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By Jon Weisman
There have been several bits of business that I’ve been meaning to get to, so I figured the best solution was to bring back the reliable “In case you missed it” feature from Spring Training to capture them all.
Scott Van Slyke has a .423 on-base percentage against lefties this season, but both his home runs have come against righties. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
Scott Van Slyke, who has been ailing with back inflammation, has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, with Chris Heisey returning from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take his place on the roster.
Van Slyke has only played once in the past eight days. He has been in a 4-for-36 slide with two walks and no extra-base hits, dating back to May 13.
He joins Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford on the disabled list, though Puig continued to progress toward a return by taking live batting practice today in Colorado, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
This will be a fish-or-cut-bait stint for the Dodgers with Heisey, who will now have the five years’ service time to refuse a minor-league assignment.
Ian Thomas, one of the pitchers acquired from Atlanta, in the Juan Uribe/Chris Withrow trade, has also been called up from Oklahoma City as the 26th man permissible for today’s doubleheader.
Thomas, who would be the first Ian in Dodger history if he gets into a game, had a 0.00 ERA in 12 2/3 innings with Triple-A Gwinnett this year, before giving up six runs in 2 1/3 innings during his only appearance with Oklahoma City.
For the Dodgers’ only doubleheader last year, the 26th man was Red Patterson, who started the second game at Minnesota and allowed one run on five baserunners in 4 2/3 innings. Patterson is currently rehabilitating from Tommy John surgery.
By Jon Weisman
Designated for assignment in late July, lefty reliever Scott Elbert has made his way back to the Dodgers, who selected his contract from Triple-A Albuquerque.
To make room for Elbert on the 40-man roster, pitcher Red Patterson was designated for assignment.
Since clearing waivers and accepting an assignment to the Isotopes in August, Elbert allowed seven runs, 14 hits and three walks in 7 1/3 innings while striking out six, but that was skewed when he gave up five runs while getting one out at Las Vegas on August 8. From August 14 to the end of the season, Elbert pitched 4 2/3 shutout innings with five strikeouts.
Looking to make his first big-league appearance since August 26, 2002, Elbert gives the Dodgers a second left-handed reliever while they await possible returns by Paco Rodriguez and Onelki Garcia, both of whom are already on the 40-man roster. Rodriguez threw a simulated game today.
In his previous two seasons with the Dodgers, Elbert had a 2.32 ERA from 2011-12 with 63 strikeouts in 66 innings against 54 hits and 27 walks.
Patterson pitched in one game for the Dodgers, going 4 2/3 innings in the second game of a May Day doubleheader victory at Minnesota and allowing one run. At Albuquerque, the 27-year-old had a 5.79 ERA with 104 strikeouts in 121 1/3 innings.
Update: Ken Gurnick of MLB.com has more on Elbert and Rodriguez.
… “Paco was good,” said manager Don Mattingly. “The way he’s been throwing, bouncing back continues to be the concern. If he’s good after today, we’ll make a decision possible tomorrow.”
Elbert hasn’t pitched in a Major League game in two years. Since then, he has had three elbow operations, including Tommy John reconstruction.
“I’m pain free. I feel like a normal player,” said Elbert. “Obviously, my velocity is not where it once was. I’m able to compete. I’m around 90, 91 mph. If I’m 90 percent of what I was, it’s still pretty good.”
Elbert said the final hurdle in his rehab was trusting that everything was fixed. He thanked the Dodgers for being patient and said being taken off the roster was “a blessing in disguise,” because it allowed him to regain his form without a deadline. He said there were times he wondered if he’d ever get back. …
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By Jon Weisman
If the Dodgers are looking to replace Dan Haren in their starting rotation while having to also place Paul Maholm on the disabled list, following the rough events of the team’s 8-2 loss to the Cubs on Friday, it could mark the end to an unusual trait of this season’s starting pitching.
Each of the previous nine years under general manager Ned Colletti, the Dodgers have dipped into their minor-league pitching at least 10 starts and often many more. But through the first 110 games of 2014, only two games have been started by minor-league pitchers.
Starts by Dodger minor-league pitchers
2014: 2 (Stephen Fife, Red Patterson)
2013: 16 (Stephen Fife 10, Matt Magill 6)
2012: 15 (Nathan Eovaldi 10, Stephen Fife 5)
2011: 22 (Rubby De La Rosa 10, Nathan Eovaldi 6, Dana Eveland 5, John Ely 1)
2010: 19 (John Ely 18, James McDonald)
2009: 22 (Eric Stults 10, Eric Milton 5, James McDonald 4, Charlie Haeger 3)
2008: 30 (Clayton Kershaw 21, Eric Stults 7, Jason Johnson 2)
2007: 11 (Hung-Chih Kuo 6, Eric Stults 5)
2006: 23 (Chad Billingsley 16, Aaron Sele 5, Eric Stults 2)
(Note: This list doesn’t included midseason acquisitions, nor pitchers primarily moving between the Dodgers’ bullpen and their rotation.)
Every year has its own flavor. In 2006, for example, the Dodgers had more than one veteran pitcher (Brett Tomko, Mark Hendrickson, Jae Weong Seo) end up in the Maholm role, in the same year that Chad Billingsley ultimately came up and claimed a spot in the rotation, while Aaron Sele bought them a month. In 2008, the Dodgers had the arrival of 20-year-old Clayton Kershaw and the return of 42-year-old Greg Maddux in the same season. In 2010, John Ely was essentially the Dodgers’ only starter from the minors, but he held a spot in the rotation from late April into July, the same year that a Rule 5 pickup (Carlos Monasterios) took 13 starts and only after another pseudo-minor leaguer, Charlie Haeger, had gone awry.
