Corey Seager – Page 8 – Dodger Thoughts

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By Jon Weisman

With six days until Major League rosters can expand, pitchers Jharel Cotton and Julio Urias continue to make strong cases for a callup.

Dodger manager Don Mattingly told reporters today that even if the 19-year-old Urias comes up this year, he won’t be part of the initial wave September 1. We’re assuming the Dodgers will stick with that approach, even though Urias then pitched six innings of shutout ball tonight for Double-A Tulsa in a 1-0 loss to Arkansas.

Urias allowed four hits, walked none and struck out three, throwing 76 pitches (12.7 per inning). His August ERA is 1.98, with 30 baserunners allowed in 27 1/3 innings against 25 strikeouts.

The 23-year-old Cotton might be another story, because unlike Urias, he needs to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason. Recently promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City with an eye on his potential as a September addition, Cotton — who is profiled in the soon-to-be-released September issue of Dodger Insider magazine — came out of the bullpen and faced nine batters, allowing two singles and a walk while striking out all other six.

As gravy on the cake, Cotton came to bat in the seventh inning and hit a two-run triple. Before making his Triple-A debut tonight, Cotton had a 2.30 ERA with 71 strikeouts 62 2/3 innings for Tulsa.

Corey Seager, another interesting farmhand to say the least, hit his third homer in five games in Oklahoma City’s 8-2 victory against Pacific Coast League Old Friend Albuquerque. Seager is 14 for 45 (.311) in his last 10 games with 26 total bases, one walk and 11 strikeouts, for a .326 on-base percentage and .578 slugging percentage.

Seager, who plays third base and shortstop, homered on the same night that the Dodgers’ big-league third baseman and shortstop, Justin Turner and Jimmy Rollins, homered in a 5-1 victory at Cincinnati.

Dodger minor league report No. 18: Winning time for Julio Urias

By Jon Weisman

On August 20, 2015

In Minor leagues

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By Jon Weisman

Because of the careful way the Dodgers have controlled his innings at a young age, 19-year-old Julio Urias only had five wins in his first 50 career starts. Thankfully, no one judged him on that.

For the record, Urias has picked up career victories No. 6 and No. 7 in the past two weeks, most recently with six innings of one-run ball in Double-A Tulsa’s 2-1 victory Wednesday over Frisco.

Urias struck out eight and allowed six baserunners in a slender 81 pitches. In August, Urias has a 2.53 ERA and 1.17 WHIP with 22 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings, and he hasn’t allowed a home run. For the season in Double-A, Urias has a 3.03 ERA and 1.03 WHIP with 71 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings.

For comparison, at age 19 with Double-A San Antonio, Fernando Valenzuela had a 3.10 ERA and 1.30 WHIP with 162 strikeouts in 174 innings. In a much different era, Valenzuela completed 11 of his 25 starts in 1980 before his callup to the Dodgers, for whom he pitched 17 2/3 innings in relief without allowing an earned run, striking out 16.

Now, let’s take our tour of the system …

Dodger minor league report No. 16: Mike Bolsinger, Carlos Frias, Jose Peraza and more

By Jon Weisman

On August 6, 2015

In Minor leagues

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By Jon Weisman

Mike Bolsinger and Carlos Frias, the two Dodger starting pitchers displaced by Mat Latos and Alex Wood, each had early exits from their first starts back with Triple-A Oklahoma City this week.

Bolsinger was hit in the forearm Tuesday by a batted ball and departed after three-plus innings, after allowing three runs on six hits. Don Mattingly relayed to reporters Wednesday that Bolsinger isn’t expected to miss his next scheduled start.

Frias, who was officially optioned to Triple-A on Sunday, started Wednesday for Oklahoma City, pitched one shutout inning and then took his leave. Mattingly told reporters after the Dodgers’ victory in Philadelphia last night that Frias “felt something” and was removed as a precaution, then added today that Frias was undergoing further tests.

Joe Wieland ended up pitching five innings in relief, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits and a walk while striking out five.

Two other recent Dodger starting pitchers have resumed work for Oklahoma City. Zach Lee allowed one earned run in seven innings (striking out three) August 2, and Brandon Beachy — who was accepted an assignment to Triple-A after clearing waivers — allowed five earned runs in six innings August 3.

Now, on with our tour of the Dodger minor leagues …

Farhan Zaidi offers insight into dealmaking process

By Jon Weisman

On July 31, 2015

In Transactions

By Jon Weisman

As you might suspect, Major League trades — especially when there’s a deadline — don’t come in a neat and tidy process. It’s sloppy and time-consuming and anything but linear.

