Where There’s a Will, There’s an Injury.

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1. Considering how forthcoming the Dodgers are with injuries, are we just sailing along here with Will until we get the ultimate announcement that he needs surgery?

2. Is Honeywell unsigned?

3. As far as I can tell…

   Maybe the Dodgers name him a coach… like Reks!

4. Wally Pipp wasn’t owed the remainder of $140 million for 10 years.

   Can’t imagine management would have let Smith play nearly all season if they hadn’t done all the scans and not found nothing serious.

5. Coaching Staff Update (above).

6. Actually, Will Smith has a very team-friendly contract. Starting this year, he has $5 Million deferred every year starting in 20236; in 2025 -2027, his salary is $16 Million, and in 2028, it drops to $12 Million (with $5 Million still deferred).

   I have always thought he would move to another position. I still think that!

   1. Agreed and there are several possibilities. Take over 1B from Freddie…..though if he keep producing I wonder if they would extend him with options? Some DH’ing, possibly OF but an older catcher’s legs are usually not up to that. It’ll be intreating to see how it develops.

      I assume (?) Barnesy will leave after this season. If Kersh re-signs for another year I think he will have to adjust just as he did when AJ Ellis was let go.

7. if the “Yankees “ were the better team, Nester wouldn’t have been brought in to pitch to Freddie! Good teams take advantage of poor defense just like the dodgers did. The yankees had Cole and he forgot how to cover first base. the yankees had Judge. he forgot how to hit for most of the series.(im pretty sure the dodgers pitchers had something to do with that). The dodgers out hustled the yankees. played better defense. out pitched the yankees. (give cole credit). The Dodgers had the regular season best record, ( home field advantage). Dodgers have a better farm system. And lastly, the Dodgers have a superior Manager! Now Nester, rethink your statement!

   1. You cannot use the words “Nester” and “think” in the same sentence. If he could think, he would not have said what he did. Hopefully, we can get a lot of Batting Practice off him this year!

      1. Just Nestor’s red ass revealed over giving up the slam. I’m sure he already regrets making that comment but what’s done is done.

   2. He wasn’t brought in to face Freeman, he was brought in to face Ohtani, who flied out to Verdugo, who fell into the stands, allowing both runners to advance 90 feet. That opened up first base. That allowed the Yankees to walk Mookie Betts thus loading the bases. Freeman then hit Cortes first pitch into the pavilion. Cortes hadn’t pitched in about a month when he was brought in. Not sure Boone had any other lefty options.

      1. They had Hill warming up with him who was money all postseason!

8. That Will has an injury is no surprise. We see this all the time guys all of a sudden go into a months long ‘slump’. They say they are ok, Then off season comes and they have surgery. So somehow they just thought rest would do it. I guess they were wrong. Like when they try some ‘blood platelet ‘ or something treatment for a pitcher’s elbow. That wastes months and they have the TJ surgery anyway. For Freddie, lets see how ready his ankle is this year?

9. 3:05 PM ET

   Dodgers (98-64) (4-6)
   Athletics (5-2)

   SP Justin Wrobleski L
   0-0 .00 ERA
   SP JP Sears L
   0-0 .00 ERA

   Confirmed Lineup
   SS Mookie Betts R
   2B Tommy Edman S
   LF M. Conforto L
   3B E. Hernandez R
   CF James Outman L
   1B David Bote R
   C H. Feduccia L
   RF Zyhir Hope L
   DH Ryan Ward L

   73° Wind 7 mph

10. 3:05 PM ET

    White Sox (41-121) (2-6)
    Dodgers (98-64) (4-6) (4-6)

    SP Davis Martin R
    0-0 .00 ERA
    SP Tyler Glasnow R
    0-0 .00 ERA

    Confirmed Lineup
    DH S. Ohtani L
    RF T. Hernandez R
    1B F. Freeman L
    C Will Smith R
    3B Max Muncy L
    SS Miguel Rojas R
    2B Chris Taylor R
    LF E. Rosario L
    CF Andy Pages R

    73° Wind 8 mph Out

    1. Split squad day today with two games.

11. It looks like only the 3:05 game will be televised! 😉

12. Just got back from NYC. Close by try Da Andrea-Italian. Pastis for lunch. Balthazar in SoHo and get the seafood tower.

