Ron Porterfield was named the Tampa Bay Rays Head Baseball trainer in 2006 by Andrew Friedman and served in that capacity until 2017 when Friedman lured him to Camelback Ranch with the title of Director of Pitching Health or Medical Director, depending upon which article you believe. Throwing a baseball is not a natural act. It puts lots of stress on the human arm and sometimes creates extreme damage. Andrew Friedman is trying to mitigate that by being proactive utilizing a person of Ron Porterfield’s expertise.
Porterfield is on the cutting-edge in training and rehabilitation and this is his second full season with the Dodgers. Porterfield received the Career Service Award from the American Sports Medicine Institute in 2008, an honor that “recognizes individuals who have provided a career of exemplary care to baseball players.” In 2009, Porterfield and his staff were named major league medical staff of the year from the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society. He’s no chump!
Nathan Eovaldi and David Price credit Porterfield with saving their careers. Both called Clayton Kershaw and told him to listen to Porterfield. Hopefully, Clayton is doing just that as he tries to get ready for Opening Day. Evoaldi flat out says “Without Ron Porterfield, I would not be here.”
Jesen Therrien and Julio Urias are two of Porterfield’s latest rehab projects. Peter Gammons reported this in THE ATHLETIC last November:
Urías, now 22, was labeled a future star when he was just 16 in a tiny A ball franchise in Northern Michigan. But he went from May 20, 2017 to Sept. 15, 2018 without pitching in the major leagues because of one of those complex shoulder injuries that teams often consider to be career threatening. In his seven postseason appearances, Urías showed so much, between his 93+ mph velocity, his slider, his changeup and his curveball spin, that he is back in the preface of the Dodger pitching prospectus.
Porterfield refused to rush Urias and in fact, shut him down a couple of times. He flashed what he had last year at the end of the season and this year, is the talk of Dodger Camp as he is touching 98 MPH with his fastball and has impeccable command of four pitches. What do they call a pitcher has four killer pitches which he can command? An Ace! That’s what they call him.
The Dodgers were patient with Julio and were not tempted to trade for Corey Kluber because they had someone who just might be better. if he is injured, it won;t kill We don’t know how Clayton Kershaw will pitch this year. The Dodgers will be a better team IF he can stay healthy and put up his typical numbers, but it won’t kill the team if he is injured. The Dodgers are a class organization and they re-signed Clayton (actually for just 1 additional year) simply out of respect for his body of work for 10 years. Forgetabout the playoffs for once – the man has been the face of the organization for the past decade.
He may not be the pitcher he once was, he might be worse, he might be better, he might be the same, but we know he will stay a Dodger at least 3 more years! Loyalty counts for a a lot to me.If nothing else, the Dodgers have shown they are loyal to their long-time Ace.
Striker Buehler, Julio Urias, Hyun-jin Ryu, Rich Hill, Ross Stripling and Kenta Maeda potentially form the nucleus of a TOP PITCHING STAFF. As Doc Roberts said yesterday, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May are knocking on the door and could see time with the big club this season. Both pitchers have taken amazing strides the past season and both appear to now “get it” as how to pitch to MLB hitters.
Of course, it’s Spring Training – that’s a lot different from the Regular Season and the pressure is very different. The “eye test” tells me that these two young mean appear undaunted by the big stage. In 2018, Gonsolin and May both went from throwing in the low 90’s to the high 90’s. Gonso breaks the 100 MPH barrier with ease. I am about 100% certain you will see one of them with the big club THIS year and 57.8% certain you will see both.
Caleb Ferguson is struggling this Spring – some of that could be because he is struggling with what his role is, much like Ross Stripling did. Right about now, Caleb should embrace his role in the bullpen because that is where the Dodgers need him with Tony Cingrani out again. The injury with Cingrani appears to be the same as last year which could mean surgery in my opinion. Fergie needs to be the lock-down lefty to go with Alexander.
The team is shaping up nicely. Forget the record (although it is a winning one) – there’s about 2 weeks to Opening Day and the Dodgers are getting ready to break out of the gate. There will be no World Series Hangover. Watch and see! I am anxious to see what the next steps are with
Jesen Therrien as Porterfield is not rushing him either, but we will see soon enough!
P.S. I had to add the “Captcha” Feature to keep out the Russian Hacker Bots -Sorry!
I took it off because it is a pain to log-in sometimes and you complained and i did too, but we have to add it back. A CAPTCHA is a type of challenge–response test used in computing to determine whether or not the user is human. It’s stopped them in their tracks. Dirty ___________s!
Discussion (50)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Mark, what do you think about this guy Andrew Faulkner?
Puig looks good for the Reds, playing relaxed. Maybe it was a good move for both teams. I watched Urias in person last Sun in Scottsdale vs the Rocks and he looked really good, trusting his breaking ball and a lights out change to go with his mid 90’s heat. He is one of their 5 best right now. The ball Muncy hit that day would have been way out most anywhere but at 415 and a 30 foot wall to dead center it was a long double. Dodgers gonna be just fine people.
Hot damn does Urias look good out there.
If he’s not one of our five best starting pitchers this year I’ll fill my swimming pool with US Water.
