So a couple days ago, I asked Eric Stephen of True Blue LA to ask Carl Crawford about his hitting mechanics, and he did so for me, primarily because he’s awesome. Why, you ask? Because of my article for Baseball Prospectus back in October broaching that exact subject. Basically, I wanted to know if I was right so I could ... Read More »
The Dodgers promoted a number of front office personnel, most notably future GMs (of the Dodgers, I hope) Logan White and De Jon Watson. White will now serve as Vice President Of Scouting, while Watson takes on the role of Vice President Of Player Development. —– Via Eric Stephen, Alfredo Silverio and Ozzie Martinez have signed minor-league contracts and received ... Read More »
True Blue LA: Eric Stephen looks at the available free agent starting pitchers and concludes that it’s Zack Greinke or bust. When it comes down to it, if the Dodgers are hellbent on adding a starting pitcher they should only add a difference-maker. Dempster is a fall back, while Sanchez (money) and Kuroda (draft pick, age) seem overly expensive and ... Read More »
Clayton Kershaw pitched and labored through five innings with an injured left hip, but he managed to limit the Reds to a lone run. Adrian Gonzalez homered twice to emphatically break out of his slump, and he helped power the offense to a win. But perhaps the biggest surprise goes to Juan Uribe, who managed to … uh … get ... Read More »
Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness: Even though he’s away from home right now, I think Mike Petriello comes away from the trade with the right approach. So how am I feeling about it today? I think Gonzalez is going to be an incredible fit in LA, especially considering that reports of his demise in Boston seem overblown (he was outstanding last ... Read More »
The quote found in the title basically sums up Don Mattingly‘s logic when he was asked about Andre Ethier‘s struggles against lefties, as reported by Eric Stephen of True Blue LA. Part of the struggles for Ethier have been against left-handed pitchers, against whom Ethier is hitting .218/.282/.315 this season. But don’t expect Mattingly to pinch hit for Ethier in ... Read More »
Eric Stephen of True Blue LA reports that the MLB has suspended Don Mattingly two games for “excessive arguing”, but Matt Kemp escaped unharmed. Don Mattingly got what he expected on Saturday, as the Dodgers manager was suspended for two games for his argument with umpires and subsequent ejection on Thursday in Pittsburgh. But more importantly Matt Kemp, who was ... Read More »
Eric Stephen of True Blue LA relays the news that Todd Coffey is out for the year with an elbow strain. Dodgers relief pitcher Todd Coffey received some bad news on Tuesday, as the reliever is out for the season with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Coffey didn’t feel any pain in his arm, so ... Read More »
Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness: Mike Petriello once feared the exact deal that Andre Ethier signed, and while he holds some concerns, he finds it hard to argue against the deal. What interests me more right now is trying to figure out just how much a big 2012 could enhance Ethier’s value on the market, because there’s a big difference between ... Read More »
With Javy Guerra getting smashed in the face, I have a question: why was he allowed to stay in the game? I trust the trainers and coaches, and I’m sure Guerra felt he was fine, but I’m not so sure it was the correct move. We can all put ourselves in Guerra’s shoes, as we’ve all been terrified at some ... Read More »
Old news, but Ted Lilly was activated off the disabled list and Todd Coffey was put on it. In what I’m sure was sheer coincidence, it was revealed that Coffey had been dealing with knee trouble. After the game Don Mattingly said Todd Coffey has been getting treatment on his knee — Eric Stephen (@truebluela) April 14, 2012 Truly amazing ... Read More »
Eric Stephen of True Blue LA has injury updates on two Los Angeles Dodgers players, one positive and one negative. The bad news first, as an MRI on the oblique of Ivan De Jesus revealed a tear. Dodgers infielder Ivan DeJesus got some bad news this morning, as an MRI revealed a tear of his left oblique, hurt during a ... Read More »
Eric Stephen of True Blue LA finds out that A.J. Ellis probably doesn’t think he’ll be hitting second. I asked catcher A.J. Ellis whether or not he could hit second in the lineup, and he joked, “I could be at the top, I could steal some bags.” But Ellis then noted he isn’t really concerned with where he hits in ... Read More »
Spring Training is here, which means all other sports matter less, and wow, there’s way too much news out of the Los Angeles Dodgers camp already. ===== Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that Clayton Kershaw will start on Opening Day, which is basically the biggest Captain Obvious moment of the season. Then Matt Kemp told the media that he doesn’t ... Read More »
True Blue LA: Eric Stephen has the 2012 Spring Training roster. True Blue LA: A review of the 2012 off-season for the Los Angeles Dodgers to make me cry. —– ESPN: Jon Weisman has an interview with De Jon Watson about the Dodgers minor league system. ESPN: Keith Law ranks the Dodgers system 12th in baseball. If pitching wins championships, ... Read More »
Chad Moriyama Dodgers, Sabermetrics, Scouting