After giving up back-to-back bloop singles to put runners on first and third to start the top of the eighth inning, Kenley Jansen managed to wriggle out of trouble without allowing a run and blowing the lead.

Here’s how:

The series of plate appearances setup the Dodgers for the win, thus getting Zack Greinke the win.

Adrian Gonzalez and his neck strain still pose an issue for the Dodgers, as he can swing a bat without pain but can’t play the field or run without significant discomfort.

If there was an opportunity for the Dodgers to unilaterally impose the designated hitter rule upon the National League, they just might do it. After all, their first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is still bothered by a muscular strain in his neck, but it doesn’t really hinder his performance at the plate.

“We don’t know what gets him. The play where he goes to his right and gets the lead guy, that stung him. Then a swing stung him,” said manager Don Mattingly. “We thought it was a good time to get him out of there. The beat kind of goes on with Adrian. He’s still swinging the bat good.”

“That’s the one thing. It doesn’t really bother me when I hit,” Gonzalez said. “Just throwing, running for fly balls, running with my head up, that hurts, especially going back. But even moving forward with my head up it hurts. With fly balls it’s hard for me to go hard or even go comfortably. I’d say the fly balls are the worst.”

It has become a daily battle for Gonzalez of getting treatment and preparing for a game, only to have that relative calm disrupted during play.

“It’s a strain. Once I get up and start running and throwing during the game, it just seems to get worse and worse and worse.”

Fortunately, he’s in the lineup today.

However, the injury will likely continue to keep A-Gon in and out of the lineup if he tries to play through it. Scott Van Slyke could see significant time going forward, especially if something happens to re-aggravate it.

——

Zack Greinke‘s rehab start went off without a hitch and the righty is scheduled to return from his broken collarbone Wednesday at home against Washington.

Zack Greinke pitched into the fifth inning for the Class-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on Friday night on a minor league rehab assignment, and could be in line to pitch next for the Dodgers on Wednesday against the Nationals.

“If the doctors say he can pitch, we’re going to let him pitch. We feel like his arm is going to be ready to pitch. He has thrown two 60-pitch bullpens, he’s going to throw 75 pitches tonight,” manager Don Mattingly said before the Dodgers played the Marlins on Friday night. “As long as the doctors say that’s safe for him to pitch with, then he’ll pitch. Knowing Zack, he probably would have pitched tonight.”

I’m giving the Dodgers the benefit of the doubt that they’re not rushing Zack. The club obviously needs him, but not so much so that he should be pitching injured. No amount of need is acceptable enough to put an already injured player at further risk, and even a slight change in mechanics could create problems that this team certainly doesn’t need.

——

Scott Elbert continues to rehab and is nearing a return to The Show.

Scott Elbert, the “other” Dodgers pitcher on a rehab assignment with Class A Rancho Cucamonga, pitched a perfect seventh inning Friday night and got the win in his first game appearance since two elbow operations.

The left-handed Elbert will pitch another inning Monday and might follow that with an appearance at Triple-A Albuquerque, but he’s not far away from returning to the Dodgers’ bullpen.

“I’m pretty excited,” said Elbert, who needed only seven pitches to record two strikeouts and a groundout. “It’s a good feeling. It’s been a long time. I feel good. I don’t feel anything.”

Elbert was on a 25-pitch limit, so he went to the bullpen after his inning and threw another 18 pitches to get in his work. The Quakes, who trailed by five runs at one point, took the lead while Elbert was the pitcher of record.

“If I can do what I did tonight, I can help them out [in Los Angeles],” said Elbert. “I almost feel I’m back to my normal self completely.”

Elbert has great swing and miss stuff, and he could certainly help the big league club if healthy. Considering that the bullpen is struggling, there will likely be a spot for him somewhere, which was an iffy proposition before.

—–

Minor-league injury notes:

Placed on 7-day DL: 2B Elevys Gonzalez, OF Malcolm Holland
Reinstated from DL: C Jan Vazquez, 1B Chris Jacobs, 2B Rafael Ynoa

Chris Jacobs, the light-tower power 1B, and Rafael Ynoa, the potential utility infielder, highlight the list.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Zack Greinke is ahead of schedule as he works his way back from his broken left collarbone.

For the third time in six days, Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke threw a bullpen session on Tuesday afternoon before the Dodgers hosted the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. The right-hander is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a broken collarbone.

Greinke threw just over 60 pitches on Tuesday, and like Saturday in San Francisco was clocked at 90 mph. Unlike last Thursday’s light bullpen session at Dodger Stadium, the last two have been much more strenuous, with Greinke throwing all of his pitches.

“My normal bullpen session is 20 pitches at 75 percent,” Greinke said. “This was nothing like a normal bullpen session for me.”

Now, Greinke could begin a minor league rehab assignment as soon as this weekend, provided he has no setbacks. That could put Greinke in line to return to the Dodgers at some time around the last week of May.

He’s been throwing bullpen sessions and will start a rehab assignment soon, and the Dodgers could really use that lethal one-two punch atop the rotation as soon as possible.

How soon?

Try tomorrow, in Rancho.

Zack Greinke to pitch in Class A tomorrow. Would be in line to return to #Dodgers rotation Wednesday vs. Nationals. May 10, 2013

If Greinke does indeed return on Wednesday of next week, he would have missed just under five weeks, well ahead of the original timetable given of eight weeks.

—–

Adrian Gonzalez has a strained muscle in his neck, suffered in that odd and innocuous-looking collision with a first-base umpire a few days back.

First baseman Adrian Gonzalez had an MRI on Monday that revealed a mild strain in his left trapezious muscle at the base of his neck, but he will play through the pain.

“I’m going to try to play through it and see how it feels,” Gonzalez said Monday afternoon. “It’s not getting worse, but there’s still quite a bit of pain there.”

The injury has forced him out of games early and seen him scratched entirely in others, but Gonzalez intends to play through the pain, which sounds pretty typical for an injured Dodger.

Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez left Wednesday night’s game against the Diamondbacks in the fifth inning, one inning after making a diving attempt to catch a foul ball. Gonzalez has been battling a strained muscle in his neck, and the Dodgers say he aggravated the neck strain on Wednesday.

Gonzalez is listed as day-to-day.

Honestly, just rest the guy and DL him – which they should have done originally – as there is baseball beyond 2013. Letting guys play through injury just leads to a more serious injury or compensating for the injured area and then injuring a different area.

Speaking of the consequences of playing through pain…

…A-Gon’s shoulder injury from a couple of years ago has permanently altered his ability to hit for power.

His days as that kind of power hitter are gone.

That is not a whisper from an anonymous scout. That is the word from Gonzalez himself, who says he has been unable to recover the swing that made him an elite power hitter.

“I can still hit home runs,” Gonzalez said. “That is not going to be an issue. The full power is not the same.”

“Last year, I tried to go back to the swing I had before I got hurt,” he said. “I tried it for the whole first half, with horrible results.”

We all remember them letting Matt Kemp persist, right? Now he might not ever be the same?

Great.

—–

Carl Crawford‘s hamstring was feeling tight, and he was held out of the lineup Wednesday as a precaution.

Dodgers left fielder Carl Crawford was held out of the starting lineup for the series finale against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night with tightness in his right hamstring. Utility man Elian Herrera gets the start in left field in Crawford’s place.

“Carl felt a little bit tender, it feels like something is going on. We’re just being cautious, with the off day tomorrow,” said manager Don Mattingly. “I had planned on playing him today, but when he comes in and feels like he’s a little bit tight, it’s better than playing him and he ends up pulling it and you miss him for a long time.”

A hamstring injury for a guy whose game is predicated on his legs is never a good thing.

—–

Hanley Ramirez will be on the shelf for roughly four to six weeks with his hamstring injury.

MRI results for Hanley Ramirez confirmed a strain of his left hamstring strain, and the Dodgers are placing the official timetable for his return at four to six weeks. That puts Ramirez back with the Dodgers some time in the first two weeks of June if all goes according to plan.

Just think if he and Greinke and Gonzalez and Kemp are all on the field together at the same time, healthy. This squad could possibly win a game or two.

—–

Mark Ellis hit the 15-day DL with his quad injury and is eligible to return on May 12, as the move was a retroactive one.

It took the Dodgers about a week longer than it should have, but as expected Mark Ellis was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Monday with a strained right quad.

Chris Capuano was activated from the disabled list and took his spot on the 25-man roster.

—–

Jerry Hairston Jr. hit the DL with a strain of his left groin. Elian Herrera was recalled to take his place.

The Dodgers made it official on Tuesday, placing Jerry Hairston on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left groin.

Based on various beat reports from Monday, Hairston tried to test his groin during pregame workouts but was unable to complete them. Hairston aggravated the injury on Saturday night in San Francisco, but appeared as a pinch hitter on Sunday.

Hairston was pretty much the only guy with any amount of power on the bench.

—–

Scott Elbert is set to begin a rehab assignment and could be available in the next week to week and a half.

Reliever Scott Elbert, healed from two left elbow operations, will begin a Minor League rehab assignment Friday for Class A Rancho Cucamonga and could be back in the Dodgers’ bullpen within seven to 10 days.

Elbert threw a simulated game Saturday in extended spring training in Arizona, employing a revamped delivery designed to ease stress on his elbow after undergoing two offseason operations and a platelet-rich plasma injection during Spring Training.

Well, this is a bright spot at least.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Zack Greinke appears to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from a broken collarbone.

The original diagnosis after the surgery was for Greinke to return to pitching for the Dodgers in eight weeks after the Apr. 13 procedure, which would put him in line for a return around June 8. But given that Greinke is already throwing bullpen sessions, his return could come sooner than that.

Ken Gurnick has the details:

Greinke threw all of his pitches and said he had no discomfort. Original recovery estimate was eight weeks, but he’s ahead of that.

While I’m thrilled with this news, and it is a positive to counter all the bad, I would encourage them to take as much time as he needs to get back.

Besides being worried about him rushing it to help a struggling team, I would hope he’s given the time to adequately build his arm strength. Also, that he feels truly normal so that he’s not altering his mechanics. This is due to both injury and performance concerns.

—–

Adrian Gonzalez has been down and out for the past few days with a neck injury, and while there hasn’t been any indication that it’s serious enough to require a DL stint, it certainly doesn’t sound good.

Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez tried to play on Saturday night after sitting out Friday with a pain in his neck, but for the second consecutive night he was scratched from the starting lineup on Saturday against the Giants. Jerry Hairston will play first base in place of Gonzalez, and bat second.

Things figured to be bad for Gonzalez, who after Friday’s game told reporters, “I can’t turn my neck right now,” per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.

Even on Saturday, though he was originally penciled into the lineup, Gonzalez spent the bulk of pregame getting treatment on his neck, and per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com was walking around the clubhouse wearing a soft neck brace. I’m no doctor, but that is almost never a good sign for anyone, let alone a professional athlete.

The weird part? On the play he was hurt, there’s barely any direct contact with his head/neck and the umpire at all.

Via Mike Petriello

I’m not sure his head/neck area even make direct contact. Not questioning his injury in any way, just mentioning it to point out how unlucky this team has been so far in 2013.

This injury sort of sums it up.

—–

Hanley Ramirez was placed on the 15-day DL with his hamstring injury, which seems as serious as it looked.

Ramirez led off the sixth inning with a walk against Barry Zito, then tried to advance to third base on a single to right field by A.J. Ellis. But between second and third base, Ramirez pulled up and slowed down, and appeared to favor his left leg.

Ramirez was helped off the field by team trainers, and replaced in the bottom of the inning by Justin Sellers at shortstop.

Early reports have the injury being compared to Matt Kemp‘s injury from 2012, and we know how that derailed his year.

—–

Chris Capuano is on pace to join the rotation this coming week.

Chris Capuano pitched into the sixth inning Wednesday night in his minor league rehab start with Triple-A Albuquerque, and remains in line to join the Dodgers when they open a series next week at Dodger Stadium against the Diamondbacks.

Capuano allowed two runs on seven hits in his 5⅓ innings, and struck out four with just one walk against Memphis. He had a bit of a scare in the third inning when he knocked down a comebacker with his bare hand, per Isotopes beat writer Chris Jackson, but Capuano was no worse for wear and remained in the game.

Capuano was removed after 76 pitches, presumably after hitting a prescribed pitch count limit. For what it’s worth, Isotopes play-by-play announcer Josh Suchon described Capuano’s outing as “solid” and said the left-hander “looks ready.”

Capuano and Greinke figure to come back soon, one after the other, so the rotation hopefully won’t be in shambles like it is now.

