Podcast: ‘Dugout Blues’ episode 169 – Pitching injuries, Joc hitting, Kershaw

On this episode of “Dugout Blues,” Jared Massey (Dodger Blue) and I have a discussion about the Los Angeles Dodgers, as we do every week.

Brandon McCarthy came back, pitched well, got hurt, pitched badly and is now going on the disabled list. Brett Anderson came back, pitched one awful inning, got hurt and, well, who knows. There is clearly a curse on all Dodger pitchers.

Thankfully, the offense has picked it up. Yasmani Grandal, Corey Seager, Justin Turner and even Adrian Gonzalez have picked it up of late. But the most encouraging offensive performance has come from Joc Pederson, who looks like a much more well-rounded hitter now than he has at any point of his career. It’s amazing what can happen when he makes adjustments.

Speaking of Turner, he hurt his hand on Friday and didn’t play Saturday or Sunday. Here’s hoping it’s nothing serious. If it is, here’s hoping he doesn’t try to play through an injury, as he did earlier this season.

Clayton Kershaw is playing catch. He’s playing more “aggressive” catch. I’m still skeptical he comes back, but every time he throws, he’s one step closer to coming back.

We talked about all the Yasiel Puig drama from last week and we touch on the “new” drama with the Snapchat video and such. Jared does some great PR spin in this segment.

On the farm, Yadier Alvarez struggled his last time out, but is still doing some great things. Another July 2 signing doing good things is Omar Estevez. The 18-year-old, after an incredibly slow start in Low-A, has been the best hitter on the team for six weeks. Johan Mieses is still on fire, and has been for about six weeks. He’s second in the organization in home runs with 26. He’s raw as all hell, but he’s a guy to watch going forward. Edwin Rios hasn’t skipped a beat since being promoted to Double-A Tulsa. The power is still there and, no matter what Jared says, he is not the next Chris Davis.

To close, a decent Q&A session. Thank you for the inquiries.

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Look for new episodes of “Dugout Blues” every Monday. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and review us on iTunes. We want to make this the best podcast we can so we’re always looking for suggestions and ways to improve.

If you have questions you’d like us to answer or certain topics/players you want to hear more about, feel free to email us ([email protected]) or send us messages on Twitter (@JaredJMassey or @DustinNosler). You can also “Like” the podcast on Facebook. We always welcome audience participation.

About Dustin Nosler

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Dustin Nosler began writing about the Dodgers in July 2009 at his blog, Feelin' Kinda Blue. He co-hosted a weekly podcast with Jared Massey called Dugout Blues. He was a contributor/editor at The Hardball Times and True Blue LA. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with his bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in digital media. While at CSUS, he worked for the student-run newspaper The State Hornet for three years, culminating with a 1-year term as editor-in-chief. He resides in Stockton, Calif.