Joc Pederson – Page 8 – Dodger Thoughts

Tag: Joc Pederson (Page 8 of 11)

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By Jon Weisman

In 1993, perhaps the most impressive rookie hitter in Dodger history, 24-year-old Mike Piazza, had a .354 on-base percentage and .520 slugging percentage in April.

In 2015, 23-year-old Joc Pederson has a .458 on-base percentage and .556 slugging percentage in April.

And also, this:

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Pederson, born barely four months before Piazza made his Major League debut in 1992, again rewarded the Dodgers’ faith in him entering this season, hitting a double and a home run Monday (before adding his requisite walk) in Los Angeles’ 8-3 victory over San Francisco.

Even accounting for the small benefit Pederson has gained from batting eighth, it grows harder almost by the day to deny the impact he can have on a game. It was Pederson who kept the Dodgers from falling behind, Pederson who had the biggest hit of their four-run third inning, Pederson who delivered the big insurance run in the sixth.

After hitting into five double plays in their first seven innings against Tim Lincecum this year — including a pair of line-drive first-inning twin killings last week and this — the Dodgers finally unloaded on the Giants righty in the third, following a walk with four singles and Pederson’s double to right to take a 4-0 lead.

Starting pitcher Brett Anderson was cruising with two out in the fifth, having retired eight batters in a row and 13 of 16 overall (aided by his own first-inning double play, an 8-6-3 of beauty that began with Pederson’s running catch in deep center), but then Anderson suddenly ran aground. He walked Brandon Crawford on a full-count pitch, gave up three consecutive hits and was chased from the game, just like that.

Angel Pagan’s RBI infield single off Carlos Frias cut the Dodger lead to 4-3, and a walk to Buster Posey loaded the bases. But Justin Maxwell, who has come from relative oblivion to cause the Dodgers all kinds of trouble this year — including a diving catch robbing Jimmy Rollins of what would have been two RBI in the second inning — grounded out on a comebacker, and the Dodgers escaped the inning.

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Then in the bottom of the sixth, Pederson knocked his third homer of the season to double the Dodgers’ comfort room, before walking in the eighth to help set up Justin Turner’s three-run pinch-hit homer that busted things wide open.

The period where pitchers adjust to Pederson and he has to adjust back certainly awaits, but considering that there was supposed to be a learning curve for the rookie outfielder and that any offense he was to provide at the outset of the season would be gravy, it’s hard not to reiterate how impressive he’s been.

“We just think Joc’s gonna keep improving,” manager Don Mattingly said. “He’s got a really good eye, and he’s going to strike out less as time goes on as he sees pitchers and knows how they’re attacking him and how to set himself up. I think he’s gonna get better.”

Jock Talk, starring Joc’s walks

By Jon Weisman

On April 26, 2015

In Analysis

By Jon Weisman

Is he for real? Should you have zeal?

Brandon McCarthy, Challenger of Hitters

By Jon Weisman

On April 13, 2015

In Midgame

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers (file photo)

By Jon Weisman

Like Vin Scully says, come to the ballpark and you’ll probably see something you’ve never seen before. Like Brandon McCarthy becoming the first pitcher in Major League history to allow at least four home runs in a game, strike out at least 10 and walk none.

There’s no denying that it was disconcerting to see Nelson Cruz homer twice and Corey Seager’s brother once for a 4-0 Seattle lead before the Dodgers got their first hit of the game. And right after the Dodgers cut the Mariners’ lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth (on an Alex Guerrero sacrifice fly and Joc Pederson’s first career hit against a southpaw, a two-run single), Dustin Ackley went deep off McCarthy in the top of the fifth.

All along, McCarthy was whiffing hitters — at least one in every inning. And the steadfastness of McCarthy was such that after giving up that fourth homer, he retired the final seven batters he faced, giving the Dodgers seven innings the night before they have what is essentially a bullpen game with David Huff starting.

