The GB&U Game two
Dodgers lose again 1 – 0 making them 0 – 2 for the season. The Giants win the first two games of the year 1 – 0 on solo home runs by Joe Panik. Until someone proves me wrong, I’m going with the idea that this has rarely happened in baseball. Rare enough to lose games back to back 1 – 0, but to have the runs both be solo home runs by the same player. Seems like it would a unique event.
The Good:
Kirk Gibson popped into the TV booth in the bottom of the 3rd and for me, the standout part was his description of the thirty-year-old bat that was the tool for his game-winning home run. It was a 31-ounce bat instead of his normal 33-35 ounce bats, it has the ink from his foul balls, the mark on the sweet spot where he connected to send the ball soaring into the RF bleachers, and the cleat marks from everyone stepping on the bat during the celebration. Then he talked about the raised grain from using it in batting practice giving it some backspin when squared up.
Alex Wood was as good tonight as he’s ever been. No shadows, just great pitching. Even as his team kept putting runners on base, he kept leaving them on base.
Matt Kemp made a play that wasn’t special but it was a play I didn’t think he was going to make, he went a very long way to catch the fly ball in front of the field box in the top of the 8th.
The Bad:
Dodger infield defense led by Logan Forsythe who made three errors. Corey Seager let one go right through his legs. None of the errors impacted the game.
The Ugly:
Dodger offense. Everyone is on ice right now.
The GB&U Game one edition
Dodger record is 0 – 1. Last year the Dodgers scored fourteen runs on opening day and were shutout in game two. A reversal of that would be cool.
The Good:
Clayton Kershaw gave up only one run. He wasn’t as sharp as he had been this spring but he did his job with runners all over the place to keep the score 1 – 0 when he left. He also picked up two of the Dodger six hits.
Yazmani Grandal hitting right-handed looked good at the plate and blocked numerous pitches in the dirt with runners on base.
J.T. Chargois looked great. Really great.
The Dodger bullpen was great with Chargois, Fields, and Cingrani combining for three perfect innings, striking out four.
The Dodgers managed five walks but walks don’t drive in runs and without a key hit from the top and bottom of the lineup, nobody touched home plate.
The Bad:
The Dodger offense combined (not including Kershaw) for only four hits against a quintet of pitchers who don’t strike fear into anyone.
The Giants pitched their fourth starter against the Dodger ace and came away with a 1- 0 win.
The Giants didn’t even have their closer available and still walked away with a one-run victory.
The Ugly:
The top five hitters in the lineup – Taylor/Seager/Puig/Hernandez/Bellinger combined to go zero for fourteen, with three walks. None of them hit the ball hard.
Chris Taylor and Logan Forsythe combined to leave ten runners on base.
Dodgers open 2018 different than 2017
Dodger Opening Day Roster Notes:
New Dodgers compared to 2017 opening day roster – Cody Bellinger, Chris Taylor, Wilmer Font, J.T. Chargois, Josh Fields, Tony Cingrani, Scott Alexander, Kyle Farmer, Matt Kemp
First time on an opening day roster – Wilmer Font, J.T. Chargois, Kyle Farmer
Matt Kemp on the Dodger opening day roster for the first time since 2014
Dodger Stadium opening day memories
I’ve been to many opening days but four really stick out in my memory.
April 7th, 1977 – Don Sutton gave up a leadoff home run to Gary Thomansson and deflated many of the 51, 000 fans in attendance. Not to fear the HOF didn’t give up a run the rest of the game, only three other hits, and cruised to a 4 – 1 victory. It would be the first of many victories for the 1977 team as they went on to win 98 games and were as good a team as any LAD in history. They didn’t win a World Championship but they could have if not for Craig Nettles and his magic glove.
April 1st 2013 – Clayton Kershaw gave one of the great opening day performances in LAD history. Matching up against Matt Cain both pitchers threw zeros for six innings. Clayton shut out the Giants in the 7th, and Cain was replaced by George Kontos to start the 7th. Cain had struck out the last two Dodgers on 3rd call strikes but all that got him was a seat in the dugout. With the score 0 – 0 in the bottom of the 7th the Dodgers let Kershaw hit, and he crushed a home run to center field to give the Dodgers a 1 – 0 lead. For me the Dodgers won that game 1 – 0 but history shows they scored three more times and won 4 – 0. Fuck history, I like my memory better.
