Tyler Glasnow went 2+ IP with 4 Ks. He gave up a oppo single to start the 3rd and was pulled after 33 pitches. After starting, he got two additional up and downs. Pretty good for a first ST start. His curve was unhittable. His four-seamer velo was up, and we learned he put on 20 pounds of muscle in the off-season. I know most out there do not expect Tyler to last the season. I think he does, and if he does, he is a viable CY candidate. His stuff has always been exceptional.
The Dodgers hit 3 HRs, their first of ST. Will Smith, Keston Hiura, and Hyeseong Kim each slugged a solo HR. Smith is now 5-9 with a double and HR, with 0 BB and 1 K.
Blake Treinen made his spring debut and Alex Vesia had his 2nd outing. Each pitched a flawless 1.0 inning. Treinen had 2 K and Vesia had 1.
Miggy Ro, Will Smith, Alex Call, and Josue De Paula each had 2 hits.
We have now gone 6 games (won them all, FWIW) and there are still 4 reportedly non-injured players/pitchers who have not yet made an appearance. There are also 6 injured players who will be held out for a while. Two are on the 60-day IL, and at least one other should be.
I can speculate as to why Mookie has not yet played. He says maybe Sunday, maybe Monday or Tuesday. It is whenever he feels he needs to start. The Dodgers brought in a boat load of infielders to look at, and they are getting every opportunity to shine. Hyeseong Kim entered ST as the probable starter at 2B until Tommy Edman makes it back. After that, it is up to him. Dave Roberts kind of hinted at his feelings with Kim leaving soon to join Team Korea. He acknowledges that it is pure honor to represent your country, but that he wished he would have stayed in camp. His defense is elite, but the bat still needed work (per Doc). Fortunately, Kim has played very well in Arizona, even showing some excellent glove work in CF on Wednesday.
Tanner Scott is the only other non-injured player expected to be on the 26-man still yet to play. We have heard that Scott could pitch on Friday. Bobby Miller and Jack Suwinski are the other two on the 40-man who have not played. Why hasn’t Miller pitched at all? Jordan Weems has pitched in 2 games. No rumors he is injured.
Alex Freeland, Santiago Espinal, Ryan Fitzgerald, Nick Senzel, Noah Miller, Austin Gauthier, Jake Gelof, Elijah Hainline, Sean McLain, and Kyle Nevin are the other infielders looking for a MLB job this Spring. The first five have played very well in short spurts.
The six infielders under consideration:
- Hyeseong Kim – 13 PA, 13 AB, 6 hits, 1 XBH, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K
- Alex Freeland – 12 PA, 6 AB, 2 hits, 1 XBH, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 1 K, 1 SF
- Santiago Espinal – 9 PA, 6 AB, 3 hits, 1 XBH, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K
- Ryan Fitzgerald – 14 PA, 11 AB, 3 hits, 2 XBH, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K
- Nick Senzel – 12 PA, 10 AB, 3 hits, 2 XBH, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SF
- Noah Miller – 32 PA, 8 AB, 4 hits, 1 XBH, 2 RBI, 5 BB, 0 K
While Kim has done nothing to jeopardize his position, every one of the other 5 infielders may have elevated theirs. Kim still has too many strikeouts On Thursday, he struck out on 2 pitches (strike 2 and 3) well out of the zone. He then came back and hit a missile out of RF. Bottom line, Kim has a lot to work on with strike zone recognition, but he will break camp with the Dodgers, and probably start as regular 2B.
Perhaps the infielder making the biggest move is also the youngest, Noah Miller. Like Kim, nobody questions Miller’s glove. Some of the talent evaluation publications put Miller’s defense 2nd to none in the organization, MLB or MiLB. With Kim and Edman, that is quite the statement. Miller’s glove is GG quality right now. Miller (23) is destined for OKC, where he will continue to work on his OPS, but he will now garner consideration for his MLB debut. Yes, I am an unapologetic Noah Miller advocate.
Alex Call is the 4th OF on the MLB team, and he will get his ABs when the MiLB OF are sent to MiLB camp. Thursday was his first game and he started it out well going 2-2. OTOH, Call’s absence has given way to a couple of top prospects who are making the most of their NRI: Josue De Paula and Zyhir Hope. Neither OF is going to make the team with their glove, but their bat continues to play.
