Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
On this episode of Dugout Blues, before Jared and I talk about what seems like the beginning of the end of the 2018 Dodgers, we have a guest. It’s Jon Weisman, who is on to promote his book, Brothers in Arms. It’s a great read and he’s a great guest.
After a wonderful interview, we delve into the Dodgers and what they’ve been doing the last week. It started off well enough, as they had won four games in a row, including the first combined no-hitter in franchise history. But then they dropped the final two games to the Padres in Mexico and Clayton Kershaw was placed on the 10-day disabled list with biceps tendinitis.
If the Dodgers are without Kershaw for any long period of time, it’s nice that they have Walker Buehler to take his place. He started the combined no-hitter and has been excellent in his first three big league starts. His stuff is top-shelf and we’re excited to see what he does the rest of this season.
Kershaw’s injury is worrisome. The bicep could mean it’s an elbow or shoulder thing — at least, this was our speculation at the time of recording. The Dodgers have since announced it’s just the tendinitis and he’ll begin his rehab later this week. That’s good. Hopefully he comes back healthy and brings his 92-94 MPH fastball with him.
Hyun-Jin Ryu is out for awhile after he tore a groin muscle. It’s too bad because Ryu was throwing as well as any Dodger starter and looked almost like the 2013-14 version of himself.
Alex Verdugo might get an extended look in the majors because of Corey Seager‘s season-ending injury. The early results are promising, especially some of the exit velocity numbers.
Rich Hill and Yasiel Puig are due back this week. That should be a nice jolt for the team, as long as they perform up to their standard. That has been a problem for many Dodger players this season.
In the minors, Mitchell White made his season debut for Tulsa. He appears to be healthy and still has a bright future. Yusniel Diaz cooled off a bit but is still hitting well. Caleb Ferguson is making some noise in the Texas League, as he has a 0.33 ERA in 27 1/3 innings and he’s missing bats. He has a big league arm, but it remains to be seen if it comes in the rotation or bullpen. Connor Wong has also cooled off a bit, but that was to be expected. Dustin May made his season debut with Rancho Cucamonga. He was in extended with White. Finally, Yadier Alvarez was placed on the 7-day disabled list with a groin strain. He has walked 16 batters in his last 8 2/3 innings, so something was definitely wrong with him. Hopefully he gets healthy and comes back throwing more like he did in his first couple seasons.
To close, a solid Q&A session. Please keep the questions coming.
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