Pregame – Page 20 – Dodger Thoughts

Category: Pregame (Page 20 of 32)

How Clayton Kershaw became underrated

On May 21, 2015

By Jon Weisman

Here are the earned runs by innings against Clayton Kershaw over his past six starts:

000 100 xxx (six innings on April 17 vs. Colorado, left for pinch-hitter)
002 000 xxx (six innings on April 22 at San Francisco, left for pinch-hitter)
100 100 0xx (seven innings on April 28 vs. San Francisco, left for pinch-hitter)
000 001 03x (7 1/3 innings on May 4 at Milwaukee)
000 500 xxx (5 2/3 innings on May 10 at Colorado)
000 000 3xx (6 2/3 innings on May 15 vs. Colorado)

In the past 40 innings that he has taken the mound, Kershaw has allowed earned runs in eight of them.

Dodgers at Giants, 12:45 p.m.
Kershaw CCXVIII: The Kershow with David Letterman
Joc Pederson, CF
Kiké Hernandez, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Justin Turner, 3B
Scott Van Slyke, RF
Alex Guerrero, LF
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P

For a 26-inning stretch from April 17 through the seventh inning May 4 in Milwaukee, Kershaw had a 2.08 ERA with two walks against 37 strikeouts, and the only thing that could stop him was the Dodgers’ need for a pinch-hitter. And all people did was complain about how ineffective he was.

Since then, he has had three rough innings out of 12 — not his finest cumulative hour. Several analysts online have written “what’s wrong with Kershaw” pieces, and what it seems to come to down to is pitch selection, a slightly less effective slider and — particularly in that lone Coors Field inning, which accounts for 31 percent of the runs Kershaw has allowed over his past 38 2/3 innings — some bleeding rotten fortune.

Here are two things that stick out to me:

Opponents have swung at the first pitch in 39 percent of their plate appearances against Kershaw this year, and are hitting .308/.341/.564/.906. Last year, they swung at the first pitch 41 percent of the time, but hit .199/.204/.321/.525.
With runners in scoring position, opponents are hitting .347/.396/.469/.866 with a .485 batting average on balls in play. Last year, they hit .190/.233/.355/.588 in RISP situations with a .276 BABIP.

The first problem is certainly fixable; the second might fix itself.

One thing I suspected Kershaw might be having trouble with didn’t turn out to be true. Of his 14 walks (that’s all) in eight starts this year, half have come with the bases empty — but that’s actually a far better percentage than last year, when 22 of his 31 walks came with the bases empty. And yet hitters are only OPSing .654 against him with nobody on. Since April 17, only one player (D.J. LeMahieu) has scored off Kershaw after drawing a bases-empty walk. So the start of innings hasn’t been the problem.

The upshot of all remains that for all that Kershaw might be doing wrong, he is doing so much that is right. Perhaps most importantly, based on his velocity, there is no indication that there’s anything physically amiss. This is still a pitcher who leads Major League Baseball in xFIP (2.15).

Our concerns about Kershaw probably say more about us than they do about him. No one’s been unhappier about his performance than Kershaw himself, but he has managed to do what should have been unthinkable — become an underrated pitcher.

Alex Guerrero looks to keep bouncing back

By Jon Weisman

On May 20, 2015

In Pregame

Half of Alex Guerrero’s 22 hits this season have been for extra bases, including four extra-base hits in May. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Dodgers at Giants, 7:15 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Alex Guerrero, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, RF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Brett Anderson, P

By Jon Weisman

Alex Guerrero is making his 12th start in May tonight, essentially qualifying him as a regular for the time being. The third baseman-left fielder has made more starts than Justin Turner, Juan Uribe or Scott Van Slyke this month.

Since beginning the season with five homers in his first 22 at-bats through April 26, Guerrero has one homer in his past 45 at-bats. He has a .292 on-base percentage and .400 slugging percentage in that time, numbers buoyed by his 2-for-4 performance in Tuesday’s 2-0 loss at San Francisco. Guerrero ended a mini-slump in which he had gone 0 for 9.