—–

Mark Ellis continues to make improvements, but how much longer can they wait?

Ellis said Wednesday that he was feeling better and was able to field, throw, hit and move laterally with no issue. But he was still unable to run at full speed.

The Dodgers need to open a roster spot for Clayton Kershaw to return from the bereavement list and make his scheduled start Friday at San Francisco.

Does Ellis believe he will be healthy enough to play Friday?

“We’ll see; I won’t know until Friday,” Ellis said before Wednesday’s game against the Rockies. “If it progresses every day like it has, I’d be optimistic. But it’s early in the season still, so we’ll see.”

If Ellis is unavailable again Friday, the Dodgers would most likely place the veteran on the disabled list.

Great that he’s not in the “gonna miss a month” territory with this, but they need to make a decision. The bench is terrible as it is, and they can’t just keep them a man down.

Given his age and injury history, I honestly don’t see why they don’t just play it safe.

—–

Carl Crawford (hamstring) isn’t a DL situation yet, Don Mattingly says.

— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) May 1, 2013

Fortunately it seems like he’s about ready, as he pinch-hit yesterday.

—–

Jerry Hairston Jr. seems to think he’s okay after pulling up a bit lame while scoring last night.

Jerry Hairston, starting at first base Saturday night in place of the injured Adrian Gonzalez, was removed in the fifth inning in a double-switch, although he confirmed he “felt a little bit of a tweak in the groin” to explain why he was limping while scoring on Matt Kemp’s two-run single.

“I felt fine and could have stayed in the game. It was very minor,” Hairston said. “It was just a natural double-switch but I could have played. It’s really a non-issue. I hit the bag funny rounding third and I just wanted to make sure I didn’t overextend.”

Mattingly said he was told that Hairston was OK, “but I’m not sure what that means. We’ll see tomorrow.”

Again, this doesn’t seem major, but if this many guys are unavailable or borderline unavailable, it eats into an already weak and decimated bench.

—–

As you guys know, Ted Lilly was put on the DL with a rib cage strain.

—–

Down in the minors, it’s been a busy week:

Placed on 7-day DL: RHP Gustavo Gomez, RHP JonMichael Redding, LHP Onelki Garcia, C Jan Vazquez, 1B Chris Jacobs, 2B Rafael Ynoa

Reinstated from DL: RHP Matt Palmer, SS Ozzie Martinez, OF Yasiel Puig

Would like to know what Onelki Garcia‘s ailment is, since he’s the top prospect in the group. Rafael Ynoa is a potential contributor as well.

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 had a metal plate inserted into his clavicle to stabilize the fracture. But that’s not prevented him from beginning a throwing program.

“It’s still a little achy here and there, but nothing worse than what you would expect, I think,” Greinke said. “You try not to have setbacks but at the same time do what you can.”

Greinke is likely to be sidelined until mid-June, but the Dodgers are still pleased with his progress.

“I was pretty excited when he walked through the weight room today,” manager Don Mattingly said before Monday’s game. “He’s feeling better. We’re getting closer. We’ll see if he’s sore tomorrow or feels good again.”

He doesn’t appear to be ahead of or behind the schedule.

—–

Ted Lilly is hurt … again. This time it’s back stiffness that has felled the southpaw.

In what is becoming an almost daily occurrence, another Dodgers pitcher is hurt. Ted Lilly, who lasted just three innings in Monday’s 12-2 loss to the Rockies, has stiffness in his back and will have an MRI exam on Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury.

Both Lilly and manager Don Mattingly downplayed the injury after the game.

“I think he’s okay. From what I heard afterwards, he got kind of tight somewhere in his back there,” Mattingly said. “It’s something that he’s had before. We didn’t hear anything about it before the game.”

Lilly said he first felt back tightness on Thursday, the day after his start in New York, when he gave up one run in five innings to the Mets. But he didn’t think it would last, as he had a similar issue that went away quickly at the beginning of the 2012 season.

Lilly received a cortisone injection in his rib cage and has been shut down for two days.

The Dodgers said Lilly will be reevaluated again on Thursday to determine the next course of action. If he is unable to start on Saturday against the Giants in San Francisco, it is likely that start will go to Matt Magill, who made his major league debut on Saturday against the Brewers.

“I think I have a few things to be concerned about. The back being one of them, and just ineffectiveness,” Lilly said on Monday night. “There are a lot of guys in this clubhouse not feeling as good as they’d like to, but you still expect to get the results you’re looking for.”

Matt Magill over Ted Lilly, healthy or otherwise.

—–

Carl Crawford was scratched from Tuesday’s game due to tightness in his right hamstring.

Carl Crawford was scratched from the lineup tonight for precautionary reasons due to tightness in his right hamstring.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 30, 2013

Because … of course. Whether it’s serious or not is not yet known, but hamstring issues can linger, regardless.

—–

Hanley Ramirez and his thumb are back in action in The Show.

“I just want to play. I don’t want to wait any longer. I think I can play,” Ramirez said before Monday’s game with the Rockies. “If it’s tomorrow, it’s fine. If it’s tonight, it’s fine. It’s not my decision.”

The Dodgers activated Ramirez from the disabled list before Monday’s game, and placed Clayton Kershaw on the bereavement list.

Ramirez was 3-for-6 (.500) with a double and three runs batted in and a run scored in two minor league rehab games on Saturday and Sunday with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. He didn’t make any throws on Sunday, but manager Don Mattingly was impressed with what he saw of Ramirez on tape.

Don’t dive head-first for a while, Hanley. :o

—–

Chad Billingsley does not regret the path he chose after learning his elbow was seriously injured late last season.

Chad Billingsley said he doesn’t regret choosing platelet-rich plasma injections over Tommy John surgery last year.

— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) April 30, 2013

He also said he thinks he’ll be ready for 2014 Opening Day. If that seems optimistic, it’s because it is. Realistically, hopefully he’s back and healthy by the 2014 All-Star Game break.

—–

Minor-league moves:

Placed on 7-day DL: C Webster Rivas, SS Ozzie Martinez
Reinstated from DL: C Pratt Maynard, SS Casio Grider, OF Brian Cavazos-Galvez

Also off the 7-day DL is Yasiel Puig.

—–

Alex Castellanos was also placed on the minor-league 7-day DL.

Those assumptions, however, proved incorrect as Castellanos was placed on the 7-day disabled list due to right forearm inflammation prior to Tuesday’s game.

“He’s got a little soreness in his forearm so we’re going to let it calm down a little bit,” manager Lorenzo Bundy said prior to the official DL announcement. “He could play, but we’re going to err on the safe side.”

So if something happens to Crawford, first call would probably go to Scott Van Slyke, even over Puig.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Stephen Fife is having shoulder problems, because why wouldn’t he with the way the injuries have been going for the Dodgers.

Stephen Fife, who was scheduled to start Saturday night against the Brewers, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder bursitis. Matt Magill was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque and will make his major league debut in place of Fife.

The upside is that the Dodgers get to test out their top prospects, I guess.

—–

Will Carroll is reporting Zack Greinke will begin a scheduled throwing session next week.

— Will Carroll (@injuryexpert) April 25, 2013

While it certainly seems like a quick recovery, Carroll also notes that it was always expected Greinke would resume throwing following the broken collarbone at this time. Therefore, it doesn’t mean he’ll return to game action any earlier than the original timetable of eight weeks.

Eric Stephen caught up with Don Mattingly and reports that Greinke’s throwing will not be strenuous for the time being.

Don Mattingly said Zack Greinke has been playing catch but nothing strenuous just yet. “He’s not going to start throwing bullpens.”

— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) April 27, 2013

—–

Chad Billingsley‘s elbow finally went boom, and the righty underwent Tommy John surgery, which will sideline him until sometime next season.

Chad Billingsley met with team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Tuesday and the news was not good. The Dodgers’ right-hander will need Tommy John surgery to repair the partially torn ligament in his right elbow. An MRI taken Saturday revealed an injury to the ligament.

Billingsley had increased tightness and pain in his right elbow in a bullpen session on Apr. 19, and he was scratched on Sunday in Baltimore and placed on the disabled list.

The surgery went off as expected with no complications.

The Tommy John surgery performed on Chad Billingsley’s right elbow Wednesday night went as expected, and he could be sidelined for a year.

Should his rehab go well, I would figure no earlier than after the 2014 All-Star Game for Bills’ return.

—–

Hanley Ramirez will head out on a rehab assignment beginning Saturday, as he continues to be ahead of schedule in his return from a torn ligament in his thumb.

Shortstop Hanley Ramirez is likely to begin a Minor League rehab assignment within the next few days, but he’ll still need to wear a splint when he returns to the Dodgers, because the repaired ligament in his right thumb will still be healing.

“Maybe by the end of next week I hope to be [active],” Ramirez said after an improved workout, watched by manager Don Mattingly. “It’s still swollen. It doesn’t look normal yet. I don’t want to come back and go back to the DL. It won’t be 100 percent, but it’ll be at a level I’m comfortable with.

“Right now I think about it a little bit. I still feel it. I have to wear the splint for six weeks. If I come back early, I still have to have it.”

After undergoing surgery on March 22, Ramirez was told his healing time would be six to eight weeks, but he’s been throwing and hitting for more than a week.

HanRam will head to Rancho Cucamonga for the assignment. His goal is to return by the time his “I See You” bobblehead is given out, which just so happens to be this Tuesday.

Rancho coming soon!!!!!

— Hanley Ramirez (@HanleyRamirez) April 25, 2013

—–

Mark Ellis left Friday’s game with a strained right quad suffered as he ran to first to try and beat out a grounder.

Ellis will have an MRI on Saturday and will likely hit the DL if the strain is confirmed.

“He kind of seemed to be optimistic, but we’ll just have to see. It’s tough to see that tonight. Tomorrow probably will be a better indicator.”

Mattingly didn’t want to speculate, but it does sound like an injury that will keep Ellis sidelined for the immediate future.

“If I had to guess, usually guys don’t come out of games like that and it not be something,” Mattingly said. “It’s usually something that’s not going to be a day or two.”

Much like with my fantasy team, the injuries are never-ending and one after another.

—–

Chris Capuano threw a bullpen session Thursday and will take the hill in a simulated game on Sunday. The lefty is on the mend after suffering a left calf strain in the Carlos Quentin Debacle and further aggravating the injury in his only start of the season.

“Cappy hasn’t had to stop at all because of his arm,” said Mattingly.

The next step for Capuano after the simulated game would be a minor league rehab start before he is ready to be activated. The date for Capuano to be activated figures to be May 8, the final game of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium against the Diamondbacks.

With Dodgers pitchers falling left and right, some good news is more than welcome.

—–

Shawn Tolleson had surgery on a herniated disk in his lower back and will be on the shelf for three to five months.

Dodgers reliever Shawn Tolleson was scheduled to undergo surgery for a herniated disk in his lower back Thursday. He will be out three to five months.

Tough break for a really talented guy.

—–

On the minor-league side of things, there were six DL moves made:

Placed on 7-day DL: C Webster Rivas, SS Ozzie Martinez, OF Yasiel Puig
Reinstated from DL: C Pratt Maynard, SS Casio Grider, OF Brian Cavazos-Galvez

Yasiel Puig obviously highlights that list.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Ted Lilly will make his first start of the season on Wednesday, replacing the injured Chris Capuano, who had replaced the injured Zack Greinke.

Ted Lilly will start Wednesday night’s game against the Mets, manager Don Mattingly confirmed Friday. Lilly replaces the injured Chris Capuano, who previously replaced the injured Zack Greinke.

“That’s our plan,” said Mattingly. “Obviously, he’s got to come out of the bullpen today and one more [side session], but that’s the plan.”

Though the results of his rehab starts were not necessarily good, Lilly was happy with the progression of each start.

Lilly said each of his three rehab starts was better than the previous with his delivery and ability to adjust. He said he’s looking forward to competing again in the Major Leagues for the first time since last May.

He’s back to reclaim his homer-giver-upper throne!

In all seriousness, he better be ready.

—–

Chad Billingsley was placed on the 15-day DL with right elbow pain. Stephen Fife was recalled to replace Bills and he started in his place on Sunday.

What was once a ridiculously deep starting staff has now been decimated, with three guys injured and a fourth dealt.

—–

Tim Federowicz was recalled for a second time to replace the injured Capuano.

One day after he left his start in the third inning against the Padres with a left calf strain, Dodgers pitcher Chris Capuano was placed on the 15-day disabled list. To take his place on the roster, the Dodgers recalled catcher Tim Federowicz from Triple-A Albuquerque.