Yasiel Puig (solo home run), Adrian Gonzalez (double) and Howie Kendrick (single) tied the game in the bottom of the fifth at 5-5, getting McCarthy off the hook for the loss. The score remained that way through the ninth, sending the Dodgers to their second extra-inning game of the season.

McCarthy, who struck out nine while allowing two homers in his five-inning Dodger debut last week, now has the oddity of having allowed six homers and one walk in 12 innings while striking out an MLB-leading 19. McCarthy leads the Majors in homers allowed, strikeouts and strikeout-walk ratio.

The low walk totals aren’t an anomaly. McCarthy has walked no more than three batters in his last 115 starts since April 14, 2009, according to the Dodger press notes — the longest active streak in the Majors.

Storytime theater ends happily for Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

On April 6, 2015

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

Opening Day at Dodger Stadium usually makes for a good story. But it’s hard to remember one when there was so much story.

Game 1 of 162 wasn’t merely a contest between the two top contenders in the National League West, it was a full-throated battle for narrative.

Matt Kemp took the early lead in the bid for headlines, Clayton Kershaw threatened to sneak his way back in, and Adrian Gonzalez, Howie Kendrick and the Padres’ defense all had their moments in the sun (literally and figuratively). For good measure, you had Hanley Ramirez threatening to show up the Dodgers, hitting two home runs out in a far-off time zone.

But standing large-font triumphant at the end of the day were Jimmy Rollins, the Dodger bullpen and ultimately, the Dodgers themselves.

Los Angeles did its fans the big favor of sending them home with a 6-3 victory over San Diego — and plenty of tales to tell.

Read More

In case you missed it: Baseball in the city

By Jon Weisman

On April 3, 2015

In In case you missed it

By Jon Weisman

If you haven’t seen the video above, it’s the greatest.

Now, on to some links …

Clayton Kershaw and A.J. Ellis will go April 19 to Azusa Pacific University to be interviewed by ESPN’s Chris Broussard for “Cross Training: A Conversation of Faith and Sports.” Details and ticket information can be found here. It will take place the evening of the finale of the Dodgers’ second homstand of the year
Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports wrote a great story about how Albert Pujols and Joc Pederson connected over family. Pujols’ daughter Isabella and Pederson’s brother Champ each have Down syndrome.
As part of MLB’s effort to raise awareness for autism, the Dodgers’ May 2 game against Arizona has been designated an Autism Awareness game. Find more details here.
Fangraphs has placed the Dodger bullpen in its top 10. Hopefully, come October, it will rank even higher.
Overall, Fangraphs ranks the Dodgers first in Wins Above Replacement for 2015.
The Dodgers’ farm system ranks fourth in baseball, according to John Sickels of Minor League Ball.
Dustin Nosler of Dodgers Digest has a look at how Dodger hitters and pitchers do after they get an 0-2 count.
Joe Posnanski wrote a quick post about a topic I think about often: “The Brevity of Pitching Stardom.”
The Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers announced their new mascots will be named Brooklyn (female) and Brix (male). See them here.

Thrills, spills and chills in the outfield

By Jon Weisman

On April 3, 2015

In Spring Training

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For images from Friday, visit LA Photog Blog.

By Jon Weisman

While Thursday’s game for the Dodgers, a 3-2 loss to the Angels, was meant to be about the bullpen, the outfielder kept drawing our eyes away.

First, there was Joc Pederson’s tumbling, volleyballing catch in center, where he bumped and set the ball in the air before nearly spiking it, instead hanging on for the out.

Then, there was the collision between Howie Kendrick and Yasiel Puig in short right field, which threatened to be the worst jolt to a Dodger throat since a shard of Bill Russell’s broken bat impaled Steve Yeager in the on-deck circle nearly 40 years ago.

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Puig remained horizontal on his frontside for a couple minutes before returning to his feet and walking off the field on his own power. He was examined (his chin apparently taking part of the blow) and found to be fine, his removal from the game simply to take advantage of the few remaining ticks of exhibition season to let him begin decompressing early. He’s expected back as soon as tonight, though again, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Dodgers allowed him 24 more hours convalescence.