In any case, that the Dodgers would get 108 out of their first 110 starts from six veteran pitchers who have been with the team all season has no recent precedent.
One other thing I would add is that because of the pro-hitting environment in the Pacific Coast League, the minor leaguers who have been used (whether veterans hanging on or rookies coming up) sometimes perform better with the Dodgers than they have in Triple-A.
The romance of a minor-leaguer seizing his moment in his first big-league trial is never far away.
Red Patterson (5.70 ERA), Zach Lee (5.22 ERA) and Carlos Frias (5.01 ERA) are the top three candidates from Albuquerque should the Dodgers look to call up a starting pitcher from there, with Chris Reed (3.32 ERA) the top name from Double-A Chattanooga — which in 2011 pushed Nathan Eovaldi and Rubby De La Rosa directly to the big leagues. (Chad Moriyama of Dodgers Digest has more on these options.)
Of course, if the Dodgers keep Haren in their rotation but Maholm still goes on the DL, then several more relief pitchers are on the table for a recall. And the passing of the non-waiver trading deadline doesn’t preclude the Dodgers from picking up a pitcher from outside the franchise, should they so choose.
By Jon Weisman
Clayton Kershaw might be close to a return to active duty, but an optimal starting rotation for the Dodgers will have to wait for another couple of weeks at least.
Hyun-Jun Ryu has been placed on the disabled list, retroactive to April 28, with left shoulder inflammation as one of a series of roster moves today by the Dodgers.
Los Angeles is also sending reliever Paco Rodriguez and 26th man Red Patterson to Albuquerque, and recalling utility man Chone Figgins and reliever Jose Dominguez.
Ryu has pitched shutout ball in four of his seven starts this year, allowed two runs in another and was hit hard in this third start and his seventh, both day games in Los Angeles. Assuming they don’t want to start Zack Greinke on three days’ rest, the Dodgers will need to make another roster move to replace Ryu for Sunday’s start against Miami’s Jose Fernandez. Tentatively, Zack Greinke and Kershaw (if activated from the DL) are scheduled to pitch Monday and Tuesday in Washington.
Mattingly said Ryu has shoulder inflammation. Cropped up after last start and did not improve. No MRI planned.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) May 2, 2014
Mattingly said Ryu"s injury is not believed serious.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) May 2, 2014
Rodriguez allowed three runs and five baserunners in 1 1/3 innings in his two outings since returning from Albuquerque earlier this week, while Dominguez has been scored upon in three of his four MLB outings in 2014, allowing six runs in five innings. This will be the fourth separate stint with the Dodgers for Dominguez. After making the trip to Australia, he was optioned March 29, recalled April 2, optioned April 9, recalled April 21 and optioned April 27 before being recalled again today.
Patterson pitched 4 2/3 innings in Thursday’s nightcap, allowing one run while looking good in his middle three innings. Figgins has gone 7 for 25 with six walks for a .419 on-base percentage with the Isotopes.
By Jon Weisman
Though Dan Haren takes the mound at the top of the hour for Game 1 of today’s impromptu doubleheader, it’s hard not to look ahead to the nightcap, when Red Patterson will make his Major League debut.
It’s likely a cameo for Patterson, who comes via the 26th man rule. A 6-foot-3 righthander who turns 27 in May, Patterson followed up two strong back-to-back starts in mid-April by getting hit pretty hard in his most recent outing for Albuquerque, allowing five runs on 11 baserunners in 5 1/3 innings. For the year to date, he has 14 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings, though last year, he averaged more than a fan a frame.
Don Mattingly told reporters today that Patterson impressed the organization during Spring Training and that he’s a strike thrower, which is valuable against a patient team like the Twins.
Eric Stephen noted at True Blue L.A. that Patterson “will be the oldest non-Japanese Dodgers starting pitcher to make his major league debut since Larry Miller, who was 27 years, two days old on June 21, 1964, also in the second game of a doubleheader.”
To make room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers designated outfielder Nick Buss for assignment. Buss, 27, had a .330 on-base percentage and .391 slugging for the Isotopes, after going .363/.525 last year. He went 2 for 19 for the Dodgers in 2013.
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By Jon Weisman
Above, my favorite play of Spring Training to date: Justin Turner to Red Patterson on the fly …
Below, news and links aplenty …
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
Clayton Kershaw, Hanley Ramirez, Yasiel Puig, Zack Greinke, Adrian GonzalezThis group could be even better than it was in 2013 with full seasons from Ramirez and Puig. Greinke was so dominant over his final 16 starts (1.57 ERA) that he’s a reasonable Cy Young candidate behind his best-starter-in-baseball teammate. The fifth player on the list could be Gonzalez or Matt Kemp or even third starter Hyun-Jin Ryu.
By Jon Weisman
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Sydney …
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By Jon Weisman
I keep risking a jinx, but 60 innings into the exhibition season, the Dodgers haven’t allowed a home run. They’re the only team that hasn’t been taken yard in 2014.
The shot that Joc Pederson flagged down in the video above wouldn’t have been a home run, but it’s about as far as anyone has hit one against Los Angeles so far. Let’s see what happens in the Dodgers’ first night game.
Brian Wilson told @alannarizzo “he thinks he’s going to be in the bigs throwing a knuckleball successfully about the age of 50.” #Dodgers
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) March 5, 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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