With a trip to the American League, the Dodgers decided to bring up another bat rather than replace an arm with an arm.

—–

Josh Wall was recalled once again, taking the place of an injured Shawn Tolleson.

Wall, who was among the final roster cuts of spring training, had a 2.08 ERA in four games with the Isotopes with one save, five strikeouts and three walks in 4⅓ innings.

The move was announced literally right before first pitch and at the time Wall was en route to Dodger Stadium, on Jackie Robinson Night.

Unfortunately, at the rate he’s going, he’ll be back down sooner than later.

—–

Jerry Hairston Jr., who had been appealing his one-game suspension stemming from the Carlos Quentin debacle, dropped the appeal and served the suspension on Wednesday.

—–

The Dodgers signed pitcher Anthony Ortega to a minor-league deal and assigned him to AAA to replace the recently called-up Stephen Fife.

—–

The Dodgers continue to pluck from the international pool of talent, signing RHP Osiris Ramirez (Puerto Plata), RHP Angel German, and 3B Jimy Perez (Bani).

—–

A slew of minor-league moves also went down:

Signed: RHP Victor Arano, 2B David Compton, OF Antonio Torres
Released: RHP Danny Carela
Loaned To Mexican League: RHP Javier Solano (Monterrey), LHP Thomas Melgarejo (Saltillo), 2B Jesus Alberto Arredondo (Monclova)

Biggest name on that list is probably relief pitcher Javier Solano.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Chad Billingsley, with his elbow basically hanging by a thread and ready to explode at any moment, has been placed on the 15-day DL with right elbow pain. The move is retroactive to April 16 and it marks his second stint on the DL in the young season.

#Dodgers place RHP Chad Billingsley on 15-day DL (right elbow pain) retroactive to 4/16 and recall RHP Stephen Fife to make today’s start.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 21, 2013

Billingsley underwent a MRI exam yesterday. Results still haven’t been reviewed by #DrNealElAttrache.

— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) April 21, 2013

Billingsley said the feeling in his elbow isn’t the same as last year.This elbow pain didn’t happen on 1 pitch like last year

— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) April 21, 2013

While it was an admirable attempt to help the team, at least in theory, he really should have gotten Tommy John surgery last August/September.

Stephen Fife was recalled to replace Bills and started Sunday in his place.

—–

Hanley Ramirez continues to progress with his rehab, though Don Mattingly doesn’t foresee a rehab assignment for another week or so.

Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez took live early batting practice at Camden Yards before Friday night’s game and hit with power, but manager Don Mattingly said a Minor League rehab assignment is still at least a week away.

“It’s still a little sore in the joint, three weeks without moving it,” said Ramirez, who appeared ginger on his throws to first base.

“What he’s been able to do has shocked all of us,” said Mattingly. “Taking BP, his swing is like normal. Is he able to do that without the brace? There’s still healing to be done. It seems his throwing, he still has trouble with the feel making all his throws. He asked if he could DH tonight and I couldn’t hardly argue. I wouldn’t mind it.”

The Dodgers are pleased with the power Ramirez has shown in BP, and the fact that he’s healing ahead of schedule bodes well for a team with offensive vortexes at both 3B and SS.

—–

Chris Capuano hit the 15-day DL with a left calf strain suffered during the Carlos Quentin/Zack Greinke incident two Thursdays ago.

#Dodgers place LHP Chris Capuano on 15-day DL (left calf strain); recall C Tim Federowicz from @abqtopes.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 17, 2013

Capuano received treatment between the original injury and his spot-start on Tuesday, before re-injuring it during the game while running to cover first base.

The left calf strain that put Dodgers pitcher Chris Capuano on the disabled list on Wednesday originally surfaced on Thursday night during the benches-clearing incident in San Diego that sidelined Zack Greinke.

Capuano said he felt tightness before that game and felt it worsen while sprinting in from the bullpen during the fracas that was triggered when Greinke hit Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin with a pitch.

Capuano said he thought the injury had responded enough to four days of treatment to allow him to start Tuesday night in Greinke’s place, only for the muscle to partially tear when he sprinted off the mound to cover first base in the second inning.

Chris had an MRI and received an injection of platelet-rich plasma in the affected area on Thursday.

—–

Where is Yasiel Puig? On the DL.

The answer to why Dodgers outfield prospect Yasiel Puig didn’t play for Double-A Chattanooga on Friday night was the simplest of sorts. No, he wasn’t en route to Baltimore to join the Dodgers. Instead, Puig was placed on the seven-day disabled list with a sprained left thumb, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.

While this should serve to blunt the madness surrounding his name, he desperately needs the plate appearances.

—–

Down on the farm, five Dodgers got healthy and three more hit the DL.

RHP Matt Shelton, C Pratt Maynard, and OF Devin Shines were placed on the 7-day DL, while RHP Steve Ames, RHP Juan Noriega, C Jan Vazquez, SS Ozzie Martinez, and OF Pat Stover were reinstated from the DL.

=====

Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Tom Garfinkel, President and CEO of the Padres, spoke with season-ticket holders about the Zack Greinke/Carlos Quentin brawl, and he placed the blame on Greinke for the incident.

While somewhat deluded, it’s not all that surprising. However, also included on the tape that Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports acquired is audio of him essentially mocking Greinke (who has social anxiety disorder) as autistic.

“He threw at him on purpose, OK?” Garfinkel told an estimated crowd of 40 or 50 at Petco Park on Friday, a day after the fight. “That’s what happened. They can say 3-and-2 count, 2-1 game, no one does that. Zack Greinke is a different kind of guy. Anyone seen ‘Rain Man’? He’s a very smart guy.”

What a class act.

The ignorance of equating autism and anxiety is astounding, and it speaks to the general notion that anybody not considered “normal” between the ears can be generalized with a catch-all “head case” pejorative.

I expect as much from players and managers, but from the President and CEO? Disgusting. One would think they would at least know better.

Garfinkel went on to apologize to Stan Kasten and Greinke … but not really:

“I was emotional the day after the game and regrettably, while defending our player, I said some things I shouldn’t have, especially as it relates to Zack Greinke,” Garfinkel told Yahoo! Sports. “I was out of line and I apologize.

The thing is though, he doesn’t care. Remember, this was a private meeting with a group of season-ticket holders, so he only cares that he got caught.

I mean, he said as much himself:

“This is my opinion, and I can’t say it publicly,” Garfinkel told the crowd, “but I guess this is public, so please don’t tweet it out. We’re in the trust tree here, in the nest.

In his apology, he doesn’t specifically address what was wrong about his rant. Rather, he just gives a stock ‘sorry’ because he’s in damage control mode.

As if to pile on with his ignorance, he goes on to literally make up justifications for Quentin charging the mound, blames Greinke for getting hurt, and makes a comment in opposition to what Quentin has said to the media.

“Obviously, I don’t condone fighting and I wish it wouldn’t have happened. You never want to see any player get hurt.”

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m 6-3, 225,” Garfinkel told the ticket holders. “If Carlos Quentin was running at me, I would not put my shoulder down.”

I got into a few arguments over this logic on Twitter, but to me, arguing this is completely asinine. Basically, he’s criticizing how Greinke choose to defend himself.

Why … why is the person being attacked responsible for the damage done to him?

“I mean, yeah, he got punched in the face. But your honor, why didn’t the victim turn his head away to lessen the damage?”

Sweet argument.

Then there’s this point lie he told, which Passan called him on:

Garfinkel’s certainty about the purpose of the pitch stemmed from information he received about Greinke’s predilection to avoid pitching inside as well as the belief in the Padres’ front office that the count and situation didn’t necessarily absolve him from intentionally hitting Quentin. Garfinkel told the crowd he saw a heat map, which highlights the locations a pitcher has targeted in the past, and that it showed over the last three years Greinke had not thrown a single pitch on a 3-2 count to right-handed hitters on the inner half of the plate.

The heat map was misleading. PITCHf/x data provided by Baseball Prospectus’ Dan Brooks and Harry Pavlidis shows of the 219 full-count pitches Greinke threw to right-handers from 2010-2012, 81 were on the inner half of the plate. While the 37 percent inside rate is among the bottom one-third among starting pitchers, the data shows, Greinke is nowhere near the unlikeliest to throw there on full counts – and had gone there plenty of times, both in and out of the strike zone, in recent years.

Welp, so much for that.

Also amusing was this part of the speech, in which he blames Greinke for not starting a dialogue with Quentin:

Greinke also knew the potential consequences of hitting Quentin, Garfinkel told the crowd. A threat for retribution had been relayed to him following the second time he plunked Quentin with a pitch, in 2009.

“When Zack Greinke threw at his head a couple times, [Quentin] let it be known through teammates and intermediaries and others that if he does that again, he’s going to have a problem,” Garfinkel said. “This was a couple years ago. So Zack was very aware of that and Zack never apologized and never told him, ‘Hey, I didn’t mean to throw at you. It got away from me.’ Whatever. This was a couple years ago. He knew darn well that was going [to happen].”

Let me get this straight, Tom. You insult the guy for being “Rain Man“, but you expect the same person, who actually has social anxiety disorder, to open up a dialogue with a rival who’s pissed at him?

Again, sound logic. Seems like Tom really thought this one through.

Perhaps dumbest of all, though, is his admission that neither the organization nor Quentin knows what Greinke said to Quentin prior to him charging the mound:

Following the brawl and his ejection, Quentin insinuated that Greinke had said something to him, prompting him to charge the mound, and that it “was the final straw.” Garfinkel said neither he nor Quentin is certain of what Greinke said, and that even some people in the Padres’ baseball-operations department who can read lips were unsure.

“We don’t know what he said,” Garfinkel said. “I asked Carlos. He doesn’t know what he said. I do know that, I mean, everybody saw the tape. Everybody saw what happened. He didn’t say, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you.’ He threw his glove down, stuck his chest out.”

1) He threw his glove down after Quentin had started charging him. You have to be seriously delusional to dispute this … which is why he’s disputing it.

2)

Carlos Quentin to media: “I charged Greinke because of what he said to me.” Padres CEO to fans: “Carlos doesn’t know what Greinke said.” OK.

— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) April 18, 2013

Oops.

Way to call your own player’s truthfulness into question.

—–

So not only did Garfinkel represent the Padres poorly by showing off his ignorance, lack of rationality, and by outright lying, but he also indirectly called Quentin a liar by revealing that nobody has any idea what Greinke said, despite that being used as justification for fighting him.

So if there was any doubt that all of this was nothing more than the result of a Quentin temper tantrum (he once ended his own season with one), and that Quentin’s excuses for the incident after the fact are all baloney, then there shouldn’t be anymore. None of them knows what happened, and they can’t even get their stories straight, but they’ll go to the media saying they know the reason stuff went down, they’ll take offensive jabs at the opposition, and they’ll lie to their fanbase to justify it all.

Pathetic.

Hanley Ramirez has resumed baseball activities, including hitting off of a tee and light toss. He plans to return earlier than the timetable originally given, but the Dodgers aren’t getting ahead of themselves.

Ramirez told reporters Tuesday he would be back ‘way sooner’ than May 17, and that “everybody is going to be shocked” at how quickly he returns.

Manager Don Mattingly was similarly excited but less specific than Ramirez.

“He was in there swinging, and he looks good. Hanley’s moving forward, that’s for sure,” Mattingly said. “I’m going out on a limb and saying it’s not going to be eight weeks.”

So basically he’s declaring himself a miracle, which is fine with me considering the infield situation on the left side.

The sooner he gets back, the better.

—–

Zack Greinke underwent surgery on his broken left collarbone, and the procedure went as expected.

Dodgers right-handed pitcher Zack Greinke had successful surgery to repair a broken left collarbone on Saturday in Los Angeles, the team announced. As previously thought, Greinke is expected to miss eight weeks after the procedure.

The surgery was performed on Saturday by Dr. John Itamura and Dr. Neal ElAttrache at White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles. The 90-minute procedure fixed the fracture of Greinke’s left clavicle, and involved the placement of a metal plate to stabilize the fracture.

The timetable for Zack’s return is eight weeks, which is about as good as the team could have hoped for.

—–

Ted Lilly agreed to make yet another minor-league rehab start.

It appears that left-handed pitcher Ted Lilly and the Dodgers have agreed to extend their inconvenient arrangement a little while longer. Lilly has agreed to make another minor league start on his rehabilitation assignment, a change from his weekend stance.

“It’s really been above me, what’s going on. They’ve been working it out,” Mattingly said. “We just give our baseball opinion, on what we felt like he needed, and they worked it out.”

