Thursday, Alex Guerrero saw his first game action since the May 21 Miguel Olivo ear-biting incident, playing for the Dodgers’ Arizona League club, and it was a nice return. He singled to left in the first and hit an infield single in the third (and scored after a wild pitch, balk and infield groundout), before hitting a two-run home run to left field in the sixth.
Guerrero had a .417 on-base percentage and .735 slugging percentage for Triple-A Albuquerque when he was injured.
— Jon Weisman
By Jon Weisman
Second baseman Alex Guerrero, who needed surgical repairs on his ear following the May 20 incident with Miguel Olivo, “has reported to Camelback Ranch in Phoenix to resume baseball activities,” Dodger general manager Ned Colletti told Bill Shaikin of the Times.
Shaikin added that “Colletti said Guerrero’s return to the field will depend on how long it takes him to regain his conditioning.”
Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com had more. Heyman spoke to Guerrero’s agent, Scott Boras, who said that the infielder would not need more surgery on his ear.
Guerrero has a .417 on-base percentage and .735 slugging percentage for Triple-A Albuquerque and was at .431/.839 in May. He had six homers in his last six games leading up to May 20.
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By Jon Weisman
Led by four times on base apiece by Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonalez, the Dodgers survived two sixth-inning home runs by the Mets to win going away in New York tonight, 9-4. But it was a costly day.
First was the news of the altercation between Miguel Olivo and Alex Guerrero during their Triple-A game today, a fight that left Guerrero in surgery to repair his ear, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
Then came Juan Uribe’s ninth-inning re-injury of his hamstring while running out a double.
Uribe said this strain is worse than last one.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) May 21, 2014
It’s a painful turn of events for several reasons, only one of them being that Guerrero was on fire with Albuquerque, leading the Pacific Coast League with a 1.152 OPS, and was beginning to be tested out at other positions besides second base.
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By Jon Weisman
Some jottings before turning out the lights on the weekend, a most successful one for the Dodgers.
By Jon Weisman
Carl Crawford has tightness in his right side, reports Bill Plunkett of the Register, helping to make him one of the reserve outfielders today against Arizona.
But there’s also some progress to report from the medical side of things:
Proof of improvement in Clayton Kershaw was visible Saturday, when the disabled Dodgers ace threw off the bullpen mound for the first time since being injured.
Kershaw, disabled with a strained teres major muscle in his back after winning his Opening Night start in Australia, was not throwing full speed, but wasn’t lobbing either.
Manager Don Mattingly said Kershaw remains under orders to hold back on velocity and is monitored by trainers using an app that calculates pitch speed.
Josh Beckett starts Tuesday. Maholm Wednesday and Ryu Thursday.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) April 13, 2014
A lot of 1980’s in this picture: pic.twitter.com/bSuePoxOun
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 28, 2014
By Jon Weisman
Tonight, the Dodgers announced that for the first time in franchise history, they will have sold 3 million tickets before the home Opening Day.
Sales of year-long season tickets ended up approaching the 35,000 mark. The extra season seats came out of what would have been day-of-game sales.
* * *
Alex Guerrero, who was optioned by the Dodgers to the minors but was expected to play in the Freeway Series, will be sidelined indefinitely with a pulled muscle in his side.
By Jon Weisman
There’s definitely a weird feeling to this Spring Training interregnum between Arizona and Australia — not that it won’t feel even weirder next week, when the Dodgers follow their two regular season games Down Under with four off days and then a pair of Freeway Series exhibitions against the Angels.
Nevertheless, with no game action until the Dodgers scrimmage against Team Australia on Thursday, and the Dodgers having set their 30-man travel squad for Sydney, this does seem like an appropriate time to take a little bit of stock.
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By Jon Weisman
For the second time in just a few days, a Dodger hit a long fly ball that sure looked like a home run but wasn’t.
Saturday, it was Joc Pederson. Today’s would-be homerer was Alex Guerrero, who to his credit ran his way to a triple on this ball that he absolutely crushed.
The hit for Guerrero started the Dodgers’ three-run ninth-inning rally, capped by Noel Cuevas’ game-winning home run, that led to a 7-5 victory over Kansas City. (Dick Kaegel of MLB.com has the game recap.)
