Seth Rosin – Dodger Thoughts

Tag: Seth Rosin

Did Dodgers win the WAR last offseason?

On October 20, 2014

By Jon Weisman

For entertainment purposes, I’m about to oversimplify something that’s far more complex than how I’m presenting it.

Nevertheless, I was curious what the Dodgers gained and lost in wins above replacement (WAR) from their moves during the 2013-14 offseason. And putting all other considerations aide, the scales almost balanced.

The Dodgers received 2.1 WAR from their 2014 additions, according to Fangraphs, while those who left the team after the 2013 season produced 1.8 WAR with their new clubs.

The big weight on the scale was Justin Turner, who delivered 3.2 WAR all by himself. Chone Figgins (0.6) was also useful in his abbreviated tenure. They more than made up for the departures of Elian Herrera, Nick Punto, Justin Sellers, Mark Ellis and Skip Schumacher.

The biggest loss for the Dodgers in WAR was Ricky Nolasco (1.2), who had a 5.38 ERA and 4.30 FIP in the first year of his four-year deal with Minnesota. Edinson Volquez (0.7), who signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh, was more of a bargain, though not as much as his 3.04 ERA might suggest.

In the bullpen, Ronald Belisario, Javy Guerra and Shawn Tolleson combined for 0.8 WAR, which isn’t much but proved better than what Chris Perez (-0.8) delivered.

Seth Rosin never pitched in a game for the Dodgers after being acquired on the day of the Rule 5 draft, but I included him here as someone they had and then let go.

Among the 2013 Dodgers who didn’t play in the big leagues in 2014: Nick Buss, Jerry Hairston Jr., Peter Molyan and Michael Young.

Obviously, there are long-term issues, both coming and going, that I’m ignoring in this post, which is completely focused on the past season. Nor does it take into account salary, or 2013 free agents who returned to Los Angeles. But if you’re curious, here are the numbers …

April 9 pregame: Josh Beckett returns

By Jon Weisman

On April 9, 2014

In Health/injuries, Pregame, Transactions

By Jon Weisman

Josh Beckett has officially come off the disabled list to pitch tonight’s game for the Dodgers against a player he was once in a trade with, Anibal Sanchez.

To make room for Beckett on the roster, Jose Dominguez was optioned to Albuquerque.

With Beckett’s return, the Dodger pitching staff crowds up some more, and Dominguez’s travels offer only a temporary respite. Brian Wilson (left) marked his 10th day on the disabled list with a bullpen session of about 20 pitches off the Dodger Stadium mound today.

Beckett is not expected to have a long first outing, Don Mattingly said, adding that Paul Maholm would be available out of the bullpen tonight.

What else can I tell you?

Tigers at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, RF
Matt Kemp, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Josh Beckett, P

“The sensation that Dodgers right-hander Chad Billingsley felt while pitching Sunday in a rehab start was scar tissue breaking in his surgically repaired elbow and not a major setback in his comeback from Tommy John surgery,” reports Earl Bloom for MLB.com.
Tuesday’s showdown between Kenley Jansen and Miguel Cabrera has been documented by Grant Brisbee of SB Nation as “the best at-bat in MLB so far” in 2014, while for Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, it was a reminder of “what makes baseball great.”
A.J. Ellis is celebrating his 33rd birthday today by beginning his rehab from Tuesday’s knee surgery.
Homerless streaks are in the news because of Kansas City’s early season drought. As Joe Posnanski notes for Hardball Talk, the 1963 and 1967 Dodgers had some of baseball’s biggest season-opening homer droughts.
Briefly a Dodger Seth Rosin was designated for assignment by Texas. Rosin pitched in three games for Texas, allowing no runs in three innings across his first two, then three runs in one inning on Monday.

Seth Rosin, Javy Guerra no longer Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

On March 26, 2014

In Transactions

By Jon Weisman

Seth Rosin is now a Texas Ranger and Javy Guerra is now a member of the Chicago White Sox, with each organization having claimed the pitchers on waivers from the Dodgers.

Guerra was designated for assignment by the Dodgers on March 16, and the 10-day window for the Dodgers to make a move with him expired today.

Rosin, as we’ve discussed throughout Spring Training, had a potential expiration date as a Dodger all along. He was a Rule 5 draftee by the New York Mets from Philadelphia who was then traded to Los Angeles. He had to remain on the Dodgers’ active roster all season or risk being sent back to the Phillies. Forced to make a decision on Rosin because of an overflow of arms in the bullpen, the Dodgers placed him on waivers, where Texas picked him up.

Relief pitchers remaining on the Dodgers’ active roster are Jose Dominguez, J.P. Howell, Kenley Jansen, Brandon League, Chris Perez, Paco Rodriguez, Brian Wilson, Chris Withrow and Jamey Wright. The Dodgers will need to trim at least one more name before the domestic opener Sunday at San Diego.

