Spring training officially opened for the Los Angeles Dodgers today. Several players have been in camp for several days. Ohtani, Kim, and Ben Rortvedt were seen in workouts last weekend. A couple of signings reunited the Dodgers with Kike and Evan Phillips. Banda was traded and Rortvedt DFAd again. Then they extended Muncy’s contract. One poster remarked, he was confused by the workings of the front office. I must admit, I was a little confused myself. 
There have been several videos of the workouts posted online, mostly showing the pitchers throwing bullpens. Alex Vesia did a very emotional interview with some reporters saying his wife was the strongest person he knows. Roberts is taking a cautious approach with Alex knowing that his emotions are pretty mixed about now. Vesia himself seems to be throwing himself into his work. 
The Dodgers are wearing a different version of the D cap they have worn the last several springs. This one has a white brim instead of being all blue. The cap has a spring training 26 logo on the side featuring a cactus. There is also some sort of flower arrangement next to the D. The D is also much larger than previous editions of the cap. Watched Ohtani, Glasnow, Scott, Diaz and Sasaki throwing and saw a couple of seconds of Will Klein. Seems like he is a longshot to make the bull pen with so many candidates for maybe one slot. 
LA is set at all of the positions except second base. Who gets the job will be decided during spring training. The candidates are Hyeseong Kim, Miguel Rojas, Alex Freeland and Tommy Edman. Kim had a decent rookie campaign. He hit .280 and stole 13 bases. His OBP was a little low for his type of hitter at .316. He does not walk much, and his K rate was high. He struck out 71 times in 261 at bats. Kim is a solid defender who can also play SS and CF. 
Rojas is in his final year in the majors. He is great defensively wherever he plays. Miggy had a good year at the plate with a .262 BA, 7 homers, and a game tying homer in game 7 of the World Series. His OBP is also a little low, but he knows how to play the game the right way and his clubhouse presence is very positive. Miggy is also one of the reasons that Mookie’s transition to SS has gone as well as it has. Mookie has acknowledged Miggy’s influence and knowledge of the position as being huge help in the transition. 
Tommy Edman is my personal choice to be the everyday guy if he is healthy. He also can play SS and CF, but he is a former gold glover at second. Edman’s performance over his one and a half seasons with LA has been mostly positive. His ankle injury limited him a lot of last season. He is close to a .260 hitter lifetime and when healthy, he is capable of stealing 30 bases. Had he been healthy last season, he would have easily surpassed his career high 13 homers. Early last season, he was the Dodger HR leader until Ohtani heated up. 
Alex Freeland has shown he can hit AAA pitching. He also had some flashes when called up last year. He was very good in the field playing mostly 3rd and 2nd. He is also a SS. Freeland has a very good OBP in the minors of .374. His OPS in the minors is .800. Freeland will only get a spot on the roster if someone is injured. His best chance of sticking on the 26-man is someone else’s misfortune. 
Teo will move to left field with Pages getting the bulk of the work in center. Kyle Tucker, the Dodgers main offensive add this winter will be the right fielder. While it is my personal belief that Pages is better suited for a corner outfield spot, he did make some big strides in becoming a better center fielder. His routes got better, and he was getting to balls that he preciously could not handle. His catch in game 7, saved the game. Most Dodger fans are glad to see Teo out of right field. 
But if you check the stats, he had a better defensive season in right last season than he did in left in 24. Most of his fielding problems come from not getting to some batted balls. When he gets to them, he usually makes the play. He had just 2 errors in 255 chances. That is pretty damn good. He had 3 in 163 chances in left in 24. He has made just 34 errors in his 10-year career. He did make one of the best throws I have seen when he gunned down Stanton at the plate in the 24 series. 
Right field will belong to newcomer, Kyle Tucker. Tucker will be looking to rebound from what for him was a subpar season. One of Tucker’s strongest qualities as a hitter to me at least is strikeout to walk ratio. He has never struck out more than 95 times in any season. He slipped slightly defensively last season but is still a very good defender. He made just 3 errors out there last season but only played in 115 games defensively. LA will expect closer to 130.
