By Jon Weisman
On the anniversary of his arrival in the Major Leagues, Yasiel Puig has risen from fifth place to first in the latest update of National League All-Star balloting — thanks to more than 500,000 votes in less than a week.
Tag: Hanley Ramirez (Page 3 of 4)
Saturday’s Jon SooHoo photo highlights can be found at LA Photog Blog.
Pirates at Dodgers, 5:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Andre Ethier, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Justin Turner, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Zack Greinke, P
Dee Gordon, 2B
Andre Ethier, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Justin Turner, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Zack Greinke, P
By Jon Weisman
We’re going full notebook for today’s pregame report:
- After their 12-2 victory Saturday over Pittsburgh, I had some fun looking up the Dodgers’ record when scoring at least 12 runs since moving to Los Angeles. They are now 182-4 in those games.
- Hanley Ramirez, who homered twice in a game for the second time this season, had the first 4 4 4 5 line in Dodger history (since at least 1914) and 17th in MLB history. He’s the first to do it with a stolen base in National League history.
- Jamey Wright had the Dodgers’ first three-inning save since Ramon Troncoso in April 2009, and the first save in a game decided by at least 10 runs since Matt Herges on September 10, 2000.
- There has been one five-inning save in Dodger history, by Charlie Hough on August 14, 1970. In his shortest start of the decade, Don Sutton was knocked out of the game after retiring only one batter and being charged with five runs. Los Angeles rallied to take the lead with Fred Norman on the mound, setting him up for the win, and then Hough allowed four runs over five innings, facing 24 batters, to pick up the unusual S.
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By Jon Weisman
Adrian Gonzalez is in first place among first basemen and Dee Gordon is in second place among second baseman in the initial 2014 National League All-Star vote update.
Saturday in Jon SooHoo can be found at the LA Photog Blog.
Dodgers at Phillies, 10:35 a.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Erisbel Arruebarrena, SS
Dan Haren, P
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Erisbel Arruebarrena, SS
Dan Haren, P
By Jon Weisman
Don Mattingly told reporters in Philadelphia today that Hanley Ramirez’s lower calf injury is continuing to receive treatment but that an MRI could be in the future.
Mattingly said he didn’t want to speculate yet on whether Ramirez, who missed Friday’s game and was a late scratch Saturday, would go on the disabled list.
Mattingly didn’t rule out Hanley’s injury being an Achilles injury. More tests to come in LA.
— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) May 25, 2014
As for Matt Kemp, also out of the starting lineup for the third game in a row (but a pinch-hitter Saturday), Mattingly said he will be worked in left field as well as center. Mattingly said Kemp would participate and that it wouldn’t be an issue, and that Kemp remained a big part of the team, but that Mattingly likes Ethier’s routes in center field, even if Ethier isn’t a prototypical center fielder from a speed standpoint.
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Dodgers at Giants, 12:45 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Justin Turner, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, CF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Hyun-Jin Ryu, P
Dee Gordon, 2B
Justin Turner, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, CF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Hyun-Jin Ryu, P
By Jon Weisman
Though X-rays were negative on Hanley Ramirez’s left hand, which was struck by a Ryan Vogelsong pitch Wednesday, the Dodger shortstop will miss his first start of the season in today’s afternoon affair (and road trip finale) against at San Francisco.
It’s not implausible that Ramirez would have been on the bench even if healthy, given that he had played every inning for the Dodgers in 2014 until leaving in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss. Juan Uribe and Adrian Gonzalez, on the other hand, will make their 15th consecutive starts.
Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweeted that Ramirez expects to start Friday at home against Arizona.
The Dodgers had more decent news about Chad Billingsley, whose right elbow ligament remains sound despite tendinitis, and Clayton Kershaw, who completed a bullpen session Tuesday and has another one Thursday. Neither pitcher, however, has a timetable for a rehab start.
By Jon Weisman
Well, that was a nice wire-to-wire victory for the Dodgers tonight.
As Los Angeles stomped the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-0 in 141 minutes, allowing only two singles and two walks, these noteworthy feats emerged.