Then he made it and impressed Ken Howell.

If and when the Dodgers need a replacement for the injured Chris Capuano, Ted Lilly is ready, assistant pitching coach Ken Howell said Tuesday night.

“He looked tonight like a Major League pitcher,” said Howell. “He managed the game, his pitches were crisper, he competed better. That’s what I was looking for. He pitched better than the numbers indicate.”

Looks more and more likely that he’ll have to be ready, due to a sudden lack of rotation depth.

—–

Speaking of the devil, Chris Capuano, filling in for an injured Greinke, left Tuesday’s game with a left calf strain. He’s headed for an MRI on Friday, according to Don Mattingly.

Oh, this start to the season just keeps getting better and better.

—–

The recently called-up Shawn Tolleson made one appearance before hitting the 15-day DL with a lower back strain.

Tolleson was recalled on Friday when Zack Greinke went on the disabled list, and pitched in the series opener against the Diamondbacks. Tolleson came in with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth inning with the Dodgers trailing 1-0, but he walked both hitters he faced to force in two inherited runs.

The move is retroactive to April 13, so Tolleson can be activated April 28 if he’s healthy.

As far as his recovery goes, Tolleson has been shut down from throwing for the next week, and he actually felt something before stepping onto the field, but he didn’t address the issue until after putting himself at further risk.

He thinks the travel may have affected his back, but for whatever reason he felt tightness before the his appearance on Friday.

“It was kind of tight all day, and tight when I was warming up. I wasn’t worried about it when I was pitching, I was just trying to throw strikes,” Tolleson said. “But when I came out of the game it just really tightened up on me.”

Sounds iffy as to whether or not he’ll be back after his 15 days are up.

—–

In better news, Carl Crawford has been cleared to resume throwing normally.

Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford continues to build arm strength following offseason Tommy John Surgery, enough for Dodgers trainers to give him the green light to bypass his cutoff man and throw to the bag when the situation calls for it.

“I’m glad to hear that, actually, because I think as much as anything, he’s been throwing the ball pretty good,” manager Don Mattingly said before Tuesday’s game against the Padres. “I just don’t think he’s been feeling like he should be letting it go. So when the trainers tell him it’s OK, I think it makes you feel better as a player. You can turn it loose.”

Guys have been taking advantage of his throwing arm, but I’m not sure how much of that is due to the surgery and how much of that is just normal for him.

Either way, he’s playing well enough overall for it not to matter.

—–

Scott Elbert, on the shelf following left elbow surgery, is progressing in his rehab and responding well to plasma-rich platelet injections.

After two offseason elbow operations, Elbert experienced a setback midway through Spring Training, received a PRP injection and has rebounded steadily since. He has been throwing hard on flat ground this weekend and could be pitching off a mound in a week or two.

“I’m definitely a lot better, either from the PRP or the shoulder exercises, which also help the elbow because everything is incorporated,” said Elbert. “I wasn’t able to throw more than 75 feet in Spring Training, but I’m up to 90 feet now and my mechanics are a lot better.”

Even if he’s behind two other lefties right now, with the way the season is going, the depth would be nice to have.

—–

Steven Ames was placed on the minor-league 7-day DL.

=====

Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

The Zack Greinke/Carlos Quentin/Dodgers/Padres debacle led to a lot of discussion and a couple of suspensions/fines: one for Quentin and one for Jerry Hairston Jr.

While Zack Greinke is expected to miss eight weeks after surgery to repair his broken left collarbone, Carlos Quentin of the Padres will miss eight games.

Jerry Hairston, who ran toward the Padres dugout after the initial melee died down, was suspended for one game.

Both Quentin and Hairston were fined an undisclosed amount, and both are appealing their suspensions. Both are starting in left field for their respective teams Friday night. Neither Greinke nor Matt Kemp, the other two players ejected, will be suspended.

For the best interests of both teams, MLB suggested to Quentin that he drop the appeal, and it was reported that he would. Yesterday, he did exactly that, and he will be suspended during the upcoming series.

—–

Tim Federowicz, as expected, was optioned to AAA to clear room on the 25-man roster for the returning Chad Billingsley.

“It’s tough. It’s one of those things as a young player. I have options left, and that’s just the way it is,” Federowicz said before Tuesday’s game. “You need some protection at the catchers spot if someone were to get hurt. We only had two on the roster, so they figured they had to do something.”

Ramon Hernandez will now serve as A.J. Ellis‘ backup, but give me Timmy every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

—–

Shawn Tolleson was recalled from AAA to replace the injured Greinke.

His stay on the team depends on what the Dodgers decide to do with Ted Lilly…

…and speaking of the devil, Lilly refused an assignment to continue rehabbing in the minors.

The Dodgers on Saturday asked Lilly to continue his Minor League rehab assignment with two more starts and he declined. He can’t be sent out without his permission and he declared himself healthy and ready to pitch in the Major Leagues.

The club disagrees.

“We laid out a plan and, obviously, he just didn’t like the plan,” said manager Don Mattingly, who put Chris Capuano in the starting rotation, and not Lilly, to replace the injured Zack Greinke. “From a baseball standpoint, we felt he wasn’t quite ready for what we want him to do, to start.”

“We laid out a plan and Teddy doesn’t want to be part of the plan. It’s out of my hands. We didn’t feel he was ready to pitch at the Major League level. For me, it’s a baseball decision. It’s nothing personal in any way, shape or form. We’re giving him our baseball thoughts, what we think is best for him and the team.”

In two rehab starts between the A+ and AAA levels, Lilly has a 7.50 ERA in 12 innings. Combine that with a horrible Spring Training and it’s hard to disagree with the team here.

But besides his performance why do they want to keep him in the minors, right? Well, Chris Capuano will make the start Tuesday in place of the injured Greinke.

Capuano has pitched two games in relief, including Thursday night directly following Greinke after he broke his left collarbone in a brawl against the Padres. In 2⅔ innings, Capuano allowed only two hits, a walk, and no runs, with four strikeouts. Capuano was 12-12 with a 3.72 ERA in 33 starts for the Dodgers in 2012.

So basically there’s no room in the rotation for Lilly, and Capuano is the right choice here.

—–

The Dodgers signed first baseman Sean Burroughs to a minor-league deal. Frankly, it was surprising to find out he was even still in baseball.

Just minor-league depth though.

=====

Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

MLB doesn’t want to see things get ugly between the Dodgers and the Padres on Monday, and Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the league will try to make their ruling on the matter by the time the series rolls around.

Major League Baseball is speeding up Carlos Quentin’s appeal of his eight-game suspension — a suspension that stems from his recent dust-up with Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke — so that he can begin serving his time before his Padres and those same Dodgers meet in Los Angeles on Monday. Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that a ruling on Quentin’s appeal could come as soon as Sunday.

“Major League Baseball is very aware of the situation,” a league source told Center on Saturday. “I think everyone would like to see a little time between the incident and Quentin’s next appearance at Dodger Stadium.”

Given all that’s transpired, it’s probably for the best. To be frank, the last thing this team needs with Zack Greinke out is for another pitcher to get suspended or hurt fighting meaningless grudges with a last place team (Clayton Kershaw, that’s you).

——

The thing about this that irks me though, is that Carlos Quentin charging the mound has created a situation exactly like Greinke speculated Quentin may have been trying to accomplish, where now Dodger pitchers can’t go inside on him. Not because they’re intimidated by him, but because they risk getting thrown out or suspended by the MLB.

For most batters, that wouldn’t be an issue. For Quentin? It absolutely is. He’s been hit 116 times in 2801 career plate appearances, or about 4.1% of the time. Since he averages around four plate appearances a game and there’s three games in the upcoming series, it gives him 12 chances to get hit. The likelihood that he would get hit in the upcoming Dodgers/Padres series AT LEAST once is 39.5%. Skipping this upcoming series, assuming he serves a suspension during it, the teams meet seven more times in 2013, which comes out to a 69.0% chance he gets hit again by the Dodgers this year with no intent (assuming he plays normally, of course).

That is to say that even if the Dodger pitchers had zero interest in any revenge plunking, there’s actually a pretty good chance he would get hit at some point anyway, and the same holds for any future meetings. So not only did he get to take Greinke out of that game, and out of the rotation for two months, but now he’s made himself bulletproof as far as worrying about diving over the plate against the Dodgers in future match-ups.

Justice.

Zack Greinke has a broken left collarbone because Carlos Quentin is an imbecile.

The initial timetable is eight weeks following surgery, and Greinke has traveled back to LA to visit with team doctor Neal ElAttrache and go under the knife.

A CT scan of the left clavicle showed that Greinke needs a rod placed to stabilize and align the fracture. The surgery will be performed Saturday by team physicians Dr. ElAttrache and Dr. John Itamura, at White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles.

This whole situation was just … unnecessary and terrible for the Dodgers. Quentin just has to walk 90 feet to first.

—–

Hanley Ramirez is progressing with his rehab following surgery on his torn thumb ligament suffered during the World Baseball Classic, as he had his cast removed.

“He’s actually been able to do quite a bit of baseball stuff. Hopefully that will shorten the timetable for when he comes back, to be sharper,” said manager Don Mattingly.

Ramirez isn’t what he used to be, but compared to what the Dodgers are currently trotting out on the left side of the infield, he would be a savior.

—–

The heart ailment that has felled Kenley Jansen numerous times over the last couple of seasons is now fully healed, and Jansen does not have to worry about a recurrence.

“It was a fairly successful operation to begin with, but it was very successful on him,” said Stan Conte, the Dodgers’ head of medical services. “His conditioning has improved, which, I think, is a direct reflection of the surgery. Now, he has a normal heart.”

“When I got an a-fib, my heart rate was like 200,” Jansen said. “It’s crazy. It’s beating quick and out of rhythm, and you get tired. That’s the scary part, that you’re tired. You feel like you’re running all the time.”

“It’s finally fixed,” Jansen, 25, said with a smile.

Excellent news for Kenley both on and off the field.

—–

Chad Billingsley‘s return to The Show from an injured finger on his pitching hand went pretty well, as he went six in his first start of the season. He fanned three and allowed eight baserunners.

Most importantly though, Chad’s elbow, finger, and groin did not give him trouble, and the bit of rust was to be expected considering he hadn’t pitched in a major-league game since late August of last year.

—–

Ted Lilly went six in a rehab start with the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes.

He seems to be close to “ready”.

=====

Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

C.J. Nitkowski, for reasons unknown, decided to inject himself into the Zack Greinke/Carlos Quentin/Dodgers/Padres brawl discussion, basically saying that Quentin doesn’t hang over the plate any more than Matt Kemp does.

Carlos Quentin stands on top of the plate, hangs over the strike zone? You sure about that? twitter.com/CJNitkowski/st…

— CJ Nitkowski (@CJNitkowski) April 12, 2013

Kemp, same camera, same angle. twitter.com/CJNitkowski/st…

— CJ Nitkowski (@CJNitkowski) April 12, 2013

Damning screencaps, right? Yeah, a lot of people seemed to think so, hence this response, because they both conveniently only show their setups and don’t show why pitchers complain about Quentin diving over the plate and why he gets hit so much.

I find it interesting that he clearly appears to be misleading his followers here, because it’s obvious that the point of contention is how they end up after footstrike, not how they setup. I mean, who cares how a guy sets up if he’s on top of the plate when the ball is about to cross it.

Anyway, so what’s up with the differing reputations of Quentin and Kemp if we’re to believe what the screencaps show, right?

Ah right, it’s because Kemp actually tends to pull out and away from the plate after his setup, while Quentin … well … he dives in after his setup, sort of like everybody has been saying.

That’s both of them at footstrike, where it actually matters in terms of getting out of the way of being hit.

It sort of sucks that both are wearing dark undershirts, because it’s hard to tell exactly where their elbows are (Quentin’s is basically over the inside corner), but it’s still clear to see why Quentin would get hit more than Kemp.

Besides the fact that it’s harder to rotate out of the way when you dive towards the plate, thus making it harder to avoid being HBP (it’s why he can’t simply move like NotGraphs wants), Kemp has a ton more room for a pitcher to miss inside before even coming close to hitting him. With Quentin, if you miss anywhere in and above the belt, he’s at risk to take it off his forearm. You know, sort of like he did twice in this series. And 100+ other times over his career.

To be frank, I feel stupid for even having to write this post, since a player doesn’t have one of the highest HBP rates ever for no reason, but people seem to actually be buying into this garbage, and Jayson Stark actually retweeted it as “interesting”, so it deserved an explanation.

So in case you were under a rock yesterday, Zack Greinke has a broken collarbone and is out for a while, essentially because Carlos Quentin is an idiot.

