May 18

Game 41, 2016

Dodgers at Angels, 7:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-W

The Dodgers’ Mike Bolsinger makes his season debut tonight. He’d been sidelined with a strained oblique muscle since Spring Training and has made two starts for AAA Oklahoma City, with no decisions and a 2.25 ERA. The Dodgers say they’ll have him on a pitch count of about 80. His Angels’ counterpart will be Nick Tropeano (1-2, 3.68 ERA). Tropeano’s a puzzle: he’s allowed fewer than two runs in five of his seven starts but hasn’t gotten past 5 2/3 innings in any of them.

Lineup when available.

Mar 22

Tibias, forearms, obliques, oh my!

Andre Ethier broke his lower leg (the tibia, for the purists) when he fouled a ball off it last Friday. He’ll be out 10-14 weeks. This means in all likelihood that Carl Crawford will be the Dodgers’ starting left-fielder for the first three months of the season.

That stinks.

So do all these injuries:

pitcher Frankie Montas had a rib removed and was placed on the 60-day disabled list. Brett Anderson suffered a bulging disk and had surgery. Hyun-Jin Ryu’s recovery from shoulder surgery has been slow and he won’t pitch in a spring game. Pitcher Josh Ravin broke his non-throwing left arm in an auto accident. Brandon McCarthy is still recovering from Tommy John surgery. Brandon Beachy (elbow) and Mike Bolsinger (oblique) have had their fifth-starter candidacies derailed by injuries.

Seager sprained his knee almost two weeks ago, but is expected back by Opening Day. Starter Alex Wood missed a start with forearm soreness. Julio Urias was slowed with slight groin tightness. Caleb Dirks never pitched because of a back injury.

Yasmani Grandal missed several games with strained forearms and came out of Monday’s game after aggravating the right one. Alex Guerrero missed a week with a twisted knee. Adrian Gonzalez missed a couple games with a bulging disk in his neck. Howie Kendrick missed a handful of games with a tight groin muscle. Justin Turner has been eased back slowly after offseason microfracture knee surgery. Crawford missed a game last week because of a sore back.

Other than that, Dodgers’ fans, it’s been a great spring training.

Oct 27

Dodgers’ offseason notes, Part II

No new hire to replace Mattingly yet. I suspect (hope?) the Dodgers won’t step on the World Series by announcing a new manager in the midst of the games. Remember 2007 when Scott Boras announced that Alex Rodriguez, his client, was going to opt out of his contract with the Yankees in the middle of Game Four?

Should the Dodgers keep Puig? Will they sign Greinke? Can Pederson find a hitting stroke? Who’s gonna play second base? Will Ryu, McCarthy and possibly Arroyo recover? Can Alex Wood become an effective pitcher? Will Bolsinger improve?

Questions, questions, questions.

Sep 30

Game 158, 2015

Dodgers at Giants, 7:15PM PT, TV: SPNLA, CSN-BA

The Dodgers (88-69) have clinched the division title, but if they want home field advantage in the NLDS they need to continue winning and hope the Mets lose while they do so. They trail the Mets (89-68) by one game in the overall standings. To that end they send Mike Bolsinger to the hill tonight. Bolsinger has not shown himself to be the pitcher he was in the first half of the season; since his September callup he’s got an 8.66 ERA in four starts. In his last one on September 25 he gave up seven hits and seven runs, four earned, in just four innings. He may be pitching for a long relief spot on the NLDS playoff roster.

Bolsinger’s opponent will be Mike Leake, who was acquired by the Giants from the Reds at this year’s trade deadline. He too has been a disappointment to his team; he’s gone 1-5 with a 4.86 ERA since his arrival.

Lineup when available.

Grandal at first base, huh?

Sep 25

Game 153, 2015

Dodgers at Rockies, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

The Dodgers, whose magic number is down to three, send Mike Bolsinger out to see if he can recover the form he showed before being sent down to AAA in the wake of the Latos-Wood acquisitions in July. He had a 2.83 ERA to that point, but he’s had a 6.23 ERA in his three starts since returning. Overall he’s 6-4 with a 3.26 ERA in 2015. He’ll face right-hander David Hale, who’s 4-5 with a 6.32 ERA. Hale spent the year starting until September; he’s only made four appearances this month, all in relief.

Lineup when available.

Sep 20

Game 148, 2015

Pirates at Dodgers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

The Dodgers ask Mike Bolsinger (6-3, 3.13 ERA) to keep the Pirates in check while hoping they can get some runs of the Buccos’ ace Gerrit Cole (16-8, 2.60 ERA). Oddly, the California-born Cole has ne3ver lost in his home state; he’s 4-0, with one win each in San Francisco, San Diego, Anaheim and Los Angeles.

The Dodgers’ magic number to win the division is seven. The Pirates need to win to keep ahead of the Cubs in the second wild card spot by remaining in second place in the NL Central behind the Cardinals. Their magic number to lock up that spot is four. The Cards clinched a postseason spot today by virtue of the Diamondbacks’ win over the Giants. Their magic number to win the division is eleven, and they have one more game against the Cubs and three against the Pirates to cut that down.

Lineup when available.

There’s also this news: Bolsinger is officially part of the rotation for the rest of the season.

Sep 12

Game 141, 2015

Dodgers at D-Backs, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

Mike Bolsinger makes another spot start for the Dodgers. He’s been pretty effective for them this season at 6-3 with a 2.97 ERA. He once played for the Diamondbacks and has faced them twice this year, giving up two runs and six hits in eleven innings. Rubby De La Rosa will pitch for the Arizona team; he’s 12-7 with a 4.49 ERA. He pitched for the Dodgers in 2011-2012, going 4-5 as a starter before being traded to the Red Sox in the Crawford-Gonzalez deal.

Lineup:

Grandal’s shoulder has seemingly improved enough to play, while Rollins’ finger has not.

Sep 04

Game 134, 2015

Dodgers at Padres, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD

The Dodgers start Mike Bolsinger (5-3, 2.38 ERA), back up from OKC. According to Mattingly he will remain in the rotation “beyond Friday.” His opponent will be James Shields (10-6, 3.78 ERA), who’s looking for his third win in his last four starts.

Justin Turner gets the day off at third base, and young Mr. Seager will replace him there. Jimmy Rollins is expected to play shortstop.

Lineup when available.

For scoreboard watchers: Giants at Rockies

Jul 29

Game 102, 2015

Athletics at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, CSNCA

The Dodgers send Clayton Kershaw to the mound tonight nursing a 29-inning scoreless streak and admiring a July in which he won three of his first four starts with an ERA of 0.27. His opponent will be Jesse Chavez, who is 5-10 but has a 3.45 ERA. His last start was pretty bad, though: he gave up four runs in three-plus innings against the Giants.

There’s late word that the Dodgers-Marlins trade of Matt Latos and Michael Morse to the Dodgers for prospects may be falling apart over medical issues. Stay tuned.

Lineup when available.


You’ll note that Kershaw isn’t starting any more and Bolsinger is. Kershaw apparently has a sore muscle in his hip or glute.

Jul 22

Game 96, 2015

Dodgers at Braves, 9:10AM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN, SportsSouth

The Braves are looking for a sweep.

Mike Bolsinger only pitched four innings in his last start for the Dodgers. That was the game that was eventually postponed by power outages in Washington. He’s 4-3 with a 3.04 ERA in his 14 starts this season. Julio Teheran only went 4 2/3 innings in his last start for the Braves, giving up 5 hits and 2 runs against the Cubs and not figuring in the decision.

Lineup when available.