Seth Rosin focuses amid uncertainty

By Jon Weisman

On March 26, 2014

In Pitching, Profiles, Spring Training

Bullpen coach Chuck Crim watches Seth Rosin on Tuesday.

By Jon Weisman

It’s coming down to the wire for Seth Rosin, though there’s always the possibility of the wire inching forward.

In other words, a roster decision will have to be made by Sunday afternoon on the 6-foot-6 righthander — unless it doesn’t.

The Dodgers can’t send Rosin to the minors, so when they trim the active roster to 25 players, they will have to carve out a slot for him, make a separate deal with the Philadelphia Phillies to keep him, or lose him. A late trip to the disabled list by a fellow pitcher could buy some time, but that’s an if-and-when.

That leaves a lot to swirl around in the 26-year-old’s head, but checking in with Rosin before Tuesday’s workout, his head seemed to be in the right place.

“I was talking with my good buddy Eric Decker, who was one of my roommates in college, and he said, ‘All you can do is work really hard,'” Rosin said. “Working really hard and busting your butt kind of takes the pressure away. So I’m kind of taking that approach this whole spring, and it’s been working so far.”

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for Rosin, who was born 13 days after the Dodgers won their last World Series in 1988. The success he’s had this spring (1.64 ERA, 12 strikeouts against 13 baserunners in 11 innings) would be enough to get anyone excited, but it has come while he’s been in the process of transforming his pitching approach.

Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt counsels Rosin.

“Just the timing with my delivery and incorporating my lower half and having a good strong front side — just a lot of the things that pitchers work on,” he said. “I’m just kind of totally reinventing myself with my mechanics this spring, so I’m just going to keep going about that. I think I’m a pretty good listener and pretty coachable, so I’m just trying to take in every piece of knowledge and trying to be a sponge this spring and it’s been helping.

“I know I’m not a finished product, and the coaches will attest to that as well. I’m still working on a couple things that I know once I master those parts, then I think I’ll really be something special. I’m just going to keep going about it every day, and working with (Rick) Honeycutt and (Chuck) Crim and all the other pitchers, just keep working hard.”

Though he appeared in the Thursday exhibition against Team Australia, Rosin was the only pitcher on the 25-man active roster for the first two official games against Arizona that didn’t enter either game, but Rosin is practicing patience.

“I’m just happy that we started off 2-0,” he said. “Yeah, I was looking forward to getting my debut, but hopefully I’ll get a shot this weekend in these exhibition games and hopefully I’ll stick around for games after that. We’ll just have to see. This week’s going to determine a lot for me, so I’m just gonna have to keep working hard and go about my business.”

Rosin knows that however long it takes him to get in to his first Major League game — whenever and wherever that might be — he can’t afford not to be ready.

“There aren’t excuses in this game,” Rosin said. “You’ve got to perform when your name is called, and that’s what I’m going to do my best to do.

In case you missed it: The curious case of Clayton Kershaw

By Jon Weisman

On March 3, 2014

In Pitching, Postgame, Spring Training, Technology

By Jon Weisman

The good news for Clayton Kershaw is, he’s healthy.

Not to mention that for the first two innings — six up, six down — of today’s 7-3 loss to Oakland, the Dodger ace made last week’s start look like every bit the aberration we thought it was. Six up, six down.

Then came a third inning which, as much as anything, was reminiscent of the third inning of Game 6 of the 2013 National League Championship Series.

Kershaw allowed two walks, an RBI single and another walk that loaded the bases. Then former Dodger Nick Punto came up, got ahead in the count and began fouling off pitches, just like Matt Carpenter did in his 11-pitch NLCS at-bat against Kershaw.

Punto won this marathon, singling to right field to drive in two more runs, and Kershaw was pulled mid-inning, ultimately charged with five runs.

And by the sounds of it, he was ready to sentence himself to pitcher jail. From Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:

… “It’s not fun to deal with,” said Kershaw, who has an 18.00 ERA. “Physically, I feel great. I don’t have any excuses. I don’t know, searching for answers right now. I know it’s Spring Training, it doesn’t matter, but it matters to me.”

Mattingly said he wasn’t panicking.

“The first two innings were really good, then he got out of rhythm and couldn’t find it,” Mattingly said. “Good thing is, it’s Spring Training, that’s why we’re here. He had the same kind of spring last year. He has a level of expectation of always being good. I don’t have a problem with that. He expects to be in midseason form, and we keep working toward that. He gets frustrated. That’s why we love him.” …

On the opposite end of the spectrum was Seth Rosin, who followed his two-inning, five-strikeout outing Wednesday by tossing three shutout innings with three strikeouts today. That included pitching out of a second-and-third, none-out jam in the fourth inning, thanks to an Adrian Gonzalez throwing error.

