Transactions – Page 15 – Dodger Thoughts

On July 2, 2015

In International, Minor leagues, Scouting, Transactions

[mlbvideo id=”135173383″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

By Jon Weisman

Today, the opening day of the new signing period for international players not subject to the MLB draft, the Dodgers announced the following signings, led by the most highly regarded pitcher in the market …

Read More

Dodgers acquire minor-leaguers Chase DeJong and Tim Locastro

On July 2, 2015

In Transactions

By Jon Weisman

We’ll have a complete roundup on today’s Dodger international signings later, but in the meantime, there’s a minor-league trade to annouance.

The Dodgers picked up right-handed pitcher Chase DeJong and infielder Tim Locastro from Toronto in exchange for three international signing slots: 27, 57 and 117. DeJong and Locastro have been assigned to Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.

The 21-year-old DeJong, a native of Long Beach, had a 3.13 ERA, a .231 opponents’ batting average and a 1.08 WHIP in 14 starts this year for Single-A Lansing. Locastro, who turns 23 this month, has a .409 on-base percentage while slugging .421 for Lansing. His career OBP in three pro seasons is .399.

Pedro Baez returns from disabled list, Puig remains sidelined

On June 26, 2015

Pedro Baez struck out the side in his most recent outing, May 13 against Miami. (Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Dodgers at Marlins, 4:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Justin Turner, 1B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Scott Van Slyke, RF
Alex Guerrero, LF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
A.J. Ellis, C
Brett Anderson, P

By Jon Weisman

The good news for the Dodgers is that after a six-week absence, righty reliever Pedro Baez has been activated from the disabled list.

Before suffering a right pectoral strain (while facing tonight’s Dodger opponent, the Miami Marlins), Baez had allowed 15 baserunners in 15 1/3 innings this season while striking out 22, with a 1.76 ERA and all 13 of his inherited runners stranded.

In his most recent 8 1/3 innings, from April 24 to May 13, Baez was unscored upon, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out 12 of the 30 batters he faced. He pitched three shutout innings in his three-game rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Ian Thomas, called up this week without making a pitch, has been sent back to Oklahoma City, whose starter tonight is the rehabbing Brandon Beachy. Beachy is expected to throw about 60 pitches. Another teammate, Brandon League, is scheduled for back-to-back rehab appearances this weekend.

Meanwhile, Yasiel Puig is still on the bench to allow a torn callous on the palm of his left hand to heal.

A.J. Ellis, who has reached base in 14 of his past 32 plate appearances with a .452 on-base percentage, is starting for the second day in a row. Yasmani Grandal was destined to get a day off in this series, and the Dodgers have decided to give it to him tonight so that Ellis can start against Marlins rookie lefty Justin Nicolino, who pitched seven shutout innings in his MLB debut June 20 against Cincinnati.

Dodgers activate Joel Peralta

On June 22, 2015

Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers

Dodgers at Cubs, 5:05 p.m.
Kershaw CCXXIV: Kershawmer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Yasiel Puig, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Kiké Hernandez, SS
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
Note: A severe thunderstorm threat has created a potential weather delay for tonight’s game.

By Jon Weisman

Sidelined since April 26 by a shoulder ailment, Joel Peralta has been reinstated to the active roster by the Dodgers.

Peralta still carries a 0.00 ERA as a Dodger, having gone 5 2/3 shutout innings in April across seven games, allowing five baserunners while striking out four.

Los Angeles actually plans to make two roster additions today, and is optioning both Daniel Coulombe and Matt West back to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

West ate three innings for the Dodgers this weekend against the Giants, allowing no runs on three baserunners while striking out two. Coulombe, who has now completed four separate stints with the Dodgers this season, also pitched three innings vs. San Francisco, allowing three runs on five baserunners with three strikeouts.

Update: Though travel delays prevented him from arriving for pregame activities, the Dodgers have recalled lefty pitcher Ian Thomas from Oklahoma City.

