As Bear reported the Dodgers have apparently completed their 60-man pool with the additions of:
- RHP – Bobby Miller
- RHP – Landon Knack
- RHP – Ryan Pepiot
- RHP – Edubray Ramos
- C – Carson Taylor
- 2B – Michael Busch
- OF – Anthony Garcia
Five of the six 2020 draftees have been invited to be a part of the 60-man pool. Only Gavin Stone has been left out, as well as undrafted FA, Robbie Peto. The one unknown is that Devin Mann was reported to be on the 60-man pool, but he is not listed as a non-roster invitee yet. Ken Gurnick says the Dodgers are at 59, apparently leaving Mann out of the pool. But in my count he would be #60.
- RHP – 25
- LHP – 7
- C – 6
- INF – 11
- OF – 11
Also as Bobby reported, Gavin Lux has reported and was originally scheduled to be in tonight’s intrasquad game, but has since been scratched. Doc wants to give him a couple of days in camp. He would not disclose as to why Gavin was not in camp.
Doc did indicate that we could see Diego Cartaya in an intrasquad game at some point.
Alex Wood is slated to go 5 innings tonight. Julio Urias is scheduled for 2+ and Adam Kolarek is supposed to face some RH batters tonight.
Per Dave Roberts, regardless as to whether JT and other Dodgers want Chico Herrera to hit, he will not.
Dave was asked about Micah Johnson and his new endeavor out of baseball…painting. Per Micah, it was Doc who challenged him to pursue painting after he saw the painting Micah did of Maury Wills. Apparently, Micah’s painting career has taken off. Good for Micah Johnson.
Dave was asked tongue in cheek as to whether he wanted to bubble wrap Corey Seager because of how he is playing right now (5-6 before the double in the first tonight), fearing that something might happen to curtail his health. Doc laughed and said it did cross his mind. But he added that Corey is fully healthy, and just needs more reps and to get his legs in shape. He is playing as he did his rookie year, and Doc expects a great year for Corey. Of course I say this every year, but I am looking for a MVP season out of Corey.
Walker Buehler is about a week away from games. He just completed a two inning up and down. And is looking to extend it to three in a few days.
When asked about Tony Gonsolin and whether he is still being considered for the #5, Doc indicated that all they want to do with Tony is to begin to ramp him up. No decision has been made if he is still considered a SP candidate. Come on, we all know that Strip will be the #5.
Dave did indicate that he did expect to see some additional healthy players check in the next few days. No indication as to who. But he still anticipates that KJ will be reporting and be ready.
Joe Kelly was the featured player in Friday’s Zoom Press Conference. Apparently he was unhittable Thursday night, and said that he is feeling very good (100%). He was never at 100% last year, and would not put a number on it. He said he felt good enough to compete. I had the impression he was not going to say exactly what the physical problem was. But he did say that during the off season and post ST, he had time to work on what went wrong last year. Kelly throws a 4-seamer, but his index finger continually came off the ball and he lost spin on his fastball. He never had his 4-seamer last year. He now has it back, and he is throwing extremely well. He said the pitch will never be consistently 100% effective, but even at 50%, that is better than 0%. Kelly threw all four-seamers Thursday night. Doc did add in his presser that he expected to see a much healthier and improved Joe Kelly in 2020.
Joe was asked how serious he was to opting out, especially after David Price did. Joe indicated that it never went past the discussion stage with his wife. It was certainly a consideration, but they decided as a family that Joe should pitch this year. Price is still one of Joe Kelly’s best friends, and they talk all the time. Joe indicated that David called him after yesterday’s game and asked where the devil did that change he threw to JT came from. From all reports, it was filthy…Gagneesque?
I have not read all of the comments on Price opting out, but in a Houston Mitchell column (I believe) he indicated that Price was getting slammed by many “fans”. Just how ignorant and selfish can some fans be? If David felt safe playing in 2020 he would do so. He has his reasons, and they do not need to be justified or explained because some fans think he owes it to them to pitch this year. Joe did state that David feels every bit part of the team, and the team is 100% behind his decision.
Other baseball news – Hard throwing ChiSox RHP Michael Kopech has opted out for the 2020 season.
Several players have been cleared to return to practice from their COVID-19 quarantine. Players returning include Tommy Pham (SD), Junior Guerra (AZ), and Seth Beer (AZ).
The draft signings are almost complete. As of this writing, 145 of the 160 have officially signed with two others having agreed to terms, just not official yet. Of those that would get compensating picks in 2021 if not signed, only four remain unsigned.
- Round 1 – All draftees have signed
- Round 1 – Competitive Balance – Cleveland– RHP Tanner Burns (Auburn)
- Round 2 – Miami – Daxton Fulton LHP (HS)
- Round 2B – Miami – Kyle Nicolas RHP (Ball State)
- Round 2B – Cincinnati – Jackson Miller C (HS)
Of the 13 remaining without any agreement, five are with Miami, two are with NYY, and two are with Boston. Cubs, Reds, Indians, and Orioles each have one unsigned player. Teams have until August 1 to sign their draftees. No team has exceeded the 5% overage limit and sacrificed a #1 in 2021.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT ALEXANDER
Discussion (36)
Disagree, not disagreeable
His swing is so fluid, level and effortless. Nice to watch.
Edwin Rios has a really sweet, powerful swing.
Chico “The Cannon” – Do Not Run on him!
1. There are going to be a lot of positive tests.
2. Dustin May had absolutely filthy stuff in the first inning!
Really nice to be talking Dodger baseball. I thought it wouldn’t happen this year but I’m glad I’m wrong. so far.