“This outing is actually more impressive to me than his first outing,” SportsNet LA analyst Orel Hershiser said on the air. “Today, he’s facing some adversity, against a team swinging the bat really well, and he’s still able to get them out.”

Rosin, by the way, was born in 1988, 7 1/2 months after Kershaw and a couple weeks after the Dodgers won the World Series.

Coming in behind Rosin on the highlight reel was Dee Gordon, who had an RBI triple for the second consecutive game, and Andre Ethier and Miguel Olivo, who each had two hits.

[mlbvideo id=”31426707″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]

The Dodgers still haven’t given up a Cactus League homer in 51 innings.
MLB’s new instant replay system made its debut. Paul Hagen of MLB.com describes how it went.
Ah, Jim Gilliam.
Today in Jon SooHoo.

In case you missed it: Kershaw, Rosin talk about their day

By Jon Weisman

On February 26, 2014

In History, In case you missed it

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Arizona Diamondbacks

(Click here for today’s Jon SooHoo gallery.)

By Jon Weisman

I look at the image of Seth Rosin above and it makes me ask … at the end of the day, what’s it like — what’s it really like — to take the mound knowing that with virtually every outing, your future is on the line?

Let’s talk about your day …

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGcv9KSZgvA&w=420&h=315]

Clayton Kershaw on his performance this afternoon (via Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.):

“I wasn’t throwing the ball where I wanted to. There were some off-speed pitches I needed to throw better; the one to (Miguel) Montero that I struck him out on, even that was up,” Kershaw said. “There’s just a lot to work on.”
Seth Rosin — same source:

“I’m trying to establish (my changeup) as my out pitch. [Bullpen coach] Chuck Crim has given me tons of confidence with that,” Rosin said. “We’re working on that a lot, working on my mechanics daily. Everything is feeling like it’s getting better each day. Hopefully I can continue that trend, and keep improving.”
You can read the text from yet another great Vin Scully story, told on the launch of SportsNet LA, of how he once wore a Dodger uniform during a game, thanks to Ernest Reyes of Blue Heaven.
Matt Kemp could get the go-ahead to increase his running after an MRI on Friday. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com explains.
The Dodgers’ annual open tryout will be held Thursday at 9 a.m. local time on the minor league side of Camelback Ranch. Those wishing to participate must not be enrolled in high school, on a collegiate roster or be under contract with any Major League club. Additional information is available on the Dodgers Scouting Hotline at (323) 224-1512.
Steve Yeager had 14 steals in his MLB career, but one of them was a steal of home. Stephen shares the story at True Blue L.A.
Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston is serious about also pursuing baseball as a two-sport athlete, writes Andy Staples of SI.com.

Dodgers lose Spring Training opener, but Seth Rosin impresses with five strikeouts

By Jon Weisman

On February 26, 2014

In Spring Training

[mlbvideo id=”31387775″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]
By Jon Weisman

Seth Rosin, who needs to stay on the Major League roster all season for Los Angeles or risk being shipped back to the New York Mets, stole the show for the Dodgers during their 4-1 loss to Arizona today in their Spring Training opener, striking out five Diamondbacks in his two innings.

In the sixth inning, Rosin fanned Arizona regulars Aaron Hill, Paul Goldschmidt and Martin Prado all in a row, after striking out Matt Tuiasosopo and A.J. Pollock in the fifth.

Rosin, who was taken from Philadelphia by the Mets in the Rule 5 draft and then traded to the Dodgers that same morning, struck out 96 in 126 2/3 innings for Double-A Reading last year. He was one of a few highlights that today’s game produced for the Dodgers, despite being on the losing end:

Yasiel Puig hit the ball hard in all three trips to the plate, earning a single, an RBI double and a tough groundout to third.
Second baseman Alex Guerrero looked fairly smooth on two plays in the third inning, making a diving stop on an infield single, then serving as a middleman of a 6-4-3 double play with Chone Figgins and Scott Van Slyke. Guerrero went 0 for 2 at the plate.
Van Slyke had a single and a walk, then was replaced by non-roster invitee Clint Robinson, who also singled. Designated hitter Justin Turner also singled and walked.
Figgins went 0 for 3, but was nearly 3 for 3. Mark Trumbo, somewhat surprisingly, made two diving catches of balls Figgins hit to left, and in between, Figgins was foul by inches on what would have been an extra-base hit to deep right.
Jose Dominguez struck out two of the three batters he faced.
Though he had a bit of trouble in left field behind Clayton Kershaw, Carl Crawford went the opposite way for a single in the third inning, then scored from first on Puig’s double.
Dodger pitchers Kershaw, Javy Guerra, Rosin, Dominguez and Ross Stripling struck out 11 and walked one in their eight combined innings.

