Marlins at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA
The Dodgers are really happy to have Dan Haren this season, since he’s posted a 4-1 record with a 2.68 ERA so far. He’ll be pitching against Tom Koehler, who’s 3-2 with a 1.99 ERA.The right-hander beat the Dodgers on May 2 in Florida, going seven strong innings.
Puig extended his hitting streak to eleven games with his home run yesterday. Uribe is still day-to-day.
Lineup when available.
Or so says Ken Gurnick, anyway.
Concussion test on Puig negative.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) May 4, 2014
Dodgers at Marlins, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA
Paul Maholm (1-2, 4.74 ERA) goes for the Dodgers against the Marlins’ Jacob Turner (0-0, 7.50 ERA). Maholm pitched well last time out against the Rockies and is 6-6 with a 4.02 ERA against the Marlins in his career. This is Turner’s second start in MLB.
In other news, A.J. Ellis can’t run without pain yet, so his return is still a few weeks away. That partly explains why the Dodgers sent FedEx down to Albuquerque and brought Olivo up. They could have carried Fedorowicz and his .108 BA for another week, but since Ellis is going to be out longer than that they decided to bring up Olivo, who’d been tearing the cover off the ball with the Isotopes (OBP .438, SLG .661, OPS 1.099).
We won’t see old friend Rafael Furcal this trip. He’s back on rehab assignment with Double-A Jacksonville, and he was in the lineup there on Friday night. The hamstring which put him on the DL at the start of the season is fine, but he strained a groin muscle last weekend while rehabbing.
Lineup when available.
#Dodgers lineup at Miami:
Gordon 2B
Puig RF
Ramirez SS
Gonzalez 1B
Kemp CF
Ethier LF
Uribe 3B
Olivo C
Maholm P
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 3, 2014
Crawford is in a 4-45 slump since Tax Day, which may explain why he’s not in left field against the right-handed Turner.
They’ve played 7 games and already Ellis is out with a meniscus tear and his batterymate Kershaw is out for a month.
It was not said how Ellis, who had four singles and four walks in 28 plate appearances to start the 2014 season, suffered the injury. Ellis was out in a bang-bang play at the plate Saturday but remained in the game, though he did not play Sunday.
Fedex will probably be recalled from AAA Albuquerque to replace him.
Old friend Nathan Eovaldi is talked up as a strong addition to your fantasy baseball team.
#Dodgers lineup in Anaheim:
Puig RF
Crawford DH
Ramirez SS
Gonzalez 1B
Van Slyke LF
Uribe 3B
Ethier CF
Turner 2B
Ellis C
Haren RHP
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 29, 2014
Haren faces Tyler Skaggs, a 23-year-old lefty.
Update: Much more important than this game, news came this afternoon that Kershaw has been placed on the 15-day Disabled List effective March 23.
the Dodgers are making no promises about when he will pitch again. Mainly, because there is little urgency in the season’s first few weeks given the spate of off-days, and because they want to remain ultra-conservative and make sure Kershaw is right when he returns.
Tests earlier this week showed the strained upper back muscle, behind his left shoulder. Mattingly said he does not know of any more tests scheduled as of now.
“We know what it is,” he said. “We’re not concerned that he’s going to do any damage to it.”
Ken Gurnick reports that the Dodgers made several roster moves today to set their 25-man roster as the season begins tomorrow. They placed Chad Billingsley and Ted Lilly on the 15-day disabled list and moved Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang to the bullpen. Hanley Ramirez and Scott Elbert are also on the DL. Billingsley’s placement on the list was backdated to March 22, so he’s eligible to come off no later than April 13. As Gurnick says, that means they’ll have to make another personnel decison on that date.
It looks as though Justin Sellers will start at shortstop for the start of the season, meaning Luis Cruz will likely be the starting third baseman. The two of them may rotate with Punto and Uribe (Yes, Uribe is still on the major league roster. The only reason I can think of is that he’s under contract and the team sees enough value in him not to release him outright and eat the last year of his deal).
The roster:
Pitchers — Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Josh Beckett, Zack Greinke, Brandon League, Kenley Jansen, Ronald Belisario, J.P. Howell, Paco Rodriguez, Matt Guerrier, Capuano, Harang
Catchers — A.J. Ellis, Tim Federowicz
Infielders — Adrian Gonzalez, Mark Ellis, Sellers, Cruz, Juan Uribe, Nick Punto
Outfielders — Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford, Skip Schumaker, Jerry Hairston
That thumb that Ramirez injured in the WBC requires surgery to repair the ligament which stabilizes the thumb. The digit will be immobilized for three weeks before he can start using it again. I remember this. I broke a ring finger when I was about ten and wore a boxing glove-like soft cast to keep it from moving around. All summer. In Palos Verdes.
Anyway, it looks like Luis Cruz will play short, unless the Dodgers suck it up and play Dee Gordon there. That would leave Cruz at third. Otherwise they could platoon Uribe, Hairston and Punto at Cruz’s former spot at the hot corner.
Those guys strike fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers, I’m sure.
Update: In other personnel news, Guerra and Gwynn have been cut and sent to Albuquerque, as were Tolleson and Justin Sellers. They also cut Dallas McPherson, Ramon Castro, and Nick Evans.
I just realized it. The game started 45 minutes ago, and the D-Backs lead 3 – 0 in the third. Josh Wall started, went two innings and was relieved by Peter Moylan. Crawford is hitting leadoff and singled in the third.
In personnel news, the team reassigned Tony Gwynn and Wilkin Castillo to Albuquerque and released Ramon Castro.
Josh Beckett and Chad Billingsley both were relieved of their starting assignments today and tomorrow respectively, Beckett with the flu and Billingsley with a bruised right index finger. Greinke is set to start on Wednesday.
Update: Chad Moriyama has injury updates on Hanley Ramirez, Greinke, Billingsley, Crawford, Beckett, Withrow and Gordon. The most serious of these may be Ramirez’s thumb, which he jammed playing in the title game of the WBC yesterday. He dove for a ground ball while playing third. He stayed in for another at-bat and even got a hit, but he came out after that. He’ll have an MRI today at Camelback Ranch.
And Carl Crawford expects to play.
The Dodgers play the Rangers today in Surprise (yes, that’s the name of the town). Kershaw is starting and has a pitch limit of 90. Here’s today’s lineup:
Alfredo Amezaga CF
Nick Punto 3B
Jerry Hairston 1B
Yasiel Puig RF
Skip Schumaker 2B
Alex Castellanos LF
Matt Wallach C
Dee Gordon SS
Clayton Kershaw P
An injection of platelet-rich plasma was the preferred treatment.
Greinke missed a bullpen session 10 days ago because of discomfort in the back of the elbow, missed a start five days ago because of the flu, then threw an impressive bullpen session Friday without issues.
But the discomfort in the back of his elbow returned when he played catch Sunday. The club said the decision to send Greinke for an exam was made “out of an abundance of caution.”
He returned to LA and was examined by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who diagnosed inflammation but no structural problems.
Hyun-Jin Ryu took his place in the lineup today and gave up three runs in 4 2/3 innings while striking out three and walking two. The Dodgers lost to the Brewers 3 – 2. Yasiel Puig continued his hot hitting, going 2 for 2 to get his average up to .452 for the spring (14 for 31)