Tag Archives: Corey Seager

Mar 10

Kershaw named Opening Day starter

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For the ninth time in ten years. He started last season on the injured list. Buehler will start Game Two and Price Game Three of the first series against the Giants at Dodger Stadium.

That assumes that MLB starts its season on time, of course. The coronavirus is moving quite quickly around the country; some events (SXSW!) have been canceled altogether, others (Coachella) have been postponed. Some events have turned away spectators, playing games in empty arenas.

In an abundance of caution all of the major sports leagues (MLB, NHL, MLS and NBA) have closed their locker rooms to the press. One wonders how quickly they’ll rescind that order once the virus is controlled (assuming it is).

In other Dodgers’ news, Corey Seager says he’s feeling better than he has since his Rookie of the Year season of 2016.

Nov 03

Facts and rumors, Part 1

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The Dodgers declined Jedd Gyorko’s $13M option. They have to pay him $1M for the privilege. I’d say “small price to pay,” but it isn’t. Nonetheless, he’s now a free agent.

They may be in the hunt for the Indians’ shortstop Francisco Lindor, although Corey Seager hasn’t even reached typical prime players’ age yet.

The Cubs hired old friend David Ross (LA: 2002-2004) as their next manager. The Mets hired Carlos Beltran to manage; he played for seven teams in his 20-year career but somehow missed the Dodgers in those two decades.

If you hear of other news, post it here. Meanwhile, admire my birthday shirt.

Sep 26

Game 159, 2019

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Dodgers at Padres, 12:40 PM PDT, TV: FSSD, SPNLA

LHP Clayton Kershaw (15-5, 3.15 ERA) tunes up for the playoffs and tries to get his ERA below 3.00. He’ll face LHP Joey Lucchesi (10-9, 4.28 ERA). Kershaw gave up three HRs and four runs in six innings to the Rockies his last time out but still got the win thanks to the Dodgers’ prolific offense. Lucchesi has had two bad outings in a row (11 runs in 7 2/3 innings), but his sophomore season has been otherwise acceptable.

Here’s Rios’s 473-foot HR:

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1908 Cubs right-hander Ed Reulbach pitches two shutouts in the same day, whitewashing the Brooklyn Superbas in the opener 5-0 on a five-hitter and 3-0 on three hits in the nightcap. The entire Washington Park doubleheader takes less than three hours to complete.
  • 1954 Willie Mays, with three hits in the season finale, wins the batting title, finishing the campaign with a .345 average. The ‘Say Hey Kid’ goes third to first in batting average with his performance passing teammate Don Mueller (.342) and Dodger center fielder Duke Snider (.341).
  • 1975 Burt Hooton sets a Dodger record for starting pitchers by winning his twelfth consecutive game. The 25 year-old right-hander, who was traded to LA in May for Eddie Solomon and Geoff Zahn, accomplishes the feat by beating J.R. Richard and the Astros at Dodger Stadium, 3-2.
  • 1981 Nolan Ryan becomes the first pitcher to throw five no-hitters when the Astros defeat the Dodgers at the Astrodome, 5-0. The Ryan Express, who will finish his 27-year major league career with a record seven no-hitters, previously has thrown hitless gems against the Royals (1973), Tigers (1973), Twins (1974), and Orioles (1975).

  • 1997 Dodger catcher Mike Piazza, in a 10-4 win over the Rockies, hits the longest home run in the history of Coors Field. The 28 year-old backstop’s sixth-inning blast travels 496 feet and hits the left-center field billboard between the scoreboard and the Rockpile.

Lineup when available.

Aug 09

Game 118, 2019

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Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: FS-A, SPNLA

LHP Robbie Ray (10-7, 4.03 ERA) pitches for the D-Backs opposing RHP Walker Buehler (10-2, 3.22 ERA) of the Dodgers. Ray had a horrible June (1-4) and an excellent July (4-1) and won his first start in August, although he went just five innings and gave up four runs on six hits to the Nats. Buehler had a spectacular game his last time out, striking out 15 while allowing the Padres one run on five hits in a complete game victory. If he goes past six innings today he’ll exceed last season’s number of innings pitched and set a new career record.