The collision, weirdly enough, came in Kendrick’s first game in Anaheim as a visiting player.

“There hasn’t been any trouble out there all spring,” Don Mattingly said after the game, as Clay Fowler of the Daily News reported. “It was just one of those things. I don’t know if Yasiel didn’t think he could call it early enough. I mean you can’t call for it until you know you’ve got it, so everybody keeps coming until the end. And obviously with him calling it late, Howie’s going to keep going and he’s going to have trouble stopping. … That’s when it gets dangerous.”

As for the pitching, the Dodgers were good to their word, using eight pitchers for exactly one inning each (though minor-leaguer Josh Ravin faced one batter in the fifth inning – Mike Trout, who hit the ball to Puig and Kendrick that ended up being ruled an infield triple. Sergio Santos went first for the Dodgers, allowing a one-out homer to that man Trout, who can apparently play a little ball.

Adam Liberatore (pictured) and Paco Rodriguez each added a shutout inning to their ERAly perfect springs, continuing to make it difficult for the Dodgers to option them even in the short term, while J.P. Howell and Chris Hatcher continued their comebacks from uneven Marches with shutout innings of their own. Righties Pedro Baez and Joel Peralta also pitched shutout innings.

Hatcher, who might see some ninth-inning action in the absence of Kenley Jansen, has been in nine games this spring, pitching shutout ball in seven of them and allowing three runs in each of the other two.

Among the position players, Darwin Barney extended his effort to stave off demotion by doubling off the bench. In his past five games, the stalwart defender is 6 for 9 with three doubles and a triple. Pederson had the Dodgers’ only extra-base hit against Angels starter Matt Shoemaker, an RBI double, as part of a 1-for-3 night.

In case you missed it: No new Ryu news to rue

By Jon Weisman

On March 24, 2015

In Health/injuries, In case you missed it

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By Jon Weisman

Hyun-Jin Ryu’s MRI on Monday revealed no change from a 2012 MRI, the Dodgers announced today. Ryu is scheduled to rest and rehab for two weeks before being re-evaluated to determine his next steps.

In other news …

I hadn’t heard of the Teres Major muscle until 12 months ago when it was discovered injured in the body of Clayton Kershaw, but it turns out everyone’s got one. Erik Bedard is the latest to suffer a strain of said muscle, and is reported to be out for four to six weeks, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
“I have the same injury as [Clayton] Kershaw, and I want the same rehab as Kershaw. And the same fastball.” — Bedard, via Steve Gilbert of MLB.com.
Brandon McCarthy threw five scoreless innings Monday in his minor-league game, covered by Gurnick.
Monday’s Cactus League game, featuring three hit batters and four ejections (all on Arizona’s side), was certainly a perplexing one, with everyone weighing the Dodger-Diamondback rivalry against the reminder that, you know this is Spring Training right? MLB.com’s Gilbert and Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. run it down for us.
Daniel Coulombe became the latest Dodger to be optioned to the minors. He faced 21 batters and retired 18 this spring with three strikeouts, allowing a single and walking two.
Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles has a lengthy feature today talking to pitchers McCarthy, Juan Nicasio and David Huff, all of whom have been hit in the head by line drives.
Jimmy Rollins talked candidly with Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal about subjects including his transition to Dodger blue.
The Fangraphs positional rankings continue today, with the Dodgers sixth at first base and also at second base.
Joc Pederson’s swing is analyzed by Chad Moriyama at Dodgers Digest, with the conclusion being that he is now keeping the barrel of the bat in the strike zone longer, which should lead to better contact.
I tweeted this out Monday, so it’s a day late on here, but I still like it …

Two weeks
From today
Doors open
For Opening Day pic.twitter.com/UR4P6ZzXck

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) March 24, 2015

Pinball wizards win with a twist

By Jon Weisman

On March 21, 2015

In Spring Training

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Dodgers at Rangers, 11:05 a.m.
Kike Hernandez, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Alex Guerrero, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
Darwin Barney, 2B
Zack Greinke, P

Dodgers at Rockies, 1:10 p.m.
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Andre Ethier, DH
Scott Van Slyke, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Chris Heisey, RF
A.J. Ellis, C
O’Koyea Dickson, 1B
Chad Gaudin, P

By Jon Weisman

So, turns out the Alamodome is no ordinary ballpark. Not with that roof and that sub-300-foot distance to right field.

