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By Jon Weisman
It’s the old story — they’re ready to write you off, and then you write yourself back in.
Alex Guerrero, who went from potential 2014 starting second baseman to potential 2015 castoff, has done nothing this year but make the case that he belongs.
For more photos from Saturday, visit LA Photog Blog.
By Jon Weisman
Alex Guerrero homered to left in his second at-bat of Saturday’s 5-4 Dodger victory over the Angels, but it was the out he made in the first inning that might be the Dodgers’ most memorable blast of the spring.
Guerrero, who finished 2 for 4, launched one to the 420-foot mark in center field, only for Angels center fielder Mike Trout to rise above the wall to grab it.
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What else have we got?
By Jon Weisman
We’re down to the final fortnight before Opening Day. Starting to feel it?
Here’s a big set of links from this morning and the weekend …
Big group outing? Dodger Stadium can handle it. Group tickets start as low as $10. Details: http://t.co/YqJvSpLnuI pic.twitter.com/A1HzcikkVh
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 23, 2015
April 15: Jackie Robinson Replica Jersey presented by Bank of America. Tickets: http://t.co/DnxWhL8Fl6 #42 pic.twitter.com/fe9XDcGNRs
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 23, 2015
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By Jon Weisman
With the Dodgers about to play four games in the next two days in two different states, the team emptied its bench and then some today, with a number of minor-leaguers receiving their first (or nearly first) action ever playing for the big-league Dodgers.
Lars Anderson, Ali Solis and Dillon Moyer were among the position players coming off the bench, while Jharel Cotton and Michael Johnson pitched the final two innings. Solis had a seventh-inning sacrifice fly for the Dodgers’ final run of the day and a 7-5 lead.
The 23-year-old Cotton, who had 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings and a 1.16 WHIP for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga last year, pitched a shutout eighth but got in trouble in the ninth, and Johnson couldn’t bail him out.
The result: Two ninth-inning runs by the Angels, a 7-7 final score, and the Dodgers’ improbable, record-setting sixth tie of Spring Training. Los Angeles is 8-3-6.
It was an odd game that saw starting pitcher Brett Anderson allow seven hits to the 12 batters he faced over 1 2/3 innings, only for the Dodgers to quickly rally for five runs in the bottom of the second. Alex Guerrero continued his efforts to make his contract status a moot point, starting a double play from shortstop in the first inning and hitting a three-run homer in the second.
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Andre Ethier, meanwhile, had a single and a double. Joc Pederson and Matt Carson had the Dodgers’ other extra-base hits.
Alex Guerrero makes a play at third base on March 10. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
Today brought the Dodgers’ ugliest game of 2015, with four errors — including a pair in a three-run third inning by Texas — and a pickoff play that saw the fleet Scott Van Slyke run all the way from first base to second to tag out Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus.
J.P. Howell, Pedro Baez, David Aardsma and Daniel Coulombe combined to allow eight runs in relief, and Ramon Troncoso — back from obscurity (and minor-league camp) for his first appearance as a Dodger since 2011 – gave up a two-run single before preserving the 11-11 tie, the Dodgers’ record-tying fifth of Spring Training.
This was a half-full, half-empty cup — a humongous half-full, half-empty cup.
With 15 hits (including Howie Kendrick’s monster three-run homer in the fifth inning) and five walks, the upside of the Dodger offense spoke for itself. But quietly, there was another interesting sidelight.
When I was out at Spring Training before Cactus League in February, it appeared to me that Alex Guerrero was comfortable taking grounders at third, and nothing I’ve seen this month has sharply dissuaded me of that point.
Today, Guerrero got his first game action for the Dodgers at shortstop, the position that he played throughout his Cuban career but that he has been steered away from since coming to Los Angeles. And whether it was backhanding a line drive, charging a slow grounder or starting the game-on-the-line forceout with the winning run in scoring position, Guerrero looked very easy and relaxed.
And by the way, he’s 9 for 20 with a walk and only two strikeouts in Spring Training, after OPSing .978 in Triple-A last year — despite his ear calamity — so he’s not exactly hopeless at the plate.
I don’t pretend to assume that Guerrero is Ozzie Smith on defense — I’m not even sure if he’s Ozzie Smith on offense. Far savvier people than me have critiqued his fielding. But if Guerrero is merely adequate at multiple positions (second, short, third and left), that changes the tone of the conversation about him considerably. There’s been a lot of concern that Guerrero will be stealing a roster spot from someone more deserving. I look at him, and I don’t at all see a black hole.
Don Mattingly on Alex Guerrero at SS: "He seems a lot more comfortable … he's pushing us to give him a little more of a utility look."
— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) March 17, 2015
Players such as Darwin Barney and Kike Hernandez are absolutely deserving of being on the Opening Day roster. But if they start 2015 in the minors to allow the Dodgers a longer look at Guerrero, there are far worse things for a contending club.
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
It’s the Dodgers and the Giants today. The last time these two teams met, the Dodgers were celebrating their National League West title at San Francisco’s expense. I don’t remember what happened after that.
Your pregame links:
Mattingly lavished praise on 20-year-old Corey Seager, comparing the infield prospect to Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and former batting champion John Olerud.
“Without a putting a giant X on his back, he’s more like a Ripken to me, as far as being the big shortstop that doesn’t really profile there but has great hands, great awareness, really good clock as far as calmness and knowing the timing,” Mattingly said. “At the plate, he’s more like a little bit of an Olerud if you really watch him. He’s quiet. He’s a big guy with a small swing.”
“One of the things I know from playing winter ball, being around Latin American countries, is that the time that counts is the game time,” Gonzalez said. “If you don’t want to show up for BP, you don’t have to. … The extra work is up to you. So when you get here and they’re saying ‘you have to be here for BP’ you’re like, ‘why? I don’t need it,’ because you never needed it your whole life.
“Here if you don’t get in the weight room, they label you as a guy who doesn’t work. People are so worried about all the things that you do” ‑ Gonzalez draws out the word “allllll” for effect ‑ “and not just what you do on the field.”
“I’ve been doing this 25 years and been in a lot of different tournaments, the College World Series, a couple different unique things,” said TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle. “This is right there with Omaha. No disrespect to the other things we’ve been a part of, but when you walk in the parking lot, you look up and say, ‘That’s where Kirk Gibson hit the ball.’ … It was just an awesome life experience.”
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By Jon Weisman
At times, I felt silly about tweeting out batter-by-batter updates on Julio Urias’ outing today, but it just felt to me like the combination of the level of interest and it being his first Cactus League outing as a grown-up justified them.
What I felt badly about was the short shrift given the other noteworthy prospects on the mound for the Dodgers today. Chris Anderson pitched two perfect innings, Zach Lee walked one batter but retired the other six and Chris Reed had a perfect inning before two singles, a wild pitch and a ground out spoiled his second frame.
Nonetheless, our minds were already in full orbit around Urias.
Urias did display a bit of “Aw, shucks” fallibility that on one level was a welcome antidote to those of us who might be getting carried away with our star-gazing, as if he were a celestial body from light-years away that had already blossomed, while we were just now getting our first glimpse. Facing seven batters, he walked three and went to a full count in an eight-pitch at-bat with another.
His first inning of work, following Lee to the mound, was fairly scintillating — two strikeouts sandwiching his first walk, followed by a harmless ground out (18 pitches in all). Coming back to the mound after a long rest (the Dodgers ate up a lot of time on offense in producing their 10-1 victory over Milwaukee), Urias took eight pitches to retire Carlos Gomez, then used another eight pitches in walking Aramis Ramirez.
(It’s here that we pause and remember, that’s an 18-year-old pitcher facing two 2014 National League All-Stars. Anyone else but Urias or Clayton Kershaw would have simply dug a hole on the mound.)
That put Urias at 34 pitches with four outs on his ledger, and a pitch-count limit was nigh. Urias staved it his departure — and showcased another exciting element of his game — by picking off pinch-runner Elian Herrera.
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But after getting ahead of Khris Davis 1-2, Urias couldn’t finish him off. Davis fouled off two pitches and took three more, and that was that.
Part of me couldn’t help but wonder, “Shoot, if the guy can throw 42 pitches on March 6, couldn’t he throw 21 on August 6?” My takeaway, however, was that whatever was meant to be for Urias in a Major League uniform would all come in due time.
And flying under the radar, despite their own impressive pedigrees, Anderson, Lee and Reed should have their chances to romance us.
* * *
Reporters naturally sought out Urias for comment afterward, and it was nice to see his enthusiastic reaction.
“It was awesome to face (Gomez) and get an out against him (on a popup) at this early stage,” Urias told MLB.com’s Lyle Spencer, who noted that the pitcher’s father, grandfather and brother were watching. “I felt good, comfortable.”
Also weighing in was the man himself, Fernando Valenzuela.
“He was relaxed, nice and loose,” Valenzuela said, via Spencer. “He’s got a lot of confidence in himself. He has a good fastball with life and throws a nice curveball and changeup. He got ahead (in counts), but they didn’t chase. He looks like he can be something special.”
A.J. Ellis put the outing in perspective, in Eric Stephen’s writeup at True Blue L.A.