Guerrero has a .323 batting average on balls in play since April 27, while striking out in 27 percent of his plate appearances.

Unlucky Joc: Pederson making better contact with worse results

By Jon Weisman

On May 19, 2015

In Pregame

Dodgers at Giants, 7:15 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, RF
Alex Guerrero, 3B
Carlos Frias, P

By Jon Weisman

Joc Pederson is in his first slump of the 2015 season, though oddly, he’s been making better contact than when he was hot.

Through May 7, when talk of him being the ultimate Three True Outcomes hitter was peaking, Pederson had nine home runs, a .427 on-base percentage and a .674 slugging percentage, while striking out in exactly one third of his plate appearances (37 of 111).

May 7 was the day at Milwaukee that Pederson walked twice and then singled in the ninth inning, ending his streak of seven consecutive hits that were home runs. It was quite the transitional moment.

Since then, Pederson is 4 for 31 with one homer and five walks, but he has struck out a relatively reduced 21.6 percent of the time (eight times in 37 plate appearances).

Pederson has a .136 batting average on balls in play in those nine games, compared with a .350 BABIP in his first 28.

In his past five games, Pederson has been particularly unlucky. Across 19 plate appearances, Pederson has one homer, one hit-by-pitch, two strikeouts — and, on balls in play, one single and 14 outs (seven flies, seven grounders).

On top of everything else, he has zero walks in his past 26 plate appearances — the longest walkless stretch of his young career.

It’s almost as if Pederson wanted to reverse the conversation about himself. Baseball’s Three True Outcomes poster child has gone to the opposite … set of posters.

Perhaps a happy medium awaits.

Nicasio at night: Juan at one with relieving

By Jon Weisman

On May 16, 2015

In Pregame

Rockies at Dodgers, 6:10 p.m.
Kiké Hernandez, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Justin Turner, 1B
Alex Guerrero, LF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Zack Greinke, P

By Jon Weisman

Juan Nicasio’s first Major League save might be his last for a while now that Kenley Jansen is back, but let’s take a moment to appreciate how useful the new Dodger reliever has been.

The converted starter has a 1.02 ERA in 17 2/3 innings this season with 25 strikeouts (12.7 per nine innings) and only nine hits allowed. Since taking the extra-inning loss April 23 at San Francisco, Nicasio has pitched 10 1/3 consecutive shutout innings with 15 strikeouts, allowing two singles and four walks. He stranded three of four inherited runners in that time.

Showing his versatility, Nicasio is the third Dodger in the past 10 years to have a three-inning relief win and a separate save in the same year, after Chan Ho Park in 2008 and Chris Withrow in 2013. And just to play off the headline, opponents have a .115 slugging percentage in night games against Nicasio so far this year.

In his rookie season, Nicasio a fractured vertebra in his neck after taking a line drive to the head on August 5, 2011, and was a mixed bag as a starting pitcher thereafter. He is still only 28 years old, and having been liberated from Colorado’s Coors Field, has done little to discourage his future prospects as a reliever.

Footnote: Four Dodgers have saves this year, and Kenley Jansen figures to soon become the fifth, but that’s not close to a record. In 1979, 11 Dodgers had saves, led by Bobby Castillo with seven. Don Sutton, Jerry Reuss and Bob Welch each had at least one complete game and one save.

What to expect from Kenley Jansen

By Jon Weisman

On May 15, 2015

In Bullpen, Pregame, Transactions

Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers

For images from Thursday, visit LA Photog Blog.

Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kershaw CCXVII: The Kershawx-Bow Incident
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Justin Turner, 3B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, RF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Clayton Kershaw, P

By Jon Weisman

Activated from the disabled list today, Kenley Jansen doesn’t come back as a savior.

For one thing, even with this week’s bullpen struggles, I’m not sure the Dodger bullpen needs saving. For another, Jansen couldn’t do it by himself anyway.