Tonight, Dodger general manager Farhan Zaidi spoke tonight the Dodgers’ deadline deals, and offered some interesting perspective about how they actually get approached and executed.

Here is a sampling of what he said. Well, not really a sampling — a rather large, detailed chunk …

Read More

In case you missed it: Grandal denies W for acha

By Jon Weisman

On May 31, 2015

In Health/injuries, In case you missed it

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By Jon Weisman

On Saturday in St. Louis, Michael Wacha carried a shutout (OK, a no-hitter) into the seventh (OK, the sixth) inning, then gave up a couple of hits and a huge home run. Sound familiar, anyone?

Sure, the stakes were different in the Dodgers’ 5-1 victory than Game 4 of the National League Division Series, but otherwise it was something of a mirror image of Clayton Kershaw’s final October downfall.

Judging by what he told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny left Wacha in the game mainly to try to get him the “W” next to his name in the boxscore.

“You’ve got that situation there with an opportunity to pitch (Gonzalez) tough, fouled off a lot of pitches and that did, no question, wear him down pretty good,” Matheny said. “At that point we’ve got to try and keep him in that game. Try and get our offense back out there and get him a win. The ball jumped for Grandal and that was the big game-changer.

“If it’s a 1-1 game, it’s Michael’s game.”

Said Yasmani Grandal, who blasted the three-run shot off Wacha, to David Cobb of MLB.com: “It just so happened that [Wacha] made a mistake, probably the only mistake he made all night, and I was able to capitalize on it.”

MLB’s Statcast took a look at Grandal’s tiebreaking homer Saturday and noted that Grandal “has an average exit velocity of 94.5 mph on balls Statcast™ has tracked, which leads all catchers.”

Grandal’s .492 on-base percentage in May is the second-best mark in the National League this month behind Bryce Harper, according to the Dodgers’ PR department, and he is third in slugging percentage (.698), behind Harper (.905) and Paul Goldschmidt (.720).

Grandal also provided benefits behind the plate for the Dodgers on Saturday. Grandal told Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles that starting pitcher Carlos Frias was trying to do too much too soon in his fruitless start a week ago against San Diego.

… “He wanted to use all four of his pitches from the beginning for some reason and I thought we could go with one or two pitches for the first three or four innings and all of a sudden mix in those other two,” Grandal said.

Frias talked about his trust with Grandal, saying he never shook him off Saturday. He was perfectly happy to cede the game plan to his catcher.

“If he’s thinking, he’s probably not doing his job right,” Grandal said. …

Despite an error by Howie Kendrick on his first batter and loading the bases before getting an out, Frias went seven innings and allowed only one run, unearned.

“Last time he was all over the place,” Don Mattingly told Cobb. “Tonight, he seemed to be hitting his spots. He used his slider some. As the game went on, he started using his curveball. That’s the key.”

Here are some more notes from the weekend …

Dodger minor league report No. 4: Seager adjusting to Triple-A

By Jon Weisman

On May 7, 2015

In Minor leagues

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Dodgers at Brewers, 10:40 a.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Alex Guerrero, LF
Andre Ethier, RF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Kiké Hernandez, SS
Carlos Frias, P

By Jon Weisman

Though the Pacific Coast League has put a slight break on the rapid rise of Corey Seager, it wouldn’t be fair to say he’s lost all momentum.

Seager, who turned 21 last week, is 5 for 20 with a double, a walk and four strikeouts since his promotion to Triple-A Oklahoma City from Double-A Tulsa. Seager had hits in two of his first three at-bats, then went 0 for 9 (with his one walk). But in his last two games, Seager is 3 for 8 with a double and two RBI, heading into tonight’s game against New Orleans.

On to this week’s roundup …

Bolsinger, Seager, Urias honored

By Jon Weisman

On April 20, 2015

In Awards

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By Jon Weisman

Mike Bolsinger, Corey Seager and Julio Urias and Mike Bolsinger each received Player or Pitcher of the Week honors in their minor leagues.

A candidate to be called up by the Dodgers to start in the next few days, Bolsinger pitched 11 innings and allowed three hits and three walks while striking out 17 to become Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week.

Seager, who turns 21 on April 27, is off to an extraordinary with Double-A Tulsa: 21 for 42 with a .762 slugging percentage and only four strikeouts, including 14 for 26 in the past seven days to become Texas League Player of the Week.

