Dodger Thoughts

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

Tag: Sergio Santos

The return of Yasiel Puig

Cardinals at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kershaw CCXXI: Kershawnational Velvet 
Joc Pederson, CF
Chris Heisey, LF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Justin Turner, 1B
Kiké Hernandez, 2B
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P

By Jon Weisman

Ending a 39-game absence, Yasiel Puig has been activated by the Dodgers from the disabled list and is back in the starting lineup against the Cardinals.

Puig is batting third, though Don Mattingly told reporters that he could see Puig batting second or fifth going forward.

The Dodgers went 21-18 with Puig out of the lineup, with Andre Ethier batting .285/.362/.504/.866 as the primary right fielder. Ethier is on the bench tonight while the Dodgers face Cardinals lefty Jaime Garcia, but figures to get much of the time in left field in the near term.

Scott Schebler, who went 1 for 3 in his MLB debut, has been optioned back to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Schebler will be joined there by David Huff, who cleared waivers, but Sergio Santos has elected to become a free agent. Former Oklahoma City reliever David Aardsma, who opted out of his contract, has signed a minor-league deal with Atlanta.

In other news, Brandon League is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday.

Unpacking the Uribe-Withrow-Callaspo-Thomas-Jaime-Stults trade (see, that’s a lot to unpack right there)

For photos from Tuesday, visit LA Photog Blog.

Braves at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Justin Turner, 3B
Alex Guerrero, LF
Chris Heisey, RF
A.J. Ellis, C
Zack Greinke, P

By Jon Weisman

As unusual as the past 36 hours have been, nothing quite brought it home more sharply than seeing Juan Uribe in Atlanta Braves gear at Dodger Stadium, so soon after he had worn Dodger whites for the final time.

Gazing upon Matt Kemp as a Padre on Opening Day took an adjustment and a half, but at least we had most of an offseason to prepare.

But baseball, the game without a clock, ticks on — and everyone moves forward, ready or not. Here is a bullet-point summary of this late afternoon’s news.

  • According to Don Mattingly, Uribe had initiated discussions about his decreased playing time, and Andrew Friedman said that Uribe’s agent told him that Uribe would welcome a trade to a team that would offer more playing time. It wasn’t a literal trade demand, but more an indication of where Uribe’s mind was at.
  • Similarly, Alberto Callaspo balked at the trade at first because he was concerned that his at-bats would go down, according to Friedman, but his concerns were assuaged. It has been reported elsewhere that the Braves paid Callaspo an additional sum to agree to the trade.
  • Friedman thinks the switch-hitting Callaspo can help the Dodgers as a left-handed bat off the bench (with Andre Ethier starting, the Dodgers often don’t have a lefty position player in reserve at all). Callaspo’s positional versatility is also a better fit for the Dodger bench than Uribe would offer, according to Friedman.
  • Chris Withrow was admired enough by Friedman to be a trade target while Friedman was with the Rays, but hopes of what Withrow might provide in 2016 were sacrificed in order to add pitching depth for this year.
  • Left-handed Ian Thomas will be stretched out at Oklahoma City to see if he might become a starter (not coincidentally, a recent Dodger acquisition, Eric Surkamp, is getting the same treatment as a starter for Oklahoma City tonight.) Relief pitching is a fallback for Thomas.
  • Righty reliever Juan Jaime “misses bats,” Friedman said, and so the Dodgers will attack his control problems at in extended Spring Training at Camelback Ranch to see what develops.
  • Chris Heisey was called up in no small part because two Dodger outfielders, Scott Van Slyke and Kiké Hernandez, are not 100 percent healthy.
  • The Dodgers hope that the two pitchers designated for assignment today, Sergio Santos and Eric Stults, will clear waivers and remain in the organization, but whether they clear remains to be seen.
  • Brandon Beachy threw three simulated innings today, ahead of his next steps — first games at Camelback, and hopefully the start of a minor-league rehab assignment in June.
  • For their doubleheader Tuesday at Colorado, the Dodgers get a 26th-man roster exemption. Joe Wieland is lined up in the Triple-A rotation if the Dodgers want him, but they have not announced how they will use the extra spot.

Dodgers recall Chris Heisey, designate Sergio Santos for assignment

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

The Dodgers have exchanged a relief pitcher on their roster for a position player, recalling outfielder Chris Heisey from Triple-A Oklahoma City and designating reliever Sergio Santos for assignment.

Heisey, who has 10 homers in only 94 at-bats for Oklahoma City, has reached base in six of his 10 plate appearances in two previous callups with the Dodgers.

Santos has allowed 20 baserunners in 13 1/3 innings with 15 strikeouts for Los Angeles.