And something else to keep in mind about Jansen, who takes the roster spot of the re-optioned Daniel Coulombe, is that he has historically been a second-half pitcher. Whether that’s a statistical anomaly or not, I can’t say, but at least in the past, he has taken time to reach his toppiest of top form:

Career

2.96 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 13.8 K/9 before All-Star Game
1.42 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 14.2 K/9 after All-Star Game

2014

3.49 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 14.4 K/9 before All-Star Game
1.69 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 13.2 K/9 after All-Star Game

Honestly, BABIP could be the reason as much as anything — opponents hit .395 on balls in play before the 2014 All-Star Game, according to Baseball-Reference.com, .286 after. And he’s been no slouch at any point, first half or second.

In any case, expecting perfection from Jansen is as unreasonable as requiring perfection for him to be useful.

Baez goes to disabled list — Coulombe recalled with Jansen on tap

By Jon Weisman

On May 14, 2015

In Health/injuries, Instant replay, Pregame, Transactions

[mlbvideo id=”114355383″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

For images from Wednesday, visit LA Photog Blog.

Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, RF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Brett Anderson, P

By Jon Weisman

Just as the Dodger bullpen is poised to welcome back Kenley Jansen, the team has had to place Pedro Baez on the disabled list with a right pectoral strain.

For now, Daniel Coulombe has come back to the Dodgers from Oklahoma City, while Jansen’s return, originally scheduled for Saturday, could be moved up to Friday as circumstances warrant. Jansen aced his final rehab assignment with two strikeouts in a perfect inning for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.

Don Mattingly, who had been ejected from the game earlier after a call against the Dodgers was not overturned by replay, was watching on television from his office, and said today he wondered if something was amiss with Baez when he saw him throw consecutive changeups to Dee Gordon. Baez had struck out his three previous batters.

On the next pitch, Baez threw his slowest fastball of the game (admittedly, still 94 mph, but down from 99 mph six pitches earlier), and Gordon smacked it for a double, and next thing you knew, Yasmani Grandal was calling for Stan Conte.

Mattingly wasn’t happy to lose Baez, even with Jansen serving as a de facto replacement, but he did acknowledge that the mid-May rest could be a silver lining over the long haul of the season.

“With so many guys throwing mid-to-high 90s, stuff happens,” Mattingly said.

As for the replay controversy, Mattingly said the team received a phone call from MLB admitting that Giancarlo Stanton’s catch of Howie Kendrick’s sinking liner in the bottom of the fourth should have been overturned, but the Dodger manager pledged he was moving on.

“I’m over replay,” he said, smiling. “I’m not gonna get upset about replay anymore. I’m done complaining.”

In case you missed it: Turner’s transformation

By Jon Weisman

On May 13, 2015

In In case you missed it, Offense, Pregame

Justin Turner has a .918 OPS in 383 plate appearances as a Dodger. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

For images from Tuesday, visit LA Photog Blog.

Marlins at Dodgers, 4:50 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Alex Guerrero, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, RF
Kiké Hernandez, SS
Carlos Frias, P

By Jon Weisman

When you’re 22-10 overall and have won 25 of your past 29 home games, you tend to generate a lot of stories. Here are a few …

Justin Turner reinvented himself as a hitter after former Mets teammate Marlon Byrd suggested he reverse his past approach and “move his contact point more out in front,” Turner tells Eno Sarris of Fangraphs.
Clayton Kershaw talked to Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports about luck and execution. Not surprisingly, Kershaw believes his problem has been the latter.
We’ve talked already about how powerful the Dodger offense has been relative to franchise history. Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs does the work to show that in MLB history, the team is on pace to do something unprecedented.