Meanwhile, the 18-year-old Urias struck out 10 in 5 2/3 innings while allowing five baserunners to earn Texas League Player of the Week recognition. At the outset of the season, Urias has a 0.00 ERA in 10 2/3 innings with 14 strikeouts against eight baserunners.

The good, the bad and the unusual in a 7-5 loss

By Jon Weisman

On March 18, 2015

In Postgame, Spring Training, Transactions

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By Jon Weisman

There was plenty of action in today’s 7-5 Dodger loss to the Cubs, but the marquee attraction in the “Have You Seen This Before?” Department was … no, not Sergio Santos’ four-strikeout inning, but the fact that he had a 1-3 strikeout on a pitch that caromed back to him before he threw the batter/runner out at first.

Video: Kershaw, Seager win ping-pong title

By Jon Weisman

On March 18, 2015

In Other sports

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There’s no such thing as an exhibition when Clayton Kershaw and the words “ping” or “pong” are involved …

– Jon Weisman

In case you missed it: Who’s been busy?

By Jon Weisman

On March 17, 2015

In Dodger Stadium, In case you missed it

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Dodgers at Rangers, 1:05 p.m.
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Scott Van Slyke, 1B
Joc Pederson, CF
A.J. Ellis, DH
(Hyun-Jin Ryu, P)

By Jon Weisman

Here are the Dodgers who have seen the most Cactus League action so far this spring:

Most innings in the field: Darwin Barney (52), Juan Uribe (48), Kike Hernandez (46), Andre Ethier (45), Scott Van Slyke (43).

Most plate appearances: Adrian Gonzalez (26), Kike Hernandez (26), Andre Ethier (24), Yasmani Grandal (24), Joc Pederson (24).

Most batters faced: Clayton Kershaw (34), Joe Wieland (24), Carlos Frias (23), Zack Greinke (21), David Huff (21), Brandon McCarthy (21).

And now, some info-to-go …

The Dodgers haven’t committed to Joc Pederson as their starting center fielder, but he’s done nothing to dissuade them, reports Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.
Kenley Jensen has shed his crutches after four weeks but remains in a walking boot, writes Stephen.
Don Mattingly on Corey Seager (via Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles): “I’m watching him play short and I’m thinking, ‘It looks like he can play short to me,’ but what do I know.”
Paco Rodriguez is motivated by missing out on the Dodgers’ playoff roster the past two seasons, writes Kevin Baxter of the Times.
Mike Adams is a man of “meticulous routine,” according to this story by Pedro Moura of the Register.
Earlier this month, the Dodgers added a nice touch to the left-field entrance to the Club Level hallway at Dodger Stadium. Here are a couple of cellphone pics:

Measuring opponents’ quality in Spring Training

By Jon Weisman

On March 15, 2015

In Spring Training

For more photos from Saturday, visit LA Photog Blog.

Mariners at Dodgers, 1:05 p.m.
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Carl Crawford, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Andre Ethier, CF
Alex Guerrero, DH
(Clayton Kershaw, P)

By Jon Weisman

Spring Training statistics are a ride off Niagara Falls– momentarily exhilarating before the thundering, brain-soaking crash of reality. However, Baseball-Reference.com has taken a step to, I don’t know, pad your barrel. (It’s Sunday morning — sue me.)

It’s basically a novelty, but Baseball Reference provides a simple but welcome opposition quality measurement, based on the level of play last year for every batter or pitcher: 10 for Major Leaguers, 8 for Triple A, 7 for AA, 5 for High A, 4 for Low A and 3 or below for short season.

Here are the Dodgers’ 2015 Spring Training stats on Baseball Reference. A few things immediately noticeable:

Corey Seager’s outstanding spring has come against opponents’ quality rating of 8.6 — essentially, top minor-leaguers but a level below the Majors. It’s not surprising, given that Seager has come off the bench in all but one of his games, around the time that MLB starters have been exiting.
Joc Pederson’s opponents have been a bit more challenging, with a quality rating is 9.1.
Josh Ravin, sent to minor-league camp Saturday, retired all eight batters he faced despite facing the highest opponents’ quality rating of any Dodger reliever: 9.7 (matched by Julio Urias).

In case you missed it: Bat left, throw left, hold baby right

By Jon Weisman

On March 13, 2015

In In case you missed it

For more photos from Thursday, visit LA Photog Blog.

