The Sports Xchange
MLB Team Report – Los Angeles Dodgers – INSIDE PITCH
There’s no hurry for Dodgers manager Don Mattingly to work out the particulars. Neither outfielder Matt Kemp nor Carl Crawford is ready to return from their respective hamstring injuries.
When the day comes and the Dodgers have a healthy corps of outfielders, though, Mattingly made it clear he expects rookie Yasiel Puig to remain a part of it.
“Yeah — I mean, the way he’s playing, that’s part of it,” Mattingly said. “Now are they (opposing pitchers) going to start figuring out what they’re doing? It may not look the same 10 days from now. But this is a talented kid. I feel like he is going to make adjustments. But he’ll need his days (off) too. We’ve talked about it — as hard as he plays he’s going to get nicked and banged up too. Him having some days too is not going to hurt him.”
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Puig is the first player to have 20 hits and four home runs in his first 12 big-league games. He was batting .479 (23 for 48) after going 3-for-4 Sunday in Pittsburgh, his eighth multi-hit game (and fourth three-hit game) in his first 13 big-league games.
There is enough playing time to accommodate four outfielders — Crawford, Kemp, Puig and Andre Ethier — once they are all healthy, according to Mattingly.
“We’ll just have to work it out,” Mattingly said.
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MLB Team Report – Los Angeles Dodgers – NOTES, QUOTES
RECORD: 29-39
STREAK: Lost one
PAST 10 GAMES: 4-6
NEXT: Dodgers (Hyun-Jin Ryu, 6-2, 2.85) at Yankees (Phil Hughes, 3-5, 4.89)
PLAYER NOTES:
–3B Juan Uribe was removed from the lineup just before the start of the game with tightness in his back. He was available to pinch-hit but did not get into the game.
–RF Yasiel Puig will remain in the major leagues even after LF Carl Crawford and CF Matt Kemp return from the disabled list, manager Don Mattingly said Sunday. Kemp (strained right hamstring) is likely a week away from returning, and Crawford (strained left hamstring) is expected to miss at least two more weeks. Puig went 3-for-4 in a 6-3 loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday, and he is hitting .479 in his first 13 major league games.
–OF Andre Ethier, who has shifted from right field to center field with Matt Kemp injured, is likely to have his playing time cut when LF Carl Crawford returns. Ethier could be used as trade bait. Ethier is in the first year of a six-year, $95.95 million contract that includes a vesting option for 2018, and the Dodgers likely would have to eat a good portion of that money to trade him. Ethier went 2-for-4 with two RBIs Sunday and is 9-for-20 (.450) in his last five games to raise his average to .249.
–INF Luis Cruz started at third base after Juan Uribe (back) was scratched. Cruz went 0-for-3.
–SS Hanley Ramirez got most of the day off after playing back-to-back games, though he struck out as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning Sunday. Ramirez had sat out seven straight games with a strained left hamstring before returning to the lineup Friday.
–INF Nick Punto started at shortstop for Hanley Ramirez, who was given a rest. Punto, who has been getting most of his playing time at third base recently, went 1-for-4.
–C A.J. Ellis got a day off from behind the plate after playing on back-to-back day following his activation from the disabled list Friday. Ellis, who missed 15 days with a left oblique strain, pinch-ht in the ninth inning Sunday and walked.
–C Tim Fedorowicz got the start behind the plate in place of A.J. Ellis and went 0-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. Fedorowicz is now the Dodgers’ No. 2 catcher after C Ramon Hernandez was designated for assignment Friday.
–2B Mark Ellis got a routine day off Sunday after playing in eight straight games, though he struck out as a pinch hitter in the ninth. INF Skip Schumaker, who normally plays left field, started at second base.
–INF/OF Alex Castellanos started in left field with Skip Schumaker moving to second base to take Mark Ellis’ place. Castellanos went 0-for-3.
–RHP Zack Greinke lost for just the second time in seven career starts against the Pirates, allowing five runs and eight hits in five innings with two walks and three strikeouts. It was Greinke’s first start since he hit Arizona C Jesus Montero with a pitch June 11 and was fined by Major League Baseball. There were two bench-clearing incidents in the game, and Greinke was hit by a pitch from Arizona RHP Ian Kennedy, who received a 10-game suspension.