As one would imagine, the reactions to what went down from the Dodgers dugout, media, and bloggers weren’t the most pleasant towards Quentin.

=====

Don Mattingly called him an idiot and said he should be suspended for however long Greinke is out.

“I don’t understand it either. We’re in a 2-1 game, and on a 3-2 pitch to guy I saw on the board set a record for the Padres by getting hit, a guy that basically dives into the plate. In a 2-1 game we’re trying to hit him 3-2? It’s just stupid, is what it is,” said manager Don Mattingly. “He should not play a game until Greinke can throw a pitch. If he plays before Greinke pitches, something is wrong.”

“He caused the whole thing,” Mattingly said of Quentin. “Nothing happens if you go to first base like in baseball you know you do, because you know he’s not throwing at you 3-2, in a 2-1 game. That’s zero understanding of the game of baseball.”

I don’t disagree.

—–

Matt Kemp went the extra mile to try and find out why Quentin charged the mound.

Kemp and Quentin were nose-to-nose before Richard stepped in. Kemp kept asking Quentin why he did it.

Matt Kemp confronted Carlos Quentin as the 2 were leaving Petco Park. Clayton Richard, cops, security broke it up.

Pretty stupid when you think about it. Last thing the team needs is for him to get hurt and/or suspended for dealing with that asshole.

While on the field though, Kemp lost it after he heard about Greinke being hurt.

Mattingly on Matt Kemp, one of three ejected: “once he knew Zack was hurt, he lost it

That reaction is more understandable to me.

—–

A.J. Ellis said that even a Padres player thought it was bullshit.

A.J. Ellis said #Padres players apologized for Quentin’s actions. “It’s not right, it’s not right,” he said one player told him.

Amusing that people are defending Quentin when people on his own team don’t even agree … off the record, of course.

—–

Speaking of the Padres, in a move of sheer class, Jerry Hairston Jr. relays that the reason he ran over to the Padres dugout, after things had seemingly settled a bit, was to confront a player making fun of the injured Greinke.

“It’s terrible. It’s unacceptable, and I lost it. If a guy’s going to hit you, he’s going to hit you on the very first pitch. This is The Show, you don’t do that stuff. My teammate now has a broken f—ing collarbone, because he hit you on a 3-2 pitch?” Hairston said. “I don’t know Carlos at all, I really don’t, but he was wrong.”

Hairston was ejected for going after one of the Padres after the initial melee had died down.

“I was playing peacemaker, just trying to break it up. Obviously Zack was hurt. One of the guys was chirping the whole time, making fun of him for having the hurt shoulder, broken collarbone, or whatever,” Hairston said.

Losing Zack stings, but we ll pick each other up. Zacks like my little brother. Saw someone making fun of him being injured. Not cool!!

Hairston said it wasn’t Yonder Alonso, and I’ve heard it was John Baker, which would make perfect sense since he’s a backup catcher nobody that will never have to answer for running his mouth. Who knows what the truth is, but it would explain why Hairston lost it.

=====

As far Quentin goes, his excuses after the game were about as irrational as you’d expect.

Quentin blames Greinke for history of HBP. Quentin said he has led league in HBP 2 years running and has never charged mound in MLB.

Translation: “I always lead the league in being hit, but never charge the mound. I did this time though! Why? His fault! But I won’t tell you why.”

Quentin, asked if any remorse: “I did what I did. It could have been avoided.”

Yeah, by you not charging the mound.

Look, I mentioned this in the other post, but Quentin gets hit a lot because of how he dives into the plate, so him getting hit multiple times by pitchers he faced a ton shouldn’t be surprising. In fact, if getting hit by Greinke often was his rationale for being upset, then Jon Weisman found a list of players Quentin should have been raging at before tonight:

The short list of pitchers who clearly have it in for Carlos Quentin: twitter.com/jonweisman/sta…

— Jon Weisman (@jonweisman) April 12, 2013

It’s a long list for a reason, put it that way.

So, hear my plea Carlos Quentin: FUCKING MOVE!

Move out of the way. Just don’t be in that place when the pitch comes at you. I know some plunkings are unavoidable. But surely you can cut down on a lot of them. Duck, or spin away, or bend backward or something. Just fucking move. Take your walk the traditional way.

A post written in jest, but prophetic nevertheless.

—–

For his part, Greinke said he didn’t hit Quentin on purpose but knows Quentin thinks he did.

“The only thing I’ll say about that is that I’ve never hit him on purpose,” Greinke said. “He always seems to think I hit him on purpose, but that’s not the case.”

It was the third time in 31 career plate appearances that Greinke hit Quentin. But he is hardly alone in that regard, as Quentin leads the majors with 97 HBP since the beginning of 2008.

“I thought it was a ploy to get people to not throw inside to him, so he can lean out away,” Greinke said. “I don’t know anyone who has hit him on purpose.”

Quentin maintained Greinke hit him intentionally.

“Myself and Greinke have a history, it dates back to a few years ago. You guys could look it up. It’s documented. It’s unfortunate about the situation. It could have been avoided. You can ask Zack about that,” Quentin said. “I can tell you I’ve never responded in that fashion before.”

Speaking of Quentin complaining about getting hit while diving over the plate, Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong gave a quote last year when Quentin got mad at him for throwing inside that basically sums Quentin’s attitude up.

A reminder after taking in the brawl last night between the Dodgers and Padres after Zack Greinke hit Carlos Quentin, who then charged the pitcher and broke his collarbone: Last Aug. 19 in San Diego, Ryan Vogelsong had a beef with Quentin after hitting him with a pitch, and Clayton Richard retaliating by hitting Brandon Belt.

Vogelsong fumed after the game that Quentin crowds the plate and should not react the way he does.

“Go look at the video,” Vogelsong fumed. “It was a two-seamer that ran of the plate. That guy hammers balls over the plate and he gets pissed when you throw the ball inside. It doesn’t make sense. Every time you hit a guy in this game now they think you did it on purpose. It’s tired.”

Sounds familiar.

—–

As far as the accusation that Greinke was trying to instigate a fight:

Zack Greinke was asked if he wanted to fight Carlos Quentin. “I can’t remember the last time I wanted to get in a fight with someone.”

I think most would agree that he seems like the last person who would want to start anything physical.

=====

As for the opposing side, Padres fans are handling this extremely classy … hahahaha no.

This doesn’t even scratch the surface of it, but just to give you a taste:

*Click To Enlarge*

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My take: you never want to see a player charging the mound, but it’s not like it’s never happened before. (1/2)

— Nathan Veale (@The_NV) April 12, 2013

Greinke intentionally moved his body into harm’s way and charged at Quentin. He didn’t have to. That’s his own fault. (2/2)

— Nathan Veale (@The_NV) April 12, 2013

Quentin may have started it, but Greinke’s response was “challenge accepted.” You get what you ask for in this world.

— Nathan Veale (@The_NV) April 12, 2013

Remember guys, Quentin started it, we can all agree on that, but once Quentin started walking toward Greinke and then charged, Greinke didn’t run away, therefore, any injury suffered is HIS fault.

I’d hate for that guy to be in charge of the law. If you got assaulted on the street, his advice would be to not fight back or else you deserve everything that happens to you.

Logic.

=====

Anyway, reading through my Twitter timeline, seems like the consensus among even non-Dodger fans is “fuck Quentin”, so in conclusion:

Going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dodgers held a 2-1 lead over the Padres, and Zack Greinke was rolling along. Unfortunately, to lead off the inning, he hit Carlos Quentin with a 3-2 pitch.

Crappy situation to put the lead-off man on, obviously, but no big deal apart from that, except:

So Quentin is a goddamn idiot.

Nobody is dumb enough to think Greinke did that intentionally when he’s clinging onto a lead and rolling along, except Quentin, because apparently he’s still hanging on to something that happened FOUR YEARS AGO between the White Sox and Royals.

An instance between Carlos Quentin and Greinke with one out in the fourth stood out as the game’s only real fireworks, and even this uprising didn’t amount to much. Quentin was hit squarely in the back by a Greinke pitch and immediately took a couple of steps toward the mound.

Home-plate umpire Bill Hohn stepped in front of Quentin and catcher Miguel Olivo quickly restrained the slugger. Television broadcasts showed Quentin telling Olivo that he was all right, and Quentin moved down to first base.

By Greinke’s estimation, it was a first-inning pitch that got away and almost hit Quentin in the head causing the residual anger three innings later.

“He had a reason for [being upset],” said Greinke of Quentin. “Any time you throw it that high, it’s justified. You’ve got to be better than that and not pitch like that. You’re going to make mistakes, but the last thing you want to do is hit someone where it could seriously hurt them. As soon as I let go of it, I was scared for him.”

“Well, everybody that gets hit gets upset, especially when you aren’t swinging the bat well and all of a sudden you get hit,” Guillen said. “That’s part of the game. Carlos is a guy who is going to get hit a lot because he stands on top of the plate. I don’t think it was intentional.”

So at the time, Greinke was understanding about Quentin’s feelings, but even Quentin’s own manager, Ozzie Guillen, said he thought it wasn’t intentional.

Then there’s this fact:

One thing to consider: If Greinke had it out for Quentin, why wait? After HBP on April 8, 2009, they faced each other 15 times from ’09-’10.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 13, 2013

So there’s that.

If this was a vendetta on Greinke’s part, the argument is that he’s been holding this in for four years to get back at Quentin for … what reason now?

Ugh.

—–

And about Quentin crowding the plate? Yeah, he does it, and he gets hit A LOT by everybody.

There is one White Sox player who threatens to be the best ever at what he does: Carlos Quentin. That’s right, in more than 2,200 plate appearances, Quentin is already threatening the top of a certain leaderboard.

Yes. Carlos Quentin just might be the best hit-by-pitcher of all time. Since 2000, no one has managed to be hit in as many as four games in a row. Quentin was once hit in six games in a row, and is second on that same list with three straight earlier this month.

Quentin gets hit a lot, and by everybody, so for him to make this his stand is ridiculous.

He doesn’t even have good reason to have issue with Greinke specifically:

Tweet from Oney Guillen: “greinke has hit carlos many many times … told me long long time ago. if he does it again im going for him.”

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) April 12, 2013

@jay_jaffe Exactly. Blackburn, Lester and Bedard had done so even more often, 14 others in addition to Greinke had hit him twice.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) April 12, 2013

So despite Oney Guillen contradicting his own dad, being an idiot, and generally exaggerating, he confirms that Quentin has a vendetta against Greinke, not vice versa, despite the fact that he’s been hit twice or more by an awful lot of pitchers.

Look, if you’re going to crowd the plate in an attempt to take a side of it away from the pitcher and for better coverage, accept the consequences. You didn’t see Craig Biggio whining about it and throwing temper tantrums. It’s part of the deal.

The worst part though is that Greinke left the field with trainer Sue Falsone, meaning Quentin’s dumbass, illogical temper tantrum may have caused an injury.

Furthermore, the Dodgers basically have no recourse here, because the Padres suck:

Worst part is there’s no way to retaliate against this what do you do hit Will Venable?

— Andrew Grant (@realandrewgrant) April 12, 2013

As you know, I’m not one for throwing at guys as retaliation, but how are the Dodgers supposed to get justice for an opposing player basically trying to physically assault one of their own players? Trust MLB to do the right thing and suspend him for as many games as Greinke is out? Please, the team will never get the justice they want from them.

So now we all have to wait and hope that nothing is seriously wrong with Greinke, and all of this is because Quentin acted like a little child. And because he’s a fucking idiot.

—–

Update

BREAKING: Zack Greinke suffered a fractured left collarbone.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 12, 2013

Welp, there’s that.

Suspend him for three months.

—–

Matt Kemp thinks the whole situation is bullshit.

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 and 25th man, but it’s rare that a team with World Series hopes is still deciding on the rotation and the left side of the starting infield. Since the team’s starting SS is out for two months and there’s a surplus with eight starting pitchers, it’s anybody’s guess as to how it all shakes out.

Personally though, I have to figure the Opening Day 25-man roster looks something like what you see below.

—–

Starting Lineup

C – A.J. Ellis
1B – Adrian Gonzalez
2B – Mark Ellis
3B – Jerry Hairston Jr.
SS – Luis Cruz
LF – Carl Crawford
CF – Matt Kemp
RF – Andre Ethier

SS – Luis Cruz is a relatively easy choice for me at this spot. He plays solid defense at the position and is the best option available at the moment.

