The plan to have him make a rehab start at Inland Empire tonight was actually scrapped several days ago, but no one bothered to tell the media until today. He threw 89 pitches in an extended spring training game today. It ended when Schmidt was hit in the left leg by a line drive. But his removal was precautionary, and he isn’t believed to be injured.
“We made the decision that we wanted to get him more arm strength and extend him a little more before he went down,” Dodgers trainer Stan Conte said. “We were shooting for 90-plus pitches a couple of times before we sent him on a rehab. He felt pretty good. His last couple of outings have been good as far as command goes.”
He’ll make at least one more extended-spring start before going on a rehab. The saga continues. …
Also, there doesn’t seem to be any big reason for tonight’s lineup shuffle other than Joe wanting a right-handed batter in the cleanup spot against Jonathan Sanchez.