Hyun-Jin Ryu
Ryu allowed six earned runs in two innings at the Dodgers’ home opener a week ago. Here’s how far back you have to go to find more than six earned runs allowed by Ryu on the road:
- Tonight at Arizona: seven innings, zero runs
- March 30 at San Diego: seven innings, zero runs
- March 23 at Arizona (in Sydney): five innings, zero runs
- Sept. 24 at San Francisco: seven innings, one earned run
- Sept. 16 at Arizona: eight innings, two earned runs
- Aug. 19 at Miami: 7 1/3 innings, three earned runs
- Aug. 8 at St. Louis: seven innings, one unearned run
- Aug. 2 at Chicago Cubs: 5 1/3 innings, two earned runs
Ryu has pitched 21 consecutive shutout innings on the road and has a road ERA of 0.27 in his last 33 road innings.
Adrian Gonzalez
Gonzalez had five RBI tonight — four by the top of the third inning — to give him the 24th game of at least four RBI in his career and third game of at least five RBI. His career high of six RBI came against the Dodgers on May 19, 2010.
Hanley Ramirez
The Dodger shortstop had two doubles tonight, tying him for the MLB lead with six this season. One of three Dodgers to play all 100 innings his season, Ramirez has combined his new-found durability with a .383 on-base percentage and a .595 slugging percentage.
Dee Gordon
Two more hits for Gordon, whose OBP is now .439 while slugging .541. He also stole his fifth base, tying him for second in the Majors. Still, expect him to start Saturday’s game on the bench when the Dodgers face Arizona lefty Wade Miley.
By Jon Weisman
After Hanley Ramirez hit a double and two home runs in their 6-2 victory over San Francisco on Sunday, the Dodgers are 31-3 this century when a player gets at least 10 total bases in a game. The three losses were each by one run.
By Jon Weisman
With the April issue of Dodger Insider magazine set to unveil in the next 24 hours, I thought I’d share a taste from the March issue to give you more of an idea of the magazine content.
To subscribe to either the print or digital versions of Dodger Insider, go to our magazine ordering page on Dodgers.com.
Click on any page below to enlarge …
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By Jon Weisman
Watch the video above. Hanley Ramirez hits one about eight rows from the back of the left-field bleachers.
In the screen shot below (click to enlarge), it’s the white speck in between State Farm and @Dodgers.
Picture the scene from “Animal House” where Boon hooks a golf ball into the cafeteria soup. We almost had a similar moment with the sauce at the Think Blue BBQ.
It was Ramirez’s second home run of the night.
[mlbvideo id=”31459729″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]
By Jon Weisman
It wasn’t as loud as Hanley Ramirez’s mammoth home run to dead center, accounting for the Dodgers’ only runs in a 2-1 victory over Texas today, but Zach Lee made a nice first impression in his Spring Training starting debut.
Lee allowed two hits in two shutout innings, walking none while striking out one. Bookending Lee was 2013 second-round draft pick Tom Windle, who closed out the final two shutout innings by also allowing two baserunners while striking out one.
Infield candidates Chone Figgins and Brendan Harris had the only other Dodger hits. Dee Gordon had one of five Dodger walks, stole his fifth base in five attempts this spring and made a fine defensive play diving to his right back of second base.
Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com has more on Lee:
Despite the sore lat, Lee said he’s enjoying his first big league camp. He has been spending as much time as he can with Zack Greinke and Josh Beckett.
“I think I’m somewhat like [Greinke], although I don’t think I take it to the extent that he does,” Lee said. “Growing up, and the way I looked at pitching, I was always a cerebral and analytical person. I really thought more about game-planning and what [Greg] Maddux did back in the day, where he was able to pinpoint with location rather than overpower you.”
* * *
Several more fond remembrances of Dr. Frank Jobe emerged today, many of them captured by Sanchez. You also won’t read anything more powerful than what Dodger director of team travel Scott Akasaki or vice president of medical services Stan Conte shared with Kevin Baxter of the Times.
Cliff Corcoran of SI.com shared the five top Tommy John surgery success stories.
* * *
Finally, don’t miss today in Jon SooHoo.
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By Jon Weisman
There was a pitch in Thursday’s 4-4 Dodger tie with the Angels that was heading scarily toward the same spot on Hanley Ramirez’s body that turned the 2013 National League Championship Series on its rib.
The good news is that the pitch hit Ramirez’s triceps and that, as predicted by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, he is playing today.
