Carl Crawford is expected to return to the Dodgers tonight after spending about six weeks on the disabled list with a sprained ankle. It’s never good to wish for injuries, but Crawford’s absence reduced the pressure caused by the “five outfielder problem.” As a result of the injury, Matt Kemp was un-benched and played every day….
Yesterday, the Red Sox designated catcher A.J. Pierzynski for assignment, and it caught my interest. It shouldn’t have — Pierzynski is 37 and hitting .254/.286/.348 for a last-place club — but it did. It got me thinking that A.J. Ellis is 33, has had two disabling lower-body injuries this year (knee surgery, ankle sprain), and that…
This is some video shot by Gabe Ortiz (@Webgems24). He was in person last Wednesday for Grant Holmes‘ professional debut for the AZL Dodgers against the AZL Mariners. He shot video of Holmes and second-round draft pick Alex Verdugo. It’s the first time I’ve seen either one on video since turning pro. Here’s Holmes striking…
Gross. That wasn’t as painful as last night, but it still wasn’t very much fun. Max Scherzer allowed a mere four hits — one, shockingly, being Miguel Rojas‘ first major league homer — and along with two walks, and Joba Chamberlain & Joe Nathan allowed zero hits and zero walks, and that was that. It’s…
Well, there’s some good news today: Miguel Cabrera gets the day off from the Detroit lineup. I’m pretty sure we’ve made this observation more than once over the last year or so, generally when Paul Maholm replaced Clayton Kershaw or with the various shortstops who have filled in for Hanley Ramirez, but it’s hard to think…
Sigh. Look, what do you want, really? We haven’t missed a game recap yet, and we’re not going to start now, but come on. We should probably remember how much fun this was for the first few minutes, when the Dodgers jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first against Justin…
Today’s series opener between the Dodgers and Tigers features two starting pitchers in very different places of their careers. Hyun-jin Ryu and Justin Verlander are slated to face each other, and here are each player’s 2014 seasons to date: Verlander: 116-2/3 IP, 117 ERA-, 101 FIP-, 114 xFIP- Ryu: 96-1/3 IP, 89 ERA-, 85 FIP-, 92…
Darnell Sweeney become “a guy”, Julian Leon questions why I said his power will eventually come and decided to show it immediately, and Alex Verdugo is making quite the impression. Meanwhile, Scott Elbert passes a test in AAA and continues his march back to relevance. On the other side of the coin, Zach Lee and…
The Rays and the Dodgers seem to be lining up quite well as potential trade partners before the end of the month. Much has been written about David Price, and the Dodgers seem like a good fit. Mike wrote about the Dodgers and Ben Zobrist, which may or may not be the best of ideas….
Carl Crawford hadn’t done much in his first two rehab games in Albuquerque, striking out twice with a single in five plate appearances, and that’s not a big deal. Yeah, it’s about Crawford getting his timing down after missing well over a month since his ankle injury, but it’s mostly about showing that the ankle…