Pitchers, catchers, infielders, outfielders — everybody’s reported!

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Calamity! The Dodgers are near the bottom of the Cactus League standings! They’re 1-3 with 3 ties!

Kershaw reflects on his past history and potential overuse which may have contributed to his recent injuries.

“I don’t have any regrets of what I did, whether it be the short rest or the bullpens or the different things like that,” Kershaw said. “At the end of the day, for the team to count on you and want you to go out there and do it, that’s a huge honor. They paid me a lot of money too.

“Looking back on it, the only thing I’d say is I wish I’d pitched better.”

He’s not entirely convinced his earlier workload contributed much to his more recent injury record.

“You just don’t know with pitchers,” he said. “You look at Adam Wainwright, we kind of thought, he had Tommy John [surgery], he had the Achilles thing and last year he threw the most innings in baseball, or close to it. (Wainwright’s 206 1/3 innings were third-most in the majors.)

“And then there are some guys that are so big and so strong and throw so hard and they haven’t pitched a full season in a while.”

63 thoughts on “Pitchers, catchers, infielders, outfielders — everybody’s reported!”

    • Yep. Where he started. We could have signed him for about what they spent on Heaney and Anderson. Would have been one heck of a 4th starter.

  4. This is a surprise to me. Or maybe the speed of adoption is what surprises me.

    Major League Baseball will reportedly give pitchers and catchers the option of using newly tested, anti-sign-stealing signaling devices this season.

    The device, referred to as PitchCom, is expected to greatly inhibit the chances of a sign stealing scandal, many of which have rocked the sport in recent years. Using a pad with buttons on the wrist of the gloved hand, a catcher will be able to signal pitches directly to a pitcher through a listening device. As many as three other teammates of the pitcher and catcher will also have access to the device to assist in fielding positioning, per Olney.

    Yankees pitcher Luis Severino and catcher Kyle Higashioka used PitchCom in a spring training game against the Braves on Saturday and were quite complimentary of the new technology.

    “I think it was great,” Severino told reporters, per Olney. “I was a little doubtful at the beginning, but when we started using it, it was really good – with a man on second, too. I would definitely like to use it in my first start [of the regular season]. … You know what pitch you’re going to throw right away.”

    Pitchers and catchers won’t be required to switch over to PitchCom.

    • There’s certainly a case to be made for revoking the anti-trust exemption, but that’s not what he’s saying.

    • I think he is serious, but in a funny sort of way.

      Really points to the fact that baseball is/has lost the younger generations. Average age of a baseball game TV viewer is 57. I thought it was very revealing that a ordinary Thursday night football game draws as many viewers as a WS baseball game.

  8. The team looks good tonight. I
    loved watching Bobby Miller throw high heat. Everyone much sharper than the previous two games.

  9. Anyone got any “begin the baseball season” traditions? Watching “Field of Dreams,” “The Natural,” “42,” “Bull Durham?”

  12. I wasn’t aware of this: Interleague play is expanding next year. Every team will play every other team every year, home or away.

    “The adoption of the universal DH unlocked moving to this model,” said Chris Marinak, MLB chief operations and strategy officer.

    If the NL had not adopted the DH, MLB would not have more than doubled the number of interleague games, from 20 to 46. The AL teams built around a DH would have faced too great a competitive disadvantage, by playing 14% of their schedule in NL ballparks, where the DH would not have been used.

    So, starting next year: The Dodgers will play the Angels four times, twice in Los Angeles and twice in Anaheim. They will play every other AL team three times, either at Dodger Stadium or on the road.

    Author Bill Shaikin asks: “The time could soon come to retire the leagues. They have outlived their usefulness.”

    If they all play each other, I’m inclined to agree. I’d hate it, but what would be the point?

    One interesting thing: divisional play drops from 19 games between teams to 14.

  15. I read that Bellinger’s shoulder is tighter after surgery. Apparently it was loose when it more easily popped out of place. That could be true but if he adjusts to his new shoulder tightness, I would think his big swing and head movement will not play well with age.

    I wanted to trade Bellinger for Buxton. I also wanted to trade some good prospects for Olsen but I am now happy with Freeman. I just wanted the younger Olsen.

    The Dodgers were trying to reduce payroll before offering Jansen a contract. Also, it now appears the Dodgers had been trying to trade Pollock for two weeks. I am assuming trading Pollock for Kimbrel was Plan B. I wonder what their Plan A was regarding a Pollock trade.

    I like depth and a strong bench but I don’t like putting someone like Taylor or Pollock on the bench. Both should start or one should be traded. I think the Dodgers agreed, especially with them sitting at about $2M over the highest CBT penalty level. Now they need to figure out a way to shed about $3M from their AAV. Could that be Price or will it wind up being Bauer?

    Which brings up the question, can Bauer be traded before any decision is made by the Commissioner’s office? With deGrom and Scherzer more questionable health wise, are the Mets hungry enough to trade for Bauer? And, no, I don’t want Cano. Did the Mets buy insurance for Scherzer? Would the Angels want Price? Do the Dodgers have enough rotation depth to trade one or both?