The bad news is that ballplayers and dreams are still too fragile.
In other news …
Carl Crawford congratulates Adrian Gonzalez at home plate in San Diego on April 11. (Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers, LLC 2013)
By Jon Weisman
You don’t even need to look at the numbers, do you? The Dodgers, even as they went all the way to the National League Championship Series in 2013, didn’t hit enough with men on base, right?
Well, maybe we should look at the numbers anyway. Because they’re kind of interesting.
Dodgers with men on base, 2013
(ordered by plate appearances)
| Rk | PA ▾ | HR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adrian Gonzalez | 312 | 11 | .308 | .362 | .491 | .853 |
| 2 | Andre Ethier | 266 | 4 | .243 | .357 | .356 | .713 |
| 3 | A.J. Ellis | 232 | 5 | .247 | .320 | .354 | .674 |
| 4 | Mark Ellis | 209 | 4 | .295 | .340 | .421 | .761 |
| 5 | Juan Uribe | 195 | 6 | .280 | .328 | .463 | .791 |
| 6 | Yasiel Puig | 174 | 5 | .259 | .356 | .395 | .751 |
| 7 | Carl Crawford | 169 | 1 | .272 | .337 | .338 | .675 |
| 8 | Skip Schumaker | 165 | 2 | .278 | .354 | .354 | .708 |
| 9 | Hanley Ramirez | 149 | 10 | .351 | .416 | .679 | 1.095 |
| 10 | Matt Kemp | 145 | 2 | .246 | .303 | .346 | .650 |
| 11 | Nick Punto | 134 | 0 | .280 | .320 | .364 | .685 |
| 12 | Jerry Hairston | 106 | 1 | .217 | .272 | .283 | .554 |
| 13 | Tim Federowicz | 86 | 2 | .203 | .286 | .351 | .637 |
| 14 | Scott Van Slyke | 76 | 1 | .210 | .329 | .339 | .668 |
| 15 | Luis Cruz | 67 | 1 | .150 | .200 | .233 | .433 |
| Team Total | 2805 | 55 | .257 | .325 | .383 | .708 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
NL leader in OPS with runners on base: St. Louis (.839)
Collectively, the Dodgers had a .325 on-base percentage with men on base, nearly identical to their overall 2013 OBP of .326. And of the nine players who came up the most in those situations, none had a lower OBP than .320.
Key RBI guys like Adrian Gonzalez (.362), Andre Ethier (.357) and, holy cow, Hanley Ramirez (.416) kept coming through time and again, either driving in runs or extending innings. Matt Kemp, by contrast, was disappointing at .303, but we’re going to talk more about him in a minute.
Where the Dodgers showed more of a dip was in their slugging percentage – .383 with runners on base, compared to .396 overall in the season. The difference was more pronounced with runners in scoring position.
Dodgers with RISP
(ordered by plate appearances)
| Rk | PA ▾ | HR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adrian Gonzalez | 188 | 7 | .323 | .378 | .532 | .909 |
| 2 | Andre Ethier | 156 | 2 | .228 | .372 | .325 | .697 |
| 3 | A.J. Ellis | 135 | 2 | .255 | .333 | .345 | .679 |
| 4 | Mark Ellis | 124 | 2 | .282 | .336 | .388 | .724 |
| 5 | Skip Schumaker | 110 | 2 | .268 | .336 | .351 | .687 |
| 6 | Juan Uribe | 105 | 2 | .278 | .340 | .433 | .773 |
| 7 | Carl Crawford | 103 | 1 | .289 | .359 | .356 | .715 |
| 8 | Yasiel Puig | 99 | 4 | .234 | .374 | .416 | .789 |
| 9 | Matt Kemp | 87 | 0 | .230 | .310 | .270 | .581 |
| 10 | Hanley Ramirez | 83 | 7 | .368 | .458 | .779 | 1.237 |
| 11 | Nick Punto | 67 | 0 | .246 | .297 | .351 | .648 |
| 12 | Jerry Hairston | 63 | 0 | .236 | .274 | .236 | .511 |
| 13 | Tim Federowicz | 51 | 0 | .122 | .245 | .171 | .416 |
| 14 | Scott Van Slyke | 43 | 0 | .229 | .326 | .314 | .640 |
| 15 | Luis Cruz | 42 | 0 | .128 | .146 | .154 | .300 |
| Team Total | 1639 | 29 | .252 | .330 | .367 | .697 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
NL leader in OPS with RISP: St. Louis (.865)
NL leader in OPS with RISP: St. Louis (.865)
If the Dodgers were swinging for the fences with runners in scoring position, the stats show they weren’t connecting. Their slugging percentage dipped 7 percent compared with their overall 2013 performance. On the other hand, their OBP inched up, with the eight guys most frequently batting with RISP doing their part to drive in runs or at least extend innings. And again, Hanley – wow.