I have had MLB Extra Innings Package from DirecT for years. It’s $30.50 per month for 6 months or $183.00 per season. I haven’t started it yet but plan to before Opening Day. It’s not cheap but it’s nice to get all the games.
Also it should go without saying that Price and others should be able to opt out without criticism. Hopefully these lame questions will be short lived and folks can talk baseball and not about a player’s personal decision. It’s not worth printing when some dope thinks he knows what’s best for another human being. It is a story of who’s in and who’s not but after that, let’s move on.
Wonder why KC did not wait for the results before playing him in the game. Was there not complaints from some teams that the results of testing were taking too long? Did they really need to play him before test results? Just some questions I have.
Aroldis Chapman has tested positive for Covid-19, and he is showing symptoms. It has been speculated that he could be out for a while.
Also KC had a situation where Cam Gallagher tested positive for COVID-19 but had no symptoms and played in the intrasquad game before being notified of the test results. Now KC is not sure what to do. Does the entire team have to quarantine?
The Orioles have made an offer to Yasiel Puig.
RE: David Price
A guy has to do what he thinks is best for himself and his family, so I don’t begrudge him his decision. A couple of salient points though:
1 – If he hadn’t already made $103MM, he might have made a different decision. There are guys who have admitted that they have to play due to the money or service time issues. Price had the luxury to make a different decision, plus he is going to make $32MM/year for the next 2 seasons.
2 – He might have made a different decision if he played 50 years ago. Players used to put the team 1st and their careers and family after that. Can you imagine Koufax agreeing to pitch game 7 on 2 days rest in 1965 with his bad arm if he pitched today? Grover Cleveland Alexander pitching in relief on no rest in game 7 of the 1926 World Series at age 39 and hung over?
Players like Price are like mulit-million dollar corporations. It’s just a different time.
Now that Posey has opted out, the Giants have a real hole at catcher. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them make a call to Russell Martin. As good as Bart is, they aren’t ready to turn the catching over to him with so little experience so (if we ignore the fact that it’s the Giants) Martin would be the perfect guy for them.
If you’re Farhan and one of your few options in house is a guy named Chadwick Tromp, you check your Rolodex for RM’s agent’s number and make that call.
I must be nice for you to just talk about baseball. See there is enough news to just talk about on-the-field stuff!
Things are falling in place for the Dodgers, now just get Kenley back and we are ready to go.
AC, thank you for the recap on last night’s inter squad game. I watched part of it but did not see the final innings. Liked Joc and CT3’s homeruns. To me, Wood and Urias looked good. Do you think they have a real umpire calling the pitches? I thought he did well.
Regarding Price, I have no problem with his decision to opt out this year. Every person’s case is unique and no one knows better what is good and safe for themselves and their family than they do. His support of the minor leaguers was also a big plus in my admiration of him in my eyes.
People can be so mean and insensitive. The man had the right to opt out given to him and other players during the negotiations. They also do not get any service time when opting out so it is a double edged sword. No pay, and no service time. Price doesn’t owe the fans anything. He owes his family everything.
David Price is a class act. Can’t fault any player deciding to sit out this mess. I look forward to rooting for him next year!
It’s OK for fans to be disappointed David Price is not playing, but to ridicule him is childish!
Here’s a couple of interesting things about that:
1. Price forfeits his salary; and
2. Boston still has to pay LA $16 million which more than covers Mookies salary!
😉
Did not watch. But I am not into the mood yet. When they get close to the real thing I will be more into it. MLB.tv not really giving much of a discount for the shortened season. I got a better deal last year when I got back from California. 59.99 for every teams games, and 49.99 for one teams games. Last year I got home around the middle of June and got the rest of the season for 40.00. It is like 119.99 for a full season. I guess they need to make money where they can, but that is a little too rich for my blood. So, I will just watch what the Rockies show on Root sports when the Dodgers play them. And ESPN< and the game of the week on FOX. Hope everyone has a nice weekend. We have a brush fire just up the 50 between Canon and the Royal Gorge. Was watching the helicopters and planes drop retardant this afternoon. A few years ago we had a bad fire rip through the Gorge. It was closed for quite a while as they had to rebuild the bridge and the welcome center.
FYI, here is a link to Micah Johnson’s website
https://micah-art.com/
Typical early pre-season game. Wood pitched 5.2 (actually 5.1) innings and allowed 2 runs on a 2 run HR by Joc. For most of the game, Woody pitched well, however he left a couple of pitches out over the plate that were crushed. The double by Barnes and then HR by Joc. Nomar was commenting that the coaches want Wood to work more to the glove side, and he tried to sneak a couple of 1st pitch fastballs that did not move as much as he wanted to Barnes and Joc. McKinstry also had a double off Alex and Belli had a single and was thrown out trying to stretch (or did he???) from CF DJ Peters. Belli went 2-3 as he also had an infield single. Woods seem to tire a bit in the 4th. After the double to McKinstry, he walked Betts and Kike’ back to back and they called the inning.
Julio Urias gave up a 1st inning double to Corey Seager who hit the ball off the top of the short fence in LF. His other two ABs were outs but they were hit hard. Urias went three innings and looked sharp, especially with his change which showed late drop. He also got JT with a back door slider at his back foot.
Gerardo Carrillo replaced Urias and gave up two monster HRs. One to Anthony Garcia that was well into the LF pavilion, and one to CT3 deep into dead CF. Corey and Smith hit him hard. Corey’s line drive was right to Joc, and Edwin Rios made a great diving play at 3B to rob Smith.
Adam Kolarek came in to relieve Wood and faced a RH batter, Rocky Gale. He did get Gale to fly out to RF. He then got McKinstry to pop to Seager for the 4th out of the inning to end the game.
2-2 Final Score. All runs on HRs (3). And all crushed.