Dodger Thoughts

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

Month: July 2014 (Page 4 of 7)

Spectacular Bids: A Dodger Insider All-Star history special

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Ahead of this year’s All-Star Game, our Cary Osborne put together this great package celebrating great Dodger All-Star memories for this month’s issue of Dodger Insider. Spend a few moments with some of the best of the Boys in Blue. (Click each page to enlarge.)

— Jon Weisman

SBids1

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Live video: Yasiel Puig at the Home Run Derby

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Video: Vin Scully remembers Apollo moon landing, 45 years later

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Sunday marks the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. In the video above, Vin Scully offers his memories.

— Jon Weisman

Video: Dodger first-half highlights

As seen Sunday at Dodger Stadium …

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Previously on Dodger Insider: “Dodgers Top 40: The best plays of the first half”

– Jon Weisman

In case you missed it: Things are looking up for Corey Seager

Ben Platt/MLB.com

Corey Seager at today’s Futures Game. (Ben Platt/MLB.com)

By Jon Weisman

A big moment for Corey Seager — his appearance at this year’s MLB Futures Game today — grew bigger with the news that he has been promoted to Double-A Chatanooga.

Bill Shaikin of the Times has more in an interview with Seager, who lined out to right and was hit by a pitch in the game. Seager is sticking around Minnesota to watch his brother Kyle, the Seattle infielder, play in Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game.

Seager had a .411 on-base percentage and .633 slugging percentage with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, after going .246/.320 in a late-season debut there last year. This year, he has 34 doubles and 18 homers in 80 games.

Meanwhile, Rancho teammate Julio Urias at 17 became the youngest player in Futures Game history. He pitched a perfect inning on 14 pitches, striking out one.

“The Dodgers’ lefty was 92 to 95 with an above-average curveball and great rhythm to his delivery,” wrote Keith Law of ESPN.com. “He rotates his hips well, both to hide the ball and to generate arm speed the safer way by using his lower half.”

Elsewhere …

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Strikeout parade continues for the Dodgers in latest 1-0 victory

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By Jon Weisman

Hyun-Jin Ryu struck out a season-high 10 in six innings today in the Dodgers’ 1-0 victory over San Diego at Dodger Stadium, an appropriate way for the Dodgers to finish a first half filled with strikeouts by their starting pitchers.

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Saturday’s 1-0 walkoff sacrifice fly was the second in L.A. Dodger history

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Padres at Dodgers, 1:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Miguel Rojas, SS
Hyun-Jun Ryu, P

By Jon Weisman

Saturday brought the 159th 1-0 victory in the 57 seasons of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but also something much more unusual than that.

A.J. Ellis provided the 13th 1-0 Dodger victory in which the winning run came in by sacrifice fly, and the first since June 3, 2009 (Casey Blake). Before that was the June 28, 2008 game (Blake DeWitt) that the Dodgers won with no hits.

Saturday also marked the first time the Dodgers had won, 1-0, on a ninth-inning sacrifice fly since May 29, 1992 (Todd Benzinger) at Wrigley Field.

But not for 25 years had the Dodgers had a walkoff sacrifice fly in a 1-0 victory, not since May 1, 1989.

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Mattingly sets Dodgers’ second-half rotation

Padres at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Miguel Rojas, SS
Paul Maholm, P

By Jon Weisman

Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw will get some extra time after Tuesday’s All-Star Game before they start again for the Dodgers.

Don Mattingly told reporters today that Dan Haren will kick things off Friday at St. Louis, followed by Greinke and Kershaw. Hyun-Jin Ryu, who starts Sunday’s first-half finale, will next take the mound July 21 in Pittsburgh, followed by Paul Maholm or another substitute for Josh Beckett, presuming Beckett isn’t activated that day. 

As Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. pointed out, this sets up Grienke, Kershaw and Ryu to start July 25-27 for the Dodgers in San Francisco.

Scott Van Slyke starts against righty for second day in a row

San Diego Padres vs Los Angeles Dodgers

Padres at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Scott Van Slyke, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Miguel Rojas, SS
Drew Butera, C
Dan Haren, P

By Jon Weisman

Scott Van Slyke is making his second consecutive start in center field with a right-handed pitcher on the mound tonight, in large part because of lingering physical issues for Andre Ethier.

Van Slyke has a .409 on-base percentage and .545 slugging percentage this season. Most of that production has come against lefties (.442/.683), but he has improved enough of late against righties to bring his OBP and slugging to .375 and .410. Van Slyke has two homers against righties this month.

Ethier had an OBP and slugging of .400 and .636 in 35 plate appearances from June 24-July 4, before going 0 for 10 in his last three games. Against righties, Ethier is at .318/.402, far off his career numbers against northpaws of .384/.510.

