Dodger Thoughts

Hatcher joins disabled list, Culberson recalled

On July 20, 2016

Charlie Culberson takes a swing in April for the Dodgers. (Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Dodgers at Nationals, 7:05 p.m.
Howie Kendrick, LF
Chris Taylor, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrián González, 1B
Scott Van Slyke, RF
Yasiel Puig, CF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Charlie Culberson, SS
Bud Norris, P

By Jon Weisman

It’s incredible to imagine an entire 25-man roster of players going on the disabled list, but the Dodgers are almost there.

Chris Hatcher has become the 22nd different Dodger to go on the DL this season, with infielder Charlie Culberson called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take his roster spot.

Culberson will be at shortstop tonight in place of Corey Seager, who is missing his second straight start after coming down with a stomach virus.

According to Stats LLC, the Dodgers have tied the 2015 Mets for the National League record for most different players on the disabled list and sit five behind the 2012 Red Sox for the MLB record.

New procedure to sideline Wood eight more weeks

By Jon Weisman

On July 20, 2016

In Health/injuries

Sandy Koufax with Alex Wood on Old-Timers Day, July 2. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Jon Weisman

For Alex Wood, it’s eight more weeks of winter. For the Dodgers, it’s a little bit more like Groundhog Day.

Wood is undergoing an arthroscopic debridement of his left elbow today in New York, the Dodgers announced, with an estimated recovery time of eight weeks.

The 25-year-old lefty is the third Dodger starting pitcher this week to suffer a setback, following Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Wood went on the disabled list May 31 with left posterior elbow soreness.

He has a fielding-independent ERA of 3.27 and at the time of his original injury was 10th in the National League with 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

Kershaw’s return delayed, Urías to pitch Thursday

By Jon Weisman

On July 19, 2016

In Health/injuries

Clayton Kershaw’s anticipated return from the disabled list this week has been delayed after he came out of a weekend bullpen session with residual pain, as Alex Putterman of MLB.com reports.

Bud Norris will start Wednesday, and Julio Urías is expected to come back from Triple-A Oklahoma City to start Thursday’s blazing hot day game. Urías last started July 4.

— Jon Weisman

Dodgers activate Pederson, send Ryu back to DL

By Jon Weisman

On July 19, 2016

In Health/injuries, Pregame, Transactions

Dodgers at Nationals, 7:05 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Howie Kendrick, LF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrián González, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasiel Puig, CF
Chris Taylor, SS
Scott Kazmir, P

By Jon Weisman

Joc Pederson has been activated from the 15-day disabled list, but the Dodgers are placing pitchers Hyun-Jin Ryu and Casey Fien on the 15-day disabled list, each with elbow tendonitis.

Luis Avilan is returning from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take Fien’s roster spot.

Ryu was scheduled to start for the Dodgers at Washington on Wednesday. He allowed six runs in 4 2/3 innings July 7, in his first start since 2014.

The Dodgers haven’t announced a replacement starter for Wednesday. Bud Norris is scheduled to start on regular rest for Thursday’s day game. Clayton Kershaw doesn’t have an announced return date yet.

Brandon McCarthy sails through six shutout innings, Dodgers sail into extras (and lose)

By Jon Weisman

On July 16, 2016

In Midgame, Postgame

By Jon Weisman

When this year’s Dodger transactions are tallied, let’s not forget Brandon McCarthy being acquired in exchange for 14 months of suffering.

In his third start since completing his recovery from Tommy John surgery, McCarthy again asserted himself against the void of opposing bats, throwing six shutout innings for the Dodgers at Arizona tonight.

McCarthy sliced up the Diamondbacks on only 77 pitches — fewer than 13 per inning — allowing three hits and no walks while striking out eight. He wasn’t fazed at all by a delay of more than 10 minutes after he had thrown only two pitches, when home-plate umpire Dale Scott took a foul ball to the face mask and ultimately had to leave the game.

