Don Mattingly has named Kenley Jansen closer following Brandon League being Brandon League and imploding in a save situation yet again. When asked how he would get the ball to Jansen, Donnie Baseball said something you’d prefer your manager to not say publicly: With Jansen closing, how will Dodgers get the ball to the 9th inning? Mattingly: “That’s a great ... Read More »
Hanley Ramirez‘s rehab is going well, but the team isn’t keen on rushing him, so he’s still two weeks away. Hanley Ramirez tested his hamstring running in the outfield, and Mattingly said the shortstop continues to make progress, although he is still probably two weeks away from playing. As was the case the first time he came back from injury, ... Read More »
Zack Greinke is throwing from 90 feet in his recovery effort from a broken collarbone. The Dodgers have been encouraged by Zack Greinke’s recovery from a broken left collarbone, and the right-hander is already throwing less than three weeks removed from surgery. Greinke threw from 90 feet before Monday’s game against the Rockies. He had surgery on April 13 and ... Read More »
Pitching was the story for the Dodgers farm system this week, but one positional prospect stood out and was recognized for his great offensive performance. It’s nice to see youngsters take advantage of their given opportunities. —– Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes (2-4) Player Of The Week Alex Castellanos – OF .417/.417/.667/1.084, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 5 R, 2 SB, 0 BB, ... Read More »
The Dodgers announced the cuts of eight players yesterday, moves that essentially set the Opening Day roster for the team. The club reassigned right-handers Kevin Gregg and Peter Moylan, utility man Alfredo Amezaga and catcher Matt Wallach to Minor League camp. In addition, the Dodgers optioned outfielder Alex Castellanos, right-hander Stephen Fife, utility man Elian Herrera and right-hander Josh Wall ... Read More »
Opening Day for the Dodgers is Monday, and since Spring Training feels like it has taken forever, it’s about damn time. Given the closeness of the start of the season though, it’s a bit odd that there are so many question marks as to what will happen with the roster. Every team has to deal with decisions on the 24th ... Read More »
The 2013 projection for the Dodgers from Dan Szymborski‘s ZiPS system was released last week, and given that it’s probably my favorite forecasting tool, it’s worth a look to see how the team fared. Forecasting is not a complete science, obviously, and I’ll address some of the potential pitfalls as we go along, but it’s better to use objective tools ... Read More »
Yes, this is the final installment of the 2012 Season Review for the Dodgers, and if you want to catch up on the others, then you can check out this tag here. Otherwise, in the tables listed below, I have calculated the WAR (along with its components), value, and surplus value of every player on the Dodgers payroll in 2012. ... Read More »
The Arizona Fall League wrapped up this week with the Mesa Solar Sox — the team with eight Dodger prospects — finishing in last place with a 10-20 record. Now, it wasn’t all the Dodger prospects fault, but there were some, shall we say, not-so-great performances from some of the fellas. I’m going to keep my eye on the Puerto ... Read More »
The Dodgers are facing an interesting situation heading into the 2013 season — at least, the Albuquerque Isotopes and Chattanooga Lookouts are. Following a Twitter exchange with Chris Jackson (@TopesWriter) and Evan Chavez (@newmexicofan), it occurred to me: The Isotopes and Lookouts are going to have some awfully crowded outfields — especially the ‘Topes. The following outfielders are, at this ... Read More »
Chris Jackson of the Albuquerque Examiner tweeted to me and said that Dodgers left-hander Onelki Garcia hasn’t appeared yet in the Arizona Fall League because of an oblique injury, but he was unable to confirm it. If true, I wouldn’t expect to see Garcia play at all in the AFL, though he could still pitch in another winter league. —– ... Read More »
Paco Rodriguez, the lefty reliever out of University Of Florida and the Dodgers‘ second round pick in 2012, was recalled to replace the injured Chad Billingsley, who found himself on the 60-day DL with his elbow injury that may require offseason surgery. Rodriguez becomes the first 2012 draftee to debut in The Show. He’ll help out with lefty reliever depth ... Read More »
Now that rosters have expanded, let the speculation on who gets the September call begin! Pump the brakes a bit though, because unfortunately for the people who wish to see young players show their stuff: 1) the 40-man roster is full 2) guys on the 60-day DL are due to return 3) um … the team just traded away all ... Read More »
It was a down week for some of the Dodgers minor league affiliates. The Chattanooga Lookouts and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes both had 2-4 weeks. The Great Lakes Loons checked in with the best record at 5-1. The Albuquerque Isotopes had an abbreviated week due to the Pacific Coast League All-Star Game. The Loons and Ogden Raptors scored the most runs ... Read More »
The Lookouts, Quakes, and Loons all concluded their first halves this week. The Quakes, after winning 10 of 11 to get back into the playoff hunt, lost the last two games of the half and will play a one-game playoff against High Desert on Monday. The Lookouts and Loons both finished out of playoff contention. The Dominican Summer League began last week, ... Read More »
Chad Moriyama Dodgers, Sabermetrics, Scouting