In his second inning of work, Ross Stripling allowed three singles for a run in the bottom of the eighth to produce the final margin. Stripling induced a double-play grounder to end the inning.

In case you missed it: 32 to the infinite power

By Jon Weisman

On February 18, 2014

In Health/injuries, In case you missed it

[mlbvideo id=”31367651″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]
By Jon Weisman

Koufax in Camelback? Like Thanksgiving in February.

Here’s a roundup of recent Sandy Koufax stories by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, Dylan Hernandez of the Times, Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A., Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles. and Bill Plunkett of the Register.
Koufax can also be seen in Monday’s photo gallery from Jon SooHoo. Here’s his gallery from today.
And here’s a post about Koufax at the Countdown Down Under MLBlog, as we approach the 50th anniversary of Koufax’s only (yes, only) Opening Day start.
By the way, Koufax isn’t the only Cy Young winner who can give advice …

Sandy Koufax and @OrelHershiser give @RossStripling a pitching lesson: pic.twitter.com/BtQfXcHsiT

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) February 18, 2014
Brandon League has had his throwing reduced in recent days because of a lat strain. Zach Lee, suffering from a similar problem, had plans to throw off a mound today.
What will the Dodgers’ lineup be in 2017? Dustin Nosler of Dodgers Digest speculates.
Seth Rosin prides himself on his “3-wood”-like versatility, writes Tyler Emerick for MLB.com.
Former Dodger pitcher Dana Eveland signed a minor-league deal with the Mets, according to Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish. Eveland went to Baltimore in the 2011 deal that brought to Los Angeles pitcher Jarrett Martin, who is profiled here by MLB.com and by J.P. Hoornstra of the Daily News.
Roger Angell, the baseball specialist for the New Yorker, was one of the formative writers of my youth and young adulthood. That declined somewhat in the past 10 years as he wrote less frequently and telescoped more on the New York scene when he did (understandably). But his piece this week for the New Yorker on aging and dying will stick with me as much as anything he has ever done.

Video: Inside the Winter Development Camp

By Jon Weisman

On January 9, 2014

In Community, Minor leagues

[mlbvideo id=”31295539″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

With special guest star Vin Scully …

Notes: Miguel Rojas to contend for playing time at second base

By Jon Weisman

On January 8, 2014

In Uncategorized

By Jon Weisman

In addition to discussing Don Mattingly and Yasiel Puig, Ned Colletti touched upon several other aspects of the Dodgers in his conversation with reporters today.

Colletti’s priorities now for 2014 are to fine-tune the club, including another infielder off the bench that would give the club more versatility, and making sure the team is healthy. “I talk to our medical people every other day to see where we are at,” he said.
Miguel Rojas will get “a good look” during Spring Training for playing time at second base, thanks to his defensive wizardry. Rojas had a .303 on-base percentage and .307 slugging with Double-A Chattanooga last year, but Colletti calls him an “excellent defensive player.”
Alexander Guerrero is still leading the pack of contenders at second base, but Colletti said “we still have questions.” The Dodgers are taking a conservative approach with Guerrero and the hamstring issues he dealt with this winter.
Caution is also the byword with Matt Kemp, but the outfielder has had his walking boot off for the better part of four weeks now and is beginning to hit.
Josh Beckett should be ready to go for Spring Training, but Scott Elbert and Chad Billingsley remain targeted for midseason. Elbert could come sooner than Billingsley, thanks to being a reliever.
Andre Ethier and Hanley Ramirez have generated nothing but positive medical reports. No lingering issues.
Colletti is eager to see what Rule 5 draft-day acquisition Seth Rosin can bring. “Again, some of what we do is to continue to build the depth you need for a season.”
Preliminary conversations with the agent of Japanese pitching star Masahiro Tanaka have taken place. Colletti described it as a “feeling-out process.”
Infielder-turned-reliever Pedro Baez, essentially following the path of Kenley Jansen, “still has some things he’s got to learn, but he’s a very interesting talent.”

Dodger Thoughts

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

Tag: Seth Rosin

Did Dodgers win the WAR last offseason?

April 9 pregame: Josh Beckett returns

Seth Rosin, Javy Guerra no longer Dodgers

Seth Rosin focuses amid uncertainty

In case you missed it: The curious case of Clayton Kershaw

In case you missed it: Kershaw, Rosin talk about their day

Dodgers lose Spring Training opener, but Seth Rosin impresses with five strikeouts

In case you missed it: 32 to the infinite power

Video: Inside the Winter Development Camp

Notes: Miguel Rojas to contend for playing time at second base

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