Thomas has a 5.30 ERA in 18 2/3 innings with 14 strikeouts for Oklahoma City, including his most recent outing of six innings with one run allowed on June 17. Thomas allowed four runs in three innings during his lone Dodger appearance this year, June 2 at Colorado.

Dodgers get fresh arm in bullpen in Matt West

On June 20, 2015

Giants at Dodgers, 4:15 p.m.
Yasiel Puig, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Andre Ethier, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Carlos Frias, P

By Jon Weisman

Matt West was called up June 1 by the Dodgers but didn’t pitch before returning to Triple-A Oklahoma City. We’ll see if that goes any differently this time around for West, who has switcherooed in the Dodger bullpen with Josh Ravin.

In contrast to West, Ravin was pretty busy during his first Dodger (and MLB) stint, appearing in seven games — including four in the past six days. His week began well with a winning two shutout innings Sunday at San Diego, but he then allowed four runs (including two homers) in his past three outings.

Matt West

What we said about West on Wednesday is still true:

West most recently pitched two innings on Tuesday, allowing two runs. He had 10 strikeouts and a 0.87 ERA in 10 1/3 innings with Double-A Tulsa, followed by eight strikeouts and an 8.03 ERA in 12 1/3 innings with Oklahoma City.

Joel Peralta, one of three Dodger relievers to do a rehab inning Friday in Oklahoma City, could rejoin the active roster next week in Chicago, Don Mattingly told reporters today.

Rehab report: With @okc_dodgers tonight …
Baez 1 IP, 0 R, 1H, 1K
Peralta 1 IP, 1R, 2H, 1K
League 2/3 IP, 1R, 2BB, 1K

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 20, 2015

Coulombe climbs back to Los Angeles, Heisey heads down to Oklahoma City

On June 18, 2015

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

For more images from Wednesday, visit LA Photog Blog.

Rangers at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, LF
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Zack Greinke, P

By Jon Weisman

Moving back to a seven-man bullpen, the Dodgers have called up lefty reliever Daniel Coulombe from Triple-A Oklahoma City (for the fourth time since May 4) and optioned outfielder Chris Heisey.

With the Dodgers in 2015, Heisey has managed to draw eight walks to boost his OBP to .353 in 34 plate appearances, despite going 4 for 26.

In other roster news, Darwin Barney (who was designated for assignment June 12) has been outrighted to Oklahoma City.

Scott Van Slyke activated, Chris Hatcher placed on disabled list

On June 17, 2015

Rangers at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kershaw CCXXIII: Kershawlicon Valley
Yasiel Puig, RF
Chris Heisey, CF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Kiké Hernandez, SS
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P

By Jon Weisman

Scott Van Slyke has come off the disabled list and into the Dodger starting lineup tonight against Texas lefty Wandy Rodriguez, but he is taking the roster spot of a pitcher, not a position player.

Righty reliever Chris Hatcher has been placed on the disabled list with a left oblique strain, retroactive to June 15.

For the time being, that leaves the Dodgers with a season-low six pitchers in their bullpen: righties Kenley Jansen, Yimi Garcia, Juan Nicasio and Josh Ravin, and lefties J.P. Howell and Adam Liberatore.

Chris Hatcher said he felt a twinge in his oblique after his appearance on Sunday. Tried rest first. Got MRI this morning

— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) June 17, 2015

Liberatore is the only Dodger who has pitched in two games since Friday. The Dodgers have gotten a pair of eight-inning outings in that time, from Zack Greinke and Brett Anderson.

Van Slyke enters tonight’s game 6 for 21 with a double and four walks against southpaws this season (.756 OPS). Last year, Van Slyke had a 1.045 OPS in 130 plate appearances against left-handers.

Update: Don Mattingly told reporters today that the Dodgers would likely go back to a seven-man bullpen as soon as Thursday.