- Josue De Paula – 15 PA, 13 AB, 7 hits, 1 XBH, 2 BB, 4 K
- Zyhir Hope – 10 PA, 8 AB, 3 hits, 2 XBH, 2 BB, 4 K
The ball jumps off Hope’s bat, with 3 of his batted balls going 104.2 MPH 108.6 MPH and 113.9 MPH. De Paula’s power is developing, but one can see just how strong he is. His double got to the RF fence in a hurry at 110.0. On Thursday, he had an oppo single going at 104.1.
De Paula now leads the team in hits with 7. He also is tied with the team lead with Noah Miller in reaching first safely with 9.
The NRIs are going to start to get less time as the regulars start to ramp up. We do not know what Mookie’s plans are, but we do know that Freddie is only going to play at Camelback.
Great great stuff. Best Dodger content on internet.
Agree on Glasnow. He is a prime candidate for a huge year. Others who could elevate already their games are Pages, Wrobleski, Rushing, Hurt.
Nice to see Treinen healthy. Big horse of an arm.
Team just rolling. WBC might be fun this year. Want to dominate start to finish.
Yes, Noah Miller has been impressive. If he hits at OKC, he could climb up the depth chart.
It would be good to see Kim get some walks. But for a guy who supposedly lacks power, he hit that homer not just over the fence, but over the bullpen too. Also looked good on defense again…
Interesting report that Max is hoping for 550 ABs this season, assuming good health.
Max didn’t need a platoon a few years back when he was hitting 35 bombs a year.. Plus, he always picks up his walks and has a healthy OPB.
On most teams, a healthy Max might bat cleanup.
On the Dodgers, he’s expected to bat sixth or seventh.
We have Schwarber at home
I love how most of our problems right now are of the “How will we possibly fit all these guys?” variety.
Like me being stressed out because I have too many women throwing themselves at me. /analogy
Badger, my brother was a journalism major and started up the department at Chico. He then went on to win a Pulitzer Prize with the LA Times covering the LA riots. He just finished writing a book. “A league of His Own,” a biography of AC Spaulding. Great read. I never knew that pitchers threw underhand until the early 1880’s! He got the brains in the family. I got my father’s drinking problem!
Chico, a creek runs through it, State. A friend of mine played linebacker there in the late 60’s.
Once voted (I believe in Playboy) as the #1 party school in the US.
It was highly ranked in that Playboy poll when I was there. The Administration wasn’t happy about it. Under the “Coed” description it said “Open Season during Pioneer Week,”. They alleged every degenerate in the state showed up that week the following year. It was indeed a party school. I didn’t go back to school until I was 26, was 28 by the time I got there so I wasn’t part of that scene.
Miller would seem to have a better chance to join Dodgers if shortstop were open for competition.
Miller would have a better chance to make the club if he wasn’t a career .644 OPS minor league hitter!
When he came to the Dodgers for 2024, he was told to focus on defense and they would work on his swing. They have completely revamped his swing. He will never hit for power, and with his defense he doesn’t need to. I would prefer him to be Bobby Witt Jr., but he isn’t. He is not going to take over for Mookie. But he is more than capable of taking over for Miggy Ro when he hangs ’em up.
Noah reached AAA at the age of 22. That is not nothing. It may not be with the Dodgers, but Noah Miller will play MLB.
Mookie will play his first game this weekend or early next week according to Roberts. Freeman will only play in games that are played at Camelback. He wants 47 at bats maximum this spring. Suwinski has not made an appearance yet but should soon. He got Banda’s #43.
Interesting note on Suwinski. He is out of options, and there is no way he is going to make the Dodgers 26-man roster. So he is going to need to be DFA before the option decision comes up. It appears that the Dodgers are hoping he will get through waivers and they can offer him a MiLB contract to stay with LAD. Otherwise there was no reason to pick him up on waivers.
These are the guys I feel for. There is nothing he can do to make the Dodgers roster, nor make them play him so he could be noticed by another team. So why are the Dodgers holding onto him?
The same was true with Ryan Ward. They added him to the 40-man and automatically gained 3 option years. They knew they were not going to put him on the 26-man rotser. Maybe it wouldn’t have been Kyle Tucker, but they would have acquired another OF. If Ward was not going to get called up for Conforto last year…then when?