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By Jon Weisman
Well, Alex Guerrero slowed a glimpse of his potential here.
By Jon Weisman
One of the intriguing questions for the Dodgers this spring, with Matt Kemp likely to start the season on the disabled list, is which of the remaining outfielders will play center field. Today, Yasiel Puig is the middleman, with Andre Ethier lining up in right. Come March 22, we’ll see.
Joc Pederson (pictured above), who would be a center-field candidate should the Dodgers have the unfortunate event of multiple outfield injuries, is in left field today.
Puig is also batting leadoff for the first time in 2014 Cactus League play. After Josh Beckett makes his spring debut on the mound, Paul Maholm, Stephen Fife, Sam Demel and Daniel Moskos are scheduled to follow.
In other pregame news:
By Jon Weisman
Just to show how unprecedented it would be for Alex Guerrero to step into the Dodger starting lineup at the beginning of the 2014 campaign, consider this:
In the eight previous seasons of the Ned Colletti era, no position player without previous MLB experience has been the Dodgers’ intended starter in March or April.
Since Colletti arrived, only three Dodgers have started more than 10 games before April 30 without previously playing in the Majors, and none was the first resort:
Blake DeWitt and James Loney in action at Game 1 of the 2008 National League Championship Series in Chicago. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
James Loney, 2006: Loney made his debut on April 4 and started 10 games in a platoon with Olmedo Saenz while the Dodgers waited for Nomar Garciaparra to recover from a strained ribcage muscle suffered in the Freeway Series. Loney, who OPSed .595 in 44 plate appearances during this first taste of the Show, went to Triple-A once Garciaparra was activated April 22.
Blake DeWitt, 2008: DeWitt had but 45 games of experience above Single-A when he was thrust into the role of starter at third base, thanks to injuries not only to Garciaparra (wrist microfracture) but also Andy LaRoche (torn ulnar collateral ligament in right thumb) — both suffered in the same March 7 Spring Training game — as well as Tony Abreu. Nicknamed “The Solution,” DeWitt played regularly at third base with an OPS above .800 as he passed the 200-plate appearance mark in mid-June, before he slumped and was ultimately replaced by midseason acquisition Casey Blake. DeWitt remains the only Colletti-era Dodger to start the most games of anyone at his position in a given year (77) without having previously earned an MLB paycheck.
Jerry Sands, 2011: Sands slugged .529 for Double-A Chattanooga in 2010, but still began 2011 in the minors as predicted. He was called up April 18 to fill the roster spot of Xavier Paul, who was designated for assignment, and play some left field in a year the Dodgers began with Tony Gwynn Jr., Marcus Thames and Paul (with a sprinkle of Jamie Hoffmann). Sands played somewhat regularly into early June and ended up starting 53 games for Los Angeles in left field, right field and at first base.
Bringing up players in May has been a different story: Russell Martin, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp are notable examples. But handing a position to a pure rookie before May Day just hasn’t been happening. Even Yasiel Puig, of course, waited until June last year.
While Guerrero isn’t a typical rookie, it would still be groundbreaking for him to serve as a regular for the Dodgers in March and April.
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By Jon Weisman
Notes from a Saturday in the park …
… Living in Arizona over the winter, Crawford addressed his health problems by spending a significant part of his off-season at the Dodgers’ spring-training complex. Under the supervision of Dodgers trainers, he worked to strengthen his core and back.
Crawford, who was a four-time American League stolen-base champion with the Tampa Bay Rays, intends to become a threat on the basepaths again.
“I really want to run,” he said. “I got gun shy last season because any time I stole a base, I had pain. I know I can steal 25 bases. It’s frustrating when I’m stealing 10 or 11. I do everything else fast. I still run down balls in the outfield, I still get triples, I still go first to third, so it’s frustrating I don’t steal more bases.” …
I can handle this. But seeing my son in tears when he saw me in a boot and crutches and I told him I wasn’t going to pitch. That was tough.
— Mark Mulder (@markmulder20) February 15, 2014
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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