So far in this comeback season, McCarthy has thrown 16 innings with an ERA of 1.69, walking four, striking out 22 and looking every bit like a key second-half figure for the Dodgers.

Thompson heads to DL, Zach Walters recalled

By Jon Weisman

On July 16, 2016

In Health/injuries, Pregame, Transactions

By Jon Weisman

Trayce Thompson, who hasn’t been able to shake a lower back irritation despite the All-Star Break, has become the 20th Dodger to go on the disabled list this season (retroactive to July 10).

Taking his place on the active roster will be infielder-outfielder Zach Walters, who is already on the 40-man roster.

The 26-year-old Walters was acquired during the opening week of the season from Cleveland and has spent the entire season with Triple-A Oklahoma City. He has a .346 on-base percentage and 491 slugging percentage in 77 games, with 15 doubles and 10 homers, while playing every position except catcher. (Yes, he even pitched to seven batters this year.)

Chris Taylor clobbers Arizona with triple, double, slam

By Jon Weisman

On July 15, 2016

In Postgame

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

In his 97th Major League game and 11th as a Dodger, Chris Taylor had a night to remember.

Taylor tripled, doubled and hit a grand slam home run, driving in six runs in a 13-7 Dodger slugfest victory at Arizona, a game that saw every Dodger starter score by the sixth inning.

The 25-year-old, who was acquired June 19 in exchange for Zach Lee, had a chance for the cycle in the eighth inning and tried to sneak a bunt to get the necessary single, but reliever Josh Collmenter was able to lunge and backhand the ball to throw him out.

Taylor became the 13th Dodger to have a homer, triple and double in a game without the single. The Dodgers also had nine starters score in a game in their Opening Day, 15-0 win over San Diego.

Dodgers can pitch to Paul Goldschmidt — carefully

By Jon Weisman

On July 15, 2016

In Pregame

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m.
Howie Kendrick, LF
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrián González, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Scott Van Slyke, CF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Chris Taylor, 2B
Bud Norris, P

By Jon Weisman

Paul Goldschmidt comes to the plate against the Dodgers, and you can hear the panicked screaming from across the fan base: “Just walk him.”

But following years of Goldschmidt taking a sledgehammer to Los Angeles, the Dodgers have gotten their revenge …

… for the most part.

After stomping Los Angeles in 2012, 2013 and 2015 (while settling for being merely good in 2014), Goldschmidt has been retired in 20 of 25 plate appearances this season, heading into tonight’s three-game Dodger-Diamondbacks series.

Not that he hasn’t done some damage. In his first game against the Dodgers this year, at the Dodger Stadium home opener April 12, Goldschmidt hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning. He also hit a first-inning homer in the Diamondbacks’ 3-2 win over the Dodgers on June 13.

In fact, Goldschmidt has driven in a run with every hit he’s had against the Dodgers this year, which only bolsters the impression that he’s been as tough on them as ever. But overall, the Dodgers have gotten their revenge.

Rehab news glowing for Kershaw & Co.

By Jon Weisman

On July 14, 2016

In Health/injuries

By Jon Weisman

It was an absolutely lovely day at Dodger Stadium today. Mild warmth. A refreshing breeze.

As the shadows made their way across the field at the 5 o’clock hour, Clayton Kershaw and Brett Anderson emerged from the clubhouse and played catch. And it wasn’t tentative. It was glove-poppin’, “we mean business” catch.

While more Dodgers trickled onto the field for an informal workout tonight, the last night before returning to action with a 10-game road trip that begins Friday at Arizona, Dave Roberts spoke to reporters about the state of several injured players — Kershaw, Anderson, Joc Pederson, Alex Wood, Andre Ethier, Yimi Garcia. And everything was just about as glowing as that magic late-afternoon sunlight.

Dodger hitting update: Guys are hitting

By Jon Weisman

On July 14, 2016

In Hitting

By Jon Weisman

You can almost hear those kids in the back of the Dodger van: “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”

From a batting standpoint, they might be.