Here’s Kershaw’s 2,397th strikeout as a Dodger, surpassing Sandy Koufax and moving into third place on the Dodgers’ all-time list behind the two Dons, Sutton and Drysdale.

Player acquisition news: The Dodgers have acquired catcher Jose Lobaton from Seattle in exchange for cash considerations. Lobaton will report to Oklahoma City. This was likely prompted by the news that prospect C Kelbert Ruiz was hit by a pitch last Saturday and broke his finger; he’s out for the season.

Seager is optimistic he’ll hit as well as always.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1975 At Shea Stadium, Davey Lopes steals his 32nd consecutive base without being caught, breaking Max Carey’s 1922 record in the Dodgers’ 2-0 victory over New York. The Dodger second baseman’s mark will be broken by Vince Coleman in 1989.
  • 1976 John Candelaria becomes the first Pirate since 1907 to throw a no-hitter in Pittsburgh. Nick Maddox threw the first and only Buc home no-hitter until the ‘Candyman’ beat the Dodgers at Three Rivers Stadium. (There was never a no-hitter pitched in the 61-year history of spacious Forbes Field.)
  • 2001 Mike Hampton ties the National League record for pitchers with his seventh homer when he goes deep off Felix Heredia in the Rockies’ 14-5 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Colorado southpaw equals the mark established by Dodger hurlers Don Drysdale (1958, 1965) and Don Newcombe (1955), and two shy of the major league standard set by Wes Ferrell, playing for the Indians in 1931.
  • 2013 The Dodgers rally for four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, overcoming a six-run, seventh-inning deficit, for their fifth walk-off victory of the season. The team’s 7-6 victory over Tampa Bay is their 11th consecutive win in a one-run games, a span in which they have defeated ten different clubs.

Also on this date, in 2013 Dan Haren becomes the thirteenth pitcher in history to record a victory over all 30 major league franchises when he hurls seven solid innings in the Nationals’ 9-2 win over Philadelphia. The 32 year-old right-hander joins Al Leiter, Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, A.J. Burnett, Kevin Brown, Terry Mulholland, Curt Schilling, Woody Williams, Jamie Moyer, Javier Vazquez, Vicente Padilla, and Derek Lowe in accomplishing the feat.

Lineup when available.

Jul 29

Game 108, 2019

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Dodgers at Rockies, 5:40 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet-RM, SPNLA

RHP Kenta Maeda (7-7, 3.81 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers in the opener of a three-game series. He went 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday against the Angels and gave up three runs, taking the loss when Bellinger was thrown out by Calhoun to end the game. His opponent will be RHP Jon Gray (9-7, 4.05 ERA), who has surrendered three or fewer runs in six of his last seven starts. The Rockies have lost three of the last four of those games, but they’ve gone 9-22 for the last month-plus so that’s not altogether surprising.

About the only bright spot in yesterday’s game was Corey Seager’s three-run HR in the ninth:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1915 Pirates third baseman Honus Wagner reaches Robins hurler Jeff Pfeffer for a grand slam in the eighth inning, helping Pittsburgh beat Brooklyn at Forbes Field, 8-2. The inside-the-park round-tripper makes the 41 year-old infielder the oldest player ever to hit a home run with the bases full, a record which will last until 1985.
  • 1996 After a mild heart attack last month, Tommy Lasorda, 68 year-old Dodger manager of twenty years, announces his retirement due to his health. The future Hall of Fame skipper, who was named the National League Manager of the Year in 1983 and ’88, led Los Angeles to four pennants and two World Series championships during his 21 seasons at the helm.

    Lineup when available.

Jul 19

Game 100, 2019

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Marlins at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: FS-F, SPNLA

The Marlins give the ball to RHP Zac Gallen (0-1, 4.24 ERA), who’ll make his fifth major league start. In his last one he went five innings, struck out five, walked five and gave up two runs. The Dodgers counter with LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (10-2, 1.78 ERA), who’s made 18 starts and given up two earned runs or fewer in all but one. In his last start he went seven innings against the Red Sox, gave up two runs and didn’t figure in the decision as the Dodgers won in the 12th inning.