Hector Olivera promoted to Triple-A

On June 12, 2015

In Transactions

[milbvideo id=”159229783″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

By Jon Weisman

Cuban import Hector Olivera, who went 2 for 4 (while being robbed of a third hit) in a nationally televised game Thursday at Double-A Tulsa, has been promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

In six games with the Drillers, the 30-year-old Olivera went 7 for 22 with a grand slam and three walks, for an .855 OPS. He also had a slick defensive play at third base in Thursday’s game, charging a ball hit down the line.

The transaction puts Olivera alongside the Dodgers’ top young prospect, Corey Seager, who went 2 for 4 with a double Thursday in Oklahoma City’s 3-1 victory over Barry Zito and Nashville. Seager now has a .356 on-base percentage and .419 slugging percentage in Triple-A, despite playing home games in the most run-depressing environment in the Pacific Coast League.

Dodgers have sight for Torreyes, designate Barney for assignment

On June 12, 2015

In Transactions

[milbvideo id=”35016585″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]
By Jon Weisman

Ronald Torreyes, a 22-year-old minor-league infielder, has been acquired from Toronto in exchange for cash considerations by the Dodgers, who also designated infielder Darwin Barney for assignment.

A native of Venezuela, Torreyes was orginally signed by the Reds as a 17-year-old in early 2010. He has a career .353 on-base percentage and .410 slugging percentage in 537 minor-league games, though he has only gone 7 for 50 with two doubles and four walks in his most recent stint, for Double-A New Hampshire.

Torreyes has played the majority of his career at second base while also dabbling at shortstop, third base and the outfield. He played for Triple-A Oklahoma City last year when it was an Astros affiliate, but is being optioned to Double-A Tulsa by the Dodgers.

The 29-year-old Barney was on the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster this year but played only two games, going 0 for 4. After being acquired by the Cubs on July 28 last year, the 2012 Gold Glove winner had a .467 on-base percentage in 45 plate appearances, lifting his career OBP to .294.

With Triple-A Oklahoma City, Barney had a .273 OBP in 121 plate appearances.

The return of Yasiel Puig

On June 6, 2015

Last day in lancaster. Ready for LA tomorrow @w.rivas_13 @mlbsunnyd @bird601_1400 @jmrichy45

A post shared by @yasielpuig (@yasielpuig) on Jun 5, 2015 at 6:14pm PDT

Cardinals at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kershaw CCXXI: Kershawnational Velvet
Joc Pederson, CF
Chris Heisey, LF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Justin Turner, 1B
Kiké Hernandez, 2B
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P

By Jon Weisman

Ending a 39-game absence, Yasiel Puig has been activated by the Dodgers from the disabled list and is back in the starting lineup against the Cardinals.

Puig is batting third, though Don Mattingly told reporters that he could see Puig batting second or fifth going forward.

The Dodgers went 21-18 with Puig out of the lineup, with Andre Ethier batting .285/.362/.504/.866 as the primary right fielder. Ethier is on the bench tonight while the Dodgers face Cardinals lefty Jaime Garcia, but figures to get much of the time in left field in the near term.

Scott Schebler, who went 1 for 3 in his MLB debut, has been optioned back to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Schebler will be joined there by David Huff, who cleared waivers, but Sergio Santos has elected to become a free agent. Former Oklahoma City reliever David Aardsma, who opted out of his contract, has signed a minor-league deal with Atlanta.

In other news, Brandon League is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday.

Scott Schebler called up for MLB debut

On June 5, 2015

Scott Schebler has 80 homers in 521 career games as a professional. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodger)

Scott Schebler has 80 homers in 521 pro games. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Cardinals at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, RF
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Scott Schebler, LF
Kiké Hernandez, 2B
Brett Anderson, P

By Jon Weisman

“Slow starts don’t hold back outfield prospect Scott Schebler,” says the subhead of the feature on the 24-year-old outfielder in the June edition of Dodger Insider magazine, and today’s transaction news certainly backs this up.

Schebler, a notoriously cold hitter in the early going throughout his career, finds himself in the starting lineup for the Dodgers tonight, taking the roster spot of reliever Daniel Coulombe, who was optioned back to Triple-A.