“He looked like a guy making his first start of spring training. A little bit erratic, a little bit anxious,” Ellis said. “When you’re erratic and anxious, but still have electric stuff, you can get away with a lot of things. We saw a little bit of everything.”
* * *
Andre Ethier and Joc Pederson come together before splitting off for today’s split-squad games. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
It was also another fine day for the Dodger bats, mainly against the Brewers but also in their 7-4 split-squad victory over the Mariners.
In support of Lee, Urias, Reed and Associates, Ellis had a walk and a three-run home run, Yasiel Puig had a single and two walks. Joc Pederson and Alex Guerrero each went 2 for 3 with an extra-base hit (double for Pederson, home run for Guerrero) to keep them a matched set with .714 batting averages this month.
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“There is a very short window to make the team,” Guerrero told Stephen. “I’ve prepared a lot in the offseason, so I have to jump right in with a short time to prove myself. Mentally I’m confident, I’m relaxed, so that’s a difference too.”
Scott Schebler had two doubles, and Kyle Jensen followed up Thursday’s home run with two singles today. Darnell Sweeney got in the act, hitting a single and the Dodgers’ third home run off Milwaukee pitching. The Dodgers had 22 baserunners in that game, while Milwaukee ended up with a runs-hits-errors linescore of 1 2 3.
Joey Curletta ended the rout with a diving catch in right field.
Joey Curletta knows how to end a game. #DodgersST pic.twitter.com/7qytUA0dCr
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 6, 2015
Back at Camelback, O’Koyea Dickson hit his second home run of Spring Training, after Adrian Gonzalez went 1 for 2 at first base. Erisbel Arruebarrena had two hits, after Jimmy Rollins went 1 for 2 at short. Howie Kendrick, Andre Ethier and Shawn Zarraga gave the Dodgers a total of six 1-for-2 batters in the game.
What dreams may come … http://t.co/DbLPIv7Z3q pic.twitter.com/2CJiTCR2Zv
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) March 6, 2015
By Jon Weisman
Look, it’s not like I haven’t been burned. Here’s an all-what might-have-been lineup of Dodger prospects from the past 10 years:
Jason Repko, CF
Delwyn Young, RF
Andy LaRoche, 3B
Jerry Sands, 1B
Joel Guzman, SS
Blake DeWitt, 2B
Xavier Paul, LF
Tim Federowicz, C
Jon Meloan, P
I’m not criticizing them — each fulfilled a dream (I really mean that), even if they didn’t fulfill all dreams.
Then Clayton Kershaw finishes his first exhibition inning of 2015 today by dropping a straight echo of his teenage Public Enemy No. 1 on Jose Abreu, and I’m reminded, it’s OK to believe.
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By Jon Weisman
On the first day of Cactus League play, Joc Pederson had two hits while playing designated hitter. Andre Ethier struck out twice while playing center field, but he probably wouldn’t have minded that much if he had made a diving catch at the warning track.
Well, there’s always the next game.
“Just a tough play,” Ethier told Phil Rogers of MLB.com. “It’s one where you have to make a break on it, try to keep an eye on the ball the best you can, not lose it. I got there, just didn’t bring it in.”
Said Don Mattingly: “As we get into spring, he catches that ball all day long.”
Despite losing to the White Sox, 6-4, it was a pretty eventful day in general for the Dodgers. Most of the action came after the starters were pulled …
By Jon Weisman
The Dodgers’ annual Spring Training Ping Pong Tourney is underway. Whom do you pick?
And now, to wrap up the weekend …
For more photos from today, visit LA Photog Blog.
By Jon Weisman
The picture above, of a ball thrown by Clayton Kershaw, efficiently shows he is able to strike out the side at any given moment.
That was then, this is … also then:
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By Jon Weisman
Tonight’s combination of Augustus Gloop, Mr. Creosote, Charles Bronson and Ed Grimley is brought to you by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In a dish of revenge as cold and overflowing as a jammed frozen yogurt machine, the Dodgers avenged Friday’s 9-0 loss to the Giants with a record-shattering 17-0 victory over San Francisco.
The Dodgers scored the most runs ever by an opponent at San Francisco’s AT&T Park and shattered the record for the biggest shutout in the history of the Dodgers-Giants series — by either team. Los Angeles came within two of its franchise record for largest shutout victory, a 19-0 defeat of the Padres on June 28, 1969.
For the Dodgers, their biggest shutout ever of the Giants was 12-0 on April 19, 1940. For the Giants, it was 16-0 over the Dodgers on July 3, 1949. Tonight’s game also happened to come 40 years and one day after an 11-0 Dodger victory at Candlestick Park.