April 12th 2005 – The Dodgers opened on the road for six games so they didn’t have their home opener until the 7th game on April 12. The Giants scored five runs in the 1st inning as Jeff Weaver was knocked around. It was a strange first inning as the Giants scored those five runs without the benefit of an extra-base hit. They collected six singles, five in a row at one point. Imagine going through all the trouble to get to opening day only to be down 5 – 0 in the first inning. Not to fear, the powerful Jason Repko blasted a two-run home run off of Kirk Rueter and the Dodgers were back in the game. In the second the googled Jason Philips drove in Norihiro Nakamura (I bet you forgot those names) to cut the lead to 5 – 3. Jeff Weaver decided the game was too close and gave up three more runs in the 4th putting the Dodgers in an 8 – 3 hole in only the 4th inning. The Dodgers scored two more runs in the sixth when Tomato Olmedo Saenz hit a double to RF putting runners on 2nd / 3rd. The aforementioned Nakamura and Philips stranded both runners so the score now stood at 8 – 5. The Dodger bullpen was excellent on this day, not giving the Giants another run after relieving Weaver in the 4th. The Giants big time closer Armando Benitez was brought in to close the door in the 9th but things got crazy. Jason Ellison was brought in to play LF for defensive purposes. Philips grounds out. Rickey Ledee pinch hit a double and Izzy followed that with a single putting runners at 2nd / 3rd. Jose Valentin pinch hits, and pops up. Two outs, two on, down three runs. JD Drew drew a walk bringing up Jeff Kent as the go ahead run. Kent walks, and the score is now 8 -6 with the bases still loaded and Milton Bradley up. Milton hit a single to LF and Ellison in a hurry to pick up the ball and try to make a play at home on the tying run let the ball go right through his legs and everyone scampered home and the Dodgers won 9 – 8. All this happened right in front of me because my seats were in Loge next to Dodger bullpen in LF. The crowd went crazy.
April 5th, 2004 – The game itself was no big deal but this was a big day for me as a Dodger fan. As a fan I’d never been in the position to have season tickets but when Frank McCourt bought the team in 2004 and brought in Paul DePodesta to be the GM I wanted to be a part of the experience. I talked to my brothers and we decided to take advantage of the new buy two get two free Loge seats. When I arrived for the game we got their extra early and as I walked around the stadium with her hand in my hand, I was just beaming at the idea that I was now a season ticket holder in the greatest baseball stadium in baseball. I can’t describe the feeling but the smile it put on my face couldn’t be erased by a mere loss on opening day.
Dodgers on track for 6th NL title
Last year the Dodgers won their 5th straight NL title and while the teams below them got better the margin was a still double digits. It is hard for a team to dominate a division as long as the Dodgers have but it is also hard not to see them doing it again.
The Giants made the biggest splashes this winter but that didn’t impress me or evidently Tom Bowden who picked them last.
Predictions:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Arizona Diamondbacks (wild card)
3. Colorado Rockies
4. San Diego Padres
5. San Francisco Giants
It is time for my annual foray into the prediction world. Last year I unleashed my 50 year old method of picking the division using nothing but simple positional comparisons between teams. It is not scientific but it was good enough last year to pick the Dodgers to win, and the Rockies to take 3rd. It did not pick the Giants to be the worst team in the Division nor for the Diamondbacks to come in second but who knew the Diamondbacks would pick up JD Martinez and watch him have the greatest Aug/Sept in Diamondback history.
Let us see how we fare this year. For this exercise, I’m using the MLB projected starting lineups and rotation spots. The teams will start without Bumgarner, Lanet, Turner, Souza, but I’m using the player expected to get the most time so for the Giants Bumgarner is still their number one option but he loses some value because he’s missing significant time.
So my NL West predictions are not earth shattering.