Hit a fly ball, and you don’t know if it’s going to be a home run or a infield out, as Joc Pederson learned during the Dodgers’ 11-6 victory over Texas on Friday.

Pederson singled to start and homered to cap the Dodgers’ eight-run, three-homer first inning. Then, in the third inning, his third at-bat of the game was a high-flying single that hit the rafters, bounced near second base and turned into a 4-6 out.

Dodger starting pitcher Erik Bedard was also the victim of a roof-induced single in the first inning, what turned out to be his only inning of the game. Joe Wieland turned in the most effective pitching performance, going three innings with four strikeouts against four baserunners, allowing one run.

Yasiel Puig, Matt Carson, Kike Hernandez and Justin Turner joined Pederson in homering by the fifth inning for the Dodgers, who emerged triumphant before 20,591 fans at the Alamodome.

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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.

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.

Video: Will Ferrell pitches for the Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

On March 12, 2015

In Uncategorized

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Oh, and Joc Pederson hit a game-winning homer after this, but we’ll get to that.

The craziest thing of all about this game might have been that it only took 139 minutes. (Or that Matt Kemp stepping into the batters box against the Dodgers for the first time got nearly no attention at all.)

Matt Kemp smiled at something as he stepped into the batters box to face Ryu.

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) March 13, 2015

Two hits for either side, but Pederson crushed the biggest one.

— Jon Weisman

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In case you missed it: Puighead Revisited

By Jon Weisman

On March 9, 2015

In Dodger Stadium, In case you missed it, Minor leagues

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Milwaukee Brewers

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Dodgers at Giants, 1:05 p.m.
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Carl Crawford, DH
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Joc Pederson, CF
(Brett Anderson, P)

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:

Baseball Prospectus went crazy with its self-proclaimed Kershaw Day today, offering more than a dozen stories on the Dodger ace. It’s a fantastic package.
Yasiel Puig was shadowed by a rather large doppelganger Sunday, but also got to meet him, not only face-to-face, but face-inside-face, as David Brown notes at CBSSports.com.
Puig is in the best mental shape of his life, writes Tyler Kepner at the New York Times.
Meeting with reporters today, Don Mattingly offered some nice and unsurprising compliments for Sunday walkoff hero Corey Seager. From Dylan Hernandez in the Times:

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.”
The focus on switch-hitting catcher Yasmani Grandal has been on his power from the left side of the plate, but don’t sell his right side short, writes Dustin Nosler of Dodgers Digest.
Alex Guerrero is the subject of this J.P. Hoornstra feature at the Daily News, a story that includes this insight from Adrian Gonzalez.

“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.”
Discussion continues about Guerrero’s stated desire to stay in the Major Leagues, as his contract dictates. I’m not sure why the conversation about Guerrero should be any different than any of the many other players who also can’t go to the minor leagues against their will. In any case, Guerrero clearly wants to make it on merit, and he’s aiming to do so on the field.
Dodger Triple-A hitting coach Johnny Washington described Joc Pederson’s swing in detail to Hoornstra.
Prospect guru John Sickels brought out his Dodger top 20 today at Minor League Ball.
Sunday’s Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic is recapped by Chad Thornburg of MLB.com.

“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.”

The report from Planet Urias

By Jon Weisman

On March 6, 2015

In Development, Uncategorized

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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.

Dodger Thoughts

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

Tag: Joc Pederson (Page 8 of 11)

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Measuring opponents’ quality in Spring Training

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Video: Will Ferrell pitches for the Dodgers

In case you missed it: Puighead Revisited

The report from Planet Urias

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