Dodger Thoughts

Dodgers at Brewers, 5:10 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Howie Kendrick, LF
Corey Seager, SS
Adrián González, 1B
Trayce Thompson, RF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Chris Taylor, 3B
Julio Urías, P
Note: Days off for Yasiel Puig and Justin Turner, both of whom are expected to play Wednesday.

By Jon Weisman

Clayton Kershaw is returning to Los Angeles early to visit team doctors about lower back soreness he is experiencing, Dave Roberts confirmed to reporters before tonight’s game in Milwaukee.

As Ken Gurnick of MLB.com noted Monday, Roberts said that Kershaw has been dealing with some stiffness the past few weeks.

Farm Fresh: Calhoun, Cotton in MLB Futures Game

In Minor leagues

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By Bart Harvey

Second baseman Willie Calhoun and right-handed pitcher Jharel Cotton were both selected to play in this year’s MLB Futures Game. The game will be played on July 10 at Petco Park, two days prior to the All-Star Game.

The 21-year old Calhoun, featured recently at Dodger Insider, has a .799 OPS for Double-A Tulsa, despite a recent 1-for-24 slump, with 14 home runs in 74 games.
Cotton allowed four runs in five innings Sunday, but still has 82 strikeouts in 68 2/3 innings this year for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Highlights from the Dodger farm system for June 27 follow …

Dodgers claim infielder Cole Figueroa

In Transactions

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Joe Robbins/Getty Images

By Jon Weisman

Cole Figueroa, an infielder who turns 29 Thursday, has been claimed by the Dodgers and optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Figueroa has a .536 OPS in 84 career big-league plate appearances with the Rays (2014), Yankees (2015) and Pirates (2016). Pittsburgh optioned him June 11 to Triple-A Indianapolis and designated him for assignment June 24.

He had a .333 on-base percentage and .453 slugging percentage for Indianapolis this year. His career OBP in 429 Triple-A games is .356.

1976: ‘Dodgers of the Future’

In History, Minor leagues

Forty years ago in the official team program, here’s what the Dodgers’ top prospects looked like, from the familiar to the forgotten.

— Jon Weisman

Reminder: All-Star voting ends Thursday

On June 27, 2016

In All-Star Game

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

With the fan vote ending at 8:59 p.m. Thursday, Corey Seager remains approximately 700,000 votes removed from the starting shortstop spot for the National League All-Star team.

Seager has picked up 300,000 votes in the past six days, but needs a lot more to get himself over the Addison Russell hump.

Dodgers eclipse darkness in Pittsburgh with comeback

On June 27, 2016

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

Shortly after high noon at Pittsburgh, the clock looked like it was going to strike an early midnight for Los Angeles.

The Pirates took a 4-0 lead in the first inning of today’s afternoon special, and the dark side of history had the drop. The Dodgers would need a big rally to avoid their first four-game sweep by the Pirates since 1944 (when it happened twice — in July and August). They were also trying to end an eight-game losing streak at PNC Park.

The last Dodger pitcher to win there was Hyun-Jin Ryu, who hasn’t appeared in an MLB game in more than 21 months.

But whatever flag the Dodgers will hoist this year, it won’t be white. With a run in the third inning and four in the fifth, the Dodgers bucked the Bucs, rallying for a 212-minute, 5-4 victory that was their 23rd comeback win of the season.

When your front’s to the wall

On June 27, 2016

In Pregame

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Dodgers at Pirates, 9:35 a.m.
Kiké Hernández, LF
Justin Turner, 3B
Trayce Thompson, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Scott Van Slyke, 1B
A.J. Ellis, C
Chris Taylor, SS
Scott Kazmir, P

By Jon Weisman

This is going to sound particularly banal, but as I’ve pondered what to write before today’s getaway-from-Pittsburgh game, I’m stuck on how change is a way of life in baseball.

Players and teams go up and down, without exception, and a season is really about who gets a few more ups than the rest.

The Cubs, thought to be indomitable, have lost six of seven. Bryce Harper, looking in April like an MVP for the next 10 seasons, has a .680 OPS over the past six weeks.

I’m not saying that it’s impossible to tell the difference between an aberration and a trend. But some players are performing uncharacteristically, and reversals of fortune shouldn’t be ruled out.

Just as you shouldn’t expect Corey Seager or Justin Turner to hit seven or eight homers every month, there are other players whom you shouldn’t expect not to turn it around.

Kershaw has rare stumble in loss to Pirates

On June 26, 2016

In Postgame

Justin Berl/Getty Images

By Jon Weisman

Ever so rarely, Clayton Kershaw will be less than perfect, and the baseball world will scramble its jets to understand why.

Almost without fail, the why is beside the point. The essential answer is that nobody is always perfect. Not even Kershaw.