- Dodgers
- Diamondbacks
- Rockies
- Giants
- Padres
| Pos | Dodgers | Giants | Rockies | Arizona | Padres |
| 1st | 4 | 2.25 | 1 | 5 | 2.75 |
| 2nd | 2.75 | 3.25 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| SS | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 3rd | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Catcher | 4 | 5 | 2.5 | 1 | 2.5 |
| RF | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| CF | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| LF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Bench | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Offense | 34.75 | 25.5 | 29.5 | 24 | 20.25 |
| 1 -Starter | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2 -Starter | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| 3 -Starter | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 4 -Starter | 4.5 | 1.75 | 2.25 | 4.5 | 1.75 |
| 5 -Starter | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 5 | 2.5 |
| Closer | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Bullpen | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Pitching | 28.5 | 17.75 | 17.75 | 27.5 | 14.25 |
| Grand Total | 63.25 | 43.25 | 47.25 | 51.5 | 34.5 |
The Padres have some great young talent but until they start making it into the rotation I can’t see that pitching staff being able to keep them from last place. If they start moving in during the season that could help but most of the arms are still a year away. The youth movement starting with Margot and will accelerate at some point this year when their top positional prospects start replacing the worst players on their team but probably not enough for this year to make a difference. In the future, an infield of Hosmer, Luis Urias, Fernando Tatis Junior could be fun to watch but given how they need to manage the clocks we won’t see them until they are ready. For now, Padre fans will just have to take solace that the farm is loaded and more help will be on the way when the Padres pick up another top draft pick over the next two summers. One quick note, their best young pitcher in the majors is Danilson Lamet who suffered some kind of elbow injury last week. If he is down for any significant time it is a horrible blow as he was one of the best young pitchers to watch last year.
The Giants are teetering on the edge of a precipice. The early injuries to Bumgarner, Shark, and Melancon show the danger of relying on a team where every player has already seen their better days. The only player on the roster who could have a career season is Brandon Belt and we have been saying that for five years now. This team is full of solid veterans, but it is a no-growth stock. They might climb out of the cellar for one season while the Padres consolidate their young talent, but it will only take some injuries to Cueto/Cutch/Pence/Crawford/Posey/Longoria to push them back into oblivion.
Until the Rockie young pitching proves to me it can pitch a full season and not crumble as all other young Rockie pitchers have done, I can’t make the pitch they are ready to rumble for the NL West division. Signing Cargo also didn’t help the team any. They have the best 3rd baseman and Centerfielder in the National League. They have a solid 2nd baseman. They appear to have upgraded at catcher. If Trevor Story is more 2016 instead of 2017 they offense is even scarier. It would be scarier if they let McMahon,Dahl, and possibly Tapia get more playing time than Desmond, Parra, and Cargo. What they do have is a solid bench in case those three go down. It is all about the pitching. If those kids are real and can keep the team in every game, the offense and bullpen could easily turn this team from a 3rd place group into a legit contender.
The Diamondback rotation is real. It is solid from top to bottom but they don’t have any wriggle room. Any significant injuries will impact the rotation. I think Robbie Ray has supplanted Grienke as the number one for the Diamondbacks giving them an excellent 1/2 punch. If Kershaw wasn’t anchoring the Dodgers one/two it would be the best in the Division. Walker/Godley/Corbin round out the above average rotation. They have the best 1st baseman in the NL not named Joey Votto. For now. Lamb is a solid power 3rd baseman, while Nick Ahmed is back to help with the defense. Ketal Martel is now the starting 2nd baseman and if anyone gets hurts Chris Owings can play SS/2nd without the team missing a beat. A.J. Pollock is a good CF who needs to stay healthy. Peralta took a step back last year and should be on his way out. The Dbacks replaced JD Martinez with Stephen Souza who is already hurt and out until May. That is a big hurt as he will be replaced by perennial fourth outfielder Jarrod Dyson who gives you speed and some on-base skills along with top-notch defense. This is a good team, for them to have a crack at the Dodgers, the Dodgers will need to come to them as I can’t see them winning more than 92 games.
I’ll be going into the Dodger preview in depth before opening day, but for this exercise here are some thoughts.The Dodgers are blessed with the best pitcher, the best closer, and the best shortstop in the division. They have the 2nd best first baseman, 2nd best 3rd baseman. I have them behind the Diamondbacks for the best rotation but that could change if Walker Buehler replaces Ryu during the summer. The Dodgers don’t really have a weak link which is one of their biggest advantages. The worst player on the team might be the left fielder and I don’t mean that as a knock on Matt Kemp, but when comparing positions, at the moment until he proves otherwise he is no better than any other left fielder in the division. It is a weak group with Kemp/Pence/Parra/Peralta/Pirela where each team except for the Dbacks might have better alternatives in Toles-Hernandez/Duggar/Dahl/Renfroe. Pirela might be what he was last year but I doubt it, but I’m sure others said that about Chris Taylor so I’m open to Pirela being the real deal. The Dodger after Jansen is suspect until it proves it isn’t. This has happened every year but you can’t simply count on finding the next Brandon Morrow season after season. They might have. done it already with Chargois.
