By Jon Weisman
On the anniversary of his arrival in the Major Leagues, Yasiel Puig has risen from fifth place to first in the latest update of National League All-Star balloting — thanks to more than 500,000 votes in less than a week.
Category: Uncategorized (Page 12 of 63)
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By Jon Weisman
Adrian Gonzalez is in first place among first basemen and Dee Gordon is in second place among second baseman in the initial 2014 National League All-Star vote update.
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By Jon Weisman
Memorial Day comes to Dodger Stadium today and yes, there is a fun giveaway and a great pitching matchup. But the true purpose of the day is also being remembered through several activities and events.
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By Jon Weisman
Dodger catcher Drew Butera looked pretty great coming in to pitch the ninth inning of the Dodgers’ 13-3 loss to Miami on Wednesday, though he did not admit to being thrilled by his spontaneous success.
“It wasn’t fun, because we were down, we were losing, which is why I was in there,” Butera told MLB.com.
Nevertheless, Butera brought some welcome heat on a 90-plus degree evening, capping his second career shutout inning by striking out Marcell Ozuna on three pitches, the last a 94-mph fastball.
And, Butera admits, there was some levity.
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The devilish underhanded fastball from Martiza Puig shows how her son Yasiel must have trained to become such a great hitter.
— Jon Weisman
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By Jon Weisman
Yasiel Puig …
- has a .318 batting average, .408 on-base percentage and .553 slugging percentage — all improvements over his stunning rookie season.
- has a .961 OPS. Mike Trout has an .883 OPS.
- has the fourth-best OPS among NL outfielders.
- is now tied for first on the Dodgers with 17 walks.
- has eight walks in May, tied for third in the NL.
- in 20 games since April 20, is hitting .370/.446/.667/1.113.
- was 10th in the Major Leagues in Wins Above Replacement, according to Fangraphs, before walking twice and hitting a three-run home run Monday in the Dodgers’ 6-5 victory over Florida.
- is on fire.
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CBS broadcaster Verne Lundquist received the seventh annual Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday. Jake Kring-Schreifels covered the event for MLB.com.
“If you are in the business of radio/television, there’s no better way to begin a work week than by receiving a call and hearing the wonderful, rich baritone voice of Vin Scully saying, ‘Congratulations, and welcome to the club,'” said Lundquist. “That happened to me in December. I was overwhelmed then, and I’m overwhelmed tonight.”
Scully, the longtime voice of the Dodgers and a proud alumnus of Fordham University and WFUV radio — which distributes the awards and hosts the event each year — presented a video message to Lundquist beforehand from his familiar broadcast perch in Dodger Stadium.
“[Lundquist has] done so many sports, so many. How do you define that? He has done 20 different sports. In fact, I think Verne owes it to all of us that during his acceptance speech, he should name 20 different sports,” mused Scully. “You fulfill every definition of a national and successful sportscaster. We welcome you with open arms.” …
… While Lundquist has a distant relationship with baseball, he fondly recalled attending his first Major League game, between the Chicago Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers at Wrigley Field.
“Don Newcombe was pitching, Roy Campanella was behind the plate, Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Carl Furillo , Duke Snider … and in the dugout, a couple of young puppies named Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax,” remembered Lundquist. “We had seats right beyond the first-base line. I remember early in the game looking over my left shoulder and peering up into the broadcast booth, and that’s the first time I ever saw Vin Scully. He was 29 years old.”
Read the full story here. Past winners of the award include Dick Enberg, Ernie Harwell, Pat Summerall, Al Michaels, Bob Costas and Scully himself.
By Jon Weisman
Ron Cey, Tommy Davis, Steve Garvey, Mickey Hatcher, Eric Karros, Rick Monday, Steve Sax, Don Sutton, Maury Wills and Steve Yeager form the outstanding list of initial instructors for the 51st Los Angeles Dodgers Adult Baseball Camp at Historic Dodgertown – Vero Beach, Florida from November 9-15, 2014.
In addition, Guy Wellman will serve as camp coordinator, as he has at every camp since 1983.
Of the 10 former players, nine were past All-Stars (you’re an All-Star in our hearts, Mickey) and nine played on a World Series champion (you’re a champion in our hearts, Eric).
“This All-Star group of instructors brings enormous credentials and years of accomplishments,” Historic Dodgertown vice president Craig Callan said. “Campers will enjoy interacting with all these legends during their six nights and five days stay at Historic Dodgertown. This will truly be a memorable experience.”
Enrollment has begun and the camp is expected to reach capacity. For more information or to make reservations, call (844) 670-2735 or visit historicdodgertown.com.