Schebler has had a .696 OPS in 49 games this year, but he is 4 for 13 with a double and triple to start June, a month in which he has usually excelled throughout the minors. Last year, for example, he followed a .761 OPS in May with a 1.133 OPS in June.

“In a way, Schebler’s development as a baseball player parallels his in-season performance,” Cary Osborne writes in his story below. “He was a five-sport athlete at Iowa’s Cedar Rapids Prairie High School, also participating in football, basketball, soccer and track and field. But because of the weather, his baseball time was limited, and by the time he was drafted in the 26th round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, he was less experienced. … An argument can be made that no Dodger prospect has made up more ground since 2012 than Schebler.”

According to Jeff Johnson of the Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when Schebler called his parents in the middle of the night to give them the news that he was on his way to Los Angeles, his mom’s reply was, “For what?”

Read all of our Scott Schebler feature below (click the images to enlarge), and get many more stories like it in this month’s Dodger Insider magazine.

In case you missed it: Home Run Dopey

On June 3, 2015

[mlbvideo id=”141829583″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

Dodgers at Rockies, 5:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Andre Ethier, RF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Alex Guerrero, LF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Mike Bolsinger, P

By Jon Weisman

I strongly recommend you read Eric Stephen’s piece at True Blue L.A. today on the Dodger offense, which is starting to take on criticism for hitting too many home runs. Yeah, really.

At the heart of the problem is the increasing circulation of the misleading statistic that 49 percent of the Dodger offense has been produced by home runs (117 of the Dodgers’ 238 runs have been driven in by homers) — which conveniently ignores how the guys who scored ahead of the home runs get on base.

Example: Do you really want to be arguing that the three ninth-inning singles Tuesday had *nothing* to do with Alex Guerrero's grand slam?

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 3, 2015

I guess the fear is that somehow, if the Dodgers score too many runs on home runs, then they’ll be in trouble in October when the home runs don’t come so easily — as if somehow walks, hit-and-runs and stolen bases in the playoffs somehow are a piece of cake.

Let’s find other things to think about …

Tonight’s Dodger game has been — shocker, I know — delayed by rain. No cancellation is expected.
Hector Olivera is expected begin his professional career Thursday with Double-A Tulsa in a 5:05 Pacific game against Midland.
Yasiel Puig is expected to start his rehab assignment with Rancho Cucamonga in a 6:30 p.m. game at Lancaster. His last rehab assignment began three weeks ago but was cut short May 8.
Ian Thomas, the 26th man on the roster for Tuesday’s doubleheader, has been returned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
In the wake of Joc Pederson’s awesome power display Tuesday, Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs looks at Joc Pederson’s awesome power.
ESPN’s Home Run Tracker, updated through Tuesday, is a lot of fun to look at today.
Talk about batting 1.000 …

In 523 combined plate appearances, Pederson, Gonzalez and Guerrero have hit .297/.383/.617/1.000! with 61 walks, 33 doubles and 37 homers

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 3, 2015

Exit Barnes and Huff, enter Coulombe and Ravin

On June 2, 2015

Josh Ravin (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Dodgers at Rockies, 12:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Kiké Hernandez, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, RF
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Chris Heisey, RF
Zack Greinke, P

Following their 6-3 loss to Colorado in the first game of today’s doubleheader, the Dodgers …

optioned catcher Austin Barnes, who went 0 for 2 with a walk today, to Triple-A Oklahoma City
designated pitcher David Huff, who threw a shutout eighth inning today, for assignment (for the second time this year)
called up lefty reliever Daniel Coulombe, who has a 1.13 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings for Oklahoma City, for the third time in the past 30 days.
selected the contract of righty reliever Josh Ravin, who has a 2.25 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 20 innings for Oklahoma City, for his potential Major League debut.

— Jon Weisman

Scott Van Slyke becomes third Dodger outfielder on DL

On June 2, 2015