Smith is the starting catcher. With Rortvedt DFAd again, Rushing is the backup by default. But Roberts likes to rest Will usually at least 2 games a week, so Rushing will get chances, and he will also probably fill in once in a while for Freeman, who undoubtedly will not play all 162 like he would love to do. There are 3 players at AAA with MLB catching experience. My hope is that none of them are needed.
Five of the six projected starters are locks. Ohtani, Glasnow, Yamamoto, Snell and Sheehan. Snell will be slow played, but they have plenty of off days early in the year. Stone, Ryan, Sasaki, Wrobleski, Knack all in pursuit of the six spot. Ryan and Stone both bulked up while rehabbing. Knack has the most experience. Wrobo, being a lefty would most likely get the starts Snell misses. I do not see a single non-roster pitcher breaking into the rotation or the bullpen.
Let the work begin, with slight delays for the WBC. It should be fun to watch. LA’s first spring game is next Saturday against the Angels.
Cavan Biggio was signed to a minor league deal by the Astros; he goes to his dads’ team. Mark Canha signed to a minor league deal by the Rangers.
I wonder if Smith is needed to bat late in a game pinch-hitting whether they’d consider leaving Rushing in or whether it’s too risky to have one catcher available. Of course, it would probably Rushing being pinch-hit for.
I’m a Freeland fan but if Edman isn’t ready I’d like to see Kim get a look at 2b.
Graterol’s spot is up for grabs. Klein or Henriquez look like early favorites. I agree with Wrobo replacing Snell.
As high as I am on Stone & Ryan, letting stretch out in AAA might be wise. That way when needed we have high-value replacements in the rotation.
Teo needs to produce because we have some potential replacements, specifically Edman if Kim takes over 2B.
Mookie, Smith, Freeman & Ohtani are the core with Muncy right there and Tucker needing to perform right away.
Rooting hard for Scott. He could be a weapon. Curious to see what Treinen has left.
With Teo, Pages and Tucker, you have 3 outfielders with 30 homer potential. Teo was an offensive force before his hammy flared up. Not a single worry about this offense. Tucker will fit in nicely in the lineup no matter where they slot him in. I see Call as more of a late inning defensive guy for Pages or Teo. If there is a tough lefty on the mound, Smith will PH late in the game if he does not start at C. Kim will get a look at 2nd. If Edman is not ready early, he and Rojas will be the likely platoon at 2nd.
Bye-bye Rortvedt.
Claimed by the Mets.
Not surprised he didn’t make it thru waivers. I was hoping he would and we could stash him in AAA for insurance. Mets also signed Austin Barnes to a minor league deal. Good luck to both of them.
I’d forgotten about Barnes. No way they both make it to opening day on the 26-man roster. I’d say the odds are pretty good that they are both ex-Mets come opening day.
Maybe at that point, we’ll once again claim Rortvedt off waivers and give Barnes a job as a roving catching instructor.
I feel bad for Rortvedt, talk about being in the middle of a bad game of musical chairs. It’s nice to be wanted but it sucks that nobody seems to want him enough to keep him on their 40 man.
I’m really excited to see some games get started.
ITS TIME FOR DODGER BASEBALL!
Almos!
Sorry to see Rortvedt go. He has to feel like a yo-yo. Now he has to travel to Florida for the Mets spring training. He slots as the third catcher in New York behind Torrens and Alvarez. Padres extended Preller and signed Ty France to a minor league deal. Machado mouthing off about the Dodgers again. Pirates are going to DFA Jack Suwinski. Gomes doesn’t believe Kike will be ready before the All-Star break. USA tied with Japan for third in Olympic medals at 17. Norway leads with 27.
Rorschach, Rortvedt, I keep getting them confused. Sometimes I see a Dodger and sometimes I see a Red and sometimes I see a Met.
Sasaki seems like the early story in camp.
He needs to settle on a right to left breaking pitch. The big difference between he and Yamamoto is that Yamamoto can throw his curve for a strike at will and most hitters just take that pitch. Then he can throw the split out of the zone.
Angels signed Adam Frazier to a minor league deal. River Ryan’s brother, Ryder, assigned #40. River is # 77. Kendall George is # 0 and Chris Newell 00.
Where is Rover Ryan?