Yes, I’ve read the recent chatter about Justin Sellers getting this spot, which I suppose is possible. However, realistically I can only see that happening if they release Juan Uribe, or they trade both Aaron Harang and Chris Capuano AND go with 11 pitchers, or they roll with no real backup outfielder (Jerry Hairston Jr./Skip Schumaker).

My experience with Ned Colletti and Dodgers roster decision-making has led me to always go with the player who has experience, who is being paid by the team, and who is currently on the 40-man roster. Thus, no Sellers for me.

3B – Jerry Hairston Jr. and Skip Schumaker should platoon here. Hairston doesn’t actually have much of a split (.712 LHP/.694 RHP), but Schumaker does (.762 RHP/.521 LHP). If Don Mattingly plays his cards right here, there an off-chance the Dodgers don’t actually lose much except upside for the two months Hanley’s out, primarily because he plays terrible defense.

The alternative of Sellers’ .607 career MLB OPS, or his ~.700 career MILB OPS outside of the moon base in Albuquerque, is not appealing at all in lieu of an option like this. That logic HAS to win out, right? RIGHT?!

LF – Carl Crawford certainly looks on pace even though his already weak throwing arm looks pathetic right now. Still, he’s swinging a bat and nothing is wrong with his legs, so I can’t see him starting the year on the DL.

—–

Bench

B – Tim Federowicz
B – Nick Punto
B – Skip Schumaker
B – Juan Uribe
B – Alex Castellanos

DL – Hanley Ramirez

IF Bench – The trio of Nick Punto, Schumaker, and Uribe meet Colletti’s three standards, as reviewed above, so they’re basically locks to me. Tim Federowicz makes the team because they cut every other catcher in camp except Matt Wallach, and he’s not making the roster.

OF Bench – Why Alex Castellanos, right? Why over Elian Herrera and Alfredo Amezaga? Amezaga is simple, as he’s not on the 40-man. Herrera, who I don’t think is a quality player anyway, doesn’t provide the potential pop off the bench the Dodgers SORELY lack at the moment. Not putting Castellanos on the bench means the Dodgers would have four hitters with no power … and Uribe, who can’t hit at all.

—–

Starting Rotation

1 – Clayton Kershaw
2 – Zack Greinke
3 – Josh Beckett
4 – Chad Billingsley
5 – Hyun Jin Ryu

The order is jumbled because of injury and what not, but this is what was projected at the end of the off-season, and while it’s been an adventure to get here, it’s basically worked out how it was supposed to.

That said, given the way the schedule looks, it’s possible that Chad Billingsley or Zack Greinke could be put on the DL and have their turn skipped a couple times while they work into shape (Greinke) or recover from injury (Billingsley). Either way though, that would only buy the team 10 games or so to do something before a roster decision would be forced.

—–

Bullpen

CL – Brandon League
ST – Kenley Jansen
RP – Ronald Belisario
RP – J.P Howell
RP – Matt Guerrier
RP – Kevin Gregg
RP – Aaron Harang

DL – Scott Elbert
DL – Ted Lilly

Lefty Reliever – Sorry Paco Rodriguez, you might be better than two, three, or even four pitchers in the bullpen, but you have options, so bye bye.

Veteran Reliever – Kevin Gregg has a 0.87 ERA over 10.1 IP this spring, while Peter Moylan is at a 7.56 ERA in 8.1 IP. Colletti must have a NRI veteran reliever on the team, so it is Gregg. Plus, he has closing experience, which automatically makes him the best!

Starter Turned Reliever – Ted Lilly has to end up on the DL because he looks fucking terrible. Don’t whine to me about language. It is what it is.

What happened to Chris Capuano? I think he gets traded and soon. I picked him to get dealt over Aaron Harang because he’s a better pitcher and more valuable to teams. That said, there’s an extremely compelling case for Capuano to be in the pen over Harang. It consists of Capuano saying that he can come out of the pen, while Mattingly said he sees Harang as a starter only. I get that, but unless the Dodgers want to get nothing in return, I can’t see why a team would settle for Harang when they could have Capuano, especially given their handedness.

Either way, I’m confident something of significance happens with a trade, because if not, I’m unsure how the pen would shake out unless they carry 13 pitchers. As mentioned earlier, an option would be putting Bills or Greinke on the DL, but that’s a stop-gap solution at best. I suppose Gregg could be let go, but we all know that would burn Ned’s soul, so I figure one of the two healthy excess starters won’t be a Dodger for long.

—–

Now we just wait for the announcement that Harang has been traded, Gregg has been cut, and Sellers will start at SS because … of course it would happen.

Chad Billingsley reported no pain in his injured finger following a minor-league start on Saturday.

“In the past few days there haven’t been any issues with any tenderness. The only issue is with my curve ball because I spike it with my fingertip, which pushes the nail back into the finger,” Billingsley said. “I didn’t throw anything yesterday, and didn’t throw any (curves) today. I’m just let[ting] it have more time to rest or heal, without worrying about swelling or the nail falling off.”

The Dodgers continue to be cautious with Chad, but he’s been able to swing the bat since the injury occurred.

Billingsley later threw seven curves in a bullpen session Monday and was pleased with the results.

“I was happy with them,” Billingsley said of the quality of his curveballs.

Don Mattingly wants Chad to have all of his weapons when starting, although Billingsley seems willing to pitch even if he can’t physically throw his curve much or at all.

“You want a guy to have all his weapons,” said Mattingly. “It’s tough enough without having all of them.”

Billingsley said he would “cross that bridge when we come to it” when asked if he’d be comfortable pitching in a Major League game without a curveball, but also said there are games when he doesn’t feel he has other pitches and still competes.

Bills expects to make his first scheduled start of the season on April 2 should no issues crop up before then.

“The way it’s going now, as long as there are no setbacks, I plan to be ready,” said Billingsley, who is nursing a bruised right index finger.

—–

Carl Crawford is swinging the bat and throwing without pain.

“For Carl, it was a matter of timing. But the good thing for us was the three throws,” said manager Don Mattingly. “To see him not too much in a hurry on that last one, kind of one of those where there could be a play but he knew better.”

“I had caught for him out there before Stan (Conte, director of medical services) was bringing him back, and the ball had carry on it,” Mattingly said. “The ball was coming through me, and that was 10 days ago. I knew if that was the worst it was, we were going to be okay.”

Good signs, of course, though Crawford’s arm has always been suspect. Carl will continue to play the field during the remainder of Spring Training with a day-off thrown in.

Crawford is happy with his progress thus far and is encouraged that he’ll be in left field on Opening Day.

“Every time I get to do something, it’s a step in the right direction,” said Crawford, who will be ready for Opening Day barring a setback.

—–

Juan Uribe was scratched from Saturday’s lineup due to tightness in his right hamstring.

Doing everything he can to discourage the team from keeping him. I like.

—–

Zack Greinke wasn’t very good in his return, but the important part is that he came out of it healthy.

Greinke said his elbow felt fine after pitching in his first Major League exhibition game since March 1 and he should be ready to start the season on time.

“I should be. I think so,” he said. “I’ll definitely be there, if I can build up endurance. I need some improvement.”

So he thinks he’ll be ready, but I dunno, seems like a pointless risk to throw a guy out there who hasn’t properly built up strength.

=====

Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Hanley Ramirez needs surgery on his injured right thumb.

Sources: Hanley needs surgery on his right thumb. #Dodgers.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 21, 2013

Lame.

The timetable for Hanley is eight weeks following the surgery, meaning at-best we’re probably looking at mid-May for Hanley’s 2013 debut.

Well … say hello to a starting left side of the infield featuring Luis Cruz and some combination of Juan Uribe, Dee Gordon, Nick Punto, or Skip Schumaker.

Honestly, if those are the only options, I’m going with Uribe – and I can’t believe I’m typing that – as he’s at least excellent with the glove.

—–

Zack Greinke took to the mound Wednesday and reported no pain in his elbow following a four-inning, 43-pitch outing.

“Elbow wasn’t an issue today. I wasn’t worried about it. My arm felt really good and strong but the pitches aren’t 100% crisp yet.” -Greinke

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 20, 2013

And here are further details on the outing, including the possibility that he could avoid the DL.

Greinke threw 43 pitches in four scoreless innings, and Mattingly got good reports. He said Greinke was able to use all of his pitches and was sitting around 91-93 mph.

Greinke will next start Monday, and though there is a possibility that the Dodgers may have him throw in a minor league game in order to have the option to back date him on the disabled list, Mattingly hinted that might not be needed.

“We’ll keep playing all the scenarios as we go. The health theory is that we’d like to see him on the front fields. I think he wants to be on the front fields, too,” Mattingly said. “At this point if something flares up it’s probably more than a start anyway, so the DL is not going to matter.”

So he’s either going to be ready for the season from the start or head to the DL and miss multiple starts, depending on how the rest of Spring Training goes for him.

The Dodgers will need Greinke at 100% for as much of the season as possible, so caution would be the way to go here.

—–

Chad Billingsley threw a bullpen session Wednesday – minus his curve – and reported feeling no pain in his elbow, groin, and finger.

=====

Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Dodgers designated hitter third baseman first baseman shortstop Hanley Ramirez jammed his right thumb while diving for a groundball in the World Baseball Classic and he’ll get an MRI today at the Camelback Ranch.

His WBC manager and general manager gave differing takes on the severity of it.

“I don’t think it’s bad,” Dominican coach Alfredo Griffin said.

Ramirez, playing third base for the Dominican, jammed the thumb while diving for a ground ball in the third inning. He remained in the game, even delivering a single in the fourth inning, but left after five innings.

Ramirez declined comment through a team spokesman. Dominican Manager Tony Pena said he removed Ramirez for precautionary reasons, even though Ramirez told Pena he could have gone on.

So Tony Pena didn’t think it was bad, but it’s odd to me that Hanley declined comment on it if he wasn’t worried, and maybe it’s because he is a bit, as Moises Alou sounded.

“Hanley, he jammed his thumb when he dove for that ball,” Alou said after the Dominican Republic ran off eight consecutive wins to go undefeated and win the Classic for the first time. “It was pretty swollen. He’s going to have an MRI on it [Wednesday] in Arizona.”

I guess there are differing versions of ‘serious’ at play here.

Just recently, Stan Conte spoke and although he hasn’t had an MRI yet, they’ve already ruled Hanley out for a couple weeks.

Director of medical services Stan Conte spoke with the doctor at AT&T Park, and team trainer Sue Falsone was in contact with Ramirez on Tuesday night. Both relayed their information to manager Don Mattingly.

“They painted both pictures. The optimistic side is that he had another at-bat and it’s just a sprain and it could be a couple of weeks,” Mattingly said. “The pessimistic side is that it could be something major and he’s out 8-10 weeks.”

So he’s going to miss time, regardless, and they’re obviously worried. If he misses two months of the regular season … welcome Juan Uribe.

—–

Zack Greinke threw a bullpen session on Sunday and reported no pain in his right elbow, which had been bothering him recently and been diagnosed as inflamed.

“I guess I could have something, but I’m assuming it’s going to fine to be on track to do whatever, but I don’t know for sure,” Greinke said.

“I probably threw a little more (than expected). I felt good. I was working on stuff, and trying to make sure I’m ready for a game,” Greinke said. “I’m just trying to get ready. I don’t think about it as a rehab.”

“I’m just doing what’s laid out, to give us the best chance. On our team we have other starting pitchers, and we have to be ready. They’re going to weigh all that in,” Greinke said. “I just want to do what’s best for the team. It’s not important what day [I make my first start of the season].”

It’s encouraging to see Greinke make it through a session without pain, and he’ll start a minor-league affair today with a strict pitch count in place. A.J. Ellis will catch Greinke instead of suiting up with the rest of the squad.

Manager Don Mattingly said that Greinke will pitch in a Minor League game in the afternoon, with A.J. Ellis staying back to catch instead of playing in the Dodgers’ Cactus League game against Kansas City.

The team should not feel rushed to get him back by Opening Day if he needs an extra week or two to get healthy for a long, long, long season.

—–

Chad Billingsley‘s elbow has held up all Spring Training, but unfortunately he hasn’t escaped the injury bug as a sore groin is now accompanied by a bruised index finger on his pitching hand.

The finger forced Bills out of his scheduled outing.

“I’m just taking it day by day, seeing how I feel,” Billingsley said. “I’m still playing catch, but the command is just not there because it’s bruised and swollen.”

“(We’re not) trying to force him into this one. We’re concerned about the finger from the standpoint of changing a grip, then not having a grip pressure then changing an arm angle. With everything that has gone on, we really don’t want that,” Mattingly said. “The one thing with Bills, we want to make sure he’s able to throw.”