…The Dodgers, without their pitchers, stand with a wRC+ of 142. The Royals are still in second, at 116. A few things about this. First, the highest team wRC+ marks since 1950, leaving pitchers out:

It’s the Dodgers, and it’s the Dodgers by a landslide. The Dodgers, obviously, have played only a partial season. The Dodgers, probably obviously, won’t finish this season as high as 142. They’ll come back to the pack, and I have to imagine the probability is they won’t be No. 1 on this list come season’s end. But, who’s to say? What’s happened is what’s happened, and it hasn’t all been a fluke. And besides, this isn’t a projection post. This is a post intended to review what has taken place. The Dodgers have basically hit like a lineup full of All-Stars. Not uncommon to see for a few games in a row. Far less common to see for several weeks.
Thirty years ago today, in the midst of an American League MVP season, Don Mattingly capped a Yankee comeback from an 8-1 deficit with a three-run walkoff homer in the ninth inning, as Chris Landers recollects at Cut4.
Carson Cistulli of Fangraphs on today’s starter, Carlos Frias:

… Frias, a relative unknown before joining the Dodgers bullpen last year — and still something other than a household name — has recorded both an expected FIP and average fastball velocity both more than 1.5 standard deviations better than the respective means produced by the league’s starters. He also throws strikes at a rate roughly one standard deviation better than those same starters. What this particular game represents is an opportunity to observe Frias en route to excellence. It is, in short, an emergent need that requires the attention of the reader …

The 5.11 on the Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

On May 12, 2015

In Offense, Pregame, Status report, Transactions

For more images from Monday, visit LA Photog Blog.

By Jon Weisman

Marlins at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Alex Guerrero, 3B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, RF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Mike Bolsinger, P
Note: Chris Heisey was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make room for Mike Bolsinger on the active roster.

So, how would you like to face the above pitcher on your average day?

We’ll award points for averaging 8 2/3 innings per game, but otherwise, this guy is really getting pounded.

Or perhaps you’ve already figured out this ruse — the above stats represent the cumulative performance this year of Dodger opposing pitchers, who have been getting pounded at a rate at which even Charlie Brown might cast a saucy eyebrow.

Through games of 5/11, a 5.11 ERA by opponents. Not to mention a home run every 5.5 innings. It’s pretty remarkable. With the season 20 percent complete, Dodger position players have a .364 on-base percentage and .504 slugging percentage.

The Dodgers’ overall .479 slugging percentage this season puts them on pace to top a 62-year-old franchise record of .474.

Rested Dodger bullpen raises interesting questions

By Jon Weisman

On May 11, 2015

In Bullpen, Pregame

In 10 games this month, Sergio Santos and the Dodger bullpen have allowed 32 baserunners in 28 1/3 innings. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Marlins at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Justin Turner, 3B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, RF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Zack Greinke, P

By Jon Weisman

Thanks to Friday’s shortened game, Saturday’s rainout and their overall efficiency, Dodger relievers enter the upcoming seven-game homestand having thrown only 42 pitches combined since Thursday and 165 in the past week.

Yimi Garcia’s nine pitches Sunday are his only action in the past seven days. Chris Hatcher is on six days’ rest. Paco Rodriguez hasn’t entered a game since a six-pitch outing five days ago.

Sergio Santos has been one of the hardest-working men in the bullpen for the past week — he was the only Dodger pitcher on the roadtrip to work back-to-back days. Yet even Santos has only thrown 41 pitches — 22 on Wednesday and 19 on Thursday.

He doesn’t seem too worried he is growing stale.

“For the most part, that just usually doesn’t last,” Santos said this afternoon. “You take your lumps when you get them, and you take your days off as you get those as well. It’s really about staying even-keeled and being ready.”

Like the other relievers, he has to find the balance between staying sharp and not overdoing his workout.

“So I’ve had three days off,” he said, “so what I’ll do today is I’ll play catch, and then I’ll probably throw a light 10-to-12-pitch bullpen, just something so I can get downhill. I can flip a couple sliders, throw some changeups and just get that work in. It’s more for the muscle memory. … and if I get to pitch tonight, I’ll still be fine.”

Another factor in the low workload is that the Dodgers have been carrying eight relievers. Ideally, according to Don Mattingly, that would go down to seven.

“It ties your hands a little bit when you go short a (position) player,” Mattingly said. “That’s an area that we have a few guys who have quite a bit of versatility, so it makes that easier, but still there are times .. you just make decisions differently. You might let a pitcher hit one more time, you may not pinch-hit in certain circumstances earlier in the game and just try to save your bullets.”