In general, given the sample sizes at play and the variables in terms of situation, I’m not sure how significant these differences are. You’d expect pitchers to be more vulnerable with runners on base, if only because vulnerable pitchers tend to put more runners on base. But pitchers being more careful with runners on could also play a role.
Which leads me to latest favorite stat: In 2013, Clayton Kershaw allowed five extra-base hits with runners in scoring position all year.
Keep all this in mind as I present the Dodgers’ performance with the bases loaded in 2013. The sample size shrinks … and the offense shrinks even more.
Dodgers with bases loaded, 2013
(ordered by plate appearances)
| Rk | PA ▾ | HR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A.J. Ellis | 17 | 0 | .143 | .176 | .214 | .391 |
| 2 | Mark Ellis | 14 | 0 | .417 | .357 | .417 | .774 |
| 3 | Juan Uribe | 14 | 0 | .154 | .143 | .385 | .527 |
| 4 | Skip Schumaker | 14 | 0 | .071 | .071 | .071 | .143 |
| 5 | Adrian Gonzalez | 10 | 0 | .375 | .300 | .500 | .800 |
| 6 | Carl Crawford | 10 | 0 | .333 | .300 | .444 | .744 |
| 7 | Andre Ethier | 9 | 0 | .143 | .222 | .286 | .508 |
| 8 | Matt Kemp | 9 | 0 | .125 | .111 | .125 | .236 |
| 9 | Tim Federowicz | 8 | 0 | .143 | .125 | .286 | .411 |
| 10 | Clayton Kershaw | 8 | 0 | .125 | .125 | .125 | .250 |
| 11 | Scott Van Slyke | 8 | 0 | .000 | .125 | .000 | .125 |
| 12 | Nick Punto | 7 | 0 | .200 | .429 | .200 | .629 |
| 13 | Yasiel Puig | 6 | 1 | .400 | .500 | 1.000 | 1.500 |
| 14 | Luis Cruz | 5 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 15 | Jerry Hairston | 4 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 |
| Team Total | 156 | 1 | .190 | .205 | .270 | .475 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
NL leader in OPS with bases loaded: St. Louis (.935)
NL leader in OPS with bases loaded: St. Louis (.935)
Those numbers … well, they are numbers. I’ll give them that. The Dodgers were last in the NL in batting with the bases loaded, by a wide margin. Coming in at 15th was Pittsburgh, with a .591 OPS.
How wildly inconsistent are they from hitter to hitter? No one on that list has a batting average between .200 and .300.
Also, do you see who isn’t on the list? Our friend Mr. Ramirez, whose total number of plate appearances with the bases loaded in 2013 was … one. (He got out.)
Once more, I’d offer that the quantity of plate appearances is too small to derive too much into the Dodgers’ bases-loaded performance, but we can say this: If you’re looking for a way the Dodgers can improve in 2014, look no farther.
I promised to circle back to Matt Kemp, and circle back we shall. Kemp, as you might have noticed, struggled in all of these situations, yet another reason his 2013 was so frustrating. But is it possible that we’ve got this backward – that his frustrations were the reason he struggled with men on base?