–C John Baker was claimed off waivers from San Diego, and the Dodgers optioned him to Triple-A Albuquerque. Baker hit .150 with two RBIs in 16 games with San Diego this season.
–LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (6-2, 2.85 ERA) will start Tuesday night against the Yankees at New York in the opener of a two-game series. The rookie has won his last three decisions and is 3-0 with a 1.94 ERA in his last four starts. Ryu has pitched at least six innings in 12 of his 13 starts and has made 10 quality starts. He has never faced the Yankees.
–LHP Chris Capuano (latissimus strain) is expected to come off the disabled list and start Wednesday against the Yankees. He will be on a slightly limited pitch count, most likely around 80-85 pitches. He made a rehab start Friday for Triple-A Albuquerque, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out five in four scoreless innings.
–CF Matt Kemp is still feeling some discomfort in his injured right hamstring when he tries to push himself during workouts. His status will be re-evaluated when the team gets to New York for a two-game series that begins Tuesday.
–LF Carl Crawford (strained left hamstring) is rehabbing at the team’s training complex in Arizona. He is still weeks away from returning.
–LHP Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers are making progress on a seven-year deal that would be worth more than $180 million, exceeding the extensions signed by Mariners RHP Felix Hernandez and Tigers RHP Justin Verlander earlier this year, FOX Sports reported. That would make Kershaw (at age 25) the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history. Kershaw wasn’t happy that news of the talks leaked. He blamed Dodgers management and said he wasn’t sure if the leak would affect negotiations.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “It’s been kind of the same story, and that’s that we haven’t been able to win a series. We were in a position to win this series and had (Zack) Greinke on the mound, and we didn’t get it done again.” — Manager Don Mattingly, on the Dodgers’ 6-3 loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday.
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MLB Team Report – Los Angeles Dodgers – ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
–3B Juan Uribe (lower back tightness) was scratched from the starting lineup June 16. He is day-to-day.
–OF Scott Van Slyke (left shoulder bursitis) went on the 15-day disabled list June 11. No structural damage was found, but he received a cortisone injection.
–LHP Ted Lilly (neck strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 5. He received an epidural injection in mid-June. There is no timetable for his return.
–LHP Chris Capuano (left shoulder strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 30. He made a rehab start June 14 for Triple-A Albuquerque, and he is expected to be activated June 19.
–LF Carl Crawford (strained left hamstring) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 2. He was rehabbing at the team’s training complex in Arizona as of June 16 and was still weeks from returning.
–CF Matt Kemp (strained right hamstring) went on the 15-day disabled list May 30. He was still feeling some discomfort as of June 16, and he was due to be re-evaluated during the week of June 17-23.
–RHP Josh Beckett (strained left groin, numbness in right hand) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 14. He began a light throwing program as of May 21, but he was shut down May 27 due to tingling in the fingers on his right hand. He was diagnosed with nerve irritation, and he was shut down from throwing until late June.
–RHP Shawn Tolleson (lower back strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 13. He had surgery April 25 to treat a herniated disk. He is expected to be sidelined until at least late July.
–LHP Scott Elbert (arthroscopic left elbow surgeries in September 2012 and January 2013) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 31. He began a rehab assignment with Class A Rancho Cucamonga on May 10, then moved to Double-A Chattanooga on May 17. He was shut down in early June due to renewed elbow pain, and he was due to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery in mid-June.
–RHP Chad Billingsley (Tommy John surgery in April 2013) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 16, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 10. He’s out for the season.
ROTATION:
LHP Clayton Kershaw
RHP Zack Greinke
LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu
RHP Stephen Fife
BULLPEN:
RHP Brandon League
RHP Kenley Jansen (closer)
RHP Ronald Belisario
LHP J.P. Howell
RHP Matt Guerrier
LHP Paco Rodriguez
RHP Peter Moylan
RHP Chris Withrow
CATCHERS:
A.J. Ellis
Tim Federowicz
INFIELDERS:
1B Adrian Gonzalez
2B Mark Ellis
SS Hanley Ramirez
3B Luis Cruz
INF Nick Punto
INF Jerry Hairston Jr.
INF Juan Uribe
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Skip Schumaker
CF Andre Ethier
RF Yasiel Puig
OF/INF Alex Castellanos
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