Over the past four weeks, the Dodgers have starters at 6 1/2 positions OPSing above .800. Los Angeles is 16-7 (.696) in that time, which is tied with the Giants for the best record in the National League.

How the revitalized bullpen keyed Dodgers’ surge

By Jon Weisman

On July 13, 2016

In Bullpen

By Jon Weisman

In the Dodgers’ final inning before the All-Star Break, the best closer in the National League, Kenley Jansen, entered the game to protect a one-run lead against the fourth-place team in the National League West.

At that moment, the Dodger bullpen was several weeks into an extended resurgence that was forcing fans and media alike to unlearn everything it thought it knew about the team’s relievers. It progressed in stages, as if reversing the five stages of grief.

Hooray — they actually held a lead for once.
All right, I’ve stopped throwing things every time a reliever comes in.
I know this won’t last, but thank you for at least being adequate.
Hmm. Some of these guys are actually pretty good.
I don’t want to jinx this. But … wow.

Dodger bullpen failures have been branded into the collective memory of recent years, the scar tissue making it nearly impossible for most to feel the moments when the relievers were doing well — which, of course, was more often than the distraught and cynical could concede.

But by the time Jansen took the mound Sunday, the bullpen’s growing success was no longer possible to ignore.

Dodger relievers lead the Major Leagues with a 2.83 ERA. They lead the Major Leagues with a 1.02 WHIP.

In fact, as Dodger broadcaster Joe Davis pointed out, the Dodger bullpen’s opponents batting average of .192 is currently the lowest in modern baseball history. The team’s WHIP is the lowest in NL history.

That’s extraordinary. And that’s not wishcasting. That’s something that has been happening. The Dodger bullpen has become the opposite of an albatross. It’s a primary reason that, despite the “I Love Lucy” chocolate conveyor belt of injuries, that Los Angeles (51-40) is on a 91-win pace and once again a team to be reckoned with.

In terms of inherited runners stranded, the Dodgers were seventh among MLB teams at 72 percent — in the upper echelon but with room for improvement. The good news — the great news — is that the improvement is already underway.

Thinking out loud: If MLB games were seven innings

By Jon Weisman

On July 13, 2016

In Pitching, Thinking out loud

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

Every now and then, your brain takes you to some weird places.

Most of the time, mine thinks about baseball … which can also lead you to some weird places.

For a few years now, I’ve nursed this feeling that sometime in the distant future, Major League Baseball games would be reduced from nine to seven innings. I don’t really think this will ever happen, but there’s a logic to it.

It’s in part because pace-of-play rule changes are fighting an uphill battle against baseball’s evolutionary elongation. (MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday compared the challenge of eliminating the issue to “dandelions in your front lawn.”)

A double inning-ectomy would lop a good 40 minutes or so off the average game, taking them back into the sub-2:30 range that seems to have been the sport’s sweet spot. This would be particularly handy in the postseason, helping more fans see a fantastic finish before midnight.

To be sure, not everyone’s in a hurry to leave the ballpark — certainly not my friendly colleagues here at Dodger Stadium trying to sell food, drink and merchandise — which is probably reason enough to end this conversation.

But the best reason for the seven-inning game is that it’s just getting harder and harder to cobble together the pitching to get 27 outs or more each game.

Pitching history for Dodger All-Stars

By Jon Weisman

On July 12, 2016

In All-Star Game

By Jon Weisman

Six years have passed since a Dodger closer pitched in the All-Star Game. Kenley Jansen gets to end that streak tonight.

Jansen, overdue for his first All-Star Game, might not get to pitch the final inning, so it’s more likely than not that Jonathan Broxton’s save in 2010 remains the most recent in the Midsummer Classic by a Dodger. Nevertheless, Jansen should get a chance to etch his name among the team’s 76 previous All-Star appearances.