Look at how Kemp did in previous seasons:
Matt Kemp with men on base
| I | Year | PA | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 85 | 4 | .295 | .318 | .513 | .830 | |
| 2007 | 144 | 4 | .373 | .396 | .560 | .956 | |
| 2008 | 296 | 6 | .282 | .342 | .417 | .760 | |
| 2009 | 321 | 13 | .279 | .336 | .463 | .800 | |
| 2010 | 324 | 15 | .238 | .299 | .462 | .761 | |
| 2011 | 347 | 21 | .344 | .424 | .626 | 1.049 | |
| 2012 | 204 | 14 | .331 | .412 | .651 | 1.063 | |
| 2013 | 145 | 2 | .246 | .303 | .346 | .650 | |
| Career Total | 1866 | 79 | .295 | .357 | .505 | .862 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Matt Kemp with RISP
| I | Year | PA | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 50 | 3 | .273 | .300 | .523 | .823 | |
| 2007 | 85 | 2 | .333 | .353 | .500 | .853 | |
| 2008 | 168 | 3 | .268 | .359 | .394 | .754 | |
| 2009 | 190 | 9 | .279 | .342 | .485 | .827 | |
| 2010 | 193 | 8 | .225 | .311 | .456 | .767 | |
| 2011 | 200 | 13 | .335 | .450 | .652 | 1.102 | |
| 2012 | 107 | 5 | .292 | .383 | .551 | .934 | |
| 2013 | 87 | 0 | .230 | .310 | .270 | .581 | |
| Career Total | 1080 | 43 | .279 | .360 | .486 | .846 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Matt Kemp with bases loaded
| I | Year | PA | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 7 | 0 | .167 | .143 | .167 | .310 | |
| 2007 | 10 | 0 | .000 | .100 | .000 | .100 | |
| 2008 | 18 | 1 | .250 | .222 | .500 | .722 | |
| 2009 | 19 | 3 | .313 | .316 | .938 | 1.253 | |
| 2010 | 15 | 1 | .300 | .333 | .600 | .933 | |
| 2011 | 10 | 1 | .571 | .500 | 1.000 | 1.500 | |
| 2012 | 9 | 0 | .250 | .222 | .250 | .472 | |
| 2013 | 9 | 0 | .125 | .111 | .125 | .236 | |
| Career Total | 97 | 6 | .250 | .258 | .500 | .758 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Historically, Kemp has been good to great with runners on base, before falling off a cliff in 2013. (Weird stat No. 2: Kemp had more grand slams in 2009 than hits with the bases loaded in 2013). A healthier Kemp obviously makes the Dodgers a better team; this is but one example of the difference he might make.
The big question I have is how much control players really have over their performance with runners on base. In a conversation for the season preview story of the upcoming Dodgers’ March magazine (which you all are going to want to get), Dodger manager Don Mattingly shared his thoughts.
“You put an emphasis on it in Spring Training,” Mattingly said. “You continue to put guys in situations in camp and work on things. … Everyone tries to drive that run in, and a lot of times they do it really fast. Sometimes it’s just being willing to let the next guy do it, because they may not be willing to pitch to (you). So if they’re not going to give you anything to do it with … you’ve got to be willing to pass the baton and trust your teammate.”
Easier said than done? No doubt. But even though their performance with runners on base might be better than you realized — and certainly improved when they heated up in the summer — it remains something the Dodgers will think about.
[mlbvideo id=”31330335″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]
By Jon Weisman
Above, video from day three (Wednesday) of the Dodgers’ community caravan. Below, well, see for yourself …
- Chad Billingsley has thrown four bullpen sessions as he makes his way back from Tommy John surgery, reports Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Scott Elbert is expected to throw his first bullpen this week, writes Gurnick, who also discusses other pitchers appearing at the Dodgers’ “Young Guns” pitching minicamp at Camelback Ranch last week.
- Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten spent seven minutes talking about the franchise with the guys on MLB Network’s Hot Stove Live.
- Opening Day Countdown Down Under is an excitingly new and self-explanatory blog from MLB.com. Follow it as we count down the days to the Dodgers and Diamondbacks at Sydney.
- Keith Law of ESPN.com discusses his list of the top 10 prospects in the Dodger organization. I neglected to mention the other day that Chris Anderson came in at No. 96 in Law’s top 100. Law said Anderson had a higher ceiling than Zack Lee “as a potential No. 2 starter if he can locate better and maintains his composure when something goes wrong behind him.”
- When Hanley Ramirez increased his adjusted OPS from 105 in 2012 to 190 in 2013, it was the second-biggest increase in baseball of all-time, writes Andrew Grant of True Blue L.A.
- Scott Lindholm of Beyond the Box Score compares Yasiel Puig’s first season to others with similar career starts.