But with Kenley Jansen close to being activated (he has one more rehab outing scheduled for Wednesday) and 16 games in the next 17 days, it might be hard to make a bullpen cut.

“I think we always want to try to keep everybody rested and keep everybody fresh when they come out, give them the best chance to be successful,” Mattingly said. “Sometimes that happens; sometimes you go through a stretch where you’re into your bullpen a lot. Then there’s times when you’ve gotten good starting pitching, where your bullpen’s not getting that much use. You never know what’s going to happen over the next three or four days.

Snow doubt about it for Dodgers, Rockies

By Jon Weisman

On May 10, 2015

In Pregame

So the #Dodgers & #Rockies will attempt to play in this today. pic.twitter.com/F0RB4UqK7O

— Alanna Rizzo (@alannarizzo) May 10, 2015

Dodgers at Rockies, 1:10 p.m.
Kershaw CCXVI: Kershawppy Mother’s Day!
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Alex Guerrero, 3B
Chris Heisey, LF
Kiké Hernandez, RF
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P

By Jon Weisman

The sense today is that the Dodgers will get their game in today against the Rockies, despite the snowfall that graced Denver overnight. Efforts to clear the field have been ongoing all morning, and the forecast is promising, if frigid, for the remainder of the day.

The postponement of Saturday’s game was hardly ever in question and was made official two hours before gametime. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com talked to scheduled starting pitcher about it.

“I haven’t pitched in real cold weather in a long time,” Kershaw told Gurnick. “Probably the last time was my first game with Midland in 2007. Pitched against Brett.”

That would be Brett Anderson, who discussed this during his conference call after signing with the Dodgers, as noted here.

On April 5, 2007, the two faced each other in the Class-A Midwest League debut for each: Anderson with South Bend, Kershaw with visiting Great Lakes. Kershaw walked six in 2 1/3 innings, while Anderson allowed five runs (four unearned) and took a hard-luck loss. But the main thing Anderson remembers is that it was about 28 degrees and snowing.

“We were like, ‘What the hell did we get ourselves into? And a few years later, we were pitching in the big leagues at age 21,” Anderson said.

Anderson, in case you missed it, picked up his first complete game since 2011 by lasting five innings in the Dodgers’ rain-shortened 2-1 victory Friday over Colorado. It echoed the five-inning complete-game victory by Kershaw on June 8 last year.

Anderson also had the first complete game with one strikeout by a Dodger pitcher since Orel Hershiser gave up four solo homers but held San Francisco to a 1-for-27 day on balls in play with 16 groundouts during a 7-4 victory June 28, 1994.

Before Kershaw, the Dodgers hadn’t had a weather-shortened complete game since pitching coach Rick Honeycutt was credited with one on April 27, 1984. Honeycutt retired 18 of the 19 batters he faced in a 1-0 Dodger victory, decided by Steve Yeager’s second-inning home run.

In all, Dodger pitchers have had 12 complete games of less than eight innings since the team moved to Los Angeles. All have been on the road.

The Dodgers return to Colorado in only three weeks, for a three-game series beginning June 1. Saturday’s postponed game will probably be rescheduled as part of a doubleheader that week.

.@ClaytonKersh22 and his mom in the most '90s picture ever. Unreal hair. #MLBMoms pic.twitter.com/uFKe9iR3K6

— MLB (@MLB) May 10, 2015

Today, #Dodgers players and coaches are wearing these in support of Sherri Patton, who is battling breast cancer. pic.twitter.com/chxuQXuFoV

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 10, 2015

Alex Guerrero gets consecutive starts in left field

By Jon Weisman

On May 8, 2015

In Pregame

Dodgers at Rockies, 5:40 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Justin Turner, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Alex Guerrero, LF
Andre Ethier, RF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Brett Anderson, P

By Jon Weisman

In the first nine games after Carl Crawford’s injury, the Dodgers alternated Alex Guerrero and Scott Van Slyke in left field for each starting lineup. (Van Slyke played right field against Madison Bumgarner in the first of those games).