Who he?????
He’s with Raggy and Rooby Doo
Roger, over and out
“Rojas is in his final year in the majors. He is great defensively wherever he plays. Miggy had a good year at the plate with a .262 BA, 7 homers, and a game tying homer in game 7 of the World Series. His OBP is also a little low, but he knows how to play the game the right way and his clubhouse presence is very positive.”
Bear, thanks for the shout-out to Miggy who continues to amazingly be an afterthought with many fans when they talk about Dodger infielders. He always ends up helping the club on the field and in the clubhouse and is still our best option at 2nd base.
Did anybody notice that MLB broadcasts will remove or delay the superimposed strike zone box from the TV screens during broadcasts?
The league has taken a few steps to combat the potential for players to be given information about pitch location in order to challenge. There will be a five-second delay on pitch location data on MLB Gameday. And the low-latency feed that’s available inside the ballpark won’t have the strike zone box or pitch location dots. Broadcast feeds with the strike zone box will be operating on around a nine-second delay.
I have been lobbying for this for a while as I think it was unfair for viewers to have information not available to the HPU. I thought MLB would never remove or delay the BOX but once it could be potential tool to influence decisions about challenging a pitch or not, it makes sense MLB will remove any question.
Now if we could just get to full-time ABS use without the Challenge System I’d be more pleased. I still question having 2 different strike zones in play simultaneously.
The whole Challenge idea to get calls correct, is flawed with HPU like CD Bucknor, who might miss 15 or more pitches in a game. Are we in for 15 challenges in a game? Of course not. So this guy gets to miss pitches all game, especially after one failed Challenge, early in a game. Teams will save a Challenge for late in the game and skip challenging pitches mid-game which is exactly what ABS is designed to correct. Just use the damn technology full-time and get it right.
I respect the man’s talents immensely. He can and does play the game the right way. He also has a quick mind as evidenced by the game when he was wearing a mic while playing short and told the announcers to hold on a minute while he made a play on a ball hit to him. It was classic.
Hasn’t it been used in the Minors for a few years now? It would seem to be enough experience to tell us exactly what the concern is.
The challenge system has been used, but not in every game. That is what will be done this year. MLB favors the challenge system, limiting the number of times you can challenge ball and strike calls in a game. Fans favor a total ABS system which would eliminate framing and some really bad calls affecting the outcome of the game. The argument against is taking the human element out of the game.
There is enough human element in the game without umpires incompetence. They should use it full time and get every call right on balls and strikes.
Dodgers just signed inf Santiago Espinal to a minor league deal. 31-year-old with 6 years MLB experience. Plays 2nd, 3rd and SS. Decent bat, good glove, especially at SS.
With Edman out, let’s just put Rojas at 2B for ease of understanding.
That leaves:
1. Rushing
2. Call
3. Kim/Freeland
4. Kim/Freeland/Siani/Fitzgerald
Pretty cut and dried
Espinal has a real shot at making it. I could easily see him beating out Freeland or Kim.
Another legend leaves. Robert Duvall passed away today at age 95. RIP. Forever will be known as Gus in Lonesome Dove, and Coronel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. I love the smell of napalm in the morning!
Boo Radley, To Kill A Mockingbird. One hell of an actor. RIP
I can’t remember him ever being the lead actor, but he was a supporting actor in a lot of movies.
He was the star of Tender Mercies; a movie he won a best actor Oscar for. Open Range, The Apostle, Broken Trail. He and Tommy Lee were the main characters in Lonesome Dove, that was not a supporting role, The Great Santini, True Confessions with DeNiro, Colors. He was the lead in several films. One of my favorite’s, Secondhand Lions with Michael Caine.
I really liked him in open range. My favorite western of all time.
If No Country For Old Men is one, I’ll take that one.
No Country for Old Men is not a real western. And Duvall was not in it. Tommy Lee was.
Buehler has himself a minor league deal with the Padres and an invite to ST.
I wish him well, but I hope he winds up with another team.
Buehler, outside of a couple appearances where he looked like the old Buehler, hasn’t been the same since his second Tommy John. His K rate with the Phillies was just 14%. His last two seasons his ERA is over 5.