the Mets’ offense.
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
Luis Avilan has been optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City by the Dodgers, making room on the 25-man roster for the impending promotion of Julio Urias.
In his most recent stint with the Dodgers, Avilan retired the only batter he faced during Los Angeles’ 8-2 victory Tuesday over Cincinnati.
— Jon Weisman
Matthew Mesa/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
A big dose of news this morning: The Dodgers have announced that on Friday, they will purchase the contract of 19-year-old left-hander Julio Urias, who will make his Major League debut that evening in New York against the Mets.
Urias will be taking the scheduled start of Alex Wood, who is resting because of left triceps soreness. Wood, who had 13 strikeouts in 91 pitches during his most recent start May 21 (with 43 strikeouts and a 2.67 ERA in his past 30 1/3 innings) is now scheduled to take the mound Monday in Chicago.
The Dodgers will announce a 40-man roster move Friday to make room for Urias’ contract.
By Jon Weisman
At 5:05 a.m., 20 years ago today, former Dodger All-Star infielder Mike Sharperson died at the age of 34, following a one-car accident near the junction of Interstate 15 and 215 in Nevada.
All-Star infielder. When Sharperson made the National League All-Star team in 1992, he and the Dodgers got a lot of grief. It was a year of grief. Los Angeles was in turmoil after the riots of late April. The Dodgers were on their way to their worst season in 87 years. Their best hitter was a 30-year-old who had never played a full season in the Major Leagues, whose career high in home runs was three.
The right-handed Sharperson was best known as a platoon partner of lefty-hitting Lenny Harris. A good contact hitter who batted twice for the Dodgers in the 1988 playoffs, Sharperson hit .297 with a .376 on-base percentage and more walks than strikeouts in 415 plate appearances in 1990. He played and hit a bit less in 1991, when the Dodgers lost the National League West title by one game.
Then in the spring and early summer of 1992, as Darryl Strawberry faded and before Mike Piazza arrived, Sharperson — still alternating at second and third base with Harris, Juan Samuel, Dave Hansen and Dave Anderson — somehow emerged as the Dodgers’ best hitter.
Come July, the Dodgers needed an All-Star representative, and Sharperson was it.
By Jon Weisman
There are four other pitchers looking to prove that the Dodger starting rotation isn’t just Clayton Kershaw.
After last week’s seven-walk interruption, Scott Kazmir is back on the case.
Kazmir struck out 12 batters — his most since 2013 and one shy of his career high — in the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory over Cincinnati tonight, Los Angeles’ season-high fourth win in a row.
The 32-year-old just missed becoming the second Dodger lefty in the past five days to strike out 13 in six innings, after Alex Wood on May 21. He settled for the dandy dozen whiffs, on 91 pitches.
J.P. Howell allowed four runs in this April 7 game at San Francisco — and has allowed four runs since. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
Before Sunday, J.P. Howell hadn’t pitched two complete innings in a game since 2013, and hadn’t pitched three innings since 2008.
But in the Dodgers’ 17-inning victory over San Diego, Howell whipped through nine outs, allowing only one hit. Considering the outing, his 35 pitches were economical, but they were still an unusually high total for the 33-year-old. Not that he was complaining.
“I haven’t pitched too much this year, so it was kind of nice to be out there for that long period of time,” said Howell.
In fact, Howell said he was ready to come back and pitch Monday if needed. Tuesday was a different story, however.
“You go three innings, you can pitch the next day,” he said. “It’s day two — it’s like once you stop and recovery starts to happen, it’s over.
“So for me, it was yesterday — I was really feeling it. And it’s not your arm, it’s your body, just the middle of your body, the whole core — the front and the back is stiff.”
Reds at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Trayce Thompson, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Howie Kendrick, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Scott Kazmir, P
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Trayce Thompson, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Howie Kendrick, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Scott Kazmir, P
By Jon Weisman
Yasiel Puig isn’t in tonight’s Dodger starting lineup, which isn’t a surprise — least of all to Dave Roberts, who planned to give Puig a night off even before Tuesday’s mid-game benching.
Howie Kendrick is in left field, with Trayce Thompson moving to right. Puig was on the field this afternoon for early batting practice, but not in preparation to start.
“I let all the players know when they’re gonna play, when they’re not gonna play,” Roberts said. “I told Howie (Tuesday afternoon) he was going to be in there with Trayce and Joc. So, tonight is not punitive at all. It was already set.”