In tonight’s game — that is, if tonight’s game gets played — Guerrero gets a second consecutive start in left field for the first time this season.

Guerrero (1.264 OPS) walked, was hit by a pitch and homered yesterday, curtailing a brief slump in which he went 1 for 14 with a walk. Van Slyke (.832 OPS), currently in an 0-for-12 stretch, would enjoy a game like that.

Mostly, though, it shows the challenges Don Mattingly faces in finding playing time for so many qualified hitters. No position player wants to sit at Coors Field, even in bad weather, and I do expect we’ll see our share of Van Slyke this weekend.

Dodgers continue to play total recall

By Jon Weisman

On May 6, 2015

In Health/injuries, Pregame, Transactions

Joe Wieland has allowed 17 hits and walked only two in 20 innings — striking out 22 — with Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Dodgers at Brewers, 5:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Justin Turner, 3B
Andre Ethier, RF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
A.J. Ellis, C
Joe Wieland, P

By Jon Weisman

With Joe Wieland coming up to start tonight’s game at Milwaukee to become the Dodgers’ ninth starting pitcher of the season — and Chris Heisey in the clubhouse, apparently waiting to be take the roster spot of a pitcher before Thursday’s game — these thoughts start to crystalize.

The Dodgers’ use of Scott Baker, Mike Bolsinger, Carlos Frias, David Huff and Wieland isn’t out of desperation, but almost a way of extending Spring Training evaluations, taking a look at a number of starting pitcher candidates before making a commitment.
As long as they’re willing to pay the travel and administrative costs, the Dodgers can continue to use player options to alternate at least Bolsinger, Frias and Wieland through the rotation, essentially enabling them to use their roster spot for an extra position player or reliever in between their starts.

Any time you send a player back to the minors, he has to remain there for at least 10 days unless he is coming back to replace a player going on the disabled list. But with multiple optionable players at your disposal, the 10-day requirement becomes a footnote rather than a barrier.

Hypothetically, Wieland could go back down to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday, and Heisey could be activated. Then on May 12, Heisey could be sent down and Bolsinger recalled. Then the next day, Bolsinger could be sent down and replaced by another position player or reliever. Then as soon as May 17, Wieland could be back, and the cycle would renew.

I’m not saying the Dodgers will actually follow this plan, but it’s hard not to appreciate the way that the team’s depth enables it, or the front office’s willingness to exploit it.

Transaction fever might break by June, as the Dodgers firm up their evaluations, and also perhaps try to give some of the principals at Oklahoma City some stability. Wieland, for one, has been noticing, though he isn’t complaining.

“Down there, we honestly expect anything to happen – because just about everything has happened,” Wieland told Bill Plunkett of the Register on Tuesday. “We’ve seen guys go up (to the big leagues) for one day and then come right back. You’re here one day – then you’re outrighted. We’ve had three or four starters on hold, pushed back a day (from their scheduled day to pitch) and then nothing’s happened.

“We see it but we’ve kind of come to expect it. It’s not as big an issue as it was in the beginning.”

Health will play a big role in how much maneuvering the Dodgers continue to do. For example, Yasiel Puig will begin his rehab assignment as a designated hitter for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, and could be back in action as soon as next week. So could Kenley Jansen, who gave up three runs in his rehab outing today but told Ron Cervenka of Think Blue L.A. he would be “ready to come back next week.”

After throwing 25 pitches today, Kenley Jansen's back-to-back test is pushed back to Saturday and Sunday, Mattingly said.

— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) May 6, 2015

On the other hand, Hyun-Jin Ryu is still weeks away from a return after showing decreased velocity in his most recent bullpen session Friday, according to Plunkett, so the Dodgers could be rotating starting pitchers well into next month.