Until proven otherwise the Dodgers are still the class in the Division. They have won handily both years that Kershaw has spent significant time on the DL. He looks primed to win another CYA. His competition might be his own closer. The Dodgers are probably on their to winning their 6th straight NL West division title in what might end up being a ten-year run.
Kiké Hernandez hopes to change his career tune
The fracture of Justin Turner’s wrist during spring games was a setback for the Dodgers but an opportunity for Kiké Hernandez to re-write the story about his career. Until now that story tells us that Hernandez is a utility player who can mash left-hand pitchers but struggles against right-hand pitching. Hernandez is the valued bench player who can fill in admirably at every position on the diamond, who at times will play the position even better than the player he’s filling in for.
A fan favorite Hernandez re-wrote the Dodger postseason books when he bashed three home runs against the Cubs in the NLCS giving him the most total bases of any Dodger in postseason history.
Player Date Series Opp Rslt H 2B 3B HR TB RBI Enrique Hernandez 2017-10-19 NLCS CHC W 11-1 3 0 0 3 12 7 Steve Garvey 1978-10-04 NLCS PHI W 9-5 3 0 1 2 11 4 Eric Karros 1995-10-04 NLDS CIN L 4-5 3 1 0 2 10 4 Steve Garvey 1974-10-09 NLCS PIT W 12-1 4 0 0 2 10 4 Duke Snider 1955-10-02 WS NYY W 5-3 3 1 0 2 10 2
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/28/2018.
He might already be the best second baseman on the team but with Logan Forsythe under contract, Logan had the gig as the starting second baseman headed into spring.
Now with Turner’s injury, Logan will slide over to 3rd opening up 2nd base for Hernandez. How much time he actually gets with Chase on the bench is the question but I think the Dodgers give him some at-bats against right-hand pitching.
Even with the Matt Kemp renaissance in LF, it is doubtful that Matt Kemp keeps the gig over the full year so the expected platoon of Hernandez/Toles or Hernandez/Pederson will probably still be in play sometime this summer. The other possibility is that if Hernandez can impress enough and Matt Kemp does prove you can go home again, he might turn Logan Forsythe into the utility player.
For Hernandez, this March was a double win. He not only gets his shot at a full-time gig, but the Dodgers working with him and his wife are donating $2 Million to the rebuild of Puerto Rico.
PUERTO RICO STRONG: Dodger Owner & Chairman Mark Walter and the Los Angeles Dodgers today announced a donation of $2 million to Habitat for Humanity of Puerto Rico to support rebuilding efforts following the devastation left behind by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Habitat for Humanity of Puerto Rico was selected to receive the donation after consultation with Toa Baja, Puerto Rico resident and Dodger infielder/outfielder Kiké Hernández and his fiancé Mariana Vicente, who added to the Dodgers’ donation with over $225,000 raised through their fundraiser on You Caring and “Puerto Rico Se Levanta” charity t-shirt sales through 500 LEVEL. The donation has been earmarked to focus on rehabilitating/reconstructing damaged homes in Humacao, Santa Isabel, Ponce, Patillas, Arroyo and constructing new housing in Guayama. Fans can join in the efforts of Mark, Kiké, Mariana and the Dodgers by donating at english.habitatpr.org/dodgers/.
Puig / Clemente and other Puig notes
I’ve long maintained that Puig could have a Clemente type of career and that view took a beating in 2015 and 2016 but Puig is still on pace for it to happen.
They are not physically alike but they are both from the islands off of Florida, right-handed hitting right fielders with arms of their generation. They both started out their careers either misunderstood or immature depending on your point of view.
Most baseball fans think of Clemente as the man who died a hero but in his early 20’s he was an enigmatic player who many felt wasn’t getting the most of his tools. It wasn’t until Roberto turned 28 that he put all of his tools together and became one of the best right fielders in baseball.