Of course, Jansen could also become the first Dodger pitcher credited with an All-Star victory since Jerry Reuss in front of the 1980 hometown crowd in Los Angeles. Since then, three Dodgers have been the losing All-Star pitcher: Chan Ho Park (2001), Eric Gagne (2003) and Clayton Kershaw (2015). Dodger pitchers have a 6-6 record in 12 All-Star decisions.

Certainly, it was nowhere to go but up for the franchise after its ignominious All-Star debut via Van Lingle Mungo, who allowed four runs plus two inherited runs in a six-run fifth inning by the American League in 1934. Not that Mungo had it easy: He entered the game with Babe Ruth on second base, Lou Gehrig on first and Jimmie Foxx at the plate. Two walks, three singles and a double later, the AL had gone from trailing 4-2 to leading 8-4.

The most famous Dodger All-Star pitching performance belongs to Fernando Valenzuela, who from the fourth through sixth innings in 1986 faced 10 batters, retired nine and struck out the first five — Don Mattingly, Cal Ripken Jr., Jesse Barfield, Lou Whitaker and Teddy Higuera — all in a row. Kirby Puckett’s groundout was the first ball in play against Valenzuela, whose outing was marred only by a pop-fly Wade Boggs single in the sixth.

Hitting history for Dodger All-Stars

By Jon Weisman

On July 12, 2016

In All-Star Game, History

Andre Ethier is introduced before the 2011 All-Star Game. ()Barry Gossage/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Andre Ethier before the 2011 All-Star Game. (Barry Gossage/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

By Jon Weisman

No Dodger has had a hit in an All-Star Game in five years, and so it’s up to Corey Seager to change that tonight — unless you’re looking for Kenley Jansen to grab a bat and come through.

Yasiel Puig, Dee Gordon, Joc Pederson, Yasmani Grandal and Adrian Gonzalez have combined to go 0 for 8 since Ethier’s pinch-hit, RBI single in fifth inning of the July 12, 2011 All-Star Game. Gordon did come around to score as a pinch-runner in the 2014 contest.

The greatest single All-Star batting performances by a Dodger belong to Duke Snider (two singles, a double and a walk in 1954) and Mike Piazza (double and home run in 1996).

Here are some firsts and lasts among all Dodger All-Star batters since 1933, when Tony Cuccinello became the franchise’s first All-Star hitter — striking out to end the 1933 All-Star Game …

Kenta Maeda strikes out 13 in seven innings

By Jon Weisman

On July 10, 2016

In Midgame, Postgame

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

Kenta Maeda took a hammer to the Dodgers’ streak of 18 straight games without a starting pitcher reaching the seventh inning, striking out a career-high 13 in seven innings before leaving with a 3-1 lead.

Maeda fanned two batters in each of the first three innings, one in the fourth and then six batters in a row from the fifth into the seventh. His previous big-league high of nine strikeouts came June 8 against Colorado.

No Dodger starter had retired a batter in the seventh inning since Clayton Kershaw on June 20. None had even reached the sixth inning since Scott Kazmir on July 2.

Kershaw has the Dodgers’ season high in strikeouts with 14. Those also came on a Sunday afternoon against the Padres, on May 1.

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

Page 48 of 381

Hatcher joins disabled list, Culberson recalled

New procedure to sideline Wood eight more weeks

Kershaw’s return delayed, Urías to pitch Thursday

Dodgers activate Pederson, send Ryu back to DL

Brandon McCarthy sails through six shutout innings, Dodgers sail into extras (and lose)

Thompson heads to DL, Zach Walters recalled

Chris Taylor clobbers Arizona with triple, double, slam

Dodgers can pitch to Paul Goldschmidt — carefully

Rehab news glowing for Kershaw & Co.

Dodger hitting update: Guys are hitting

How the revitalized bullpen keyed Dodgers’ surge

Thinking out loud: If MLB games were seven innings

Pitching history for Dodger All-Stars

Hitting history for Dodger All-Stars

Kenta Maeda strikes out 13 in seven innings

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