Roberts said he had an “extended conversation” with Puig after Tuesday’s game, and now they are moving forward.
“We talked about expectations and a vision and accountability,” Roberts said. “For me, you’ve got to be responsible for your actions.
“He understands, and he wants to be a better teammate. I’m not going to say a mistake like that’s not going to happen with him or any other player, but I think he wants to get better.”
Nobe Kawano, pictured above, was the longtime clubhouse manager of the Dodgers from 1959-91, and his brother Yosh had the same role with the Cubs from 1953-2008. Now in their 90s, their stories are told in this terrific piece by David Wharton of the Times.
— Jon Weisman
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
We’re not really the sum of all our parts. We’re more the multiplication of them.
The fractions of ourselves don’t neatly add up in tidy columns. They clash and they explode like calculus.
So just in the past several days, the answer to Yasiel Puig involves finding the product of this:
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Mike Bolsinger’s offspeed was on point tonight.
Working primarily with a curve and slider in the 80 mph-and-below range, Bolsinger pitched a solid 5 2/3 innings, and the Dodgers extended their winning streak to three with a 8-2 victory over Cincinnati.
In his second big-league start of the season, Bolsinger struck out six and allowed three hits, blemished only by a two-run home run by Adam Duvall that cleared Joc Pederson’s glove by inches.
The Emirates ceremonial first pitch at Dodger Stadium on Monday was a strike.
Reds at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Trayce Thompson, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Mike Bolsinger, P
By Jon Weisman
No one’s really a fan of an eight-man bullpen and a four-man bench, but it has basically made sense for the Dodgers the past seven days, and they plan to continue that way for the next several.
Dave Roberts said today that the Dodgers would probably retain the eight/four split into their upcoming road series in New York and Chicago, a roster construction that began when Charlie Culberson was optioned May 18 to make room for Mike Bolsinger.
By Jon Weisman
No matter what crazy, crazy heights Clayton Kershaw achieves in the regular season, for some, it will always be about what he hasn’t done in the playoffs.
Even after he’s done well in the playoffs.
No, Kershaw hasn’t won a World Series yet, and no one (least of all him) questions whether that’s the ultimate prize. But anyone paying attention should notice that the narrative of Kershaw as a postseason failure doesn’t hold up.
His 3-1 victory on three days’ rest in New York last October in Game 4 of the National League Division Series confirmed — not for the first time — Kershaw’s ability to deliver in the fall, but there are still those who don’t even acknowledge it.
So here I am, back again. I’ve done this before, but let’s recap, from good to bad.
By Jon Weisman
With the Dodger bullpen depleted, with the Dodger offense tired, Clayton Kershaw gave Los Angeles exactly what it needed.
Inning after inning of zeroes.
Despite a late rush, Kershaw’s streak of double-digit strikeouts ended tonight. But nothing else of his season-long dominance did, as he sliced through the Cincinnati Reds on 102 pitches for a 1-0 Dodger victory.
This was the first time in seven starts since April 15 that Kershaw didn’t whiff at least 10 batters. No matter. He has already tied his career high with his third shutout of the season.
Cincinnati basically had one window against Kershaw, and that came one second into the game. Zack Cozart hit the unceremonial first pitch down the left-field line for a double. Billy Hamilton bunted him to third, and Kershaw went 3-0 in the count to Joey Votto.
But two strikes later, Votto lined to short, and two more pitches later, Brandon Phillips grounded to third. For the rest of the game, the Reds would get one runner to second base, and one other runner to first base.
Trayce Thompson, preparing for his eight consecutive start, works in the indoor cage before tonight’s game. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Reds at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kershaw CCLII: Kershawnhattan
Kiké Hernandez, LF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 3B
Trayce Thompson, CF
Corey Seager, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
Kershaw CCLII: Kershawnhattan
Kiké Hernandez, LF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 3B
Trayce Thompson, CF
Corey Seager, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
By Jon Weisman
Here’s a quick update on some of the Dodger newsmakers over the past 24 hours …
Ross Stripling
Getting optioned to the minors after winning Sunday’s game didn’t shock Stripling, who told SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo that it was always the plan that he would be optioned around this time — though certainly current circumstances made the decision more obvious.
Stripling added that the plan is for him to throw three innings when he starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City, according to Andy McCullough of the Times.
Dave Roberts said that Stripling could be used in the rotation or out of the bullpen when he returns to Los Angeles.
