Urías is something wild in crazy Dodger win
Mike McGinnis/Getty Images
By Jon Weisman
In one sense, Julio Urías was all over the place, walking more batters tonight than in his previous five starts combined.
In another sense, that crazy brushwork simply provided color to another painterly performance by the teenage artist.
Joc Pederson injured after crashing into wall
By Jon Weisman
Joc Pederson might have saved the game at the price of his health when he crashed into the outfield wall at Milwaukee in the eighth inning tonight.
Clayton Kershaw having back examined in Los Angeles
Chase Utley, 2B
Howie Kendrick, LF
Corey Seager, SS
Adrián González, 1B
Trayce Thompson, RF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Chris Taylor, 3B
Julio Urías, P
Note: Days off for Yasiel Puig and Justin Turner, both of whom are expected to play Wednesday.
By Jon Weisman
Clayton Kershaw is returning to Los Angeles early to visit team doctors about lower back soreness he is experiencing, Dave Roberts confirmed to reporters before tonight’s game in Milwaukee.
As Ken Gurnick of MLB.com noted Monday, Roberts said that Kershaw has been dealing with some stiffness the past few weeks.
Farm Fresh: Calhoun, Cotton in MLB Futures Game
By Bart Harvey
Second baseman Willie Calhoun and right-handed pitcher Jharel Cotton were both selected to play in this year’s MLB Futures Game. The game will be played on July 10 at Petco Park, two days prior to the All-Star Game.
- The 21-year old Calhoun, featured recently at Dodger Insider, has a .799 OPS for Double-A Tulsa, despite a recent 1-for-24 slump, with 14 home runs in 74 games.
- Cotton allowed four runs in five innings Sunday, but still has 82 strikeouts in 68 2/3 innings this year for Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Highlights from the Dodger farm system for June 27 follow …
Dodgers claim infielder Cole Figueroa
Joe Robbins/Getty Images
By Jon Weisman
Cole Figueroa, an infielder who turns 29 Thursday, has been claimed by the Dodgers and optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Figueroa has a .536 OPS in 84 career big-league plate appearances with the Rays (2014), Yankees (2015) and Pirates (2016). Pittsburgh optioned him June 11 to Triple-A Indianapolis and designated him for assignment June 24.
He had a .333 on-base percentage and .453 slugging percentage for Indianapolis this year. His career OBP in 429 Triple-A games is .356.
1976: ‘Dodgers of the Future’
Forty years ago in the official team program, here’s what the Dodgers’ top prospects looked like, from the familiar to the forgotten.
— Jon Weisman
Reminder: All-Star voting ends Thursday
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
With the fan vote ending at 8:59 p.m. Thursday, Corey Seager remains approximately 700,000 votes removed from the starting shortstop spot for the National League All-Star team.
Seager has picked up 300,000 votes in the past six days, but needs a lot more to get himself over the Addison Russell hump.
Dodgers eclipse darkness in Pittsburgh with comeback
By Jon Weisman
Shortly after high noon at Pittsburgh, the clock looked like it was going to strike an early midnight for Los Angeles.
The Pirates took a 4-0 lead in the first inning of today’s afternoon special, and the dark side of history had the drop. The Dodgers would need a big rally to avoid their first four-game sweep by the Pirates since 1944 (when it happened twice — in July and August). They were also trying to end an eight-game losing streak at PNC Park.
The last Dodger pitcher to win there was Hyun-Jin Ryu, who hasn’t appeared in an MLB game in more than 21 months.
But whatever flag the Dodgers will hoist this year, it won’t be white. With a run in the third inning and four in the fifth, the Dodgers bucked the Bucs, rallying for a 212-minute, 5-4 victory that was their 23rd comeback win of the season.
When your front’s to the wall
Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
Kiké Hernández, LF
Justin Turner, 3B
Trayce Thompson, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Scott Van Slyke, 1B
A.J. Ellis, C
Chris Taylor, SS
Scott Kazmir, P
By Jon Weisman
This is going to sound particularly banal, but as I’ve pondered what to write before today’s getaway-from-Pittsburgh game, I’m stuck on how change is a way of life in baseball.
Players and teams go up and down, without exception, and a season is really about who gets a few more ups than the rest.
The Cubs, thought to be indomitable, have lost six of seven. Bryce Harper, looking in April like an MVP for the next 10 seasons, has a .680 OPS over the past six weeks.
I’m not saying that it’s impossible to tell the difference between an aberration and a trend. But some players are performing uncharacteristically, and reversals of fortune shouldn’t be ruled out.
Just as you shouldn’t expect Corey Seager or Justin Turner to hit seven or eight homers every month, there are other players whom you shouldn’t expect not to turn it around.
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