By Jon Weisman
In addition to discussing Don Mattingly and Yasiel Puig, Ned Colletti touched upon several other aspects of the Dodgers in his conversation with reporters today.
- Colletti’s priorities now for 2014 are to fine-tune the club, including another infielder off the bench that would give the club more versatility, and making sure the team is healthy. “I talk to our medical people every other day to see where we are at,” he said.
- Miguel Rojas will get “a good look” during Spring Training for playing time at second base, thanks to his defensive wizardry. Rojas had a .303 on-base percentage and .307 slugging with Double-A Chattanooga last year, but Colletti calls him an “excellent defensive player.”
- Alexander Guerrero is still leading the pack of contenders at second base, but Colletti said “we still have questions.” The Dodgers are taking a conservative approach with Guerrero and the hamstring issues he dealt with this winter.
- Caution is also the byword with Matt Kemp, but the outfielder has had his walking boot off for the better part of four weeks now and is beginning to hit.
- Josh Beckett should be ready to go for Spring Training, but Scott Elbert and Chad Billingsley remain targeted for midseason. Elbert could come sooner than Billingsley, thanks to being a reliever.
- Andre Ethier and Hanley Ramirez have generated nothing but positive medical reports. No lingering issues.
- Colletti is eager to see what Rule 5 draft-day acquisition Seth Rosin can bring. “Again, some of what we do is to continue to build the depth you need for a season.”
- Preliminary conversations with the agent of Japanese pitching star Masahiro Tanaka have taken place. Colletti described it as a “feeling-out process.”
- Infielder-turned-reliever Pedro Baez, essentially following the path of Kenley Jansen, “still has some things he’s got to learn, but he’s a very interesting talent.”
By Jon Weisman
We’ll make it a habit at Dodger Insider to provide links to noteworthy news and features around the Internet, though this first edition ends on a somber note.
- One last look at Vin Scully’s big day as Grand Marshal of the Rose Parade, as seen through the lens of Dodger team photographer Jon SooHoo.
- Hanley Ramirez is the top shortstop and Clayton Kershaw the top pitcher in Tristan H. Cockcroft’s rankings of fantasy players in major-league baseball for ESPN.com. Ramirez is eighth among overall players (Mike Trout of the Angels is first) and Kershaw 11th. Zack Greinke is 33rd overall and Matt Kemp, despite his recent injury struggles, is 36th. Kenley Jansen (54th) is third among relievers.
- Former Dodger infielder Ryan Theriot has retired, according to teenage wundereporter Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish (via MLB Trade Rumors). Acquired in the same 2010 midseason deal that brought the Dodgers Ted Lilly in exchange for Blake DeWitt, Brett Wallach and Kyle Smit, Theriot had a .323 on-base percentage and .283 slugging percentage in 228 plate appearances for the Dodgers. That November, he was traded to St. Louis for Blake Hawksworth. Theriot’s last regular-season at-bat was at Dodger Stadium in October 2012, wearing a Giants uniform, with Clayton Kershaw striking him out.
- A history of Dodger air travel is offered by Ron Cervenka at Think Blue L.A.
- Manny Mota was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary Shrine of the Eternals in 2013, and Emma Amaya of Dodger Blue World has videos of the ceremony, including Mota’s acceptance speech. “I am fortunate and blessed to have been able to do what I loved the most,” Mota said. “Baseball has given me and my family so much.” Amaya herself received the Reliquary’s Hilda Chester award for distinguished service to the game by a baseball fan.
- Ralph Branca turns 88 today, and Dakota Gardner has a piece on him for Cut4 — including his winning streak on the game show “Concentration.”
- Does it help to have an innings-eater take one for the team in order to rest a tired bullpen? An analysis by Bryan Cole at Beyond the Box Score suggests that the effect might not be as much as you think.
- Baseball lifer Jerry Coleman, the famed Padres play-by-play announcer (and the only active Major League player to see combat in two military conflicts), has passed away. “We were much richer for having known him,” Scully said. “He had a wonderful and full life as a Major League player, a war hero and a Hall of Fame broadcaster. He was a sweet good natured and happy soul and he will be sorely missed. Our sympathies are extended to his family and all the many wonderful friends that he had.”
