Actually, I meant to say “Swing,” but the picture below is what I woke up to, so I wanted to think about Spring. I am glad I am headed to Camelback Ranch on Thursday.
Here’s to warmer days. BTW, your comments will always be in moderation for the rest of the month. LADT has been getting a lot of spam, and the Askimet Spam Filter that I am using wants me to upgrade to a more elaborate (expensive plan) that is about $1,000 more a year. I am looking into it, and if I have to do it, I may add a few ads to defray the cost. Right now, it costs me about $2,000 a year for maintenance and I need to upgrade. We are approaching 10,000 readers, and it costs to have that much traffic come to a site. Be patient if your comment does not immediately show up. I have to release each one from jail. Now, back to Dodger baseball. UPDATE: It is now fixed, you can post without incident!
Dodger News
- The Dodgers begin Cactus League play on Thursday, and I will be there with my son and nephew to see the Dodgers play the Cubs. Friday is an off day (we have some business calls to make -after all, this is a business trip). My wife is in Vegas at a show, and she is driving in on Saturday to go to the game. Then, on Saturday Nite, we are going to JayB’s Mellow Mushroom for Pizza, and then on Sunday, JayB and his wife will be joining us at the game. It will be fun four days.
- Shohei Ohtani threw his first bullpen, which consisted of 14 pitches, all two- and four-seam fastballs. Manager Dave Roberts said he sat 92-94 mph, which he deemed “great” for Ohtani’s first session back on the mound. “The ball was coming out really good,” Roberts said. “I think he seemed pretty pleased with it. The command was good, and the ball was coming out good. It was a really positive day for Shohei.” If any pitcher can return from a second TJ, it’s Ohtani. My only worry is that he hurts his arm and also cannot hit. That would be a double whammy! Read the Article
- Freddie Freeman hit yesterday (he wasn’t supposed to, but he could not resist). He can do everything but run, and he says he is getting close. That’s great news.
- Mookie Betts has had most of the Winter and all of Spring Training to acclimate to SS. He impressed with his range and showed some good natural instincts with fielding the position, but he struggled with throwing. Eight of Betts’ nine errors across 531 1/3 innings at shortstop were throwing errors. Now, he has all Spring to learn the new way of throwing. You reach far back in the outfield and throw the ball up to 350 feet. You throw from your ear in the infield, and it only has to go up to 150-170 feet (at most)… many times, it is less. I played SS until my mid-30s and never played the outfield, so that kind of throw was natural. It’s more of how you throw a football. FEARLESS PREDICTION: Mookie Betts will beat out Francisco Lindor as the All-Star SS.
- Look for the Dodgers to give Dustin May every opportunity to win the fifth Starter Job. Miller and Gonsolin have options and could start the season in OKC, but Gonsolin only has 20 days until he has to be called up. Dustin May could be a great rotation piece or an even greater trade piece.
- From Dodgers.com, here’s the Dodgers injury report:
LHP Clayton Kershaw
Injury: Recovery from left toe and left knee surgeries
Expected return: June at earliest
Status: Underwent surgeries last November; expects to begin throwing bullpen sessions at some point in March (updated Feb. 13)
RHP Evan Phillips
Injury: Torn muscle in right rotator cuff
Expected return: Possibly Opening Day
Status: Arrived at Spring Training a little behind and could open the season on the IL (updated Feb. 13)
RHP Michael Kopech
Injury: Right forearm tightness
Expected return: Possibly Opening Day
Status: Arrived at Spring Training a little behind and could open the season on the IL (updated Feb. 13)
RHP River Ryan
Injury: Recovery from Tommy John surgery
IL date: Feb. 13 (60-day IL)
Expected return: Late 2025 at earliest
Status: Underwent Tommy John surgery after exiting his start last Aug. 11 with right forearm tightness (updated Feb. 13)
RHP Gavin Stone
Injury: Recovery from right shoulder surgery
IL date: Feb. 11 (60-day IL)
Expected return: 2026
Status: Underwent right shoulder surgery last Oct. 9; expected to miss the entire 2025 season (updated Feb. 11)
RHP/DH Shohei Ohtani
Injury: Recovery from right elbow and left shoulder surgeries
Expected return: Opening Day as a hitter, May as a pitcher
Status: Underwent a right UCL repair procedure in September 2023 and arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder on Nov. 6; he feels “on schedule” with his rehab (updated Feb. 1) More >>
1B Freddie Freeman
Injury: Recovery from right ankle surgery
Expected return: Opening Day
Status: Underwent procedure consisting of debridement and the removal of loose bodies on Dec. 5; has resumed hitting but is not cleared to run (updated Feb. 1) More >>
SS Miguel Rojas
Injury: Recovery from sports hernia surgery
Expected return: Opening Day
Status: Developed an infection while recovering from surgery, but he feels “pretty close to 100%” (updated Feb. 1)
RHP Emmet Sheehan
Injury: Recovery from Tommy John surgery
Expected return: Possibly before the All-Star break
Status: Underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2024; has resumed throwing off the mound and hopes to begin a rehab assignment in May or June (updated Feb. 1)
RHP Brusdar Graterol
Injury: Recovery from right shoulder surgery
Expected return: Second half of 2025
Status: Underwent right shoulder labrum surgery last Nov. 14 (updated Dec. 9)
In case you missed it, this is from Dodgers Insider, which defines the coaching roles:
The Dodgers announced on Tuesday their 2025 Major League coaching staff under manager Dave Roberts, featuring evolved roles for Dino Ebel, Brandon McDaniel and Chris Woodward.