Just looked at the tentative starting lineup for the Reds, and noticed that there are four former Dodgers starting tonight. I always appreciate other teams finding value in former Dodgers and was also pleased to see that the Indians had signed Trayce Thompson since he could catch on with them since they lack OF depth and he would provide athleticism.
Ken Gurnick – Clayton Kershaw Unlikely to Pitch Opening Day
In a nod to both the calendar and the obvious, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts conceded Friday that it’s “unlikely” Clayton Kershaw will be the club’s Opening Day starting pitcher.
Roberts said that the club hasn’t decided who will make the March 28 start against Arizona. The most stretched out starter is Rich Hill, who Roberts said is “in the mix.”
https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/clayton-kershaw-unlikely-to-pitch-opening-day
I wish we had more of the same line up we had last night, in tonight’s game too.
Because I would like to see how well our guys would do against an experienced big league pitcher, unlike the Padre’s pitchers last night.
It looks like the Reds have their regulars in their line up tonight.
MLB ran a piece today on “Thirty Prospects Crushing It This Spring” and they chose Omar Estevez.
With Estevez and now Downs, we’ve done a nice job shoring up our middle infield pipeline. Obviously Lux is the main guy to watch–and there’s Anaya & others–but we look to be improved in that area.
We also lack a true CF, but hopefully Pollock fills that needs for the next few years . . .
are they really doing the three-batter minimum in 2020?
i like it in theory but i think it will cause some issues, mostly related to injuries
MJRod – XLNT time to hit Phillipes before the game.. If so have a double dip beef sandwich for me!!!
Have a great day
P.S. you’re spot on with Verdugo… Gosh I wish we had a Toles in the lineup also…
I could see Verdugo batting 2nd, 6th or 7th in the line up. In that way, he doesn’t take away from the power hitters spots in the line up. Seems to me, that he would be great at moving runners along, or setting the table for the power guys. I’ve been a Dodger fan since ’63 and I have never been to Opening Day! But that’s changing this year! Top of the lower lodge, behind home plate… can’t wait!
I have no problem with Verdugo starting the season as the 4th outfielder. A starting position should be earned, particularly as a rookie.
The dodgers have not given too many starting positions to players recently. JT had to earn 3B. Cory and Cody earned their positions, just earlier than expected.
Kiké looks like he may have earned 2B but still too early to tell. As already mentioned, let’s see where we are at 50 games. We’ll also see if Muncy has earned 1B by then as well as Joc in LF.
I finally put opening day on my calendar. March 28th. 1pm. My sons have a minimum day so I might just stay home with them after lunch. Might even have one of those “craft beer” thingies Mark was talking about.
Timely post on Ron Porterfield Mark. Nice to know he is helping the Dodgers to get their pitching ducks in a row.
UPDATE ABOVE!
The Athletic has a great piece on Alex Verdugo who will evidently start the season as the extra outfielder will will play all over the outfield. It’s s great enlightening read.
https://theathletic.com/869020/2019/03/14/alex-verdugo-is-the-dodgers-everyman-and-nowhere-man/?source=dailyemail
The rap on Verdugo is that he doesn’t have enough power. Well consider this guy’s minor league stats over three seasons:
2009 – 1 HR in 207 PA
2010 – 10 HR in 600 PA
2011 – 13 HR in 547 PA
He turned out OK – His name is Mike Trout. Don’t get too hung up on Alex’s power numbers. The power comes later. OK, I am not saying he is Mike Trout… Stop before you start! 😉
Will we see a platoon of CT3 and Joc in LF?
Yes! Gonsolin and May look ready to contribute (Dominate). Lucky for them we have so many injured pitchers it’s only a matter of time before we see them on the biggest stage. It was nice to see the offense show up in the night cap split squad game yesterday. But, as good as the offense was, the pitching was just fantastic. Maeda is using that “split-change” more frequently and it falls off the table. He looks aggressive right now and I hope he doesn’t return to nibbling like he has in the past. May was a machine and we didn’t have any mid-inning pitching changes. Thank you!
Joc is looking like he’s starting to heat up. Verdugo is solid at worst. Muncy sat out both games, maybe they feel like he needs to reset a little. Corey looks too damn skinny. Drink some milk, kid! I’m really bummed about Cingrani.
Work was a nightmare this week, but I fixed all the broken IT stuff that was thrown at me. Today is going to be a quiet Friday and I’m on my way to AZ at 2PM after I pick up my teenage daughter from school. I think I’m going with my Stars and Stripes Dodgers Pro Fit for the weekend. Kershaw jersey will be packed. Ready to go!
I agree that Urias is an Ace and the challenge for 2019 is where to use his 70 to 100 innings. The Dodgers could spread them out, bunch them up in the post season, or use them to get off to a good start.
Urias is ready to start the season so I prefer using him now and then shutting him down after 80 innings or spread out his innings by going to a 6 man rotation. It would be nice to have him for the playoffs but that messes with his year.
The Dodgers beat the Padres in the B game 12 – 0. Maeda started and again did well. Allie had a good inning.
The Dodgers would probably benefit more from a long reliever if the NL had the DH.