“We’re still trying to take care of him,” Dodger manager Don Mattingly said of Ethier. “He’s still having soreness all over the place … some leg issues and some other issues. We’re just trying to make sure, going into the (All-Star) break, hopefully we get him out of that. And on the back side of that, Scotty’s playing well.”

Neither Van Slyke nor Ethier has looked particularly dextrous in center field except for balls hit at or in front of them.

“I just think in general, Andre doesn’t seem to have the same energy (he normally has),” Mattingly said. “He just hasn’t felt good, body-wise. … It’s just lots of little things, and one thing is the building block to another, and to compensate you’ve got another issue.”

Carl Crawford, like Matt Kemp, is not considered a center-field option for Mattingly, who did say that Crawford would get a start this weekend (in left).

Joc Pederson, meanwhile, is back in the Triple-A Albuquerque lineup, going 4 for 7 with a double, triple and walk in his first two games. All three outs he has made have been strikeouts.

* * *

Other notes from Mattingly:

  • Today’s action will determine Saturday’s starter. There’s an increased possibility Paul Maholm will start Saturday if not needed tonight. Otherwise, the Dodgers could be looking at a Red Patterson callup.
  • Justin Turner is improving and is expected to get numerous this weekend at-bats for the Dodgers at their Arizona facility.
  • Chone Figgins had a heavy day Thursday, was a little sore today but is progressing.

Happy Babe Ruth 100th anniversary day — get ready for his Dodgers (yes, Dodgers) bobblehead

LAD 2014 Babe Ruth Bobblehead (Farmer John)Today is the 100th anniversary of Babe Ruth’s debut in the Major Leagues. On July 11, 1914, the 19-year-old Ruth pitched seven innings for the Boston Red Sox in a 4-3 victory, allowing two earned runs on eight hits and no walks, while going 0 for 2 at the plate. Anthony Castrovince has more on Ruth’s big-league inauguration at MLB.com.

It’s a great day to unveil the September 9 Babe Ruth Bobblehead promotion, commemorating Ruth’s time as a Dodger coach in 1938. Tickets are available now. The giveaway is for the first 50,000 ticketed fans in attendance, and no, we don’t expect any delivery trucks to break down this time around.

— Jon Weisman

Kate Walsh goes from ‘Fargo’ to Dodger Stadium

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San Diego Padres vs Los Angeles DodgersIt was a big day Thursday for actress Kate Walsh. In the morning, “Fargo,” the FX miniseries she co-starred in, got a massive snowstorm of 18 Emmy nominations. And then in the evening, she threw out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium and met some of the players she occasionally tweets about — and campaigns for. Walsh chats about all that and more in the video above.

— Jon Weisman

Kershaw, Gonzalez, Ellis and Van Slyke to participate in Faith and Family Day at Dodger Stadium

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By Britni Howze

The Dodgers present their annual Faith & Family Day on August 17 when they host the Milwaukee Brewers at 1:10 p.m. We invite you to join us for a day of family, fellowship and fun at the ballpark.

Following the game, Dodger players Clayton Kershaw, A.J. Ellis, Adrian Gonzalez, Scott Van Slyke and more will share their personal testimony with fans in attendance. We will also host special musical performances by former Voice contestant and current gospel singer Anthony Evans and Christian rock artist Dom Liberati.

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Alex Guerrero is playing again — and homers

Thursday, Alex Guerrero saw his first game action since the May 21 Miguel Olivo ear-biting incident, playing for the Dodgers’ Arizona League club, and it was a nice return. He singled to left in the first and hit an infield single in the third (and scored after a wild pitch, balk and infield groundout), before hitting a two-run home run to left field in the sixth.

Guerrero had a .417 on-base percentage and .735 slugging percentage for Triple-A Albuquerque when he was injured.

— Jon Weisman

Report: Hanley Ramirez not expected to start again before All-Star Break

Hanley Ramirez on Thursday suffered “a flare-up of his sore right shoulder and likely won’t start again until after the All-Star break,” reports Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.

Ramirez, who singled, stole second and scored the winning run in the sixth inning of the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory, was removed after the seventh inning, in what appeared on the surface to be for defensive purposes, though he was scheduled to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Substitute shortstop Miguel Rojas ended up reaching base to start the bottom half of the inning.

– Jon Weisman

Honoring His Majesty, Clayton Kershaw

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By Jon Weisman

It was a majestic thing, Clayton Kershaw’s scoreless inning streak, because he glided through so much of it. Forty-one innings, only 11 runners reaching second base, only three of those reaching third. He was the sharpest knife through the most compliant butter. Resistance was futile and all that.

The last thing I expected was for the streak to end on a two-out, 1-2 pitch. I figured if anything, maybe someone would sneak a leadoff double through, and the guy would work his way home.

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