    1. We love NYC AND pasta. But my wife Celiac and needs gluten free. Down around 14th Street on East side is Wild Restaurant. 100% GF. What a treat!! You don’t have to ask any questions. Beer. Burger buns, pizza, pasta etc

       1. We are in Hells’ Kitchen and ate here tonight:

          https://ezpaella.com/

    2. We have been to Balthazar in SoHo before. It was good.

13. Outman went 2-3 with a run scoring triple against the A’s. Bote had his second homer and drove in 3. Freeman hit homer #2 and Teo # 1 against the White Sox. Scott looked good in his one inning; Yates gave up a run in his. Two former Dodgers, Vargas and Amaya played for the Sox. There was a Jake Vogel sighting against the White Sox. PR for Rosario.

    1. That’s a nice confidence boost for Outman. Now, maybe he can build on it.

       Wrobleski with three shutout innings.

       1. He should schedule time with Cerecet.com to help him eliminate anxiety.

          A few years ago Mark I sent you a lead Post and you used it. It was about technically for improving the brain’s ability to function well and some stuff on spin rates.

          1. The link is dead.

             1. Here it is:

                https://cereset.com/

14. I’m not trying to rain on Outman’s Parade, but I went back to the Boxscore and checked out the Gameday Stats. In his first AB against LHP JP Sears. he hit the first pitch which was right down the middle. A MLB hitter hAs to hit that, and he did. It was an opposite-field single.

    In the sixth, Outman tripled off of former Dodger Tanner Dodson on a pitch slightly inside but also down the middle.

    All I am saying is you have to hit those pitches… and he did. If he can do that… it’s a start.

    1. While not raining on anybody’s parade, you might want to check out the spring training stats. Yes, these are all small samples, but let’s take a look
       Outman, despite his slow start, now has an OPS of .745.
       Pages, who is probably Outman’s main rival, has an OPS of .611.
       Edman, who many pencil in at CF, is at .575.
       Eddie Rosario, the veteran who started fast, has since slipped to .611.
       Zyhir Hope, who has been turning heads, now has an OPS of .671.
       Conforto, whose contract essentially guarantees him a job, is at .619.
       Chris Taylor is a .457.
       In fact, the only outfielder who is clearly outhitting Outman is Teoscar at .975.
       So I think it’s fair to say that Outman has actually been playing better than many observers assume. And unlike some other outfielders, Outman has proven himself to be a quality defender in CF.
       Do I think Outman will make the opening day roster? No. But if he stays hot and somebody gets hurt or traded, he has a chance. The best defensive alignment would probably have Outman at CF and Edman at 2B.
       Perhaps the most important stat at this very early stage is Plate Appearances. Among outfielders, Outman leads with 21, followed by Hope with 20, and then Pages, Rosario and Conforto with 18 each. Roberts, AF and Gomes apparently want to take a good look at these players.

15. “Outfielders Ryan Ward, Justin Dean, Zyhir Hope, and Josue De Paula have also been reassigned to minor league camp. Hope and De Paula were two particular players who stood out this spring, but it appears the pair will begin the season in the minors.

    There are currently 59 players remaining in big league camp at Camelback Ranch. The abundance of talent on the Dodgers roster makes it especially difficult for young players to make the Opening Day roster”.

    1. The Dodgers als optioned ptchers Nick Frasso; and Carlos Duran, Julian Fernández, Justin Jarvis,

       1. To clarify the Dodgers optioned Nick Frasso because he is on the 40 man roster and reassigned pitchers Duran,Fernandez and Jarvis because they are not on the 40 man roster.