And as if that weren’t enough mystery, check out the weather report for the Dodgers’ upcoming Friday-Sunday series in Colorado:

Roster turnover is the new normal. Meet your new 2015 Dodgers, same as your old 2015 Dodgers.

Dodgers make deals, call up Coulombe

By Jon Weisman

On May 4, 2015

In Pregame, Transactions

[mlbvideo id=”99059083″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

For photos from Sunday, visit LA Photog Blog.

Dodgers at Brewers, 4:20 p.m.
Kershaw CCXV: Kershawzing Saddles
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Andre Ethier, RF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Juan Uribe, 3B
Clayton Kershaw, P

By Jon Weisman

The transaction-happy Dodgers actually went the entire series against Arizona without making a move. But in the aftermath of their 13-inning walkoff shutout victory Sunday over the Diamondbacks, there has been some shuffling.

Most relevant in the short term is that the Dodgers have called up lefty reliever Daniel Coulombe from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Coulombe has 1.74 ERA in 10 1/3 innings this season, allowing nine baserunners while striking out 16. In fact, the 25-year-old has retired 23 of the last 25 batters he’s faced, striking out 14 without allowing a hit.

Coulombe will take starting pitcher Scott Baker’s spot on the 25-man roster. Baker, who has one of the four seven-inning starts by a Dodger pitcher this season but was hit hard Saturday, was designated for assignment Sunday when the Dodgers acquired first baseman Andy Wilkins from the Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations.

Wilkins, 26 years old and born the day of Ramon Martinez’s only career Major League hold, had 30 homers and an .896 OPS in Triple-A last year. He went 6 for 43 with two walks in his MLB debut last fall.

But wait — that’s not all. Today, the Dodgers acquired right-handed reliever Matt West from Toronto, also in exchange for cash considerations. West, 26, has pitched 12 1/3 scoreless innings for Double-A New Hampshire this season with 17 strikeouts against 14 baserunners. A converted third baseman, West allowed seven baserunners in four innings while making his Major League debut for the Rangers in 2014, striking out three.

Hyun-Jin Ryu has been moved to the 60-day disabled list. He remains eligible to come off the DL before the end of May.

Other notes for today:

Tonight’s opponents, the Brewers (7-18) and the Dodgers (16-8), are already 11 1/2 games apart in the standings.
The Dodgers released new Brewers manager Craig Counsell (who is replacing another old friend, Ron Roenicke, at the Milwaukee helm) on March 15, 2000 at age 29, after he OPSed .626 in 1999. Counsell played 11 seasons and amassed 1,037 hits after that.
Though the Dodger bullpen pitched seven innings Sunday (extending its scoreless streak to 26), no reliever threw more than 15 pitches, and only Juan Nicasio and Yimi Garcia have worked consecutive days. With the addition of Coulombe, that leaves seven reasonably rested relievers behind Clayton Kershaw today.
Yasmani Grandal’s home run in the bottom of the 13th Sunday gave the Dodgers their longest walkoff shutout victory ending on a home run in team history, surpassing Carl Furillo’s 12th-inning homer for a 2-0 victory 60 years and one day earlier, during the 1955 championship season.
Sunday’s 13th-inning tag by J.P. Howell still amazes me — and frankly, the dish to the dish by Grandal is a thing of beauty as well.

[mlbvideo id=”100881183″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

Brett Anderson looks to ground Diamondbacks

By Jon Weisman

On May 3, 2015

In Pregame

Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers

For more photos from Saturday, visit LA Photog Blog.

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 1:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Alex Guerrero, LF
Andre Ethier, RF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Brett Anderson, P

By Jon Weisman

As he ventures into his first start of May, Brett Anderson will be looking to pump some life back into his strikeout and groundball rates, and in turn pitch deeper into games.

Anderson hasn’t gotten more than 15 outs in a start since the first week of the season. The 27-year-old lefty is typically as one of the Majors’ top pitchers at keeping the ball down, but according to Baseball-Reference.com, his ratio of groundouts to air outs through four starts in 2015 is 1.09, the lowest of his career and less than half the ratio between 2011-14 (2.33).

