Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
We’ve been talking about Dan Haren‘s $10 million 2015 player option, which kicks in if he gets to 180 innings pitched this year for a while. At various points, as Haren struggled badly and looked like he might not even finish the season in the rotation, it seemed clear that he wouldn’t get there.
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Padres
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Dodgers
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7:10 p.m.
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Los Angeles, Ca.
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LF
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Spangenberg
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CF
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Puig
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3B
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Solarte
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2B
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Turner
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RF
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Smith
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1B
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Gonzalez
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2B
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Gyorko
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RF
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Kemp
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1B
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Grandal
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SS
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Ramirez
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C
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Rivera
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LF
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Crawford
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CF
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Venable
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3B
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Uribe
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SS
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Amarista
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C
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Ellis
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P
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Kennedy (R)
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P
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Haren (R)
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Now? Now it’s a lot less clear. Haren has not only survived but thrived, pitching at least six innings in five of his last six starts, and so he enters tonight’s game with 162 innings on the nose. The Dodgers have 17 games remaining and just two more days off, including tomorrow. Including tonight, Haren seems almost certain to get four more starts. Only five of Haren’s 28 starts this year have seen him complete fewer than five innings. You know what? This is going to happen. I’m not really sure how I feel about that.
I guess that’s a problem for later, though. Current problem Yasiel Puig is not only back in the lineup but atop it, with Justin Turner stepping for Dee Gordon at second base. (He’s also batting second, because… you know.) Fun fact: No, of course he’s not going to be benched for Andre Ethier. Puig isn’t going to get out of his slump by sitting on the bench, of course, and there’s an infinitely better chance that Puig gets hot down the stretch than Ethier, who hasn’t hit in about a year, will. It does appear that Don Mattingly has moved away from Joc Pederson, understandably, anyway, since this is still a pennant race.
Don’t forget that last part: The Dodgers may be tied with Washington for the most wins in the NL, but they’re also only 2.5 games up over the Giants, with a huge weekend series looming. It would be absolutely outstanding if the Dodgers could put themselves in a position tonight where even a San Francisco sweep wouldn’t knock them out of first place. It’d be even better if they actually just, you know, beat the Giants too.
Otherwise, the only bit of news today is that Paco Rodriguez threw a bullpen today, will throw a simulated game on Friday, and if all goes well, could be activated after that.
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