    I still predict Lux will be the starting second baseman. I would still trade Bellinger for Buxton in a heartbeat. Maybe a three team trade where Bellinger goes to the Yankees, Hicks to the Twins, and Buxton to the Dodgers plus whatever money or other players would be involved to make it happen.

    • Um, if you, the amateur, think Bellinger will never be as good as he once was, don’t you think the professionals might judge the same and not be willing to trade a guy like Buxton for him? We fans may be overvaluing him at this stage. If he recovers early in the year then we should reevaluate, but right now he’s a great defensive player.

      • I’m not trying to say what the Twins might do. I’m just saying before Spring Training started, the Twins might have preferred a player with less history of injury and that I would have rolled the dice on that history with Buxton. I said that early and I am still saying it.

        Would you trade Bellinger for Buxton?

        • I dunno. I know next to nothing about Buxton. I’d never heard of him until this week. You speculate that “before Spring Training started, the Twins might have preferred a player with less history of injury.” Well, Bellinger’s had an injury-prone couple of seasons, so even Bruxton’s history (which is scary! Look here!) might not have counterbalanced it.

  17. Pollock to White Sox for Kimbrel. Wow. That came out of left field. I hope we get the Cub Kimbrel and not the Sox Kimbrel. AF working it. Now if we can just get some closure on Bauer one way or the other.

      • I agree with OhioDodger’s concern regarding which Kimbrel we are getting. Treinen has been quoted as saying that he prefers being the late-inning set-up reliever. I always thought that the Dodgers would not go the closer by committee route. So, does Kimbrel assume that spot? Sorry to see Pollock go. He was steady, quiet and non-controversial. However, he missed considerable time each season with the Diamondbacks and Dodgers. He has played in more than 117 games only twice in his career, although he did play in 55 of the Dodgers’ 60 games in the shortened 2020 season. What does the starting outfield look like now, particularly if Bellinger remains unable to his the ball?

        • Cubs primarily used Kimbrel as the 9th inning closer almost exclusively. The White Sox mixed it up between closing and setting up. A role he was not comfortable with. I believe the Dodgers got him to be the designated closer.

        • Belli’s glove gives him a long leash, but perhaps they can convince him to shorten up at bat, if his effort to regain his old smashing self doesn’t work out.

          • Thanks to OhioDodger and Bob Hendley for your responses….And, also, a BIG HELLO to all of you out there. I am looking forward to the start of the season and to continue to communicate with all of you again this year. Link, thanks for gearing up the engine again. To all, be well.

          • The trade surprised me for sure. I was busy watching the FIFA groups draw to see where Canada would be placed!

    • CT3 gets a regular slot in LF, but who will be righthanded DH? Haven’t been following ST too closely, but seems like it is the left handed bats, Lamb, Rios, that are smashing.

      • Will Smith when Barnes catches. I think Justin Turner will get alot of the RH DH starts.

        • With Max the regular at 2nd, CT3 will only get the occasional start at 2nd, as opposed to 50-odd starts there in the past, and the occasional start at SS. Pillar seems more destined to get a start every once in a while across the outfield to give guys a rest rather than being a regular part of outfield platooning.

    • Ooph. Hated to lose Kenley. Not a fan of Kimbrel and his raptor-arm-dangle, and hate to lose AJ. All in all not pleased with this trade, but it’s early days. I’m glad we have a season at all!

      • I too regret losing AJ. However, I realize that the bullpen needed more help than the outfield and offense. I believe the Dodgers wanted to and would have brought Kenley back if he could have waited for them to unload some payroll. Unfortunately the timing was just off. Also, as you, I am just happy to have a season to look forward to.

  18. Addition by subtraction. Taylor finally gets a position, LF. Lux gets to start the season at 2nd. Muncy mostly the DH. Rios backs Justin.

    And, Dodgers strengthen bullpen without adding payroll.

    • It’s a sad tale, but they’re doing right by him. I really enjoyed watching him play, but it sounds as if his career is over.

  22. Man, if I were the employer I’d be really happy to read this from the wife of an employee I’d just sent away.

    Matt Beaty’s wife reflects on six-plus years with the Dodgers and their system.

  23. Man, if I were the employer I’d be really happy to read this from the wife of an employee I’d just sent away.

    Matt Beaty’s wife reflects on six-plus years with the Dodgers and their system.

    • If Roberts remains Dodgers’ manager through the term of his new deal, he’ll reach a full decade in the position. Only three skippers — Hall of Famers Walter Alston, Tommy Lasorda and Wilbert Robinson — have reached the ten-year milestone in franchise history.

  29. It appears that, yesterday, we saw the last free spring training games on MLBTV. Way to rebuild interest, Manfred!

    • Maybe his name should be Boyfred.

      However, today’s Dodgers-Padres game is on MLBTV at 6 p.m. where I live, and I am not a paid subscriber.

      • No indication of that on the MLBTV app. I might tune in briefly, but it’s at 10 p.m. here (dinner time in Buenos Aires).

        Update: MLBTV app says “no available video feeds.”