Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
New Dodger director of player development Gabe Kapler said that the focus of this year’s Winter Development Program for select Dodger prospects will be more on the mind than the body.
Month: January 2015 (Page 3 of 4)
Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
The Dodgers’ annual Winter Development Camp, which gives select minor leaguers exposure to the Major League environment, gets underway in earnest at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday for the first of three days (though the invitees will gather tonight to watch the college football national championship game together).
Here’s the list of participants:
Oklahoma City pitching coach Scott Radinsky had a 2.65 ERA in three seasons with the Dodgers.
By Jon Weisman
The Dodgers will return all six of their minor-league field managers in 2014, though two of them will be switching teams.
The 2014 minor-league managers are Damon Berryhill (Triple-A Oklahoma City), Razor Shines (Double-A Tulsa), P.J. Forbes (Single-A Rancho Cucamonga), Bill Haselman (Single-A Great Lakes), John Shoemaker (Rookie-advanced Ogden) and Jack McDowell (Rookie-level AZL Dodgers). Last year, Shoemaker managed the AZL Dodgers and McDowell at Ogden.
With promotions throughout the system, many Dodger prospects will work with their coaches from 2014. More on the coaching staffs follows …
By Jon Weisman
With this post, we bring back Dodger Insider’s “In case you missed it” feature, highlighting noteworthy content from around the web. Here’s today’s edition …
- Single-game Spring Training tickets for Dodger games at Camelback Ranch are now on sale at dodgers.com.
- Just how underrated is Hyun-Jin Ryu? Mike Petriello provides the analysis at Fangraphs.
- Howie Kendrick has not popped out since September 2013. For real. Jeff Sullivan has more at Fox Sports’ Just a Bit Outside.
- Kenny Lofton and Kevin Brown made David Schoenfield’s all-time all-underrated team at ESPN.com’s Sweet Spot, along with Dodger villains Graig Nettles and Jose Cruz.
[milbvideo id=”27230273″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]
By Jon Weisman
Right-handed pitching prospect Garrett Gould, the Dodgers’ second-round draft choice in 2009, had Tommy John surgery in November but said “everything is going great” with his recovery.
“I’ve just about gotten all of my range of motion back, so now I’m trying to strengthen my arm and get it moving again,” Gould said Friday. “It’s been tough knowing that I might not play baseball at all this year, but it’s something I try not to think about. Right now I’m just trying to do what my trainers ask and work hard every day to get back on the field as soon as possible.”
Gould never really got untracked in 2014, finishing his season in June with a 7.34 ERA, 1.78 WHIP and 41 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings.
“I’m not sure exactly (when it happened), but I knew something was wrong for a little while,” Gould said, “but I thought it was something that I could pitch through and be all right.”
“I started my rehab down in Arizona with our trainers, and now I’m doing it at a place back home in Wichita,” he said. “I’ll be heading back to Arizona at the start of February to continue it down there with our trainers.”
Ross Stripling (68) works out at Spring Training in February 2014. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
During his time in Arizona, Gould has crossed paths with minor-league teammate Ross Stripling, who had Tommy John surgery in April. The 25-year-old Stripling, who had a 2.78 ERA with 83 strikeouts in 94 innings for Double-A Chattanooga in 2013, said that he has done the majority of his rehab in Frisco, Texas — in the Dallas metropolitan area.
Steve Saenz/Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
By Jon Weisman
The Dodgers announced that they have invited 17 non-roster players to Spring Training in 2015, including infielder Erisbel Arruebarrena, who has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Here’s the list:
Steve Saenz/Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
By Jon Weisman
Pratt Maynard, the Dodgers’ third-round pick in the 2011 draft, has retired from baseball because of injuries.
[mlbvideo id=”37113293″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]
For more photos of Rollins’ arrival, visit LA Photog Blog.
By Jon Weisman
A winning personality doesn’t guarantee winning — Jimmy Rollins celebrated one World Series victory in 15 seasons at Philadelphia — but it sure lends itself to dreaming big.
In celebration of National Bobblehead Day today, the Dodgers have unveiled their 2015 Clayton Kershaw bobblehead, which will be given away May 12 when the Dodgers host the Marlins. Season tickets or a Dodger Mini Plan offers you the opportunity to grab your seats for the game now.
— Jon Weisman
Jamey Wright celebrates a Dodger touchdown in their 17-0 victory over San Francisco in September. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
I’m not the world’s biggest football fan anymore, but it still amuses me when the Dodgers go up by a touchdown, so to speak. (Less so when they’re losing by a touchdown.)
With football playoffs in gear and the Dodgers offseason having one of its quieter weeks — though Jimmy Rollins will be making an appearance at Dodger Stadium at 4 p.m. today, airing live on SportsNet LA and Dodgers.com — I thought it’d be fun to check out the Dodger games that looked the most like football scores. (The NFL and AAFC Brooklyn Dodgers not included.)
If one other person finds pleasure out of this, it will have been worth my while. (I’m counting on you, Eric Stephen.)
By Jon Weisman
Mike Piazza nearly became a Hall of Famer today, falling 28 ballots short with 69.9 percent of the vote. Other former Dodgers include Jeff Kent at 14 percent, Fred McGriff at 12.9 percent, Gary Sheffield at 11.7 percent and Nomar Garciaparra at 5.5 percent.
Dodger manager Don Mattingly, in his final year on the ballot, had 9.1 percent of the vote.
Here’s how the four electees performed against the Dodgers in their careers:
- Craig Biggio: 812 plate appearances, .354 on-base percentage, .438 slugging percentage, 20 homers, 25 steals
- Randy Johnson: 166 innings, 3.09 ERA, 200 baserunners, 188 strikeouts
- Pedro Martinez: 62 2/3 innings, 4.02 ERA, 71 baserunners, 64 strikeouts
- John Smoltz: 249 innings, 2.86 ERA, 313 baserunners, 218 strikeouts
Next year’s Hall of Fame ballot could include such former Dodgers as Garret Anderson, Mark Grudzielanek, Chan Ho Park, Jeff Weaver, Brad Ausmus and Russ Ortiz.
By Jon Weisman
You’re familiar with the seven Hall of Fame players who have had their numbers retired by the Dodgers: Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Don Sutton, Sandy Koufax, Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson and Don Drysdale.
Who gets left out of the conversation?
Starting today and through January 11, you can get $5 off Spring Training tickets for Dodger games at Camelback Ranch. Click here for details.
— Jon Weisman
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Welcome to Year 2 of Dodger Insider.
One year ago today, this blog launched with the hopes of complementing and extending the Dodger coverage on dodgers.com and in the team’s official magazine, which we renamed to underscore our desire to integrate print and digital. The 1,309 posts in the past 365 days testify to the effort, but you readers can judge how well we’ve succeeded.