Roberts, 52, begins his 10th season as Dodger manager.
Ebel, 58, begins his seventh season as the Dodgers’ third-base coach with a focus on coaching outfielders during the season. McDaniel, 41, the Dodgers’ Vice President of Player Performance, officially joins the coaching staff as Major League Development Integration Coach. He is entering his 13th season at the Major League level for the Dodgers.
As previously announced, Woodward, 48, takes over as first-base coach and infield coaching specialist after spending last season as a Dodgers senior advisor to Major League and Player Development. He succeeds Clayton McCullough, who became the manager of the Miami Marlins during the offseason. This is Woodward’s second stint on the coaching staff, having served as the Dodgers’ third-base coach from 2016–2018.
Several returnees round out the Dodger coaching staff:
- Danny Lehmann, 39, begins his third season as the club’s bench coach and eighth season overall, having previously been the game planning and communications coach.
- Bob Geren, 63, hired by the team shortly after Roberts, enters his 10th season overall and third as Major League field coordinator, after seven years as the team’s bench coach (2016–22).
- Mark Prior, 44, enters his sixth season as Dodger pitching coach and eighth with the organization after serving as the team’s bullpen coach in 2018 and 2019.
- Robert Van Scoyoc, 38, begins his seventh season as hitting coach.
- Aaron Bates, 40, is starting his seventh season on the Dodger coaching staff and third as hitting coach, after spending four years as the assistant hitting coach (2019–22).
- Connor McGuiness, 35, enters his sixth season as assistant pitching coach.
- Josh Bard, 46, commences his eighth season as bullpen coach, including the most recent six years (2016–17, 2020-).
X-CITES
Hang on… This is going to be one hell of a ride!
UPDATE: Mac McClung’s Dunks
They said he was lucky last year, but now there is this. Perfect 50s on all 4 dunks:
Mark, I assume that if you wanted to do subscriptions, you would have already done so, and that many moons ago you decided to absorb this cost yourself. However, those of us for whom this site is a daily visit might wish to contribute out of a sense of fairness. Could you give us an address to which we could send a contribution? If you will do so, I am willing to wager that the cost of maintaining this site will be covered in less that a week (mail time essentially) by the many to whom it brings great joy. I am confident that you can afford to pay it and that you are willing to continue to do so as you have for all this time, but it is only right that it be shared. I pay a great deal for content I hardly ever use but nothing to my favorite source.
I have never felt comfortable doing that, but I might add some ads.
I went ahead and paid the Askimet Spam Filter fee. Everyone’s comments should now be free.
Rushing’s got legs.
He’s built like a tank.
I doubt that Rushing is fast, but probably fast enough for LF.
Right now, it would probably take an injury (to Smith, Barnes or Conforto… or maybe Freddie) to create a path for Rushing to the OD roster.
I remain hopeful that there is a legitimate competition for CF that could bring Outman back.
Rushing and Outman had remarkably similar offensive performances at OKC in ’24.
Rushing: .271/.384/.512, for an OPS of .896, with 26 HRs.
Outman: .276/.390/.543, for an OPS of .930, with 17 HRs…. or 20 HRs, if you count the three he hit with the Dodgers.
Matt McClung was absolutely fantastic last night. So much fun to watch and all of his dunks were unique, which is hard to do.
I personally witnessed Jim Paxton (older brother to John Paxton jump and hit the board off the backboard THREE times before slamming in the dunk. It was in the summer of Paxton going into his senior year at Dayton. I’ve seen a lot of players in that era and I swear hr had the best hops of any white dude I’ve ever seen.
I used to watch the Dayton Flyers back in the day when I lived near Dayton.
Dan Sadlier, Dan O’Brovick, Bobby Jo Hooper, and coach Don Donaher!
So, Elon experimented with making every Twitter (x) user pay a dollar. One time fee. Just to combat Bots. But then I think he realized big Bot #s mean big ad #s.
I’d pay you a dollar, Mark.
Elephant in the room, Docs contract. They gotta step up and lock him up to multi years., heard on a podcast he is only the 13 or 14 th highest paid manager, ridiculous. Dude totally earned his stripes this past season, last thing you want is Docs contract becoming a distraction in camp. Just sign the man and move on.