Kershaw was being interviewed as Matt Beaty hit his HR yesterday:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2017 CT3, Kiké and Seager each hit home runs as the Dodgers defeated the White Sox in a rain-shortened interleague game in Chicago behind Kenta Maeda’s five strong innings and two innings of relief from Ross Stripling.

Lineup when available.

Jul 12

Game 93, 2019

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Dodgers at Red Sox, 4:10 PM PDT, TV: NESN, SPNLA, FB-Watch

In a rematch of last year’s World Series, the NL West-leading Dodgers face the AL East-third place Red Sox. The Dodgers send RHP Kenta Maeda (7-4, 3.76 ERA) to the hill at Fenway Park to try to get a win. His last one was on May 31. He’s lost three of the six starts he’s made since then, but he allowed just a .182 batting average and compiled a 4.05 ERA in those games. The Sox counter with LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (9-4, 4.65 ERA), who was inconsistent during the first half but has had a 3.75 ERA since May 26.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1966 The National League All-Stars edge the AL, 2-1, in a game played at the newly-built Busch Stadium when hometown favorite Tim McCarver scores the winning run on Dodger shortstop Maury Wills’s tenth-inning walk-off single, with Giants hurler Gaylord Perry getting the victory by tossing a scoreless ninth and tenth inning. The 105-degree weather, 113 degrees on the playing surface, results in nearly 150 people needing treatment for heat exhaustion.



Lineup:


Jun 13

Game 69, 2019

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Cubs at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: NBCSCH, SPNLA

The Cubbies send wily veteran LHP Jon Lester (5-4, 3.56 ERA) to the hill against the Dodgers’ own wily veteran LHP Clayton Kershaw (5-1, 3.00 ERA). Lester had a strong outing on June 3 against the Angels but in his next start he gave up four first-inning runs to the Cardinals, although he went five scoreless innings after that blip. Kershaw had won every time out until his last start, when he went seven innings and gave up two runs to the Giants. His teammates could only get one run against four San Francisco pitchers and Kershaw took the loss.

The Dodgers put Corey Seager on the IL and activated IF Matt Beaty from the same list.

It was initially thought he had suffered a Grade 2 strain, which usually requires four to six weeks to fully heal. But the club said that an MRI on Wednesday revealed a strain “between Grade 1 and Grade 2,” less severe than Tuesday night’s initial exam indicated. The Dodgers have not placed a timetable on his return.

The Dodgers are pursuing LHP closer Brad Hand of the Indians, if USA Today’s Bob Nightengale is to be believed.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1957 In a game which features the ejection of Johnny Logan and Don Drysdale, Clem Labine loses for the first time in ten months and 38 relief appearances when the Braves beat Brooklyn, 8-5. The Milwaukee shortstop charged the mound after getting drilled in the ribs by the Dodger right-hander, resulting in banishment for both players.
  • 1973 The Dodgers infield, a quartet which will be together eight and a half years, setting a major league record for longevity, plays together for the first time. First baseman Steve Garvey, second baseman Davey Lopes, third baseman Ron Cey, and shortstop Bill Russell are in the lineup in the 16-3 defeat to the Phillies.
  • 1998 The first triple play ever completed at Dodger Stadium is turned by Darren Dreifort (p), Eric Young (2b), Jose Vizcaino (ss), and Bobby Bonilla (3b). With Colorado runners on first and second base, the 1-6-4 double play becomes a triple killing when Jamey Wright is thrown out at third base by the LA second baseman, who covered first base for the second out.
  • 2010 The Angels, with their first sweep at Dodger Stadium, complete their 14-game road trip with 11 victories, the most for the team on a single trip since 1962. In the 6-5 decision over their crosstown rivals, Halo hurler Jered Weaver strikes out his older brother, Jeff, who came into the game as a long reliever in the third inning, for the first time since they were kids.

Lineup:


Oct 30

Gather ’round the stove, y’all

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We go into the offseason earlier than we hoped and without the ultimate prize, so who’s coming back to ensure we get back to the Series for the third consecutive year?