Unlike Clemente, Puig burst upon the major leagues with an outstanding debut season, while Clemente was a good right fielder but not a star his first years in the major leagues. The routes they took to their 27-year-old season were different but when you look at the aggregate this is what we have. Clemente leads in bWAR but he also had 1500 more plate appearances. Puig is killing him in OPS+ because Clemente didn’t have his first great season until he was 26. Clemente is going to have a down season at the age of 27 but from age 28 on he built his HOF case. At this point in their career arc, Puig is better than Clemente at just about everything except winning a gold glove.
| Player | Age | WAR/pos | OPS+ | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Roberto Clemente | 20-26 | 20.7 | 104 | 0.298 | 0.331 | 0.431 | 0.763 |
| G | PA | AB | R | H | |||
| 917 | 3793 | 3561 | 474 | 1062 | |||
| 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | |||
| 163 | 58 | 65 | 420 | 174 | |||
| Player | Age | WAR/pos | OPS+ | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Yasiel Puig | 22-26 | 15.9 | 128 | 0.281 | 0.357 | 0.475 | 0.833 |
| G | PA | AB | R | H | |||
| 587 | 2321 | 2055 | 305 | 578 | |||
| 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | |||
| 108 | 18 | 85 | 268 | 217 |
Puig:
Year Age PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Awards 2013 22 432 66 122 21 2 19 42 11 8 36 97 .319 .391 .534 .925 159 MVP-15RoY-2 2014 23 640 92 165 37 9 16 69 11 7 67 124 .296 .382 .480 .863 145 ASMVP-19 2015 24 311 30 72 12 3 11 38 3 3 26 66 .255 .322 .436 .758 110 2016 25 368 45 88 14 2 11 45 5 2 24 74 .263 .323 .416 .740 98 2017 26 570 72 131 24 2 28 74 15 6 64 100 .263 .346 .487 .833 118 5 Yr 5 Yr 2321 305 578 108 18 85 268 45 26 217 461 .281 .357 .475 .833 128 162 162 641 84 160 30 5 23 74 12 7 60 127 .281 .357 .475 .833 128
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/21/2018.
Clemente:
Year Age PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Awards 1955 20 501 48 121 23 11 5 47 2 5 18 60 .255 .284 .382 .666 77 1956 21 572 66 169 30 7 7 60 6 6 13 58 .311 .330 .431 .761 106 1957 22 474 42 114 17 7 4 30 0 4 23 45 .253 .288 .348 .637 73 1958 23 556 69 150 24 10 6 50 8 2 31 41 .289 .327 .408 .736 95 1959 24 456 60 128 17 7 4 50 2 3 15 51 .296 .322 .396 .718 92 1960 25 620 89 179 22 6 16 94 4 5 39 72 .314 .357 .458 .815 121 ASMVP-8 1961 26 614 100 201 30 10 23 89 4 1 35 59 .351 .390 .559 .949 150 ASMVP-4GG
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/21/2018.
That Puig, if he were able to keep it up over the course of a season, would be elite. The second-half Puig increased his walk rate by more than two points and dropped his strikeout rate by three points. He lowered his ground-ball rate by seven points, and upped his hard-hit rate by five points. It’s what you want. You saw the results; he was the Dodgers’ best second-half hitter in 2017.
Puig has had quite a ride going from one of the most dynamic mid-season debuts in Dodger history, to an MVP candidate the following season, to being demoted just two years later to AAA back to one of the best players on a team that almost won a World Championship.
The Puig I saw last Sept/Oct I had never seen before. If he carries that into 2018 the sky could be the limit. I do think Puig has an MVP type season in him, and this season would be as good a time as any to have it.
Alex Verdugo waits for tomorrow
The Dodgers consensus number one positional prospect (not mine) was sent down yesterday ending his futile attempt to make the opening day 2018 Dodger roster.
Verdugo with all his skills faced an uphill battle even without Matt Kemp on the 2018 roster. When you add in the fact that Kemp is going to be part of the opening day roster there was just no way you could wedge Verdugo onto the roster. In the long run Verdugo may prove to be better than Toles or Pederson but for now he will need to make his case in Oklahoma.