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By Jon Weisman
Here are just a few consequences of the Dodgers’ game at Minnesota today being postponed because of weather.
- Two days’ rest for everyone — and that’s assuming they can get a game in Wednesday, for which the forecast is only slightly improved. For you Kenley Jansen watchers, that means that the next time he takes the mound, he’ll have thrown only 18 pitches in at least a week. And Hanley Ramirez’s thumb contusion gets an extra day of healing.
- Conversely, there is some potential double duty for the bullpen Thursday, when the Dodgers are now scheduled to play a split doubleheader with games at 10:10 a.m. and 4:10 p.m. Pacific. A strong outing Wednesday by Zack Greinke would help mitigate that burden.
- And, the team will be that much more tired when they arrive in Miami for the weekend series against the Marlins.
Other than that, I guess the team has some time to sit back and watch TV. A new episode of “Fargo” is on tonight — that seems weather-appropriate.
By Jon Weisman
Oh, the weather outside might be frightful, and interleague play isn’t always delightful, but here are a couple of reasons to look forward to the Dodgers’ trip to Minnesota.
For one thing, the Dodgers put their AL misery behind them last year, going 12-8, including a 5-5 mark on the road.
For another, the designated hitter allows the Dodgers, if they so choose, to put aside the “Who’s playing in the outfield?” questions for a few days.
Los Angeles is scheduled to face three consecutive right-handers in Kyle Gibson, Mike Pelfrey and recent old friend Ricky Nolasco, who is off to a slow start with a 6.67 ERA in five games, with 52 baserunners against 13 strikeouts.
So expect Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig to all receive considerable playing time, with Scott Van Slyke a power bat off the bench to pounce on any left-handed relievers.
As a team, the Dodgers have a .769 OPS against righties in 2014, compared with .592 against lefties.
Scheduled to pitch for the Dodgers are Zack Greinke, Dan Haren and Josh Beckett. The Dodgers announced that Clayton Kershaw will next pitch a rehab game Wednesday for Double-A Chattanooga against Tennessee.
Maybe the Dodgers will see a lot of May flowers in Miami, because it looks like they’re headed for a last (cold) gasp of April showers for their three-game series in Minnesota beginning Tuesday. Why, it might be even more inclement there than it was at Dodger Stadium on Friday.
— Jon Weisman
By Jon Weisman
Let the record show that Don Mattingly threw left in the Major Leagues. Let the picture show that Mattingly throws right.
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
The former eight-time All-Star often finds his way to first base during batting practice, but lately, he’s been wearing a glove on what you’d expect to be his throwing hand. (At right, Mattingly throwing lefty on April 15.)
Mattingly explained that he’s ambidextrous, but after spending his career throwing left — including three games at third base in 1986 — wear and tear has turned him around.
“With my shoulder, I can’t really throw left-handed,” he said. “I can’t really pull it way back. So I’m getting my right hand going again.”
Mattingly said that in Little League, when he played positions including catcher and shortstop, he played right-handed.
“Once I got to high school, I pretty much stayed left-handed,” he said. “That was my stronger arm — always stronger left-handed. But I always threw right naturally.”
“A cotton candy sky with a canopy of blue — looks good enough to eat.” -Vin Scully: pic.twitter.com/dmMRhIBlOV
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 27, 2014
Rockies at Dodgers, 1:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Matt Kemp, CF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Juan Uribe, 3B
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Justin Turner, SS
Tim Federowicz, C
Hyun-Jin Ryu, P
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Matt Kemp, CF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Juan Uribe, 3B
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Justin Turner, SS
Tim Federowicz, C
Hyun-Jin Ryu, P
By Jon Weisman
When Chris Withrow walked three batters and a veritable tightrope in the eighth inning of the Dodgers’ 6-2 victory over Colorado on Saturday before escaping with strikeouts of Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, it was part of a surprising trend. Dodger relievers have walked eight more batters than Dodger starters this season, in 57 fewer innings (4.7 walks per nine innings).
Withrow has struck out 18 and allowed only two hits in his 12 1/3 innings this season, but he has walked 10. Having the most trouble is Brian Wilson, who has walked six batters and hit two others in his four innings (along with eight hits allowed).
The relievers obviously aren’t trying to walk people, but as soon as they can reduce the free passes, the more streamlined innings should help ease the collective bullpen workload.
* * *
Carlos Triunfel, whom the Dodgers claimed on waivers from Seattle on April 2, has been called up as a reserve infielder. Hanley Ramirez, who has a right thumb bruise, had a scheduled day off today and isn’t expected to go on the disabled list, but the Dodgers wanted some more infield depth. Jose Dominguez has been sent back to Albuquerque.