…the Dodgers retain their nucleus. Hill will return for the final year of a three-year deal he signed after 2016. Justin Turner and Jansen will be back. Max Muncy, this year’s breakout star, will be back and cost-controlled. Seager is expected to be healthy. A young nucleus of position players that includes Cody Bellinger, Chris Taylor, Kiké Hernández and Joc Pederson will also come back, with Andrew Toles and Alex Verdugo perhaps ready to take on bigger roles.

Kershaw or not, the rotation could post a combination of Buehler and Julio Urías that is currently a combined 45 years old.

Besides Kershaw, other free agents include Machado, Freese, Dozier, and Grandal. Despite the current dissatisfaction with Grandal,

…only J.T. Realmuto was a more valuable catcher by Baseball Prospectus’ WARP metric, and he is coming off the best offensive season of his career. He will be paid, and handsomely, as the Dodgers will look to find a catching partner to join the light-hitting Austin Barnes.

Beyond Kershaw’s decision, which must be made this week, the biggest question is whether Dave Roberts will manage the team next year. You’d think three consecutive playoff appearances and two trips to the World Series would make that question ludicrous, but baseball owners have done screwier things*.

To win the World Series, the Dodgers would have had to play better than they had for any seven-game stretch all season. Roberts would have had to nail every single decision, which he did not. Puig would have had to throw to the cutoff man, which he did not. Their pitchers would have had to pitch to their strengths, which they did not. Their hitters would have had to, well, hit.

“You have to realize that we are a really good team to get to go to the World Series two years in a row,” Kershaw said. “It might not be a personnel thing. It might just be a ‘play better’ thing.”

So, what’s next? Here are selected events from Major League Baseball’s calendar:

  • Nov. 2, 2018 Deadline for teams to extend qualifying offer to own free agents, 5 p.m. ET
  • Nov. 8-15, 2018 Japan All-Star Tour (including CT3)
  • Nov. 12, 2018 Deadline for players to accept or reject qualifying offer, 5 p.m. ET
  • Nov. 30, 2018 Non-tender deadline
  • Dec. 9-13, 2018 Winter Meetings in Las Vegas
  • Dec. 13, 2018 Rule 5 Draft

*Back in 1964 the Cardinals’ owner Gussie Busch fired the team’s entire senior management in August, leaving field manager Johnny Keane as sole survivor for the time. Shortly after the Cardinals won the World Series, Keane surprised management by resigning (and then being hired by the Yankees, who’d just lost to Keane’s former team).

Apr 30

Game 28,2018

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Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

RHP Ross Stripling (0-0, 0.63 ERA) gets a spot start in place of the injured Rich Hill. He’s made 10 relief appearances and no starts this season, although he says he’d prefer to start. He’s pitched 14 1/3 innings and given up 12 hits, one run, and struck out 16 while walking seven (one intentionally). He’ll face RHP Zack Greinke (2-2, 4.80 ERA), who has been much better at home this season (1-0, 1.27 ERA in two starts) than on the road (1-2, 7.27 ERA). Take note of the location of tonight’s game.

Oh no! Seager out for year!

Today, the Dodgers recalled Breyvic Valera from Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed Corey Seager on the 10-day DL with a right UCL sprain. Seager will undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1940 The Dodgers tie the major league mark for consecutive wins from the beginning of the season with style as James ‘Tex’ Carleton no-hits the Reds, 3-0, for the team’s ninth straight victory since Opening Day.
  • 1944 In the first game of a doubleheader split, first baseman Phil Weintraub gets 11 RBIs, and player-manager Mel Ott scores six runs, drawing five walks in the Giants’ 26-8 rout of the Dodgers. Brooklyn wins the nightcap 5-4 in a game shortened due to darkness.
  • 1988 Dave Winfield ties the major league RBI record for April established by Dodger infielder Ron Cey in 1977 and matched by Dale Murphy of the Braves in 1985. The right fielder, who was on base at least once in every game, drives in his 28th and 29th runs of the month in the Yankees’ 15-3 rout of Texas in New York.

Lineup when available.