Cleveland Sporting Team @ Dodgers July 1, 2014: No Hanleys Ever

Here’s a thing I am completely sick of typing: “Hanley Ramirez is not in the starting lineup tonight.” I’ve lost count of how many times he’s sat, and I honestly don’t care to look it up. Five? Ten? A million? Who knows? Ken Gurnick reports that Ramirez “did not participate in batting or infield practice on the field today. Probably limited to pinch-hitting again tonight.” And when you hear that, I just really, really wish that we don’t see him at all. 

	Indians			Dodgers
	7:10pm PT			Los Angeles, CA
CF	Bourn		2B	Gordon
SS	Cabrera		RF	Puig
LF	Brantley		1B	Gonzalez
3B	Chisenhall		LF	Kemp
2B	Kipnis		CF	Ethier
1B	Swisher		3B	Uribe
C	Gomes		C	Butera
RF	Murphy		SS	Triunfel
P	Masterson (R)		P	Beckett (R)

Dylan Hernandez further reports that “Hanley Ramirez is expected to start a game before the All-Star break, Don Mattingly said,” and I’m really hoping that’s a joke — both Hernandez and Mattingly like to fool with people at times — because, think about that for a second. The All-Star break is nearing, but it’s not that close. After finishing off with a matinee against Cleveland tomorrow, the Dodgers go to Colorado for four games — all against lefties, including Yohan Flande, who is apparently not made-up — then to Detroit for two before coming back home for four with the Padres before calling it a half. That’s 10 more games. Ramirez will probably start at least one, maybe, potentially. This never stops being fun.

With Ramirez out, Carlos Triunfel gets a start at shortstop, and Drew Butera gives A.J. Ellis a break. That makes the bottom third of the lineup pretty tasty for Tribe starter Justin Masterson. The Dodgers counter with Josh Beckett, shaking off his “general soreness” and trying to keep his unlikely dream season alive.

* * *

I knew there was something else I was going to note tonight, and it took me until now to remember what it was. Now that I remember it, I realize why it seemed so unimportant. The team purchased minor league first baseman Brock Peterson from the Nationals, according to the MLB.com transactions page, though neither team seems to have announced it. It’s here that I’m going to dispense with pretending that I know who he is and just report the facts: Peterson, 31 in November, was a 49th-round pick of the Twins in 2002 and kicked around their system until 2010, before spending most of the next two years in independent ball.

He surfaced with the Cardinals in 2012 and led the PCL in homers last year, earning himself a few cups of coffee in the bigs. (He had two walks and two singles in 28 plate appearances.) With the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate this year, he wasn’t doing much, hitting .250/.332/.367; though he had earlier played third and the outfield, he’s strictly a first baseman now. Why do the Dodgers want him? They don’t. The Isotopes do, however, with Clint Robinson, Miguel Rojas and Triunfel all in Los Angeles, and the roster in Triple-A looking exceptionally thin.

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