The last time San Francisco lost, 17-0, the winning points came on November 19, 1950 on a George Blanda field goal.
The Dodgers scored four runs apiece in the first and second innings to knock out Giants starter Tim Hudson before he recorded his fourth out, the shortest start of his career, an event eerily similar to Hyun-Jin Ryu’s the night before. In their first two trips through the lineup, the Dodgers were 11 for 16 with a walk, a sacrifice fly and four doubles — two by Matt Kemp, who had three hits and three RBI in the first three innings, while also throwing out Angel Pagan at the plate (mid-bubble!) in the first inning to stop the Giants’ most significant scoring threat.
And that’s where the difference from Friday was. As bad as the San Francisco rout was, the Dodgers nearly doubled it, like a sudden shift in a backgammon game.
Yasiel Puig, who ignited the Dodgers with the first hit of the game, stretching an apparent single into a leg double (pictured), had three hits and was hit by a pitch. Hanley Ramirez had three singles and a double. Juan Uribe had a single and a home run. Dee Gordon had two singles and his 60th stolen base of the season while becoming the first player in Los Angeles Dodger history to record seven at-bats in a nine-inning game.
And Zack Greinke was more than the beneficiary. In addition to six shutout innings on 84 pitches, Greinke walked, doubled off the top of the wall and hit his fourth career home run, his first as a Dodger.
Don’t expect Greinke (.204/.271/.352) to catch Madison Bumgarner (.242/.273/.419) in the Silver Slugger race, but he made up a chunk of ground tonight. Greinke is 5 for 10 with a walk and a .900 slugging percentage in his past five games.
Off the bench, Scott Van Slyke hit the Dodgers’ other home run, Alex Guerrero played left field and got his first Major League hit, and Roger Bernadina became the third Dodger to be hit by two pitches in his only two plate appearances of the game.
With 24 hits, the Dodgers were one away from the Los Angeles record for a nine-inning game. The Dodgers went 11 for 19 with runners in scoring position.
Oh — and not to be forgotten, Scott Elbert pitched a shutout inning in his first Major League game in 25 months. So very happy for him.
I know there are bigger fish to fry, but the #Dodgers magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to 7.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) September 14, 2014
The More You Know …
The educational moment from tonight’s game is that while they don’t often come back from an in-game deficit, you can hardly do better after a defeat than the Dodgers. Tonight, the Dodgers improved their record to 43-21 after a loss.
It’s not as dramatic as coming back in a game, but it’s more meaningful.
… The More You Know
For more photo highlights from Sunday, visit LA Photog Blog.
By Jon Weisman
I’m starting today’s pregame notebook with perhaps the least relevant note, but today before batting practice, Erisbel Arruebarrena and Alex Guerrero were practicing 6-4-3 and 4-6-3 double plays, and they put on a show in my eyes.
Arruebarrena has had some recent injury issues, but he was healthy today and back to showing as quick a release after fielding a grounder as you’ll ever see. And I know Guerrero doesn’t have as great a reputation at second base, but he looked smooth on the turn to me.
Of course, what do I know? For one thing, there weren’t any actual baserunners bearing down on Arruebarrena and Guerrero, but Don Mattingly agreed that they looked good, so there’s that.
In other notes:
By Jon Weisman
Joc is in the house.
In addition to Alex Guerrero, Tim Federowicz and Yimi Garcia, highly touted prospect Joc Pederson, fresh off his mega-season at Triple A, has joined the Dodgers on the first day of expanded rosters.
Pederson and Garcia, who had a 3.10 ERA with 69 strikeouts against 81 baserunners in 61 innings, will be making their Major League debuts if and when they enter a game.
Guerrero played in both Australia games for the Dodgers, striking out in his only at-bat. He ended his first Triple-A season with a .364 on-base percentage, .613 slugging percentage and 15 home runs.
Federowicz, 8 for 61 with three doubles, three walks and a homer as a Dodger earlier this season, OPSed .938 for Albuquerque.
The Dodgers also activated reliever Chris Perez from the disabled list.
Update: The Dodgers designated Carlos Triunfel for assignment to make room for Pederson on the 40-man roster.
By Jon Weisman
Catching up on some news and notes from recent days …
What happens when three old friends in crisis fall into an unexpected love triangle? In The Catch, Maya, Henry and Daniel embark upon an emotional journey that forces them to confront unresolved pain, present-day traumas and powerful desires, leading them to question the very meaning of love and fulfillment. The Catch tells a tale of ordinary people seeking the extraordinary – or, if that’s asking too much, some damn peace of mind.
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