In addition, Anderson has struck out 12.8 percent of the batters he has faced (5.0 per nine innings), also the lowest of his career.

Two starts ago, on April 21 against the Giants, Anderson was snakebit in San Francisco. He allowed only six balls hit in the air, but San Francisco still cajoled nine hits off of him, striking out once.

In a rematch April 27 at Dodger Stadium, Anderson shut out the Giants over the first four innings despite being out of whack, inducing three groundouts in the process compared with five balls caught by outfielders (including Joc Pederson’s first-inning catch near the wall in center that started a double play). Anderson then got two groundouts to start the fifth inning, but a walk to No. 8 hitter Brandon Crawford preceded two groundball singles, then an RBI double to deep right.

It’s encouraging merely to see Anderson take his regular turn on the mound week after week — the next step is for him to deliver a dominating performance. We’ll see if that comes today.

As Rubby returns, a look back at the big 2012 trade

By Jon Weisman

On May 1, 2015

In History, Pregame, Transactions

Rubby De La Rosa with the Dodgers in 2011 (Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers).

At age 22, Rubby De La Rosa had 60 strikeouts in 60 2/3 innings for the Dodgers in 2011. (Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Justin Turner, 3B
Andre Ethier, RF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Alex Guerrero, LF
Carlos Frias, P

By Jon Weisman

Tonight, Rubby De La Rosa faces the Dodgers for the first time, outside of batting practice or bullpen sessions before he was traded away in 2012.

Once a bigtime prospect for the Dodgers, De La Rosa technically left on October 4, 2012 with Jerry Sands as players to be named later in the August 25 deal that brought Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Nick Punto from Boston to Los Angeles. James Loney, Ivan DeJesus Jr. and Allen Webster had already departed Los Angeles that August.

Now 26, De La Rosa has a 4.57 ERA with 105 strikeouts and a 1.45 WHIP in 138 innings since leaving the Dodgers. His ERA is at 4.68 in 25 innings this season, though he does have 25 strikeouts against five walks and was fairly brilliant in his last outing, holding Pittsburgh to one run on four hits and no walks over seven innings while striking out eight.

It cost a bit of money, but so far, the Dodgers have come out ahead in that trade with the Red Sox — no matter what happens in tonight’s game. Here are the Wins Above Replacement totals since the trade for the players, according to Baseball Reference:

Lost: 1.7 WAR
4.0 Loney
0.2 De La Rosa
0.0 Sands
-0.3 De Jesus
-2.2 Webster

Gained: 17.9 WAR
9.7 Gonzalez
3.7 Crawford
2.5 Punto
2.0 Beckett

These numbers differ a bit on Fangraphs, but the gist is still the same. Webster in particular has struggled, with a 6.25 ERA and 5.9 K/9 in 89 1/3 Major League innings. Now in the Arizona organization with De La Rosa, Webster has a 19.29 ERA with Triple-A Reno through two starts, having allowed 15 runs and 22 baserunners in seven innings before hitting the disabled list.

What’s remarkable is that even if the Dodgers had only received Punto, who had a .335 on-base percentage and .325 slugging percentage in 378 plate appearances from late 2012 through the end of 2013, they still would have arguably won the trade to date. I wouldn’t make that argument necessarily, but still …

Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Category: Pregame (Page 20 of 32)

How Clayton Kershaw became underrated

Alex Guerrero looks to keep bouncing back

Unlucky Joc: Pederson making better contact with worse results

Nicasio at night: Juan at one with relieving

What to expect from Kenley Jansen

Baez goes to disabled list — Coulombe recalled with Jansen on tap

In case you missed it: Turner’s transformation

The 5.11 on the Dodgers

Rested Dodger bullpen raises interesting questions

Snow doubt about it for Dodgers, Rockies

Alex Guerrero gets consecutive starts in left field

Dodgers continue to play total recall

Dodgers make deals, call up Coulombe

Brett Anderson looks to ground Diamondbacks

As Rubby returns, a look back at the big 2012 trade

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