Rested Dodger bullpen raises interesting questions

In 10 games this month, Sergio Santos and the Dodger bullpen have allowed 32 baserunners in 28 1/3 innings. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

In 10 games this month, Sergio Santos and the Dodger bullpen have allowed 32 baserunners in 28 1/3 innings. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Marlins at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Joc Pederson, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Justin Turner, 3B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, RF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Zack Greinke, P

By Jon Weisman

Thanks to Friday’s shortened game, Saturday’s rainout and their overall efficiency, Dodger relievers enter the upcoming seven-game homestand having thrown only 42 pitches combined since Thursday and 165 in the past week.

Yimi Garcia’s nine pitches Sunday are his only action in the past seven days. Chris Hatcher is on six days’ rest. Paco Rodriguez hasn’t entered a game since a six-pitch outing five days ago.

Sergio Santos has been one of the hardest-working men in the bullpen for the past week — he was the only Dodger pitcher on the roadtrip to work back-to-back days. Yet even Santos has only thrown 41 pitches — 22 on Wednesday and 19 on Thursday.

He doesn’t seem too worried he is growing stale.

“For the most part, that just usually doesn’t last,” Santos said this afternoon. “You take your lumps when you get them, and you take your days off as you get those as well. It’s really about staying even-keeled and being ready.”

Like the other relievers, he has to find the balance between staying sharp and not overdoing his workout.

“So I’ve had three days off,” he said, “so what I’ll do today is I’ll play catch, and then I’ll probably throw a light 10-to-12-pitch bullpen, just something so I can get downhill. I can flip a couple sliders, throw some changeups and just get that work in. It’s more for the muscle memory. … and if I get to pitch tonight, I’ll still be fine.”

Another factor in the low workload is that the Dodgers have been carrying eight relievers. Ideally, according to Don Mattingly, that would go down to seven.

“It ties your hands a little bit when you go short a (position) player,” Mattingly said. “That’s an area that we have a few guys who have quite a bit of versatility, so it makes that easier, but still there are times .. you just make decisions differently. You might let a pitcher hit one more time, you may not pinch-hit in certain circumstances earlier in the game and just try to save your bullets.”

But with Kenley Jansen close to being activated (he has one more rehab outing scheduled for Wednesday) and 16 games in the next 17 days, it might be hard to make a bullpen cut.

“I think we always want to try to keep everybody rested and keep everybody fresh when they come out, give them the best chance to be successful,” Mattingly said. “Sometimes that happens; sometimes you go through a stretch where you’re into your bullpen a lot. Then there’s times when you’ve gotten good starting pitching, where your bullpen’s not getting that much use. You never know what’s going to happen over the next three or four days.

Dodgers add Sergio Santos to bullpen

Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants

For more images from Thursday, visit LA Photog Blog — here and here.

Dodgers at Padres, 7:10 p.m.
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Carl Crawford, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Joc Pederson, CF
Zack Greinke, P

By Jon Weisman

The Dodgers’ latest roster move is to add righty Sergio Santos to the bullpen, while sending Mike Bolsinger back to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

A veteran of 180 Major League games as a reliever, Santos began the 2015 season in Triple-A with eight strikeouts against eight baserunners in 4 2/3 innings.

To make room on the 40-man roster for Santos, the Dodgers designated newly acquired Xavier Cedeno for assignment. Santos is the fifth player to fill the 40th spot on the 40-man roster since David Huff came up to start April 14 against Seattle. One of those players, Daniel Corcino, was outrighted to Double-A Tulsa.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ starting pitcher for Sunday’s series finale against the Padres is still officially listed as “TBD.”

Thrills, spills and chills in the outfield

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For images from Friday, visit LA Photog Blog.

Los Angeles Dodgers at the Los Angeles Angels of AnaheimBy 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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Los Angeles Dodgers at the Los Angeles Angels of AnaheimPuig 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.

Los Angeles Dodgers at the Los Angeles Angels of AnaheimAdam 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: Able was Ethier ere he saw elbow

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By Jon Weisman

Andre Ethier, who found a groove at the plate during Spring Training, appears to have avoided serious injury after being hit by a Carlos Rodon pitch in the second inning of the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the White Sox today.

X-rays on Ethier’s right elbow were negative, and he is day to day, as Ken Gurnick writes at MLB.com.

Coincidentally, a player who is fighting for an outfield roster spot, Chris Heisey, took over for Ethier and hit his second home run of Spring Training in his next at-bat, off Rodon.