In the second inning tonight, the Pirates ambushed the likely National League All-Star starter, scoring every run that it needed in a 4-3 victory, Pittsburgh’s eighth straight home win against the Dodgers.

Kershaw has lost two of those games, allowing four runs on nine hits with two walks in each. In only one other game in the past 12 months has Kershaw allowed at least four runs.

The unabridged list of Clayton Kershaw walks in 2016

On June 26, 2016

In Pregame

Click to enlarge.

Dodgers at Pirates, 5:07 p.m.
Kershaw CCLVIII: Kershaws I Lay Dying
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Howie Kendrick, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Scott Van Slyke, 1B
Clayton Kershaw, P
Note: Dave Roberts told reporters today that Adrian Gonzalez will be out of the starting lineup tonight and Monday.

By Jon Weisman

There’s the list, the list of the seven times in the 2016 baseball season any of the 414 batters Clayton Kershaw has faced managed to get a base on balls.

They haven’t come in consecutive starts since the first week of the campaign. At his stingiest, Kershaw walked one person (David Wright) in a 156-batter, 33-day stretch.

None of them have scored, with two reaching scoring position.

Chris Taylor promoted, Nick Tepesch designated

On June 25, 2016

In Pregame, Transactions

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Dodgers at Pirates, 4:15 p.m.
Kiké Hernández, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Trayce Thompson, CF
Adrian González, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
A.J. Ellis, C
Kenta Maeda, P

By Jon Weisman

Chris Taylor, the infielder acquired by the Dodgers from the Mariners six days ago for Zach Lee, has been promoted from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Nick Tepesch, who went four innings in the Dodgers’ 8-6 loss Friday to Pittsburgh, has been designated for assignment.

In three games with Oklahoma City since the trade, Taylor has gone 6 for 12 with three doubles, three RBI and a stolen base, along with four strikeouts.

Dodger winning streak ends at six

In Postgame

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

By Jon Weisman

Despite 13 hits — including four by Corey Seager and a single and homer by Yasiel Puig — the Dodgers couldn’t quite complete one of their recent rallies, falling tonight to the Pirates, 8-6. Los Angeles has lost six straight games since July 2014 at Pittsburgh, allowing 50 runs in the process.

Seager is 14 for his past 25 with two walks, five doubles and a homer, for a .560 batting average, .593 on-base percentage and .880 slugging percentage. Puig is 5 for 11 since returning from the disabled list, including the home run, which went 439 feet.

In his Dodger debut, Nick Tepesch gave up five runs on four singles, two doubles and a home run over four innings. The Dodgers’ six-game winning streak came to an end, despite twice coming within a run of the Pirates after trailing 4-0 in the second inning.

Frankie Montas has another rib injury

In Health/injuries

Frankie Montas signed autographs with Yasiel Puig at FanFest in January. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Jon Weisman

Right-handed pitcher Frankie Montas, who seemed to moving fast toward at least a temporary spot in the Dodger starting rotation a week ago, has re-aggravated a stress reaction in his rib, the Dodgers said today.

The team added he will undergo further diagnostic testing, and no timeframe has yet been given for his return.

The 23-year-old Montas, who missed the start of the 2016 season because of surgery to remove a rib in February, has 22 strikeouts in 16 minor-league innings since his return, with a 2.25 ERA. He fanned 20 in 15 innings after making his MLB debut last year with the White Sox, before he came to Los Angeles in the trade that included Trayce Thompson and Micah Johnson.

Side note: Ross Stripling is back in action, throwing three innings in an Arizona League game Thursday.

Farm Fresh: June 23 Dodger minors highlights

In Minor leagues

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By Miranda Perez

Highlights from the Dodger farm system for June 23, including Hyun-Jin Ryu’s latest rehab outing and two walkoff wins …

Will Venable designated for assignment

In Pregame, Transactions

Dodgers at Pirates, 4:05 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian González, 1B
Howie Kendrick, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Yasiel Puig, RF
Nick Tepesch, P

By Jon Weisman

To make room for tonight’s starter Nick Tepesch on their 40-man roster, the Dodgers have designated outfielder Will Venable for assignment.

Venable signed with the Dodgers 10 days ago. His main contribution was on June 17, when he doubled to lead off the bottom of the 10th in a tie game against Milwaukee, before scoring on Justin Turner’s walkoff single.

The 33-year-old Venable was also hit by a pitch in his 11 plate appearances.

Also: The Dodgers signed 40-year-old left-hander Randy Choate to a minor-league contract. Choate, who in 2012 with the Dodgers pitched 36 of his 672 career Major League games, is in Arizona on a rehab assignment but expected to move next to Double-A Tulsa.

Postscript: A.J. Ellis and the mythical stolen base