By Jon Weisman

It was hard not to be a little skeptical about Thursday’s Will Ferrell stunt across Major League Baseball, but it helped knowing that it was for a good cause, and pretty quickly it became clear how much fun it was going to be.

It helped that Ferrell, while engaging in all the hijinx, displayed such a sincere love for the game himself. And he looked pretty good out there — for a 47-year-old. (I’m particularly sympathetic to that demographic.)

I’m sure it had to be a distraction on some level, but the memories seem to have been worth it.

But now, it’s back to the real players …

A scout told J.P. Hoornstra of the Daily News that he was “particularly impressed by Sergio Santos, who touched 94 on the gun.”
Julio Urias is the No. 2 pitching prospect in baseball, according to John Sickels’ Minor League Ball, behind local boy Lucas Giolito of the Nationals. Grant Holmes is 41st. On the hitting side, Corey Seager is sixth, Joc Pederson 10th and Alex Verdugo 50th.
You know all the big names by now, but David Hood of True Blue L.A. offers his favorites to watch among the next generation of Dodger prospects.
A classic W.C. Heinz profile of the inimitable Pete Reiser is on display, courtesy of The Stacks.
Former Dodger Chuck Connors, aka “The Rifleman,” made David Schoenfield’s all-celebrity baseball team at ESPN.com’s Sweet Spot.
James Harris, one of my heroes growing up here in the 1970s, gets a nice tribute from Samuel G. Freedman at the New Yorker. It’s a worthwhile history lesson.

In case you missed it: Starting off with sparkle

By Jon Weisman

On March 11, 2015

In In case you missed it

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For photos from Tuesday, visit LA Photog Blog.

Slamdabulous diving play at second base by Darwin Barney.

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) March 10, 2015

Dodgers at Cubs, 1:05 p.m.
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Chris Heisey, RF
Yasiel Puig, CF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Scott Van Slyke, 1B
Justin Turner, DH
Joc Pederson, LF
Kike Hernandez, 3B
(Zack Greinke, P)

By Jon Weisman

Relive Darwin Barney’s dazzler from Tuesday in the video above, then move right into today’s news and notes …

Clayton Kershaw gave up a third-inning home run to Nick Hundley on a hanging curveball in Tuesday’s 2-2 tie with Colorado, but he seemed more annoyed by his 10-pitch walk to Jeremy Barfield in the previous inning, writes Ken Gurnick at MLB.com. Kershaw threw 14 pitches in the bullpen after his three-inning outing.
Don Mattingly told reporters that Yasmani Grandal will catch Kershaw in his next outing. Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. has more.
Dodger relievers Joe Wieland, David Aardsma, Paco Rodriguez and Pedro Baez combined to retire the final 16 Rockies. Wieland was perfect over two innings with four groundouts and a strikeout. Rodriguez struck out all three batters he faced. (Here’s video of the last one.)
Julio Urias is scheduled for his second Spring Training outing today and Joc Pederson is OPSing 1.091, but Corey Seager is turning as many heads as anyone. Dylan Hernandez of the Times has more in this feature.
Pederson, Grandal, Yasiel Puig, Justin Turner and Adrian Gonzalez are scheduled to make the two-day trip to San Antonio for split-squad games against the Rangers at the Alamodome’s Big League Weekend, March 20-21. Tim Wallach will manage. More details about the event here.
This story on Grandal from Bill Plunkett of the Register is worth it if only to read Don Mattingly say of Grandal, “He’s a dangerous cat.”
Joel Peralta had a successful bullpen session Tuesday and is scheduled for his Cactus League debut Friday, reports Gurnick.
MLB Network spent Tuesday at Camelback Ranch, so there’s a lot of Dodger-related content up at dodgers.com/video.
Vin Scully talked to Jill Painter Lopez of Fox Sports about his preparation for Year 66 with the Dodgers.
The Dodgers have the fourth-easiest schedule in the National League for the first quarter of the season, writes ESPN Insider’s Buster Olney, who adds this tidbit: “The Dodgers will have the bulk of their NL West games completed by the All-Star break. They will play 13 of their 19 games against Colorado by June 3, 12 of their 19 games against the Padres by June 14, and 12 of their 19 games against the Giants by June 20.”
Peter Gammons explains at Gammons Daily why he thinks the Dodgers won the offseason.
Will Ferrell plans to play in all eight Cactus League games Thursday, traveling to each via helicopter. By the time he’s done, according to the Associated Press, he’ll have played all nine positions. It’s true because it’s crazy. (The Dodgers play the Padres that night, so you can expect many “Anchorman” references that day.)
Fielding-independent pitching is ready to be informed by much more context, writes Jonathan Judge at the Hardball Times.
Matthew Mesa preserved this Twitter conversation for posterity:

ICYMI: @ClaytonKersh22 will not be buying @BrettAnderson35 & @BMcCarthy32 Apple Watches. pic.twitter.com/m4tDf6OFq9

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 10, 2015

Dodgers bringing the late-inning magic (and ties)

By Jon Weisman

On March 10, 2015

In Uncategorized

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Scott Schebler, shown here Sunday, offers more power potential for the Dodgers in the outfield. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Jon Weisman

Who knew Spring Training could be so even-handedly thrilling? Check out the past 51 hours for the Dodgers:

Sunday: Go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth by Kyle Jensen.
Sunday (cont’d): Game-winning RBI double in the ninth by Corey Seager.
Monday: Game-tying RBI single in the eighth by Scott Van Slyke.
Today: Game-tying homer in the eighth by Scott Schebler.

The results? The Dodgers today finished with their third tie in their past four games, deadlocking the Rockies, 2-2. Only Seager’s double prevented the Dodgers (4-1-3) from having four consecutive ties.

Schebler hasn’t started a game for the Dodgers, but he has racked up the numbers coming off the bench against his peers. He leads Los Angeles with six hits, to go with an .857 slugging percentage.

Seager, making his first start today, walked for the fifth time in seven games. Yasiel Puig is second on the team with two.

After giving up their second run, Dodger pitchers retired the final 16 Rockies they faced (one error, one double play).

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) March 10, 2015

In case you missed it: Anderson flushes his cares away

By Jon Weisman

On March 10, 2015

In In case you missed it

For more photos from Monday, visit LA Photog Blog.

"Oh you're starting today…have fun expelling everything in your system beforehand."- my body somehow knowing I pitch today.

— Brett Anderson (@BAnderson3737) March 9, 2015

Rockies at Dodgers, 1:05 p.m.
Darwin Barney, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Justin Turner, 1B
Adrian Gonzalez, DH
Andre Ethier, RF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Corey Seager, SS
Kike Hernandez, CF
(Clayton Kershaw, P)

By Jon Weisman

Tweets of doom aside, Brett Anderson was as cool as the other side of the toilet Monday in his first Cactus League start for the Dodgers.

Anderson sailed through two shutout innings, needing only 23 pitches to navigate seven batters (five groundouts, a strikeout and a single).

There’s more about Anderson’s outing from Ken Gurnick of MLB.com and Eric Stephen at True Blue L.A.

And in addition to those notes, there are these:

Howie Kendrick’s fifth-inning throwing error was the Dodgers’ second in seven games this spring, and ended their consecutive errorless streak at 45 innings.
Corey Seager, one of three Dodgers (with O’Koyea Dickson and Kyle Jensen) to play in six Cactus League games so far, is starting at shortstop today.
The Dodgers’ team leader in plate appearances so far is Scott Schebler with 13.
In this profile of Chris Hatcher by Dylan Hernandez of the Times, we learn more about Hatcher’s conversion from catcher to pitcher, and also the importance of him placing more faith in his breaking ball.
Cued up by Don Mattingly, J.P. Hoornstra of the Daily News passes along a narrative involving umpire Ted Barrett and former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson.
Where did Spring Training really come from? Alex Skillin explores the origins at the Hardball Times, with one-time Brooklyn manager Ned Hanlon playing a role.

Dodger Thoughts

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

Tag: Corey Seager (Page 8 of 10)

Cotton, Urias making farm life ever so interesting

Dodger minor league report No. 18: Winning time for Julio Urias

Dodger minor league report No. 16: Mike Bolsinger, Carlos Frias, Jose Peraza and more

Farhan Zaidi offers insight into dealmaking process

In case you missed it: Grandal denies W for acha

Dodger minor league report No. 4: Seager adjusting to Triple-A

Bolsinger, Seager, Urias honored

The good, the bad and the unusual in a 7-5 loss

Video: Kershaw, Seager win ping-pong title

In case you missed it: Who’s been busy?

Measuring opponents’ quality in Spring Training

In case you missed it: Bat left, throw left, hold baby right

In case you missed it: Starting off with sparkle

Dodgers bringing the late-inning magic (and ties)

In case you missed it: Anderson flushes his cares away

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