Elsewhere in and around today’s action …

  • The Dodgers set a Camelback Ranch attendance record by averaging 9,804 fans per game, for total attendance of 147,066. By comparison, in their last non-Australia Spring Training, the Dodgers drew 127,876 fans in 16 games (7,992 per game).
  • Los Angeles led the National League in financial pledges to the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.) during the organization’s 13th annual Spring Training fundraising tour to raise money for members of the baseball family in need, “including former Major League players, managers, coaches, scouts, umpires, athletic trainers, Major & Minor League front office personnel as well as Minor League players, Negro League players, players from the Women’s Professional Baseball League and widows, spouses and children, ages 23 and under.”
  • After getting thrown out in seven of his first 14 stolen-base attempts in 2014 — including three in a four-game stretch from June 12-15 — Yasiel Puig didn’t make another steal attempt for more than two months. He was successful on his final four tries last season, and in his first of Cactus League play this year, he was safe as well, thanks to a fancy slide.
  • Puig also made the White Sox’ Conor Gillaspie look silly for trying to go from first to third on a single to right in the fourth inning today, throwing him out with ease.
  • Joe Wieland allowed two runs in five innings, facing 22 batters. He allowed six singles and three doubles, striking out one and walking none.
  • Jose Abreu went 4 for 4 today, making him 10 for 12 against the Dodgers this month. That’s right: 10 for 12. In Cactus League play, Abreu is 27 for 52 (.519).
  • Dodger relievers David Aardsma, Juan Nicasio, Yimi Garcia and Sergio Santos each pitched a shutout inning. Garcia struck out all three batters he faced: Alexei Ramirez, Avisail Garcia and Micah Johnson.
  • Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles has a rich bit of family history on Santos.
  • How Yasmani Grandal and A.J. Ellis are working together is the subject of Dylan Hernandez’s latest piece for the Times. “Much like how Grandal is attempting to learn from Ellis on how to manage a pitching staff, Ellis is trying to pick up Grandal’s pitch-framing techniques — the subtle art of turning borderline pitches into called strikes,” Hernandez writes.
  • Sean Dolinar at Fangraphs posted an interactive graphic comparison of MLB pitching staffs, with the Dodgers second behind the Nationals.

The good, the bad and the unusual in a 7-5 loss

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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.

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In case you missed it: Bat left, throw left, hold baby right

Baby

For more photos from Thursday, visit LA Photog Blog.

DM WF 070By 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.

Outfield competition front in center as Cactus League opens

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Chicago White Sox v Los Angeles DodgersBy Jon Weisman

On the first day of Cactus League play, Joc Pederson had two hits while playing designated hitter. Andre Ethier struck out twice while playing center field, but he probably wouldn’t have minded that much if he had made a diving catch at the warning track.

Well, there’s always the next game.

“Just a tough play,” Ethier told Phil Rogers of MLB.com. “It’s one where you have to make a break on it, try to keep an eye on the ball the best you can, not lose it. I got there, just didn’t bring it in.”

Said Don Mattingly: “As we get into spring, he catches that ball all day long.”

Despite losing to the White Sox, 6-4, it was a pretty eventful day in general for the Dodgers. Most of the action came after the starters were pulled …

  • O’Koyea Dickson hit the Dodgers’ first homer of the exhibition season, turning on a ball at his knees and pulling it over the wall in left.
  • Alex Guerrero had two hits off the bench, playing third base.
  • Corey Seager and Darnell Sweeney each singled and walked.
  • Jimmy Rollins went 1 for 2, but fellow newcomers Howie Kendrick, Yasmani Grandal and Austin Barnes each went 0 for 2.
  • Juan Nicasio was the domino that fell over after Ethier’s near-miss, allowing three runs in the third inning.
  • Carlos Frias allowed two runs on three hits and two walks, but struck out five. Batting average on balls in play: .750.
  • Sergio Santos, Adam Liberatore and Josh Ravin each pitched a perfect inning. Liberatore struck out two.
  • The Dodgers had the tying runs on base with none out in the ninth after singles by Sweeney, Guerrero and Seager scored their fourth run, but Kyle Jensen flied out, Kiké Hernandez struck out and Scott Schebler grounded out.

Sergio Santos strives to keep his hometown uniform

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

GLENDALE, Ariz. — My kids will never grow up to be Major Leaguers like Sergio Santos, but it turns out their formative years going to Dodger games were very much the same.

“I would go, but only under the condition that my parents had to get me a Dodger Dog and some nachos — otherwise I wouldn’t want to go to the game,” Santos said Sunday.

I know the feeling.

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Arruebarrena, Seager, Urias among 17 non-roster Spring Training invitees

Steve Saenz/Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

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:

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