Glad to see Don Mattingly and his staff aren’t putting pressure on Chad to tough it out and are cognizant of the fact that doing so could lead to a change in mechanics.

But how did Billingsley injure himself, you might ask?

Bunting.

Yes, Matt, bunting.

Billingsley was scratched from Wednesday’s scheduled outing due to the finger. He’s scheduled for a bullpen session instead, and game action on Saturday.

—–

Carl Crawford, who has been dealing with elbow issues during Spring Training, saw improvement Monday in his ability to swing the bat and throw the ball.

“It’s good to see him get a couple of hits, which makes him feel better and more part of it. But even better today for me was him throwing, and Stan (Conte, team director of medical services) working with him on the cuts,” Mattingly said. “He had a lot on the ball. That was really positive today.”

“I’m throwing a little bit harder at (75-80) feet,” Crawford said. “At some point the goal is to be able to hit the cut off man, I’m not sure how many feet that is but that’s the goal.”

Once Crawford can hit the cutoff man, he’ll be cleared by the staff to play left field. Until such an event actually occurs, Carl will continue to DH.

It’s great that there’s no serious issue at play here, but the quotes on his throwing aren’t exactly glowing.

Though Crawford has also made progress throwing, it seems that won’t return until the regular season. But as long as Crawford is ready with the bat, that will determine when he’s ready.

“I don’t think he’s going to be 100% (throwing). When I asked Stan (Conte, director of medical services) when is he ready to really throw and he said, ‘May.’ So it’s going to be a work in progress,” Mattingly said. “But we’re building to a point where we’re comfortable with him being out there. We’re feeling good about everything about Carl right now.”

I couldn’t imagine a worse-throwing outfielder than Juan Pierre, but it looks like we might see it.

—–

Josh Beckett has the flu, which I can only imagine he caught from Ted Lilly.

Regardless, Beckett did start a simulated game against three minor-leaguers and Jerry Hairston Jr..

“Everything went good,” manager Don Mattingly reported. “He got better as the game went on. He was happy about being able to get it in. He was worried that if he did it in a [Cactus League] game and he had a long inning, he wouldn’t get his pitch count up and the up-and-downs. He seemed to be happy with it.”

Beckett threw 76 pitches and went through the up-and-down of six innings, pitching and resting in between.

Beckett’s had an excellent spring, so hopefully he won’t miss too much time – he’s been under the weather two days thus far – as he looks to carry his exhibition success into the meaningful regular season.

—–

Chris Withrow, who had been out with back spasms all Spring Training, returned briefly only to be injured by a liner off the shin.

Withrow escaped with a bruise from the Paul Goldschmidt shot, and he said he expects to be back in action in a couple of days.

“It’s been a pretty adventurous spring,” said Withrow. “I came in ready to go. For my back to go out the second day was kind of frustrating. Then the second batter, after seven months off, that’s not ideal either. Things happen for a reason.”

The guy just can’t seem to stay healthy, even when it comes to living life off the field, as a recent close-call indicates.

Things were adventurous for Withrow even before Spring Training started. He and his wife survived an offseason rollover auto accident with only minor injuries.

Hopefully he can find some good health in his future, as you can never have enough live arms with strikeout stuff.

—–

Dee Gordon is day-to-day after slightly spraining his ankle in a collision at home, according to Don Mattingly.

The shortstop walked off the field and back to the clubhouse on his own, and the injury isn’t believed to be serious.

Chad provided us with visual proof of Gordon attempting to run over (?) Miguel Montero on an overall laughable play.

=====

Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Zack Greinke, who was out with elbow discomfort and forearm stiffness, received an injection after being examined by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

The team doctor gave Greinke an injection of platelet-rich plasma and anti-inflammatory medication. The pitcher has been prescribed rest for two to three days and then a return to a progressive throwing program.

ElAttrache’s diagnosis confirmed an MRI taken last week that Greinke had no structural ligament or tendon damage in the elbow, which has bothered him since his last start March 1.

Greinke has told the team he’s dealt with similar elbow issues in the past that never kept him from missing a start.

Greinke was set to rest for a couple of days before beginning a progressive throwing program.

For his part, Greinke chose not to speculate on the exact extent of the injury or self-diagnose:

“I didn’t really know exactly what the problem is, and I still don’t. They might, but I don’t. I’m not a doctor, I’m just kind of going what they are saying to me,” Greinke said. “I don’t have any definitive stuff to tell you guys. I don’t know if it’s the same problem as I’ve had in the past, and I don’t know if it’s a little different.”

On Friday, Greinke played catch, the first time he’s thrown since receiving an injection of plasma in his elbow. Afterwards, He reported no pain.

As it stands, the Dodgers are unsure of whether Greinke will be right by Opening Day and are looking into roster possibilities should he not be ready by then.

“Will Zack be able to make opening day? We don’t know that,” said manager Don Mattingly on Thursday.

Honestly, who cares about Opening Day though? It’s just an arbitrary date.

Obviously the primary goal should be getting him healthy, period, just like Carl Crawford.

—–

Carl Crawford is once again taking batting practice against live pitching.

Carl Crawford took the next step in his rehabilitation on Tuesday, as he faced live pitchers at Camelback Ranch. It was the sixth consecutive day Crawford has taken batting practice of some sort, and his quantity has increased from 50 swings each day to start up to over 120 on Tuesday.

He then hit against live pitching in a game and could be DHing soon in Spring Training.

“Carl was good again today. We’ll see how he does tomorrow. We’re talking about him possibly DH-ing soon. We’ll see how he pops out of these two days. We know he was sore today, body wise. Just regular soreness that you’ll have playing, and in a different gear,” Mattingly said. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow, and make some decisions.”

There is no rush to bring him back, so however long the process needs to take is how long the Dodgers and Carl should be willing to see it through.

—–

Chad Billingsley made a minor-league start on Wednesday even though he’s dealing with some mild groin tightness.

Billingsley had the right leg wrapped for his Sunday bullpen session and manager Don Mattingly said it is nothing major. Billingsley has a history of groin tightness in previous Spring Trainings.

The Dodgers had the day off but Bills carried on with his preparation as he looks towards the beginning of the season.

He ended up clearing the latest test with flying colors, just like all the others.

“Everything felt great with the groin, I had no issues with that. My arm felt great today, everything was good,” Billingsley said. “I had good command of all my pitches.”

It’s hard to not start to get encouraged by this.

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Javy Guerra‘s groin issue is more serious than Bills’.

The groin issue that hampered Javy Guerra in his one inning of a Minor League game Sunday, however, will “slow him down a bit, that’s for sure,” Mattingly said. Guerra, in his return from a week off because of World Baseball Classic issues, has downplayed the injury, which he didn’t reveal until after his Sunday outing.

“He’s telling me he feels good,” said Mattingly. “We’re going to be cautious. I don’t think it will be for an extended time, but we’ll be cautious for a day.”

In a crowded bullpen, especially if the team keeps eight starters, it’s not out of the question that he could start on the DL or in AAA.

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Shawn Tolleson suffered an injury for the second time this spring after he took a liner off his elbow.

Luckily, it should be fine and he won’t even go in for x-rays.

Tolleson previously dealt with a knee injury a week or so ago.

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Ted Lilly missed a bullpen session due to illness, the second instance this spring in which sickness has felled him.

It’s not a big deal, but for a guy who’s coming back from shoulder surgery and needs reps, the sickness throws him off schedule and puts him behind.

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Matt Palmer went under the knife for arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and is out for roughly six to eight weeks.

The surgery to clean up a medial meniscus was performed by Dr. Brian Shafer. Palmer’s knee locked up while walking after playing catch on Saturday.

Palmer had a 3.60 ERA in three spring appearances, having allowed nine runs (seven unearned) in five innings, his outings marred by several errant pickoff throws. He allowed nine hits.

The non-roster invitee had no shot of making the team, but it’s unfortunate that he suffered a non-contact injury and couldn’t at least compete and make a larger impression, one way or the other, on the club.

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Our very own Dustin Nosler is on the scene at Camelback Ranch and reports that Justin Sellers left practice with what appeared to be a lower-leg injury.

Ken Gurnick updates us on Sellers and confirms Nosler’s report, as he says Sellers suffered a sprained ankle.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

After previously reporting forearm tightness to the Dodgers, it’s been relayed that Zack Greinke is now dealing with elbow discomfort, which will force him to miss his latest Spring Training outing.

“Doctors have ruled out serious injuries such as ligament damage,” wrote Gurnick, who called the move precautionary. “Greinke has told the club he’s dealt with similar elbow issues in the past that never kept him from missing a start.”

Greinke skipped a bullpen session on Mar. 3 with elbow discomfort, something manager Don Mattingly referred to later in the week as “the little stuff with the elbow the other day.”

Missing a start is nothing, and the news about no serious damage is fantastic, but it’s a bit concerning that Greinke has dealt with two arm issues already, and the season hasn’t even begun yet.

Worse yet is news that he’s now on his way to have his arm checked out by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, who is the Dodger equivalent of Dr. James Andrews.

#Dodgers sending Greinke to LA today so Dr Neal ElAttrache can examine sore elbow.

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) March 11, 2013

The team continues to downplay the severity of the situation, but we have to wonder if they aren’t revealing the extent of their concern.

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Carl Crawford is back working out after being shut down for seven days due to elbow irritation.

The Dodgers will take it slow with Crawford now, limiting him to one activity at a time. He will begin with hitting off a tee or via light toss in the batting cage on Thursday.

“He’s doing good, but he’ll be monitored, more on a rehab program,” manager Don Mattingly said. “If we don’t have trouble in one area, then we can keep moving to the next area. If something flares up, we want to know what’s causing it.”

That next area will be throwing for Crawford, which will likely take the longest of his skills to return to normal. But there is still no timetable for when Crawford will be able to play in a spring game, even as designated hitter.

Crawford still believes he’ll not only be available for Opening Day, but will be starting.

The calendar says it’s now unlikely for Carl Crawford to be ready for Opening Day, but he disagrees.

“I haven’t accepted that at all,” Crawford said on Thursday after ending a week-long shutdown by hitting off a tee. “I don’t know who is putting that stuff out there. Even with a slower approach, there’s still a chance I’ll be ready.”

Still don’t understand why there’s this grand incentive for him to rush back in his mind. Not like it’s the start of the playoffs or something.

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The Dodgers are pleased with Chad Billingsley‘s progress.

“If you didn’t know anything, does he look any different to you than he looked any other time?” manager Don Mattingly said he asked pitching coach Rick Honeycutt. “And the answer is no. It’s really good news for us, the way he’s bouncing back and the way his arm is.”

“I’m feeling good, throwing hard, throwing everything,” Billingsley said. “They monitor everything, especially with me. In my whole rehab process that I went through last year, I had velocities I had to hit. The ball feels good coming out of my hand, that’s all that matters.”

Also of note is that Bills is dealing with a sore groin muscle.

Meanwhile, Billingsley is dealing with a sore right groin muscle, an injury he’s had in previous springs.

Not a concern for now, but injuries to the lower half can put additional stress on the arm.

—–

Javy Guerra is dealing with a minor groin strain but has been pitching through it.

Guerra downplayed the injury, calling it “something minor” that cropped up Sunday and led to a mechanical flaw. He said a “simple adjustment” made while throwing in the bullpen after his outing brought pitches that sailed high during the game back into the strike zone.

Don’t let him pitch through it, team with a reputation for playing guys who are injured which then subsequently exacerbates the injury and ends up making it worse.

The fact that he’s changing his pitching mechanics to compensate for it says it all, really.

—–

Shawn Tolleson, who injured his knee recently, has been cleared to return to action.

“I just felt something move in my knee and felt a pain, so it kind of spooked me. I didn’t want to test it or throw another pitch or anything. I came out of the game and they checked it out,” Tolleson said. “Everything checked out good and clean. Today there is no swelling, no soreness, no nothing.”

Tolleson participated in workouts on Wednesday, but only did light tossing, and no pitchers fielding practice.

Tolleson wasn’t able to duplicate the pain he had felt…

Shawn Tolleson, who left Tuesday’s game after experiencing a twinge in his left knee, tested it in a shortened bullpen session and said he couldn’t duplicate the pain. He’s been cleared to pitch an inning Friday.

…so everything seems good to go.

—–

Scott Elbert has begun throwing following two off-season elbow surgeries.

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Chris Withrow, out with lower back pain all of Spring Training, has begun a throwing program.

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Non-roster invitee Matt Palmer suffered ligament damage in his knee and will miss 6-8 weeks after surgery.