16. NO Dodger game scheduled today.

17. sorry bear! you are absolutely correct. point is he was going to pitch to Freddie anyway so he should have just shut up! Bote looks like a lock to be on opening day roster, he could really be the starter at second base! … hearing a lot of chatter on mlb network saying the d-backs are ready to push the dodgers for the division title. the nl west is shaping up to be the best in baseball. the nl east is going to be tough also. i’m not sure the mets aren’t still the 3rd best team in the division. terry francona may be the difference in the central. looks to be a battle between the yankees and the red sox in the al east. Baltimore didn’t do squat this offseason. the central? i like Kansas city. the west? Texas all day! oakland won’t contend for the division, but look for a significant improvement from the a’s! oh my bad! not oakland.!…. oh by the way. the dodgers will win the west by at least 7 games!

    1. Between Cortes saying the Yankees were the best and Machado saying we should have beaten the Dodgers, there is an awful lot of crying going on in baseball these days. Boone was bitching too. Just play the games, whoever wins is the better team….at that point in time.

       1. All I say is, “SCOREBOARD!”

          1. Yep!

18. Posted this elsewhere, now posting it here:

    Would be very patriotic of the Dodgers to find a way to have Freeman and Freeland on the opening day roster.

    Maybe Glasnow can change his name to Glasnost and we’d be global in our freedom messaging.

    1. Well I guess the Dodgers are only half patriotic!

    2. And Hope could add a touch of Obama…

19. Anyone else thinking Hoese is long-in-the-tooth as a “prospect” and the Dodgers will package him in a trade before he loses more value? I got to thinking about him when the discussion turned to Outman. It wouldn’t surprise me to see them both go before long.

    1. I think he has very little value and will play at OKC this year and then be exposed to Rule 5 where he may or may not be selected.

20. Interesting article in The Times about second TJ surgeries

    “According to Jon Roegele, only 99 of the 162 pitchers to undergo a second surgery returned to competitive action (61%), while 38 (24%) did not return, and 25 (15%) are listed as “not yet back.”

    And only two starters — Taillon and Texas Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi — are known to have returned to their previous performance levels after a second elbow reconstruction.”

    1. It’s interesting that Kershaw has pitched so much for so long a career and hasn’t needed TJ surgery.

       I wonder if the most prominent surgeons note which patients require it by innings pitched, body types, mechanics, were they pitchers since they were Little Leaguers, the style of pitcher they are? By now I would THINK that MLB teams would have studied and studied body types, which mechanics would be mostly likely to be injured and even incorporated that into their draft selections. But then again the Dodgers drafted Walker Buehler knowing in Advacne he would need TJ surgery. Helluva risk but a tremendous upside they won.

21. I think that Clayton made a conscious decision not to pitch with maximum effort about 10 years ago. That made all the difference.

    1. Bingo!
       Clayton was already on his way to Cooperstown when he decided to dial it down. These young guns can’t. They want to impress and go after the money.
       Thus the injuries.
       20 years of Kersh would be a dream come true!
       Book em

22. Yesterday it was https://www.nittisnyc.com/ and https://www.fusionhknyc.com/.

    Awesome!

23. Sasaki to make spring debut:

    “Among the many impact free agents signed this winter, perhaps none will have a spring debut more eagerly anticipated than right-hander Roki Sasaki. The 23-year-old phenom came over to MLB this winter after four dominant seasons with NPB’s Chiba Lotte Marines and eventually signed on with the Dodgers near the end of his posting window. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including MLB.com’s Sonja Chen) last week that Sasaki would make his first appearance today, though he won’t start the game. Rather, Sasaki is expected to follow behind starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto as the Dodgers square off with the Reds. The game, which is scheduled for 6:05pm local time, will see the Reds send top prospect Chase Petty to the mound opposite Yamamoto. Petty, a former first-round pick, came to Cincinnati in the 2022 trade that shipped Sonny Gray to the Twins”.

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