Time is not running out for Verdugo as he won’t turn 22 until May 15th. I’m not sure what to make of Verdugo. The scouts love him. He is the consensus number one positional prospect. He seems to have turned a corner this year regarding some issues with his commitment which sometimes happens when you taste the major leagues and ultimately realize two things.
- All these players are great, and if you are going to be a productive major league player you are going to have to work your ass off.
- Being a major league baseball player is the best. The ultimate competition, first class at every step from the pay, the food, the accommodations, the ladies.
He’s a fine fielder with a great arm but without the speed to be a true center fielder. That doesn’t mean he can’t be a center fielder. If he has the skills to make up the lack of speed with routes and instinct along with positioning, he can still become a major league center fielder but the odds are against it right now. Yet he’s young, and we will know more when we see where the Dodgers play him in AAA this spring/summer.
If Toles is as good as we think he is, left field is going to be a tough nut to crack. They are very much the same kind of player with Toles having the advantage in speed and Verdugo the advantage in his arm.
Right field is Puig until it isn’t.
Taylor is the man in CF, but 2nd base could be his as early as 2019 leaving the race for the future Dodger CF job to Pederson, Verdugo, and DJ Peters.
I kind of expect Verdugo to knock down the door this summer, and how the Dodgers find a place for him when he’s in their living room will be one of the more interesting stories of the summer.
Dodgers remove four more
Adam Liberatore, Jake Peter, Dylan Baker, and Donovan Solano were removed from major league camp last night. The only surprise here was Liberatore who I thought would be one of the final cuts.
We never got to see much of Dylan Baker but he will head to AAA as rotation depth. He has to prove he’s healthy and has the stuff to help the big club later this summer if they need it.
Liberatore, when healthy is a quality, left-handed arm that will probably be called upon this summer.
Jake Peter started out this spring red hot and turned a few heads but as he started facing more major league pitchers instead of minor league pitchers his numbers tumbled. He is a rare left hand hitting 2nd/3rd baseman who would appear to be the future replacement for Chase if and when gets hurt this year.
The only reason Solano lasted this long was that Corey Seager was not playing shortstop. Even if something happens to Corey, I’d expect Taylor to play SS, and Locastro to get the call not Solano. I don’t think we’ll see Solano again unless things really take a turn south.
| Name | Pos | Status | Notes |
| Dylan Baker | SP | Help | Future rotation depth |
| Adam Liberatore | RP | Help | Expect him back on the Dodgers |
| Jake Peter | Infielder | Prospect | If not for Chase, Peter would be on the team. |
| Donovan Solano | Infielder | Depth | Would take a lot for Solano to get back to the Dodgers. |
Is this the year of breaking bad for the Dodgers?
The Dodgers have won five straight division titles and the only thing probably keeping them from winning six in a row is going to be team health.
That health was tested tonight when Justin Turner took a fastball off the wrist and suffered a non-displaced fracture. If you are wondering how long he is going to be out, Eric Stephen tweeted out this comp.
Not sure how the injuries compare but Freddie Freeman missed 44 games last year with a non-displaced wrist fracture
— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) March 20, 2018
Freeman fractured his wrist in May so he was out while the regular season was going. With Turner getting hurt today, with ten days until opening day, maybe he only misses about 35 regular season games if they follow the same timeline though I imagine each injury is unique to itself but at least it is a guideline.
Back in my memory, we went into 2005 with high hopes and didn’t think too much of Jayson Werth breaking his wrist during spring training. That, however, was just the beginning of a season where everyone seemed to get hurt which turned into Clayton Kershaw so I won’t lament 2005, but I never like broken wrists in the Spring. Or the summer for that matter. Or broken ribs in October, right Hanley?
Anyway, lots of speculation on how this will play out. The Dodgers have so many options.
- Move Forsythe to 3rd, and replace him at 2nd with Hernandez thus paving a way for Trayce Thompson to make the team.
- Move Hernandez to 3rd, keep Forsythe at 2nd thus paving a way for Trayce Thompson to make the team.
- Move Barnes to 2nd, keep Farmer as the backup catcher.
- Wild ass move, let Edwin Rios give it a shot.
- Smaller wild ass move, let Rob Segedin give it a shot.
I expect number one or number two and it will impact the team because Justin Turner was arguably the best hitter on the team.
Corey Seager better not have a problematic throwing arm. He just better not.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 