SIGN THE PAPER!
It’s no issue. It’ll be done. Might just be being looked at by lawyers now. Zero concern.
Agree. This gets done without any drama whatsoever, and Doc would become the highest paid manager in baseball history.
Think I’m going mad!
Can somebody give me a steer to who that is with Freddie in the picture on the Post please?
Rojas
Thank you – really didn’t recognise him there – guess the reverse cap makes him look a little different lol
Now the only question remaining is whether you would recognize him if he wore his cap sideways.
One does not give you a steer
Great update.
FanGraphs is the last of the “major” baseball sites to publish their top 102 prospect chart:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2025-top-100-prospects/
Sasaki and Rushing firmly in the top 10.
Freeland at 35.
DePaula, Henriquez and River Ryan fill out the Dodgers share.
From the chat with Longenhagen:
Nick: I’m surprised that Zyhir Hope isn’t in the top 100, can you provide some insight as to why? Fall league performance doesn’t move the needle much?
Eric A Longenhagen: AFL performance definitely moved the needle for me, he’s a talented guy who I’ve got just outside the Top 100. Lemme just paste his report in here. It’ll be pushed live to the board along with other relevant near-misses and picks to click this week…
Hope was traded to the Dodgers as part of the Michael Busch deal before 2024 spring training, just six months after he was selected as the Cubs’ 2023 11th-round pick. He then missed most of the first half of the 2024 season with a shoulder injury and was limited to just 61 regular season games before he picked up reps in the Arizona Fall League. He slashed .287/.415/.490 in 248 PA at Rancho Cucamonga and then .228/.301/.446 in 103 PA in Arizona.
Hope’s power is real. He has become tremendously strong since turning pro, he generates ridiculous power for a hitter his age, and he does so in a short mechanical distance. His peak exit velocities are comfortably plus on the big league scale; during Fall League, I watched him hit a 470-foot homer one day and then fight off a 97 mph fastball for an oppo homer the next. Why the apprehension, then? For one, Hope is now physically maxed out. His thighs look like tree trunks and he’s slowed down a good bit already compared to high school. His swing is relatively grooved… In short, I think there’s more strikeout risk here than currently shows in his data, which I don’t trust because of the relatively small sample, the Cal League environment, etc.
Envious: It’s pretty wild that the Dodgers have the best team, and also no one has more top 100 guys than them too.
Eric A Longenhagen: The Alex Freeland development is absolute nuts, can’t say I’ve seen anything like that before.
Do you have any Grey Papelbon?: What would need to happen for Eduardo Quintero to make it back to the Top 100?
Eric A Longenhagen: Better CF defense
Art Fuldoger: You mention a possibility of Freeland breaking camp? Super UT or and actual everyday player?
Eric A Longenhagen: Every day guy, might be the best SS defender in camp depending on how Hyeseong looks.
Rob: How close was Jackson Ferris from making the list?
Eric A Longenhagen: He’s just outside of it but was a confident exclusion. Lemme paste his report for yall:
Signed for $3 million as a second rounder in 2022, Ferris didn’t pitch at an affiliate after the draft and was handled pretty conservatively during his pro debut, as he made 18 starts but only pitched 56 strikeout- and walk-heavy innings. He was traded to Los Angeles during the offseason as part of the Michael Busch swap with the Cubs and had a more stable 2024, as Ferris worked 126.2 innings, posted a 3.20 ERA, and reached Double-A toward the end of the year (where his strikeouts and walks regressed).
Ferris has a powerful lower half, bending deep into his blocking leg. The Dodgers seem to have altered the direction of Ferris’ stride a little bit, and he now appears more closed off. Ferris will touch 96 but tends to sit 92-94. His fastball generated an average rate of chase and miss in 2024, as did his most-used secondary pitch, a slider in the 83-86 mph range. Ferris can also lob in a slow, mid-70s curveball, and at times his changeup has bat-missing action, but that pitch has come along more slowly than hoped when he was drafted and is still below average, as is his command. He lacks a plus pitch right now and, at a pot-bellied age 21, isn’t obviously projectable. He looks like a fair no. 4/5 starter.
Of course, Dodgers dev… but again, the exercise is about scouting and not predicting. It’d be weird to slide a guy just because the Dodgers traded him to a team that has struggled with dev, right?
SG: Were Emil Morales and Joendry Vargas near your top 100?
Eric A Longenhagen: Yeah, similar to the high-variance high schoolers, lots of hit tool risk with both those guys. For example, Morales had a sub-70% contact rate in the DSL.
Thanks… Good Stuff!
Joc Pederson working out at first base in Rangers camp. That did not go well when the Dodgers tried it. Joc is older and heavier now.
I’ll say it again: Get Josue de Paula a first baseman’s glove.
If he gets training and experience at 1B, it would only help his career.
Someday Freddie will be replaced…