Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Very early this morning, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register noted that Paco Rodriguez would likely be sent down today after throwing 48 pitches over the last two days, and it made total sense. The bullpen was overworked after 20 innings yesterday, as you can see below, so some fresh blood was needed, and the only other player with options — Chris Withrow — is totally fresh. (Also, a better pitcher than Rodriguez.) So we spent all morning speculating who might come up. Colt Hynes? Yimi Garcia? Jarret Martin? It couldn’t have been Jose Dominguez, because it hasn’t yet been 10 days since his departure.
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Dodgers
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Marlins
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4:10 pm PT
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Miami, FL
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2B
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Gordon
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LF
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Yelich
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RF
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Puig
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2B
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Dietrich
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SS
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Ramirez
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RF
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Stanton
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1B
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Gonzalez
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3B
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McGehee
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CF
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Ethier
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C
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Saltalamacchia
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C
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Olivo
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1B
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Jones
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LF
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Crawford
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CF
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Ozuna
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3B
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Figgins
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SS
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Hechavarria
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P
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Beckett
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P
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Koehler (R)
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Then, about three hours before game time, Alanna Rizzo of SNLA posted the lineup, and not only was Dominguez actually listed… so was Chone Figgins, starting at third base. So after all sorts of speculation about who else was hurt — Matt Kemp! Kenley Jansen! — in order to make room we finally learned the bad news: Hyun-jin Ryu is headed to the DL with left shoulder soreness. The good news is that from all indications, it doesn’t appear serious — they aren’t even doing an MRI — and so hopefully this isn’t going to plague him for the rest of the year.
The bad news? I legitimately have no idea who is starting against Jose Fernandez on Sunday now. Josh Beckett goes tonight, and Paul Maholm on Saturday. Zack Greinke will go Monday, and Clayton Kershaw likely returns on Tursday.
And Sunday? Options are limited. Red Patterson, also sent back to Triple-A today, isn’t going on two days rest, obviously. Matt Magill pitched yesterday, too. You may want to keep an eye on Albuquerque tonight, where Zach Lee is scheduled to start against Fresno at 6:05 p.m. PT. If he suddenly isn’t on the mound, that’s a pretty good sign. If he does go, then it really has to be Stephen Fife, who pitched an inning of relief on Wednesday. If not either of them, then I don’t know, maybe you. Pitching: there’s never enough of it.
So, to recap: Dominguez and Figgins are up. Ryu is on the disabled list. Rodriguez is on his way back to Triple-A, as is Patterson since the 26th man exemption is no longer around. Nothing is ever simple. You’ll never get the time back you spent reading this.
Finally: Andre Ethier, playing center tonight, is celebrating his eighth anniversary as a Dodger. On May 2, 2006, he made his debut in a lineup that included Kenny Lofton, Oscar Robles, and Odalis Perez. It feels like 70 years ago.
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