By Jon Weisman
Dodger Stadium is the land of opportunity. In a month shy of two seasons, the Dodgers have used the equivalent of two 40-man rosters.
On Friday, Carlos Ruiz became the 80th person to play for the Dodgers since Opening Day 2015.
Tag: Nick Tepesch
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Joe Robbins/Getty Images
By Jon Weisman
Cole Figueroa, an infielder who turns 29 Thursday, has been claimed by the Dodgers and optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Figueroa has a .536 OPS in 84 career big-league plate appearances with the Rays (2014), Yankees (2015) and Pirates (2016). Pittsburgh optioned him June 11 to Triple-A Indianapolis and designated him for assignment June 24.
He had a .333 on-base percentage and .453 slugging percentage for Indianapolis this year. His career OBP in 429 Triple-A games is .356.
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Dodgers at Pirates, 4:15 p.m.
Kiké Hernández, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Trayce Thompson, CF
Adrian González, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
A.J. Ellis, C
Kenta Maeda, P
Kiké Hernández, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Trayce Thompson, CF
Adrian González, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
A.J. Ellis, C
Kenta Maeda, P
By Jon Weisman
Chris Taylor, the infielder acquired by the Dodgers from the Mariners six days ago for Zach Lee, has been promoted from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Nick Tepesch, who went four innings in the Dodgers’ 8-6 loss Friday to Pittsburgh, has been designated for assignment.
In three games with Oklahoma City since the trade, Taylor has gone 6 for 12 with three doubles, three RBI and a stolen base, along with four strikeouts.
Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
By Jon Weisman
Despite 13 hits — including four by Corey Seager and a single and homer by Yasiel Puig — the Dodgers couldn’t quite complete one of their recent rallies, falling tonight to the Pirates, 8-6. Los Angeles has lost six straight games since July 2014 at Pittsburgh, allowing 50 runs in the process.
Seager is 14 for his past 25 with two walks, five doubles and a homer, for a .560 batting average, .593 on-base percentage and .880 slugging percentage. Puig is 5 for 11 since returning from the disabled list, including the home run, which went 439 feet.
In his Dodger debut, Nick Tepesch gave up five runs on four singles, two doubles and a home run over four innings. The Dodgers’ six-game winning streak came to an end, despite twice coming within a run of the Pirates after trailing 4-0 in the second inning.
Dodgers at Pirates, 4:05 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian González, 1B
Howie Kendrick, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Yasiel Puig, RF
Nick Tepesch, P
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian González, 1B
Howie Kendrick, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Yasiel Puig, RF
Nick Tepesch, P
By Jon Weisman
To make room for tonight’s starter Nick Tepesch on their 40-man roster, the Dodgers have designated outfielder Will Venable for assignment.
Venable signed with the Dodgers 10 days ago. His main contribution was on June 17, when he doubled to lead off the bottom of the 10th in a tie game against Milwaukee, before scoring on Justin Turner’s walkoff single.
The 33-year-old Venable was also hit by a pitch in his 11 plate appearances.
Also: The Dodgers signed 40-year-old left-hander Randy Choate to a minor-league contract. Choate, who in 2012 with the Dodgers pitched 36 of his 672 career Major League games, is in Arizona on a rehab assignment but expected to move next to Double-A Tulsa.
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
By Jon Weisman
Nick Tepesch, whom the Dodgers signed to a minor-league contract June 6, has been added to the 40-man roster and will start Friday’s series opener in Pittsburgh.
The transaction will officially take place Friday, when a corresponding roster move will also be announced.
The 27-year-old Tepesch, who was born the day of Orel Hershiser’s 1988 National League Championship Series Game 7 shutout, has a 2.00 ERA and 1.11 WHIP with 17 strikeouts in 18 innings (three starts) for Triple-A Oklahoma City. He had been cut loose by the Texas Rangers’ Round Rock affiliate, for whom he had a 4.11 ERA.
Tepesch pitched in the Major Leagues in 2013-14 for the Rangers, with a 4.56 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 219 innings.
With Tepesch pitching Friday, the Dodgers can use Kenta Maeda and Clayton Kershaw on five days’ rest over the weekend, then Scott Kazmir on Monday to conclude the wraparound four-game series against the Pirates.
Andre Ethier poses with former Dodger infielder Mark Ellis prior to Monday’s game.
By Jon Weisman
Some items to catch up on …
- Andre Ethier is still in limbo, as Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports. “It’s a little slower than we thought,” Ethier said. “At the eight-week exam, I was expecting to have the OK and go do baseball stuff and slowly progress into running. It was a little bit of a jaw dropper when you get the result. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t healed like I was hoping it was. I had to reassess that it would take a little longer. You always think you can bounce back quicker than you do.”
- In his first rehab outing since going on the disabled list June 3, Yasiel Puig grounded out, homered to right center and walked.
- Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu came through their weekend rehab starts without issues and remain on schedule for their next appearances — Thursday for McCarthy, Friday for Ryu. McCarthy threw two innings June 11 in his rehab debut. Ryu pitched three innings June 12.
- Carl Crawford cleared waivers and was officially released by the Dodgers.
- Brock Stewart, the 24-year-old righty who was a sixth-round Dodger draft pick from Illinois State in 2014, made his Triple-A debut Monday for Oklahoma City. Stewart struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings and didn’t walk anyone until his final batter, though he allowed two home runs.
- Another newcomer to the Oklahoma City starting rotation is 27-year-old righty Nick Tepesch, who was picked up after being released by Texas. Tepesch has made two five-inning starts for Oklahoma City, with a 2.70 ERA and nine strikeouts in 10 innings. He has 219 career big-league innings with a 4.56 ERA.
- Frankie Montas isn’t exactly new to Oklahoma City, but he is officially off the Dodgers’ 60-day disabled list and was officially optioned Sunday. With 11 strikeouts against one run in his first 7 2/3 innings (two appearances), Montas has done nothing to discourage speculation that he is on the fast track to Los Angeles. He next pitches Wednesday.
- Double-A Tulsa’s Trevor Oaks and Willie Calhoun each won Player of the Week honors, as did Single-A Rancho Cucamonga’s Michael Ahmed, the brother of Arizona’s Nick Ahmed.
- Jose Tabata, who was acquired in exchange for barely-a-Dodger Michael Morse last summer, was released June 11 from Oklahoma City. The six-year MLB vet had a .673 OPS in Triple-A this year.