Fun game Thursday especially if you like home runs. It was above 90 and the ball was flying out of Camelback Ranch, despite some quality pitching.
Glasnow looked great as did Treinen, Vesia and Dreyer. Kyle Hurt was an adventure giving up a run on 2 hits while striking out the side.
Casparius hasn’t been sharp. It looks to me like his fastball is fine, it’s his secondary pitches that aren’t landing. He seems to be throwing them more, trying to work on the commend. Staying with that has affected his performance but it’s a great time to work out those kinks.
Miggy has been great both hitting, fielding and leading. He spent time chatting with Kim during the game about some finer points, in the middle infield. For my money, he’s out best guy at second and should be the starter there 4 games a week and let Kim, Edmond and the others spell him. Some folks keep pointing out he’s no spring chicken, yet I haven’t seen his performance suffer at all.
Call had a nice game.
De Paula had a nice game and is a physical stud; looking the part of an athlete with skills. I’m anxious to follow his progress in MiLB for a couple more years until he becomes an everyday guy in the Dodger outfield. He made a number of check swings yesterday. He seems to want to be aggressive and start his bat on close looking pitchers before putting on the brakes.
I haven’t seen Hope enough to be impressed. He did strike out on a big hack which I didn’t love. He looks like a kid with speed that could incorporate drag bunting into his game with real success. His entire at bat had the 3rd baseman playing deep and in the 6 hole. Any half-decent bunt to the left side, by the pitcher, is an automatic single. I’d like to see him do the “Brett Butler”
I hope Will can take that groove at the plate with him to the WBC.
Keston Hiura had a nice home run but had trouble catching the ball at first on 2 occasions. Kind of clanked a couple. Is he the AAA first sacker?
Should be a nice crowd and a super day at Scottsdale today for the Giants.
Yuki Matsui removed from team Japan’s roster. Got injured doing drills.
Starting Lineup vs Robbie Ray and the Giants:
Alex Freeland – SS
Santiago Espinal – 2B
Dalton Rushing – C
Nick Senzel – 3B
Keston Hiura – DH
Ryan Ward – LF
James Tibbs III – 1B
Zach Ehrhard – RF
Mike Siani – CF
Yoshinobu Yamam to – P
We know Rushing will be on the 26-man as the backup catcher. After that – Freeland? Siani? Espinal? The lineup does not include a single starter for the 26-man.
I think Edman will be the utility guy sooner than I was expecting. I can see Mookie moving to second in 2027 if Miller forces his way to SS. I’d love it if Freeland does the same at 3rd.
Miller is going to have to hit a whole helluva lot better than he has so far. He and Freeland both need to prove they can hit MLB pitching.
Ward is butchering LF.
I have no idea where those reports that he was a good OF or even adequate came from. Luke Fox deserved so much more. Then again it is what he is going to get in MiLB.
Saw enough of Ward last spring to know he’s not that good a fielder.
I watched Ward a lot on AAA games. He wasn’t as bad as he has been this spring. He also is not hitting the ball. Playing his way back to AAA or the waiver wire.
All 4 runs were scored as earned. They weren’t.
This game hasn’t been worth watching.
Dodgers signed 32 year old RHRP Keynan Middleton to a MiLB contract. He has had a fairly successful MLB career, but has not pitched since 2023. Maybe the Dodgers have found another relief reclamation project.
Snell is still not throwing off of a mound. Bobby Miller is battling some shoulder issues and has not thrown in several days. Long shot to make the team.
Worst news was Graterol
Graterol is not all that. Guy has a blazing fastball, but no put away pitch. He has had injurie problems since 2024. I wasn’t counting on him at all. He is easily replaced.
Neil Sedaka passed away today, he was 86 years old. Basically, he had two different careers. A lot of hits in the early 60’s, then made a comeback in the mid 70’s. His song Calendar Girl, was a main part of the plot in Kevin Kline’s movie, The January Man. RIP Neil.
I will light 16 candles. RIP
I shut the game off right after the grand slam homer. Still, just their first loss of the spring. Pitching has been good until the last two days, 18 runs in those two games. But there weren’t any regulars on the field. Saw a video of people watching Ohtani take BP at the Tokyo dome. Place was packed……for batting practice! Chunichi Dragons were in the dugout, and they were just stunned watching his hits fly out.