Category: Dailies

Minor League Update – Roy Smith

To answer some questions as to the whereabouts of some of our minor league players — John Meloan, a right-handed pitcher out of the University of Arizona from last year’s draft is in extended Spring Training rehabbing a sore elbow.

Pitchers Steve Johnson and Josh Wall are also in extended and are slated to be in the starting rotation at Ogden, our short season Single-A club. The same goes for Scott Van Slyke and Josh Bell, as they in extended and are awaiting the Short A season.

Some of our international prospects to be aware of at the Single-A level are left-hander  Alberto Bastardo, who we selected in the minor league phase of the Rule V draft; Mario Alvarez, left-hander Marlon Arias, Jesus Rodriguez, and Fernando Felix. These are all pitchers in Columbus to keep your eye on.

Blogging in the rain – Josh Rawitch

I was about to post during the rain delay when they decided to cancel today’s game and play it tomorrow as part of a double header. Same pitchers for Game 1. I can’t remember our last double dip, but rest assured, I’ll be looking it up for tomorrow’s game notes. In fact, one thing I can do on a daily basis is post a few of the interesting game notes that we come up with here on the blog, as there isn’t really a place for fans to find that.

So, before we catch the bus back to the hotel, here are some from today:

PENNY’S FILLY FINISHES FIRST – Dodger pitcher Brad Penny, who owns six thoroughbreds, enjoyed the fruits of victory last night when one of his horses won the fifth race at Santa Anita. Drastic Tactics, ridden by Patrick Valenzuela, was a 7:5 favorite and she won the race by a length.

TALES FROM THE DODGER DUGOUT – A new book is on the market, written by Dodger broadcaster Rick Monday and MLB.com beat writer Ken Gurnick. “Rick Monday’s Tales from the Dodgers Dugout,” features interviews with Steve Garvey, Tommy Lasorda, Ron Cey and other Dodger greats from the 1981 Championship team. The Dodgers are celebrating the 25th anniversary of that team this year with various special events, including a celebration on Sept. 16 at Dodger Stadium, which will include members of that team.

AN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR – When the Dodgers purchased the contract of Takashi Saito yesterday, it represented the 10th different nationality on the current Los Angeles club. The Dodgers now have players from the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Panama, Cuba and the Dominican Republic on the 25-man roster and disabled list.

DODGERS DONATE MONEY TO TAFT HIGH – Earlier today, the Dodgers Dream Foundation presented the Taft High School Baseball team in Woodland Hills, CA with a check to replace equipment that was stolen from their locker room. On hand at the check presentation were former Dodger Ron Cey and Sr. Vice President of Public Affairs Howard Sunkin.

From Citizens Bank Park – Josh Rawitch

Eric’s surgery was a success, as you might have read by now. Dr. Jobe thinks he could be back in a game as soon as six week or as long as eight or maybe nine weeks, but the surgery lasted just about half an hour and they removed the nerve that was causing the problem. Overall, this is the best news we could have hoped for, given the situation.

Here in Philly, Rafael Furcal was a late scratch from the lineup due to a contusion in his right shin, suffered Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Jason Repko moved up to the leadoff spot, followed by Jose Cruz, Drew, Kent, Loney, Mueller, Ramon Martinez, Navarro and Tomko. In the first inning, Loney tripled for his first Major League RBI.

Furcal seems like he’ll be available to pinch-hit, but it certainly was strange walking into the training room about half an hour before game time and seeing three All-Star shortstops – Cesar Izturis, Furcal and Nomar – all getting treatment. The good news is, all three could be back at some point in the next month and there aren’t very many teams that can lay claim to having three All-Star shorstops in the lineup somewhere (even the Yankees only have two)!

Gagne update – Josh Rawitch

The morning coverage of Gagne’s injury pretty much tells you the full story behind the surgery. Check out the L.A. Times, Daily News, Orange County Register, Riverside Press Enterprise or dodgers.com if you are looking for an update. If any of you were watching Baseball Tonight last night on ESPN, you might have thought that his career was over, the way they were talking about it, but as you’ll read in any of the papers that cover us and were on the conference call last night, head trainer Stan Johnston characterized this surgery as less severe as the one he had last year. Still, until they go in and operate, we won’t have an idea of a timetable for his recovery.

The good news, though, is that the guys who got banged up on Wednesday night (Kent, Saenz, Loney and Furcal) all seem to be doing okay and available for tonight’s game here in Philadelphia.

Today we’ll get a chance to see Brett Tomko for the first time in a regular season game and it happens to be his birthday. That’s got to be a pretty cool thing to do – start a big league game on your birthday.

As for the front office people, we’re currently in the hotel getting through our usual work – answering emails, writing the daily game notes, handling interview requests, etc. We’ll head to the ballpark around 2:30 and then it becomes like any other home game for us.

On a sad note, I’m kind of disappointed that we won’t get to see Jimmy Rollins try and extend his hitting streak, which was snapped yesterday. It’s not every day you get to see history in the making and I was looking forward to watching him go for Joe DiMaggio’s record. So it goes…

Eric Gagne to have surgery – Josh Rawitch

I just wanted to let you all know that we have learned that Eric Gagne will undergo surgery on his right elbow tomorrow morning at the Kerlan-Jobe clinic in Los Angeles. Dr. Jobe and Dr. Gambardella will perform the procedure and remove the same nerve that was giving him problems last year. There is no timetable set for his return. I’m sure there will be more information later tonight, but we just landed in Philadelphia and I wanted the fans to hear it straight from us.

Stay tuned for more information.

A tough loss but a good three games – Josh Rawitch

Who would’ve thought we’d score 23 runs and bang out more than 40 hits and drop two out of three games? Even though we lost the series to the Braves, most of the players and coaches downstairs seemed encouraged with the way the team is hitting and that’s WITHOUT Nomar and Kenny Lofton.

You never want to lose two games, but given that most people thought we wouldn’t even get the three games in without rainouts, you’ve got to look on the bright side. Jeff Kent’s injury seems minor – a bruise on his triceps and he thinks he’ll play Friday. Olmedo Saenz just had his back tighten up and Rafael Furcal got spiked. Gagne’s suspension is over now, so he’s available on Friday and we’ll be back to having Baez in the eighth inning followed by Eric in the ninth.

We leave tomorrow morning for Philadelphia, so you probably won’t hear from me until late in the day.

Enjoy the "off-day."

Playing in the rain – Josh Rawitch

Tonight’s game is what Dodger fans are all about. It was pretty cool to see the fans that showed up tonight get into tonight’s game like it was a playoff contest. They sat through a 25-minute delay and a pretty solid downpour for much of the game to root on the Dodgers.

For their dedication and patience, someone came up with the great idea to reward them with tickets to an upcoming game, so fans can turn in their ticket stubs for tonight’s game for Reserve level tickets to either the May 10 or May 22 games.

James Loney got a hit in his Major League debut Jae Seo pitched three innings in his Dodger debut.

As I mentioned in the pregame blog, Eric Gagne decided to drop his suspenion appeal and serve his two games now. So Danys Baez came in and shut the door for his first save, sending the wet but happy crowd home for the night.