“We hadn’t heard anything about anything, but Sue (Falsone, team trainer) said this morning said he mentioned there was some swelling. It sounded like there were signs that he didn’t look at as signs at the time,” Mattingly said. “The fact that this thing just went while walking, it was going to go anyway, in my mind.”

Palmer was an extreme long-shot to make the team anyway, but it sucks to see him go out like that.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Zack Greinke missed a bullpen session on Sunday due to forearm tightness.

Greinke had “a little forearm tightness and thought it best to give it a day to let it rest,” pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. “It’s nothing to be alarmed about. He’s had it before and he’s still expected to make his next start [Wednesday].”

Fortunately, it’s not anything to be concerned with at this point, especially considering Greinke was still participating in baseball activities prior to the game.

Greinke didn’t miss the pre-game workout, shagging in the outfield but making very few overhand throws.

Team is just being extra cautious with their new signing.

—–

The last time we mentioned Carl Crawford he was dealing with elbow soreness and was held out of drills as a precaution.

The Dodgers soon thereafter updated us with further precautionary measures, namely seven days off from throwing and hitting due to nerve irritation in his surgically-repaired left elbow.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from Crawford this year, and my overall expectations for him in Los Angeles are very much tempered, but the fact that his elbow seems to still be balky is particularly concerning, especially now that even the Dodgers are saying Opening Day is iffy.

—–

Andre Ethier missed some Camelback Ranch action due to a callus on his right hand.

Ethier suffered from the same ailment last August, and Don Mattingly wants to be pro-active this time around.

“It’s kind of a callus that turned into nastiness last year by not paying attention. I don’t want to do that again,” said manager Don Mattingly. “It’s starting to get big. They’re trying to let it dry out, and not let it turn into what it turned into last year.”

Mattingly said if this were a regular season game Ethier would play, but given the luxury of spring training and a full month before opening day, the team is playing it cautiously.

I like that the Dodgers and Mattingly are trying to get ahead of this so that it doesn’t become a more serious concern, but why would he play Dre in a regular-season game and risk further injury when the implication is that the callus could become quite bad and detrimental to him without rest?

That’s how they’ve gotten into messes before, no?

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Shawn Tolleson hurt his left knee yesterday, and the injury is being reported as “left knee soreness”.

“Obviously we don’t know anything for sure, but it sounded like Sue was ruling out the big stuff,” said manager Don Mattingly after the game. “He still felt something that scared him, I know that. But it would be premature for me to speculate on what it might be.”

The Dodgers staff will run more tests and hopefully it’s nothing serious as Tolleson has a great arm and could be a part of the pen this year with health and a bit more seasoning.

—–

Matt Kemp made his Spring Training game debut following his off-season shoulder surgery.

“I swung and fouled a changeup. Last year, that would have made my left shoulder hurt,” he said. “I didn’t hurt today. That’s a really good sign that my shoulder is well and responding to the rehab.”

It’s good to see Kemp back in action after a serious injury, as the team’s 2013 fate will hinge largely on how quickly Kemp can regain his MVP form.

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Nothing major here, but Ted Lilly has missed time due to sickness.

Lilly, 37, one of four starters likely battling for the final spot in the Dodger rotation, was to follow Clayton Kershaw to the mound Tuesday but he has been out of camp a couple of days with illness.

Manager Don Mattingly said Lilly’s wife, Natasha, and 2-year-old son Theodore Roosevelt (really) were treated last week for flu-like symptoms, after which Lilly became sick.

Sure, sure, blame the wife and kid.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

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 like these than the hopes/dreams of fans or the bitterness/wishes of haters.

To start us off, how does the team fare, generally speaking? A solid playoff contender, for sure, but a super team? Doesn’t seem likely.

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The Field Players

Despite all the hype over the recent acquisitions, the key cogs in this machine are still Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp. It’s a promising sign then, that Kemp projects at a 144 OPS+ and the system has confidence in him continuing to put up offensive numbers in the ~.900 OPS range. His defense in center still lags below average, but his bat more than makes up for it. His playing time projection has dropped due to his injury woes last season, and quite frankly, it’s hard to fault it for that. Regardless, he still figures to be the most valuable field player on the team.

Adrian Gonzalez is slated to be another bright spot, as ZiPS pegs him to bounceback a bit, though not as much as some want, clocking in at an ~.830 OPS/128 OPS+. That would still be his lowest OPS+ since 2008 (besides 2012, of course), but it’s a marked improvement considering his age and negatively trending skills. A-Gon compensates for that lagging bat a bit by putting up plus defense almost worth a win by itself. Hanley Ramirez factors in as yet another bounceback candidate, projecting at a 115 OPS+, which is an upgrade over last year’s 106 and is closer to his pre-2011 production. Defensively, even his horribad -8 run defensive rating is optimistic to me, as he was truly terrible with the glove last year. Given that I already wanted to barf seeing him trying to turn a double play in 2012, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him put up horrid defensive numbers after basically not playing the position all of spring.

Unfortunately, that’s where a lot of the offensive optimism ends. Luis Cruz checks in at 84 OPS+ (106 last year), which will anger many fans, but is completely reasonable given the track record. He remains valuable through plus defense, though given the sample size, there’s reason to be skeptical there as well. A.J. Ellis at 96 OPS+ (118) is another depressing but completely logical projection, as evidenced by everybody’s surprise in 2012 at his potent bat. Andre Ethier at 112 OPS+ (123) is hard to figure for me, because he has been consistently putting up ~120 OPS+ seasons even if it has come down from the ~130 OPS+ range two years ago. I suppose the projection system thinks he’ll get old in a hurry … or maybe it just thinks he’ll face an inordinately high amount of lefties. Mark Ellis at 81 OPS+ (93) shouldn’t be much of a surprise considering he’s 36 and put up an 80 OPS+ at Coors Field in 2011.

The last guy of the starters is Carl Crawford, who is the enigma of the 2013 season. He checks in at 104, which is notable because it’s basically his career OPS+ and it’s about what he did in limited time in 2012 over in Boston. That’s of particular note for me, because what he did in Boston in 2012 can be attributed to a mechanical fix that I pointed out in an article for Baseball Prospectus. Understandably, his playing time checks in low, but if he can produce like he did in 2012 but over a whole season, the Dodgers will be much better for it.

Overall, after fixing the playing time of A.J., adjusting Ethier’s offense up a bit, and adjusting Hanley’s defense down a bit, the starting lineup totaled about 22 WAR.

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The Bench & The Prospects

Assuming a bench of Tim Federowicz, Scott Van Slyke or Alex Castellanos, Jerry Hairston Jr., Nick Punto, and Skip Schumaker, we’re looking at around 3 WAR here after playing time is adjusted back to realistic bench levels. I’m guessing Alfredo Amezaga or Tony Gwynn Jr. work their way in somehow, but a five-man bench seems likely initially if the Dodgers can’t deal multiple pitchers before the season starts. Neither player would affect the WAR projection much though.

Honestly? I have to hope the Dodgers do something to improve the bench, because the current configuration looks rather mediocre, and the other options are keeping Juan Uribe and/or Elian Herrera. Yuck.

The good news is that Joc Pederson, T-Fed, SVS, and Castle are projected to be solid at the MLB level, though it sees Dee Gordon basically languishing behind.

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The Rotation

Clayton Kershaw is simply a beast, and he figures to check in with a 75 FIP-. This might seem high considering his 2011 and 2012 ERA- figures of 63 and 67, respectively, but when you consider that Felix Hernandez clocks in at 78 FIP- for 2013, you get the picture.

What might surprise is how close new acquisition Zack Greinke comes in behind him, as he figures to put up an FIP- of 81. Granted, he has always projected favorably, as his career FIP- is 80, while his career ERA- is 88, but even adjusting slightly for that, there’s a definite case there for the best 1-2 punch in the majors.

Unfortunately, this is where it gets murky, as Chad Billingsley has the stuff to be the #3, but if I were a betting man, I would bet his elbow implodes before July. He projects at 92 FIP-, which would put him around last year’s performance, which was his arguably his best season since 2008. However, given the nature of his injury and its history in the league, you can basically never rely on him to stay healthy again until he has Tommy John surgery.

Next in the pecking order are Josh Beckett, who comes in below-average at 103, and foreign import Hyun Jin Ryu, who comes in well below-average at 116. As mentioned before, the scouting reports for Beckett match this projection, as he’s no longer a front-line starter due to his decrease in velocity. However, if he can manage to learn to pitch a bit more, he still has the curve to perhaps slot in as a #3 more than a #4. Ryu is a case where I would take any projection with a mound of salt, because there’s hardly anything to base objective projections on. Personally, I don’t think Ryu has the stuff to be a #2, nor do I think he’ll be a #3 on a team with a $250 million payroll, but he should slot in comfortably in the back-end of the rotation for years. I would project something slightly below-average for 2013 and then hope for better.

The rotation is a strong point because it has both arguably the best 1-2 punch in the majors and depth, with Chris Capuano (108 FIP-) and Aaron Harang (114 FIP) presumably traded for upgrades (or maybe kept somehow?), and it checks in at about 17 WAR.

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The Bullpen & The Prospects

As of right now, I’m assuming a bullpen of Brandon League, Kenley Jansen, Ronald Belisario, Javy Guerra, Matt Guerrier, J.P. Howell, and Ted Lilly.

Jansen is the best of the bunch (63 FIP-) and League projects a distant second (92 FIP-), but Belisario has the most upside in these projections (101 FIP-). After that, Guerra, Guerrier, and Howell are all around replacement level. Lilly projects as a league-average pitcher, assuming he’s healthy, which would be a boon to a team that has a ticking time bomb in the rotation.

As far as prospects go, ZiPS thinks Chris Reed could be a replacement-level fill-in right now, but Zach Lee, Matt Magill, and Garrett Gould need more seasoning. And for all of you who have Stephen Fife wet dreams (yes, you’re out there), he projects at a 4.91 FIP, so keep it in your pants.

Speaking of replacement level, that especially applies to the Dodgers bullpen because of Shawn Tolleson, Scott Elbert, Steven Ames, and Paco Rodriguez, so the 4 WAR projection for this pen figures to be solid.

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Team Projection

A replacement-level team figures to win 43 games, and the team with the lowest amount of wins to get into the playoffs last year was the Cardinals at 88 wins, so 42 WAR puts you in the contender range and 45 WAR makes you viable, while 50 WAR will generally make a team a safe bet to be in the postseason. The Dodgers total 46 WAR, which puts them well within the playoff hunt: good but not great.

The Dodgers basically project neck-and-neck with the rival Giants, while the D-Backs lag behind a bit by maybe a half dozen wins or so, but they’re well within striking distance as well.

So make no mistake, the Dodgers recent spending habits did not make them an elite team, as the money simply duct-taped over both a flawed team and farm system depleted by Frank McCourt‘s ownership and Ned Colletti‘s questionable decisions. But that’s not to denigrate the job the new owners have done, as they turned the franchise into a legitimate playoff contender seemingly overnight, which is still saying a lot about what money can do.

Granted, “we gave you a team that has the chance to make the playoffs” is not what fans want to hear, but it’s an acceptable scenario as they lay the foundation to rebuild the franchise the correct way in their own minds. The 2013 projections might not reflect world-beaters like most seem to expect, but it’s a projection based on historical trends rather than hopes and dreams.

The 2013 Dodgers are indeed a team with a lot of upside, and if everything breaks correctly, they could very well end up being one of the best teams in the league, but they also carry a ton of inherent age and injury risk, which is why the projections come in understandably conservative. Either way, if nothing else, this team figures to be never boring.

Dylan Hernandez reports the Dodgers have acquired Skip Schumaker from the Cardinals, sending minor-league shortstop Jake Lemmerman the other way. Chad has more on the deal here.

My reaction: meh.

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The Dodgers have designated Scott Van Slyke for assignment in order to make room on the 40-man roster for Schumaker. Van Slyke was the Dodgers’ 2011 Minor League Player Of The Year.

Van Slyke is unlikely to clear waivers, so there’s a good chance he gets traded in a minor deal.

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Tony Gwynn Jr. has received an invitation to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, as he’s still under contract for 2013 but is not on the 40-man roster.

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The Red Sox will send $11.7 million dollars westward to the Dodgers as part of the mega-deal centered around Adrian Gonzalez. The payments will come in three equal installments of $3.9 million, to be made in 2013, 2014, and 2015, and they will conclude the deal.

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Zack Greinke‘s contract with the Dodgers is $147 million guaranteed, but it could increase to $158 million with incentives.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.